The Immortal Seeker: Legend of Bronze Mirror-Chapter 18 - 15 Weapons_2

After dissipating the heat, Xu Qing felt he could go for another session.

However, he did not rush and methodically recited "The Great Learning" after exhausting his mind guiding the heat, which restored his spirit that was slightly weary after the reading.

He was not sure how those specialized in cultivating Daoist Skills nurtured their spirit, but inherently, deeply engaging in reading brought tranquility and effectively nurtured the spirit, the effects of which need no explanation.

In his previous life, he studied how ancient scholar clans never grew tired of repeating their readings of the classics. Even in old age, their minds remained sharp, with few becoming senile.

For instance, during the Ming Dynasty, Cabinet Chief Yan Song took up his post in his sixties and remained in that position until his eighties — a feat achieved amidst brutal political struggles that saw him outlasting most of his political enemies.

More famously, Sima Yi was able to stage a political coup in his seventies and led troops to pacify Liao Dong before his death.

His contemporary, Zhuge Kongming, was even more formidable, turning a fiercely aggressive opponent like Sima Yi into a defensive master who feared the Shu territory as if it were a tiger.

These figures maintained sharp minds in their old age, their common trait being that they were the leading scholars of their time.

After finishing his morning routine, Xu Qing found that today Historian Li had not gone to check in.

"Uncle, isn't Auntie up yet?"

"Got drunk last night," Auntie replied grumpily.

Xu Qing frowned, "Today, Zhao Xiong and his team are going to escort the treasury silver. How can Uncle not be there to oversee this?"

Upon hearing this, Aunt Zhou panicked, "I did call him. He complained of a headache and was unable to get up. Even drinking a bowl of wake-up soup didn't help. I'll call him again."

After a moment's thought, Xu Qing quietly said to Aunt Zhou, "Auntie, calling him like this..."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Zhou looked at Xu Qing strangely and then followed his suggestion.

...

...

In bed, Li Gongpu had dozed off heavily until he suddenly heard a voice by his ear: "Li Gongpu, the Old Master is about to hold court; aren't you going to the courtroom? Are you delaying purposely, do you want to be punished?"

Followed by a long-drawn-out "majestic."

Brightened by the shock, Li Gongpu sat up like a carp flipping.

He sweated coldly and looked around; the place was very familiar, yet it was nowhere near a courtroom.

"My dear, you..."

"Uncle, it was my idea to have Auntie do this."

Li Gongpu: "Oh, Qing, you woke up so early."

Xu Qing: "Uncle, look where the sun is now. Is it still early?"

Embarrassed by his nephew's rare sarcastic tone, Li Gongpu's face went red, and then he quickly got out of bed to wash up.

Xu Qing joined him for some breakfast, consisting of coarse grain pancakes mixed with seasonal vegetables. This season, the preserved bamboo shoots are particularly crunchy and refreshing, and the mustard greens are symbolic of spring.

A poem says: "In town, peaches and plums fear wind and rain; spring is in the blossoms of shepherd's purse by the creek."

In his former life, Xu Qing had a hard time finding naturally grown, pesticide-free mustard like now.

It must be said that in recent years, the Yu Dynasty has been edging into a mini ice age, with the late spring being colder than the early spring in Xu Qing's past life.

The South fares slightly better than the North, where there's either too much water or drought.

There hasn't been large-scale uprising, but small riots have never ceased.

Another characteristic of the mini ice age is that people living in the cold regions become even more desperate to breach the borders for survival.

While it seems a time of peaceful prosperity, seeds of internal strife and external threats had already been sown.

Therefore, even when Officials escort the Official Silver, it's not entirely safe. This has led to a rapid development of the Escort Agency business.

After all, an Escort Agency can go as far as to offer tributes to mountain bandits.

How could an official possibly bow to bandits?

Although both collect protection money, there are distinctions in status; Officials obviously belong to the highest class among those who collect such fees.

Historian Li quickly finished his breakfast.

"Uncle, I'll go out with you."

"You also want to go to the Government Office? Qing, what do you intend to do?"

"I want to accompany you to the Government Office to see if there are any weapons being phased out, and pick one suitable for myself." Historian Li is currently in charge of security and prisons, and although not of any particular rank, his power is indeed not small.

For ordinary people, acquiring weapons is difficult, but for Li Gongpu now, it is just a matter of speaking a word.

Besides carrying chalk with him, Xu Qing definitely wants to acquire a weapon for self-defense.

This is not necessary, but it cannot be absent.

Although Zhao Xiong and his team are not causing trouble temporarily, that trace of dark Qi always exists within the Qi Fortune, always having the potential to flare up again. Besides, even if Zhao Xiong understands the importance of timing, his subordinates might not be that smart.

In political struggles, don't assume your enemies are too clever.

In the previous life, when the largest nation was holding presidential elections, they would directly resort to assassination.

Historian Li inside the Government Office, collaborating with Dong Dahai, managed the transfer of treasury silver smoothly. There were no disturbances, but just before Zhao Xiong left, Xu Qing suddenly asked out of the blue, "Uncle Zhao, have you ever killed someone?"

Zhao Xiong's reaction was one of surprise, then he seemed to not want to get entangled with Xu Qing and hurriedly left, dropping a statement: "This arrest officer has always abided by the law, I have certainly never killed anyone."

Seeing Zhao Xiong leaving in a disheveled retreat, Dong Dahai chuckled and said, "Xu nephew, by asking him like this, how could he possibly admit it?"

Normally speaking, a local villainous leader like Zhao Xiong definitely does not value human life and is known for being ferocious.

But Xu Qing purposefully asked like that and noticed Zhao Xiong's reaction was very strange.

His observational skills are very strong now, and with a formidable Divine Soul, his perception of people's emotions is incomparable to ordinary individuals.

If it were the Zhao Xiong from the rumors, that kind of reaction was just too peculiar.

It felt to Xu Qing as if this Zhao Xiong isn't real, but rather performing. He seemingly lacks the mindset of a boss who doesn't care about human lives.

"There really is something fishy," Xu Qing silently concluded.

Follow curr𝒆nt nov𝒆ls on fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com.

But his baseless speculation, if voiced, would gain no trust from others.

Xu Qing said to Dong Dahai, "Uncle Dong, I was just joking with Uncle Zhao."

Historian Li coughed and told Dong Dahai, "The child is naïve, didn't mean to cause amusement."

Dong Dahai smiled, "I see Xu nephew as quite clever actually, clearly a talented and virtuous young man, and for sure he will perform excellently in the child student test."

After the pleasantries, Historian Li took Xu Qing to the arsenal where weapons were stored in the County Government.

Items that linger too long in storage are prone to depreciation, so picking a few damaged weapons isn't exactly considered misuse of public power.

Yet when Historian Li arrived at the arsenal, the officials guarding it were as if facing a great threat.

They didn't know why Historian Li suddenly came to the arsenal.

Historian Li found one of their Team Leaders and directly stated, "I want a weapon that has been damaged and on the loss list, something like a waist sabre."

Team Leader breathed a sigh of relief; he almost thought Historian Li came to audit the arsenal.

"Is it for the Archivist to use, or this young man?"

"Me," Xu Qing spoke.

Team Leader: "I don't have broken weapons, but I have a dagger here, extremely sharp, I'd like to offer it to the gentleman."

He took out a dagger from his bosom, drawing it blade-first towards himself, a hint of cold light flashing, piercing to the eyes.

"Good item!" exclaimed Historian Li, he then turned to Xu Qing, "How about it?"

Xu Qing nodded, "Uncle, let's take this one."

Historian Li: "In our dynasty's system, any weapon flowing into the public must be registered, I will go register it for you later."

In reality, the rules are the rules, but practically nobody enforced them.

However, in front of the Team Leader, Historian Li still had to speak some courteous words.

Xu Qing: "Understood, Master Archivist." He then signaled with his eyes, letting Historian Li lead him away.

Historian Li then promptly left with Xu Qing.

The officials guarding the arsenal all heaved a sigh of relief.

Particularly the head official, Zhang Team Leader, patting his chest: "That was close."

He ordered the storeroom to be opened; inside, there were only some broken wooden pieces piled up.

The lax security of weapons in Qingshui County was a longstanding issue, but nevertheless, the clerks and the officials of the storage room were shamelessly selling off weapons.

If an inspection was needed, they would just borrow some to fill the count.

The advantage was, should any rebels attack the arsenal, they couldn't get their hands on weapons.

The downside was, these weapons might very well have been sold to the rebels already!