Extortion at the Gates

On the other side...

After Su Qing left the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, she did not linger in the Heavenly Palace to avoid running into any more acquaintances.

Thus, upon exiting the hall, she headed straight back to Great Emperor Zhenwu's monastery on the Northern Continent.

With the Somersault Cloud's divine speed, she returned to the monastery in a matter of moments.

As Su Qing lowered her cloud and landed within the grounds, Liu Xixi walked over, clearly having been waiting for her for some time.

Liu Xixi bowed to Su Qing and asked, "Did everything go smoothly, Sovereign?"

Su Qing was somewhat surprised to see Liu Xixi the moment she returned.

She hadn't expected the girl to be waiting for her...

'She's actually quite a good person,' Su Qing thought.

Su Qing smiled and nodded. "Yes, it went very smoothly..."

"It is good that all is well!" Liu Xixi nodded with a smile. "Then... Sovereign, there are still some matters here that require your personal attention. Can we go handle them now?"

Su Qing: "..."

Su Qing was speechless.

She took back her previous thought.

This girl was only waiting for her so she could dump the paperwork on her as quickly as possible.

Though Su Qing was exasperated, she still nodded.

"Fine, that's no problem."

Liu Xixi nodded calmly, feeling a sense of relief.

She had been worried that Su Qing might try to slack off and avoid the administrative duties!

After all... Great Emperor Zhenwu did that all the time.

He frequently gave his assistant officials massive headaches.

After a moment of silence, Su Qing thought for a bit and then asked:

"By the way, have there been any disasters in the Northern Continent lately? Natural disasters, demon infestations, or the like?"

Su Qing had been here for several days now, and it was indeed time to start preparing to collect Incense Power...

Natural disasters were the best opportunities to gather such power.

While they might result in a one-time harvest without much follow-up, they still served as a way to plant seeds of faith.

With a little cultivation, those seeds would soon take root and sprout.

Even if they didn't grow into a massive religion, they would still provide a steady stream of Incense Power.

It was just like Linzhou City. Even now, amidst the chaos of war, Su Qing still received a significant amount of Incense Power from there.

Upon hearing this, Liu Xixi gave Su Qing a slightly strange look, wondering why she was suddenly asking about such things.

However, since Su Qing had asked, she naturally had to answer.

Liu Xixi lowered her head in thought, then shook it. "Recently, the Northern Continent has enjoyed favorable weather, and there have been no natural disasters. Nor have there been any reports of demon infestations... If there were, I would certainly inform you immediately, Sovereign."

Su Qing nodded silently in response.

Beside her, Liu Xixi continued, "You seem very concerned about the common people, Sovereign?"

Liu Xixi didn't know Su Qing's true intentions, but she felt Su Qing was a kind person. Since she had brought this up, she assumed it was out of concern for the welfare of the people.

Su Qing turned to look at her, then shook her head. "I'm not particularly concerned; I was just asking in passing..."

In truth, Su Qing hoped to start gathering Incense Power sooner rather than later.

But she couldn't just say that out loud.

As the acting guardian of the Northern Continent, it would be a bit inappropriate to hope for something bad to happen.

Besides, while the lack of trouble meant she couldn't gather Incense Power, it was ultimately a good thing for the people of the world.

Liu Xixi remained ignorant of Su Qing's true thoughts.

However, she didn't believe Su Qing's denial.

If she wasn't concerned about the people, why would she take the initiative to ask?

Since Su Qing had put it that way, Liu Xixi didn't press the matter further.

She simply nodded and said, "I see! Rest assured, Sovereign. With you here, the Northern Continent will surely continue to enjoy peace and prosperity."

Su Qing: "..."

'Forget it, it's better not to explain.'

She would just let Liu Xixi believe what she wanted.

Su Qing gave a helpless smile and a nod, then followed Liu Xixi to handle the official business.

There wasn't much to do in the Northern Continent—at least, not much that required Su Qing's personal touch.

Once the paperwork was finished...

Su Qing found herself with plenty of free time.

While idle, Su Qing practiced her spear techniques while splitting her focus to control her two clones.

Since neither side had much going on at the moment, Su Qing was exceptionally relaxed. She didn't have to worry about any emergencies causing her a headache.

As for the noisy little sparrows? They weren't by Su Qing's side, so they couldn't bother her.

They couldn't stay still for long, so whenever they were free, they flew all over the monastery.

Occasionally, someone would find them annoying, but most were more than happy to play with them.

After all, who could hate a bunch of flying feather-balls? They were so cute!

This made things much easier for Su Qing, allowing her ears some much-needed peace.

The days passed quickly and productively.

In the blink of an eye, a month had gone by.

After a month of travel, the clone heading to the capital finally arrived before the city gates.

Su Qing looked at the three grand characters—"Xingyang City"—written in a flowing, vigorous style above the gate, and her heart was filled with emotion.

After traveling for so long, they had finally reached the capital.

Su Qing found the journey somewhat exasperating.

Was the road really that long?

Not particularly.

Even though the roads in this era were difficult to traverse, how slow could a carriage be?

If it hadn't been for the constant stream of troubles along the way, Su Qing certainly wouldn't have wasted so much time getting here.

Regardless, now that they were in Xingyang City, things would be relatively simpler from here on out.

"We're finally here." Ao Yiyi looked at the city gate outside, then at the long line of people waiting to enter, and couldn't help but sigh. "The journey here was truly chaotic."

Su Qing nodded. "Indeed! I feel like Li Yichou's sword was about to be nicked from all the use. There were just too many random bandits along the way..."

"Yes... Sister Yichou also incurred quite a bit of killing intent on this trip. Once we settle down, we'll have to help her clear that baleful aura," Ao Yiyi said with a nod. "Sigh, is this what a world in chaos is like?"

"This is exactly what it's like..." Su Qing agreed. "The people are the ones who suffer the most."

Ao Yiyi sighed and said no more.

Seeing this, Su Qing also fell silent, waiting for the carriage to enter the city. Su Qing was never short on time; she didn't mind waiting a bit.

Time ticked by.

Soon, it was their turn to enter.

However, they still encountered some trouble at the gate.

When the soldiers saw that Su Qing and her companions were all women and had come from the fallen city of Linzhou, they decided to make things difficult for them.

They wanted to extract some wealth or other 'favors' from them—it was a classic case of skinning the passing beast.

They even began to eye the women with lecherous intent.

Unfortunately for them, Su Qing and her group were not soft targets that a few mortal soldiers could bully.

This time, the soldiers had kicked a steel plate.

Su Qing didn't want to waste time with these greedy guards.

She simply had Hu Lin'er cast an illusion, and they entered the city with ease.

But even though they were inside, Su Qing was still far from happy.

After what had just happened, how could she be?

They had only escaped trouble because of who they were; if it had been anyone else, they would have had to suffer in silence.

"This country is rotten to the core," Su Qing muttered to herself as she looked at the bustling scenery outside.

Ao Yiyi, observing the sights, remarked, "Looking at the scenery in this city, I can't imagine this is a world in chaos... The interior is still so prosperous. The inside of the capital and the outside are like two completely different worlds."

Su Qing nodded. "This is the capital, after all. Until the flames of war reach this place, it will continue to appear prosperous—at least on the surface, in the places people can see. As for how terrible things are in the dark corners, no one knows."

Su Qing had traveled the mortal world many times, so she had seen far more than Ao Yiyi. She naturally understood the general situation.

Furthermore... the Prime Minister of this country had already been replaced by an evil demon...

One could only imagine that this surface-level prosperity was a complete facade.

And no one knew how much longer this false prosperity could last.

Su Qing's words gave Ao Yiyi pause.

Then, she saw the strange figures in the dark alleys and the parents by the roadside with reed stalks tucked into their children's clothes—the sign that they were for sale.

Ao Yiyi, who had been about to speak, suddenly fell silent.

She finally understood why Su Qing had said those things.

Su Qing glanced at Ao Yiyi and, seeing her staring silently out the window, guessed what she had seen.

However, she didn't ask, nor did she plan to speak first.

Since she didn't know exactly what the girl had seen, she didn't know what would be best to say.

And so...

She simply watched the scenery outside, waiting for the carriage to reach the inn.

Ao Yiyi, seeing that Su Qing wasn't speaking, assumed Su Qing wanted her to reflect on things herself.

So, she didn't rush to ask questions.

Before long, they arrived at the inn.

The establishment naturally didn't refuse them.

They checked in easily and became the inn's most honored guests, receiving the best of everything.

The reason was simple: they paid a lot of money.

Inside the guest room, Li Yichou asked, "When do you plan to look for a shop and a place to live, Young Mistress? Will we go today?"

Su Qing had mentioned before that she planned to stay here long-term, so they definitely needed to find a house and a storefront.

"Let's just rest today and look for a residence tomorrow," Su Qing said, sitting in a chair and taking a sip of tea. "We've been traveling for so long! Aren't you tired? Even if you aren't, Su Qingyu and the others certainly are."

"I wouldn't say I'm that tired. Compared to when I was fleeing for my life years ago, this level of travel is nothing. Besides, I haven't suffered at all while following the Young Mistress," Li Yichou replied with a smile. "But the Young Mistress is right; even if I'm not tired, the little girl is. And we should let Sister Zhou get some proper rest as well."

As Li Yichou spoke, she looked at Su Qingyu, who was currently rubbing Coal Ball's little face.

Su Qingyu seemed to feel Li Yichou's gaze and looked up to give her a silly, innocent smile.

Li Yichou couldn't help but chuckle.

Seeing this, Su Qing said half-jokingly, "It sounds like you really had a rough time when you were fleeing back then."

"It was indeed quite miserable, but that's all in the past. More importantly, does the Young Mistress have a plan for what comes next?" Li Yichou asked, shaking her head.

"A plan? Of course! We'll look for a place to live in the next day or two; we'll just stay at the inn for now. As for the shop, we'll worry about that once we've settled in!" Su Qing thought for a moment before continuing.

Although Su Qing had many other plans, none of them were urgent, so she wasn't in any rush.

It was better to take things slow; rushing wouldn't achieve anything.

Li Yichou had no objections. "Then we shall do as the Young Mistress says."

Since Su Qing already had a plan, Li Yichou naturally had nothing more to say and would simply follow her lead.

Su Qing smiled and nodded. "Good! By the way, Yichou, do you want a drink? The wine at this inn is quite good. It's much better than the wine in Linzhou City—as expected of the national capital."

Li Yichou shook her head with a smile. "My tolerance is poor, so I'd better not."

Seeing this, Su Qing didn't press her and simply drank by herself for a while.

Then she turned to look at Ao Yiyi, who was still deep in thought.

This girl had been silent for quite some time.

Ever since they got off the carriage, she had been brooding over something.

Su Qing had no idea what was bothering her.

'What on earth is this girl worrying about?' Su Qing thought helplessly. 'Could it be the things she saw from the carriage? I wonder what exactly she saw that's kept her thinking for this long.'

Just as Su Qing was considering whether to ask directly, Ao Yiyi took the initiative to contact her via Sound Transmission and told her about her troubles. Ao Yiyi had given up; she realized she couldn't figure these things out on her own.

So, she decided to seek answers from Su Qing instead.

Even if Su Qing didn't give her a direct answer, she would surely provide some inspiration.

Regardless, it was bound to be better than her own blind wandering.

Su Qing was slightly surprised that the girl had suddenly decided to open up.

However, she didn't say much and simply listened to her troubles in silence.

After hearing Ao Yiyi's concerns, Su Qing found herself caught between laughter and tears.

She hadn't expected Ao Yiyi's worries to be so... frustratingly noble.

She patted the girl's shoulder and sent a Sound Transmission back:

"You silly girl, why have you gone and backed yourself into a corner again? Why do you always like to overthink things? The situation of those people has nothing to do with you; you don't need to feel guilty."

"If you want to change this country, then help me out! I happen to have plans in that direction later..." Su Qing glanced at her and continued the transmission.

"But... as immortals, we cannot interfere too much in mortal affairs, especially national matters," Ao Yiyi sighed via Sound Transmission. "If Sister Su has to break the Heavenly Court's rules for my sake, then... it's better if we don't."

Su Qing paused. Had she not told her that the Prime Minister of this country was a demon?

Su Qing thought back carefully...

'Right, it seems I really haven't mentioned it to her.'

Realizing this, Su Qing felt a bit embarrassed and sent a transmission:

"Oh, I think I forgot to tell you. The Prime Minister of this country is already a demon, and the Emperor has likely been under that demon's control for a long time."

"So, I spoke to the Heavenly Court, and His Majesty told me to handle it myself! In other words, we can interfere..."

"Though, we certainly can't use magic to blast mortals."

"After all, that would be going too far."

"But blasting demons is perfectly fine."

Hearing Su Qing's transmission...

Ao Yiyi was visibly stunned. She blinked at Su Qing, her eyes filled with a clear, innocent confusion.

Once she snapped out of it, Ao Yiyi didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Her emotions were exceptionally complicated.

Finally, she could only sigh and stare at Su Qing, speechless.

"Sister Su... why would you forget to tell me something so important?" Ao Yiyi sent back.

Su Qing chuckled and winked at her. "You know, I have to control three bodies at once. Sometimes I get overwhelmed and forget things."

As for the actual reason, how would Su Qing know?

But it was better to have an excuse.

Ao Yiyi was left speechless by this.

Ao Yiyi: "..."

'Well, I suppose I can't really blame her then.'

Su Qing smiled and sent another transmission: "But now that you know there's a way to change this country, do you feel any better?"

Ao Yiyi remained silent for a moment before replying, "My feelings are even more complicated now."

"Then just let them settle slowly!" Su Qing smiled at her. "And don't brood over things alone in the future. Tell me whenever something's on your mind!"

"..." Ao Yiyi pursed her lips.

She didn't tell Su Qing that she hadn't asked directly because she thought Su Qing was testing her.

That would have been a bit too embarrassing to admit.

Seeing that she had stopped the transmissions, Su Qing took a few sips of wine, raised her cup to her, and said, "Want a drink? Don't look so melancholy. As the saying goes, a single bout of drunkenness dissolves a thousand sorrows~"

It wasn't actually easy for Su Qing or Ao Yiyi to get drunk.

Unless they both actively chose to let themselves be affected.

Otherwise, mortal wine was nothing more than water with a bit of flavor to them.

They couldn't get drunk on it.

However, Ao Yiyi still pursed her lips and shook her head. "Sister Su, the precepts say I cannot drink alcohol."

"That's a shame..." Su Qing said with a smile.

Su Qing didn't force Ao Yiyi to drink with her. After all, the girl was a member of the Buddhist faith, and the prohibition on alcohol was a long-standing rule.

While she had already broken many other precepts, she had yet to break the ones regarding meat and alcohol.

Just as Ao Yiyi refused, Jin Xin suddenly poked her head out from the side.

"How about... I accompany you in drinking, Sister! My tolerance is very poor~ Once I'm drunk, you can do whatever you want to me!"

Jin Xin was clearly saying exceptionally seductive things, yet her tone lacked any significant inflection...

This caused the intended allure to vanish without a trace instantly.

Upon hearing this, Su Qing glanced at her and then tapped her on the head.

"You, shut up! Qingyu is still here. If you corrupt the child, I'll hold you responsible!"

Jin Xin chuckled and said, "It's fine~ I don't mind sharing Sister with my little sister."

Su Qing: "..."

'How does this girl have more saucy talk every single day!'

Exasperated, Su Qing rapped Jin Xin on the head. It made a hollow thudding sound... it felt like the girl's head was empty.

"If you keep talking nonsense, I won't be polite," Su Qing muttered, making a mock threat.

She naturally wouldn't actually do anything to her, but she had to make the girl shut up regardless.

It was one thing for this girl to learn all sorts of strange and messy things herself.

But if she corrupted the originally pure little girl, that would be bad.

At this, Jin Xin simply smiled and obediently fell silent...

Though she knew there wouldn't be any real trouble, there was no need to keep provoking Su Qing.

After all, her goal wasn't to make Su Qing angry, but rather to seduce her...

And then do some adult things to learn the kind of knowledge she couldn't find in books.

Once Jin Xin settled down...

Su Qing exhaled a breath of turbid air and decided to take everyone out for a stroll on the streets.

After all, there was nothing else to do staying in the guest room.

If they stayed cooped up for too long, who knew what other strange things someone might say.

So, it was better to go out.

As for the idea of going shopping...

Su Qingyu naturally showed extreme interest.

Nothing excited her more than wandering the streets...

"Master! Can I buy some tasty treats?" Su Qingyu asked, looking at Su Qing with excitement.

Su Qing nodded. "You can have whatever you want to eat, as long as you don't eat so much that you can't finish your dinner."

"Don't worry, Master! I definitely won't lose my appetite for dinner!" Su Qingyu promised solemnly.

Su Qing chuckled, not believing a word of it...

But she didn't want to dampen the girl's spirits.

A child should be allowed to be happy once in a while.

Su Qing patted the girl's head, and then they all headed out together.

The streets of the capital were indeed far more prosperous than places like Linzhou City...

Especially once they were off the carriage and no longer just catching glimpses, they could truly feel the scale of the prosperity.

However, the more prosperous it was, the more tragic it felt to see people selling their children on the streets...

The prosperity of the capital ultimately had nothing to do with them.

As she was reflecting on this, the voice of a woman reached Su Qing's ears.

"Miss, Miss... would you like a maidservant?"