NOVEL WEB Chapter 3 First Contact
Early morning, Guardian Martial Department Office.
Shen Qing, as usual, crossed the threshold of the Guardian Martial Department Office, ready to start his duty.
"Lord Shen!"
A follower in the Guardian Martial Department Office, who seemed to have been waiting behind the door early, hurried over when he saw Shen Qing. He greeted with both hands folded in front of him and respectfully said, "There are several people claiming to be imperial envoys in the elegant room waiting, they say they want to see you."
"Imperial envoys?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Qing felt a shiver in his heart.
They had finally come.
With such significant disturbances in Yongzhou, demons running rampant, the Prefectural Governor murdered, multiple aristocratic families slaughtered...
Any single one of these incidents was a major event.
It was impossible for the Capital City to be unaware; it was merely a matter of time.
He just hadn't expected them to arrive so quickly.
However, come what may, Shen Qing had been mentally prepared for this situation and showed no signs of fear.
He planned to play it by ear, adapting to the circumstances as they arose.
Shen Qing regained his composure and slowly said, "Please tell them to wait in the main hall; I will be there shortly."
"Yes." Chang Sui bowed in response and hurried out to make arrangements.
After a while, Shen Qing checked the imperial envoy's credentials, confirmed their identities, and saw that it was about time. He then nonchalantly walked into the main hall.
Upon entering the main hall of the Guardian Martial Department, he saw several men dressed in splendid official robes.
They each carried themselves with an imposing air, a natural demeanor of superiority manifesting itself invisibly.
Among them, three individuals, each radiating Spiritual Power seamlessly integrated with their cultivation, were evidently beyond the Innate Realm.
Shen Qing observed carefully and saw a middle-aged man sitting in the center, with others deferring to him, presumably he was the imperial envoy appointed by the Heaven this time—Shi Wenbo.
The remaining two must be the Imperial Eunuch Cui Jin and the Chief Officer of the Mountain Sea Department, Ji He.
And the young man beside them was likely the Great General's third son, Xue Yan.
Indeed, it was a powerful assembly.
While Shen Qing was sizing them up, Shi Wenbo, Cui Jin, Ji He, and others also scrutinized Shen Qing.
The morning light was soft, dappled on his resolute face, adding a touch of extraordinary charisma to him, who looked to be no more than eighteen or nineteen.
Although they had anticipated Shen Qing's youth, they were still slightly taken aback upon seeing just how young he was.
Shen Qing stepped forward, performed a formal official salute, and spoke in a neither humble nor haughty tone, "My lords have honored us with your presence, and I, Shen, have failed to greet you from afar; please forgive me."
Shi Wenbo set aside his thoughts, smiled slightly, and spoke, "Lord Shen need not be so formal. We also came here in a hurry due to the suddenness of the matter, it's normal for you to be unprepared. Please do not mind it."
After some investigation, Shi Wenbo found that Yongzhou had already stabilized, and many aspects of the situation were quite clear.
It was predictable that this mission would be a relatively easy one, not requiring too much exertion.
As a result, he was in a good mood, and he harbored no prejudice against Shen Qing.
Shen Qing did not continue with the pleasantries, but proactively asked, "May I know if the lords have come for the matter of the demons, and if Your Majesty has other instructions?"
"Chief Officer Shen has guessed correctly. Your Majesty is worried about the matter of the demons in Yongzhou, and immediately commanded us to come to Yongzhou to thoroughly investigate." Shi Wenbo's tone became much more serious, "I heard that Lord Governor Bai also lost his life because of this? What exactly happened, could Chief Officer Shen enlighten us?"
Hearing this, Shen Qing furrowed his brows, a trace of solemnity flickering in his eyes.
These people seemed to already possess some intelligence and information.
The energy that the temple and various aristocratic families in Great Zhou held exceeded his expectations; if he was not careful, it could result in many unpredictable consequences.
However, there was no need to panic.
From his experiences thus far, when faced with such situations, the best approach was to be honest and truthful.
One must never play clever tricks, as they could easily be exposed.
But there was an art to telling the truth.
Not too much, not everything.
The more he said, the more he would lose the initiative.
With this in mind, Shen Qing thought over his wording and truthfully said, "Replying to your lordship, Lord Governor's death was indeed caused by a demon. He had previously been gravely injured by a Snake Demon, a major Dao practitioner. The Lord Governor had not yet recovered when another demon targeted him, taking advantage of his weakness to devour him."
Shi Wenbo, Cui Jin, and Ji He, upon hearing this, found Shen Qing's account to match the information they had gathered; Shen Qing had not tried to deceive them.
This improved their impression of Shen Qing somewhat.
"Does Lord Shen know why the demon appeared in the city?" Shi Wenbo pursued, "I remember the Guardian Martial Department specifically handles such matters."
Shen Qing said, "Based on various pieces of evidence, it seems to be related to the high-ranking families in the city."
"Oh, what did these high-ranking families do?"
Shen Qing shook his head and gave a vague response, "The Military Department is still investigating this matter; it will take some time to sort out the details."
In fact, Shen Qing was well aware that the demon issue was linked to those high-ranking families' secret plotting for Spirit Mechanism; they and others wanted to control the Yongzhou County Office by their actions.
However, he could not outright state this.
High-ranking families controlling the Yongzhou County Office was relatively manageable, not involving him personally.
But involving the Spirit Mechanism Land was more problematic.
He now held a considerable amount of Spirit Essence; if discovered, it could attract covetous attention, bringing trouble his own way.
Especially considering the people before him, every word and action had to be cautious. Discover more content at empire
Fortunately, most of the beings, human or demon, who saw him collecting the Spirit Essence had already been slain by him, turning to corpses.
As everyone knows, the dead do not speak.
Now, only some rumors remained in the city, lacking much referential value.
In such a case, the best choice was to say little or let them investigate on their own.
Following that, Ji He continued to ask several more questions.
Shen Qing was honest in his responses.
After a series of questions, Shi Wenbo, Cui Jin, and Ji He reviewed the recent events in Yongzhou from start to finish, matching the intelligence they had gathered without any discrepancies, aligning almost perfectly.
"Truly, a hero from youth! Seeing you today, the fame is indeed well-deserved." After all the questions, Ji He spoke first.
His voice was deep and magnetic, filled with gentleness, "We've just arrived and heard of Lord Shen's exploits, which we thought might be exaggerated. Now, it seems they have understated them."
Lord Ji gives too much credit; the results we have now are due to the unity of the Guardian Martial Department and the County Office, not my efforts alone."
Shi Wenbo gently tapped the tabletop, producing a crisp sound, and spoke, "We will stop here for today's matters, and we still have to make a thorough investigation."
Shen Qing nodded and replied, "I, Shen, will do my utmost to cooperate with the lords."