Longevity begins with slaying demons and eliminating demons

Chapter 283 King and minister, father and daughter, master and servant
Although the Zhao family in Youzhou, together with the Chen family in Xiangyang and the Shen family in Jinling, is known as the "three great clans of the Qi Dynasty", its origin is different from the other two.

The Chen family, the Shen family, and the Lu family who were exterminated, their ancestors were either heroes who helped Emperor Taizu establish the country, or made great achievements in the war against foreign enemies, and were awarded the title of "Guo Gong" because of this. Fiefdoms and Danshu iron coupons passed down from generation to generation.

The Zhao family in Youzhou has a much longer history, dating back thousands of years.

At that time, the Zhao family established themselves as kings in the north and established the "Great Yan Kingdom".

The Great Chu Dynasty in the Central Plains had waged war against them more than once, trying to incorporate this "Great Yan Kingdom" into its own territory, but failed.

Until more than 400 years ago, Emperor Taizu of Daqi, who was born as a beggar, suddenly rose in troubled times.

Holding the "Tai'a Sword" in his hand, he led the army to destroy the Great Chu Dynasty, defeated the princes from all walks of life, and then ascended the throne in Luojing City as the emperor, and his power shook the world.

Next, he waved his whip and pointed at Dayan Kingdom.

After all, for a hero like him who aspires to dominate the world, how can he allow others to snore on the side of the couch?
And Yan Wang in the north was also afraid of his power.

In order to avoid war, King Yan chose to give up his title and surrender to Emperor Taizu of Daqi.

In addition, the Yan people also gave up their original belief in the "God of Fire", and since then, like the people of the Central Plains, they have believed in "Taishang Haotian" and "Emperor Ziwei"-it is said that this is Emperor Taizu A condition that was resolutely unwilling to make concessions back then.

Emperor Taizu canonized the surrendered Yan King as "Yan Guogong", and allowed him to retain his own private army and autonomy over the Youzhou area to a certain extent, and even allowed him to appoint some places in Youzhou on his own Officials; when the imperial court formulates policies related to Youzhou, it will also refer to Yan Guogong's opinions.

No other aristocratic family has such great power.

In addition, Zhao Changying, the current Duke of Yan, has the power of a saint.

It is a little exaggerated to say that Youzhou can be regarded as a "state within a state" within the territory of the Daqi Dynasty.

When Zhao Yan was a child, when she heard stories about her ancestors from her elders, she imagined more than once that if the King Yan hadn't surrendered to Emperor Dazu, wouldn't she be a princess now?

Of course, although she does not have the title of princess now, her status and treatment in the family are actually not much different from that of a real princess.

…………

At this moment, Zhao Yan looked at her father, who was slumped in the gazebo in disheveled clothes, and smelled the strong smell of wine in the air, feeling extremely complicated.

She has been in the frontier army for these years, and she has witnessed the Daqi court cutting the meat like a soft knife, bit by bit, dismantling the private army of the Zhao family, and also heard about those things like "the Northeast has the emperor's spirit", "the Japanese" When it rises, fire dominates" and other prophecies.

She didn't think her father was rebellious.

She just felt that this should be the imperial court's means to weaken the power of the powerful, just like the imperial court recently sent people to investigate the tax evasion issue of Jinling Shen's property.

But in such a situation, Yan Guogong Zhao Changying was indifferent to it, and behaved extraordinarily decadent. He didn't even bother to stop the rumors and let them spread everywhere.

"Yan'er, there is something I forgot to tell you before," Zhao Changying burped, and continued, "When something happened in Qingzhou Mansion last month, I went there to fight with Yishan Xuenv. It hurt both sides - she returned to the ice cave and fell into a deep sleep state, and part of my meridians were also frozen by her spells, making it difficult to operate the true essence normally.

"So after you come to the capital, try to be as prudent as possible. If you offend someone you can't afford, I won't be able to support you like before."

Zhao Yan clasped her hands in front of her chest, squinted her eyes and said, "Yishan Xuenv...the majestic sage of Qi, can't even defeat such a little-known ghost?"

"Ghosts don't necessarily mean that the more powerful they are, the more famous they are," Zhao Changying responded with a chuckle, "For example, the Kongxuan Sanren, before he held the ceremony to be promoted to the ghost king, no one knew of his existence. "

Zhao Yan didn't speak immediately.

She had learned about the disaster in Qingzhou Mansion from the imperial palace newspaper and other people's comments.Kongxuan Sanren's meticulous plan and the means to erase her own karma made her feel shuddering.

But in this incident, what impressed her the most was the name "Gu Xu".

She really couldn't figure out what kind of method a monk who had just been promoted to the third realm used to escape from the inevitable death situation set up by a "fierce god" level ghost.

She sent a maid to challenge Gu Xu in the Lantern Festival competition before, and she was driven by this curiosity to a certain extent.

"I heard that recently that young man named Gu Xu has been very popular in Luojing City—"

"—I suggest you not to provoke this person for the time being."

Before Zhao Yan could finish speaking, Zhao Changying interrupted her.

He was still lazily lying on the chair, but the drowsy drunkenness in his eyes disappeared instantly, and the tone of his speech suddenly became serious.

"Why?" Zhao Yan frowned, "Is he very powerful?"

She had never seen her father treat a young man with such an attitude, and he was a young man of civilian origin and only third-level.

You know, even if she wanted to fight the prince one-on-one with a spear in her hand, Zhao Changying would just say lightly: "Be gentle, just don't kill or maim."

Zhao Changying cleared her throat, and said, "I once saw Gu Xu on the observatory of Luo Sishou. When he appeared, Luo Sishou not only stood up to greet him, but also greeted him politely. Pour tea for him with your own hands... Even I don't have this kind of treatment!"

"Could it be that he has a deep background?" Zhao Yan guessed.

Her tone sounded uncertain.

After all, as we all know, Luo Sishou of the Exorcist Department has always been a high-spirited and arrogant person, whether it is other saints or royal relatives, he will not stand up to greet them, let alone pour tea for them in person.

Only the emperor's decree can make him move his butt a little bit.

But in this world, what background can be deeper than the royal family and saints?
"Who knows?" Zhao Changying said slowly, conjuring a new jug out of thin air, pouring wine into her mouth again, and her eyes became blurred again.

The crimson wine flowed from the corners of his lips, wet his beard, and dripped on his skirt, making the pavilion more intensely scented with wine.

Zhao Yan snorted coldly, then turned and left the pavilion.

…………

Zhao Yan's room is the most spacious and luxurious room in the whole mansion, and it looks more magnificent than Yan Guogong's room.

Inside the house is a canopy bed carved with strings, hung with green gauze curtains, beside it are coral door cabinets, a carved fine wood chaise longue, and several pear wood carved chairs.

Calligraphy and paintings of famous people are hung on the walls, bronze stoves and golden cranes are placed on the table, and wool carpets from the northwest frontier are spread on the floor.

The maids had already prepared "five-spice soup" in the bathtub and served her to take a bath.

It is recorded in ancient books: "Five-spice soup method, use one catty of orchid incense, one catty of Jinghua, one catty of Lingling incense, one catty of green wood incense, and one catty of white sandalwood. For all five things, boil two dendrobiums and five buckets of water to get one dendrobium. Two buckets are used to bathe oneself. This soup wards off evil and eliminates ominous energy." (1)

"Five-spice soup" is made from five different spices. Using it to bathe can dispel yin and ward off evil spirits.

Zhao Yan lay in the tub with her eyes closed, resting her mind, the scalding water nourishing her creamy white skin.

The temperature of the water in the tub was close to boiling.

If it were an ordinary person, I am afraid that he would have been severely burned.

But Zhao Yan, as the "Body of Flame Spirit" and in possession of the Zhao family's unique "Sacred Fire Totem", was safe and sound inside, and even felt extraordinarily comfortable.

Her personal maid, Qiuyan, stood aside, telling her what happened in the capital recently.

Both of Qiuyan's parents died since childhood, and she was taken in by Zhao Yan's mother in the house, and she won the trust of Mrs. Qu.

After Mrs. Qu passed away, she has been by Zhao Yan's side.

For Zhao Yan, Qiuyan is not only a servant, but also a close sister.

"Qiu Yan, has there been any news about the geniuses in Luojing City recently?"

"Chu Fengge from the Exorcist Division broke through the Fifth Realm not long ago."

"His breakthrough speed is quite fast. If I'm not wrong, he should have used the method of 'cutting the seven emotions', right?"

"That's right. He cut off his 'desire'."

"Cutting off the 'desire'...he is really a ruthless person! I am very curious about what he was driven by, and he would actually want to use this method to break through."

"Miss, didn't you also use the method of 'cutting the seven emotions' to break the situation?"

"I'm different from him. What I cut off is 'fear'." Zhao Yan opened her eyes and said with a chuckle, "Fear is superfluous to me, it will only affect my determination , hinders my actions, so cutting it off is beneficial and harmless.

"But desire is different.

"How can it be possible for a person to live in the world without worldly desires and obsessions that cannot be let go?
"Chu Fengge will definitely encounter a lot of trouble in his practice in the future if he does this."

Qiu Yan was silent for a moment, and then said softly: "Actually, miss, you should know that the Duke sent you to the army before, in fact, he hoped that you would use the spirit of killing in the army to sharpen your heart and break through.

"Perhaps, you only need to stay in the army for another year or two before you can break through the fifth realm naturally, without using the quick method of 'cutting the seven emotions'."

"It's too late," Zhao Yan said as she fiddled with the water surface with her slender fingers, causing ripples, "Time never waits for anyone.

"Besides, no matter what a coward like Zhao Changying does, he will only choose the safest method, and will always only know how to protect himself.

"I'm over twenty now. There's no need to follow his arrangements in everything."

Hearing Zhao Yan scolding her father, Qiuyan shut her mouth tightly and stopped talking.

After a while, Zhao Yan said calmly again: "By the way, Qiuyan, I remember you met that young genius named 'Gu Xu' on the Lantern Festival. What kind of person do you think he is?"

While speaking, the question "What background does Gu Xu have?" lingered in her mind.

Qiuyan hesitated for a while, then replied: "He is very strong, his understanding is amazing, and he can also write poems. When he was fighting in the ring, he wrote a poem with the 'Jinghong Pen' on the spot and created a new spell."

"What word? Say it and listen."

Qiuyan recited "The Qingyu Case·Yuanxi" from beginning to end as instructed.

"This man is indeed talented," Zhao Yan commented, "As expected of the owner of the 'Jinghong Brush'. Compared with him, the works of Luo Jing and those literati are simply pretentious and moaning without disease."

"Miss, do you want to get acquainted with him?" Qiu Yan tentatively guessed what the master was thinking, "He just moved to Jinyu Lane, Yanqingfang at the end of last month. If you need it, I can go to him and pass a copy Greetings."

"No need," Zhao Yan shook her head immediately, "No man in this world is a good thing, so there is no need to have too many contacts with them. It is enough to treat him as a whetstone."

Half an hour later, Zhao Yan came out of the bathtub wrapped in a towel.Crystal drops of water rolled down slowly along the slender legs, and the snow-white bare feet stepped on the deep red carpet, and the toes were filled with a faint mist.

"Qiuyan, bring me some light clothes," she ordered lightly, "This afternoon, I want to take another look at the place where my mother was killed."

"Yes, ma'am."

"In addition, you send someone to tell Miss Liuli of Jiaofangsi that I will go to her place tonight, and I want to ask her to play "Pheasant towards Flying"."

"no problem."

…………

This morning, Gu Xu locked himself in the room and devoted himself to his cultivation with all his attention.

In the magma river of the "Longevity Cult", he absorbed too much energy, and it took a while to digest it slowly.

In addition, after improving the "Red Flame True Art", the true energy in his body also undergoes a qualitative change, becoming more condensed and pure, and has a longer-lasting burning damage.

Therefore, he also needs to re-evaluate and adapt to the lethality of each of his spells.

In the afternoon, a little book boy in a gray cloth shirt came out of the mural, came to Gu Xu, and handed a note to him.

This note is from Shen Qiu.

Shen Qiu said that the pill workshop in Luojing City had already taken shape, and he wanted to invite Gu Xu to visit the workshop in person.

"Brother Shen is quite efficient!" Gu Xu thought to himself.

Since discussing with Shen Qiu at the end of last month to establish a "Branch Workshop in Beijing", Gu Xu has not asked about this matter again, and has given full authority to Shen Qiu to handle matters such as raising funds, recruiting monks, and purchasing materials.

And Shen Qiu really lived up to the entrustment and never let him worry about it.

Because of this, Gu Xu often thinks: what happened to a person like Shen Qiu who is talented in cultivation and has a business mind, which made him abandon Jinling Shen family without hesitation and come to his mansion , become your own disciple?

PS: Ask for double monthly tickets! !

…………

Notes:

(1) "Five Spice Soup" comes from "Three Emperors".

(End of this chapter)