Chapter 62: The Child Prodigy Li Zhou, Smart and Studious

In front of the barbecue grill, Yue Niang and Li Sheng were busy sweating. Master Liaochen told them to go wash up quickly because she would take care of the baby.

Seeing the nun smilingly scooping a spoonful of roasted monkey brain for Li Zhou, and only having porridge and side dishes in front of him, Li Sheng's forehead was sweating even more, and he saluted in shame: "I'm so sorry for the offense."

They actually let a monk feed meat to the child.

The nun handed him a box of ointment and pointed at his back: "Apply it to the injured area. The swelling will go away in three days."

Li Sheng took the ointment and bowed again, "Thank you, Master."

He glanced at his daughter who was eating happily, and remembered what his wife told him about how his daughter protected him from evil spirits. He sighed inwardly and left with mixed feelings.

For some reason, he couldn't remember clearly what happened before he fainted.

The scene of being rolled up by that thick tentacle and escaping from the dead would appear in my mind from time to time.

He didn't know that the nun cast a spell to make him forget that experience in order to prevent him from having mental problems after waking up.

He didn't even know that, thanks to the fact that he didn't like reading and wasn't good at deep thinking, even if there were some memories left, it wouldn't affect his rationality.

Yue Niang looked hesitantly at the innocent Li Zhou, and then at the nun. Li Wugui, who had no opinion of his own, thought that the nun was one of their own since they had been through hardships together. Little did he know that the more upright the nun was, the more dangerous Zhou would be.

Dalang pulled her sleeve and said, "Mom."

Yue Niang turned her head and asked, "What's wrong?"

Dalang raised his foot-long sword and said, "I will protect my sister."

Yueniang was startled.

Was it so obvious what she was thinking?

Fearing that his brother would snatch away his chance to be filial, Li Zhou quickly swallowed his monkey brain and turned around and said, "I will protect my mother, too."

The nun picked up another piece of roasted meat and passed it to her mouth: "So you have to eat more meat, so that you can grow tall and strong."

Li Zhou nodded, opened his mouth and took the roasted meat. He somehow chewed the meat into pieces in a few bites with his toothless mouth and swallowed it into his stomach.

Yue Niang suddenly felt that she might be worrying too much. Even if the nun wanted to subdue the demons, she might not be able to subdue Zhou Er in a short time.

She felt relieved and went to change her clothes without saying anything.

When Master Liaochen saw her leave, she touched Li Zhou's head and asked gently, "Zhou'er, do you want to have more barbecue in the future?"

"Only barbecue?"

"Zhu'er can make whatever he wants to eat."

"Yes." Li Zhou said. There are so many things she wants to eat.

The nun's voice became gentler: "Zhou'er, do you know the meaning of 'If you drain the pond to fish, there will be no fish next year; if you burn the bush to plant the field, there will be no animals next year'?"

Li Zhou, who had attended classes seriously in her previous life, certainly knew the common phrase "drain the pond to catch all the fish", but she had never heard of the second half of the sentence "burn the bush to make fields".

It's probably about the same meaning, Li Zhou thought, this is the nun, as her teacher, giving her a test to gauge her basic knowledge.

"I know." Li Zhou nodded. She didn't want to be described by Master Lechen as "the worst class I've ever taught." "It means that we can't catch all the fish and beasts just to fill our stomachs at once. We need to learn how to graze and use them sustainably."

Master Liaochen looked at Li Zhou in surprise and said, "This boy is teachable."

She sighed from the bottom of her heart.

Even though she knew that Li Zhou must be much older than he looked.

But how can the age of gods be the same as that of mortals?

Compared to His person, even though He is hundreds of years old, He is still just a newborn.

Master Liaochen's sincere praise almost made Li Zhou smile.

She pursed her lips and said very modestly: "This is just an anecdote that every student should know."

"It's easy to know, but hard to do." Master Liaochen handed Li Zhou another piece of roasted meat. While Li Zhou was eating the meat, she said in a gentle and persuasive way, "For example, this Fujiao City, there are countless monsters like monkeys hiding there. If we conquer this city in one go, we can certainly feast on it today, but where can we find new monsters tomorrow and the day after tomorrow?"

Li Zhou frowned, looking distressed. Of course, she could say, "Why not just go to another place?" But the problem was, that would mean leaving her mother.

Li Zhou didn't want to be separated from his mother, so he followed the nun's advice and said, "Then we shouldn't eat them all at once, so as not to exhaust the resources."

Master Liaochen finally heard the answer she wanted, and she was relieved in her heart, but she didn't show it on her face. She smiled and nodded and said, "Zhou'er is really insightful. He knows how to integrate knowledge and action."

Li Zhou glanced at the comprehension value on the simulator interface and thought, Did you hear that? I really do have comprehension. I didn’t say that myself.

It is clear who has the problem.

Fujiao County Government Office.

Censor Chang was welcomed into the yamen, and found the county magistrate and the judge of the demon-hunting department both there. Censor Chang breathed a sigh of relief, wiped his sweat, and thought that he didn't have to make another trip.

The servants served fragrant tea. The tea was the famous Shuiyue tribute tea. The water for brewing the tea was taken from the famous Wuai Spring in the southeast. The snow-white tea leaves floated in the green water, which was so sweet and fragrant.

In the words of the county magistrate, just for this sip of tea, he would not serve as an official anywhere else except in Fujiaocheng.

Even if he was to be promoted to be an official in Beijing, he would have been pushed to retire.

Magistrate Gu looked at Censor Chang eagerly, and was about to discuss the tea ceremony with him in detail, but he saw the latter lift the lid of the teapot and gulp down a cup of fine tea in one breath. He chewed up the priceless Shuiyue tea leaves like a cow chewing a peony.

What a rude person this is!

Magistrate Gu, who thought he had done nothing wrong in entertaining his guests, looked at the teacup in Censor Chang's hand with pain and felt very unhappy.

Censor Chang had no idea that he was feeling sorry for the tea leaves. Seeing his expression, he was startled. He realized that he was so thirsty that he couldn't help but drink a sip of water before talking about business.

But if the evil spirits pollute us a moment later, it will affect so many people. How can we delay?

He casually put down the celadon tea bowl that the county magistrate had carefully collected and would only use when distinguished guests visited. The noise made the county magistrate's eyes even heavier.

"Gu Mingfu, Zhang Daopan, something happened to the He family."

Censor Chang said straight to the point: "I am here on the order of the Emperor to summon the He family to deal with the flood. The He family's mansion is full of evil spirits. If I hadn't had the official seal and the great spirit to protect me from the evil spirits, I would have been attacked by them. I think the best plan now is to gather the troops and surround the He Garden before the He family notices it..."

"Chang Yushi," Zhang Daopan suddenly said, "You mean that the entire He family mansion has been contaminated by evil spirits?"

Censor Chang was stunned for a moment, feeling that something was wrong with Zhang Daopan's tone. He touched the sword at his waist, but still nodded.

Magistrate Gu smiled and said, "You can't just say that. Does Censor Chang have any evidence?"

"This seal is the evidence." Censor Chang took out the official seal and spread out his palm, wanting to show the two men the branded mark on himself.

When he spread his hands, he was stunned.

The mark that was bright red half an incense stick ago, as if a layer of skin had been peeled off, had now disappeared without a trace.

There was nothing in his palm.

Magistrate Gu and Judge Zhang looked down, then raised their heads and looked at Censor Chang with puzzled expressions.

Censor Chang stared at his palm blankly.

Magistrate Gu stroked his chin and looked thoughtfully at the frost on his official robes: "Brother Chang, how long did it take you to get here from the capital?"

"Including the time spent eating and drinking at the post station, it took a total of three days."

"Did you take a break?"

"I dare not close my eyes for a moment."

"That's it." County Magistrate Gu sighed, "Brother Chang's heart for the country and the people, I really admire it, but how can you do good things if you don't get enough rest? You have reached your limit, it's time to get some sleep."

Censor Chang didn't feel sleepy at first, but after hearing what he said, he really felt sleepy.

He forced himself not to close his eyes and said anxiously, "But what about He..."

"You are hallucinating because you are tired." Zhang Daopan raised his finger and knocked the table with his knuckles. His majestic voice made it impossible to disobey, "Go to sleep. After a good sleep, everything will be fine."

“Boom!”

The eyelids of Censor Chang were stuck together and he could no longer open them. His head fell to the side, and he fell asleep on the desk.

He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but he heard a distant and ethereal voice, which whispered in the soothing but monotonous sound of a flute:

“The Supreme Primordial… The Primordial Chaos… The Supreme Divine One… The Supreme Heavenly Lord…”

Censor Chang closed his eyes tightly, his throat rolled, and then he opened his mouth and whispered softly: "Tianzun..."

Magistrate Gu and Judge Zhang looked at each other and smiled with satisfaction.

Magistrate Gu clapped his hands and told his servants to help Censor Chang to the backyard, put away the tea bowls and tea leaves, and then said to Zhang Daopan, "We should also write a memorial to report the situation of this flood."

"If it weren't for the mercy of the Heavenly Lord, I don't know how many people would have been displaced." Zhang Daopan said, "I really want Your Majesty to feel the glory of the Heavenly Lord."

County Magistrate Gu consoled him, "That day will come."

The emperor, who was reading memorials on the throne in the capital, suddenly felt a chill on his back.

She frowned and looked up at the window. Pei Shanggong understood and stood up to close the half-open window.

…

After dinner, Li Zhou followed Master Lechen to read.

Master Liaochen first taught her to recognize her own name, "Zhou" means bright, daytime, which is opposite to night, and is divided by dawn.

Li Zhou glanced at his brother who looked painful, and wanted to be a studious role model: "I know, my name comes from a poem."

"Zhou'er can recite poems?"

"Yeah." Li Zhou remembered that this poem was her good friend Xue Jingzhen's favorite poem. "The poem is called "The Bitter Day is Short."

She recited aloud: "Fei Guang Fei Guang, I offer you a glass of wine. I do not know how high the blue sky is, or how thick the yellow earth is. I only see the cold moon and the warm sun, which are here to burn people's longevity."

A little baby with two heads and a half body could recite a poem clearly. Who wouldn't call him a child prodigy?

Li Zhou thought with great pride in his heart, and did not forget to thank his good friend. If it weren't for her, she would not have remembered it so clearly.

Yue Niang, who was embroidering a new bellyband, heard the sound of a girl reciting in the yard and looked up with relief.

Mr. Li, who was doing the accounts nearby, looked at her and said in panic, "Madam, why are you crying?"

Yue Niang was startled, and touched her cheek with her backhand. It was cold to the touch, and she realized that she had been crying without knowing when.

"I am..." She was also surprised and said, "...what's wrong?"