Chapter 33: White Dragon Incognito

Chen Pingan saw the girl in green robes again. She was silently following behind a middle-aged man, head down, munching on a scallion pancake with egg.

The man looked utterly despondent.

Upon seeing Chen Pingan, the man stopped and asked, "Aren't you the guy I shooed away last time?"

The girl in green, who had bumped heavily into the man's back, mistaking him for a "wall," looked up, bewildered. Spotting Chen Pingan, she almost smiled, but abruptly turned away, frantically wiping her mouth.

Chen Pingan suppressed a chuckle and nodded to the man. "Greetings, Master Ruan."

It seemed the girl was likely Master Ruan's daughter.

Though their appearances were truly dissimilar, thankfully so.

The man, addressed as Master Ruan by Chen Pingan, was none other than the blacksmith who had relocated to the south creek shortly after arriving in town. He continued, "Why hasn't Liu Xianyang been to the forge these past two days?"

Before Chen Pingan could explain, the man coldly interjected, "Tell that kid, if I don't see his highness's face today, he needn't bother coming to my shop tomorrow."

Chen Pingan hastily replied, "Master Ruan, something urgent came up at his home..."

The man cut him off, rudely declaring, "That's his business, what's it to me?!"

Chen Pingan, never one for eloquent words, was stunned into silence, his face flushed with anxiety, unsure how to proceed, lest he make matters worse. He had firsthand experience with Master Ruan's blunt temperament.

The girl in green attempted to put in a good word for Chen Pingan, but her father, knowing her all too well, preemptively scolded, "Eat your pancake!"

The girl, filled with grievance, abruptly quickened her pace, stomped hard on the man's foot, then vanished like a gust of wind.

The man sighed, leaving Chen Pingan aside, and continued onward.

Chen Pingan sighed as well, then hurried to the breakfast stall and bought a steamer of six buns, heading towards Mud Bottle Lane.

Reaching his home, he found Liu Xianyang squatting on the wall, half his body leaning over Song Jixin's courtyard, eavesdropping intently.

Chen Pingan sometimes thought Liu Xianyang was genuinely asking for a beating.

He could only remind him, "I just saw Master Ruan. He wants you at the forge today. He said if he doesn't see you today, you're fired."

Liu Xianyang said absently, "What's the rush? An apprentice as nimble and hardworking as me is hard to find, even with a lantern. Master Ruan's just making empty threats. It'll be fine if I go tomorrow."

Chen Pingan shook his head. "I'm certain Master Ruan wasn't joking."

Liu Xianyang grumbled, "I'll go in a bit, don't distract me from my important business."

Chen Pingan delivered breakfast to the girl in black robes, giving three buns to Liu Xianyang, taking only one for himself.

Liu Xianyang devoured all the meat-filled buns in short order, wiping his mouth as he whispered, "Song Jixin had a guest earlier, a person of great importance. If I'm not mistaken, it was the current Superintendent of the Imperial Kiln. When he visited our Dragon Kiln in his official robes, Old Yao thought you useless apprentices were an eyesore and didn't let you show your faces. It was different for me. Old Yao even had me demonstrate 'jumping knife' for that official."

Chen Pingan laughed. "It's common knowledge in town that the new Superintendent favors Song Jixin. Why are you being so suspicious?"

Liu Xianyang worriedly said, "Song Jixin, with his pretty face, can't compete with me. But what if Zhi Gui falls for that dignified official? My chances will plummet! If your future sister-in-law runs off with him, what will I do? What will you do?"

Chen Pingan simply went back inside.

Leaving Liu Xianyang to lament his fate on the wall.

The girl in black robes sat at the table, back straight, hand gripping the hilt of her blade, as if facing a formidable enemy.

Sweat beaded on her forehead.

It was the first time Chen Pingan had seen her so tense, filled with alertness and anticipation.

Chen Pingan retreated to the doorway. She asked, "Do you know the identity of the guest next door?"

Chen Pingan replied, "Liu Xianyang said it's the current Superintendent of the Kiln Affairs in our town. He seems quite amiable. He even yielded the way to me at the alley entrance earlier."

The girl coldly laughed. "That's what makes such people terrifying."

Chen Pingan was puzzled.

She asked, "If someone walking down the road sees an ant, would they step on it?"

Chen Pingan pondered for a moment, then replied, "Gu Can certainly would. He often pours water into ant nests or blocks their exits with stones. Liu Xianyang might, too, if he's in a bad mood."

The girl in black robes was speechless.

Chen Pingan grinned. "I think I understand what you mean, Miss Ning."

She was surprised. "Really?"

Chen Pingan nodded. "I think you're implying two things. One, in your eyes, the people of our town are just ants crawling at your feet. Two, even among outsiders, there are hierarchies. Fu Nanhua and Cai Jinjian are like children, like Gu Can, who find it amusing or bothersome to control the fate of ants. But the official who came to Mud Bottle Lane is different. He speaks and acts in accordance with his status, making him seem particularly polite. Miss Ning, am I right?"

The girl asked, "How did you figure that out?"

The young man jokingly replied, "After cheating death, it seems my brain has become a bit sharper."

The girl in black robes solemnly asked, "Before you died, what did you see?"

"I didn't see anything." Chen Pingan was puzzled but honestly replied, "Actually, in that alley, I didn't think much about anything. It's better to ask Fu Nanhua and Cai Jinjian about this. They might have seen something."

She coldly snorted. "Oh, such grand words!"

After saying that, she stared intensely at the straw-sandaled boy for no apparent reason.

Chen Pingan felt uneasy. "What is it?"The girl frowned, slightly annoyed, and muttered to herself in her local dialect, "My family's sword arts, whether it's the swordplay incantations or the methods for tempering the body and soul, are all unique and closely guarded secrets. I haven't even fully mastered them, so how dare I teach them to others? And I haven't learned those shallow things from other worlds either, otherwise I could have given him some guidance, even if it was just to strengthen his body and prolong his life. Now, where am I going to find an entry-level manual with the lowest threshold?"

The girl's eyes lit up. "Robbery? No, no, not robbery, borrowing a manual. It's borrowing with the intention of returning it, of course."

But her face quickly darkened, and she said bitterly, "Damn old eunuch! Just you wait, I'll turn your palace upside down."

She looked miserable and said with sorrow, "Could it be that I really have to go to that swordsmith named Ruan? I'm still passable at hacking people, I've got four or five tenths of my mother's true skill, but asking for favors, I'm really not good at it."

The straw-sandaled boy sat on the threshold, watching the girl named Ning Yao. She was talking to herself, her expression changing, like the clouds in the sky.

The handsome man in white robes and jade belt stood in Song Jixin's room, looking around with a slight frown. "That Song guy just arranged such a shabby place for you?"

Song Jixin pursed his lips and said nothing.

The maid, Zhi Gui, had already discreetly retreated to her own side room.

According to the most widespread story in the town, the former Supervising Official, Lord Song, was not skilled in his work and failed to produce imperial tribute porcelain that satisfied the court. Relying on his hard work, he left behind a covered bridge and returned to the capital to take up a new position. Of course, he also left behind Song Jixin, this illegitimate son, only buying him a personal maid to take care of him, and then "entrusting" him to a friend, the new Supervising Official who replaced him, also surnamed Song.

But the truth of the matter was that those involved were often blinded, and onlookers were not necessarily clear.

Song Jixin himself was not sure what kind of relationship this guy in front of him had with that man surnamed Song. Close colleagues in the officialdom? Old classmates from their student days? Or rivals from other factions in the capital's court? Before leaving, the man surnamed Song mentioned a few words, saying that after the new Supervising Official arrived in the town, he would soon take their master and servant away from the town to the capital, and that Song Jixin must treat that lord with the utmost respect, without the slightest negligence.

Song Jixin had no good feelings for this arrogant man from the capital, probably because he hated the house and its crow.

The confidence he showed to the maid, Zhi Gui, and his calm composure about leaving his hometown, were just the result of the young man's self-esteem.

The man smiled. "Forget it, that Song bookworm has always been cautious and timid. He's not like the big lords, more like a woman. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been sent here to look after you."

Song Jixin's brow furrowed with gloom.

The man glanced casually at the large box where the boy stored his belongings, curled his lip with a disdainful expression, and said slowly, "Before coming here, I already met Fu Nanhua from Old Dragon City. What an unlucky devil, he almost had a Dao heart collapse here. Your deal with him can continue as before, you kid are responsible for your own profits and losses, I won't interfere in such trivial matters. But before leaving, you must go to the covered bridge with me, kowtow a few times, and then it's none of your business. Come home with me, do what you should do, sit in the seat you should sit in, fulfill the responsibilities you should fulfill, it's that simple, understand?"

"Of course I understand, Lord Song's words are not obscure."

The boy sneered, "It's just, on what basis?"

The man smiled, turned around and looked at the boy for the first time, asking, "That Song sissy said you have extraordinary talent, he's really not afraid of hurting his tongue with that assessment. Why don't you guess, what do you think my basis is?"

If one looked closely, one would find that there was actually some resemblance between the two, in appearance and spirit.

Song Jixin's anger grew even stronger, but he remained restrained.

The man stopped being mysterious and said with a playful tone, "On what basis? Of course, on the basis that this king is a number one unlucky devil, who just happens to be your little uncle."

Song Jixin's heart shook violently, his face turned pale.

The man ignored this, placed his hands on the jade belt, looked at the sky outside the window, and smiled, "Also, on the basis that this king is the number one martial artist of the Great Li Dynasty."

In fact, this sentence could be phrased in another way that would be even more shocking, but the man would rather be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix, feeling that as long as he was behind others, even if it was only one or two people, it was not worth proclaiming.

The man thought of the Confucian sage sitting in this place, his mouth full of disdain, and snorted coldly.

He was thinking incessantly.

If he were not in this world, he could crush the gods and immortals of the Three Religions, like Qi Jingchun, with one hand.

Inside the schoolhouse, Mr. Qi was listening to the students reciting their books.

Sitting upright.

Truly sitting upright, Song Jixin and Zhao Yao, these reading seeds, could hardly grasp the essence of it.

The Confucian school had a classic for "establishing the doctrine and founding the sect," called the *Great Rites*, in which the *Cultivation* chapter specifically talked about how a gentleman should sit like a corpse, because a corpse is a divine image, and sitting like a corpse shows solemnity and solemnness.

At this moment, Qi Jingchun seemed to hear the white-robed man's silent thoughts, and said with a calm smile, "A warrior in charge of the country, truly remarkable. However, a white dragon in commoner's clothes is not a good omen."