The courtyard walls seed taller than elsewhere, and the gates were heavier. Unlike the bustling entrances of other offices, this place was unusually quiet—almost eerily so.
The courtyard gate was tightly shut, with a plaque hanging above it featuring three iron hook strokes of calligraphy imbued with slaughter qi:
"Zige Bureau"
Qin Qingluo stopped before the doors but did not imdiately push them open. Instead, she turned to look at Chen Yi.
Chen Yi raised an eyebrow, curious, and said, "Is there a Zige Bureau here too?"
Currently, he’s most reputed as a West Factory Battalion Commander, but he once served briefly as a Zige Bureau Minister.
The reason is simple: soone with a notorious reputation is more credibly called a West Factory Battalion Commander than the latter.
"There wasn’t before. I established it."
She raised a hand to point at the door plaque,
"Its predecessor was the Opportunity Room for spies. As the na suggests, it spied for opportunities, searched for loopholes, and engaged in shady dealings. However, by my father’s generation, the Opportunity Room beca increasingly large and bloated, with a mix of good and bad people. He intended to split it but died prematurely, until I took the throne and divided the Opportunity Room into the Zige Bureau and Shadow Inspection Guard. The forr belongs to , while the latter is managed by Aunt Zhu, with many Divine Sect mbers.
The reason for naming it Zige Bureau is, first, to borrow the na of the court office for clarity and convenience, avoiding many disputes. The second reason is..."
Chen Yi interjected at the right ti: "Secondly, the na Zige Bureau better attracts Jianghu people."
Qin Qingluo did not take offense at his interruption but instead said, "You didn’t beco a West Factory Battalion Commander for nothing."
"I’ve learned much by being by the Prince’s side," Chen Yi said modestly.
Qin Qingluo snorted softly, but it was clear she was pleased inside.
"You handled the Dao Chengsi matter decisively," Qin Qingluo continued, her tone neither approving nor disapproving, "but your resolve isn’t hard enough. Good steel is used on the blade. From now on, handle so affairs of the Zige Bureau."
Chen Yi remained silent; settling grievances with sword and blade is sothing he has always been adept at.
"This place is different from the Capital City. You’re part of the Prince Mansion, so don’t worry too much. Rules exist, but results are more important. thods can be more... flexible."
.........
.........
Heroic Couple.
A rare but must-have scenery in the Jianghu.
A single pair of Heroic Couples can bring great liveliness to the Jianghu.
But if there are too many Heroic Couples, troubles beco endless.
Because most won in the world naturally love to fuss, and n love to play. When combined, they both fuss and play, resulting in a heap of troubles, usually locked indoors so family conflicts don’t leak outside, but once in the Jianghu, trouble cos one after the other.
Won, with n’s support, indulge in unreasonable behavior relying on their martial power, while n favor the won unconditionally in hopes of receiving praise and affection.
Fortunately, won who are overly unreasonable can’t last long in the Jianghu, and n who are overly partial easily incite public anger. In the environnt of survival of the fittest in Jianghu, Heroic Couples are neither too many nor too few.
But every pair of Heroic Couples is a tricky person to deal with.
The hardest issues to resolve are family matters, and the most troubleso are matters between n and won,
Coincidentally, Heroic Couples possess both, making it both difficult to resolve and extrely troubleso.
And here’s a Heroic Couple who did things they shouldn’t have done, and provoked people they shouldn’t have provoked.
The forest was very dark.
The trees were very tall.
The air was a mix of sweet-tangy decay from rotting leaves and soil.
Liu Hanyan, half-dragging, half-supporting Yue Tingyun, fled desperately through the dim, damp Southern Border forest.
Behind them, deep in the deathly still forest, it felt like an invisible beast was lurking. There were no footsteps, no shouts, just a cold, sticky sensation, like being watched by a venomous snake, wrapped tightly around them.
"Tingyun! Yue Tingyun! Damn it, stop playing dead!" Liu Hanyan’s voice cracked like a whip in the humid air. She was supporting Yue Tingyun, staggering as if dragging a bag of breathing wet flour.
Yue Tingyun wasn’t dead yet, only hit with a palm strike.
The two wove through the trees for who knows how long, finally stopping.
Liu Hanyan’s face was paler than Yue Tingyun’s, hurriedly going forward to check his injuries. There was a mark on his left shoulder—a pitch-black handprint, so dark it shone, with wisps of purple gas at the edges, like so malevolent snakes dancing.
"His palm... so poisonous..." Liu Hanyan gazed at the palm mark, still scared, "It’s frigid and bone-corroding... Inner Strength... collapses upon contact... instead... backfires on oneself..."
She seed to empathize with his originally robust and strong inner breath, now in disarray, like a wild stallion wildly charging through his ridians, driven by the insidious palm force, devastating his wounded organs.
But compared to Liu Hanyan’s panic, Yue Tingyun remained calm, despite his severe injuries, still relaxed,
"Since we’ve already shaken them off, why panic?"
"Don’t spout nonsense, he’s definitely no ordinary Miaojiang expert," Liu Hanyan paused, her face retaining its tense expression, "This is the Mysterious Evil Palm, the top of Southern Border’s Poisonous Palms. If one struck doesn’t take the antidote to neutralize the poison soon, they won’t survive an hour."
Yue Tingyun, however, scoffed, "I’ve practiced for years, my Inner Strength is near Mastery. No matter how venomous the Poisonous Palm, it can’t claim my life in an hour."
Liu Hanyan paused in surprise, bursting with joy: "Are you... alright?"
"At least two hours."
"......"
"Hiss... gentler! Auntie!" Yue Tingyun gritted his teeth, his face wrinkling like a freshly cooked bitter lon, "That old bastard... really hit hard..."
"Hard?" Liu Hanyan retorted incredulously, "What happened to your so-called ’Fierce Bull Strength’ that can shatter stones? Was it slapped back into your mother’s womb?"
Yue Tingyun wanted to retort, but a breath failed him, he coughed violently, nearly coughing up a lung, dark red blood flecking Liu Hanyan’s newly bought lake-green shirt, like several inauspicious blossoms of plum.
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