Nightwatcher

After Aunt Zhang left, Xu Qi'an led the little mare into the yard and tied it to the trunk of the little banyan tree.

Only at this time did he realize that in just a few days, the originally desolate courtyard was filled with flowers of various beauty and beauty, and bees and butterflies were dancing among the flowers.

There is a fresh floral scent in the air.

Xu Qi'an took a quick glance and saw many expensive varieties, some of which were priced as high as ten taels of silver.

The reason why he knows the prices of these precious varieties is because the aunt at home plays with potted plants with her buttocks up every day. After the spring, she invests more than two hundred taels of silver in this area.

Of course Xu Qi'an would not ask how much money his aunt spent on expensive flower seeds, since it wasn't his money anyway. The main reason is that my aunt's beloved potted plants are always knocked over by Xu Lingyin from time to time.

Every time, my aunt would be furious and teach her a lesson, and then said: Do you know how much these flowers are worth, you dead child.

"What's the matter with these flowers?" Xu Qi'an asked calmly.

"The yard is too monotonous, so I bought some flowers and planted them in the yard." Wang Hao said calmly.

The money I gave you can't afford these flowers Xu Qi'an murmured in his heart, and said "oh" calmly on the surface, showing that he was not interested in flowers when he asked casually.

I was thinking in my heart, if it was a bought seed, it would be a reasonable explanation. In half a ten-day period, the seed was catalyzed into a scene full of flowers. Is this the ability of the flower god? If this woman is thrown into the desert, it will benefit the whole world.

Following this line of thought, he thought of that small piece of lotus root. If the princess were to cultivate the lotus root, would it be possible to bring it back to life?

Daoist Jinlian said that heaven, material and earth treasures cannot be cultivated alone, but what if the person who cultivates is the flower god?

Thinking of this, Xu Qi'an was a little excited, but kept his mind well.

Seeing his lack of interest, the princess quietly heaved a sigh of relief.

"What happened to Aunt Zhang just now?" Xu Qi'an asked as he walked into the house.

He followed the scent into the house, walked to the stove, and lifted the lid of the pot. There were salted peanuts and some spices in the pot.

"She lives nearby. She fell outside our house a few days ago. She looked pitiful and helped me out. After that, she often came to help me. She also brought the peanuts."

The princess sat on the small wooden bar with the small bowl resting on her lap, and said:

"Her son is in the business of medicinal materials. It is said that there are several shops in the inner and outer cities. Because the daughter-in-law doesn't like her, her son bought a small courtyard nearby to house the old mother. She said her son was so filial to everyone she met. She buys a house."

Xu Qi'an leaned against the stove, ate peanuts in salt water, smashed the peanut shells on her feet, and hummed, "What happened just now?"

The concubine shrank her feet, looked at each other angrily, and said with a sneer, "I said my husband is dead, and a little ruffian next door coveted my beauty, trying to get rough several times and take advantage of me.

"So I sold the house and moved here. I didn't expect him to come to the door and said he would come to live every two days."

Xu Qi'an said disdainfully: "Coveting your beauty? Princess, you can look in the mirror before talking."

The princess said angrily: "You are not allowed to eat my peanuts."

"Just eat."

"No eating."

"Just eat."

Xu Qi'an spent the whole morning in the small courtyard of the concubine, sitting in the courtyard to weave bamboo baskets for her, mending wooden barrels, making small hoes, chopping firewood and building a small stove for boiling water for her in the courtyard.

When he was working, the princess sat on the bamboo chair and watched, a little absent-minded.

When the time was almost up, she got up silently and went into the kitchen, cooking a few dishes perfunctorily.

"Is it tasty?"

At the dining table, she rested her chin on her hand and blinked at Xu Qi'an.

Really disgusting Xu Qi'an hypocritically said: "The cooking skills have improved."

The concubine laughed immediately, her eyes were like crescent moons, and she hummed, "Then you eat all of it."

"how about you?"

"I'm not hungry, I'm full of peanuts."

Xu Qi'an nodded, buried her head in her meal, and within a short time, she ate all the dishes she cooked, and almost licked the plate. The princess looked at him blankly, a little surprised.

Her own cooking skills are still very clear, after all, the tongue can't lie.

"That's the way life is, the simple food is the real thing."

When Xu Qi'an was speaking, he glanced at Princess Aojiao, she seemed to be a little moved, her eyes were much softer, but she hid them well.

Seeing this, she stretched her hand into her bosom, tapped the mirror lightly, and poured out a small section of lotus root.

"I went to Jianzhou this trip, and I didn't mean to break my promise not to accompany you." Xu Qi'an sincerely apologized.

"Who wants you to accompany me." Wang Hao curled her lips and turned her head away.

"It's not in vain to find something interesting." Xu Qi'an put the lotus root on the table and said, "It was given to me by a senior. It is said that it is a treasure, but it has withered."

The color of the lotus root is dull, there are many wrinkles on the surface, and the whole is shrunken.

"What is this?" Wang Hao's attention was attracted.

"I'm not sure, but it's a baby anyway." Xu Qi'an sighed with emotion:

"This thing is quite important to me, but it seems that I can't keep it alive. But even if it withers, it's still a kind of medicine, so it's not a waste of time."

Mu Nanzhi was very sensitive about her identity, Xu Qi'an didn't want her to know that he had seen through her real body, so as not to cause her unnecessary panic.

The princess thought about it, took the lotus root, wiped it on her sleeve, then showed her small white teeth, and took a bite.

Xu Qi'an was caught off guard and had no time to stop him.

The concubine chewed a few mouthfuls, swallowed it, and commented happily: "It's quite sweet. Well, it's still alive, and it will be fine if you raise it for a while."

"!!!"

Xu Qi'an's heart was shocked, and he was engulfed in great joy. He never thought that a random attempt would lead to such a reply.

If this small section of lotus root can be cultivated successfully, there will be a second nine-color lotus in the world, which can grow by itself and form a lotus pod.

Xu Qi'an has seen the miracle of lotus seeds before, and from now on, every six months, he will get twenty-four lotus seeds.

This this

In addition, if the lotus root can grow, the conditions for the ancestors of the Wulin League to break through the level will be met. If he can use the lotus root to be promoted to the second rank, he owes himself a huge favor.

In the future showdown with the mysterious warlock, the ancestor of the Wulin League will become one of his biggest cards.

Xu Qi'an's heart warmed up quietly, he tried his best to suppress his excitement, and calmly said: "Then you can try it, um, if you don't feed it, remember to return it to me. I have another purpose."

If there is no support, I will take it to the National Teacher.

The princess nodded.

Wait, why did the national teacher ask me to ask for this lotus root? She is the Taoist head of the Renzong, so she should know that nine-color lotus root is difficult to cultivate, so the purpose is probably to refine medicine.

If you can refine medicine, why do you have to tell me to ask for it? Is it casual, or is there another purpose?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but glance at the princess.

It shouldn't be, it is impossible for Luo Yuheng to know that she was secretly raised by me. Well, I am not familiar with the national teacher, and I don't know much about her, so I can't make a hasty conclusion.

I thought the concubine was a mascot, as long as she was beautiful, I didn't expect to give me such a big surprise. Every fish in my fish pond is useful! Xu Qi'an sincerely sighed.

At this moment, the concubine hesitated for a moment, and said in a somewhat muffled voice, "I, I have run out of money."

Speaking of which, she seemed not used to asking men for money, which would make her look like a concubine raised outside, so she turned her face away and said softly like a mosquito:

"Yes, can you give me some more?"

Didn't I just give you fifteen taels before I left, and it's almost spent in five days? Xu Qi'an glanced at her, but said nothing.

Sensing his silence, the concubine suddenly turned her head, glanced at him, turned her face away again, and said coldly: "It's fine if you don't give it."

She felt a little wronged.

Xu Qi'an poured out five silver ingots from the fragments of the book on the ground, and each ingot was twelve taels, and placed them on the table one by one, and then broke them into pieces like sesame cakes, and kneaded them into pieces.

"You are a woman, it is best not to use official silver and silver ingots, broken silver is enough. It is not easy to attract outsiders' attention. What I was thinking just now was that I did not consider this when I gave you silver ingots last time. I blame myself .

"Since I can't stay with you all the time, I should pay attention to these details. This is my mistake, and I won't do it in the future."

His tone was sincere and his expression sincere.

The princess still looked out of the door, but said "hmm" in a soft voice, indicating that she was not angry anymore.

In the next half day, Xu Qi'an took the princess to the downtown, bought rouge powder, added vegetables, rice, oil and salt, and beautiful dresses. Before dusk, he took the little mare who had been neglected for a long time and left.

As soon as he left, Aunt Zhang came back.

Looking at the large and small bags of items in the room, Aunt Zhang said in surprise: "Miss Mu, your man has left? Tsk tsk, buying so many things costs dozens of taels."

Aunt Zhang took a quick glance and found that they were all supplies and objects from her daughter's house. She exclaimed again and again: "Oh, your man is so kind to you."

The concubine was a little proud, her eyebrows and eyes were bent, but in front of outsiders, she never showed her true nature, and said dignifiedly and gently:

"My man is the caretaker of the nursing home for a wealthy family. He doesn't come back on weekdays. Even if he does, he has to go back before dusk. In the morning, I was angry that he ignored me and lied to you. Aunt Zhang, don't take offense."

As he spoke, he handed over a pack of mutton and a box of rouge.

Aunt Zhang quickly waved her hand: "I don't need these as an old woman, so I will accept the mutton."

The smile on the old woman's face became much warmer.

She didn't doubt Mu Nanzhi's words, but if it was a delicate beauty, Aunt Zhang might suspect that this was an outhouse kept by a certain elder here.

But although this lady Mu has a plump figure, her face is rather ordinary. Even a disciple in the market place would not have any unreasonable thoughts about such a mediocre woman.

Xu Mansion.

Xu Qi'an was wearing a black dress, leading the filly home, and the brocade dress was changed when he was hooking the fence.

He didn't bother to put it on again.

At the dinner table, Second Uncle Xu was drinking and asked, "Where did you go this time?"

Xu Qi'an lowered his head to eat: "Jianzhou, I helped a friend fight."

"The Saintess of Tianzong and Lina are going too?"

"Um."

Uncle Xu seized the opportunity and taught his nephew a lesson: "Don't fight and kill all the time, every mountain is even taller, and Jianzhou is a sacred place for martial arts, and there are countless masters.

"Looking at you like this, it means that your friend didn't mess with the strongman, otherwise"

Xu Nian swallowed the rice and said, "Jianzhou, is that the state with the Wulin League?"

"That's right, the Jianzhou Martial Arts League is so powerful that the local government will bow their heads. Moreover, they are very united, and if you mess with one, you will bring out a group."

"The leader of the Martial Arts League is called Cao Qingyang, he is the top three in the Jianghu Martial Arts Rankings, isn't he dad?"

"That's right, Jianzhou is a forbidden place for villains in the Jianghu, which is exactly the opposite of Yunzhou. Then Cao Qingyang is a generation of heroes in the Jianghu."

My aunt is a lady, she listened with great interest, so she asked, "Is that better than Ning Yan?"

The unlucky nephew is like the number one expert in the world in her aunt's heart. She doesn't say anything, but she is very convinced in her heart.

The second uncle pondered for a while, then shook his head and said, "Ning Yan is still far behind. After another five years of practice, he might be able to compete with that leader. And they don't buy the government's face."

He knew that his nephew was a sixth rank.

Upon hearing this, my aunt quickly said, "It's a good thing that Ning Yan didn't get into trouble with anyone, so why did he go to Jianzhou to fight?"

Xu Lingyue spoke for her elder brother, and said softly: "Father, elder brother is well-mannered. The Wulin League is so powerful, he won't provoke him."

Xu Qi'an ate in silence.

After dinner, Xu Nian put down the bowls and chopsticks and said, "Brother, come to my study."

The brothers walked out of the hall and into the study side by side.

Xu Nian closed the door, walked straight to the desk, pulled out a thick stack of papers, and said, "The 20 years since Emperor Yuan Jing ascended the throne to Yuan Jing, all the records of daily life during the 20 years are here."

Xu Qi'an glanced at it, closed his eyes, and said helplessly: "You are writing cursive script wrongly. In just five days, you have collected twenty years' daily records of Emperor Yuan Jing?"

Xu Erlang met his elder brother's shocked gaze, raised his chin, and said with a complacent but forced calm posture:

"I have been promoted to the seventh rank. The seventh rank of Confucianism is called benevolence. If you want to step into this rank, you must understand benevolence and righteousness. A benevolent person who loves the world at the same time is a model of morality. The foundation of a gentleman's realm.

"Of course, I'm still far from the fourth grade, so this is not something to be happy about. For me, it's just a small step."

It's not worthy of being happy, then you are still talking so much Xu Qi'an complained in his heart, after thinking about it, he asked:

"Do the benevolent have any combat power bonus?"

Xu Erlang's face froze suddenly: "No, it just made my memory and physique stronger."

Pfft, isn't that a weakling? Xu Qi'an held back a smile, picked up the diary, and read it carefully.

This cursive script is really rough. Xu Qi'an looked at it for a moment, wanting to scold her.

The ancient cursive script is similar to his celebrity signature in his previous life, it is not for people to read. Of course, readers can understand it, because cursive script has a fixed shape.

But Xu Qi'an is not a scholar.

"You read it to me."

"All right."

The two brothers listened to it one by one, read the other one, and changed two candles.

During this period, Xu Erlang kept drinking tea to moisten his throat and went to the toilet twice.

The emperor's daily life records record some words and deeds in daily life and in the process of discussion.

Xu Erlang didn't record all of them, and he automatically deleted some obviously meaningless daily conversations.

It wasn't until the middle of the night that I finished reading it all.

Xu Qi'an closed his eyes for a long time, and when he completely digested the content, he opened his eyes and said with some disappointment:

"There is no value, at least I can't see it now."

Xu Erlang asked: "What exactly do you want to find out about Emperor Yuan Jing?"

"I don't know, I just think there is something wrong with him, um, I don't think so, there is indeed something wrong. After returning from Jianzhou, I am even more sure that our Majesty is not as simple as it appears on the surface.

"But I can't tell exactly where the problem is. There is no clear direction. I can only collect his relevant deeds as much as possible and see if I can find clues from them."

Xu Qi'an said.

"Yuanjing's power skills are at their peak, how easy is it?"

Xu Erlang complained, and then said: "I don't know if he has a problem, but I know there is a problem with this daily record."

Xu Qi'an was taken aback, "What's wrong with the daily record?"

PS: I feel like I coded 40,000 characters, but the result is only 4,000. My head is bald, 6,000 characters is the limit of human beings, and I am surpassing the limit every day, and I am 8,000 words a day.