Ji Ding and the others turned their heads to look at the temple gate, but saw a child of the Nie family running in in a panic.

Ji Dingzhong's face sank, and when the man came closer, he shouted: "So flustered, what kind of system is it?!"

The Nie family disciple was startled and hurriedly stopped. It's just that he ran very quickly, although he wanted to stand firm, but how could he do it for a while? I saw him stumble and almost pounce on Li Qiufeng, who was standing on the side. Li Qiufeng's left hand was held on his waist, and the man's body involuntarily floated upward, and the momentum of running forward was all dissipated, and then he stood firmly on the ground.

Ji Dingzhong said: "Is it according to the judge's yamen, which master has arrived? What is Master Zhang doing outside?"

The disciple of the Nie family was shocked for a moment, and said in a trembling voice: "It is a master surnamed Bai from the Yamen of the Inspectorate, and Zhang Jiuye is talking to the person who came outside the door. He motioned with his eyes and asked his nephew to come and report the news. ”

Ji Dingzhong snorted and said, "Everyone has arrived at the temple gate, what difference does it make if they report it or not?" After he finished speaking, he glared at the Nie family disciple, and then said to Han Qusi and Huang Chong: "Two adults, this Master Bai is the number one celebrity under Lord Liang, he is good at dancing with long sleeves, and he is exquisite in all directions, and he is a great character. Let's all pick it up, maybe he can help a lot. ”

Han Qusi nodded, Huang Chong naturally had no objection, and the two walked outside the temple with Ji Dingzhong. The prefect and the prefect went to meet them outside the temple, and the officials and servants of the two yamen naturally followed closely. Li Qiufeng mixed in the crowd and followed everyone to the gate of the temple.

But before they had gone out, they suddenly hurriedly parted to the left and right. But it was Han Qusi, Huang Chong, and Ji Dingzhong who had already accompanied a middle-aged man in a navy blue robe into the temple. Fang was in the temple, Ji Dingzhong gave orders, and Han Qusi and Huang Chong only obeyed orders. At this time, in front of outsiders, Ji Dingzhong was sharp, just standing behind Han Qusi, making a cautious and respectful appearance.

Li Qiufeng mingled in a group of tolerance catchers, listening carefully to what everyone was saying. I saw that the man in the green robe had a smile on his face, and his expression was extremely peaceful, it was Master Bai who went to the north of the city that night to order Huashan and other sects to leave Xiuwu County. I only heard him say as he walked: "Governor Han is too polite, Bai Moujie cloth, how dare you go out to greet you?"

Han Qusi said, "Master Bai, your name and official have already heard about it. It's like thunder, but it's not an exaggeration. In recent years, Lord Liang's correspondence has relied on Master Bai's wonderful writing. I heard that several bigwigs in the Beijing cabinet also admired Master Bai's cleverness. As long as it is an excerpt written by Master Bai for Lord Liang, almost all of them can be delivered to the Imperial Palace, and they have never been left unsent. If your brother is out of the field, what will happen to us officials? Haha, haha. ”

Several people laughed and walked into the courtyard. Master Bai turned his head and saw that another wooden city had been built inside the wall, and the wooden city was full of big men with swords in their hands, and his face showed a look of surprise, and said, "Lord Han, what's going on? The day before yesterday, Bai followed Lord Liang to this City God Temple to make incense, but this is not the case here. Is it ......?"

When Master Bai said this, he suddenly stopped talking, his face changed greatly, he glanced at Han Qusi, and said in a trembling voice: "Lord Han, you have mobilized so many people to make a big fight in this City God Temple, this is not a joke. If the imperial historian hears about this and hands it over, you will be charged with 'unauthorized use of swords and bad intentions', I am afraid that the adults will be in trouble. ”

Han Qusi said, "Master Bai, you will be mistaken. I don't know if I haven't eaten the bear's heart and leopard's gall, so how dare I have any different intentions? To tell the truth, this government has received reliable information that a group of Japanese pirates has infiltrated Henan from Fujian in a vain attempt to make trouble in Xiuwu County. This gang of thieves planned to attack the temple as a foundation for their evil deeds in this place. After the official got the news, he hurried to see Lord Liang and reported the matter to him. But Lord Liang didn't believe it at all, and reprimanded the official. The official really had no choice, so he had to summon Lord Huang and discuss it carefully. The two of us thought that this matter was important, and they would rather believe that it existed than believe that it did not, so they summoned all the members of the Luoyang prefect's yamen and the Xiuwu county magistrate's yamen, and transferred all the righteous people inside and outside the city to the city god temple to be armed. If this matter is misinformation, everyone will make a false alarm, at most a few complaints, but it will not do much harm. If there is really a raid by the Japanese bandits, let's prepare in advance so that there will be no chaos. ”

Master Bai looked around while listening to Han Qusi. After Han Qusi finished speaking, Master Bai's face had already returned to calm. I only heard him sneer, and said in his mouth: "Old Han, three days ago, this temple was still calm as usual. Today, it is already like a great enemy, and it is murderous. The wooden walls in the courtyard could not be built in a few days. Your old Han is the prefect of Luoyang, and he is not the parent official of Xiuwu County. Could it be that you came to Xiuwu County and brought craftsmen and wood with you, and you have long wanted to build a large number of buildings in Xiuwu County?"

Li Qiufeng stood in the crowd, listening to what Master Bai said, and secretly thought in his heart, this surnamed Bai is so sensitive, he seems to be peaceful, but he speaks with a sharp edge. No wonder he was able to sit in the position of the master of the Yamen of the Judge, and he was deeply relied on by Liang Huan, and he was indeed a great figure. Compared with him, Ji Dingzhong is a little less calm, and Zhang Baixing is a little more arrogant. In front of this person, Ji Dingzhong and Zhang Baixing were far behind.

Han Qusi was slightly embarrassed when he heard Master Bai say this, and he didn't know how to answer for a while. Ji Dingzhong said with a smile on the side: "Our Han Governor came here from Luoyang, and I didn't expect that there would be Japanese robbers who would make trouble in Henan, so naturally they wouldn't bring craftsmen and wood." It's just that Lord Huang, the magistrate of Xiuwu County, is cautious, fair and honest as an official, and has won the support of tens of thousands of people in Xiuwu County. After half a month, it is the most lively lantern festival of the year in Xiuwu County. The whole city should erect high poles and hang lanterns to celebrate the peace of the Ming Dynasty. After the Han prefect received the secret report, he immediately discussed the matter with Huang Zhixian. Huang Zhixian said that since the Japanese were going to attack the Chenghuang Temple, they had to defend it strictly inside the temple and wait for the garrison outside the city to come to help. It was he who sent a proclamation to summon all the carpenters in and around the city into the city, and then ordered the people of the city to send all the wood used to hang the lanterns to the temple of the city god. Although the people of Xiuwu County did not know the purpose of the Yamen's move, they had always been convinced by Lord Huang, so they sent the wood over one after another. The carpenters rushed to work overnight, and then the wooden city was built. ”

When Ji Dingzhong said this, he deliberately paused slightly, with a look of embarrassment on his face, glanced at Master Bai, and then continued: "It's just that the matter is urgent, and Master Huang is afraid that the people will not obey the order, so he specially promised that as long as he sacrificed wood and went to the City God Temple to help, he could reduce six months of forced labor. This was a move to imminent power, and it was not reported to the Henan Governor Yamen. After the matter is over, I am afraid that I will have to bother Lord Liang to give a witness, lest the governor say that we are arbitrary. I still have to ask Master Bai for a lot of help in this matter, and we will be grateful to say a word for our officials in Luoyang Mansion in front of Lord Liang. ”

In fact, there are many flaws in Ji Dingzhong's words, but in an instant, it is extremely difficult for him to come up with such a statement. Ji Dingzhong himself knew that these words could not stand scrutiny, so he added a request. He has been a master in the Yamen of the Luoyang Prefect for more than ten years, and he is used to seeing cunning people, and he has also learned a lot of tricks to lie and deceive people. Know that if you want people to believe, you can't tell all lies, but you have to mix one or two lies into ten truths, and the bigger the circle of talking, the easier it is for people to believe. And beg the other person to do things for themselves. Whether the other party does it or not, he must consider his own position, and for a while he will not think about whether what he says is true or false.

After listening to Ji Dingzhong's words, Li Qiufeng thought to himself that this person was really cunning, and it was rare that he could come up with this excuse in a moment. It's just that Master Bai is also a veteran for many years, and he is only afraid that his mind is smart, far above Ji Dingzhong. Whether Ji Dingzhong's remarks can win the trust of Master Bai is still unknown.

I saw Master Bai nodding and said, "It turns out that Lord Huang is such a good official who loves the people like a son, we didn't expect it." But with Lord Huang's official reputation and fame, he can only be the magistrate of this small Xiuwu County, it's a pity, it's a pity. ”