Looking at the expressions of both Li Guangxin’s father and son.
Cheng Lidong’s brow could not help but frown.
After he had killed Wu Yan, he was seriously injured, but at least he had recovered his life, and to Cheng Lidong, Xu Qingnian was very important.
He could conclude that Wu Yan had given everything to Xu Qingnian.
However, he would not tell the ruler of the prefecture about this clue, because he was sure that Xu Qingnian would be eaten by Cheng Lidong, and it would be useless even if the emperor came.
As for the matter of the supernatural arts, it made sense for him to say it, it could not be concealed and he did not want to.
On the contrary, he hoped that the emperor would give him the power to arrest Xu Qingnian directly, so that he could interrogate him about everything.
He didn’t believe that Xu Qingnian would be able to grit her teeth and hold on.
What Cheng Lidong didn’t expect was that the Prefect seemed to know about this person.
That didn’t make sense.
In terms of time, Xu Qingnian had only just arrived at Nan Yu Prefecture, and in a day’s time, could Xu Qingnian still turn over a new leaf?
“Ping’an County, Xu Qingnian, is his senior brother called Chen Xinghe?”
Li Xin opened his mouth and asked Cheng Lidong.
“Back to your Excellency, yes.”
Cheng Lidong did not hesitate to answer, he was impressed by Chen Xinghe, very capable of pretending.
“Impossible.”
In a flash, Li Xin shook his head straight away, denying Cheng Lidong.
“Is it hard for the Duke to know this Xu Qingnian?”
Cheng Lidong did not hastily deny it, but was curious.
“I know.”
“Yesterday I hosted a banquet, where Brother Xu made a thousand famous words, and his talent qi entered his body, promoting him to the ninth grade of Confucianism.”
“You say he cultivates foreign arts? Confucianism is the practice of righteousness, those who practise different arts must be wrong-minded, how can they be promoted to the ninth rank?”
Li Xin spoke out, he supported Xu Qingnian unconditionally, he had seen him as a confidant since yesterday and even as an idol, but now Cheng Lidong said that Xu Qingnian practiced different arts.
According to the laws of the Great Wei, those who practise foreign arts will be executed by the nine clans, disregarding their positions.
“A thousand ancient names? Talented Qi entering the body and advancing to the ninth rank?”
“My lord, we may not be talking about the same person.”
“This Xu Qingnian, a month ago was just a magistrate in the Ping’an County Office, my subordinates have investigated, Xu Qingnian has never studied, how could he have been promoted to the ninth rank in a month?”
Cheng Lidong froze.
He knew that Xu Qingnian had cultivated a different art and had entered the martial arts cla*s, but to say that Xu Qingnian had been promoted to the ninth rank?
He didn’t believe it.
Not even to his death.
“Ping’an County, under the tutelage of Zhou Ling, senior brother Chen Xinghe, twenty years old, is it?”
Li Xin asked.
“Yes.”
Cheng Lidong nodded.
“That’s one person, Cheng Lidong, are you not doing your job properly and trying to catch sheep to perfume my father?”
Li Xin opened his mouth, he was a little sulky, after all, the man he revered was placed in such a big crime by Cheng Lidong, he naturally could not accept it and had some grievances against Cheng Lidong.
Cheng Lidong was just a hundred households, his father’s subordinate, not his own subordinate, no need to care about each other’s feelings.
“Your Excellency, although I, Cheng, am not good at my job, I will definitely not catch a sheep and fool around, I hope that your Excellency will understand.”
Hearing Li Xin’s words, Cheng Lidong’s face was a little cold, but he did not get angry at Li Xin, but looked at Li Guangxin and said.
“Father, no matter what, my child does not believe that Brother Xu has cultivated the supernatural arts, this could be a misunderstanding.”
Li Xin spoke out, still adamant that Xu Qingnian had not cultivated the supernatural arts.
“Alright.”
Li Guangxin spoke up, his gaze falling on Cheng Lidong.
“How did you determine that?”
Li Guangxin asked.
“Back to the House Sovereign, my subordinate is generally the same as the House Sovereign’s guess, with ninety percent certainty.”
Cheng Lidong said seriously.
“Ninety percent?”
Li Guangxin looked at Cheng Lidong, he knew what kind of person Cheng Lidong was, he was extremely strict in his work, daring to say 90% basically meant that he was completely sure.
If it was anyone else, he definitely would not hesitate and probably would have already asked Cheng Lidong to arrest him.
But when it comes to this Xu Qingnian, there is some trouble.
For one thing, Xu Qingnian’s famous song is already famous in South China, and there are several great scholars in South China who will definitely look for Xu Qingnian.
Secondly, Xu Qingnian’s talent has entered his body and he has been promoted to the ninth rank. This alone basically shows that Xu Qingnian should not be practising foreign arts, after all, most people who practise foreign arts are not right-minded and are virtuous people.
Thirdly, when the lyrics spread to the court, as Fang said, when the time comes, if those few big shots appreciate Xu Qingnian, this would be a shocking trouble.
With these three points alone, he did not dare to touch Xu Qingnian, and he did not want Xu Qingnian to cultivate foreign arts either.
After all, Xu Qingnian is a member of the Southern Yufu at any rate, and if he really becomes a great Confucian in the future, it would be a credit to his tenure, and even he, his son, could befriend Xu Qingnian.
In the current situation, his son can befriend Xu Qingnian, and if one day Xu Qingnian becomes a great scholar, his son’s official path will be much better.
However, at this time, Cheng Lidong said this matter, which made Li Guangxin really have some difficulties.
“Do you have proof?”
The matter of heterodoxy, no jokes are allowed, Li Guangxin looked at the latter as he asked so.
“This, my subordinate does not indeed have any.”
Cheng Lidong thought about it, he indeed did not have any evidence, if he did he would only have detained Xu Qingnian in Ping’an County.
Hearing this, Li Xin and Li Guangxin both breathed a sigh of relief.
“There is no evidence, merely by virtue of speculation, not to be convicted.”
“In this way, Cheng Lidong, this monarch allows you to investigate in secret, now that Xu Qingnian has already made a name for himself in the South Yu Province, and with the government exams just around the corner, we enforce the law, we must not wrong a good person, and we must never let a bad person go.”
“You should investigate secretly, but you must not leak out, he has been promoted to the ninth rank, although he has not yet merit, but sooner or later it is just a matter of time.”
“If you don’t have full proof, don’t act rashly, otherwise you will be responsible.”
Li Guangxin spoke up.
On the one hand, he hoped that Xu Qingnian had not practiced the supernatural arts, so that Xu Qingnian would be of great use to himself, and could help his son, or even himself.
But on the other hand, he was worried that Xu Qingnian had really practised the supernatural arts, otherwise how could he explain that he was not cured? How could there be such a coincidence?
Once it is really cultivated, then whether Xu Qingnian has made a thousand ancient names or not, all beings are equal before the law of the land.
“Subordinate …… Understood.”
Cheng Lidong’s heart was still filled with doubts, he still did not believe in Xu Qingnian’s promotion to the ninth rank.
He should know that when he first met Xu Qingnian, there was nothing special about him except that he had just entered the rank of Martial Dao.
But after not seeing him for some time, he had actually reached the ninth grade of Confucianism.
Such a person could walk around in the South Yu Mansion, and if he met him, he would have to respectfully call out “sir”.
Before Emperor Wu, five generations of literary emperors, if not for the shame of Jingcheng, the status of literary officials was higher, especially the strong Confucian Daoists, recognized by heaven and earth.
This …… Impossible.
All of Cheng Lidong’s plans were all gone.
He had hoped to obtain the authority of the Prefect to send someone to directly arrest Xu Qingnian, and afterwards to interrogate him properly.
Now, it seemed that if he dared to touch Xu Qingnian without sufficient evidence, he was only afraid that the ruler would not spare himself.
“My subordinate understands.”
But no matter how much resentment there was in his heart, Cheng Lidong could only reply calmly.
“Alright, you go down and rest for a few days.”
Li Guangxin waved his hand, Cheng Lidong did not linger and turned to leave.
After Cheng Lidong left, Li Xin’s voice rang out.
“Father, my child doesn’t believe that Brother Xu would practice a different art, he is definitely not that kind of person.”
Li Xin opened his mouth and explained for Xu Qingnian.
“Don’t say more.”
Li Guangxin shook his head.
“You remember a few things now.”
“First, keep your distance, don’t get too close, you can build a good relationship now, but keep it properly, practicing a different art, strains of nine clans, once Xu Qingnian has really practiced it, my father will also be implicated.”
“Second, secretly also investigate, if he has really cultivated, must tell my father, must not hide, when the time comes there is a way back.”
“Thirdly, after the government examination, my father will go to the new pavilion to invite the famous and handsome people in the government, and will invite a righteous scholar, whether or not he has cultivated the foreign arts, he can tell some clues, if that gentleman says no, then it is no, if that gentleman says yes.”
At this point, Li Guangxin did not say much more.
“My child understands.”
Li Xin also knew how much was involved in the crime of heterodoxy, so he did not say anything more.
“Also, this man Cheng Lidong is extremely ambitious, I think he must be hiding something.”
“You can inform Xu Qingnian of what he said today, whether it’s selling favours or asking for something, you can take control yourself.”
“Go on.”
When Li Guangxin said this, he told Li Xin to leave.
“Yes, father.”
Li Xin did not say anything more, he did want to see Xu Qingnian now and inform Xu Qingnian of this matter, it was not a matter of selling favours, it was just that he did not believe that Xu Qingnian would practice the foreign arts.
The main reason was simple: Xu Qingnian’s performance at the banquet yesterday had convinced everyone present, and Li Xin was no exception.
He became Xu Qingnian’s fanboy.
After Li Xin had left.
Inside the room.
Li Guangxin looked somewhat silent.
His gaze fell on the white paper on which Full River Red was written.
Whether Xu Qingnian had cultivated the foreign arts or not.
He really did not know now.
If it were any other person, he would have been completely sure.
But it was Xu Qingnian.
How could a person who could write such lyrics have a wrong heart?
Since ancient times, no one had ever heard of a Confucian practising the supernatural arts.
But ……. The first time I heard of a Confucian student practicing a different art was in the ancient times.
“I hope I am wrong in my guess.”
Li Guangxin said to himself in his heart.
And at this moment.
It was already two minutes past six o’clock.
The entire South Yufu was already abuzz with excitement.
The tavern where Xu Qingnian lived had long been heavily surrounded, and many scholars had gathered here just to catch a glimpse of Xu Qingnian.
But at that moment, a voice rang out.
“Brother Qingnian is not at the tavern, he has gone to the Park House School, gentlemen, don’t wait foolishly.”
“Fu Zi, Fu Zi, Xu Qingnian is in the Park Lodge Academy, not here.”
“Go, go, go, go, go to the Park Lodge Academy, go to the Park Lodge Academy.”
People chattered, and in a flash a figure ran towards the Park Lodge Academy.
