Painter

Chapter 197 46: Holding Ke
Chenzheng, just over an hour has passed since the morning bell of the microcosm.The morning class of Taoist priests in Guanzhong is not over yet, even though there is a street of wind and snow, it seems that they can also hear the sound of reading scriptures beyond the object.In the Liu Jijiao shop on the east side of the West Market, the shop assistants are moving neatly cut ice bricks into the cellar, compacting them with cotton cloth, and preparing for ice drinks in the spring and summer of the coming year.A waiter came out of the back kitchen and brought a plate of plum ginger to the table by the window.

There were already some dishes and wine on the table, and there were two guests sitting beside them, one was Li Chan, and the other was Chen Jikang, the superintendent of Shen Zhasi.

After the buddy left, Chen Jikang said in a low voice: "The Taoist priest is in the temple. He will come out after the morning class of Qingwei. This Taoist priest is a bit weird. He likes to do meritorious deeds, and he doesn't charge money."

Li Chan said: "Could it be that he is a kind person?"

Chen Jikang shook his head, "It doesn't count. This person has done meritorious deeds, and he has done a little magic, which is very different from other Taoist priests. Speaking of which, after he entered Beijing, he registered his name in the Chongxuan Department and reported his work for the coming year." Yuanxue Palace Spring Examination. This Wang Changyue studied under Jiang Ning's Yinlou Temple. Well, Wang Changyue came to Yujing because he wanted to enter the Qianyuan Academy. However, seeing that he behaved strangely and regarded merit as his destiny, Xiyishan announced to the outside world that you colluded with demons and subverted Xuandu. I regard you as a merit."

Li Chan raised her eyebrows, looked at her hands, and said with a smile: "Then I have really done a great favor."

Chen Jikang also smiled, and asked, "If he really came here for Xuandu's affairs, how does Li Youyi plan to deal with it?"

Li Chan pondered, took a piece of plum ginger, bit off a bit, smacked it on the tip of her tongue, and looked at the microcosm across the street through the window.

Chen Jikang said again: "This man is a Taoist priest with a pedigree, and the status of the two religions is detached. At the beginning, Hong Yixuan, who colluded with foreign monsters, was just an abandoned son of Xiyi Mountain. He died in Xuandu and caused great trouble. Small movements."

Li Chan looked away, "Chen Jianyin thinks, what is the best way to do it?"

Chen Jikang said: "People from the two religions can't be easily killed or injured. However, Yujing is the territory of the imperial court after all. This person's behavior is so weird, which is also his weakness. Send a few people to pretend to be fake Taoist priests, Put on a show at a place far away from Qingwei. This person will definitely come forward to expose the deceit when he sees the monster. If the monster is provocative and provokes him, he will hurt people in the street."

Chen Jikang said a few words, but his meaning was very clear. The onlooker and the "demons" were all in the same group. Naturally, there were no demons cheating, only Taoists hurting people in the street.As for the severity of the injury, it can be arranged in advance.

Chen Jikang said again: "This matter can be big or small, but it is very unfavorable for the Taoist priest to spread the reputation of hurting people in the street when he is presented with the spring examination of Qianyuan Academy. They all stayed, and there was no way to just leave.”

Li Chan clicked his tongue and said: "As expected of Shen Zhasi, even though the Taoist priest has supernatural powers, he can't use them in this situation. However, he has been slandered by others, and he knows that someone has set him up."

"Just to let him know." Chen Jikang chuckled, "But our official servants sing with red faces."

"How do you sing?" Li Chan asked.

Chen Jikang changed his tone, "This Taoist priest has been patrolling and enforcing the law in Yujing for a long time, but he has some insight into people. He doesn't seem like a villain." He lowered his voice, "However, this group People are quite courageous, I'm afraid there are some origins, more and more people gather together, when the time comes, things get out, no matter what the result is, it will be bad for the Taoist priest. If the Taoist priest returns to Qingwei, alas, he will also be poked in the back. Let's take a trip with a certain person and take shelter in the official office. When the time comes, the Taoist priest will definitely be innocent."

After finishing speaking, he cleared his throat and said, "A cultivator's status is transcendent. If he is to be arrested and interrogated, he needs the three divisions of the Chongxuan Department, the Ministry of Punishment, the Dali Temple, and Zhuyuantai. All are indispensable. We can only deceive him first." It will be much more convenient to go to Shenzhasi to test his details at that time."

Li Chan drank a glass of wine and stroked the thin rim with her fingers, thinking that if the black blushing performance was good enough, even she would be fooled.However, although this strategy is thorough, it is unscrupulous to use the Taoist priest's good deeds.

Chen Jikang went on to say: "At that time, if he doesn't know Li Youyi's identity is the best, if he knows, he will be in big trouble. Since he knows your identity, Xi Yishan must already know it. Zhasi, I dare not hurt your life openly, but I will never give up in secret. Li Youyi had better hide his name and change his identity, but if this is the case, half of the winter has passed now, and Li Youyi has just gained some fame in Yujing. If you fabricate another identity, your spring test will be affected. But if you don’t change your appearance, Xiyishan will also put pressure on you.” Having said this, he sighed, “This is a bit useless, but Xiyishan Not only is it a sacred place of Taoism, but it also leads the world of gods, and even saints are a head shorter in front of it."

Chen Jikang's words are true. Since ancient times, the emperor has always wanted to show orthodoxy, and he always flaunted the phrase "obey the order of heaven". Today, although Confucianism interprets it as the way of heaven, in the eyes of Shengmin, it is actually a god in the sky.Saints offer sacrifices to the country and pray for good weather. Isn't the one who moves the clouds and spreads the rain the gods of all directions?
"Good things have bad plans, bad things, and if the plans are too bad, it will hurt morale." Li Chan stretched her brows, "Chen Jianyin doesn't need to bother, I'll meet him face to face .”

Chen Jikang was taken aback, "Li Youyi, this is..."

"He probably didn't expect me to do this." Li Chan smiled, "When people are off guard, they can't hide things on their faces."

……

Qing Weiguanxi, juniper frost, in the window, Wang Changyue didn't go to the morning class in the scripture hall, but just ate beans at the table.

He had a bamboo dustpan by his hand, and the fried beans in the dustpan were fragrant, yellow and black.

The way to eat this bean is quite particular, and it was Zhao Zhongsui from Yinlou Temple who taught him the method of purifying his heart.

This method is easy to say, eat a black bean for every good thought, and eat a soybean for every bad thought.It is not easy to do it, ordinary people have to spend a lot of effort to clear their minds, and it is even more difficult to eat until there is only soybeans left on the plate.He eats fried beans for breakfast every day, and he always eats until there are only a few black beans left in the dustpan. Today, he is almost full, but the dustpan is mixed with yellow and black.The reason is also simple. There is a gossip mirror with a straight face on the table. Usually, he never looks in the mirror.

After eating beans, Wang Changyue sighed, covered the gossip mirror on the table, put the merits and demerits into her sleeves, took the gourd and sword, and planned to go out to make some merits.

After meeting the Taoist priests who met him, he praised his fellow Taoists, said a few words of immeasurable merit, and wrote down a few meager merits, which finally made him feel better.

He left Qingweiguan, there were horses and carriages passing by on Fuqiao Street, and there were a few pedestrians on the edge of the green brick curb, among them was a young man wearing a windbreaker, standing quietly in the snow.

Wang Changyue glanced at him, exchanged a glance with the young man, and walked past the young man indifferently.Just after two steps, a voice came from behind: "Kun Yangzi?"

Wang Changyue turned her head, and it was the young man who spoke. He was startled for a moment, with a puzzled expression on his face, "It's the poor man, you..."

The young man said, "You don't recognize me?"

Wang Changyue looked at the young man carefully, but she didn't have the slightest impression of this face, she wondered, "Why should I recognize you?"

Li Chan was also looking at Wang Changyue. The Taoist's reaction was that he did not know him. He felt relieved, "You asked about me."

Wang Changyue tentatively asked, "Where is the next step?"

"Li Dan."

When the young man uttered these two words, Wang Changyue raised her eyebrows high, surprised and at a loss, "You are Li Dan?" After a moment of silence, she asked again, "You know I'm in Qingwei? How do you know me?" asked At that time, I thought of the fox girl who ran away from the mirror yesterday.

From last night to this time, Li Chan and Shen Zhasi's busy work turned out to be just a shadow of a snake, but they couldn't explain it clearly. Li Chan thought about the reason, fell silent for a while, and said with a smile: "Someone wants to talk to you."

As soon as Wang Changyue asked "what", Li Chan took out a bronze mirror and handed it to him.

Seeing the bronze mirror, the Taoist was stunned for a moment, and put it in his hand.The young man handed over the bronze mirror, smiled at the Taoist priest, and turned to leave.

It wasn't until he watched the young man walk through Fuqiao Street, turned his head and waved, and entered the Liuji Foot Shop, that the Taoist came back to his senses, looked left and right, and saw a few passers-by who stopped and looked at him curiously, and hurriedly put the bronze mirror on it. Put it in your arms.I want to go across the street to the foot shop and return the bronze mirror.

However, his footsteps turned around in a strange way, and he walked towards Qingwei.

……

In the audience, two comrades who had just met each other curiously asked Wang Changyue why he had gone and returned. Although Wang Changyue was guilty, she smiled openly and said that she forgot to bring meritorious deeds.

Walking under the junipers and returning to the small room, he looked at the gossip mirror on the table, hesitated for a while, then saw the yellow and black fried beans in the dustpan, took out the bronze mirror, and planned to ask the monster in the mirror why he messed with him Dao heart.Unexpectedly, the girl's face appeared on the mirror, and a plea came out: "Taoist priest, save me!"

Wang Changyue was startled, looking at the girl in the mirror with tears in her eyes, "What's wrong?"

Deng Yuanying took a deep breath and calmed down, "Yesterday I was taken away by someone, but I entered the ghost cave by mistake. The ghost master has a lot of background, and his subordinates are full of murderous creatures. The priest must not trouble him again."

"Ghost Lord, you mean Li Dan?" Wang Changyue was stunned, shaking her head and smiling wryly, "That's not the case, he is a practitioner, if you think about it, he just raised some wild gods and spirits..."

"Wild God Spirit?" Deng Yuanying was a little at a loss.

"Wild gods and elves are also non-human, but they don't harm people." Wang Changyue explained.

"But I have never harmed anyone." Deng Yuanying murmured, "You want to kill me, Taoist priest."

"It can't be the same." Wang Changyue coughed dryly, and explained: "Wild gods and elves are restrained by someone, and they protect the law and the way. Monsters and ghosts are like fierce tigers. Even if young tigers don't eat people, there will always be times when they can eat people."

Deng Yuanying felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't think of how to refute it, but she didn't bother with it, and said, "I am willing to protect the Tao for the Taoist priest, so I am no longer a monster."

Wang Changyue was startled, but stared at the mixed yellow and black fried beans in the dustpan, and shook her head repeatedly, "No way."

Deng Yuanying asked, "Why can't it be done?"

Wang Changyue murmured: "It's not a good thing to make offerings to non-human beings, if people see..."

Deng Yuanying said anxiously: "If you don't tell me, if I don't show up, who can see?"

Wang Changyue took a deep breath, and said solemnly: "There are three platforms in the sky, Beichen, Siming, and Silu. They sent a god called Taizhi Talisman to sit on top of their heads to judge people's merits and demerits." On the shelf, straighten the hair crown, "People can't see it, so how can they hide it from the gods? If there are merits, the direct amulet will be reported to the heaven. If there are any mistakes, the god will punish people for a few years."

Deng Yuanying couldn't see the Taoist priest's face, she just stared at the top of the dangling hair crown, and stayed there for a while, "The Taoist priest's shadow, could it be that he was punished by the Taizhi Talisman?"

"Of course not." Wang Changyue shook her head, "I was born with a lack of destiny. I overcame my birth mother. I was destined to have five disadvantages and three deficiencies. Fortunately, an expert helped me to cut off my shadow and make up for my destiny. Now I It’s just that the shadow is missing, and if you do more meritorious deeds and make up for the lack of life, you can redeem the shadow.”

Deng Yuanying listened carefully, and murmured: "Then if I do more meritorious deeds, can I redeem my body?"

The word "no" reached her throat, but Wang Changyue swallowed it, hesitated for a while, shook her head and said, "It's hard to say."

Deng Yuanying said: "Master Taoist, you said that I am a demon, if I protect the Tao for you, and because of you, I have done a lot of merit, that is also a great merit for you."

Wang Changyue opened her mouth, momentarily at a loss for words.

"Little lady, did you study Buddhism before?"

"How does the Taoist priest know? A Niang often takes me to the Daxiangguo Temple to offer incense." Deng Yuanying said, sighing, "I have also used a lot of longevity incense, what's the use?"

Wang Changyue also sighed secretly, and Deng Yuanying said, "Master Daoist, are you willing to take me in?"

Wang Changyue suddenly realized that she had been arguing with the mirror monster for so long, and said decisively: "No!"

"why?"

"I said no, I just can't."

The Taoist refused decisively.

The girl in the mirror looked gloomy and stopped talking, but the Taoist felt as if there was a emptiness in his heart. Looking at the bamboo skip, his heart suddenly started beating wildly, and he said in a strange way: "Unless the beans in the skip are all yellow."

"Did the beans turn yellow?" The girl in the mirror looked bewildered.

The Taoist coughed and sat down at the table.

"This bean is from when I was studying Taoism in the hidden building..."

The juniper swayed in the wind outside the window, and the Taoist priest in the window chatted babblingly in front of the mirror.

……

In Liu Ji's foot shop, the hands of Shen Zha Si Youjin gradually dispersed.After some arrangement, it was a waste of work in the end, but it was the best result. Even people with their heads pinned to their waists are not naturally fond of licking blood.

Li Chan sent the bronze mirror, went back to the window of the foot shop, ordered a jug of wine, and waited quietly. As a result, after waiting for almost an hour, the golden bell rang again, and the Taoist priest was not seen. trace.

Just when he was about to let go, the Taoist walked through the wind and snow, walked into the foot shop, looked around, and sat down at the table.

"Long wait, long wait."

Li Chan lifted the pot and poured a glass of wine for the Taoist priest, "Have you finished talking?"

"I've said it." The Taoist raised his glass and drank it down, "Xiao Dao will apologize to Yingniang for this glass of wine."

Li Chan raised her eyebrows, "This is?"

The Taoist took out the bronze mirror, Deng Yuanying's face appeared in the mirror, and said embarrassingly: "I was blind and mistook Li Lang for...the ghost master. I thought Li Lang was a villain. I hope Li Lang will not blame him."

Li Chan looked at Deng Yuanying, then shifted her gaze to Wang Changyue. She thought she was going to use a sword today, but instead she picked up an axe. Her worries disappeared, and she said with a smile, "It's a good thing that you can protect her." .”

Deng Yuanying blushed.

Wang Changyue put away the bronze mirror, cupped her hands and said: "Yingniang was originally a monster, but now she has turned to be good, it is really a merit, poor way..."

Li Chan smiled and said, "How can I thank me?"

Wang Changyue's tone was stagnant, "I have nothing to thank for being poor, I will definitely chant sutras and mantras for Li Lang, and hope that everything will go smoothly for Li Lang, good luck and good luck."

(End of this chapter)