Chapter 158 Zhang Juping

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu left the restaurant and saw a man dressed as a servant walking quickly and offering a sub-talisman of the mother-child talisman with both hands.

Zhang Yuelu subconsciously reached out to take it.

The servant slightly retracted his hand and said, "I hope the lady will forgive me. This is for Taoist Qi."

Zhang Yuelu frowned slightly and said nothing more.

Qi Xuansu took the sub-talisman and the servant said goodbye and left.

Not long after, Qi Xuansu felt a burst of warmth coming from the sub-talisman in his hand. He turned into an empty alley next to him, injected his true energy into the sub-talisman in his hand, and used the talisman as firewood to burn a ball of flame. It was not scorching hot. In the flames, a slightly blurred shadow of the upper body of a middle-aged man appeared. It was only the size of a palm and slightly distorted as the flames jumped, as if he was watching a person through the fire.

Then a mellow voice came, and it came straight to the point: "I am Qingxiao's uncle. I heard that Qingxiao brought a young man back. I am a little curious. If you don't mind, let's meet tomorrow."

Qi Xuansu certainly had no reason to refuse, and asked: "Please tell me the meeting place, senior."

The middle-aged man smiled: "I am in Shangqing Palace, you can come directly."

After that, the middle-aged man did not give Qi Xuansu a chance to object and ended the call directly.

Qi Xuansu looked at Zhang Yuelu.

Zhang Yuelu said helplessly: "My uncle Zhang Juping, a third-rank Taoist priest, serves as an assistant in Shangqing Palace. As for his resume, I won't say much, it's straightforward and steadily rising."

In addition to the Nine Halls and local Taoist offices, the Taoist sect also has some special institutions with transcendent status, such as the Great Zhenren Mansion, Zhenjing Villa, Wanshou Chongyang Palace, Wanxiang Taoist Palace, Shangqing Palace, Qingling Palace, and Wuxu Palace.

Except for the three deputy masters who are in charge of the Great Master's Mansion, the Realm Courtyard, and the Wanshou Chongyang Palace, the other palaces are equivalent to the Nine Halls, and are headed by a Canzhi Master, called the Master of the Palace, which is equivalent to the Master of the Hall and the Master of the Mansion. The duty is to assist the deputy masters in handling the three Daos.

The assistant assists the assistant master of the palace in handling various affairs, which is equivalent to the deputy hall master and the deputy palace master. The only difference is that there are high-ranking chiefs and second-in-commands for the deputy hall master and the deputy palace master, who are held by the second-rank Taiyi Taoist priests, while there is no high-ranking assistant position, only the third-rank Youyi Taoist priests.

Qi Xuansu was a little worried.

Whether it is Zhang Yuyue, Su Ying, or Zhang Yuelu's cousin Zhang Chiyue, they are all within the scope of the fourth-rank Taoist priests. As long as they have never served as deputy hall masters like Zhang Yuelu, they are not considered to be in a high position. After all, Sun Yongfeng and Lingquanzi were also fourth-rank priests. Without talking about the rank and treatment, they were only one level higher than Qi Xuansu, which was more or less middle-level.

But the third-rank priests were different. They had already stepped into the ranks of the Taoist high-level and could be said to be in a high position.

With such a thing, Zhang Yuelu was not in a hurry to go home. She happened to accompany Qi Xuansu to Yunjin Mountain. Qi Xuansu went to Shangqing Palace to see Zhang Juping, and she happened to go to the Great Zhenren Mansion to report about the Li family. She was a little worried about Su Ying, so she decided to go there herself, and the Great Zhenren Mansion and Shangqing Palace were neighbors.

The two stayed at the Taiping Inn in Shangqing County for one night. The next morning, they checked out and left the county town to go to Yunjin Mountain.

There are two north-south roads from Yunjin Mountain. One road passes through Shangqing Town, where you can see the beautiful scenery of Yunjin Mountain. The other road does not need to pass through Shangqing Town. It is very steep, but the journey is shorter. Because the flying boat will land at Shangqing Palace, many non-Zhang Taoist priests traveling to Wuzhou will choose this route to avoid disturbing the tranquility of Shangqing Town.

This time, Zhang Yuelu chose the second route and took the hanging basket to go up the mountain.

Qi Xuansu had seen the Taoist hanging basket in Taiping Mountain and Kunlun Mountain. It can be said to be a sharp tool for going up and down the mountain. However, the hanging basket in Yunjin Mountain is slightly different. It is not straight up and down, but at an inclined angle, and it goes up and down diagonally through the noose.

The reason for this is that more than 200 years ago, a great battle took place in Yunjin Mountain. Xuansheng interrupted part of the Yunjin Mountain's veins in anger, causing a large-scale earthquake. Many peaks collapsed directly, and even the Great Zhenren Mansion collapsed a corner, causing a great change in the terrain of Yunjin Mountain.

Although the Zhengyi Dao was repaired afterwards, it still could not be completely restored to its original appearance. This led to the complex terrain of Yunjin Mountain. It was impossible to reach the top of the mountain in one go like Taiping Mountain. It had to be divided into several sections and change to a hanging basket halfway. The Zhengyi Dao simply stretched it into a bevel, from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain.

The Great Zhenren Mansion has set up the Nanji Temple at the southern foot of Yunjin Mountain, which is located on the only way to Shangqing Town. There is a Beizhen Temple at the northern foot of Yunjin Mountain, which is where you can take the hanging basket.

Zhang Yuelu brought Qi Xuansu to Beizhen Temple, showed the certificate, and took the hanging basket to Yunjin Mountain.

The hanging basket went up along the steel cable. At first, it didn't feel anything. After a while, the fog became thicker, and even clouds and fog could be seen floating around.

Qi Xuansu leaned out and looked outside. He knew a little bit about the basic Feng Shui. The topography of Yunjin Mountain was indeed very strange. With his shallow knowledge learned from the Wanxiang Dao Palace, he could not see too many things.

Zhang Yuelu said: "The topography here is very strange, right? It has been the result of nearly a hundred years of restoration by the Zhengyi sect. This is the result of angering Xuansheng. That time, the Zhang family lost a Heavenly Master, and countless ordinary Zhang family members."

"Is it the abandoned Heavenly Master in the Xuansheng card?" Qi Xuansu asked curiously.

Zhang Yuelu nodded.

After a while, the hanging basket completely entered the clouds and fog. Looking down at the bottom of the basket, the morning fog was very heavy, but it was completely white and nothing could be seen.

By the time the hanging basket reached the top of the mountain, a red sun had already jumped out of the sea of ​​clouds, illuminating the sky brightly. The sunlight came from the east and shone on a huge white marble archway. On the archway, there were four golden characters "正一 Alliance prestige". The golden light shines in the sunlight, which is awe-inspiring.

The two walked out of the hanging basket.

Zhang Yuelu was familiar with the roads here and led Qi Xuansu straight past the archway and towards the Shangqing Palace.

The Shangqing Palace is naturally extremely grand, far superior to the government office in Tiangang Hall.

Qi Xuansu stood in front of the three-person-high main entrance, looking up at the high-hanging plaque of "Shangqing Palace", which was said to be inscribed by the ancestor Tianshi himself.

Under the plaque is a couplet, each character is the size of a human head.

The first couplet is: The road is high, the dragon and the tiger lie down. The second line is: Virtue attaches great importance to ghosts and gods.

Zhang Yuelu said: "There is also a couplet on the main entrance of Dazhen Mansion. It is similar to this couplet, and it is also about boasting about oneself. The first couplet is: Unparalleled Land in the South. The second couplet is: The First Family in Xijiang."

Qi Xuansu sighed: "What a big tone."

Zhang Yuelu patted Qi Xuansu on the shoulder: "You can go alone. I have to go to Da Zhenren Mansion, so I won't accompany you."

Qi Xuansu nodded and walked to the main entrance of Shangqing Palace alone.

Two spiritual officers wearing black armor stretched out their arms to block Qi Xuansu's way.

Qi Xuansu said: "I have an invitation from Zhang Gaogong."

A spiritual official said in a loud voice: "Wait a moment."

After a while, a sixth-grade Taoist priest hurried over: "Are you Deacon Qi? Please follow me."

Under the leadership of this sixth-grade Taoist priest, Qi Xuansu entered the Shangqing Palace. There were many twists and turns. Apart from a few main halls and living rooms, he saw the same signature rooms and confidential rooms with various signs hanging outside the doors. , showing that this is not an ordinary Taoist palace, but the highest power center of Zhengyiyi. After all, the Dazhen Palace has the functions of a residence, a cave, and a cardinal formation, so it has a greater symbolic meaning.

The relationship between Dazhen Palace and Shangqing Palace is probably similar to the relationship between the emperor's palace and the cabinet, or the relationship between Zixiao Palace and Jinque. The highest power center of the imperial court was the cabinet, not the emperor's palace. The highest power center of Taoism is in Jinque, rather than the Zixiao Palace where the Grand Master lives.

The same is true for Zhenjing Bieyuan and Qingling Palace of Quanzhen Taoism, Wanshou Chongyang Palace and Wuxu Palace of Taiping Taoism.

The two walked for a quarter of an hour, passed through a long corridor, and finally arrived at Zhang Kuping's room where he was detained. The door number read "Zhengyi Liaison Department".

Qi Xuansu waited quietly, and the sixth-grade Taoist knocked gently on the door: "Assistant Manager, Deacon Qi is here."

A mellow voice that Qi Xuansu had heard before came from the door: "Please come in."

The Taoist priest pushed the door halfway and extended his other hand politely to Qi Xuansu: "Deacon Qi, please come in."

Qi Xuansu looked cheerful. Facing this very polite Taoist priest, he did not rush into the signing room. Instead, he took out a valuable jade pendant from his sleeve pocket and quietly handed it to the Taoist priest with a smile: "Thank you for showing me the way."

The Taoist priest behaved politely, but there was no expression on his face. The hand that said "Come in" gently pushed the jade pendant: "It's against the rules. I appreciate Deacon Qi's kindness. Deacon Qi, don't be polite."

Qi Xuansu's expression remained unchanged and he retracted his sleeves cheerfully: "Shangqing Palace is really different from other places."

The Taoist priest said no more, leaned forward and allowed Qi Xuansu to walk in through the half-opened door, and then gently closed the door outside.

Inside the house is Zhang Kuping's signature room, which is divided into two rooms, inside and outside. The outer room was the reception area, a small living room, but it was empty at this time, so Qi Xuansu had no choice but to walk into the inner room.

The interior is completely like a study room, with bookshelves and desks, but no chairs for receiving guests.

There are various files piled on the desk, and the covers are all stamped with the word "Top Secret" in red. The head of a middle-aged man was revealed in the space between the documents. He was writing at his desk.

There was no chair, and the owner did not greet him. Qi Xuansu could only stand there, quietly waiting for him to ask questions.

"Have you met Zhang Yuyue and Zhang Chiyue?" The man who bowed his head took the time to ask while he was busy.

"I've seen it before." Qi Xuansu replied.

"Do you want to know what they think of you?" The man finally stood up from a pile of documents. He was dressed in a neat Taoist suit, his half-white hair was not messy at all, and he was smiling at the corner of his mouth, but there was no smile in his eyes. He is Zhang Kuping, the third-rank assistant minister of the Shangqing Palace and Zhang Yuelu's clan uncle.