In the evening, a horse galloped across the moat. The person on the horse shouted, "Brothers guarding the city, please wait a moment."
The guard signaled for the person pulling the rope to stop. He looked over and saw a very familiar-looking youth. After thinking for a moment, he was instantly shocked. He hurriedly went up and cupped his hands, "So it's the Capital Governor."
"If I missed it, I would have to spend the night outside the city. Luckily, I made it in time." Li Yixiu sighed and jumped down from the horse. He smiled and cupped his hands at the guard. "Many thanks for your kindness in letting me in."
The guard knew that this Capital Governor was amiable and didn't stand on ceremony. He smiled and said, "It's nothing. Milord, you're going to participate in the province meeting, right?"
Every once in a while, the provincial governors would hold a province meeting. All the counties and counties had to send people to participate. Although the Capital Governor was in charge of the capital, he was also part of Qing Province and was under the control of the Qing Provincial Governor.
"Yes. Fortunately, Provincial Governor Chen doesn't hold banquets." Li Yixiu's face was full of joy.
The guard felt even more respect for him. None of the officials in the court were as unassuming as him.
"Go about your business. This lowly one will close the door before leaving." The guard didn't dare to delay him for too long.
"If there's a chance, I'll treat you to a drink. Farewell." Li Yixiu led the horse into the city. At this time, the sky was quickly darkening. However, in Yongling, the streets would only slowly become deserted after the Xu Period.
A man and a horse passed through the busy streets. This young Capital Governor seemed happy and content. Although he was travel-worn, he wasn't disturbed by the bustle. He was like a lake, quietly watching the changes of the world.
Walking along Vermillion Bird Main Street, he soon arrived at the capital governor's office.
A bailiff saw him return and hurriedly went up to take his horse. "Milord."
"Take it down and feed it something. It must be tired after running for a whole day," Li Yixiu said.
"Yes." The bailiff left.
"Wait." Li Yixiu stopped him. "Did anything happen in the past two days?"
The bailiff said, "Hai, what could happen? It's just some trivial matters. With you overseeing the capital governor's office, who would dare to cause trouble?"
Li Yixiu smiled and shook his head. "To some fierce people, my name might not be useful."
"Why did you come back?"
At this moment, a dark-robed official with a booklet under his arm, a food box in his left hand, and an exquisite gift box in his right walked out and said in surprise, "Where's your carriage?"
Li Yixiu said, "It's Zhi Zhen. I thought it was too slow, so I let Afo stay in Jiujiang County and rode back myself. Did you ask sister-in-law to bring you food again? I've said a few times that meals are only delicious when eaten at home. If they always eat at the mansion, people will think that I'm so strict that my subordinates don't even have time to eat. "
The scarlet-robed official replied nonchalantly, "Habits can't be changed. It's not like you don't know this. Besides, what's wrong with being a little more harsh? If His Majesty were to find out, he would only place more importance on you."
His name was Chang Zhizhen, Li Yixiu's classmate and good friend. He was now Li Yixiu's Junior Magistrate. He was very serious and responsible in his work and was trusted by Li Yixiu.
Li Yixiu smiled bitterly and said, "Alright, I really can't win against you. Why did someone give you a gift today? Such a beautiful box is really rare."
Chang Zhizhen smiled and said, "Someone did indeed give me a gift."
Li Yixiu asked curiously, "When did you become enlightened? You actually know how to accept bribes?"
Chang Zhizhen said, "Would I dare not accept a gift from His Majesty?"
Li Yixiu was slightly surprised and said, "Why did His Majesty give you something?"
Chang Zhizhen said, "This is your share. I originally wanted to send it to your home, but now that you're back, take it with you. I've already taken my share home."
"I have one too?" Li Yixiu took it.
Chang Zhizhen said mysteriously, "Let me tell you, there's Qingxi tea inside. If it wasn't for our many years of friendship, I would have hidden it."
Then he told him about Ji Tiansheng's invitation to the Hundred Flower Gardens and the New Year's goods. In the end, he said, "Heh, His Majesty really put a lot of effort into that Yan Li."
"Oh?" Li Yixiu's heart moved slightly.
Chang Zhizhen said indifferently, "You were wondering why His Majesty suddenly had the leisure to invite the officials to admire the flowers. So it's a grand conferring ceremony specially for Yan Li. Now he's already a Chancellor of the Supreme Court, one of the Nine Ministers, comparable to a duke or marquis. You're even one rank lower than him."
Li Yixiu smiled and said, "Even you have a temper, so there must be even more opposing voices in the court. His Majesty brought it up in the midst of admiring the flowers to prepare a path of retreat. If it doesn't work out, there's still a way out. It's not like you said, it's a grand conferring ceremony specially prepared for Brother Yan."
Chang Zhizhen couldn't help but laugh and said, "You're a shrewd person, I really can't hide anything from you. Since you're back, come, come, accompany me for a drink. "
"Not today." Li Yixiu shook his head.
Chang Zhizhen said, "Just this short journey has turned you into a soft-footed shrimp?"
Li Yixiu wasn't annoyed. He smiled and took out a piece of jade from his bag and handed it over, saying, "Do you still remember the Nephrite jade I told you about last time? I've asked someone to find it."
Chang Zhizhen only felt that the jade was smooth in her hand and felt a trace of warmth. She knew that this was no ordinary jade and suddenly said, "You have to prepare a birthday gift for Lord Situ. Speaking of which, Lord Situ's fiftieth birthday is in a few days. "
Li Yixiu smiled and nodded.
"Then let's walk back together." Chang Zhizhen had no choice but to return the jade and the gift box to Li Yixiu.
The two chatted as they walked and soon came to a dark alley. Their homes were on the left and right sides of the dark alley, so they had to go their separate ways.
Chang Zhizhen suddenly lowered her voice and said, "The information Instructor Shen provided about Yu Youwei …"
Li Yixiu raised his hand to stop her and looked around attentively. After a while, he said, "Did you find anything?"
Chang Zhizhen said, "I received information that Yu Youwei was seen in Heavenly Cloud Pavilion."
"Heavenly Cloud Pavilion?" Li Yixiu narrowed his eyes.
Chang Zhizhen said, "Recently, Heavenly Cloud Pavilion has been holding poetry meetings every other day. The guests are all the famous young masters and ladies of Yongling. Every time I went in disguise, I didn't find any trace of Yu Youwei. But I did find a strange phenomenon."
"What phenomenon?" Li Yixiu hurriedly asked.
Chang Zhizhen said, "Every time the poetry meeting was halfway through, some people would mysteriously disappear. But after investigation, I found that they had all gone home."
Li Yixiu said, "What's so strange about that?"
Chang Zhizhen said faintly, "Those who left midway seemed to have autism. They locked themselves in their rooms all day long. Even their meals and drinks had to be sent in by servants. It was said that there were some who lost their minds and beat a few servants to death."
Li Yixiu pondered for a moment and said, "Continue to investigate. You must find Yu Youwei's whereabouts. I suspect that these things have something to do with her. But you must be careful. If anything goes wrong, take care of yourself. Got it? "
"I know." Chang Zhizhen nodded.
…
Moving out of the academy tomorrow, Yan Li didn't feel reluctant.
At least he didn't have to worry about the grumpy old man on the top of the mountain suddenly coming down to kill him.
Now, there was no sword on his back. After melting down the Xuan Jun, he found a ring inside. It looked like it was made of wood, and it was grey and inconspicuous. Even if it was thrown on the street, no one would specially bend down to pick it up, because it was too ordinary, too ordinary.
Yan Li studied it for a month without eating or sleeping, but he didn't find anything special about it. The secret of immortality was all nonsense.
He looked down at the Dragon God Ring lying quietly in his palm and suddenly sighed.
No matter what, the Dragon God Ring was something his father had repeatedly urged him to keep. Now that it was in his hands, it could be considered a small accomplishment. It would be a little greedy to ask for more.
He strung the ring on a red string and tied it around his neck to avoid losing it. Then he got up and walked out of the courtyard.
His small courtyard was a little deserted at night. Perhaps it was because Fu 'er wasn't there. He couldn't stay there when he wasn't cultivating.
He walked to the main street, and the number of pedestrians gradually decreased. As he walked, he didn't know how he arrived near the Resentful Yuan Tower.
On the arch bridge, he looked at the signboard of the Resentful Yuan Tower from afar, and he suddenly thought of Zhan Mu. The past was suddenly like a painting, flipping open piece by piece. He took a step forward, crossed the river, and walked down the riverbank, all the way to the entrance of the peach forest.
At this time, the peach forest had already been fenced under Ji Tiansheng's orders, and the entrance was guarded by guards. It was like a forbidden area of the imperial family.
Yan Li suddenly wanted to go in and take a look, so he went in from a corner where the guards couldn't see.
He paced slowly, deep in thought.
Why did he always have a familiar and intimate feeling toward this place?
Why would there be an inexplicable voice here?
Who was the owner of that voice? Why was he so eager to see her at this moment?
Perhaps, her smile was a kind of redemption.
He suddenly felt his heart palpitate, and he suddenly came back to his senses. One of his feet was suspended in mid-air, not daring to move. It turned out that he had unknowingly walked to the side of the lake. If he stepped on it, he would directly fall into the water.
Fortunately, he came back to his senses at the critical moment. Otherwise, if he fell into the lake in such a forbidden area of the imperial family, only death would await him.
However, he discovered something even worse. Because he was too close to the lake, he was frozen by the water's aura. No matter how he commanded his body to retreat, it was useless. The fear of the water made his body lose all feeling.
What was even worse was that a gust of wind blew from behind him. He was truly unlucky. He couldn't even drink water. As he regained his senses, he tried to maintain his balance.
However, the wind was too strong, and he felt that he was slowly falling toward the lake.
In a moment of desperation, he suddenly thought of the Fire Spirit Pearl and immediately called out in his heart.
Perhaps the Fire Spirit Pearl heard his call, and a heat energy slowly extended from a certain part of his body. Borrowing this heat energy, he used all his strength to leap backward. Finally, he was far away from the side of the lake, and his body gradually regained its senses.
His lingering fear had yet to dissipate, and he was panting heavily. He suddenly broke through another life and death profound door, feeling waves of helplessness.
"En?"
He suddenly realized that the heat energy from the Fire Spirit Pearl didn't dissipate. Instead, it felt like it was getting hotter and hotter. He angrily said, "Hey, stop dissipating the heat. Are you going to burn me to death?!"
However, the Fire Spirit Pearl didn't listen.
He jumped up from the ground. When he lifted his clothes, the Fire Spirit Pearl suddenly scuttled out on its own and actually flew straight forward. It looked like it was in a panic, as though it was fleeing for its life.
Before Yan Li could react, the Dragon God Ring suddenly broke out of his chest and chased after the Fire Spirit Pearl. He then realized that there seemed to be a scarlet light connecting the two.
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