Chapter 38 Fire starts
Daxiangguo Temple was originally named Jianguo Temple. It was built in the sixth year of Tianbao in the Northern Qi Dynasty and the first year of Yanhe in the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Ruizong named it Daxiangguo Temple in memory of his ascension from the throne as the Prince of Xiang. The name "Daxiangguo" has been used until now.

Although Emperor Zhu Wen of Liang did not worship Buddha, he had no ill feelings towards him. Therefore, the area around Daxiangguo Temple had become the most prosperous scene in the city of Bianliang.

At this time, it was getting dark and the pedestrians on the street gradually dispersed. This was because in half an hour, the evening drums would begin to sound in each neighborhood. At that time, the neighborhood gates would be closed and the curfew would begin.

Even during the New Year holidays, there is a curfew at night and no one is allowed on the streets.

If you want to have fun all night long, you have to wait until the Lantern Festival, when there will be no curfew for three days.

"Girl, curfew will be in effect soon. You are new in Bianliang, so please don't break the ban."

After getting off the carriage, the driver took the money and kindly reminded Ji Ruxue.

But as soon as he raised his head, the girl disappeared in the crowd.

Around the Daxiangguo Temple, there were already places where dignitaries lived and various government offices. To the west, past the Imperial Street, there were the Imperial Censorate and Chongzhengyuan, and further away, there was Kaifeng Prefecture. To the east, there were alleys and alleys, mostly residential houses. To the north, there was the Imperial Palace.

Ji Ruxue hurriedly walked around several alleys and finally caught up with the convoy traveling in the middle of the street.

The convoy drove northeast all the way, finally turned into an alley on Ma Xing Street, and stopped outside a villa.

There are high walls and large courtyards here, and there are almost no pedestrians strolling around. Occasionally there are a few people, but they are all wealthy people wearing fu hats and robes.

Outside the courtyard gate, an old eunuch with a white face and no beard was waiting for people.

Ji Ruxue hid in the corner of the alley and watched from afar as a ghost soldier lifted the curtain of a carriage. Then a thin young man bent down and got out of the carriage with a handkerchief covering his mouth.

The old eunuch smiled and helped the young man into the villa. At the same time, half of the more than one hundred ghost soldiers around the cavalry also moved in.

Seeing that the leader of the Xuanming Sect and the other carriages continued to drive away, Ji Ruxue suddenly turned around.

She thought for a moment, pulled out a veil to cover half of her face, then leaped a few times on the high wall and climbed into a house.

……

"Prince Jiyin, please look. Your Majesty has already ordered this old servant to prepare this villa for Prince Jiyin to live in when he comes to Beijing."

The old eunuch walked in front, with an attitude as if he was giving orders, and introduced the arrangements of various places to Xiao Yan in detail.

Xiao Yan covered his mouth with a handkerchief and coughed, and said flatteredly: "Xiao Wang really doesn't need the father-in-law to worry so much."

"Well, under the emperor's order, I will do my best, and the Prince of Jiyin should be grateful for the emperor's grace."

"That's right, that's right. I pray for the emperor all the time."

Hearing the young man's weak voice behind him, the old eunuch smiled softly and led him into the inner house.

But before he could settle everyone down, there was some noise in the outer courtyard.

The old eunuch frowned in dissatisfaction, and immediately brought Xiao Yan out, only then did he understand the reason for their noise.

It turned out that this villa was actually guarded by imperial guards, but now a group of ghost soldiers moved in, and it suddenly seemed a bit crowded.

The old eunuch was a little embarrassed, and he restrained his arrogant attitude in front of Xiao Yan, and asked the two leaders: "Your Majesty ordered me to be responsible for the daily life of Prince Jiyin these days, but I should also ask the two generals, how is the guard duty arranged?"

The lieutenant of the imperial guard leaned on his waist and said, "We were originally assigned to the imperial guards. The eunuch saw it a few days ago. We were transferred here before the New Year! Now these bastards come here for no reason and want to take our place. Where should we get our reward?!"

"Bullshit!" The bad guy who was dressed as a small leader of the Xuanming Sect pressed the handle of his knife and said angrily, "Whether in Caozhou or along the way, the King of Jiyin is protected by us. Don't show off your power just because you are the Bianliang Imperial Guard. Who are you trying to scare?!"

"I'm just showing off my power, so what? I just look down on you, the half-human, half-ghost people of Xuanming Sect. Others may be afraid of you, but I am not! I followed His Majesty to fight against Li Keyong and killed Wei Bo's soldiers. You can't just scare some wandering knights. Why are you pretending to be so smart?"

The lieutenant of the imperial guards was also arrogant and was about to draw his sword to fight.

The bad guy was not afraid at all. He raised his hand and the people behind him started to confront the imperial guards in the corridor. He also challenged: "If you are really brave, go to the headquarters of my Xuanming Sect and repeat what you said. But you are relying on the fact that my Lord Yan is not here. If he was here, I am afraid your head would have rolled all over the floor."

The old eunuch was so frightened by the quick tempers of the two sides that his eyelids twitched and he kept trying to dissuade them.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, please stop making trouble. Our family hasn't made any arrangements. Please don't use knives. It's the New Year and other holidays..." However, the two groups of people ignored him completely and continued to curse each other.

The old eunuch was extremely angry. These crude warriors were really unreasonable, but he just couldn't afford to offend them.

At this moment, a strong wind suddenly pushed the lieutenant of the imperial guards from behind, causing his legs to stagger, and the knife in his hand, which had already been unsheathed, slashed forward immediately.

The bad guy narrowly escaped and looked up suddenly, then saw a crowd of people. Xiao Yan nodded slightly with a cold face.

He smiled grimly, drew the knife from his sheath suddenly, and stabbed the lieutenant in the abdomen.

"You bastard, the brothers all saw it, it was the Imperial Guards who started it first!"

Before the lieutenant could react, he stared with his eyes wide open, wanting to shout out in disbelief, but the bad guy had already twisted his neck and then drew his sword and rushed forward.

"Dry!"

The rest of the imperial guards had never expected that their leader would actually draw his sword, but this was too little time for them to think and they had to charge forward with their shields in hand.

However, the Bad People took the initiative and each of them had rich combat experience. No extra commands were needed at this time. They instantly divided dozens of imperial guards into several groups and prevented them from forming a formation easily.

In an instant, blood splattered everywhere along with screams.

Spots of blood floated onto the old eunuch's fair face, and only then did he suddenly react.

"Don't do it! Don't do it!"

A broken blade flew from nowhere and instantly cut off the palace hat on his head.

The old eunuch's face instantly lost all color and he fell backwards in panic. In the inner house, the palace maids who had been assigned to perform the task were in chaos.

"Where is the King of Jiyin? Where is the King of Jiyin?"

The old eunuch turned around and saw a group of palace maids screaming, but there was no sign of Xiao Yan.

At this moment, he really felt a sense of impending disaster. His lips lost their color and began to tremble.

"It's a disaster..."

……

In the backyard garden, Xiao Yan casually threw his coat into the corner, then leaned over and scratched the snow with his fingers, smearing some stains on his face.

There were chaotic screams coming from behind him. He slightly turned his body, and two palace maids ran over from the other side of the fake stone in panic.

His mind was exceptionally calm.

"'Sword Intent' continues to lock onto the target. Note that this will continue to consume the host's internal energy."

Ignoring the warning, he followed the target and with a few leaps, he climbed over the stone wall that separated the garden.

In the house next to the other courtyard, Ji Ruxue swept away the snow on the roof and lay down. Then she looked at the chaos in the other courtyard with a blank face.

The imperial guards had begun to collapse, but the ghosts of the Xuanming Sect showed no mercy and drove them all the way out of the courtyard.

"Why are you here?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Ji Ruxue turned around suddenly.

Behind her, Xiao Yan was stroking his chin, looking at her curiously, and asked, "Are you really not afraid of death?"

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(End of this chapter)