Fang Jie, who was dressed in a solemn first-class rural dress, squatted down on the side of the corridor outside the gate of Taiji Palace, took out the leather pouch from under the heavy and cumbersome clothes, pulled out the pipe from inside, and stuffed it with a high-quality cigarette from the south of the Yangtze River. cut tobacco. In front of the Taiji Palace, which has not yet brightened up, a little spark flickers on and off.
Fang Jie's addiction to cigarettes is actually not that great, but he always feels that a pipe is something very close to the world in his previous life.
Breathing out a puff of smoke, he glanced at Xiang Qingniu who was struggling to squat next to him: "What do you plan to do after you go back? Although it is impossible for His Majesty to announce to the world that Zhenren Xiao has conspired against Prince Yi, your days in Qingle Mountain It must be difficult. If my guess is correct, the position of the leader of the Dao Sect will be gradually transferred to Wudang Mountain by His Majesty."
"What else can I do?"
Xiang Qingniu couldn't squat anymore, so he simply sat down on the ground: "From now on, our Qingle Mountain will start to live with our tails between our legs. Fuck me, Master said that I will carry Qingle Mountain in the future Who would have imagined that it would be carried under such circumstances. My brother is now locked in a close prison at the Ouchi guards. My four nephews died in Chang'an, one was maimed, and the other two took people with them. I planned to meet him outside Chang'an City, but was surrounded by masters sent by His Majesty. I heard that the brother was captured, and the two nephews committed suicide and surrendered..."
Xiang Qingniu sighed: "Two of the four great priests of Qingle Mountain died, and the two who were arrested must have the same fate. Now there are only a group of small Taoists left in Qingle Mountain who don't know what happened. It's a fool's dream to maintain the dignity of Qingle Mountain with your cultivation base!"
"When did you realize your strength so clearly?"
Fang Jie smiled and said, "Actually, you don't need to be so worried. Since His Majesty won't announce to the world the conspiracy of Qingle Mountain, you can just pretend that nothing happened. If there are no accidents, tell the world." The decree will also say that Master Xiao, the head teacher of Qingle Mountain, and his four disciples sacrificed their lives for the country in the desperate struggle against rebellion, and no one dares to come to provoke you at this time."
"hope so."
Xiang Qingniu breathed a long sigh of relief, looked at the still dark sky and murmured: "I still haven't figured out what brother is trying to figure out."
"Then don't think about it."
Fang Jie patted him on the shoulder: "As long as the signboard of Qingle Mountain hasn't fallen down, you don't have to worry too much. Didn't your master say that you are the most talented among his disciples? Ten or eight years, it may not be impossible to reach the realm of your senior brother."
"Is that kind of realm useful?"
Xiang Qingniu shook his head: "If reaching that level brings more and more greed, I'd rather be a waste who can't practice."
"The fault is not in the realm of cultivation, but in thinking."
Fang Jie thought for a while and said: "Your senior brother is pursuing some illusory things. What he wants to be is not a human being but a heavenly being. This kind of person will go crazy sooner or later even if he does not seek rebellion. But you are different, you Never one to fight and fight."
"Are you calling me trash?"
"No... It's a good thing that gentlemen don't fight."
Xiang Qingniu laughed at himself and said, "Why are the words coming out of your mouth so hypocritical now? People like me are called gentlemen. That gentleman is really worthless."
"you are wrong."
Fang Jie smiled and said, "Most of the gentlemen in this world are worthless, because they are all hypocrites. But those with true temperament are valuable, and they won't be exchanged for a thousand pieces of gold."
"A true hooligan is also a true character. According to you, it has become a good character?"
"Oh, look, if you can still joke, it proves that you are not so desperate."
Fang Jie took a deep puff of the pipe, and then slowly exhaled two thick streams of smoke from his nostrils. On a clear morning, the smoke looked very white and thick. It looked like he was a monster spewing fireworks.
"Many times people think that they have reached a dead end, no matter whether they go forward or backward, they can't see the road under their feet... But in fact, most of the time they are deceiving themselves. The reason for deceiving themselves is because of fear. Many times you think you The thing that is absolutely impossible is that you are too scared and worried in your heart. You are worried that you will step into the abyss and be doomed, and that you will not be able to maintain Qingle Mountain and feel sorry for everyone.”
"But you haven't moved forward yet, how do you know that after stepping through this thorny thorn, it will not be a bright future? Maybe you will feel that I am a bit hypocritical when I say this. Anyone can tell one, two, three, four, five, six, seven big truths, but Since reason can become reason, it naturally has merit.”
"Everyone faces a dilemma that they have never faced before. The first reaction of normal people is of course fear, confusion and fear. If this dilemma can be avoided, no one will be stupid and have to go. Breaking through proves that you are very strong. But if there is really no way to avoid or go around this predicament, and the road behind has collapsed, you have no choice but to move forward, but you still don’t have the courage to fight it out. That would be even more stupid."
Xiang Qingniu nodded thoughtfully: "It sounds reasonable."
He took the pipe from Fang Jie's hand, stuffed it into his mouth and took a deep puff, and then began to cough violently: "Fang Jie...cough cough...you were really like a magic stick when you spoke just now. It would be a waste not to engage in sect at all... Cough cough... How about you stop being an official, I will give you the head teacher of Qingle Mountain, and I will be your thug."
"You mean I should join the gang?"
Fang Jie curled his lips: "How worthless! A gangster without a court background is doomed to fail. From now on, I will be an official in the court, and you will run a gangster in the Jianghu. Together, we will be able to dominate the Jianghu in a few years. From time to time, sects go to collect protection fees one by one, and whoever doesn't pay will be destroyed!"
"Yeah!"
Xiang Qingniu said: "How can we just collect the money from the sect? Since we want to do evil, we must be more thorough... All the commercial firms and shops in the world must pay us protection fees. If anyone dares to resist, I will send you a People threw wreaths and fireworks into his yard, blocked the door of his house, splashed dog blood, rushed in in the middle of the night while they were sleeping, wrapped them in quilts, and beat them up violently."
"Um!"
Fang Jie said: "If the time comes, if he still dares not to pay, I will ask the government to demolish his shop!"
"If you don't agree to the demolition, you can honestly hand over the money! According to this, we will be rich like an enemy in a short time."
Xiang Qingniu chuckled, still not used to smoking, so he handed the pipe to Fang Jie. Fang Jie took a sip and asked with a smile, "Are you feeling good now?"
"It's a bit cool!"
"It's cool."
Fang Jie knocked his pipe on the ground, said in silence for a while, "Actually, I have a better idea."
"What?"
Xiang Qingniu asked curiously.
Fang Jie murmured: "Tell me, if we can kill all the people we both mentioned just now, if there is no one left, if one appears and kills one, and you don't have to accept the punishment of the law, wouldn't it be better?"
"Fuck!"
Xiang Qingniu jumped on his feet and said: "Then it's so fucking cool!"
…
…
Fang Xie didn't know what the emperor and Xiang Qingniu said. The emperor met Xiang Qingniu first and then met him. When Xiang Qingniu came out of Dongnuan Pavilion, Fang Xie was called in, and the two passed each other. But Fang Jie could see that the expression on Xiang Qingniu's face was much lighter. Obviously, the emperor didn't just reprimand, but also encouraged him.
The two looked at each other and smiled, before parting before they could say anything more. Fang Jie looked at Xiang Qingniu and smiled, Xiang Qingniu looked at Fang Xie pouted and shook his head a few times. One said he cherished the other and the other said goodbye, but no one thought that the next time they saw each other, things would be different.
This fat man who suddenly had to let himself face everything, was filled with Fang Xie's words when he left. After returning to Qingle Mountain, he did face many unsolvable difficulties. Whenever he felt that he was about to fall, he would somehow think of the pipe in Fang Jie's hand.
I thought of that evildoer squatting in the early morning twilight, puffing out smoke in flickering light.
…
…
"Chen Fangjie, kowtow to His Majesty!"
Fang Jie saluted solemnly, then got up and stood aside.
The emperor, who had only slept for an hour, couldn't hide his exhaustion. He rubbed the corners of his brows and glanced at Fang Jie: "There is nothing more to tell you. Although you are young, I have confidence in your ability. As long as you go to the Southwest, do your best. Well, don't let me betray my trust in you."
"The minister will not disgrace the mission."
Fang Jie said.
The emperor hummed, looked up at the sky outside and murmured: "It's almost time to go to court again... You go, I heard that Huai Lao intends to go with you, he is the elder of the three dynasties, the least What is lacking is experience in dealing with things, you just need to ask him for advice along the way."
"I understand, I will leave."
Fang Jie leaned over and said.
The emperor waved his hands wearily: "Go."
After such a few words of conversation, Fang Xie withdrew from the East Nuan Pavilion. I don't know why, seeing the emperor Fang Jie this time was filled with a feeling of desolation. He had the illusion that the emperor was getting older day by day at a speed visible to the naked eye.
When he walked out of the Tai Chi Palace, Fang Xie couldn't help but glance back.
In the twilight of the morning, the tall and majestic palace walls blocked his sight.
The sound of gongs came from a distance, and it was time to open the city gate. Fang Jie boarded the carriage, and after he sat down, he raised the curtain of the window, looked at the sparse pedestrians outside, and smelled the morning air in Chang'an City. A kind of reluctance suddenly emerged from his heart, and soon spread to the whole body.
The carriage rolled over the exposed bluestone slab, and moved forward while shaking slightly.
At the intersection of Dongerershisantiao Street, Fang Jie gathered his people. Several carriages drove out of the city gate slowly under the guard of the imperial guard of honor.
Walking in front on horseback were a dozen Ouchi guards wearing flying fish robes and bright red cloaks to clear the way, and the two carriages behind were officials from the Ministry of Rites. Then there was the carriage Shen Qingfan was riding in, and Chen Heng and Chen Ha were sitting in the fourth carriage. Fang Jie was in the fifth carriage, and Nie Xiaoju was driving the carriage. The black boy Yan Kuang and the scholar Chen Xiaoru rode to separate sides, and behind them was the remaining Feiyu robe, and Mu Xiaoyao, who was wearing Qianhu's costume, rode a horse and led people to protect Fang Jie's carriage.
And behind the imperial envoy team, followed by a group of soldiers who put on left vanguard armor. Although these soldiers were not many in number, only about 20 horsemen, they looked like a mighty army. You don't need to look carefully to know that these people are elites who have experienced many battles.
The leader of these people was Ye Jinnan, the fourth-ranked Lang of the left avant-garde, and he also put on the general's armor. There was also a carriage behind their team, and a man was leaning in the carriage and tried his best to stick his head out of the window to look at the team in front, his eyes were full of hatred and viciousness.