area51novel Page 502
Page 502
If this spoiled brat were recruited into their ranks, things would be much easier in the future; perhaps a single word from Li Chang'an could lead to a promotion for them.
"Xu Qi'an, come work for me!"
"Xu Qi'an, come with me, and we can buy a house in the inner city in three years!"
"Come with me, my dad is Jinluo!"
……
Xu Qi'an smiled politely, secretly pleased. In his previous life, when he interviewed junior police officers, the scene was completely reversed.
Now look what's happened, so many people are vying to be his boss.
Sensitive to workplace rules, Xu Qi'an knew he had to make a decision quickly and not let this situation continue for too long, otherwise it would displease the higher-ups in the government.
After all, the one who's awesome is my master, not me, Xu Qi'an.
Xu Qi'an jogged up to Li Yuchun and said, "Greetings, Lord Li. You are under my master's command. Please give me your guidance!"
Li Yuchun was one of several silver gongs assigned to Li Chang'an by Wei Yuan, but not the only one.
The other silver gongs immediately reacted. They were also under Li Chang'an's command, so why choose Li Yuchun?
"Li Yuchun is stubborn and boring. Come with me!"
"Yes, he always complains about being poor while following his gong!"
"Even a hero can be brought down by a penny, Xu Qi'an, have you thought this through?"
Xu Qi'an said, "Thank you all for your kind words. Li Yinluo helped me a lot during the tax silver case."
Li Yuchun did run past Lingbao Temple, but that was also on Li Chang'an's orders.
Xu Qi'an chose Li Yuchun because Li Chang'an searched for Li Yuchun when he raided the Zhou family mansion, so Li Chang'an must have been interested in Li Yuchun.
In fact, what Xu Qi'an didn't know was that Li Chang'an only did it because Li Yuchun's house happened to be on the way.
"I am only acting on Li Jinluo's orders, so there's no need to take it too seriously."
Xu Qi'an cupped his hands and said, "A gentleman judges by actions, not intentions. A person should know how to repay kindness."
With Li Chang'an bringing up this reason, the other silver gongs had nothing to say. Afterwards, Li Yuchun took Xu Qi'an to take the qualification test.
In normal circumstances, it would be enough for Tongluo to accompany him, but Li Yuchun personally brought Xu Qi'an to the pavilion where the qualifications were tested.
"You have already entered the Qi Refining Realm, and your combat strength is sufficient, so you don't need to take any more tests. Go directly to the intelligence test."
Xu Qi'an simply followed along, and Li Chang'an didn't ask any questions either. Then they saw the clerks, one empty-handed and the other holding a box.
After the two finished explaining their questions, Xu Qi'an laughed. "A riddle, huh?"
"If you were him, what would you tell me?"
He pointed to the clerk on the left and casually gave the answer, estimating that the clerk would need to think for a while before reaching a conclusion.
Unexpectedly, the clerk said with a smile, "As expected of Li Jinluo's disciple, you passed the test smoothly."
Li Yuchun demanded, "Time?"
The clerk replied, "Ten breaths is already an excellent result!"
Chapter 303 It's time to flirt with the princess.
"Brother Chun, were my IQ test scores pretty good?"
Xu Qi'an and Li Yuchun left the floor where the intelligence test was being conducted and continued walking forward.
"Very good, unexpectedly good."
Then, Li Yuchun pointed to the steps in front of him and said, "Alright, the next challenge is the 'Questioning the Heart' challenge. Go upstairs from here and keep going until you reach the top floor."
As the new year begins in this new era, Xu Qi'an felt inexplicably excited at the thought of going upstairs.
"Brother Chun, is there anything we should be careful about?"
Li Yuchun was somewhat unaccustomed to being called "Brother Chun," but out of respect for Li Chang'an's repeated reliance on him, he acquiesced to his disciple's casualness.
It would also be beneficial for me to have a good relationship with Xu Qi'an.
Although he never actively sought connections, he wasn't so pedantic as to offend people indiscriminately.
"There's nothing to pay attention to, and it won't make a difference if you try. Just do what you feel is right."
Xu Qi'an then silently went upstairs and saw a magic mirror. He then understood why he didn't need to pay special attention to anything.
Because before this mirror of conscience, no one can fake anything; one can only act from the heart.
Last night I experienced the supple figure of Lady Mingyan from the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau). After a night of intense activity, I am now in a state of calm and feeling quite good.
A beautiful woman who can dance is indeed extraordinary... Xu Qi'an shook his head, shook off his selfish thoughts, and continued upstairs.
The second floor has a Buddha statue, the third floor has a Taoist deity statue, the fourth floor has a Confucian sage clay sculpture, and the fifth floor has a monarch statue.
Xu Qi'an had tried, at least to kneel before the emperor, but he just couldn't bring himself to kneel.
He was usually very quick to kneel before princesses and his master, but he just couldn't bring himself to kneel before the emperor because he had no reverence in his heart.
The night watchmen were the emperor's spy and guard agency. They could disregard Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, but disloyalty to the emperor would likely be unacceptable.
At this moment, the official next to the statue said, "If you can't pass all five checkpoints, you must be a heinous criminal. Come with me. Lord Wei has set up a separate checkpoint, and no one has passed it yet."
What this official didn't know was that when Li Chang'an arrived, Wei Yuan took him to the final checkpoint.
Xu Qi'an followed the official to the depths of the pavilion and saw Wei Yuan's poem on the wooden platform.
"Having slaughtered the enemy chieftain's million soldiers, the blood still lingers on the sword at his waist. Returning with a golden mace in hand, none of the court officials dare to utter a word."
Xu Qi'an was quick-witted and soon came to a conclusion: Wei Yuan placed this poem here to evoke empathy.
As long as you can write words that resonate with Wei Yuan, you should be able to pass the test.
Xu Qi'an suddenly felt that no matter what he wrote, Li Chang'an would probably help him pass the test.
After all, while others might not understand his disbelief in gods and emperors, his master would certainly understand.
It feels so good to have powerful connections!
Having figured this out, Xu Qi'an called for a pen and ink and wrote two lines of text in a crooked and awkward manner.
Even if Li Chang'an wrote these two lines, it doesn't stop Xu Qi'an from writing them now. My master taught me, is that not allowed?
"You eat your own food and your own salary, which is the people's hard-earned money. The common people are easy to oppress, but Heaven is hard to deceive."
The clerk looked at the four sentences with a strange expression, and Xu Qi'an vaguely saw the old man looking at his phone on the subway.
"Brother Xu, are you really Lord Li's disciple?"
Xu Qi'an felt relieved. "It's the real deal. I'll learn martial arts from Lord Li!"
The clerk nodded in sudden realization, "Oh, no wonder you haven't studied calligraphy."
No wonder what? No wonder the handwriting is so ugly, right? Xu Qi'an rolled his eyes.
Not everyone is Li Chang'an, who had plenty of time to practice calligraphy before transmigrating.
The clerk told Xu Qi'an that the qualifications of each new night watchman needed to be personally determined by Wei Yuan, so they needed to wait for the results.
Afterwards, Xu Qi'an leisurely went downstairs.
"Ning Yan, are you very confident about the test results?" Li Yuchun asked with a smile.
Xu Qi'an cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, "Feeling great! I'm sure I'll pass!"
In the tea room on the seventh floor of Haoqi Tower, Wei Yuan leaned against a soft couch, holding Li Chang'an's Thirty-Six Chapters on Military and Political Affairs in his hand.
"Godfather, with Zhou Xianping down, are we really not going to plant our own people here?"
In response to Nangong Qianrou's question, Wei Yuan put down his book and slowly said, "When water is full, it overflows."
"Li Chang'an single-handedly brought down the Minister of War and the powerful Vice Minister of Revenue. The Night Watchmen have gained a decisive advantage, and we are now the strongest force in the court."
"If they are still not satisfied and continue to plant people everywhere, they will disrupt His Majesty's balance."
Yang Yan on the other side said, "Brother Li, if you don't make a move, all is well, but when you do, it's earth-shattering. Now we've become the target of everyone's criticism."
Wei Yuan said nonchalantly, "Whether we are the target of public criticism is not decided by Li Chang'an, but by His Majesty."
"We will not compete for the position of Vice Minister of Revenue. What we need to pay close attention to is the ancestral worship ceremony next month. That is the most important thing."
Yang Yan and Nangong Qianrou agreed in unison. Soon after, an official walked in with his head bowed. "Lord Wei, please judge Xu Qi'an's test results."
Afterwards, Wei Yuan checked Xu Qi'an's test results. "Ten breaths... stronger than Yang Yan's nineteen breaths and Qian Rou's fifteen breaths. Although he can't compare to his master, he is still very good."
Yang Yan and Nangong Qianrou remained silent, which suggests that Li Chang'an had a good eye for choosing disciples.
Then, Wei Yuan glanced at the result of the Heart-Questioning Test and raised an eyebrow. "Just as his master did."
Before he could finish speaking, he revealed himself to be just like his master, a person who had no respect for his ruler or father.
"Since the Princess recommended him and he is also Brother Li's disciple, let's accept Xu Qi'an."
After he finished speaking, he wrote the two characters "甲上" on the paper, which means he is one of the best among the people of Dageng.
Subsequently, Xu Qi'an successfully became a Dagengren, receiving a poorly fitting set of clothes, a waist token, a gong, and a standard longsword.
Zhu Guangxiao and Song Tingfeng, the two gong masters under Li Yuchun's command, enthusiastically explained the function of the gongs to him.