With that, Tang Roulan left Jing manor. Jing Wen, as the estates’ owner, decided to send her away after some deliberation. As the main entrance was not rebuilt yet, he led Tang Roulan to a side entrance, where she covered her face with the veil, before disappearing into the crowd. During the whole process, neither of them said a word.

The next day, Jing Wen received two letters. Jing Wen naturally could not read these letters, and Gao Shu was nowhere to be found within Jing manor, so in the end, he passed the envelopes to Zhou Aimin to read. Zhou Aimin was surprised that Jing Wen would pass these potentially sensitive messages to him, and after a long moment, randomly opened one of the letters.

Upon seeing the first word, Zhou Aimin’s expression immediately darkened.

“From Hua Quanfu.”

Zhou Aimin glanced at Jing Wen, but received only a slightly confused face. Neither of the two knew why the person the whole capital is searching for would suddenly write to Jing Wen.

The writing was so ordinary it appeared to have been printed. The message contained within the letter was equally ordinary, detailing only a location and a time. Perhaps only the splatters of ink that formed the final three words gave the letter any form of character.

“Burn after reading.”

Zhou Aimin and Jing Wen examined the letter a while longer, only to find that the paper used was a mass-produced type made in Zhizhou workshop in unknown numbers, whereas the ink was a pine soot inkstick that did not carry any fragrance. It seemed impossible to trace the letter further, even if it was handed to the Imperial Guards.

Eventually, Zhou Aimin, disheartened, reluctantly threw the letter into the remaining embers of the charcoal-burner, where the letter turned into ashes before the two.

After lingering their gazes on the flames a while longer, Zhou Aimin took out the second envelope and carefully tore it open. This time, when he saw the first words on the letter, a smile that was not quite a smile appeared on his face as he stared at Jing Wen.

Jing Wen sensed Zhou Aimin’s gaze and cocked his head. Then, he said, “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Aimin did not respond to Jing Wen. Clearing his throat, he read, “My older brother, though I know you have not been well, I shall send the regards of ‘hope you have been well’ regardless.”

This envelope was from Jing An, Jing Wen sister, and its contents were considerably more interesting to read than the letter from Hua Quanfu.

“I have learned from Ding Yongrui and Gao Shu that you have been beaten by Mo Xi, visited young Shen’s clinic thrice, battled with Liu Shan and suffered an assassination attempt.”

Reading up to here, Zhou Aimin glanced at Jing Wen, whose expression seemed as though he had suddenly swollen ten flies. Zhou Aimin thought, who would have known that gentle and elegant lady that he had saw in Jing village would have such an honest and blunt side?

Resisting the urge to laugh, Zhou Aimin continued reading the letter.

“After your departure, there was some issue with the village. However, brother needn’t worry; I have taken care of the matter.”

Reading this, Zhou Aimin sighed, thinking that Jing Wen really had a good sister. That Wang guy that Jing Wen killed controlled a good portion of the economy in Jing village. From Jing An’s words, it seemed that she had taken the opportunity to fill the vacuum left behind.

In fact, it was only natural that the Jing household would dominate Jing village. No matter how wealthy that Wang guy was, how could he compete with the wealth left behind by the former Prime Minister? It was probably only due to Jing Wen’s refusal to spent it that Jing manor remained isolated.

The letter continued.

“The four new servants that you brought in were enough to vitalise the estate once more, though, since I felt it to be cruel to force them to perform all the manual work during labour and acquired some more servants. Though the quantity of them cannot match the manor in the capital, the residence has returned to its previous splendour.”

“After finalising some more matters in Jing village, I will return to the capital. You needn’t fear that my life will be in danger on the road; as your former subordinate, Ding Yongrui and Gao Shu is sufficient to fend off any experts below Qi Manifestation state.”

“I have also heard from Gao Shu that His Majesty has arranged marriage partners for you. I know that brother has been avoiding these matters since our mother and father’s passing. Though mother had always said that man and woman should be equal, brother should best find a talentless wife. All three of the candidates His Majesty chose are unsuitable for you. I am glad brother has rejected them all.”

After reading this sentence, Zhou Aimin saw that Jing Wen was experiencing many emotions, so he temporarily stopped reading and allowed Jing Wen’s heart to settle.

Jing An though has always been influenced by Princess Kang and her beliefs against the Confucianist thought of Three Obediences and the Four Virtues. For her to encourage Jing Wen to find an obedient wife that would serve him meant she placed him above her own values.

The contents of this letter were far from confidential. Zhou Aimin passed the envelope to Jing Wen, before leaving the room.

Jing Wen ‘stared’ at the envelope for a long time, before shaking his head.

He did not wish for Jing An to return to Lin’an.

---

The present Lin’an is akin to an ocean; whilst the lives of its inhabitants appeared unchanged, and the streets remain as crowded as ever, the undercurrent stirred by Hua Quanfu’s arrival may on day topple the boat that is the Great Zhu.

The secret forces of all major figures have begun to search for Hua Quanfu and the elixir of immortality’s location. All of their masters were individuals of considerable prominence in the Imperial Court or backers of these people. Although they dared not cause trouble in Lin’an under the watch of the Emperor, none of them wanted to give up the possibility of immortality.

Along with these officials were also the various jianghu sects and the four sacred mountains that had also arrived at Lin’an. While many of them shared Tang Roulan’s disdain towards achieving immortality through an external method, none of them wished to give up the opportunity of leaving behind a path in advance. Anyway, it said that the elixir could grant immortality to two people, cooperating with local officials would not do them any harm.

Soon, all officials searching with the elixir of immortality recruited martial artists to aid them to obtain the elixir of immortality. These practitioners were intended to both to deal with the forces of Hua Quanfu, and also their competitors in the search.

As the identity of Hua Quanfu is unknown, anyone that discovers it would be capable of seizing the elixir of immortality without any detection. To prevent the possibility of the elixir of immortality being seized without them knowing, countless spies were sent out to monitor the movement of their respective competitors. Although those searching for the elixir of immortality were innumerable, those sending out the spies were confident that once the elixir of immortality was found, they could ascertain it from the movement of the forces belonging to the prominent figure.

As for insignificant factors such as Jing Wen, none of them believed he was capable of discovering Hua Quanfu’s identity and location without any forces beneath them. Lin’an was simply too massive as the capital of the world.

Hence, because of this collective spying among prominent figures of Lin’an, it was nigh certain that once Hua Quanfu was found, a massive conflict will break out in the streets of Lin’an. Even in the slim chance that none of the officials would die, there would undoubtedly be chaos throughout the city, affecting the lives of the common masses. Moreover, from the conflict, countless grievous and contradictions would be formed or brought to life, destabilising the politics of the whole of the Great Zhu, opening the gate and inviting the wolves eyeing for the empire’s wealth and territory. It seemed that Zhou Aimin’s predictions would inevitably come true.

Yet perhaps the most worrying matter was the attitude of the Emperor. Till now, he had not mobilised any forces in search of the elixir of immortality, and whenever the matter was brough up in court, he always suppressed the topic. Many officials were confused. Was the Emperor confident that the person who received the elixir of immortality would present it before His Majesty in order to gain his favour, or was he not interested in the matter of immortality at all? Regardless, these thoughts deterred only a few officials from searching for the elixir of immortality. Most chose to grit their teeth and mobilise even more forces in the search, walking a path of no return as their investment in the matter grew.

In this chaos, no one thought that the first person that would discover the identity of Hua Quanfu and locate the elixir of immortality would be Jing Wen.

---

Jing Wen naturally knew the advantage he had due to Hua Quanfu’s meeting. He could not say if this were because Hua Quanfu was overly confident in his ability to sway him (Jing Wen) or because Hua Quanfu did not view him as a threat.

A few days have passed, and Jing Wen had long decided on meeting Hua Quanfu. Even if he did not gain anything from their meeting, it would not be difficult for him to determine Hua Quanfu’s identity after meeting him.

‘Looking’ at Zhou Aimin, Jing Wen suddenly asked, “Fellow Zhou, what are your thoughts on how I should deal with this information regarding Hua Quanfu’s identity. Should I pass it to Tai Chuntao?”

Zhou Aimin said, “Alerting Tai Chuntao of this matter would only cause the others to move, alarming Hua Quanfu. Once that occurs, it’s likely the elixir of immortality cannot be obtained unless through direct means.”

Jing Wen said, “If Fellow Zhou thinks that’s the case, then should I try to steal the elixir of immortality directly?”

Zhou Aimin smiled and suddenly asked, “Isn’t that what you’ve been thinking the whole time?”

Jing Wen smiled and said, “Indeed. Even if I fail and alert Hua Quanfu, it would not be much different from the consequences of bringing this matter to Tai Chuntao. Since there’s nothing to lose, there is no harm in trying.”

Zhou Aimin shook his head. “Fellow Jing, there is one thing that can be lost.”

“You life.”