socalfunplaces Page 457
Page 457
Lu Qing sighed, "The martial monks have extremely strong senses. If a master gets close, he will immediately flee. If a few Golden Gongs are lying in ambush for him, he will definitely notice in advance and escape."
"Unless one uses a magic artifact from the Imperial Observatory or a Buddhist sect to conceal their aura, but such artifacts are extremely rare. With this thieving monk's current strength, even without three Golden Gongs, it's not certain that we can kill him without a fight."
Magical artifacts that can conceal one's aura are indeed extremely rare; there are only a handful in the entire capital city.
Lu Qing continued, "But Brother Li, you can rest assured, no matter how bold he is, he wouldn't dare to enter the inner city to cause you trouble. You can ignore him."
"No need, I'd like to meet this guy and see just how strong the monk is."
Li Chang'an's casual remark clearly showed that he didn't take the martial monk Fa Hun seriously. In the Confucian school, words can become law and change the rules. With a simple statement that the capital was a mile away from him, the man vanished in an instant.
Lu Qing pondered for a moment and said, "Brother Li's strength is unfathomable, but to be absolutely sure, we should report to the night watchman's office and ask Lord Jinluo for help."
“Yes, if they can find a magical artifact to conceal their presence, I will be in the open while they are in the dark. This is indeed a foolproof plan.”
Li Chang'an did not reject the night watchman's office. Becoming a night watchman was the fastest way to gain power. The promotion system in this intelligence agency was absurd. As long as you made great contributions, you didn't have to wait based on seniority.
Just like in the world of Joy of Life, Fan Xian became the chief inspector of the Supervisory Council, second only to the director, simply because of a single sentence from Chen Pingping.
There's no harm in getting in touch with the Golden Gong Night Watchman now.
Lü Qing would arrange the contact with the night watchman's office. After leaving the office, Li Chang'an arrived outside the city.
Not long after, two constables escorted a monk, who was wearing shackles, out of the city gate. Behind them followed a monk of imposing stature.
Li Chang'an stood far away in a pavilion and immediately recognized the monk in shackles as Heng Hui, while the monk following behind him was his close senior brother Heng Yuan, also known as the honest man number six of the Heaven and Earth Society.
Hengyuan had a square face, thick eyebrows, and big eyes. His expression was bitter and resentful. He wore a slightly worn blue monk's robe. He was tall and burly, with a thick Buddhist bead around his neck. There were two rows of scars on his bald head.
He claimed to be an eighth-rank martial monk, but his true strength was unfathomable and far exceeded that of an eighth-rank monk.
Hengyuan was probably afraid that Henghui would be bullied on the way. Some yamen runners found escorting prisoners too troublesome, and it was not uncommon for them to kill exiled prisoners directly in the deep mountains.
No wonder Number Six said he was about to leave Beijing; that's what he meant.
Wearing shackles, Heng Hui knelt down before Li Chang'an and kowtowed three times.
"Thank you for saving the princess. Otherwise, I would have been condemned to death and would not have been able to be reborn."
Li Chang'an thought to himself, "That's true. In the original story, the ill-fated couple died tragically, and Heng Hui's spirit lingered, eventually wiping out the entire Pingyuan Earl's family."
He handed fifty taels of silver to the two constables, saying, "This is from the princess. Please bear with me on the journey."
Li Chang'an has taken advantage of Princess Pingyang's influence, which will make Heng Hui's journey a little easier. Although this monk is foolish, he is definitely not bad.
The two constables accepted the silver with smiles and kept thanking them.
Li Chang'an glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw a red figure hiding in the shadows on the city wall not far away. No matter how powerful Huaiqing was as a parent, he still couldn't sever his cousin's feelings for him.
At this moment, Hengyuan respectfully said to Li Chang'an, "Great Hero Li, I am Hengyuan, Henghui's senior brother. I have long admired your illustrious reputation... Great Hero Li is upright and righteous, always ready to help others... and hates evil..."
Seeing the honest Hengyuan awkwardly offering flattery, Li Chang'an interrupted him directly, saying, "If you can't say it, then don't. Just say what you want to say."
Hengyuan said, "This humble monk must protect my junior brother for a while, but I have been taking care of the children at the orphanage, and I am not at ease leaving him."
No wonder Number Six was inquiring about the character of Li Chang'an, the great swordsman of Jianzhou; it turns out he was waiting here.
Chapter 273 Yang Qianhuan, the King of Pretending, Turns Around!
Accumulating merit helps cultivate a righteous spirit. The stronger the righteous spirit, the more freely one can speak and act according to the law.
"I've got Yangshengtang in mind. I can ask the Sifang Escort Agency to help me out."
Hengyuan clasped his hands together and said, “Great Hero Li, please have mercy. This humble monk has discovered that there is a powerful trafficking organization in the capital that specializes in buying and selling children and women.”
“What’s even worse is that they would blind, poison, or even maim children, and then force them to beg on the streets.”
"I have been investigating this organization, but they are very vigilant, and I have made no progress."
This organization was kept by the Pingyuan Earl's Mansion, but the entire Pingyuan Earl's Mansion was wiped out. The organization's experts disguised themselves as monks to abduct and kill the princess, but they were all killed by Li Chang'an.
It now appears that this Yazi organization has not been eradicated, but has instead gone into hiding to continue its evil deeds. It truly is like a centipede that, though dead, does not fall down.
"I'll keep an eye out."
Having received Li Chang'an's reply, Hengyuan and his fellow disciples embarked on their journey westward, leaving the capital city far behind.
Heng Hui was exiled to Chuzhou, on the border of the Great Feng Dynasty.
When Li Chang'an returned to the city, it was already evening. As he passed by the entrance of the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau), he happened to encounter a middle-aged man with a furtive expression.
After the man went outside, he took out an orange and sprayed the peel on himself.
Using the pungent smell of orange peel to mask the smell of chicken on your body is a skill that only an expert could master.
"Oh, Commander Xu."
Upon hearing Li Chang'an's greeting, Xu Pingzhi, who was walking close to the wall, suddenly stumbled, looking as if he had been caught red-handed.
Upon seeing Li Chang'an, he became even more nervous. He had only met Li Chang'an once, yet Li Chang'an remembered him.
If Xu Pingzhi were to encounter him elsewhere, he would be overjoyed, since Li Chang'an is now a favorite of Prince Yu's mansion, and several government departments are trying to recruit him.
With Xu Pingzhi's rank of seventh-grade centurion, he was not qualified to associate with such a prominent figure.
He chuckled awkwardly and said, "So it's Lord Li. What a coincidence."
Li Chang'an smiled slightly, "What a coincidence, I didn't go to the Jiaofangsi. Did Commander Xu leave before dark?"
Xu Pingzhi quickly explained, "It was all social obligation. I had no choice but to do it. As for spending the night in a brothel, I have never done that before."
It turns out that Xu Pingzhi was enjoying paid companionship from Chunlu, but that's understandable, since the women in the brothel were far less charming than his wife, Li Ru.
"Is Commander Xu familiar with the streets and alleys of the inner city?"
Xu Pingzhi pulled Li Chang'an away from the street where the Jiaofangsi was located, intentionally or unintentionally, for fear of being seen.
"Yes, I know it well. I patrol the inner city every day, and I know it better than my own home."
Li Chang'an said, "I want to buy a house in the inner city. Those old real estate agents have too many tricks up their sleeves, and I'm afraid of wasting money."
Living under someone else's roof is not a long-term solution. Li Chang'an cannot stay in the prince's villa forever; he still needs to have his own property.
Guards like Xu Pingzhi patrolled the inner city year-round, giving them a more comprehensive understanding of its situation.
Without Xu Qi'an's martial arts training, Xu Pingzhi might have been able to accumulate enough wealth over most of his life to purchase property in the inner city. However, with Xu Qi'an, this money-devouring beast who practices martial arts, it will be very difficult for him to live in the inner city in this lifetime.
"Since Lord Li thinks so highly of me, I will certainly live up to his expectations."
Li Chang'an was a favorite of Prince Yu's mansion, so Xu Pingzhi was naturally happy to seize such an opportunity to make his acquaintance.
Moreover, being able to buy a house in the inner city means Li Chang'an must be very wealthy. I've heard that various government offices are giving him several dozen taels of silver a month.
With Xu Pingzhi's help and Chu Caiwei's feng shui consultation, we're sure to be able to buy a good house.
Li Chang'an is not wealthy yet, with a total of only a little over 30,000 taels of silver. It is quite necessary for him to make some inventions to sell for money.
Upon returning to Prince Yu's villa, they saw Princess Pingyang alighting from her carriage with red eyes.
"Pingyang, what happened?"
Heng Hui left the capital this morning, and it's already evening. I hope she hasn't been crying all day.
“Master, I only caught a glimpse of Heng Hui from afar when you went to see her off, but Sister Huaiqing scolded me for two hours…”
Huaiqing saw that Prince Yu was not teaching his daughter, so she took on the role of patriarch. It's better to guide than to suppress. After all, Huaiqing had no children of her own and didn't know how to teach them.
"Come inside with me, and I will pass on an article to you."
When it comes to educating his son, Zhuge Liang was an expert. Li Chang'an silently wrote a "Letter of Admonition to His Son" and gave it to Pingyang, but changed the title to "Letter of Admonition to His Disciples".
"The conduct of a virtuous person is characterized by tranquility in self-cultivation and frugality in nurturing virtue. Without detachment, one cannot have lofty aspirations; without tranquility, one cannot achieve anything..."
Princess Pingjun read the article word by word. Although the reasoning was similar to what Huaiqing had said, her tone was as gentle as a spring breeze, making people feel relaxed and happy.
This article was certainly not just for Pingyang to see; it was also the beginning of Li Chang'an's literary fame, and it was enough to attract the attention of great Confucian scholars.
After Princess Pingyang left, Li Chang'an continued to transcribe Zhuge Liang's "Thirty-Six Chapters of Zhuge Liang" from memory.
In their previous life, Zhuge Liang and Li Chang'an pacified the world. Zhuge Liang then wrote down his life's insights in books, which also included much of Li Chang'an's effort. Therefore, it was not the original twenty-four chapters of military strategy, but thirty-six chapters of Zhuge Liang's teachings.
The Thirty-Six Chapters of Zhuge Liang is a remarkable book, encompassing domestic affairs, military strategy, army management, and general tactics. Although its content is concise, it is all derived from practical experience and represents the culmination of the wisdom of Zhuge Liang and his two generations.
Such a magnificent work should have greatly impressed Huaiqing, Wei Yuan, and other great Confucian scholars.
The next day.
Li Chang'an was surprised to find two night watchmen with golden gongs visiting him. There were only eight or nine night watchmen with golden gongs in the capital, all of whom were fourth-rank cultivators and considered high-ranking officials in the night watchman's office.
One of them was very serious, his features stiff as a sculpture, showing no emotion whatsoever. He said, “I am Yang Yan. The Ministry of Justice of the Prefectural Government has already informed the Night Watchmen’s Office about Fa Hun’s challenge to Lord Li.”
The other one has a feminine temperament and a handsome appearance, with phoenix eyes and willow-leaf eyebrows. At first glance, he looks like a man dressed as a woman, which is quite alluring.
"I, Nangong Qianrou, will cooperate with Yang Yan and Lord Li to capture Fa Hun."
Li Chang'an's actual combat strength was not much different from that of a fourth-rank official, so even Jinluo treated him with great respect.
"Lord Nangong, we meet again."
Li Chang'an's casual remark startled Nangong Qianrou. She had been present when Li Chang'an killed her junior brother Fahun, but she had been hiding in the shadows.
"Lord Li is indeed unfathomable. He was able to sense me from such a distance. But now that we've encountered that frivolous monk, we should still be careful."
"Fa Hun is someone the night watchman must kill. He has the lives of hundreds of Great Feng masters on his hands, and the stronger the people he kills, the stronger he becomes. He is extremely troublesome."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Yang Yan said, "Fa Hun's physique is extremely strong. I once caught up with him, but even when I thrust my spear with all my might, I couldn't break through his defense."