Chapter 654 Verifying Authenticity

Chapter 654 Verifying Authenticity

Chapter 654 Verifying Authenticity (4k)

"I have lived in vain for more than 20 years and have never been to the imperial capital. This year, I will take advantage of my junior brother!"

"It's the largest capital in the world. I heard people say that the Moon-Watching Tower in the imperial city is several hundred feet high and is hidden in the clouds. I don't know if it's true or not."

Xiang Changsong hugged the mast and slid down.

"Everyone is going?"

"Except Second Brother, everyone is going. What's wrong? Is it possible that you are not happy?" Cao Rang asked with a smile.

"I can't ask for it!"

Liang Qu was delighted.

I was worried that I wouldn't have many acquaintances in the imperial capital, so it would be great to be able to have fun with my senior brothers and sisters.

Boxes of goods were loaded onto the carts, all of which were Huangzhou specialties, with cloth being the most common.

There is more cargo when coming than when leaving.

The springboard is set up.

Yang Xu led the horse ashore: "This year is a big year, the imperial capital is very lively, it must be nice to have a chance to see it."

"A big year?"

Yu Dun explained: "The year after the autumn examination is the spring examination, and the month after the spring examination is the palace examination. The three examinations are close together, so scholars call the whole year before and after the examination the year of great writing."

Yang Xu nodded.

"Junior brother, if you go to the imperial capital, it won't be long before you encounter the Spring Examination in mid-February. The next month is the Palace Examination. If you are not busy, you can stay for another half a month and see the number one scholar parade in the streets."

Imperial examination?

Xu Zishuai woke up with a start: "By the way, isn't the martial arts exam also in March?"

"You haven't forgotten." Yang Xu untied the rope buckle and loosened the reins to let the horse breathe. "The imperial examination and the military examination will both be held in March this year. The court will select the new 28 constellations of wolf smoke. You can go and see if there is anyone blocking the door."

"That's what I thought! Let's go. Huo Hongyuan and Zhu Zongwang should also go. I guess they want to go to the capital to wait for exile."

"What do you mean by waiting to be exiled?" Yang Xu laughed. "That's called waiting to be appointed. The two of them start at the seventh rank, most of them at the sixth rank. They can choose any place they want and work for two years. They don't have to do anything, as long as they don't make any mistakes, they will have a chance to be promoted. Starting from the beginning is the end for others. How many people would love to have this."

"Haha, that's the same idea, that's the same idea."

Xiang Changsong asked: "Big Brother, none of us are participating in the imperial examinations or the martial arts examinations. Is there anything else fun to do in the capital? Don't miss it."

"Other things..." Yang Xu fell into reminiscence, "You go mainly for the New Year's Day. If you can catch up with it, you can see the grand court meeting and all the officials coming to congratulate you.

In the evening, the Holy Emperor would give his subjects 'New Year' money', a small purse with a few gold beans and silver beans stuffed inside, and Ah Shui would definitely get it.

In addition, many small countries would send envoys to celebrate the new year, including Yelang, Loulan, Minyue, Qiuci, Ba... Moreover, after the New Year's Day is the Lantern Festival.

From the eighth to the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, the imperial capital will hold a ten-day lantern festival. I won’t say much about what it’s like, but you can go there on your own. It’s definitely more lively than anywhere else in the world.”

Listen to Yang Xu's description.

Everyone's eyes were shining, they were ready to go, and they were full of expectations.

After going to Huangzhou, go to the imperial capital.

The most prosperous place in the world.

pretty.

……

The next afternoon.

The sun was shining brightly, and the melted snow was dripping down the roof tiles.

Behind the government office in Hebo, craftsmen laid stones, laid wooden boards, and worked intensively to build a large bathhouse.

The government office was in a leisurely mood, and one could hear a pin drop when the clerks came and went.

The end of the year is approaching, and after being busy with maritime business affairs, most of the officials have nothing important to do, so they take a rare break and close their eyes for a nap.

Chief Clerk Li Shoufu was half asleep and half awake. In a trance, he seemed to see soldiers waving signal flags.

Wow!
The gray-skinned porpoises were gleaming, cutting through the waves, and leaping enthusiastically. The two giants in the lead pulled the ship to break through the waves. The wind was whistling, and the golden sails were shaking, showing their extraordinaryness. Under the sun, they looked like a shining golden leaf.

Before it cleared up.

The ship had furled its sails, dropped its anchor, and was drifting towards the shore.

The villagers on the shore looked around, they had never seen such a scene before. There were only two tower ships in the river, but none of them was so majestic.

Gold leaf boat?
Li Shoufu shuddered.

The pier in front of the government office was reserved for official ships to dock, and the golden sails...

Someone is coming from the imperial capital!
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Don't sleep, don't sleep!"

Without waiting for Li Shoufu to wake everyone up, the people on the boat jumped off one after another, rushed into the river, and shouted loudly.

"Where is the Liangshui Envoy of Pingyang Prefecture?"

Half an hour.

Liang Qu, who was taking a nap at home, asked someone to call him to the government office.

As soon as he stepped into the room, a group of officials wearing blue robes and square hats, who looked a bit like Taoist priests, surrounded him. Without saying a word, they reached out to touch Liang Qu.

"What a strong martial bone!"

The middle-aged man with a goatee and messy hair, who looked like a leader, pinched his shoulder blades with a bright look in his eyes.

I have been learning bone diagnosis for so many years and have felt many kinds of martial bones, but this is the first time I have seen such a powerful martial bone!

After the others got started, their expressions were the same.

"No wonder he can become a great martial artist before he's even twenty. That's incredible!"

"You are born extraordinary. Take a pen, take a pen, write it down, write it down!"

The goatee immediately urged: "Take off your clothes!"

The people in front of him showed no intention of explaining. Ran Liangqu glanced at Ran Zhongshi and many colleagues beside him, and combined with the previous information, he already knew the situation and took off his coat.

"Take it off again!"

"Take it off again?"

Liang Qu looked around.

If you take off your clothes again in public, you will be naked.

Goatee was impatient: "You are all grown men, why are you so shy? Everyone has the same feeling. If you don't take off your clothes, how can I feel you accurately with the thick cloth between us?"

Ran Zhongshi turned around and gave instructions.

"Go pull the screen."

"Yes!"

Li Shoufu personally took action and pulled open three screens to form a large circle to block the view.

The clothes are hung on the screen rack.

Through the carvings, human figures flickered.

"Hey, kid, you're not bad looking, and you have a nice body too!"

"He is one-third as cool as I was when I was young."

"Good bones, good bones! I have lived for decades and read countless books. This kind of martial bones is the best! It should be recorded in the "Martial Bones Records" and listed as a short biography!"

"Turn around!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, that's incredible."

half an hour.

The goatee stood up.

"Okay, put it on. It's true that you are eighteen."

Take away the clothes on the screen rack.

Li Shoufu waited for a while and removed the screen.

Liang Qu straightened his clothes and bowed, "I haven't asked for your name yet."

"My last name is Lan, Lan Jicai." The man with the goatee stroked his beard, "Just call me Mr. Lan. You don't need to worry about the others, they are nameless people."

Nobody: “…”

Lan Jicai did not notice anything unusual: "You are not an idiot, you must have guessed it. I was ordered by the Holy Emperor to bring a Temple of Heaven from Nanzhili. I came here to verify its authenticity. If it is correct, I will bring you to Beijing immediately."

Received a Temple of Heaven?
Liang Qu secretly took note of it, and without thinking too much, he immediately asked, "What do you think, Mr. Lan?"

"It is true that bones can be touched, but bones can also be crushed and reshaped, and regenerated by filling. This still needs further verification. Come aboard with me!"

Lan Jicai waved.

Liang Qu then came to the ship and entered a lightless room.

The candlelight was blazing, and the room was in a mess with all kinds of debris.

There are beast armor, long swords, various dead branches, and strange compasses...

Officials in blue robes ran back and forth, taking items from each other.

The man with the goatee casually pulled out a piece of shiny yellow talisman paper from a pile of book pages, then he took out an inkstone from somewhere and placed it flat in front of Liang Qu.

"Put two drops of blood in the inkstone, and then tell me your birth date."

……

Inside the river bank.

The officials who watched Liang Qu board the ship were talking non-stop, their eyes full of envy. The Holy Emperor personally sent a ship to pick him up, what a grand gesture.

Once you leave on this journey, I’m afraid that everyone in the world will recognize you, and you will be the man in every girl’s dream.

"Lord Liang went to the imperial capital today and rose to prominence, from being the Sixth Young Master to the Official Sixth Young Master."

"If you ask me, it's more than that. Being conferred the title of baron is even higher. A title is more prestigious than an official title."

There are many second generations in the entire Hebo area, and most of them will be able to inherit the title in the future, and at least get the title of earl or marquis.

However, what we have now are rare.

"In the martial arts exam in March this year, the Twenty-Eight Constellations of Wolf Smoke was impressive, right? The best in the world, but they were under thirty, in their twenties. Hey, look at Lord Liang, he's less than twenty, and a great martial arts master!"

"What if we can't go to the capital and be summoned by the Holy Emperor?"

The second verification took more than two quarters of an hour.

Liang Qu returned to the deck and saw the light again.

The discussion in the government office paused for a moment.

Lan Jicai went out and urged: "Pack your things and come with us. If you have anything to prepare or say goodbye to, do it as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, Mr. Lan."

Liang Qu did not dare to stop. He said hello to Ran Zhongshi and hurried home.

I had known that I was going to the imperial capital and had packed all my luggage.

Just pick it up and go.

Say goodbye to the old monk and arrange household affairs.

In front of the government office in Hebo, most of the officials came out to see him off. Prefect Jian also came to see him off and gave him two poetry collections as a gift.

Xu Yuelong stood on the boat and greeted Yang Xu on the shore.

The two have known each other since childhood, but in the blink of an eye, they haven't seen each other for several years.

"I was thinking of giving Ah Shui some instructions. I'll feel relieved if you go with me. When we get to the capital, you can take them to my house to stay. There's no need to spend extra money. My house will definitely be more comfortable than outside."

"Do not worry."

With Yang Xu as his guarantor, he didn't have time to stay in the imperial capital to celebrate the New Year and the Lantern Festival. But if he wanted to go back to Heyuan Prefecture, he also had to go all the way north. It would only take a slight detour to get to the imperial capital, and two days would be just the right time to settle his fellow junior brothers and sisters.

The words have not yet fallen.

Two figures came running over, carrying large bows and long swords.

"I'm coming!"

Xiang Changsong and Hu Qi carried their packages and gathered at the pier.

"What about the martial arts gym? Is everything settled?" Yang Xu asked.

"Don't worry, Senior Brother. When we go to Huangzhou, the martial arts hall will have the help of Ah Shui's fellow villagers. They are doing a good job, and Second Senior Brother said that he will go and look after it when he has time."

My brother said it was no problem.

Liang Qu had no objection. He closed the collection of poems and looked back, and found that quite a few people had gone.

The eldest brother has several personal guards, each of whom has a horse.

He also brought Chishan and Dadakai with him.

Lan Jicai was a little surprised that Jiang La came on board, but he didn't say anything else. Anyone can go to the imperial capital, and it's normal to bring some relatives and friends for such a great occasion.

Everyone is here.

The soldiers waved the signal flag.

With long poles propped up, the ship slid out of the dock, the sails inflated, and the leading porpoise waved its tail vigorously, dragging the ship through the waves.

Otter stood up straight, looked around, and climbed up to the lookout by pulling the mast.

"Come find me when you're settled."

Lan Jicai left a message, and the officials led their people to find accommodation.

Liang Qu put Fu Bo and Yuan Mu away, asked Long Yao and Long Li to help clean up the room, and then returned to Lan Jicai.

"Mr. Lan, you said earlier that you had received a Temple of Heaven. Could it be that the Temple of Heaven is on the ship?"

"Yes, I asked you to come here for this matter. To go to the imperial capital, taking a boat is not as fast as riding a dragon blood horse by land. However, a boat is more stable than riding a horse, and you can sit on the altar directly on the boat."

While explaining, Lan Jicai led Liang Qu to the cabin below the boat.

The cabin was dark, lit by candlelight.

Liang Qu saw the legendary Temple of Heaven as he wished.

The entire Temple of Heaven is not particularly unusual in appearance. It looks like a large round drum with a diameter of more than two meters and a height of just over half a meter. The drum surface is covered with a layer of ivory luster, and is very smooth and delicate. It is impossible to tell that it is made from the corpse of the Martial Saint.

Liang Qu looked at it carefully.

Lan Jicai walked around to the back of the big drum and bowed.

"Master Mo, the boy has moved the things upstairs."

Mr. Mo?

Liang Qu was slightly surprised. He looked down and was surprised to find an old man sitting cross-legged behind the big drum.

The old man was skinny, his hair and beard were all gray, and his skin was dark as cracked bark that clung to his bones, which was quite scary.

I didn't even notice there was an old man here!

The old man was speechless.

Lan Jicai waited for three breaths, then waved to Liang Qu: "Come and help me, boy. Let's lift the Temple of Heaven up."

Experts present.

Liang Qu didn't want to look any longer, so he squatted down and held onto the edge of the "Temple of Heaven".

As soon as you exert force.

Ho!
Shen!
Sinking desperately!

A horse-running martial artist can pull dozens of majestic horses in a run, not to mention Liang Qu who has the power of capturing dragons and subduing tigers.

Even if it was a solid rock of the same size, Liang Qu could move it without any effort, but the "big drum" made it a bit difficult for him!
The wooden boards in the cabin were surprisingly strong. I don't know what kind of precious wood they were made of, but they didn't create a big hole in the Temple of Heaven and cause it to fall into the water.

"Mr. Lan, how heavy is this Temple of Heaven?"

"About 6,000 jin."

"?"

Liang Qu's face flushed.

More than six thousand kilograms?

It's noisy.

Any martial artist can carry such a heavy weight, so how can you feel tired?

Lan Jicai guessed what Liang Qu was going to ask: "There is a martial saint spirit in the Temple of Heaven. Living things will feel very heavy if they want to move. Otherwise, why would I need your help?"

No wonder.

Liang Qu suddenly realized that such a characteristic made him think of his own Fu Bo.

Exit the cabin.

"Mr. Lan, that gentleman just now was..."

"Mr. Mo, he is quiet and inactive. You don't need to worry about the people sent by Nanzhili to escort the Temple of Heaven."

To be able to escort the Temple of Heaven, one must at least be a master, right?
Liang Qu thought to himself.

Two men carried the Temple of Heaven onto the deck.

The soldiers were building a long rack on the deck.

Wait until the rack is as high as the mast.

Lan Jicai called Yang Xu again, and the three of them worked together to move the entire Temple of Heaven onto the shelf.

The long frame was added to the Temple of Heaven, and it was successfully one line taller than the mast.

Liang Qu looked up.

“Does the altar have to be that high?”

"Our predecessors have found that the higher the altar is and the more open it is to the sky, the better the effect. Conversely, indoors or underground, the worst effect."

"Doesn't it mean that the top of the mountain is the best?"

"No." Lan Jicai shook his head. "This height is not the same as that height. It just needs to be higher than the surrounding things. It will be fine if we can see everything clearly and feel relaxed and happy. Now that we are on the river, ten feet is enough."

"Kid, are you going up now?"

"Not yet." Lan Jicai shook his head, "There are some rules for sitting on the altar. Before sitting, you need to bathe and burn incense for seven days, and within seven days, you cannot have sex with others to ensure that your spirit is full.

You must get enough sleep at midnight and noon, and at dawn every day, you must sit on the altar to be illuminated by the morning sun.

On weekdays, don't eat anything you want. Someone will deliver food to your room every day. Stop daydreaming. When you have nothing to do, read a book. There is a small study room on the second floor."

Lan Jicai gave instructions one by one.

One can't help but sigh that there are so many rules.

The next few days.

Liang Qu began to prepare to sit on the altar.

(End of this chapter)