Volume 3: Evil Ghosts Eat People Chapter 158 Don’t mess with Xu Zun (Part 1)
"Look, Your Excellency..."
In a secret residence in Qinglan Temple, Zhao Yu was showing something to Xu Zun.
This secret residence is where the Taoist priest Qinglan lives. Although the room is in a mess, one can still feel the ancient and mysterious atmosphere.
In particular, a secret room was found behind the bed in the room, which contained many valuable items such as cultural relics, calligraphy and paintings that could not be taken away.
In addition, there is an escape passage in the secret room, which shows that Taoist Qinglan was fully prepared.
At this moment, what Zhao Yu showed to Xu Zun seemed to be an unfinished letter. The content of the letter should be that Taoist Qinglan asked for help from a man called Zunshi, and wanted to ask this "Zunshi" to accept the Taoist disciples of Chongtian Temple.
The letter also mentioned several times that the fact that Qinglan saw Taoist disciples as men had a huge impact on their practice.
Through this letter, Xu Zun became more certain of his guess that there must be a bigger manipulator behind Taoist Qinglan!
This so-called envoy should be the messenger contacting the big boss and Taoist Qinglan.
Xu Zun estimated that it was after the Chongtian Temple incident that Taoist Qinglan accepted the arrangement of his superiors and was forced to take in Luo Yu and others.
However, on the one hand, it was too awkward to support a group of men, and on the other hand , she was worried that they would cause trouble for her, so she asked her superiors to take Luo Yu and others away as soon as possible.
However, before the letter was sent out, the secret of Qinglan Temple was revealed by Xu Zun. In the panic evacuation, Taoist Qinglan actually forgot the existence of the letter and did not take it away to destroy it.
"I found this letter," Zhao Yu introduced. "I found it from the crack of the table in the secret room. I think the old nun must be regretting it now!"
"You found it yourself?" Xu Zun confirmed, "Don't others know about it?"
"After I found the secret room, I knew the things inside were extraordinary," Zhao Yu said, "so I didn't let anyone in!"
"Well, well done!" Xu Zun secretly praised himself, this Zhao Yu was indeed reliable in his work.
"Sir," Zhao Yu analyzed, "I checked the handwriting, and this letter is most likely written by Taoist Qinglan himself, and this person called the Honorable Envoy must be very important!
"If we can find out his identity, then we may be able to find the whereabouts of Taoist Qinglan and Marquis Changping!"
"Hmm..." Xu Zun said thoughtfully, "To be able to make Taoist Qinglan and Marquis Changping work for him wholeheartedly, this Xuanmen leader must be no ordinary person!"
"Yes!" Zhao Yu nodded, "We think alike! If the leader of Xuanmen is a senior official in the court or a noble with a higher status than Marquis Changping, then this matter will be even more difficult to investigate!
"Besides...we are in danger too!"
Xu Zun looked at the letter carefully, but because he was deep in thought, he did not answer Zhao Yu's questions.
"Sir," Zhao Yu asked Xu Zun again after a while, "I heard that a powerful person came to the Dali Temple, right?"
"Oh?" Xu Zun looked at Zhao Yu and asked, "How did you know?"
Since Zhao Yu was busy investigating the case, he did not meet with Chen Taiji and Li Jinlou.
"I just heard from the officials in the county government," Zhao Yu said, "They said that when the senior official from the Dali Temple arrived, he went directly to the Marquis of Changping's mansion and used his people to take over the place!"
"Is there such a thing?" Xu Zun stared, a trace of gloom flashing through his heart.
"The Dali Temple Inspector," Zhao Yu said, "To put it bluntly, he's here to make money!"
After Zhao Yu said this, Xu Zun seemed to understand something.
As soon as Li Jinlou met them, he raised his eyebrows and looked at them in a dignified manner. It turned out that he wanted to give these Tangzhou officials a warning so that they would give him gifts.
Otherwise, if he said something nonsense to the Dali Temple when reporting, it would be enough to make these people suffer.
"Is he really that bold?" Xu Zun asked, "The emperor hasn't issued an order to revoke his title yet, so how dare he, a censor of the Dali Temple, take the Marquis of Changping's things?"
"Well, I've never met such a high-ranking official," Zhao Yu said, "but I feel this guy is not very honest.
"If they really wanted to investigate the case, they should have come to Qinglan Temple first, right? And why did they use his people to replace all the people in the county government?"
Um……
Xu Zun pondered secretly and felt that Li Jinlou had bad intentions and was afraid that this guy would do something bad to him.
Thinking of this, Xu Zun took away the unfinished letter from Taoist Qinglan and ordered Zhao Yu to continue searching the secret room to see if there was anything else to be found...
…
the next day.
Shangyuan County Government Office, inside Taimin's residence.
"Don't be surprised, Lord Xu. As small officials, we have seen too many such things!" Taimin, with a bandage on his shoulder, said to Xu Zun, "If the inspector of the Dali Temple goes to the local area to inspect and doesn't bring back any benefits, what kind of inspector is he?
"The bigger the case, the more money there is. That's normal!"
"It would be fine if he could just make some money," Xu Zun frowned and said, "but that guy sealed off the entire Changping Marquis's Mansion and transferred a large amount of assets to his residence. That's not just making some money, right?"
"Hehe..." Taimin laughed, "Master Xu, he came here by imperial decree, and although his title has not been stripped, even if Marquis Changping comes back, will those properties still belong to him?
"Also, this inspector returned with a full load. He only needs to distribute the goods to his superiors and then present the best goods to His Majesty. Then, who would he be afraid of accusing him of corruption?"
"Oh..." Xu Zun nodded and said, "To be honest, I'm not particularly angry about the corruption. What makes me angry is that the case is so serious and involves a cult conspiracy, but he, as an official, turned a blind eye to it and only cared about the property of the Marquis of Changping. This kind of person... is really unworthy of being an official appointed by the court!"
"Master Xu," Taimin advised, "Don't get angry. I tell you, it's a good thing that we have the Marquis of Changping Mansion! If this guy gets enough, he will be happy, and when he reports back, he won't harm us.
“But if he doesn’t get any big benefits, then if he goes back and accuses us of a single negligence, our future prospects for the rest of our lives could be ruined by him!
"It is better to offend a gentleman than a villain," Taimin said, "I see that he knows that your father is the former Dali Temple Minister, but he is still so arrogant to you, so... you should be careful!"
"I understand!" Xu Zun clasped his hands together, "Thank you, Master Tai, for reminding me!"
The two of them exchanged polite words before Xu Zun left Taimin's residence.
However, as soon as he stepped out, he heard someone in the county hall calling his name loudly:
"Master Xu, Master Xu... Are you there? Where is Master Xu? Hurry up, something big has happened, I need to see him..."
Xu Zun heard that it was Hong Gu who called him, so he walked quickly into the lobby.
"Hong Gu? What's wrong?"
Seeing Hong Gu's panic-stricken look, Xu Zun vaguely realized that something had happened.
"Sir, please go and have a look!" Hong Gu said anxiously, "Something happened in the North Prison! The new inspector from the Dali Temple suddenly went to the North Prison to interrogate those girls...
"But I didn't expect that he...he didn't just interrogate me, he also...also..."
"ah!!?"
Xu Zun immediately understood what it meant, and immediately rushed to the North Prison with Hong Gu...
