On May 4 of the first year of Shengong, Taiqian Palace.

The atmosphere in the court today is very depressing, even if the officials who speak out, there is no movement at this time, and they all stand in place with blue faces.

This year's locust plague has been too big.

"The locust plague was most serious in Jiangnan Province and Huainan Province, and the minister instructed the local officials to organize people to harvest grain as soon as possible, but the locust plague was too big to be solved overnight. The minister suggested that it was better to open a warehouse to release grain, and allocate grain from Lingnan Province and Jiannan Province, where the locust plague was relatively light, to support. In the Feng Pavilion, Shi Qi said to Xuanshang.

The Empress sat on the dragon chair, her face obscured by the tiara, and her face could not be seen clearly.

"Yuan Zheng, Yuan Jun, what do you two think?" The Empress put her white arms on the armrests of the dragon chair, a little lazy.

Lu Yuanjun, the king of Liang, was the eldest brother, and he was the first to come out of the military attache camp and said, "Your Majesty, Erchen thinks that the previous means of driving away locusts should be used. Ordered the state and county officials to organize manpower, and at the same time use the tiger charm to mobilize the troops stationed in various places, a team of ten people, to dig out trenches between the fields, dig out insect eggs, and then use tools to hunt and kill, so as to put an end to the locust plague in the fields! ”

Yan Wang said: "The method that the eldest brother said is inevitably too radical. Not to mention how many manpower can be hunted and killed, the number of troops stationed in various places is limited. If you all go to help hunt down locusts, if there is a bad person who intends to do evil, who will you let defend against the enemy? ”

"What are you kidding, Jiangnan and Huainan are both in the inland of the Central Plains, where did the thieves come from?" King Liang sneered.

King Yan shook his head: "It seems that the eldest brother has forgotten the past of the year, not to mention that when the ten thousand demons went out on patrol, the iron cavalry of the Northern Wilderness had already arrived next to the divine capital, and the iron cavalry of the Northern Wilderness was ghostly, and the eldest brother was also a person who trained soldiers to fight, and he didn't see it thoroughly." ”

The matter had evolved into a bickering between the two factions, and the empress waved her hand impatiently and said, "Qin'er, the proposed purpose!" ”

As soon as the empress spoke, the two kings naturally said no more.

In the end, the will was still in accordance with Feng Ge's suggestion, and the garrison troops from various places were not transferred, and the empress was obviously not satisfied with the answers of the two.

After retiring from the court, the empress went to Wanchun Hall to review the recital, and Xiao Qianqin served beside her.

The ruler of the empire, even if he shines in front of his courtiers, is actually tired when he is in a place where no one is around. The pieces that the empress has to review every day are piled up into a hill. Xiao Qianqin had already divided all the pieces into categories and placed them in the empress's hands according to the urgency of the matter.

"Did you read the piece presented by the Demon Hunter last night?" The Empress said as she annotated.

The Monster Hunting Division's recital is presented directly to the empress and does not need to be verified by the Feng Pavilion.

Xiao Qianqin's long eyelashes trembled slightly, and said, "Actually, after the recital came, the Demon Hunting Division presented another recital. It's just that His Majesty had already slept at that time, and Qin'er took it upon herself to intercept this piece and ask His Majesty to punish him. ”

"Since you intercepted it, it means that it is not a big deal, what a crime." The Empress pushed the teacup over a bit.

The weather was a little breezy but a little stuffy. The imperial dining room prepared herbal tea, and Xiao Qianqin held the pot in her hand and poured the teacup to the brim.

"Last night, the Demon Hunting Division found signs of a big demon again, and Starry Night rushed out of the city, and now this big demon has been killed, and a monster has been captured alive." Xiao Qianqin put down the teapot and put the cup in the position where the empress took advantage of it.

The empress was still frowning, and leaned back: "A small locust has become a monster more than three feet high. Back then, the previous dynasty started from this little thing. ”

In the time of Emperor An in the previous dynasty, a magistrate played a game, saying that a sheep had grown into a zhang tall and infinitely powerful, so it was sent to the capital as auspicious.

It happened that Empress An was a sheep at that time, and she was overjoyed to see it, so she knocked on the side of Emperor An, so that the magistrate went all the way to the top, and was transferred from the place to the capital.

As a result, all parts of the country have followed suit, and the auspiciousness continues.

A three-legged goose, a four-eyed bird, a three-tailed deer, and all kinds of strange auspicious shapes emerge in endlessly.

After Emperor An died and Emperor Yang succeeded to the throne, it was too late.

Those monsters that were originally called auspicious rui, one by one, are called demons that devour people's lives. With their huge bodies and strange powers, they rushed into the gathering place and began a bloody slaughter.

The demon chaos of the year started from a small thing. It's just that when the court paid attention and became the Monster Hunter to arrest it, there were monsters everywhere, and strange things happened everywhere all the time.

Xiao Qianqin said: "Your Majesty doesn't have to worry, the Demon Hunting Division has sent a large number of people to patrol various places, once there is a demon trouble, we will know as soon as possible." ”

The empress sighed, looked at the music for a while, and suddenly asked, "The girl who saved me that day is now on Tang Yun's side?" ”

Xiao Qianqin said: "Yes, this woman's name is Changsun Lingxiu, and she has been transferred from Sixing Temple to the Demon Hunting Division. ”

The empress nodded: "I remember, she is the daughter of the eldest grandson Zhongyong. The death of the eldest grandson Zhongyong was indeed bizarre, and he ordered Si Xingsi to investigate it carefully. ”

"Yes."

Suddenly, a small yellow door ran in small steps, whispered in Xiao Qianqin's ear, and then left in a hurry.

"What's wrong?" After reading the recital, the empress left a touch of vermilion with her pen.

Xiao Qianqin said: "Your Majesty, the national teacher asks to see you." ”

……

"Poor monk Xuan Tan, knock to see Your Majesty."

Xuan Tan lowered his head and knelt down as if worshipping a Buddha.

The empress said, "Calm down." The national teacher came to see me, but I don't know what happened. ”

Xuan Tan said: "When the poor monk first saw His Majesty, he said that he was willing to do a water and land puja for the gods, and the specific matters still need to be reported to His Majesty in detail. ”

The empress frowned: "It's just a trivial matter, the national teacher can go to the Shendu Mansion, why bother to tell Yu Zhen again?" ”

Xuan Tan clasped his hands together and said, "Amitabha." The poor monk was meditating in the burrow last night, and suddenly heard that there was a demonic energy from the east, but this demonic energy disappeared after a while, and the poor monk could no longer find out where the demonic energy was. The poor monk speculated that there might still be monsters wandering near the divine capital. ”

What Xuan Tan said, after thinking about it, is completely consistent with what the Demon Hunting Division reported last night!

However, the matter reported by the Demon Hunting Division was a secret edict, and at the beginning of the operation, it was packed into a cylinder and sent to the palace.

The soldiers of the Demon Hunting Division who went there last night have not yet returned, so it is impossible for Xuan Tan to find out the news.

The empress seriously showed a hint of brilliance: "If the national teacher really has such strength, can he see this?" ”

"Amitabha, it's just a small way, which made His Majesty laugh. It's just that this demonic aura appears from time to time, and it is still a hidden danger for the gods. The water and land puja prepared by the poor monks was originally for the souls of the people of the gods who died during the chaos of the demons. But now it seems that it is still necessary to surpass the nearby demon souls in order to return the peace of the gods. Xuan Tan said.

The Empress stood up: "If the water and land festival is successfully held, may it prevent the birth of monsters?" ”

Xuan Tan bowed and said: "The poor monk should do his best. It's just that the festival is huge, and it takes seven days. The Shendu Mansion couldn't pay attention to it, so the poor monk had to ask His Majesty. ”

The empress said: "This is easy to do, I will let the Shendu Mansion and the Winter Official fully cooperate with the national teacher!" I don't want the things of the previous dynasty to reappear, so I'll ask the national teacher for everything! ”

……

Last night, the breeze was good, and before the officials of the Winter Official Yamen could enjoy the comfortable breeze, a group of eunuchs broke into the yamen with a will.

His Majesty ordered the Winter Official Yamen to fully assist Longchen Temple to hold a water and land puja.

Ordinary water and land pujas only require the temple's own efforts. However, Xuan Tan said that it must be grand in order to show sincerity for the demon souls of the eight directions. Therefore, this water and land puja is an unprecedented event.

Shendu is a romantic city, and people here love to have big events, even for officials.

The great craftsmen of the Winter Officials were not lacking in imagination, so a huge structure jumped onto the page. The sights imagined by the great craftsmen, and their eyes were fascinated, and some even wrote poems on the drawings.

Suzaku Long Street, between Guandefang and Xiuwenfang, there is a river running through it, connecting Luoshui and Tongjin Canal.

As the most prosperous street in Shendu City, Suzaku Street has never lacked people. Since the last demon disaster, the Dongguan Yamen personally sent people to build houses on both sides of the street, and at the same time built eight watchtowers in the east and west, and sent 16 guards to guard back and forth to observe the movement.

Early in the morning, a public servant from the Shendu Prefecture came to drive away the pedestrians around him, and he actually occupied a bridge.

At this moment, the sun is on the sun, and it is the busiest time of the day in the god capital, and the actions of the public have caused a commotion.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With the soft sound of wooden fish, people turned around and saw that the street was suddenly separated. It was not the public who drove away, but the people spontaneously parted to the sides.

A group of monks hold flags and recite scriptures in their mouths. There are several monks in the middle, with kind eyebrows and kind eyes, clear eyes, looking at people, making people feel like a spring breeze. Although the facial features of these monks are a little surprised by the Great Zhou people, the compassionate eyebrows actually make people feel good.

People spontaneously retreated to the side, and some pious people even knelt down and whispered blessings.

Accidents still happened.

Shendu City is very prosperous, and many people from all over the Western Regions come here every day. This place is full of miracles, and for the people of the Western Regions who have just come to the Divine Capital, this is the beginning of hope.

The accident happened to a group of Tianzhu people, who were entertainers who went to the streets of Nanshi to juggle.

Because of their respect for the Dharma, this group of Tianzhu people only cared about kneeling on the ground, but did not pay attention, and the rope that locked the cage door was cut by the tiger with its claws.

The tiger burst out of the cage door, and the tiger was already in a frenzy, roaring and rushing into the crowd.

The duke of the Shendu Mansion took out the sticks, but in the face of such a fierce beast, everyone was a little frightened.

There was a scream from the crowd, and they began to retreat, and the already chaotic crowd became even more chaotic, and finally, a girl was isolated by the crowd. She looked around blankly, unable to find her father.

The tiger's claws, aimed at the girl, pounced directly.

Someone has closed his eyes and can't bear to look at it anymore.

"Amitabha!"

Suddenly, a Buddha horn sounded, and the monk from the Western Regions who was originally sitting on the foot jumped down directly and stopped in front of the tiger in one step.

The monk pressed his hand on the tiger's forehead, and the palm of his hand was extremely small for the tiger's massive body.

The madness in the tiger's eyes gradually disappeared, and it turned clear. It crouched on the ground, its head bowed.

The monk closed his eyes and recited the scriptures, and the tiger gradually stood up and returned to the cage by himself.

The Tianzhu people who woke up hurriedly closed the cage.

The monk returned to the step, was lifted up, and continued to recite the scriptures as if by a miracle.

At this moment, as if all sides were infected, countless people followed the monk forward, and there was a pious atmosphere in the air.

"A living Buddha, only a living Buddha can do such a miracle!"

People looked at the monks with a hint of fanaticism in their eyes.