Master of Strange Dao

Song Chengyue truly couldn't even muster the energy to be angry.

When someone lashed out, Song Chengyue typically stood up and called out twice, "This official knows his crime, will surely investigate properly, and provide results within three days."

That was the end of it.

After the short morning court session, he had barely walked far from the palace gates when he saw a Jade Chariot parked there.

Song Chengyue politely greeted the occupant, but did not enter the Jade Chariot, as he needed to avoid any suspicion of impropriety.

From within the Jade Chariot, an old man with white hair and beard stepped out, looking at Song Chengyue and giving a hand-clasped bow.

"Lord Song."

Song Chengyue stepped aside, refusing to accept the gesture, and instead returned a polite, half-bow gesture.

"I have seen the respected elder."

'Elder' wasn't a surname but a term of respect; this old gentleman was the Minister of Rites who had held his position for a time two to three times longer than Song Chengyue had been alive.

Truly a powerful figure of high virtue and respect, Song Chengyue didn't dare provoke him.

Upon seeing this respected elder, a thought instantly crossed Song Chengyue's mind, and he immediately said,

"Rest assured, Elder, I will not take offense against a fool, nor will I act too harshly."

The old man sighed, as many things no longer needed to be said.

"Lord Song, the clarity of your mind is indeed a blessing for the court affairs."

"The Elder flatters me too much; I merely seek to consider the bigger picture and to avoid unnecessary conflict."

The old man looked at Song Chengyue, his eyes filled with complexity, as if seeing him in a new light for the first time.

After a moment, Song Chengyue clasped hands and bowed in respect, watching the Jade Chariot depart before heading to the Jinyi Wei government office by himself.

Returning to his desk, Song Chengyue reviewed various documents and suddenly let out a cold chuckle.

He had said that there would be results within three days.

That meant within three days, that Imperial Censor Li would be dead.

Finding dirt on him might not be easy, but it definitely existed.

Finding dirt on his direct relatives was much easier; the more such so-called incorruptible officials and staunch courtiers, the easier their descendants were corrupted. Just by digging through the archives, there was sure to be something.

With a little implication, he would be doomed.

However, now that the Elder made a move, Song Chengyue delved deeper into hidden information and roughly understood.

Someone was after him.

That Imperial Censor Li was related to the Elder.

When Song Chengyue had him killed, it wouldn't even need the Elder to say anything; those below would come forward to oppose Song Chengyue first and with a slight push, it might turn into coercion of the Elder to target Song Chengyue.

Sitting in his position, regardless of whether he personally got angry or not, he had to react.

Therefore, no matter how this matter developed, regardless of the outcome, he would end up with grudges against many people.

Eventually, even the Elder couldn't possibly persuade his own people not to oppose Song Chengyue.

It was just unfortunate that the Elder, with his lucidity, waited for him outside the palace gates to offer him a way out.

Song Chengyue glanced towards the palace city and couldn't help but laugh.

"Goodness, I, Song Chengyue, known as the 'mad dog,' never dared to provoke that Elder and always acted with utmost respect, no matter the situation."

"You guys, truly audacious to the extreme, even daring to use the Elder."

You must be mad.

Besides those truly mad ones, Song Chengyue couldn't think of anyone else daring enough to do this.

He flipped through the records and gave a command.

"Go, take that son of Imperial Censor Li... never mind, I'll give the Elder some face. Take these documents and send them to Governor Yin; let him handle it as he sees fit."

To give the Elder some face would require a full gesture.

But to not retaliate at all didn't fit with his public image.

Better make a light tap, then. The Jinyi Wei won't get involved anymore; just let Prefecture Magistrate handle it like a normal case, which probably means hastily detaining him for a few months.

If it really went into the Jinyi Wei's prison, even after being released a few days later, a layer of skin would have been peeled off.

Forget it, better to handle it lightly and let it be.

After dealing with this matter, Song Chengyue entered the Seventh Floor ring.

Now, contacting Qi No. 7 presented him with a legitimate reason—it was for business.

Sharing intelligence wasn't considered betraying information, but rather a necessary act of goodwill and investment.

No. 7 had told him that Jinlan Mountain simply didn't care about the trivial matter of whether Dadui returned or not.

It was fine if he returned, and it was fine if he didn't. The condition was, vengeance must be sought first.

Moments later, Yu Ziqing walked down the stairs.

Song Chengyue immediately stood up and greeted him with a bow, expressing gratitude.

"Do you have any urgent matter?"

"There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Speak," Yu Ziqing said, somewhat curious.

"I would like to ask you to unseal some of Dadui's sealings."

"Hmm?" Yu Ziqing was slightly taken aback.

"In exchange, I will help you find the person you're looking for."

"Do you know who I'm after?"

"I don't know, but as long as this person exists, there will definitely be leads."

"Do you know about Cui Changping?"

"I do."

"He is the incarnation of someone."

Song Chengyue was shocked, his immediate reaction was that it was impossible.

The files on Cui Changping that he had handled came to mind, and he couldn't find a single flaw.

Following that, he heard Yu Ziqing say,

"And I'm a bit unhappy. I'm planning to let this news leak, to spread it throughout the world."

Song Chengyue felt the cold sweat about to break out.

Was this going to pierce the heavens?

Once this news got out, it would undoubtedly throw the world into chaos, and what's worse, they had no way to discern who was an incarnation.

After all, a Ninth Tier Strong, the Sect Master of the Infinite Sect, was just someone's incarnation.

Others would be even less able to clear themselves of such suspicion.

In the future, if you were said to have eaten two bowls of rice noodles, then you had; if not, you might as well split open your Divine Soul for everyone to see.