People in the Qin Dynasty sought good fortune and avoided misfortune.

Chapter 51, Chaos, Crisis
Looking at the steward's gloomy face, Xu Qing shook his head.

"I've always been the only one in this room."

The manager's expression softened slightly, and he said to Xu Qing...
"That's good. Please stay here for now and don't go out."

"What happened? What's going on outside?" Xu Qing asked.

"Someone attacked the Yi Bao Conference. One of our distinguished guests was killed, and the assassins have scattered and fled. We are worried that the assassins have targeted more than one guest. There are disciples of my Qianlong Hall protecting the Jiazi Building outside, so you are perfectly safe staying here."

The steward's words were filled with anger, and his eyes were brimming with murderous intent.

The Yi Bao Conference is the signature event of Qianlong Hall. If someone dares to cause trouble at the Yi Bao Conference, or even kill a guest, it's practically the same as ruining Qianlong Hall's livelihood.

"What? Who has the audacity to kill someone in the Hidden Dragon Hall?" Xu Qing asked in surprise.

Although he knew that there would be problems at this Yibao Conference, he never expected that someone would dare to kill someone.

If it's just disrupting the treasure exchange event and stealing treasures, that can only be considered provocation; at worst, it's just being blind and stealing from the wrong person.

If it were murder, the situation would be completely different. People would travel thousands of miles to the Qianlong Hall Treasure Exchange Conference to exchange treasures, but Qianlong Hall couldn't even protect their safety. Who would dare to come in the future?
"The cause of the problem has not yet been determined. Please, Imperial Physician, remain where you are and do not move."

The manager clearly didn't want to say anything more, so he bowed to Xu Qing and left.

Xu Qing didn't press the matter, after all, this was a shameful affair of the Hidden Dragon Hall.

After the steward closed the door, Xu Qing walked to the window and looked solemnly at the chaotic situation outside.

At this moment, a large number of disciples inside the Hidden Dragon Hall were carrying sharp swords and torches, searching for assassins everywhere. Each pavilion was protected, and the guests who came to participate in the Treasure Exchange Conference were also protected by the disciples of the Hidden Dragon Hall and entered the safe pavilions.

Who on earth dared to do this? And what was their motive? Lacking clues, Xu Qing couldn't guess either.

"Instead of worrying about these trivial matters, I'd rather continue reading my bamboo slips. The ones who should be troubled are Qianlong Hall, the Farmer's Family, and Lord Changping, not me."

Xu Qing sat down on the ground and continued to study the Eight Swords of Noble Void in his arms.

Judging from the name alone, he felt this sword technique was powerful and terrifying. Liezi pursued emptiness and naturalness, advocating valuing emptiness. This sword technique, named after valuing emptiness, symbolizes Liezi's school of thought on valuing emptiness. How bad could it be?

Compared to Xu Qing's indifference, Situ Wanli was in a state of utter confusion.

In a private room, Situ Wanli stared at the corpse of a guest on the ground, his fists clenched, his face extremely grim.

After the exchange of treasures began, everyone was discussing how to exchange treasures when suddenly a group of assassins rushed into the venue and began indiscriminately shooting at everyone present with their crossbows.

Fortunately, all the participants in the Yi Bao Conference had guards with them, otherwise more than two people would have died. But even so, the rest of the participants were injured to varying degrees.

"Issue the order to mobilize all forces of the Hidden Dragon Hall. We must find those assassins and the mastermind behind them, at all costs." Situ Wanli's face was gloomy, his eyes filled with rage.

"Yes."

After the steward and his disciples left, Situ Wanli looked at the corpses on the ground and felt a headache coming on, but at the same time, he was also somewhat relieved.

The two people who died were a feudal lord from the royal family of Qi, and a famous wandering knight from Chu whom he temporarily brought in to replace Xu Qing.

Those who could participate in the Yi Bao Conference were either rich or noble, and the person who was killed was Lord Yinping, a member of the royal family of Qi, who had great influence in Qi.

If not handled properly, Qianlong Hall will not only suffer heavy losses, but may even face retaliation from the State of Qi.

Fortunately, it was Lord Yinping of Qi who died, not someone else. The agricultural community and the state of Qi were inextricably linked; there couldn't be two separate "fields" within a single state.

Thanks to the relationship between the farmers and the State of Qi, as long as the murderer is caught, the State of Qi can suppress the matter and prevent it from escalating.

Situ Wanli then looked at the corpse of the wandering knight, which had been riddled with arrows.

If the assassin was after Lord Yinping, then this wandering knight was simply unlucky.

After the assassins rushed into the scene, they immediately began shooting indiscriminately. Because the wandering knight was located next to Yinping Jun, he was the second most hit by arrows.

The wandering knight had no guards to protect him and was eventually shot into a pincushion.

"Who could it be? Did the Hidden Dragon Hall offend someone? Or did I offend someone? Or perhaps..."

Situ Wanli's expression suddenly became unpredictable, his eyes darting around as a terrible suspicion formed in his mind.

"No, doing this will only harm the farmers' interests!"

Situ Wanli said he didn't believe it, but his clenched fists said it all.

The search by the disciples of Qianlong Hall continued, and the noise outside the window and the torchlight did not affect Xu Qing's reading of the bamboo slips.

The tightly closed door was suddenly opened, and Xu Qing snapped out of his reverie while looking at the bamboo slips. He turned his head and saw Situ Wanli. "Imperial Physician, how is your diagnosis?" Situ Wanli asked.

The smile was gone from his face, replaced by a sorrowful expression. With such a major incident occurring in the Hidden Dragon Hall, his position as hall master could be replaced at any moment, so naturally he couldn't smile anymore.

"Master Situ, what's the situation outside?" Xu Qing asked in return.

"Alas, it's safe now. I never expected anyone would dare to attack Qianlong Hall. It was my fault for not being hospitable enough and for frightening the Imperial Physician." Situ Wanli bowed to Xu Qing.

"Master Situ is too kind. I have been staying in Jiazi Building and have not been affected in any way," Xu Qing said, shaking his head.

"This time it was ultimately a problem of my Hidden Dragon Hall. Fortunately, the Imperial Physician did not participate in the Treasure Exchange Conference, otherwise..." Situ Wanli recounted the miserable state of the unfortunate wandering knight.

Xu Qing felt a lingering fear upon hearing this; he was glad he hadn't participated. Faced with a barrage of dozens of crossbow bolts, he wouldn't have been able to escape with his current strength.

Even if he is lucky enough to survive, his martial arts skills will be exposed, and Han Yu is there, so he will definitely discover that he knows martial arts.

Korean royal medical institutions have regulations that prohibit royal physicians from learning martial arts. They may learn some basic moves for health and fitness, but they are not allowed to learn internal martial arts.

At that point, Xu Qing will either have to give up the Imperial Physician's Order and everything he has now, and be expelled from Xinzheng. Or he will be used by Han Yu to blackmail him and become his pawn.

"That's truly frightening. Luckily, I'm poor enough that I only have one treasure to show off," Xu Qing said with a laugh.

"Let's not talk about that anymore. How's your reading of the bamboo slips? Is there anything you like?" Situ Wanli asked.

"I do have some, but I don't know if I can exchange them for the jade ball I brought," Xu Qing said with a smile.

"Imperial Physician, if you see anything you like, feel free to take it. Don't ask for anything in return. This is your first time at Qianlong Hall, and you've already encountered such a situation. Consider these bamboo slips as compensation," Situ Wanli said.

"How can that be?" Xu Qing declined.

"Why not?"

After some initial refusals, Xu Qing finally succumbed to Situ Wanli's enthusiasm and took the five bamboo scrolls with him.

One scroll of the Noble Void Sword Technique, two scrolls of medical books, and two scrolls of bamboo slips that I have not yet read.

Situ Wanli watched Xu Qing's carriage leave, the smile on his face gradually fading away.

"Master, sending five scrolls of bamboo slips to the Imperial Physician at once, I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to the higher-ups, won't it?" the steward whispered.

“I will take full responsibility,” Situ Wanli said in a deep voice.

If he could, he certainly wouldn't want to give Xu Qing five scrolls of bamboo slips for free. Giving one or two scrolls would have been enough to show his sincerity, but this sudden attack forced him to increase his efforts to befriend Xu Qing.

This assassination attack has tarnished the reputation of the Hidden Dragon Hall, and he, as the hall master, cannot escape blame.

The internal strife between the Tian family and other families within the peasant clan was fierce. Although Qianlong Hall was an unofficial branch outside the six main halls and had little real power within the peasant clan, it was still very wealthy.

Many people with the surname Tian are eyeing the leader of the Qianlong Hall, wanting to take him under their control.

Previously, he had managed the Qianlong Hall very well, so these people couldn't openly rob it. Now that such a thing has happened, the Tian family will definitely take the opportunity to make trouble and seize the Qianlong Hall.

He was naturally unwilling to hand over the Qianlong Hall, which he had painstakingly built, to others. In order to keep his position as the hall master, he had to do something to make up for his mistakes.

Winning over Xu Qing and leveraging Xu Qing's reputation as a divine physician to build a network of connections for Qianlong Hall is the most suitable way for him to make up for his mistakes.

Therefore, no matter the cost, he had to do everything he could to befriend Xu Qing and get Xu Qing to agree to his deal as soon as possible.

On the other side, Xu Qing looked at the five bamboo scrolls in his arms with a smile on his face.

With the Guixu Sword Technique, he can make up for his lack of offensive means, and his strength can be further improved.

Just as Xu Qing was looking forward to the future with great anticipation, a dark shadow flashed through the surrounding woods, the coachman suddenly collapsed, and the carriage, which had been moving, came to an abrupt stop.

Xu Qing's expression changed, and a silver needle appeared in his hand.

"What's wrong?" Xu Qing asked tentatively.

The driver did not reply, and silence fell over the surroundings.

Three dark figures appeared in front of the carriage, their bright swords gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

I'll be updating a chapter early this morning for tomorrow. If you're still awake, please read it for me. If you have monthly tickets, you can try to grab some red envelopes and help me climb the rankings.

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(End of this chapter)