Ping’an County.
Zhao’s Medicine Shop.
As the shop’s man shouted, Xu Qingnian was a little surprised.
“The shopkeeper invited me?”
Xu Qingnian was a little curious as he walked in carrying his things.
“Yes, the shopkeeper anticipated things like a god, saying that you would come today, I didn’t expect that you would really come.”
The mate opened his mouth, took the gift in Xu Qingnian’s hand and said respectfully.
“Where is the shopkeeper?”
Xu Qingnian asked.
“The shopkeeper is upstairs recovering from his injuries, so follow me.”
The mate led Xu Qingnian upstairs.
The latter followed him.
Soon, he arrived at the first floor.
“Sir, Lord Qingnian is here.”
Arriving at the door of the room, the fellow shouted, and a weak voice came from within the forbidden door of the room.
“Invite him in.”
The voice was weak, and Xu Qingnian felt even more a little guilty.
Pushing open the door of the room, the sick doctor Zhao appeared in front of him.
He was very weak, lying on the bed with a white cloth tied around his head, bracing himself and trying to get up.
“Doctor Zhao, don’t get up.”
Xu Qingnian walked over quickly and supported him.
“It’s no harm.”
When he looked closer, Doctor Zhao’s face was somewhat pale and looked very weak.
But looking a little, there were branding marks on Doctor Zhao’s chest.
It was a wound from an iron brand, and although it was bandaged, you could vaguely see a little bit of it, and the white cloth was infested with black blood, so you could imagine the kind of torture that Doctor Zhao had been subjected to.
For just a moment, Xu Qingnian was filled with guilt and anger.
“Son of a B*tch.”
Xu Qingnian clenched his fists as he cursed angrily from the bottom of his heart, Dr. Zhao was a healer with a very good reputation, who usually saved lives and helped the injured.
How could this not make Xu Qingnian angry?
Hearing Xu Qingnian’s voice, Doctor Zhao immediately pressed Xu Qingnian’s hand and shook his head.
“It’s over, it’s all in the past, it’s good to survive.”
Doctor Zhao said somewhat weakly.
Once this was said, Xu Qingnian also calmed down a little.
“Doctor Zhao, this is a matter that I, Xu, owe you, I will remember this kindness from my heart.”
At that moment, Xu Qingnian spoke, full of apologies.
“Don’t feel indebted to anything, in fact, I didn’t confess to you because I knew that once I did, they wouldn’t let me go.”
“The crime of harbouring is no small crime, a verbal promise is always just a blank piece of paper, I am not doing it for you, it is more for myself.”
“Besides, you’ve done nothing wrong and want to live, that’s normal, but the good thing is that we all made it through this one.”
Zhao Dafu waved his hand, he looked at it in a very open way, surviving was a good thing.
As for not confessing, it was actually mainly for himself.
He was not a three-year-old child, so naturally he did not believe what the people from the South Yu House said.
“No matter what, I have to thank you as well.”
Xu Qingnian understood this, but was still thankful from the bottom of his heart.
Soon, however, Dafu Zhao’s voice continued to ring out.
“Lord Cheng should have spoken to you about the drawbacks of the Allomancy, right?”
He suddenly spoke up and mentioned this matter.
Xu Qingnian knew what Dafu Zhao meant by this, and he didn’t answer, he just remained silent.
“Forget it, all people have their own robberies, there is nothing you can do to take this path in order to survive.”
“However, Qingnian, if one day, if you really can’t control yourself, for the sake of the innocent people, sometimes you have to make good choices, otherwise it will be my life’s fault.”
Dafu Zhao spoke, he was also torn inside.
In fact, he had originally wanted to confess Xu Qingnian, but if it wasn’t for the benevolence of the healer, and the fear of involving more innocent people, he would have already said so.
Especially when he knew the true horror of the magic, Doctor Zhao became torn.
If one day, Xu Qingnian really turned into a demon and became a demon, then it would not be Xu Qingnian alone who would die.
Rather, it would be many, many innocent people.
Because of this, he stayed awake all night.
After all, healing people is not healing the heart.
“Doctor Zhao, don’t worry, if that time does come, I won’t harm the innocent.”
Xu Qingnian nodded his head.
He understood what Dafu Zhao was worried about.
But if there was a day when he really couldn’t control himself, he wouldn’t let himself turn into a demon like this.
To hurt the innocent, Xu Qingnian could not do it.
Although he did not know whether Xu Qingnian was real or not, it was enough to have such an answer.
But soon, Xu Qingnian’s voice also rang out.
“Doctor Zhao, let me ask you something, do you know anything about Confucianism?”
Xu Qingnian opened her mouth and asked Dafu Zhao.
The Heaven and Earth Palace of Literature in the middle of his mind might be able to suppress the demon seed, but he himself did not know the way to open it.
However, Xu Qingnian guessed that it had something to do with the Confucian family, which was why she asked.
“Confucianism?”
Zhao Dafu was a little curious.
“Yes, the Confucian family.”
Xu Qingnian nodded.
Immediately afterwards, Dafu Zhao shook his head and said.
“I don’t really know much about Confucianism, but the county private school teacher should know, he is at least a famous Xiu Cai in our county, although he didn’t win the imperial examination, he is still a scholar.”
“Why are you asking this?”
Dafu Zhao said curiously.
“Zhao Daifu, I have a devil seed of foreign arts in my body, which is an evil spirit, while Confucianism is Hao Rang Zheng Qi, which may be able to suppress the devil in my body, of course this is my guess.”
Facing Doctor Zhao, Xu Qingnian did not lie, the truth was the Tao.
Once this was said, a hint of surprise flashed in Dr. Zhao’s eyes, and after thinking a little he could not help but slowly say.
“If you say so, it’s really possible, I often heard Zhou Xiu Cai say, what reading people contain qi, can be a hundred evil invasion and so on.”
“In this way, you find the fellow in my shop and ask him to prepare a qi tonic, Zhou Xiu Cai’s wife has some qi deficiency, you send it over for me, and ask about it by the way, I won’t charge you for the silver, consider it as tuition.”
Doctor Zhao was very excited and thought of everything directly for Xu Qingnian.
“That’s not necessary, I’ll pay for the silver taels for the herbs, you’ve already helped me a lot, Doctor Zhao.”
Xu Qingnian did not want to continue to owe Zhao Daifu, he got up and took out the only silver left, it was not much but it was a token of appreciation.
“Ugh.”
Doctor Zhao understood Xu Qingnian’s thoughts, he didn’t say much, he just let out a soft sigh.
“Doctor Zhao, take a good rest, if there is anything you need me to do on your behalf, just give me an order.”
After a few moments, Xu Qingnian did not want to continue to disturb Doctor Zhao, he got up to say goodbye, and his words were sincere.
“En, go ahead.”
Doctor Zhao nodded his head, and then watched Xu Qingnian leave.
Not long after, Xu Qingnian carried a bag of herbs and walked out of Zhao’s pharmacy.
In Ping’an County, the nine villages and twenty-four streets, where Zhou Xiucai lived, were not too far away, and with Xu Qingnian’s current physique, he could walk quickly and arrive at Zhou Xiucai’s home in less than a quarter of an hour.
A simple courtyard, the house is somewhat flat and short.
There was someone sweeping the floor outside the door, a woman, about forty years old.
“Dare I ask if Mr. Zhou is inside? I am Xu Qingnian, an errand boy of the Yamen, and Doctor Zhao asked me to bring him some medicinal herbs.”
Xu Qingnian walked up with the medicinal herbs and went up to ask.
“An official servant?”
When she heard that Xu Qingnian was an official officer, the woman was a little surprised, but after hearing the second half of the sentence, she instantly revealed a gentle smile and said.
“He is reading inside, Your Excellency, come inside and rest.”
The woman opened her mouth and invited Xu Qingnian inside to rest.
In the Great Wei Dynasty, whether it was the old or the new dynasty, the people were more respectful of the officials, even if they were an errand boy, they had to respectfully address him as an adult, especially an errand boy like Xu Qingnian.
As the saying goes, the king of hell is easy to mess with, but the brats are hard to deal with.
Moreover, Xu Qingnian was here to deliver medicine, so he naturally had to look polite.
“It just so happens that there is something I need to ask Mr. Zhou, so please forgive me.”
Xu Qingnian walked in with the woman.
“What kind of words are these, Your Excellency is really rusty.”
After receiving the herbs, the woman carried Xu Qingnian into the courtyard, while a middle-aged man was holding a book in his hand and reading it carefully in the courtyard.
The man was also about forty years old, somewhat thin, dressed in green clothes, looking very plain, a green cloth tied around his hair, and a literati aura pervading as he read under the tree.
“Zhou Ling, a guest has arrived.”
The woman opened her mouth and shouted, and instantly Zhou Ling, who was reading under the tree, snapped back to attention.
“A guest?”
Zhou Ling raised his head and dropped his gaze on Xu Qingnian, his gaze filled with curiosity, but he also immediately rose as a sign of respect.
“This is the official lord of our county, called ……”
The woman spoke, only to forget for a moment what Xu Qingnian’s name was.
“Xu Qingnian.”
Xu Qingnian reminded, and the latter instantly smiled sarcastically, then continued, “It was Old Zhao who told him to bring us medicine.”
The woman said so.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ling instantly understood and smiled gently towards Xu Qingnian, “So it’s someone from the government, come, come, please come in and rest.”
Zhou Ling was very gentle, but he was not an official, he was a scholar of the Great Wei and ran a private school in Ping’an County, his status was not bad, even the constables had to call him Mr Zhou when they saw him.
Xu Qingnian did not dare to be arrogant.
“You’re welcome, sir, I’m just a small servant.”
Xu Qingnian said so.
Zhou Ling smiled and led Xu Qingnian into the lobby.
He then spoke directly.
“Little friend Qingnian, I suppose there is something else you want to see me about?”
Although Zhou Ling was a scholar, he was not a nerd and could see that Xu Qingnian was looking for him for something else.
“It’s nothing important, just a few questions for you.”
Xu Qingnian smiled and said.
“En, go ahead.”
As he walked into the hall, Zhou Ling poured tea for Xu Qingnian.
“Nowadays, in the new dynasty of the Great Wei, the empress has ascended to the throne, the control on officials is becoming stricter and stricter, and the use of educated people is important.
Xu Qingnian said with a slightly sarcastic smile, making people feel very naive.
When this was said, Zhou Ling instantly smiled.
“Not bad, very good.”
“You are right in thinking, now that the empress has ascended to the throne, she values scholars, even though you are in the government service, you are right in thinking that if you want to be promoted in the future, you must have talent in your belly.”
Xu Qingnian’s praise and praise made Zhou Ling very flattered.
And Xu Qingnian also asked in a smooth manner.
“Then dare I ask you, sir, what is the division of the Confucian lineage?”
He asked directly.
“The Confucianism lineage?”
Zhou Ling slowly spoke.
“The Confucian Dao lineage, like martial artists, is divided into ten grades, only that Confucian Dao wants to raise its grade, relying not on meditation and cultivation, nor on strengthening the body and bones, but on talent.”
Zhou Ling replied.
“Talent Qi?”
Xu Qingnian was a little curious.
“En.”
Zhou Ling nodded his head.
“Then how can I have Talent Qi?”
Xu Qingnian continued to ask.
“There are three ways for a Confucian to obtain talent, the first is to read, the so-called reading ten thousand volumes of books, that’s what it means.”
“The second way is to write articles, poems and songs, but they need to be observed by the people of the world, so generally speaking they have to write books, and of course there is another place where one can accumulate talent energy, and that is the place of the imperial examinations.”
“As for this third method, it’s very profound, it’s enlightenment, if you can have an epiphany, you’ll be a half saint, if not, you’ll be born here.”
Zhou Ling stated the Confucian system.
Xu Qingnian understood it somewhat.
