Nightwatcher

# 122. Princess Lin'an's Summon

*Mn, apart from being black-bellied, the eldest princess’s desire for victory is really strong…* using action theory, Xu Qi’an started analysing her, and deducing the stronger side of the eldest princess’s personality.

*Eh… Why does it seem to be looking at me!?*

The spirit dragon’s eyes weren’t fierce vertical slits, rather they were round like black pearls, like pet dogs Xu Qi’an had seen in his past life.

Thus, it looked very gentle.

But this wasn’t the important part, rather Xu Qi’an had a strange feeling that the spirit dragon was waiting for him.

Indeed, when the eldest princess drew near to the spirit dragon, a scene that caught everyone off-guard happened.

It suddenly revealed its angry, hostile side, roaring a hoarse roar towards the eldest princess, warning her not to come closer.

The eldest princess furrowed her brow, and backed off a few steps.

The spirit beast stopped roaring, and continued to crouch by the shore, like before making that “come ride me” expression.

“Eh, the spirit dragon isn’t letting Huaiqing on.”

“What’s up, is the spirit dragon’s mood not good today?”

“That’s not right, with its posture, it’s clearly waiting for someone to ride it.”

The other princes and princesses started talking amongst themselves.

Xu Qi’an didn’t hear their talking, but he knew that this situation couldn’t go on any more. Thinking about it, a spirit beast that likes consuming purple qi not submitting to a princess, rather opening its legs and waiting for you to ride on.

Nothing good could come out of this!

Xu Qi’an thought it was probably his own strange luck that caused this, but he’d rather slowly figure it out himself, even if he didn’t eventually get anywhere, rather then having this secret out in the open!

In this world’s rules of existence, you won’t get out of trouble just because you didn’t know better!

“Eldest princess, this strange beast is very dangerous, let’s leave quickly.”

Taking advantage of the fact that the eldest princess hadn’t yet linked the dragon’s behaviour onto him, Xu Qi’an quickly blocked her path. This way he both increased the spirit dragon’s attention to himself, and made the eldest princess aware that there was something wrong with it’s emotions.

The eldest princess frowned, staring at the spirit dragon for a while, before nodding her head helplessly “Let’s go.”

Xu Qi’an pretended to cover her, letting the eldest princess leave first, before following on himself. When he walked several dozen metres away, he heard the spirit dragon behind him let out a chagrined and mournful cry.

…

Xu Qi’an and Huaiqing returned back to the square platform. The second princess Lin’an had already been pulled from the lake, soaking wet all over, wearing a thick large coat, her hands hugging her chest, shivering cold with purple lips.

She pointed at Huaiqing, crying “I will tell father, Huaiqing, you won’t have end to this!”

The eldest princess replied lightly “What does this have to do with this princess? Clearly today the spirit dragon is feeing angry, and you lost control.”

Lin'an fought and lost and fought and lost, over and over again, and the other princes and princesses had already gotten used to it, talking amongst themselves of the spirit dragon’s abnormality.

“The spirit dragon is indeed not right, its craziness just then was strange.”

“Why is it still by the shore, and looking over this way…”

“From its cries it seems really upset…”

The crown prince, as Lin'an’s full brother, sympathetically looked at his sister for a few seconds, before happily joining back into the conversation, “Perhaps it’s mood isn’t good. The spirit dragon isn’t an ordinary beast; naturally it has it’s own temper.”

However extraordinary though, it was still a beast, and its thoughts could not be sussed out. Their Highnesses talked about it for a while longer, before not paying it any more mind.

The second princess fell into the water, and afraid that she may get a cold, the banquet ended early. The noble princes and princesses all got back in their carriages and returned, leaving their servants to tidy up the area.

The eldest princess took Xu Qi’an through the eastern gate, and reached the Wenyuan Pavillion.

The Wenyuan Pavilion was the royal family’s book archives. It was made of seven pagodas, and the number of books stored inside were as many as stars in the sky.

Xu Qi’an and the eldest princess threw themselves into ancient records, and searched for over two hours, finding many records about the first generation Jianzheng.

This person created the arcanist path, but had a mysterious background; he assisted the first emperor in his great cause, and should have been someone who would be highly revered, a servant by the hand of the dragon.

But records about him suddenly stopped five hundred years ago.

Very clearly, someone had struck him from the annals of history. The one who did it was undoubtedly Emperor Wuzong.

In the third archive on the second floor, by the window, the eldest princess sat, half her body shining in the sunlight, her pale round face as if giving off its own light, such that even the fuzz on her face was visible.

She said: “If at that time Emperor Wuzong struck out records of the first generation Jianzheng, then we will not be able to find any relevant information in the Wenyuan Pavilion.”

Seeing Xu Qi’an show a disappointed expression, the eldest princess reminded him, “Did you not say that you found buddhist script on the stone pillars? We can try to approach it from that direction.”

Over two hours of reading, she was feeling tired, and unconsciously leaned closer to the table. This movement, made her heavy breasts rest on the table.

*This woman’s chest has a gully…* Xu Qi’an looked at it with the corner of his eye, but did not pay attention to it. After all, if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.

And as for this abyss, Xu Qi’an did not dare anger. Unless in the future he can make the abyss move its gaze away shyly.

Changing tacks indeed helped them greatly.

“I’ve read through *Records of the Great Feng’s Geography*, and found that when the Great Feng was founded, there was no Buddhist temple by the capital, nor were there Buddhists spreading their religion. But five hundred years ago, suddenly a Buddhist temple appeared, called Baota[^1] Temple.” The eldest princess was worthy of being called a high achiever; in the field of searching resources, she far outmatched the uncultured Xu Qi’an.

Her long eyelashes trembled, and tiredness flashed in her eyes, which melted slightly that cold and steely gaze. At this time, she seemed to be a jade statue come to life.

The eldest princess was rather pleased by the discovery, continuing, “When the Baota temple was most prosperous, every day the number of people burning incense were like the clouds in the sky, with an endless stream of rich and accomplished people. Their single temple managed to buy nearly 100 *qing*[^2] of good farmland.

“But following the court’s decision to purge Buddhism, Baota temple slowly started declining. Today the few great Buddhist monasteries have not much to do with Baota temple any more.

“Mn, there’s one branch that remains, Qinglong[^3] Temple, located on the White Phoenix Mountain on the western outskirts of the city… hey, are you listening?”

“Don’t talk, you’ll break my train of thought.” Xu Qi’an frowned.

The eldest princess raised her brow, but ultimately resisted, and didn’t speak.

Xu Qi’an was mentally classifying all the possible leads he had.

*If Wei Yuan wanted me to target the ones behind the scenes, then the situation with the first generation Jianzheng doesn’t need my interference, but this thing cannot be sidestepped. Only when I unearth the heart of the case can I continue to investigate further…*

*Currently, the sequence of events of Sangpo Lake goes like this: When Emperor Wuzong usurped the throne, he sealed the first Jianzheng inside Sangpo Lake, using the divine sword that could suppress fortune to assist with maintaining the magic formation that sealed him. This secret is known only by Emperor Yuanjing.*

*The northern Yao contacted traitors inside court, and blew up the seal in Sangpo Lake, releasing the first generation Jianzheng, trying to cause chaos in the Great Feng Capital. Thus they could use the opportunity and cause trouble in the north.*

*If I go down this path, then there are two kinds that I need to look into: One, those who are trying to reinstate the original royal line. Two, those who want to usurp the throne.*

*… Royal family members? But the original royal line became history 500 years ago, so the chance of the first one isn’t high. Then… a usurper? Mm, this hypothesis is more reasonable, but it lacks evidence.*

*To be able to ally with the northern Yao, and also to be of the royal family… the Zhenbei King!?* Xu Qi’an suddenly opened his eyes wide, shock written across his face.

“What have you discovered?” the eldest princess immediately asked.

*I suspect that your uncle wants to become your dad, but I have no evidence.* Xu Qi’an shook his head, not answering the eldest princess, continuing his own deductions.

*These types of words absolutely could not be said without iron-clad proof. To slander a royal begets death!*

*Deduction is like doing a maths problem. Any leads must be strung together, assembled together. As long as there is any flaw that could not be proved, then the true answer could be off by a million miles.*

*So, at this moment I need to do two things: One, confirm that below Sangpo Lake is sealed the Jianzheng; this is the core to all my deductions. And to start solving this, I need to find out what role the Buddhists played here.*

*Second, I need to confirm whether or not the person who killed County Magistrate Zhao was of the Daoist Human Sect or not. If so, then what are the Daoists doing here, how could they have dealings with the Zhenbei King? Then I need to find evidence of their dealings.*

*The answer to all of these questions must be gotten within a week. This way, even if I am wrong, I still have opportunity to start again from scratch. If in ten days the progress in the case is still not large, then I can only hug Daddy Wei’s leg and cry: this account’s broken, can I get a new one.*

Xu Qi’an simultaneously continued to think and started planning what he was going to do tomorrow.

Search through resources on the different cultivation systems, and confirm how County Magistrate Zhao died; visit Qinglong Temple, and understand the events of 500 years ago; visit the Zhenbei King’s Manor, and see that consort praised as the capital’s most beautiful woman.

After making up his mind, Xu Qi’an said, “Your subordinate has some ideas, but before conclusions are found, I dare not speak wildly about this matter to your Highness.”

The eldest princess was very clever, and didn’t pursue. Nodding, she said, “This princess is tired.”

The gold-leaved nanmu carriage left the Wenyuan Pavilion, and parted ways with Xu Qi’an. Xu Dalang pinched his horse with his knees, and the sound of horse hooves echoed towards the eastern gate, before being stopped by a line of guards.

“Princess Lin’an wants to see you!” The captain said.

*Princess Lin’an? She and the eldest princess don’t get along, and I’m associated heavily with the eldest princess. This probably won’t be something good, so no!*

Xu Qi’an immediately turned them down, “I have a royal decree to carry out, to investigate a case. Pass a message back to Princess Lin’an, to re-arrange for a different time.”

As he said so, he pulled out the golden token.

Who would’ve predicted the captain showed no signs of fear, laughing “Princess Lin’an is His Majesty’s most doted on princess. Your golden token doesn’t work here.”

*From observing her at the banquet, a queen of the club… ah, no. Princess Lin’an is unruly and headstrong. Even though she’s not like Lingyue where one punch will send her crying for a long time, but she nonetheless started crying after falling into the water. Not someone with deep thoughts.*

*Perhaps she’d make things hard for me, but nothing to the point of a Hongmen Banquet,[^4] all I need to do is be careful.*

*How confident are you…* Xu Qi’an exhaled a turbid breath, “Lead the way.”

---

Author’s note: Are you shocked? Are you surprised? 🧐

[^1]: 宝塔 Treasure Pagoda

[^2]: One *qing* 顷 is an area equal to 100 *mu* 亩, and 15 *mu* makes one hectare. That’s around 6 *mu* an acre for the Americans.

[^3]: 青龙 Azure Dragon

[^4]: A situation created under false, friendly pretences, where danger lurks inside, It’s better if you just read the story: [Hongmen Banquet](https://acp8.medium.com/%E9%B8%BF%E9%97%A8%E5%AE%B4-hongmen-banquet-c44bfb80ab5)

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