lovenovelstory #309 - Zhang family in Shangjing: Zhang Gaqi
#309 - Zhang family in Shangjing: Zhang Gaqi
Xie Lingyun inhaled the incense smoke in front of Zhang Gaqi, her eyes fixed on him.
"Please enlighten me, Miss Xie," Zhang Gaqi said, opening his eyes, his face pale.
Xie Lingyun didn't mince words, saying directly, "I heard someone has the Water of the Yellow Springs, but I'm afraid you can't afford the price."
"Water of the Yellow Springs?" Zhang Gaqi's breath quickened, his eyes staring intently at Xie Lingyun. "Where is it? As long as they are willing to trade, I am willing to pay any price. I wonder which senior expert possesses such a divine object?"
Xie Lingyun sighed softly, "Not some senior expert, just a young man. Speaking of which, this young man has some connection with you, your relationship is not shallow."
Zhang Gaqi was stunned, "Related to me? Could it be Zhang Xiaohua, the heir of the Prince of Pingbian's府 (mansion)?"
With the power of the Prince of Pingbian's府, possessing the Water of the Yellow Springs could be explained.
"It's not him," Xie Lingyun said.
Zhang Gaqi frowned, pondering for a long time without finding a clue. In this desolate northern region, who else could be related to him? "Please enlighten me, Miss Xie."
"I remember your Zhang family had a clansman who was exiled to this place," Xie Lingyun said.
Zhang Gaqi's expression changed drastically, his voice filled with disbelief, "It's him!"
"It's his son," Xie Lingyun said.
Zhang Gaqi fell silent, and after a long time, he said, "It seems that even if it's not for the treasure, I have to meet this young man."
"That's how it should be," Xie Lingyun said.
As Zhang Chen was brewing tea in the courtyard, pondering the secret formulas of the Herculean Mountain Moving technique, two figures appeared outside the gate of the small residence. Leading the way was Xie Lingyun, followed by a middle-aged man in luxurious clothes, with a pale and bloodless face.
The man's steps were somewhat unsteady, and his figure was a bit thin, but he was a first-class handsome man, anyone who saw him would call him a 'beautiful man'.
Even in his old age, he was still a beautiful man.
When the middle-aged man saw Zhang Chen's face, he couldn't help but be stunned. The young man's face was so similar to that of his clansman, the similarity between their eyebrows made him vaguely see the man with a face like a spring breeze smiling at him.
"This is the buyer I was talking about," Xie Lingyun broke the silence, saying to Zhang Chen, "Don't mind my face, just sell it for whatever price you want. This friend of mine is from a wealthy family and never lacks money, so you can just ask for a sky-high price."
Zhang Chen looked at Zhang Gaqi, who smiled wryly after hearing Xie Lingyun's words, "My family is not short of money, but the family's money is the family's money, and it's not something I can move. My friend, please be merciful."
"Please have a seat," Zhang Chen nodded, signaling Xie Lingyun and Zhang Gaqi to sit down. Then, Zhang Gaqi looked at Zhang Chen and asked:
"What's your name, young friend?"
"Zhang Chen," Zhang Chen replied.
"I know your name is Zhang Chen. I personally saw you off when you left 上京 (Shangjing - the capital) back then," Zhang Gaqi sighed.
Zhang Chen fell silent, and after a moment, he said, "I was too young at that time, so I don't remember what happened back then."
"You can call me Fourth Uncle," Zhang Gaqi said.
"You don't want to get my Forgetfulness Water for free, do you?" Zhang Chen looked at Zhang Gaqi, a hint of vigilance in his eyes.
Zhang Gaqi's face showed a hint of embarrassment, "How could I?"
Then, Zhang Gaqi quickly changed the subject, "How is your father?"
"Dead. Bitten to death by a poisonous snake!" Zhang Chen sighed softly.
"What?" Zhang Gaqi was stunned, his eyes full of disbelief. How could his talented cousin be poisoned to death by a poisonous snake?
"The Prince of Pingbian's府 did it," Zhang Chen added.
"How is that possible!" Zhang Gaqi's voice was even more incredulous. "Do you have any evidence?"
"If you inquire about the grudges between me and the Prince of Pingbian's府, you should know that what I said is true and doesn't require any evidence," Zhang Chen said.
Zhang Gaqi fell silent, his fists clenched in his sleeves, sitting there silently.
"Do you still want the Forgetfulness Water?" Zhang Chen looked at Zhang Gaqi and asked.
"Of course, but… this thing is very precious and must be worth a lot. I'm afraid I can't come up with anything to exchange for this treasure right now." Zhang Gaqi's face showed a troubled expression. "I don't have any money right now. If you trust me, I will definitely send it to you personally after I'm done with this matter."
Zhang Chen glanced at Zhang Gaqi, took out a jade bottle from his bosom, and pushed it in front of Zhang Gaqi, "Take it and use it. With Commander Xie witnessing, I don't expect you to go back on your word."
Was Zhang Chen short of money?
He had set his sights on the Zhang family's eleventh-order mystery and wanted to return to the Shangjing Zhang family to obtain the eleventh-order mystery skill. Initial investment was inevitable.
Zhang Gaqi took the jade bottle and held it carefully in his hand, then looked at Zhang Chen, "Could there be some misunderstanding between you and the Prince of Pingbian's府?"
"No!" Zhang Chen's voice was firm and unquestionable.
Zhang Gaqi fell silent, and after a long time, he asked, "How are you living in the northern region?"
Zhang Chen scoffed, "You can see for yourself, not very well."
Hearing Zhang Chen's words, Zhang Gaqi's eyes showed a hint of helplessness. He wanted to say to Zhang Chen: 'Come back to Kyoto with me'. But when he thought of the imperial decree, these words seemed to be stuck in his throat, unable to utter a single word.
Zhang Chen's lineage was exiled, how could they return whenever they wanted?
The two talked for a while, and Zhang Gaqi said goodbye and left, his figure somewhat lonely and desolate, his tall figure also hunched down.
"It's not that easy for you to return to the Shangjing Zhang family. That imperial decree alone is a huge mountain pressing down on the Zhang family. But if you were secretly called to the Shangjing Zhang family to obtain the inheritance, there is still some hope. As long as you don't cause any major disturbances in the future and alarm the people above, relying on the Zhang family's bloodline ability, you can hide in a corner and be a wealthy man, becoming a wealthy man is still possible," Xie Lingyun said.
"What is the relationship between the Zhang family of the Prince of Pingbian's府 and the Zhang family of Shangjing?" Zhang Chen asked.
"The Zhang family of Shangjing came from the northern region! However, hundreds of years ago, the Zhang family of the northern region was just a branch of the Zhang family of Shangjing. Back then, the main branch of the Zhang family of the northern region went to Kyoto, and the branch occupied the vacancy left by the main branch, replacing it. In the past, the rise of the Zhang family of the northern region was inseparable from the secret support of the eight great aristocratic families, and even your father's lineage was probably involved in this matter. I don't know the specific details, hundreds of years of vicissitudes, the whole event is a mess, all the people who know the truth have turned into bones," Xie Lingyun said.
Zhang Chen fell silent, and in the dark, there seemed to be an invisible weight pressing down, heavily pressing on his heart.
Xie Lingyun departed, leaving Zhang Chen sitting there. After a long while, he took a deep breath: "It's just a bit of wind and frost; I can handle it! No matter what difficulties and obstacles lie ahead, I will cleave through them. I only need to focus on increasing my strength. Everything else is just an illusion in the face of absolute power."
Just as Zhang Chen's mind was filled with thoughts, a fiery red fox, like a ball of flame, appeared in Zhang Chen's small courtyard.
"Zhang Chen, something big has happened!" After the fox spirit Nannan arrived in Zhang Chen's courtyard, she directly separated her soul from her body and shouted loudly at Zhang Chen.
"What big deal?" Zhang Chen was startled by the words, and a thought arose in his mind: "Could it be that Zhang Xiaohua is up to something again?"
"Tu Shanqing is here!" Fox spirit Nannan said.
Hearing this, Zhang Chen's pupils shrank. He remembered the very tricky gambling fox, Tu Shanqing. That fox spirit was not a good thing, especially after it possessed Chai Chuanxin's body and infiltrated the human race. This time, its arrival was probably ill-intentioned.
The two looked at each other. Zhang Chen said, "Which courtyard is Tu Shanqing in?"
"It's in Courtyard Bingzi. You must be careful. That guy is too strange and not easy to provoke," said fox spirit Nannan.
Zhang Chen nodded, indicating that he understood fox spirit Nannan's words. Then, he saw fox spirit Nannan turn and leave, leaving Zhang Chen standing in the courtyard with a gloomy expression: "It really is that all sorts of demons and monsters are coming."
The next moment, Zhang Chen transformed into a stream of water and seeped into the ground, quietly lurking away, his figure flowing without a trace.
When he reappeared, he was already in Tu Shanqing's courtyard. He saw Tu Shanqing, using Chai Chuanxin's identity, reading a book in the courtyard. Zhang Chen carefully hid under the soil, and tiny water droplets seeped out, turning into eyes, observing Tu Shanqing's every move.
"Tu Shanqing, have you prepared the things I told you to prepare?"
At this moment, Chen Sanliang's figure appeared in the small courtyard.
Hearing this, Tu Shanqing was so shocked that he quickly stood up: "Sir, please rest assured. As long as the great battle breaks out, when it comes time to decide the victory, this disciple will crush the jade dew into powder and spread it in the upwind direction, so that the experts secretly ambushed by my demon clan will have their strength greatly increased, and we will definitely wipe out all the experts in the Northern Lands, adding a chance of victory for my fox clan to enter the Northern Lands."
"As long as the experts of the various major families die here, and the experts of the Northern Lands are wiped out, the Pingbian Royal Mansion will only be able to rely on my demon clan to fight against the imperial court, putting the Pingbian Royal Mansion on the chariot and unable to get off," Tu Shanqing said respectfully.
Chen Sanliang nodded upon hearing this: "Our demon clan must obtain that divine position. If we can obtain the divine position and research how to confer gods, our demon clan's strength will definitely greatly increase in the future, and we will hopefully sweep across the human race's Divine Continent and unify the world."
After Chen Sanliang finished instructing Tu Shanqing, he turned and walked out, leaving Tu Shanqing sighing in the courtyard: "Damn it, that jade dew petal is of great importance. It is the last trump card prepared by my demon clan, but it was actually lost by me. If the ancestor knows that I have ruined things, wouldn't he kill me?"
"Damn it, what should I do now?" Tu Shanqing paced anxiously in the courtyard. Ever since he woke up from the underground secret room that day and discovered that the jade dew flower was lost, he felt like the sky was about to fall.
But no matter how he searched, he still couldn't find any trace of the jade dew flower.
After thinking for a long time, Tu Shanqing stomped his foot and could only say with a fluke: "Now, I can only go to that underground tomb again. Perhaps there were oversights in the places I inspected last time."
Thinking of this, Tu Shanqing used the art of nihility transformation, directly penetrated the mud and sand, and escaped.
At this time, Zhang Chen, who was underground, couldn't help but light up his eyes and curl up the corners of his mouth when he heard Tu Shanqing's words: "The demon clan wants to take advantage of the fire? Hehe, it's an opportunity for me."
Zhang Chen lurked all the way out of the Taoist temple, then transformed into a bat and flapped his wings, rushing all the way to the tomb ahead of Tu Shanqing. He transformed into a stream of water and seeped into the tomb, placing the flower inside.
Zhang Chen hid a golden wind flower in it, and then quickly transformed into a stream of water and seeped away, hiding behind a stalactite to spy.
Sure enough, after a while, he saw a figure walking out of the mud, arriving at the depths of the tomb. After seeing the golden wind flower, he couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Heaven is merciful, I actually found the jade dew flower. This time, I will be able to report back to the ancestor."
That golden wind flower is almost the same as the jade dew flower. Where could Tu Shanqing distinguish the key points?
After seeing the golden wind flower, he thought it was the jade dew flower without saying a word, picked it up and put it in his arms, and turned around and left.
After Tu Shanqing left, Zhang Chen showed his trace in the underground stone cave, his eyes filled with a hint of ridicule: "Hehe, you demon clan want to plot against the human race, this time I will definitely give you a good look."
He was looking forward to the scene where the demon clan took the golden wind flower, prepared to increase their strength and destroy all the human race's powerhouses, but instead caused the demon clan's strength to plummet and suffer heavy losses.
Zhang Chen quietly left, his figure disappearing into the stone cave.
The day before the conferral ceremony, Zhang Chen's figure disappeared in the small courtyard and had already arrived in the underground secret room in advance, transforming into a stream of water and lurking.
At this time, Jianghu people from all walks of life and experts from major aristocratic families were all coming. Now that there were many people and it was chaotic, who would notice where Zhang Chen, an insignificant little disciple, was?
Liu Feng and the other elders were all busy with their own affairs, but they didn't have the mind to pay attention to Zhang Chen's whereabouts.
Zhang Chen hid in the basement, constantly devouring points. No matter what changes the future held, his own strength was the foundation.
At this time, undercurrents were surging throughout the entire Huangli Taoist Temple.
In a small courtyard in the backyard of Huangli Taoist Temple, Liu Feng walked slowly into the courtyard with a jar of wine in his hand: "Senior Brother Mazhou, are you comfortable staying in my Taoist temple?"
He saw an old Huangtiandao Taoist priest in his fifties or so, reciting books. Seeing Liu Feng walking in with wine, he couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Junior Brother Liu, you know that I love this. Come in quickly."
Liu Feng smiled and opened the wine jar, and took out the side dishes that he had prepared long ago. Then, the two sat in front of the table and drank happily.
"Junior Brother Liu, how is the conferral ceremony being prepared?" Mazhou picked up the wine and took a big gulp before looking at Liu Feng with his eyes.
Hearing this, Liu Feng patted his chest: "Senior Brother Ma, rest assured, you can rest assured that I will take care of it, right? You just rest assured, I have arranged everything properly. You just wait for the conferral ceremony tomorrow and become a god directly."
Mazhou was overjoyed when he heard this and patted Liu Feng on the shoulder: "Don't worry, I have remembered your credit in my heart. When I become a god in the future, I will definitely reward you. I will decide that the water official divine position attached to my Miluo River will definitely have a place for you, so that you can also be immortal with me."