trade
Ye Ting heard the term "senior brother" as he wished, smiled with satisfaction, and turned to see Mu Qinghuai staring coldly at him.
It was a completely unfamiliar face to him, and Ye Ting could clearly sense the hostility emanating from this man.
"Who is he? I've never seen him before. You're traveling with another strange man?!" Ye Ting's pupils contracted sharply, his body tensed involuntarily, and he asked with slight impatience.
Qi Yuan was a little puzzled. What did it have to do with him who she was traveling with? And why was he reacting so strongly? He was really meddling in other people's business.
She didn't want to answer, and only said slowly, "Senior brother seems to be meddling too much. I can travel with whomever I want."
Upon hearing this, Mu Qinghuai's narrow eyes curved slightly, and a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips.
Ye Ting happened to see the fleeting smile on Mu Qinghuai's face. He knew exactly what that smile meant, and he gritted his teeth in anger.
Mu Qinghuai turned his head away disdainfully and sneered coldly, "He should be called senior brother, after all, he looks so old."
"You! I'm only nineteen!" Ye Ting glared at Mu Qinghuai, wishing he could tear him apart.
Everyone who sees him calls him a handsome man, and this is the first time someone has said he looks old! It even made him swear.
Qi Yuan went through the motions, then said to Mu Qinghuai in a low voice, "Do not be rude."
She said coldly, "Since you're busy, senior brother, then I won't disturb you any longer."
"Junior?" Ye Ting scoffed.
They are clearly of the same generation!
Qiuyi watched the battle from the sidelines with trepidation, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
A battlefield of carnage.
It's absolutely a battleground!
A man walked out of the room with a smile on his face and said, "The head of the family has agreed to see you."
"Wait, you're here to see Patriarch Zhu too, right? Why don't we go up together?" Cheng Jin said reluctantly when she met Ye Ting's gaze.
"Yes. However, since we're not discussing the same matter with the patriarch, let's part ways. We'll go up after you've finished dealing with it. Until we meet again." Qi Yuan's tone was indifferent.
Cheng Jin glanced at her senior brother with disappointment and worry, then glared angrily at her old friend.
Ye Ting's eyes were dim and filled with resentment, and his hands unconsciously clenched his sleeves.
In fact, Cheng Jin knew about her senior brother's feelings.
"It's fine if Junior Sister doesn't go. Alas, it's just a pity that she didn't appreciate our good intentions. Goodbye forever." Ye Ting switched back to a disdainful tone.
"For the sake of our past as fellow disciples, I still want to advise you, junior sister, not to associate with men of unknown origin." He walked in without looking back.
The disciples of the Water Spirit Sect looked at each other, hesitated for a few moments, glanced at Qi Yuan, and then went inside one by one.
Qi Yuan leaned against the wall, waiting quietly.
Suddenly, Qiu Yi had a flash of inspiration and asked the system, "If the female lead ends up with the second male lead, is the story considered a bad ending?"
[BE System]: It counts. It's just that this makes it more difficult, as the female lead has absolutely no feelings for the second male lead, and it's only the second male lead who is infatuated with her.
Autumn Thoughts: "Investigate why the Water Spirit Sect went to find the patriarch."
After a long while, the system finally replied: Two months from now is the blooming day of the Hundred-Year-Old Bird Flower. Consuming this rare flower can grant one a top-grade spiritual root, and the information about the flower is in the hands of the Zhu family patriarch. Tianxin Tower sold the information to the Zhu family several years ago.
Will the century-old bird-of-paradise flower attract Qi Yuan's attention...?
“It’s a shift in mindset,” Qiu Yi said.
The so-called consciousness transfer is just a cheat code that allows you to briefly possess an NPC who has no role in the story for a few minutes. Once the NPC regains consciousness, they will not have any memory of that experience.
After most of the day had passed, the Water Spirit Sect members finally emerged in a bustling crowd, most of them quite excited.
Ye Ting was at the back of the group. His gaze lingered on Qi Yuan's face for a few seconds before he looked away, pursed his lips, and quickened his pace to catch up with the group.
"Senior sister, we're going to pick century-old sparrow flowers, do you want to come with us?" One of the female disciples suddenly appeared out of nowhere, startling Qi Yuan.
The female disciple seemed unconcerned about the angry stares she was receiving from her fellow disciples.
Qi Yuan never expected that their goal was also to collect the Hundred-Year-Old Bird Flower. Her breath caught in her throat: "What? You know the location of the flower?"
She regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth. People must have gone to so much trouble to find out this, and how could she possibly want others to snatch the flowers too?
The female disciple feigned innocence: "The flowers will bloom in two months, right at Xueya in Quanzhou. Senior Sister can go too!"
Some disciples couldn't stand it anymore and glared fiercely at the female disciple who had spoken, as if questioning her for so easily revealing the news.
Qi Yuan waved her hand in thanks, her mind already made up: "Thank you, Junior Sister. I will send the spirit stones to your peak after I return to the sect."
The female disciple smiled without saying a word and then disappeared in an instant.
This female disciple is Qiu Yi, who is possessing the body.
After returning to her body, Qiu Yi clasped her hands together and silently prayed: "Amitabha, I really had no other choice but to do this! Please don't blame me!"
Qi Yuan thought that two months would be enough time to exorcise the evil.
The most urgent task is to speak with the head of the household.
"Please inform the patriarch that Qi Yuan of the Silver Bamboo Sect, Zhu Fu of the Zhu Family, and Qiu Yi have something to discuss with the gatekeeper," Qi Yuan said.
Soon, they received a reply: "The head of the family invites the three of you upstairs."
"Speak. What is it?" A deep voice reached the three of them.
The head of the Zhu family had his back to them, yet he gave the impression that he was constantly monitoring them.
"Silver Bamboo Clan Prayer Mandarin Duck".
"My name is Zhu Fu."
"My name is Qiuyi."
The patriarch said, "You are Qi Yuan? Yun Xingjun's prized student... There's even a member of the Zhu family, but you look completely unfamiliar to me. Let's get straight to the point."
Mu Qinghuai didn't react much, nor was he afraid of being investigated, as he had already made arrangements with people beforehand.
Qi Yuan didn't say much and went straight to the point: "As far as we know, the living conditions of the Zhu family's people are very poor. Only this house and the street where the Zhu family's main gate is located are no different from the outside world, but behind this county and this street, there are many people who even have trouble getting enough to eat. Is it really okay for you to ignore this?"
"You came all this way just for this?" The patriarch was somewhat surprised. He seemed completely unconcerned about the matter and hadn't taken the question to heart at all.
Mu Qinghuai said, "If you can't even guarantee the livelihood of your clansmen, I think you are not fit to be the head of the family at all."
"Is that so?" The patriarch wasn't angry. "I think you've misunderstood something."
The head of the household said slowly, "The poor people you are talking about are not the Zhu family."
Many of them migrated from other places and did not have Zhu family blood flowing through their veins. Secondly, even if they were Zhu family members, these people were practically useless if they couldn't support themselves. Wouldn't it be a waste of resources to provide them with food, clothing, and shelter? It would be better to offer these resources to the Zhu family cultivators, which would bring more benefits to the Zhu family.”
What kind of twisted logic is this?
Qi Yuan suppressed her overwhelming anger and tried her best to control her tone: "As long as they are on this land, they are all people you are supposed to protect. There is no such thing as wasting resources. All lives are equal. You have no right to measure the value of each person."
"I think there's no need for us to continue talking." The patriarch leaned back in his chair, his head tilted back, adopting a comfortable and casual posture.
"Given the Zhu family's original financial strength, even if they distributed the resources to cultivators, the remaining money, after deducting the clan's capital, would be more than enough to distribute to the poor. Where did this money go? Doesn't the patriarch find it strange?" Mu Qinghuai said in a deep voice.
Qi Yuan looked at him in surprise.
In order to play the role of Zhu Fu well, he searched for a lot of information, but unexpectedly found out about the Zhu family's accounts.
"Words are meaningless. Which branch of the Zhu family are you from?" the patriarch roared.
Qi Yuan had no choice but to invoke her master's name, a tactic that always worked: "We are here on the orders of Lord Yunxing to investigate. Please cooperate."
The patriarch snorted, "I've never heard of Yun Xingjun meddling in so much." But his tone was indeed much more subdued, indicating that he was only half-convinced.
"Master is a hero of great righteousness," Qi Yuan said, his words contradicting his true feelings.
Mu Qinghuai withdrew his gaze, slowly suppressing the smile on his face, and he couldn't help but clench his teeth.
"We request that the three of you provide evidence."
Qiu Yi, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "You misunderstand. We wouldn't have come if we didn't have solid evidence. This is evidence of the Second Elder of the Zhu family's embezzlement. As far as I know, the Second Elder is your cousin."
"Please take a look." Qiu Yi smiled and handed over a thick stack of papers.
Qi Yuan: ?!
Mu Qinghuai: ?
The head of the family could no longer sit still. He suddenly stood up and finally turned his chair around.
The patriarch sat upright in his noble chair, his posture elegant. Gold threads flowed through his black robe. His eyes revealed ambition and shrewdness, and his lips were slightly pursed. He looked to be only in his early twenties, surprisingly young.
He propped his head up with his hands, a half-smile on his face, and said, "Hmm? I'm quite curious where you guys got all this stuff." His smile sounded more like a threat.
Qiu Yi thought to herself: Of course, it's exchanged with points.
Qi Yuan returned his smile: "This is not something the patriarch should concern himself with. So, you admit to protecting the Second Elder? Do you think you can still sit securely in this position if this matter gets out?"
"What do you want? How about we make a deal?" The patriarch closed his eyes.
If it were any other ignorant civilians, he could burn the evidence and kill the informant. But one of them was a disciple of Yun Xingjun! He couldn't bring himself to do it. Even if he wasn't sure if they were really sent by Yun Xingjun, he didn't dare to gamble.
The three exchanged glances and nodded. Qiu Yi swallowed hard.
"We don't want power or wealth. We only ask for justice for the people."
"That's it?" A low voice reached the ears of the three.
Mu Qinghuai was displeased, but still said, "I hope you will remove the Second Elder's powers and return the land and money that the people originally owned to them."
“No problem.” The patriarch readily agreed.
"However, you must keep quiet about what you know."
"You agreed to these demands so easily?" Qi Yuan looked up suspiciously but did not immediately respond to the patriarch's words. She moved her lips but remained silent.
"Someone, see the guest out."
"No need, we'll go down ourselves. There's no need to seal the mountain off; we came here to rid the evil spirits," Qi Yuan said.
Before leaving, she added, "What you can't do, we can do."
………
"Master of the family..."
"Keep an eye on those three people, and also keep an eye on the current situation of the Silver Bamboo Sect. Also, check if there is anyone in the Zhu family named Zhu Fu."
"Where did you get this evidence?" Qi Yuan walked up to Qiu Yi, her eyes revealing a complex emotion, a mixture of suspicion and expectation, but also vigilance, as if she were questioning someone's motives.
"I..." Qiu Yi couldn't speak. She couldn't possibly say that the evidence fell from the sky.
"To be honest, I am actually the daughter of the Wanwu Sect. I have admired Fairy Qi since I was a child and have been paying close attention to your movements. After learning that you were going to the Zhu family, I researched various materials in advance and bought a lot of unknown information about the Zhu family. After obtaining this evidence, I thought it might be able to help you, so I dressed up and set off." Qiu Yi said with a glimmer of hope.
The system reset her points and told her she could lie about being the "heiress of the Wanwu Gate".
Qi Yuan glanced at Qiu Yi discreetly out of the corner of her eye, and finally sighed, "Never mind. This time, it's all thanks to you; otherwise, it would have been impossible to get the family head to agree."
Instead, Mu Qinghuai frowned and cast a scrutinizing glance at him.
He was 100% certain.
The Gate of All Things... could not possibly hold a thousand pieces of gold.
Who exactly is this autumn chill?
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