The caravan embarked on the journey, and there were no twists and turns, except for the occasional encounter of some small groups of bandits, but seeing that the caravan was overwhelming, there was no plan. In the middle, I encountered two oases, everyone replenished and rested, and exquisite scenery appeared on the desolate desert, and I felt that ordinary grass and flowers were much more beautiful.

Zu Zhenlin followed them for nearly two months before he walked out of the desert, saw the town, and also saw the power of the Tao family, crossed the city, showed the token, no one dared to stop, even after the curfew, to open the city gate, let them in, some local officials in order to win over the relationship, but also to personally greet, invite guests to dinner.

After another month of walking, it was already autumn.

Zu Zhenlin and the others arrived at the capital of Qingluan Country, Qingluan City, as the capital, is more majestic than the previous city, but it is still not as good as Yingxue City.

At the gate of the city, a group of soldiers stood to maintain order in the city and check the crowds of people. The soldiers' armor is shiny, the swords and spears are sharp, and the style is majestic. There was an officer-like man sitting on the sidelines, resting and drinking tea.

The leader leaned lazily on his chair, looked up and saw the caravan, and immediately stood up, smiled and greeted him.

"Yo, Master Tao, you are back, the king looks forward to your coming back quickly, and from time to time he will send people to the city gate to take a look. Tao Ye must be very smooth. The leader's tone was flattering, and he didn't have his usual authority at all.

Old Man Tao took out a bag of silver from his arms and threw it to him, "Lu Tou, give everyone a share and eat something good." ”

"Break the bank, then I thank you. The leader quietly flipped the money bag, happy in his heart, "Fuck, why are you stunned, don't give way quickly." ”

When the soldiers heard the order, they hurriedly drew their spears sideways and blasted the crowd to both sides to make way for them.

The caravan entered the city without any inspection.

The leader threw down a few pieces of silver, put most of it into his pocket, led the war horse, and went into the city to report the news.

Zu Zhenlin looked at this scene, a little incomprehensible.

Old Man Tao saw Zhenlin's doubts, and explained with a smile: "Childe, I don't know, since ancient times, the king of Hades has been good at seeing little ghosts, these people are those little ghosts, although we are not afraid, but don't offend them, or maybe one day they will bite you." Of course, these people are the icing on the cake, and they will not be sent in the snow, if they are down, they do not fall into the well, they have a conscience. So you still have to be strong enough not to offend them. ”

"Located in the capital, they still dare to be presumptuous?

"Pickles are inevitable everywhere, besides, how can the king care about these small things, even if he is a few levels older than this city gate official, as long as it is not excessive, the king has no energy to care. Now the king is very old, and his energy is not as good as before, and he will not care about these things, and now he only cares about whether we can bring back the elixir of longevity, to be honest, the court is already a little chaotic. I only hope that the king will be able to get better after taking the pill and reorganize the dynasty. ”

The caravan entered the city from the north gate and returned to the Tao family first, and the Tao family lived in the west city.

The streets of Xicheng are wide, the houses are tall, and they are obviously richer than those of Beicheng District.

The Taojia compound occupies an area of more vast, the gate is towering, the vermilion lacquer is bright red, and there are two stone lions standing next to the door, tall and majestic. At this time, the middle door was wide open, and there were two people standing in front of the door, one wearing a big red robe and holding a whisk in his hand. One person wears a wide blue robe, and he is an ordinary person, but he is blessed and noble.

Old Man Tao and Tao Ren saw the people watching in front of the door, and quickly dismounted, and Tao Ren even ran into the arms of the blue-clothed man.

Old Man Tao looked at the earnest gaze of the head of the family, and clasped his fists to salute, "I am fortunate not to be dishonored." ”

The head of the Tao family breathed a sigh of relief, "Uncle Tao has worked hard, and my Tao family will not forget your great kindness." ”

The eunuch next to him said anxiously: "Since they are all back, let's hurry up and enter the palace, the king is still waiting." ”

Tao Ren took out a pitch-black box from his bosom and handed it to his father.

The head of the Tao family and the old man Tao followed the eunuch sent by the king into the palace, and the rest of the matter was handed over to the housekeeper.

Zu Zhenlin followed Tao Ren into his house, but he didn't expect that he actually had his own courtyard, which was a delicate courtyard, with the moon season planted in the courtyard, pink and orange, and the flowers that bloomed seemed to be smiling and welcoming.

The two of them were fine, just staying in the courtyard. Tao Ren asked his subordinates to take some pears and grapes, and chatted in the pavilion.

"When are you leaving?" asked Tao Ren.

"Well, do you have anything interesting here? I wanted to wander around, and I left. If not, then I'll be gone in two days. ”

Tao Ren thought about the interesting place here, "Then I will be your tour guide and take you on a tour of Qingluan City." ”

Tao Ren first arranged for Zu Zhenlin to rest for one night and start playing tomorrow.

The next day, the east revealed the white of the fish's belly.

Zu Zhenlin came to his senses and meditated on the bed until dawn. But Tao Ren didn't show up, only two servants brought breakfast. Zhenlin didn't care, maybe there was something wrong with the Tao family.

Near noon, Tao Ren appeared, chattering, "Oh, I'm sorry, I was pulled over by my father and talked a lot." My father said that you have been very kind to my family, and you should treat you well, but am I not good to you? Let's go, let's go eat. ”

"Where are you going?"

"My father said that in order to express his gratitude, he would invite you and Uncle Lu to dinner, who is a friend of Grandpa Tao. ”

Zu Zhenlin also went with him and went to eat. Zhenlin followed Tao Ren to the dining room, and found that it was a family banquet, only the Tao family master, the old man Tao, the swordsman, and an elderly man with sparse hair, but the tidying was neat and clean, Tao Ren said that it was his grandfather, in order to show gratitude, the old man who had ignored the world for many years also came out to receive him. The head of the Tao family wanted to give up the throne to Zhenlin, but Zhenlin resolutely refused, and then sat with Tao Ren. During the meal, it was nothing more than gratitude to Zhenlin, and by the way, thanks to the swordsman, he was about to eat to the end.

The head of the Tao family couldn't bear it anymore and said, "Ancestor Gongzi, if there is nothing to do, you might as well stay at home for a while and let Tao Ren take you around." Childe, rest assured, all the expenses will be paid by my Tao family. ”

"Uncle bothered, I have already told Tao Ren to let him take me around. ”

The head of the Tao family nodded, ate two bites of food, seemed to have made up his mind, and put down the dishes and chopsticks, "Ancestor Gongzi, I have something to ask for, which is a little offensive, but please forgive Gongzi first." ”

Zu Zhenlin knew in his heart, "It's okay, it's okay for my uncle to say it directly." ”

"Childe, don't you know, I only have Tao Ren, a son, and our Tao family has always been in the same line. Although we have passed the difficult time now, once people's desires arise, they will not disappear again, and the king will still want to live for a few more decades in the future, and then we can't do anything, and the Tao family will be finished. I know that Childe has something, to travel all over the world, it is impossible to protect our Tao family for decades, since Childe and my son are like brothers, I want to ask Childe to help, teach him a little skill, I know that some strong people are difficult, but please Childe to complete. After the Tao family master finished speaking, he still had to kneel on the ground.

Tao Ren stood aside, a little embarrassed, and in the face of his father's eye reminder, he didn't see it, just stood there and didn't speak.

Zu Zhenlin wanted to get up and stop the Tao family master.

The old man spoke, his voice hoarse, "Okay, what are you talking like that, then it's not begging, it's forcing people, just make things clear, let Zu Gongzi think about it." ”

The old man spoke, and the head of the Tao family sat back in his seat.

In the afternoon, Tao Ren took Zu Zhenlin out of the city and entered Qingluan Mountain to play, in fact, the reason why this country was named Qingluan is because of this peak not far from the capital, it is rumored that there were Qingluan birds living in this mountain, but I don't know why Qingluan disappeared later, but there are really monks who have found a Qingluan blood crystal in this mountain, and they have climbed to the sky in one step. However, the monks who came back after that found nothing, and the treasure hunt gradually cooled until no one returned.

Qingluan Mountain, Tsing Yi turned yellow, and the image of Xiao Se was revealed. However, the sky is high and the clouds are light, and the green water flows for a long time, which makes people open-minded.

"Why didn't you speak when your father begged me, don't you want to learn?" asked Zu Zhenlin during the climb.

"Actually, I really regard you as my good friend, I don't want to force my friend to do things he doesn't want to do, you just make decisions based on your heart, don't ask me. ”

"I just want to know if you're willing to learn. ”

Just as Zu Zhenlin and the two were talking, a group of people came down from the mountain, including men and women, wearing gold and silver, silk and satin, and each eye was above the top.

A young master saw Tao Ren and shouted: "Yo, everyone, look, this is the eldest young master of the Tao family who has made great contributions to the king." It is said that businessmen forget their righteousness when they see profit, but the Tao family is born and died for the king this time, I think that the money of this Qingluan country will go to the Tao family in the future. Alas, Brother Lin, in the future, your father's household secretary will probably not have as much money as the Tao family's eldest young master. ”

Another young man with a Chinese face answered: "Yes, we have to talk to Master Tao in the future." Unexpectedly, the Tao family, a businessman, did a great job, and for the sake of profit, he could even risk his own life. ”

"So, when Brother Lin stammers in the future, keep an eye on it, be careful of being sold, and count the money for others. ”

"Master Tao's shelf is too big, so he doesn't bother to take care of us. A sturdy young man walked up to Tao Ren and stretched out his palm to grab his shoulder.

Zu Zhenlin found that this person was powerful, his eyes were bright, he was a practitioner, and the green tendons on his hands had skyrocketed, which was intended to hurt Tao Ren. Also stretch out your palm and hold the other person's wrist.

The other party tried his best to break free, but it was to no avail, and in the end, he blushed and gave up struggling.

Zu Zhenlin let go of his hand with a smile, and a group of people left the mountain in a gloomy manner.

"Do you think I don't want to learn kung fu?" Tao Ren said in a low voice.

"They seem to be squeezing you out, why?"

"Because my family is a merchant, light on businessmen and heavy on soldiers, and the people are not able to fight officials, all show that they are prominent as officials, but they have a high status, but they are not as rich as me, and of course they will be hostile to me. And they can't profit from it, which exacerbates their grudges. ”

"Then in a few decades, they will gain power, and the king will be replaced, I'm afraid your Tao family will be in danger. ”

"Yes. ”

Zu Zhenlin will no longer treat him as a stinky child at this time.

"We're friends?"

"Well, we're friends. ”

A small and a large figure, Ling is at the top, looking at the world.