Longevity begins with slaying demons and eliminating demons

Chapter 294 Trouble

Thinking of this, Gu Xu pondered for a moment, and asked Guanshi Yang beside him: "Before Mr. Shen left today, did you meet anyone?"

Guanshi Yang replied: "Shen Hua, the successor of the Jinling Shen family, came here today. The two brothers had a brief conversation. But I don't know exactly what they talked about."

Gu Xu nodded, turned around and walked into the house.

In the courtyard behind the small building, there is a small lounge.

Although Shen Qiu's identity is the doorman of Gu Xu's residence, and Gu Xu also reserved a room for him in the mansion, but the symbolic meaning is far greater than the actual meaning.

Anyway, sleeping is not a rigid need for practitioners - like Gu Xu himself, he often practices all night long, and the bed at home has almost become a pure decoration.

During the recent period, due to the initial opening of the elixir workshop, Shen Qiu basically regarded this room as his temporary residence.

In Gu Xu's impression, Shen Qiu is a very organized person.

His clothes are always clean and tidy, and every word he says is very logical; no matter how busy things are, he can always make a reasonable plan and handle them in an orderly manner.

However, the scene in the lounge at this time surprised Gu Xu.

I saw a lot of torn waste paper on the ground, a writing brush fell on the ground, leaving obvious ink marks on the ground; several wooden chairs were also kicked down, and there were several silk pillows beside the chairs. There are a few dirty footprints on the surface.

It was a mess.

But fragile items inside the house, such as porcelain tea sets and vases, remained unharmed.

In addition, Gu Xu saw several knitted clothes and gloves on the table.

Their workmanship was very rough, and the patterns on them were a bit childish and ridiculous. They were all simple little flowers, grasses and small animals, but they were placed in the most conspicuous and accessible position by Shen Qiu.

"Earlier today, someone lost his temper in this room." Shangguan Jin appeared next to Gu Xu at some point, and said softly to him.

Shangguan Jin has the supernatural power of "heavenly calculation", everything in the house can be presented in the form of data in her field of vision.With the help of these data, she can roughly guess what happened in the house.

Gu Xu nodded.

He thought of Shen Qiu leaving a list today and leaving hastily, and felt more and more that he might have encountered something really difficult.

At the same time, Gu Xu also remembered that on the day he met Shen Qiu in Longmen Academy, Shen Qiu's words clearly revealed his disgust towards the members of the Shen family - it can be seen that the relationship between him and the family members The relationship between them is not harmonious, and they want to break away from the family and prove their talents on the broader stage of Luojing.

"Could it be that the Shen family of Jinling put forward some outrageous demands and wanted to force Shen Qiu to return to the family?" Gu Xu guessed silently in his heart.

Then he asked Shangguan Jin beside him: "Friend Shangguan, how much do you know about the internal situation of the Jinling Shen family?"

Although Gu Xu is well-read and knowledgeable, his knowledge is mainly concentrated in areas related to cultivation.

As for the private matters within the aristocratic family, under normal circumstances they would not be recorded in books, and Gu Xu didn't bother to inquire about the gossip.As the personal entourage of the head of the Exorcism Division, Shangguan Jin has been dealing with various big figures for a long time, and he also has a lot of information channels within the Exorcism Division, so he must know more information in this regard.

Shangguan Jin immediately guessed what he wanted to ask.

"Shen Qiu is the heir of Shen Qianren, the patriarch of the Shen family, and his mother is an ordinary maidservant of the Shen family." She thought for a while and replied, "It is said that Mrs. Shen has deep conflicts with the mother and son. The mother was kicked out of the house by her. If it wasn't for the persuasive persuasion of the head of the house, she would even have thought of putting the mother and son to death - of course, these are just rumors, and you might think it's a bit exaggerated. But Shen Qiu The situation in the clan must be very bad."

"Madam Shen has such a high voice in the clan?" Gu Xu asked.

From what he knew, prominent figures like the patriarch of the clan basically had wives and concubines in groups.Whether it is the head of the Chen family in Xiangyang, or Lu Huan, who died on charges of treason, there are more than ten concubines.

As for the Zhao family in Youzhou, after the death of his wife, Mrs. Qu, the Duke of Yan Zhao Changying, although he had no need for remarriage or concubines, and only Zhao Yan was his only daughter, his family has never lacked beautiful singers. Ji Wu Ji.

"The situation of the Shen family is different from that of the other two families," Shangguan Jin explained, "The Zhao family in Youzhou has saints in charge and holds military power; Great talent.

"However, the Shen family of Jinling started their business by running workshops and trading—although this can make them rich in the world, but without strong strength as the foundation, and without the escort of high-level practitioners, it is just rootless duckweed after all. .

"In the past few decades, in the Shen family, there have been no particularly powerful monks, and the younger generation has basically mediocre talents, so it can be said that there is no successor.

"If this situation continues, the Shen family will gradually lose their status as a powerful family and die slowly in the torrent of history.

"In order to save this situation, they chose to marry the famous Lin'an He family in the Jiangnan area - the He family is an upstart in recent years. Although they lack foundation and have no ancestors like the Shen family, they have produced a large number of talents today. And there is also a huge industry in the Jiangnan area.

"Mrs. Shen's original name is 'He Ru'. She is the daughter of the Lin'an He family. She is not weaker than the head of the Shen family, Shen Qianren, in terms of cultivation. Shen Qianren even needs to rely on her sometimes. Shen Qianren dare not listen to her opinions seriously. "

"I see." Gu Xu nodded.

In the aristocratic family, although there are many rules, deep routines, and all kinds of intrigue, the final competition is still hard power.

For example, Mrs. Shen's natal family is powerful, so she can quarrel with her husband about having a child with a maidservant; but if it is a wife of low birth, she can only turn a blind eye to her husband's behavior Eyes, showing a virtuous and gentle appearance.

"Born in such an environment, the things that can make Shen Qiu lose his composure should have something to do with his mother if nothing else happens." Gu Xu guessed.

Although Shen Qiu claimed that he returned to Jinling City during his trip to deal with his own private affairs, he did not seek help from Gu Xu or anyone in "Shouchangfang", and he was determined not to reveal any more information.

However, in Gu Xu's view, Shen Qiu abandoned his powerful family, gave him a high degree of recognition, and resolutely defected to his subordinates, and in just a few days, he managed "Shouchangfang" into a With such a thriving look.

Gu Xu is very grateful for this trust and this help.

He sincerely hoped that Shen Qiu could return smoothly, and also hoped that Shen Qiu and his mother would be safe and sound.

He was silent for a moment, then took out a copper coin from his pocket, recited the names of "Taishang Haotian" and "Ziwei Great Emperor", and asked in his heart: "Is Shen Qiu and his mother all right?"

He gently tossed the copper coin up, and landed on the table with a "clang".

Back side up.

the answer is negative.

Gu Xu frowned.

Then he tossed the copper coin again for divination: "Are Shen Qiu and his mother still alive?"

This time the coin came face up.

Gu Xu breathed a sigh of relief.

But his eyes were still dignified, and his mood was not completely relaxed.

Then he said silently in his heart: "With Shen Qiu's own strength, can he solve this troublesome matter in the family?"

The copper coin spun a few times on the table, and then fell down with the back face up.

Seeing such a scene, he turned his head to look at Shangguan Jin beside him, and said to her: "Do you have a channel to collect more information about the Shen family in Jinling? What Shen Qiu encountered this time may be more complicated than we imagined." More trouble. I figured I'd have to help him as much as I could."

Shangguan Jin saw his serious eyes, heard his serious tone, and knew that his attitude this time was sincere and serious.

In the first month of this year, when Xiao Han was still recuperating in the Exorcism Division, she had learned from Shi Xiaohan that Gu Xu was a person who valued his companions very much.

At that time, Shi Xiaohan commented: "I used to think that Gu Xu was stingy and uninterested. He only knew how to practice all day long and only ate vegetables and tofu from the yamen kitchen. Find a way to get something delicious for myself. Even if I want to spend money to invite him to Piaoxianglou for a delicious meal, he often finds various excuses to refuse.

"In addition, when he was doing ghost-killing tasks, he was often overly cautious—every time he opened a door, he would feel that there was a ghost hidden behind the door, which made me think he was a coward.

"However, although he seems timid, he never leaves his companions and slips away alone.

"The two of us often team up to do tasks together in Yishui County. Sometimes the ghost is stronger, so I said to him, 'You run first, and this heroine is the last one'. After all, as a second-level monk, I have an obligation to protect Good for the weak in the first realm.

"But in this case, he would say to me, 'Master Woman Xia, do you look down on my strength?', then stood in front of me, and took out a complex-looking talisman from his pocket. , and threw it at the ghost—Sister Shangguan, although I don’t understand the way of talismans, I can feel that the talisman in his hand is more powerful than the talisman drawn by other people.”

Shangguan Jin nodded while listening silently, and at the same time responded with a few polite words, such as "Sister Xiaohan, your sword skills are so good that you can kill the 'Painted Skin' ghost with one move", such as "Piaoxianglou's The food sounds really good, I really want to try it", for example, "Gu Xu really only learned the art of talisman for less than a year, his talent is really outrageous"...

Shi Xiaohan especially loved hearing these words.

And when Shangguan Jin praised Gu Xu, she would act happier than when she praised herself.

"Is this the youthful feelings of a girl with a spring heart?" Shangguan Jin thought silently in his mind.

Such emotions have always been strange, childish and ridiculous to Shangguan Jin—she feels that she should devote herself to her career in life, and feelings will only hinder her from climbing to a higher place.

However, as a person who loves all beautiful things, she also has to admit that Shi Xiaohan's smirking and blushing appearance is very cute.

In addition, Chu Fengge also mentioned one thing about Gu Xu in front of her——

When I went to solve the case of Lu's haunted house, no matter whether it was a large number of meritorious deeds or a precious magic weapon, they failed to persuade Gu Xu to carry out this task; Cursed, Gu Xu set off without hesitation for a second.

It seems that as long as the safety of his companions is at stake, Gu Xu never cares too much about such things as "profit" and "reward".

Thinking of this, Shangguan Jin took a serious look at the young man beside him, and replied: "Then we have to go back to the Yamen to check the recent situation in Jinling. If it really doesn't work, I'm afraid we have to ask Chief Luo."

Gu Xu nodded: "Then let's set off as soon as possible."

…………

at the same time.

Shen Qiu used the "Empty Breaking Orb" to directly tear apart the space, arrived at Jinling City in the blink of an eye, and entered the Shen family's mansion.

Then he approached his father, Shen Qianren, the head of the Shen family, and asked about his mother's condition.

Shen Qiu's mood was very anxious, like ants on a hot pot.

But in front of his father, he tried his best to keep calm, his tone was polite, cold, and unfamiliar, not like a father and son, but more like a pair of strangers who had no relationship.

But this time, when he saw Shen Qiu's figure, his father, Shen Qianren, did not show the previous disgust. Instead, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "You are finally back."

Shen Qianren looked older than before, with a sad expression on his brows, and the groove on his forehead became deeper.

After a short pause, Shen Qianren picked up a piece of paper from the table, handed it to Shen Qiu, and said to him: "Actually, Shen Qiu, you should know that both you and your mother are part of this family. We can't really do anything to your mother. We just miss you so much.

"Your mother is staying with the prefect of Jinling now, and everything is fine. You just need to take this note and give it to the prefect of Jinling, and he will release your mother.

"I just hope that from today onwards, you can stay in the family safely, fulfill the obligations that a family member should do, and don't do things that insult the family's reputation, is that okay?"

Shen Qiu frowned.

He really wanted to refute Shen Qianren's words.

Because he knew that Shen Qianren's "disgrace to the family's reputation" meant that he went to be a guest at the mansion of a sixth-rank official.

However, worried about his mother's safety, he restrained his anger and took the note.

The note was indeed written by Shen Qianren himself, and it was stamped with his personal seal.

The note explained that the crime of theft committed by the maidservant Ningxiu was a false accusation, but in fact there was no such thing.

Seeing this content, Shen Qiu felt mixed feelings.

Sure enough, the life and death of the common people, guilt or innocence, are in the mind of the great man.

PS: Happy Chinese New Year to everyone!

(End of this chapter)