Yongzhou Province, one of the 36 upper provinces in Taixia Country, was close to the territory of Northeast Military Region. It was located in the south of Northeast Military Region and adjacent to Qiongzhou Province, a subordinate province of Northeast Military Region. It was a big province under the jurisdiction of Xihe Military Region and the base of Xihe Military Region.
Yongzhou Province covered 410 million square miles and had a total population of 8.7 billion. It had been peaceful for hundreds of years and was very prosperous. There were 257 Class A cities in Yongzhou Province, which ranked above the middle among the upper provinces in Taixia Country.
Yongzhou Province had 34 prefectures. Luye Prefecture was located in the southwest of Yongzhou Province. There were many famous mountains in the prefecture which were called Luye Nine Peaks. Luye tea was the best in Yongzhou Province. The most famous Wild Spring tea came from Fuling Mountain, one of the nine peaks in Luye Prefecture.
Coiling Dragon Mountain was in the central part of Luye Prefecture, also one of the nine peaks in Luye Prefecture. It stretched over 10000 miles and crossed many prefectures. Because it looked like a coiling dragon, it got its name.
Coiling Dragon Mountain was not only strange but also beautiful. It was said that Coiling Dragon Mountain was one of the dragon veins in Yongzhou Province. Therefore, there were 6 Class A cities in the east, west, south and north of Coiling Dragon Mountain, namely Ailian City, Heguang City, Lusen City, Poyin City, Tianyuan City and Zeyun City.
Liuying Town was at the foot of Coiling Dragon Mountain for less than 200 miles in the east of Zeyun City.
Liuying Town was a tranquil town with less than 50,000 population. At the end of May, a piece of news had shocked the entire town — — Cui LI, the young master of Cui family who had left home for over 10 years, had come back.
Many youngsters had left Liuying Town to learn martial arts. Previously, it was not a big deal for Cui LI to come back. Although Cui LI was a bit famous in Liuying Town, it would not be so sensational; especially for a person who had left Liuying Town for over 10 years. However, it was said that when Cui LI came back in the middle of the night, he directly fell down from the sky like a meteor and gave out a glow, scaring all the servants and neighbors so much. They thought that his house was on fire. Therefore, they all wanted to put out the fire with buckets of water...
Naturally, the fire was not put out. In the end, everyone discovered that the young master of the Cui family, Cui Li, had returned.
Kids might not understand the abnormal phenomenon when Cui LI came back; however, it had a very unusual meaning for old people who were familiar with the phenomenon. It meant that — — Cui family — — Liuying Town — — might have a promising future!
The birth of a dragon was a big event. Even Tongguang County where Liuying Town was located had not seen a dragon, not to mention Liuying Town.
Therefore, the entire Liuying Town was in an uproar. In only 3 days, the news had reached the ears of the county magistrate of Tongguang County.
It was Village Constable Jia of Liuying Town who hurriedly came to the county magistrate to tell him the news.
In the back garden of the county government of Tongguang County, County Magistrate Li who had been the county magistrate of Tongguang County for 8 years was stunned for quite a while after hearing the news from Village Constable Jia.
"What? You mean there's a dragon in Liuying Town?" After hearing this news, County Magistrate Li, who was over 60 years old and had a handsome look, even forgot to put down his teacup as he turned around and watched Village Constable Jia with widely opened eyes.
It was June and the weather was getting hotter. After driving over 30 miles from Liuying Town to the county town, Village Constable Jia's temples had been covered with sweat while his face turned abnormally red.
"Yes, County Magistrate, there's a dragon in Cui Clan in Liuying Town!" Village Constable Jia hurriedly replied.
"It's not a joke, are you sure?" County Magistrate Li put down his teacup as he said with a solemn look.
Watching the solemn look of County Magistrate Li, Village Constable Jia became slightly hesitant as he stealthily wiped off the sweat on his forehead, "I've asked the neighbors of Cui family. They said that on the night Cui LI came back, he indeed fell from the sky as fast as a lightning bolt with a terrifying momentum. Additionally, more than one person had witnessed that scene. They all said so. I don't think anyone could do that except for a knight! The servants of Cui Clan are all jubilant these days. When someone asked them, all the servants of Cui Clan told them that their young master has become a knight! "
"Is he really the young master of Cui family in Liuying Town? I've heard about this Cui LI before. He's just a bit famous. How could he suddenly promote to a knight? Are you mistaken?" County Magistrate Li slightly leaned towards Village Constable Jia with a more solemn look.
"I'm sure. I even paid a visit to Cui's mansion yesterday. I saw the young master of Cui family and talked with him for a short while. After over 10 years, the young master of Cui family had left home a bit. Although his look had changed a bit, he was still the same person. Additionally, he could recognize me. Additionally, I felt a very terrifying qi from the young master of Cui family. When he opened and closed his eyes, his pupils seemed to be flickering. Only after talking with him for a short while, I had felt a great stress."
Touching his well-maintained beautiful beard, County Magistrate Li thought for a short while before saying, "It seems that I have to pay a visit to this young master of Cui family in Liuying Town. If there's really a dragon in Cui family, I will set up the first awe-inspiring memorial arch in Tongguang County and bring glory to the villagers. It will be a good story …"
"You're right, County Magistrate!" Village Constable Jia hurriedly nodded, "When will County Magistrate come to Liuying Town? I can make some arrangements for you!"
"Let's do it tomorrow!"
County Magistrate Li's heart was also racing. If he could set up an awe-inspiring memorial arch in Tongguang County, his name would be tied to this awe-inspiring memorial arch. After 100 years, when people could see this awe-inspiring memorial arch and remember his name, his years as an official in Tongguang County would not be in vain.
All the officials in Taixia Country were paid high salaries and punished corruption by strict laws. Very few officials were greedy for money; however, most of them pursued fame. Of course, County Magistrate Li was also a person who pursued fame.
If an awe-inspiring memorial arch was going to be set up in Tongguang County, nobody else was qualified to set up a stele for the memorial arch for people's reverence besides him. As the old saying went, a great man had three immortals — — making meritorious deeds, establishing moral integrity and establishing moral integrity. By setting up a stele for the awe-inspiring memorial arch, he could express his feelings and ambitions. In the future, when this knight became famous, more and more people would come here to pay their reverence to him, he would also benefit from it. Among the literati in Taixia Country, many of them became famous by their articles or poems which were carved in front of the awe-inspiring memorial arch.
…
On the early morning of June 3, the second day after Village Constable Jia left, County Magistrate Li took off his official robe and put on a set of decent casual clothes. After that, he had his driver drive to Liuying Town.
County Magistrate Li didn't take too many people with him. He was very low-key. If Childe Cui didn't have a dragon, it would be a joke for him to pay a visit to Childe Cui in a grand manner; if Childe Cui had a dragon, it would be a joke for him to show off in front of a knight. Therefore, he had better be low-key this time.
When he arrived at Liuying Town, Village Constable Jia had long been waiting for him on the roadside outside the town.
In order to show his respect, County Magistrate Li directly got off the vehicle outside the town and walked to Cui's mansion with Village Constable Jia.
There were highways outside the town, while the roads inside the town were all stone and cement roads, which looked very clean, especially near the Cui Family's house. In the past two days, the neighbors of the Cui Family cleaned the ground in front of their house at dawn every day and even washed it with water. It looked very fresh and clean.
Cui's mansion was a major clan in Liuying Town. Cui's courtyard was at the foot of Coiling Dragon Mountain, which occupied about 6 acres of land. After coming to the outside of Cui's mansion, Zhang Tie could see that the courtyard was covered with green trees. There was a tall locust tree in front of Cui's mansion, which had a cloud-like crown. The shade of the locust tree could cover half a acre of land in front of the gate.
"Lord, this is Cui's mansion!" Village Constable Jia introduced.
"A family with a dragon is really extraordinary!" County Magistrate Li stroked his beard as he looked at the big locust tree in front of Cui's mansion and nodded, "Look at this tree, doesn't it look like that someone is holding an umbrella for the gate of Cui's mansion?"
"Lord, it's true. The more I look at it, the more it looks like that!" Village Constable Jia said as he directly went up two steps to the gate of Cui's mansion. After that, he picked up the brass ring on the gate and knocked on the gate, "Bang, bang, bang …".
With a creaking sound, the gate of Cui's mansion was opened. A 60-odd hunchbacked old man revealed half of his body from inside the gate. After tilting his neck and raising his head, he looked outside for a short while with dim eyes. After that, he saw clearly who was knocking on the gate, "Ah, it's Village Constable Jia …"
Village Constable Jia said genially, "I'm here with County Magistrate Li to visit your young master. Is your young master at home?"
"Ah, what a coincidence. Just now, my young master and Afu went up the mountain to sweep the tombs of master and madam!" The hunchbacked old man answered.
Village Constable Jia turned around and looked at County Magistrate Li behind him.
After a short silence, County Magistrate Li asked Village Constable Jia, "Do you know where the tomb of Cui's family is?"
"Yes, it's on the mountain, about 7-8 miles away from here!"
"Then we don't need to wait here. Let's go up the mountain together. By the way, we can take a look at the tomb of Cui's family. I haven't climbed the mountain for a long time. Since it's a good day today, we can do some exercise."
"Good!"
After telling the old man with a hunchback who opened the door, Village Constable Jia led County Magistrate Li to a side path and went uphill.
"Why are all the servants of Cui's family so old and weak?"
"County Magistrate, you might not know this, but when Master and Madam Cui were alive, they were very kind. All the servants of Cui's family were honest people. Half of them were disabled. After the death of Master and Madam Cui, the young master of Cui's family kept them instead of driving them away. Over the past 10-odd years, when the young master of Cui's family went out to learn martial arts, these servants really stayed in Cui's family. None of them left!"
In order to make it easier for Zhu Liang to control the Cui Family, the servants that Zhu Liang found for the Cui Family were all simple-minded, carefree, old, weak, and disabled people. Times had changed. At this time, this incident had become a symbol of the Cui Family's benevolence and righteousness.
"Not bad!" County Magistrate Li nodded satisfactorily …
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