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

Chapter 73, Xu Qing: Miss Zi Nu, I can explain (Seeking monthly votes!!)
"Bang bang bang~"

Xu Qing looked at the courtyard gate and became wary; at this time, almost no one would come looking for him.

Taking the crossbow from the table and activating it with his internal energy, Xu Qing cautiously walked towards the door.

Opening the courtyard gate, Xu Qing looked surprised as he saw the person at the entrance, and at the same time, he released the internal energy from his crossbow.

"Left Sima? Why are you here at this hour?"

Xu Qing looked at Liu Yi, the Left Sima, at the door with great confusion.

The person standing at the door was Liu Yi, the Left Sima of Han, Ji Wuye's confidant in the court, the husband of Lady Hu, the sister of Consort Hu, and the mastermind behind the Fire Rain Manor massacre.

"I apologize for disturbing you, Imperial Physician. I suddenly fell ill and happened to be not far from you, so I took the liberty of disturbing you and asking you to take a look at me."

Liu Yi smiled and bowed, adopting a very humble posture.

Xu Qing glanced at the box in Liu Yi's hand, then gave Liu Yi a meaningful look, and knew the real purpose of Liu Yi's visit.

It wasn't a sudden physical ailment; it was that he was frustrated in his official career and wanted to try his luck in the inner palace.

“In that case, Zuo Sima, please come in.” Xu Qing stepped aside.

"Thank you very much, Imperial Physician." Liu Yi said happily.

Despite being a mere Left Sima, Liu Yi's attitude towards Xu Qing, a mere Imperial Physician with no real power, was so humble that he felt no discomfort whatsoever. On the contrary, he was delighted to be able to enter Xu Qing's home.

After all, not just anyone can enter this door. Outside, you might think Xu Qing is a powerless imperial physician, but once you're inside, you'll have to think twice about what you call yourself.

Xu Qing invited Liu Yi into a side room, asked him to sit down, and began to take his pulse.

"The Left Sima's pulse is like a thin thread. It seems he has been working hard for the country, which has taken a toll on his health," Xu Qing said softly.

Liu Yi coughed awkwardly twice, then looked regretful.

"Yes, recently there have been signs of renewed conflict on the border, and the court has been working hard on this. It's just a pity that the position of Right Sima is vacant, and the Grand General needs to be stationed in Xinzheng, so some matters remain unresolved."

Through Liu Yi's words, Xu Qing understood the other party's intentions and couldn't help but feel doubtful.

Back when they attacked Baiyue, Liu Yi was the Left Sima. Now, so many years later, Liu Yi, a confidant of Ji Wuye, is still the Left Sima.

There must be another reason behind this, otherwise Liu Yi would not have come to him, hoping to obtain the position of Right Sima through his connections.

"The Left Sima speaks too much. I am merely the Imperial Physician of the Inner Palace; matters of the court are not my concern."

"You are the General's favorite general. If there is fighting on the front lines, the General will certainly not forget you."

Xu Qing withdrew her hand and looked at Liu Yi with a smile.

Liu Yi was slightly taken aback, then revealed a helpless smile.

"I was just speaking from the heart, and I've said too much. I came to see the Imperial Physician to have my pulse checked. May I ask the Imperial Physician if there is a solution to the cause of my discomfort?" Liu Yi looked at Xu Qing expectantly.

Those within his own circle know his own situation. The reason he became Ji Wuye's confidant was because he had offered the treasures of Huoyu Manor to Ji Wuye and King Han An.

Of course, he did not hand over all the treasure; he only gave over one-third of it.

With this one-third of the treasure, he should have risen rapidly in rank, but Ji Wuye vaguely guessed that he might have embezzled part of the treasure. In addition, the court needed to maintain a balance, so he never made him the Right Sima.

He understood Ji Wuye's character; if he admitted to embezzling the treasure, he would not only lose the position of Right Sima, but might even lose his life.

As long as he insists he didn't embezzle the treasure and there's no evidence, and given that Ji Wuye doesn't want Zhang Kaidi and the Fourth Prince Han Yu to seize military power, he won't be touched.

The title of Right Sima was Liu Yi's obsession, because Li Kai, whom he had framed years ago, was the Right Sima.

His jealousy of Li Kai, coupled with his wife's lingering affection for Li Kai, fueled his intense desire for the position of Right Sima.

That's why he risked trying to get through Xu Qing's connections, hoping to use the influence of the concubines in the inner palace to make him the Right Sima.

Xu Qing looked at Liu Yi, but he had no intention of helping him at all. He couldn't understand how Liu Yi, who was usually a very shrewd person, could suddenly be blinded by greed.

He was Ji Wuye's man. If Ji Wuye found out that the other party had come to him asking for an official position, would he still have a chance to survive? It might even implicate him, a powerless and insignificant imperial physician.

"The Left Sima's health is not seriously affected. He just needs to avoid overworking himself and can occasionally take a break to recuperate," Xu Qing said.

Upon hearing this, Liu Yi's expectation dimmed. He knew that Xu Qing was unwilling to help him, and he quickly composed himself.

"Thank you for taking my pulse, Imperial Physician. I will find a doctor to help me recover. I didn't bring anything else with me today, just a small gift. Please accept it, Imperial Physician."

Liu Yi handed the box he had brought to Xu Qing and opened it.

A soft red light emanated from the box, which contained a priceless fire agate.

"I was merely taking Zuo Sima's pulse; I am unworthy of such a valuable gift. Please take it back," Xu Qing declined.

"Yes, yes, actually I have another matter to discuss with the Imperial Physician today. My wife and I have been married for many years, but we have no children."

"I have consulted many famous doctors to help my wife recuperate, but none of them worked."

"You are a famous doctor in Korea. I hope you can help my wife with her diagnosis and treatment someday, and find out where the illness is."

Liu Yi smiled broadly. He wasn't lying; he genuinely hoped Xu Qing could help his wife take a look.

Secondly, he also hoped to leave a good impression on Xu Qing. The reason Xu Qing was unwilling to help him now was simply because the price was not high enough. He believed that one day he could use money to make Xu Qing agree.

After another round of refusals, Xu Qing finally accepted the Fire Rain Agate.

Liu Yi did not linger and left Xu Qing's house with his men.

After locking the gate again, Xu Qing returned to the house and examined the Fire Rain Agate in her hand.

Xu Qing had no intention of offending Ji Wuye for a piece of Fire Rain Agate, especially since Hu Meiren was eager to find out the identity of Liu Yi, the real culprit.

Therefore, Xu Qing didn't want to have too much contact with Liu Yi, lest she be targeted by someone.

"Accepting the gift doesn't mean I agree. If Liu Yi keeps pestering me, I'll just make up some excuse to get rid of it." After putting the Fire Rain Agate back into the box, Xu Qing went back to bed and closed her eyes to rest.

Half an hour later, a hunched figure climbed into Xu Qing's house, carrying a dagger, and quietly headed towards Xu Qing's bedroom.

The sharp dagger slowly pushed open the door latch, and a reed tube stretched in through the crack in the door.

A thick plume of smoke blew in from the reed pipe, heading towards Xu Qing.

The figure peered through the crack at Xu Qing, who was unconscious on the bed, then quietly opened the door and instantly appeared in front of Xu Qing's bedside.

Looking at the box containing the Fire Rain Agate next to Xu Qing's pillow, the figure revealed a sinister smile and reached out to take the box.

Xu Qing suddenly opened his eyes, channeled his inner strength, and punched the figure in the abdomen.

The figure was instantly sent flying backward.

"Why did you wake up?"

The figure stared at Xu Qing in shock. His sleeping potion was specially prepared; even a top-notch expert would fall for it if they weren't careful.

Moonlight streamed through the window into the room, allowing Xu Qing to see the person who had entered.

The newcomer was wearing a cloak, had a hunched back, only half of his head was covered in hair, and his face wore a half-mask with a bird's beak.

“The Three Wolves with Broken Hair, and the Vulture.”

Xu Qing immediately recognized the other person's identity and understood why they had come.

“Swoosh~”

Taking advantage of Xu Qing's slight distraction, the vulture activated the pre-prepared mechanism, and more than a dozen arrows shot through the window and towards Xu Qing. At the same time, it used its lightness skill to break through the door and escape outside.

Seeing the incoming arrow, Xu Qing leaped off the bed and used his Wind Riding ability to dodge it.

Seeing the vulture flee, Xu Qing didn't bother to put on his clothes. He grabbed a piece of cloth, covered his face, took the crossbow given to him by the Six-Fingered Black Knight, and used the Wind Riding technique to chase after the vulture.

Knowing that he knew martial arts, Wujiu knew he could not be allowed to live. If he reported this to Ji Wuye, Wujiu would be dead.

Under the bright moonlight, two figures moved nimbly across the rooftops of Xinzheng.

The vulture looked at Xu Qing, who was hot on its heels, and sweat poured down its forehead.

As a survivor of the Three Wolves Who Broke Their Hair, Wujiu joined the Hundred Birds in order to seek revenge on Liu Yi and to retrieve the treasure of Fire Rain Manor, thus becoming the Wujiu he is today.

Besides carrying out various missions, he secretly kept an eye on Liu Yi, waiting for an opportunity to take revenge and find those Fire Rain Agates.

Tonight, he discovered that Liu Yi had found Xu Qing with a box. Considering the recent rumors about Xu Qing in Xinzheng, he guessed that Liu Yi might have gone there to deliver a gift, and the most presentable item Liu Yi had was the Fire Rain Agate.

He thought that as a second-rate martial arts expert, with his lightness skill and assassination abilities, it should be easy for him to take the Fire Rain Agate from a weak imperial physician.

So he swapped places with the assassin on duty, taking over the night patrol of Xinzheng in order to steal the Fire Rain Agate.

But he never expected that a royal physician who was not allowed to practice martial arts had even deeper internal strength than him.

How could this be allowed? Isn't Han Wang'an afraid that Xu Qing will give him a beating someday?

Fortunately, Xu Qing's lightness skill was not very proficient, otherwise he wouldn't even be able to run away now.

Seeing Xu Qing getting closer and closer behind him, Wujiu gritted his teeth and used all his strength to use his lightness skill to rush forward.

Looking at the vulture whose speed had increased again, Xu Qing couldn't help but feel a little regretful that he hadn't mastered the art of riding the wind as soon as possible.

At that moment, Xu Qing used his Wind Riding technique to chase after the vulture, while simultaneously using his internal energy to activate his crossbow, making it start spinning.

Xu Qing channeled all his internal energy into his legs, opening his wind acupoints. His speed increased once again, and in the blink of an eye, he swept over several rooftops, arriving less than thirty steps behind the vulture.

The vulture was shocked to see Xu Qing suddenly catch up to it. It threw the dagger in its hand at the vulture and at the same time took out its crossbow and shot arrows at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing used his agility to dodge the thrown daggers and arrows, while simultaneously aiming his crossbow at the vulture.

"Bang~"

The vulture's hairs stood on end, and a sense of crisis instantly enveloped him.

The silver needle burst forth with tremendous force, piercing through the air, with several white vortexes swirling around it.

Caught off guard, Xu Qing was forced back several steps by the powerful recoil. The wind tunnel beneath his feet was disrupted, the gale dissipated, and he fell straight down.

"Damn it, you didn't say this thing has recoil!"

Xu Qing mentally conceived of the Six-Fingered Black Knight, his eyes fixed on the vulture.

The silver needle, carrying immense force, pierced directly into the vulture's body, causing it to fall from mid-air like a kite with a broken string.

Seeing this, Xu Qing felt slightly relieved.

The sound of the roof collapsing rang out, and countless water droplets splashed up.

Xu Qing felt as if she had fallen into hot water. After choking on the water, she struggled upwards with both hands and grabbed whatever she could find in her panic.

"wrong!"

Xu Qing realized something was wrong and suddenly rushed out of the water.

A large curtain of water rose up, and through the falling mist, Xu Qing saw a small face that she recognized quite well.

Her stunningly beautiful face was covered in frost, and her narrow, beautiful eyes were filled with coldness.

"Miss Zi Nu, please let me explain!" Xu Qing said awkwardly.

P.S.: Double monthly votes from godfathers! Please vote!

(End of this chapter)