Chapter Twelve: Qin Xueyuan

  "I'll take you all to court and sue Zou Weiqun!"

  At this sound, everyone was shocked and lost their color.

  Ding Yunyi's hand immediately pressed onto the hilt of the knife at his waist, and at this moment, there was only one thought in his mind:

  No matter who comes, kill them all! Then drag Hong Diao Yuan and everyone else down with him, making it impossible for them to not be on the same page as himself!

  Who would have thought that the person who was speaking had walked in, and Hong Diao Yuan and his brothers all let out a sigh of relief. Hong Diao Yuan's face even broke into a smile: "You shameless Qin Jieyuan, you bookworm who can't be beaten to death, today you've come to my place again to drink wine?"

  It seems that Qin Jieyuan is familiar with everyone, and the soldiers under Hong Tiaoyuan's command all smiled and greeted him.

  When he finally got a clear look at Qin Jieyu's face, Ding Yunyi was taken aback - it turned out to be the young fisherman who had given him directions in the daytime.

  Qin Jieyuan also had a smiling face, his gaze suddenly fell on Ding Yunyi's hand holding the knife handle, his complexion changed slightly, and then he returned to normal and cupped his hands: "Is this the new arrival Ding Xun? We met during the day, I am Qin Yun, courtesy name Xiaojin, alias Penghu Yuweng, nice to meet you, Inspector."

  "Good sir Qin." Ding Yunyi finally loosened his tight grip on the hilt of his sword and returned a courtesy.

  "Everyone sit down, everyone sit down." Qin Yun's arrival dissipated the awkward atmosphere that had just prevailed, and Hong Diaoyuan hastily said.

  "You eat first, you eat first, I'll just go pee." Qin Yun hastily walked towards a deserted area.

  Ding Yunyi, Xiao Yifeng and Bao Zonghua, the three newcomers, looked at each other in dismay. Hearing Hong Diaoyuan address him, this person was actually a Jieyuan, a Jieyuan being the first place winner of the imperial examination, how could he speak so crudely?

  Hong Tiao Yuan and his brothers didn't seem to mind, as if they were already used to Qin Yun's usual behavior. Hong Tiao Yuan smiled and introduced this person's background to Ding Yun Wei.

  This man is from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. His ancestors were also officials in the imperial court, but they offended the imperial court and were dismissed and returned to their hometown. Since then, each generation has been worse than the last. Until Qin Yun's generation, the Qin family saw a glimmer of hope.

  Qin Yun was intelligent and talented from a young age, passing the imperial examination at the age of ten. He successively passed the county, prefecture, and provincial examinations, and was considered a prodigy by the then Zhejiang Provincial Education Commissioner, the famous Confucian scholar Xu Zheng, who took him as his disciple.

  At the age of twelve, he obtained the qualification for the imperial examination with a first-class score in the county-level exam. At thirteen, he was ranked first in the provincial-level exam and was called "Jieyuan". After his father's death, he observed a three-year mourning period. At seventeen, he participated in the metropolitan exam and passed smoothly with the second-highest score, awaiting only the final imperial examination.

  The imperial examination was held on the 9th, 12th and 15th of February, and the palace examination was held on March 15. But just in these few days of waiting, Qin Xueyuan, who everyone looked up to, had an accident.

  He also didn't know how, and got along with a little girl in the capital. If this little girl were from an ordinary family, it would be considered a romantic affair between a talented scholar and a beauty. But this little girl was actually the concubine of Ning Yangchen, the chief examiner of the imperial examination, Ning Zongcai. After their illicit relationship was exposed, things became troublesome.

  Ning Yang, as a high-ranking official of the imperial court, couldn't swallow this tone. But he didn't dare to make things bigger, fearing losing face, so he casually found an excuse in Qin Yun's test paper, saying that it was slandering the imperial court and being a remnant of Wei Zhongxian's evil party, and immediately took him down for punishment.

  Just as Qin Yun's life was in danger, his mentor Xu Zheng happened to be in the capital and heard that his disciple was in trouble. He used all his might to communicate with the authorities, and finally managed to save Qin Yun's life. However, his official title was stripped away, and he would never be allowed to take the imperial examination again for the rest of his life.

  As a result, a talented and promising young man was forever ruined in his official career because of an affair.

  Qin Yun returned to Hangzhou, disheartened and disappointed. With no relatives at home and no land or property, he simply sold the only ancestral house left and traveled everywhere. Later, he arrived in Penghu, where his money was depleted, so he settled down there.

  Ding Yunyi listened and didn't expect Qin Yun to have such a past. He curiously asked, "How old is he this year?"

  "How big can it be? He's only nineteen after all." Hong Diao Yuan shook his head and said, "A good scholar like him is being wasted. Not even twenty years old yet, he spends every day fishing. Others can catch a dozen or two in a day, but he often doesn't catch a single one all day. Sometimes I couldn't bear to watch and would say something to him. Guess how he responds? He says 'I want to catch just one big fish.' Alas, this young man, what size of fish will satisfy him?"

  Ding Yunwei slightly smiled, fearing that Qin Yun's "big fish" might not be what Hong Tiaoyuan thought.

  Just then, Qin Yun swaggered back, and everyone hastily stopped talking. Qin Yun didn't stand on ceremony either, plopping himself down on the ground with a thud, reaching into the basin to grab some fish meat and stuffing it into his mouth, and then picking up someone else's bowl of wine and pouring it directly into his mouth, not showing any of the refinement of a scholar.

  Just as he was eating and drinking, his eyes suddenly fell on the knife at Ding Yunyi's waist, and he stopped abruptly: "Ding Patrol, would you mind letting me take a look at your knife?"

  Ding Yunyi didn't care and took off his knife to hand it over to Qin Yun.

  Qin Yun put down the wine and meat, took over the knife, only pulled out half of it, shining brightly, and others let out a cry of surprise. Qin Yun quickly sheathed the knife and returned it to Ding Yunwei with respect: "This knife must have been given to you by someone else."

  Ding Yun Yi nodded, Qin Yun shook his head repeatedly: "The person who sent you the knife didn't have good intentions."

  "Why?" asked Ding Yunyi curiously.

  "This sword is called 'Dragon's Tooth'." Qin Yun immediately said the name of the sword: "In the Classic of Mountains and Seas, it was said that in ancient times there were three great demon swords, Dragon's Tooth, Tiger Wing, and Dog God, all of which were destroyed by the Xuan Yuan Sword. Later, the fragments were forged into the three executioner swords, Dragon Subduing, Tiger Taming, and Dog Beheading, to turn evil into good. After that, Zheng Zhi Long crossed the East Sea to Fusang, but was defeated at the hands of a swordsman from the Hitotsu River School, so he returned to Fujian to search for famous masters, and forged a precious sword, which was named 'Dragon's Tooth'. He then returned to Fusang again, and greatly defeated the Mizusho Ryu River School. The one in Ding Xun Jian's hand is precisely the 'Dragon's Tooth'!"

  Ding Yunyi was surprised: "How did you know?"

  Qin Yun didn't answer, but instead said to himself: "This is a fierce knife. Once it sees blood, it will inevitably harm its master. After this knife drank the blood of Water Flowing River, its ferocity grew even greater. Zheng Zhi Long gave this knife to Li Dan, and Li Dan died; he gave it to Yan Si Qi, and Yan Si Qi perished. The person who gave you this knife probably didn't have good intentions!"

  Ding Yunyi smiled silently. This knife was exactly what Zheng Zhilong had given to himself, but Ding Yunyi would never believe in these supernatural stories.

  Ancient people were superstitious and often wove all sorts of myths from some coincidental events.

  For example, whether the three so-called magic knives "Dragon Tooth, Tiger Wing and Dog God" ever existed in the world is also highly doubtful.

  Ding Yunyi smiled and said, "I heard that during the Three Kingdoms period, Liu Bei had a horse called 'Red Hare', which would inevitably harm its master. I wonder if this sword is also like that? However, Liu Bei was not harmed by Red Hare, but instead established the great kingdom of Shu Han. I think these stories are probably unreliable."

  Qin Yun sighed and said: "That's not what you said, Inspector Ding!"

  (Seeking recommendations! New book will be updated with two chapters per day, after the old book is completed, it will be updated at a rate of three chapters per day. Brothers, throw over your recommended books!)