During the meal, the Qingyang Sect Leader came over.
"President Jing, I had asked Qianqian to come over yesterday to discuss the publication of this manuscript with you, but unfortunately she didn't make it..."
"Did you bring all the manuscripts?"
The Qingyang Sect Leader nodded: "They were all placed on the carriage outside the gate. We found an academy to work overtime and printed a total of one thousand copies."
It seems that the Qingyang Sect Leader is eager to let everyone know about the martial arts tournament, and he's quite efficient.
"Alright, since it's the first day of the martial arts tournament, let's distribute these outside the tournament venue and in Jinxi City! Oh, by the way, Sect Leader Qingyang can print another thousand copies and send them to nearby cities, such as Ruzhou. I've already sent a message back to Jingzhou by carrier pigeon, and the Da'an Daily has probably already published and distributed them."
The Qingyang Sect Leader was waiting for these words, and then asked, "President Jing, since you hold a public office and are in charge of this, we'll leave the distribution to you. After all, we're not professionals in this field..."
Jing Zhe frowned. He had originally planned to bring a few newspaper staff members with him, but then he considered that it was too dangerous here. As a guest of the Crown Prince, Feng Lianru was quite talented in writing and could handle the task if needed.
So in the end, I only brought Hanhan with me.
Being new to this place and unfamiliar with everyone, it would be a bit difficult for him to distribute the manuscript, but since the Qingyang Sect Leader had spoken, he didn't want to be looked down upon. He waved his hand and said, "No problem. The Jingba Prefect should be there during the martial arts tournament later, right? Give the manuscript to him and have him distribute it to the constables in the city!"
The Qingyang Sect Leader nodded, indicating that he no longer needed to concern himself with the rest.
Because the Qingyang Sect Leader was always by his side, Jing Zhe didn't have a chance to say a word to Qiu Qianqian. After finishing their meal, the group boarded a carriage and headed towards the martial arts arena.
...
The arena was specially built for the martial arts tournament and is located on a large open space in the center of Jinxi City, near the westernmost part.
On the open ground, a large platform about two meters high and about twenty meters long and wide was built, which became the arena for the martial arts competition.
Because there are already many sects participating in the martial arts competition, and many ordinary people in Jinxi City come to watch the excitement, if the arena were a flat area, those at the back would definitely not be able to see it.
So they built this high platform, so even the person at the very back can look up and see the arena, which is quite considerate.
Four flags were planted on each of the four sides of the arena, and tables and chairs were placed next to them, representing the four major sects. The leaders of the four major sects would sit here.
A special viewing area was set up on the outer perimeter for court officials, including Prince Jin, Crown Prince Su Moyan, and Jing Zhe.
When Jing Zhe and his group arrived, the arena was already packed with people, creating a lively atmosphere.
Besides Tongtianque, the other three major sects have all arrived and are seated in their respective positions.
"The Prince of Jin has arrived!"
"Sect Leader Qingyang has arrived!"
As the hosts, their arrival immediately drew a crowd of onlookers, but no one recognized or cared about Jing Zhe and Su Moyan.
Jing Zhe curled his lip and cursed under his breath for being a country bumpkin.
However, there were some sensible people, such as Wang Yingqiu, Pei Yunxi, Qingqiu, and Mu Qingren, whose eyes were all fixed on Jing Zhe and never left him.
Jing Zhe smiled at each of them, his gaze lingering on Mu Qingren for a moment longer. When no one was looking, he even winked at her, causing Mu Qingren to blush and glare at him, but her heart was filled with joy.
Jing Zhe's actions were observed by the male disciples of various sects, who cast hostile glances at him.
After the group took their seats, perhaps because the four major sects were not particularly fond of the imperial court, no one made a point of introducing Su Moyan or Jing Zhe's identities, and they were directly seated in the imperial court's special seats.
Jing Zhe didn't take it seriously. He happened to see Jing Ba, the prefect of Jinxi, and immediately told him about the publication of the manuscript.
Perhaps feeling that it was overstepping his authority to order Jing Zhe, a minor official of the fifth rank, to do so, or perhaps simply disliking Jing Zhe, Jing Ba sneered after hearing this: "President Jing, are you trying to teach me how to do things?"
Jing Zhe nodded earnestly: "Yes."
"..."
Jing Ba was speechless for a moment, then said coldly, "I am the magistrate of Jinxi. In Jinxi, everyone must obey my orders in matters of duty! Why should I listen to you?"
Jing Zhe smiled, then reached into his pocket, and after a short while, he first pulled out a gold medal and showed it to Jing Ba.
"See that? It's a gold medal."
Without even thinking, Jing Zhe knew that Jing Ba had been in Jinxi for so many years and was definitely a man of the Prince of Jin. He didn't care about the court, but surely he wouldn't dare to openly disobey Emperor An, would he?
Then, he revealed the Emperor's Sword.
"See this? This is the Emperor's Sword. His Majesty told me when he gave it to me that I could act with impunity and execute first and report later. I haven't even sharpened this Emperor's Sword yet. What, does the Prefect of Jingba want to try it out?"
"..."
threaten!
A blatant threat!
Jing Ba was both angry and furious. He had always disliked Jing Zhe and wanted to make things difficult for him on his own turf. Who knew that this guy was so well-equipped, with both a gold medal and the Emperor's Sword? Even though he usually relied on the Prince of Jin, he didn't really care about the imperial court's orders.
But as long as the Prince of Jin did not rebel, he would always be under the control of the court. Even if Jing Zhe really stabbed him with the Emperor's sword, he had nothing to say!
His face flushed red and then paled, and after a long while he muttered, "President Jing, we are both officials of the imperial court. Is it really appropriate to use this Emperor's Sword to scare people? It's just distributing manuscripts, and they're about a martial arts tournament. What's wrong with that?"
"Then I'll have to trouble Prefect Jingba!"
Jing Zhe sneered, thinking to himself, "If I had known this would happen, why the hell did you have to talk nonsense?"
Next, Jing Ba ordered the constables to start distributing the manuscripts, and then he went up to the dueling platform.
Even though the martial arts tournament was a competition between sects, it was still taking place on the land of Anguo, so the host naturally had to be the local official, and Jing Ba became the host for the day.
When he went on stage, the audience quieted down.
"The gathering of all martial arts heroes here today is not only a grand event for the martial arts world, but also a grand event for Jinxi and Anguo! On behalf of Jinxi City, I would like to express my gratitude to all the martial arts heroes who have traveled from afar!"
As an official of a city, Jing Ba was a man of great experience and could easily spout polite phrases.
After he finished speaking, the audience cheered. Besides giving him face, most people actually hoped that he would finish speaking quickly so as not to delay the start of the martial arts competition!
Hearing the cheers, Jing Ba felt a little smug. But when he glanced at Jing Zhe, who was half-dead in the audience, he was furious.
With a quick glance, an idea came to him.
————
(Please...please subscribe!)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
