Soon, Princess Zhaoning took a small sedan with a green curtain carried by two people, walked through the bustling Tianjie, and returned to the Princess Mansion located on the edge of Luoshui River.
The scenery here is unique, quiet and peaceful.
The princess got off the sedan, walked through the door, along the long corridor, and walked into her study.
On the way, she saw the fourth prince Xiao Shangzhen and several servants' children climbing on the rockery and playing.
She smiled and did not disturb them.
As the saying goes, "In life there are gains and losses."
While Xiao Shangzhen lost his cultivation, he also lived the happy life he had always longed for.
But Princess Zhaoning couldn't predict how long his simple happiness would last.
She followed the steps and entered the study.
This is an open and bright house with no partitions in the middle; several rows of bookshelves are placed against the wall, displaying hundreds of half-old books. The pages are slightly yellowed and the corners of the books have signs of being rolled up.
There is a marble table in the center of the house. On the table are neatly placed pens, inks, paper and inkstones. In addition, there are several pen holders filled with brushes.
On the west wall of the study room, there are several simple and freehand black and white landscape paintings hanging.
There is a pair of couplets hanging on the left and right, which were written by Princess Zhaoning herself. The handwriting is straight and vigorous, and quite impressive.
Its content is as follows:
First couplet: In order to learn, I know that books are interesting;
Second line: Observe the light in the clear mind room.
Under the service of the maids, she took off her thick crane cloak and the heavy hair ornaments on her head.
Then he sat on the wooden chair behind the desk and began to read the memorials sent to the princess's house today.
She had long known what happened in Qingzhou Mansion, and had already guessed that the memorial sent today must be related to it.
However, when she saw the contents of the memorial, she was still extremely surprised.
The first memorial: "Luo Chuan, the head of the Exorcism Department, hopes to promote Gu Xu, a veteran of Yishui County, to the rank of sixth-rank chief..."
The second memorial: "The Imperial Master wants Gu Xu to serve as a 'guest teacher' at Longmen Academy and teach the academy students how to draw talisman and seal scripts in his spare time..."
The third memorial: "The Ministry of Rites proposed to confer a knighthood on Gu Xu..."
"..."
Princess Zhaoning quietly looked through the memorials in her hands, feeling that the word "Gu Xu" appeared too frequently in the lines today.
To be precise, since she saw Gu Xu's perfect theory test paper in the promotion assessment three months ago, she has often seen or heard "Gu Xu" in official documents on the desk and in other people's words. the name.
At first she only felt some admiration for the well-read boy.
But as time went by, when Gu Xu solved the Lu family murder case that had troubled Qingzhou Prefecture for many years, and then climbed to the top of Mount Laoshan to obtain the inheritance of Kongxuan Sanren, she had a vague premonition that this young man would become the rising star of the Daqi Dynasty. A rising star.
Now, her original premonition seems to have come true.
Gu Xu actually survived in front of a "fierce god" level ghost, and also stopped the "fierce god"'s promotion plan that had been planned for decades.
This made Princess Zhaoning feel very unbelievable.
Under normal circumstances, even monks in the fifth and sixth realms may not be able to escape unscathed when they encounter a "fierce god" level ghost.
Not to mention that Gu Xu actually destroyed an altar in front of the "fierce god".
Moreover, according to Luo Chuan, the head of the exorcism department, the "fierce god" level ghost was transformed by a special spell after Kong Xuan Sanren failed to ascend.
It must be much more powerful and cunning than the ordinary "fierce god".
Princess Zhaoning racked her brains, exhausted her knowledge and imagination, but could not imagine how Gu Xu could break this fatal situation at that critical moment.
"According to what is said in this memorial, after Gu Xu destroyed the altar deep in Yishan Mountain, he was brought to Luojing City by Chief Luo. In the past few days, he should have been staying at the headquarters of the Exorcism Department..."
"I really want to see him..."
Not long ago, Princess Zhaoning hoped to recruit young talents like Gu Xu to the fourth prince Xiao Shangzhen. As a follower of Xiao Shangzhen, she would help Xiao Shangzhen fight for the "Tai'a Sword".
However, Xiao Shangzhen was assassinated by Du Jingjing, a companion of the "Shenji Camp" while climbing Mount Laoshan. She lost her cultivation and the possibility of fighting for the succession to the throne.
So now, Princess Zhaoning wants to get to know Gu Xu just out of curiosity.
"It's just that after Gu Xu came to the capital, I haven't got any news about his appearance in public. It is estimated that he has been staying at the Exorcism Department headquarters to practice quietly. In this way, it is inconvenient for me to come and disturb him... …
“However, the Lantern Festival is coming soon.
"Because the 'Luoshui Conference' is about to be held in Luojing City, this year's Lantern Festival Night Party will be very lively. In addition to traditional activities such as guessing lantern riddles and lion dances in previous years, young geniuses under the age of 25 in the Daqi Dynasty will gather together They gathered on the bank of Luoshui River and boarded the ring to compete in martial arts.
“I don’t know if Gu Xu will also go to the ring to show off his skills.
"Perhaps, I can go to Luoshui on this Lantern Festival night and join in the fun by the ring. Maybe I can meet him..."
Thinking of this, Princess Zhaoning silently made up her mind.
She stood up, walked to the bookshelf in front of the wall, took out a delicate wooden box from the drawer, and opened it.
There is an exquisite white jade bracelet placed in the wooden box, glowing in the sunlight.
…………
Time flies so fast, and in a blink of an eye it’s the fifteenth day of the first lunar month that everyone is looking forward to.
This is the day when the earth rejuvenates and it is also the first full moon night of the year.
In Luojing City, the Lantern Festival seems to be much grander than New Year's Eve.
Not only are every household making colorful lanterns, but even the Daqi government has recruited many civilians to make lanterns and prepare for the lantern festival.
It is said that last year, 50,000 lanterns were lit in Luojing City, and there were many kinds of lanterns. The emperor ordered a huge lantern tower to be built, with an area of 20 rooms and a height of 150 feet. The golden light was brilliant and extremely spectacular.
During the festival, citizens of the capital gather in the streets, where singing, dancing, opera, magic and magic are performed in the two corridors, and the music is melodious. There are ball kickers, puppet shows, magic tricks, dramas, history lectures, monkey shows, fish jumping through knife gates, summoning bees and butterflies, etc. In short, the activities are so rich that it will keep you awake all night.
Under Shangguan Jin's care, Shi Xiaohan recovered quickly from his injuries.
On the morning of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, she climbed out of bed excitedly and jumped around the room like a little rabbit.
It had to be said that these days of lying in bed, unable to move, had really suffocated her, leaving her with no way to release her strong energy.
"By the way, where is Gu Xu now?" Of course, Shi Xiaohan did not forget to ask Shangguan Jin this very important question.
"In the past few days, he has been staying in the 'Qingxiang Pavilion' in the headquarters Yamen and has not gone out." Shangguan Jin smiled and replied, "Three meals a day are delivered directly to his room by the Yamen. He must be busy practicing!
"Actually, I really admire him. Luojing City is so busy during the Chinese New Year, but he can ignore all temptations and practice diligently. I have only seen this level of self-discipline in the ascetics of Lingshan Temple."
"He is indeed practicing..." Shi Xiaohan was not surprised by this answer.
When he was in Yishui County, Gu Xu was either practicing or doing tasks to accumulate merit every day. It was very difficult for her to ask him to have a meal at Piaoxianglou.
At that time, she thought Gu Xu just loved practicing and wanted to become stronger.
But now, she finally understood Gu Xu's difficulties.
If he does not become a saint, he will only live to be thirty years old.
Therefore, in order to extend his lifespan, he would race against time to practice.
Whenever he thinks about this, Shi Xiaohan's nose will feel sour.
Gu Xu, this annoying guy, has been hiding this matter from her.
If he had told her earlier, she would have given him all the elixirs at home - in this way, he would no longer have to work from dawn to dusk to do ghost-killing missions to earn merit.
"I don't know if he will go to Luoshui with me today to watch the lanterns as promised today," Shi Xiaohan thought silently in his mind, "Of course, I won't blame him if he eats... He really needs to seize all the time to practice now..."
With this thought in mind, Shi Xiaohan did not go to "Qingxiang Pavilion" to disturb Gu Xu.
For the next period of time, she stayed quietly in this room where she was recuperating, while Shangguan Jin combed her hair and put on makeup for her.
Shi Xiaohan rarely applied makeup before.
On the one hand, because she is inherently pretty, with fair and rosy skin, and big and bright eyes, she does not need makeup to decorate herself;
On the other hand, she has always called herself a "hero" and is always careless in doing things. She also devours food and seldom pays attention to her image.
So today, when Shangguan Jin dressed her up seriously, she almost didn't recognize herself in the mirror.
"Where did this fairy come from?" Shangguan Jin pointed at her reflection in the mirror and joked with a smile.
At this time, Shi Xiaohan, after dressing up, lost a bit of his childishness and gained a bit of grace and nobility.
She is no longer the carefree heroine, but more like a real rich lady.
"Sister Shangguan, don't make fun of me..."
"I'm not making fun of you. I'm telling the truth," Shangguan Jin said seriously. "According to previous customs, on the Lantern Festival, all the girls in Luojing City would dress up beautifully and go to the Luoshui River. Look at the lanterns. From a distance, it is a beautiful scenery.
"But I believe that with the way Sister Xiaohan looks right now, she is the most outstanding among them."
"But I'm going to the ring today, so there's no need to dress up like this..."
"Given how beautiful Sister Xiaohan is now, your opponent might just put down his weapon and surrender the moment he sees you."
"..."
…………
At the same time, Qingxiang Pavilion.
Gu Xu opened his eyes, stood up slowly from the bamboo mat, took a deep breath, and ended his practice.
He had to admit that climbing the 4,999 steps of "Homesickness Ridge" was completely different from his previous cultivation process in the first and second realms.
It went very well at first.
Under the effect of "Du Erdan", he climbed more than 200 steps almost effortlessly.
However, when he climbed to the 240th step, his pace began to become extremely slow.
The howling sounds around him became more piercing and dizzying than before.
The fog on the mountain became thicker, making it difficult for him to see the road in front of him clearly; the temperature gradually became colder, and it seemed that even his consciousness could be frozen.
Sometimes, phantoms appeared in front of him, affecting his judgment of the road in front of him.
Under such circumstances, Gu Xu felt that if he wasn't careful, he would fall into the terrifying abyss next to the mountain road.
Out of caution, he temporarily stopped moving forward.
At this time, Gu Xu remembered what Chen Jisheng had said to him before: practitioners who climb the "Wangxiang Terrace" need to find their own ordinary mind as an anchor point to avoid losing their way on the path of future practice.
"Fanxin..." Gu Xu silently repeated this word repeatedly.
As expected, the path of spiritual practice becomes more and more difficult the further you go.
To this day, with his understanding far beyond ordinary people, he still has not grasped the true meaning of the term "ordinary mind".
Like Chen Jisheng, his cultivation has also been stagnant at the peak of the third realm for many years.
It wasn't until he risked his life to climb Mount Yi and enter the Snow Girl's territory to pick the snow ginseng that he suddenly had an epiphany and found his "ordinary heart."
"Perhaps, I should take a break and go out to find inspiration," Gu Xu thought silently in his mind, "It is not a good idea to stay in the house and practice.
“If you only practice without playing, smart children will become stupid.
"This sentence is absolutely the most logical word for monks who want to break through the 'Wangxiangtai'!
At this time, he remembered that today is the Lantern Festival.
"That girl Shi Xiaohan is probably still waiting for me to see the lanterns!"
Thinking of this, he smiled, then opened the door and walked out of Qingxiang Pavilion.
Then he walked along the corridor towards the house where Shi Xiaohan was recovering from his injuries.
When the officials at the Exorcism Department Headquarters saw him, they all started talking around him.
"This Master Gu is finally willing to leave the 'Qingxiang Pavilion'..."
"I thought Master Gu was so strong because of his great talent. I didn't expect that he would work so hard."
"People who are more talented than me also work harder than me. Ordinary people like me simply don't have to live..."
"I don't know if I will have the opportunity to see Master Gu take action tonight in the arena near Luoshui. It must be very exciting..."
(Change first and then change)
ps: The new monthly ticket extra has been released! The title is called "Married Life", you can find it in the catalog, and you can unlock it by voting for a monthly ticket! It’s the end of the month, please give me a monthly pass~
…………
Note:
(1) "In order to learn deeply, you must know that books are meaningful, and if you observe your mind clearly and feel the light in your room." - A couplet composed of Ouyang Shugeng's Liquan inscriptions
