Chapter 234 Sword (I)

evening.

As the saying goes, "The moon rises over the sea, and people all over the world share this moment." During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather was also very good. A bright moon hung high in the sky, and the indifferent and soothing moonlight was reflected on every person in Bianjing who went out for fun. Although it was not yet the really lively time, the streets were already crowded with people and cars.

Ji Ruxue entered from the side door of Anle Pavilion carrying a large box. After smiling and nodding to a few dancers who greeted her, she hurried to the backyard.

After passing through many garden gates and walking around a path planted with flowers and trees, you will enter an elegant and quiet courtyard.

Of course, the so-called quietness is compared to the Anle Pavilion and Daxiangguo Temple. If compared with the Xiao residence where Xiao Yan is located in the south wing, it is far less secluded than there.

At this time, I entered the small attic on the second floor and happened to run into Miao Chengtian and Xuan Jingtian coming out talking and laughing.

"Hey, why didn't Xue'er come today..." Xuan Jingtian couldn't help but be surprised.

It was no wonder that she was surprised. Comparing the three women, she and Miao Chengtian were both dressed up, wearing fashionable skirts. The necklines in front of their chests were white and creamy, which was very beautiful and particularly attractive.

In this regard, Ji Ruxue was much simpler, still wearing the blue shirt, but with the demeanor of a young girl.

In response to this, Ji Ruxue was of course just confused: "Is there anything strange?"

Miao Chengtian held the round fan and laughed, then raised his hand to take the big box held in Ji Ruxue's arms: "What is this?"

"Xiao Yan said it was the outer space black iron, transported back from Mobei, and temporarily stored here."

"Heavenly Black Iron?" Xuan Jingtian's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but want to remove the seal on it: "This is a good thing, it is most useful for making magic weapons."

"Hey." Miao Chengtian gently patted her hands with a round fan.

"Don't touch your things, my Lord."

Xuan Jingtian suddenly realized what was happening, but he took the big box and walked inside without caring about his formal attire: "Xue'er, why did you bring this thing back from thousands of miles away? Are you trying to make a magic weapon?"

Ji Ruxue pursed her lips, not knowing how to answer.

Miao Chengtian saw through it at a glance, but just smiled and said nothing. Instead, she gently took Ji Ruxue's hand and walked inside: "Come, come, sister will do your makeup. You will be seventeen soon, why do you always look like a little girl?"

The latter was a little surprised, but Xuan Jingtian was already beside her and said with a smile: "You are not too lazy to dress up because the prince is coming to the palace and I won't go to the lantern festival with you, right?"

After saying that, she blinked and said, "Although I have entered the palace now, the party will eventually end..."

After hearing these words, Ji Ruxue might have sensed something from Xuan Jingtian's inexplicable smile, and her face suddenly blushed. But after that, she did not refuse Miao Chengtian to personally dress her up.

"Let's talk, Xue'er, you follow the Lord..."

Seeing Ji Ruxue being forced to sit in front of the bronze mirror by Miao Chengtian, Xuan Jingtian kept gossiping, without any estrangement at all: "You have lived with Xiao Lang in that house for several days, have you already..."

Among the nine holy maidens of Huanyinfang, each has a different personality. Compared with the dignified and solemn Miao Chengtian, Xuan Jingtian is also proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, but because she is good at using the bow, she focuses more on martial arts and her personality is relatively more straightforward.

But Ji Ruxue was still just a girl after all. No matter how cold and aloof she was at other times, she couldn't stand it now and quickly stopped her: "Don't talk nonsense..."

Miao Chengtian also chuckled. The relationship between the three of them was certainly not so close in the past, but after the incident in Caozhou, they had been together almost all the time in the past two years. Ji Ruxue was no longer the empress's maid, so their friendship naturally grew day by day and they had already become like sisters.

But she knew that Ji Ruxue was too shy, so she changed the subject naturally: "I heard that the Lord wanted to rearrange the manor outside the city, why didn't you send us some people over?"

This manor outside the city was naturally a manor in the suburbs of Bianjing that Zhu Wen gave to Xiao Yan, or it could be called a villa, with five or six hundred acres of land, and even a mill and an oil press. It was unknown which wealthy family's property was confiscated.

Although this villa is not large, it has fields and water, and is shaded by trees. It is located in the suburbs only a few miles away from Bian Jing, and can overlook the capital, which makes it quite interesting like a wealthy family.

Xiao Yan brought back about two hundred riders from Hebei Province. Except for the one hundred or so sent to Caozhou, the rest were all placed in this villa. He also asked people to teach them how to farm, so they could be self-sufficient.

In the area near the villas, which is about ten miles away from the south gate of Bianjing, there are mostly manors with only a few hundred acres of land. They are all properties that have been run by the founding members of the Daliang Dynasty or some dignitaries for more than ten or twenty years. Among the green trees and yellow earth, there are magnificent theaters everywhere, which has a different flavor compared to the prosperity and bustle of the city of Bianjing.

The rearrangement that Miao Chengtian mentioned meant that Xiao Yan had spent a large sum of money to purchase two manors close to his Xiao family's villa, intending to connect them into one and create some new ideas.

As for why she knew that the money Xiao Yan paid for the land was transferred through the account of Anle Pavilion. Now, she, the Saint Ji of Huanyinfang, has become Xiao Yan's personal housekeeper, and the latter also trusts her. Basically, all matters of the Xiao Mansion will be handed over to her for handling. Therefore, she is called Saint Ji, but in fact she is a housekeeper.

Ji Ruxue was stunned, and answered subconsciously: "I haven't heard him say that...but they have been leveling the land there recently, and then planting grass on it. Apart from that, they haven't done anything else."

Xuan Jingtian then said in surprise: "Xiao Lang wants to build a horse farm? How many horses can be raised on this piece of land? Isn't it a waste of time..."

Miao Chengtian also frowned.

The horse shops opened by Anle Pavilion in various parts of the Central Plains have transactions almost every month, because not only is there war between the Central Plains and Hedong, but there are also constant wars and frictions between the princes in the south. It would have been fine if there were no such wars in the past, but now that they can purchase war horses, they will naturally buy them.

Now that several princes in the south have war horses in their armies, from the princes to the military governors of various towns, they all have confidence, and the fighting between them will become more intense. The more intense the fighting, the more war horses will be lost. In some ways, the appearance of Xiao Yan may have become a driving force for the intensification of the war in the south.

Because the horse trade is obviously a business that will not be saturated in a short period of time, Qi State has already set up two new horse farms in Longyou, raising tens of thousands of horses. And how many horses can Xiao Yan raise on the more than a thousand acres of land outside the city? Isn't this just a waste of criticism...

But Ji Ruxue explained: "It's not about opening a horse farm, it seems that they are going to buy a football field, and they plan to invite Zhu Wen to come out of the city to watch it later."

"Football, what is that?" Xuan Jingtian was stunned.

But having said that, she actually realized it belatedly, because these two words are really easy to understand.

Sure enough, Ji Ruxue thought about it and said, "Cuju... is similar to Cuju, but Xiao Yan insisted on calling it football, saying that it would definitely attract Zhu Wen. Ding Zhaopu secretly sent someone to tell Xiao Yan two days ago that the Ghost King went to the palace day and night to help Zhu Wen practice Buddhism, in order to prevent Xiao Yan from having the opportunity to show up in front of Zhu Wen, so as to gradually reduce his favor, so he set up this football field. Although it looks like Cuju, the paved field seems to be much larger than the Cuju field."

After that, she shook her head and said, "I've only been there once and took a quick look. I don't know what the inside story is."

The two girls Miao Chengtian suddenly understood and then fell silent.

Now they all know that Xiao Yan is the prince, and they all want to invite him to Qi State. However, this prince only wants to dig up the roots of Daliang and devote himself to deceiving Zhu Wen. It is not difficult to see from a series of actions taken by Anle Pavilion that when it comes to this kind of "fawning" thing, no one can compare to Xiao Yan.

The Ghost King wanted to prevent Xiao Yan from entering the palace and getting close to Zhu Wen. If it were someone else, it might not be possible. After all, the Ghost King is the adopted son of the old man Zhu Wen, and the most trusted one. In addition, he recently presented the so-called Buddhist Dharma that can prolong life, so he can take the opportunity to isolate the inside and the outside.

But Xiao Yan just wanted to do the opposite and even wanted to invite Zhu Wen out directly. Maybe he had a bigger plan. Of course, the two women couldn't help but make wild guesses.

However, it goes without saying what the two girls were thinking. Miao Chengtian did not slow down for a moment in dressing Ji Ruxue. He pasted a flower ornament on the girl's forehead and specially selected clothes to make her already graceful figure look even more beautiful.

So after a moment, Ji Ruxue looked at herself in the bronze mirror and was shocked for a moment.

Miao Chengtian then smiled and asked, "How is it?"

Xuan Jingtian sat on a low table nearby and said jokingly, "Sister, you want Xue'er to charm Xiao Lang tonight, right?"

Ji Ruxue's cheeks turned red, but she didn't dare to look at herself in the bronze mirror. She turned her head away, not knowing what she was thinking.

Miao Chengtian then glared at his sister unhappily, then took Ji Ruxue's hand and said with a smile: "Xue'er, this makeup is not just for Xiao Lang. The lanterns are very beautiful tonight, and there will be fireworks on the Bian River later. Xue'er, do you want to go for a walk with us?"

Ji Ruxue had no objection, so the three of them did not hesitate and called over several sisters and sent someone to prepare a boat, intending to go on a river cruise and enjoy the scenery.

However, when she went out of the west courtyard, Ji Ruxue was distracted for a moment and did not participate too much in the conversations and laughter of the sisters around her, and she noticed some other sounds.

"Shopkeeper Duan got angry again. We agreed to go to the Lantern Festival together, but after we were done, I couldn't find Brother Xiaobei..."

"Oh, Master Duan is both my father and my mother. Why would he care about a lantern festival? What's the big deal if Brother Xiaobei goes out to play by himself? Can he get lost?"

"You are stupid. How many people in Bianjing City are jealous of our family? Brother Xiaobei has made so many deliveries. He is recognizable everywhere. If one of them is not good... why do you, as the shopkeeper Duan, have to be so strict?"

"Hiss, Brother Xiaobei is a bit naughty..."

"..."

Ji Ruxue's hearing was already quite sharp, so she couldn't help but notice the muttering of the two black-shirted delivery men in the corridor, and she frowned slightly.

She had an impression of Luo Xiaobei, the interesting young boy who mistook her for Madam Xiao Yan last year. After returning from Hebei, she knew that because of his young age, fast speed, and being a likable child, he was very popular at the time and was called Brother Xiaobei.

She still remembered that Xiao Yan had told Duan Chengtian before that letting Luo Xiaobei deliver takeout would be a good opportunity to temper his temper. Later, they could hire a famous teacher, such as Han Yanhui or Feng Dao, to teach him, so that he would not be incompetent.

Unexpectedly, today, I just happened to see his eccentric side. Thinking of this, Ji Ruxue paid attention to it, but soon heard Xuan Jingtian calling in front, so she just followed him.

……

"You are Luo Xiaobei?"

The masked young man squatted down, holding a candle in his hand and waving it in front of Luo Xiaobei, who was only six or seven years younger than him.

The latter, however, had a vigilant look on his face, and glanced outside the alley, but he only saw two tall and strong warriors guarding there with their chests folded against the wall, trying not to draw attention to this place to people outside.

And just now, several teenagers of the same age who were originally going to join him in the Lantern Festival happened to pass by the alley and did not notice that their admired Brother Xiaobei was in this alley.

The lights outside the alley are bright, just like daytime.

There were no lights in the alley. The only bright color seemed to be the candle in the hands of the masked boy in front of him, whose background was unknown.

He remained silent.

"I know it even if you don't tell me."

The young man smiled faintly and said, "Your master is the bad guy Tiansuxing Duan Chengtian."

"How do you know?" Luo Xiaobei was surprised for a moment, but there was inevitable panic in his tone.

"Because I am also a bad person."

The young man laughed again and took off the mask on his face, revealing a handsome face with deep eyes: "My last name is Li, and I come from the Hidden Soldiers Valley."

For a moment, Luo Xiaobei's brain froze, as if he was shocked by the three words "Cangbing Valley".

But immediately, he asked suspiciously: "What is the Cangbing Valley?"

The so-called handsome young man with the surname Li but no name was, of course, the fake Li Xingyun who had painstakingly imitated Li Xingyun's behavior, tone, and habits for the past ten years. He was, of course, stunned and frowned at this moment: "Didn't your master tell you about the Hidden Soldiers Valley?"

Luo Xiaobei remained silent again.

"Kui Si, come here." The fake Li called out towards the alley entrance.

Of the two people at the alley, the man with an arm guard on the left turned over, took something out of his arms, and showed it to Luo Xiaobei.

The latter took a closer look and saw that it was a palm-sized copper token with the blood-red words "Bad People" engraved on it. The patterns on the token were complicated and slightly similar to those on the Bad People flag.

Luo Xiaobei once saw the Bad Flag by chance and was deeply impressed.

The fake Li curled up the corner of his mouth, took the token directly from Kui Si's hand and showed it to Luo Xiaobei.

The latter subconsciously glanced at the owner of the token, but saw that Kui Si was so tall that most of his face was hidden in the darkness, and the exposed chin only showed that he was serious.

He muttered to himself, turned it over, and saw the word "Tian Kui" on the back of the token.

"How?" asked the fake Li.

"Why did you tie me up?" Luo Xiaobei did not answer, but asked back.

The fake Li frowned, then stood up and spread his hands: "Where did I tie you up? I brought you into this alley because I really have something secret to ask you."

Luo Xiaobei scratched the back of his head with a naive look, and then, without standing up, looked at the face of the fake Li.

The latter finally lost his patience and said, "Next, let me ask you..."

However, at the moment when the voice was spoken, Luo Xiaobei, who had not yet stood up, tightly grasped the token in his hand, and then suddenly rolled on the ground towards the depths of the alley. He exerted force with his feet, and touched the left and right walls with his toes, and jumped out of the alley in an instant.

The fake Li was stunned at first, and then suddenly became furious.

He immediately looked back, but saw Kui Si still standing there with his hands in his hands, but the figure at the entrance of the alley had disappeared.

After a moment, the sound of several breaking tiles was heard from the top of the alley, and then a figure landed steadily on the ground.

Obviously, Luo Xiaobei, who was caught this time, was a little stunned and embarrassed.

"Kuiyou, you did a good job." The fake Li was overjoyed. He first praised the tall and strong man who grabbed Luo Xiaobei by the collar, then walked forward with the candle, grabbed the latter's face, and sneered, "Why are you running?"

Luo Xiaobei tried his best to accumulate saliva in his mouth, and then spat out fiercely: "Bah! Who are you kidding?"

Of course, the fake Li dodged in time and was stunned for a moment, then his face darkened: "What do you mean?"

"You are such a bad person, you dare not enter Anle Pavilion?" Luo Xiaobei said proudly: "Don't think I am easy to fool!"

"joke."

Fake Li sneered: "Do you know that there are bad people rebelling in your Anle Pavilion?"

After saying that, he didn't wait for Luo Xiaobei to refute in surprise, and sneered again: "Uncle Tianli Xingyang, who defected with the secrets of the Bad People, fled to Anle Pavilion because he was an old friend of your master Duan Chengtian. We were ordered by the commander to arrest this man. How could we lie to you?"

Luo Xiaobei naturally didn't believe it.

Fake Li pressed the issue again, "Your master is an accomplice in taking in rebels! Do you know about this? Does your master know about this? Do you know how the bad guys deal with rebels?"

All of a sudden, no matter how fearless Luo Xiaobei, who was only ten years old, was, he naturally panicked when he heard that his master was involved.

"I brought you here to ask where Uncle Yang is hidden. If you answer truthfully, you may be able to prove your master's innocence." Fake Li said coldly and walked away: "Now it seems that it is not necessary."

"I know, I know!"

Seeing that Tian Kui and the other two also left him coldly, Luo Xiaobei was of course panicked, so he hesitated for a moment and then spoke immediately.

"Ah."

The fake Li turned his back to him and sneered.

……

Xuanming Sect.

"Meng Po didn't go to the palace for the banquet?"

Two tall figures in black robes were seen entering the yamen, and Meng Po, who looked like an old woman, was sitting at the head of the hall processing documents in a dignified manner.

Hearing this, Meng Po shook her head and said, "The Dark Emperor has left the capital, so someone must be in charge of the headquarters. Since Your Majesty is hosting a banquet for all the ministers, I will not join in the fun. But why did the two judges leave and come back?"

The two so-called black-robed figures are naturally the famous Water and Fire Judges of the Xuanming Sect. From the Underworld Emperor down, these two can directly share power and check Meng Po. They have enormous power. It is rumored that they have good martial arts skills. No one has ever seen the two of them working together.

Of the two, Judge Huo replied in a hoarse voice, "The Ghost King just delivered an order on behalf of Your Majesty, saying that the Mid-Autumn Festival is a grand event for all the people to enjoy. In order to prevent the incident in Bianjing last year, he ordered the two of us to guard the east and west cities respectively to prevent any trouble."

Meng Po nodded slightly and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

Without mentioning what the two were thinking, they of course just responded with a few words and then went to the underground palace.

After the Judge of Water and Fire left, Meng Po pondered for a moment and summoned a ghost.

"Send someone to inform Kuichou that tonight's matter can be dealt with quickly, and ask him not to accompany the lady who made such a big noise..."

"Yes."

The man left immediately, but Meng Po slowly put down her pen, hesitated for a moment, walked to the hall with a hunched back, looked up at the bright moon in the sky, and after a long time, she sighed deeply.

(End of this chapter)