"Various peculiar ores and spiritual wood."
"I thought it would be rare curios and precious treasures. Who knew it was raw materials?" He Lingchuan stroked his chin. Anything connected to the Ke family caught his interest. "Could it be that the Ke family has a jewelry business and commissioned Dun Garden to procure goods for them?"
Among Lingxu City's nobles and dignitaries, which family did not sit upon vast fortunes, running the most lucrative, monopolistic trades?
"The Ke family naturally does business in jewelry, but that's not the point." Fang Canran pointed north. "Those materials are supplied over there."
The north?
He Lingchuan looked north as well.
What lay to the north? Mount Xu, or the Floating Isle?
"Over there is...?"
At the mention of Mount Xu, He Lingchuan immediately recalled the day he had joined the tour group up Tianshu Peak. Ke Yanming had also taken the teleportation circle up the mountain, with servants behind him carrying several large chests.
Clearly, he had been delivering things to Zhaixing Tower.
Fang Canran said slowly, "For a very long time, the Ke family has attended upon the mountain spirit of Mount Xu."
This was common knowledge among Lingxu City's high society.
"The mountain..." He Lingchuan swirled his cup. "The magma inside Tianshu Peak?"
"Indeed." Fang Canran nodded. "Only the Ke family can satisfy the mountain spirit's demands. That is precisely why they enjoy enduring wealth and glory. Countless people in Lingxu City have wanted to replace them, but none have ever succeeded."
He Lingchuan came to an abrupt realization. "A mountain spirit can be that formidable?"
No wonder! No wonder that for the final step before the completion of the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation—right before setting the formation eye—the Demon Emperor had sent the Ke family to soothe Juju to sleep. Offerings from their family pleased the magma monster best, allowing it to partake without the slightest reservation.
"Though both are called mountain spirits, those in deep, ancient forests can only control a few beasts and a handful of monsters, with virtually no one to worship them. Meanwhile, if the mountain spirit of Mount Xu stamps its foot, all of Lingxu City shakes three times. Tell me, doesn't it have the right to be arrogant?"
"The earthquake from over ten years ago?"
Fang Canran nodded. "Young Master He knows quite a bit about the old events of Lingxu City, I see."
"Everything that happens here is a grand affair that draws the eyes of the world."
As He Lingchuan spoke, his gaze instinctively dropped to the other man's signet ring once more.
Speaking of treading the knife-edge between life and death, he still seemed a bit behind Shao Jian at the moment.
That man roamed far and wide with the Dragon-Torture Pillar, striving to cause grievances for the celestial gods and poke holes in the divine realm.
The moment the gods behind Lingxu City discovered his deeds, they would probably seize him, flay his skin, and rip out his sinews.
Fang Canran sat up straight and looked down at his signet ring as well.
"Young Master He seems quite attentive to this ring?"
It was an unconscious gesture, showing that he attached great importance to the conversation that was about to follow.
Finally getting down to business. He Lingchuan kept his expression neutral. "Yes. The style is very distinctive. I've been thinking of having one crafted myself."
If his guess was right, this had been Fang Canran's true purpose in visiting today!
He Lingchuan braced himself as well.
This man was meticulous to a fault; He Lingchuan had merely glanced at the signet ring twice back at Dun Garden, yet the man had caught it.
However, this also revealed that Fang Canran knew full well the origins of the five-spiral signet ring.
He had come to probe how much He Lingchuan actually knew about the secrets behind it.
"This was when my ancestor went to—"
"Many nobles in the west have a custom of wearing signet rings. Beyond looking good, they're convenient for stamping seals." He Lingchuan curled his hand into a fist and pressed his knuckle against the table, mimicking the motion of stamping a seal.
Fang Canran's smile tightened slightly. "Indeed. For one so young, you possess remarkably broad horizons, Young Master He."
"Rings like this are passed down through generations. How many years has yours endured, Mr. Fang?"
"Counting from the ancestor who cast this signet ring?" Fang Canran mused. "I'm afraid it's been a hundred... yes, over a hundred and sixty years."
He Lingchuan's eyes flickered slightly.
Counting from the era when Shao Jian fled Yuan Kingdom and wandered the world, it indeed came to over a hundred and sixty years. Fang Canran remembered the timeline remarkably well.
Yet this was unnatural.
People in this era did not live long. Some practitioners could barely manage to reach a hundred and thirty or forty, but the average lifespan of commoners was under forty. Reaching sixty was cause for a celebratory feast.
With early deaths and brief lives, people neither knew nor cared about matters from several generations back.
What was the name of one's great-great-grandfather? Most people could not answer.
It was not because they willfully forgot their roots, but because survival was hard. People hurried about making a living and had not an ounce of spare leisure.
Unless their descendants achieved prosperity and noble rank, prompting them to build ancestral halls and compile genealogies.
Yet to be as precise as Fang Canran, recalling the exact period when a ring had been cast down to the decade, was suspicious. Especially since, by his own account, his ancestors had led wandering, unsettled lives, only settling down in Lingxu City sixty years ago.
When people constantly moved around, their past history, traditions, and customs were easily lost.
This ring was no priceless treasure. Why had successive generations of the Fang family taken the trouble to remember it?
Most importantly, if Fang Canran could state it with such certainty, it was most likely because every generation of ancestors had kept it close to heart, ensuring it was passed down in proper order.
Otherwise, how could Fang Canran, a descendant of later generations, possibly know?
He Lingchuan looked at the ring as well. "The importance your family placed on this ring has been carried down for over a hundred and sixty years, then."
Fang Canran gave a quiet smile. "Indeed."
"Does it hold some special significance for the Fang family?" Things handed down by ancestors were not necessarily good, nor were they necessarily cherished by later generations.
"Significance?" Fang Canran looked at He Lingchuan. "Are you always this curious when you see someone else's ancestral ring, Young Master He?"
"No, only this one." He Lingchuan shook his head. "I just feel as though I've seen it somewhere before. In particular, these five spirals seem to carry some special meaning."
"What sort of meaning?"
"It seems different spirals corresponded to differences in identity and status."
"To be frank, the founding ancestor of the Fang family once established a merchant guild and used this signet ring as his seal. The business grew very large, but very few of these signet rings were ever issued." Fang Canran's gaze locked intently onto him. "Where exactly did you see this kind of signet ring, Young Master He?"
He Lingchuan furrowed his brows in deep thought, only letting out a wistful sigh after a long pause. "I just can't remember."
"Is that so?" Fang Canran acted as if it were nothing of consequence, merely smiling. "Well then, if you manage to recall in the future, please be sure to let me know, Young Master He."
He Lingchuan said repeatedly, "Of course, of course!"
With the matter dropped, the two moved on to discussing recent anecdotes around Lingxu City. An idea struck He Lingchuan, and he made a point to ask about National Preceptor Qingyang's recent situation.
"National Preceptor Qingyang has been attending many events as usual. As far as I know, she even donated quite a bit of money to the orphans of the meerkat clan yesterday." Fang Canran smiled. "Have you ever met National Preceptor Qingyang, Young Master He?"
He Lingchuan shook his head. "I haven't had the chance."
"National Preceptor Qingyang will most likely attend the Grass Sea festivities in a few days." Fang Canran lowered his voice and asked, "I heard that some clues in the elixir of immortality case point toward National Preceptor Qingyang. Is that true or false?"
Details of the case were naturally kept from the public, but these powerful nobles had plenty of ways to pry.
"The suspect currently on the run possessed a portrait of National Preceptor Qingyang, and he seems to share some connection with her personally." He Lingchuan poured a cup of wine. "The rest of the case has been handed over to Emissary Bai to pursue."
He asked Fang Canran, "I've heard that of the Four Great National Preceptors, National Preceptor Qingyang ranks first, and that she has held the position the longest?"
Fang Canran nodded. "When our founding ancestor was still alive, she had already become a National Preceptor of Beijia. Back then, she was the youngest; now, she has become the oldest."
He Lingchuan was astonished. "Over a hundred and sixty years ago, she was already a National Preceptor?"
Fang Canran chuckled. "Just about. National Preceptors tend to be rather long-lived. National Preceptor Shuangye looks even younger, appearing to be only in his twenties."
He Lingchuan blinked. "Wait, aren't only the National Preceptors of the Spring and Summer Palaces human?"
"Yes. Among the four National Preceptors, there must always be two great demons and two humans," Fang Canran explained. "National Preceptor Shuangye merely looks human on the outside, but his true form is that of a demon."
"What kind of demon is he?" Fu Shanyue looked human on the outside, but was actually a ba. Yet He Lingchuan had heard that in all of vast Beijia, there were only two ba—no, by now there should be three.
"I hear it's an extremely rare kind of demon called a 'dusu.'" Fang Canran smiled. "The first National Preceptor in Beijia's history was also a dusu. Perhaps they belong to the same lineage."
He Lingchuan remarked with wonder, "A clan capable of producing two National Preceptors must surely be a prominent family of Lingxu."
Fang Canran waved his hand dismissively. "Not at all, not at all. The founding National Preceptor had no descendants, and the dusu vanished from the river of history until National Preceptor Shuangye emerged. Demons are unlike humans; the more powerful the demon, the weaker its fertility, making it terribly easy for the bloodline to die out. The current National Preceptor Shuangye has no offspring either, a point that pleases the Sovereign quite well."
"So that's how it is." Truth be told, He Lingchuan's curiosity about National Preceptor Shuangye was no less than his curiosity about National Preceptor Qingyang. "I heard that there seems to be some friction between National Preceptor Qingyang and National Preceptor Shuangye?"
To describe it as "friction" was far too gentle. From what He Lingchuan knew, they seemed eager to destroy one another. Hadn't National Preceptor Shuangye taken in Qingyang's forsaken disciple, Xi Yunhe, precisely to deal with her?
"With high office and generous stipends at stake, how could they possibly remain on peaceful terms?" Fang Canran smiled. "Whether the kingdom is great or small, it is universally so."
"Mr. Fang speaks truly. But I originally thought National Preceptor Qingyang and National Preceptor Shuangye would attack each other during the elixir of immortality case. Yet ever since I arrived in Lingxu City, the Azure Palace seems to have made no move at all." The thunderous fury expected from the Azure Palace had not materialized.
"Still waters run deep. Now that the Chiyan people and you, He Xiao, are no longer taking part in the case, you naturally won't feel the surging undercurrents." Fang Canran laughed. "When you were investigating in Baishaqu, could the other notable gentry see the private clashes between you and Cen Boqing's faction?"
He Lingchuan gave it some thought and shook his head.
When he had pursued the case most relentlessly, Cen Boqing had brought in the curse master Cheng Yu to take his life. The methods of a nightmare killing in dreams were invisible and formless—how could anyone else know?
Therefore, if National Preceptor Qingyang and National Preceptor Shuangye were trading blows, outsiders likely wouldn't have the faintest clue about many of their maneuvers.
Fang Canran continued, "In fact, the Azure Palace began striking back long ago. To give one example, in the major corruption case that blew open a few days ago, Jia Qingmin, the Assistant Chamberlain of the Palace Revenue who was removed from office and investigated, had dealings with National Preceptor Shuangye, and his nephew serves in the Autumn Palace."
He Lingchuan understood. "Killing two birds with one stone."
Back then, Crown Prince Huan had just gone to the Panshan Residence to commit murder and arson when this news broke immediately afterward. Looking back now, it had been the Azure Palace's doing—diverting public attention on the one hand while striking back in vengeance against National Preceptor Shuangye on the other.
Chapter 609