Chapter 285 Treasures in the Imperial Treasury
"Huansha Lane", this is the place where Zhao Yan's mother, Mrs. Qu, was killed many years ago.
Every time she came to Beijing, Zhao Yan would walk here, stepping on the bluestones soaked in blood under her feet, and imagining the bloody storm in her mind.
“The dignified lady of the country, a strong person in the sixth realm, died at the hands of a group of assassins of unknown origin in Luojing City, which was protected by the ‘Tianlong Formation’ and the capital guard.”
If this kind of thing spreads to the public, it will definitely be regarded as a ridiculous joke, and no one with a bit of common sense will easily believe it.
But it did happen.
Thinking of this, Zhao Yan stopped and stood quietly in the narrow alley for a while.
The breeze stirred up her black hair, made her clothes rustle, and also blew up the dust on the ground.
Not far away came the chatter and laughter of passers-by, the cries of vendors, the sounds of children playing, and the sparse and messy sound of horse hooves... The sounds gathered together to create a noisy scene with the atmosphere of fireworks. .
But Zhao Yan turned a deaf ear to these voices.
She was completely immersed in her inner world, silently assessing the strength of those assassins back then, while thinking about how far she had to practice before she had a chance to defeat them.
“Let’s go!”
About a quarter of an hour later, she calmed down the complicated emotions in her eyes and said to the maid Qiu Yan beside her.
Then she got on her horse and followed the way she came, leaving this long and narrow alley.
She looked extremely calm.
The sun shone on her body, dragging her shadow very long.
At first glance, she looks like an ordinary tourist who accidentally took the wrong path.
…………
“Have you found any new clues about that case recently?”
That night, at the Jiaofang Division in Luojing City In a small attic, Zhao Yan asked in a casual tone.
At this moment, she was resting her chin on her hands, lying on her side on a carved fine wood royal couch, with her black hair hanging down like a waterfall. The bright red silk dress wrapped her body, outlining the graceful curves, like mountains and mountains, graceful and graceful.
Behind a bead curtain, there is a woman kneeling on a bamboo mat, lowering her head and playing the piano silently.
This woman is Liuli, the oiran of Jiaofangsi.
She is wearing a white dress, has beautiful eyebrows, exquisite makeup, and her hair is pulled up into a high bun. She is also a quite outstanding beauty.
Just being with Zhao Yan, he lost a bit of his unique coquettish and unruly temperament, and seemed to be suppressed by Zhao Yan from his aura. If such a scene were seen by uninformed people, perhaps they would think that Zhao Yan was the real oiran, and Miss Liuli was just a maid serving beside her.
"Not yet, miss." Miss Liuli replied succinctly.
Zhao Yan said a faint "hmm", then closed her eyes and continued to listen to the piano.
Liu Li's answer was not beyond her expectations.
If the murderer of her mother could really be found easily, then she wouldn't have to worry about this matter for many years.
The guqin music Liuli played was "Pheasants Flying to the Morning" personally ordered by Zhao Yan.
Legend has it that this tune was composed by a hermit hundreds of years ago. The hermit, who was old and had no wife, saw a pair of pheasants flying in the sky. He was so moved by the scene that he lamented the misfortune of his life, so he wrote this song.
At the same time, the hermit also sang a song, the content of which is: "Pheasants fly in the morning and sing in harmony, males and females fly in groups on the mountain. I am alone and hurt, and I have no room. It is approaching dusk, but there is nothing I can do. , Sigh, there is nothing I can do at dusk." (1)
This piece of music is gentle and continuous, like a mountain spring winding from a deep valley, flowing slowly.
Zhao Yan listened silently, without any emotional change on her face.
It wasn't until the sound of the piano suddenly stopped that she opened her eyes and whispered: "Liu Li, I need you to help me investigate a person."
"Who is it, Miss?" Miss Liuli raised her head and asked respectfully.
The figure in a green shirt with a vague face that she met in the lava river appeared in Zhao Yan's mind.
Although she was not able to clearly see the person's appearance at the time, the person's aloof and otherworldly temperament left a particularly deep impression on her.
Of course, Zhao Yan also knows very well that for practitioners, things like appearance and temperament are illusory. After all, there are many kinds of tricks or magic weapons in the world that can be used to disguise appearance.
In contrast, the best way to identify a practitioner is through practicing exercises, martial arts moves, magical powers... and even natal objects and dharma.
"That man practices fire-attribute skills, at least middle-grade, and possibly even high-grade," Zhao Yan said slowly, "In addition, he is also very good at concealing his appearance, concealing his aura, and escaping. "
"It seems that he is a cautious and secretive monk," Liuli responded, "Miss, do you know his level of cultivation?"
"I? I guess his cultivation level should not be lower than the fourth level," Zhao Yan pondered for a moment, recalling the huge and rapid whirlpool in the lava river at that time, and replied, "Maybe he is even stronger than me. You must be extremely careful and try not to be noticed by him, so as not to cause trouble."
Liu Li nodded and kept Zhao Yan's words in mind.
Miss Zhao’s attitude was very serious when she spoke, and it was obvious that she attached great importance to this unidentified monk who practiced fire-attribute skills.
"In addition, before the 'Luoshui Conference' officially begins, I hope you can give me a list of all participating monks," Zhao Yan then ordered, "It is best to have everyone's identity, origin, cultivation level, Practice skills, good skills, etc."
"Yes, Miss." Liuli nodded again.
Then she paused for a moment and asked: "I saw the lady's eyes were firm. It seems that she is determined to be the leader of this 'Luoshui Conference'?"
"That's right," Zhao Yan said in a calm tone, as if this was a matter of course, "According to the information revealed by the court, the monks who win the first prize in this 'Luoshui Conference' will have the opportunity to enter the inner treasury of the Daqi royal family and select a precious item."
“This is a unique opportunity. I must seize this opportunity, enter the inner treasury, and get the 'flint'. ”
Liuli lowered her head and stopped talking.
"Flint" was once a valuable magic weapon of the Yan Kingdom.
Although it is not a "famous weapon", in the eyes of the people of Dayan at that time, its significance exceeded that of a "famous weapon".
In the legend of Yan State, it was once a sacred object left by the God of Fire in the world.
After stealing fire, the God of Fire understood the secret of fire and used it to create "flint" that can produce flames by knocking it.
In addition, "Flint" can also help the "Atavistic" "Fire Spirit Body" like Zhao Yan further activate her bloodline and stimulate the full potential in her body.
It is said that in the dark period when the method of cultivation had not yet been born, the God of Fire used "flint" to make one of his disciples with the "body of flame spirit" fully awaken the power of blood, thus giving birth to a disciple who could "Fire Phoenix Wings" that instantly burn ghosts to ashes.
When the God of Fire was struck to death with thunder by the gods above the nine heavens, the young disciple became the new leader of the human tribe, protecting the human race from the invasion of monsters and monsters in the long night. The people of Dayan once respected her as "Saint Girl" or "Phoenix Girl" and enshrined her on the altar together with the God of Fire.
Zhao Yan has imagined more than once that if the "flint" is still in the hands of the Youzhou Zhao family, then as a "body of flame spirit", can she be like the original "flint"? Like "Saint", she awakens a pair of phoenix wings condensed by flames, possessing powerful power to protect everyone around her.
However, after the last King of Yan surrendered to Emperor Taizu of Qi, he had to offer "flint" to Emperor Taizu of Qi to express his surrender.
Subsequently, Emperor Taizu threw the "flints" from Dayan into the royal treasury along with many other collections.
As far as Zhao Yan knows, in addition to "flint", the treasures collected in the royal treasury of the Daqi Dynasty also include the jade seal inherited from the Dachu Dynasty, the skull of a certain khan from the northwest barbarians, etc. wait.
"Miss, I believe you will be able to successfully get the 'flint'!" After a short silence, Liuli said seriously to Zhao Yan word by word.
"I accept your good advice." Zhao Yan smiled lightly.
Having said this, she stood up, casually tied up her long black hair that was cascading like a waterfall with a wooden hairpin, and then turned around and left the small attic.
Miss Liuli, the oiran of the Jiaofang Division, sat quietly where she was. After a moment, she raised her red lips and softly recited a mantra, and soon the wooden floor lit up with golden light, condensing into complex golden patterns.
The next second, Liuli disappeared out of thin air.
The whole room returned to its original state.
At the same time, downstairs of the Jiaofangsi, there was a drunken young man wearing a brocade robe, a handsome face, dragging a maid, and kept shouting: "Miss Liuli, why? You don’t want to see me? Is it because the money given by Xu is not enough?”
"Mr. Xu, Miss Liuli is receiving distinguished guests tonight. I'm sorry that I can't meet you."
"Dignified guest? Where did he come from? How much money did he give me?" Mr. Xu burped. , and at the same time took out a few more banknotes from his pocket, and slammed them on the table next to him, making a loud "pop" sound, causing the liquid in the wine glass on the table to start shaking violently, "If that's not enough, I will give you more. The most important thing for me is money."
The maid was shocked by his attitude.
"Sorry, Mr. Xu, that distinguished guest has a special status." The maid took a deep breath and tried to maintain a polite attitude, "She is Miss Zhao from Youzhou."
"What? ?Miss? Miss comes to this kind of place?”
"She is Youzhou Zhao Yan."
Hearing this name, Mr. Xu seemed to wake up instantly. His eyes were wide open, like a mouse seeing a cat.
Before the maid could react, Mr. Xu turned and left the Jiaofang Division.
"Mr. Xu, you forgot to take your banknote!" The maid hurried out the door and shouted at Mr. Xu's back.
Her voice cut through the silent night and made many curious passers-by turn their heads.
But Mr. Xu did not look back for a moment.
So the maid understood that Mr. Xu must be the victim of Miss Zhao a few years ago.
…………
That night, after finishing the affairs of the elixir workshop, Gu Xu came to the yamen of the exorcism department headquarters, went straight into the library, and wanted to go Find some information about "Astrolabe".
Although it has passed the time for the office to be dismissed, there are still many monks sitting quietly at the desk in the library, reading books intently and studying various martial arts and spells.
Gu Xu has long been accustomed to the inward-looking environment of the Luojing Exorcist Division.
Especially now that the "Luoshui Conference" is coming soon, many monks from the Exorcism Department have already signed up to participate, and they are even more eager to try, hoping to take advantage of this rare opportunity to become famous.
When Gu Xu entered the library, some monks raised their heads and glanced at him, with surprised looks on their faces.
They couldn't help but think in their hearts: A genius as good as Mr. Gu actually wants to engage in a pre-match assault with mediocre people like us! This really doesn’t give us a way to survive!
Of course, Gu Xu doesn't care what they think.
He quickly held more than ten thick books, randomly found an empty seat to sit down, picked up the top book, and spent a few minutes flipping through it from beginning to end. .
Immediately afterwards, he picked up the second book and turned it from the first page to the last page at the same unimaginable speed.
Then the third book, the fourth book, and the fifth book.
His movements of turning the pages of the book seemed to be flowing and extremely smooth.
With the authority of "wisdom", he only needs to glance at the content of each page of the book to remember it firmly in his heart and never forget it.
The monks nearby couldn't help but be stunned when they saw this scene.
"Master Gu... is he really reading?"
"He reads so fast, can he really understand the content of the book?"
"Alas, the gap between genius and me is wider than the gap between man and dog!"
"..."
In less than half an hour, Gu Xu flipped through all these books, but he did not find any words related to "astrology" in any of them.
It's as if "astrology" is a concept that the white-haired boy made up out of thin air and does not exist in this world at all.
He sighed softly, put the books back where they were, and then prepared to find a few more books to continue searching for information on the "Astrolabe".
However, at this moment, a familiar figure suddenly appeared in front of him.
It was an elegant woman with an oval face, willow-leaf eyes, and wearing an emerald green skirt, smiling slightly at him.
"Fellow Daoist Gu," Shangguan Jin handed a piece of letter paper into his hand, "The Chief of Staff thought that you would be very interested in what was written on this letter piece of paper, so he asked me to send it to you."
"Thank you!" Gu Xu took the letter and politely thanked him.
Then he lowered his head, unfolded the letter, and saw that it read:
"A noteworthy collection in the royal treasury of the Daqi Dynasty."
PS: Please A wave of double monthly tickets! !
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Notes:
(1) "Pheasant Flying Song" by Minxuan of Qi Dynasty during the Warring States Period.
(End of this chapter)