Xie An subtly activated his five senses, carefully observing the Deputy Chief of the Demon Suppression Office of Qingwu Town before him.
A face full of a tangled beard, a tall and straight figure, imposing and stern. Although his Qi and blood were restrained, he possessed a natural air of authority. At first glance, he exuded the aura of someone who had long held a high position, yet he was also humble and approachable, making conversation with him feel like a spring breeze.
Compared to aristocratic scions like Wei Haoran and Zhao Qing'er, this Chen Tie before him was much more composed.
No wonder he could become the Princess's confidant.
To be able to become a Deputy Chief of the fifth rank, he must have a few tricks up his sleeve.
Xie An had transmigrated to this world for nearly forty years, and this was the first time he had come to such a scenic spot.
"Brother Xie, please sit down."
Perhaps the Princess had given Chen Tie instructions, as Chen Tie was very enthusiastic towards Xie An. After inviting Xie An to sit down, he also instructed Zhao Qing'er to brew tea.
This highly regarded daughter of the Prince of Bao treated Wei Haoran with casual commands, but she was very respectful to this Chen Tie. She actually squatted down to brew tea without any hesitation.
Chen Tie sized Xie An up and down, and couldn't help but smile and praise, "Tall as a pine, auspicious as a crane, and with a spirit as vast as the sky, Brother Xie is truly a talented man. No wonder the Princess speaks so highly of you."
Xie An: "…"
That's an exaggeration, an exaggeration.
Chen Tie's praise, however, showed no sign of stopping, "The Princess has been planning in Nanyang for over twenty years, and has been trapped by the Great Bronze Bell. Although we have the heart to serve, we could not share the Princess's worries. This stalemate has lasted for more than twenty years, but unexpectedly, with Brother Xie's arrival, it was like sweeping away the withered and decaying, breaking a century-old deadlock. Such heroic feats are quite rare even in the entire Jingtai Dynasty. Truly a model for us."
If an ordinary person had offered such praise, Xie An would have "happily" accepted it.
But facing such praise from an eighth-level martial artist and fifth-rank Deputy Chief, Xie An was really a little embarrassed.
Xie An cupped his hands and said, "Lord Chen, you are too kind."
Chen Tie laughed heartily, "At the Shuiding Town pier, you beheaded the seventh son of the Prince of Huainan. Upholding the prestige and responsibility of our Demon Suppression Office. Brother Xie is too modest. Come, drink tea."
The tea was ready.
Zhao Qing'er, as the daughter of a Prince, took the initiative to offer Xie An a cup of tea.
This made Xie An very surprised. He took the teacup, thanked her, "Thank you, Princess."
Zhao Qing'er was very satisfied with this, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, showing her approval of Xie An's politeness.
After some pleasantries, Xie An felt that this Chen Tie was quite composed and knew how to advance and retreat, so he took the initiative to ask, "Lord Chen, what were the details of the Corpse Refining Hall battle back then?"
Chen Tie got up and took out a dossier from the bookshelf next to him, and handed it to Xie An, "It's all recorded in the dossier. The original has already been submitted to the Demon Suppression Office for filing. This is a copy that I specially had someone transcribe for you to take a look at."
Zhao Qing'er then explained, "I wanted to say it when we were in the Dayin Mountain, but I was suspicious of your identity at the time, so I didn't tell you. After you entered the Demon Suppression Office, I asked Liu Chunyuan to confirm your and Yuhe's identities from afar, and then I could say it."
Xie An expressed his understanding, and then opened the dossier.
As he read, Xie An was shocked.
It was too tragic.
Of the hundred Demon Suppression Guards transferred from the Nanyang Demon Suppression Office, ninety-three died, and the other seven were crippled. Almost all of them were wiped out.
And the thousand soldiers dispatched by the Qianhu Office under the leadership of Xie Mingfeng were all killed in battle. Even Xie Mingfeng lost an arm.
The hundred or so yamen runners led by Wen Zaiqing were all killed in battle.
Xie An could have predicted the death of a thousand soldiers and a hundred yamen runners. After all, these people's strength was not outstanding. Usually, pulling them out to hunt down fugitives and encircle ordinary bandits was still possible. But facing so many corpses from the Corpse Refining Hall, they were not enough.
But the hundred elite Demon Suppression Guards of the Nanyang Demon Suppression Office were all genuine martial artists. Many of them should have been martial masters, but they were all killed in battle, which was extremely tragic.
The dossier made a summary in the last part: More than 8,000 corpses of the Corpse Refining Hall were killed, and 1,600 demon people were beheaded. Four hundred crystal stones, except for dozens who fled into the depths of the southeast of the Dayin Mountain, the others were killed.
How ruthless!
Although the sacrifice was great, the results were equally amazing.
The dossier also recorded that Su Yuqing single-handedly killed more than 300 crystal corpses.
This sentence especially shocked Xie An.
You should know that Xie An had personally witnessed the horror of the crystal corpses. Each of them was at the level of a fourth-level martial artist, and a very few of them were even stronger.
The more than 400 crystal corpses should be the Corpse Refining Hall's trump card.
Su Yuqing, a woman, single-handedly killed more than 300.
It can be said that she turned the tide and laid the foundation for victory.
If it weren't for Su Yuqing's bravery, that battle of the Corpse Refining Hall would have been defeated. All the sacrifices would have become worthless.
Looking further back, Xie An saw a line: Su Yuqing beheaded the High Priest Jin Hai'er at the Huai River at the foot of the Dayin Mountain.
The High Priest, an existence comparable to a Grandmaster of Martial Arts, was killed!
Su Yuqing took action twice, and it was definitely a move to lay the foundation for victory. Why did she have to leave the first credit to herself?
Xie An felt that it was open to question.
But after thinking about it, he could understand.
On the one hand, for Su Yuqing, she didn't care about this credit. The whole world belonged to her Su family, and Su Yuqing had a great pattern, so it was better to give up a credit and show the royal style.
On the other hand, from Su Yuqing's point of view, killing three hundred crystal corpses and killing the High Priest were just routine operations. What really trapped her was the Great Bronze Bell. And Xie An helped her break the Great Bronze Bell. It was not impossible to say that it was the first credit.
Wait…
Jin Hai'er!?
These three words suddenly caught Xie An's attention.
Just now, Xie An's attention had been on the event, but he had ignored this detail.
Xie An was shocked in his heart, but on the surface, he pretended to be calm and finished reading all the contents of the dossier normally. He did not see the record of Li Changchun being killed, so it seemed that Li Changchun was still there.
Xie An took a deep breath, then handed the dossier to Yuhe next to him, and then said to Chen Tie: "Is the High Priest's real name Jin Hai'er?"
Chen Tie said: "Yes, I didn't know before. The Princess told me before she left."
Xie An had an estimate in his heart.
Jin Hai'er…
Old Madam Jin…
It seemed to match.
Yuhe finished reading the dossier, and was equally frightened, and worriedly asked: "Was Miss injured?"
Chen Tie said: "She suffered some minor injuries, but overall she is fine, nothing serious."
Yuhe breathed a sigh of relief, returned the dossier, and couldn't help but show a look of relief on her face. For Yuhe, it seemed that the master and miss were always the first. As for other major national affairs, she was not very interested.
Chen Tie accepted the dossier, then asked Zhao Qing'er to take out paper and pen, and made a record next to him, while asking Xie An: "Brother Xie, we acted together at the beginning. We have truthfully told you about our situation. What happened to you and Yuhe later?"
Xie An did not have any rejection of such questioning.
Acting together and exchanging information was a very reasonable request.
But the situation of Old Madam Jin was special and of great importance. If Su Yuqing was here, Xie An would truthfully tell her, but if it was Chen Tie, Xie An had doubts.
After all, Xie An and the Demon Suppression Office could not be said to have any relationship, it was just a transaction with Su Yuqing personally.
Seeing Xie An hesitate, Chen Tie immediately realized the key to the problem, and said: "Of course, Brother Xie is not a member of our Demon Suppression Office. To be precise, Brother Xie is the Princess's person. You can also not make this record, and Brother Xie can write a letter to the Princess of Nanyang Prefecture to explain the situation."
Xie An happily agreed, "Okay."
Chen Tie asked Zhao Qing'er to go out for a walk, leaving only Xie An and Yuhe.
Yuhe grinded ink next to him, and Xie An picked up a pen to write a letter.
Except for the matter of Xie An's long life, Xie An told the truth about other things. And asked about Su Yuqing's method of cultivating Baozhi.
After writing, Chen Tie and Zhao Qing'er came back soon, and there was also Wei Haoran.
Chen Tie, as the Deputy Chief, did not avoid Wei Haoran and Zhao Qing'er, which showed that the three had a very close relationship.
Then Zhao Qing'er took out the Demon Suppression Office's special envelope and red wax, and handed it to Xie An. Xie An personally sealed it. Zhao Qing'er then took out the Demon Suppression Office's special seal, stamped it on the red wax, and showed the envelope to Xie An, "Xie An, do you think it's okay?"
Xie An cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."
"It's my duty." Zhao Qing'er took the envelope, walked to the door, and instructed a servant to deliver the letter immediately.
Besides the unique red birds used by the Demon Suppression Division's high-ranking officials to transmit secret letters, normal correspondence would take at least four or five days to receive a reply. If it was urgent, riding the Demon Suppression Division's specially bred BMW would still take two days for a round trip.
With the information exchanged, Chen Tie took out a large brocade box from the shelf again, slowly returned to his chair, and said while holding the brocade box, "Brother Xie, you have made a great contribution this time. The Eldest Princess has already reported it to the imperial court, and is just waiting to find you. Now that you have returned, the news will reach the capital, and His Majesty will soon bestow rewards.
Of course, Yuhe will also be rewarded. It will probably take ten days to half a month. You two just wait patiently."
Xie An didn't expect such treatment.
His Majesty's reward would definitely not be small.
Speaking of which, Xie An was making a huge profit.
Before, it was just a transaction with Su Yuqing, and Xie An had already profited greatly from that transaction alone. Not only did he avoid being killed by Li Changchun, but he also obtained nearly eight thousand wisps of Undying Qi, as well as Baozhi… and a personal invitation from the Taiyi Dao leader.
Now, his merits were also publicly reported to the imperial court, and there would be rewards…
A blood profit!
Doing business with a bigwig like the Eldest Princess… was extremely cost-effective.
The newest novels are first published on Liu Jiu Jiu Shu Ba!
At this time, Yuhe asked for Xie An, "Lord Chen, do you know what His Majesty will reward?"
Before Chen Tie could answer, Zhao Qing'er excitedly said, "Our Majesty is very generous, and never stingy with rewards for meritorious people. Xie An has made a great contribution this time, destroying the Corpse Refining Hall. In addition to gold, silver, and silk, there will also be resources such as pills for martial arts practice. Even… there may be official positions, titles."
Titles!
For Da Qian, they were more noble and scarce than official positions.
No matter how high an official rises, it's all over after death and cannot be passed on to future generations. But titles can be inherited!
Moreover, a large title can completely create an aristocratic family.
For example, if a father is a Prince, the eldest son would be a Prince of the Second Rank, and the other sons could be Dukes of the Third Rank. If it is stated during the conferment that the rank will not be lowered, then when the father dies, the son will still be a Prince… This is quite terrifying.
Many scholar-officials have power but no title, meaning they have power but are not noble.
Some first-rank ministers even serve the court for their entire lives, and beg for the honor of being enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple and a posthumous title when they are about to die.
This shows how scarce titles are.
Of course, Xie An was not very interested in becoming an official, but a title… was acceptable.
With a title, whether it was the Prince of Huainan or Li Changchun, they would have to think twice before acting against him.
Chen Tie smiled and said, "If a title is conferred, then Brother Xie will be a noble. Back then, Wei Haoran's father made great contributions in resisting the Northern Liang army, killing more than 180,000 enemies on the banks of the Wei River, shocking the court. From then on, he jumped to become a First-Class Military Marquis of Da Qian. Even so, His Majesty did not give him a title, until Marquis Wei entered the capital and retired at home. His Majesty then gave Marquis Wei the title of Duke, hereditary for twenty-six generations. This shows that His Majesty values titles very much."
Hearing this, Xie An couldn't help but take another look at Wei Haoran.
He didn't expect this young man, who was bossed around by Zhao Qing'er, to have such a big background.
Da Qian promoted a nine-rank system of nobility—Prince, Prince of the Second Rank, Duke, Duke of the Third Rank, County Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, Baron.
Duke was a very high title. It belonged to the first rank of Dukes and the third rank of nobility.
For a non-royal military marquis to be able to obtain the title of Duke through meritorious service was already very remarkable. However, it was still far from being comparable to the royal family.
Zhao Qing'er was a Princess of the Second Rank at a young age because she was the daughter of Prince Bao, so it was no wonder she could boss Wei Haoran around.
However, Princess of the Second Rank was not a title, but an honorary title. Only the Princess of the Second Rank's older brother or younger brother could obtain the title of Prince of the Second Rank.
Xie An thought for a moment… something was wrong.
Princes were all members of the royal family, so why was Su Yuqing surnamed Su, and Zhao Qing'er surnamed Zhao…
Did Zhao Qing'er follow her mother's surname?
Would Prince Bao allow that?
Or was there some special historical reason…
Xie An rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache.
But overall, Xie An didn't want an official position, but a title was acceptable.
The reason was simple: titles were scarce and noble, and did not entail specific duties. They belonged to idle nobles, which was very suitable for stable development. If he had a title, it would be much easier to obtain resources for martial arts practice or longevity in the future.
Chen Tie took out the box in his hand and slowly pushed it in front of Xie An, "Brother Xie, His Majesty's reward is His Majesty's. This is a great gift that the Eldest Princess asked me to give you."
Xie An solemnly took the brocade box and gently opened it.
Inside, there were three neatly arranged scrolls: purple, gold, and silver. Each scroll was tied with a ribbon and was very exquisite.
The surrounding people cast curious glances, full of anticipation.
Xie An was a little uneasy.
He didn't know what gift the Eldest Princess had left for him.
He adjusted his emotions, first picked up the silver scroll, untied the ribbon, and slowly unfolded it.
Wei Haoran and Zhao Qing'er immediately moved behind Xie An, staring wide-eyed.
Chen Tie glared at Wei Haoran and Zhao Qing'er, and the two took a step back, but their eyes still did not leave the scroll.
Chen Tie shook his head speechlessly and said nothing more.
As the scroll slowly unfolded—
Before Xie An could speak, Zhao Qing'er and Wei Haoran gasped.
Xie An's eyes widened.
The letter of appointment for the Chief of the Qingwu Demon Suppression Division!
Rank Five!
And a powerful official. Half a rank higher than Chen Tie.
Even though Xie An had always felt that he was not very interested in becoming an official, he couldn't help but feel his heart pounding when faced with this letter of appointment.
When a letter of appointment for a Rank Five official was placed in front of him, it was unrealistic to say that he was not tempted at all.
Under the chaotic world of Da Qian, how many people studied hard for more than ten years, passed the civil and military examinations, and at most became a Rank Seven county magistrate. If they had no background, that was all they would ever be.
Even if they had a background, they would need to accumulate many years of experience to advance further. But to reach Rank Five, it was almost impossible unless they had heaven-defying luck.
Now, it was placed in front of Xie An.
Xie An took several deep breaths before calming down.
Zhao Qing'er had said before that the position of Chief was originally Chen Tie's, but there was a change, and it was left undecided. It turned out that it had been reserved for Xie An long ago.
Something was wrong…
Something was very wrong.
Four years ago, Xie An had only cultivated the Bright Jade Skill to the eleventh level, which was only comparable to the level of a Second-Level Martial Master. How did Su Yuqing know at that time that he could be qualified for the Rank Five Chief?
This woman was not right…
Chen Tie also caught a glimpse of the contents of the scroll at this time, and enduring his sour mood, he cupped his hands and said, "Congratulations, Chief Xie!"
Zhao Qing'er was extremely shocked, "So the Eldest Princess had already reserved the position of Chief for you… Congratulations, Chief Xie."
Wei Haoran was also a little awkward, but he still cupped his hands to congratulate, "Congratulations, Chief Xie."
Yuhe was even more overjoyed and stood up to perform a blessing, "Congratulations, Master."
Xie An then recovered and quickly said, "Lord Chen, is there still room for maneuver with this scroll?"
Chen Tie was stunned, looked Xie An up and down in shock, and then said, "Of course. The Eldest Princess did not announce it publicly, but gave it to Brother Xie privately. If Brother Xie has no interest in officialdom, he can naturally decline."
Xie An then breathed a sigh of relief.
If Xie An was a pure person of this world, he would definitely agree immediately in the face of such a great gift.
But Xie An had lived two lives, and he was not so enthusiastic about officialdom.
Fortunately, the Eldest Princess did not force Xie An, and if it was announced publicly… Xie An would not be able to refuse.
He also felt a little grateful to the Eldest Princess, thinking that the Eldest Princess was considerate and very concerned about his will.
This matter was too important, and Xie An felt that he needed to think about it carefully.
He put down the silver scroll, then picked up the second purple scroll and unwrapped the ribbon…
The first scroll was so amazing.
Then the second one, wouldn't it be even more amazing?
————
ps: Last month, I updated 330,000 words, and I updated 10,000 words every day. This month, I will continue. Please ask for a basic monthly ticket~
