I Became the Devil Queen's Heart Demon

Chapter 538 - 210 Ji Lianxing: I want to personally watch you dual cultivate!

Melody Avenue.

At this time, it was noon, and there weren’t many guests at the Imperial Music Bureau, most were here to drink and listen to music.

The Cloudwater Hall, inside the main hall, musicians lightly strummed the strings, the sounds of silk and bamboo were melodious, a group of sect disciples clad in martial robes were drinking and talking.

Liu Qiansong held a wine cup, looking helpless, he said, "This Central State truly lives up to its name under the Emperor’s feet, it’s somewhat too peaceful. I’ve been stationed with people in the surrounding counties for days, and we haven’t caught even a petty thief... The Jianghu Talent List is about to be announced, and this time our ranking might be at the bottom."

After the court established the new subjects, they not only had to attend classes regularly at the Imperial College but also had to accumulate contribution points to improve their ranking.

However, with the Capital City’s wealth and peace, and any occasional lawbreakers quickly caught by the Six Gates within a day, the efficiency was astonishingly high.

This left them with no opportunities for "making meritorious deeds."

"Indeed, if this were our Donghua Region, there’d be plenty of ruffians and villains to catch, and our contribution points would have been maxed out long ago."

"I heard Chief Zi even went to the Golden Sun State to capture a suspect..."

"From the situation in Central State, the court seems not as corrupt as imagined, the laws are precise and prepared, the order strict... the chaos in other states and counties is mostly caused by communication breakdowns in governance."

The group was abuzz with discussion.

At that moment, Qin Yi cleared his throat and posed a soul-searching question: "So the question is, why is there a breakdown in governance?"

"..."

With these words, the scene suddenly fell a bit quieter.

Why is there a breakdown?

Isn’t it because of the sects!

The Eight Great Sects rely on their martial prowess, occupying entire states, expanding their power recklessly, holding more sway locally than the government, calling them local emperors wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

As for any policies from the court, as long as they are unfavorable to the sects, they face countless obstructions.

Local officials, no matter how honest or competent, cannot operate without the cooperation of the sects... over time, who would want to engage in such thankless tasks?

It’s better to go along and muddle through until retirement.

"Moreover, sect disciples only focus on their training, not participating in labor, almost all of them are in a non-productive state... A sect not only needs to feed thousands or even tens of thousands of disciples but also provide a vast amount of cultivation resources."

Qin Yi toyed with a wine cup in his hands and asked, "Have you ever thought about where this silver actually comes from?"

The resources consumed by martial artists are immense, to supplement qi-blood and strengthen muscles and bones, they often need to eat the blood and flesh of alien beasts. Just the monthly meals for a Fifth Grade Martial Artist cost five taels of silver, enough to cover several months of a regular family’s expenses!

And that’s not counting various spiritual marrows and alchemy pills, after all, the saying that the rich train in martial arts, the poor in literature, is no joke.

But this silver can’t just fall from the sky, right?

"Sects are recklessly mining spirit veins and controlling mundane industries, yet they don’t pay taxes to the court."

"And locally, in order to report satisfactorily to superiors, sufficient taxes must be collected, so they can only continually squeeze the common people."

"We are on one hand condemning the court’s excessive taxes and neglect for the people’s livelihood, yet we overlook where these excessive taxes originate from..."

At this point, Qin Yi paused for a moment, sighed, and said, "In a way, we are indeed bleeding the common people."

The group was momentarily speechless, with some showing embarrassed expressions.

"To think we consider ourselves righteous heroes, such a thought is truly embarrassing."

Liu Qiansong sized up Qin Yi and said, "Brother Qin, when did your ideological awareness become so high?"

Qin Yi said, "Back then, Mr. Chen said, ’The greater chivalry is for the country and the people,’ which was truly profound and made me ponder for a long time before I understood the deeper meaning behind the words."

"Jianghu and the temple have never been independent, and sects also have responsibilities to bear; true ’chivalry’ is not about gratifying personal vendettas but is about the world being for the public."

"Brother Qin has a point."

"The realm of Mr. Chen is truly hard for us to reach."

"If one could enter the top three of the Talent List and receive Mr. Chen’s guidance, it would be worthwhile for the trip."

"Unfortunately, with many more monks than rice, there aren’t enough cases to handle..."

"I really want to improve so badly!"

Seeing that everyone was starting to chat again, Qin Yi did not join in and simply sipped his drink.

He had reported the Linglan County case to the court, but there was still no official announcement... Moreover, it involved Her Majesty the Consort and the Daoist Venerable, speaking too much could lead to unnecessary trouble.

Also, ever since Chen Mo was taken away by the Daoist Venerable, it had been several days without any sign of him, causing some worry in his heart.

Could something unexpected have happened...

Cre-e-eak—

Just then, the door of the tavern pushed open, and a tall figure walked in.

Everyone turned to look, and the boisterous atmosphere suddenly quieted down.

"Mr. Chen?"

Chen Mo glanced around, noticing a few familiar faces, smiled, and nodded, "Everyone’s here, haven’t seen you all for a few days."

"Greetings, Mr. Chen."

The group came to their senses, quickly stood up and saluted.

Qin Yi hurriedly stood up to greet him, saying, "Brother Chen, you’re back? The... ahem, that person didn’t trouble you, did they?"

Chen Mo shook his head and said, "Nothing much, just a little friction is all."

To be precise, it was the Daoist Venerable rubbing his hands up and down...

But thankfully, the Daoist Venerable didn’t just take without giving; he was given two Divine Skills... Somehow, it felt like he was a courtesan accompanying a client, and a national level one at that...

Qin Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief and said in a low voice, "This period, I was filled with endless worries, if anything happened to Brother Chen, I could die a thousand deaths and not atone..."