Chapter 44: Deja Vu

Chen Jianchou is now in the Water Palace, and Qi Xuansu's signing room is also in the Water Palace. He plans to meet Chen Jianchou, the key figure in this signing room.

The reason why the current situation has become like this is that Chen Jianchou is the key among the keys, but Qi Xuansu does not mean to blame Chen Jianchou. After all, he entrusted Chen Jianchou to investigate the matter. It's just that no one expected that the direction and development of the matter would eventually exceed everyone's expectations.

Lan Da Zhenren was backlashed and seriously injured. The divine descent container that the two ancient immortals had planned for many years was also destroyed. It was a lose-lose situation.

This is not something Chen Jianchou can control, or even Qi Xuansu can control.

However, Qi Xuansu still admires this young man. Although the age difference between the two is not big, the difference in status does make Qi Xuansu qualified to say "young man". After all, the Eastern tradition has always been "respect" must be "elder". Qi Xuansu is an eighth-generation disciple, and Xu Jiaorong is a seventh-generation disciple, but the two never talk about seniority when they get along. Qi Xuansu does not call him uncle or senior. He only talks about his position, and they are basically equals. ..

Qi Xuansu had already talked to Ke Qingqing, and asked for her opinion. Ke Qingqing naturally had no objection. Although she was grateful for Qi Xuansu's kindness, it was not nice to have a male boss and a female subordinate. There might be rumors. It would be better to change to a female boss, not to mention that the female boss was the legendary Zhang Yuelu, who was even better than Qi Xuansu.

Since there were no objections from all sides, it was basically settled. First, solve the problem of Chen Jianchou's identity as a Taoist priest, and the rank was not urgent. Then let him follow Ke Qingqing, and let Ke Qingqing lead him to familiarize him with the environment and business, and then slowly hand over, and finally officially serve as Qi Xuansu's secretary.

In this way, Qi Xuansu also sold Xu Jiaorong a face, and Xu Jiaorong owed Qi Xuansu a favor.

Soon, Chen Jianchou came to Qi Xuansu's signing room under the guidance of Ke Qingqing, and met Qi Cixi, who had heard of his name for a long time but met for the first time.

Chen Jianchou's first impression was that they were really young.

Since the fifth generation of the Great Master, the Taoist sect has strictly prohibited excessive rejuvenation, and the minimum age cannot be lower than 40 years old. The higher the level of the Taoist priest, the more so.

So at a glance, the female Taoist priests are basically stuck to the bottom line, maintaining the appearance of about 40 years old, and most of them develop in a dignified, graceful, and majestic style, from Cihang Zhenren, Qiniang, Zhang Wuhen, to Xu Jiaorong, Shi Bingyun, Chen Shuhua, Bai Yingqiong, Tan Taiqiong, and Cui Daogu.

Male Taoist priests are more casual, and there are basically all ages. If you want to focus on majesty, you can look about 40 years old, such as Donghua Zhenren. If you want to focus on kindness, you can be over 80 years old, with white hair and beard, and still look like an immortal, such as Tianshi. If you want to be more moderate, you can take the middle value, about 60 years old, such as Li Tianlan.

In this case, except for a few who are born to look young, such as Qingwei Zhenren, the rest who look young are really young, and there is no such thing as old guys pretending to be young.

It is conceivable that Qi Xuansu stands out among a group of vice-palace masters of the same level.

During the time Chen Jianchou was in the Water Palace, he had seen many high-ranking Taoists, all of whom were not young, and most of the young ones were not of high rank. He was the only one who was both high-ranking and young.

The key is that he also holds great power.

He had heard that Qi Cixi led his troops into the city and took over the defense, blocking Chen Chief speechless. Until now, the "Yinglong" was still floating in the sky.

It is hard to say whether Shenglong Mansion was peaceful or not after Qi Cixi came, but the Water Palace was indeed peaceful, and all those who blocked the door disappeared.

"Meeting the second seat." Chen Jianchou saluted respectfully.

"No need to be polite." Qi Xuansu took Chen Jianchou's file casually.

Once upon a time, it was Zhang Yuelu who read Qi Xuansu's file, but now it has become Qi Xuansu who reads other people's files.

Standard Taoist official documents, from right to left, from top to bottom.

Name: Chen Jianchou. Biaozi: Xuzheng.

Age: 22 years old.

Rank: Taoist boy.

Origin: Royal family of Dayu. Note: collateral line.

Master: Xu Jiaorong. Note: 1. A third-rank Taoist priest, assistant in position. 2. Both foster mother and foster son.

Position: None. Note: Experienced as a member of Dayu Qingluan Guard.

Address: Shenglong Mansion of Dayu.

Inheritance: Qi Refiner.

Cultivation: Yuxu stage of innate people. Note: Qi Refiner is in the realm of transformation.

Affiliation: Quanzhen Dao. Note: Never received the talisman.

Taoist companion: None. Note: Not ordained, can marry on his own.

Children and disciples: None. Note: Not qualified to accept disciples.

Past punishment record: None.

Past meritorious service record: Undetermined.

Comprehensive evaluation: Grade A. Note: There are four grades in total.

The opinion of the principal: It is recommended to hire.

The second deputy palace master's opinion: empty.

To be fair, when Qi Xuansu was Chen Jianchou's age, his rank was higher than Chen Jianchou's, his background was better than Chen Jianchou's, but his realm was far inferior. There was no way, he was a casual person, and Qi Niang didn't care about these. She had planned it long ago. With the "Heart of the Immortal Stone", she could catch up anyway, so she taught Qi Xuansu more about how to deal with things.

As for why Chen Jianchou was evaluated as an A-level, in addition to his high realm and the undetermined merit, Xu Jiaorong's face was also part of the reason.

As for this opinion of the chief, it was actually Ke Qingqing's opinion.

Qi Xuansu didn't rush to approve it, but said: "It's mid-May now, and there are only two and a half months left until August."

In the past, when the Confucian sect was in power, the imperial examination was a top priority. The provincial examination was held every three years, in the years of Zi, Mao, Wu, and You, also called rural examinations.

The examination period is in August in autumn, so it is also called Qiuwei. The exam is divided into three sessions, held on August 9th, 12th and 15th respectively. The first person to be promoted in the provincial examination is Jieyuan. Those who pass the provincial examination are called the B list, also called the B subjects. When the list was released, the sweet-scented osmanthus was fragrant, so it was also called Guibang. After the results are released, the governor will host the deer roaring banquet. During the banquet, the poem "Lu Ming" was sung and the Kuixing dance was performed.

After the Taoist sect came to power, it still attached great importance to examinations, and the examination period was also scheduled in August, but it was changed to three consecutive days from the first to the third day of junior high school, and the results were released on August 15th during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

But this is a big test, for those who are Taoist priests.

Before that, there was a quiz every June, which was for Taoist students. Chen Jianchou is already a Taoist boy, so he doesn't need to take the exam again.

Qi Xuansu asked: "Yuzheng, are you sure about the big exam in August?"

Chen Jianchou immediately replied: "I dare not say 100%, but 99%."

"So confident." Qi Xuansu smiled, "Let me remind you, neither Xu Fuli nor I will open the back door for you. You have to rely on your own ability."

Chen Jianqiu said: "To put it bluntly, if I wanted to go through the back door, I would be a seventh-grade Taoist priest by now. Just because I want to be admitted to the Taoist sect in an upright manner, I have always been a Taoist boy, waiting for the big exam every three years. . The reason why I failed last time was because some of my remarks were too outrageous, and I was kicked off the list. This time I learned my lesson and will not make such a mistake again.”

Qi Xuansu nodded: "Very good. Once your identity as a Taoist priest is confirmed, you can fill in the credits on this file. The highest-level divine descending of Wu Luo must be at least a geo-character skill."

Speaking of this, Qi Xuansu suddenly remembered what Qiniang once said, and said slowly: "From a Taoist boy to a ninth-grade Taoist priest, there will be a three-year assessment period. With Xu Fuli as your leader, this step can be done Forget it. After the assessment period, you must become an eighth-level Taoist priest within two years, and then you must be promoted to a seventh-level Taoist priest within the next five years. If you can become a sixth-level Taoist priest before the age of thirty, you will be promoted to a sixth-level Taoist priest. Be included in the ranks of 'preparing wine for sacrifice'. The contribution you have made is more than enough to be a 'preparation for wine sacrifice'."

Once upon a time, it was someone else who told Qi Xuansu these words, but now it was Qi Xuansu who said these words to Chen Jianchou as a senior. Times have changed, one moment and another.

Of course, without Xu Jiaorong's face, Qi Xuansu would not have said much at all. The world is such a reality. Without these nepotistic relationships, Qi Xuansu would not be able to sit in the second seat and tell Chen Jianchou these truths condescendingly, and maybe even call him Brother Chen or Lord Chen.

But then again, be it Qi Xuansu or Chen Jianchou, it is true that they relied on their adoptive mother's nepotism to get to the top, but the key is that they must be reliable, so that they can stand up. What many people lack is such an opportunity. If they have this opportunity, they can use their skills and fly into the sky. Without this opportunity, it is likely that half of your life will be wasted and frustrated.

Therefore, the grace of knowing and encountering is also called the grace of rebuilding. It is almost the same as the grace of nurturing and life-saving. It is a kind of kindness that is overwhelming.

Qi Xuansu put down the file in his hand: "Then I wish you good luck in the exam and a title on the gold list."

Having said this, Qi Xuansu paused for a moment, and then changed the topic: "By the way, I have read the relevant files you wrote, and I have a preliminary understanding of what happened. Do you think the king's condition is related to Chief Chen?" Does it matter?"

Chen Jianchou did not expect Qi Xuansu to ask such a direct question. He was stunned for a while and then said: "It should be related. According to the adoptive mother..."

Ke Qingqing interrupted softly and reminded: "Formal occasions are called duties."

Chen Jianchou immediately changed his words: "According to Xu Fu's analysis afterwards, the seven dead eunuchs were the key to the two ancient immortals being able to use dragon energy to construct the divine descending vessel. They were all Yin-Yang people and had no true energy. They have no magic power, or even divine power, but live on dragon energy and possess dragon energy. In other words, they themselves are excellent dragon energy containers. Sacrificing seven ordinary heavenly beings may not create an excellent one. The divine descending vessel can be sacrificed to seven yin-yang people with dragon energy, but a suitable divine descending vessel will definitely be produced. The corpses of the seven eunuchs were fragile after death, as if they had been drained, which illustrates this point. . I even suspect that they were not buried in the tomb after death, but were restrained during their lifetime, buried alive, and finally drained by the formation."