Chapter 5 After the rain, the sky is sunny
Fifteen minutes later, Qin Chaoyang escorted Lin Sheng out of the east courtyard.
After exchanging greetings and saying goodbye, Lin Sheng, holding an oil-paper umbrella, stepped into the rain and walked further and further away.
Qin Xiao stood by the window with his hands behind his back, his dark eyes gazing absently towards the southeast.
The carved window frames were fully extended, the window sashes facing outwards, and raindrops pattered against them, making a muffled sound.
A gentle breeze carried away the wisps of moisture, making it humid and cool, and dispelling most of the summer heat.
Qin Chaoyang walked back into the hall, poured Qin Xiao a fresh cup of tea, and then presented the teacup to him.
Qin Xiao took the teacup, took a small sip, and then placed it on the white jade windowsill, making a crisp sound.
"Are you thinking about Lord Lin's words, sir?" Qin Chaoyang asked.
Qin Xiao traced the rim of his glass with his fingertips and asked, "What's your opinion on this?"
"I dare to say," Qin Chaoyang said, bowing slightly, "that just in case, this person should be eliminated."
Lin Sheng had made himself very clear: he could not fully ascertain the identity and origin of the stranger, but he could see that the man possessed extraordinary qualities.
Such a miraculous phenomenon could be an opportunity and a great blessing for the Great Ning Dynasty, or it could be a calamity and a great disaster!
All of this depends on that person's single thought.
Besides, the opponent's luck can still restrain Qin Xiao. Although it seems that Qin Xiao is suppressing the opponent now, it is possible that one day the opponent's luck will be stronger than Qin Xiao's.
At that time, Qin Xiao will be at a disadvantage and be bossed around.
Qin Chaoyang was shocked after hearing this, and his thoughts immediately coincided with Lin Sheng's.
We must eliminate this variable as soon as possible, just in case!
He knew, however, that Qin Xiao would most likely not accept his suggestion.
Because although their lord has a notorious reputation, he has never been one to indiscriminately kill innocent people.
Sure enough, he heard Qin Xiao chuckle softly: "Talk of gods and ghosts..."
Having said all that, Qin Chaoyang understood.
The adults didn't believe in ghosts and gods; they only used the Imperial Observatory's divination as a political tool. So they would never kill someone of unknown character for such an absurd reason as "mutual restraint."
Qin Chaoyang continued, "I have already sent people to investigate, and I expect we will soon find out the person's identity."
If it is discovered that the man has connections with other forces, Qin Xiao, given his nature, would certainly not show any mercy.
Qin Xiao responded.
He had initially worried that the other party would continue to control his body and do things against his will, but he tried it, and whether he was choking the other party and making physical contact with him, or talking through the cell door, that feeling of losing control of his body never came again.
This suggests that Chu Jiubian may not be able to control his body at will; the previous situation was simply a special circumstance.
Special circumstances refer to situations where the other party almost falls from the sky and dies, and their life is threatened.
However, Qin Xiao had also tried. He really wanted to snap the other person's neck, but under such a death threat, Chu Jiubian still couldn't control him.
Therefore, it seems that Chu Jiubian may not be able to control people at all. His previous control may have had other reasons.
Since that's the case, given that the other party is so weak and helpless, they probably won't be able to cause any trouble. All we need to do is keep an eye on them.
Qin Xiao didn't care about Chu Jiubian at the moment. His dark eyes were fixed on the rain, and there was an unyielding sorrow between his brows.
Is it really impossible for it to rain in the south?
==
Inside the cell, a young jailer brought over a food box and a water bag and handed them to Chu Jiubian.
The jailer smiled and said respectfully, "Sir, General An has instructed that you be treated to the best food and drink these next few days. If you need anything, please feel free to ask me."
Chu Jiubian thought that after Qin Xiao's visit, An Wuji's attitude towards him would change, perhaps he would calm down and realize that Qin Xiao was actually a liar, and stop taking him seriously.
But it seems that the other party still holds him in awe of his "god" status.
That's good, at least I don't have to worry about not having enough to eat for the next two meals.
Chu Jiubian took the food box and, without any pretense, sat down directly on the ground.
In a previous film, he played a high priest who needed to be extremely thin, so he was constantly controlling his diet. At 1.83 meters tall, he weighed only 120 kilograms, which was obviously somewhat unhealthy.
He's actually quite happy that he can eat normally now.
However, when he opened the food box with high expectations, it was as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water.
The food box contained meat soup, brown rice porridge, and a little bit of dried meat, all served in earthenware bowls.
When he was reading the novel, he vaguely felt that the world in the book was underdeveloped, but he did not expect that even the food was so simple.
At this time, iron ore mining was scarce and strictly controlled by the imperial court. Ironware was barely enough to make weapons, so it was impossible to make iron pots. Therefore, people in this period used ceramics or bronzeware more often for cooking.
The different materials mean that the food can only be steamed or stewed at this time.
Therefore, the present-day Great Ning Dynasty has no stir-frying, no rich seasonings, and even the technology of grinding wheat into flour is unfamiliar and crude!
Chu Jiubian remained silent for a long time before enduring the burning pain in his throat and eating the lunch that looked like a low-fat meal.
The meat broth had a faint taste of ginger and a slightly bitter, salty flavor from the coarse salt, but that was about it.
However, this meal was actually quite good. Ordinary people might not even have brown rice porridge, let alone meat soup.
Thinking of this, he couldn't be coy anymore. He finished all the meat soup and rice porridge, and gave the remaining few pieces of dried meat to the jailer when he came to collect the food box.
Since he has a sore throat and can't eat such hard food, it's better to give it away as a favor.
The jailer was clearly surprised that Chu Jiubian would reward him with such rare dried meat, and in his gratitude, he knelt down and kowtowed twice.
Before Chu Jiubian could react, the jailer had already stood up with a beaming smile and said, "Thank you, immortal! Thank you, immortal!"
Chu Jiubian asked in surprise, "How do you know I am an immortal?"
The young jailer's eyes gleamed as he said, "I just heard from the Imperial Guards that you're a celestial being who descended from heaven. You can make it rain as soon as you say it will, without fail, not even a quarter of an hour off. You're incredibly powerful!"
So that's how it is. It must have been those two Imperial Guards who accompanied An Wuji who spread the news.
Chu Jiubian opened the system and took a look. The 0.5 points that had been deducted from his points for buying medicine had been returned!
This is like a pillow coming to someone who's sleepy; he doesn't even have to do anything, and his faith points just increase on their own.
Chu Jiubian had just come up with his "divine persona": a cold and aloof exterior, but a gentle and kind interior.
Who could resist the gentle and kind side that everyone considers unattainable?
The bright moon hangs high, shining alone on me; what else could this be but favoritism?
Chu Jiubian looked into the jailer's bright eyes and gave a faint smile: "Now that I am in trouble here, I have to rely on your help."
When a celestial being falls on hard times, he still smiles at you and speaks softly, asking you to take care of him. Who could resist that?
The young prison guard felt a surge of heat rush to his head, and his face flushed instantly.
He hurriedly lowered his gaze, but then saw the young man's slender waistline outlined by his damp clothes, and immediately felt even more ashamed and at a loss for what to do.
"You're too kind, it's my honor to take care of you," the jailer stammered. "And my name is Li Sheng, you can just call me Xiao Li."
Chu Jiubian readily agreed, saying, "Alright, then thank you very much, Xiao Li."
Xiao Li felt even more embarrassed, but also a little excited.
The immortal remembered his name! This is an incredible stroke of luck!
"Oh, right." Li Sheng almost forgot the important matter, "Lord Ning Prince instructed us to get you some dry clothes, I'll go get them for you right away!"
After saying that, he didn't dare to look at Chu Jiubian again, picked up the food box and fled in panic, even forgetting to close the prison door.
Chu Jiubian: "..."
He stared at the wide-open cell door, paused, then walked to the wall, leaned against the cold wall, and stood with his arms crossed.
Before long, Xiao Li returned, carrying a quilt and a set of dry coarse linen clothes.
He was startled to see the prison door wide open, but when he found Chu Jiubian waiting obediently inside the cell, he felt even more grateful.
These are gods!
Not only does she possess the ability to detect celestial secrets, but she is also good-looking, speaks gently, and is so upright and honest.
The points on the system panel increased slightly by 0.1, and Chu Jiubian slowly blinked.
It seems that as one's faith deepens, their points will increase more significantly.
“My lord, these are the new clothes that Prince Ning sent me to prepare for you. And this quilt…” Xiao Li glanced quickly at Chu Jiubian, somewhat embarrassed and nervous, and said, “This is the one I usually use. I washed it the day before yesterday and haven’t used it since. If you don’t mind, I’ll put it on the floor for you so you can rest more comfortably.”
What a pleasant surprise!
Chu Jiubian walked two steps in front of him, showing just the right amount of concern, and said, "If you give me the blanket, what will you do?"
Perhaps realizing that Chu Jiubian didn't mind him, Xiao Li immediately patted his chest excitedly and said, "I'm tough as nails, it's no problem. I'll put it on for you right away."
After saying that, he handed the clean clothes to Chu Jiubian, and then quickly made up the quilt for him.
After finishing the work, Xiao Li didn't linger. He bowed and said, "Then I'll take my leave now. Please let me know if you need anything."
"Thank you for your trouble."
"Of course."
The jailer locked the cell door and left quickly with a joyful stride, presumably to vent his excitement in a secluded place.
Chu Jiubian walked to the bed that had been laid out, placed clean clothes on it, and then quickly took off his sticky, damp old clothes and threw them aside.
He put all the jingling jewelry he wore into his spatial storage. In this era, these cheap industrial products were rare gems, and he might need them someday.
He waited until the dampness on his body dissipated before changing into new clothes.
The most basic and simple coarse linen clothing, consisting of a top and trousers, loose and baggy.
In this era of scarcity, only royalty and nobility could afford to wear fine silks and satins. Therefore, Chu Jiubian did not have high expectations for this new outfit. As long as it was no longer sticky and uncomfortable, that was fine.
He just didn't expect that this linen clothing was completely different from the linen he wore in modern times. It was really rough, and just by simply putting it on, Chu Jiubian's fair and tender skin was already covered with many red marks.
Moreover, he has good body proportions and exceptionally long legs, so when he puts on these pants, his ankles and Achilles tendons are clearly exposed, and his bones are fragile and obvious.
Chu Jiubian looked down at himself, feeling helpless.
Well, it's good enough that we can get some replacements.
He stopped wearing shoes, wiped his feet on his old clothes, and lay down on the quilt.
The Great Ning Dynasty did not have cotton, so there was no such thing as a cotton quilt.
The quilts of royalty and nobility could be lined with fine silks and satins to ensure softness and comfort, while ordinary people could only use straw or similar materials to sew into linen.
Moreover, these kinds of blankets are often very thin, so they're not much better when laid on the floor; they're still uncomfortable. They're better than nothing, though.
The rain outside kept falling, and it intensified during the night. It showed no signs of stopping until noon the next day. On the contrary, looking at the dark clouds, it seemed that an even bigger downpour was about to arrive.
Before the shift change, Xiao Li delivered lunch to Chu Jiubian.
The "immortal" had changed into coarse linen clothes, and there were red marks around his neck from the rubbing of the clothes. Combined with the bruises from being pinched by the Regent yesterday, it was a shocking sight. Little Li couldn't help but touch his own neck when he saw it.
But Chu Jiubian seemed unconcerned about the pain. After taking the lunchbox, he said to Xiao Li, "It's almost noon. Please ask Qin Xiao to come over for me."
Xiao Li seemed startled by Chu Jiubian's direct address of Qin Xiao by his full name; his face turned two shades pale, and he subconsciously looked around.
Only after confirming that no one else had heard did he feel relieved, and then said somewhat awkwardly, "My lord, I... I dare not disturb Prince Ning."
Qin Xiao was infamous, and Chu Jiubian understood Xiao Li's predicament.
So he didn't intend to make things difficult for the other party and smiled, "Okay, it's alright."
Xiao Li breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he really wanted to build a good relationship with this deity, he was more afraid of Qin Xiao, who was truly decisive and ruthless.
"Then I'll take my leave now. Other prison guards will come to collect the food boxes after the shift change," he explained carefully.
Chu Jiubian responded and then said, "You can wait until after noon before leaving, when the rain will stop."
He had just finished speaking when a clap of thunder sounded outside, and the rain showed no sign of letting up.
Xiao Li swallowed hard, his heart pounding. He didn't know if he was startled by the sudden thunder or excited about the impending miracle.
After Xiao Li left, Chu Jiubian opened the food box and, as expected, found the same meat soup and rice porridge as always.
I ate these for lunch and dinner yesterday, and these for breakfast this morning, and now I'm having the same thing for lunch...
Chu Jiubian didn't care much about anything, but eating these things every day was really hard on his modern stomach.
It seems the first thing I'll do after I get out of prison is to improve my diet; everything else can wait.
Just then, two sets of footsteps, just like yesterday at noon, appeared again.
Looks like we didn't need to invite them specially, they've already come.
A smile flashed in Chu Jiubian's eyes as he stood up and looked toward the prison door.
Soon, the Regent, dressed in a crimson court robe, walked slowly to the door. A few steps behind him, Qin Chaoyang stood silently, holding two oil-paper umbrellas dripping with water.
Yesterday, at the coronation ceremony, Qin Xiao wore that black and gold python robe to signify his status.
Now that Baili Hong has ascended the throne, he changed into the crimson robes that only officials of the first or second rank could wear. As a "subject," he showed his attitude of assisting and submitting to the emperor, and also set an example for all civil and military officials, so that no one would dare to underestimate the young emperor.
Of course, this simple action could not quell the ambitions of those ministers; it merely sent a signal, telling everyone that the emperor was backed by the Qin family, by Prince Ning, Qin Xiao.
As long as Qin Xiao is in the court, no one can take the throne from Baili Hong.
Chu Jiubian was truly amazed by Qin Xiao's performance today.
There's no other reason than that this person is just too suited to the color crimson, which makes his whole aura even stronger and his face even more handsome and cold.
Qin Xiao spent the entire morning dealing with state affairs. During the morning court session, Xiao Wendao, the Vice Minister of Works, took advantage of the rain to mention the matter of repairing the dikes in Hexi Prefecture and earnestly requested the court to allocate funds.
Hexi Prefecture is located at the junction of Beizhili and Henan. It was often flooded in previous years. The dikes were repaired every year, but every time the funds allocated by the imperial court were passed down layer by layer, only a pittance was left that could actually be used to repair the dikes.
Xiao Wendao, the Vice Minister of Works, came from the Xiao family of Lin'an. He was the Empress Dowager's nephew and also the one who benefited the most from the water conservancy funds.
When he mentioned allocating funds, Su Sheng, the Minister of Revenue, immediately stood up and pleaded poverty.
The two sides went back and forth in the morning court, seemingly in a confrontation, but in the end, they all pointed the finger at Qin Xiao, needing him to find a way to replenish the national treasury.
What's the point of replenishing the national treasury?
Is this to facilitate their continued embezzlement?
Unfortunately, most of the Qin family's power was in the military, and they had almost no useful civil officials in the court. Qin Xiao couldn't directly say that he had no money, so he could only bottle up his anger.
After the morning court session, he summoned several high-ranking officials to the council hall to continue their discussions and find ways to replenish the national treasury.
However, the several wealthy old foxes all evaded his questions and didn't offer a single useful suggestion.
These old fogies who consider themselves pillars of the state are only concerned with how much their own power and family can benefit. As for the country and the people, those are not things they need to consider.
After seeing these people off, Qin Xiao felt irritable and didn't want to eat lunch. He just wanted to get some fresh air.
Unexpectedly, as they walked, they ended up at the prison.
He glanced at the sky and, seeing that the rain showed no sign of stopping, decided to go and see Chu Jiubian to see what else he had to say.
Still harboring resentment, he bluntly told Chu Jiubian, "You lost."
They didn't say what would happen if Chu Jiubian lost yesterday, but they all knew in their hearts that Qin Xiao could do whatever he wanted with him.
However, after Qin Xiao uttered the word "lost," Chu Jiubian did not panic as he had expected. Instead, he said in a relaxed tone, "Isn't it time yet?"
Ancient people did not have precise methods of timekeeping, but Chu Jiu Bian did.
There are still—
"Ten, nine, eight..."
Countdown?
Qin Xiao's eyes darkened slightly. Was this person really that certain?
However, before he could think about it carefully, he saw that when Chu Jiubian pronounced "five", the torrential rain miraculously subsided.
Then, the sound of rain grew softer and softer, and a faint glint of light flickered in Qin Xiao's dark eyes.
The rain stopped completely when Chu Jiubian uttered the word "one" in his slightly hoarse voice.
Water droplets gathered on the eaves dripped onto the puddles on the ground, reflecting the drifting clouds, and a ray of sunlight peeked out from them.
The rain has stopped and the sky is clear.
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