Qi Yan was not in the mood to enjoy the festival.
After saying goodbye to Gu Xu, he boarded an unmarked carriage and drove along the Luo River.
The lights became dimmer and the crowd gradually became sparse.
When the people celebrating the festival were completely replaced by neatly arranged guards, Qi Yan finally arrived at his destination--
Princess Zhaoning's Mansion.
He went straight up the stairs, crossed the threshold, and then walked along the long corridor to the neat and elegant study.
He sat on the chair behind the desk, took off the white jade table from his wrist, and put it back into the wooden box.
At this moment, his body lit up with colorful illusion light.
After a while, the light faded.
The handsome young man in white disappeared.
In her place was a young woman with snow-skinned face, red lips and white teeth.
It is Princess Zhaoning Xiao Wanjun.
As a mortal with no cultivation, she got up early to handle government affairs. In the evening, she stood in a crowded crowd for more than an hour to watch the arena match, and she was already exhausted.
Fortunately, there was no one else in the room, so she didn’t have to worry too much about her image, so she simply untied her bun, rested her chin on her elbow, and lay lazily at the table, yawning. . The black hair is spread freely, like a hanging waterfall.
And her eyes once again fell on the pile of memorials related to Gu Xu on the table.
"Interesting."
Recalling what she saw and heard tonight, she chuckled and sighed silently.
After a short rest, she picked up the brush, dipped it in red ink, and began to complete the "red approval" work as usual on behalf of the Daqi Emperor who was addicted to cultivation.
First of all, she opened the memorial from Luo Sishou proposing to promote Gu Xu to the sixth rank of the Exorcism Department, and wrote the word "agree" on it without thinking.
Then, she obtained the memorial from the Imperial Master recommending Gu Xu to serve as a guest teacher at Longmen Academy - to this, there were many voices of opposition within Longmen Academy.
The solution given by the cabinet is: bring Gu Xu and all the competitors together to compare their skills in drawing symbols to see who is better.
"Now there is something good to watch." This was the first thought that came to Princess Zhaoning's mind.
She had long heard of Gu Xu’s superb talisman and seal skills.
The Taoist attainments that Gu Xu showed in the ring tonight really surpassed the proud students of Longmen Academy and impressed countless people.
Although Longmen Academy is known as "the number one school for practitioners in Da Qi", in recent years, there have been few outstanding geniuses like Gu Xu and Su Xiao.
The Taoism, talismans and seal scripts taught in the academy are almost the same as those a few decades ago, and there has been no innovation for a long time.
On the contrary, it is the exorcism department that fights on the front line of killing ghosts, and there are often people who improve or create new ones.Create new spells.
As the temporary ruler of the Da Qi Dynasty, Princess Zhaoning is naturally very clear about the reasons behind this -
On the one hand, Longmen Academy is very strict about seniority, which makes it full of people who are mixed up. An old guy waiting to die; on the other hand, the number of students in the academy is scarce, and most of them are controlled by the rich and powerful in the capital, making it difficult for talented children from poor families to enroll.
Princess Zhaoning speculated: One of the reasons why the Imperial Master, as the honorary dean of Longmen Academy, recommended Gu Xu, who was only seventeen years old, as a guest teacher was probably because he wanted to change this situation. .
"Actually, I have long been dissatisfied with the group of teachers at Longmen Academy who are stuck in their ways and have no desire to make progress," the princess thought silently, "I am looking forward to it, if Gu Xu shows off his skills in front of them, Crush their proud capital to pieces, and the expressions on their faces will be so wonderful." Thinking of this, she also wrote "Agree" on the ticket for this memorial.
In the end, Princess Zhaoning’s eyes fell on the memorial proposing to confer a title on Gu Xu.
This is a relatively difficult question.
Because there is a rule in the Daqi Dynasty that "any nobleman who does not have military merit cannot be granted a title", under normal circumstances, merit is evaluated based on the number of ghosts killed.
Although Gu Xu saved tens of thousands of people in Qingzhou Prefecture, the Kongxuan San and the Nine Infant Snake Demon were solved by saints - there was no precedent for her to refer to such matters.
Princess Zhaoning pondered for a moment, thinking of Gu Xu's astonishing performance tonight, she felt that such a rare talent should do everything possible to win over him, and she must not chill his heart by being stingy with rewards.
Immediately, with a stroke of her pen, she quickly wrote down her opinion:
"Yishui County Exorcism Department has experienced Gu Xu, a man of great talent, great blogging and strong learning, Zhou Bai To protect the country and serve the people wholeheartedly, when times are tough and troublesome, wisdom can be saved all day long, and sincerity can be entrusted to the Lord of Jin Yang, who can carry it out with the iron seal." (1)
…………
Headquarters of the Exorcism Department.
After Gu Xu returned to the Yamen, he easily climbed the more than 100 steps of "Homesickness Ridge" with the help of his insights from the Lantern Festival Night and the medicinal power of "Duedan".
The thick fog surrounding the mountains and the terrifying resistance before were no longer obstacles to his progress today.
By the time he finished practicing, it was already noon.
He stretched out, walked out of the "Qingxiang Pavilion", and decided to try the lunch in the kitchen of the Exorcism Department Headquarters.
On the way, he saw Shangguan Jin, wearing a short linen shirt and her long hair tied high, practicing swordplay in an empty courtyard.
She did not use her true energy, nor did she practice the unfathomable high-grade swordsmanship such as "Cloud Sea Galaxy Sword". Instead, she repeatedly practiced basic sword skills such as point, stab, chop, and sweep.
It’s not like practicing swordsmanship, but more like exercising.
Although it was cold winter, her hair and clothes had beenSoaked in sweat, he looked as if he had just climbed out of a pond.
"Gu Daoyou, are you going to have dinner?" As soon as he saw Gu Xu, Shangguan Jin stopped what he was doing and greeted him with a smile, "It just so happens that Sister Xiaohan is also in the public kitchen. !"
Gu Xu nodded, and then asked politely: "Have you eaten, Brother Shangguan?"
"I don't plan to eat today."< /p>
“Why?”
“Because I ate too much last night, including lion heads, thousand pieces of meat, fish-flavored eggplants and sugar figures,” Shangguan Jin laughed at himself Smiling, "You may not know that my physique is like that of a pig. I gain weight very quickly..." No need to worry about gaining weight. ”
Gu Xu did not respond immediately.
He glanced at Shangguan Jin’s slender waist and thought to himself: In the past, I only knew that she loved beauty and was keen on dressing up, but he didn’t know her behind the scenes. He also put in so much sweat.
Then he looked down at his thin self.
Ziwei’s fate robbed him of his life and gave him the ability to eat without getting fat. Physique - Of course, being too thin is actually a worry for men.
It’s just that Gu Xu is too busy practicing to lift weights, and he doesn’t know what to do to grow muscles.
Maybe I need to eat some more snow ginseng?
Or do I need to wait until I become a saint to reshape my body?
...
Note: < /p>
(1) Refer to Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty's "Add Wei Zhigu Lu Xiang Xian Zhi" and "Add Liu You Qiu Shi Feng Zhi", among which:
"Difficulties and Yu": hardships and sorrows;
"Not until the end of the day": act immediately when you see the opportunity without delay;
"give it to God": move God;
"the master executes": the court The decree is sent to the competent authorities for execution.