Chapter 55: Persuading Scholar Cai
However, in the simulation, Bachelor Cai successfully entered the Imperial Master's Palace, so he should have spiritual bones, right?
"Do you have a visiting card?" asked the doorman in front of Mr. Cai's mansion.
"No, but you can go and inform Mr. Cai that Ruan Xing is here to visit and he will meet me." Ruan Xing said confidently.
Even for the sake of his granddaughter, Master Cai dared not refuse to see her.
Not long after, the doorman came back and led Ruan Xing in.
Cai Xueshi was taking his granddaughter to watch the fish by the pond in the garden. He half leaned on the railing of the pavilion, holding his granddaughter with one hand and throwing out large pieces of fish food with the other hand, "Huhuhu, you are so lively, you all come over to eat. Nannan, do you think these little fish are pretty?"
The little girl just looked calmly at the rippling water surface, as small fishes scrambled to find food.
She looked like an exquisite crystal doll and could not understand the significance of Master Cai taking her to see these things. She was just passively led by Master Cai.
Ruan Xing stepped forward and said, "Greetings, Mr. Scholar."
Master Cai paused, put the fish food back on the plate, and turned around, "I wonder what Gang Leader Ruan wants to see me about?"
"Nothing much, I just came to the capital, and thought I had an old friend like you, so I came to meet you and keep in touch." Ruan Xing walked to the middle of the pavilion and sat down. Looking at the empty table, he sighed and said to the servant next to him, "What are you doing? Serve tea."
The servant looked at Mr. Cai and got permission before going down to prepare tea.
Cai Xueshi snorted and laughed, "What? You treat me like your own family? I don't have any feelings for you, so there's no need to keep in touch."
"Just to show some concern. Hey, how is your daughter? Have you gone to see the Imperial Master?"
Ruan Xing asked curiously.
Upon hearing this, Cai Xueshi's expression fell, and he said gloomily, "You ask even though you already know the answer."
Well, this old man still thinks that he is related to the Red-headed Taoist, but Ruan Xing really doesn’t understand. The Red-headed Taoist’s method of making puppets comes from the "Ghost Records of the Netherworld". The book only records the puppet materials and refining methods, but Ruan Xing doesn’t have the old man’s memory. How can he know how the old man, a mortal with no cultivation, can refine so many useless puppets.
And the book doesn't explain how to restore the puppet to its original state.
However, looking at the expression on Cai Xueshi's face, Ruan Xing could guess that it would not be a good outcome. Ruan Xing continued, "Since the Imperial Master can't solve this problem, why don't you think of other ways? Isn't her soul still there? You can buy her a body in the future and raise her again. Isn't that better than holding on to this empty shell? You don't only care about this empty shell that is related to you by blood, do you?"
"Of course not. Do you have a solution?" Master Cai was somewhat tempted, but still remained skeptical.
"I can't do it, but the National Master might be able to do it. However, taking over another's body is a horrifying thing, and the National Master may not be willing to help you. It's better for you to do it yourself. Isn't the National Master recruiting disciples? You can become his disciple and practice Taoism with all your heart, and one day you will achieve your wish." Ruan Xing said with a smile.
"Possessing a body?" Cai Xueshi was shocked for a moment, and then remained silent for a long while. "I am already sixty-seven years old, and I don't know how many years I have left to live. How can I learn even a little bit of the skills of the Imperial Master?"
"It's okay. You're only sixty-seven, which is the right age for you to make a breakthrough." Ruan Xing said sincerely, "There are ways to prolong life by practicing Taoism. Otherwise, why would so many retired officials go to the Imperial Master's Palace? Could it be that they are really pure-hearted and have seen through the world? You are also of this age. You should know what they want."
The older people get, the more they fear death, especially those who have struggled for half their lives and have reached a high position. They no longer have the courage they had when they were young, and enjoy wealth and glory, so they worry even more that they will not be able to enjoy this good life.
Although Mr. Cai was not as paranoid as those people, he was also worried that his granddaughter would have no one to take care of her after his death, so he naturally wanted to live a few more years.
After considering the two aspects, I actually felt that what Ruan Xing said made sense.
He suddenly smiled and said, "You are so young, but you are so sinister and cruel. I'm afraid you are also here to possess someone else's body?"
Ruan Xing smiled and said, "Guess?"
On the surface, Master Cai is a kind old man who loves his juniors, but in fact, he has been up and down in the court for half his life, and is not a charitable and friendly person. Even if he thinks that Ruan Xing is taking over someone else's body, he will keep it to himself and will not tell anyone. Instead, he will trust Ruan Xing more, because this way, he will have more hope of saving his daughter.
He hesitated for a moment, looking down in thought.
Ruan Xing saw this and did not urge him. Just then, the servant brought the tea and snacks up. She brushed her fingers over the slightly hot rim of the cup, flicking away the white smoke that was rising. "When you go to the Imperial Master's Palace, you will understand that everything I said was not a lie. And I will be with you disguised as a servant. If you are worried at all, you can report me to the Imperial Master at any time. I will not bother you any more. Goodbye."
"I think you just want to enter the Imperial Palace through me?" Scholar Cai suddenly understood Ruan Xing's intention.
"Yes." Ruan Xing admitted generously, leaning forward on the table with his chin supported by his hand, picking up the teacup and taking a sip. "But this does not conflict with your saving your daughter. Let's call it a win-win situation?"
Mr. Cai snorted coldly, flicked his sleeves and turned away as if he was angry.
"Humph, get the guest out!"
But Ruan Xing understood that even if he agreed with this attitude, he just felt that he was too old to be embarrassed to collude with her.
She smiled nonchalantly, stood up, and reminded him, "I'll come to see you in a few days, don't forget."
The servant led her out of the gate of Cai's mansion again.
With nothing to do, Ruan Xing went back to the inn first, because she still had one thing to solve, which was the problem of Jian Lai.
Actually Jianlai's strength will be of no use after the foundation-building stage, but Ruan Xing can't do without him now. If it weren't for Jianlai in the simulation, Ruan Xing would have died at least dozens of times. However, Jianlai's strength is growing. He can learn ghost cultivation techniques independently, and in the future, if he has spiritual materials and treasures, they can be refined and upgraded for him.
After all, Jian Lai is a puppet made by ghost cultivation methods. Although he is good at hiding, he will still be discovered if he gets on the Golden Core Immortal's vehicle with her.
Fortunately, Jianlai could cross the mountain pass alone. First, the border barrier only protected living things. Jianlai himself was no different from stone, without breathing or heartbeat, so the barrier could not protect him. Second, the monsters in the forest had no interest in his incorruptible corpse, and could not see through his seclusion. Jianlai could move freely between the immortal world and the mortal dynasty without any effort.
If Ruan Xing hadn't been unable to practice ghost cultivation, she would have wanted to practice this ghost escape technique. Moreover, there was quite a lot of content recorded in the "Netherworld Ghost Record", and there were also some very advanced spell categories. Although Ruan Xing couldn't practice it directly, she could learn from it and apply it to other situations after she entered the Dao in the future.
Hey wait, this ghost cultivation technique is so powerful, how did the Red-Headed Taoist get it?
Ruan Xing suddenly realized, could this be the will of heaven, through the red-headed Taoist priest, preparing a golden finger for the heroine? So even if she killed the red-headed Taoist priest in advance, the heroine would still get this "Ghost Record of the Netherworld" in other ways in the future?
It would be better to let her give it. Maybe the heroine can even do her a favor. She remembered that the heroine was the type who would repay a grudge and a favor.
She has already reminded the heroine to keep her eyes open when getting married. If she still goes down the old path as in the original plot, Ruan Xing will have no choice but to give her some skills in advance to help her avoid taking detours.
Ruan Xing asked the waiter to get paper and pen, and wrote a letter to Hu San, explaining some things to him. He also asked Jian Lai to go to the cave and get the 40,000 taels of silver and the original copy of "Ghost Records of the Netherworld".
Anyway, he can escape quickly through the ghost escape technique. When she leaves with the national teacher in a few days, she can let Jian Lai follow the direction of his puppet essence and central mind connection and cross the mountain pass to chase him. This way, it will be convenient for her to get the money earned by the Red Head Gang in the future.
After all, the annual income is 20,000 taels. Even if she only takes half of it, it would be ten low-grade spirit stones, enough to buy several bottles of Qi Gathering Pills for cultivation.
After Jianlai came back with the silver notes and the secret book, Ruan Xing asked Cui Yurong for help again. "I know it's hard to exchange large amounts of silver at the bank, so I still need your help. I'll exchange all the 60,000 silver notes into gold and silver. I'll give you this as a gift. You can read it as a storybook. Anyway, just write it down and burn it. Don't let anyone know."
There is only outflow of gold and silver in this dynasty, and no import. Even if there are more gold and silver mines, they are not enough for circulation. No wonder silver bills are mostly used in large transactions. Because the amount of gold and silver in the entire dynasty is limited, more or less gold and silver will be taken out by the national teacher's disciples every once in a while, so naturally less and less will be left.
"Miss Ruan saved my life. Now I have nothing to repay you, which makes me feel ashamed. How can such a small thing be considered as helping?" Cui Yurong took the secret book and the banknote, and said with some shame.
"As for this book, it is a gift from Miss Ruan. I will read it every day and cherish it."
"It's up to you, as long as no one else sees us." Ruan Xing waved his hand.
It doesn't matter to Ruan Xing if others see it, but if the male protagonist sees it, it will matter to the original female protagonist. Maybe he is worried that the female protagonist's evil spirit will come to claim her life, so he directly asks the national master to disperse her soul.
Then wouldn't the plot be a complete collapse?
It's hard to say whether it's good or bad, but theoretically Ruan Xing hopes that the plot will collapse. She doesn't want to be unknowingly involved and become a cannon fodder at any time, especially since she doesn't know what the plot will be like later, so there's no way to avoid it even if she wants to.
But she also didn't want the heroine, with whom she had had an intersection, to end up like this.
In just two or three days, Cui Yurong brought all the gold and silver. It was amazing that she was running around for her father's case and yet was able to help her exchange the silver so efficiently.
Among them were more than four thousand taels of gold and more than twenty thousand taels of silver, which were placed in a five-foot square wooden box. She took fifty taels of gold and put them in her bag, and asked Jianlai to carry two hundred taels of gold. The rest was all put into the simulator.
There is no other way. It is too inconvenient to carry things like gold and silver. It is a pity that the simulator can only be recharged and cannot be redeemed. Otherwise, it can be used as a portable space to store money.
Ruan Xing sent Jian Lai to the border, while he packed his small bag and went to Cai's mansion, waiting to move into the National Master's Palace with Scholar Cai. He didn't know when the National Master would leave, so he would have to ask Scholar Cai later.
At this moment, Master Cai was full of doubts about his life. He had not digested all the information he got from the National Master's Palace in a whole day and a night.
"You must have done it on purpose." Cai Xueshi said bitterly, "I never knew there was such a thing as cultivating immortals in this world."
"Don't blame me for not telling you. The main reason is that I don't know how many people in the court know about this matter. Who can know and who can't know is a science. You have been in the officialdom for a long time and should know more than me. What if I tell you in advance and make the Imperial Master doubt your source and purpose of the information? It's better to be safe than sorry."
The control over the Luoqi Pill in this place is too strict. If she didn't have a simulator that could simulate the world of immortal cultivation, she might not be able to reach the innate level in her lifetime just in this mortal dynasty.
Therefore, Ruan Xing thought that since they had control over the Luoqi Pill, they would probably also control the news about cultivating immortals. It was highly likely that only some aristocratic families and royal families with a long history knew something about it.
The imperial examination was popular here, and Mr. Cai was not from an aristocratic family, but had passed the exam step by step through his own efforts. It was normal for him not to know, and it would be abnormal if he knew. Based on this consideration, and also because she was too lazy to explain, Ruan Xing did not tell the whole story.
"It is because of my understanding that I feel you are unfathomable. I even feel fortunate that I did not get angry and blame you in Jiangning City. It turned out to be the right decision for me. If I had wanted to kill you at that time, I would not only fail to take my daughter with me, but I would have to leave my old bones behind as well, right?" Master Cai shook his head and smiled bitterly.
Ruan Xing thought to herself, that’s not necessarily true. At that time, she had not yet reached the innate level and was still in a weak group. How could she resist Master Cai’s Thousand Feather Guards?
However, she would not take the initiative to expose her shortcomings. The old man had a good brain, so she would not break his imagination. The more he imagined, the more help he might be able to provide in the future.
"Let's not talk about the past. Lord Cai, has the Imperial Master said when we will set out to the outside world?"
Scholar Cai thought for a moment and said, "Probably June. The Imperial Master said that June has one last disciple. After he says goodbye to his family, he will leave the Imperial Master's Palace."
June... there aren't many days left.
Ruan Xing felt relaxed and happy. "Then Lord Cai also said goodbye to his son and daughter-in-law before entering the Imperial Master's Palace?"
"I... probably don't need it." Scholar Cai's expression became lonely. "My son is also on a mission. He cannot return to the capital before his term is over. Since the incident with Nannan... I have almost nothing to say to them. This time I have to take Nannan with me, not to mention it."
"Huh?" Ruan Xing was surprised. "Didn't they say that we should cut off the secular world and not bring our relatives with us?"
"The Imperial Master said... Nannan is not a relative." Scholar Cai looked at the quiet Nannan with a complicated look, "He said that Nannan is no different from a pen, a piece of ink, a table and chair, or a knife."
She didn't even need to take up a place as a choress.
Ruan Xing's eyes also showed a trace of pity, "Come to think of it, I don't know your names yet."
"My name is Cai Wen, and my daughter's full name is Cai Jiao."
(End of this chapter)
