In a small town more than ten miles away from the imperial capital Chang'an, Fang Jie and Da Quan squatted on the branches of trees by the side of the road when they had nothing to do every day. Look at the majestic imperial capital in the distance, and make some wild jokes. They squatted on the tree to look at the scenery, and Shen Qingfan always regarded the two of them as a scenery at this time.
A little girl carved in pink and jade pointed at Big Dog and Fang Jie and asked Shen Qingfan: "Auntie, who are those two, why are they squatting on a tree branch?"
Shen Qingshan gently pinched the little girl's delicate face and told her seriously: "Those are two bird people."
The little girl obviously didn't know what a birdman was, so she asked where the wings were hidden. Shen Qingfan smiled and said that both of them are birdmen who can fly without wings, they are very powerful. The little girl asked Auntie if you could fly, Shen Qingshan thought for a while and said yes, then disappeared in a flash.
The little girl was startled, she yelled, turned around and ran away.
Fang Jie looked at Shen Qingfan, who peeked out from behind a big tree and looked at the back of the little girl running away, pursing her lips and smiling. He suddenly felt that this woman didn't see through at all. When they were together before, he thought he knew Shen Qingfan's character well. After three and a half years, he thought that Shen Qingfan hadn't changed a bit. But now, in a trance, he felt that the Shen Qingfan he saw was not the real Shen Qingfan.
Or maybe, they are all real Shen Qingfan.
"How many faces do you have?"
He murmured something.
Big Dog thought that Fang Jie was talking about him, and after thinking about it carefully, he replied uncertainly: "Two sides?"
Fang Jie couldn't help laughing, and then asked, "Which two sides?"
When he asked this question, Big Dog didn't even know whether the answer he thought was correct, so he tentatively asked: "Front and back?"
Fang Jie laughed out loud, with a calm expression on his face.
The big dog scratched his messy hair in embarrassment, suddenly pointed his eyes to the south of the official road and said in a deep voice: "It seems that a big man has come."
Hundreds of riders, Taoist robes belted, high crowns scattered.
Three or two red carriages are in the middle, coming slowly.
Fang Jie narrowed his eyes, and couldn't help sighing in a low voice, "It's really a big shot."
Standing under a big tree, Shen Qingfan jumped to Fang Jie's side, sat down on the branch of the tree without being a lady at all, pointed at the mighty group of people and said, "A group of stinky Taoist priests is nothing to worry about." , but there are two old Taoist priests in the carriage that are terrifying, one with a high level of cultivation can scare people to death, and the other has no bottom at all."
She turned to look at Fang Jie and said, "Of course, you may be more interested in another person."
At this time, Fang Jie found a few familiar figures in the line of hundreds of people. So he was a little absent-minded, looking at those people, he had an illusion as if he had passed away. Those following a carriage were not Taoists, nor were they court officials who escorted them.
A strong man over two meters tall, and a thin man with a pair of cymbals hanging from his waist. A middle-aged man with a copper rod tied to his back, an assassin dressed in black and covering his mouth and nose in broad daylight.
Qilin, Henggun, Iron Slave, Night Owl.
There should have been another Shen Qingfan in that team, but now Shen Qingfan is sitting next to Fang Jie. She held on to the branch with both hands, and her feet were swinging back and forth in mid-air. With Shen Qingfan like this, people suddenly realize that her age is actually far from being as mature as people think.
"Should I go down and say hello?"
Big Dog said with a smile.
"Tie Nu still owes me a drink."
Shen Qingfan frowned: "Aren't you a non-drinker?"
Big Dog said seriously: "I haven't seen you for three and a half years, it's worth a drink."
Fang Jie rubbed his nose, maybe his squatting legs were a little numb, so he also sat down on the branch. He looked at the group of hundreds of people, stared at one of the carriages and suddenly smiled self-deprecatingly.
"Really is a waste, fake is a genius."
He asked Shen Qingfan: "If you were the person behind my scenes, would you think it would be better to take that fake one back? What did you do at the beginning? It's more powerful than me to steal someone casually." It's amazing... and now you are still a close disciple of Xiao Zhenren, won't you be more vigorous in the future?"
"You can go down and stop the carriage."
Shen Qingfan smiled and said, "She has always wanted to see you."
Fang Jie took out the cigarette pouch from the buckskin pocket at his waist, lit it, took a puff and curled his lips, "She wants to see me not because I'm handsome, I can imagine how big the grievances have been accumulated for three and a half years." I can guess it. If that resentment can be converted into a murderous weapon, it can twist me into a mess even thousands of miles away."
"What did you say her name was?"
"Foaming fat."
"Sounds good, isn't it beautiful?"
"very beautiful."
"Then I have to be more careful. When I really see her in the future, I can't say that I have to be a person with my tail between my legs. She is so beautiful, she is a fucking genius, and she was accepted as a disciple by the leader of Daozong in the Sui Dynasty. Ten years later, she will be scary. Scared ninth-rank masters... still let people live?"
Shen Qingshan smiled, but said nothing.
The young man sitting on the branch of a tree with a cigarette pipe in his mouth and squinting his eyes looks weird... like a monster.
…
…
The officials from the Ministry of Rites who were in charge of welcoming Master Xiao from Qingle Mountain had been waiting at the see-off kiosk thirty miles away from Nancheng. These officials were not of high rank. The biggest official was just a Yuanwailang from the fifth grade, but you must know that there were very few people in the world who could be greeted by officials from the Ministry of Rites of the Sui Dynasty 30 miles out of the city.
When Nanyan Emperor Murong Hui personally came to the Great Sui Emperor to hand over the form of surrender, the officials of the Ministry of Rites were just waiting at the gate of Chang'an City.
In the words of an official from the Ministry of Rituals, although Master Xiao is not a big shot, but this person is a face of the Sui Dynasty today, so the people in the Ministry of Rites have to be careful. In the Mongolian Yuan Empire, there was the Buddhist sect, and there was the Dalun Mingwang at the Dalun Temple in Daxue Mountain. So His Majesty the Emperor let Da Sui have Daozong and Qingle Mountain to watch Daoist Xiao in one go. This is a flag erected by His Majesty the Sui Emperor himself. How dare the officials of the Ministry of Rites not hold it higher
And this time, it was the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty who personally ordered to invite Master Xiao to come to watch the ceremony and take the exam at the Martial Arts Academy. It is an invitation rather than a recruitment, and even His Majesty's words and sentences are so strict, how dare the officials below not take it seriously
For Xiao Zhenren, the officials of the Ministry of Rites really have some respect.
Your Majesty wants to establish a sect, but it cannot be established by just appointing a person. Although the allusion of the peach blossoms blooming in Qingle Mountain and the peach ripening overnight is unknown, it is a miracle to deceive most of the people. If it were someone else, it might not be possible to have this means.
In the morning, Fang Jie and Da Quan watched the officials from the Ministry of Rituals go by, and now they watched them come back slowly beside a carriage. Putting on airs, a few petty officials of the fifth and sixth ranks are really not qualified to ride in his carriage."
Big Dog curled his lips: "Did you know that even the Great Khan of the Mongolian Yuan Empire had to worship three times and kowtow nine times all the way up to Dalun Temple? King Dalun Ming pointed out that one person can make him an emperor, and pointing it out again would make him an emperor." Can turn him back into an ordinary person. That is the real status. Master Xiao’s airs are still worse than that of Dalun Mingwang. Dalun Mingwang travels, escorted by three thousand golden monks and soldiers, accompanied by four heavenly deities, and spreads thousands of miles. , People and officials along the way can kneel all over the grassland!"
But Shen Qingfan said disapprovingly: "That's because the Buddhist sect has been established for a long time. If the Taoist sect can persist for hundreds of years, then the head of the Taoist sect after a few hundred years may be punished like Dalun Mingwang when he travels. People kneel and worship along the street. You can also designate a person as the emperor casually, overriding any imperial power in the mundane world."
"Won't."
Fang Jie shook his head and said: "As long as the Great Sui Dynasty does not fall, Daozong will never have such a glorious day. Unless Daozong transfers the sect to the Great Sui Dynasty, and grabs a piece of land from the Buddha Sect and makes it his own." foundation."
Shen Qingfan was startled, and then nodded: "Yes... I was wrong. The emperor of the Sui Dynasty was too powerful. He would never allow anyone in his empire to have more influence than himself. Like the Mongolian Yuan Empire, the emperor also Things that need to be appointed by King Dalun Ming, I am afraid that it will not happen in the Sui Dynasty for many years."
"Imperial power cannot be separated from divine power."
Fang Jie smiled and said, "Because the emperor wants to rely on the gods to deceive the people for him. But unless the emperor is a waste... otherwise the divine power will never be allowed to override the imperial power."
Big Dog suddenly laughed at himself and said: "Sometimes the emperor is not useless, but he may face the miserable situation of destroying the country."
These words didn't match the previous conversation, and I don't know why he made them.
Fang Jie glanced at him thoughtfully.
The brigade of people on the official road is getting closer and closer, and the ostentation seems to be getting bigger and bigger.
When the big red carriage in the front reached the edge of the town, the curtain was raised, and a middle-aged Taoist with sword eyebrows and high nose could be seen sitting cross-legged inside. Different from the attire of other Taoists, this Taoist is wearing a bright red brocade robe embroidered with complicated patterns with gold thread. He sat upright in the carriage, closed his eyes, squeezed the seal with both hands and placed it on his knees. He looks very imposing, especially the little vermilion on his forehead is the most eye-catching.
I don't know if it's a click, or it's just natural.
Looking at it from a distance, it looks like a third eye has been opened on his forehead. The scarlet imprint, which was about the same size as the peach pit, looked like a vertical red eye. The color was so brighter than the red robe on his body, so it was particularly eye-catching.
Although it was a little far away, after Fang Jie took a closer look, he suddenly felt depressed.
"Don't look."
Shen Qingfan lowered his voice and reminded: "The mark on the old Taoist's forehead is a bit weird. The last time I saw him, even I almost lost my mind."
Fang Jie frowned slightly and asked, "Is he the outrageous old Taoist you mentioned? He doesn't look very old either."
Shen Qingfan nodded and said: "This red-robed priest is called Heju Taoist, and he is in charge of punishment in the Taoist sect. Although his cultivation base is frighteningly high, in my opinion, even if he can't beat him, he may still be able to escape... because I can see it. He is tall, and the old man in the second carriage behind is really scary, because... I can't see how tall he is."
Perhaps the person who can make Shen Qingfan feel afraid is really scary.
At this moment, the team outside the town suddenly stopped. Many people in the town were watching and most of them were whispering. For Daozong, the common people actually don't know it very well. Emperor Tianyou of the Sui Dynasty strongly promoted Taoism, because Qingle Mountain was located in the south of the Yangtze River, so there were not a few followers of Taoism among the people in the south of the Yangtze River. In Hebei, Gyeonggi and other places, the people are still a little unfamiliar with Daozong, or even reject it.
It is actually not easy for a group of people who have never believed in one thing to believe in one thing.
Seeing that there were many people around, a disciple wearing a dark blue Taoist robe walked up to the crowd and began to preach morality. When someone asked a question, he answered it with a smile.
"There are no gods living in the sky, because the sky itself is the greatest god."
The Taoist smiled and said kindly: "Time and everything are bestowed by heaven. The destiny of a person is also determined by heaven. The reason why the emperor of the Sui Dynasty is called the Son of Heaven is because he is really a child of heaven. What your majesty said, It represents God's will. Why can't His Majesty's words be violated? Because God's will cannot be violated."
Hearing this sentence, Fang Jie couldn't help but smiled and said in a low voice: "These Taoists are doing their duty, and they must have preached for His Majesty the Sui Emperor along the way."
The people listened carefully, and people asked questions from time to time. But at this moment, a running bull suddenly rushed out of the woods, and it didn't know what frightened it and rushed towards the crowd. The owner of the bull chased after it all the way, constantly yelling for people to avoid it.
Seeing that the running bull was about to crash into the crowd, the red-robed priest who had been sitting in the carriage with his eyes closed suddenly opened his eyes, slowly raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the running bull.
one finger.
Subsidence.
A big hole suddenly collapsed on the official road as hard as blue bricks, and the running bull fell into it before it could stop. With a whine, the cow did not know how many bones it broke. It was struggling at the bottom of the pit, but it couldn't stand up like it was caught in a net.
"Fuck!"
Fang Jie, who was sitting on the tree branch, opened his eyes wide, and said in a very embarrassing way: "This is too much pretense!"