Chapter 280: The Royal Courts Logistical Officer, Li Qingyou! (2/2)

------

The morning sun appeared by the horizon, and innumerable golden rays fell through the cracks between the clouds, scattering across Great Tang's royal palace. Under the warm glow of the morning sun, the royal palace seemed like a divine land.

At that moment, a man dressed in a court uniform was currently treading alone between the golden court walls with a contemplative look on his face.

Even though there was no one around, his movements and gestures exuded compelling power. A two-finger wide purple token that was hanging by his waist further revealed the extraordinary identity of this man.

In the royal palace, anyone who carried a purple token by their waist possessed exceptional standing and privileges.

This was because the purple token wasn't issued by the royal court, but by the incumbent Sage Emperor himself.

”Soon, it'll be the time for the annual review. It'll only do if His Majesty is satisfied with the results this year!” Li Qingyou frowned worriedly.

He was a grade-3 military officer, but unlike the other officials in the royal court, he was exempted from attending the morning assembly and need not deal with the affairs of the military.

He was only in charge of supervising the Imperial Army in the royal court and reporting their activities to the Sage Emperor straight.

That majestic and beautiful token by his waist proved testimony to his identity. As the royal court's logistical officer, or more precisely, the emperor's logistical officer, Li Qingyou possessed great authority that was far above the other military logistical officers in the royal court.

At the very least, the wealth that Li Qingyou could move was far beyond the imagination of the others.

But this power didn't bring Li Qingyou the slightest bit of joy. If any, it brought him immense stress instead.

As the logistical officer of the Imperial Army, Li Qingyou had to satisfy the requests of the hundreds of thousands of Imperial soldiers. More importantly, he had to satisfy the Sage Emperor's demands.

But the quality of the weapons crafted in the workshops and by the various swordsmithing clans were simply unsatisfactory.

The weapons crafted in the workshops were lacking, whereas the number of top-notch swords that swordsmithing clans produced each year was simply too low. The inflow of weapons were barely able to meet the depletion each year.

With this kind of performance, it would be difficult for him to please the Sage Emperor.

As the logistical officer that reported straight to the emperor, there was nothing exceptional about his performance that could leave him with the Sage Emperor with a good impression of him.

Sigh. If this goes on, it'll be hard for me to keep my job, Li Qingyou thought worriedly.

”HAHAHA...”

Just as he was vexed by the dilemma before him, he suddenly heard a hearty laughter within the walls, followed by an intense fight.

Under the strong promotion of martial arts in the royal court, it wasn't rare to see members of the Imperial Army dueling against one another. Passing by this area everyday, Li Qingyou was accustomed to such sounds.

However, something seemed to be different today.

Usually, such duels would last for a fair amount of time, but it ended exceptionally quick today. Not only so, the sound from the duel sounded a little odd too.

There was a peculiar sound that was produced from the clash of weapons, something that Li Qingyou had never heard from other weapons before.

Instinctively, Li Qingyou paused in his footsteps.

”Once more!”

Just as he was perplexed by the situation, an indignant voice sounded from within the walls.

”Hahaha, sure! Even if you were to come at me a hundred times, nothing will change!” a hearty voice replied.

Following which, the clashing of weapons sounded once more. For some reason, Li Qingyou didn't leave. Instead, he continued listening from outside.

Somehow, he found himself getting interested in the duel.

Klang!

This time, the duel ended faster than the previous time. Klang! The sound of a weapon shattering reverberated, and due to the excessive force in the motion, the tip of the saber flew across the wall and stabbed into the sturdy red tiles at a distance not too far from Li Qingyou.

”This is...”

Upon seeing the saber tip, Li Qingyou's sharp eyes immediately recognized the origin of the sword, and his heart skipped a beat.

”Isn't this the top-notch saber forged by the Lu Clan?”

Li Qingyou stepped forward, squatted down, and carefully pulled the sword tip out with his fingers.

There was no mistake about it, this was a top-notch saber forged by the Lu Clan!

The Lu Clan's sabers were always inscribed with a floral pattern, so it was impossible for him to be mistaken. As the logistical officer of the royal court, he came into contact with such things on a daily basis, so he was extremely familiar with them.

The Lu Clan was a rising swordsmithing clan. They might be the youngest, but perhaps in their efforts to consolidate their standing, their swords had the best appearance, design, and quality.

And due to the higher production rate of the Lu Clan, most of the Imperial Army members used the weapons produced by them.

It was unexpected to see a top-notch saber from the Lu Clan being cut into two, but what furthered Li Qingyou's shock was that the severed portion was actually as smooth as a mirror.

”What kind of weapon can possibly be so sharp?”

Li Qingyou could hardly hide the astonishment in his eyes. Even though the sabers of the Lu Clan weren't the best in the capital, they definitely ranked at the top. Cutting one in two was no easy feat.

On top of that, considering how smooth the severed portion was, the sword that was used to cut it must be unimaginably sharp.

But in his years supervising the military equipment of the Imperial Army, he had never seen a weapon capable of this feat before.

So the battle was forced to a conclusion due to the other party's weapon being severed, Li Qingyou suddenly realized. However, this only served to deepen Li Qingyou's curiosity of the weapon which had severed the Lu Clan's saber.

”Hahaha, good sword. This is indeed a good sword! Zhou Lie, do you want to go another round?” A hearty laughter sounded within the walls.

”Forget it! Huang Shang, what is there to be proud of? All you did was to purchase a Wootz steel weapon. If you are really that capable, why don't you spar with me empty-handed?” the Imperial Army soldier who lost grumbled angrily.

Beyond the walls, Li Qingyou heard those words and his heart suddenly pounded furiously.

Wootz steel! That was the legendary Wootz steel sword!