Luoshen Villa, other courtyard.
Dugu Xuanqing has been worried.
After he returned from the imperial capital this time, he suddenly heard a piece of news that made him extremely upset.
The date for his sister's martial arts competition to find a bride has actually been brought forward!
And his sister is in seclusion and can't see anyone. Even he can't see his own sister.
He also hit the other side for this purpose, but was knocked back by soft nails.
To be honest, his grandfather, Dugu Shidao, is still to blame for this matter.
Back then, the leader of Luoshen Villa joked that if his sister had not found a husband when she was twenty years old, he would personally take the decision and hold a competition for Dugu Xuanqing's sister to find a bride.
As a result, Dugu Shidao is now missing, and this incident has become the first step in causing trouble for his uncle's family.
Dugu Xuanqing's parents died early, and he and his sister depended on each other.
Without his sister, his status in Luoshen Villa would be somewhat difficult to maintain.
Although his talent is extraordinary, there are two other people with the same talent as him in Luoshen Villa.
And they are all from over there...
And above the three of them, there is one person who is more talented, and that is Dugu Xuanqing's sister.
Moreover, there is a precedent for Luoshen Villa to be headed by a woman, and not just once or twice.
So the other side was anxious and wanted to marry off his sister first.
In this way, the battle for Luoshen Villa became a competition between Dugu Xuanqing and the other two.
Although it is not sure whether Dugu Shidao went out for something or could not come back.
But they won't give up this only opportunity.
In the past, when Dugu Shidao was around, they had no chance at all.
Now that I have seen a glimmer of hope, of course I want to do it regardless.
But this disrupted Dugu Xuanqing's plan.
He knew that the other party wanted to marry off his sister.
He will definitely control his sister’s choice of husband.
And he also came up with a way to deal with it, which was to ask someone like Liu Xin to take action.
Not only can he win the competition to find a bride reliably, but he can also directly cancel the engagement afterwards.
Of course his sister is not worried about getting married, nor is she afraid of breaking off the engagement this time.
Once the engagement is broken off, this competition to recruit a bride will be regarded as useless, and the other side should not be able to think of any way to deal with it in a short period of time.
He only hates that he is not talented enough.
If he had the talent of his sister, who in Luoshen Villa would dare to say anything?
Those clan elders all said that they only valued talent.
But when it came to the most practical moment, they had differences between men and women.
What's more, they have established beneficial relationships with certain people.
Luoshen Villa is no longer the pure Luoshen Villa.
Of course, Dugu Xuanqing would also think of his sister's engagement from time to time.
It's just that the person who made the engagement was really unbearable.
Otherwise, my sister would not have taken the initiative to terminate the engagement.
But this time the people over there seemed to have found that family again.
Isn't this just disgusting? As long as he thinks about this, Dugu Xuanqing will slam the table in anger.
Just as he was pacing back and forth, his mind restless, a young man came outside the door holding a greeting card.
Seeing this young man, Dugu Xuanqing's eyes lit up, and his attention was not on the invitation at all.
Given his status, as soon as he returned to Luoshen Villa, there would be an endless stream of people wanting to visit him.
"Aaron, how are you? Is there any news about Liu Qian?"
He has also received news that Liu Xin actually killed the second prince.
Although the second prince brought it upon himself, Liu Xin's actions could easily lead to death.
Therefore, Liu Xin's disappearance and Dugu Xuanqing's disappearance are understandable.
He even believed that Liu Xin would arrive at Luoshen Villa before next year's Lantern Festival.
Because this is the agreement between him and the other party.
Dugu Xuanqing trusted Liu Xin for no reason.
But now it's not a matter of trust or distrust.
The time for contests to recruit brides has been advanced.
It was impossible for Liu Xin to receive this news.
And none of the people he sent out could find any clues about Liu Xin.
The young man in front of him is his attendant, the companion who grew up and practiced with him.
Every direct descendant of Luoshen Villa has one or two attendants.
They grew up together and practiced together. Except for the core skills of Luoshen Villa, they learned everything else.
Therefore, when every direct descendant of Luoshen Villa wants to evaluate his combat prowess, he must not just look at him alone.
Plus the attendants around him.
This young man's name is Aaron. Because they were all bought, they don't have a surname.
Dugu Xuanqing originally wanted him to take his surname as Dugu. This kind of thing is relatively common in Luoshen Villa.
It was Aaron who disagreed.
There is another person named A Jian with him, who is looking for traces of Liu Xin outside at this time.
Aaron followed Dugu Xuanqing.
Aaron shook his head, but handed over the greeting card in his hand.
Seeing Aaron shaking his head, Dugu Xuanqing suddenly felt a little discouraged.
He took the greeting card a little irritably. Originally, he wanted to put the greeting card directly on the stove and burn it, but he glanced out of the corner of his eye and his hand suddenly froze in place.
But the greeting card was already on fire.
He put out the fire immediately, but half of the greeting card was burned.
When he opened it, he only saw a signature: Liu Xin pays homage.
The above content may be because Liu Xin only wrote one or two sentences.
That location had been burned into a black mess.
I can't tell what was originally written.
Dugu Xuanqing was annoyed, and then suddenly remembered something, and looked at Aaron with bright eyes.
"Where is the person who sent this post?"
Aaron scratched his head and said slowly.
"The concierge said the man left after delivering the post."
After a pause, he added.
"The man didn't say when he would come."
As Aaron, who grew up with Dugu Xuanqing. Just by looking at Dugu Xuanqing's expression, Aaron knew what he was thinking, so he came up with this explanation.
After Aaron finished speaking, Dugu Xuanqing became even more upset.
However, most of the stone in his heart has fallen.
Since Liu Xin has already appeared here and sent a greeting card, it means that the other party must have known about Luoshen Villa's marriage competition in advance.
Then I thought that on that day, Liu Xin would come to participate.
But now he can no longer search for Liu Xin with great fanfare.
In Taiyuan City, he was not the only one who was known for being an eye-catcher.
There are also many eyeliners on that side arranged throughout Taiyuan City.
And most people must be staring at him closely.
Any slightest abnormality in him would alert them.
Therefore, Liu Xin did the right thing by chance when he left immediately after sending his greetings.
Because there are at least a dozen if not dozens of people like Liu Xin every day.
Not impressive at all.
It won't attract the other side's attention.
However, Dugu Xuanqing still asked Aaron to quietly look for Liu Xin's traces.
Liu Xin was also looking for traces of another person at this time.
That is Mukuro.
Through the intelligence from the secret investigation team, he learned that there was a Linghu family in Taiyuan City.
This family is one of the eight famous families in the world.
That is, eight powerful families.
Of course there are more than their family members.
But these eight families are the strongest among them.
One of the eight families was named Linghu, Liulang was also Linghu, and his apprentice's uncle was also named Linghu.
So many Linghu reminded Liu Xin of a Jianghu story that his fourth senior brother once told him.
The protagonist in that storybook also has the surname Linghu, and is called Linghu Chong.
Liu Xin guessed that Liulang and Linghuyu had no blood relationship, and they looked nothing alike.
Linghu Yu actually has a bit of Northern Barbarian blood, with high eyebrow bones and deep-set eye sockets, giving her a bit of a Northern Barbarian grassland flavor.
Liulang, on the other hand, is a Central Plains man through and through.
However, Liu Xin did not know whether Liu Lang had any relationship with the Linghu family, one of the eight great families in the world.
In fact, Liu Xin, the senior fellow apprentices, would never explore the origins of other brothers.
In short, as long as he is his brother.
Today he still came out alone.
Xiao Qi has begun to master a long spear. If he wants to control the weapon like an arm, he must make himself a human and a weapon.
This is not difficult for Xiao Qi, it just takes a little time.
Liu Xin has already fully explained the purpose of coming here to Xiao Qi.
Doing something like this is almost the same as snatching a bride, but there are still some risks behind it.
But Dugu Xuanqing still gave too much.
Moreover, Liu Xin had a vague feeling that there seemed to be some connection between him and Dugu Xuanqing, and the relationship between the two seemed to be destined.
In this case, Liu Xin had no other thoughts and just helped.
Everyone in the world is moral.
Although Dugu Xuanqing gave up midway, it was equivalent to giving Liu Xin the hope of winning the final Zhengyang martial arts competition.
However, Liu Xin did not take advantage of this opportunity in the end.
But this time he could also get Dugu Shidao's training diary.
The value of this top master's practice diary is definitely not much worse than the Tao-breaking Explanation given by Shangguan Ba.
It is said that once Xiao Qi has completely mastered the Yi-line spear, the two Tao-breaking guides on the art of spears presented by Shangguan Ba will be enough for Xiao Qi to understand.
Therefore, Shangguan Ba gave a lot, and the three Po Dao Xiaojie books he gave were treasures that could make everyone around Liu Xin grow up quickly.
Putting such a thing in an ordinary sect, it can definitely be regarded as a sect-suppressing treasure.
Throwing it into the rivers and lakes might cause huge disputes in the rivers and lakes.
Liu Xin thought with amusement that he actually had a way to break the competition in Luoshen Villa to find a bride.
That is to throw out a copy of this little explanation.
In front of this little explanation, the little princess of Luoshen Villa is nothing.
If people in the world are bound to do this, go and grab Podao Xiaojie first.
After knowing that he has no chance, he will come back to participate in the competition to find a bride.
Therefore, Liu Xin just thought about it in a bad way.
While walking on the road, he still remembered Xiao Qi's words.
Ask him to bring a piece of roast chicken from the corner when he goes back.
Just when he was about to go to the roast chicken stall along the street from the inn, there was a sudden commotion on the street in front of him.
The two of them were chasing each other, one behind the other.
Both of them are warriors. Judging from their speed and stature, they should not be Dacheng realm warriors.
Liu Xin was relatively far away, and it was more cluttered over there, so he could only vaguely hear the roars there.
There must be a grudge between the two, as one has been chasing the other for several years.
Unexpectedly, we met in Taiyuan City today.
Jianghu is all about Jianghu.
Jianghu has never been in this city.
Strict orders have been issued since Emperor Wu's city unified the world.
The purpose of the eight major auxiliary sects established by Emperor Wu City is also to better implement the orders issued by Emperor City Wu.
This order is attached to the law of the imperial court.
Several of them are well known.
Jianghu warriors can wear swords, but they cannot wear bows and crossbows. Anyone who wears them without permission will be imprisoned in the sky.
Jianghu warriors are not allowed to bring their personal grudges against the city, otherwise they will be jointly pursued by Emperor Wu's city and the imperial court.
The grievances between Jianghu warriors cannot involve ordinary people.
These three items can be regarded as the three strict orders issued by Emperor Wu City and the imperial court to people in the world.
"Get out of the way, disperse!"
The man fleeing in front was holding a simple knife with a fierce look on his face, and he kept slashing with the knife.
Seeing this scene, Liu Xin knew that his ending would not be good.
Maybe this person was pushed into a hurry.
Sure enough, his knife kept chopping, and he ran forward. His trouser legs kept seeping blood, and there was a large blood stain on his chest. It looked like he had been seriously injured.
And the man behind him didn't look that good either. His face was all covered in blood, so he must have been hit in the head.
Moreover, his steps were even more frivolous, but the man in front kept running as if he had seen a ghost. If he turned back, he might be able to kill him.
Liu Xin had no way of guessing what had happened between the two of them.
He gave way to the street, as many people on the street did.
In Taiyuan City today, the number of warriors is too dense.
Fully half of the streets are people from the Jianghu community.
And the person in front who kept slashing with the knife finally encountered a hard idea.
He slashed out with his knife, and there happened to be a man walking with his head down. I don't know if he was deaf, but he didn't hear this man's yelling.
It wasn't until the knife was about to strike that the man walking with his head down seemed to suddenly react. He stepped hard and his whole body jumped up.
This time, he was several steps away from the man wielding the knife. Therefore, the man's knife originally aimed at his head, but now it could not fall down at all.
His wrist was directly pushed away. Although the move of the man walking with his head down was powerful, it was actually not fast.
However, with his experience, he reached out and grabbed the man's palm, and broke it hard, causing the man's elbow to come into close contact with his shoulder, and at the same time, a crisp fracture sound was heard.
Liu Xin had excellent eyesight. When he saw the man, he found that half of his face had been burned by flames, which made him look terrifying.
However, there are many faces like this in the world.
There are even many people who, in order to show off their ferocity, deliberately scratch their faces with knives, causing them to become scabbed, leaving them with an extremely ferocious face.
According to Liu Xin's judgment, this person should have really been burned out.
Such skills can definitely be regarded as a veteran in the world.
In fact, judging from his figure and the remaining half of his face, he should be young.
At most, he looks like he is twenty-seven or eighty-years-old.
At this age, having such shooting experience is relatively rare in the world.
The arm of the man holding the knife was broken directly, and the knife fell to the ground.
The knife was kicked away by the man with burn marks on his face.
"Why did you come to seek death?"
Ma Dakui asked in a low voice, and then threw the person out with both hands.
Then he continued walking as if nothing had happened.
Liu Xin's eyes stayed on this person for a moment longer, then he shook his head and went to the roast chicken shop.
It can be said that this kind of thing happens all the time in the world.
There are really too many rivers and lakes in the world.
Gratitude, resentment, and many things are entangled in it, forming a chaotic but orderly world.
In such an environment, most Jianghu people are brave and aggressive people.
There are no good people in the world.
Especially there are no good guys.
Liu Xin bought the roast chicken, and when he walked back, a servant had already rushed over.
Today, the official strength of the Zhengyang court has been greatly improved.
In the eleven years since Emperor Xu Yang ascended the throne, for the first half of the time, he may have to rely on the power of Emperor Wu City to maintain the level of military force at the official level.
In the latter half of the time, the court's basic force level has been significantly improved.
Take these police officers for example. Ten years ago, such officers were basically recruited from the common people to serve in the service.
There must be at least three months every year for government dispatch. During this time, the servants are often the culprit of bringing down the family, regardless of whether there is any income from production.
And how much combat effectiveness can you expect from such a sergeant?
After Emperor Xuyang ascended the throne, he drastically changed this system.
The first is that the officers were recruited from the original people to voluntary participation by the people.
At the beginning, the outer disciples from Emperor Wu City served as leaders.
The common people who participated could get a large sum of money, which might only be a dozen copper coins at first.
But this is already a considerable expense, especially for poor people.
What's more important is that those who participate in the service can also have food and accommodation included.
Even at the beginning, some officers specially saved their own rations and made a trip to send them back to their homes.
This was implemented for less than a year. When the government again recruited officers the next year, the people enthusiastically signed up, and there was even a fight.
At this time, the selection policy for sergeants began to be implemented.
Starting from this year, the imperial court will no longer only look at gender and age when recruiting officers, but also based on your physical strength.
A few years have passed like this, and now all the officers are powerful and capable people.
Moreover, most of the officers have practiced martial arts and combined attack techniques.
It is not a big problem for four or five guards to deal with a small adult warrior.
Even some of the commanders of the guards themselves have a small level of cultivation.
Because of these changes, people living in the city have become safer.
Of course, these changes all fell into Liu Xin's eyes.
When he came down the mountain eleven years ago, the outside world was still in chaos.
Even here in the city it's a mess.
But now in many big cities in Zhengyang, the situation is very orderly.
If those who really sat in high positions hadn't personally said that the catastrophe was coming, Liu Xin would never have believed that the peaceful and prosperous age he saw now was fake.
It turned out to be just a bubble.
Liu Xin couldn't help but think more.
He shook his head to get these thoughts out of his mind.
I don't know when he started to care more about the world.
He didn't have this kind of emotion before.
He would only complain more about the court because he saw the difficulties of the people.
And now he is starting to think about how to make more people live and work in peace and contentment.
