Xiong'er Mountain is located in the southwest of the Hengji Mountains. It is 700 feet high. From a distance, the mountain looks like a big black bear, lying head to east and tail to the west among the mountains. Its main peak looks like an open bear's ear, hence the name Xiong'er Mountain.
On this day, in front of the archway at the foot of Xiong'er Mountain, twenty men with their hair in buns, blue cloth buns, and black cloth clothes without collars and fronts, were divided into two rows under the leadership of an old man and stood respectfully.
The old man was wearing a black long-sleeved cassock and a green and red double-layered rectangular fishbelly scarf on his head. He was slightly thin, his clothes were fluttering, and he was looking ahead with a solemn expression.
At that moment, the old man raised his eyes and saw a golden spaceship with a blazing flame painted on its bow, speeding toward the cliffs ahead.
"Play music!" the old man immediately ordered.
Immediately, drums and music began to play, and twenty strong men held reeds, kicking and jumping. The tunes were sometimes deep and loud, sometimes light and high-pitched, with a joyful and festive atmosphere, resounding throughout the valley.
…
The flying boat slowly landed on the flat ground in front, and a group of five people climbed down the stairs. The leader is a strong man with a resolute face, a golden armor and stomach, and he is very powerful.
Behind him was a slender woman, dressed in white clothes and a white skirt, as white as the bright moon in the sky. The breeze in the mountain blew, and the dress swayed. The corners of the skirt fluttered, revealing a small section of beautiful snow-white legs. The whiteness was even more dazzling than the white jade cast by the magical craftsmanship.
The woman's appearance is exquisite, her face is beautiful, soft and generous. Three thousand green silk hair with jade hairpins on the temples are combed and draped behind her. A pair of scissor-sharp eyes are as clear as water, and there are stars twinkling in the eyes, and they are as soft as the moon in the movement. The pale red cherry lips are lightly pursed, and the Qiong Yao jade nose is , no makeup was applied, and the face was bare, but it was difficult to hide the beauty of the fairy.
"The Prime Minister of Hengji County, Ju Mu Qi Gou, has met Duke Xu and the eldest princess." The old man put his right hand on his chest and stepped forward to pay his respects.
Her attitude was extremely respectful. Even when facing the three maids in green clothes who were walking at the end, she nodded slightly and did not dare to be disrespectful.
Then he turned to the woman with a smile on his face: "Your Royal Highness, the eldest princess, has made rapid progress, and I admire you from this younger generation."
"I don't dare," the woman in white is Qin Mingyue, the eldest princess of the Qin Kingdom. She said with a faint smile: "The high priest is highly respected in the Xi clan and is much older than me. No matter how bold I am, I would never dare to do it. Call yourself senior in front of the high priest."
Hengji Mountain belongs to Xizhou. The Qin State divided this area into Hengji County and left it to the Heixi people to take charge of themselves. The leaders of the Heixi tribe in the territory were also crowned with Qin official positions such as prefect, county magistrate, and chief historian.
Ju Mu Qi Gou claimed to be an official by his official position, showing his submission and obedience to the Qin State, while Qin Mingyue called him the high priest and followed the local customs to show respect for him.
Sure enough, after hearing the eldest princess' reply, Ju Mu Qi Gou bowed repeatedly, his old face blooming like a dead tree.
Qin Mingyue frowned slightly and asked with worry: "Is the noble patriarch's health feeling better?"
"Hey!" A look of sadness appeared on Ju Mu Qi Gou's face: "Although our witch clan advances quickly, the life span of each realm is less than half of that of monks of the same level. The clan leader has lived for nearly ten years now. After all, I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold on for long!”
Qin Mingyue was silent.
Qin Zhaowu looked a little unhappy and asked: "Where is the great elder, why don't you come to greet me?"
Ju Mu Qi Gou quickly explained: "A big merchant came to the village today and ordered a lot of magic weapons. The elder was worried that the following people would not respond properly, so he stayed in the village and asked the two adults to pay attention."
"Haihan? Humph, you black Xi people are so arrogant." Qin Zhaowu was angry. He and Qin Mingyue are both Jindan Zhenren and important figures in the Qin State. The leader of the Heixi Clan is ill, so it’s okay if he doesn’t come. However, only one of the most important people in the clan comes. Isn’t this a dog’s eye view? Looking at people?
"Seventh brother," Qin Mingyue advised: "Little sister comes here to accept the test left by her ancestors, not for some ostentation. Since the great elder has something to do, let him go!"
Without waiting for Qin Zhaowu's answer, she already faced the high priest and asked with cold eyes without emotion:
"High Priest, I sent a maid to your place to cultivate herself half a year ago. I don't know where she is now. Why don't you let her come out to see me?"
"Maid?" The high priest was stunned, and turned to ask the attendant behind him: "Qianhei, do you know about the maid sent by Her Royal Highness the Princess?"
"In response to the high priest's words," the attendant replied: "Your Highness's maid, named Qin Yugui, was arranged by the great elder at the end of last autumn to practice in the mountains. She, she..."
"What's up with her?"
"A few days ago, this woman went into seclusion to attack the Zi Mansion. She accidentally failed and fell!" The attendant sighed.
Qin Mingyue's expression changed, and a sadness surged into her heart.
She kept Qin Yugui's identity jade token in her house. After leaving the customs yesterday, she received a notification from her subordinates that he had met with misfortune. I just asked because I wanted to know the specific reason.
"I was the one who harmed her," she said sadly with tears in her eyes, "Where is Yugui buried? I want to go there in person to pay homage to her..."
"Mingyue, no!" Qin Zhaowu shouted flatly: "Don't forget the purpose of your trip! When you go to the ancestral land to accept the test, you must burn incense and bathe, be pious at heart, and not be disturbed by worldly things. How can you delay it for a dead maid? My own big thing?”
"After you pass the test, it won't be too late for you to worship again!"
Qin Mingyue looked dark. After a long time, she sighed and nodded.
"Mommy," she said to the eldest of the three people accompanying her, "you go to pay homage to Yu Gui for me first. I'll go see her again in a few days when things are done here."
"Yes." A middle-aged woman responded in a low voice.
"Did Yugui leave any last words?" Qin Mingyue then asked.
The attendant glanced at the high priest and shook his head.
At this moment, I saw a young man in the team shouting loudly: "Yes! That senior sister has asked me to convey her last words to His Highness!"
As soon as these words came out, the expressions of several people in the field changed!
Qin Mingyue was surprised and happy, and waved for this person to come over: "What's your name? What message did Yu Gui leave?"
"The younger one's name is Qingxi." The young man kowtowed and took out a string of jade beads from his arms: "Senior Sister Qin asked me to give this to His Highness. She said that she could no longer stay with the eldest princess. Please, princess." Forgive me..."
Qin Mingyue took the jade bead and held it tightly in her hand. This string of beads is called the Demon-Suppressing Bead. It is the same as the Demon-Suppressing Jade that Zhao Beiqing was looking for back then. They are both treasures used by monks to calm their minds and suppress their inner demons when they attack the great realm. It's just that the demon-suppressing beads are of a lower grade, but they are just right for the stage of foundation building to Zifu.
This was something Qin Yugui personally selected and gave to her when she left Fangzhou last year. How could she not recognize it? At this time, Qin Mingyue couldn't bear it any longer as she saw things and missed people. Her eyes were filled with tears, and tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Senior Sister Qin also said..." Qingxi said hesitantly.
"What else did she say?"
"She said that if the lady still misses her, she should take this string of beads with her. Her spirit in heaven will definitely keep the lady safe."
Qin Mingyue felt even more sad after hearing this, and put the jade bead on her hand while choking: "Okay, I will definitely carry it with me, always carry it with me!"
…
For both parties who met, Qin Yugui's incident was just an episode, and there would be a ceremony next.
Qin Mingyue, on behalf of the Qin royal family, rewarded the Black Xi clan with a long list of gifts:
"...100,000 jins of fine rice, 10,000 jins of sea salt from Maotian County, and 100 pieces of silk from Faozhou..."
"...a hundred talons for the first-level talisman, five talons for the second-level talisman, and twenty talisman for the third-level..."
"..."
These gifts ranged from mortal things to immortal resources, and they totaled no less than 50,000 spirit stones. Ju Mu Qi Gou couldn't help but smile and thanked them repeatedly.
This is also Qin's consistent policy of being gentle towards the Black Xi people. This time it just happened to be Qin Mingyue coming to pay homage to the mountain as a favor.
After collecting the gifts, Ju Mu Qi Gou's attitude became more respectful, his waist almost bent to the ground:
"Your Highness is respectfully requested to move to Tianyou Palace."
Qin Mingyue nodded. According to the rules, she needed to live in the mountains for one night, burn incense and bathe, and then accept the test of her ancestral land tomorrow morning.
"Thank you, seventh brother, for seeing me all the way." She said goodbye to Qin Zhaowu.
Qin Zhaowu waved his hand, turned and left, but there was a lingering loneliness in his expression.
Qin Mingyue felt sad, and she knew why.
To enter the ancestral land to accept the test, you need to have pure blood of the Qin royal family. Although Qin Zhaowu also has the surname Qin, and is still the seventh-ranked Jindan cultivator among the descendants of the Qin family today, in fact, he is quite far away from the royal bloodline.
This is not surprising. Over the course of thousands of years, the Qin family has spread throughout the country, so that now, among the three people in the Qin State, one has the surname Qin; among the ten people with the surname Qin, at least seven have the surname Qin. The number of the emperor's descendants has reached an unimaginable level.
Among these people, there are many outstanding people with excellent qualifications and high understanding. However, because they are too far away from the royal family and their blood is thin, they lose the qualification to enter the ancestral land and lose the possibility of promotion to the Nascent Soul.
However, this is not without remedies.
[Blue Blood Asking the Heart Technique] is a mental method passed down from the ancestors of the Qin family that can purify blood.
It is said that more than 2,000 years ago, all descendants of the royal family of the Qin Kingdom, regardless of their relative or distance, as long as their qualifications were outstanding enough, could apply to study this skill. But now, only those close to the royal family can practice it.
This may not be a knot that Qin Zhaowu is worried about.
"Seventh brother." Qin Mingyue stopped him.
"If Mingyue takes charge of the Sutra Storehouse one day, I will definitely print a copy of [Blue Blood Asking the Heart Technique] and give it to Seventh Brother." She said solemnly.
Qin Zhaowu's eyes lit up, then darkened again.
"Mingyue, I'm afraid that Brother Seven will be old by then!" He shook his head and laughed at himself.
"I will practice hard to let His Majesty recognize me and obtain this power as soon as possible." Qin Mingyue made no secret of her ambition: "When that day comes, it will not only be you. As long as the descendants of my Qin family have outstanding qualifications, I will let them They practice!”
Qin Zhaowu's smile faded and he looked at Qin Mingyue meaningfully, with a complicated expression on his face.
He forced a smile, raised his hand, and flew away with the spaceship he came from...
…
In the cottage
Yang Zhen, who finally negotiated a big deal, stepped out of the attic, looked at the mountains in the southwest, and stood with her hands behind her hands.
"Qin Mingyue, whether you can escape this disaster depends on your luck."
ps: I finally smoothed out the plots of the next few chapters and fixed a few bugs.
