As the night grew darker, the sweet sound of hooves could be heard in the flowing alley outside the main entrance of Qiulu Inn. Mrs. Liu stood alone outside the door, with two gold ornaments in the shape of tiger charms hanging around her waist.
A carriage stopped outside the door, and a middle-aged man wearing a scholar's green shirt stepped out. He was not angry and boastful, but showed a bit of Confucian general style, but the man looked tired at this time. After reaching the beautiful woman, she smiled and said, "I kept you waiting for a long time. Let's go in and talk."
The woman turned around and led the way with a lukewarm expression.
The man glanced at the tiger charm around her waist and frowned: "Do you need to be so nervous?"
The woman sneered: "I am just a small inn here, not as good as an adult. In the Sheriff's Mansion, the signboard screen wall was demolished just two days ago, so I could only swallow my anger and say nothing. Now the culprit has brought a large group of disciples and disciples to live here, and I can only hold my nose obediently. Serving these immortal masters with a smile, all this must be attributed to the county governor's good governance..."
The man's voice slightly increased, "Okay, Jiahui, I know you are angry. But now I'm not much better. I have been busy from early morning to now for this grand ceremony to worship the Water Temple, and my throat is burning. The reason why you take a rest here instead of returning directly to the magistrate's mansion is because I am not here to listen to your complaints and nagging for a moment of peace of mind.”
The beautiful woman’s eyes were full of resentment, but after all, she knew the general situation and knew how to advance and retreat, and she quickly put away her little womanly ways. Emotionally, he changed the subject, "You have been busy for this festival for half a year, and it has to be pompous. The old governor is ill, and although he cannot come in person, his confidant, Mr. Biji, showed up in honor of him. In addition, those literary figures, famous monks and hermits who are well-known in both the government and the public can be regarded as enough to support the face. Not to mention the face, and even more face, the private support of our county is enough to worship the two river gods elsewhere."
The man nodded, "That's the truth."
The woman asked in a low voice: "Then our Hanshi River God, has he finally favored you this time? Promise to lend a hand and help you fight for the position of governor?"
The man put his hands behind his back and walked into an elegant and quiet courtyard. He shook his head and sighed: "That casual cultivator really showed up at the wrong time. He wanted to avenge the people who died in vain, so he came to your Qiulu Inn and found the cultivator of the Lingyun Sect. In a big battle, the monks of the Lingyun Sect were seriously injured and implicated. The screen wall of your inn has been completely destroyed. In fact, if the matter only ends here, I can still control the situation. For example, as the chief official of a county, I can report it to the court and put the blame on the casual cultivator, and the person who caused the trouble first. The Lingyun Sect monks will be picked out to appease the Lingyun Sect that is deeply rooted in our Huangting Kingdom. However, I will secretly let the loose cultivators go. At least the pursuit and suppression in this county is just some superficial skills of tightening the outside and loosening the inside. This delayed time, allowing him to take the opportunity to fly away. Since he is a casual cultivator, it must not be a big deal to be at home all over the world.What a difficult thing. "
Speaking of this, the man showed a trace of annoyance, "But it happened before the Hanshijiang Sacrifice Ceremony was held. Not to mention the huge attention, who didn't know that in the early days of the River God becoming a god, he relied on A founder of the Lingyun Sect helped to gain a firm foothold? The Lingyun Sect has carefully maintained this incense relationship for more than two hundred years, and has never troubled the Water God in anything. On the contrary, in these two hundred years, they have visited the house with heavy gifts once a year. Except for a catastrophe at the mountain gate, they have never troubled the water god. It has never been broken, so who do you think Lord Water God will favor regarding this incident that has shocked the county?
The woman looked at the county magistrate who kept pacing in circles and refused to sit down. She handed over a cup of hot tea and joked: "My magistrate, can you sit down and talk?" If you keep wandering like this, I will become dizzy. "
After the man in green shirt sat down, he laughed at himself and said: "I found out about the hidden location of the casual cultivator three days ago. I thought I could delay it for one day. No matter what, If we wait until after the sacrificial ceremony, there might be a life left. Jiahui, do you know what the Hanshi River Water God said to me after he appeared in the golden body in the Water Temple today? ”
The woman shook her head. Of course she couldn’t guess the thoughts of a righteous god.
As the owner of Qiulu Inn, the woman’s sect is actually more powerful than Lingyun. The sect is not much inferior, but each of the more powerful sects on the mountain has its own fixed territory. In the three states in the north of Huangting Kingdom, the Lingyun sect is the leader of more than a dozen cultivation sects.
< p>But regardless of the sect the woman came from, or the monks of the Lingyun Sect who could walk sideways up and down the mountains in the north of Huangting Kingdom, they were in awe of the Yijiang Water God whom the emperor personally consecrated.After all. The Huangting Kingdom is not a large dynasty like the Great Li Song Clan and the Great Sui Gao Clan. The Huang Tinghong Clan has been one of the twelve vassals of the Great Sui Dynasty since the founding of the country, and there are only a handful of mountains and rivers that can be enshrined.
< p>To put it bluntly, even if the Sui Dynasty relaxed its confinement and allowed the Hong family of Huang Tingguo to lavish rewards and edicts on landscapes and gods, Huang Tingguo would not have this background. On the one hand, the territory was limited, and on the other hand, it was divided by those "vassal towns" in the mountains. The Immortal Family controls most of the blessed lands with outstanding aura.So the river god who controls the water transportation of a place is an important role for the county governor and even the governor to win over. < /p>
The man put down the teacup and rubbed his temples with both hands, "The Water God told me face to face, 'I had already found out the day before the Sheriff knew where the casual cultivator was hiding. Although the Sheriff is unwilling to enforce the law impartially, since I am the God of Cold Food River, I must abide by the rules of not easily interfering with secular officialdom. In addition, the Sheriff has been diligent and meritorious in governing the local area in recent years. If I am to be the next Sheriff Being a faint-hearted official and causing a lot of trouble that requires others to wipe my ass will hinder my meditation practice, so I will not report it to the court. ’”
The woman’s face turned slightly pale, “Isn’t this Jiang Shen’s implication going to help you take a step forward? "
The man smiled bitterly and said: "This is based on the premise that I will arrest that person tonight."
The woman regretted a little, "I shouldn't have told you just now "You're just pissing off."
She then said angrily: "This Hanshi River God has been well-known for hundreds of years. When it comes to his own interests, doesn't he just help his relatives and not take care of the casual cultivators? He was just a third-generation disciple of the Lingyun Sect, but he dared to take advantage of the sight of sex in the City God's Temple. He coveted the beauty, and first killed the couple outside the city. Later, after learning that a child had escaped, he pursued and killed him all night long. Zhuangzi's house was full of people. More than thirty people were killed by him. Such a cruel act happened to be discovered by the casual cultivator. Before avenging that family, he very wisely chose to spread the news. Even your government office Notices were posted at the door. After doing this, the casual cultivator found the Qiulu Inn and fought with the murderer. He was the spy of the water god inside and outside the county. How could he not know anything about it? "
Man? On the contrary, she was not as aggrieved and angry as the woman. She just sighed softly: "The laws of nature, the laws of the country, and the relationships between people. People who practice are pursuing the avenue of heaven and earth. How about the laws of the country and the relationships between people, what do they mean in front of Qi practitioners? To say the least, facing this As the god of cold food and rivers, the national law is not completely useless, but it is useless in the hands of a fourth-rank official like me. It is of some use in the hands of the old governor, but it will be of some use only in the hands of His Majesty the Emperor."
The woman whispered in a low voice: "What if your status as a county magistrate is in the Great Li Dynasty?"
The man's eyes sternly struck the handle of the chair, "Liu Jiahui, you must not Nonsense! No matter how powerful Da Li is, he is also a barbarian. If the Song family of Da Li really unites the north, it will be the end of our civilized lineage in the north of Aquarius Continent!"
The woman said angrily: "If you are really strong-willed, why don't you just disobey the Water God and protect that casual cultivator to the end? I don't believe that this Water God, who claims to have hands and eyes that can reach the sky, can really block out the sky and the sun in the north of Huangting Kingdom. It's really not possible. , at worst, I will move out of my sect and come to fight with this local snake of the Lingyun Sect!"
The man pointed at the woman and said with an angry smile: "How old are you? , so naive and ridiculous. Do you think that the Emperor of Dali has come all the way smoothly? Even if we are like this, imagine how the Dali Dynasty will weigh the pros and cons of such a vast territory? Being the king of a country, the sordidness and forbearance involved are absolutely unimaginable to you and me."
The woman remained silent.
The man took a sip of tea, leaned back on the chair, showing his fatigue, tugged on his collar, and said to himself: "I am a disciple of Confucianism, so I cultivate myself and manage my family, so I will try my best to abide by the rules. , but I am still an official of Huang Tingguo, with millions of people under my jurisdiction, and I need to help them live a peaceful life with enough food, clothing, and warmth. Therefore, I will not act with benevolence and morality in everything, because I need to bow my head and follow the forces of the Xian family. When asking for magic weapons to withstand various droughts and floods, you need to visit the door to give gifts and pray for those who have eyes above their heads.The god of mountains, rivers and rivers tries to keep as much luck in his own county as possible. Whether it is the common people at the foot of the mountain or the wealthy gentry, they have suffered a loss and been bullied by the immortal masters. I can only patch things up, tear down the east wall and repair the west wall, and try my best to appease them. ”
The man closed his eyes and said, “If it weren’t for such a stupid thing, I would have resigned or lost my official title a long time ago. In this way, when the casual cultivator posted the first notice, he It will be captured by a certain county guard who takes the initiative to communicate with the water god, leading his troops and monks. If this were not the case, after the casual cultivator died tonight, there would not even be a tombstone. Of course, everyone dies. What difference does it make whether there is a tombstone after death, whether there is someone toasting someone, or whether someone remembers the good deeds he did during his lifetime? "
The county guard stood up, came to the window, and said in a low voice, "In the second year of Huang Tingguo's reign, that is, ten years ago, Hezhou and three other prefectures were shaken at midnight. Hezhou was the most serious, with huts, city walls, temples and temples all collapsed, and more than 60,000 people died. In the next month, half a decade or several days, until the end of the year, all the major rivers in the northern part of the Hanshi River were so rough that nearly a hundred people drowned in our county alone. In the fourth year of Jialu's reign, there was another change in Maozhou in the south that moved mountains. In the eighth year of Jialu's reign, the water network in Hengzhou in the southwest was crisscrossed, with countless boats moored. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, a fire suddenly broke out. The fire spread over more than a thousand boats and boats, and the corpses and remains of more than ten thousand people were all reduced to ashes. "
The man looked sad and moved his lips slightly, "Are these natural disasters really natural disasters? People don't know the truth, I know that. "
The man turned his head and looked at the woman, "I even know that before he was arrested and killed, that casual cultivator would definitely call me a lackey of the Lingyun Sect and the Hanshi River God, and hate me. Deeper than hating them. "
The woman hesitated to speak.
The man's face gradually became calm, "I can already confirm that after the death of this casual cultivator, there will soon be someone in the county. Those wealthy nobles deliberately spread rumors that in order to please the Lingyun Sect, I worked hard to find the monk's hiding place and surrounded and killed him. "
The woman sighed, "That's probably it. "
The man smiled and said: "I am not saying this for you, but for myself..."
In the old well of Qiulu Inn , although white mist kept rising and then dispersed in all directions, the water level was actually extremely low, and the inner wall was covered with green moss. Suddenly the water level suddenly rose sharply, and the water level was equal to the mouth of the well. Then there was a tall man wearing armor and holding a short halberd. , took one step forward, and the man had a long beard on each cheek. Other than that, he was just like ordinary people.
The man looked around. As for the young man sitting in the pavilion who was sitting quietly and breathing, he didn't give up at all. In my eyes, he rose up from the ground and landed in the courtyard where the county governor was staying. He said loudly: "Chief Wei, I have chopped off the head of that casual cultivator with my own hands. There were many outsiders watching the show at that time. It’s a shame that that guy didn’t know what was right. He cursed at Governor Wei before he died, which was very unpleasant. Sheriff Wei, you told that guy all about your dirty secrets, and you still dared to go there.I was really angry for throwing dirty water on my lord. I wanted to give him a happy death, but in fact, I felt sorry for you, Commander Wei, so I poked a few holes in his head before cutting off his head. This matter is settled. When I return, I will inform you about the situation. Don't worry, I will never let that guy's bastard words before his death ruin the friendship between you and my family. "
This direct subordinate of the Hanshi River God left without any delay.
The woman stood blankly at the door of the courtyard.
According to According to the man in the room, it was normal for the casual cultivator to scold him as a "stooge" before he died. However, it was very inconsistent to continue to expose his shortcomings in front of the Lingyun Sect and many forces in the county. It made sense, because the man had had personal contact with him before, and both parties had a clear understanding of their thoughts. If it was strange for a man to betray a monk as a county guard, then the unnecessary last words of a casual cultivator were also abnormal. .
“I thought before that I still underestimated him. "
The Lord Sheriff standing at the window has been practicing martial arts for many years and understands the secrets faster than the woman. He said softly: "There is a chivalrous spirit at the foot of the mountain. ”