Ying Caihe shook his head, "To be honest, I don't know the purpose of the princess coming to Yuzhen Palace, if it is just for the affairs of His Royal Highness King Jin, I don't think the princess has to come to Yuzhen Palace, I am just a subordinate of His Royal Highness King Jin, and I will faithfully carry out all his orders." ”

"A good loyal executioner?"

Xue Tao sneered and said, "There are still a lot of female subordinates of King Jin, why don't I go to them?" Ying Palace Master, you and I know it. ”

Ying Caihe sighed, "The princess didn't understand what I meant, maybe there are many women in Chang'an who dream of becoming one of the concubines of His Royal Highness King Jin, but that has nothing to do with me, I am used to being free and easy in my life, I don't like to be constrained by all kinds of rules, I don't have too many complicated relationships with His Royal Highness the King of Jin, I am his slave for him to drive, that's all, so I said that the princess didn't need to make a special trip to Yuzhen Palace." ”

Xue Tao understood what she meant, she had no intention of becoming the concubine of King Jin, maybe this is the case now, but what about the future?

Ying Caihe added: "It can only be said that everyone's goals are different, the most important thing in my life is cultivation, and the princess should also know that a woman who has practiced martial arts like us can't stop cultivating in this life, my master is like this, Guo Yuniang is like this, and Daoming Daoyue is also like this, once you stop preservation, you will scatter your skills, and your lifelong cultivation will be abandoned, and no one can stand it." ”

Xue Tao was silent for a moment and said: "I believe what you said, and I also believe in your pursuit, but the palace master may not be able to understand that once you have your own child and become a mother, your mind will change, and at that time, you may come to the Jin Palace with your child, after all, you are only thirty years old." ”

Ying Caihe shook his head with a smile, with a hint of sadness in his smile, "It turns out that the princess is worried about this, so it is even more unnecessary, I can't have children, and I can't have children, from my master, to my senior sisters, to my apprentices and grandchildren, who do you think can have children?" ”

Xue Tao was stunned, a trace of apology welled up in her heart, and she hurriedly said, "I really don't know, I'm sorry!" ”

Ying Caihe sighed and said: "We were all adopted since childhood, about six years old, we are about to start drinking a medicine, I don't know the formula of this medicine, after the master feathered, the formula of this medicine has not been handed down, I remember that it is a very bitter medicine, until the age of sixteen, up to ten years, our physique has gradually changed, we are as light as swallows, we have a good look, it sounds beautiful, but the other side of the beauty is very cruel, that is, we can't have any more children, so including the master, In the end, they all chose to become a monk, which is the heavy price that must be paid for practicing our martial arts. ”

Xue Tao said in a deep voice: "Annihilation of humanity, this kind of martial arts is not practiced!" ”

Ying Caihe was silent for a moment and said: "This involves why we should be adopted, the Hidden Sword Pavilion is a special institution for the emperor to train female guards and female assassins, once we embark on this path, we can't help it, if we can survive the cruel assassin career, then the path of cultivation is our best destination, Princess Niangniang, I have said everything I should say, I hope you don't worry about anything." ”

Xue Tao's heart finally let go, she nodded, "So everyone needs to sit down and communicate, instead of me sitting in the palace of King Jin and thinking nonsense, it is better to talk openly and honestly, I don't think I will come again in the future, Ying Palace Master, I hope you take care of yourself!" ”

"Thank you, Princess!"

Xue Tao got up to say goodbye, Ying Caihe sent it to the gate of the courtyard, and asked Jingyu to take the princess to the front hall.

Looking at the back of the princess and walking away, Ying Caihe also breathed a long sigh of relief, and the things she had been worried about were finally relieved.......

Xue Tao got into the carriage, and the abbot Lingbi Zhenren led a large group of Dao Gu to send each other at the door, the reason why the courtesy became so grand was because Xue Tao formed a relationship of generosity, and offered 3,000 yuan to Yuzhen Palace every year, so that Yuzhen Palace was overjoyed, and even the palace master Ying Caihe had to wear a hat and come out to send it off.

Ying Caihe's heart is like a mirror, and the princess is so generously worshipped, completely in her own face, she hopes that she can live in Yuzhen Palace with peace of mind.

Liu Caichun's eyes were red, the tears were not dry, she saw the master, cried a lot, and sat silently in the carriage.

Ying Caihe clasped his hands and said: "Thank you for the princess's dedication, if the princess has a legal need, we are willing to serve the princess at any time!" ”

Xue Tao smiled faintly and said, "Qinglian Palace Master, we had a good conversation today, I hope the Palace Master can keep his promise." ”

"The poor should obey it!"

The carriage started slowly, and in the farewell of the Taoist aunts, the two carriages gradually drove away.

"Sister, how are you talking?" Dugu Youlan asked.

Xue Tao sighed softly, "Don't worry, in the future, we will return to her and the bridge, and there will be no intersection." ”

"Is this her promise?" Dugu Youlan continued to ask.

"She did promise, but more importantly, she is different from us, we have children, she won't, we have a husband, family, she doesn't need it, Yuzhen Palace is her best home."

"That husband and her ......."

"Actually, there is nothing!"

Xue Tao interrupted Dugu Youlan's words and said with a faint smile: "She is a knife in the husband's hand, and the husband also needs this knife, and when the world is peaceful, they will forget each other in the rivers and lakes." ”

Xue Tao really figured it out, this woman and them are not all the way at all, and her husband will never bring this woman into his family.

.........

Time passed slowly, and in a blink of an eye, it was January of the following year, the second year of Yongzhen.

Just after the New Year, the number of scholars who came to Chang'an from all over the world gradually increased, and they came from all over the world with various accents.

Almost everyone knows that this year's Chang'an imperial examination will be the largest number of people in the past, so many scholars came to Chang'an early and found an inn to live in, but they were afraid that they would come late and even have no place to live.

In fact, the accommodation problem has been solved, in addition to inns and monasteries, the government also allows ordinary people to rent homestays, which is the most powerful way to solve the problem of tens of thousands of scholars.

But on the whole, it is still early before the imperial examination, and it will not be until after the beginning of spring in February that a large number of scholars will come from all directions, and it is only just beginning.

On this morning, a carriage came galloping from a distance, stopped in front of the palace of the King of Jin, the door opened, and the tall and fat Zhang Lei got out of the carriage, he looked anxious, and walked quickly to the main gate of the official office.

Two soldiers patrolling the square stopped him, "Don't trespass on the palace!" ”

Zhang Lei hurriedly took out a silver medal, this is the Jin Palace's guest card, Guo Song issued a total of twenty faces, all of which are folk Wang clan giant businessmen and Confucians, with this kind of guest card can ask to see the Jin King Guo Song, of course, can not see me immediately, at least the Jin King's office will be received by the army, and record the following requests.

Of course, the soldiers knew this kind of silver medal, and when they saw that the number on it turned out to be zero zero and one, they couldn't help but be in awe, "Please come with me!" ”

Zhang Lei followed the soldiers to the waiting place, where there were comfortable seats where you could drink tea and wait, which was generally the place where local officials waited when they came to the Jin palace to do business.

A reception official stepped forward and clasped his fists and said, "Sir, your surname, which ministry are you looking for?" ”

Zhang Lei handed him the silver medal, "Don't have your surname Zhang, you have something urgent to find His Royal Highness the King of Jin!" ”

The official took the silver medal and said, "Please sit down for a while, and I will report for you." ”

Although Zhang Lei was anxious, he also knew that King Jin's rules were very strict, and not everyone could see King Jin at will, and King Jin had to agree to meet him.

After a while, Wen Miao hurriedly walked over, "Is Zhang Dong mainly looking for His Royal Highness the King of Jin?" ”

"Yes! Where is he? I have a very urgent matter to find him, the stakes are very high, and I can't delay for a moment. ”

"Your Highness is discussing matters in the Counsellor's Hall, and I have already sent someone to report it, so please come with me."

Zhang Lei followed Wen Miao to the official room of the King of Jin, and as soon as Zhang Lei sat down in the reception hall, Guo Song came back and asked with a smile: "What trouble did the senior brother encounter?" ”

Zhang Lei jumped up and said urgently: "Something is wrong, that batch of saltpeter has been seized!" ”

Guo Song was stunned, the smile on his face disappeared, and he pointed to his official room and said, "Go in and say!" ”

The two walked into the official room and sat down, and Guo Song asked, "Where was it detained?" ”

"In Hanzhong!"

Zhang Lei sighed and said: "Together with the more than 100 guys who transported the goods, nearly 200 carts, all of them were seized by the Hanzhong military. ”

At present, the source of saltpeter of the Jin army is Longxi, but the quality of saltpeter in Longxi is not very good, Zhang Lei bought more than a dozen catties of saltpeter in Laojun Cave in Mianzhou three years ago, the firearms department of the Jin army found that the quality of saltpeter here is much better than that of saltpeter in Longxi, and the gunpowder produced burns more fully, regardless of the explosion power and combustion force to increase by three percent, the weight of the large iron fire thunder can be reduced to about 100 catties.

Guo Song asked Zhang Lei to collect and buy for himself in Mianzhou, the output of saltpeter in Laojun Cave was not large, and it took two years to save a batch, but I didn't expect something to happen.

Guo Song asked with a cold face, "How many saltpeters have been seized in total?" ”