Longevity begins with slaying demons and eliminating demons

Chapter 295
Because he was worried about his mother's safety, after Shen Qiu got the note from his father, without delay, he left the house in a hurry and rushed towards the Jinling government office.

Because he had assisted in the management of the family business before and had to deal with secular officials frequently, the prefect of Jinling was naturally also an old acquaintance of his.

The prefect's name is Tian Chaoguang.

He is more than eight feet tall, wearing a vermilion brocade embroidered official gown, with a hulking back and a long beard, sitting behind the large table, he looks calm and majestic, making people dare not look directly at him.

But Shen Qiu knew very well that Tian Zhifu's majestic appearance was just an appearance.

He will only show this face in front of ordinary people.

After Shen Qiu crossed the threshold and entered the government office, Tian Zhaoguang immediately stood up and bowed to Shen Qiu to salute, his majestic expression disappeared without a trace in an instant, replaced by an exaggerated smile like a rotten persimmon flower.

I only heard him say respectfully: "I don't know Mr. Shen is here today. Please forgive me for being far away. I don't know how I can help you?"

Shen Qiu didn't speak, and passed the note over with a blank expression.

Tian Zhifu took the note with both hands and read it carefully.

However, after reading the above content, Tian Zhifu suddenly lowered his head, returned the note to Shen Qiu, and said with trepidation: "Mr. Shen, you are late. This woman named 'Ningxiu' was born a day ago , has already left Jinling City with the corvee team going to the northern frontier."

Since Shen Qianren had never disclosed it in front of Tian Zhifu, there was a relationship between herself and Ningxiu as husband and wife.

Therefore, in the eyes of Tian Zhifu, Ningxiu is just an ordinary maid who was kicked out of the house, and there is nothing special about it.

It was also because of this that Shen Qiu's next reaction far exceeded Tian Zhifu's expectations.

"Where is she now?" Shen Qiu narrowed his eyes, staring at him and asked.

If there is substance in his eyes.Tian Zhifu could clearly feel the anger hidden in it; the breath of true energy he released also made Tian Zhifu feel pressured.

His intuition told Tian Zhifu that as long as the other party had a thought, he, as a mortal, would immediately die in this lobby, and no one could save him.

"I...I don't know," Tian Zhifu said while trembling, "Since...since Ningxiu left this mansion, everything related to her...is not under my jurisdiction. So , Mr. Shen, I don't know about her situation."

"Then who is the person in charge of leading the corvee team?" Shen Qiu raised his voice, and then asked.

"I... I don't know him," Tian Zhifu continued to say in a stuttering manner, "He only showed me the official badge, saying that he was sent by the northern military camp, but he didn't tell me his name—— "

"——what does that person look like?" Shen Qiu interrupted him.

Tian Zhifu frowned and thought for a moment, then replied: "The man leading the team... is a burly man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, dark and rough skin, wearing a pair of chain mail, with a machete on his waist, and his body is full of hair. There is a strong smell of alcohol, which can be smelled from far away."

"Thank you for letting me know."

Shen Qiu said a word in a cold tone, then turned around and left without staying in the Jinling government office for a moment.

Tian Zhifu was on the spot, staring blankly at his leaving back, and it took a long time before he came back to his senses.

At this time, Tian Zhifu had already noticed that the woman named "Ningxiu" must have an extraordinary relationship with Shen Qiu - Shen Qiu's words and expressions were full of undisguised worry and anxiety.

Tian Zhifu's mood became more and more disturbed.

Because he lied to Shen Qiu just now.

The people who took Ningxiu away were not actually the burly men from the northern military camp, but a few practitioners from the He family in Lin'an.

The appearance of the so-called "team leader" was made up by Tian Zhifu on the spot. In fact, this person did not exist at all. Because of this, when he answered questions, he stuttered and was extremely nervous, and he didn't dare to face it directly. Shen Qiu's eyes.

But the truth of the matter is this-

A day ago, Mrs. Shen asked her natal family to come to the Jinling government office, went to the prefect of Ueda, and said to him: "As the saying goes, family ugliness should not be publicized. The maidservants in the family made mistakes because of our own poor discipline. I hope the prefect can forgive me." Leave her to us."

Tian Zhifu was a little puzzled by this.

The maidservant of the Shen family made a mistake, why did someone from the He family want to take care of her?

Of course, Tian Zhifu did not dare to inquire too much about the grievances and hatreds among these wealthy families.

He only dared to ask cautiously: "But, I have already recorded this matter. If the people in the northern military camp ask about this woman, how should I explain it?"

The cultivator of the He family replied: "You just say that this woman named Ningxiu suffered from a disease and unfortunately died on the way. Anyway, among the civilians who served in corvee in the Daqi Dynasty, countless people died of exhaustion and illness every year. She alone, no one will care."

While the He family practitioner was speaking, he also put a stack of bank notes in front of Tian Zhifu.

He held his head up and looked arrogant, not as if he was asking Tian Zhifu for his opinion or making a deal with him, but as if he was condescendingly giving money to beggars on the roadside.

Tian Zhifu understood that he had no right to refuse at all.

In the Daqi Dynasty, the secular government and institutions for practitioners like the Exorcist Department were on the same level in name and performed their duties, but in fact, the real status of the two was very different—the practitioners were the ones. The real masters of this country, mortal officials are just a group of coolies who handle chores for them.

After all, no mortal dares to say "no" in front of a practitioner who possesses extraordinary power.

Therefore, Tian Zhifu could only accompany the smiling face, and handed over the woman named Ningxiu to the hands of the monks of the He family.

When Ningxiu left, her face was as pale as paper, her eyes were unfocused, revealing a look of despair.

Tian Zhifu could imagine that when she was taken away by the He family, something terrible would happen to her.

But he didn't have the guts or the ability to lend a helping hand, so he could only watch silently as she was taken away from this lobby and disappeared into the end of his vision.

Because of this, when Shen Qiu mentioned Ningxiu in front of him today, Magistrate Tian undoubtedly felt panicked.

He had promised to Brother He Family that he would not reveal this matter to anyone.

He can only lie.

But at the same time, he was also afraid that if Shen Qiu found out the truth and saw through the lies in the future, he would be retaliated against.

Thinking of this, Tian Zhifu sighed silently.

He deeply felt that the situation of the mortal officials of the Daqi Dynasty was simply trying to survive in the cracks - working silently for the practitioners, no one dared to offend; if there were conflicts among the practitioners, they would become a group Cannon fodder killed by the aftermath.

…………

at the same time.

Gu Xu and Shangguan Jin left "Shouchangfang" and returned to the headquarters of the Exorcist Department.

They first came to the intelligence department of the Exorcist Division, trying to search for information related to Shen Qiu's mother from various recent archives.

The Daqi Exorcist Division obtains information through three main channels:
The first is the cultivator who practiced the technique of deduction;

The second is the information shared by various government offices of the Daqi Dynasty—in many cases, ghosts may be hidden behind some seemingly man-made cases;

The third is the patrol investigators within the Exorcist Division.

As the personal entourage of Chief Luo, Shangguan Jin often needs to deal with intelligence agencies, and is also familiar with the placement and search methods of various materials.

Relying on several key words such as "Jinling", "Shen's family" and "maiden", she quickly found out that "Ningxiu, a maidservant who once served in Shen's family, was tortured and sent to the north for committing theft. Frontier labor service" case.

Although the head of the Shen family, Shen Qianren, rarely revealed the identity of Shen Qiu's biological mother to outsiders.

But after all, there are practitioners in the Exorcism Department who master the secret art, and can see many little-known secrets.

Because of this, the key information "Ningxiu is Shen Qiu's biological mother" was specifically marked on this document.

"I stole three taels of silver more than 20 years ago, but I have to wait until now to report it to the government." After reading the contents of the information, Shangguan Jin showed a playful smile on his face, and said in a slightly sarcastic tone, "The Shen family's The style of doing things is really interesting!"

"This should be the method used by the Shen family to coerce Shen Qiu to go home!" Gu Xu thought for a while, and said, "When Shen Qiu defected to my house, it meant that he had no love for the family. To him , his mother is his only concern and his only lifeline

"But this matter is not easy to deal with after all. Whether Shen Qiu's mother is guilty or not is essentially a statement of the Shen family. If the Shen family does not make a statement, it should be very difficult for us to clear her of the crime and rescue her."

While trying to think of a solution to break the situation, Gu Xu was also worried about the safety of Shen Qiu's mother and son.

Because his own divination can only obtain simple answers like "yes" or "no", and cannot obtain more complex and comprehensive information.

So he consulted the exorcist department and several monks who specialize in celestial secrets about the situation.

The monks replied that Shen Qiu had just arrived in Jinling City not long ago, and he was safe and sound at the moment, without encountering any threat to his life.

But Ningxiu's situation is not optimistic.

At this moment, she was in Lin'an City, falling into a coma, unconscious, and her vitality was extremely weak.

Gu Xu was quite surprised by this——

According to the case, Ningxiu was dispatched to the northern military camp.

But Lin'an City is to the south of Jinling City.

If Ningxiu was really going to the north to do hard labor, then it was impossible for her to pass through Lin'an City.After all, this is the exact opposite in the general direction.

Why is this?

"Lin'an He Shi."

At this moment, Gu Xu and Shangguan Jin said the same word at the same time.

This is Mrs. Shen He Ru's natal family.

The chaotic thoughts in the minds of the two suddenly became clear at this moment.

"I didn't expect that Mrs. Shen, who has always been known as a knowledgeable and virtuous housekeeper, would take this opportunity to avenge her personal revenge publicly," Shangguan Jin said with a chuckle, "I thought this matter would be difficult to solve. But this Shen Madam's actions made everything easier."

Gu Xuying was super enlightened, so she guessed roughly what happened, and could understand the meaning of Shangguan Jin's words.

The Shen family wanted to use Ningxiu to force Shen Qiu to go home.

But they didn't want to violate the laws of Daqi, and they didn't want to get a bad reputation, so they decided to rely on the power of the secular government to convict Ningxiu.In this way, Ningxiu would be punished justifiably, and the Shen family would become the party of justice in the eyes of the world.

However, Mrs. Shen obviously has some small thoughts of her own.

She wanted to take this opportunity to personally deal with this lowly maid who had seduced her husband.

So she quietly brought Ningxiu to her natal home.

If nothing else happened, Ningxiu should have encountered painful torture in Lin'an City.

"If Mrs. Shen is willing to follow the rules and send Ningxiu to the northern border," Shangguan Jin continued, "then we must follow the rules if we want to rescue Ningxiu—such as negotiating with the Shen family, or Use power to overwhelm people, or promise them more benefits, so that they forget about the unnecessary money.

"Now, Mrs. Shen broke the rules and cleverly brought Ningxiu to her territory, thinking that she could do whatever she wanted with her.

"But it also means that we can also choose some unruly ways to solve this problem. Even if we take a group of bandits and rush into Lin'an He's mansion and snatch Ningxiu back, Mrs. Shen can't help it." accuse us in the name of justice."

Speaking of this, Shangguan Jin paused for a moment, and then said with emotion: "This Mrs. Shen is really a narrow-minded, short-sighted and stupid woman. No wonder she gave birth to such a useless and stupid son like Shen Hua."

Gu Xu was thoughtful.

Then with a thought, he took out the rice paper and the "Jinghong Brush" from "Xianyunju", picked up the pen and began to write on it.

"What are you writing?" Shangguan Jin next to him asked.

"I want to write a letter to Shen Qiu and tell him about his mother's current situation," Gu Xu replied, "Now that he has gone to Jinling and can't find his mother, he must be very anxious. As soon as it got hot, he drove the natal thing and flew directly to the northern border to find someone."

Shangguan Jin was silent for a moment, and said, "If I were you, I should not write this letter for the time being."

"Oh why?"

"The relationship between Shen Qiu and you is not an ordinary friend, but a lord and a disciple. Simply tell him the news, he may not be surprised.

"However, if you rescued his mother first, and when he was most discouraged, you suddenly brought his mother and appeared in front of him like a great hero, then he should never forget it for the rest of his life. This favor."

Shangguan Jin has worked in the Exorcist Division for many years. From an ordinary official to the close entourage of Chief Luo, he not only relied on his talent in practice and personal hard work, but also had a lot of hidden tricks.

For example, if she helps a colleague, on the surface she will pretend to give silently without asking for anything in return, but in private she will come up with an ingenious way to make sure others know and remember her favor.

But after hearing her words, Gu Xu shook his head slightly.

"Letters have to be written, and people have to be rescued," he said. "The relatives are missing, and life and death are uncertain. In my opinion, this is an extremely tormenting thing. Comparing my heart to my heart, I believe Shen Qiu is also eager to know the situation of his mother as soon as possible.

"He abandoned his family and came to me because he believed in me and recognized me. He is my friend. Naturally, I have to treat each other sincerely. There is no need to play tricks on this kind of thing. Things like favors and favors are not important."

Looking at his firm eyes, Shangguan Jin unconsciously thought of the experience of chopping firewood at the Laoshan ruins not long ago.

At that time, the white-bearded old man in the pine forest commented on her: "I don't like people who are too smart."

She was suddenly curious about how Gu Xu was evaluated in that pine forest; at the same time, she couldn't help sighing in her heart that a man as handsome as Gu Xu would actually hold his life in his hand. A rusty broken axe, chopping wood by hand in the forest - that picture is really unimaginable.

After a short silence, she smiled and said, "It's really a blessing to be your friend."

Gu Xu smiled modestly. He didn't think about how to respond for a while, so he replied casually: "Thank you for the compliment."

(End of this chapter)