When Han Li heard this, he understood almost everything.
These people were talking about how, in recent years, cultivators in the Yue Kingdom's cultivation world had frequently gone missing.
These people seemed to have been captured by those behind the scenes, but after being threatened, they were released. However, from their tone, it was clear they were now under someone's control and were being forced to do harmful things.
Han Li's mind raced with various thoughts, and in an instant, he decided it was best not to get involved in this matter.
After all, the person behind the disappearance of so many cultivators had remained at large without being exposed or captured for so long, which itself proved that this hidden hand was extremely cunning and not an ordinary person.
Moreover, since they could command Foundation Establishment cultivators, there might even be Core Formation cultivators hiding behind them!
As a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, during these troubled times, it was better not to bring trouble upon himself.
Having made his decision, Han Li immediately withdrew his Divine Sense and no longer paid attention to this group of cultivators.
Although these people were somewhat unlucky and pitiful, they had no relation to him, and he would not take great risks to meddle in such matters.
They could only pray for their own good fortune!
Moreover, as the black-faced elder had analyzed, the Seven Sects were currently fully engaged in confronting the Devil Path and had no time to spare. Even if Han Li reported this matter, they would likely not bother with such trivial affairs.
Han Li could only think coldly like this.
Since he no longer needed to listen to others' private conversations, Han Li relaxed and continued eating his meal, occasionally pretending to be curious and pointing out novel things outside the window while asking Qin Ping questions.
Qin Ping naturally explained everything to Han Li in detail. As a result, by the end of the meal, more than half of the dishes on the table had gone into Han Li's stomach, making Qin Ping click his tongue in amazement. He secretly thought that this young master of his not only had旺盛的精力 but also a considerable appetite!
At this time, the group of cultivators stood up and left the building. Han Li could clearly see their appearance as they left - they still wore dejected expressions. It seemed they hadn't come up with any good solutions for the time being.
Seeing this scene, Han Li took a few large bites of food and then had Qin Ping settle the bill and leave.
However, Qin Ping just smiled and took out a Qin family token from his body, going downstairs in a grand manner.
After a short while, he came back upstairs and reported to Han Li:
"Young Master, I've left the token there and told the shopkeeper to come to our residence at the end of the month for payment. We don't need to pay with silver. The young masters of the Qin family have several hundred taels of silver in monthly expenses that can be reported to the residence. I've already put the meal expense under your account."
Han Li was somewhat surprised by this and felt the extravagance of the Qin family!
But he showed a slightly confused expression and nodded a few times randomly before taking Qin Ping downstairs.
In the afternoon, Han Li no longer continued walking on foot. Instead, following Qin Ping's suggestion after learning his lesson, he called a two-wheeled horse carriage and rode around several important places in Yue Capital.
Although many places were missed, Han Li now had a preliminary impression of the general terrain and streets. At least he wouldn't be completely in the dark when leaving the Qin residence.
It was evening when Han Li finally returned to the Qin residence in high spirits.
This time, Qin Gui, who was guarding the gate, rushed out of the gatehouse before Han Li even got off the carriage, showing great solicitude.
He was afraid that this newly appeared young master Han still held a grudge against yesterday's incident where he had failed to recognize his worth. He needed to improve his impression on this person!
How would Han Li still keep such trivial matters in his mind? He had long since forgotten about them!
At this moment, his mind was entirely focused on how to ensure the safety of the Qin residence. If worse came to worst, at least Qin Yan's life had to be protected, otherwise it would be difficult to report back to Li Huayuan.
Thinking of this, Han Li had an idea and entered the Qin residence with peace of mind.
That evening, without avoiding anyone, Han Li went directly to find his uncle Qin.
After a private discussion with him in a secret room, he returned in high spirits.
Starting from the next day, some people who interacted with Qin Yan suddenly discovered that there was a stranger by Qin Yan's side - a young man who appeared quite rustic and didn't seem like a local of Yue Capital at all.
And Qin Yan enthusiastically introduced this young man to everyone he knew, saying he was a descendant of an elder in his family, asking these good friends to help guide and support him, and so on!
The people who interacted with Qin Yan were either high officials and nobles or wealthy merchants!
Although they found it somewhat strange that this young man never left Qin Yan's side, after failing to learn anything about Han Li's background, these cunning and experienced people naturally showed him the kindly demeanor of elders.
Han Li finally had his first contact with the upper class of Yue Capital!
...
In the blink of an eye, more than two months had passed!
Han Li seemed to have truly become a young master of the Qin family. Not only did he receive the same treatment as Qin Yan's children, but the old master of the Qin family now, whether for business engagements or visiting other residences, invariably took Han Li along, as if he truly intended to cultivate him greatly.
As a result, rumors spread quickly from the Qin residence to the outside world that Han Li was actually the illegitimate son of the Qin family's master, causing quite a stir among the families acquainted with the Qin family!
But Qin Yan paid no attention to these rumors at all, maintaining an attitude that seemed to say "guess whatever you want," which only strengthened the credibility of this conclusion!
As a result, some impatient Qin family members, whether instructed by their elders or relying on their own cleverness, tried to indirectly probe Han Li about the truth of these rumors.
However, in front of Han Li's act of playing dumb as if he knew nothing, these people naturally returned empty-handed.
Over time, the people of the Qin residence finally tacitly confirmed Han Li's identity as a young master of the Qin family, thinking that Qin Yan's great favor towards Han Li was just to make up for the guilt in his heart!
Although the several young masters and young ladies of the Qin family who had originally been favored by Qin Yan were greatly dissatisfied with this, under the old master's high pressure, they naturally dared not do anything obvious against Han Li, and could only temporarily endure it.
However, behind his back, they naturally cursed Han Li as a country bumpkin and a bastard more than once.
But these people didn't know that when Han Li cultivated at night in his room, he would regularly use his Divine Sense to cover the entire Qin residence. Although each time couldn't be maintained for too long, it was enough to discover many people's secrets!
Han Li heard these few disgruntled remarks from these people crystal clear.
Han Li wouldn't stoop to the level of these immature children. However, among their elders, there were several who were secretly plotting schemes to make him fall out of favor, which left Han Li somewhat speechless.
He naturally wouldn't bicker with these mortals, but if the Devil Path really attacked suddenly, the order of protection for these people would naturally be placed last by him. This could be considered Han Li's small revenge!
On this day, Qin Yan went out again for a banquet. This time, the person inviting him was no ordinary figure - it was actually an invitation from a prince!
It was said that this idle prince's favorite concubine had recently recovered from a serious illness, so he was hosting a grand banquet and inviting some prestigious people to celebrate.
Although the Qin family wasn't the wealthiest merchant family in Yue Capital, in terms of overall strength and influence, they could definitely rank among the top three, so naturally, they received an invitation.
And it wasn't just the old master Qin Yan who was going - the invitation specifically named several of the Qin family's well-connected young masters and所谓的"才女" to accompany him. It was said to be a special request from the young prince who knew them!
Qin Yan had no choice but to let these younger generations go with him.
Upon hearing the news, these young family members were immediately overjoyed!
One had to know that since Qin Yan knew the Qin family was in danger, he naturally wouldn't let the younger generation go out and fool around during this period.
What if they caught the attention of the Devil Path people Han Li had mentioned? That would be a disaster!
So during these two months, the old master had found some excuse to keep these young family members under house arrest until now, which made these lazy young masters and young ladies of the Qin family secretly complain endlessly!
What made them even more angry was that although Han Li wasn't much older than them, he had the opportunity to go out early and return late with Qin Yan every day, looking as if he was having the time of his life. This made these people cry out even more in injustice!
Now with this opportunity, these young members of the Qin family naturally went together in high spirits.
"Prince Xin" - this was the title of the prince who had sent the invitation, and he was one of the brothers of the current ruler of Yue Kingdom.
According to Qin Yan, although this prince was a member of the royal family, he had a bold and generous personality and had an extensive network of connections!
Not only did he know high officials and nobles, wealthy merchants and great traders, but he also knew quite a few common people and extraordinary individuals from the martial world.
Of course, to avoid suspicion, he didn't dare to associate too much with military officials who held military power.
But even so, this prince's reputation among the common people of Yue Capital was quite significant, and his reputation was quite good.
When Han Li heard this, he already had a general impression of this prince. What kind of person he actually was, of course, still needed to be confirmed by Han Li's own eyes!
After all, in this world, there were far too many important figures who had good reputations on the surface but were actually corrupt and immoral!