Forced to become a pure and innocent female pharmacist in order to cultivate immortality.

Because everyone on the second floor was left behind, and at least most of them were not qualified to leave.

"Shut up and behave yourself. Whether you've caused trouble or not, you'll find out when you come back to the yamen with me," the general sneered.

However, this guy was a complete imposter. After scolding these low-ranking young men, he went to Wu Yingxiong and Song Qian with a grin on his face.

"Young masters, aren't you two going home yet?" he asked.

But both of them simultaneously snorted coldly.

"I'm here to have fun, why should I go back? You hurry up and take care of your business, then leave and don't disturb my enjoyment," Song Qian sneered.

The general was speechless. All he could say was that having a good father was comfortable; he didn't even have to abide by the local laws.

The officers and soldiers were still checking identities. Those with high status would be safe, while those with low status would be detained and taken back for punishment.

Those who remained were almost all powerful figures from other places. They dared not offend the local powerful figures, but they were not afraid of the powerful figures from other places because there was no superior-subordinate relationship between them, so offending them was no big deal.

The investigation quickly traced back to Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue. The two are currently being closely monitored by the officers and soldiers because they went too far, knocking down dozens of young masters. The extent of their injuries still needs to be assessed.

"Commander Sun, we can't let these two go. They injured so many sons of powerful and wealthy families. If we don't get an explanation, I'll be in big trouble." Manager Yunfang came up to the general and said in a low voice.

Many people around had their eyes fixed on Lin Aoxue and Ye Liuyun, because they knew how to control their strength; at most, they would only cause superficial injuries that could break bones, and they would never use such a heavy hand.

Moreover, the fact that they defeated dozens of people in one go shows that the two people in front of them must have very high martial arts skills.

---------------------------------

"Young masters, please show your identification tokens." The soldiers saw that the two men were unfamiliar faces, so they knew they were not local nobles. Therefore, their attitude was not very friendly.

Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue fell into deep thought.

"Aoxue, with our identities, it's fine to use this in front of a few people, but there are so many powerful and wealthy young people here. If we use it, won't it cause trouble?" Ye Liuyun asked worriedly.

But Lin Aoxue answered.

"Besides this, do we have any other forms of identification? First of all, we certainly can't use the Cloud Sect's identity token, and it seems that this is the only identity token we have in the mortal world. Can you conjure up other ones out of thin air?" Lin Aoxue asked rhetorically.

Ye Liuyun was conflicted, but just as he was about to come up with a solution, Lin Qingyou reminded him.

"Kid, don't use any spells or methods here. There's a very powerful cultivator's aura covering the entire Jianglin City. It should be some kind of detection array. And I'm still in Jianglin City, and I can sense the aura of a cultivator in the Transformation Realm."

Lin Qingyou's words made Ye Liuyun's heart tighten. So it's not easy to play tricks here. No wonder the cultivators in Jianglin City are so well-behaved. It turns out that there are cultivators under the control of the imperial court in secret.

"Aoxue, Master said that there are powerful cultivators guarding Jianglin City. Did you know that?" Ye Liuyun transmitted his voice.

Lin Aoxue immediately responded with a sentence.

“That’s normal. My master also told me not to use my cultivation power to hurt people in Jianglin City. There are powerful people watching over us. If we use our cultivation power to hurt people, the imperial court will immediately come to deal with us.”

After hearing this, Ye Liuyun was at a loss.

“In that case, we’ll just have to use this identity token again, since we’re not using our real appearance anyway,” Ye Liuyun nodded and said.

The two seemed to have been communicating with each other for a long time, but in reality it was only a matter of a moment.

"My lord over there, may I speak with you in private?" Ye Liuyun called out.

Commander Sun was stunned, then walked over with a puzzled look on his face.

"What brings you two gentlemen here? I have official duties to attend to. If it's nothing important, please don't make things difficult for me," Commander Sun said with an upright expression.

Ye Liuyun was about to roll her eyes. She gestured to Lin Aoxue, who immediately reached out from her sleeve and showed the royal identity token to Commander Sun.

Upon seeing the exquisite token, Commander Sun's expression instantly changed, and he shuddered, his legs almost giving way—or rather, he was about to kneel down.

"Calm down, we don't want to cause trouble, you know what I mean," Lin Aoxue coldly reminded her.

Commander Sun was covered in cold sweat. Those who possessed such tokens were at least the offspring of hereditary princes, or princes and princesses of the royal family.

This is not something that ordinary members of the royal family can possess.

The fact that a member of the royal family has come to Jiangzhou Prefecture without any prior notice is quite alarming.

"Eh? This humble servant understands. Please make yourselves at home." Commander Sun nodded, then angrily rebuked the surrounding officers and soldiers.

"You lot, put down your weapons! Who gave you permission to point at these two young masters? And you, fighting in a key area under government control, is a provocation against the imperial authority! None of you are allowed to leave. Come back to the yamen with me!" Commander Sun had initially intended to let them off the hook, but suddenly he changed his mind.

Those young masters who were already safe were stunned again. They didn't know what had gotten into Commander Sun and why he had suddenly changed his attitude.

"Take them all away," Commander Sun ordered.

As soon as he gave the order, the officers and soldiers surrounded the crowd again, including Wu Yingxiong and others.

"Hey? Sun Gan, are you out of your mind? You want to arrest me? Do you not want to be the guard of the Hall of Beauties anymore?" Song Qian shouted angrily.

However, this guy named Sun Gan no longer cared about his official position, because there was a member of the royal family here, and if he dared to engage in favoritism and corruption, it would probably be more than just losing his job.

He would rather offend these powerful and influential children and lose his official position than offend the imperial family. Of course, all of this was just his own opinion.

"Shut up and take me away," Sun Gan sneered.

Driven away by the soldiers, all the people on the second floor were taken away at once.

"Hey? Why didn't you take those two with you? Sun Gan, you're finished." Wu Yingxiong looked at Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue, who were standing there unattended, and angrily scolded them in disbelief.

But Sun Gan didn't want to listen to Wu Yingxiong's nonsense.

"This? Commander Sun, you can't do this!" Yunfang's expression also changed, because doing this would offend too many people.

However, Sun Gan still ignored them, and soon only the guards, the bewildered girls, and Ye Liuyun remained on the second floor.

They could tell that Sun Gan's sudden change of expression was only after he had confirmed the identities of the two men in front of him. This indicated that the two men were very powerful, so powerful that Sun Gan had to enforce the law impartially.

"Huh? Aoxue, did this guy not understand what we meant? This? Weren't we telling him not to reveal our identities?" Ye Liuyun looked at the empty second floor, completely bewildered.

"Sigh! I guess they're scared. After all, this is a royal decree. The royal family is the master of this country. If they abuse their power in front of the royal family, it's tantamount to telling the court, since the royal family can speak directly with the emperor," Lin Aoxue said.

Ye Liuyun thought about it and agreed. Sun Gan's change of attitude was also because he was afraid of being held accountable by the imperial court. If the imperial court directly held him accountable, it would not be as simple as just being dismissed from office.

They were not these young noblemen; they were all real officials appointed by the imperial court.

"Well, ladies, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Since no one else is coming, then let's just leave it at that." Ye Liuyun said awkwardly to the bewildered women.

After saying that, they quickly walked towards the upper and lower entrances.

"Are we going straight back?" Ye Liuyun asked after arriving at the entrance.

But Lin Aoxue shook her head.

"It's only been a short time, why are we going back now?" Lin Aoxue said.

Ye Liuyun understood Lin Aoxue's meaning, so he went straight to the third floor. The guards on the third floor quickly made way for him and didn't even charge him.

"Hey? You two, is it free to go up to the third floor?" Ye Liuyun asked doubtfully.

These two men saw that all the young masters had been taken away, but these two were the only ones left behind. This meant that these two had powerful connections, so they dared not accept money.

"This...this..." The two didn't know how to start the conversation.

However, Lin Aoxue simply tossed six taels of silver into a box next to her and then went up to the third floor.

As for Sun Gan's side...

"Commander Sun, you can't just arrest everyone like this! Have you lost your mind?" Yunfang couldn't help but curse when she saw that Sun Gan wouldn't listen to her at all.

But Sun Gan had no time to argue with her about these things.

"Shut up! This matter is not what you think. Do you know who those two people are?" Sun Gan asked with a serious expression.

But Yunfang definitely wouldn't recognize her.

"A completely unfamiliar face. I've never seen him before. Could he be someone important?" Yunfang's heart skipped a beat.

"Big? It's beyond just being big. I can't tell you the truth, you can guess for yourself." Sun Gan led his men away from the Hall of Beauties.

These young masters are now famous, after all, it was too shameful for so many people to be suppressed by the soldiers.

Manager Yunfang stood there dumbfounded at the entrance of the Hall of Fragrances, pondering Sun Gan's words. Sun Gan's attitude had clearly changed drastically after recognizing the other party's identity.

The person who could make Sun Gan disregard the status of these powerful figures, and whose background was beyond description, was someone that Manager Yunfang was not an idiot; she quickly understood.

"This? No way? This is terrible!" Manager Yunfang quickly realized what was going on and rushed back to the Hall of Beauties.

She went up to the second floor and immediately asked the guards.

"Where are they? Where did those two young masters go?" Manager Yunfang asked anxiously.

The guard knew that the two must be important figures, so he pointed to the third floor.

Manager Yunfang hurriedly ran to the third floor. This was an important person. If she wasn't treated well, do you think she would be afraid?

Chapter 243 Poetry Battle (6000 words)

After arriving on the third floor, Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue's horizons broadened further.

What's it like on the third floor?

There was a strong scholarly atmosphere, and most importantly, there were many female guests on this floor.

Moreover, most of the cultivator aura they sensed earlier emanated from this layer.

"Hey? Aoxue, look, isn't that Li Jianxin? Oh no, it's Senior Sister Yunxin now." Ye Liuyun glanced around and quickly spotted Yunxin behind a screen. Yunxin was sitting with a group of young men and women, who seemed to be playing a game of composing poems based on given topics.

The third floor has several areas for poetry, painting, chess, and riddles, all of which are entertainments related to literati and scholars.

This place is much more harmonious than the first and second floors. Several areas are separated by semi-transparent screens, so although they are relatively close, they do not interfere with each other.

"And Song Shuwen and the others are all here, along with people from the other four lower-level sects." Lin Aoxue glanced around and found dozens of disciples from the four lower-level sects gathered here, both men and women.

“These guys seem to be enjoying themselves quite a bit, Aoxue. We can’t use those two identities anymore. Let’s change them. Look, there are quite a few women dressed as men among them. Let’s do that too,” Ye Liuyun suggested.

Lin Aoxue nodded. The two of them glanced around and found a secluded corner. When they came out again, they had returned to their original appearance, but they were still dressed as men.

However, judging from their appearance, even if they dressed as men, people would probably still be able to tell at a glance that they are women. After all, being too good-looking makes it unsuitable for them to dress as men.

Besides, they never intended to dress as men this time.

"You, are you so used to being a woman? Why don't you switch to a male identity instead of becoming a woman?" Lin Aoxue complained.

Ye Liuyun gave an awkward smile.

"Hehe, I have to admit, once a woman's image has been used for a long time, it seems that she doesn't have much desire for the male identity anymore," Ye Liuyun replied with a slight sigh.

Actually, she didn't lose her desire for male identity; she just resigned herself to her fate. So many years have passed, and she can't go back to being male. What else can she do?

Lin Aoxue sighed softly. She could understand Ye Liuyun; after all, human habits are a terrible thing.

"Let's go, where do you want to go?" Lin Aoxue didn't continue the discussion.

Ye Liuyun looked around and then pointed to the poetry section, because that was where the most people were.

The two walked toward the area where they wrote poems and lyrics; there were still guards at the entrance.

"Eh? Gentlemen, are you here to observe or to participate?" The guard at the entrance paused for a moment as he watched the two strolling in.

There's no way around it; although the two men dressed as men toned down their demeanor and looks, they were still quite eye-catching.

However, these people are probably used to women coming here, so they eventually ignore the fact that the other party is actually a woman and treat them as men.

"I don't know what the difference is," Ye Liuyun said with a slight smile.

The guard quickly explained.

"Young master, if you wish to watch other guests' poetry contests, you will need to pay 50 taels of silver to enter this place. If you wish to participate in the poetry contest, you will need to pay 100 taels of silver," the guard explained.

After hearing this, Ye Liuyun was taken aback again. This place was no longer something that ordinary middle-class guests could afford. One tael of silver was enough for a commoner to live on for a month.

That's normal, though. In this era, elegance was always the highest form of entertainment, but only the children of wealthy families could participate in it. Commoners were basically not qualified because education cost money, and commoners were lucky if they could even afford to eat. Paying to study was practically impossible.

"Oh, here's 200 taels." After hearing this, Lin Aoxue tossed two taels of gold to the guard. In this world, one tael of gold is equal to one hundred taels of silver, and one hundred copper coins are equal to one tael of silver.

The guard was stunned to see Lin Aoxue pay with gold, but he quickly and politely invited Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue inside.

There are nearly a thousand people here. The participants sit in the middle area, and the spectators sit around them. The poetry contest is where the host sets the questions, and the girls from the Qunfang Palace compete against the guests. So the seating arrangement is that the girls sit on the right, the guests sit on the left, and the host is in the middle.

Here sat more than a hundred beautiful and quiet girls, while opposite them sat nearly three hundred participants, and there were also several hundred onlookers.

This game is actually a gambling game. The dealer sets a question, and the guests and girls simultaneously write poems or lyrics on paper based on the question. Then they compete against each other. Both sides can choose who they want to challenge, and the guests place bets on which side will win.

Both sides can place bets on each other based on their own poems. If you feel your poem is not good enough, you can give up. If you feel confident, you can increase your bet. If the other side loses, all the money they bet goes to the winner.

The guard on the way had already explained the rules and also brought over a table and cushions, placing them on Blue Team's side.

When everyone saw that more guests had arrived, they all turned their gazes toward them. Upon seeing this, many people's eyes lit up. Among the women here, there might be some real women, but most of them were men who had been transformed.