183. Congenital

At midnight, a heavy snow covered Hongyi Lane, and the bright lights were gone. She Dengke came hurriedly, braving the snow.

He hesitated and came to the door of the "Glass Palace" and tried to knock, but no one opened the door for him.

He took a few steps back and looked up, only to see that the most famous "Glass Palace" in Hongyi Lane had its doors and windows tightly closed, the curtains drawn, and it was pitch black.

She Dengke muttered, "Didn't they say Brother Gou'er was in there? Why does it look so dark and empty? It doesn't look like anyone is there."

At this moment, a stooped servant rushed out from a side alley and whispered with a flattering smile, "Young Master, are you coming to the Glazed Palace to play?"

She Dengke replied, "I'm here to look for someone, Liang Gou'er."

The servant said with a smile, "So you are Brother Gou'er's distinguished guest. Please come this way, please come this way."

After saying that, the servant led She Dengke into the alley and walked all the way to the dim back door of the Glazed Palace.

As soon as I opened the door, I heard the chirping of birds in the building, the colorful lights came into view, and the hot and fragrant wind blew towards me, it was so lively.

She Dengke was stunned: "I thought there was no one inside..."

The servant explained with an apologetic smile, "The city is now overrun with the Secret Service's thugs, so I really don't dare to show off."

She Dengke walked into the building and was shocked to discover that the building was heated by underground heating, making it warmer than spring. The enchanting dancers who came and went, their snow-white skin, almost dazzled him.

The servant led him upstairs and knocked on the door of the private room "Spring Evening". Then he heard Liang Gou'er's voice: "Come in!"

When he opened the door, he saw Liang Gou'er sitting at a round table, hugging two dancers and laughing wildly. Liang Mao'er sat helplessly beside him, constantly stuffing food into his mouth.

She Dengke took a few quick steps, pulled a dancer aside, and sat down next to Liang Gou'er to whisper a few words. Liang Gou'er hugged the dancer and glanced at him sideways: "Brother She, you know my rules. I have three things I won't help. One of them is..."

She Dengke said solemnly, "Brother Gou'er, we are all friends, can't you make an exception for once?"

Liang Gou'er sneered, "What friend? I just need some money. A drinking buddy only drinks your wine, but you want to kill him? How can that be justified..."

Yu Dengke was silent for a moment, then pulled out a letter from his pocket. "If you follow the plan and bring this letter with you afterwards, I guarantee you'll be able to see Jiang Liuxian."

Liang Gou'er suddenly sat up straight. "Say it again?" She Dengke said seriously, "Jiang, Liu, Xian."

Liang Gou'er's expression gradually turned colder.

Yu Dengke continued, "If you don't follow the plan, you will never see it..."

Before he finished speaking, Liang Gou'er pushed away the dancer beside him and said in a deep voice, "Get out!" After the dancers left the private room, he took the envelope, pulled out a page of paper from it, and looked at it again and again, his expression changing from gloomy to bright.

After a moment, the alcohol in his eyes disappeared, and he stared straight at Yu Dengke: "You have no right to talk to me like that, and you shouldn't know where Jiang Liuxian is. Who taught you this?"

She Dengke hesitated for a moment and then looked at Liang Gou'er, not avoiding or giving way: "No one taught me."

"How dare you say the name Jiang Liuxian in front of me?" Liang Gou'er sneered, "I've already guessed who it is. This young man is so ruthless, he's willing to do anything to get what he wants... Isn't he afraid of me settling the score later?"

She Dengke was also getting impatient: "Give me a definite answer on whether it will work or not. I have several places to go and I'm very busy tonight."

Liang Gou'er closed his eyes and thought.

When he opened his eyes again, he drank the wine in the glass cup in one gulp: "Tell him it is as he wishes."

She Dengke left in a hurry.

When he went out, he glanced at the heavy snow falling from the sky, then clutched his collar with his right hand, lowered his head and hurried on his way.

At the hour of Yin, the sky was still pitch dark.

The sound of horse hooves echoed outside the Luocheng granary. The soldier on the watchtower squinted his eyes, holding a lantern. "Who!?"

The next moment, he saw Zhang Zhuo, dressed in a red official robe, riding a horse in the wind and snow, with hundreds of palace soldiers following behind him.

Zhang Zhuo stopped his horse at the gate and said coldly, "Open the door!"

The gate slowly opened, and the lieutenant general ran out while pulling up his trousers: "Master Zhang, why are you here so late at night?"

Zhang Zhuo raised his chin and said, "Call all soldiers! The transportation of autumn grain and tax silver has been delayed due to the civil unrest. They must be assembled and shipped tomorrow."

The lieutenant general was shocked. "Sir, why are you in such a hurry? Just collecting the autumn grain will take three days... and we haven't even contacted the grain transport gang yet. They may not have any large grain ships waiting at the dock."

Zhang Zhuo sneered: "Are you in charge of Luocheng or am I? Just prepare as I say. Before the evening of Shenshi, as many as can be counted, we will transport them away." The lieutenant general hesitated.

Zhang Zhuo looked down at him from his horse: "I have already killed a lieutenant here before, so I am not afraid of killing another one."

The lieutenant lowered his head in panic: "Yes, I understand."

At this point, Zhang Zhuo said, "By the way, we need to change the grain transportation route. This time, we'll go through Guangji Street and then escort it to the docks to prevent the thieves from familiarizing themselves with our route and planning a robbery in advance."

The lieutenant general was puzzled: "Sir, our city of Luo is now full of eunuchs and their lackeys. No matter how powerful the robbers are, they would not dare to rob the government grain and silver even if they had nine heads!"

Zhang Zhuo narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "I said, you do it, why are there so many problems?" The lieutenant general was stunned: "I understand!"

The sound of a rooster crowing sounded, and Zhang Zhu looked up at the faint white light at the edge of the sky. It was the hour of Mao.

Zhang Zheng, who was hiding in the ranks of the palace soldiers behind him, rode his horse forward slowly. "Father, is it too late?"

Zhang Zhuo thought for a moment and said, "It should be in time... This is a serious matter. I'm putting the Zhang family's fortune on the line."

Zhang Zheng smiled and said, "It's okay. My brother and I aren't suited to be officials anyway." Zhang Zhuo glared at him, "How dare you say that?"

Zhang Zheng quickly changed the subject: "By the way, father, where's my sister?" Zhang Zhuo looked towards the darkness: "She has her own things to do."

.

At the time of Si, the sky was bright and the courtyard of Taiping Medical Clinic was covered with thick snow.

The snow on Anxi Street had been swept away by the merchants, but the snow in front of the clinic had not been cleared yet.

Old man Yao stood behind the counter in the main hall, taking the pulse and prescribing medicine for patients. When there were no more patients, he would occasionally look towards the backyard to see if Chen Ji had gotten up.

Wuyun meowed, his paws tucked into his hand. "Master, is Chen Ji sick? He never used to sleep in."

Old Man Yao sneered, "What kind of illness is that? Even a tiger's wound can heal quickly, so how can it get sick so easily?"

"Oh...then why isn't he getting up yet?"

Old man Yao stood behind the counter with his hands tucked into his sleeves.

He looked at the snow in front of the door and replied casually, "Maybe there's nothing to look forward to."

Hot pot in winter and wine in the evening are not very important.

At this time, Chen Ji in the apprentice dormitory opened his eyes and looked at the beams. He watched the dust floating in the air swaying up and down, wondering what he was thinking.

I don’t know how long it took, but Chen Ji got up, changed into a new black winter coat, picked up the bamboo broom in the yard and walked out.

Seeing Old Man Yao and Wu Yun, he smiled and greeted them, "Good morning." Old Man Yao glanced at him and said, "You're still up? What? You planning to wait for me to clear the snow? You're dressed up like a gentleman, and you're going to Red Lane?"

Chen Ji smiled happily: "Master, don't be angry, I will go to sweep the snow.

I'm entertaining colleagues, so I'm dressing formally."

As he was speaking, the clear sound of copper bells was heard in the distance on Anxi Street.

The next moment, thirty-two monks wearing gray robes, with half of their arms bare in the cold winter season, steadily carried the huge Sumeru throne and a statue of Guanyin.

Beside the Sumeru throne, a monk holds a copper bell in his left hand and an incense stick in his right. Occasionally, he strikes his hands together, and the incense stick and the copper bell create brilliant sparks and crisp sounds.

Wherever he passed, the people prostrated themselves on the ground.

On the occasion of the eightieth birthday of the old father of a wealthy family named Zhuang, he specially donated incense and offerings to invite the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to patrol and watch over the world.

Chen Ji stood at the threshold, clasped his hands together, closed his eyes and whispered a wish.

Old Man Yao looked at his back and laughed, "Are you going to kill someone tonight, so you're praying for their souls to be reborn? Weren't you debating Buddhist scriptures before? When did you become a good man or woman under the Sumeru throne of Buddhism?"

Chen Ji opened his eyes and turned back with a smile: "Master, since there are forty-nine heavens in this world, it's always good to be prepared. What if the Bodhisattva really blesses me today?"

Old Man Yao drooped his eyelids and said, "What a mess this world has become! If they truly have compassion, they should open their eyes and see."

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Master, since Xu Shu and Hu Junyan were able to come down from the Forty-Ninth Heaven, there must be a way to get back up, right?"

Old Man Yao looked up at him and asked, "Why, you want to go up and take a look?" Chen Ji leaned on his bamboo broom and smiled, "Just asking."

Old Man Yao stood behind the counter and pondered for a moment: "It is said that the Forty-Ninth Heaven is where immortals live. If you can one day transcend the Divine Dao Realm and ascend to heaven, perhaps you can go there and become an immortal."

Chen Ji's eyes lit up slightly: "Master, has anyone successfully transcended the tribulation and ascended to heaven in recent years?" "Yes."

"Master, do you want to be a god?" Old Man Yao said dismissively, "If you don't have a hundred thousand years to live, what's the point of being a god?"

Chen Ji was stunned. This sentence seemed to have a hidden meaning. He swept the snow slowly in front of the door, as if thinking about something. He did this from noon to dusk.

After the last piece of snow was swept away, he turned and went into the house to get the ginseng he had bought earlier. In front of Old Man Yao, he transformed it into crystal beads in one breath, which were swallowed one by one by the dark cloud.

Old man Yao looked at it silently for a while, then took out ten ginsengs from the main room and placed them on the counter.

Chen Ji looked up and across the counter: "Master, how much is this ginseng?" Old Man Yao pushed the ginseng in front of him: "It's free this time."

Chen Ji was shocked: "You are..."

Old Man Yao said expressionlessly, "Don't go in front of me."

Chen Ji grinned, and he transformed all the ice flow in his body into molten flow. One hundred and ten fires burned brightly, and stars seemed to light up in his eyes.

The dark cloud's body suddenly grew longer. It was originally only the size of two palms, but now it was as long as a forearm.

It shook its body, shaking off the loose hair that turned into dust in the air, and the new hair that grew back was black and shiny.

Chen Ji put Wuyun on his shoulder and walked out. When he reached the door, he turned around to look at Old Man Yao, only to see him staring at him quietly from behind the counter.

Old Man Yao said slowly, "One step brings you to a new level of heaven, and a hundred steps bring you to the clouds. Go ahead, and you will be an innate master in the future."

Chen Ji knelt down and kowtowed three times to Old Man Yao, then stood up and strode away.

Taiping Medical Clinic became quiet again. Old man Yao was casually fiddling with the abacus, but he didn't know what he was calculating.

After a long silence, he took out a handful of copper coins from his sleeve and scattered them on the counter. After seeing the hexagram, he gathered the copper coins and scattered them again.

He did this more than ten times, and then sighed.

A crow flew into the house from somewhere, landed lightly on his shoulder, and caaked.

Old Man Yao said nothing, but just collected the copper coins, put his hands behind his back and slowly walked out of the clinic and into the sunset.