Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 256 Seeking Tao
In the next few days, under the leadership of Wu Yong, Xiao Rang and others, various matters such as recruiting soldiers and construction were in full swing in Liangshan County.

Zhao Zhen looked around during the day and stayed in Hu Sanniang's room at night.

On the third day, at the time of Sipai, Zhao Zhen and Hu Sanniang took gifts and, escorted by the cavalry of Shi Jin and Lin Chong, galloped all the way to Hujia Village. Not to mention such a large group of people, even if the spies in Jingyang Town saw it, just say that when Hu Taigong saw it, the smile on his face did not disappear. Although his daughter was Zhao Zhen's concubine, she was still valued by the son-in-law. On the day of returning home, not only was there a cavalry escort, but also two large carts of gifts.

Apart from silk and satin, what Hu Taigong valued most was the pearl rice that Zhao Zhen sent, which only the generals and heroes in Liangshan County were qualified to eat. Hu Taigong had a great appetite, and he couldn't forget it after eating the rouge rice, but he couldn't bring himself to ask for it for his face. He was struggling with this, but he never thought that his daughter came back to her parents' home and sent a large cart, which he couldn't finish in one year.

Not to mention that Hu Taigong held a grand banquet to entertain Zhao Zhen and his wife and the soldiers who followed him. At the banquet, they heard that Zhao Zhen had been recruiting soldiers and building a large camp. Before leaving, he actually gave Zhao Zhen 100 sets of iron armor and 300 sets of leather armor.

Hu Taigong took Zhao Zhen's hand and said, "My dear son-in-law, I leave Sanniang in your care. She lost her mother when she was young, and I was not good at disciplining her. She has been following Dalang Hu Chengman in the wild since she was young. When she grew up, she was not good at housework and only liked riding horses and playing with swords. My dear son-in-law, please bear with her from now on."

"My dear son-in-law, we are now preparing our army. For self-protection, we have bought a lot of armor and weapons, but they are no longer needed. I will send them all to you today. We also have plenty of rice and grain at home. If you don't have enough, just come and get some."

Zhao Zhen said: "I am grateful for your gift, Grandfather. Sanniang is heroic and valiant, and she is also gentle and graceful. I like her very much, Grandfather, please rest assured."

After bidding farewell to Hu Taigong and Hu Cheng, Shi Jin and his men stayed at Dulonggang. Lin Chong escorted Zhao Zhen back to Baishi Manor.

The armor was put into storage, and the rest of the items, which were commonly used by Hu Sanniang, were sent to Hu Sanniang's room.

That night, Zhao Zhen still stayed in Hu Sanniang's room. It seemed that after returning home, Hu Sanniang realized that she was no longer the eldest daughter of Hujiazhuang, but Zhao Zhen's concubine.

Zhao Zhen showed a little girl's attitude at night. He said, "Sanniang, this place is only about 40 miles away from Hujia Village. If you want to miss Grandpa in the future, you can ride a horse and go back and forth that day."

Hu Sanniang said, "My husband, I am married now. There are only my father and my brother left at home. There are no women in the family. My husband has a good family. It would be good if you can be a matchmaker for my brother."

Zhao Zhen pondered for a moment and said, "If we talk about good-looking girls, Jin'er from Instructor Lin's family is one, but unfortunately her status is a bit low, and I'm afraid your brother would not like her. Another one is the Liu family from Taohua Mountain. They have only one daughter, and they moved here to avoid bandits. They are now in Xixi Village. They used to have a big farm, and they are a good match for your brother."

Hu Sanniang heard this and said, "That's great. I'll write a letter to my father tomorrow and ask him to prepare to propose marriage."

Zhao Zhen said, "That's fine, but there is only one son in her family. I'm afraid that Master Liu wants to marry one to his family."

Hu Sanniang said, "Sir, we can send someone to sound out the issue tomorrow. If he really wants to marry into the family, I'm afraid my father won't approve."

Zhao Zhen said, "Alright, let's go find Taoist Dong tomorrow. This old Taoist has been doing a lot of matchmaking work since he came here."

Hu Sanniang said, "Come to think of it, it was he who calculated the day I entered the house." As she spoke, she lay down in Zhao Zhen's arms and started to giggle.

Another night of dancing of dragons and fishes. The next day, Zhao Zhen sent someone to call Taoist priest Dong. After greeting him, Zhao Zhen asked, "Taoist priest Dong, I heard from Xiao Rang that the Lingguan Temple is now flourishing under your management. Are you so busy with the morning prayers that you've slacked off?"

Taoist Dong waved his hands and said, "That's impossible. I never dare to slack off in my morning and evening classes, for fear of being punished by the Grandmaster."

"Master Taoist Dong, now that I have become a Taoist priest, I can only draw some talismans for praying for blessings, warding off disasters, and seeking children. I don't know if they are useful or not. I have never seen any Taoist magic. Master Taoist Dong, tell me the truth, is there really any Taoist magic in this world?" Zhao Zhen asked.

Taoist Dong said sternly, "Sir, my lineage has lost all its Taoist methods, but the ancestors of all generations have said that there are Taoist methods that will be revealed to the world. It is not impossible to turn beans into soldiers and call the wind and rain."

Zhao Zhen said: "Even so, I don't know when I can learn such a skill. Soon, it will be the Qingming Festival. Someone in the main world invited me to explore the ancient tomb. There are many ghosts and zombies there. Do you want to go with me to see it?"

"Sir, this is a tomb and there are ghosts and zombies. We should use magic weapons to defeat the enemies. The short sword made of wormwood, the Five Thunder Token, the bracelet of the 24 solar terms, the bracelet of the 12 Thunder Gates, the bracelet of the 14 golden fearless merit giant clam, and even the peach-core rosary that old lady Li gave you can all protect you."

"The great official has a thousand-year-old peach tree trunk that has been enshrined for quite some time. Cut off a piece and make a peach wood sword or a ghost-torturing stick. After some sacrifice and refinement, it can also be a powerful weapon to exorcise ghosts and evil spirits."

Zhao Zhen listened and nodded: "Then send it to the carpenter's workshop to make some instruments, and the remaining peach trunks will still be enshrined in the temple. Old Taoist, what else do you think we need to prepare?"

"Sir, we also need to prepare some black dog blood and rooster comb blood..."

"Old Taoist, why do I hear that these are not very useful against evil spirits?"

"Sir, ordinary black dog blood and cockscomb blood are of course useless. Take these two things, mix them with the incense ash from the Taoist temple, and sprinkle a handful. The ghosts will be seriously injured at best, or their souls will be shattered at worst."

Zhao Zhen said, "I see. I'll have to trouble you to prepare. I'll go to Liantai Temple and ask Master Yuantong if he has any way to exorcise evil spirits."

Taoist Dong nodded and said, "Buddhism naturally has its own methods of exorcising evil spirits, but I don't know if Liantai Temple has inherited it."

Zhao Zhen suddenly asked, "Master, if there really is a way of Taoism, doesn't that mean that those who study Taoism are already detached from the world and free from restraints?"

"How could the great official think so well? Except for the first-class cultivators of the immortals on earth, even if they have the Taoist method, they cannot practice fasting. The four Taoist secrets are Dharma, wealth, companions and land. Dharma is hard to find, and it is also hard to find wealth. As the saying goes, one cannot cultivate Taoism without money. Opening an altar to perform rituals, refining instruments, and refining elixirs, without money, one cannot take a single step."

"Besides, Taoists are also human beings. If they are stabbed, they will be injured at least if not killed. Throughout history, many Taoists have sought refuge with officials and wealthy families. I heard that now Longhu Mountain, as the ancestral temple of the Zhengyi School of Taoism, has also been conferred by the imperial court."

"If you want to practice Taoism, I think you have a chance. Taoist priests and monks go down the mountain to kill demons and eliminate evil. Besides showing their loyalty to heaven and protecting the way, don't they also covet the fur and treasures of the demons? If you are interested, you can buy horse bones for a thousand gold coins."

(End of this chapter)