Chapter 1 Xiao Qingyin Becomes a Hot Topic

The name Xiao Qingyin quickly became a hot topic in Danyang. Over the years, although Lei Yin had always stayed behind the scenes, only contacting the high-level priests of the Leiyin Demon Sect, most of the people he knew were either classmates who had received training from Ye Tao in Yunzhou or close companions who had been cultivated together since childhood in the Intelligence Bureau and the Inner Bureau. He didn't have many contacts, but with Lei Yin's wisdom and experience, standing in the foreground to attract attention wouldn't make him feel uneasy. The name Xiao Qingyin was chosen by himself. Now, Lei Yin, although always somewhat cynical, was still a man in his early thirties. He changed into a crab-green coarse cloth robe, grew a beard for a few days, and walked into Danyang with a weathered appearance. No one saw him leave Ye Manor either; he was still sent outside the city directly by airship. Although there were always people monitoring the movements of Ye Manor, Ye Tao's arrangement made it impossible to investigate.

After staying in a hostel for a day, Xiao Qingyin rented a house in the new urban area of Danyang. The house had a small courtyard with two early-ripening trees and a well, simple but full of life. After spending another day settling in, Xiao Qingyin, like an ordinary wandering scholar, registered at the Imperial Academy, accepted interviews for two teaching positions, and was allowed to hang around the Imperial Academy and audit some courses. However, Xiao Qingyin refused the Imperial Academy's grant, saying that he didn't lack money thanks to his skills. Xiao Qingyin's arrangement was not to appear normal, but to quickly integrate into Danyang's social circle. Holding the magical psychological test, the way it worked was similar to that of a character divination master, but he couldn't set up a fortune-telling stall on the street, as that would make it difficult to break into the higher-end social circle. However, relying on the complex and interesting circle of students, scholars, and low-level officials, he could quickly achieve his goal.

Before and after registering, although Xiao Qingyin knew the architectural regulations of the Imperial Academy, he still pulled a few students to ask questions, asked them to accompany him, and guide him. Although Xiao Qingyin's image seemed a bit weathered, his demeanor and conversation made people feel like they were bathed in a spring breeze, and they were willing to get along with him. When he walked out of the Imperial Academy, he was already able to pull two students to go to the restaurant opposite the Imperial Academy to drink and chat. That night, he caused a small sensation at a literary salon. That day, as everyone chatted, they talked about Dongping's restrictions on religion, and whether there were any advantages or disadvantages to Dongping's disrespect for ghosts and gods... As the one who formulated the propaganda plan for the Leiyin Demon Sect, after observing and practicing in Xiling for so many years, even Ye Tao and Cao Pojun probably couldn't explain it better than him. He娓娓道来 the various advantages and disadvantages of Dongping's restrictions on religious development, compared with Xiling's strategy of supporting religion and using religion to control the people. The theories in those statements were okay, but the many events and facts left everyone present speechless. What was even more surprising was that he proposed that people's belief in religion was a manifestation of their distrust and lack of understanding of themselves, saying that organized religion and the mixed and diverse folk beliefs were actually no different, they were just to make up for the various shortcomings in people's hearts, and according to the different things people believed in, what kind of person someone was would become apparent...

Relying on the strength of the alcohol, Xiao Qingyin really put on a show. He asked each of the students present to come up with five things they believed in, and asked them to honestly write down the gods, objects, etc. they worshiped. Then, he analyzed their personalities on the spot, what their daily lives were probably like, and the possible situations they might encounter in life, career, and study... Xiao Qingyin's accurate analysis made everyone dumbfounded, feeling as if their entire body and mind were completely exposed in front of Xiao Qingyin.

This was naturally not purely Xiao Qingyin's understanding and exposition of psychological test questions, but a high-level refinement of his experience and skills in psychological influence and psychological suggestion that he had been constantly developing. Although he was not an active religious evangelist on the front line, his basic research on human nature was more in-depth and thorough. After shocking these students, Xiao Qingyin told everyone in an extremely weathered tone: "I spent so many years understanding people and studying people... Finally, I have achieved something, but it's too late, too late!"

The infinitely emotional tone and the weathered and sorrowful expression made everyone believe that behind Xiao Qingyin's unrestrained appearance, there must be a touching story.

In a couple of days, Xiao Qingyin became the most talked-about topic among the students, and also became a popular candidate invited to many banquets, poetry gatherings, and wine parties. At first, everyone just regarded Xiao Qingyin as a guy who could add a little fun to gatherings and banquets, but when Xiao Qingyin made amazing moves every time, and was able to hit the nail on the head every time, allowing some people to be told something right about them after his few simple, usually seemingly unrelated, or even virtual scenario multiple-choice questions, everyone felt that perhaps this Xiao Qingyin was indeed a very talented guy.

In a few days, Xiao Qingyin seemed to be overwhelmed. On the ninth day of his "arrival" in Danyang, he was too lazy to attend any more banquets, and finally threw out the first psychological test questionnaire. On that large envelope, he noted that everyone should do the paper without knowing the answers, and then look at the answers themselves. Whether it was accurate or not, please ask yourself honestly...

This caused more of a sensation than him judging and analyzing someone in person. To say that analyzing a person in person, even without relying on those questions, without relying on everyone's choices, there are always some strong people who can judge a person's temperament and way of life by observing all kinds of details. Perhaps in this era, at least in the circle of students, there are no detectives or similar figures, but there is always some observation ability at a lower level. However, it was too amazing that a person could rely on the design of some questions to summarize and classify different types of people. Everyone began to really believe that Xiao Qingyin had indeed achieved something in this area.

Accurate or not? Although psychological tests have a tendency to be rampant in modern times, and many, many psychological tests are pure nonsense, it cannot be denied that there are still quite a few classic psychological tests that have been designed by psychologists, behavioral scientists, and increasingly powerful human resources experts, and have extremely high accuracy rates. The first set of analysis questions thrown out by Xiao Qingyin made the entire Danyang social circle lively for two days. After that, there were more and more opportunities to invite Xiao Qingyin.

At this time, Xiao Qingyin knew that he had stirred up a hornet's nest. He couldn't afford to offend the many dignitaries here in Danyang, and, to be honest, there was nothing wrong with eating and drinking everywhere. The small courtyard he had originally rented had been bought and given to him. This was a very big gift, and the meaning of wooing him was already very obvious. Xiao Qingyin participated in various banquets everywhere, while seizing the opportunity to throw out one psychological test after another, some were rigorous and solemn, some were light and humorous, each with different ingenuity, and under Xiao Qingyin's exquisite explanations, everyone generally felt that they were accurate, very accurate...

Princess Consort Wang Fangpin had always been a popular figure in Danyang's social circle, and was also the organizer or funder of many activities. Such a social celebrity who had newly emerged would naturally attract her attention. At first, Wang Fangpin only heard a little about Xiao Qingyin's reputation, and then, one copy after another of transcribed test questions were constantly sent to Wang Fangpin's desk. The things about personal preferences in those tests were okay, but the test questions about power desires, opportunities for success, personality defects, etc., constantly shocked Wang Fangpin's heart. It was precisely people like Wang Fangpin who had a guilty conscience who were most likely to overthink and consider these things, and then gradually be attracted and sink into them. And Wang Fangpin was precisely the kind of person who had time to think wildly. When Tan Weiran returned to the grasslands in the north, and Tan Weiming also temporarily left Danyang to run to the Grand Canal Governor's Office to implement some new political affairs, Wang Fangpin became idle again. And now, her and Tan Weiming's child was also temporarily living in Ye Manor. Although Wang Fangpin didn't have a good impression of the Ye family, Danyang's "kindergarten," whether in terms of facilities or the way of raising children, or the quality of the teachers employed, and the depth and breadth of education, were things she couldn't provide to her child. And in terms of raising children, although Wang Fangpin usually managed more, since Tan Weiming had made up his mind, then even if she had objections, it would be useless... This made her especially sad and depressed.

In those days of wild thinking, she only felt at the beginning that perhaps a character like Xiao Qingyin could be used by her. But when someone gave Xiao Qingyin that courtyard, she also endured not interfering with other people's wooing, also to see what Xiao Qingyin's temperament was like. Xiao Qingyin was very frank about the gifts, and also gave the other party feedback with his suggestions and other actions, definitely worth that small courtyard, but stubbornly maintained his independence and detachment. This made Wang Fangpin think highly of him again in her heart. Although she didn't know how much money Xiao Qingyin claimed to have, it was clear that his magnanimity in gift exchanges made it possible to take advantage of him, and his attitude also showed that he was a trustworthy, righteous, and principled person who knew how to repay favors.

Then, at a poetry gathering, under the provocation of some students who were very unhappy to see his fame rise, the poems that Xiao Qingyin recited moved Wang Fangpin's heart, and she finally decided to meet this talented man.

The two lines of poetry were like this: "Those who know me say I am worried, those who do not know me say what do I seek." At that time, when facing heavy provocations, Xiao Qingyin recited the entire poem freely, then drank a glass of wine, bowed to everyone present, and drifted away with a smile mixed with enlightenment, helplessness, indifference, self-deprecation, and banter...