Du Heng looked surprised, and there was also a trace of pleasant surprise that he had expected, but he only let out an “Oh” and said nothing else.
Seeing how calmly he reacted, Qiting felt even more certain that Young Lord Du before him was probably a rare and valuable ally. He was just about to say a few more flattering words to make up for his earlier rash mistake.
But Du Heng stood up. After flipping through the case files and finding nothing else useful, he was ready to leave, and before he did, he tossed out one last remark.
“Your Criminal Investigation Department is really not very clean. When you have time, give it a good wash.”
Qiting looked around in stunned confusion. Wasn’t the place already pretty clean?
Then he touched his own face and came away with a hand full of powder. His expression instantly darkened.
Was this Young Lord insulting him indirectly, saying he was oily-faced and powdered and not clean?
…
“Young Lord!” The shadow guards captain with the code name Heavenly Qian, Feng Zhao, knelt on one knee and saluted Du Heng.
“Get up. No need for such formality.”
“Did Her Highness send you here?”
“Yes.”
Du Heng scratched his chin. “Then did Her Highness… say what you were supposed to do here?”
“Her Highness told us to carry out Young Lord’s orders.”
“She didn’t say to protect me?”
Feng Zhao froze, then shook his head. “No.”
Mm… So that bad woman really did know how strong his cultivation was, which was why she wasn’t worried at all about him being targeted.
Wait, why am I even thinking she’d be worried about me?
Du Heng’s expression turned strange, and he felt that his brain must be seriously off.
This squad was probably sent by her to keep an eye on him? Still, if used properly, these eyes could work for him. Feng Zhao, the leader, was even at the fifth level of the Sitting in Reflection realm. She really did pay attention to him.
Feng Zhao thought Du Heng disliked his answer, so he added, “However, since this subordinate has been assigned by Her Highness to stay at Young Lord’s side, I will do everything I can to protect Young Lord’s safety.”
The guards behind him also shouted the same thing in unison.
Du Heng’s mouth twitched.
“Enough. Stop shouting. Are you afraid people won’t know you’re shadow guards?”
Qiting had said that the shadow guards with the code name Heavenly Qian were the most elite people under Yun Shuyu’s command. But Du Heng didn’t think so. These people were way too simple-minded.
Only after Du Heng asked Feng Zhao and the others did he learn that they trained year-round and were extremely skilled at coordination and concealment movement techniques.
But when they were not on missions, they rarely interacted with other people. This had been the first time they had struck up a conversation with the person they were protecting, which was why they had forgotten the proper conduct of shadow guards.
After all, their usual missions were all about moving fast and slitting throats. They almost never took bodyguard jobs.
More than shadow guards, they were like assassins.
That only made Du Heng even more convinced that Yun Shuyu had sent him these people with bad intentions.
Was she trying to have him train her subordinates?
And all the missions she gave them involved killing. Was that bad woman some kind of ruthless female demon?
But after thinking about it, that kind of scheming in state affairs was actually normal. A lot of things couldn’t be done openly, so people could only deal with them in secret.
Du Heng waved his hand. “You may leave. In a few days, follow me to Qingping Mountain. Don’t let your whereabouts be exposed.”
“Yes!” Feng Zhao and the others cupped their hands and withdrew, their figures once again vanishing into the air.
“Senior Brother, aren’t we going to Qingping Mountain today?”
“I’m tired. Let’s go back to the residence and rest.”
Mingzhu’s big eyes were full of confusion. Was Eldest Senior Brother Du’s habit of slacking off acting up again?
…
Qingping Mountain had the White Horse Temple, a place where people prayed for blessings. It was one of the most famous Buddhist cultivation sects, though its main business was still worshipping Buddha and burning incense.
Yun Shuyu had gone to the White Horse Temple to pray for blessings last time.
At the same time, Qingping Mountain was enormous, and on the opposite side from the White Horse Temple was Yingtian Prefecture Academy, also a famous Confucian cultivation sect in the cultivation world and the top academy every Great Luo student dreamed of entering.
Compared with a carriage, sword flight and movement techniques might be a little faster, but the mortal world had its own rules.
Great Luo advocated that cultivators within Great Luo’s territory should keep a low profile and not be too ostentatious, presumably to avoid disturbing the lives of ordinary commoners.
This decree was said to have been issued by Yun Shuyu in recent years. When Du Heng and Mingzhu arrived in Luodu, they had also put away their flying sword, landed at the city gate, and walked into the city properly according to the rules.
So on this outing, Du Heng and Mingzhu followed local custom, rode a carriage up the mountain road, and soon arrived in front of Yingtian Prefecture Academy.
“May I ask which two young masters you are looking for?”
The little page boy at the gate was two heads shorter than Mingzhu and looked only about ten years old. At that moment, he was holding a book and gnawing on it.
“Is Lord Zhao, the Imperial Censor, here?”
The child scratched his head and thought for a moment. “Grandpa Zhao has a day off today and isn’t here.”
“Then who is the oldest person here?”
The child buried his head and thought again.
“Hmm… it’s Grandpa Su.”
Du Heng crouched down and gave the child a piece of mochi he had just bought.
“Then will you take me to find Grandpa Su?”
The child looked conflicted. Wanting to take the mochi but feeling embarrassed, he said, “That won’t do.”
Du Heng’s tone was gentle. “Why not?”
“Outsiders who want to see Grandpa Su have to carve their names on the stele in the academy’s central square. If Grandpa Su is satisfied, then you can go in.”
The child thought as he spoke out that long explanation.
Du Heng patted his head and gave him the mochi. “It’s fine. Eat it. Just take me there to carve the inscription.”
The child nodded happily and led them into the academy.
Once inside, Du Heng couldn’t keep wearing his hooded cloak. Yingtian Prefecture had to be respected by its own rules.
No loud noise, no hiding one’s face, no fighting.
A gentleman is cautious in speech and prudent in conduct.
But while Du Heng followed the rules, the students inside did not.
“Look, isn’t that Du Heng?”
“It seems to be. It’s exactly like the portrait in the rumors, and the waist token at his belt is from Marquis Zhenyuan’s residence.”
“What is he doing in the academy? He’s truly disgracing the academy’s name.”
“Keep your voices down. After all, he’s at least a Young Lord.”
“Right. Let’s not say anything else.”
Some scholars from ordinary backgrounds immediately shut up sensibly, but others with some power at home, spoiled and arrogant by habit, couldn’t keep their mouths shut.
Du Heng had a notoriously ugly reputation and had been away from Luodu for many years, while this place was full of powerful people from official families who had been pampered since childhood.
A scholar in purple robes looked at Du Heng’s back with open contempt.
“That kind of sanctimonious thief even dares to try to make advances on Her Highness the Eldest Princess. How bold.”
Another scholar in gray robes agreed, “Exactly. After ten years of cultivation and still only at Qi Condensation, I suppose his character is just as poor as his cultivation. Utterly despicable.”
“The Eldest Princess must be blind to even look at…”
Before he could finish, Du Heng turned around and gave him a sharp glance.
Du Heng smiled at him with great warmth. “This young master, what were you about to say? Why not say it again?”
“I said the Eldest Princess must be blind to…”
Du Heng’s face darkened instantly. That spring-like smile from earlier seemed never to have existed at all.
The gray-robed scholar only felt a sword intent pass from the top of his head all the way down to his toes, as if his whole body had been split open. He had never come so close to death before, and terror instantly flooded every inch of him, leaving him unable to say a word until Du Heng turned and left.
The reason these people dared to badmouth Du Heng was simple: you are the child of an official family, and so am I. In the Great Luo Dynasty, matters among the younger generation were generally settled by the younger generation themselves, and people usually did not shamelessly run to their elders. The court placed great value on cultivation strength. And you, Du Heng, had low cultivation and a notorious reputation. I have a higher realm than you, so why should I fear you?
But they had not expected that Du Heng was not as weak as they imagined, and that he would not just trade insults with them.
Du Heng continued to follow the child, leaving only one remark behind.
“This young master had better watch his words. If he speaks recklessly about Her Highness in front of me again, next time he may lose something.”
After Du Heng left, a cry of shock came from behind. The gray-robed scholar’s hair had been split cleanly down the middle, and his clothes had also been neatly cut along an invisible line from top to bottom, falling all over the ground.
“Senior Brother, are you angry?”
Du Heng did not answer right away. After a moment, he said,
“No…”
Mingzhu looked at Du Heng’s back. How did this man not look angry at all?
He had just been about to take action against the people who spoke ill of Senior Brother Du, but Senior Brother Du had stopped him. So why did he get so worked up the moment the Eldest Princess was mentioned?
At Mingzhu’s age, he couldn’t make sense of it.
Ordinarily, whenever the Eldest Princess was mentioned, Senior Brother Du would change the subject. Hadn’t Senior Brother Du always told him that there was nothing between him and the Eldest Princess?
Du Heng and Mingzhu had originally been following the child in silence. Those scholars read the sages’ books, yet the words coming out of their mouths were extremely filthy.
Feng Zhao and his men were only there to listen out for Du Heng and protect him, never showing themselves, but Mingzhu had heard everything and was seething, though Du Heng kept stopping him from exploding.