Taiping Inn

When mentioning Zhang Baiyue, Li Xuan couldn't help but sigh.

It wasn't that he didn't want to take Zhang Baiyue away, but when the situation was irreversible, he had also experienced three major battles, and his internal energy was almost dry. He was seriously injured and his internal organs were injured. He had no strength left to fight back from the top of the imperial capital to the prime minister's residence in the inner city. In the end, he was forcibly taken away by a fellow uncle who rushed over.

In the following years, he recovered from his injuries in the master's sect and avoided the many pursuits in the martial arts world. It was not until recently that he returned to the martial arts world. At this time, four years had passed since Zhang Baiyue accompanied his father and brother to death.

If you say that you are not bitter in your heart, you are deceiving yourself. However, in life, what you carry on your shoulders is not just the word "love", but also the words "gratitude and righteousness". "Gratitude" refers to the gratitude of the teacher who raised you, and "righteousness" refers to the great righteousness of the world. The former comes from the teacher who taught you, and the latter comes from Zhang Suqing. These two things do not allow Li Xuandu to give up on himself. As the saying goes, "Heaven moves vigorously, and a gentleman strives to improve himself." This is one of the reasons why Li Xuandu returned to the arena again.

Li Xuandu's sigh interrupted Shen Shuangmei's thoughts. She suddenly came back to her senses and asked cautiously, "Are you the Purple Mansion Sword Immortal?"

Li Xuandu waved his hand and said, "No need to do that. The age difference between you and me is similar, not enough to be called 'you'. In addition, the name I gave myself was 'Purple Mansion Guest', but this 'Purple Mansion Sword Immortal' is a nickname given by my fellow martial artists."

[I hope readers will remember our domain name Taiwan Novel Network → digit𝚠𝚔ｇ𝚗.𝚌Ｗｕ𝚖]

Shen Shuangmei took a deep breath and calmed down. He returned to his usual calm state of mind and said, "Zifu... Why are you and Brother Hu here?"

Li Xuandu exchanged glances with Hu Liang and said slowly, "Since we are family, I will speak frankly. Shu Ning's father, Zhou Gong Tingchao, is a disciple of the current imperial teacher Sun Ge Lao. You should have heard about his letter. I was entrusted by a good friend to rescue him, but I was unable to do so and only rescued Shu Ning. This time, Tianliang and I escorted Shu Ning to Zhongzhou together, which can be regarded as leaving a trace of Zhongliang bloodline."

Speaking of this, the little girl's eyes were red and she lowered her head.

Shen Shuangmei looked at the little girl, and immediately felt pity for her. She said with a bit of sadness in her tone: "It turns out that you and I are both wanderers in the world."

The little girl raised her head and asked with a hint of tears: "Has Captain Shen also lost his father?"

Shen Shuangmei nodded, her expression became firm, and she said in a deep voice: "My father died at the hands of the Qingluan Guards in the battle of the Imperial Capital."

The little girl said sadly: "My father was also killed by the people of the Qingluan Guards."

Shen Shuangmei, who was reminded of the past, couldn't help but feel grief in her heart. She gently reached out and embraced the little girl, and said softly: "Don't call me Captain Shen in the future, just call me Sister Shen, okay?"

The little girl nodded gently.

At this time, Hu Liang wiped his face and couldn't help sighing: "Well, one is the brother and the other is the sister, so I am the uncle. Am I that old?"

The two women, one big and one small, were amused by Hu Liang, and the haze in the room faded a little. Shen Shuangmei couldn't help laughing and said: "Brother Hu is already thirty years old, and our Shu Ning is not yet married, so it's right to call him uncle."

Li Xuandu and Hu Liang have been friends for many years, and they have never been restrained in their words. Sometimes they are even worse than bad friends. At this time, he also said: "Tianliang, don't take advantage of us. If we talk about Shu Ning, you are one generation older than us, but you have taken a big advantage."

Hu Liang said angrily: "Whoever wants to be the elder can do it, I just want to be the younger one Young and handsome knight, why not?"

"Yes, why not." Li Xuandu said with a smile: "Young knight Hu, Mr. Hu, this is finally done."

Hu Liang snorted, "Every time I do chivalry and save a girl, I always say 'I can't repay you, I can only repay you with my body', why does it become 'I can't repay you, I can only repay you in the next life' when it comes to me? You are Mr. Li, and I am Brother Hu. How does that saying go? It's not the lack of wealth that is worrying, but the inequality!"

Li Xuandu said helplessly: "Those women look down on you, blame me?"

Hu Liang sighed, "Comparing people is a crime, comparing goods is a crime."

Seeing this scene, Shen Shuangmei, who has always been known as the "cold beauty" in the Six Gates, couldn't help but burst out laughing.

She has long been familiar with Brother Hu, who is just like this, carefree and not particular about details.

But Li Xuandu made her feel a little eye-opening.

She suddenly felt that this should be the Purple Mansion Sword Immortal in her mind. He did not have the domineering aura that could intimidate everyone, nor was he arrogant and kept people at a distance. He was just so gentle, polite, and approachable. She never thought that the Purple Mansion Sword Immortal would be the person who killed innocent people indiscriminately as some people said. If he was really such a person, then he would not appear in the Imperial Capital City, and then sacrifice his own cultivation and the road to success under his feet.

After Hu Liang's jokes, the atmosphere between the four people became much better. Sitting around the table, Li Xuandu asked about Shen Shuangmei's job. Shen Shuangmei naturally did not hide anything and told him everything truthfully. It turned out that she rushed from the Imperial Capital to Jingzhou this time. In addition to investigating the case of the robbery of the strange stone gang, she also received a secret order from the cabinet to secretly investigate the corruption of the Jiangnan Maritime Customs and the Weaving Bureau.

These two offices were managed by eunuchs sent from the palace. As the saying goes, a person has a head and four limbs, which are the main body of the body, called the five limbs. A person also has a "palace", which is the main offspring. There is a punishment of leaving the "palace", which is called "palace punishment". Eunuchs live in the royal family as slaves, and they leave their "palace" by themselves, so it is called "self-palace". As for those who respectfully call eunuchs "gonggong", because "gong" and "palace" are homophonic, it comforts the meaning of having a palace.

When eunuchs leave the "palace", they cut off the roots of their own existence. Only by living in the royal family and relying on the master as the root can they settle down. If they are abandoned by the royal master one day, they will immediately wither and die like a tree with broken roots. If the master can have a strong root, he will flourish. It is similar to the "following the dragon", "supporting the dragon" and "attaching to the dragon" of civil officials and military generals.

Because of these reasons, the eunuchs were not backed by anyone but the twenty-four government offices in the palace, headed by the Imperial Household Department, and behind the Imperial Household Department was the Empress Dowager.

This involved the struggle between the outer court and the inner court in the court. It was unknown whether it was the original intention of the elder Sun or the instruction of the King of Jin through the cabinet.

After listening to this, Li Xuandu said, "This case is very complicated. Shuangmei, you must not be careless. If you make a mistake, you will be doomed. You must be very careful."

"Zifu is right." Shen Shuangmei nodded and said, "So before I left, the Shangshu had specifically told me not to rush, as long as I could get this done before the end of the year."

After all, Hu Liang had been a deputy general, and he knew a thing or two about these local government offices. He said, "If I remember correctly, these government offices are all in the state capital. It just so happens that we are going to Jiangling City and visiting an old friend. If Shuangmei is not afraid of delaying the mission, how about going with us?"

Shen Shuangmei had a bit of the demeanor of a man, without any hesitation, and said frankly, "That's what I meant."

The little girl couldn't help but jump up when she heard this. She had a lot of good feelings for this sister who had a similar background to her. When she heard that she was going with us, she was naturally happy. She even had a vague idea in her heart that it would be great if her brother, sister Shen, and Uncle Tianliang could stay together forever, but she also knew that after arriving in Zhongzhou, they would be separated. Her brother and Uncle Tianliang each had their own things to do, and her sister also had to investigate a case, so she could only go to the Xuannv Sect, which was somewhere unknown, alone.

Thinking of this, the little girl looked a little sad again.

Shen Shuangmei saw that something was wrong with the little girl, and her heart softened. She hugged her in her arms and comforted her softly.

Perhaps it was true that women understood women's thoughts best. After a while, the little girl turned from worry to joy, leaned over Shen Shuangmei's ear, whispered and laughed.

Li Xuandu and Hu Liang, two grown men, couldn't eavesdrop on the conversations of the two women in the boudoir, so they got up together and went to the next room to change into clean new clothes, and then set off to Jiangling to visit Fenglei Sect and meet Brother Song, whom they hadn't seen for many years.