There will be multiple clans below the suzerain, and within each clan, there will be a different number of people and Baoyin households who take refuge, implicated layer by layer, and eventually become a clan with greater or smaller strength.

The person recommended by Fang Yu to Sima Wenzhi by the county order was his distant relative. The ancestors of the two are of the same clan and live in the same area.

In the last years of Jianxing in the previous dynasty, a large number of northerners moved to the south with Emperor Yuan of the Jin Dynasty. Although Fang Yu did not follow the ancestors, he also moved away from the same place. Then the world changed, and today, the people of the family belong to the Song and Wei dynasties.

Compared with Xu Xianling, who is just a small official, the people he introduced are much stronger. This person is a well-known local hero in Luoyang, and he is also the suzerain of one party, Xu Bingjin of the Xu clan.

Seeing the city gate, Sima Wenzhi walked a few steps quickly to a passer-by and asked where Xu Bingjin's clan was.

After receiving the reply, he found another person and asked again to corroborate each other. After confirming that it was correct, he turned around and left, walking quickly towards the Xu clan.

In the reply of the passer-by, Xu was due south outside Luoyang City. Sima Wenzhi took Langya all the way, and when the sky was about to get dark, he finally arrived at a place where people lived.

The peasants rested from sunrise to sunset, and most of them were resting in their houses at this moment, and few people walked on the road. He searched several times before he came across a man, and when he asked him, he received a definite answer.

When he got closer, despite the preparations in his heart, the Xu clan still exceeded his expectations a lot. In front of you, the Wu fort is connected and it is difficult to see the end, and the outside is closely guarded.

Fortunately, Xu Bingjin is the sect master of the Xu family, and the main fort where he lives is not difficult to find. Sima Wenzhi walked closer and explained his intention to the guards outside the door.

As when he first visited Hu Jushi, the guards did not let him go, so he waited where he was, and followed them to the fort to report.

After only a few dozen breaths, the guards quickly returned, and there were many words of refusal. The excuse was that it was getting late, so he came back another day.

Xu Bingjin is the sect master of the Xu family, and he will definitely not live in the front yard. Therefore, even the guards of this sect would never be able to see him so easily and return within a few breaths.

If he didn't guess wrong, the guards didn't inform Xu Bingjin of the news, but he was sent away by someone else.

However, such a response was also expected by Sima Qian. On the way here, he also thought about staying overnight in the wilderness and waiting until after tomorrow morning.

Then he dismissed the idea.

Langya hadn't eaten for a long time, and her stomach was hungry and thirsty. This is also a place where people live, and wild things are hard to find. I had to go into the fort first and ask for something to eat for her.

After hearing the guard's response, Sima Wenzhi took out Fang Yu's handwritten letter from his arms, handed it over, and asked again to be sure to hand over the letter to Xu Bingjin himself.

This time the waiting time was much longer, and after about two incense sticks, an old man walked out of the door, and looked up and down after waiting for the approach.

"Come with me. After looking at it, the old man reminded.

When he entered the door, Langya followed closely behind. The guards tried to stop her, but the old man didn't give the order, and the guards didn't stop her.

Contrary to Sima Wenzhi's expectations, after the old man brought him in, he did not take him to the backyard, and stopped in front of a room in the side yard.

"The sect master has an order, and the Dao Leader will stay here first to rest. As for other things, there is no need to rush, you can postpone it for a few days. After stopping, the old man spoke.

"There is Uncle Lao, and there is a lot of disturbance. Sima asked and thanked him politely.

"Besides, is there any food in the fort? After several days of traveling, the boy was hungry and thirsty. After replying, he spoke again, making a request.

"It's a trifle, wait a minute. The old man replied happily and turned away.

It didn't take long for someone to come with a food box, which was filled with exquisite edible water and rice.

There should have been servants in the fort who served the guests, and Sima Wenzhi could have given them instructions without asking the old man. He did this on purpose.

Different servants have different positions in the fort, and the food they can send is also different. Seeing the food in the food box, he could roughly estimate the old man's position in the castle.

is not a housekeeper, but also a close person around the sect master.

At the same time that Sima Wenzhi pushed the food in front of Langya's eyes, in a main room in the backyard, the old man who had just brought him in was returning to the sect master.

"What does it look like to come here?" asked Xu Bing after listening.

"It's just a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, and there is nothing special about him except that he is a little handsome. The old man responded truthfully.

"Just a teenager?" Xu Bing asked rhetorically.

"Yes. The old man confirmed.

The old man's response was beyond Xu Bing's expectations.

In the handwritten letter, Fang Yu did not inform the name of the person who came, nor did he describe his appearance, but he strongly respected the person's ability. He thought it would be an elderly Taoist, but he didn't expect it to be a teenager.

"You go and choose a reliable henchman, and you can go to Gaoping County of the Song Kingdom to find out the details of this person. After thinking about it roughly, Xu Bing opened his mouth and instructed the old man on the side.

"Sect Master, is there a mistake in the letter?" the old man asked rhetorically.

"Although there are not many contacts, the handwriting is indeed Fengzhi's handwriting. It's just that the gap between the person who came and what I thought was too big, and I had to guard against it at a critical moment. Xu Bing opened his mouth to explain.

After hearing this, the old man stopped asking questions, and then turned around and went down to arrange. And when he had not yet departed, he was stopped again.

"Mu Lao, instruct the people who go to go to Gaoping County to secretly investigate, and not let Feng Zhi know. After stopping him, Xu Bing gave another order.

"If you want to verify the authenticity, it is safest to ask the sect master's own family directly. The old man still responded to the order first, and then reminded him.

"What Mu Lao said is right. Regarding the old man's reminder, Xu Bingjin did not refute. After being sure, he spoke again and said the reason for such commands.

"A hundred years ago, Feng Zhizu left Luoyang. After that, although he was estranged from them, he continued to exchange letters. Feng Zhi has an arrogant temperament and will not easily introduce others to me. If I let him know that I was looking for someone he had introduced, he would be displeased. Then the return of the Fengzhi lineage to the original sect will give rise to unnecessary incidents. ”

"Obey the suzerain's orders. The old man no longer questioned.

The next day, after midnight, the servant who had brought the food last night came again to deliver the meal. After Sima Wenzhi saw it, he secretly sighed that the old man was thoughtful.

There are many kinds of food sent last night, Langya likes meat, and there is no meat left in the food box.

Today's food is sent again, there is a lot more meat than yesterday, it should be someone who checked the food box that was removed yesterday and made a special order.

Meat is plentiful, but it is not wasted. Langya did not practice the Bigu technique, and had to eat and drink at every meal.

Before, he followed Sima Wen and wandered, hungry and full. It's rare to have a delicious open supply at this moment, just in time to feast on it.