Young man, please stay

Chapter 22 Nangong Zhuo

Qingzhou Prefecture, government office.

dang dang-

There was a knock on the door in the study, and the prefect Zhou Ning stopped the brush in his hand, looked at the scroll on the desk, and said solemnly:
  "Come in…"

squeak-

"grown ups."

The person who came was none other than the officer and soldier who led people to Suppress the Blood Knife Sect not long ago. His name was Li Feng. However, today he was not wearing a suit of armor, but a servant's casual clothes:
  "What's the matter with me, my lord?"

"It's nothing. I just want to ask how things are going at the Blood Knife Gate."

"Sir, the news that the Blood Knife Sect was annihilated by troops sent by Qingzhou Mansion has spread throughout the world. The Tianhe Sect's Ningxiang Pavilion and the imperial court's Ting Yuxuan even rushed to hire people to tell stories. The scene at that time was made up in a realistic way."

"That's it..."

Zhou Ning nodded slowly:

"It seems that you often go to these two places these days."

"Uh…"

Li Feng paused:
  "My subordinate... wanted to investigate, so Xiao... Xiao went there."

"Okay, it doesn't count as a small trip."

"..."

Li Feng was speechless, while Zhou Ning held up the brush and began to write on the scroll again:

"The competition between Ting Yu Xuan and Ning Xiang Pavilion has become very fierce in recent years. They are scrambling to find a storyteller to support them even for this small opportunity... I even heard before that Ning Xiang Pavilion is recruiting handsome men everywhere..."

"It's true. But when people go to higher places, water flows to lower places. Tianhe Sect expanded from Yizhou at the beginning to Jingzhou, and then to Qingzhou. In the territory of the three states, within the sect alone, there are How many people do we need to support? As the Tianhe Sect’s main business, the brothel also serves as an eyeliner, so it won’t work if we don’t compete.”

Li Feng echoed while also secretly looking at Zhou Ning's scroll.

Then he discovered that Zhou Ning was writing a little bit at this time, marking and annotating it. It turned out that he was trying to figure out a map.

A map of the entire Great Zhou Dynasty.

The eleven states of Zhou Dynasty, including the capital, were divided very concisely and clearly, and Zhou Ning marked most of the land parcels with large vermilion characters.

Qingzhou, Yizhou, Jingzhou, and the three southwest states in the west are labeled [Tianhe Sect].

The capital, Yuezhou, the two states due east, plus the fairy island off the coast of Yuezhou, are marked [Wuliang Mountain]

Yunzhou in the northeast is labeled [Zenzhen Temple]

Obviously, this roughly indicates the geographical scope that the three sects in the world can influence today.

As for Liangzhou and Mangzhou, which are a little further north of Yunzhou, Zhou Ning used a smaller ink pen to label them as [King of Zhenbei].

These two states have been under the jurisdiction of Zhenbei King Zhu Yueshan since the time of the late Emperor Zhaotong. Further north of the two states is the Beili Kingdom, which has been at war with the Zhou Dynasty for many years.

……

Apart from the above, Zhou Ning has not marked the remaining three places Huaizhou, Jinzhou and Yangzhou with a red pen for the time being.

Then he used a smaller ink pen to mark the locations of the six factions.

【Ningxiang Pavilion】

【Tingyuxuan】

【Jiuzhou Escort Bureau】

【Lingxiao Pavilion】

【Ask the Sword Sect】

【Biluo Valley】

The remaining smaller characters are the distribution of the twelve gates.

I don’t know when this map was first created. The current [Three Sects, Six Sects and Twelve Sects] in Jianghu are all marked on it. Although the markings of the Twelve Sects have been deleted in several places, the Three Sects and Six Sects are still the same. Didn't move.

It can also be seen from this point that this map was completed at least after the late emperor "pacified the barbarian country" and destroyed the older group of six sects such as Longding Villa.

"Sir, you have nothing to do. This is..."

"Bah! You have nothing to do!"

Zhou Ning glared at Li Feng:
  "The situation in the world is updated in real time. Is this called having nothing to do? The twelve sects are different from the three sects and six sects. After the Blood Knife Sect is destroyed, won't there be new sects joining the twelve sects immediately? Shouldn't I write it down?"

"Yes Yes Yes…"

"Speaking of which... what is the name of the twelve new sects that have joined the Blood Knife Sect this time?"

"Sir, call it Qingfeng Village."

"Ah…"

Zhou Ning sneered, this guy looked more like a bandit than the Blood Knife Sect.

"How is the situation in Qingfeng Village?"

"Sir, Qingfeng Village is also on the border of Qingzhou. It belongs to us. It has always been doing some martial arts to make a living. It also does some escort agencies and casinos. It is different from the Blood Knife Sect. It highlights an honest duty."

"That's good."

"But...it is said that the current head of Qingfeng Village is a bit dissatisfied with the general public. There will be conflicts with the second and third masters from time to time. Therefore, Qingfeng Village is divided into three factions, and people are not very unified..."

"Well, that's better."

Zhou Ning nodded with satisfaction:
  "If he doesn't convince the crowd, he naturally needs my own official to help him convince the crowd. The more disunion people have, the easier it is to listen to what outsiders say..."

Li Feng rolled his eyes when he heard this:
  "Sir, if Qingfeng Village continues like this, what will you do if you get scattered in the future?"

"Nonsense, if Qingfeng Village is destroyed by myself, the twelve sects cannot be eliminated, so we can find another sect to continue to take over..."

"Ah this..."

Li Feng looked troubled:

"Sir, our sect in Qingzhou is always being wiped out and replaced again and again. We have been tossing it too frequently. Isn't it going to make Long Yan displeased?"

"Tsk, calling you stupid is not smart! As an official in the court, the three sects and six sects cannot be touched, so you have to touch these twelve sects frequently. This shows that the court can control the world! Otherwise, you think that the same Why do the Jianghu forces, the three sects and the six sects always turn a blind eye to the affairs of the Twelve Sects? These so-called Twelve Sects were originally created specifically to be managed by the imperial court... Do you understand?"

"Understood! Understood!"

"Oh, by the way, the person who killed Xue Gui received a silver reward, right?"

"Well, I used the second fastest horse in the house. It should have arrived today... Oh, sir, I just heard today that the person who killed Xue Gui was actually the bodyguard of Princess Qingli."

"Oh? That's very good, very good. This extra reward is the right thing to do..." 　　　————————————————

Outside Jianping County, on Qingniugang.

The weather today was a bit gloomy, the spring breeze was not warm, and there was even a hint of chill. Qin Lang happened to make a pot of warm meals, which was especially suitable for today.

"The pot will simmer for a while longer and it will be ready. The rice has just been drained out and the hot rice soup is ready."

Qin Lang rubbed his hands and smelled the delicious aroma overflowing from the side of the pot. Not to mention Su Yin Ping, even Gu Jin couldn't help but move his throat when he returned to the house.

"Sorry, Su Nuxia, there is no meat today, it's a vegetarian dish."

"it's okay no problem."

The princess is picky about food, but the heroine is not picky about food. She sat on the bed and shook her head obediently:

"Qin Lang, what did you cook? It smells so good, even more fragrant than the fish soup before."

"Hey, does it smell good?"

Qin Lang rubbed his nose proudly:
  "This is my specialty dish, and my senior sister also likes it."

"Senior Sister..."

"..."

Su Yinping and Gu Jin had both heard him mention the "senior sister" mentioned by Qin Lang once or twice, but they never asked in detail. Now, while waiting for the dishes to be ready, the two women talked to each other in a tacit understanding. After looking at the other party, Su Yinping took the initiative to ask:

"Qin Lang, speaking of which, what is your life experience like? I'm quite curious..."

"Life experience? As I said, my senior sister and I live in the mountains a little outside Dazhou, and we depend on each other."

……

When Qin Lang met the eldest maid Xuanran before, he said that he was born in the Orion family and grew up with his mother. That was because he and Xuanran were not familiar with each other when they met for the first time. He was poisoned, and he didn't know that the other party would save him, so he was very talkative.

But after spending some time with Su Yinping and Gu Jin, Qin Lang didn't want to hide too much from them.

Of course, appropriate concealment is still necessary.

After all, the senior sister is recuperating in seclusion on Tianshan Mountain. If it only concerns him, Qin Lang can tell Su Yinping and others about his situation.

It's not that they don't trust Su Yinping and Gu Jin, it's just that when people are in the world, it's always right to be cautious. For example, Qin Lang heard that those in the Five Poison Sect in Yizhou know some soul-searching techniques.

……

Now that Su Yinping asked about his life experience again, Qin Lang still adhered to the principle of "tell what should be said, and don't tell what shouldn't be said."

"Qin Lang, you said that you and your senior sister depend on each other, but where is your master?"

"There is no master."

Qin Lang shook his head:

"Senior sister immediately recognized me as her junior brother when she picked me up. Later I asked her why, and she said that being a master makes me look older."

"..."

Qin Lang's words were true, so the speechlessness in the eyes of Su Yinping and Gu Jin, who looked at each other, was also true.

"Then your master doesn't have a name?"

"No."

"How old is your senior sister?"

"I don't know, she won't say, but she looks... similar to Su Nuxia."

"Huh? I seem to remember that you said before that you killed Xue Gui to avenge your senior sister, right?"

"Well, Xue Gui is dead, and now there is only one left."

"Who?"

"Nangong Zhuo."

Qin Lang said the name of the last person recorded in the "Inner Demon Record" by the senior sister, the name of the big devil who asked Qin Lang to "plough his garden and sweep his holes".

Not to mention that Qin Lang hadn't realized it yet, but when he mentioned it at this moment, Qin Lang's eyes suddenly lit up.

Although there is very little recorded information about this elusive big devil, but as the sister of Emperor Su Yinping, you might have heard of this person.

"Nangong Zhuo..."

However, the princess just blinked and asked Qin Lang a silly question:
  "Is her surname Nan...or Nangong?"

"..."

Qin Lang held back his expression of laughter and tears:
  "The surname is Nangong. If jade is not polished, it will become useless. Have you heard of it?"

"No…"

Su Yinping frowned and asked Gu Jin again. Gu Jin thought about it carefully and said that he had never heard of this name. Even the surname [Nangong] had never been heard of in the world.

"Forget it, I didn't expect to find this person so easily."

After all, even the senior sister said that she was elusive. Once the person changed his name or even changed his skin like Xue Gui, Qin Lang could only look for a needle in a haystack without any clues.

"Let's eat first."

The pot was almost done. After Qin Lang quickly poured it out, he turned a small stool upside down on the table. He lit a candle in the middle of the bench to create a "small stove" and poured the vegetables from the big pot to the small stove. Pot, and then sat on the "small stove", Su Yinping suddenly lit up when he looked at it.

"It's been a long time since I've had a side dish~ Qin Lang, you're so awesome, this is okay!"

"It's a bit crude, but it's good to eat it warm."

The dishes in the pot were finally unveiled. Qingzhou’s local salted potherb mustard and chopped tofu. After being simmered in the pot for a long time, these two simple ingredients turned out to be extremely delicious and rich, even more so than The wonderful taste of meat.

"Is it tasty?"

"Yeah! Sumire, you should also eat more. It will be warm. Your body will be warm and comfortable after eating!"

"Come on, let me teach you how to eat it with a spoon like this."

Qin Lang said as he took a spoonful of soft white tofu, salty mustard mustard, and the hot soup. He poured it on the rice. Just looking at it made people move their index fingers and take one bite. Qin Lang couldn't help but shake his head and hum a tune:
  "I ate pickles and rolled tofu~...The emperor is not as good as me...~"

"..."

"..."

Qin Lang was obviously a little carried away. After singing, he realized that the sister of "Emperor Lao'er" and his personal guards were staring directly at him.

(End of this chapter)