Zhu Tian: Starting from the World of Zongwu

The brother and sister chatted about their insights on kendo, and it was midnight before Victoria Song left with a feeling of reluctance.

Song Xuan sat cross-legged on the bed. For once, he did not practice, but closed his eyes and pondered what path he should take in the future.

.....

Three days later, the ship finally arrived at the territory of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Prefecture, and slowly sailed into the port of Yangzhou County.

They were lucky along the way and didn't encounter any pirates or bandits. All the escorts on the ship, including Lin Pingzhi, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

As soon as the ship docked, Lin Pingzhi began to direct the escorts to transport the goods to the shore.

Song Xuan stood on the deck and looked around. After noticing any danger, he took Song Qian and Lin Daiyu to say goodbye to his younger brother Lin Pingzhi.

At the port terminal, Song Xuan hired a carriage. The three of them got in and left the terminal with the sound of the coachman's "haha".

It was early morning and the road was still a little foggy, but many people could be seen getting up early to work outside the city of Yangzhou County.

"Sir, where shall we go first?"

After leaving the dock, the coachman asked respectfully in a low voice.

Song Xuan glanced at Lin Daiyu, who was looking nervous and expectant, and said, "Let's go to the Salt Court of Jiangzhe Prefecture first."

The Jiangsu and Zhejiang Prefecture Salt Administration Office was the highest salt administration agency in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions. The highest official position in this office was called the Salt Inspector.

Mingzhou Jiangzhe Prefecture has always been an important tax collection area for the imperial court, and salt affairs have also been a matter of great importance to emperors of all dynasties. Those who can serve as salt inspectors in the Jiangzhe region are all ministers whom the emperor trusts very much.

Lin Ruhai, the father of my little cousin Lin Daiyu, is a minister whom the current emperor values ​​and trusts. He is now the Imperial Censor of Salt in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Prefecture, a third-rank official, and a true local official.

Chapter 45 Lin Ruhai

Being able to become the son-in-law of the Jia family of the Rongguo Mansion, Lin Ruhai's family background is naturally extraordinary.

According to what Lin Daiyu said when chatting on the boat, the ancestor of the Lin family inherited the title of marquis, and the title of marquis was inherited until her grandfather's generation.

By the time of her father Lin Ruhai, the title of marquis could no longer be inherited, so her father had no choice but to take the imperial examination.

Although he lost his title, Lin Ruhai was very hardworking. He took the imperial examination and eventually won the third place. He was promoted to be a doctor of Lantai Temple. After accumulating enough experience, he was favored by the emperor and appointed as the Imperial Censor of Salt in Yangzhou.

Then, he stayed in the position of Salt Inspector for more than ten years.

The position of the Inspector of Salt in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Prefecture is a third-rank official, and the yamen has its own salt soldiers. Although it seems that he is only responsible for salt affairs, he actually also has the responsibility of supervising local political affairs and has enormous power.

Lin Ruhai held this position for more than ten years, experienced many assassination attempts, and mobilized salt soldiers several times to confiscate the property and exterminate the families of illegal merchants. He killed several large salt merchants in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions.

As for small and medium-sized salt merchants, there were countless of them whose properties were raided and their families were destroyed for selling illegal salt.

Through iron-blooded means, the rampant salt smuggling in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces was finally brought under the control of the imperial court. Through salt taxes and the confiscation of property of major salt merchants, tens of millions of silver were delivered to the national treasury over the years, greatly alleviating the problem of the empty treasury.

Song Xuan had heard something about the methods of Lin Ruhai, the third place winner in the imperial examination, when he was in the imperial capital.

Zhao Dezhu also mentioned casually that this person would stay in the local area for one or two years at most, and would probably return to the imperial capital to join the cabinet.

There was no prime minister in the Great Zhou Dynasty, but the cabinet ministers actually exercised the power of the prime minister. Lin Ruhai was already highly regarded by the emperor and was only one step away from being second only to the emperor.

Song Xuan was also very curious about his little cousin Lin Daiyu's legendary father. After getting off the boat, he took a carriage straight to the Salt Court of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Prefecture.

After entering the city, Victoria Song got off the carriage and disappeared in a blink of an eye.

She returned only when she was near the Salt Bureau Office.

"Brother, I've found out everything."

Victoria Song recounted the news she had gathered, "Cousin, your father is truly ruthless. He has killed many salt merchants in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions.

Of course, we have encountered many assassination attempts over the years, but fortunately, we have the salt soldiers guarding us, and your father is also surrounded by expert guards, so the salt merchants' repeated assassination attempts have been unsuccessful."

"How is my father now? He wrote in a letter before that he is not feeling well."

Victoria Song considered her words and said, "The situation is not bad, but very bad. I heard that he is so ill that he cannot get out of bed.

Many merchants in this city are celebrating with banquets, and they are all hoping your father will die soon."

Lin Daiyu's little face turned pale in an instant, her hands were clenched tightly, and mist began to fill her eyes.

"Don't worry too much!"

Song Xuan looked at his sister speechlessly. Although he knew that she had actually been quite subtle in her words, it still sounded a little insufficiently subtle.

Song Xuan comforted his little cousin and said, "I brought some of the Xuanyiwei's secret Xiaohuandan with me this time. As long as the person is not dead, we can save him. You can relax."

The reason why the Xuanyi Guards were able to suppress the martial arts world and prevent them from acting rashly was not only because they had the imperial court's support, but also because they possessed the methods to refine the two secret medicines, Dahuandan and Xiaohuandan.

Let’s not talk about the Dahuan Pill for now, it is a magical medicine that can improve one’s martial arts skills.

The Xiaohuandan alone is a holy medicine that everyone in the world dreams of.

No matter if you are injured, sick or poisoned, as long as you are still breathing, one pill will make you almost fully recovered within a few days.

The main reason why Song Xuan chose to join the Xuanyi Guard and passed the assessment was also for these two magical medicines.

Before leaving Beijing, he and Song Qian received their monthly salary, which included these two kinds of pills.

Song Xuan once specially crushed a small pill to analyze the medicinal ingredients inside, but he could only identify that it contained at least twelve kinds of medicinal ingredients.

As for how many kinds of medicinal materials are melted into the Xiaohuandan, only the alchemist himself knows.

Without a special prescription and refining method, even if all the herbs are prepared, it is impossible to refine this kind of healing medicine.

.....

Today, the Salt Administration Office is guarded by salt soldiers both openly and covertly. There is even a team of heavily armored soldiers outside the office. The air is filled with a solemn and murderous atmosphere that makes people stop in their tracks.

Song Xuan's carriage stopped in front of the yamen. Lin Daiyu lifted the curtain and showed a jade pendant to the salt soldier leader who came forward to investigate the situation.

After checking and confirming that everything was correct, the leader waved to the soldiers around him to let them pass.

The carriage slowly drove into the yamen, but there were still several soldiers following on both sides. The soldiers did not stop until they reached the inner courtyard.

In front of the inner courtyard gate, several maids and servants were standing. When they saw Lin Daiyu get off the carriage, they were stunned at first, and then one of the old maids cried with joy, "Miss, Miss is back!"

Lin Daiyu's tears were also streaming down her cheeks, but at this moment she didn't care about reminiscing about the past. Instead, she asked urgently: "How is my father? Take me to see him quickly!"

The nanny didn't dare to slack off and said hurriedly, "Young lady, please follow me. I will take you there right away."

After she finished speaking, she glanced at Song Xuan and Song Qian, brother and sister, "Miss, these two..."

"They are my cousins. They brought me all the way here safely from the imperial capital. Madam Wu, you can rest assured."

The old woman called Nanny Wu said nothing more and led the way towards Lin Ruhai's residence.

Song Xuan followed slowly behind. Along the way, he had sensed overtly and covertly that there were no less than a dozen masters guarding around. It was hard to tell what their specific strength was, but Song Xuan estimated that they were at least acquired martial artists who had cultivated internal strength.

Pushing open the door of the bedroom in a small courtyard, Lin Daiyu walked in, took a look, and then knelt down in front of the bed.

"Father, your daughter is back to see you!"

Lying on the bed, Lin Ruhai looked haggard, his hair was all gray, and his eyes were cloudy, looking like he was at the end of his life.

Hearing Lin Daiyu's voice, he struggled to get up, tremblingly trying to reach out his hand, and said in a hoarse voice: "Be good, come closer, let Dad take a good look at you.

After I die, I can tell your mother what you look like now..."

Upon hearing this, Daiyu wiped her tears, stood up and was about to move forward.

But the next moment, Song Xuan reached out and pressed her shoulders, blocking her behind him.

"Cousin?" Lin Daiyu's voice was filled with doubt, but she subconsciously wanted to step forward.

Song Xuan reached out to stop her again, his eyes fell on Lin Ruhai, and said, "You've been poisoned!"

Chapter 46 Young man, is the master okay?

As soon as he entered the room, Song Xuan felt something was wrong.

At first he didn't know what was wrong. It was not until he stayed in the room for a while that he set his eyes on the windowsill and saw an incense burner with burning incense.

The smell of the incense was not strong, but light and elegant and extremely pleasant. However, after taking a few more breaths of this fragrance into his body, the pure Yang Wuji internal force in his dantian suddenly became violent.

As if facing a formidable enemy, the internal forces surged forward like mad water, devouring all the fragrance absorbed into the body.

Now Song Xuan had an idea in his mind.

The incense burning in the incense burner is poisonous.

As a heavenly-level martial art, the internal force cultivated by the Pure Yang Wuji Boy's Kung Fu possesses various extremely magical abilities, and one of them is immunity to all poisons.

Once any poison enters the body, it will cause the Pure Yang Internal Force to go wild, and then swarm forward to devour the poison completely.

And it was obvious that the incense that could cause his pure yang internal energy to react was naturally mixed with an unknown poison.

He didn't know what the poison was, but he just needed to know that there was poison in it.

After saying that Lin Ruhai was poisoned, Song Xuan flicked his sleeves, and everyone suddenly felt a gust of wind coming. The doors and windows of the bedroom exploded, and the incense burner with burning incense was thrown out and fell in the yard.

Lin Ruhai's cloudy eyes lit up slightly. He did not ask what kind of poison it was, nor did he think about who poisoned him. Instead, he stared at Song Xuan with some anticipation.

"Is there poison in the incense burner?"

Song Xuan nodded.

"Can I still be saved?"

"Have!"

Song Xuan didn't waste any words. He took out a jade bottle from his arms, unplugged it and carefully poured out a pill.

The pill was not big, about the size of a fingertip, and was light golden in color. The moment it was poured out of the bottle, a strong medicinal fragrance filled the entire room.

"This medicine..." Lin Ruhai seemed to be familiar with this medicine, and a strange light flashed in his eyes.

"Xuan Yiwei's secret medicine, Xiao Huan Dan."

Song Xuan snapped his fingers, and before Lin Ruhai could react, the pill flew into his mouth. The next moment, he felt a sweet taste in his mouth and swallowed it instinctively.

Then, streams of heat began to flow through his body. He, who was originally exhausted and weak, gradually felt refreshed and invigorated.

"The Small Huandan can cure all kinds of poisons and illnesses, but it is of little benefit to those whose vitality has been depleted and whose lifespan has been exhausted."

Song Xuan said calmly, "To put it simply, the blood and lifespan that Lord Lin lost due to the poisoning cannot be replenished by the Xiao Huan Dan. Even if we save you this time, your lifespan will only be about ten years left."

"ten years?"

Lin Ruhai smiled when he heard this, "Ten years is a long time. I can do a lot of things."

In ten years, he can return to Beijing and join the cabinet to realize his ambitions.

In ten years, he can help his daughter find a good husband and watch her get married and have children.

In ten years, there are so many things that can be done, which is enough for him to make up for the regrets left in the first half of his life.

Lin Ruhai, who felt a little better, did not rush to thank her. Instead, he looked at Lin Daiyu first, with tears welling up in his eyes.

"My dear, the thing I regret most these days is that I sent you to the Jia Mansion and failed to fulfill my responsibilities as a father.

As a father, I am not afraid of death, but I am afraid that after I die, you will be left alone to suffer in this world. You are a girl, without the protection of your family, and I don’t know how much suffering you will endure and how many tears you will shed.

Whenever I think of this, I, as a father, cannot swallow my anger..."

"father!"

Lin Daiyu threw herself on the bed and cried, "My daughter often thinks of my father and home. I am not afraid of suffering with my father. I only ask that you don't leave me alone again..."

Song Xuan quietly retreated to the door, pulled Song Qian, who was watching the father and daughter crying scene with relish, outside, and closed the door.

"You have no tact. You're just standing there, making it difficult for the father and daughter to cry."

Victoria Song smiled sheepishly, and then said with some emotion: "Compared to my cousin, brother, I suddenly found myself so happy."

His parents are still alive, his family is well-off, and he has an older brother who has loved him since he was a child.

Although she was a girl, her family members were very open-minded. They did not set any complicated rules for her and never hindered her dream of becoming a female knight.

Compared with Lin Daiyu, who lost her mother at a young age and had to live under someone else's roof without freedom, Song Qian's life was like that of a favored girl from heaven.

Song Xuan didn't say anything, but kept staring at a corner of the yard.

He was busy coming in to check on Lin Ruhai's situation and didn't even notice that there was someone standing there.

It was an old man in black, who was sitting there lazily wiping the blade in his hand. When he saw Song Xuan coming, he grinned, revealing a mouthful of big yellow teeth.

"Young man, is the master alright?"

Song Xuan nodded, "The poison has been resolved. He will be fine after a few days of recuperation."