No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 409 The Master of Dielianhua

After hurriedly studying the unfamiliar and difficult "Zhen Gao" in the afternoon, Ouyang Rong took a nap and went to the Jiangzhou lobby.

The content of such a secret Taoist scripture is quite unfamiliar and difficult to understand.

Moreover, it is still in the form of some kind of expression dictated by gods and gods, with ancient pre-Qin words constantly coming out, and the magic formula is slowly revealed... which makes it quite weird to read.

In short, not very easy to chew.

Although Ouyang Rong, who has some experience, can understand the diagram of the operation of meridians and acupuncture points in the old book,

But the annotations and narrations on the side contained a lot of Taoist terminology that Ouyang Rong found strange, so he had to look it up in the classics...

This may also be related to the fact that Ouyang Rong cheated by skipping the order of learning the Shangqing Sect's introductory Qi Refining Technique "Shangqing Dadong Zhenjing" and directly learned the most difficult chapter.

Anyway, Ouyang Rong had to understand these terms, otherwise, if he missed any precautions and got carried away, he would be doomed.

This is just like reading the manual before using a product. Ouyang Rong was a serious person in his previous life. He loved to read the manual when buying things...

So don’t rush, just take your time in these days.

On the way to Jiangzhou Hall, in the bumpy carriage, Ouyang Rong closed his eyes and sank into the Tower of Merit.

He glanced at the blue-gold font above the little wooden fish.

[Merit: three thousand nine hundred and twenty-one]

Originally, before the trip to Dagushan, there were more than 3,800 meritorious deeds.

During this period, he got a lot of feedback from his junior sister, and received positive feedback from Dalang who dealt with corrupt officials during his inspection, plus zero-to-zero feedback from old meritorious projects such as Shuangfengjian New Canal and Zheyi Canal. After the merits were recorded, a total of three to four hundred merits were added, totaling more than 4,200 merits.

However, just at noon, I tried to run "Zhen Gao" and studied the supreme knowledge. I consumed more than 300 merits, and now I only have more than 3,900 merits left.

He doesn't know if these merits are enough for him to read the entire "Zhen Gao".

This consumption is a bit high, but there is no way. He follows the sword-wielding and alchemist path, which has nothing to do with the Taoist path. The only way to learn the advanced Taoist Qi refining techniques is to consume the purple mist of merit.

So I still have to find a way to accumulate more merit points. Even if I haven’t found a new use for this thing, I can’t have too much of it...

Feeling that the carriage under him slowly stopped, Ouyang Rong got out of the car and walked into the Jiangzhou lobby. He immediately summoned Yan Liulang and others to go out of the city to Shuangfeng Peak to inspect the Donglin Giant Buddha that was under construction.

Arriving at the waterside grotto under the pointed north peak of Shuangfeng, Ouyang Rong saw an unexpected cold figure after wandering for a while.

The girl in royal attire stood at the foot of the giant Buddha statue not far away, her body looking very small and delicate.

At this moment, her back was turned to everyone, her hands were in long sleeves, and she was looking up. No one dared to disturb the laborers coming and going around her. In the distance, a group of accompanying female officials in green were silently waiting for their boss.

Ouyang Rong felt a little guilty, and looked away smoothly as if nothing had happened. He turned his head, greeted Liu Lang and the others with a calm expression, and prepared to leave with oil on his soles, pretending not to notice.

"stop."

After taking only two steps, the cold voice of a girl in palace attire came.

In the sight of everyone, Ouyang Rong turned around smoothly, walked up to the face without any pause, and came to the feet of the Donglin Buddha. He was neither humble nor overbearing, and slightly clasped his fists:

"What a coincidence, the female historian is also here to enjoy the scenery? I wonder what the instructions are for calling me here?"

After being quiet for a while, Rong Zhen asked without answering:

"You went to Dragon City too?"

"Also?" He said in a confused tone: "The female historian also went there? When did it happen?"

clang--!

Merit minus one.

The dull sound of wooden fish sounded in his ears, and Ouyang Rong's expression remained unchanged.

Rong Zhen turned his head, looked at his harmless expression of concern, and pursed his lower lip:

"you do not need to know."

"Okay." Ouyang Rong nodded and sighed softly:

"My Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince did pass by Dragon City, but they didn't know that the female historian was there. They didn't entertain us, which is a bit of a neglect. I hope you'll forgive me."

"Nothing is scornful or sluggish. We are all doing things for His Majesty and the court."

Rong Zhen interrupted him and said: "I am going to Longcheng this time to investigate the Zhao Rushi case. I think Ouyang Changshi must have heard of this case..."

Ouyang Rong turned his head slightly and saw the girl in palace clothes in front of him frowning slightly. Today, she was extra talkative and took the trouble to describe the Zhao Rushi case in Longcheng to him.

I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but although her words still sounded cold, after returning from a trip to Dragon City, Rong Zhen’s attitude towards him seemed to have softened a bit... I’ve known her for so long, and what she said to him before , the total is not as much as this time.

In addition to his slightly better attitude, looking at Rong Zhen's relentless pursuit, it seems that he really cares about the Zhao Rushi case, or... wants to find out a certain guy?

Ouyang Rong thought of something and couldn't help but glance at the skin under the double-breasted collar of her palace dress. The fair skin was a bit dazzling in the sun, and he quickly looked away.

In front of me, the girl in palace clothes has a serious face and speaks in a business-like manner.

There was no trace of what happened in Dagushan that night on her face, it was as if it had never happened.

Could it be that the purple bellyband that was washed white didn't belong to her? Where did that craftsmanship come from?

Moreover, Rong Zhen seemed to be in a bad mood two days ago and left Dragon City and returned in a hurry. What happened?

Ouyang Rong couldn't help but murmur in his heart.

After listening to Rong Zhen's words, Ouyang Rong nodded seriously:

"I have heard about this case. It happened in Longcheng. The matter is currently being handled by the Longcheng County Government."

Rong Zhen glanced at him and said, "Ouyang Changshi has a clear distinction between public and private matters."

"Excuse me. The main reason is that Xunyang is busy with affairs and has to supervise the construction of statues. A lower official cannot take care of everything in detail. This is also the reason why I declined His Majesty's favor some time ago.

"As a chief official, some things just need to be drawn up and outlined."

Ouyang Rong straightened his back, looked up at the Giant Buddha in the Grottoes under construction, and talked eloquently:

"It's a shame to say that when I was an official in Longcheng, I was involved in everything. I felt that I had endless energy and ran around every day. I really enjoyed it, but that was in a county. Well, there aren’t that many things to do.

"When I arrived in Xunyang City, I became the official of Changshi Prefecture, under the jurisdiction of several counties, and there were mountains of documents every day. Only then did I realize that my manpower was limited and I needed helpers, so I couldn't fight alone. "Later I occasionally heard people say that that kind of thing A boss who is submissive and likes to micro-manage is actually very annoying to the people below him. Except for the cunning officials who neglect their duties, if the boss even takes over the basic tasks of the people at the bottom, what will the people below do?

"Since then, the lower officials have become more flexible, imitating the master in the court, and trying to outline and implement the tasks for the officials, such as grasping key aspects such as finance, and not robbing the jobs of the subordinates..."

While Ouyang Rong was chatting and laughing, the topic changed:

"What do you think of this, Ms. Shi?"

Rong Zhen looked at him expressionlessly for a while, nodded and asked, "Is Ouyang Changshi teaching me how to do things?"

"I don't dare. It's just that the General Manager of Qin will arrive tomorrow. The female historian has many responsibilities, but the position of supervisor of the Jiangnan camp should be more important. His Majesty sent the female historian here, and it seems that he attaches great importance to this matter. It will be peaceful as soon as possible. Rebellion, the people of Jiangnan will be at peace as soon as possible...

"I saw that Ms. Shi has been a little absent-minded recently, as if she was distracted by trivial matters, so she couldn't help but say a few words. I'm stunned, so don't be surprised."

Rong Zhen waved his sleeves:

"Don't bother Ouyang Changshi to teach me. I am a humble and stupid person. I am not like Ouyang Changshi. Moreover, according to my speculation, Zhao Rushi's case is probably inextricably linked to Zhu Lingxu's defection. This is also an important clue and needs to be carefully investigated.”

Ouyang Rong was curious: "Oh? How did the female historian come to this conclusion?"

Rong Zhen asked back: "Didn't Ouyang Changshi just mean that he didn't care about trivial matters? It's better not to disturb Ouyang Changshi about the details of this case."

Ouyang Rong twitched the corner of his mouth and wanted to speak, but was interrupted again by Rong Zhen:

"I called you here this time because of something."

She stretched out her hand, and there was a piece of red paper and five scraps of paper lying in her palm:

"This thing is suspected to be left by the murderer of Zhao Rushi's case. The red paper is a poem restored by me based on the secret technique of Si Tianjian. It is a poem about butterflies and flowers, and it is a very talented poet.

"I asked someone to investigate the shredded paper. Based on the texture of the paper and the ink, the owner of Dielianhua is suspected to be in Xunyang City."

Ouyang Rong raised his eyebrows slightly, looked at the scraps of her palm for a while, and asked, "How did you get this?"

"The workshop that produces paper is located in Xunyang City, and it only supplies some fixed stores. The same goes for ink, which is a specialty of Kuanglu."

Ouyang Rong suddenly asked: "Where is the handwriting?"

Rong Zhen was speechless. She couldn't say that she almost vomited blood and was seriously injured when she looked at the strange handwriting that was not a writing brush. She couldn't stare straight at it, right?

After being quiet for a while, under the increasingly curious gaze of Ouyang Lianghan in front of her, she slowly spoke:

"However, I checked and found that paper and ink are not government supplies that are routinely supplied in Jiangzhou Hall. This rules out that this person is a member of the bureaucracy and eliminates most suspicions of government personnel."

Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes and nodded, understanding what Rong Zhen meant.

Not only the officials in the main hall of Jiangzhou, but also the officials of the Zhou Dynasty in this era actually had more or less public utensils for private use. They would take some of the paper and ink they used at home with them from the official offices.

This phenomenon has happened so often that everyone has become accustomed to it, even justified, and regarded it as a benefit.

Ouyang Rong has always turned a blind eye to the extra consumption of pen and ink purchased in Jiangzhou Hall each month.

As for himself?

Perhaps because she cared about her beloved nephew's reputation, Zhen Shuyuan always asked Ye Weila and the others to purchase extra for the pen, ink, paper, etc. at the Huaiye Lane residence.

Therefore, Ouyang Rong never took back the paper and ink from the government office to use, and Ye Weilai practiced calligraphy and reading, which were the four treasures of the study purchased by the family.

It's embarrassing to say that after being the governor of Jiangzhou for so long, the only thing Ouyang Rong brought home from the lobby of Jiangzhou was the horse feed in Dongmei's belly.

Ouyang Rong works in the government office every day, Dongmei eats in the stable, and goes home full every day...

Ouyang Rong had never promoted this kind of breeze with two sleeves before. It had an element of indifference, and he also had the idea of ​​not wanting to appear aloof and being inconvenient to integrate with the people below him.

But I didn't expect that today seemed to be a talisman.

Rong Zhen didn't notice someone's speechlessness. She continued her analysis:

“This time I am calling you, I want to use the people in Jiangzhou Hall to help me investigate the sources of ink and paper in the city, set a time range, and check store by store.

“Compare the two, check the people who buy this kind of paper and ink at the same time, so you can narrow down the scope.

"In addition, the people who can buy this kind of paper and ink must at least have scholars, either from wealthy families, from scholarly families, or from state bachelors... It will be even more obvious if the scholars purchase it personally, and There are very few people with this kind of talent in composing lyrics. It is impossible for their talent to be unknown. In this way, a small group of people can always be identified..."

Ouyang Rong nodded immediately and agreed very much:

"That makes sense. The female historian has clear logic and is very powerful. However, although the scope is much smaller, it is still a big project. No wonder the female historian came to the official to borrow manpower."

Rong Zhen dropped a word, turned around and left:

"You just need to send someone to cooperate. I won't bother you with this matter. Before tomorrow afternoon, all the people from the Judicial Cao will be sent to cooperate with me. The follow-up manpower will be increased or decreased according to the situation. That's it."

Can't help but explain.

Ouyang Rong couldn't help but look sideways.

After a while, he stood there, nodding slightly as if in admiration, then suddenly turned his head and shouted to her back:

"Ms. Shi, please remember to pick me up at Xunyang Ferry tomorrow morning."

Rong Zhen's figure has disappeared.

Ouyang Rong stood there. For a moment, he raised his head and squinted his eyes, looking at the incomplete Buddha statue under the dazzling sunlight:

"Master Die Lianhua, you don't sound like a serious person at first glance. However, we can find clues and lock Xunyang City. Well, you little thief, who let you have nothing to do with the article? It's okay now, Not only did he reveal his flaws, but he also seemed to deliberately leave evidence to provoke the female historian. Well, I’ll wait for you to die.

"But having said that, why did you offend the female historian? Why are you becoming more and more determined to fight to the death? Let's check this, right..."

Someone sighed, patted his sleeves, turned around and left.

……

Early the next morning.

Ouyang Rong, Prince Xunyang's Mansion, and officials from Jiangzhou Hall went to the dock together.

What we are going to welcome today is Qin Jingqin, the chief military officer of Jiangnan Road, and his subordinate officials.

Rong Zhen came as scheduled, and Wang Lengran, whom he hadn't seen for many days, also came.

The latter has been avoiding suspicion recently. He is afraid of being affected by the Zhu Lingxu incident, so he calls in sick and takes leave, which is regarded as keeping his tail between his legs.

The arrival of the new military commander of Jiangnan Road actually marked a turning of the page in the matter of King Wei and Zhu Lingxu. Of course, Wang Lengran came forward again to avoid leaving a bad impression on the new military commander.

All forces in Xunyang City have their own thoughts about this old general Qin who is about to take charge of the counterinsurgency war in Jiangnan and Lingnan Province...

Everyone was waiting respectfully and honestly at the Xunyangdu Pier, but after seeing the agreed time, and even waiting until lunch time, there was still no expected arrival of a certain Yangzhou official ship.

The owners of Xunyang House, who had held a banquet in advance, came to inquire in person, and all the officials in the Jiangzhou lobby looked around in confusion.

At the pier, the crowd picking up guests was a little restless, whispering to each other...

(End of this chapter)