Catching Monsters

Chapter 73 Capital City
The capital of the Zhou Dynasty, also known as Jinling City, is the ancient capital of six dynasties.

Several dynasties before the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty used this as their capital, and the entire capital was divided into two cities, the inner and outer cities.

The inner city is the imperial city.

The capital city covers an area of 400,000 acres and has a population of nearly two million. It is crowded with merchants and is extremely prosperous.

On Yulin Street in the inner city, there is the Tianqing Temple with green bricks and blue tiles. The temple is filled with a faint scent of sandalwood, and the decorations inside are also quite luxurious, but there are very few believers.

Outside a room in the side yard of the Taoist temple, a young Taoist priest in a green robe, holding food in his hands, knocked on the door gently: "Uncle Master, it's time to eat..."

When I opened the door, I saw Xuan Daozi sitting in the room. He was not meditating, but instead had his chin in his hand, as if he was suffering from lovesickness.

Xuan Daozi sighed: "Ah."

"Hey."

"Hey."

When the young Taoist saw Xuan Daozi sighing three times, he hurriedly put the food on the table next to him.

He also couldn't understand why his uncle was hailed as a living immortal in the capital and was the abbot of the Tianqing Temple.

Today, the status of Taoism in the Great Zhou Dynasty is only slightly inferior to that of the two great masters in the other two Taoist temples.

But my uncle is younger. The two great Heavenly Masters are over 80 years old and are about to go to see the Taoist Master.

Uncle Master will be able to outlast them sooner or later, and by then he will have broken through to become a third-grade great heavenly master and hold a lofty status.

For a person like this, what else could make him so sad?
The young Taoist priest thought about it and remembered that some time ago, his uncle, who had not left the temple for a long time, went to Nanzhou Prefecture.

Could it be that he met a woman he liked?

What makes him miss her so much?

Xuan Daozi saw the young Taoist priest put down the food and was about to leave, so he finally spoke: "Chen Xuzi, why don't you ask why Master is sighing?"

Chen Xuzi hurriedly stopped and saluted with his hands in the Ziwu Jue: "Uncle Master, you said..."

Xuan Daozi opened his mouth slowly, and said with emotion: "This time when I went to Nanzhou Prefecture, I met a child named Jiang Yun. He is extremely talented. He is only at the eighth level of spell casting, but he can exert a great power."

"It's a pity that he practices the unorthodox way. I was thinking if he could join our Tianqing Temple."

"Perhaps Tianqing Temple doesn't need to be overshadowed by Qingfeng Temple and Yiyun Temple in everything."

Xuan Daozi couldn't help but think in his heart:
Nowadays, young talents with a little talent either join Confucianism or Taoism, and have a successful career in government and a bright future.

The next best option is to shave your head and become a monk. The dignitaries like to seek help from these bald monks.

Obviously, we Taoists can also tell fortunes!

Those temples in the capital are despicable and shameless. I don’t know where they found some handsome monks with slicked-back hair and powdered faces, who are quite pleasing to the eye. Those rich ladies and young ladies like to find these monks.

It is said that monks have pure minds and are not afraid of gossip.

Finally, only a few children who are unwilling to become monks and are looked down upon by the Confucian academies will join Taoism.

Even so, it was still being snatched up by Qingfeng Temple and Yiyun Temple.

The disciple who finally fell into the hands of Tianqing Temple was of mediocre qualifications.

Seeing that his uncle was so worried, Chen Xuzi came up with an idea: "Since my uncle likes her so much, why don't we kidnap her?"

Xuan Daozi frowned and said, "We are in Tianqing Temple, a thousand-year-old memorial archway. How can we easily kidnap someone?"

"Hey, you say, if the Taoist Master blesses us, it would be great if we could let that child go to the capital..."

Seeing his uncle falling into lovesickness again, Chen Xuzi could only leave the room quickly. However, he couldn't help but wonder what kind of person could make his uncle miss him so much.

A few days later...

"Wow, is this the capital city?" Jiang Qiaoqiao, who was riding a horse in front of Jiang Yun, looked at the towering city walls in front of her with her eyes widened.

The wall of the capital city is thirty feet high, with no end in sight. At this moment, in front of the city gate, caravans and pedestrians line up to enter the city and undergo inspection, forming an endless long queue.

When Jiang Yun saw the towering city wall, he was a little amazed. As far as he remembered, the city wall in his previous life was not so high.

Maybe it's because there are demons and evil people in this world? That's why the walls of the capital are so tall?
Qian Buchou, who was riding next to him, also opened his eyes wide: "Wow, it's worth the seven days of riding. This capital city is too big. Old Qian, I am really enlightened."

Behind the group of people, there was a prisoner van towed by a horse-drawn carriage.

The people in the queue made way for fear of offending this group of Jinyiwei.

Looking at the prison van behind them, they were not surprised. The people in the prison van were caught by the Jinyiwei and most of them had no chance of survival.

What was unexpected to passers-by was that behind this team of Jinyiwei, there was a carriage carrying a large number of bottles and jars, which looked like worthless things.

They even used cages to hold dozens of chicks.

Xu Suwen smiled and said, "Let's go. First, go to the Jinyiwei Yamen and put them both in the imperial prison. Then I'll take you around the capital."

The group rode into the city on horseback, and the soldiers guarding the city gate naturally let them in without any inspection. They even forced a big smile on their faces towards the group of Jinyiwei wearing flying fish uniforms.

Zhang Wenqi, who was in the carriage of the team, also opened the curtain of the carriage and could not help but sigh and recite a poem from the heart:
"I am so sad to be banished from the capital, and my dreams have not come true as the years have passed."

"Fortunately, I was summoned back by the Emperor, given a higher rank and allowed to continue my career as an official."

Jiang Yun, who was riding in front, couldn't help but sigh inwardly at the great literary talent when he heard the poems of Master Zhang Wenqi.

Although this guy is greedy, he is also a serious student. He has studied to the level of a fourth-rank official and is naturally good at poetry and songs.

"Master Wei, Master Xu, I will not be accompanying you back to the Jinyiwei Yamen. I want to go to the capital to thank His Majesty for his grace while it is still early."

Upon hearing this, Wei Huaian glanced at the sky and said, "It is already 3 p.m., the gates of the Imperial City are closed, I'm afraid you can't enter the Imperial City."

"Tomorrow morning court will be the time for all officials to pay their respects."

Zhang Wenqi laughed, waved his sleeves, and said, "I will kneel down in front of the imperial city to express my gratitude until tomorrow morning!"

Jiang Yun was stunned when he heard this. Is this guy going to kneel in front of the imperial city for a night?
This really puts into practice the principle that flattery never wears out, no matter how many holes it has.

Sure enough, those who can become fourth-rank officials are all quite something.

You need to learn more.

After saying that, Zhang Wenqi got off the carriage and gave Qian Buchou some instructions: "Captain Qian, please find a place to stay first. I will send someone to look for you in a few days."

"Okay, Lord Zhang." Qian Buchou nodded repeatedly.

Seeing Zhang Wenqi leave, Jiang Yun rode his horse and followed Xu Suwen towards the inner city.

Along the way, you can see the prosperity of the capital.

Silk shops, shoe shops, jewelry shops, grocery stores, taverns, pastry shops, Chinese medicine shops, tea houses...

There were so many customers in each shop that it was hard to cope with the demand. There were also waiters at the door greeting passers-by.

You can even see many black and white people on the road.

"Is this the capital?" Jiang Qiaoqiao widened her eyes and looked at the passers-by curiously. Then she couldn't help but point at many dark-skinned people and said, "Brother, why are these people so dark-skinned, like coal."

"This is a Kunlun slave, sold from the Western Regions as a slave."

Xu Suwen, who was riding in front, patiently explained to Jiang Qiaoqiao: "There are many nations coming to pay tribute, and there are many people of all kinds."

"This is just the outer city. The inner city is even more prosperous."

(End of this chapter)