Yinshan Record

Chapter 418 Returning Wind and Withered Snow, Quiet Night's Journey (Part 2)

The Imperial Censors of the Censorate held high positions and wielded great power, with a large number of people watching each of them. While the Imperial Guards were indeed of impeccable lineage, the fact that each of them had a clean background made it difficult to hide anything.

They're all old buddies who've known each other since the founding of the Great Liang Dynasty. If you send Zhang's third son to be some kind of mysterious assassin, the whole neighborhood will know about it in a couple of days. You can't hide anything from anyone if you're up to something.

The Jingye Division is a mixed bag, but if there really are any spies, it would be better to just plant them here.

Su Che looked at the short sword in his hand.

The Jingye Division possesses a total of 108 short swords, each supposedly given to core members, and none are replaced if damaged or lost. But where did this one come from?
Su Che carefully took the short sword, but what he was thinking was that the short sword of the Jingye Division had no other features. It was as simple as a work of art. What if someone with ulterior motives took it?
"I understand."

Su Che put the heavy short sword he was holding into his sleeve.

"If you understand, then get on with it right away."

The people of Yueluan seemed to suddenly become amiable again.

"Come to Shanyin County after you've finished your business. Alliance Leader Yu is waiting for you. Also, be careful in Cizhou City. That Su Che, hmph, he's no pushover."

The fact that his family's reputation was so well-known here made Su Che somewhat happy; his family's name had finally spread. However, it also made the Third Young Master Su feel uneasy.

If this person were to come knocking on our door, how could we, with only a few cats and dogs in Cizhou City, possibly fight back?
"I don't think Su Che is anything special. If you, senior, were to make a move, he would surely be captured easily."

"What do you know?"

Yue Luan glanced at Su Che: "That one is the reincarnation of the ancient Azure Emperor Ling Weiyang, and he has someone looking after him."

He shook his head as he spoke.

"You wouldn't understand if I told you all this, so forget it, go ahead."

After Su Che's avatar, the Ming King, bid farewell to the mysterious Elder Yue, his true self immediately took action, summoning Lu Bai and Zhu Yi and instructing them to investigate the courtyard Yue Luan had mentioned.

Within a quarter of an hour, Zhu Yi came back to report that the courtyard belonged to Shi Chibao.

"That house was bought by the Chief Justice a few years ago, but it has never been used. I don't know why you are asking about it, young master."

They even tracked down their own doorstep.

Su Che's first reaction was that Shi Chibao was suspicious. This old guy was pretending to be wronged on the surface, but he was actually playing dumb to take advantage of others. He might be someone else's mole.

But on second thought, I realized that Commander Shi shouldn't be a suspect.

If Shi Chibao really had a problem, Old Su from Jiankang wouldn't have placed himself in Cizhou City.

Su Che thought for a moment, said nothing, told Zhu Yi to stop staring at that courtyard, then ordered some gifts to be prepared and went directly to Shi Chibao's residence.

Although Commander Shi was a powerful official in Cizhou, he lived in a very ordinary place, just a small courtyard not far from the commander's office. There were a few jujube trees in the courtyard, which were now laden with bright red jujubes that made one's mouth water just looking at them.

"Brother, you're always so busy, what brings you here today?"

“This is a good opportunity for Li Wanji to rest,” Su Che said, looking at Shi Chibao.

This once-powerful chief of criminal investigation now resembles an elderly wealthy man, wearing a loose cotton robe and with messy hair. However, the bitterness that used to be often seen on his face is gone, replaced by a sense of relief.

When Shi Chibao met Su Che, he didn't stand on ceremony and ordered someone to serve him tea. He simply had his old servants bring over two stools, and they chatted idly under the jujube tree in the courtyard.

Su Che originally wanted to bring up the matter of the courtyard, but Commander Shi seemed to be engrossed in the conversation, so he just listened to Shi Chibao talking.

It's nothing more than reminiscing about the past and sighing over the ordinary stories of fleeting years.

Shi Chibao continued talking about Su Che's journey from Jiankang to the south.

"Brother, you don't know, but your journey south to Cizhou was incredibly arduous for me. The mountain spirits, water monsters, bandits, and thugs along the way—I led a large group of men and followed you all the way to the gates of Shanyin County. Otherwise, how could you have made it safely with just that little page?" This was the first time Shi Chibao had mentioned this matter, which surprised Su Che quite a bit. He hadn't expected that his connection with this Commander Shi was already established from the very beginning.

According to Shi Chibao, when he heard that Su Che was going south to take up an official post, he did not wait for Jiankang to inform him. Instead, he led his team to Tian'an County, the first stop from Jiankang to Cizhou, to wait for Su Che. They went there and back again, cleaning up the streets thoroughly.

At the time, there were several other groups protecting Su Che, but Shi Chibao and his men had a tacit understanding with the other side, knowing that it was a force directly under the command of the Imperial Guard. They kept their agreement and escorted him all the way to the outskirts of Shanyin County.

There, Shi Chibao said they encountered some kind of "ghost wall" phenomenon, but he guessed it was done by his fellow travelers. He thought they were just an eyesore, so he led his team back to Cizhou and didn't send anyone to Shanyin County afterward.

The honest and simple-minded Commander Shi thought he might have accidentally offended the master by trying to flatter him. Perhaps Master Su just wanted his son to gain experience in the world, but he had just gone too far and upset him.

As the saying goes, you don't punish the greedy, you don't punish the lazy, you only punish the blind.

However, when Su Che heard these words, he had a different meaning in his heart.

Perhaps everything in that Kulin Temple was arranged by someone with ulterior motives. It is very likely that someone from the Zhongyuan or Zhongshan Society deliberately led me to Kulin Temple in order to uncover the cause and effect of the old lion from back then.

The reincarnation of the Azure Emperor?

It was merely the result of Zhongyuan and his associates' deliberate design.

In the end, Su Che finally confirmed the current condition of Commander Shi.

th.

Feeling he was destined to be blamed and made a scapegoat, he quickly recovered from his mental exhaustion and completely gave up.

Of course, there was also his own motivation. Shi Chibao had watched him grow rapidly. When he first entered Cizhou, he was just a novice cultivator. And now? He was already a fifth-grade Rejuvenating Core cultivator, firmly established at the pinnacle of his cultivation.

Shi Chibao was only at the sixth rank of cultivation.

It's just that everyone's fate is different, so it's better to accept it sooner rather than later.

Su Che carefully steered the conversation, bringing up Shi Chibao's properties in Cizhou City. Su Che felt it was best to sell them quickly to avoid future trouble.

But Shi Chibao was easygoing; he had already made enough money and didn't care about a little more.

Besides, if the imperial court really investigates, whether we sell or not makes little difference, and even how much money we save is meaningless.

It was just money saved up for His Majesty the Emperor.

"That courtyard in Nanxiang Lane, buddy..."

"Do you still need to borrow a house? Your new house is magnificent."

Shi Chibao looked at Su Che with some surprise: "And I lent that house to Chief Secretary Wang."

"Ok?"

"That was before he came to Cizhou. His wife, who had already disappeared, said she wanted to find a secluded place, so I lent them the house. Don't marry a woman from a high-ranking family. Look at the wife I brought home from the Xie family of Chenjun. After all these years, she hasn't even had a son or daughter, and she's still causing trouble for us."

Shi Chibao looked at Su Che and said, "If you ask me, brother, you should find a pretty girl from a humble family and have a few more children. Even if you're cultivating immortality, it won't stop you from having kids."

Su Che nodded without saying anything and continued listening to Shi Chibao's story.

Wang Jian.

After going around in circles, we've come full circle again.

(End of this chapter)