Pawn Crossing the River

The friendship of Taoism is invisible and intangible. It seems to be an empty talk, but the truth in the world is never that simple.

A thousand words from a small person are not worth one or two words from a big person. The friendship of ordinary people is worthless, but the favor of a big person is something that many people can only ask for.

There is a wise and protective saying in the official circles, which is: "Don't make great contributions to the country, but you must show small kindness to the emperor." Don't make huge contributions to the country, as this will arouse the emperor's suspicion, but you can show small kindness to the emperor. , this will gain the emperor's favor.

If Ellie chooses to help Daomen, then in a sense, she is a small favor to Daomen. Daomen will not give her anything openly, but she will get many invisible benefits. For example, if she has the same treatment as a Taoist priest, she can enter Yujing and ride on a flying boat; for example, for the same goods, the Taoist sect will give priority to her caravan.

This is only a relatively basic treatment. If you can make great contributions to the Taoist sect, you can even become a guest of a real person, be awarded "real person origin", have the title of an ordinary real person, and be equivalent to a second-grade Taiyi Taoist priest.

As the lord of a city, Ellie naturally understood the truth behind this and asked in a deep voice: "Is this true?"

"I can make the decision." Zhang Yuelu took out a blank ultimatum from the Xumiwu and placed it on the coffee table between the two of them.

Ellie glanced at the ultimatum. All the seals on it were complete, but the space for her name was empty.

Zhang Yuelu said: "This is a certificate for a fifth-grade Taoist priest. It is the quota given to me by the master. As long as you fill in your name, you can enjoy the treatment of a fifth-grade Taoist priest. Because you are 'born with the same Taoist priest', you don't have to follow the orders of the Taoist sect. It is not controlled by high-quality Taoist priests. It only has advantages and no disadvantages."

Ai Li was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled like a flower, and ordered the maid: "Quickly go and invite other guests from the Taoist Gate."

She looked at Zhang Yuelu again: "No matter what the Master orders, I will do my best, little girl."

Zhang Yuelu was not polite: "Okay, I would like to ask Lord Ai to order a search to see if there are any suspicious outsiders recently, especially people from Western countries."

"No problem." Ellie agreed happily.

Zhang Yuelu looked at Qi Xuansu again and winked.

Qi Xuansu immediately understood that this was making him look bad, so he had to say: "I also want to remind the city lord that if you have two feet on the same boat, it will be stable, but if you step on two boats, it will be unstable. Going to fall."

Ellie's expression remained unchanged and she smiled and said, "This is natural."

Qi Xuansu stopped talking.

Ai Li stood up and said: "Everyone who has come from afar, please rest in my house for the night. I will give the order now. We will discuss it slowly tomorrow morning."

"That's fine." Zhang Yuelu didn't refuse.

Ai Li clapped her hands, and immediately a maid walked into the living room. A female officer saluted Zhang Yuelu: "Master Mage, please follow me."

At night, Aili hosted a banquet for Zhang Yuelu, Lingquanzi and Zhou Bai. Qi Xuansu did not go, but ate with other Tiangang Hall Taoist priests. This is the stay-at-home system of Tiangang Hall. If something unexpected happens and Zhang Yuelu, Lingquanzi and Zhou Bai are not around, Qi Xuansu will be the leader of many Tiangang Hall Taoist priests. It can also be seen that Zhang Yuelu trusts Qi Xuansu.

Ordinary Taoist priests do not enjoy the dinner reception of the city lord, and their treatment is not ambiguous. The servants of the city lord's mansion specially prepare meals of Central Plains taste for everyone. There are four side dishes for each person, half meat and half vegetables, and one big dish for every four people, all of which are lamb legs. There are also wines that are specialties from the Western Regions.

The Taoist sect has a special poison test instrument, which is shaped like a thin needle and about half a foot long. It is installed under the barrel of the handgun, parallel to the barrel, and can be pulled out when in use.

After testing that it was non-toxic, everyone began to eat and drink with confidence. Although the taste is not as good as the restaurant in Yujing, in the past half month, everyone has either eaten dry food, drank cold water, or eaten the same-tasting "marching pills". It has been a long time since they had a serious meal, and it actually feels particularly sweet.

Qi Xuansu, Cao Liyou, and Shangguandun were sitting at the same table, but there was no such thing as eating or sleeping.

Shangguan Dun took a sip of chicken soup and said, "I thought I could go out and brag to others about how good the food in the City Lord's Mansion was, but this is what happened."

"That's true. There seems to be spices added to this dish. It's weird and not authentic." Cao Liyou nodded in agreement.

When Qi Xuansu heard the two complaining, he smiled and scolded: "Some of them are good to eat, but they are also picky. Ordinary people cut off a pound of meat to make dumplings to celebrate the New Year. Don't be dissatisfied."

Having said that, Qi Xuansu still gave the best-tasting leg of lamb to the two of them.

Cao Liyou was a little embarrassed: "Deacon Qi, you should also eat some."

Qi Xuansu said: "Don't worry about me. I see that you haven't eaten much solid food these days, so you might as well take this opportunity to eat more."

"Deacon Qi, you have the word 'vegetarian' in your name, doesn't it mean you are a vegetarian?" Cao Liyou couldn't help but ask. In the Taoist sect, there are many monks who are vegetarians and do not marry, such as Lingquanzi.

Qi Xuansu said: "My name still has the word 'Xuan' in it. Should the Taoist sect allocate me a big house with three entrances in Xuandu? My surname is 'Qi', so the court might as well make me the King of Qi." The whole Qizhou is mine."

Cao Liyou smiled shyly, stopped talking, and concentrated on eating the leg of lamb.

In the end, nothing was wasted. Shangguan Dun gnawed the tendons of the mutton leg clean.

After the meal, a servant came to clear away the cups and plates, and brought hot tea.

Qi Xuansu took a sip of hot tea and asked: "Brother Shangguan, do you think this Lord of Ai City is related to the extraterritorial demon we are looking for?"

"It's hard to say." Shangguan Dun was picking his teeth and said vaguely, "The Ai family is very powerful, and the real people in power are hidden behind the scenes. They pushed the young girl out. When the girl saw Master Zhang , and pretending not to know, there is something about...what do you mean by that word? What kind of seal do you want to stamp?"

"I want to hide it," Cao Liyou said.

"Yes, it's hard to hide it." Shangguan finished picking his teeth and his voice became clearer. "They must know the existence of this group of people. It's hard to say whether they are from the same group. Let me tell you, the Ai family is not those without roots. A lonely ghost has a big family and a big business. He can run away but the monk cannot run away from the temple. He will not dare to be an enemy of the Taoist sect. "

Qi Xuansu nodded and said, "Brother Shangguan is right."

Shangguan Dun looked around and saw that no one else was paying attention to them, so he lowered his voice and said, "Deacon Qi, I see that your relationship with Master Zhang is not ordinary. Can you tell me exactly what your relationship is? "

Qi Xuansu asked back: "Brother Shangguan, why are you asking about this?"

Shangguan Dun frowned and said, "Didn't I see that Master Zhang had a document that said he was of "same origin as a Taoist priest"? I was thinking about it. I led the way for the Taoist sect and I also had merit. Can you get one for me too? , I don’t want anything higher than that, just a ninth-grade Taoist priest.”

Qi Xuansu said angrily and funny: "You didn't dare to ask Master Zhang, so you came to me."

Shangguan coughed: "If you don't have a ninth-grade Taoist priest, you can still be a Taoist boy. Just add the word 'Tao'."

"Do you want a Taoist?" Qi Xuansu asked, "In the Taoist sect, only minors are called Taoists. If you become a Taoist at a young age, you won't be afraid of others laughing at you."

Shangguan suddenly tugged on his beard: "Tao people... it's okay, at least there is a word for 'Tao'."

Qi Xuansu didn't know whether to laugh or cry and said: "I have no say in this matter, but I heard that there are fixed quotas for 'fellow Taoist priests', which are determined by Ziwei Hall every year, and the approval is extremely strict. I would rather leave it empty than grant it randomly. Want to I said, Master Zhang will not agree unless you can make a contribution in encircling and suppressing the demons outside the territory."

Shangguan Dun sighed: "It's a desperate matter, hey... I'd better forget about this old bone."

While she was talking, Zhang Yuelu came back. There was no expression on her face, making it difficult to tell whether she was happy or angry.

Everyone stood up one after another.

Zhang Yuelu waved his hand to indicate that everyone should not be polite, and then made eye contact with Qi Xuansu, who was responsible for staying behind.

Qi Xuansu stood up knowingly and walked out with Zhang Yuelu.

After the two left, there was a burst of whispering in the room, mostly speculating on their relationship.

The two of them came outside the house, the night was like water, and the wind was chilly.

Qi Xuansu took the initiative and asked: "Is the wine at the dinner good?"

"I don't know much about wine. It's sweet with bitterness, and bitter with sweetness. It has a unique flavor." Zhang Yuelu smiled, "I'm not used to this kind of dinner. I'm just asking for help and socializing."

Qi Xuansu turned to the topic: "Is the Ai family reliable?"

"It's reliable for the time being." Zhang Yuelu rubbed his temples with his hands, not knowing whether it was because he drank too much. "After all, the Ai family doesn't dare to offend the Taoist sect openly."

"This is the same as what Shangguan Dun said." Qi Xuansu roughly recounted the conversation between himself and Shangguan Dun.

Zhang Yuelu said with a smile: "He wants to be born as a ninth-grade Taoist priest? It's not impossible. As long as we can successfully exterminate this group of demon thieves, I will give him a ninth-grade Taoist priest's background, but the subsequent three hundred peace money will not Yes, if he asks again, just answer him like this, it’s up to him to choose whether he wants money or identity.”

"Okay." Qi Xuansu nodded in agreement.

Then there was a moment of silence between the two.

Finally, Zhang Yuelu broke the silence: "Tianyuan, you seem to have something on your mind?"

Qi Xuansu did not deny: "There are some."

"Are you thinking about revenge?" Zhang Yuelu asked.

Qi Xuansu didn't expect that Zhang Yuelu would still remember this. A lie often needs more lies to cover it up, so he had no choice but to say: "Yes."

Zhang Yuelu looked at Qi Xuansu and said seriously: "If you need my help, just ask, don't be polite."

The moonlight was bleak, and the moonlight poured on the woman's body like a curtain of water, making her figure ethereal and blurry, as if she would ride the wind and fly away at any time.

Qi Xuansu was absent-minded for a moment, then came back to his senses, nodded and said, "Thank you very much."

"No thanks, I said, we are friends." Zhang Yuelu said softly.

Qi Xuansu was startled, put away his disapproval, smiled and said: "Okay, Miss Tantai."