Pawn Crossing the River

The sheep cart stopped in front of the gate of Nanhuafang. Qi Xuansu got off the sheep cart and walked into Nanhuafang.

Although Yujing imitates the ancient layout of the city, it does not implement the city system, so the traffic between the houses is unobstructed. There is no curfew and no checkpoint guards are set up at the gates.

Qi Xuansu entered Nanhuafang, asked around along the way, and soon came to Sun Yongfeng's residence.

Nanhuafang is one of the eight upper lanes. Every inch of land is worth the same price as gold. If you want to own a single-family courtyard here, you must at least be a third-grade Taoist priest. As for the residence that you can enter, that is only qualified by real people.

Sun Yongfeng is just a Taoist priest of the fourth grade of wine sacrifice, so his residence is a two-story building facing the street. The two doors of the living room are close to the street in Fangzhong, and the bedroom is on the second floor.

Qi Xuansu took out a second-hand pocket watch that Qiniang had transferred to him at the original price, opened the cover and looked at the time.

It's already midnight, and the chief should have returned from Tiangang Hall.

Qi Xuansu put away his pocket watch, walked up the three steps in front of the door, and pulled the string connected to the bell.

After a while, the door opened from the inside, and a girl with a double bun appeared in front of Qi Xuansu. She looked at Qi Xuansu up and down with a careful look and asked, "Who is your Excellency?"

Qi Xuansu presented his famous thorn with both hands and said: "I, Qi Xuansu, have come to see Master Sun. I wonder if I can pass the petition on my behalf?"

The honorific title of the Taoist priests of the fourth grade Jijiu is "Master", just like the honorific title of the Taoist priests of the second grade Taiyi is "Zhenren".

The maid glanced at the famous thorn, which was made of ordinary locust wood, and did not move.

Qi Xuansu understood it and took out another small round and gave it to the maid's hand.

"Please wait a moment." The maid then took the famous assassination and went to report it.

After a while, the maid came back, opened both doors, and said sideways: "Master, please come in."

Qi Xuansu walked into the two-story building. The maid closed the door again, and then led Qi Xuansu through the entrance hall and into the living room.

After all, it is the residence of a fourth-grade Taoist priest. The living room is not small. There is a rosewood tea table inlaid with marble on the north wall. There are two rosewood carved armchairs on each side. There are four chairs running east and west. A rosewood chair with a coffee table. The most rare thing is the ground, which is made of marble of the same color, with marble stars inlaid on each piece.

At the same time, a man in regular clothes was coming down the stairs from the second floor.

The head of the Tiangang Hall looked like he was only about forty years old because he had been pampered for many years. He was holding a closed folding fan in his hand.

Of course, there are strict requirements for the clothing of people in the Taoist sect, which is mainly reflected in three aspects: crown, clothing and shoes.

The clothes are mainly Taoist robes in the style of a crane cloak. The ancient crane cloak, also known as the immortal Taoist priest's clothing, was made of crane feathers. Today's crane cloak has evolved into a large coat with wide sleeves and double-breasted laces. It is no longer made of crane feathers, but is instead made of various common clothing materials. It is used to keep out the cold in spring, autumn and winter. It is also the preferred clothing of noble gentry.

Because the crane's cloak reaches to the ankles, the toes of the cloud shoes are turned upward to form a cocked head, holding up the hem of the clothes to avoid tripping. The raised toe of men's shoes is a square toe, while the raised toe of women's shoes is a round toe.

The most important thing is the crown. After the Taoist sect was revived, various previous traditions were canceled and explicit rules were formed.

The great master of Quanzhen Dao wears a fishtail crown, the great master of Zhengyi Dao wears a hibiscus crown, and the great master of Taiping Dao wears a Ruyi crown.

The rest of the great masters and masters wear lotus crowns, which look like a blooming lotus.

Third-grade Taoist priests wear the Five Mountains Crown, also known as the Five Mountains Spirit Picture Crown, which is in the shape of a bucket and is engraved with the "True Shape Picture of the Five Mountains".

In addition, the fourth-grade Taoist priest wears Chunyang scarf, the fifth-grade Taoist priest wears Hunyuan scarf, the sixth-grade Taoist priest wears Nanhua scarf, the seventh-grade Taoist priest wears Xiaoyao scarf, the eighth-grade Taoist priest wears Haoran scarf, the ninth-grade Taoist priest wears Taichi scarf, and the Taoist boy wears Wrap.

However, because it was not an informal occasion, neither Sun Yongfeng nor Qi Xuansu wore a crane cloak or crown. Qi Xuansu even wore a pair of flat-toed boots.

"I entered Qi Xuansu at the end of my studies and met the Master." Qi Xuansu nodded.

In ancient times, Jishou was the most solemn kneeling ceremony among the nine worships. However, among Taoists, Jishou was just a common etiquette. It was neither solemn nor necessary to kneel down.

Sun Yongfeng nodded slightly, walked to the living room, sat on the chair on the left side of the center, and asked knowingly: "Do you want to enter Tiangang Hall?"

"Yes." Qi Xuansu replied standing.

Sun Yongfeng leaned back on the chair, slowly unfolded the folding fan in his hand, and said nonchalantly: "I already know your situation. You are now at a fatal age. How far you can go in the future depends entirely on these two years. "

Qi Xuansu has gone through great changes and ups and downs, and has long learned to be flexible and flexible. At this time, he restrained all his sharp edges and said: "What the Master said is absolutely true. The younger generation was stupid in the past and wasted time."

Sun Yongfeng gently shook the folding fan: "Taoism has always valued young people. If you are over thirty years old and are still a seventh-grade Taoist priest, Jiutang will not want you. You can only find a job in the local Taoist government. People of the same period as you We are all so popular in the ancestral court, but you are still hanging around in the local Taoist government, can you be willing to do so?"

Qi Xuansu said: "Of course I am unwilling. I have thought about getting a job in the ancestral court before, but unfortunately I couldn't find the temple gate with a pig's head."

Sun Yongfeng closed the folding fan in his hand with a "pop" sound, and said with a faint smile: "Headless flies are bumping around everywhere. What results can be achieved? There must be key people who can say the key words for you at the critical moment. Otherwise, Even if you carry a whole pig, you still can't cross the threshold of the ancestral court."

Qi Xuansu knew that the real show was about to begin, so he quickly took out the two official tickets he had prepared from his sleeve pocket, stepped forward, and placed them on the rosewood coffee table with marble surface next to Sun Yongfeng.

Then Qi Xuansu said softly: "That's why I came to pay homage to you, the true god."

Sun Yongfeng glanced at the two official tickets on the table with the corner of his eye, nodded slightly, smiled, and pointed to the seat below him: "Okay, young man, please sit down."

Qi Xuansu, who had been standing, sat down on the chair at the top left.

Sun Yongfeng tapped his palms with his folding fan and said slowly, "Young man, I dare not say that I am the key person, but if my words cannot solve the problem, then you can only consider yourself unlucky."

Qi Xuansu echoed, "Yes, yes."

Sun Yongfeng continued, "This time, Tiangang Hall has added a deputy hall master. Correspondingly, two principals, six deacons and other people will be added. The deputy hall master will be decided by the great master himself; the principal will be decided by the hall master; the deacon will be decided by the deputy hall master; and the next step can be decided by the principal. This is an opportunity for you. Take the position first. Don't worry about what you do, whether it is internal affairs or external affairs. You can adjust it slowly later."

Qi Xuansu clasped his fists and said, "Then I will leave it all to Master Sun."

"Since you come to me for help, I will take care of you if I can, but I can't guarantee you. Whether you can pass the deputy hall master level depends on you." Sun Yongfeng didn't say anything and looked straight at Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu pretended to be terrified and said, "Of course, of course."

Sun Yongfeng took out an envelope from his sleeve and handed it to Qi Xuansu, saying, "This is your certificate. On the 16th of August, you should report to Tiangang Hall with this certificate."

Qi Xuansu took the envelope with both hands and nodded.

At this time, the maid walked to the tea table and arranged the tea set, then brought a shiny copper kettle, opened the lid, and poured a line of steaming water into the lid.

The green buds slowly floated to the surface of the lid, all floating there vertically.

Sun Yongfeng put down the folding fan in his hand, picked up the lid, but did not drink.

Serve tea to see the guests off.

Qi Xuansu stood up and said goodbye, "Then I'll trouble Master Sun. I'll leave first."

Sun Yongfeng sat on the chair without getting up, just nodded slightly.

Qi Xuansu certainly didn't learn these unwritten rules by himself. They were all taught to him by Qi Niang. Although they were not good things, they were indeed very useful, so that Qi Xuansu would not run into obstacles everywhere.

Qi Xuansu left Sun Yongfeng's residence, opened the envelope, and pulled out a piece of cardboard with Qi Xuansu's name and relevant information written on it. Obviously, this Sun master had prepared it in advance.

Some people may not be able to help you succeed, but it is easy to ruin your things, so there is nothing he can do about these two hundred Taiping money. How could he want to give the hard-earned money he fought for with his life to such people?

But Qi Niang was right. Now he was better off with it than with it. No matter how much he couldn't bear it, he could only bear it.

In addition, the key this time was not Qi Xuansu, but the Qingping Society. For a seventh-grade Taoist priest, two hundred Taiping money was not an unbearable amount, but the question was how to make a fourth-grade master accept these two hundred Taiping money with peace of mind and do things for money. This is the role of the Qingping Society.

The Qingping Society knocked on the temple door, and Qi Xuansu had the opportunity to enter the temple to burn incense and worship the gods. From this point of view, the second reward is indeed far better than the "Dragon Hand Gun" with 20 rounds of engraved talismans and fixed ammunition.

From the small to the big, how huge is the power of the Qingping Society.

Although Qi Xuansu wanted to leave the Qingping Society, he had to admit that the Qingping Society did play the role of a backer, making him more confident than an ordinary seventh-grade Taoist priest.

Now, Qi Xuansu has to think about a very realistic problem, that is, there is still a month before August 16. Considering the expensive price of taking a flying boat, he cannot leave Yujing, but the expenses in Yujing City are also huge. If he remembers correctly, the inn in Yujing is one Taiping money a day, which is just for accommodation, and there are other expenses. If he stays in the inn for a month, it is still a bit too expensive for Qi Xuansu, who has less than 200 Taiping money left.

Qi Xuansu stood on the side of the road and pondered for a long time, and finally made up his mind to go to Haichanfang, where he used to live.