Nightwatcher

The next day, early morning.

In Yingmei Xiaoge, the spacious and luxurious Jinta, Floating Fragrance, who was sleeping soundly, let out a sweet and lazy panting.

The thick curly eyelashes trembled, and when she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Xu Qi'an's high nose and handsome profile.

He has woken up, quietly looking at the roof.

"Good morning, Xu Lang."

Fu Xiang stretched out her arms from under the quilt, hooked Xu Qi'an's neck, and at the same time pressed down his troublesome hands.

"How early is it? I have to say in the morning: You were amazing last night!" Xu Qi'an yawned and asked, "What time is it?"

"I hate it, I can't say it."

Fu Xiang also yawned, rubbed her cheek against Xu Qi'an's face, and said coquettishly: "The water is leaking at the foot of the bed, Xu Lang can see for himself."

Xu Qi'an threw his upper body out of the bed and looked at the foot of the bed. The next moment, he jumped up from the bed: "It's time, you annoying little devil, I have to go to the yamen immediately, or the monthly salary for the second half of the year will be gone. .”

Fu Xiang propped her head on her arm, and said with a silly smile: "Yesterday, Xu Lang was the one who was torturing others, beating them upside down, bah."

Xu Qi'an left Yingmei Xiaoge, went to the stables, and took away his filly. As expected, Erlang's horse disappeared, which meant that he had left Jiaofangsi.

He rode a pony back to Xu's Mansion, looked left and right along the way, but he never saw anyone selling green oranges.

"Zhong Li seems to be still in Sitianjian, I should go pick her up." Xu Qi'an muttered, and turned to run in the direction of Sitianjian.

"zazaza"

Xu Qi'an pulled down the gate valve, and the stone door leading to the underground of Si Tianjian opened. He shouted at the top of his voice, "Zhong Li, I'm here to pick you up."

The sound echoed in the empty underground.

After a while, footsteps came from the steps leading straight to the ground, the oil lamp was burning, and the halo of the fire reflected the outline of a figure, which gradually became clear.

Zhong Li with disheveled hair climbed the steps, and a crisp voice came from his hair, with a bit of joy: "You are here."

"Let's go, follow me home." Xu Qi'an turned around and wanted to leave.

Zhong Li turned around and shouted towards the dark ground: "Senior brother Yang, shut yourself up and think about your mistakes, don't make the teacher angry again."

After speaking, she pulled down the handle and closed the stone door.

As Xu Qi'an walked out, he asked curiously, "Did Senior Brother Yang do something wrong?"

Zhong Li looked at him and said in a low voice: "Brother Yang went to the Meridian Gate yesterday, blocked the way of civil and military officials, and read your poem.

"The princes and His Majesty were furious, and sent people to condemn the teacher and severely punish Senior Brother Yang. The teacher hung up Senior Brother Yang and gave him a beating, and then imprisoned him in the ground. After thinking about it for ten years, the princes and His Majesty will give up now."

Xu Qi'an was stunned, his face was dull, it was unbelievable that someone would do this just to pretend to be coercive.

Yang Qianhuan was hung up by the jailer and given a beating? I didn't watch it at the time, what a pity! !

Feeling regretful in his heart, he didn't forget the business. He looked around in the lobby. Since all the nine-rank doctors had run away, he could only ask Zhong Li beside him, saying:

"Is there any powder to cover up the smell? I drank some wine last night. You may not know that my aunt and sister don't like me drinking."

"Oh." Zhong Li nodded, and said obediently: "The way to cover up the smell of makeup is very simple, just wait, I'll find you some incense."

This is a bit embarrassing, the corner of Xu Qi'an's mouth twitched.

When he returned to Xu's mansion, he saw Lina and Susu playing chess at the stone table in the courtyard, and Xu Lingyin was walking not far away.

"cauldron"

Xiaodouding pretended to be very happy to meet him, and took the opportunity to take a lazy rest.

Lina is obviously an incompetent master, staring at the chessboard with all her attention, her beautiful face full of seriousness and thinking.

It was a strange feeling to see two scumbags discussing calculus. Xu Qi'an walked over curiously and took a closer look.

It turned out that the two were playing backgammon!

gone away

Because Zhong Li had been reminded on the way, the fifth senior sister of Si Tianjian didn't think it was strange to see a ghost sitting in the yard playing chess, but just looked at it several times.

"This is a charm, very rare." She whispered.

I know that Mei's characteristic is beauty, and she likes to seduce passers-by in the deep mountains and old forests, and then drain their energy, well, this energy is a serious energy Xu Qi'an nodded to show that he knew it in his heart.

Seeing this, Zhong Li stopped talking.

Afterwards, Xu Qi'an found out that Li Miaozhen was gone, and was startled, ran to the yard and asked Susu, "Where's your master?"

Without raising her head, Susu stared at the chessboard intently, and replied sweetly, "Go to Lingbao Temple."

Outside the gate of the imperial city, Li Miaozhen, who was wearing Taoist robes, was stopped by the Huben Guard.

Not in a hurry or annoyed, she turned around and walked back for a while, then slapped her back, and with a "clang", the flying sword came out of its sheath.

Seeing this, Huben Wei who was not far away thought she was about to force her way into the imperial city, and was shocked and drew out their weapons one after another.

Li Miaozhen leaped onto the spine of the sword lightly, and Feijian led her soaring upwards, and froze at a height of twenty feet. At this height, the Lingbao Temple can already be seen very far away.

The tiger guards at the top of the city drew their bowstrings, turned the bed crossbows and cannons, aimed at Li Miaozhen, as long as the officer gave an order, all arrows would be fired at once.

Hu Benwei Qianhu didn't give the order to attack, he squinted his eyes and looked at Li Miaozhen with a flash of inspiration.

Daoist gown, woman, is it Li Miaozhen, the saint of Tianzong, who wants to enter the imperial city? One of the protagonists of the battle between heaven and man?

However, if Li Miaozhen insisted on flying swords to break into the imperial city, what awaited her would be counterattacks by the masters of the imperial army and the guards.

Of course Li Miaozhen knew that she was locked, but it was not a big problem, she had no intention of forcibly breaking into the imperial city.

Staring at the Lingbao Temple in the distance, his breath sank to his dantian, and his voice cleared: "Li Miaozhen, a disciple of Tianzong, came here by the order of his master to discuss the Dao with disciples of Renzong.

"The time and address are determined by Renzong."

The sound is very penetrating, not deafening, but it can be heard very far, inside and outside the imperial city, clearly audible.

At this moment, all the dignitaries living in the imperial city, the clan, and the officials of the yamen heard Li Miaozhen's "war letter".

Outside the imperial city, residents of the inner city next to the red city wall were also startled by the sound. Pedestrians stopped, stall owners stopped shouting, and turned their heads to look in the direction of the imperial city.

Lin'an Prefecture.

Lin'an, who was wearing red layered palace attire and was playing hydrangea with the maids, suddenly stopped, listened attentively, and asked:

"Did you hear anything?"

Several court ladies turned their heads and looked quietly towards the direction of the imperial city.

"I heard, it seems to be Li Miaozhen, a disciple of Tianzong," the court lady whose ass was slapped by Xu Qi'an responded.

As soon as the words were finished, a cool and pleasant voice came from the opposite direction: "Three days later, at three quarters of Mao's hour, on the banks of the Wei River in the suburbs of Beijing, Chu Yuanzhen, a famous disciple of Renzong, went to battle."

Zhan Zhan opened his mouth slightly, and the anecdotes that Xu Qi'an told her emerged in his mind, one of which was the dispute between heaven and man!

"Three days later, I want to go to see it, and I want the dog slave to take me to see it." Zhan Zhan's heart is burning, and he can't wait for the guards to summon his dog slave immediately.

Prince Huai's Mansion.

In the back garden full of flowers, a woman in a lotus-colored dress stood among the flowers, looking in the direction of the city gate, and said in a low voice, "Three days later, at three quarters of Mao's time, on the banks of the Wei River in the suburbs of Beijing."

She frowned, and said happily: "It's a good show again."

There was no wind, but the flowers in the courtyard swayed gently, as if responding to her.

Li Miaozhen came to the capital, and three days later, she had a duel with Chu Yuanzhen, a disciple of Renzong, by the Wei River.

The news spread like wildfire, and in just half a day, it almost spread throughout the entire capital.

The first ones to get excited were those Jianghu people who heard the news early and entered Beijing. They waited for a full month, and finally waited for the battle between heaven and man.

Waiting for the duel between the most outstanding disciples of Taoist Renzong and Tianzong.

Although many people were faced with the embarrassment of running out of money, no one complained, and even felt that coming to the capital early was an extremely correct and fortunate decision.

Because before the battle between heaven and man, they saw a battle that was rare in a century.

This point can be fully proved from the remorseful attitude of the Jianghu knights who missed the fight because they came late.

Even if there is no follow-up dispute between heaven and man, for most people in the world, this trip is already worthwhile.

In a certain restaurant, the ecstasy hand Rong Rong and the beautiful woman, as well as Mr. Liu and Mr. Liu's master, the four of them found a vacant seat by the window, had lunch, and talked about the struggle between heaven and man.

The two protagonists deserve to be the focus.

Rongrong poured wine for the beautiful woman, but turned her head to look at the middle-aged swordsman, and said crisply, "I heard from seniors that this Chu Yuanzhen seems to be the number one scholar in the 27th year of Yuanjing?"

When the middle-aged swordsman heard the words, his face was a little sad, "Yes, I was traveling in the capital back then, and it happened to be at the time of the apricot list. I watched him become the Huiyuan, and then the champion.

"Unexpectedly, he has resigned from office and became Renzong's registered disciple. Even today, he will represent Renzong in battle."

"Master, I heard that Li Miao is really a beautiful fairy, what level of Taoism do you think she will be?"

When Mr. Liu said this, his attention was all on the words "National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance".

Regarding the apprentice's question, the middle-aged swordsman shook his head, "That day, the holy lady of the sect hardly walked around the rivers and lakes, her reputation was not obvious, and she didn't know her rank as a teacher.

"However, there is still a rumor in Jianghu that the Feiyan heroine who was born the year before last is the saint of Tianzong."

"Flying Swallow Lady is the Saintess of Tianzong?" Rongrong was taken aback.

She has heard a little about the name of Feiyan Lady Xia. This woman robs the rich and helps the poor, and she is a chivalrous hero.

His deeds are deeply praised and praised by the knights in the rivers and lakes.

However, a year ago, she suddenly disappeared from the rivers and lakes, and she didn't know where she went.

The middle-aged swordsman smiled and said: "It's all rumors in the world, I don't know if it's true or not. However, Feiyan Lady has disappeared since a year ago, and I don't know where she went."

At this time, a Jiang Hu man in a blue robe at the next table interjected, mockingly said: "I'm ignorant, the Feiyan heroine went to Yunzhou to suppress bandits, and only disappeared for a year."

Go to Yunzhou to suppress bandits?

Before the middle-aged swordsman could ask a question, people from all corners of the world looked over one after another.

"How did your Excellency know that Lady Feiyan went to Yunzhou to suppress bandits?"

"Not only do I know that Lady Feiyan has gone to Yunzhou, but I also know that she is Li Miaozhen, the saint of Tianzong." The blue-robed river and lake guest took a sip of wine and talked eloquently:

"I have a brother, from Qingzhou, who suddenly returned to his hometown at the beginning of the year, saying that he was in Yunzhou this year, and he followed the Feiyan woman to suppress bandits everywhere, and his cultivation base soared. He also told me that the Feiyan woman is Tianzong Saintess."

The eyes of the middle-aged swordsman flickered, and he was full of doubts about the blue-robed man's words. He asked, "Why did you suddenly return home after suppressing bandits in Yunzhou?"

The blue-robed rivers and lakes sneered and said: "Of course the suppression of bandits is over. At the end of last year, the imperial court sent two golden gongs and a group of silver gongs to Yunzhou to uproot the bandits in Yunzhou.

"The Xu Yinluo who beat up the yamen was among them at that time. It is said that he almost died once?"

Immediately, a well-informed person in the world spoke up and said, "It's not that I almost died, but I really died once."

"Bullshit, can you be resurrected after death?"

"Hey, just looking at you poor fellows, you can tell that you can't afford to go to the Jiaofang Division. Then Xu Yinluo is a frequent visitor to the Jiaofang Division. If you pick any yard and ask the girls in it, you can find out a lot about Xu Yinluo .” The insider said:

"It is said that at that time, the chief envoy of Yunzhou led his troops to rebel, and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses besieged the governor and his party. Just when everyone was desperate, it was Xu Yinluo who blocked tens of thousands of rebels with one knife, just like he did a few days ago Block civil and military officials.

"The sky was dark and the sky was dark, the sun and the moon were dark, and finally died of exhaustion. But it was delayed until the arrival of reinforcements, and the situation was reversed."

There was an uproar in the lobby, whether it was people from the rivers and lakes or ordinary people, they were all stunned.

"One person can block tens of thousands of people, is there really such a master in the world?"

"I think it's possible. Haven't you guys read fighting methods? Xu Yinluo is so talented that even Buddhist arhats are willing to bow down."

"But how did I hear that the prison is helping him?"

"Shut up, it was Xu Yinluo who defeated the Buddhist sect with his own strength, what is the matter in prison, I don't allow you to slander the hero of Dafeng."

Lingbao Temple, a quiet courtyard.

Emperor Yuan Jing stood with his hands behind his back, standing by the pool, staring at the stunning Taoist nun sitting cross-legged above the pool, meditating with her eyes closed.

"Hey, National Teacher, after this battle, the shortest three months, or as long as one year, the Taoist head of Tianzong will enter Beijing. At that time, the national teacher will be in danger."

Emperor Yuan Jing sighed: "Mostly, the supervisor will not interfere in this matter."

If Jian Zheng can take action to protect him, coupled with Luo Yuheng's own strength, it is more than enough to deal with a Tianzong Taoist leader.

Of course, Emperor Yuan Jing knew that this was an extravagant wish. Among first-rank masters, they would hardly do it without a special reason. What's more, Jianzheng's attitude towards Renzong is indifferent, and the probability of expecting him to take action against the head of Tianzong is slim.

"If the national teacher can't step into the first rank, even if Chu Yuanzhen wins, it won't mean much." Emperor Yuan Jing shook his head.

The two sects of heaven and man have a rule that before the Taoist leader fights, the disciples of the two sects will compete first, and the loser will have to let the opponent three moves in the real battle between heaven and man.

But Luo Yuheng is only a second rank, and the gap between him and Tian Zongdao Prime Minister is too great. Even if Chu Yuanzhen wins, she has three moves first, and she will still lose in the end.

"Is there any way to postpone this battle between heaven and man?" Emperor Yuan Jing asked.

He didn't say stop because that would be impractical. Even if he is the emperor, he can't control the orthodox dispute between a second-rank master and a first-rank master.

Luo Yuheng opened his eyes, with a flash of inspiration, and said lightly: "It's fine if you can't tell the winner."

Emperor Yuan Jing chewed on these words, and said helplessly, "Unless Li Miaozhen agrees."

Luo Yuheng pondered for a moment, then said, "There is an easier way."

Xu Mansion.

Xu Dalang, who was teasing Xiao Douding in the yard, suddenly heard a high-pitched meow, looked sideways, and saw an orange cat squatting on the wall.

"Lingyin, go and play with your master first, brother has something to do." Xu Qi'an patted his sister's head.

"Okay, big pot, I want to eat Guiyuelou's dishes tonight." Xu Lingyin held the elder brother's finger.

"Okay, I'll go out and buy it for you later, hurry up and get out." Xu Qi'an poked her forehead with her finger.

Xu Lingyin happily ran away, jumping up and down.

The orange cat took advantage of the opportunity and jumped into the yard, walked in front of him with graceful steps, and said, "Li Miaozhen has called the battle."

Xu Qi'an nodded: "I know."

The orange cat showed a humane smile and said, "I need your help with something."

Xu Qi'an didn't answer, just looked at him silently.

One person and one cat looked at each other for a long time, Xu Qi'an said in a low voice: "Master Daoist, are you trying to trick me again?"

The orange cat shook its head, "Master Xu, when did this poor man trick you?"

Now Xu Qi'an sighed: "You came to me at such a critical moment, I have a bad feeling."