socalfunplaces Page 714
Page 714
Li Chang'an controlled the Hun Tian Divine Mirror, thus neutralizing the attack on Miao Youfang's primordial spirit.
Li Lingsu hissed and walked over to check the mirror. "How could such a terrible thing exist in a small county town and a small brothel?"
Speaking of which, what exactly is this temple deity? I still haven't sensed any spiritual fluctuations from it.
Chapter 417 Xu Lingyin, a woman of exceptional talent! Imperial Guard Lü Qing!
Li Chang'an held up the mirror and said, "This is a magical artifact, an incomplete one. It possesses self-awareness and can be regarded as an alternative life form."
A magical artifact is worshipped here, attracting offerings of incense.
Li Lingsu said, "Senior, do you know the origin of this mirror?"
Li Chang'an said, "The Hun Tian Divine Mirror is the dressing mirror of the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox, the ruler of the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom."
It can illuminate the entire land, allowing the demon king to know everything without leaving his house.
Anyone whose image is reflected in it will have their spirit captured in the mirror, and their physical body will be deprived of its freedom.
Life and death, actions are all controlled by it; it is said that only the nine-tailed celestial fox is immune and unaffected.
During the Jiazi Demon-Slaying Ceremony, it was cut in two by the Bodhisattva Guangxian, and its whereabouts became unknown afterward.
Xu Qi'an immediately raised a question: "Master, it should have appeared a month ago. Why is it forcing people to offer incense and sacrifices in the name of a temple god?"
Li Chang'an said, "The magic weapon can absorb the power of incense and prayers, which helps stabilize its state. However, it is incomplete, so it needs to be replenished with incense."
Incense can nurture sacred treasures, so the National Guardian Sword has always been enshrined in the Yongzhen Mountain and River Temple in Sangbo. Therefore, the Confucian Sage's carving knife and the Second Sage's Confucian cap are enshrined in the Second Sage's Hall.
Li Chang'an looked at Li Lingsu, "Continue the summoning!"
Li Lingsu muttered incantations, and a chilling wind swept through the temple, causing the temperature to plummet.
Two souls coalesced into one: an old woman with gray hair and a burly man, both with dull eyes and wooden expressions.
The sorceress and her son.
Xu Qi'an asked, "How did you get the mirror?"
The sorceress stared blankly ahead, her voice hollow: "The old well in the family home."
Xu Qi'an and Li Lingsu asked a lot of questions intermittently before they finally learned the gist of the matter.
About a month ago, due to poor harvests and frequent disasters, the sorceress's son refused to support his mother and pushed her into a dry well.
The sorceress found a bronze mirror in the well.
Driven by the bronze mirror, she repaired the city temple for it, and from then on lived a wealthy life, never having to go hungry again.
However, she thought the temple god was a lunatic, sometimes demanding incense offerings, sometimes wanting to kill bald monks, and sometimes shouting that the king was immortal.
Fortunately, the temple god who drives her is actually very obedient and will basically do as she suggests, killing whoever she tells him to kill.
It is worth mentioning that Li Gui's wife was killed by a sorceress. The sorceress knew Li Gui's wife and accidentally learned that she was burning the "wooden ghost" in the City God Temple as firewood, so she came up with a plan.
Thus, Li Gui's ordeal came about.
She thus obtained her first pot of gold from Li Gui and used it to make a name for herself, instilling fear in the people of the county with the power of the Hun Tian Divine Mirror.
Over the past month, her son, taking advantage of the temple god's influence and under the guise of praying for a child, has threatened and raped several beautiful and respectable women.
"They deserved to die!" Miao Youfang sneered. "If I had known, I wouldn't have let those two beasts die so quickly."
Xu Qi'an said, "Find someone to inquire about those guards, and kill them all."
Miao Youfang, carrying the knife, scurried away.
The sorceress and her son deserved to die, and their subordinates, who aided and abetted the tyrant, were doing the same thing—oppressing the people.
If they think that escaping the City God Temple will erase all the bad things they've done in the past, they're being too optimistic.
Chu Yuanzhen followed the middle-aged man who had just received the money to check on his wife's condition.
An hour later.
Chu Yuanzhen returned first, landing in the courtyard on his flying sword.
“It was indeed a terminal illness. Originally, it was just a cold; if he had taken medicine earlier, he would have recovered quickly. But that man chose to worship the temple gods…”
Then Chu Yuanzhen shook his head, "His wife has been drinking talisman water for several days in a row, and her condition is getting worse. She has at most two days to live. Fortunately, although her body is weak, her internal organs are not depleted."
I gave her one cold-dispelling pill and one qi-tonifying pill to suppress her symptoms. With proper care and nourishment, she should recover in less than ten days.
Chu Yuanzhen continued, "I just took a stroll around the county town and heard something. The magistrate of Shengyi County is using the pretext of distributing porridge to lure poor people and then kill them."
They used these people's heads to impersonate refugees, currying favor with the imperial court and demanding disaster relief funds and grain under the pretext of the refugee infestation. Therefore, beggars were rarely seen in Shengyi County, and the villagers outside the city who couldn't survive dared not enter the city.
Migrants are unregistered individuals, or people who have left their homes and wandered around due to crimes or tax evasion. Because they have no land to cultivate, these people usually choose to engage in illegal activities such as theft and human trafficking.
At this moment, Miao Youfang walked in from outside the courtyard, carrying a bamboo basket. The three people and the fox, with their keen sense of smell, had already detected the pungent smell of blood.
Bang!
Miao Youfang walked across the courtyard, placed the basket in front of everyone, and, with his hands on his hips, laughed:
"Senior, I have not failed you!"
Xu Qi'an peeked out and saw that the basket was full of human heads. Each head had wide-open eyes, and their faces were frozen in fear.
"Seven?"
He frowned. There were only four thugs in the courtyard at the time. Miao Youfang said "Oh," and then said, "I also killed the county magistrate, the county magistrate's assistant, and the county constable."
The temple fell silent. Li Lingsu opened her mouth wide and asked, "Why did you kill the county magistrate and the county clerk?"
"You don't understand this."
Miao Youfang, with an air of "I'm a seasoned veteran," crossed his arms and scoffed:
"This mother and son dared to bully the people and rape innocent women with impunity, yet the government did nothing. This shows that they must have powerful backers behind them."
After interrogating these lackeys, it turned out they were indeed in cahoots with the county magistrate and magistrate's assistant. Upon further inquiry, I discovered that the county constable was also a heartless man, having committed countless evil deeds. So we stormed into the county office and arrested them all.”
"So efficient..." Chu Yuanzhen and the other two exchanged glances, speechless.
Li Chang'an said, "Alright, just put the head here and then leave it alone. Consider it a warning to the county clerks."
After speaking, he took out a fragment of the Earth Book and briefly explained the situation to Huaiqing. He instructed her to pay attention to the situation here and to send new officials to the area.
After resolving the matter in Jiangzhou, Li Chang'an instructed Xu Qi'an and the other two to collect the scattered dragon energy and then head to Jianzhou to protect the main dragon energy.
He himself went straight back to the palace.
Huaiqing was already dressed and sitting in the imperial study handling state affairs. He was indeed a diligent emperor.
Li Chang'an arrived through the air, and Huai Qing's cold and stern expression instantly warmed up, his voice becoming soft and gentle.
She immediately leaned forward and shifted her position to the side, allowing Li Chang'an to sit on the large dragon throne. Huaiqing knew very well who the actual master of the Great Feng Dynasty was.
"Husband, why don't we release the Imperial Preceptor? Keeping her trapped in the Earth Book might affect her karmic fire."
Li Chang'an flipped through the memorials on the table. "It's alright, she should rest too..."
“Yunzhou can’t sit still anymore and has started to gather refugees. Xu Pingfeng is nothing compared to the troublesome Western Bodhisattva and White Emperor Spirit Beast.”
Huaiqing said, "Even the Duke of Wei could not completely digest the three northeastern kingdoms in just over a month."
To conquer a country, the war of annihilation is only the beginning; the subsequent assimilation and rule are the key.
Moreover, the three northeastern kingdoms are the stronghold of the Witch God Cult, and it is not easy to completely eliminate the influence of the Witch God Cult.
"It's alright. When we need to fight, we can just call Wei Yuan back."
Li Chang'an read through some more memorials and found that Huaiqing was quite capable, handling state affairs in an orderly manner.
Huaiqing pursed her red lips, nervously watching Li Chang'an's expression. The empress, who had only been on the throne for a month, was not yet very confident in her abilities.
Fortunately, Li Chang'an remained calm and only pointed out some minor oversights. Overall, he was quite satisfied.
"My husband, are you perhaps a celestial being descended to earth? It seems you can do everything and are good at everything."
Li Chang'an thought to himself, with Huaiqing's talent and wisdom, he could have been an emperor for two lifetimes and still have such abilities.
“That’s right. Once the great calamity is over, I will take you all back to heaven.”
A trace of sadness flashed in Huaiqing's beautiful eyes, "My husband, even those blessed with great fortune cannot live forever..."
Li Chang'an took Huaiqing's hand and said, "Then let's advance to the Transcendent level first, and then pass the throne to our child."
“However, whether it’s cultivation or having children, Huaiqing isn’t as dedicated as the Imperial Preceptor,” Li Chang’an shook his head.
"My lord~~~" Huaiqing's eyes were full of seductive charm, and she deeply regretted that she had not tried hard enough.
"...And so, he wore a dragon robe on the outside..."
The Empress's dragon robe, like her twin ponytails, can increase attack speed.
"Lying down on the dragon throne..."
……
An hour later.
After the storm subsided, the Empress put on her dragon robe and ordered her men to change the soft couch on her dragon bed.
Fortunately, the Empress's close attendants and maids were already used to these things.