“Did I say forty-eight years?” Qiao Zhi asked with a puzzled look. “You must’ve misheard. In any case, you have to prepare early because the current peace isn’t going to last much longer. The best way to prepare would be to earn yourself a position in the imperial court through the martial examinations.

“It can never hurt to ride on the coattails of a greater power. Given your aptitude as a heavenly immortal, you’ll definitely be able to rise through the ranks quickly. Only then will you be able to protect yourself in the chaos to come.”

Chu Qiguang could tell that Qiao Zhi didn’t want to dwell on the previous subject, so he began asking questions about the imperial court.

“The imperial court must’ve gathered a lot of scriptures and information on Daoist arts and martial arts, right?” Chu Qiguang asked.

In his mind, since supernatural forces like martial arts and Daoist arts existed in this world, national organizations would surely collect the related resources and even control their dissemination. Perhaps he could gather some leads on the Purple Mansion Sacred Scripture from the imperial archives.

“Of course,” Qiao Zhi replied. “The imperial court has already started intentionally collecting such resources starting from as far back as two hundred years ago. When it comes to scriptures, information, and all other resources related to Daoist arts and martial arts, the imperial court is the greatest authority.”

Chu Qiguang’s eyes lit up slightly when he heard this.

Looks like I really have to make my way into the imperial court. In a feudal empire like this, the imperial court is where I’ll be able to get the best development opportunities, and it’ll also give me the best chances of finding information on the Purple Mansion Sacred Scripture. Even if the imperial court doesn’t have information on the Purple Mansion Sacred Scripture, I can still use the power of the imperial court to search for it.

With that in mind, Chu Qiguang asked even more questions about the imperial academic and martial examinations, mapping out a path for himself to enter the imperial court and climb to a high position.

Before long, an entire night had passed. After agreeing to meet Qiao Zhi again the following night to begin learning martial arts and to continue learning to read and write, Chu Qiguang set off for home.

As he walked down the stone steps leading off the mountain, the cold wind made him shudder. Thinking back on the fantastical experiences of the previous night, he felt like it had all been a dream.

A faint smile appeared on his face. As he compared this life to the one he had on Earth, he thought to himself, This is quite an interesting world.

With the help of these animals and fiends, he now had more ways to deal with the Wang Clan, so some of the plans he had previously come up with could be set aside for the time being.

***

Even though Chu Qiguang hadn’t slept at all the previous night, he was still full of energy and vigor after his restful meditation sessions.

During the day, he continued working in the fields as usual, occasionally listening to the exaggerated stories told by the old men at the entrance of the village. Outwardly, he didn't seem any different from before.

However, on his way home, Chu Qiguang found himself surrounded by a group of four or five men.

The leader of the group was a tall, thin man wearing a worn sky-blue robe. There was a menacing look in his eyes as he stared at Chu Qiguang with a sinister expression.

His name was Zhang Da. In the past, he had been quite wealthy, owning cattle and mules as well as several dozen acres of land. However, after becoming addicted to gambling in the county town, he quickly lost everything he had.

Thankfully, he had learned to fight in the past, and he also had some acquaintances in the county office, so he was able to become a henchman of the Wang Clan.

Zhang Da glared at Chu Qiguang out of the corner of his eyes as he said in a slow and measured voice, “You’ve gotten quite brave, haven’t you, Ergou? Not only is your family owing taxes to the imperial court, you even dared to talk back to Steward Wang!”

Standing beside him was a shorter young boy named Chen Gang. He wore shabby gray clothes and held a large rock in his hand. He was the eldest son of their neighbor Aunt Chen.

Chen Gang’s family was a little better off than Ergou’s, and he had a stronger build, so he had been bullying Ergou ever since they were children.

“That’s obvious!” Chen Gang scoffed. “If he hadn’t gotten brave, he wouldn’t have dared to talk back to Steward Wang!”

Zhang Da shot him an irritated glare.

However, Chen Gang didn’t seem to notice Zhang Da’s annoyance at all, and he raised the rock in his hand as he proposed, “Why waste so much time talking when we could just knock him out?”

The moment Chu Qiguang saw Zhang Da and Chen Gang, a sense of danger rose in his heart. Once he saw the rock in Chen Gang’s hand, he quickly mapped out an escape route for himself. He had no intention of getting into a fight with these village thugs.

Recalling what Qiao Zhi had told him about the county and the Wang Clan the night before, he shouted, “You better watch yourselves! A governor will be coming very soon to investigate the Wang Clan’s collusion with the county office to falsify land records and evade taxes!”

Zhang Da was very surprised to hear this. He had never expected to hear something like this from the usually dumb and naïve Ergou. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

As for the other men in the group, they were just normal laymen in the village who liked picking on other villagers. They were all surprised to hear the word “governor”, but they didn’t believe Chu Qiguang’s claims.

Chu Qiguang knew that the Great Han Empire’s administrative hierarchy went from county to manor, then to province, in ascending order. A province was equivalent to a prefecture.

A prefectural governor was only a seventh-rank official, yet they were responsible for overseeing all officials of the entire prefecture. They were similar to a lead inspector sent out by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and they wielded such immense jurisdictive power that even the average villager was aware of them.

Zhang Da’s brows furrowed slightly as he sneered, “What a load of nonsense! You’re as illiterate as a brick! How could you have possibly written an indictment to submit? Besides, you don’t even know where the governor’s office is! Even if you did, the provincial governor oversees an entire province’s affairs, so there’s no way he’d have time for you!”

There was something else that Zhang Da hadn’t explicitly stated, and that was the fact that money was required to make reports to the governor’s office. Ergou obviously didn’t have any money.

“What’s this nonsense about a governor?” Chen Gang scoffed. “Just let me knock him out, and we’ll press his handprint onto the land sale document! Why go through all this trouble of talking to him?”

Chen Gang was confused. He had been bullying Ergou since they were children, and every single time, he had always been able to beat Ergou into submission. So why were they doing things in such a roundabout way?

As he spoke, he started to raise the rock in his hand again, only for Zhang Da to turn around and slap him upside the head.

“Shut up!”

He then turned back to Chu Qiguang, who let out an inward sigh of relief when he saw the rock fall from Chen Gang’s hand.

An earnest look appeared on his face as he explained, “Some good people came to question me, and they wrote the indictment, so I never had to make the report. While it’s true that the provincial governor has to oversee the entire province, all manors and counties have governor office branches where people can make reports, and our Azure Sun County is no exception.”

Chu Qiguang cupped his fist in a salute in the direction of the county town as he continued, “Reports made in our Great Han Empire can only be elevated rank by rank, but the provincial governor is a man of the people, and making reports directly to him does not count as overstepping!”

Zhang Da was becoming even more bewildered by Ergou’s confident speech. The average farmer didn’t know any of this, yet Ergou was able to articulate himself with confidence and clear logic, making a very convincing case.

There’s no way Ergou knows any of this stuff. Could it be that the Hao Clan has gotten involved?

The Hao Clan was a clan in the county that was home to a retired high-ranking official of the imperial court. With that in mind, Ergou was no longer important in Zhang Da’s eyes. This was a matter that now potentially involved a conflict between the Wang Clan and the Hao Clan, so he had to go back and report it right away.

With Zhang Da and the others preparing to leave, Chen Gang immediately protested, “That’s it? We’re letting him go just like that? Why don’t you just let me knock him out, and—”

Before he could finish, Zhang Da rushed over and started punching him repeatedly in the head as he snapped, “Did I tell you to speak? Knock him out! Knock him out! If I hear you say that again, I’ll knock you the hell out!”