Eternal Immortal Dynasty: Starting as a Petty Official

As the sun rises in the east, the faint fragrance of fragrant rice permeates the pavilion.

Zhao Xian, who had been waiting for a long time, was now sitting around the fire pit, staring at the exquisite pottery jar in front of him.

A large earthenware pot of spirit rice porridge was bubbling and steaming. Tingfu Liu Quan held a spoon and ladled a bowl of spirit rice porridge for everyone.

This morning, there were over a hundred people dining at the pavilion.

Three large earthenware pots were used to cook this spirit rice porridge alone. If it wasn't enough, they continued to cook until everyone was full.

Originally, Liu Quan cooked ordinary rice, but when Chen Yuancheng came to find Zhao Xian, he specifically instructed Liu Quan to cook spirit rice porridge instead, and that the spirit rice needed could be obtained directly from his room.

When the people of Zhudao heard about this, they admired Chen Yuancheng even more!

When his uncle Zhao Li and elder brother Zhao Zheng arrived, Zhao Xian hurriedly handed them the prepared earthenware jar, which contained spirit rice porridge, enough to feed five or six people.

He instructed the two men to deliver the message to his father, uncle, and others who were recuperating in the side room.

As for Zhao Xian himself, he was entrusted by Chen Yuancheng to prepare breakfast for several high-ranking officials.

Inside the exquisite ceramic pot in front of them was a type of spiritual rice called Jade Pearl Rice, which was a higher grade of spiritual rice than the Crescent Moon Rice grown by the Daoists.

On the market, one low-grade spirit stone can buy one pound of jade pearl rice, while one low-grade spirit stone can buy as much as five pounds of crescent moon rice.

A moment later, the earthenware pot emitted a refreshing aroma of rice. The aroma made Zhao Xian swallow hard.

Suppressing his longing, he picked up the pottery jar with a coarse cloth, placed it in a bamboo basket, and then picked up another bamboo basket and hurried towards the backyard.

A moment later, Zhao Xian returned to the front yard with the bamboo basket.

He handed the used tableware to Tingfu, but Zhao Xian took the exquisite pottery jar to the side room.

There was still some jade pearl rice porridge left, which Zhao Xian thought could be given to his father and the others.

Around noon, a commotion arose outside the pavilion, and Chen Sheng, Liu Yu, and others quickly walked out of the pavilion.

The group chatted briefly with a general riding a crimson warhorse. The general then dismounted and, surrounded by the crowd, entered the pavilion.

"hiss!"

"That warhorse is so magnificent, could it be a spirit beast?"

The Taoist priests on both sides of the pavilion looked at the warhorse, which was over eight feet tall, and couldn't help but discuss it amongst themselves.

"My lord, my lord~"

Wang Jia, who was standing outside the gate of the pavilion, heard shouts coming from behind him and went over.

"My lord, do you know what kind of horse that is? How can it be so magnificent and tall!"

That Dao Min immediately pointed and asked with a smile.

"Stop pointing with your filthy hands! What are you doing? If someone sees you, they'll chop you up!"

Wang Jia raised his hand and slapped the Taoist's hand away, then whispered a shout.

"That's the county magistrate's steed, the Fire-Scaled Steed, which, according to legend, has dragon blood!"

"It can breathe fire and fly through the air."

Wang Jia lowered his voice and spoke with a hint of mystery.

"hiss!"

"It's that powerful! It must cost dozens of spirit stones!"

"Dozens?"

"I think we need at least a hundred!"

"..."

The people here were discussing it excitedly, while Zhao Xian had already returned home.

The father and others need to stay at the pavilion for another day until their injuries stabilize before returning home to recuperate.

He didn't return home all night, but when he finally got back to Yangpingli, he found that Yangpingli had returned to its usual tranquility.

Zhao He, the gatekeeper, was still lazily leaning against the gatepost, basking in the sun, his fingers picking at lice between the seams of his clothes.

Seeing Zhao Xian return with his bow and arrows slung over his shoulder, he quickly straightened up, his face beaming with smiles: "Ninth Brother, you slew the bandits with your arrows last night, you were truly awe-inspiring!"

"I told you Jiulang would amount to something, and look, his talent is already showing!"

Zhao He had only attended a private school for a year, so he naturally couldn't remember the literary phrase "awl in a bag," but he remembered it roughly.

"Uncle Eleven, you flatter me. Jiulang was just lucky!"

Zhao Xian smiled and responded, then slowly walked into the inner room amidst Zhao He's laughter.

Many clansmen were sunbathing at this time, and when they saw Zhao Xian return, they kept greeting him.

Upon reaching the gate of his own courtyard, Zhao Xian rubbed his somewhat stiff smile before pushing open the gate and walking inside.

"mother!"

Zhao Xian shouted first, and then two figures, one tall and one short, rushed out of the house like a gust of wind.

"Big brother, I'm so scared!"

The younger sister, Zhao Yu, hugged Zhao Xian's waist and cried loudly.

The second brother, Zhao Hong, also had a short blade tucked into his waistband, and looked at Zhao Xian with red eyes.

After comforting his younger sister, Zhao Xian untied his bow and arrows, tossed them to Zhao Hong, and laughed, "Quickly wipe them clean for me!"

Zhao Hong accepted the bow and arrow with a smile, while Zhao Xian led his younger sister toward their mother.

"Mother, Father has broken a few bones and is recuperating in the pavilion with a doctor taking care of him. I'll go home first to let him know he's alright."

"It's good that it's nothing serious!"

Zhao Xushi's eyes were also slightly red, and she responded with a sound of agreement.

"You haven't had lunch yet, have you? Mother will cook you some spirit rice porridge right away. Tingjun said you should eat three meals a day for a month!"

Before she finished speaking, Zhao Xushi went to the thatched shed and began to busy herself.

Zhao Xian chatted with his younger sister for a while, then went back to his own room.

Pushing open the door, one is greeted by more than a dozen bloodstained weapons.

Zhao Hong also quietly followed behind.

"Elder brother, these were all delivered by our uncle early this morning."

"Four ring-pommel swords, six short spears and long spears, two bows, and two swords."

So clear, it's obvious that Zhao Hong has already checked it once.

Zhao Xian nodded slightly, then closed the door and locked it.

"Brother, how many talismans are these worth?"

Zhao Hong smiled and asked in a low voice.

"A knife costs 100 talismans, a bow costs a little over 100 talismans, and a spearhead or lance tip costs several dozen talismans each. As for those two swords, they'll probably be more expensive, costing two or three hundred talismans each."

"In total, it would cost at least 1,500 talisman coins."

"However, these are all old, so the price will be discounted further, but it should still be around a thousand coins."

Zhao Xian also quietly calculated it once.

"A thousand talisman coins, that's a lot!"

Zhao Hong exclaimed in surprise, then quickly covered his mouth.

"Don't flaunt your wealth; don't let others see or hear it!"

Zhao Xian also gave a few words of advice.

After lunch, Zhao Xian carried his bow and arrows and hurried towards the pavilion.

Now that the county magistrate has arrived, he is here to wipe out the bandits who escaped last night.

Just now, Zhao Xian glanced briefly outside the pavilion and estimated that there were about a hundred county soldiers.

Although a hundred people is not many, when you add the Taoists from Shanghuting, there are four or five hundred people, which is enough to search the mountain.

Upon returning to the pavilion, he indeed received an order from the pavilion lord, instructing the villagers to cooperate with the county soldiers in searching the mountains and fields to capture the bandits.

Whoever kills the bandits will be rewarded with a thousand coins.

As the saying goes, a great reward will surely bring forth brave men. Upon hearing of such a generous reward, Dao Min was also eager to make a fortune from it.

Not only Shanghuting, but also the villagers of the surrounding villages were to search the mountains and fields, since the bandits could not possibly hide only within the territory of Shanghuting.