A cold current came from the sea, blowing into the eight hundred li of the Great Yin Mountains, transforming into a sky full of snowflakes.
Below the mountain, a group of river workers followed a young subordinate official, surveying the terrain along the way.
"Lord Cao, be careful of the slippery ground."
"Lord Cao, the snow is heavy today. How about we postpone the survey to another day?"
The leading subordinate official completely ignored the warnings of the river workers, braving the accumulated snow, traversing mountains and ridges, muttering about the river course: "The matter of excavating the canal is of great importance. I, Cao Bin, am deeply grateful for the Emperor's grace. This time, I am following my father to conduct an on-site survey, studying the feasibility of excavating the canal. Naturally, I dare not be careless. I must complete the exploration as soon as possible, draft a detailed document, and submit it to the Ministry of Works."
The Great Qian Dynasty did not establish a separate Director-General of Waterways or a Director-General of Grain Transport. Affairs such as river management and canal excavation were under the jurisdiction of the Water Bureau and the Vice Minister of the Water Department under the Ministry of Works.
Cao Bin's father, Cao Fu, was the current Vice Minister of the Water Department, a position of the fifth rank.
After Li Hao reported the construction of a four hundred li canal, the imperial court immediately dispatched Cao Fu and his son to conduct an on-site survey, studying the feasibility of this undertaking. In addition, they also needed to study the manpower, financial resources, and time required to excavate the canal.
All of this required a detailed survey.
Cao Fu was the most prominent river management and construction expert of the dynasty.
Cao Bin's physique was weak, and he had clearly not practiced martial arts much. He was panting after climbing two mountains. However, he gritted his teeth and endured, continuing the survey, occasionally ordering the river workers to take measurements and records. Occasionally, he would also call the river workers to bring him a brush, ink, and inkstone, personally drawing maps and making markings.
It wasn't until the wind and snow became heavier and heavier, completely blocking the roads, that Cao Bin had no choice but to stop, sitting on a tree root, panting heavily. A river worker took out a pancake and a water bag, handing them to Cao Bin to eat.
Cao Bin took a couple of bites and then lost his appetite. Instead, he looked at the vast fields ahead, "The manpower is not enough. I need more people. Can you go to Qingwu County to call for people?"
The several river workers looked at each other, expressing their inability to do so.
Just then, someone came riding a horse in the snowy field ahead.
"Brother Cao!"
Hearing someone call his name, Cao Bin immediately put away the water bag and pancake, and stood up to look. He saw Wen Zaiqing, wearing the official robes of a seventh-rank county magistrate, galloping over with a group of yamen runners.
Hiss!
Neigh!
Wen Zaiqing reined in his horse, dismounted, and quickly walked up to Cao Bin, "Hahaha, Brother Cao, it's me. Wen Zaiqing. In the ninety-sixth year of Jingtai, we were in the same class of Jinshi. Have you forgotten? Back then, in the Tribute Hall, we discussed ideals together and drank to our hearts' content."
Cao Bin finally remembered, excitedly stepping forward to embrace Wen Zaiqing, "Brother Wen! So, it's you. More than ten years have passed since we parted that year. I never thought we would meet again. Come, sit down and talk."
The two of them swept the snow off the tree roots and sat on the ground. Each took out dry rations and pancakes, eating them with clear water.
They used water instead of wine, drinking and reminiscing.
"Brother Cao is as young as ever. I vaguely remember when we entered the Tribute Hall together, drank to our hearts' content, and vowed to pass the imperial examinations, enter the court as officials, and benefit the people. Do you still remember that vow, Brother Cao?"
"I dare not forget it for a moment. How can we scholars forget our roots? Over the years, I have followed my father, studying the art of water management and river repair, going out many times to manage floods and build river courses. Having seen many displaced people and infants starving to death, I realized… the world needs us ambitious people too much. I only remember that Brother Wen came to Nanyang Prefecture back then. What happened afterward?"
Wen Zaiqing spoke eloquently, "Although I have experienced twists and turns, I have never dared to forget my original vow. Because I offended someone, I was dismissed from office. But fortunately, I was appreciated by the Eldest Princess, and now I have been reinstated. I received the news early on that the Ministry of Works had dispatched Brother Cao to come down for a survey, so I came looking early in the morning. I hope to help Brother Cao."
As he spoke, Cao Bin took out a huge map he had drawn himself, unfolded it, and showed it to Wen Zaiqing, "Brother Wen, please take a look. From the Nan River south to the Huai River, it is necessary to connect the north-south Chang River, Lan River, and Hui River. It can also connect the east-west Li River, Xiao River, and Wei River. The entire southeast area of Nanzhou will be connected. Irrigation, flood control, and the problems of transporting troops and commerce will all be solved. It is a great thing that benefits future generations."
Wen Zaiqing listened carefully and finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Since Brother Cao says so, then it is feasible. How many people does Brother Cao need? Just say the word, and I will be responsible for allocating them."
Wen Zaiqing breathed a sigh of relief.
With Li Xiaoting's case in mind, Wen Zaiqing had always had reservations about Li Hao's proposal to excavate the canal, fearing that the Prince of Huainan had other motives.
Now, he no longer had such thoughts.
Cao Bin put away the map, cupped his hands in a bow, "With Brother Wen's help, the survey will be completed soon. Once it is reported to the Ministry of Works, the matter of excavating the canal will definitely be determined soon. I truly hope that this canal will be excavated as soon as possible, so that the people on both sides who are suffering from floods will not have to be displaced."
Wen Zaiqing cupped his hands and said: "Brother Cao is wholeheartedly devoted to the country, and the canal will surely be completed!"
"I still need Brother Wen to help a lot."
"I, Wen Zaiqing, will do my best for the benefit of the people."
… …
Qingwu County.
The Xie Residence.
It was said that when Xie An returned to the living room with the broken silver, he found that the mirror polisher had already left. However, he saw Su Yuqing standing under the eaves at some point, holding the mirror in her hand.
Xie An cupped his hands at Su Yuqing, then looked around, "Has Master Huang left?"
Su Yuqing looked at the mirror in her hand, and said faintly, "Yes. Master Huang suddenly remembered that there was an urgent matter at home, so he took his leave first."
Xie An: "… …"
Xie An had heard the conversation between Su Yuqing and Master Huang. To be precise, Su Yuqing had invited Master Huang in for a cup of tea, and then Master Huang had left without saying a word.
Su Yuqing said lightly, "Have you seen Master Huang before?"
Xie An shook his head, "No."
Su Yuqing said, "This person is not simple. He possesses the strength of a Grandmaster of Martial Arts. And not just any Grandmaster of Martial Arts."
Xie An was greatly shocked to hear this.
A mirror polisher is actually a Grandmaster of Martial Arts?
Then this could not be a normal mirror polisher.
Why would a Grandmaster of Martial Arts disguise himself as a mirror polisher?
The answer was obvious.
Either it was for the mirror, or it was for… the Seven Treasures Exquisite Box.
But only the Immortal Queen knew that the Seven Treasures Exquisite Box was on him.
The Immortal Queen is a woman.
Although the Mingyu Skill has the effect of reversing aging, it cannot change gender.
An accomplice of the Immortal Queen, or someone else?
In any case, Xie An felt a little uneasy.
Being targeted by two Grandmaster-level experts at the same time was sleepless.
Fortunately, there was such a great god as Su Yuqing.
Thinking of this, Xie An hurriedly welcomed Su Yuqing to the living room for tea.
After taking a seat, Su Yuqing looked at the shiny mirror in her hand, frowning tightly, "Where did you get this mirror?"
Xie An only said that it was traded, but he fabricated a mysterious old merchant for the Red Fox.
As he spoke, Xie An suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
A mysterious old merchant… could it be the Red Fox?
This was too outrageous…
The more Xie An thought about it, the more incredible he felt, and he couldn't help but ask: "Can the Eldest Princess see the origin of this mirror?"
Su Yuqing shook her head, "I can't tell. It should be a very old thing."
Since Su Yuqing already knew about this mirror, Xie An felt that it would be a good idea to test it out, so he said: "Please look at the back of the mirror, Eldest Princess. On the back is a Spider Lily. I was initially bewitched when I looked at it. Eldest Princess, be careful."
Su Yuqing turned over the mirror and saw a large black Spider Lily engraved on the back. At first glance, it didn't seem like anything, but the more she looked… the more Su Yuqing became absorbed, and finally she was stunned.
Xie An stared at Su Yuqing, not even daring to breathe loudly.
He was bewitched by the Spider Lily, but the Eldest Princess was a Grandmaster of Martial Arts, wouldn't she be?
Seeing Su Yuqing stunned for a long time, Xie An thought she had also been bewitched, so he reached out to block Su Yuqing's line of sight and reminded her, "Eldest Princess, be careful not to be bewitched…"
Soon, Xie An realized that he had overthought it.
He saw the Eldest Princess raise her eyebrows and glare at Xie An, "This mirror does have the effect of bewitching, but my Qi and blood are strong, and my will is like steel, so I have not lost my mind."
Xie An awkwardly withdrew his hand, smiling embarrassedly to hide his embarrassment, "How can it have this effect?"
Xie An knew that some magnets, or metal materials with lightning, could release some electric currents and magnetic fields, interfering with people's brainwaves, thereby achieving the so-called bewitching effect.
However, the detection equipment in this world was rudimentary, and Xie An could not know the material of this bronze mirror.
Su Yuqing carefully played with the bronze mirror, and muttered: "The material of this bronze mirror is extremely special, not ordinary metal. And the things reflected by this mirror… are also very special."
Xie An didn't understand, "The things reflected are very special?"
Could it be that it reflects that he is no longer human?
Su Yuqing handed the mirror to Xie An, "You take a look."
Xie An took the mirror and looked at the bright bronze surface, and was shocked to discover that his reflection in the mirror was different from reality.
It was shockingly a sixty-year-old man with white hair, a face full of wrinkles, and skin and bones, looking like he was about to die.
This startled Xie An, "How... how could this be?"
Su Yuqing said, "This should be a special treasure mirror. It predates the Tianbao era and may well have a history of several hundred or even a thousand years. It's not a native object of Daqian. I don't know much about ancient things."
Not a native object of Daqian...
Even the Eldest Princess could see that.
Xie An didn't let go of the opportunity to inquire, "Has the Eldest Princess ever heard of any civilization in history that used the Lycoris radiata as a totem?"
Su Yuqing shook her head, "I don't know. But if you want to know, I can send a letter to my master and ask for clarification."
Su Yuqing's master is the current Azure Dragon Martial Saint!?
Xie An said, "I'll trouble the Eldest Princess."
"It's a small matter. If there's a reply, I'll let you know." Su Yuqing said a few words and then got up to leave, reminding Xie An to be careful of Master Huang as she left.
After seeing Su Yuqing off, Xie An sat alone in the room and took out the mirror to look at it.
Staring at the white-haired old man in the mirror... Wasn't that what he looked like when he had a stroke?
How could this mirror be so magical?
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Having transmigrated to this world for thirty-eight years, it was the first time he had seen such a strange thing.
It was extremely frightening.
Just then, the white Dao Talisman in Xie An's mind vibrated, and a faint white light flashed.
【Sensing spiritual object: Soul-Connecting Treasure Mirror.】
Xie An was startled.
Soul-Connecting Treasure Mirror!
It was actually a spiritual object!
This was the second spiritual object Xie An had sensed since transmigrating to this world.
Why hadn't he sensed it before?
The difference lies in...
Polishing the mirror!
The mirror was previously covered in copper rust, making it impossible to see clearly. Now that it's polished brightly, he can sense it?
After thinking about it, that was the only possibility.
Then the question arises, what is the use of this Soul-Connecting Treasure Mirror?
The white Dao Talisman didn't provide any explanation or hints.
The same goes for the Seven Treasures Exquisite Box; his fate didn't give any hints. Xie An had to explore it himself. The difficulty lies in the fact that spiritual objects are too rare, and Xie An's level of access isn't high enough, so there's too little information to refer to.
Exploring it himself... the difficulty is too great.
"Forget it, I'll just explore it myself. In any case, I can confirm that I've obtained two spiritual objects."
A second-level Longevity Fate requires absorbing ten thousand strands of heaven and earth spiritual energy to increase the fusion to full capacity, which shows how rare spiritual energy is. The word 'spiritual' in 'spiritual object' might be related to spiritual energy?
Spiritual...
Xie An carefully considered this keyword.
He felt that he needed a higher stage, access to higher-level ancient book resources, preferably a trip to the imperial palace library, where he might find relevant records of spiritual objects.
"In general, the matter of cultivating immortality and longevity seems to have some hope."
Thinking of this, Xie An became very excited.
Longevity, cultivating immortality...
"Also, Master Huang... could he really be the Red Fox? If this Soul-Connecting Treasure Mirror belongs to the Red Fox, then the Red Fox might know its origin... It would be great if I could dig up some information from the Red Fox."
"Su Yuqing seems to be very wary of Master Huang... Otherwise, with Su Yuqing's personality, she wouldn't have let Master Huang slip away so easily. She would have kept him here and questioned him."
Thinking about it this way, Xie An felt that the three people around him were not simple.
Su Yuqing, the Immortal Empress, Master Huang...
It seems like he's the weakest one?
"..."
Although Xie An didn't like comparing himself to others, being in the weakest position wasn't exactly a pleasant thing.
"It seems that people in this world are all pursuing immortality and the fate of immortals, Li Changchun, the High Priest, and my four sworn brothers. Including the Tianbao Emperor and the Immortal Empress..."
Although Su Yuqing seemed calm on the surface, Xie An had talked with Su Yuqing before. He still remembered Su Yuqing saying, 'If there is longevity in this world, then only longevity is true freedom in the human realm.'
It was clear that Su Yuqing also desired it. It's just that she felt the possibility was small. It also couldn't be ruled out that she had a group of people helping her to find opportunities for longevity and ways to break the four-hundred-year lifespan limit. That's why she wasn't in a hurry.
The more Xie An thought about it, the more pressure he felt.
It's so competitive.
People with weak strength cannot obtain the fate of immortality.
If praying to Buddha was useful, you probably wouldn't even be able to enter the temple.
It's the same principle.
Xie An felt that he was still too weak and needed to grow stronger as soon as possible in order to compete for the so-called opportunity for longevity in the turbulent Daqian, where experts emerged in large numbers.
If his strength wasn't enough, even if he had the fate of immortality, he would be eaten by the strong, leaving not even bones behind.
Thinking of this, Xie An cleared the distracting thoughts from his mind, put away the mirror, and began to sit down and earnestly practice Tiger Form Qigong...
...
The next day, Xie An still got up early, ate breakfast, and put on his official robe to go to the Demon Suppression Division.
As soon as he left the Xie residence, he saw a familiar vendor across the street, with various mirrors displayed on his stall and a sign for mirror polishing.
Who else could it be but Master Huang?
"Good morning, Grand Commander."
When Master Huang saw Xie An, he enthusiastically greeted him, putting on a harmless smile. In his heart, however, he cursed Xie An's ancestors for eighteen generations.
"Good morning, Master Huang." Xie An greeted him out of caution and walked away.
Master Huang chased after him, "Grand Commander, please wait."
Xie An turned around, "Is there anything else, Master Huang?"
Master Huang gritted his teeth and said directly, "Grand Commander, let's talk in private."
Xie An looked at the Xie residence gate behind him, "Come to my house and talk."
Master Huang glanced at the gate and said with a sly smile, "There's no need for that. We can just talk under the eaves."
Xie An readily agreed and led Master Huang to the eaves of the Xie residence gate. Only then did Master Huang stammer, "Grand Commander, I won't hide it from you. I am a Martial Arts Grandmaster."
Xie An acknowledged Master Huang's displayed sincerity, "I already knew. You ran away yesterday before I could pay you. Are you coveting the mirror in my hand?"
Regarding a Martial Arts Grandmaster, Xie An felt it was better to be straightforward. It would be best to settle things at his doorstep today. If the negotiation broke down, Su Yuqing could come and capture him?
Master Huang smiled and said, "Grand Commander is very fortunate. Not only are you hiding a beauty in your golden house, but you're also hiding a fourth-rank Grandmaster. Truly remarkable."
Xie An secretly clicked his tongue.
This Master Huang was truly extraordinary.
With just a slight contact, he knew that Su Yuqing was a fourth-rank Grandmaster.
He had been with Su Yuqing for so many years and didn't know her strength...
After a pause, Master Huang chose to get straight to the point, "To be honest with you, this mirror is of great use to me. If Grand Commander is willing to return it, I am willing to do anything for Grand Commander."
Xie An said, "What do you need this mirror for?"
Master Huang weighed his words and finally said, "I am not a person who covets wealth and status. To be honest, this mirror is an ancestral item of a dear friend of mine. Now that my dear friend is over eighty years old and about to die, his greatest wish in life is to find his ancestral item so that he can have the face to meet his ancestors in the afterlife.
I am willing to help him fulfill this wish and complete our lifelong friendship.
I heard from the surrounding villagers that Grand Commander is heroic, righteous, and a just and upright official. Please fulfill my request.
Ten thousand taels of gold, or helping Grand Commander kill enemies, or any other request. I will definitely agree."
After speaking, Master Huang bowed deeply.
But in his heart, he was ten thousand times unwilling.
His injuries hadn't recovered much, and rashly fighting a fourth-rank Grandmaster would involve considerable risk. Moreover, this was human territory, and if this fourth-rank Grandmaster continued to call for reinforcements... that would simply be a disaster.
Left with no choice, Master Huang had to resort to this tactic.
Xie An, however, stared blankly at this Master Huang, greatly shocked in his heart.
He could already be certain.
This Master Huang was the Red Fox.
When Xie An was eating breakfast, he had asked Chunlan in detail about all the details of hiring the mirror polisher yesterday. Originally, Chunlan had asked the surrounding neighbors to find a familiar Master Li nearby to polish the mirror. As a result, she saw Master Huang setting up a stall on the way, and his price was half that of Master Li. Although Chunlan was cautious, she didn't know anything about martial arts. Chunlan had asked Master Huang why his price was so low, and Master Huang said that he was a newcomer and didn't have a reputation locally, so he had to lower his price. In order to convince Chunlan of his skills, Master Huang even polished a broken mirror in public, earning praise from countless people around him.
Chunlan, based on the principle of saving money, had hired Master Huang.
But Xie An knew, how could there be such a coincidence?
He had just obtained a bronze mirror from the Red Fox a while ago, and no one knew about it. This Master Huang came... Now Master Huang said that the bronze mirror was an ancestral item of his dear friend.
It was clear that the dear friend was the Red Fox, and also Master Huang himself!
