That Zhou fellow had looked like nothing more than a brainless spoiled scion — how had he played it so convincingly?
Not necessarily an act. A spoiled scion does not have to mean an empty head; he had wielded a spoiled scion's tactics to the full — picking quarrels, pulling strings, beating confessions out of people... trying to bundle me off in a single stroke. And the blowback was slight: though the Capital Evaluation drew near, crushing an insignificant county constable could hardly shake a Vice Minister of Revenue, a full third-rank official.
What Zhou hadn't counted on was that not only had I latched onto the Directorate of Celestials, I'd even had the Grand Confucian Masters of the White Deer Academy come in person... At the thought, Xu Qi'an felt the dizzy thrill of walking a tightrope.
"From the very day I cracked the tax silver case, I'd already offended the Vice Minister of Revenue and been dragged into it against my will. And here I'd been dreaming of keeping away from the sovereign's power, becoming a rich householder with a stable of wives and concubines, living out a dull and frugal and plain life. If Cijiu hadn't happened to be delivering a poem to the Academy's elders, if I hadn't had a sudden whim a few days ago to write down a little of the chemistry I remembered... I'd probably be dead by now. And I wouldn't even have understood the true reason I was killed, thinking I'd merely angered some spoiled second-generation scion."
One coincidence after another stacked up and carried me through this crisis... it was luck!! Xu Qi'an drew a sharp breath, then his heart stirred: "Miss Caiwei — you can read aura, can't you?"
"Mm." Chu Caiwei swallowed her food. "The eighth-rank sorcerer is called an aura reader. Aura-reading is the most basic ability of us sorcerers. All the wonders that come later are built on that foundation."
She became chatty and animated speaking of her cultivation system: "But do you know why the sorcerer's ninth rank is the healer, and not the aura reader?"
Xu Qi'an shook his head, playing the straight man: "It can't be that you sorcerers all carry a heart for saving the dying and healing the wounded."
Chu Caiwei straightened her small spine and put on a perfectly serious air, seeming to relish the role of teacher: "All the ten thousand things in this world have their fortune — and humankind most of all. The eight sorrows of life, the seven emotions and six desires — all of it is fortune. The healer saves the dying and mends the wounded, and inescapably becomes steeped in birth, age, sickness, and death; in time, that gives birth to a pair of lucid pupils that can see through fortune."
I do like a girl who tells me everything she knows... Xu Qi'an said: "Then can you look at my fortune?"
Chu Caiwei dabbed her small mouth with a handkerchief, then fixed her gaze on him, pure qi flaring in her dark, bright eyes and gradually taking over the pupils. Under that scrutiny, Xu Qi'an's spiritual senses were pricked, as though needles pressed into his back — most uncomfortable. Presently the clear light faded, and her expression was unruffled: "Your fortune is pale red mingled with black qi."
"What does that mean?"
"Red means you eat the imperial bread — you're in the service of the officialdom. But the color is faint, which says you're a common clerk at the bottom. Black qi is the mark of misfortune, a point you should know all too well firsthand."
Xu Qi'an knit his brows and probed: "Surely there are no other colors? Say, the color befitting a Son of Heaven's Mandate."
"Say such things only in front of me. Were a man of ill intent to hear you, it would be the crime of lese-majesty. No one but the Emperor may claim to be a Son of Heaven's Mandate." Chu Caiwei gave a start — lese-majesty aside, what backing did this man have to consider himself one?
Great dragon, rub the sleep from your eyes, cast your gaze once more!! Xu Qi'an kept his face calm, but inside his thoughts churned: perhaps she simply lacked the rank to see it, or perhaps my luck-favored constitution has nothing to do with fortune...
Slap! Chu Caiwei swatted his hand away from the food again, puffing out her cheeks: "Wait until I'm full — once I've eaten my fill, I'll let you eat." Xu Qi'an eyed the lavish spread half-demolished and privately speculated just how many months pregnant her belly might look right now.
"By the way, how does the Vice Minister of Revenue fare these days?" Xu Qi'an sat up straight and looked away from the food.
"The Censor of the Revenue Ministry impeached Vice Minister Zhou some days ago, and the memorial was shelved by His Majesty." After a pause, she added: "Those two confessed and took their own lives."
So there's no evidence? But in this day and age, when the Emperor truly wants to be rid of a man, he hardly needs evidence — everyone follows his own judgment... though it could also be court faction struggles... or the Emperor has other designs... Well, I know nothing of court matters, never having been near them. I'll have to sound out some old hand of officialdom...
So Xu Qi'an probed around the edges, but Chu Caiwei had no interest in court affairs and gave him nothing worth the asking: "Ugh, you're such a bother. We in the Directorate of Celestials don't meddle in court matters."
I think I bruised her pride as a teacher... Xu Qi'an, reading the mood, asked no more.
......
"How much silver is this spread worth?" Xu Qi'an ate with abandon. Wine-sated and belly-full, Chu Caiwei counted on her fingers for a long while, and then... nothing.
"Mm?" Xu Qi'an looked up.
"I gave the shopkeeper four taels, and he gave me back one tael, three qian, and sixty wen. So how much in all did I actually spend?"
The way she frowned was quite cute, and reminded Xu Qi'an of a seven-year-old girl wrestling with a math problem.
"..." Xu Qi'an mused, and mused again: "I don't know either."
One tael equals eight qian, one qian equals a hundred wen. Because the ratio isn't ten to one, the calculation is that much harder. To look at her, she could read well enough but had never studied arithmetic. So Xu Qi'an didn't play the hero. At that, Chu Caiwei's brows arched happily, feeling he was a kindred spirit.
"Then how are you so good at adding it all up when you solve cases?"
"I think for a long time."
"Oh." Chu Caiwei studied him: "You don't seem to be enjoying your meal?"
"No, it's just that the flavor is ordinary."
"Nonsense. Drunken Heart Retreat is the finest restaurant in the whole southern quarter."
"I've eaten better."
Chu Caiwei's eyes lit up at once. Xu Qi'an went on: "Whenever you're free, come by my house — I'll cook you something good."
.....
The alchemy chamber.
A cluster of white-robed men surrounded the laboratory equipment, watching Song Qing at work. An eggshell-thin porcelain cup sat over a candle flame, steam curling up as the water within evaporated away, leaving crystals behind. Song Qing snapped his fingers and a lick of vivid flame wrapped the crystals, slowly melting them.
"If I'd had this skill in my past life — snapping my fingers to light a smoke — it would've been a killer pickup move..." Xu Qi'an was a little envious of the flashy sorcerers.
As the sodium chloride crystals melted, Song Qing's face turned solemn. In countless attempts before, he had always stuck at the step that came next: the lightning strike! He instinctively turned to Xu Qi'an at his side. Including the big-eyed cutie Chu Caiwei, the other white-robed men all turned their gazes on the First Young Master, who nodded expressionlessly.
He doesn't even pipe up with guidance... that means every step I've taken so far is right... Song Qing's heart was steadied, and he snapped his fingers. A faint arc of lightning flickered through the air, streaming into the porcelain cup.
"Hold your breath." Suddenly everyone heard Xu Qi'an's voice, and without hesitation they held their breath. Though even if you inhaled the poison directly, you inhuman lot would come to no harm... Xu Qi'an, out of sheer force of habit, had told them to hold their breath anyway.
The next instant, a scene that shocked the white-robed men unfolded. An irregular silver-white lump had formed in the cup, indistinguishable from true silver. On its edges clung fine salt that had not fully transformed.
"Su-success..."
"Senior Brother Song Qing — how did you do it?"
The white-robed men were stunned. So many attempts had failed before, and this time he had forged counterfeit silver in a single go. Just as I suspected. The other day, Miss Caiwei forging counterfeit silver on the first try wasn't dumb luck... no wait, it was dumb luck — because I was by her side, and it involved me... Xu Qi'an watched in silence, confirming the guess in his heart.
Song Qing looked at the counterfeit silver, then at his excited junior brothers, and his face showed a hint of bewilderment. I haven't changed a thing... it has always been like this... At that thought he instinctively glanced at Xu Qi'an and found the young constable utterly unsurprised, his eyes dark and deep, as though he had expected it all along.
Song Qing's heart stirred: "Xu Ningyan — do you know the reason?"
Chu Caiwei, who had been thinking, immediately looked at Xu Qi'an. The other white-robed men turned their heads in turn.
Xu Qi'an clasped his hands behind his back and smiled: "This question should not be put to me. A mature alchemist ought to learn to think for himself. I imagine you are well able to see just where the crux of the matter lies."