Shi Lei from Qianhu in Laizhou Mansion controlled the flying sword and slowly landed on the ground.
A few hundred meters in front of him was the majestic Luojing City Wall. It is more than ten feet high and stands abruptly on the ground, like a gray-black cliff that cuts across half the sky.
Densely packed ballistae and huge trebuchets guarded the city wall, and the soldiers patrolling on top of the wall were as small as ants. Standing under it, it seems that you can feel the heavy weight of the masonry coming towards you.
This is not the first time Shi Lei has come to the capital.
However, no matter how many times he came, he would still be extremely shocked every time he saw this magnificent city wall and the shining formation luster on the city gate.
According to legend, when Emperor Taizu of Daqi was building the "Tianlong Formation", he once ambitiously stated that he wanted to turn Luojing into an "impregnable fortress" and "a majestic city that will never fall."
"If Luo Jing City really falls one day, I'm afraid the end of the world is coming." Many people, including Shi Lei, had said this in their hearts.
…………
According to the rules of the Exorcism Department of the Da Qi Dynasty, officials like Shi Lei, who are in charge of the affairs of slaying demons and eradicating demons in a palace, need to come to the capital to report on their duties every six months.
Although the intelligence department can understand the situation in various parts of the country through the secret deduction technique, the secret technique has many limitations after all, and the information obtained is relatively vague and may be interfered with.
Therefore, the Exorcist Division headquarters needs to obtain more detailed information about each province and prefecture through these local officials in order to facilitate subsequent work arrangements, resource allocation, etc.; at the same time, it can also communicate with local officials in a face-to-face manner Assess their abilities.
Under normal circumstances, Shi Lei's reporting time is in April - by then the "Luoshui Conference" has ended, and all government offices in Luojing will return to their calm and busy daily work.
He originally planned to visit Shi Xiaohan at that time to see how his precious daughter was doing at Longmen Academy, and discuss life-long matters with the two young men.
Ever since Shi Xiaohan gave a pill workshop to Gu Xu, people around them had obviously regarded them as a couple or even an unmarried couple.
After all, under normal circumstances, how could anyone be willing to give their core industry as a birthday gift to an ordinary colleague?
In recent times, acquaintances have always come to Shi Lei, either smiling and congratulating him on finding a good son-in-law, or jokingly saying, "Master Shi really loves his daughter and has prepared such a generous gift for her." dowry".
This undoubtedly made Shi Lei feel very embarrassed.
Because it was difficult for him to explain to others that the elixir workshop was not a dowry, but a fool's daughter's own decision.
Shi Xiaohan himself may not care about the public opinion around him.
But as a father, Shi Lei obviously couldn't ignore his daughter's reputation.
Even though Shi Xiaohan has no ladylike demeanor on weekdays, she is the daughter of an official family after all - if she continues to let rumors spread everywhere, and Gu Xu does not marry her in the end, then the Shi family will definitely become a laughing stock in the eyes of everyone.
"Oh, it's all God's jealousy of talents and not giving that boy Gu Xu a good body." Whenever he thought about this, Shi Lei couldn't help but sigh.
However, the letter sent by Shi Xiaohan made him change his original plan.
With Shi Lei's doting on his daughter, when Xiao Han asked him to come to the capital to watch the "Luoshui Conference", it was naturally difficult for him to refuse.
Therefore, he applied to the headquarters of the Exorcism Department, hoping to go to Beijing in advance to report on his work and give him an opportunity to cheer for his daughter in person at the "Luoshui Conference".
The Exorcism Department headquarters also agreed to his request in a reasonable manner.
…………
After arriving in Luojing, Shi Lei boarded a black carriage with a silver star pattern and drove straight towards the headquarters of the Exorcism Department located on the hill.
At this time, Luojing City was more noisy and busier than every time he had seen it before.
In the streets and alleys, there were not only locals from Luojing, but also young monks and their relatives and friends who came from all over the country to participate in the "Luoshui Conference".
There are also countless melon-eating people who are passionately arguing about topics such as "Which genius is most likely to win the championship" and "Who do you think is more powerful among Chu Fengge, Su Xiao and Zhao Yan?"
The Mandarin of Daqi and the dialects from all over the world came together to form a roaring sound wave that continuously impacted Shi Lei's eardrums.
Shi Lei keenly noticed that in the conversations of these people, the name "Gu Xu" seemed to appear very frequently.
"It seems that the rumors are true," Shi Lei thought to himself, "that boy has indeed made a name for himself in the capital."
The person responsible for talking to Shi Lei was Shangguan Jin.
She is not very old, and her official rank is only fifth rank, but as a trusted personal attendant of the head of the department, she shoulders extremely important responsibilities and takes charge of all the daily affairs of the Exorcism Department. Even officials with a higher rank than her dare not neglect her. After all, sometimes her simple words in front of the chief executive can affect an official's future.
However, in front of Shi Lei, she still maintained the same junior attitude as the last time they met.
As soon as Shi Lei's carriage arrived at the Yamen, she was already waiting outside the gate, with a perfectly elegant smile on her face, and she greeted him politely.
?"Shi Qianhu came all the way from Laizhou Prefecture to the capital. It was really hard," she said with a smile, "I would also like to ask Shi Qianhu to come into the house with me and rest for a while. I just prepared some fresh food for you inside." Shiya White Tea.”
Shi Lei followed her up the steps, crossed the threshold, and walked along the corridor towards the Yamen.
Along the way, Shangguan Jin used the casual tone of chatting, using the recent Laoshan ruins as an introduction, and talked to Shi Lei about the customs, ghosts and rumors of Laizhou Prefecture, and used this to praise Shi Lei a few words, saying that he was a "A good official who understands the people's sentiments and is serious and meticulous"; after the two talked about the disaster in Qingzhou Prefecture that had also affected Laizhou Prefecture, Shangguan Jin even showed a worried expression and expressed his concern unabashedly.
Shangguan Jin's expression and words were like a gentle breeze, which made Shi Lei gradually relax - as if the person he was talking to was not the eyes and ears of the exorcist department chief, but a friend who had reunited after a long absence.
It wasn't until the two of them arrived at a side room in the backyard of the Yamen that Shi Lei realized that he had unknowingly revealed a lot of confidential information about Laizhou Mansion and said a lot of psychological things.
At this moment, looking at the young and beautiful face of the woman in front of him and her subtle and elegant smile, Shi Lei was filled with emotion——
Shangguan Jin is only two or three years older than his own daughter, but he has already become a unique official in the court, possessing such powerful scheming skills and perfect manners like a lady.
On the other hand, my daughter is clearly over 18 years old, but she still looks like a child who has not grown up. Her mind is full of delicious food and unrealistic dreams of being a hero.
?…………
Since Shi Lei was indeed a conscientious official and handled all the affairs of Laizhou Mansion in an orderly manner, his work report process was very smooth.
"Shi Qianhu, is there anything else you need help from me and the Exorcism Department Headquarters?" Shangguan Jin asked politely, picking up the white porcelain teapot on the table and filling Shi Lei with a cup. Hot tea.
"I would like to use three thousand meritorious deeds to exchange for an opportunity to ask questions from the Chief of Staff." Shi Lei said without hesitation. On the way to Beijing, he had already considered this issue repeatedly and made up his mind.
Within the Daqi Exorcism Department, there are many things that can be exchanged for meritorious deeds - not only can they be exchanged for elixirs, exercises and martial arts, but they can also be used to ask high-level experts to answer questions, or to exchange for "Reviewing the Past" Pot” opportunity to train practical skills.
Even asking Luo Sishou for advice was clearly priced.
It's just that the price is very expensive. Ordinary officials may spend their whole lives and find it difficult to save enough. After all, they have to spend most of their merits on such rigid needs as elixirs.
As for those officials who have the ability to accumulate thousands or even tens of thousands of merits, they naturally have many opportunities to meet with the chief executive. If you have any doubts, you can ask them face to face. There is no need to waste these merits.
Regarding this, Gu Xu secretly complained in his heart that this so-called opportunity to ask questions once every three thousand meritorious service was essentially used by Luo Sishou to set up his own persona, to enhance his image of knowing the world and knowing everything.
"Is it a matter of practice?" After hearing what Shi Lei said, Shangguan Jin said with a smile, "To be honest, Shi Qianhu, if you want to ask the Chief Secretary about something, I can go to the Chief Chief now. Sir, I would like to ask you to arrange a meeting between you. In this way, you can save these three thousand meritorious services."
"It's not a question about practice," Shi Lei hesitated for a moment before replying, "My question...well, maybe it's a little inappropriate."
Shangguan Jin did not continue to ask "why it was inappropriate."
She is very good at observing people's emotions.
From Shi Lei's expression, she could tell that the other party had made up his mind and did not want to discuss this topic too much.
So she took out the paper and charcoal from her sleeves and handed them to Shi Lei.
"I will forward your question to the Chief of Staff."
Shi Lei nodded and took the pen and paper.
Then he wrote a question on the paper stroke by stroke:
"What level of cultivation can Gu Xu achieve in the future?"
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