After the ferry docked, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu ended their journey by water and switched to land. After walking for two more days, they finally left Yongzhou and entered Shuzhou.
Not long after arriving in Shuzhou, the two met several Taoist priests from the Shuzhou Taoist Office. This group of Taoist priests was about to follow the path of Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu to the Yujing Ancestral Court. After they learned Zhang Yuelu's identity, they were very attentive.
polite.
This has nothing to do with Zhang Yuelu's rank and position, the key lies in the faction.
In the territory division of Taomen, Shuzhou is under the jurisdiction of Shuzhou Taoist Government. ??
In fact, each Taoist mansion has its own tendencies. In some Taoist mansions, Taiping Tao disciples account for an absolute majority, and the master of the mansion is a real Taiping Taoist, so it is called a Taiping Taoist mansion. In some Taoist mansions, Quanzhen Taoist disciples account for an absolute majority, and the master of the mansion is Quanzhen Taoist.
Zhen Dao Zhenren are called Quanzhen Taoist Houses. In some Taoist houses, the disciples of Zhengyi Dao account for an absolute majority, and the master of the palace is a real person of Zhengyi Dao, and is called Zhengyi Daofu.
As the saying goes, power comes from below rather than from above. Whether a palace master can hold great power does not depend on the empty title of a palace master, but on whether the people below him support it. If the people below are willing to obey and disobey, even if the ancestral court forcibly appoints a palace master
, will also be ignored. Therefore, the heads of these Taoist mansions must come from the corresponding factions.
For example, in the Qizhou Taoist Palace, 99% of the disciples are Taiping Dao disciples, and all the lords of the past dynasties are real people from Taiping Dao, and there has never been an exception.
However, there are exceptions. For example, in the Jiangnan Dao Mansion, Zhengyi Dao disciples account for half of the population, which is far superior to Quanzhen Dao and Zhengyi Dao. However, they do not occupy an absolute majority. Sometimes, for the sake of balance, the Grand Master will appoint a palace master who is not from Zhengyi Dao.
, to form checks and balances. There are also some Taoist houses, such as Zhongzhou Taoist House, Liaodong Taoist House, and Kunlun Taoist House. The power of the three major factions is relatively balanced and they take turns taking charge. These Taoist Houses are called swing Taoist Houses.
Shuzhou Taoist House is among the Quanzhen Taoist Houses. Since Xuan Sheng, all the lords of the palace have come from Quanzhen Taoism. The number of Quanzhen Taoist disciples in the Taoist House has reached more than 90%. The Earth Master’s Wanshou Chongyang Palace is located in
In Qinzhou adjacent to Shuzhou.
Although Zhang Yuelu was born in Zhengtai, she was personally promoted by the Earth Master, so in the eyes of Quanzhen Tao disciples, Zhang Yuelu is half one of them. The only one who doesn't like Zhang Yuelu at all is probably the Taiping Taoist, firstly because of Li Tianzhen's matter
, Secondly, because of the long-standing feud between the Zhang and Li families, Zhang Yuelu was very self-aware and did not go to Jiangbei where the foundation of Taiping Road was located.
Zhang Yuelu was not good at talking to others, while Qi Xuansu often walked in the rivers and lakes, but he was good at it and soon became familiar with several Taoist priests from Shuzhou Taoist Prefecture.
These Taoist priests from Shuzhou Taoist Prefecture accidentally told an interesting story.
Shuzhou
The Daofu is located in the interior, with Liangzhou Daofu in the north, Jingchu Daofu in the south, Kunlun Daofu in the west, and Qinzhou Daofu in the east. It is not close to the border in any direction. Naturally, there are no wars like those in the Western Region Daofu.
It has been peaceful for a long time. Even the demons in the secret society have not made any big moves for a long time, probably because they are too close to the Earth Master's palace. Therefore, this interesting incident has nothing to do with the demons in the secret society, but is related to a group of liars.
.
This group of swindlers are not local snakes in Shuzhou, but came from other places. After arriving at Jinguan Mansion, the capital of Shuzhou, they committed several cases. However, this group of swindlers are also very discerning and do not dare to provoke the Shuzhou Taoist Government.
The main task is to arrest various secret societies and demons, or to suppress people who rely on their own cultivation to run rampant and lawless. Things like this kind of cock-crowding and dog-robbery belong to the local Qingluan Guard Qianhu Station, so Shuzhou Daofu does not have to take care of it.
The meaning of idleness is just for conversation.
Logically speaking, the Qingluan Guards of Qianhu Station are both Eagle Claws and veterans of the Jianghu. They are very familiar with the ways of these rivers and lakes. It should not be difficult to solve the case. But what I didn't expect is that after so many days, there is no clue.
Instead, they let this group of swindlers do a few more things under their noses, which made them miserable and made the Taoist priests of Shuzhou Taoist Government laugh.
Recently, Si Yamen, the prosecutor's office and the Qingluan Guard Qianhu Office, which is commonly known as "Si Yamen", has been jointly handling the case, but there is still little progress.
Qi Xuansu had just heard of it, but she didn't expect that Zhang Yuelu was interested. It wasn't that she wanted to solve the case. She also knew that this was not her strength. The veterans from the Qianhu Office and the Prosecution Office were not able to solve the case.
She didn't even have the ability to do this case. She just wanted to watch the excitement and see the methods of these swindlers to gain her own experience in the world.
However, Qi Xuansu saw it very clearly. Although Zhang Yuelu was going home to celebrate the New Year, she was afraid that her flaws would be exposed as time went by, so she made up her mind to delay on the road. It would be best to stay at home for only a few days, so the journey did not seem to be in a hurry.
Yes, if you can, drag it.
Qi Xuansu was not really his son-in-law, so he would not be in a hurry to go to the Shangqing Mansion and would have no objection.
After the two said goodbye to the Taoist priests from Shuzhou who were going to the ancestral court, they planned to change their route and go to Jinguan Mansion.
Zhang Yuelu took out a map of Shuzhou and at a glance, he saw that the entire Shuzhou was divided into two parts. The western half was crisscrossed by mountains and rivers with complex terrain, while the eastern half was a vast plain with flat terrain. Jinguan Mansion was located in the middle, slightly more plain.
If you want to go to Jinguan Mansion, you must walk an extremely long distance up the mountain.
road or waterway.
After Zhang Yuelu consulted Qi Xuansu's opinion, he decided to go by boat first.
Although Qi Xuansu had armor and horses, the mountain road was too winding and the distance increased several times in vain. From the map, it may only be a few dozen miles, but the actual distance is hundreds of miles. On the contrary, the distance by water is shorter, and by boat
It is also more labor-saving.
The only disadvantage of the waterway is that it is slower than running directly, but this is what Zhang Yuelu hopes. If she wants to go faster, it is better to take a flying boat directly.
After the two decided, they found a large boat nearby and prepared to go down the river.
Although the large ship is not as good as the flying boats of Daomen or the iron-clad ships that cross the sea, it can still accommodate more than a hundred people. Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu are unobtrusive. At first glance, they look like a pair of ordinary men and women.
In the previous fierce battle in Yishan City, Qi Xuansu's cloak was slightly damaged, which made Qi Xuansu feel very distressed. He took it off temporarily and was received by Zhang Yuelu as a Xumi object. Anyway, he had already reached the Yuxu stage and was full of blood.
Comparable to fellow warriors, he is like a stove and is not afraid of a little cold. What's more, after entering Shuzhou, the climate becomes warmer and is not as cold as the Western Regions.
However, Zhang Yuelu's clothes were still intact after a series of fierce battles.
The layout of the cabin is similar to a "string", with the aisle in the middle and rows of seats on both sides of the aisle, each seat can accommodate two people sitting side by side.
Zhang Yuelu had not been feeling well these past few days and had no interest in talking. He looked languid. He leaned against the bulkhead and looked out the window at the scenery. He tightened his cloak and wrapped himself tightly, covering himself with a hood.
It covered half of her face, like a delicate little lady who was afraid of wind and cold.
Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were sitting side by side, just enough to protect her inside. He was leaning against the aisle. Because he didn't have his cloak, his satchel was exposed, and he was also next to the aisle.
Qi Xuansu whispered something to Zhang Yuelu from time to time, and Zhang Yuelu just nodded or shook his head, and occasionally said a word or two. To outsiders, it looked like a young couple going out, and the husband was whispering to comfort his wife who was not feeling well.
Just as the big ship was about to set off, I heard a "dong-dong-dong" sound of footsteps.
I saw a young man with a green face hurrying into the cabin.
This young man was wearing a shabby suit, as if it was made of many rags that were barely patched together. It neither looked good nor fit well. He was wearing a six-in-one hat with no hood, and was carrying a worn-out satchel, with his head buried deep in his chest.
Very low.
Qi Xuansu just glanced at it from the corner of his eye
He looked away and continued talking to Zhang Yuelu.
As for the content of the conversation between the two, of course it was not that Qi Xuansu was comforting Zhang Yuelu, who was feeling unwell, nor was it talking about love. The relationship between the two had not reached this level yet, but that Qi Xuansu was asking Zhang Yuelu about the magical powers of the Sanren Yuxu stage. After all,
Banished Immortal is the superior substitute of Sanren, and there are many similarities between the two.
The young man glanced across the cabin, seemingly looking for his seat, and then walked quickly along the middle aisle.
Just when the young man passed by Qi Xuansu, Qi Xuansu suddenly took his satchel, took out a small tin pot from it, looked at Zhang Yuelu and asked with concern: "Are you still feeling uncomfortable? Do you want a drink?"
A look of surprise appeared on the young man's face, and it disappeared briefly. However, he couldn't stop, so he could only pass by Qi Xuansu and walk back.
Qi Xuansu put the small pot back into the satchel and placed the satchel next to Zhang Yuelu.
Zhang Yuelu was a little surprised, but then he understood.
There seemed to be something wrong with that young man, maybe he was a thief? However, Qi Xuansu did not expose him, but made a show and avoided it seemingly by coincidence.
However, Zhang Yuelu didn't care about the young man. He was more concerned about the small pot Qi Xuansu took out and asked, "What's in the pot?"
Qi Xuansu hesitated: "Wine."
Zhang Yuelu, who was originally in low spirits, his eyes lit up: "I remember you don't like drinking, did you buy this for me?"
Qi Xuansu did not deny it: "I bought it in Yishan City. When I saw you looking exhausted, I couldn't bear it, so I went to buy a pot of wine, which cost me two peace coins."
Zhang Yuelu's eyes narrowed like crescent moons, he stretched out his hand and said: "If you are enough friends, give it to me."
"No." Qi Xuansu refused, "I think you are well now."
"You asked me just now if I didn't feel well. I can answer you now. It's true that I don't feel very well. Give it to me quickly." Zhang Yuelu was already planning to get it himself.
Qi Xuansu had no choice but to give her the jug.
Zhang Yuelu unscrewed the wine bottle and took a sip of the wine without rushing to drink.
At this moment, the young man from just now went back to the way he came: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I got on the wrong boat."
When the young man passed by Qi Xuansu again, he suddenly staggered and fell towards Qi Xuansu.
Qi Xuansu supported the young man, preventing him from falling on top of him, and said softly: "Gaiming robbed him, right?"