Taiping Inn

The old man was truly silent.

The stall owner was apprehensive, thinking that this sickly boy might want to spoil his old soup. He tensed up. If this sickly boy dared to make any unusual moves, he would have to protect the old soup even if he had to offend these masters. This sickly boy didn't look strong, so he was probably not his opponent.

It was late autumn, and they were in the mountains, but the old man's son still had beads of sweat on his forehead. He took out a white handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. He suddenly understood his father's intentions. He was afraid that this young man was not an ordinary person.

Li Xuandu coughed violently for a while, wrapped his cloak tightly around him, and reluctantly said, "It's all a joke, don't take it seriously."

The old man sighed, "Whether it's a joke or not depends on who is saying it. If the store owner said this, it still makes some sense, but if the diner said this, the store owner would definitely not agree, and he would have to fight."

Li Xuandu said, "Then let's fight."

Hearing this, the owner of the altar suddenly picked up his kitchen knife, leaned forward slightly, and protected his pot of old soup.

The old man shook his head, walked away from the stall, and looked at Qin Su for the first time, "How is your father?"

Qin Su was startled and said vaguely, "Everything is fine."

The old man continued, "I had the honor to have a long talk with your father and the great master. You two are really outstanding and impressive."

Qin Su was not a dull person, so he naturally understood that the old man had seen through their identities, or knew it from the beginning, and said softly, "Qin Su meets Lord Sun."

The old man laughed at himself, "What Lord? I have retired and returned to my hometown."

The old man was Sun Songchan, the first minister of the cabinet after Zhang Suqing. He was born in Songjiang Prefecture, so people also called him Sun Songjiang, which is the same as Li Beihai, Qin Longcheng, Zhang Jiangling, etc.

As early as last year, it was rumored that Sun Songchan also retired and returned to his hometown, and Zhao Lianggeng, the governor of Jingchu, took over Sun Songchan's position as the first minister. At that time, many people were only half-believing and half-doubting, but Li Xuandu was sure that Zhao Lianggeng would replace Sun Songchan, because it was the Grand Princess Xuanzhen and the eunuch who held the seal of the Imperial Horse Administration who were responsible for negotiating this matter with Zhao Lianggeng. It was because of this incident that the Grand Princess Xuanzhen joined the Qingping Society and became "Han Tingqiu".

Today, the change of the Prime Minister has finally settled. Sun Songchan left Beijing and returned home. The emperor issued an edict to praise Sun Songchan, added the title of Shao Shi to his retirement, granted him a banquet and a residence, ordered the officials of the Ministry and the Hall to gather, issued money to prepare clothes, and also mentioned that on the day of departure, the officials would return home by post, and the officials within 20 miles of the post road would send him off.

The court regulations have the saying of three dukes, three orphans, and three protectors. The three dukes are Tai Shi, Tai Fu, and Tai Bao. The three orphans are Shao Shi, Shao Fu, and Shao Bao. The three protectors are Tai Shi, Tai Fu, and Tai Bao of the Crown Prince.

Generally speaking, the Three Dukes, Three Solitary and Three Guardians have titles but no positions, and are only conferred as honorary titles. Among them, the Three Guardians are of the first rank, and each has a second rank deputy position, namely, the Prince's Junior Teacher, the Prince's Junior Tutor, and the Prince's Junior Guardian.

The Three Solitary and Three Guardians are still easy to say, as there are many meritorious officials who have been conferred titles, but the positions of the Three Dukes are generally only conferred posthumously. There are only a handful of people in this dynasty who can be conferred the titles of the Three Dukes during their lifetime. Zhang Suqing was first conferred the title of Taifu, and then the title of Taishi, but then he died and his family was destroyed, and all the titles were taken away. So from this point of view, Sun Songchan's title of Taifu is particularly valuable.

The retired old minister who received this honor is really the first person in the Tianbao Dynasty.

Even if we count back, there were very few old ministers who received such a decent title during the reigns of Emperor Muzong and Emperor Shizong.

Because of this, Sun Songchan's departure from Beijing was not embarrassing, nor was it sad. Instead, it was a good parting, or even a return home in glory, so Sun Songchan's situation was far from being forgotten.

As for why Qin Su could guess Sun Songchan's identity, it was simple. He was surnamed Sun, from Songjiang Prefecture, retired and returned home. There was really no other candidate.

Since Sun Songchan had seen through Qin Su's identity, Li Xuandu's identity was no longer a secret.

Li Xuandu was not embarrassed and said frankly: "The behavior of the people in the martial arts world is embarrassing for the elder."

Sun Songchan said: "Although I am not a person in the martial arts world, I have heard about the sword fight in Yuxu. Mr. Qingping played chess with Song Zheng and ended the sword fight, which was famous all over the world. Who in the world dares to laugh at Mr. Qingping?"

Sun Songchan's son, Sun Yunyan, the current head of the Sun family, can finally confirm his guess at this time. The person in front of him is Mr. Qingping. Thinking of what he just said, Sun Yunyan felt a chill behind him. As his father said, whether it is a joke depends on who said it. If it is an unknown junior, it is just talking nonsense and pointing at the world, but if it is replaced by some people, it is not as simple as pointing at the world.

Sun Yunyan looked up at the three people, and saw that his father's face was a bit solemn, that Miss Qin looked quite serious, and Mr. Qingping Li Xuandu had no expression.

Li Xuandu has always been very tough on Sun Songchan's words. From this point of view, it can be said that people with different ideologies cannot work together.

Sun Songchan did not come to see Li Xuandu on purpose, but just met him by chance. However, since he met him, there is no reason to miss him casually. Sun Songchan knew that every word he said was countered, which showed that Li Xuandu was very determined. He was not Li Daoxu, so he had no right to preach to Li Xuandu. Even if he was Li Daoxu, he might not be able to control this disciple. Otherwise, why would he expel him from the sect in the first place? So he had to make some detours at this time.

Sun Songchan lowered his eyes and was silent for a while, then raised his head again, and said to Sun Yunyan beside him: "What kind of relationship do you think is the closest in this world?"

Sun Yunyan was stunned. Unexpectedly, his father asked such a question and did not dare to answer rashly. After thinking about it, he replied, "Of course it's father and son."

Sun Songchan shook his head lightly, "Not necessarily." Sun Yunyan immediately thought about it, thinking that his father was blaming him, so he couldn't help but be more careful and asked softly, "Please give me advice."

Sun Songchan said: "In life, the greatest kindness is the kindness of parents' raising, but this kindness is how many times have most fathers seen their sons and fathers?"

Sun Yunyan was increasingly afraid to answer the words, so he could only wait for the following.

Sun Songchan continued: "In addition to the kindness of giving birth, there is also the kindness of teaching and the kindness of knowing and meeting, which is another relationship besides father and son, master and disciple. The son regards the kindness of his parents as a matter of course, and the disciple takes the kindness of his master. Be kind as a reward."

Sun Yunyan immediately understood that although his father said this to him, he was not for him, but for Li Xuandu.

Li Xuandu naturally understood and finally said, "Who says that the heart of a grass can repay the spring sunshine? I have lost my parents and relatives since I was a child. It was my family teacher who raised me, so although I have no father, I was raised by my master, and my master is my father. But there is no difference between the master and the disciple and the father and son."

Sun Songchan said slowly, "Of course, you must not fail to revenge the revenge of killing your father, but it is not advisable to implicate too much and kill too much, otherwise when will the revenge be revenged?"

"The Master of the Pavilion also thinks I am just for revenge?" Li Xuan laughed, making people unable to hear the joys and anger, "And I am not a Buddhist, but a Taoist. As the saying goes, the Tao is different, and I don't plan to each other. .”

Sun Songchan sighed and said no more.

Li Xuandu bowed and said, "Just leave now."

After saying that, Li Xuan took Qin Su to a sparsely populated direction.

Sun Songchan stood there and did not move for a long time.

After a moment, Sun Yunyan asked softly, "Father, didn't Mr. Qingping already have the appearance of an earth immortal? How could he become like this? Could it be that he was seriously injured in Yuxu's sword fighting?"

Sun Songchan's face looked a little solemn, and he slowly shook his head and said, "Don't speculate on one's own, and don't cause trouble."

Sun Yunyan's face turned solemn and responded respectfully.

Li Xuandu and Qin Su walked all the way to the back mountain. For ordinary pilgrims, the back mountain was a forbidden place, and the disciples of Shenxiao Sect were also guarded by them in the middle to persuade some tourists to retreat. However, for Li Xuandu and Qin Su, they could not stop them. The two of them soon arrived at Brother Song's tomb.

Although Li Xuandu was seriously ill, he still removed the weeds himself, took out a few offerings from the "Eighteenth Floor" and placed them in front of the grave.

Qin Su asked softly: "What does Sun Songchan mean?"

Li Xuandu said calmly: "Just mediate from it, but the two sides fought each other but couldn't break it, so there was room for fence-bearing grass to sway left and right. This person can't be trusted, let's take a look."

Qin Su nodded and asked again: "Do we want to meet the Sanxuan Zhenren of Shenxiao Sect?"

"I don't have any personal relationships, and it's about Song Muzhe, so I'll disappear." Li Xuandu shook his head, "After the grave sweeping, we will go to Luzhou."