Pawn Crossing the River

After Qi Xuansu finished saying this famous quote from the fifty-sixth chapter of the Five Thousand Words of the Supreme Daoist Ancestor, Ji Jiaozhen took him away from Shuzhong Prefecture.

As for Qi Xuansu's knowledge, it cannot be said that he had none. He did not recognize "Zhulu", because the Wanxiang Dao Palace did not teach these things of literati and poets, but it did not mean that he could not recite the Five Thousand Words of the Supreme Daoist Ancestor. This is the fundamental classic of Taoism, and everyone must be able to recite it. Qi Xuansu memorized this book when he was very young, just like a child in a private school memorizing the Four Books and Five Classics. I dare not say that I can recite it backwards, but at least I will never forget it in this life.

In the next few days, Qi Xuansu and Ji Jiaozhen wandered around Shuzhou for a few days, and then returned to Qingcheng to stay for a few days.

Qi Xuansu left the Wanxiang Dao Palace on September 16th. Half a month passed in a flash. On the first day of October, Qi Xuansu spent the last 100 Taiping coins to buy a boat ticket and took a flying boat directly from Tiancang Mountain to embark on the return journey to Yujing.

Qi Xuansu arrived at Yujing on the second day of October without any setbacks along the way.

Qi Xuansu did not go to see Zhang Yuelu or Ziwei Hall first, but went to Duzhi Hall first.

Strictly speaking, he did not go to the main hall of Duzhi Hall, but to Guangying Division under Duzhi Hall, which was not in Xuandu, the inner city, but in Xuanyuanfang, one of the upper eight fangs in Yujing, the outer city. Strictly speaking, this is a huge silver vault.

In a nutshell, this is where the salary is paid.

Among the nine halls, except for Tiangang Hall, which issues the silver by itself because it involves many spiritual officials, the other halls have to go to Duzhi Hall to receive the silver.

Qi Xuansu went to the upper palace of Wanxiang Taoist Palace for three months of further study. During these three months, he could also receive the silver as usual, and these three months were calculated according to the fourth-grade priest and the head of Ziwei Hall, that is, 300 Taiping coins per month, a total of 900 Taiping coins.

Qi Xuansu arrived at Guangyingsi, showed his certificate, went through several procedures, and received nine big bills.

Qi Xuansu had originally wanted to find a house in Shangbafang or Zhongbafang, but unfortunately the big money was taken by Qi Niang, and he was going to be transferred to the capital, so he saved it.

Speaking of these nine hundred Taiping money, it is certainly not a small amount, but for a fourth-rank Taoist priest, it is not much. After the status is high, it is inevitable to socialize.

According to reason, when Qi Xuansu visited Pei Xiaolou, Xu Xiaoying, Ji Jiaozhen and others, he should bring some gifts. These people are all real people, so they naturally can't just buy a few fruits like ordinary people visiting relatives and friends. At least they should get some elegant things, such as pens, ink, paper and inkstones, etc. If they have children and get married, they should also give Ruyi, jade pendants and other auspicious things. How can such things be cheap? A slightly better one will cost hundreds of Taiping money, and these nine hundred Taiping money can't withstand a few exchanges of favors.

Qi Xuansu had to come to the door empty-handed this time, which was very embarrassing. Fortunately, except for Xu Xiaoying, Pei Xiaolou and Ji Jiaozhen knew Qi Xuansu before he became famous, and knew his details, so they didn't care about it. He couldn't do this anymore. After all, the Taoist rank and the silver were on the surface, and it was impossible to be poor forever. No wonder Zhang Yuelu always looked very embarrassed. Interpersonal relations were indeed a big burden.

As for Yao Pei, she didn't live on this little silver. She was a core member who could directly mobilize the family's property and never worried about personal expenses.

After Qi Xuansu received the Taiping money, he slowed down his pace and walked out of Guangyingsi at a leisurely pace.

Most of the top Taoist families lived in Taishangfang. In Taishangfang, you can even see the scene of Zhang and Li living next to each other, which is hard to imagine in other places.

Because the predecessor of the Great Xuan Royal Family was the Northern Dao Gate, there were many people who worshipped Taoism in the royal family and clan, and many of them also settled in Yujing. These people would not live in Taishangfang, but mostly lived in Xuanyuanfang. Because they were all royal relatives and nobles, they were very wealthy, so there were many special shops in Xuanyuanfang.

When Qi Xuansu was about to leave Xuanyuanfang, he passed by a shop and found that it sold all kinds of women's products, and his footsteps seemed to be stuck.

After hesitating for a moment, Qi Xuansu walked into the shop.

The shop was very deserted, with few customers, and only a female shopkeeper was counting the bills behind the counter.

This is the so-called special shop. The reason why it is special is that the goods here are different from those in Taiqing City.

Since the five generations of the Great Master, the Taoist sect has been committed to eliminating all kinds of differences between people, making the Taoist sect the same. In the Taoist sect, especially in formal occasions, the difference between men and women of the same rank is not very big. They wear the same hairpins and crane cloaks. The only difference is probably the cloud shoes. Men wear square-toed shoes, while women wear round-toed shoes.

Private casual clothes are divided into men and women, but they are mainly plain. Zhang Yuelu and others have long been accustomed to wearing more convenient men's clothes from time to time. Even Yao Pei usually dresses in men's clothes, which is incompatible with the secular world. In other words, the Taoist sect does not want to force a distinction between men and women, but vigorously promotes universal clothing for both men and women.

Romance Bar Free Reading

The royal family members who came from the imperial capital were naturally not used to this style, so many special shops designed specifically for women came into being.

The female shopkeeper who was counting the bills looked up and saw that although Qi Xuansu did not look like a royal family member, he was dressed as a fourth-rank Taoist priest. She did not neglect him and asked with a smile: "Master, what do you want to buy?"

Qi Xuansu's eyes swept across the dazzling shelves and pondered: "Does the shopkeeper have any recommendations?"

The female shopkeeper smiled slightly: "Master, are you buying it for your Taoist partner?"

Qi Xuansu hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

The female shopkeeper said: "Yu Jing is very good, but the heads and faces of the women's crowns are too plain. The shop has recently purchased a new batch of jewelry, which are the most popular styles in Imperial Jing today."

Qi Xuansu thought about it and realized that Zhang Yuelu didn't have much jewelry. It seemed that she had only seen her using hairpins, and sometimes she didn't even use hairpins, just a hairband.

The female shopkeeper observed the words and knew that the Taoist master was probably very knowledgeable about these women's affairs - he knew nothing about them, so she began to introduce them one by one.

Only then did Qi Xuansu realize that women's jewelry had such a wide variety of styles. In addition to the common hairpins and bracelets, there were also hairpins, hairpins, steppers, diamonds, flat squares, combs, Huasheng, forehead wipes, flower hairpins, and earrings. Jade necklaces, necklaces, necklaces, brooches, finger guards, armbands, forbidden steps, rings, etc., as well as various necklaces, rings, etc. passed over from the West, are all different and have their own uses.

This is just a broad classification. If further subdivided according to color, style, and material, it can be divided into hundreds of categories without duplication.

Qi Xuansu felt dizzy after hearing this. He temporarily interrupted the chattering female shopkeeper and asked the price again.

All are expensive.

Qi Xuansu clicked his tongue in his heart, touched the 900 Taiping coins in his arms, and finally chose the smallest and relatively cheap flower bud, which was about the size of a fingernail, made of gold foil paper, decorated with jade, and carved into the shape of a plum blossom. , the carving is very fine, and the various lines are clearly visible and lifelike, and can be placed between the eyebrows. It is the plum blossom makeup that was popular during the Daqi period.

There are three flowers in total, the colors are red, green, and yellow. They are a set. They are packed in an exquisite small wooden box and cost Qi Xuansu 200 Taiping.

Qi Xuansu pretended to pay the money, and under the attentive smile of the female shopkeeper, he left the shop and went straight to the Tiangang Hall in Xuandu.

Zhang Yuelu has finished his hiatus and has been working in the Yaoguang Division recently.

Qi Xuansu was quite familiar with Tiangang Hall. When he arrived at the door, the guard guard recognized him and let him through without any obstruction.

After taking just a few steps, Qi Xuansu met Sun Yongfeng, an old acquaintance.

"Tian Yuan. Congratulations." Sun Yongfeng said congratulations from afar, "I'm afraid I will have to be reused after I came back from studying in the palace."

Now everyone in Tiangang Hall knew that Qi Xuansu was not only alive but also a blessing in disguise, so they were not too surprised to see Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu and Sun Yongfeng greeted each other, exchanged a few words, and asked, "Is Qingxiao in Yaoguang Division?"

"The deputy hall master is signing the deposit for the room." Sun Yongfeng smiled knowingly, "Tianyuan go quickly, we will talk next time."

Qi Xuansu said goodbye to Sun Yongfeng and went to Yaoguang Division.

I met a few acquaintances along the way, and everyone seemed to know the reason for Qi Xuansu's visit, and everyone was smiling and joking.

Even though Qi Xuansu was not thin-skinned, he was also a little uncomfortable.

Arriving outside the door of Zhang Yuelu's custody room, Qi Xuansu suddenly stopped and straightened his clothes carefully before reaching out and knocking on the door.

A familiar voice came from inside: "Come in."

Qi Xuansu took a deep breath, opened the door and walked inside.

The outside room was still the same, neither Mu Jin nor Tian Baobao were there. The door to the inner room was open. Qi Xuansu leaned out half of his body and looked inside. He saw Zhang Yuelu writing furiously at his desk and had no time for him to pay attention.

Zhang Yuelu is still the same, after all, the two have only been separated for three and a half months.

After a moment, Zhang Yuelu noticed something was wrong. He raised his head and met Qi Xuansu's eyes, who had leaned forward halfway.

Qi Xuansu coughed lightly and walked into the inner room, separated from Zhang Yuelu by a table.

Zhang Yuelu put down his pen and asked, "Why did you come back?"

Qi Xuansu said: "First I went to the Wanshou Chongyang Palace to visit Master Pei and Xu, and then I went to Shuzhou to visit Master Ji, and by the way, I removed one of Zhao Fuan's arms."

Zhang Yuelu was stunned for a moment, then remembered who Zhao Fuan was, and asked with a smile: "Why don't you ask me to come with you?"

Qi Xuansu thought for a while and replied: "Why kill a chicken with a cow-butcher's knife?"

After saying that, Qi Xuansu took out the "Hua Tian" he just bought, placed it on the table, and pushed it in front of Zhang Yuelu.

For the first time, he felt a little embarrassed: "On the way back, I happened to see it and thought it was pretty good, so I bought it."

Zhang Yuelu opened the box and blinked.

Qi Xuansu asked softly: "Do you like it?"

Zhang Yuelu smiled slightly: "Since it's your gift, there's no reason why I don't like it."