The Demon-Slaying Grandmaster

Chapter 130 Come to the door
The report to the Palace Front Office went smoothly, and today I finally met the Palace Front Office's 'Commander-in-Chief', Cao Boyan, the Queen's younger brother.

This uncle of the emperor is over thirty years old, not very tall, and a little fat.

But he has a kind face, which makes people want to get close to him.

He was also very polite to Li Jingxiao. When they met, he took the initiative to bow and called him "Marquis".

The queen's father is usually granted the title of earl, and Cao Boyan's father has been dead for many years.

Moreover, in the Great Zhou Dynasty, only after the queen's death would the title of her natal family be downgraded and inherited.

Therefore, the emperor specially ordered Cao Boyan to inherit the title of earl.

By this calculation, the other party's title is indeed lower than his own, but no matter how stupid Li Jingxiao is, he will not put on airs in front of the queen's brother.

He smiled and bowed, saying, "Greetings to the Lord."

Seeing this, Cao Boyan couldn't help but feel relieved.

This marquis is not an ordinary nobleman, he is a real Taoist practitioner.

Even if he did not hold an official position, he was still a guest of honor of the royal family.

If he had not been born into a noble family and was indeed too young, he would probably have become the imperial teacher.

By the way, a lot of titles will be given to him.

He exchanged pleasantries with Cao Boyan, probably because he knew it would be inappropriate to say too much since it was their first meeting.

Cao Boyan took the initiative to say that he had to visit relatives soon. The two exchanged a few polite words before saying goodbye to each other.

After Li Jingxiao reported for duty, he sat in his office and drank a few sips of tea. Then he took out the envelope given by the Zhou family and opened it to take a look.

There were indeed silver bills inside, a stack of 50 silver bills with a face value of 1,000 taels.

A full fifty thousand taels was already a huge sum of money.

Li Jingxiao accepted it with a clear conscience.

Zhou Xu and Zhou Gongzhi, one was a captain of the Thousand Households Office in the south of the city, and the other was a centurion.

If you want to be promoted to the next level, it won’t be enough for Li Jingxiao to just say a few words.

Promotion to the rank of Qianhu must be decided by the emperor.

Even the promotion of a hundred households to a thousand households was subject to the final decision of the emperor.

Therefore, Li Jingxiao did not have to worry at all that if he accepted the money, the Zhou family would come to him for help in getting Zhou Xu and Zhou Gongzhi promoted.

At most, he would not object to the uncle and nephew's promotion.

Thinking of speaking nice words to the emperor is just a dream.

If the reward is enough, it's okay to say something good.

Unfortunately, Li Jingxiao has no interest in money now.

Unless it is a Taoist method or a rare treasure that is useful for practicing Taoism, Li Jingxiao will definitely not look down on it.

He put away the banknotes and meditated until noon.

I had a quick lunch at the palace and continued practicing until three in the afternoon.

I glanced at the skill bar, and saw that I had achieved the Immortal Changchun Skill - Minor Success (374/500).

Lightning Thunder Fist - Minor Success (311/500)

The speed of practicing sword control is a bit slow, just getting started (51/200)

For the time being, the art of immortality and longevity is naturally the most important.

But if you raise your level to 20 and enter the new level 20 game map, you might be able to find some cultivation techniques.

At that time, the Immortality Changchun Gong seemed a bit useless.

Seeing that he was already level 18 (430/1800), Li Jingxiao calculated that he would reach level 20 in about seven or eight days.

Recently, I have been using the time I spent practicing the Immortal Changchun Gong to practice the Lightning Thunder Fist.

After the Lightning Thunder Fist reached the proficient level, he began to practice sword-wielding skills.

At this time, the Eternal Spring Skill is the same as the Sword Control Skill, and one can gain 1.9 proficiency points per hour of practice.

For Lightning Thunder Fist, the proficiency level increases by 2.5 per hour.

If you really concentrate on practicing, after seven or eight days, you will be able to reach the mastery level of Lightning Thunder Fist.

Moreover, after gaining experience from competing with his wife, Li Jingxiao was no longer concerned about continuing to see patients.

Instead of wasting time, it’s better to take your wife with you to have one more competition.

If you don’t find the Cultivation Heart Method in the new map after level 20, then continue to practice the Immortal Changchun Gong.

He finished his work, stood up, and left the Dianqiansi Yamen with Erfu and others.

Jia Rong and Jia Heng were seen standing under the eaves of the yamen gate, smiling and talking about something.

Seeing the real person coming out, Jia Rong hurried forward.

He knelt on the ground with a thud, "Uncle, your nephew wishes you a happy new year. I wish you great success in your immortal path and a long life."

Li Jingxiao laughed and scolded after hearing this.

Li Jingxiao, in a good mood, waved his hand to help Jia Rong up, and casually threw a small gold ingot to him, "Since you haven't gotten married yet, this is your New Year's money."

Jia Rong hurriedly caught the ingot and knew at a glance that it was a gold ingot weighing 5 taels.

Although he was the heir to the Ningguo Mansion, his monthly allowance was only 2 taels of silver, the same as Jia Baoyu's.

Now the New Year’s money given by my uncle is 50 taels of silver each time.

In Jia Rong's heart, Li Jingxiao at this moment is closer to him than his own father.

Without hesitation, he kowtowed again, shouting sincerely, "Thank you for the reward, uncle."

Li Jingxiao burst into laughter and rode on his horse, accompanied by a dozen guards, Jia Heng and several other servants, and gifts, towards the Ning and Rong mansions.

Jia Rong naturally brought his men with him and rode his horse quickly to catch up.

Along the way, Jia Rong kept talking about how the old lady had brought the boys and girls from the West Mansion to the East Mansion to listen to opera in the morning.

And today is a family dinner, so there are no outsiders.

After saying this, Jia Rong winked at Li Jingxiao. Li Jingxiao immediately understood that this must be a hint. Jia Zhen might be preparing to create an opportunity for him and Yuanchun to meet alone.

Jia Rong also heard that Old Lady You had brought Second Sister You and Third Sister You to visit.

Li Jingxiao couldn't help but smile and nodded. After talking and laughing for a while, they entered Ningrong Street.

At the gate of Ningguo Mansion, Lai Da, who had been looking out, saw a large group of people coming.

I immediately guessed that it must be the son-in-law from the West Mansion who had arrived.

He hurriedly ordered the servant to go into the mansion to inform them.

When Li Jingxiao and others dismounted outside the mansion, Jia Zhen had already come to greet them with Jia Zhu and Jia Lian.

Li Jingxiao bowed with a smile, and Jia Zhen and the other two hurriedly returned the greeting, with smiles on their faces becoming brighter and brighter.

Li Jingxiao was already a hereditary marquis at this time. Although his family background was not as good as that of the Ning and Rong families, his power and prestige far surpassed those of the two heads of the family, Jia She and Jia Zhen.

Seeing that Li Jingxiao was still as polite as before, Jia Zhen and others were naturally very happy.

Nobles who only have titles but no real power can only scare ordinary people and middle and lower-level officials.

Some fallen dignitaries dared not even offend fifth- and sixth-rank officials in Beijing.

To put it bluntly, no matter how glorious your ancestors were, you are just a wealthy family now.

If I want to cause trouble for you, there are many ways to do it.

The three biggest taboos in life are: having no power but having a lot of money, being poor but having a beautiful wife, and being weak but having precocious wisdom.

A few years later, the Jia family was a typical example of a family with no power but great wealth.

The construction of the Grand View Garden pushed the Jia family to the forefront.

The eunuchs in the palace would come to the house every few days to ask for money, and each time they would ask for two or three thousand taels of silver. By that time, the Jia family had actually emptied their family savings.

It is highly likely that he also embezzled the wealth accumulated by several generations of the Lin family, which was brought back to the Jia family by Jia Lian after Lin Ruhai's death.

But the outside world didn't know whether the Jia family's house was empty or not, and it seemed that the Jia family still maintained the same wealthy scene as before.

It would be strange if he didn't covet the Jia family's property.

However, there is a saying that goes "When the rabbit dies, the fox mourns." After the Jia family was raided, the other nobles must have been terrified.

Especially the two Dukes Ning and Rong, they were the founding dukes of the country.

So although the Jia family's property was confiscated, the emperor did not go too far.

Jia Zheng was finally acquitted and reinstated, which shows that the connections and relationships accumulated by the Jia family over the years must have played a certain role.

After some polite exchanges, Jia Zhen, Jia Zhu, Jia Lian and Li Jingxiao went straight to pay a visit to Lady Jia.

When we entered Huifang Courtyard, the maids and old women had already informed us in advance.

At this time, the attitude of the women of the Jia family towards Li Jingxiao changed greatly.

Whenever Mrs. Wang mentioned her son-in-law, her face was filled with smiles.

Mrs. Xing, Li Wan, and Youshi looked at Jia Yuanchun, who looked delicate and blushing, with envy and jealousy.

As for Old Lady You, her face was filled with anticipation, yet her palms were sweating with nervousness.

She was afraid that her future son-in-law no longer looked down on her two daughters.

You Erjie and You Sanjie also had shy expressions on their faces, but their eyes kept staring outside the yard.

After a while, I heard a woman shouting, "The Marquis is here, the son-in-law is here."

Then Li Jingxiao, wearing a dragon robe, was seen reaching out to Jia Zhen, motioning him to go first.

Then he followed Jia Zhu and walked in with Jia Lian.

The smile on Lady Jia's face brightened by three points, but she also became a little worried.

It is a good thing to be able to remain humble and modest while holding a high position at a young age.

But if someone is too rational and cautious, it will also be difficult to ask for help in the future.

Fortunately, thinking that Jia Rong was already working beside him at this time, and hearing Rong'er herself say that he, as her uncle, valued Rong'er very much, Jia's mother felt relieved again.

If you really think about it, the young men from the Ning and Rong mansions who need help are only Lian'er and Rong'er.

Zhu'er is already a scholar, and as long as her health is fine, she will definitely be able to take the imperial examination.

Baoyu is still young, and it will be ten or twenty years before he needs help.

Since he is willing to support Rong'er, Jingyou is not someone who doesn't know how to adapt.

Thinking of this, Grandmother Jia's smile became a little kinder.

Li Jingxiao had already walked up to him, bowed deeply, and said, "Your son-in-law wishes you a happy new year, old lady."

I wish the old lady good fortune as vast as the flowing waters of the East Sea and a long life as long as the evergreen pines of the Southern Mountains."

After saying this, he bowed to Madam Wang and said, "Your son-in-law also wishes you a happy new year. I wish you 'the pines and cypresses of Penglai are flourishing, and the lotus flowers of the abbot's house are blooming.'"

These words made Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang smile so hard that their mouths were crooked.

Grandmother Jia even took Li Jingxiao's hand, saying "OK, OK, OK" repeatedly, and asked him to sit next to her.

Li Jingxiao sat down and bowed to Mrs. Xing.

Then he looked at Jia Yuanchun on the other side of Jia Mu and nodded. The shy Yuanchun looked at him, her face turned red, and she picked up the ignorant Jia Baoyu and dared not look at him again.

Li Wan, Youshi and others couldn't help but cover their mouths and giggle.

After chatting about family matters for a while, they had to go and pay a visit to their father-in-law Jia Zheng and Jia She.

And I just heard from Jia Zhen that Jia Jing also came back from Xuanzhen Temple today.

It must be related to monasticism.

Li Jingxiao simply didn't hide it and said to Lady Jia with a smile, "Old lady, you also know that my son-in-law has some experience in Taoism.

I had some insights a few years ago and prepared a set of exercises specifically for my children to strengthen their bodies.

It has been said that my brother-in-law Qin Zhong has been practicing for more than a month and has become much stronger.

Since I have some free time today, why not pass it on to Baoyu as well, okay?"

Grandmother Jia and Mrs. Wang were both delighted and nodded in agreement quickly.

Jia Zhen, Jia Zhu, Jia Lian and Jia Rong looked at Jia Baoyu who was being held in Yuanchun's arms with envy.

He thought to himself that being a brother-in-law meant taking advantage, and such a good thing actually fell into Baoyu's hands so easily.

Grandmother Jia even said to Yuanchun, "Big girl, quickly take Baoyu to the courtyard next to him to learn from his brother-in-law."

After saying this, he thought about it and was afraid that Jia Baoyu was still young and couldn't remember it.

Then she said, "Big girl, Baoyu is still young, and you, as his elder sister, should learn from him. Once you have learned, you can supervise and teach Baoyu more on a daily basis."

Mrs. Wang didn't care about the gender of the son. In her heart, she still preferred her youngest son.

He also looked at Jia Zhu and Jia Lian and said, "Zhu'er, Lian'er, you two take the people to watch over the yard.

This kind of Taoist secret must never be leaked."

Li Jingxiao said this just as an excuse to get close to Jia Yuanchun.

Since Yuanchun is also learning, everything else doesn't matter.

After all, Qin Zhong had only learned Zhenwu Changquan, which is the Wudang Changquan in the martial arts world.

However, Li Jingxiao is now thinking about waiting for Qin Zhong to return to his mansion in a few days.

He then began to teach him Quanzhen swordsmanship, and would teach him Quanzhen heart skills and Qinggong next year.

Seeing that Lady Wang had only called Zhu'er and Lian'er to watch over the place, Grandmother Jia quickly added, "Rong'er, this is your home, you go too."

Jia Zhen and Youshi's expressions finally returned to normal.

Li Jingxiao laughed heartily, looked at Jia Rong and said to Lady Jia, "Speaking of which, although Rong'er is still young, he is quite capable of handling affairs.

Several tasks were assigned to him before the New Year, and he did them all very well.

It's a pity that Brother Lian has to serve Lord Taishan.

Otherwise, I will ask the old lady and Lord Taishan to let my second brother come to my side and serve as a treasurer in front of the palace first."

This is just talk. Jia Rong is already the treasurer, and Jia Lian, as his cousin, will definitely not be a treasurer again.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Jia Lian just bowed his hands in thanks and said that Master Zheng still needed him, so he could only give up the position of Ku Cao with regret.

Jia Zhu was not jealous. He knew that since he was taking the imperial examination, his brother-in-law Li Jingxiao would not arrange any job for him.

Li Jingxiao stood up, bowed to Lady Jia, Lady Wang, and Lady Xing, and stretched out his hand to Yuanchun, handing over Jia Baoyu in his arms.

Smiling, she followed Jia Zhu and Jia Lian, and asked the boy, "Baoyu, I'll teach you kung fu. When you've mastered it, you'll be able to fly and burrow into the ground like me, okay?"

As long as he is not allowed to study, practicing martial arts will still be attractive to Jia Baoyu for the time being.

Nodding hurriedly, "Thank you, brother-in-law."

The women in the room couldn't help laughing when they saw Baoyu getting close to his brother-in-law.

Mrs. Wang watched her daughter following Li Jingxiao with affection, thinking that it was too late to keep her when she grew up, but she was also very reluctant to let her daughter get married.

His eyes also turned red.

Fortunately, Li Jingxiao lived in the capital, and the two families were very close.

It’s just a few steps to my mother’s house.

It's much better than those girls who marry far away and may not be seen for the next three to five years or even ten years.

She secretly wiped away her tears and a smile returned to her face.

(End of this chapter)