After finishing breakfast, Bai Gu and the others drove to the city lord's mansion.
The City Lord's Mansion occupies a huge area, and the courtyard alone is enough to accommodate hundreds of people lying down. The white walls on both sides of the gate extend outward as far as the eye can see.
Although there are no splendid white jade bricks and glazed tiles, the appearance of the Tinder City Lord's Mansion is still valuable.
In a place where wind and sand are raging all year round, the walls can still be kept as white as paper, and the normal maintenance costs add up over time, which is a big expense.
Not to mention those beautifully carved door rafters, beams and step floor tiles. Maybe these materials are not of the highest quality in other places, but in the barren Tinder City, I don't know how much people's wealth and anointing needs to be plundered, and how many workers' efforts must be gathered to build such a huge city lord's palace.
"It's a waste of time and money." Wang Xizhou couldn't help but sigh.
On the way back to the inn yesterday, Bai Gu and the others wanted to understand the situation with a few locals, but without exception, these locals just waved their hands, kept silent, and walked away.
Bai Gu and the others looked at each other in confusion. It wasn't until they returned to the inn that a waiter whispered something to them.
The new city lord took office ten years ago and promulgated dozens of city regulations within a month, almost overthrowing the original city regulations and starting over. Moreover, the new city regulations were well-named and extremely stringent. The crimes were committed to the most extreme extent, and the punishments used for convictions were also extremely exaggerated.
Just like the crime committed by Bai Gu and the others yesterday, which was to discuss Huorong City casually in public, they should be punished for their crimes.
At the same time, the new city lord was carrying out extensive construction work, building a new city lord's palace, constructing various major projects in the main city, and many projects in the territory of Tinder City.
Not enough people? Then go to the streets and alleys to force coolies.
Don't want to go? There is only one outcome, and the whole family dies.
In just one year, the main city of Tinder City alone has seen a sharp decrease of three to four tenths of its population.
If things go on like this, the people of Tinder City will learn to behave, just shut up and do as they are told. Talkativeness and resistance are the only way to death.
After Wang Xizhou heard this, he couldn't help but said the word "cruel official", which scared the waiter to death.
Because there once was a restaurant owner who couldn't stand the behavior of the new city lord, but he just complained about it behind his back. As a result, within two days, the new city lord led his troops to surround the restaurant and massacred all the guests there.
After the waiter said this, he left in a hurry, fearing that the walls had ears and he would be killed.
Seeing this scene, Wang Xizhou became more determined to come and ask for an explanation.
Tinder City cannot continue like this.
Hua Xie still looked as slovenly as if she hadn't woken up. She was lying on her back on the roof of the carriage, holding one end of the silver rope in one hand and holding a bun in the other hand, chewing it without interest.
The other end of the silver rope was tied to the thirty people who had set up an ambush in the morning. They were also dragged to the city lord's mansion along with Bai Gu and others.
As for how they got here?
Just use two legs to run. If you can't run or can't run, then help the street sweeper clean the bluestone roads in the city.
After getting off the carriage, Bai Gu turned around and glanced at Hua Xie, who was still lying on the roof of the carriage. "Brother Hua, we're here, come down."
"Oh, I see."
Hua Xie responded lazily, then turned over and fell straight down.
Just when Hua Xie's body was about to fall to the ground, Bai Gu felt his eyes blurred. Hua Xie was already standing beside him, stuffing the remaining half of the bun into his mouth and chewing it.
"Young man, I am still in the spirit-swallowing realm no matter what. No matter how poor my physical fitness is, I will be fine if I fall from this height. You don't have to worry."
Bai Gu looked away, "I'm just afraid that you'll scare Xiaoxiao."
Bai Xiaoxiao blinked his big eyes, his face full of innocence.
Hua Xie snorted but said nothing.
This kid has such a vicious mouth. No wonder he eats so much and is still so thin!
You don’t touch the words broad-minded and fat-minded at all!
Wang Xizhou looked back at these three guys of about the same size, feeling a little helpless.
Not to mention that the two brothers and sisters Bai Gu and Bai Xiaoxiao are of the same mind. Together they can make Hua Xie cry. Bai Gu's words alone could render Hua Xie speechless.
Wang Xizhou has actually seen a lot of Bai Gu's venomous tongue. But people as old as Bai Gu are rare.
Wang Xizhou turned to look at the two guards who were already facing this way.
"What are you guys doing? Didn't you see that this is the City Lord's Mansion? Blocking here affects the entry and exit of the City Lord's Mansion and delays the work of various departments in the mansion. Can you bear this responsibility? Get out of here!" One of the guards approached and said, Cursing loudly.
Because they were walking against the light, the two guards squinted their eyes slightly and failed to see clearly the silver rope in Hua Xie's hand, as well as his brothers who were lying scattered behind.
Wang Xizhou smiled and said: "You two, please inform us that we want to meet the city lord."
Both guards were armed with spears, but one was left-handed and the other was right-handed.
The one who just spoke was the left-handed guard.
The right-handed guard couldn't help but sneer after hearing Wang Xizhou's words.
He looked Wang Xizhou up and down, and only regarded Wang Xizhou as a rich man with a little family background and no idea of the world. Then he stretched out his hand and shook it, "Is there a greeting card? Or a letter sealed in ink? There are none of these. But there’s no way to report it.”
The implication is that you either have to be powerful or rich, otherwise you have to be rejected.
Wang Xizhou shook his head, "We have neither a greeting card nor a letter. We are just passing by here and want to visit the Lord of Tinder City."
"Then let's go quickly. Our city lord is very busy. If we meet you white-handed people every day, how can we, the city lord, have time to take care of this huge tinder city? Let's go!"
Wang Xizhou smiled and pointed to the back of the carriage, "Then with these people, can we meet the Lord of Tinder City?"
The two guards were confused at first, thinking that Wang Xizhou was a rich man who had never seen the world, didn't understand the world, and was stupid. But when they looked in the direction Wang Xizhou pointed and saw the scene behind the carriage clearly, they couldn't help but staggered in fright.
The left-handed guard shouted: "You, you actually kidnapped the city guard?! You dare to come to the city lord's palace to provoke?! Someone, come quickly!"
Hua Xie yawned, "Please bring more people, otherwise there won't be enough to fight."
The right-handed guard pointed his spear at Bai Gu and the others, his voice trembling, "You, you bunch of vicious people! Aren't you afraid of the revenge of our city lord?!"
Wang Xizhou smiled and said: "If City Lord Zhang is in charge of Huorong City now, and Xizhou is an old friend with him, we can confront him and change things."
Speaking of this, the confidence of the two guards increased inexplicably, and they looked at Bai Gu and the others with a bit of contempt, "You are talking about that dead old man Zhang He, right? He died long ago, and now Tinder City is made up of We are Li Jingshuang, and City Lord Li is in charge. He is a mountain god, and Tinder City in his hands will definitely soar to the clouds in the future and become the legendary fairy city site!"
Hua Xie was a little ashamed, "God on the mountain? Is he very powerful? I don't think a guy who only collects people's fat and anointing is a good bird."
"you wanna die?"
The gate of the city lord's mansion slowly opened, and dozens of guards poured out from inside, pointing their spears at Bai Gu and the others.
"You are not much stronger than them, you just have more people, and you want to surround us?" Hua Xie sneered, "How about more stronger ones, for example, a team of dozens of people in the spirit-casting realm?"
The right-handed guard's expression changed, "Arrogant!"
The dozens of people behind him also had angry faces.
Hua Xie's words were not only contempt for them, but also a provocation to the city lord's palace!
This will never be tolerated!
Just when they were about to take action, a light but unmistakable voice came from the door of the city lord's mansion, "What are you doing? Stop it!"
At the gate, there stood a man in red, with a lock of long hair hanging down from his forehead, arms folded across his chest, laziness written on his face, looking down at everyone, "The visitor is a guest, how can you point with the tip of a soldier? And I still have my own brothers in my hands, and I don’t care whether they are dead or alive? Huh? Why don’t you put them down quickly!”
Dozens of people looked at each other, but still obeyed the order and took back their spears.
How come the guest Qing, who always stays at home in the City Lord's Mansion and is known as eating people without spitting out their bones, changed his gender today? Not only did he come to the door to meet people in person, but he was also so nice and angry with them?
The man in red nodded to Bai Gu and the others, "I am Xixi, a guest of the Lord's Mansion in Tinder City. Due to some inconvenient reasons, I can only come to the door and cannot go any further. Please forgive me. .”
Wang Xizhou returned the greeting with a cupped hand, "I'm Wang Xizhou, Shanshui Lang of Shanshuifang. I passed by this place for a rest two days ago. While wandering around, I got into an argument with a group of patrolling guards and got into some physical disputes. I was ambushed again when I went out in the morning. If If the few of us had not taken precautions, I'm afraid there would have been several cold corpses by now. So we came here specifically to ask for an explanation."
Zaixi suddenly said, "It turns out it's you. I heard that the reason was that you talked about Tinder City casually on the road and killed a Xuanhuo Guard team leader in our city lord's palace. Is this correct?"
Wang Xizhou hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Zaixi spread his hands helplessly, "Isn't it obvious that you violated the city rules and made the mistake first, so we punished you. This is all reasonable, reasonable and legal, what else do you want to say?"
"You can't talk about Tinder City at will. What kind of city rules are they? Your shabby city is not rich, and the rules are quite strict. Why, you want to imitate someone else's scholarly family and write your family tree on a piece of paper?" Hua Xie is not polite? The ground sneered.
Zaixi chuckled, "Originally, I was thinking about what the city regulations of Tinder City were like. I always felt that the answer was ready to come out, but I just couldn't remember it. I heard what this brother said today, and it was indeed true."
Hua Xie was stunned.
No, you are a guest, why don’t you help me say something nice? Why do you still agree with what I said?
Do all guest officials these days act like this?
Zhixi smiled and said: "I'm just a guest here, so I don't have to work so hard, let alone maintain the image of Tinder City. As long as it's not a major event like destroying the city, I generally won't get too involved. Of course, if it really comes to destroying the city, As the city is, I still have to run if I should."
Wang Xizhou smiled and said, "It is the nature of creatures in the world to avoid danger and hide."
Zaixi looked at Wang Xizhou, and the laziness on his face faded a little, "I'm not one of those sages in the sky. If a disaster comes, why don't I run away and wait to die?"
"So, it's natural to run for one's life, I can understand it." Wang Xizhou said with a smile.
"What will happen to Mr. Wang?"
"Xizhou is willing to do his best for the general trend. I don't say he will die in front of others, but I hope he won't die behind others."
Zaixi exclaimed, "I wonder if Mr. Wang has ever heard of the Dongwu royal family?"
Hua Xie suddenly looked strange, and when his eyes fell on Zaixi, he felt a little...pity.
Bai Gu smelled a hint of gossip, took two steps back, poked Hua Xie's arm with his hand, and lowered his voice, "Brother Hua, could this Dongwu royal family be..."
Hua Xie nodded.
Bai Gu showed a clear look in his eyes and retracted his hand with satisfaction.
Then the three small heads looked at the two people together, with expressions on their faces as if they were watching a show.
"The Dongwu Wang family is Xizhou's own clan." Wang Xizhou admitted directly with a calm face.
Zaixi looked playful, "If I remember correctly, during the Yutao battle, the senior members of the Wang family escaped before the battle, right?"
"Then what?"
"It's nothing, it's just that I don't believe what Mr. Wang just said because of this past experience."
Wang Xizhou's expression was calm and calm, "To generalize from one side to the other is a bit arbitrary."
"Really? There were quite a few deserters from the Wang family during the Yu Tao battle. Moreover, I remember that the Wang family had more than just this one glorious deed, right? There are others. Do you need my help in recalling them?"
"No need, Xizhou's memory is pretty good, he can still remember these little things."
"A small matter?" Zaixi chuckled, "In the Yutao War, the Wang family escaped before the battle, which also caused the disunity of several other major sect families. As a result, the war was bleak, and the Yutao realm is still a dilapidated scene. Is this a small matter? Yes, Wang Sir, he is an expert, so what he saw and heard was naturally earth-shattering events. A battle like the Jade Peach War can only be regarded as a trivial matter. I can understand it, I can understand it."
Hua Xie raised his eyebrows.
I really dare to say this.
Bai Gu listened to the conversation between the two with great interest, resisting the urge to take the dried fruit from the Sumeru Pearl and eat it while watching.
It seems that I heard another story.
Wang Xizhou's eyes were lowered, but his tone was still calm and gentle, "Xizhou is just an elder in the clan who is willing to sacrifice his life and fight cowardly, and he has not done anything wrong. On the contrary, you, guest minister, should have several times more blood debt than those elders in Xizhou's family." ?”
Zaixi's expression changed, and he looked at Wang Xizhou with a gloomy look, with a vague aura surging around his body.
Wang Xizhou responded to Xianxi with calm eyes.
Do you really think Xizhou is a soft persimmon who can be manipulated at will?
Do you really think you've hidden it well enough that Xizhou can't see your true identity?
Since it's shameless, don't blame Xizhou for being rude.
