Shi Lei from Qianhu in Laizhou Prefecture controlled the flying sword and slowly landed on the ground.
A few hundred meters in front of him was the majestic Luojing City Wall. It is more than ten feet high and stands abruptly on the ground, like a gray-black cliff that cuts across half the sky.
Densely packed ballistae and huge trebuchets guarded the city wall, and the soldiers patrolling on top of the wall were as small as ants. Standing under it, it seems that you can feel the heavy weight of the masonry coming towards you.
This is not the first time Shi Lei has come to the capital.
However, no matter how many times he came, he would still be extremely shocked every time he saw this magnificent city wall and the shining formation luster on the city gate.
According to legend, when Emperor Taizu of Daqi was building the "Tianlong Formation", he once ambitiously stated that he wanted to turn Luojing into an "impregnable fortress" and "a majestic city that will never fall." .
"If Luojing City really falls one day, I'm afraid the end of the world is coming." Many people, including Shi Lei, had said this in their hearts.
According to the rules of the Exorcism Department of the Da Qi Dynasty, officials like Shi Lei, who are in charge of the affairs of slaying demons and eradicating demons in a palace, need to come to the capital to report on their work every six months.
Although the intelligence department can understand the situation in various parts of the country through the secret deduction technique, the secret technique has many limitations after all, and the information obtained is relatively vague and may be interfered with.
Therefore, the Exorcist Division headquarters needs to obtain more detailed information about each province and prefecture through these local officials in order to facilitate subsequent work arrangements, resource allocation, etc.; at the same time, it can also use A face-to-face approach is used to examine and evaluate the capabilities of local officials.
Under normal circumstances, Shi Lei's reporting time is in April, when the "Luoshui Conference" has ended, and all government offices in Luojing will return to their calm and busy daily work.
He originally planned to visit Shi Xiaohan at that time to see how his precious daughter was doing at Longmen Academy, and discuss life-long matters with the two young men.
Ever since Shi Xiaohan gave a pill workshop to Gu Xu, people around them have obviously regarded them as a couple, or even an unmarried couple.
After all, under normal circumstances, how could anyone be willing to give their core industry as a birthday gift to an ordinary colleague?
And in recent times, there are always acquaintances coming When he arrived in front of Shi Lei, he would either smile and congratulate him on finding a good son-in-law, or joke and say, "Master Shi really loves his daughter and has prepared such a generous dowry for her."
This undoubtedly made Shi Lei feel very embarrassed.
Because it is difficult for him to explain to others that the elixir workshop is not a dowry, but a fool's daughter's own decision.
Shi Xiaohan himself may not care about the public opinion around him.
But as a father, Shi Lei obviously couldn't ignore his daughter's reputation.
Even if Xiaohan has nothing to do on weekdays,She has a ladylike demeanor, but after all she is the daughter of an official family. If she continues to let rumors spread everywhere, and Gu Xu does not marry her in the end, then the Shi family will definitely become a laughing stock in the eyes of everyone.
"Oh, it's all God's jealousy of talents and not giving that boy Gu Xu a good body." Whenever he thinks about this, Shi Lei can't help but sigh.
However, the letter sent by Shi Xiaohan made him change his original plan.
With Shi Lei's doting on his daughter, when Xiao Han asked him to come to the capital to watch the "Luoshui Conference", it was naturally difficult for him to refuse.
Therefore, he applied to the headquarters of the Exorcism Department, hoping to go to Beijing in advance to report on his work, giving him an opportunity to cheer for his daughter in person at the "Luoshui Conference".
The Exorcism Department Headquarters also agreed to his request in a reasonable manner.
After arriving in Luojing, Shi Lei boarded a black carriage with a silver star pattern and drove straight towards the headquarters of the Exorcism Department located on the hill.
At this time, Luojing City was more noisy and busier than every time he had seen it before.
In the streets and alleys, there were not only locals from Luojing, but also young monks and their relatives and friends who came from all over the country to participate in the "Luoshui Conference".
There are also countless people who are arguing passionately, such as "Which genius is most likely to win the championship", "Who do you think is more powerful among Chu Fengge, Su Xiao and Zhao Yan?" ” and other topics.
The Mandarin of Daqi and the dialects from all over the world came together to form a roaring sound wave that continuously impacted Shi Lei's eardrums.
Shi Lei keenly noticed that in the conversations of these people, the name "Gu Xu" seemed to appear very frequently.
"It seems that the rumors are true," Shi Lei thought to himself, "that boy has really made a name for himself in the capital."
Responsible for talking with Shi Lei The person is Shangguan Jin.
She is not very old, and her official rank is only fifth rank. However, as a personal attendant who is deeply trusted by the head of the department, she shoulders extremely important responsibilities and leads all the large and small departments in the exorcism department. Daily affairs. Even officials with a higher rank than her dare not neglect her. After all, sometimes her simple words in front of the chief executive can be enough to affect an official's future.
However, in front of Shi Lei, she still maintained the same junior attitude as when they last met.
As soon as Shi Lei's carriage arrived at the Yamen, she was already waiting outside the gate, with a perfectly elegant smile on her face, and she greeted him politely.
"Shi Qianhu came all the way from Laizhou Prefecture to the capital. It was really hard," she said with a smile, "Please ask Shi Qianhu to come into the house with me and rest for a while. I happened to be there. We have prepared fresh Shiya White Tea for you."
Shi Lei followed her up the steps, crossed the threshold, and walked along the corridor towards the Yamen.
Along the way, Shangguan Jin spoke in a casual tone like chatting.Using the recent Laoshan ruins as an introduction, he talked to Shi Lei about the customs, customs and rumors of ghosts in Laizhou Prefecture, and used this to praise Shi Lei a few words, calling him a "good official who understands the people's sentiments and is serious and meticulous"; After the two talked about how the disaster in Qingzhou Prefecture had also affected Laizhou Prefecture, Shangguan Jin showed a worried expression and expressed his concern unabashedly.
Shangguan Jin's expression and words were like a gentle breeze, which made Shi Lei gradually relax, as if the person he was talking to was not the eyes, ears and arms of the exorcist chief, but a friend who had reunited after a long absence.
It wasn’t until the two of them arrived in a side room in the backyard of the Yamen that Shi Lei realized that he had unknowingly revealed a lot of confidential information about Laizhou Prefecture and told a lot of things. A lot of psychological talk.
At this moment, looking at the young and beautiful face of the woman in front of him and her subtle and elegant smile, Shi Lei was filled with emotion
Shangguan Jin is only older than his own daughter. At the age of two or three, she has already become a responsible official in the imperial court, possessing such powerful scheming skills and perfect manners like a lady.
Looking at my daughter, she is clearly over 18 years old, but she still looks like a child who has not grown up. Her mind is filled with delicious food and unrealistic dreams of being a hero.
Since Shi Lei is indeed a conscientious official and handles all the affairs of Laizhou Mansion in an orderly manner on weekdays, his work report process went very smoothly.
"Shi Qianhu, do you have anything else that you need help from me and the Exorcism Department Headquarters?" Shangguan Jin asked politely, picking up the white porcelain teapot on the table and giving it to Shi Qianhu. Lei filled a cup of hot tea.
"I would like to use three thousand meritorious deeds to exchange for an opportunity to ask questions from the Chief of Staff." Shi Lei said without hesitation. On the way to Beijing, he had already considered this issue repeatedly and made up his mind.
In the Daqi Exorcism Department, there are many things that can be exchanged for merit. Not only can they be exchanged for elixirs, exercises and martial arts, but they can also be used to ask high-level experts to answer questions, or This is an opportunity to redeem and enter the "Review Pot" to train practical skills.
Even asking Luo Sishou for advice is clearly priced.
It’s just that the price is very expensive. Ordinary officials may spend their whole lives and find it difficult to save enough. After all, they have to spend most of their merits on such rigid needs as elixirs.
As for those officials who have the ability to accumulate thousands or even tens of thousands of merits, they naturally have many opportunities to meet with the chief executive. If you have any doubts, you can ask them face to face. There is no need to waste these merits.
In this regard, Gu Xu secretly complained in his mind that this so-called opportunity to ask questions once every three thousand meritorious deeds was essentially used by Luo Sishou to set up his own persona, to highlight his insight into the world and his The image of omniscience.
"Is it a matter of practice?" After hearing what Shi Lei said, Shangguan Jin said with a smile, "To be honest, Shi Qianhu, if you want to ask the Chief Secretary about something, I You can go and ask for instructions from the Chief Secretary now., arrange your meeting. In this way, you can save these three thousand merits. "
"It's not a question about cultivation," Shi Lei hesitated for a moment and replied, "Well, my question may be a little inappropriate. "
Shangguan Jin did not continue to ask "why it is inappropriate".
She is very good at observing words and expressions.
From Shi Lei's expression, she could tell The other party had made up her mind and did not want to discuss this topic too much.
So she took out the paper and charcoal from her sleeve and handed it to Shi Lei.
"I will forward your question to the Chief of Staff. "
Shi Lei nodded and took the pen and paper.
Then he wrote a question on the paper one stroke at a time
"Gu Xu What kind of spiritual realm can we achieve in the future?",