That year, that cicada, that sword

Chapter 8
Perhaps it was because he was used to the windy and sandy desert outside the Great Wall. When he first arrived in the bustling place, Xu Beiyou was a little at a loss and lost his mind. Therefore, in the first three days before he entered the central capital, he wandered aimlessly all the time. After four days, he began to think about how he should gain a foothold in Zhongdu.Then he found sadly that he had no skills and it was difficult to earn a living. The only way out seemed to be to join the army.

However, Xu Beiyou is used to being at ease. If he is not really desperate, he would not want to go with his hands and feet. Fortunately, he still has 300 taels of silver with him, which is far from the end of the mountain. After staying, he decided to go to the Taoist temple in Zhongdu first.

When Emperor Taizu conquered the world, the Daoist sect made great efforts, so after the Emperor Taizu established a stable position, the status of the Daoist sect rose accordingly. Not only was it conferred as the state religion, even the real person in charge was also conferred as the state teacher, which was extremely prestigious.For a while, Taoism overwhelmed Confucianism and Buddhism and became the head of the three religions. Taoist temples began to be built in various places, and the people also converted to Taoism.

There are no Taoist temples in poor places like Xiaofangzhai and Danxiazhai. At most, there are a few wandering Taoists, but they are all different. It is one of the four capitals in the world. Here is the largest and best Taoist temple in the Northwest. Chonglong Temple.

Xu Beiyou could barely be regarded as a half-believer, since he came to Zhongdu, there was absolutely no reason not to go to Chonglong to have a look.

Chonglong Temple is located in the inner city, which is the limit that ordinary people can go to. If you go further up, you will find a series of rich and powerful mansions, guarded by soldiers, and ordinary people are not allowed to enter.As for the palace at the highest place, only a vague outline can be seen, which is beyond reach.

A black carriage passed by outside the high courtyard wall of Chonglong Temple. There were two people in the carriage, both dressed in black brocade robes. The difference was that one had flying fish embroidered on his brocade robe, while the other Although it is also the same style of brocade robe, it lacks the flying fish pattern.

The so-called flying fish has the shape of a dragon head, wings, and fish tail. Official uniforms embroidered with flying fish patterns are generally called flying fish clothes.Moreover, there is an unwritten rule in Daqi's official circles that only high-ranking officials in the dark guards can wear flying fish suits, so the identities of these two people are self-evident.For the world, the Dark Guard is undoubtedly a very terrifying name, from high-ranking officials to ordinary people, everyone fears this name like a tiger, because the Dark Guard is the most intuitive manifestation of the emperor's will, and has the power to arrest the world. Powers and responsibilities, although nominally under the command of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, actually belonged directly to the emperor, owned the Imperial Prison, independent of the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple, and formed a self-contained body.

Since the Dark Guard Mansion claims to be the detective of the world, apart from the Baihu Hall in the imperial capital, there are also branch offices in various places. There is one governor in each branch office, and one prefecture under the prefecture. Each prefecture has an inspector, one county There are inspectors in each county, and inspectors in a county. In the Baihutang in the imperial capital, there are three governors who are in charge of the overall situation. They are privately called the troika of the Dark Guard Mansion.

Now is the beginning of the dynasty, and there is no chaos of giving names and utensils indiscriminately. Except for those princes and nobles, first-rank officials are still very precious. Except for a few people such as the chief assistant and the governor of the dynasty, no one can hold a first-rank official position. , even the captain of the secret guard is only the second-rank, only the palm-printed governor is specially awarded the first-rank title, the commander-in-chief is the second-rank, the governor is the third-rank, and the inspector is the third-rank.

Although Zhongdu has only one city, it is equivalent to a state level, and it is also the core of the entire Northwest Dark Guard. Since this man can wear the flying fish suit, his identity is ready to be revealed. He is the Inspector of the Central Capital Dark Guard.

The current Inspector of the Dark Guards of the Central Capital is surnamed Lu, and his single name is Shen. He is the Inspector of the Dark Guards of the Central Capital, and he is also the temporary errand of the Northwest Dark Guard Mansion. It can be said that he is the most powerful person in the entire Northwest One of the small group of people, Lu Chen raised the curtains and looked outside at the receding Taoist wall, his face sank like water, and he asked, "Ji An, is everything arranged?"

The middle-aged man sitting opposite him was a little cautious, and replied respectfully: "According to the arrangement of the adults, everything has been arranged."

Lu Chen nodded, and said, "I have a nephew who came to Zhongdu recently, and he may not be able to get away later, so I will leave this matter to you."

The middle-aged man lowered his eyebrows and closed his eyes, and promised in a deep voice.

Lu Chen put down the curtains, looked at his confidant subordinates, and said slowly: "Remember, this is a big deal. If this matter is successful, you and I can't go any further. I can remove the code word in front of Du Duqian, and you You can also step up from the position of inspector and take over my position as inspector."

A look of excitement appeared on the middle-aged man's face, "My humble post, thank you for your help."

Lu Chen smiled, but there was an inexplicable smugness in his smile, "It's too early to say thank you, this matter was personally explained by Governor Fu of Baihutang, and it can't be wrong, if things go wrong, Although it will not make me lose the official hat on my head, but in our hidden guards, if the three governors remember me, I will never go any further in this life."

The middle-aged man's face changed slightly, and then he couldn't stop nodding.

Lu Chen closed his eyes, revealing a bit of old age, and half-talked to himself: "As for my nephew, he is not a simple character, he came from the governor's side, maybe If I hear something, I have to deal with it myself, neither side can be neglected, neither side can be offended."

The carriage arrived at the Dark Guard Mansion in the northwest corner of the central capital, and Lu Chen got off alone. At this time, there was already a person waiting for a long time in the side hall of the Dark Guard Mansion. After seeing Lu Chen, a senior official in charge of the Northwest Dark Guard authority, walk in , without reverence or flattery, just stood up and performed the junior ceremony, as if seeing the elders in his own family, Lu Chen didn't feel anything wrong with this, because he had been exposed to all kinds of private things all year round and became cold and serious A friendly smile appeared on his face, and he said gently: "I have official duties, so my nephew has been waiting for a long time."

If Xu Beiyou had been here, he would have recognized that the person in front of him was the white-clothed son Duanmuyu riding the "Tianma". At this time, Duanmuyu looked relaxed and said with a soft smile, "It's my nephew who is bothering Uncle Shi."

Lu Chen waved his hand with a smile, and after the two of them sat down, he asked, "It's bitterly cold in the northwest, especially in winter, when the snow crushes people to death. My nephew would not go to the prosperous south of the Yangtze River, but came to this city of hundreds of battles." Land, it makes Uncle Shi a little puzzled."

Duanmuyu smiled lightly and said: "To be honest, Uncle Shi, the intention of my nephew this time is to travel outside the Great Wall, but before leaving, my father gave me some instructions and asked me to pass a few words to Uncle Shi."

The smile on Lu Chen's face remained unchanged, and he said, "Nephew, please tell me."

More than half an hour later, Lu Chen personally sent Duanmuyu out of the Dark Guard Mansion, with a gentle smile on his face all the time, until Duanmuyu rode away on horseback, these smiles that could not see the slightest flaw slowly faded away.

Maybe it's been a long time since he smiled so warmly, Lu Chen's expression was a little stiff.

A woman in a black brocade robe quietly appeared behind Lu Chen, and said softly: "My lord, these noble sons from the imperial capital seem to be respectful and courteous, but in fact their eyes are higher than the top, and they may not like us in the bottom of their hearts. A local figure, the adult sent this incense today, he may not remember it in his heart in the future.

Lu Chen narrowed his eyes, and said in a cold tone: "It's true that it's reasonable, but we can't stay in the Northwest for a lifetime, and we have to go back to the imperial capital. Since we want to go back, there is no harm in paving the way in advance."

(End of this chapter)