Mixed in the heavens, merits and virtues become immortals

Chapter 469 Guiding the Truth

I'm so tired of losing!
Xu Qi'an returned home with a dark expression. He naturally wouldn't develop any real feelings for the women in the brothel, but when Gu Qingzhen sent a sum of money to the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment institution) to redeem him, the girls all looked at him expectantly.

In the end, Xu Qi'an did not redeem anyone.

However, Xu Qi'an also lost this night of pleasure. He could have had a great time that night, but now his reputation in the brothel is ruined, and he has to face the contempt of the two princesses. What disgusts Xu Qi'an even more is that... Gu Qing didn't give him any of the gold.

It was as if God had sent him here to torment him.

"Miss Mingyan has such a clever tongue, if only I could play with a monkey..."

As Xu Qi'an was pondering this, he saw a severed hand in front of him. It was as if he had seen a ghost in the middle of the night. Xu Qi'an was filled with fear and opened his mouth to call Gu Qing for help, but the severed hand beat him to it, directly blocking Xu Qi'an's mouth, then pinching open his cheek and burrowing into his mouth.

Tears streamed down Xu Qi'an's face... his eyes were no longer clear.

That night, Xu Qi'an slept very restlessly. He was talking to the severed-handed Shen Shu, and also trying to understand Gu Qing again from Shen Shu's perspective. When he saw Gu Qing, Gu Qing was pulling his hand out of Xu Lingyue's collar.

"Brother Qing's hands are cold."

Xu Lingyue explained with a shy expression.

"Hehe, hehe."

Xu Qi'an curled his lips into a smirk. Gu Qing is already immune to heat and cold; you might as well say your heart is cold...

From Shen Shu's perspective, Xu Qi'an felt Gu Qing's oppressive force. Gu Qing's righteous aura seemed to be able to change at will, easily transforming into pure Buddhist light, which was all-pervasive and penetrated into the deepest part of the bones and soul, completely rescuing Heng Hui's soul.

"Did you see any demons at the brothel yesterday?"

Xu Qi'an stared intently and questioned him.

"I didn't notice."

With an innocent look on her face, Gu Qing said, "Those people inside are all pitiful."

A pitiful person? Could a pitiful person have caused the Sangbo case?

Xu Qi'an was speechless. In the end, he still had to rely on himself.

Gu Qing didn't need to worry about the aftermath of the Sangbo case. The escaped centurion Zhou Chixiong was arrested by Li Miaozhen, the second-in-command of the Heaven and Earth Society, and sent to the capital. Xu Qi'an then presented him to the emperor. After a confrontation, he revealed the mastermind behind the scenes, causing another upheaval in the court. However, Gu Qing didn't care about such matters at the court level. He spent his days boating with the princess, taking Xu Lingyue shopping, reading books in his spare time, and occasionally visiting the palace and the Grand Preceptor.

Gu Qing's favorability ratings across all aspects are rising comprehensively thanks to her actions.

On this day, Xu Qi'an had just returned from the Jiaofangsi when he saw Gu Qing carrying Xu Lingyue, the two of them riding on qi swords, descending slowly from the sky. When he saw this scene, Xu Qi'an was filled with envy.

"Is this a Taoist sword control technique?"

Xu Pingzhi asked in surprise, "Among the various cultivation schools, there are always ways to play around with it. But the path of martial arts is too rigid. There's nothing fancy about it. Take Gu Qing's sword control technique, for example. It's a combination of righteous energy and Taoist power that allows him to fly on a sword."

After landing, Gu Qing rubbed her face and said, "Uncle Xu, how could you let us down? You made me and Lingyue get scolded by people outside."

Xu Lingyue's face also flushed red, and she was furious.

"Whom have I let down?"

Xu Pingzhi stared wide-eyed and asked.

"Zhou Biao."

Gu Qing said casually, "I flew to Yongzhou with Lingyue. While we were traveling there, we met a man named Zhao Panyi. He talked to us for a while, and when he heard that Lingyue was your daughter, he became furious. He even scolded you for being ungrateful, saying that during the Battle of Shanhai, the old soldier Zhou Biao took a knife for you, and you promised to bring his children to the capital, but you abandoned them."

When Xu Qi'an heard this, he was momentarily stunned. His father was an old soldier. Xu Pingzhi had said many times that his father had died protecting Xu Pingzhi from a knife.

"What the hell?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Pingzhi's face twisted in pain, and he said, "Am I that weak? One person took a knife for me, two people took knives for me? It was my eldest brother who saved me back then!"

Xu Qi'an listened silently, feeling as if something inside him was about to shatter.

Since the tax silver case, Xu Qi'an could clearly feel that a force was secretly targeting him from time to time, and he also felt a strange aura on his body. Now, he suddenly heard the conversation between Gu Qing and Xu Pingzhi, as if he had caught something.

"Second Uncle, why have you stopped contacting Zhao Panyi?"

Xu Qi'an asked.

"Our relationship was indeed quite deep back then."

Xu Pingzhi said, "But no matter how deep the feelings are, they will eventually fade when people are separated by such a great distance."

As Xu Pingzhi said this, Xu Qi'an's face gradually turned strange. Could the bond between two people who had fought side by side be so bland?
"Besides, after my brother took the knife for me, all I wanted to do was raise Ning Yan."

Xu Pingzhi looked at his nephew and said, "I have no more desires."

Hearing his second uncle's words, Xu Qi'an felt a warmth in his heart. Although his second uncle had some minor flaws, he was truly devoted to his nephew.

At this moment, Gu Qing suddenly asked in surprise, "But wasn't Ning Yan's father a third-ranked scholar? Why did he go to the battlefield to take the blows?"

This sudden sentence, like a cold wind, blew into the hearts of Xu Pingzhi, Xu Qi'an, and Li Ru. It was as if something had been gently lifted at that moment. Tears welled up in Xu Pingzhi's eyes as he looked at Xu Qi'an and gritted his teeth, saying, "Ji Baiqing!"

"what?"

Xu Qi'an said in a daze.

"Your mother's name is Ji Baiqing!"

Xu Pingzhi shouted.

After saying this, Xu Pingzhi felt as if he had been struck by a heavy blow, and he immediately fainted. Xu Qi'an, listening to these words, also felt dazed. After a long while, he finally came to his senses. With the help of Shen Shu, Xu Qi'an memorized everything that had just happened, then suddenly reached out and grabbed Gu Qing's wrist, asking, "What is my father's name?"

The ability to shield one's secrets is a skill of sorcerers. They can completely erase all traces and written records left behind by themselves. Their parents, spouse, and children will forget their existence and only retain vague memories in their hearts, but they will never be able to recall them.

Just like Xu Qi'an, he always knew that his father was a veteran, but he never thought about what his father's name was or what his mother's name was. It was only now, inspired by Gu Qing, that Xu Qi'an learned from Xu Pingzhi that his mother's name was Ji Baiqing.

"Your father was the third-ranked scholar in the imperial examination in the tenth year of the Yuanjing era."

Gu Qing calmly said, "When I was reading in the palace, I noticed that a name that should have been on the daily records was missing. I wondered who that name was. When I thought about it carefully, I suddenly saw that the name written on the daily records was Xu Pingfeng. Then I knew that he was your father."

Xu Pingfeng, a third-place scholar in the imperial examinations, possesses the abilities of a sorcerer, and Ji Baiqing.

At this moment, Xu Qi'an finally understood who his opponent was and who had been plotting against him in the shadows.

I was immersed in the Jiaofangsi for more than ten days, but my own father cured my mental exhaustion!
Xu Qi'an remembered everything. Xu Pingzhi, Xu Lingyue, and Li Ru, who were standing next to him, had returned to "normal" by this time. Xu Lingyue was saying that Xu Pingzhi had let people down, but Xu Pingzhi denied it outright.

"Gu Qing, you have to help me."

At this moment, Xu Qi'an clung tightly to Gu Qing's leg, no longer complaining that Gu Qing was clueless, and no longer saying that Gu Qing had tricked him. Compared to a beast like Xu Pingfeng, Gu Qing was his father!
If you can easily see through Xu Pingfeng's secret of isolation, then you can easily blast Xu Pingfeng to dust in the future!
"Do you want to find Xu Pingfeng to acknowledge your relationship?"

Gu Qing asked.

Xu Pingzhi, who had just recovered, convulsed again upon hearing the name Xu Pingfeng and fainted.

"I dare not acknowledge you!"

Xu Qi'an said, "I want you to search for information about my father in the palace and find out what he has been doing all these years." Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory. Only by fully understanding what Xu Pingfeng is plotting can Xu Qi'an formulate a countermeasure.

"That's it."

Gu Qing nodded and said, "This is a small matter. Tomorrow you will come with me to the palace to read books, and I will find your father's things inside."

You can't keep taking advantage of someone forever; you have to give them a helping hand now and then and help them get back on their feet.

That night, Xu Qi'an tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Xu Pingzhi lay in bed, feeling completely disoriented. The next day, Gu Qing took Xu Qi'an to the capital. Holding Princess Lin'an's jade belt, Gu Qing could move freely within the capital. When they went to study in the palace, Gu Qing specifically summoned Huai Qing. Upon hearing Gu Qing's description and learning that someone in the court had erased traces, Huai Qing immediately took it seriously.

"It's the ability of the Celestial Master."

Huaiqing asserted, then looked at Gu Qing and said, "I don't want to forget what I saw and heard today."

It's like making a wish.

Gu Qing reached out and held Huai Qing's hand tightly, then closed her eyes and said, "You will never forget." After saying that, she released Huai Qing's hand.

"..."

Xu Qi'an saw all of this and thought of his second uncle, whom he had repeatedly beaten up yesterday.

In the imperial library, Xu Qi'an and Huai Qing were browsing through the daily records of the current dynasty and various records about court officials. Whenever they encountered a blank space, they would hand it to Gu Qing and ask him to think hard and fill in the blank.

In the blank space that was filled, Xu Qi'an saw a new scene. Ten years after Yuanjing, there was a huge force in the court called the "Xu Party". This party was too powerful, similar to Wei Yuan now, and naturally suffered attacks from all sides. Xu Pingfeng's Xu Party eventually chose to retreat in the continuous struggle.

"Among the many disciples of the Director of the Imperial Observatory, one is missing."

Beside Gu Qing, Huai Qing, unaffected by the Heavenly Mystery Master, naturally thought of these things and said, "If the sorcerer lineage wants to advance, they must condense their Qi and Luck."

"There was a Taoist priest in the imperial court at that time."

Princess Huaiqing said, "I heard from Brother Qing that the first person to advance in the Human Sect also needs to condense their Qi."

The two of them immediately clashed.

Xu Pingfeng's path forward was thwarted, so he prepared to look for other ways.

Xu Qi'an understood perfectly well that this path was to rebel, change dynasties, and rebuild the country. Therefore, the fortune on his body was the work of Xu Pingfeng, and Xu Pingfeng's constant targeting of him was precisely to bring him to his side so that he could absorb this fortune.

In order to protect him, the biological mother of this body, Ji Baiqing, went to the capital to give birth to Xu Qi'an, so that this destiny would be under the supervision of the supervisor in the capital, which is why Xu Qi'an was able to grow up in peace. It was also this destiny that made the supervisor look at Xu Qi'an differently.

Xu Qi'an put everything into account, and suddenly gripped the knife in his hand tightly.

"Brother Qing, could you take another look at my daily records?"

Princess Huaiqing spoke softly from the side.

When Emperor Yuanjing first ascended the throne, he worked diligently to govern the country. Then, twenty-one years ago, Emperor Yuanjing suddenly began to cultivate Taoism. That year was also the time when the Xu faction was at its zenith. The Xu faction was the leader of the Renzong Taoist sect. Princess Huaiqing always felt that there was a deeper reason behind this.

Gu Qing nodded and sat down with Princess Huaiqing. They flipped through Emperor Yuanjing's daily records. With Xu Pingfeng's influence gone, the content of Emperor Yuanjing's daily records was quite detailed. However, there was one thing: the person who wrote the daily records would eventually choose the events. After reading through the records, Huaiqing gradually frowned.

"Brother Qing."

Princess Huaiqing asked Gu Qing, "You insisted that the Earl of Pingyuan was a human trafficker, and that he trafficked people to make money for my father to cultivate Taoism. But this human trafficking organization has existed for more than 30 years, which is longer than my father's reign."

Princess Huaiqing's voice was low and somber when she said this.

Xu Qi'an frowned as well. He hadn't expected that Gu Qing's casual digging would uncover something extraordinary. Both his own father, Xu Pingfeng, and Huaiqing's father, Emperor Yuanjing, had incredible secrets.

"I think this matter should be investigated slowly."

Xu Qi'an said, "Sometimes, the closer you get to the truth, the easier it is to die."

Xu Qi'an understands Cthulhu and knows many things in this world. Just like the monsters in the Cthulhu Mythos, when you try to explore and get close to them, that's when you go mad and die.

Just like with Xu Pingfeng's case, Xu Qi'an sensed that Xu Pingfeng's executioner's blade was approaching after learning about it. The same applies to Emperor Yuanjing's case. If they investigated too much and attracted Emperor Yuanjing's attention, this monarch would probably also be furious.

"I know."

Huaiqing responded softly, then gazed at Gu Qing and said, "Brother Qing, you will be with me, right?"

Gu Qing nodded, of course, because he was the one who guided him through all of this.

(End of this chapter)