Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

Tianqi Palace.

The old eunuch in purple robes bowed and waited quietly beside the bed.

The person on the bed had their eyes closed and was leaning against the headboard, seemingly resting.

About seven or eight meters from the bed, a young eunuch wearing a blue hat knelt on the ground, his face pressed against the ground, and spoke respectfully.

"Your Majesty, Zhuang Hanlin's student went out of the city with the merchant caravan today."

Only when the sweat dripped from the eunuch's forehead onto his clothes did the cold voice reach his ears through the bed curtains.

"To accomplish great things, those who take charge cannot have any worries about the future. If there's a way out, things won't be done well. Qi'an City is so big, surely it can't accommodate a scholar?"

As he was speaking, Jun Cheng'an coughed lightly, and the old eunuch waiting beside him quickly handed him warm tea.

After taking a sip of hot tea, Jun Cheng'an spoke slowly.

"I heard things are quite lively in the martial arts world lately, which has made Qi'an City quite bustling as well. Since we're already here, let's not let him leave."

It was a sentence that was clearly cryptic, yet the little eunuch completed the reading comprehension exercise in no time.

"We must kill Zhuang Sheng's students to completely extinguish any other thoughts Zhuang Sheng may have. But we can't let them do it themselves; they must die in the midst of a Jianghu conflict, caught in the crossfire of Jianghu strife, so that Zhuang Sheng will turn his attention to the troublemakers in the Jianghu."

He bowed again, his forehead hitting the ground heavily. "Your Majesty is wise. These people from the martial world are unruly and have caused trouble all the way to the capital, even harming Zhuang Hanlin's student! They should be thoroughly questioned and investigated to rectify the atmosphere of our Great Qi."

Jun Cheng'an seemed a little tired. He didn't give any other instructions, but just moved his body and lay down again.

"This servant takes his leave."

……

"Young Master He, please rest assured. Master Zhuang has already arranged the itinerary. Our Sihai Trading Company has business covering 102 major states. It is a top-notch trading company in the world, and there will absolutely be no problems."

At the headquarters of the Sihai Trading Company, on the fourth ring road of Qi'an City, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) responsible for escorting He Qingmu smoked his pipe, speaking in a calm and unhurried tone.

This was a dark-skinned middle-aged man, dressed in hemp clothing, who stood up to be at least seven feet tall.

Even now, leaning against the wall, he was still half a head taller than He Qingmu, who was just a teenager. The teenager had to look up to have a normal conversation with him.

The May weather already carried the heat unique to summer. Chief镖头 Chen Guang wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked down at He Qingmu, who was looking at him like a curious child.

"Is this Mr. He's first time traveling so far from home?"

Upon hearing the head镖师's question, He Qingmu temporarily stopped staring at the packhorse, with whom he had been staring at each other for a good quarter of an hour.

When someone spoke to him, he immediately stood up straight, scratched his head, and looked honest and simple.

"No, that's not it. I traveled a long way with you before coming to Qi'an City, but this is the first time I've ever traveled such a long distance with a caravan."

Chen Guang took a deep drag on his pipe. "Then you're going to have to suffer a bit this time, young man. It's a long way from Qi'an City to Qishan Road. Even if you take a boat south along the Tianqi Grand Canal, it will still take one or two months to get there, including the time it takes to resupply along the way..."

He Qingmu smiled and replied. He wasn't really used to communicating with people he didn't know well, but Zhuang Sheng had taught him that.

When dealing with people you'll be spending a lot of time with, be as polite as possible, build good relationships, smile more with others, and it's never a bad thing to get to know them better.

In the absence of a conflict of interest, most people prefer those who can communicate with them and say nice things to them, rather than those who are taciturn and eccentric.

"It's alright. I'm not some young master from a powerful family, so I can endure this hardship. By the way, I heard from other镖师 (bodyguards/escorts) that a new batch of镖师 will be deployed in Qingzhou?"

Chen Guang nodded. "That's right. In the past two years, several trade routes have been opened between Qingzhou and Qishan Road. Caravans will transport valuable treasures from Qingzhou City to Lingzhou. You can just follow them."

He Qingmu chimed in, "Chief镖头, you've been a merchant for many years and have a wealth of experience. This kid can't compare to you. I'll listen to you."

Everyone wanted to carry the sedan chair, and Chen Guang felt incredibly pleased after He Qingmu praised him.

Pleasant words can make people feel good, and being praised by someone important is even better.

This is a student of the Hanlin Academy. If you met an ordinary镖头 (bodyguard) like him on the street, people wouldn't even give him a second glance.

Overjoyed, Chen Guang became more talkative.

"Young Master He is truly amazing. He's about the same age as my daughter, yet he can travel far away on his own. He's truly admirable..."

"How many children does Chief Escort Chen have? Have they ever attended school? How well do they manage to make a living?"

"There are two children, an older sister and a younger brother. We've saved up half our family fortune for half our lives to send the younger one to school, hoping he can learn something and pass the imperial examination to become a scholar."

From now on, you won't have to brave the wind and rain like me, ending up covered in injuries, and you won't end up like my brother, dying on the road as a镖师 (bodyguard/escort), with not even a trace left behind.

Seeing Chen Guang say these words with a smile, He Qingmu wanted to say that this was also a kind of life, and it was already much better than many other people's.

In Daqi, many people still don't have enough to eat or wear, and struggle on the edge of life and death every day.

But just as the words were about to come out, he opened his mouth, then swallowed them back.

As the gentleman said, comparing hardships is not very meaningful. Even if we really have to compare, we should compare ourselves with those who are better, rather than blindly seeking what is worse.

The former will drive the times forward, while the latter will only keep breaking the bottom line.

If you compare yourself to the worst, your life will only get worse.

He Qingmu couldn't understand Zhuangzi's words, but that didn't stop him from believing that whatever Zhuangzi said must be true.

"What kind of official rank does Chief Escort Chen hope his son will achieve?"

Seeing that He Qingmu not only didn't mock him, but instead asked him quite seriously, Chen Guang smiled with wrinkles all over his face.

"Studying is good, but it would be even better if you could become a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the lowest level of the imperial examinations)!"

Brother He, to be honest, I know that studying is not easy, and it's not something you can succeed at just by thinking about it.

I'm like this myself, barely literate, so how smart can my child be?

Every time I see my little one holding a book and trying to read it, but his mind isn't on the book, scolding him or hitting him doesn't work, he just can't get through it.

"How could I not know that he's not cut out for this?"

He Qingmu was silent for a moment before asking, "Then why must you be so fixated on studying?"

Chen Guang took a deep drag on his pipe, the rising smoke swirling around his face and blurring He Qingmu's vision.

"Those of us in this line of work are all short-lived; we might suddenly die any day."

I don't care if I die, but what will happen to my wife at home?

What will happen to the two children? They still have to live on.

My eldest daughter has lost half of her leg. Besides her brother and me, who else can take care of her in the future?

I know it's not easy for the little one, but for the sake of this family and his sister, I have to push him.

I don't ask him to achieve great fame or become a high-ranking official; I only ask that he can study enough to support his family.

Of course, you can only say these things to Brother He, you definitely can't say them to the boy at home...