Qi Xuansu took Shangguan Dun to catch up with Zhang Yuelu, at this time Zhang Yuelu was choosing a good place, preparing to camp, seeing Qi Xuansu come back, after explaining a few words to Lingquanzi, he motioned for Qi Xuansu to go to the side to talk.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu walked aside, while Shangguan Dun stood far away with great discernment, and did not rush over.

Qi Xuansu roughly described the process of the conversation between the two, Zhang Yuelu didn't care about the expenditure of five hundred Taiping money, they didn't have to pay for this money out of their own pockets, and Tiangang Hall would have a special foreign affairs fund.

What Zhang Yuelu cares about is Shangguan Dun's identity: "In your words, can an old moon be reliable?" ”

Qi Xuansu said: "Of course, this kind of person is unreliable, but as long as they give money, they dare to do anything, and if they are replaced by others, they may not dare to provoke this group of vicious demons." Of course, we can't count on him entirely, as the deputy hall master said, we just let him be a guide. ”

Zhang Yuelu pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "There is no other choice in a short period of time, so it has to be like this." ”

Qi Xuansu beckoned to Shangguan.

Shangguan Dun hurriedly came over and wanted to salute Zhang Yuelu again.

"No need to be polite." Zhang Yuelu waved his hand and took out two large tickets from the Sumeru treasure, "This is a deposit." ”

Shangguan Dun glanced at the bead-shaped Sumeru on Zhang Yuelu's wrist with some envy, but he didn't reach out and take the two official tickets, and said in a low voice: "Master Mage, only a big city like Loulan has a rich village, can you give cash?" ”

Zhang Yuelu put away the two large tickets, took out two small bags of worry-free money, and threw them to Shangguan Dun.

One Yuan Worry-Free Money is equal to ten Yuan Taiping Yuan, and 200 Taiping Money is also 20 Worry-Free Money. The biggest advantage of worry-free money is that it is more convenient to carry cash, and it can be used to deal with situations where you can't use official tickets, such as now.

Shangguan Dun caught the money bag, each money bag has the four words "pick up the circle and worry-free", and there are two small words "Tiangang" next to it, he was in his heart, he didn't open the money bag for the first time to take a look at the golden worry-free money, but held the two money bags in his hand and looked at Zhang Yuelu.

Zhang Yuelu said: "Remember, you are taking the money from Tiangang Hall. ”

"The villain remembers, the villain remembers." Shangguan Dun said again and again, of course he understood Zhang Yuelu's meaning, Tiangangtang's money is not so easy to take, although Tiangangtang will not do the river and tear down the bridge, but if you fool the water, Tiangangtang is not a bodhisattva without fire.

Zhang Yuelu said to Xuan Su again: "Give him a horse." ”

Qi Xuansu should be down.

Although Tiangangtang is not one person and two horses, it also brings spare horses for carrying some materials, and it is not difficult to even out one.

Qi Xuansu found his subordinate Cao Liyou and asked him to prepare a tent and a horse for Shangguan Dun.

Since leaving Yujing, Qi Xuansu has been able to do things, and coupled with his status as a "deputy hall master's cronie", even if his subordinates are not convinced, they will not show it on the surface.

After Qi Xuansu finished explaining, he took out a large handful of grass from the side of the saddle, took out a bag of beans from the saddle bag, mixed it in it, and began to feed the horse.

This is also a helpless thing, it is snowing again, and it is the Gobi, and there is no grass along the way, so you can only prepare solid pasture grass in advance. Fortunately, there was a corresponding reserve in Bishanguan, and they replenished it there once.

After feeding the horses, Qi Xuansu began to eat dinner, which was still a stone-like cold and hard dry food with cold water. Qi Xuansu, who has been walking in the rivers and lakes for many years, has become accustomed to it, while many Taoist priests living in Yujing are not used to sleeping in the open air, and most of them eat "marching pills" to satisfy their stomachs.

When Qi Xuansu was eating, he glanced at Zhang Yuelu again, and found that this girl was sitting alone in the distance and drinking a small drink, because she had Sumeru, and I didn't know how much wine she brought, but it was certain that she definitely didn't bring these cold and hard dry food.

Zhang Yuelu seemed to realize something, and suddenly turned her head to look at Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu hurriedly retracted his gaze and concentrated on eating.

After a night's rest, we continued on the road the next day.

Because of Shangguan Dun's guide, Zhang Yuelu saved a lot of effort to confirm the route, and three days later, a city full of exotic styles appeared in everyone's sight.

This is the destination of Qi Xuansu and his party, Wuge Mountain was one of the 36 countries in the Western Regions, and later the Daxuan court established Xizhou, and most of the small countries in the 36 countries were included in the imperial court and became prefectures. The rest of the small states outside the jurisdiction of Xizhou were no longer called states, and became small city-states, with the Daxuan court as the suzerain, and the tribute was called a vassal.

The Daxuan Imperial Court set up the Chengxuan Political Envoy Department in all states in the world, but only set up the Xizhou Protectorate in Xizhou, which is not only a local yamen, but also a camp of the Western Army, and the Xizhou Metropolitan Protector is stationed in Loulan, holding military and political power, which is equivalent to the governor of a state plus the chief military officer of the governor of a state, controlled by the governor of Xiliang, and directly under the cabinet, and the status is very special.

Since Emperor Gaozu deposed the Metropolitan Governor's Office and the Celebrant Supervisor, the cabinet has become the highest authority in the true sense, similar to the Jinque Deliberation of the Daomen, and the first assistant is respectfully called "Xiang".

However, in order to prevent the civil official family from becoming dominant, Emperor Gaozu abolished the so-called rule that non-Hanlin did not enter the cabinet, imitated the ancient system, and restored the tradition that military attachés can also enter the cabinet as ministers.

It is worth mentioning that Wuge Shanli is neither under the jurisdiction of the Western Prefecture Protectorate, nor is it within the jurisdiction of the Western Regions Provincial Government.

So when the group entered the city, it immediately attracted the hostile gaze of the guards.

The two sides did not understand the language, and at this time the role of Shangguan Dun became apparent, he had been mixed here for many years, proficient in various languages, and could not only be a guide, but also a translator.

Zhang Yuelu had no intention of concealing her identity, so she took out her own basket and asked Shangguan to inform the guards that she wanted to see the local city lord.

Although this place did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Daomen, the guards of the city gate hurried to their superiors because of the prestige of the Daomen.

After a short time, a general came and warmly entertained the group, but did not mean to let everyone enter the city, and informed Zhang Yuelu that the city lord would arrive soon.

Zhang Yuelu did not refuse, just waited calmly.

About half an hour later, the city lord here arrived late, and to Qi Xuansu's surprise, the city lord turned out to be an extremely young woman.

This woman has brown hair, a high nose and deep eyes, and a tall figure, although in terms of height, she is about the same as Zhang Yuelu, but in terms of figure, there is a lot of difference, Zhang Yuelu stood with her, looking a little weak.

Not surprisingly, the city lord's surname is Ai, and according to her self-introduction, her original name is Ai Li.

After Ai Li and Zhang Yuelu greeted each other, she said in the words of a skilled Grand Xuanguan: "I sincerely invite Master Mage to my mansion as a guest, but Master Master has too many entourages......

It's hard to imagine that Ellie's words still have a slight Dijing accent in them, like a young lady born in Dijing, not the owner of this remote city in the Western Regions.

Zhang Yuelu said: "Deacon Qi and the guide followed me into the city, and the rest of the people obeyed the command of the director of Lingquan and stood by on the spot. ”

Lingquanzi nodded and said in a low voice, "Deputy Hall Master be careful. ”

Qi Xuansu didn't speak, but just touched the short sword and the grip of the handcuff on his waist, and glanced at Shangguan Dun again, and found that this old man was very calm.

The three of them followed Ellie into the city and headed for the city lord's mansion.

Along the way, it can be seen that the city is still quite lively and prosperous, although it is not as good as Loulan, the largest city in Xizhou, and it cannot be compared with Yujing, but it is not much different from many ordinary prefectures and counties in the Central Plains.

The castle lord's mansion is located in the inner city, which was once the royal palace of the Urigo Mountain, so it occupies a large area and is quite luxuriously decorated. However, now it has become the owner of the Ai family, which is not only the office of the city lord to deal with various matters, but also the residence of the entire family.

Under Ellie's guidance, the group entered the inner city unimpeded and arrived at the city lord's mansion.

Elle warmly entertained the three of them in a huge living room decorated with stained glass, with a gorgeous maid serving good tea from the Central Plains, and even using celadon teacups very considerately, which could not be prepared in a hurry, coupled with Elle's skilled official language, it can be seen that the Ai family has been greatly assimilated, and the blend of East and West is perfectly reflected in this family.

Elle is well versed in the etiquette of the Central Plains, and as the host, she did not hold up the teacup. Zhang Yuelu didn't mean to drink tea, so she got straight to the point: "This time I came to see the city lord, in fact, I have something to ask for." ”

Ellie said: "The mage comes from the powerful Dao Sect, and I am just an insignificant little city lord, how can the mage need my help?" ”

Zhang Yuelu glanced at Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu said: "After all, this is not the territory of the Daomen, as a guest, you need the help of the local master, which is reasonable." Truth be told, we're looking for a gang of demons. ”

"Demons?" There was a look of surprise on Ellie's face, making it impossible to tell whether it was real or fake.

"Doesn't the city lord know?" Under Qi Niang's teaching, Qi Xuansu was very good at controlling his expression, and he also showed surprise, "There is a group of foreign demons who have entered the territory of the Western Regions, attacked caravans, plundered property, and killed thirteen Daomen Taoists, and the real people were very angry and ordered the eradication of this group of lawless demons. ”

This is the reason why Zhang Yuelu asked Qi Xuansu to speak, she had already discovered that Qi Xuansu was quite good at pretending, which was exactly what she was not good at.

The surprise on Ellie's face turned to shock: "There is such a terrible thing! ”

Qi Xuansu said: "That's why I want the city lord's help." ”

Elle was silent for a moment and said, "Although I am a city lord, I am also a merchant, so I still want to take the liberty of asking, what can I get in return?" ”

Zhang Yuelu spoke again: "You can get the friendship of Daomen and become a friend of Daomen." ”