Chapter 283: Monarch and minister, father and daughter, master and servant
Although the Youzhou Zhao family is known as the "three great families of the Daqi Dynasty" together with the Xiangyang Chen family and the Jinling Shen family, its origins are different from those of the other two families. Not quite the same.
The ancestors of the Chen family, the Shen family, and the exterminated Lu family were either instrumental in helping Emperor Taizu establish the country, or they had made outstanding contributions in the war against foreign enemies, and were therefore awarded the "National He received the title of "Gong" and obtained the fiefdom and the iron certificate of alchemy passed down from generation to generation.
The history of the Zhao family in Youzhou is much longer, 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 Chu Dynasty in the Central Plains had launched wars against them more than once, and wanted to incorporate this "Great Yan Kingdom" into its own territory, but failed.
It wasn’t until more than four hundred years ago that Emperor Taizu of Daqi, who was born as a beggar, suddenly rose up in troubled times.
Holding the "Tai'a Sword", he led the army to overthrow the Chu Dynasty, defeated all the princes, and then ascended the throne as emperor in Luojing City, which shocked the world.
Next, he waved his whip and pointed it 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 bed?
The King of Yan 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 Qi.
In addition, the people of Yan also gave up their original belief in the "God of Fire". From then on, like the people of the Central Plains, they believed in "Tai Shang Haotian" and "Emperor Ziwei" - it is said , this was a condition that Emperor Taizu refused to give in to.
Emperor Taizu canonized the surrendered King of Yan as "Gong of the State of Yan" and allowed him to retain his private army and autonomy over the Youzhou area to a certain extent, and even allowed him to move on his own Appoint some local officials in Youzhou; when the court formulates policies related to Youzhou, it will also refer to the opinions of Duke Yan.
No other aristocratic family has such great power.
In addition, the current Duke of Yan, Zhao Changying, has the strength of a saint.
To exaggerate a bit, Youzhou can be regarded as a "state within a state" within the Daqi Dynasty.
When Zhao Yan was a child, when she heard the stories of her ancestors from her elders, she imagined more than once that if the King of Yan had not surrendered to Emperor Taizu of Da Qi, wouldn’t she be one now? A princess?
Of course, although she does not have the title of princess now, her status and treatment in the family are actually the same as those of a real princess.
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At this moment, Zhao Yan looked at her disheveled father lying in the pavilion, smelling the strong aroma of wine in the air, and felt extremely complicated.
She has been in the border guarding army these years and witnessed the Qi court dismantling the Zhao family's private army bit by bit like a soft knife cutting meat. She also heard about those "people in the Northeast" who Prophecies such as "the spirit of the Son of Heaven" and "fire dominates when the sun rises".
She did not think her father had any rebellious intentions.
She only felt that this should be a way for the imperial court to weaken the power of the clan, just like the imperial court recently sent people to investigate the tax evasion and tax evasion of Jinling Shen's industry.
But under such circumstances, Yan Guogong Zhao Changying was indifferent to this and acted extremely decadent. He didn't even bother to stop the rumors and allowed them to spread everywhere.
"Yan'er, there's something I forgot to tell you before," Zhao Changying burped and continued, "When something happened in Qingzhou Mansion last month, I went there and had a fight with the Yishan Snow Girl. After a fight, both sides suffered losses - she returned to the ice cave and fell into a deep sleep, and some of my meridians were frozen by her spell, making it difficult for me to function normally.
"So you come. After arriving in the capital, try to be more prudent in your work. If you offend someone you can't afford to offend, I won't be able to support you like before. "
Zhao Yan folded her hands in front of her chest, narrowed her eyes and said: "Yishan Snow Girl... a majestic saint of Qi, can't even defeat such a little-known ghost? "
"For ghosts, the stronger the power, the greater the fame." Zhao Changying chuckled and responded, "For example, Kongxuan Sanren, before he held the ceremony to be promoted to the Ghost King, he had always been a ghost. No one knows he exists. ”
Zhao Yan did not speak immediately.
She once learned about the disaster in Qingzhou Mansion from the imperial palace newspapers and other people's discussions. Kong Xuan Sanren's meticulous plan and the method of erasing his own cause and effect made her shudder.
But what impressed her most in this incident was the name "Gu Xu".
She really couldn't understand what kind of method a monk who had just been promoted to the third realm used to escape from the fatal situation set by a "fierce god" level ghost.
She sent her maid to challenge Gu Xu in the Lantern Festival Arena before, and to a certain extent she was driven by this curiosity.
“I heard that the young man named Gu Xu has been very popular in Luojing City recently——”
"——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 lying lazily on the chair, but the dazed drunkenness in his eyes disappeared without a trace in an instant, and his tone of voice 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 commoner. , only young people in the third realm.
You know, in the past, even if she wanted to go to the prince to fight with a spear, Zhao Changying would only say in an understatement: "Be gentle, don't kill or maim him."
Zhao Changying was cleared. Clearing his throat, he said: "I once met this Gu Xu at Luo Si Shou's observatory. When he appeared, Luo Si Shou not only stood up to greet him, but also politely poured wine for him with his own hands. Cha...even I don't get this kind of treatment!"
"Does he have a deep background?" Zhao Yan guessed.
Her tone sounded a little unsure.
After all, as we all know, Luo Sishou of the Exorcist Department has always been an aloof, arrogant, and self-respecting person. Regardless of whether they are other saints or relatives of the emperor, he will not stand up to greet them, let alone pour them in person. Tea.
Only the emperor's imperial decree could make him move his butt a little.
But in this world, what background can be deeper than the royal family and the saints?
"Who knows?" Zhao Changying said slowly, while conjuring a new wine bottle out of thin air, and poured wine into his mouth again, his eyes becoming blurred again.
Crimson wine flowed from the corner of his lips, wetted his beard, and dripped on his clothes, making the pavilion filled with a stronger aroma of wine.
Zhao Yan snorted coldly, then turned and left the pavilion.
.........
Zhao Yan's room is the most spacious and luxurious room in the entire mansion, and it looks more magnificent than Yan Guogong's room.
In the house, there is a canopy bed with string silk and carved patterns, hung with green gauze curtains. Next to it are a coral door cabinet, a carved fine wood imperial concubine couch, and several pear wood carved chairs.
The walls are hung with calligraphy and paintings by famous people, there are ancient bronze stoves and golden cranes on the table, and the floor is covered with wool carpets from the northwest frontier.
The maids had already prepared the "five-spice soup" in the bathtub and served her to bathe.
It is recorded in ancient books: "The five-spice soup method uses one pound of orchid, one pound of wattle, one pound of tongxiang, one pound of green wood, and one pound of white sandalwood. Cut up any five things and boil one dendrobium with two and five buckets of water. Two buckets are used to bathe oneself. This soup can ward off evil spirits and eliminate bad luck. "(1)
"Five-spice soup" is made of five different spices. Use it to bathe, and it can dispel yin. It has the effect of invigorating qi and warding off evil spirits.
Zhao Yan lay in the bathtub with her eyes closed and resting, the hot water moisturizing her white and translucent skin like gelatin. The water temperature in the tub was close to boiling.
If he were an ordinary person, he would have been severely burned.
But Zhao Yan, as a "flaming spirit body" and possessing the Zhao family's unique "holy fire totem", was safe and sound inside, and even felt particularly comfortable.
Her personal maid Qiu Yan stood aside and told her about the recent events in the capital.
Qiu Yan's parents died when she was young, and she was taken in by Zhao Yan's mother. She won the trust of Mrs. Qu.
After Mrs. Qu passed away, she has been following Zhao Yan.
For Zhao Yan, Qiu Yan is not only a servant, but also a close sister.
"Qiu Yan, are there any new developments among the geniuses in Luo Jing City recently?"
"Chu Fengge of the Exorcist Department broke through the fifth realm not long ago."
"He is The speed of breaking through the realm is quite fast. If I guessed correctly, he should have used the method of 'killing the seven emotions', right?"
"That's right. He killed his 'desire'. "
"Get rid of 'desire'... He is such a ruthless person! I am very curious about what happened to him, and he wanted to use this method to break the situation."
"Miss, didn't you also use the 'Severing Seven Emotions' method to break through the situation?"
"I'm different from him, what I cut away was 'fear'," Zhao Yan opened her eyes, He chuckled and said, "Fear is superfluous to me. It will only affect my determination and hinder my actions, so getting rid of it is beneficial and harmless.
"But desire But it's different.
“How can a person live in this world without worldly desires and obsessions that he can’t let go of?
“If Chu Fengge does this, he will definitely encounter many problems in his future practice. trouble. ”
Qiu Yan was silent for a moment, and then said softly: "Actually, Miss, you should know that when the Duke sent you to the army, he actually hoped that you would sharpen your Taoist heart through the killing spirit in the army, and then break through.
“Perhaps, you only need to stay in the army for another year or two, and you can naturally break through the fifth realm without using the quick method of ‘Slaying Seven Emotions’. "
"It's too late," Zhao Yan said as she fiddled with the water's surface with her slender fingers, causing it to ripple. "Time never waits for anyone.
“Besides, a coward like Zhao Changying will only choose the safest method no matter what he does, and will always only know how to protect himself.
“I am now over twenty. . There is no need to obey him in everything. ”
Hearing Zhao Yan scolding her father, Qiu Yan shut up tightly and stopped talking.
After a while, Zhao Yan said lightly: "By the way, Qiu Yan, I remember that you met the young genius named 'Gu Xu' on the Lantern Festival. What kind of person do you think he is? "
While speaking, the question "What is Gu Xu's background?" lingered in her mind.
Qiu Yan hesitated for a while and replied: "He is very strong, his understanding is amazing, and he can also write poetry. When he was in the ring, he wrote a poem with 'Jinghong Pen' on the spot and created a poem. A new spell.”
“What word?”
Qiu Yan followed the instructions and memorized "The Green Jade Case: Yuan Xi" from beginning to end.
"This man is indeed talented," Zhao Yan commented, "He is worthy of being the master of the 'Jinghong Brush'. Compared with him, the works of Luo Jing's literati are simply pretentious and unnecessary."
"Miss, do you want to get acquainted with him?" Qiu Yan tried to guess the master's thoughts, "He just moved to Jinyu Lane, Yanqingfang at the end of last month. If you need it, I can Go to him and hand him a greeting card."
"No need," Zhao Yan immediately shook her head, "None of the men in this world are good, there is no need to have too much contact with them. It's enough to treat it as a sharpening stone."
Half an hour later, Zhao Yan came out of the bathtub wrapped in a bath towel. Crystal water drops slowly rolled down her slender legs. Her snow-white bare feet stepped on the dark red carpet, and a faint mist hung on her toes.
"Qiu Yan, 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, Miss."< br>
"In addition, send someone to tell Miss Liuli of Jiaofang that I will go to her place tonight and want to ask her to play "Pheasant Flying to the Morning"."
"No problem."
…………
This morning, Gu Xu locked himself in the room and devoted himself to cultivation.
In the magma river of the "Longevity Religion", he absorbed too much energy and it took a while to slowly digest it.
In addition, after improving the "Red Flame True Art", the true essence in his body has also undergone qualitative changes, becoming more condensed and pure, and also has a longer-lasting burning harm.
Therefore, he also needs to re-evaluate and adapt to the lethality of each of his spells.
In the afternoon, the little book boy wearing a gray shirt walked 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 elixir workshop in Luojing City has begun to take shape, and he would like to invite Gu Xu to visit the workshop in person.
"Brother Shen is very efficient in doing things!" Gu Xu thought to himself.
Since discussing with Shen Qiu the establishment of a "Beijing Branch Workshop" at the end of last month, Gu Xu has not interfered with the matter and left all matters such as raising funds, recruiting monks, and purchasing materials to Shen Qiu.
And Shen Qiu did live up to his trust and never let him worry.
Because of this, Gu Xu often thinks about: What happened to a person like Shen Qiu who has both spiritual talent and business acumen to make him abandon the Jinling Shen family without hesitation and come to his own mansion? , become your own customer?
PS: Please double the monthly ticket! !
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Notes:
(1) "Five-spice soup" comes from "Three Emperors Sutra".
(End of this chapter)