Chapter 672

When the grain boat turned past the tip of the Burning Lamp Pagoda, Li Yan stood at the bow of the boat and looked at Tongzhou City from afar.

After leaving Jinmen, they traveled north against the current along the Beiyunhe, passed through Wuqing, Xianghe, and other states and counties, and finally arrived in Tongzhou.

The whole journey was more than two hundred and forty li, and it took five full days.

And this was the result of sitting on an official boat, with no checkpoints blocking the way along the journey.

The reason was very simple: the river channel of the Beiyunhe was relatively gentle, but because they needed to travel against the current, there was no lack of trackers pulling the boat.

The locals described it as "one hundred and eight thousand howling ghosts," and the work songs never stopped day or night.

Regardless, they had finally arrived in Tongzhou.

Only to see the canal crowded with grain boats hanging flags of various colors.

The rammed earth bank of the Earth Dam wharf was polished shiny by millions of straw sandals, the porters' backs were glistening with sweat, carrying sacks and stepping out creaking sound waves on the jumping boards, and the continuous blue-tiled roofs of the official warehouses on the shore were covered with yellow flags, stretching as far as the eye could see.

This was the symbol of the Ministry of Revenue; the importance of Tongzhou grain transport could be seen.

Outside the official warehouse, tax officials used iron rods to pierce the sacks, and the Grain Gang men transporting grain lowered their heads and bowed, smiling all over their faces.

"Little Brother Yan, look at those three iron-headed boats."

Sha Lifei pointed to a few small boats hidden beside the large ships and said happily, "The draft is abnormal; they must be padding private salt under the grain bags."

"Don't mind other people's business."

Li Yan shook his head slightly, his gaze swept over the tea sheds on the shore, turned his head, and said in a deep voice, "Who exactly is coming to pick me up?"

The Commandant's Office squad leader next to him cupped his fists helplessly, "Young Hero Li, my lord didn't say; the little one really doesn't know."

"Making it so mysterious." Li Yan was somewhat speechless.

Soon, the official boat sailed into the wharf, and the large and small ships along the way dodged one after another.

The "Taotie" flag of the Commandant's Office was hanging on the boat, and no one wanted to provoke it.

Before it docked, Li Yan sniffed and a smile appeared on his face.

Looking up, he saw an accountant wearing indigo short-sleeved clothes sitting on the railing of the second floor of a wine shop on the shore.

Two mouse-like whiskers trembled with the steam of the hot wine, and a pair of bright eyes looked at him with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

"Brothers below, come up and have a cup of water wine!"

The "accountant" shouted holding a wine cup, with three parts Beijing accent mixed with seven parts Guanzhong dialect.

"Hahaha..."

Li Yan laughed, and without waiting for the jumping board to be set up, he leaped onto the wharf in one bound.

He strode to the second floor of the wine shop, pushed aside the bead curtain of the private room, and smiled, "Daoist, long time no see!"

The one who came to pick him up was none other than Luo Mingzi.

This Daoist was a good friend of Li Yan's, and to some extent, also a good teacher on his cultivation path. Ever since he found the clues about Zhao Changsheng, Luo Mingzi had been transferred to the capital, specializing in investigating Zhao Changsheng.

"Yes."

After Luo Mingzi stood up, he patted Li Yan on the arm and sighed, "After not seeing you for a few years, you have already made such a great name for yourself. Master wrote a letter last month, still constantly regretting that if he had known, he would have said anything to pull you into the sect."

"It's all the same."

Li Yan laughed dumbly, then sniffed again and turned his head to look at the southeast corner of the room.

A furnace of incense was burning there, seemingly mixed with mugwort leaves and peach wood.

It looked ordinary, but it was a disposable magic artifact of the Tai Xuan Orthodox Sect, "Clear Obscurity Incense."

The greatest function of this thing was to clear away wandering yin evil qi.

When opening the altar, it was used to purify the altar field, and on weekdays, it could prevent people from using techniques to locate and curse.

Coupled with Luo Mingzi's attire, Li Yan immediately realized something was wrong.

"What's going on? Is someone trying to harm the Daoist?"

Luo Mingzi smiled, "No matter, please invite Daoist Wang and the others, let's sit down and talk."

While speaking, Wang Daoxuan and the others had already gone upstairs.

"Greetings, fellow Daoist."

"Daoist, long time no see."

He and Sha Lifei were also acquainted with Luo Mingzi, so they naturally exchanged greetings when they met.

After introducing Long Yan'er and the others, everyone sat down.

At the same time, the entire wine shop, upstairs and downstairs, had been completely cleared out.

It turned out that those shopkeepers and waiters were all disguised by Luo Mingzi's subordinates, and they had also pasted talismans on the doors and windows to isolate detection.

A series of actions were smooth and flowing, and everyone looked well-trained.

Sha Lifei and the others were secretly surprised but didn't say anything, waiting for Li Yan to inquire.

"Sigh~ everyone, don't laugh at me."

Luo Mingzi drank a cup of tea, pulled off the fake eight-character beard on his mouth, shook his head, and said, "I just finished a errand; I didn't catch the person, and I was tracked by the opponent's expert, so I had to be careful."

Li Yan frowned, "The capital is an important place, under the Emperor's feet, who is so bold?"

"Their guts are very big!"

Luo Mingzi said coldly, "Sneaking into the Ministry of Rites to replace the house-protecting magic artifacts bestowed by the imperial court to meritorious officials."

Li Yan was stunned, then his eyes became sharp, "Did the Daoist find out?"

Back then, his grandfather Li Gui fought in the Northern Frontier and accidentally destroyed Zhao Changsheng's Earth Immortal flesh body, and was subsequently designed for revenge.

Even his father, Li Hu, died because of investigating this matter.

He continued to search before he caught Zhao Changsheng's tail.

Zhao Changsheng was the mastermind, but to be so unscrupulous, there must be someone in the court cooperating!

"Hmm."

Luo Mingzi nodded, "After arriving in the capital, by the Emperor's order, I led elite troops to investigate secretly. In addition to collecting intelligence from various places, your family's matter is the key clue."

"Unfortunately, this matter has been too long. Those old soldiers from twenty years ago have all passed away, and the leading general Yuan Xizhong even violated the law and was executed with his whole family. The people in the Ministry of Rites responsible for this matter back then have also mysteriously disappeared or died, and the files are missing."

"Zhao Changsheng's accomplices in the capital are acting flawlessly."

"It wasn't until you provided clues some time ago that we gained something."

"'Zhao Qingxu' is a name that sounds like a Daoist name. I had to investigate the files of the Mystic Ritual Office first and also let the large and small Daoist temples in the capital present all the names of the fire-dwelling Daoists hanging their orders, and they had to write down their roots and origins."

Li Yan hurriedly asked, "What was the result?"

Luo Mingzi smiled bitterly, "Found three 'Zhao Qingxu's, two swindling Daoists, and a pawnshop accountant; they are all ordinary people."

"So, we followed the clues of the magic artifacts and found that when the Daxing Dynasty perished, the secret treasures in the palace were stolen in an orderly manner. The 'Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Money' was among them. Fortunately, the treasure list of the Daxing Dynasty still exists. Following this batch of things, we found a group of Mystic Sect thieves."

"But when we were about to arrest them, a mysterious expert suddenly appeared to silence them and even cursed several fellow Daoists to death."

Li Yan felt it was somewhat incredible, "That person's cultivation was very high?"

"Not clear."

Luo Mingzi shook his head, "The opponent never showed up from beginning to end, coming and going without a trace, leaving no tail. But what makes me even more frightened is that these people seem to know everything. Our actions were secret, and even the Emperor didn't know, but they were always able to be one step ahead."

"That goes without saying, there's a mole."

Li Yan shook his head slightly and made a few gestures with his tea.

This time in Jinmen, he had new clues again.

Lu Jinghai mentioned the "Peach Blossom Assembly" in the capital before he died.

This clue was very important, but Zhao Changsheng sent someone to Li Family Fort to have Hei Dan bring him a message, which was both a provocation and showed that the other party had already laid a net in the capital. Investigating the "Peach Blossom Assembly" could no longer be done with great fanfare.

Seeing Li Yan's gestures, Luo Mingzi understood immediately and didn't talk about this matter anymore, but instead discussed the current situation in the capital.

"His Majesty fainted once in the court last year. Although it is forbidden to discuss it, this matter is already known to everyone in the capital. Under pressure from all sides, His Majesty finally decided on the status of the Crown Prince, but the First Prince is weak in nature, and the other princes are also dissatisfied..."

"The Qiankun Academy is now attracting much attention and is also the center of the vortex..." Just as he was speaking, noise suddenly came from below.

Everyone immediately stopped talking and turned their heads to look out the window.

Only to see the long street of the wharf was already in a mess.

Dozens of soldiers rode horses and held knives, surrounding several Western merchants.

Those people had high noses and deep eyes, and they were running away in panic wrapped in headscarves, using both hands and feet to jump on the roofs of houses of varying heights.

They looked miserable but were unusually flexible, as if playing hide-and-seek, dodging the soldiers below.

Seeing this, Sha Lifei was happy, "This light-body technique is rare, what kind of style is it?"

"Those are Persians."

Luo Mingzi took a look and said indifferently, "I heard that after the sea was opened, a batch of people came. After gaining a foothold in the capital, they privately built a fire-worshipping altar and were ambitious, colluding with the Maitreya Sect. After being warned by the Law Enforcement Hall, they became honest."

"Some of their warriors privately do not follow the imperial court's laws. Before, it was too much trouble to bother, but because of that matter in Jinmen, the local faction made trouble, and coupled with His Majesty's anger, they are also going to suffer."

Sure enough, facing these Persian warriors running and jumping, the garrison soldiers were not surprised at all.

A few people swung iron chain flying claws while riding their horses.

*Hua la la! *

Just as the Persians jumped into the air, the flying claws roared out.

Those unlucky ghosts were immediately locked by the iron chains and fell from the air.

Before they could get up, a team of soldiers rushed up and punched and kicked them, beating them until they had more breath going out than coming in.

"Barbarian treacherous merchants, daring to privately sell prohibited drugs!"

The leading captain searched out a leather bag, looked at the opium inside, and cursed coldly.

After saying this, he suddenly glanced sideways at the street corner and scolded, "What are you staring at? There are them too!"

At the street corner stood several ragged ginseng pickers from the Northeast.

Because of the sudden incident, they and the commoners were blocked on both sides of the street and didn't dare to move.

The coarse cloth-wrapped basket was squeezed crookedly, revealing seven or eight wild mountain ginsengs with dense beard patterns, shining with amber luster in the sun.

Several soldiers who were like wolves and tigers rushed up directly, kicked over the basket, and the ginseng beards scattered into the dust like gold threads.

"What a big ginseng!"

Seeing this, the surrounding people let out a cry of surprise.

The leading ginseng-picking old man hurriedly knelt and begged, "Military lords, please see clearly, this was dug by the commoners risking their lives in the White Mountain, it's not a prohibited drug!"

Before the words fell, a soldier had already turned his head to look at the leader, and seeing him nod, he grinned and grabbed the basket.

"The barbarian merchants' accomplices are all hiding poison! Take them away for inspection!"

The surrounding soldiers rushed up one after another, tied those ginseng pickers with chains, and took them away together.

Some ginseng pickers wanted to resist but were beaten until their heads were broken and bleeding with a stick, fainting.

Not long after, people were coming and going on the street again; some were whispering, some were cursing in low voices...

Luo Mingzi shook his head slightly, called a subordinate, and said in a deep voice, "Go to the Tongzhou Garrison General and inform him of this matter."

"Yes, my lord."

The subordinate immediately cupped his fists and left.

Looking at the crowd, Luo Mingzi shook his head helplessly, "The poor Daoist can only do this much. The capital is not like other places; we still have many people watching. If we interfere blindly and are obstructed by others, we won't even be able to do our proper work."

"Daoist is kind-hearted, I admire you."

Everyone nodded and praised.

Disturbed by this farce, they no longer had the mood to continue drinking.

Luo Mingzi stood up, "Since that's the case, let's go."

"The waterway from Tongzhou to the capital is blocked again and hasn't been cleared. Because of the barbarian merchant matter, the city is somewhat chaotic. Let's take the land route; it will take about three hours to reach the capital. I have already arranged accommodation for everyone in the manor outside the city."

"That's good."

Sha Lifei said happily, "Sure enough, having people in the capital makes things easy to handle."

"Don't talk nonsense."

Luo Mingzi laughed dumbly, but he was secretly surprised in his heart.

He remembered that Sha Lifei was just a Jianghu old oil-slick, his kung fu was average, and he just relied on his thick skin and glib tongue to mix, so how did he become a sorcerer after not seeing him for a few years? It was rare.

Of course, what he cared more about was Li Yan's secret signal before.

Leaving Tongzhou early was also because he wanted to know what had been found.

"Young Hero Li..."

Just at this moment, Kong Shangzhao next to him opened his mouth hesitantly.

Li Yan shook his head, "Brother Kong, don't worry, we will find someone later to notify the people your father arranged to come and meet us."

And Luo Mingzi, hearing this, pondered for a moment and opened his mouth, "This is not appropriate."

"Someone was secretly peeping before, and this Brother Kong is afraid he has also fallen into their line of sight. To be safe, he'd better follow us. Anyway, we are also going to the capital; traveling together is safer."

Li Yan smiled without speaking when he saw this.

When introducing him, he had already explained Kong Shangzhao's identity.

Luo Mingzi was afraid he had taken a fancy to this treasure.

"In that case... that's fine."

Kong Shangzhao nodded hurriedly and breathed a sigh of relief in secret.

Soon, the person his father arranged to meet them rushed over.

"Young Master, you finally came..."

The one who came was a thin middle-aged shopkeeper, his voice even carrying a crying tone, "Linqing had an incident, the Jinmen wharf also had an incident, and now Tongzhou City is also not peaceful. This old slave thought... fortunately, fortunately, otherwise I wouldn't know how to explain to the master."

"An Bo, it's okay."

Kong Shangzhao comforted him hurriedly and told the group's plan.

Hearing that they were people from the Commandant's Office, the shopkeeper wasn't stupid and naturally agreed hurriedly.

At this time, night had already fallen. Luo Mingzi brought more than ten subordinates and helped everyone arrange carriages in advance. After showing his token, he ordered people to open the city gate and walked toward the outside of the city under the cover of night.

After traveling on the official road for not long, Li Yan felt something and turned his head to look.

In the distance, in the deep night, Tongzhou City could only see little starlight and fire.

"What's wrong?"

Luo Mingzi asked hurriedly.

Li Yan narrowed his eyes, "Someone was indeed peeping just now, but I don't know what technique they used. Be careful on the road later."

Everyone understood immediately, Lu San raised his hand, and also ordered the falcon Lidong to fly toward the high sky.

On the city wall of Tongzhou, several black-robed people had already appeared.

Strangely, the patrolling city soldiers passed by holding torches, but they couldn't see them.

"What should we do?"

"Hmph, traveling at night, really seeking death..."

"I think you are the ones seeking death!"

The leading black-robed person gave a reprimand, interrupting the words of the few people beside him.

He looked at the crowd and sneered, "That is the Twelve Yuan Chen, and Li Yan is a living Underworld official. If you gentlemen get close, I'm afraid you will be directly beaten into the Underworld."

"After all, we are all abandoned children in this world..."

(End of chapter)