Chapter 49: The Taoist Priest

The friendship of the Taoist sect is invisible and intangible. It seems to be an empty talk, but the truth in the world has never been so simple.

The thousands of words of the little people are not as good as one or two words of the big people. The friendship of ordinary people is worthless, but the favor of the big people is what many people want.

There is a saying in the officialdom to protect oneself, which is: "Don't make great contributions to the country, but be small favors to the emperor." Don't make great contributions to the country, which will arouse the emperor's suspicion, but you can be small favors to the emperor, so that you will be favored by the emperor.

If Ellie chooses to help the Taoist sect, then in a sense, she will be a small favor to the Taoist sect. The Taoist sect will not give her anything on the surface, but she will get many invisible benefits. For example, she will have the same treatment as a Taoist priest, can enter Yujing and ride a flying boat; for example, for the same goods, the Taoist sect will give priority to her caravan.

This is just a relatively basic treatment. If you can make great contributions to the Taoist sect, you can even become a guest of honor of the True People, be awarded the title of "True People", and have the title of ordinary True People, which is equivalent to a second-grade Taiyi Taoist priest.

As the lord of a city, Ai Li naturally understands the truth and asks in a deep voice: "Are you serious?"

"I can make the decision." Zhang Yuelu took out a blank certificate from the Xumi object and placed it on the coffee table between the two.

Ai Li glanced at the certificate. It had all the seals on it, but the position for the name was empty.

Zhang Yuelu said: "This is a certificate of a fifth-rank Taoist priest, which was given to me by the master. As long as you fill in your name, you can enjoy the treatment of a fifth-rank Taoist priest, because you are a 'fellow Taoist priest', you don't have to obey the Taoist sect's dispatch, nor are you controlled by high-rank Taoist priests. There are only advantages, no disadvantages."

Aili was silent for a moment, and then she smiled like a flower, and told the maid: "Go and invite other guests from the Taoist sect in."

She looked at Zhang Yuelu again: "Master, just give your orders, I will do my best."

Zhang Yuelu was not polite: "Okay, I would like to ask the city lord Ai to order a search to see if there are any suspicious outsiders recently, especially those from the Western countries."

"No problem." Ai Li agreed very happily.

Zhang Yuelu looked at Qi Xuansu again and winked.

Qi Xuansu immediately understood that he was being made the bad guy, so he had to say, "I also want to remind the city lord that if you step on the same boat with both feet, you will be stable, but if you step on two boats, you will be unstable and will fall."

Aili's expression did not change, and she smiled and said, "Of course."

Qi Xuansu stopped talking.

Aili stood up and said, "You have come from afar, please rest in my house for one night. I will give the order now, and we will discuss it slowly tomorrow morning."

"That's fine." Zhang Yuelu did not refuse.

Aili clapped her hands, and immediately a maid walked into the living room. A female official saluted Zhang Yuelu: "Master, please follow me."

At night, Ai Li hosted a banquet for Zhang Yuelu, Lingquanzi and Zhou Bai. Qi Xuansu did not go, but had dinner with other Tiangangtang Taoist priests. This is the Tiangangtang's stay-at-home system. If there is any unexpected situation, Zhang Yuelu, Lingquanzi and Zhou Bai are not there, Qi Xuansu will be the leader of many Tiangangtang Taoist priests, and it can also be seen that Zhang Yuelu trusts Qi Xuansu.

Ordinary Taoists could not enjoy the city lord's dinner reception, and the treatment was not ambiguous. The servants of the city lord's mansion prepared meals with the taste of the Central Plains for everyone. Each person had four small dishes, half meat and half vegetarian, and one big dish for every four people, all of which were lamb legs. In addition, there was wine from the Western Regions.

The Taoist sect has a special poison detection device, which is a thin needle, about half a foot long, installed under the barrel of the hand cannon, parallel to the barrel, and can be pulled out when used.

After the non-toxic test, everyone was relieved to eat and drink. Although the taste is not as good as the restaurant in Yujing, in the past half month, everyone either ate dry food and drank cold water, or ate the tasteless "marching pills". They hadn't eaten properly for a long time, and they felt it was particularly sweet.

Qi Xuansu, Cao Liyou, and Shangguan Dun were at a table, and there was no particular rule of not talking when eating or sleeping.

Shangguan Dun drank a mouthful of chicken soup and said, "I thought the food in the City Lord's Mansion was so good that I could brag about it to others in the future, but it turned out to be like this."

"That's right, the dish seems to have spices added to it, it's weird and not authentic." Cao Liyou nodded in agreement.

Qi Xuansu listened to the two people's complaints and laughed and scolded, "It's good to have something to eat, but you are still picky. Ordinary people cut a pound of meat to make dumplings for the New Year, so don't be ungrateful."

Having said that, Qi Xuansu still gave the best-tasting lamb leg to the two people.

Cao Liyou was a little embarrassed: "Deacon Qi, you should eat some too."

Qi Xuansu said, "Don't worry about me. I see that you haven't eaten much dry food these days, so you should take this opportunity to eat more."

"Deacon Qi, there is a word 'su' in your name. You are not a vegetarian, right?" Cao Liyou couldn't help asking. In the Taoist sect, there are many monks who are vegetarians and don't marry, such as Lingquanzi.

Qi Xuansu said, "My name also has the word 'Xuan' in it. Shouldn't the Daoist sect allocate me a three-story mansion in Xuandu? My last name is 'Qi'. The court should just make me the King of Qi. The whole Qizhou will be mine."

Cao Liyou smiled shyly, stopped talking, and concentrated on eating the lamb leg.

In the end, there was no waste at all. Shangguan Dun ate the tendons of the lamb leg clean.

After dinner, a servant came to clean up the cups and plates and brought hot tea.

Qi Xuansu took a sip of the hot tea and asked, "Brother Shangguan, do you think this Ai City Lord is related to the foreign monster we are looking for?"

"It's hard to say." Shangguan Dun was picking his teeth and said vaguely, "The Ai family is very powerful, and the real people in power are hidden behind the scenes. They pushed the young girl out. When the girl saw Master Zhang , and pretending not to know, there is something about...what do you mean by that word? What kind of seal do you want to stamp?"

"I want to cover up the obvious." Cao Liyou said.

"Yes, it's hard to hide it." Shangguan finished picking his teeth and his voice became clearer. "They must know the existence of this group of people. It's hard to say whether they are from the same group. Let me tell you, the Ai family is not those without roots. A lonely ghost has a big family and a big business. He can run away but the monk cannot run away from the temple. He will not dare to be an enemy of the Taoist sect. "

Qi Xuansu nodded and said, "Brother Shangguan is right."

Shangguan Dun looked around and saw that no one else was paying attention to them, so he lowered his voice: "Deacon Qi, I see that your relationship with Master Zhang is not ordinary. Please tell me exactly what your relationship is. "

Qi Xuansu asked back: "Brother Shangguan, why are you asking about this?"

Shangguan Dun frowned and said, "Didn't I see that Master Zhang had that document of 'being born with a Taoist priest'? I was thinking about it. I lead the way for the Taoist sect and I have merit. Can you get one for me too?" , I don’t want anything higher than that, just a ninth-grade Taoist priest.”

Qi Xuansu said angrily and funny: "You didn't dare to ask Master Zhang, so you came to me."

Shangguan coughed: "If you don't have a ninth-grade Taoist priest, you can still be a Taoist boy. Just add the word 'Tao'."

"Do you want a Taoist?" Qi Xuansu asked, "In the Taoist sect, only minors are called Taoists. If you become a Taoist at a young age, you won't be afraid of others laughing at you."

Shangguan suddenly tugged on his beard: "Tao people... it's okay, at least there is a word for 'Tao'."

Qi Xuansu didn't know whether to laugh or cry and said: "I have no say in this matter, but I heard that the 'fellow Taoist priest' has a fixed quota, which is determined by the Ziwei Hall every year, and the approval is extremely strict. I would rather void it than grant it randomly. Want to I said, Master Zhang will not agree unless you can make a contribution in the encirclement and suppression of the demons outside the territory."

Shangguan Dun sighed: "It's a desperate matter, hey... I'd better forget about this old bone."

While she was talking, Zhang Yuelu came back. There was no expression on her face, making it difficult to tell whether she was happy or angry.

Everyone stood up one after another.

Zhang Yuelu waved his hand to indicate that everyone should not be polite, and then made eye contact with Qi Xuansu, who was in charge of staying behind.

Qi Xuansu stood up knowingly and walked out with Zhang Yuelu.

After the two left, there was a burst of whispering in the room, mostly speculating on their relationship.

The two of them came outside the house, the night was like water, and the wind was chilly.

Qi Xuansu took the initiative and asked: "Is the wine at the dinner good?"

"I don't know much about wine. It's sweet with bitterness, and bitter with sweetness. It has a unique flavor." Zhang Yuelu smiled, "I'm not used to this kind of dinner. I'm just asking for help and socializing."

Qi Xuansu turned to the topic: "Is the Ai family reliable?"

"It's reliable for the time being." Zhang Yuelu rubbed his temples with his hands, not knowing whether it was because he drank too much. "After all, the Ai family doesn't dare to offend the Taoist sect openly."

"This is the same as what Shangguan Dun said." Qi Xuansu roughly recounted the conversation between himself and Shangguan Dun.

Zhang Yuelu said with a smile: "He wants to be born as a ninth-grade Taoist priest? It's not impossible. As long as we can successfully exterminate this group of demon thieves, I will give him a ninth-grade Taoist priest's background, but the subsequent three hundred peace money will not Yes, if he asks again, just answer him like this, it’s up to him to choose whether he wants money or identity.”

"Okay." Qi Xuansu nodded in agreement.

Then there was a moment of silence between the two.

Finally, Zhang Yuelu broke the silence: "Tianyuan, you seem to have something on your mind?"

Qi Xuansu did not deny: "There are some."

"Are you thinking about revenge?" Zhang Yuelu asked.

Qi Xuansu didn't expect that Zhang Yuelu would still remember this. A lie often requires more lies to cover up, so he had no choice but to say: "Yes."

Zhang Yuelu looked at Qi Xuansu and said seriously: "If you need my help, just ask, don't be polite."

The moonlight was bleak, and the moonlight poured on the woman's body like a curtain of water, making her figure ethereal and blurry, as if she would ride the wind and fly away at any time.

Qi Xuansu was absent-minded for a moment, then came back to his senses, nodded and said, "Thank you very much."

"No thanks, I said, we are friends." Zhang Yuelu said softly.

Qi Xuansu was startled, put away his disapproval, smiled and said: "Okay, Miss Tantai."