After being choked to death by a copper coin, she became a demon Jin Ji in the other world

However, the records of these rich ingredients in "The Sages' Banquet" are mostly from the perspective of the upper aristocracy. Ordinary herdsmen still live on beef, mutton, tsampa and barley wine, and some people cannot even afford these things.

[We are tired of the food in the Han area. Now that we are in Tibet, let’s eat tsampa and barley wine, and have some yak beef. Hey, that’s delicious! ]

[Hehe, I was just waiting for you to say this, Master. I have bought everything, let’s start eating. ]

【Great! 】×2

After eating and drinking, Shen Yuelan and others set out on their return journey. They were going to Chang'an in Guanzhong to meet up with Xiao Yuhuan and Fan Su who were waiting for them there.

Yes, Mr. Bai Juyi passed away not long ago. Fortunately, Xiao Yuhuan arrived in time and allowed him to hear news about Xiaoman at the last moment, although it was not good news.

But at least he will have no regrets before he passes away.

Before Bai Juyi's funeral, Xiao Yuhuan took Fan Su and left Luoyang. Although Bai Juyi was not very polite in front of Shen Yuelan, he was a serious court official. He did not need to ask his lover to raise money for his burial after his death like Liu Yong.

The court and his students and former officials would help him deal with his affairs after his death. However, if Fan Su, a lowly person, could not escape in time, she would inevitably be sold by others. Although Xiao Yuhuan could help her, why bother making trouble if she could avoid it?

Therefore, Xiao Yuhuan chose to take Fan Su away early. As for Fan Su's opinion? Haha, Bai Juyi had given her indenture to Xiao Yuhuan. What was the use of her agreeing or not?

[Why are you crying? Are you planning to be buried with your husband? ]

[How can I do this? I want to let this girl know that when the master was alive, he asked me to live a good life with Miss Shen.]

[If that's the case, then stop crying and making it seem like I'm kidnapping you.]

[Slave, slave has no intention to frame you, I just did this because I am too sad. Don't worry, slave will be fine in two days.]

After adjusting her mindset, Fan Su finally had time to calm down and think about her future.

[Girl, where are we going? Where is Miss Shen? Normally, I am under the jurisdiction of Miss Shen.]

[Yes, she sent me to pick you up. She is in Tubo now and it is too late for her to come back. Let's go to Chang'an first to avoid Bai Juyi's relatives. Don't think how close they are to you on weekdays. Now they are the ones who are most likely to kill you.]

[They previously flattered you and were close to you because you were a popular figure around Bai Juyi and they could talk to Bai Juyi through you, but now that Bai Juyi is gone, what do you mean to them?]

[Alas, you are right. When people leave, the tea gets cold. Even so, let's hurry up and leave.]

[Oh, by the way, there is one more thing I want to confirm with you, is Xiao Man really gone? ]

[Well, she... is indeed gone. The person who asked you for help was not her, and the person who wanted to use her identity to murder Mr. Bai was not her.]

[How did Xiaoman die? ]

[I don't know about this either. Before I set out, we hadn't caught anyone pretending to be Xiao Man. I can only ask Yue Lan and the others for details after they come back.]

Chapter 337: Legend of Qinghai

【That’s it. 】

Although she was somewhat disappointed with Xiao Yuhuan's answer, in order to live with her master's expectations, Fan Su decided to obey Xiao Yuhuan's orders and follow her to Chang'an.

At this time, the city of Chang'an was in turmoil. Tang Wuzong, Li Yan, had been taking elixirs made by alchemists for a long time, which had caused him to have an impatient temper and was beyond redemption. His life was numbered and a change of throne was imminent.

To be honest, Chang'an City at this moment can't be called an ideal refuge. However, Longxi is in the midst of chaos at this time. Although Xiao Yuhuan can come and go freely, she cannot guarantee Fan Su's safety. Therefore, she has to settle for the second best and choose to wait for the return of Shen Yuelan and others in Chang'an City.

As for why they did not settle on the border of Tang territory, it was because the Tang Dynasty at that time was planning to take advantage of the civil strife in Tubo to add insult to injury and retake the Longxi area.

Therefore, the Tang Dynasty now has a large-scale military mobilization on the western border, and the caravans and civilians entering and leaving the country are strictly checked. Xiao Yuhuan spent a lot of effort on the return journey, and it was even more difficult to bring Fan Su with her.

After the two settled down in the market town of Chang'an City, Shen Yuelan and others had not yet left the Tibetan Plateau. To the east of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are the endless Hengduan Mountains and large rivers. For ordinary people, wanting to cross this place and reach Jiannan Road is nothing but a foolish dream.

Even if Shen Yuelan and others wanted to cross this place, it would take at least several months. Shen Yuelan did not want to travel back and forth in the primeval forests of the Hengduan Mountains like a savage.

Therefore, they had to head north again, and after arriving near Qinghai, they took the Qinghai Road back to the Tang Dynasty.

In fact, they could have taken the Tang-Tibet Ancient Road (Mantouling Post Road), but according to the information sent back by Xiao Yuhuan, the Tang Dynasty was going to have some large-scale military operations there, so based on the principle of not disturbing them if possible, they chose to take a longer route.

Although the situation in Qinghai Road was also not peaceful, Shen Yuelan still had the final say in accidentally killing several Tibetan warlords who had little historical influence.

When passing by the ruins of Fuqi City, everyone stopped here for a short while.

Fuxi City, located 13 miles west of Qinghai, was an important town connecting the east and the west in ancient times. It was built by the Tuyuhun King [Fulianchou] in the Northern Wei Dynasty. [Fuxi] is the Xianbei language, which means [City of the King] in Chinese.

In the second year of Xinghe in the Eastern Wei Dynasty (540 AD), Kualu, the son of Fulianchou, established the first feudal kingdom in Qinghai's history, the Tuyuhun Kingdom, and made Fuxi City its capital.

[Kualiu Li, first called himself Khan, and lived in Fushi City. It is 13 miles west of Qinghai. Although there is a city wall, he does not live there.]

Fuqi City is divided into two cities, the inner and outer cities. The buildings inside the city are divided into three groups with the axis running through the east gate as the center. They are distributed in a slightly [concave] shape and arranged from east to west. There are 11 villages and 4 affiliated small cities surrounding the city outside.

Although the Tuyuhun Kingdom was destroyed by the Tang army two hundred years ago, due to the importance of its geographical location, there are still a small number of herdsmen and Tubo soldiers living and staying in the nearby small towns, but the main city has indeed been abandoned for a long time.

[Is this the Tuyuhun Kingdom? My Lord, where did they come from? Are there still people from this tribe now? ]

[The Tuyuhun tribe is said to be a branch of the Murong Xianbei tribe, and originally lived in the northeast region. During the Yongjia period of the Western Jin Dynasty, their leader Tuyuhun led his people to migrate to Longyou and took Tuyuhun as their surname.]

[As for whether the Tuyuhun tribe still exists today, although it is true that it does exist, it can be said that their life is worse than death. There are records that the Tuyuhun tribe was completely wiped out and was whipped by the Fan.]

[Someone heard this and sighed: "Take it back, Hun'er, the north wind is still blowing, how can your spirit be weakened? Ten thousand iron horses are slaves, strength and weakness are determined by people, don't sigh about the times."]

Lü Zhiwei remained silent upon hearing this. Even a powerful country like the Tang Dynasty had its twilight years, let alone Tuyuhun? However, despite this, the loss of a country is a sad topic no matter which country it is in. Looking at the dilapidated main city of Fushi, everyone felt bleak.

[Don't look at it anymore. What's so interesting about a few broken bricks and tiles? Come on, let's go fishing in the lake.]

[In the lake? Sister Jingan, which lake are you going to fish in? ]

[You are playing dumb, which other lake could it be? Of course it is Qinghai.]

[But Qinghai is a saltwater lake, and there are only huangyu and loach in it? ]

[Yes, I caught the Huangyu. I asked around and the locals said that the meat of the Huangyu is delicious and nutritious, with a fat content of 12% and protein of 16.14%.]

【But……】

[Oh, what are you afraid of? Huangyu is a "vulnerable" species in later generations, but who cared about you in the Tang Dynasty? You are using the rules of a thousand years later to govern things that happened a thousand years ago. Do you think the Tang people will pay attention to you?]

[Hey, look, there are still a lot of water birds on the lake. I'll go get two of them. Huanyan, get ready. Let's have a picnic by the lake tonight!]

【Oh! 】

Shen Yuelan looked at Jing'an who had already run far away and was too lazy to stop him. She walked slowly towards Qinghai, and stories and legends about Qinghai involuntarily emerged in her mind.

Qinghai Lake was formerly known as the "West Sea", and was also called the "Xianhai", "Xianshuihai" and "Beiheqianghai". After the Northern Wei Dynasty, it was called Qinghai. In Mongolian, it was called "Kukunor", which means blue or cyan lake. The name Qinghai Lake began to be used in modern times, and it was not until 1949 that it was generally called Qinghai Lake.

There is a legend among local people about how the lake was formed, which is related to Princess Wencheng's entry into Tibet.

According to legend, when the Tang and Tubo countries formed a marriage alliance, Princess Wencheng was ordered to marry the Tubo King Songtsen Gampo. Before leaving, the Tang Emperor gave her the Sun and Moon Mirror and told her that if she missed her hometown in the future, she could take out the mirror and look at it, and she would see her hometown in the mirror.

The marriage team traveled thousands of miles and arrived at the Sun and Moon Mountain, the boundary between Tang and Tubo. They were about to enter the Tubo territory and completely leave Tang land and never return. Princess Wencheng was overwhelmed with grief for a moment, so she took out the Sun and Moon Mirror and wanted to take another look at her hometown.

In the reflection of the sunlight, the magic mirror really showed Princess Wencheng's hometown. Looking at her hometown in the mirror, Princess Wencheng burst into tears and was unable to continue her journey.

But Princess Wencheng did not forget her mission. In order to completely cut off the idea of returning home, she threw the Sun and Moon Mirror out. Unexpectedly, when the mirror fell to the ground, it flashed a golden light and turned into the beautiful Qinghai Lake.

Although this legend seems absurd to later generations, it is an indirect proof of the friendly exchanges between the Tang and Tu countries. In a sense, it also shows that people really began to develop Qinghai Lake in the Tang Dynasty.

There is also a theory that Qinghai Lake is the legendary Yaochi, and the Queen Mother of the West was the female leader of the ancient Qiang tribe who lived in the Qinghai Lake area more than 3000 years ago. She hosted King Mu of Zhou, who came to visit her in a chariot of eight horses, at Yaochi, which is the shore of Qinghai Lake.

The Queen Mother of the West is the main deity of Qinghai Lake. The three blue birds that "diligently keep an eye on" King Mu's whereabouts for the Queen Mother are the thousands of migratory birds living on the Bird Island.

Although this legend seems to be far-fetched, it does make some sense. After all, the ancients had a limited range of activities, and Qinghai Lake is indeed the lake that best fits the description in the legend.

Chapter 338: Li's Journey to Immortality

Although there was not much meat on the湟鱼 and water birds caught by Jing'an, with the help of Huanyan's cooking skills, these ingredients still made everyone satisfied.

After finishing the meal, Jing'an was about to say goodbye to Shen Yuelan and the others. The time from Lhasa to Qinghai was a vacation that Jing'an secretly fought for himself during his busy schedule.

But as the deputy director of operations, she was still very busy and her vacation could not last too long, so she had to say goodbye to Shen Yuelan by the Qinghai Lake.

[Ah, this place is really nice, with beautiful scenery. It would be great if I could stay here forever. ]

[Forget it, Sister Jing'an, you should just go do what you need to do. No matter how beautiful the scenery is, you will get tired of it if you see it too much. Only the momentary fireworks can be the eternal white moonlight in people's hearts.]

[Hahaha, that's true. Anyway, Director Hua is still waiting for me, so I'll go ahead.]

[Well, we won't waste much time here. Not long ago, news came from Chang'an that the traces of the Huichang monster have been found. It's time to close the net.]

[Okay, we are waiting for your good news in the other world.]

When Shen Yuelan and others arrived in Chang'an, Emperor Wuzong had passed away for several months. Prince Guang Li Chen, the thirteenth son of Emperor Xianzong Li Chun and half-brother of Emperor Muzong Li Heng, ascended the throne with the support of eunuchs such as Ma Yuanzhi, and named the reign Dazhong.

Because the country was relatively stable during Li Chen's reign, people still missed him until the end of the Tang Dynasty and called him "Little Taizong". Historians called this period "the Reign of Dazhong".

However, there are also views that Li Chen "knew the minor details of being a monarch, but not the major ones", "was good at listening and judging, but took observation as wisdom, and no longer had the intention of benevolence and grace", which ultimately led to the tragic consequence of "the internal ministers fighting for the successor to the monarch, almost leading to chaos".

But no matter what, Li Chen was already a relatively outstanding emperor among the emperors of the late Tang Dynasty. During his reign, he was diligent in government affairs, rectified the administration of officials, restricted royal family members and eunuchs, and rehabilitated most of the officials who died in the Ganlu Incident.

He defeated Tubo, stabilized the northern frontier, pacified Annan, accepted Zhang Yichao who returned to Tang, set up the Guiyi Army, and created the last glorious moment of the Tang Dynasty.

[Huanyan, do you think Li Chen was a good emperor? I always felt that he took advantage of Emperor Wuzong.]

[Well, he was able to become a wise ruler because he had the best timing, location, and people.]

[During his reign, Tibet had completely collapsed due to natural disasters and man-made calamities. Anyone could take a bite out of Tibet. He was able to launch large-scale military operations in a timely manner, relying on the wealth accumulated by Emperor Wuzong from the destruction of Buddhism.]

[But to be honest, Emperor Xuanzong also had his own uniqueness. At least I think his action of stopping the destruction of Buddhism was an important factor in helping Zhang Yichao gain the support of the Longxi Buddhist forces. Because the Tang Dynasty stopped destroying Buddhism, but Tubo was still destroying it, so the Buddhist forces would definitely turn to the Tang Dynasty.]

[And the most important point is that he can make the right decision at the right time, which is much better than most emperors. ]

[Indeed, the destruction of Buddhism is as bad as overdoing it. Xuanzong stopped it in time, which was a good deed. If we were in his position, we would not necessarily do better than he did.]

【Yeah, that’s true.】

[However, if I have any complaints about him, it is that he died too early, just like Emperor Wuzong.]

In the 859th year of Dazhong ( AD), Li Chen was poisoned by the elixir presented by the imperial physician Li Yuanbo. He suffered from thirst and dryness, and his physical condition became very bad. Four months later, he died in the Daming Palace at the age of . He became another emperor who died of poisoning from taking elixirs after Taizong, Xianzong, Muzong, and Wuzong.

[During the Tang Dynasty, every time I heard about emperors who died from taking elixirs, and most of them were wise and capable rulers, I wondered if there were some hostile forces in the dark corners of history that were artificially disrupting the Tang Dynasty’s national destiny.]

[Why else, whenever there were some wise and capable rulers who could turn the tide in the Tang Dynasty, they all ended up taking elixirs and died without exception?]

[Not to mention Emperor Taizong Li Shimin, Emperor Xianzong Li Chun initiated the Yuanhe Restoration, Emperor Wuzong Li Yan initiated the Huichang Restoration, and Emperor Xuanzong Li Chen initiated the Dazhong Reign. These three emperors were all capable of turning the tide, at least formally restoring the unity of the Tang Empire.]

[If one of them could live two more years, would the Tang Dynasty be different? ]

[Master, there is no "if" in this world, and no one knows whether they will become an emperor like Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. We cannot change what has already happened. We can only regard all this as the best arrangement.]

【Alas, yes, everything is the best arrangement. 】

[Let's go. The courtyard that Yuhuan rented should be nearby. Let's go meet up with them first. After we settle Fan Su's matter, we'll go look for the Huichang monster.]

While Shen Yuelan and others were searching for the courtyard like headless flies, a special execution was being held near the Meridian Gate. Those being executed at the Meridian Gate were the favorites of Emperor Wuzong, the main promoters of the Huichang Anti-Buddhist Movement, and the culprits who led to Emperor Wuzong's death. They were Taoists Zhao Guizhen, Liu Xuanjing, Deng Yuanqi and twelve others.

After Xuanzong ascended the throne, they were arrested by the envoy Yang Qinyi and beaten to death on the charge of poisoning Emperor Wuzong.

The crime of poisoning the emperor was not a random accusation made by Emperor Xuanzong. Emperor Wuzong did die of poisoning after eating the elixir they had refined.

In addition, they were the main promoters of the anti-Buddhist movement. After Wuzong's death, the court situation was turbulent. Xuanzong himself was supported by eunuchs. If he wanted to smoothly transfer power and get rid of the control of the eunuchs, he had to stop destroying Buddhism and win over relevant forces to support himself.

In order to gain the support of Buddhism and other religious forces, he had to liquidate the main participants in the anti-Buddhist movement in order to make his position and attitude clear.

The late emperor certainly could not be wrong, so the ones who were wrong could only be the "flattering ministers" around him. Therefore, Zhao Guizhen and others did not even get the treatment of Li Deyu being exiled to Lingnan, but were directly pushed out of the Meridian Gate and beaten to death in the autumn.

[Tsk tsk, being beaten with a stick is a very uncomfortable way to die. It is basically torturing people to death. It is worse than a knife to the head. ]

[Yes, caning to death was a very common punishment used by the Tang Dynasty government. It was a way of execution in which the criminal was beaten on the buttocks with a heavy stick. It was said that because beating the buttocks would not hurt, a knife was stabbed in the abdomen first.]

【Eh~~】

The Old Book of Tang, Biographies of Cruel Officials, records: [Those who were flogged feared that they would not die, so they would not let go until the person was swollen and angry, and then they would slowly flog him harder, causing him to bleed to the ground and feel the agony of wanting to die.]

From this we can see that the extralegal torture and beating to death in the Tang Dynasty was not only a humiliating punishment to death, but also a torturous torture to death. It is obvious how much Emperor Xuanzong of Tang hated these Taoists.

Chapter 339: False Case

Not to mention the old Li family's nonsense of seeking immortality and asking for the way, Shen Yuelan and others finally found Xiao Yuhuan's yard after getting lost many times, and successfully reunited with her. After a short rest, Fan Su's transformation was finally put on the agenda.

Because of the examples of Clivia, Lu Zhiwei and others, Shen Yuelan was familiar with the transformation of Fan Su. The only problem was what kind of demon body to replace Fan Su with.

Shen Yuelan had previously chosen fox bodies for Lu Zhiwei and others, because Shen Yuelan liked the furry touch of Su Xuan, so she added some personal touches to the transformation of these people.

But there are already too many foxes in the house. Not to mention the dead Ying fox, the Lu fox is now hanging on his body, and the Jun fox is a wild one, and you can't see it all day long.

All in all, Shen Yuelan wanted to change her taste this time.

[Fan Su, do you have any favorite animals or plants? ]

[Hmm~ Favorite animal or plant? Cats. I like calico cats.]

[I see. In that case, then use the body of a cat demon as a template for your new life.]

【I have no objection.】