Lin Jin’s private students arrived once dawn broke.
Due to the startling magnitude of the commotion last night, the students of the academy had come to know about it as well. Li Xinqi and the others heard too but they were clueless about the specifics. They only learned that Lin Jin was attacked so the first thing they did was to ask about his well-being. Lin Jin behaved as he usually did but he scrutinized them all discreetly.
Throughout the entire morning, Lin Jin failed to notice any clues.
Either this spy had incredible acting skills, or his students were innocent. Anyway, he didn’t gain anything from their interaction.
Of course, having no gains was good in a sense. Lin Jin didn’t wish to see the problem arise from one of his students.
In the afternoon, Feng Ziqian showed up unannounced, much to Lin Jin’s surprise.
Feng Ziqian had entered the academy on the premise of visiting a lecturer. Naturally, Lin Jin knew Feng Ziqian was here to visit him.
Lin Jin had announced to the public that he was unwell and wouldn’t leave his residence unless there was an emergency. God knows what excuse Feng Ziqian gave to come in, but when he knocked on the door, Lin Jin immediately recognized him.
However, Lin Jin had to pretend they were strangers.
After all, only ‘Curator’ recognized Feng Ziqian, not Lin Jin.
“Are you Lin Jin, Appraiser Lin?” Dressed in extravagant clothing, Feng Ziqian behaved quite respectfully. Standing about a hundred feet away from him were many of his guards.
Needless to say, it was Feng Ziqian who instructed them to maintain a distance.
He was quite the considerate fellow.
Lin Jin studied his appearance before answering with a smile, “Yes, I am. And you are…”
“A friend. A friend!” Feng Ziqian chuckled. Then, he whispered, “I’m a visitor of the Visitation Hall, Curator’s faction. Let’s talk inside, inside.”
The way he behaved reminded Lin Jin of an espionage agent.
Lin Jin nodded before he cast a glance at the guards behind Feng Ziqian. The latter vouched, “Don’t worry, Appraiser Lin. I’ve already instructed them to stay one hundred feet away from here and to take no step closer.”
After entering the yard and closing the gates, Feng Ziqian studied his surroundings. “Appraiser Lin, this residence is quite nice. It’s not exactly big but it’s elegant enough. I really like it here. I should visit more often.”
Then, he leaned closer to ask, “Appraiser Lin, is Curator around?”
Lin Jin understood Feng Ziqian’s intention but he waved his hand dismissively. “No one knows Curator’s whereabouts, including me. Also, you have to speak softer, I’m afraid…”
Before Lin Jin could finish, Shu Xiaolou’s voice rang, “What are you afraid of?”
Fine, he won’t say it.
Lin Jin knew he couldn’t possibly hide from Shu Xiaolou’s ears. The academy even had a six-eye six-ear beast who could overhear everything, but Lin Jin had a feeling that Shu Xiaolou’s ears were much more superior.
She startled Feng Ziqian too. But after noticing she was a young lady in red with incomparable looks, a thought immediately came to Feng Ziqian’s mind and he flashed a knowing smile.
“Greetings, Mrs. Lin, my name is Feng Ziqian!”
Now it was Shu Xiaolou gaping instead. She probably never met anyone like Feng Ziqian after living in the academy for five hundred years. Didn’t he know that lecturers weren’t allowed to bring their family members into the school compound, much less live here?
Feng Ziqian honestly didn’t consider that much. He only assumed that Lin Jin was hiding his young wife in his elegant home. Although Mrs. Lin was a divine beauty and drop-dead gorgeous, Feng Ziqian didn’t have the mental capacity to think about women at the moment.
His current position in the imperial court was extremely unfavorable. Competition for the throne may seem peaceful on the surface, but it had reached a brutal stage now. Feng Ziqian was being driven into a corner, so he had to come and seek Lin Jin’s assistance. Although the Visitation Hall would open tonight, he couldn’t afford to wait until then. He needed help right this very moment.
In such a state of urgency, it made sense that Feng Ziqian had not the time to drool over women no matter how beautiful they were. He simply wasn’t in the mood to do so.
“Appraiser Lin, since Curator isn’t here, I can only turn to you for help.” Feng Ziqian already expected it. His gut instinct had already told him that Curator wasn’t likely going to be here, so he had come mainly to see Lin Jin.
“Yesterday, a foreign diplomat from East Continent’s Thousand Island Country arrived at our capital, seeking peace with our Heavenly Spiral Kingdom through marriage. They even brought a girl, saying she’s the princess of Thousand Island Country,” Feng Ziqian started explaining. Up until here, Lin Jin shook his head. “Why are you asking for me then?”
That’s right, this wasn’t even remotely related to Lin Jin.
“Appraiser Lin, please allow me to finish.” With an anxious expression, Feng Ziqian hastened the pace of his speech. After a while, Lin Jin finally knew what happened.
Thousand Island Country was a premium nation, boasting a status similar to Heavenly Spiral Kingdom’s. It may be slightly inferior in terms of scale, but no one looked down on them.
They were indeed here to request for an alliance through marriage and rumor had it that the emperors of both countries had agreed to it some ten years ago.
However, a potential groom had not been selected yet among the princes.
Something fishy was definitely going on because no one knew the intentions of Heavenly Spiral Kingdom’s emperor. Would this marriage be advantageous or unfavorable to the selected prince? No one knew.
It may be favorable because said prince would then be closely related to Thousand Island Country. With the support of a premium nation, his chances of winning the throne and ruling over Heavenly Spiral Kingdom would stand to increase
However, that wasn’t guaranteed. No one knew what Heavenly Spiral’s emperor thought of Thousand Island Country. What if they were sacrificed right after marriage? What if tensions were to flare up with Thousand Island Country later on? He’d definitely miss the opportunity of ascending the throne.
However, many of Feng Ziqian’s supporters tried analyzing the situation and figured the first possibility was more probable. In other words, he had to secure this marriage.
This might even be a trial by the emperor to see how his sons would solve the issue.
What’s more, Thousand Island Country had brought a few rare beasts with them to be paid as tributes. According to the emperor, he wouldn’t be attending the banquet that would be hosted tonight. His sons, the princes, would be in charge and a challenge would surely come that they had to appraise the rare beast brought in by Thousand Island Country.
Thus, Feng Ziqian needed a beast appraiser.
But here came the problem. Who should he bring?
Unlike Beast Appraisal Headquarters in other locations, even the Emperor of Heavenly Spiral Kingdom couldn’t command their own headquarters to do anything he liked. As for Heavenly Spiral Academy, they were considered an independent organization.
“Our Heavenly Spiral Kingdom can’t lose face in this banquet. Father only refuses to participate because he wants to test our network and abilities. I can hire a Rank 3 appraiser but not a Rank 4. Even Father may not be able to hire one. My eldest and second brother is definitely aiming to hire a Rank 4, and after thinking hard, I can only ask Appraiser Lin to help me.”
Feng Ziqian wore a pitiful expression. By the looks of it, he seemed to have no choice but to ask for Lin Jin’s help.
Lin Jin understood now.
However, it seemed rather unbelievable that the respected third prince of Heavenly Spiral Kingdom couldn’t even hire a Rank 4 beast appraiser. But on second thought, Rank 4 beast appraisers were indeed unique. In the whole of United Continent, there were only twenty over Rank 4 beast appraisers. Even if there were other veteran appraisers, some had gone into hiding and were near impossible to track down. A Rank 4 beast appraiser could easily overturn an emperor’s status in any intermediate country because they could help promote pet beasts up to Rank 5.
Hence, even the royal family of Heavenly Spiral had to be respectful toward a Rank 4 beast appraiser.
