Plan to cut off the nine states

(Thanks to readers "heathers" and "Eagle Walking in the Wind" for their red rewards.)

The governor of Yecheng sent three minor officials to check the "monsters" in the Valley of Repentance.

The three were very polite and bowed to everyone they met, but they refused to announce their official positions and names. No one in the valley stopped them and let them check around.

The three walked around the valley, stopping from time to time to talk in a low voice, writing a few strokes on paper, and said goodbye after nearly two hours, still politely.

Chang Yanzhi asked them: "Have you found the monster?"

One of them smiled and said: "We are just a few small clerks, recording what we see and hear truthfully. Don't say that there are no monsters in this valley. Even if there are, we dare not catch them and we don't know how to catch them."

Only one day later, people who dare to catch monsters and know how to catch monsters came.

An old Taoist priest led four young disciples to the Siguo Valley under the escort of a team of soldiers. They first set up an altar at the entrance of the valley and burned talismans to invite the gods. The old Taoist priest held a sword and a magic bell and chanted something. The disciples beat the gongs and chimes, making a great noise.

A dozen soldiers watched from a distance. Not long after, some people came to watch the fun. Most of them were scholars in the city. They stood behind the soldiers and shook their heads.

"What are they doing?" a scholar asked.

The leader of the officers and soldiers stopped the scholars and did not allow them to go forward. He replied: "Can't you see it? Exorcise the evil spirits and drive away the monsters."

"The land is full of monsters, which is to warn the authorities and to clean up the common people. The monster grass in the Siguo Valley is lush. The governor should either reflect on himself or punish the source of the monsters. Why do you do such a thing? We..."

The officer did not like to hear such words and ordered the officers and soldiers to drive away the onlookers. "Tell the sentry over there not to let everyone in, and to keep a closer watch."

The old Taoist did not care about the scholars' doubts. He danced and chanted the spells in a rhythmic manner. Suddenly, he shouted and rushed into the valley first. Two disciples followed closely behind. The other two guarded the altar and said to the officers and soldiers: "Master is going to catch monsters. Please step back a little to avoid being hurt by the monster's spirit."

The officers and soldiers retreated a few miles and could see the sentry. If the monster broke out, they would not be left with no way to escape.

The old Taoist rushed into the valley, striding forward, still muttering something in his mouth, occasionally stopping and pointing, and the disciples following him immediately stepped forward and threaded a yellow paper talisman on the grass.

In the courtyard, more than a dozen people stopped to watch, and the old Taoist ignored them and walked through the middle, only stopping for a moment in front of the old servant.

A paper talisman was stuffed into the old servant's collar, half of which was exposed outside. He was so scared that his face turned pale and he stood still. Chang Yanzhi and others were also frightened, looking at each other, not daring to move or ask.

The old Taoist glanced at each room, not entering the door, but only staying at the door for a while. Two disciples cooperated, one brushed the dough and the other pasted the paper talisman. They were skilled and almost kept their pace, able to keep up with the master.

Xu Chu had two rooms, one was a bedroom and the other was originally Fan Bi's residence, the two rooms were adjacent.

The old Taoist stayed at the door of Fan Bi's residence for a little longer, put away the magic bell, turned his five fingers, and calculated good and bad luck. The two disciples checked the master's expression and kept sticking talismans on the door and wall. After more than 30 pieces, the old Taoist was finally satisfied and walked to the next room.

The two disciples had already mastered the movements of brushing the door and sticking talismans. Even if they encountered such an unexpected change as the door suddenly opened and someone walked out, they had no time to stop. It was not until the paper talisman was stuck on the other person's forehead that they realized something was wrong and stopped immediately.

The person who was stuck with the talisman screamed, and the old Taoist in front hurriedly turned back. After a little hesitation, he said to the person: "Don't move!"

Binfen held back the scream and really didn't move. She could only look to both sides with her peripheral vision and saw the two little Taoists, but she couldn't see the old Taoist opposite.

"You have a demonic aura." The old Taoist would never admit that this was a mistake.

"I, I'm not a demon." Binfen said in a trembling voice. Influenced by the princess, she was usually arrogant to outsiders, but at this time she had no temper at all.

"You are not a monster, but you have come into contact with monsters."

"Ah? I didn't, I didn't see any strange things."

"Nothing at all?"

"Uh..." Binfen lived in the palace for a long time, and suddenly came to the remote Siguo Valley. If he said that he hadn't encountered any strange things, he would be lying. "One night, I saw a black shadow passing by the window, and it disappeared in a blink of an eye..."

"That's it." The old Taoist said affirmatively.

"What kind of monster is that? What should I do?"

The old Taoist muttered a few words vaguely, danced with the sword with his right hand, and took off the paper talisman with his left hand, "Okay."

Binfen let out a long breath, "The monster is gone?"

"Well, you didn't come into contact with it much, I came in time, and I can still save your life."

"Thank you for saving my life, Taoist." Binfen went out to quarrel, but in a blink of an eye it turned into gratitude.

"But the root of the evil has not been eliminated, and the monster is still hiding in the valley. You go back to the house, and don't come out before I finish setting up the formation."

Binfen hurriedly retreated to the house and closed the door gently.

The old Taoist glared at the two disciples, reminding them to be careful. The two blushed and pasted talismans on the door.

After walking through all the rooms, the old Taoist led the disciples deep into the valley and headed for the place with the heaviest evil spirit - the tomb of Fan Bi.

Xu Chu was weeding here.

Zhang Shiqing didn't like this place at first, but after living here for a long time, his fear was gone, and he often followed, sitting on the tombstone, reading military newspapers and chatting. Many times he asked and answered his own questions. If he accidentally answered wrong, he would blame Xu Chu.

"You are wrong. How could Huanyan, who is so smart, be helpless? Ning Baoguan is just a ruffian who happened to deceive the emperor's trust. There is no need to send troops from Yecheng. Just call on the county soldiers in Jiangdong to eliminate him. Even the excuse is ready, saying that he held the emperor hostage and established a false dynasty..."

The old Taoist happened to arrive. He did not recognize Princess Fangde, but he could guess it. He stopped far away and said loudly: "I didn't know that the princess was here. I am sorry for offending you. Please forgive me."

Zhang Shiqing followed Xu Chu here early in the morning. He didn't know After asking what happened outside, he stood up and asked blankly, "Who are you?"

"I am a Taoist priest from the Riding Cow Temple on Laojun Mountain, nicknamed Mo Yun. I am here to exorcise demons on the orders of the governor."

"Exorcise demons? Exorcise what demons?"

"There are frequent demons in the Siguo Valley..."

Zhang Shiqing was confused, "I have lived here for a long time and have never seen any demons."

"There are lush demon grasses here, and snakes and foxes often appear. Someone who came to this valley felt dizzy and stayed in bed for several days after returning home."

Zhang Shiqing was even more confused and turned his head to look at Xu Chu.

Xu Chu smiled and said, "Please ask Taoist Mo Yun to let go of the demons, and we will go to another place."

Zhang Shiqing whispered, "Are you really leaving?"

"Well, there is a section of road near the stream in the back mountain that needs to be repaired."

Xu Chu walked towards the back mountain. Zhang Shiqing hesitated for a moment, followed him, and looked back after a few steps. He saw three Taoist priests circling the tomb, and yellow paper talismans were flying everywhere in the wind.

"If Mr. Fan were alive, he would definitely not allow the Taoist priest to go into the mountains and do whatever he wants." Zhang Shiqing caught up with Xu Chu and said with some dissatisfaction.

"Haha, this is not considered as doing anything wrong. Taoist Master Moyun was entrusted by someone and was loyal to him."

"Entrusted by the governor? Well, things are a bit strange. Although the governor Zhou Guan is a local official in Yecheng, he has long been subdued by Huanyan and would never dare to act on his own. It was quite unusual to send someone to check the valley the day before yesterday. Today, he asked the Taoist priest to come and exorcise the monster - was this Huanyan's idea?"

"I guess she acquiesced."

Zhang Shiqing thought for a long time. After crossing the ridge, she said: "Huanyan is helping you. I hope the Taoist priest will exorcise the monster. After that, those scholars will not talk about it anymore, so you don't stop them and let them post talismans everywhere, right? "

Xu Chu smiled and said, "You can be the second Princess Huanyan."

"Hey, I don't want to be her. I have to figure out people's hearts all the time, fight with outsiders, and fight with my own people. There is no fun at all. I like the old Huanyan more. Now she doesn't even drink wine. "After walking a distance, she said again: "And one Huanyan is enough. She can't tolerate a second person like her."

Xu Chu looked at Zhang Shiqing, with a little surprise on his face.

"Why, what did I say wrong?"

Xu Chu shook his head, "I'm just... very surprised that you can say such a thing."

"Are you mocking me for not daring to challenge Huanyan, or are you saying that I know myself well?"

"I'm praising you for having a clear mind."

"I just want to be happy, not clear. So I don't want to read these military newspapers anymore. It's boring. It's better to ask you directly than to guess. I want to do something else to add some fun to this valley."

"Do you have an idea?"

"I have prepared everything and will deliver it tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. I won't tell you now, but you will understand when the time comes." Zhang Shiqing laughed, "Can you guess what it is?"

"I can't guess such things."

Zhang Shiqing was even more proud, "You have to participate, and you are not allowed to refuse."

"As for me, I have to know what it is."

"No need. If you say to set fire, then set fire. If you say to weed, then weed. If you say to read military newspapers, then read military newspapers. After living in the valley, I will listen to you and I should listen to you once."

"Okay." Xu Chu agreed.

There is an open space by the stream, where people in the valley often carry water, stepping out a slope. After the rain, it is slippery and easy to fall. Xu Chu took off his shoes, selected suitable stones from the bottom of the stream to pad the road, eliminated the slope, and built a small platform.

Zhang Shiqing didn't know how to help, so she also took off her shoes, waded barefoot in the water, chased small fish and shrimps, and searched for strange stones, not to pad the road, but to collect them - at home, she had many strange collections that she had collected on a whim, so many that she had no time to clean them up. Occasionally, she couldn't even remember why she liked them in the first place.

Xu Chu paved the road and felt quite tired. Looking at Zhang Shiqing, who was still full of energy, a smile appeared on his face.

"Can we go back?" Zhang Shiqing asked loudly.

"Yeah."

The two sat side by side on a large stone by the stream to dry their feet.

"After the Taoist priest exorcised the demon, no one will come to cause trouble again, right?" Zhang Shiqing thought of this again.

"It's hard to say."

"Wait a little longer?" Zhang Shiqing had guessed the answer and sighed, "You have to wait for everything. If you miss the opportunity, what will you do?"

"Opportunities are hard to come by, and it's even harder to recognize the right opportunity."

"You just don't have confidence." Zhang Shiqing put on his shoes and ran ahead. He quickly crossed the ridge and disappeared.

Xu Chu climbed to the highest point and vaguely heard Zhang Shiqing's singing.

In the valley, the Taoists had left, but the paper talismans were still there. The old servant was able to walk, but still didn't dare to take off the yellow paper on his chest.

A large group of maids were guarding the courtyard. When they saw Princess Fangde from afar, they immediately came up.

Xu Chu stopped and watched from a distance.

Not long after, Zhang Shiqing squeezed out of the crowd and ran over and said, "Father wants to take me back to the mansion. He said that no matter how late it is, I have to go back. I heard that there are distinguished guests in the mansion. Can you guess what father is up to?"

Xu Chu could guess it, but he was unwilling to explain it. He shook his head and said, "What game did you prepare?"

Zhang Shiqing smiled and said, "You will know when the things are delivered. You practice first and wait for me to come back. Don't lose too badly."