Chapter 2582: Eating with Relish

Premier Nan nodded, and he looked at the Su family's courtyard again, "Your courtyard is truly nice."

Su Xinghui said, "This isn't even the best one. Some Sihe Academy are much larger than this. I once saw a Sihe Academy that occupied over ten mu of land; the tiles on the roof were glazed tiles, and each roof ridge had nine small beasts. It was very grand."

Premier Nan said, "That courtyard hasn't been demolished yet, right?"

Su Xinghui said, "It hasn't been demolished yet, but I don't know if it will be torn down after a while. That's over ten mu of land in the city center!"

Premier Nan nodded again. He looked through all three courtyards of the house and asked, "Didn't you say you picked up many treasures these past few days? Take me to see them."

Su Xinghui took Premier Nan into the storage room. He took out all the small beasts and eave tiles he had picked up, filling an entire room, and his repair work had also begun.

Premier Nan looked at the room full of items with interest and asked, "Did you pick all these up these past few days?"

Su Xinghui nodded, "Yes, these are all good things. If I hadn't picked them up, they would have all been thrown into the trash heap by now."

Premier Nan sat on a small stool, picked up a relatively complete small beast, and asked, "What is this called?"

Su Xinghui said, "This is called a 'fish-dragon.' It is a strange beast from the sea that manages clouds and rain. Therefore, many ancient buildings have this item; they believe that having this can prevent fires."

Premier Nan nodded, "This is also a beautiful wish of the people. Then what is this called?"

Su Xinghui said, "This is a xiezhi."

Premier Nan said, "Oh, this is a xiezhi? I know this. It is said to be a symbol of fair law enforcement. In ancient palaces, this strange beast was kept; when it encountered corrupt officials, it would use its horn to knock them to the ground and then eat them."

Su Xinghui said, "Premier, you are very knowledgeable. That is indeed the origin of the xiezhi."

Premier Nan said, "I have only seen the name xiezhi in books; I haven't seen it carved like this before. I see that the forms of these small beasts are all similar; why can you distinguish them?" ===== CHAPTER 2584 =====