"The Emperor’s Blood trembled; this visitor is no mere envoy."
An Jing was well aware of the significance of the reaction from the Emperor’s Blood. Either the visitor possessed a Divine Weapon or was a confidant of the Virtuous King—surely it couldn’t be the Virtuous King himself taking possession of a body to come here?
"Wish to see the City Lord? State your identity!"
In Linjiang City, near the prefecture government, patrolling martial artist squads blocked a somewhat chubby man trying to head directly to the government offices: "You say you are from the southern prefecture? Being from the south isn’t enough! Show your identity!"
Clearly, this was a scenario in which someone wishing to visit City Lord An Jing was stopped by the guard team.
Ever since Lord An had opened the trade routes, such incidents became frequent. Various trade associations’ lobbyists and envoys from the south all wanted to meet with An Jing.
At first, An Jing was willing to meet them, but later on, he became somewhat annoyed. Essentially, these people were just looking to share in the profits, or they came under the name of other southern officials, taking advantage of that to press An Jing for favors.
Thus, later on, An Jing simply refused all visits from those who did not disclose their intentions outright, and this somewhat chubby envoy was no exception.
"Boss, this doesn’t seem right."
On the other side, Xu Tai stood on the second floor of a nearby tavern; he earnestly watched from afar the somewhat chubby envoy, who was hesitantly reluctant to reveal his true purpose but not at all afraid of the questioning by the guards.
Beside him, the former assistant from the escort company asked with some concern, "For the other merchants, fine, but this guy claims to be from the southern prefecture government; he’s obviously an official... at least he was once, and we’ve seen those before. He’s clearly some high official’s secret envoy. Isn’t it a bit inappropriate for us to stop him , risking messing up important matters for our superior?"
"Old Zheng, do you know why I feel you can’t take over my role, and can only be the assistant?"
Xu Tai spoke softly, "It’s because you always think on behalf of the employer. What about your task?"
"The City Lord set the rule—those who don’t state their origins and purposes cannot see him. Can we just break that rule ourselves? We aren’t in charge of handling the government affairs; our job is solely to screen visitors with unclear purposes. What fault do we have in this?"
The one called Old Zheng frowned tightly, "The lord might have been waiting for him already; by making such a scene in stopping him, if we cause his identity to be exposed, wouldn’t it all be our fault?"
"Old Zheng," Xu Tai sighed, "Who can avoid making mistakes? Do you think the City Lord is someone who can’t forgive mistakes?"
"Not to mention, Lord An probably, just like us, is watching whether this ’secret envoy’ will choose to reveal his identity and meet him through the proper channels—if Lord An is not around, can we presume to take his place and decide to let him pass?"
"You must understand, we all need to show good attitude and fulfill our employer’s requests, and the employer will handle the other matters himself—the simplest thing: if we let this person pass this time, who are we really serving, Da Chen or An Jing?"
With that statement, things seemed a bit too insubordinate, but for places like the Northern Border, it was enough to enlighten Old Zheng, who then realized, "Right, I understand now—it’s Lord An requiring this secret envoy to meet him using his official identity!"
"They wish to meet covertly, while the City Lord rather hopes to use his official identity to do something; we must be prepared to be mistaken on behalf of the leaders above, making mistakes is a blessing."
"You’ve grasped it." Xu Tai nodded slightly, pointing out, "Our escort company got lucky this time by attaching ourselves to the Divine Mandate; even if we make mistakes, Lord An behind us will absolutely be able to cover for us, as long as there are no fundamental errors, minor ones can be overlooked."
"But if you don’t follow An Jing’s rules, that constitutes a fundamental error. Remember, we are not in an escort agency now; there’s no need to consider what the employer likes or dislikes. We are junior officials under An Jing, only needing to focus on accomplishing ’the tasks from above.’"
Compared to those colleagues who still retained some habits of an escort master, Xu Tai adapted to this mindset very quickly. Part of this was due to his background from the Martial Arts Academy, but it was also because he had once desperately striven to keep a promise and clearly understood that An Jing was currently establishing rules.
During the time of establishing rules, reputations, and trust, being unsympathetic was rather an advantage. As long as An Jing wasn’t foolish, by following the rules and intercepting this secret envoy, they would undoubtedly be meritorious and trustworthy!
"Xu Tai is very understanding," they remarked.
At the top of the government hierarchy, An Jing looked towards a somewhat familiar figure in the distance and nodded in satisfaction. "Although I don’t expect the Virtuous King’s envoy to announce his identity and enter the government office formally, I still need to show my stance—I’m not the type to simply be summoned and hurry over. To get me to act, the price must be clear."
"And the first payment, is your identity."
Soon, the slightly overweight official being questioned by the guards reluctantly lifted his head and looked towards the government building, sighing, "Ah, let me make it clear, I am the envoy of the Virtuous King. This time, I have come to discuss certain matters with Lord An..."
The guards deliberately exclaimed in shock, "You are the envoy of the Virtuous King?"
"Yes, I am..." Before the slightly overweight official could repeat himself, a whole row of martial artists suddenly spoke in unison with booming voices. "So you are the envoy of the Virtuous King! Oh, we, a bunch of damned country bumpkins, what a foolish thing we did, to have actually stopped the envoy of the Virtuous King!"
"We sincerely beg the envoy to forgive us country folks for our impoliteness; please come in!"
Before long, the entire city, along with the trading caravans, knew that the envoy of the Virtuous King had arrived in Linjiang City and was meeting with An Jing in the government office.
"Hey, isn’t that Magistrate Zheng?"
When the slightly overweight official finally met An Jing, An Jing realized that the official before him had lost a great deal of weight and was emitting an aura of the Netherworld. This man was none other than his old acquaintance, Magistrate Zheng Mo of Kanming City!
An Jing was genuinely shocked. "When did you die, to become a Nether Envoy? What happened in Kanming City?!"
Having also lived in Kanming City for a considerable time, where An Jing had many acquaintances, if something had truly happened that even the Magistrate had died, those acquaintances were likely dead too.
"It’s a long story... Kanming City is fine; it’s me who had issues," Zheng Mo replied with a bitter smile. Without irritation from the hassle, he sincerely praised. "On the contrary, An Jing, I never imagined that within just about half a year, you could rebuild a city that was meant to collapse into one so well-organized."
"Before visiting here, I went around the city. Everyone has a secure and joyful life, every household has surplus food, and everyone looks incredibly happy. Plus, given the recent major victory... If I only had a quarter of your ability, Kanming City wouldn’t have suffered so many disasters."
Zheng Mo’s heartfelt emotion came from deep within, and An Jing, although unaware of the particular circumstances of the other’s presence, clearly sensed that the former lackadaisal Da Chen official had grown.
[Be careful, An Jing]
However, the Jade Mirror in An Jing’s arms transmitted a Divine Sense, his master Chenyinzi warned him: [This man harbors the Divine Mandate incarnation of the Virtuous King!]
[Just like you and me now, the newly appointed Virtuous King is currently hiding inside the talisman in this guy’s possession!]