Knife splashing

Chapter 676: Old Friends in Chang'an
When the grain boat passed the tip of the burning light tower, Li Yan stood at the bow and looked at Tongzhou City in the distance.

After leaving Tianjin, they went upstream along the Beiyun River, passing through Wuqing, Xianghe and other counties, and finally arrived in Tongzhou.

The entire journey was more than 240 miles and took a full five days.

Even so, we were on an official ship, and there were no checkpoints blocking us along the way.

The reason is simple. The North Grand Canal is relatively flat, but because it needs to go upstream, it is indispensable for trackers to pull the boats.

The locals described it as "one hundred and eighty thousand howling ghosts" and the shouting sounds continued day and night.

In any case, we finally arrived in Tongzhou.

But the canal was crowded with grain ships flying colorful flags.

The rammed earth bank of the earthen pier was worn shiny by the trampling of thousands of straw sandals. The porters' backs were shining with sweat as they carried sacks on their shoulders on the gangplank, making squeaking sounds. The green-tiled roofs of the official warehouses on the shore were lined with yellow flags, stretching as far as the eye could see.

This is the logo of the Ministry of Revenue, which shows the importance of Tongzhou’s water transport.

Outside the government warehouse, the tax collector pierced the sacks with an iron rod, and the men who transported the grain stood beside him, bowing their heads and smiling.

"Brother Yan, look at those three iron-headed boats."

Sharifei pointed to several small boats hiding beside the big ship and said happily: "The draft is abnormal, there must be private salt under the grain bags."

"Don't mind other people's business."

Li Yan shook his head slightly, his eyes swept across the tea stalls on the shore, and turned his head and said in a deep voice: "Who will pick me up?"

The captain Si Xiaoqi beside him bowed helplessly and said, "Young Master Li, since the Lord didn't tell me, I really don't know."

"It's so mysterious." Li Yan was speechless.

Soon, the official ship entered the dock, and all the large and small ships along the way gave way.

The "Taotie" flag of the Duwei Division was flying on the boat, and no one wanted to provoke it.

Before reaching the shore, Li Yan sniffed and a smile appeared on his face.

Looking up, I saw an accountant in indigo shorts sitting on the railing on the second floor of a tavern on the shore.

The two whiskers trembled slightly in the mist of the hot wine, and a pair of bright eyes looked at him with a smile.

"Brother down there, come up and have a drink!"

"Mr. Accountant" raised his wine glass and shouted, with three parts of Beijing accent and seven parts of Guanxi accent.

"Hahaha…"

Li Yan laughed and jumped onto the dock without waiting for the springboard to be set up.

He walked quickly to the second floor of the tavern, pushed aside the pearl curtain of the private room, and said with a smile: "Master, long time no see!"

The person who came to pick him up was Luo Mingzi.

This Taoist is a good friend of Li Yan and, to some extent, is also his mentor on his path of cultivation. Ever since he found clues about Zhao Changsheng, Luo Mingzi was transferred to the capital and was specifically responsible for tracking down Zhao Changsheng.

"Yes."

After Luo Mingzi stood up, he patted Li Yan's arm and sighed, "I haven't seen you for a few years. You have made a great reputation. Master wrote to me last month and kept regretting. If I had known this would happen, I would have taken you into my family no matter what."

"it's the same."

Li Yan laughed in silence, then sniffed and turned to look towards the southeast corner of the room.

There was a censer of incense burning there, which seemed to be mixed with mugwort and peach wood.

It looks ordinary, but it is the disposable magic weapon "Qinghuixiang" of Taixuan Orthodox Sect.

The biggest function of this thing is to clear away the scattered evil qi.

It is used to purify the altar when it is opened, and on normal days it can prevent people from using magic to locate and curse it.

Considering Luo Mingzi's attire, Li Yan immediately realized that something was wrong.

"What's going on? Is someone trying to harm the Taoist priest?"

Luo Mingzi smiled and said, "No problem. Please invite Taoist Wang and the others first. Let's sit down and talk."

As they were talking, Wang Daoxuan and others had already gone upstairs.

"I've met Taoist friends."

"Master, long time no see."

He and Sharifei were also acquainted with Luo Mingzi, so they naturally exchanged greetings when they met.

After Long Yaner and others were introduced, everyone took their seats.

At the same time, the entire tavern, upstairs and downstairs, had been completely cleared out.

It turned out that the shopkeepers and waiters were all disguised as Luo Mingzi's men, and they also put talismans on the doors and windows to prevent detection.

The movements were smooth and everyone looked well-trained.

Sha Lifei and others were secretly surprised, but did not say anything and waited for Li Yan to ask.

"Hey, please don't laugh at me."

Luo Mingzi took a sip of tea, shook off the fake nonsense on his lips, and shook his head: "I just completed an errand, but I didn't catch the person, and I was tracked by the other party's master. I had to be careful."

Li Yan frowned slightly, "Who is so bold in this important place, under the feet of the emperor?"

"I'm really brave!"

Luo Mingzi said coldly: "Sneak into the Ministry of Rites and replace the magical instruments bestowed by the court on meritorious officials."

Li Yan was stunned, and then his eyes became sharp, "Master, have you found out?"

Back then, his grandfather Li Gui was fighting in the northern frontier and accidentally destroyed Zhao Changsheng's earthly immortal body, and was then plotted against for revenge.

Even his father, Li Hu, died while investigating the matter.

He continued searching and finally caught Zhao Changsheng by the tail.

Zhao Changsheng is the mastermind, but he can act so unscrupulously, there must be someone in the court who is colluding with him!

"Ah."

Luo Mingzi nodded and said, "After arriving in the capital, we, under the order of the Emperor, dispatched elite troops to secretly investigate, in addition to collecting intelligence from various places. Your family's case is the key clue."

"Unfortunately, this matter happened too long ago. The veterans from 20 years ago have all passed away. The general who led the troops, Yuan Xizhong, violated the law and his entire family was executed. The people in charge of this matter in the Ministry of Rites have also mysteriously disappeared or died, and the files are nowhere to be found."

"Zhao Changsheng's accomplices in the capital are very careful in their actions."

"It wasn't until you provided the clues some time ago that we were able to gain some information."

"The name 'Zhao Qingxu' sounds like a Taoist name. I have to first thoroughly check the files of the Xuan priests, and then ask all the Taoist temples in the capital to submit the names of all the Huoju Taoists who have registered, and also to clearly state their origins."

Li Yan quickly asked: "What's the result?"

Luo Mingzi smiled bitterly, "We found three 'Zhao Qingxu', two Taoist priests who were swindling people, and a pawnshop owner. They were all ordinary people."

"So, we followed the clues of the magic weapon and found that when the Daxing Dynasty fell, the secret treasures in the palace were stolen in an orderly manner, and the 'Three Talents Demon Suppression Coin' was among them. Fortunately, the Daxing Dynasty's treasure list is still there. Following this batch of things, we found a group of Xuanmen thieves who stole it."

"But when we were trying to arrest them, a mysterious master suddenly showed up to silence them and even cursed and killed several of their fellows."

Li Yan felt a little unbelievable, "That person is very advanced?"

"I don't know."

Luo Mingzi shook his head and said, "The other party has not shown up from beginning to end. They appear and disappear like ghosts, leaving no trace. But what scares me even more is that this group of people seems to know everything. Our actions are secretive, even the emperor doesn't know, but they are always one step ahead of us."

"Of course there is a traitor."

Li Yan shook his head slightly and made a few gestures while holding the tea.

This time in Tianjin, he got new clues.

When Lu Jinghai was dying, he mentioned the "Peach Banquet" in the capital.

This clue is very important, but Zhao Qingxu sent someone to Lijiabao and asked Heidan to give him a message. This was both a provocation and a sign that the other party had already set up a tight net in the capital to investigate the "Peach Banquet", so they could no longer make a big fuss about it.

Seeing Li Yan's gesture, Luo Mingzi immediately understood and stopped talking about it. Instead, he talked about the current situation in the capital.

"Your Majesty fainted in the court last year. Although it is forbidden to talk about it, everyone in the capital knows about it. Under pressure from all sides, Your Majesty finally decided on the identity of the crown prince, but the eldest prince is weak in character, and the other princes are also dissatisfied..."

"Qiankun Academy is now attracting much attention and is also the center of the vortex..." As he was speaking, a noise suddenly came from below.

Everyone immediately stopped talking and turned to look out the window.

But at this moment, the long street on the dock was in chaos.

Dozens of officers and soldiers rode on horses and held knives, surrounding several Western merchants.

Those men, with high noses and deep eyes and wrapped in turbans, fled in panic, using their hands and feet to jump on the uneven roofs.

They looked embarrassed, but they were extremely agile, hiding from the officers and soldiers below as if they were playing hide-and-seek.

When Sharifei saw this, he was immediately delighted, "This light body technique is rare, what kind of technique is it?"

"Those are Persians."

Luo Mingzi took a look and said disapprovingly, "I heard that after the opening of the sea, a group of people came and established themselves in the capital and privately built a fire worship altar. They were ambitious and linked shoulders with the Maitreya Sect. After being warned by the Law Enforcement Hall, they became quiet."

"Some of their warriors privately disobey the court's laws and regulations. In the past, they were too lazy to make any efforts, but because of the incident in Tianjin, the local faction made trouble, and your majesty was angry, so they will also be in trouble."

Sure enough, the garrison soldiers were not surprised at all when faced with these running and panicking Persian warriors.

Several people rode their horses, swinging the iron chains and flying claws in their hands.

Wow!
Just as the Persian leaped into the air, the claws whizzed out.

Those unlucky guys were immediately chained and fell from the air.

Without waiting for them to get up, a team of soldiers rushed up and beat them with fists and kicks, causing them to exhale more than breathe in.

"How dare the barbaric and treacherous merchants smuggle banned drugs!"

The leading captain searched out a leather bag, looked at the longevity cream inside, and cursed coldly.

After saying that, he suddenly glanced at the corner of the street and shouted, "What are you standing there for? There are still them!"

At the street corner stood a few ragged ginseng pickers from Northeast China.

Because of the sudden incident, they and the other people were blocked on both sides of the street and dared not move.

The basket wrapped in coarse cloth was pushed askew, revealing seven or eight wild ginsengs with dense whiskers, glowing amber in the sun.

Several soldiers as ferocious as wolves and tigers rushed forward, kicked over the basket, and the ginseng whiskers scattered in the dust like golden threads.

“What a huge ginseng!”

When the people around saw it, they exclaimed in surprise.

The old man who was leading the ginseng pickers immediately knelt down and begged: "General, please understand, this is something I risked my life to dig in Baishan. It is not a banned drug!"

Before he finished speaking, a soldier turned his head to look at the leader, and when he saw him nod, he grabbed the basket with a grim smile.

"The foreign merchants and their accomplices are all hiding drugs! Take them away for inspection!"

Seeing this, the surrounding soldiers rushed over, tied up the ginseng pickers with chains, and took them away together.

One participant wanted to resist, but was hit on the head with a stick and passed out.

Soon, people were coming and going on the street again, some were whispering, some were cursing…

Luo Mingzi shook his head slightly, called a subordinate, and said in a deep voice: "Go to the Tongzhou garrison general and inform him of this matter."

"Yes, my lord."

The subordinate immediately clasped his fists and left.

Looking at everyone, Luo Mingzi shook his head helplessly and said, "This is all I can do. The capital is not like other places. We have many people watching us. If we interfere recklessly and get obstructed by others, we won't be able to do our job properly."

"The Taoist priest is kind-hearted. I admire him."

Everyone nodded in praise.

Their mood was ruined by the farce and they no longer wanted to continue drinking.

Luo Mingzi stood up and said, "In that case, let's go."

"The waterway from Tongzhou to the capital is blocked again and has not been cleared yet. Because of the foreign merchants, there is some chaos in the city. We can reach the capital in about three hours by land. The suburban manor has arranged accommodation for you."

"That's a good feeling."

Sharifei said happily: "It turns out that I have someone in the capital who can help me get things done."

"Don't say weird things."

Luo Mingzi burst out laughing, but he was actually secretly surprised.

But he remembered that Sharifei was just an old fox with mediocre kung fu, who relied on his thick skin and smooth tongue to get around. How come after not seeing him for a few years, he had transformed from an ordinary person into a sorcerer? It was really rare.

Of course, what he was more concerned about was Li Yan’s previous secret code.

I left Tongzhou early because I wanted to know what I had found out.

"Hero Li..."

At this moment, Kong Shangzhao next to him suddenly spoke hesitantly.

Li Yan shook his head and said, "Don't worry, Brother Kong. We will find someone later to notify the people your father has arranged to pick you up."

When Luo Mingzi, who was standing next to him, heard this, he pondered for a moment and said, "This is not appropriate."

"Someone was secretly spying on us before, and I'm afraid Brother Kong has also fallen into their sight. Just in case, you should follow us. We have to go to the capital anyway, so it will be safer to travel together."

Seeing this, Li Yan smiled and said nothing.

When I introduced him just now, I explained Kong Shangzhao's identity.

Luo Mingzi must have taken a fancy to this treasure.

"That's...that's fine."

Kong Shangzhao nodded quickly and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, the person his father arranged to pick him up hurried over.

"Master, you are finally here..."

The visitor was a thin middle-aged shopkeeper, his voice was filled with tears, "There was an incident in Linqing, there was an incident in Jinmen Wharf, and now Tongzhou City is also not at peace. I thought... Fortunately, it was fortunate, otherwise I don't know how to explain to the master."

"Amber, it's okay."

Kong Shangzhao hurriedly comforted him and told everyone their plan.

Hearing that it was someone from the Duwei Division, the shopkeeper was not stupid and naturally agreed immediately.

Night had fallen at this time. Luo Mingzi brought a dozen of his men and arranged carriages for everyone in advance. After showing the token, he ordered people to open the city gate and walk out of the city under the cover of night.

Not long after walking on the official road, Li Yan suddenly felt something and turned his head to look.

In the distance, only a few sparks can be seen in Tongzhou City late at night.

"what happened?"

Luo Mingzi asked quickly.

Li Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, "Someone did spy on us just now, but I don't know what kind of magic he used. Be careful on the road later."

Everyone understood immediately. Lu San raised his hand and ordered the falcon Lidong to fly high into the sky.

Several men in black robes suddenly appeared on the Tongzhou city wall.

What was strange was that the soldiers patrolling the city with torches passed by but could not see them.

"How to do?"

"Humph, traveling at night is really courting death..."

"I think you are the ones seeking death!"

The black-robed leader scolded, interrupting the people around him.

He looked at everyone and sneered, "That's the Twelve Yuanchen, and Li Yan is a living underworld messenger. If you get close, you will probably be thrown into the underworld directly."

"After all, we are all abandoned children in this world..."

(End of this chapter)