People in the Qin Dynasty sought good fortune and avoided misfortune.

Chapter 426, Small Meeting
Clutching Xu Qing's handkerchief, Tian Mi walked blankly toward her residence, looking somewhat lost and dejected. She didn't even notice when people greeted her on the way.

After closing the door behind her, Tian Mi looked at the tightly shut wooden door and suddenly snapped out of her daze, her pink eyes gradually regaining their sparkle.

"No? Is he crazy? Why should I say thank you?"

Tian Mi stomped her little feet in frustration, clutching her handkerchief tightly as if it were Xu Qing.

It was Xu Qing who scared her to tears, yet she still had to say thank you. It's outrageous! They really think she's a pushover. Although she is indeed a pushover in front of Xu Qing.

Recalling her conversation with Xu Qing, Tian Mi looked at the handkerchief in her hand and a playful smile appeared on her face.

"No wonder he rose from a lowly imperial physician to become the Grand Chancellor of Qin. His methods are indeed terrifying. The Heroic Leader is even plotting against you. I hope he doesn't end up losing everything." Tian Mi thought to herself.

Under Xu Qing's pressure, Tian Mi admitted that she panicked and failed to see through Xu Qing's methods. Not only did she fail to get close to him, but her psychological defenses were also breached.

Although she suffered a loss at Xu Qing's hands, Tian Mi was not angry at all; on the contrary, she felt a strange excitement.

"Only a man this powerful is worthy of my service; a man who is both strong and gentle is truly the most charming~"

Tian Mi's face was flushed with excitement. She covered her burning face with her small hands, her pink eyes sparkling with excitement, and her body trembled slightly.

The more sophisticated Xu Qing's methods and the stronger his abilities, the happier she felt. After all, that was exactly what she admired about Xu Qing. Of course, there was also the way he gently comforted her, which made Tian Mi, who hadn't felt warmth in a long time, feel a long-lost sense of security again.

Of course, Tian Mi also realized that she couldn't truly win Xu Qing's heart with her beauty alone. A powerful man like him might need a pretty face to bring some fun to his life, but a pretty face can never win someone's heart.

"No, I'm not some delicate woman; I have plenty of strength and methods!"

Tian Mi smiled confidently. She had always known one thing: while beauty is an asset, it doesn't have much use on its own.

So she wasn't just playing around with those men in the farmhouse; she seized every opportunity to strengthen herself.

Besides her charming beauty and graceful figure, Tian Mi also possesses a clever mind and the wisdom to devise strategies for Xu Qing.

"Sooner or later, I will make you accept me, my beloved, through my own efforts~"

Tian Mi's smile faded, and a hint of shyness appeared in her eyes as she looked at the powder on the handkerchief, but it quickly disappeared.

After calming herself down, Tian Mi walked towards the basin, preparing to wash the handkerchief as Xu Qing had instructed, fulfilling her role as a maid.

Only by doing her job well could she find an opportunity to reverse her relationship with her lord. Just thinking about that scene made Tian Mi feel amused.

Just as Tian Mi was still planning how to get closer to Xu Qing, Tian Guang had already brought all the members of the Farmer's Family to the hall on the other side.

Xu Qing sat in the second seat and glanced around at the people standing in the hall. Apart from Situ Wanli, he had never seen the others before, but he could still tell their identities from their positions and appearances.

The one wearing an eye patch must be the famously arrogant Tian Hu from the original work, and the man next to him with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and flowing hair but deep gaze must be Tian Hu's elder brother, Tian Meng.

After glancing at the two of them, Xu Qing looked at the person standing to Tian Guang's right.

Short in stature and wearing a blue surprised mask, the person who attracted so much attention was naturally from the Zhu family. He was also the only one among the high-ranking members of the Farmer's Clan who still remembered the Farmer's Clan's ideals and cared about the people's livelihood.

Behind him is Situ Wanli, and the burly man at the very end must be Chen Sheng, who is also Sheng Qi, who has been chasing Gai Nie for revenge in the original work. However, he has not yet obtained the Juque Sword and is holding an unnamed sword.

While Xu Qing was sizing up Zhu Jiatianmeng and the others, Zhu Jiatianmeng and the others were also observing Xu Qing, their eyes filled with more or less doubt.

Tian Guang summoned these core disciples of the Farmer's Clan supposedly to discuss matters, but the presence of Xu Qing, an outsider, was truly puzzling to them.

"Ahem, ahem, there are two things I need to discuss with you today. The first is to tell you the true identity of the Grand Chancellor. In fact, the Grand Chancellor is a descendant of Xu Zi, and his lineage is from our peasant family."

Tian Guang glanced at the puzzled crowd, and without saying anything, simply and directly explained Xu Qing's identity.

However, although Tian Guang's words were simple and direct, they were like a flaming oil barrel to Zhu Jiatian, Meng, and the others, leaving the five of them stunned.

"What!?" "How could this be!?"

Zhu Jiatian and the others stared in shock, their eyes darting back and forth between Tian Guang and Xu Qing, their faces filled with disbelief.

Even Situ Wanli, whose heart was already with Xu Qing, was shocked and filled with doubt. He and Xu Qing had only been separated for less than half an hour. How could Xu Qing suddenly become a descendant of Xu Zi?

Although both of them belonged to the Xu clan, one was from Xinzheng in the state of Han and the other was from Teng in the state of Chu. How did these two families become related?
To say that Xu Qing is a descendant of Xu Zi is like picking corn in the middle of the night, completely ignoring the truth.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce myself again. I am Xu Qing, the seventh-generation descendant of Master Xu."

Xu Qing stood up, smiled, cupped his hands in greeting to the group, and said...

"Hey, Chief Hero, Grand Chancellor, what's going on? Isn't the Grand Chancellor a disciple of the Heavenly Sect? How did he suddenly become a member of my Farmer's Clan?"

Even the shrewd and calculating Tian Meng could not remain calm at this moment and spoke first. “Although the Grand Chancellor is from my peasant family, and my peasant family feels honored to have such an honor, this is not something to joke about.”

Zhu Jia followed suit, his gaze shifting back and forth between Xu Qing and Tian Guang.

Although Situ Wanli and the others did not speak, they were waiting for Xu Qing and Tian Guang to give them an explanation, as the news was simply too shocking.

"It's normal for everyone to be confused since the incident happened so suddenly. Let Xia Kui tell you the details."

After speaking to the five people, Xu Qing smiled and nodded to Tian Guang, as if he were the leader of the peasant clan.

Situ Wanli and the others looked at Tian Guang, waiting for his answer.

Seeing that Xu Qing had seized the initiative with just a few words, a hint of seriousness flashed in Tian Guang's eyes, but his expression remained unchanged as he addressed the Zhu family and the others.
"It was indeed a sudden event, and it's precisely because this news is likely to arouse speculation that we only summoned the five of you. To explain the details, we need to go back to what happened earlier."

Tian Guang briefly explained how he discovered Xu Qing's identity and how he decided to have Xu Qing lead the farmers to Qin. After finishing, worried that Zhu Jia and Tian Meng and the other four wouldn't believe him, he even took out the family genealogy he had found.

"This news is indeed unexpected, but with the Xu family genealogy of Tengdi as proof, there is no problem with the identity of the Grand Master. He is a descendant of Xu Zi, the sage of our farming family, and his roots should rightfully lie in our farming family."

Tian Guang held the family genealogy in one hand, glanced at the five people, and said in a serious voice.

Looking at the family tree, Tian Meng, Zhu Jia, and the others were still in shock. This news was too shocking, and they needed to digest it properly.

“If you don’t believe me, you can open the family tree and verify it,” Xu Qing said.

Upon hearing Xu Qing's words, Tian Hu glanced at Xu Qing and prepared to verify the authenticity of the family tree. However, before he could make a move, he was stopped by Tian Meng's eyes.

Since Tian Guang dared to present it and Xu Qing dared to acknowledge it, even if the genealogy is fake, it must be made real.

Apart from Tian Hu, who was a complete idiot, the other four people present, including Tian Meng and Zhu Jia, naturally understood the true purpose behind this matter.

The whole "descendants of Xu Zi" thing is nonsense; they just wanted to use Xu Qing to pave a path for the peasant family within the Qin state.

However, this path comes at a high price. As a descendant of Xu Zi, if the other party were to join the peasant family, Xu Qing's right to inherit the position of leader of the chivalrous clan would be almost the same as that of the Tian family, or even slightly higher.

"Now that the identity of the leader and the Grand Chancellor is confirmed, there must be no mistake in this matter. It's just that I never expected that such an outstanding person as the Grand Chancellor would be from my peasant family."

Zhu Jia put on a red mask, rubbed his short hands together, and said to Xu Qing with a smile.

If we were to ask who among those present was the happiest about Xu Qing being from the peasant family, it would undoubtedly be the Zhu family. After all, as a representative of outsiders, he was facing an attack from the entire peasant family, the Tian clan.

Now that Xu Qing has become a farmer, he can not only share the burden, but also greatly strengthen the power of people from other families.

Even though Xu Qing has no connections within the Farmer's Clan, just by virtue of his name and status as a descendant of Xu Zi, he could easily attract a large number of non-family disciples to join him even if he established a new Farmer's Clan.

After all, the current farming families are exploiting their non-family disciples too much.

"If Shennong were not dead, the earth would nourish all things; would kings and generals be born with special privileges?" This is the core concept of the Agricultural School.

But neither the first half nor the second half of the statement has been fulfilled by modern farmers.

Chen Sheng looked at the happy Zhu Jia and Situ Wanli, his expression showing little change, but he nodded to Xu Qing as a sign of goodwill.

Although Wu Kuang's current predicament is entirely his own fault, Xu Qing cannot be blamed for it.

But Wu Kuang was, after all, his sworn brother, and he couldn't just turn around and smile at Xu Qing.

Seeing the happy Zhu family and others, Tian Meng's heart sank. He himself had no objection to Xu Qing, and even admired him.

If the other party becomes someone outside the farming family, then they are his enemy.

Tian Meng didn't want to face such a formidable enemy as Xu Qing, so he looked worried and said...

"The Grand Chancellor is a member of my Farmer's Clan, which is indeed a cause for celebration. However, the Grand Chancellor has just won the Snow Clearing for the Heavenly Sect. If he were to suddenly switch allegiance to my Farmer's Clan, I'm afraid it would incur the displeasure of the Heavenly Sect."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jia's smile vanished, and he looked at Tian Meng with an inscrutable expression.

The Zhu family naturally understood what Tian Meng meant by those words: his concern was feigned, but his real intention was to prevent Xu Qing from returning to the farmhouse.

"The struggle between the families with different surnames in this farming family is really fierce. They even fight tooth and nail in front of an outsider whose identity is not yet confirmed."

Seeing the tense atmosphere between Tian Meng and the Zhu family, Xu Qing couldn't help but sigh.

(End of this chapter)