From slave trader to the Immortal Lord of Ten Thousand Laws

"Sir...would you like a wife?"

"If you want it, I'll bring it to you right away."

Wei Jinhai smiled obsequiously.

Jiang She was slightly taken aback.

Before he could speak, a group of cunning and shrewd merchants rushed forward upon hearing the commotion.

"Sir! Sir! I have a young daughter at home, sixteen years old, beautiful as a flower, skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and she greatly admires a sage like you!"

A middle-aged merchant dressed in a silk robe spoke first.

Before he could finish speaking, a short, stout businessman squeezed in from the side and hurriedly said:

"Manager Li, your daughter is frail and sickly; how could she be a match for you, sir? Look at my household, sir! I have a pair of twin lotus blossoms, both in their late twenties, charming and lovely, and exceptionally skilled in singing and dancing! If you like them... hehe! Two sisters sharing one husband—that would be a beautiful story!"

Seeing that the men were bowing and scraping, as if they had been favored by the immortal, the other merchants could no longer restrain themselves.

They are all shrewd people who live by the pursuit of profit.

Having just seen the man in the blue robe bow and invite the mountain god, and having also seen the Prince of Xiang treat him with great courtesy, Jiang She's status had already been elevated to the highest heavens in his heart.

At this moment, Wei Jinhai and the others seized the initiative.

Why should anyone fall behind?

Then, with a whoosh, the merchants, like sharks smelling blood, rushed forward, surrounding Jiang She and chattering amongst themselves.

In an instant, cries of offering up daughters rose and fell.

"Sir! Sir! Look at my little girl!"

"Sir, my daughter is willing to become a concubine."

"..."

On the viewing platform, a group of officials and gentry, seeing this scene, also wanted to curry favor with the man in the blue robe.

Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants—their social status ranked from highest to lowest.

These merchants' daughters, though beautiful, were ultimately of merchant origin and not worthy of being considered respectable.

In terms of upbringing and talent, how can she compare to the daughter of an official?

Thinking this to themselves, the members of the gentry were full of confidence and were about to speak when Jiang She waved his hand and shook his head, saying:

"Please don't force me, I already have someone I like."

"Oh?"

Everyone was stunned upon hearing this.

They were just following the trend, not wanting to watch the benefits right in front of them slip away, not realizing that this immortal really did have a wife.

Do immortals also eat the five grains and enjoy the pleasures of men and women?

They pondered this, unaware that it was merely a hastily fabricated excuse by Jiang She.

But Xu Qingyue listened to her.

Her almond-shaped eyes were fixed on the man in blue on the viewing platform. She was about to speak when the image of Jiang She in her eyes gradually overlapped with that of the "messenger of the mountain god" she had last seen before she fainted in the dilapidated house.

Xu Qingyue suddenly realized.

yes......

Why didn't I realize it sooner?

Her heart was pounding with anxiety, and an image of a creaking oxcart and a dusty mountain road flashed before her eyes.

"Jiang She, where are the bandits?"

"He's dead."

"How did you die?"

"They died from internal strife."

Memories flooded my mind.

Each time they encountered danger, the bandits would conveniently escape due to infighting.

Although she had doubts at the time, she was still shaken by the experience of surviving the ordeal and did not investigate further.

Just consider it a coincidence.

I took it as a fluke.

But now that I think about it...

How could there be so many coincidences in this world?

We traveled together for eight thousand miles, through deep mountains and old forests.

During those days with just the two of them, the car, and the horse, it turned out that Jiang She had been protecting him all along.

But I...

But I get jealous and throw tantrums at him.

Xu Qingyue, oh Xu Qingyue.

You are really not a good woman.

As Xu Qingyue thought this, her eyes were filled with deep self-reproach. She looked at the figure in the blue robe on the viewing platform, watched him being surrounded by a group of merchants offering their daughters to propose marriage, and heard him say that he "already has someone he loves." Her heart was filled with mixed feelings.

My ideal person...

who can that be?

Is she an innocent and carefree girl like Zhao Qiaoling? Or is she a woman with big, wavy hips like Xu Rong who knows how to please men?

Whoever she is, she is lucky.

Xu Qingyue dared not think about it any further.

She felt her cheeks burning and her eyes welling up with tears.

Just as they were making their plans, a bold merchant at the head of the table asked, "May I ask, sir, who is the woman you are interested in?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Qingyue also craned her neck to look over.

But Jiang She smiled:

"She's at the Xu family's house."

"Is she a girl from the Xu family?"

"My lord, you should not ask any more questions."

"Alas! Sir, please forgive me! Please forgive me!"

Seeing that the smile had vanished from Jiang She's face, no one dared to ask any more questions and fell silent.

Xu Qingyue noticed Jiang She's gaze directed at her.

Alas!

He's looking at me.

What does he mean?

Is he implying something?

Is it implying that I am that woman?

Xu Qingyue's heart was pounding, and her face flushed red. She tilted her head, not daring to look at the man again.

But Jiang She walked over.

"Tap tap tap—"

Xu Qingyue heard footsteps approaching from afar.

Immediately afterwards, a familiar voice rang in my ears.

"Miss."

"Um!"

Xu Qingyue turned around in a panic, forgetting to fix her hair which was draped over her chest, and her eyes glanced at the man before moving downwards.

"W-what is it?"

She stammered out a sentence.

Jiang She didn't care, and simply said:

"Let's go home, Miss."

go home?!

Hearing those words, Xu Qingyue blushed even more. She lowered her head shyly, folding her hands like a submissive wife to her husband, and nodded, saying softly:

"Um."

...

...

Meanwhile, on the other side, on the viewing platform.

Unlike the eagerness and enthusiasm of everyone trying to curry favor with Jiang She, Zhao Jiaren was all alone, with no one in sight.

He stood there all alone.

Standing on the edge of the viewing platform.

The merchants and officials who had been surrounding him just moments before now kept their distance, as if he were covered in some unclean filth, and they avoided him at all costs.

Even his colleagues, who called him brother, lowered their heads and turned away, pretending not to see him.

Zhao Jiaren was like a transparent person.

The huge viewing platform was bustling with noise.

But no one spoke to him anymore, and no one paid him any attention whatsoever.

Zhao Jiaren's lips trembled, still reeling from the shock of being only twenty-one years old and barely twenty-one.

His face was deathly pale, and his gaze swept blankly around him, over the figures with their backs to him, over the dark crowd below the stage, and the sounds from just moments before seemed to still echo in his ears.

The people gasped in astonishment.

The mountain god's calculations.

King Xiang's contempt.

And then there was that final line, which exploded like a thunderclap: "You are twenty years old, and your lifespan is twenty-one..."

"thump!"

Zhao Jiaren fell to the ground with a thud.

He was proceeding step by step, all for the purpose of using this highly anticipated religious ceremony to solidify the connection between the Zhao family and the "mountain god's messenger," suppress the Xu family, gather prestige, and even plot for immense wealth and power.

But now...

The messenger he painstakingly created was a fake.

He, Zhao Jiaren...

It has become a huge joke.

"hehe...."

Zhao Jiaren let out a few dry, bitter laughs.

He knew that his Zhao family... was about to be finished.

...

...

There are no secrets that stay hidden forever.

The story of Jiang She casually raising his hand in a salute and summoning the mountain god spread like wildfire, becoming known throughout the capital in no time.

In no time at all.

Seven or eight carriages were already parked in front of the Xu family's gate.

Outside the gate, a large crowd gathered, all prominent families and wealthy households from the capital. Their servants carried lavish gifts, their faces adorned with either enthusiastic or obsequious smiles.

The purposes are largely the same.

All of this was to curry favor with that young man surnamed "Jiang".

The old gatekeeper had never seen anything like this before. The usually majestic and solemn vermilion gate was now almost trampled to pieces by the surging crowd.

The old doorman was so frightened that he panicked.

While dealing with the endless stream of visitors at the entrance, he hurriedly sent someone to inform the inner courtyard.

Meanwhile...

Inside the dark government office and the Mingfeng Tower, all was quiet.

The rooftop window was half-open, and the afternoon sunlight slanted in, illuminating a large rosewood desk in the center.

On the table were the Four Treasures of the Study; in the center were paintings of beautiful women.

now.

A tall woman in a python robe stood behind a desk, her eyes lowered, quietly looking at the paintings of court ladies.

These paintings of ladies are meticulously detailed and lifelike. The women in the paintings are all stunningly beautiful, some with cloud-like hair and flower-like faces, some with pure and refined beauty, and some with charming and alluring charm, each with their own unique posture and style.

Compared to the woman in the python robe, she was insignificant.

The woman was tall and slender with long legs. Standing there, she resembled a bamboo stalk carved from jade, upright and elegant. Her neck was as white as a swan's, her skin as smooth as cream, and her face as beautiful as jade.

He had a high nose bridge, light-colored lips, and a clean, defined jawline. His chest was heavily wrapped in a python robe, which made the two four-clawed dragons embroidered in gold thread on his chest look round and bulging, making the patterns look dull, like two chubby-headed baby dragons.

Her body proportions are even more impressive, with a nine-head figure.

You could say that everything below her chest is legs.

She has a supermodel-like figure!

The woman wore no crown, but used an ebony hairpin to loosely tie her long black hair behind her head, with a few stray strands falling in front of her forehead, making her face even more stunningly beautiful.

Her skin was exceptionally fine, surpassing even the most beautiful jade; it was fair, soft, and delicate, as if it could be broken with a touch. Her eyebrows were like distant mountains, naturally dark without any makeup, and her eyes were like cold stars, exuding a heroic spirit that rivaled any man.

She is Prince Jing.

Name: Nangong Muxue.

She is the current emperor's biological younger sister.

She was also the only woman in the entire Great Qian Dynasty to be granted the title of Prince and wield great power in the Black Court.

But this legendary figure was only twenty years old.

"Your Highness."

A ghostly figure suddenly appeared behind the woman, speaking in a low voice, making it impossible to tell whether it was male or female.

This man, known as Ghost Elder, is the woman's personal bodyguard and one of the six top constables in the Black Court.

Nangong Muxue was already used to the old ghost's elusive nature. Seeing him emerge from her shadow, she said nothing, only looking at the scroll on the table and asking:

"Old man, is that all?"

"Your Highness, all the beautiful women of marriageable age who are of good character and have a clean background in the Great Qian Dynasty are here."

Upon hearing this, Nangong Muxue nodded slightly.

She frowned and said:

"Send these scrolls to the palace. Although my elder brother dislikes matters between men and women, since he ascended the throne, the imperial aura in the court has been gradually weakening. I am selecting concubines for my brother to ensure the continuation of the imperial lineage and to quell any disputes in the court."

"Yes."

The old man nodded, but did not leave.

The woman glanced at him: "Is there anything else?"

The old man bowed slightly and said, "Your Highness, a celestial being has appeared in the town today."

"An immortal?"

"A Qi Refining Immortal?"

"I don't know that, I only know that I can summon the gods."

"Alas!"

Nangong Muxue frowned and said, "Send someone to investigate. If, like before, they are just people seeking fame and fortune, then ask for the Imperial Preceptor's edict and kill them."