A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 455: Eight Methods of Yong
When Duan Rong woke up from the bed, the light in the room was already very bright.

He lifted the gauze curtain and saw that Ruyi's bed on the floor had been made. He stretched lazily, slid off the bed, and put on his clothes, shoes and socks.

He turned around the screen and found the door was open, but Ruyi was nowhere to be seen.

Duan Rong walked straight to the wash basin, and saw that the basin was already half full of water. He used a towel to wash his face with cold water. If Ruyi was there, she would have poured him some hot water. In fact, the kettle was in the corner not far away, but Duan Rong was too lazy to bother.

The splash of cold water made Duan Rong feel refreshed immediately. He cleaned his neck and then slowly walked out.

Duan Rong walked out of the room and saw Qiu Luan sitting on the big bluestone, staring at the clouds in the sky in a daze with empty eyes.

In another corner of the yard, Ruyi was squatting there, fanning the stove in front of her with a palm leaf fan. On the stove was a medicine pot, which was bubbling with white steam...

It turns out that this girl was making medicine!

As the white steam from the medicine jar came out, the yard was already filled with a faint smell of herbs...

As Duan Rong just stepped out of the door, Ruyi caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye.

Ruyi immediately stood up, holding a palm-leaf fan, and bowed to Duan Rong, greeting him: "Sir, are you up?"

Duan Rong looked at Ruyi and smiled slightly. There was a black and gray streak on Ruyi's fair face.

Ruyi said, "Sir, would you like some breakfast? I will go to the kitchen to get it right away."

As Ruyi said this, she was about to put down the palm-leaf fan and go into the room to pick up the lunch box.

Duan Rong glanced at the sun and said, "It's already noon, why are you still eating breakfast? Eat it with lunch."

At this time, a gust of wind passed by. Duan Rong sniffed and smelled the herbal scent, then said, "The medicine is ready. There is no need to boil it anymore."

Ruyi glanced at Duan Rong suspiciously and said, "It's time to get better."

But Ruyi didn't know that Duan Rong had just gotten up and was standing far away at the door. How did he know that the medicine soup was almost ready?

Ruyi wrapped the handle with a thick towel and picked up the medicine jar with a burnt black bottom. With her other hand, she held a palm-leaf fan upside down and used the handle of the fan to support the spout of the pot.

She brought the medicine jar to Qiu Luan without even saying hello to him. She squatted down and poured the hot medicine into Qiu Luan's wine jar.

"what are you doing?!"

Qiu Luan was completely desperate and the only thing he cared about was his wine.

He originally thought that Ruyi was ill and was boiling medicine there, but he didn't expect that Ruyi would pour the medicine directly into his wine jar. How could he not be annoyed by the wine that had just been opened?
"Let her fall!"

Just as Qiu Luan was about to move, Duan Rong stopped him.

Qiu Luan's body paused, and a hint of doubt flashed in his empty eyes.

Ruyi squatted there, pouring the medicine soup and saying, "This is the medicine that Master asked me to get for you."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Luan looked up at Duan Rong.

Duan Rong said: "It can cure the disease, but it can't save your life. It can only delay the symptoms and make you feel more comfortable."

Duan Rong's meaning was very clear, as long as Qiu Luan kept drinking like this, no one could save him.

Qiu Luan stood up from the big bluestone somewhat stiffly, clasped his fists towards Duan Rong and said, "Thank you, sir!"

For the first time, there was some emotion in Qiu Luan's usually cold voice.

Duan Rong only hummed, then turned and went into the room. He knew Qiu Luan had no intention of living. There is nothing more sad than a dead heart! It cannot be cured by medicine!
After Ruyi finished pouring the medicine, she stood up, glanced at Qiu Luan, and went to the side room with the medicine pot. Duan Rong had instructed to boil two doses of the medicine, and the medicine in the pot could be boiled again.

Qiu Luan glanced at the wine jar not far from his feet. The strange smell of herbs was still lingering in the air.

When Duan Rong came back last night, he just touched a few acupuncture points on his body, and he felt much better. I don't know where that gentleman came from. He looks so young, but he has such attainments in medicine.

At that time, he only saw himself coughing a few times and already knew his symptoms.

Qiu Luan held the mouth of the wine jar with one hand, lifted it up, tilted his head back and took a sip.

As the wine mixed with the medicinal soup went down his throat, Qiu Luan couldn't help but frown, and a trace of sadness suddenly flashed across his eyes.

Bitter and intense!

Isn't this taste just like his life? Qiu Luan couldn't help but take another big gulp.

After taking a big gulp of wine, Duan Rong's appearance flashed through Qiu Luan's mind.

That young man was so powerful that even the Grand Master Zhu Zhengfu had to kneel down and pay homage to him, which showed that he was of extraordinary status. He was just a lonely ghost, and in front of Zhu Zhengfu, he was just used as a knife. He had already understood this from the look in Zhu Zhengfu's eyes.

But the young master in this villa, despite his status, was able to be humble to him and even asked Ruyi to prepare medicine for his illness.

If this man had treated him like this in earlier years, he would have repaid him with his life!

However, at this moment, he was nothing but an empty shell, and his dead heart no longer had the will to follow.

He was like a corpse falling down into a bottomless ocean, surrounded by nothing but darkness...

Duan Rong rested in the room for a while, and it was already noon.

Ruyi went to the courtyard of the big kitchen and brought back a sumptuous meal.

After lunch, Duan Rong had nothing to do, so he started teaching Ruyi how to write.

Duan Rong picked up his hand and wrote a big "Yong" on the paper, and asked Ruyi to copy it.

While Ruyi was copying, Duan Rong was watching beside her, giving her some pointers from time to time, and occasionally grabbing her hand to write a few strokes. Whenever this happened, a shy blush would appear on Ruyi's face.

After Ruyi had been copying for half an hour, Duan Rong began to teach her how to break down the strokes, explaining each one in detail.

Ruyi's handwriting already had some basic skills, and with the guidance of calligraphy master Duan Rong, he soon felt like he was reborn.

Ruyi looked at the words she had written and was quite surprised. She asked, "Sir, what method did you use to teach me? How come it took me only an hour to learn it? How come my words... these words... have changed?"

Although Ruyi was present in person and the words on the post were all written by her, she was still confused at this moment.

Duan Rong smiled lightly and said, "This is the Eight Methods of the Word Yong!"

"The eight strokes of the character Yong?" Ruyi only half understood.

Duan Rong continued, "This method uses the order of the eight strokes of the character '永' as an example to explain the method of writing regular script. The dot is 侧, the horizontal stroke is 勒, the straight stroke is 弩, the hook is 趯, the upward horizontal stroke is 策, the long left stroke is 掠, the short left stroke is 啄, and the downward stroke is 磔. With these eight methods, you can exhaust all the characters in the world!"

"All the characters in the world?" Ruyi stood there with a pen in his hand, staring at Duan Rong with shining eyes.

Duan Rong seemed to have seen nothing and continued, "I am teaching you this method to get back to the original state and clear the source! Even though it takes a short time, if you get back to the original state and clear the source, the effect will naturally become apparent."

"You can keep the character 'Yong' I wrote and copy it every day. If you are diligent, you will become a master in the area within a year!" Duan Rong said with a slight smile.

Ruyi solemnly put away the word "Yong" written by Duan Rong.

After finishing his work, Duan Rong taught Ruyi how to write in the courtyard, and his days were very pleasant. In the evening, he had just finished dinner and was taking a few sips of tea when Zhu Zhengfu came to see him.

Ruyi served tea and then left, leaving the two of them sitting alone in the room.

Zhu Zhengfu reported to Duan Rong the information collected by the spies he had placed in Shenyun Mansion.

After the commotion last night, the news about Li Shensi's death from insanity and the strange and terrifying Rhinoceros Immortal had spread throughout the Shenyun Mansion.

Storytellers in all major teahouses were telling this story. Some even began to fabricate the life story of the Rhinoceros Immortal, saying that the Rhinoceros Immortal had appeared in the Western Regions more than a hundred years ago and that the ascetic Zen monks of the Dharma Characteristics School had fought against it, but none of them escaped and all died.

It is also said that the Rhinoceros Immortal has been practicing for thousands of years.

The story was described with details and the people all believed it to be true.

Many people have begun to enshrine the image of the Rhinoceros God in their home shrines.

This wave of events has made the street painters earn a lot of money...

From then on, Zhu Zhengfu would come to pay his respects every evening, and then report the day's news from his spies to Duan Rong.

The next day, something happened.

It was in the Taihe Tower that a storyteller publicly said that the Rhinoceros Immortal was a fake, manipulated by someone to deceive the people. Lord Li Shensi died in a political assassination, just like his predecessor Zhu Shizhong.

Duan Rong's heart skipped a beat when he heard Zhu Zhengfu say this, but he changed his mind and let it go.

As expected, Zhu Zhengfu took the opportunity to say that the storyteller was beaten up by the audience on the charge of blaspheming the Rhinoceros Immortal, and fainted on the stage. If the government officials had not arrived and protected him, he would have died.

Because many people were clamoring to imprison this person, and burn him to death in front of the temple of the Rhinoceros Immortal after the temple was built, so as to avoid the Immortal blaming them and bringing disaster to the Shenyun Palace.

Duan Rong suddenly asked, "Master Zhu, which teahouse did you say this storyteller was in?"

Zhu Zhengfu said, "Sir, it is Taihe Tower."

Duan Rong frowned slightly. It was Taihe Tower again. He had just moved into the villa, and the one who sneaked in at night to investigate was the waiter of Taihe Tower. This storyteller was also in Taihe Tower.

Duan Rong doesn't think that there is such a coincidence in the world.

There was obviously something wrong with this Taihe Building. It might be a base for Ge Rushong's spy network in the secular world. And it was very likely a very important base.

After all, the private rooms in Taihe Building are reserved by the dignitaries of Shenyun Mansion all year round. It would be a shame if everything they do in there is monitored by some secret means.

So what secrets does the Shenyun Mansion have for Ge Rushong?
The storyteller in Taihe Tower was obviously trying to turn public opinion around and redirect it towards the political vortex. But he or the people behind him obviously underestimated the influence of the story that Duan Rong had created.

Duan Rong had directly grasped the weak spot of public opinion through the six-day public opinion monitoring. That was the Rhinoceros Immortal that countless people had seen with their own eyes at the Temple of Heaven. How could the storyteller change his mind with just a few words?

After this incident, Ge Rushong and others will definitely give up this attempt.

On the third day, construction of the Rhinoceros Immortal's temple had already begun outside the city.

It was not built near the mountain temple on Wuji Mountain, because Wuji Mountain was a place for offering sacrifices to heaven and the government did not allow it.

Finally, the temple of the Rhinoceros Immortal was chosen not far from a Taoist temple in the southern suburbs of Shenyun Prefecture. The Taoist temple was very popular, and choosing that place was also considered a good feng shui location.

After listening to the public opinion for three days, Duan Rong was sure that he had completely completed the task assigned to him by Zhu He. He had originally planned that on the fourth day, Zhu Zhengfu would come again and ask him to summarize the public opinion investigation of the past three days, send it back to Yunfu Peak, and ask the ancestor for him. The task had been completed, could he return to the sect?
On the morning of the fourth day, at the east gate of Shenyun Mansion, early in the morning, a man riding a very impressive tall white horse staggered into the city gate.

The moment he entered the city gate, several spies noticed him.

This person has a special identity, and he has been to Shenyun Mansion several times. This time he was so high-profile, no wonder the spies recognized him at a glance. He is the disciple of the elder of Taiyi Sect, Zhu He's apprentice, Lu Geng.

Lu Geng rode alone, entered the city gate, and went straight to the post station.

When he arrived at the gate of the posthouse, he jumped off his horse and showed the sect's cloud certificate to the officers there. When they saw that he was a direct disciple, the officers immediately kowtowed to him.

Lu Geng scolded impatiently: "Alright, get up. Take me to a room upstairs and prepare a table of food and wine for me! Hurry! I have things to do after I finish eating!"

"Yes, my lord!"

The head of the posthouse had already come out to greet him and serve him personally.

The officers took Lu Geng's horse and took it to the backyard to feed it hay.

The head of the posthouse welcomed Lu Geng to the best upper room in the south, served him tea personally, and then went to the kitchen to urge the preparation of dishes.

When all the dishes were served, Lu Geng started to eat.

Lu Geng was born in a poor family and had never been particular about food and accommodation, otherwise he would not have lived in the inn as soon as he entered the Shenyun Mansion.

He really felt that the various dishes in the big restaurant were not as authentic as the dishes in the inn.

When the head of the posthouse saw Lu Geng eating heartily, he stepped out, told two capable servants to serve him carefully, and then rode out of the posthouse and went to the government office in the city.

With the arrival of such an important figure, he naturally had to report to the palace lord Wang Maochun.

Soon, two riders on fast horses came to the gate of the posthouse. Two men in official robes jumped off their horses. Looking at the patches on their chests, they were both first-rank civil servants.

The two people who came were none other than the Palace Master Wang Maochun and the Dali Temple Minister Chen Shanmeng.

Shortly before Lu Geng arrived, the mansion's main office had just received an official document from the clan. The document informed them that the clan's judges, Yang Yi from the Zongzheng Division, Lu Geng from the Neishi Division, and Jiang Zhe from the Tongzheng Division, would arrive at Shenyun Mansion in the near future to handle the case of Li Shensi's death. On the Shenyun Mansion side, the Dali Temple was the main trial office, and the Jianyi Mansion and the Privy Council were the co-trial offices, jointly conducting the trial.

As soon as Wang Maochun saw the official document, the head of the post station came to report that Lu Geng had already arrived at the post station.

Wang Maochun immediately panicked. How come Lu Geng came so quickly, almost at the same time as the official document?

He immediately asked someone to call Chen Shanmeng to come to the post station for a visit.

The reason why he called Chen Shanmeng was because the Dali Temple was the main trial court for this case. In other words, Lu Geng and others would go to the Dali Temple to try the case. Since he came to meet Lu Geng, he called Chen Shanmeng, the Minister of the Dali Temple.

Wang Maochun was thinking about it all the way. The sect's official document was obviously quite strange.

On the sect's side, the Zongzhengsi, Neishishi, and Tongzhengshisi all sent people to make the decision, but the main trial office was still the Dali Temple. It can be seen that this case is still being tried within the secular judicial structure, but the people from the sect have to intervene in the review.

The origin of this official document began with the trouble caused by Ge Rushong and others in the Council of Elders.

That day, Ge Rushong and his companions spoke in the Council of Elders, saying that Li Shensi's death was caused by Duan Rong. They also told them about the time they had discovered Duan Rong had been in the Shenyun Mansion, and that he might have possessed some kind of poison that could cause hallucinations and insanity.

Zhu He immediately became furious in the Elders' Council, saying that he sent Duan Rong to Shenyun Mansion to eliminate spies.

Half a year ago, Zhu Shizhong was murdered by the craftsmen who set up a trap to build a summer house. The real murderer has not been found out until now, all because of the spies. He sent Duan Rong to investigate the spies secretly. Besides, Li Shensi has only been in office for two months and does not belong to any camp. What motive does he have to send Duan Rong to kill him?

Zhu He's words left Ge Rushong and the others speechless. In this matter, they indeed pretended to obey but secretly disobeyed Zhu He's order to find someone who was not involved in the power of both parties in order to stabilize the political situation of Shenyun Mansion, but before they recommended Li Shensi, they had already subdued him privately.

The two sides, each holding their own opinion, argued fiercely in the Elders' Council. Sect Leader Chu Qiushan was quite troubled because he knew that behind this matter was the dispute between Zhu He and Lu Zhongtang for the position of Sect Leader.

He did not want to get too deeply involved in this dispute, and Li Shensi's death did not cause chaos in the secular world. The people thought that Li Shensi died from a collision with the Rhinoceros Immortal, and the people were not in a hurry to let the government and the sect find out the murderer behind it. In this way, there was no pressure to govern, and Chu Qiushan did not want to get involved in the matter. However, Zhu He and Ge Rushong quarreled so fiercely, so he thought of a compromise. The case was still tried in the Dali Temple, and Yang Sixuan and the Judgment of the Imperial Clan were not allowed to intervene. He just asked Yang Yi, Lu Geng, and Jiang Zhe to go to the Dali Temple to handle the case.

(End of this chapter)