"Tell me, which bastard told you!"
Han Mo was so angry that he even stood up and stepped forward, grabbing Lu Xun by the collar.
This time, there is no trace of the magnanimity of Principal Second Rank.
Seeing him look like this, Li Yan was completely convinced.
Steam Engine, there must be significant progress.
It's not surprising, there are many skilled Mo Sect craftsmen in this world, plus he hinted and reminded at the time that he didn't regard Steam Engine as just a fancy Skillful Technique.
Now that steam locomotives are here, can other things be far behind...
Li Yan was thinking wildly, but the audience Lu Xun was so frightened that his whole body was like chaff.
"Say!"
"What you are protecting now is not yourself, but the lives of the entire clan!"
Under Han Mo's angry rebuke, Lu Xun no longer dared to hide it and told the truth.
It turns out that after Han Mo took office, Lu Xun knew that he was not welcome, so he First Gate thought of ways to be promoted and at least keep his power.
But he was under the command of his predecessor Minister of the Ministry of Works, and he also managed river water conservancy. No one knew how many mines were hidden behind him, so no one paid attention to him.
At the same time, Mo Sect elder, Bureau of Parks and Buildings doctor Yuan Feng went to Liangzi Lake, and Li Yan discovered Steam Engine, hurriedly transported it back to the capital, and went to the palace with Han Mo, explaining that this thing was precious. From then on, he was ordered to study it secretly in the palace. Its management was also handed over to his subordinate Yuan Wailang. If anything happened, he would report to Han Mo.
This matter was originally a secret, but others didn't know about it, and something went wrong.
The document Yuan Feng sent back from the palace was originally supposed to be handed over to Han Mo, but the clerk was in a hurry and transferred it back to Bureau of Parks and Buildings.
"Bureau of Parks and Buildings" is not only in charge of weapons manufacturing, but also in charge of mountain harvesting, including mining and logging.
Lu Xun happened to be entrusted by someone to intercede in a case involving a wealthy businessman's private mining of copper mines.
After accidentally seeing the report, he immediately realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The report mentioned that Iron Ox Cart is very fast, but it will be built in large quantities in the future, and now Official Road still needs to be rebuilt.
Lu Xun didn't know what this Iron Ox Cart was, but he knew that Official Road's reconstruction would involve a lot of money, so he thought of it and invited Zhou Miaozhu, and asked Golden Swallow Gate to contact him, and invited people from the Prince Yan's Mansion and Luo Gongsheng to discuss how to make arrangements in advance and make profits from this matter.
His purpose is naturally to use this information to find Prince Yan as a backer.
But who would have expected that the artifact was suddenly leaked, causing a storm in the city, and coupled with the emperor's attitude, the old boy finally got scared.
Hearing that Zhou Miaozhu was missing, Luo MingZi came to find him and even hanged himself directly.
"Hmph!"
Luo MingZi's face turned gloomy after hearing this, "This matter was leaked from your side."
Lu Xun trembled and lowered his head.
This was exactly what he was afraid of.
If I had known that that thing was so important, I wouldn't have touched it even to death.
Han Mo was also very angry and turned to look at Luo MingZi, "I will go to the palace to apologize."
Luo MingZi pondered for a while and said, "This matter has brought out the manager Prince Yan's Mansion and the Iron Anchor Society president Luo Gongsheng, which is not a trivial matter. The demon Zhao Qingxu follows him everywhere, and under the connection layer by layer, his minions may be hiding in the Prince Yan's Mansion for protection."
"Han Shangshu, Pindao and I went to the palace together, reported His Majesty, and requested to search Prince Yan's Mansion!"
With such a big matter involved, it was naturally not Li Yan who could make the decision, and Prince Yan's Mansion was involved. He did not want to get involved in the quagmire of these princes and grandsons, so he simply left and returned to Rouyuan Posthouse.
However, the development of the situation surprised everyone.
Luo MingZi Not long after they entered the palace, Prince Yan's Mansion's sedan chair had already stopped steadily outside the palace gate.
Prince Yan Xiao Jinglie was cleaning up his crown and belt, and with a face full of anger, he actually took the initiative to enter the palace and came to "accept the crime and ask for punishment."
At the same time, another team of Commandery Commandant Office elite soldiers moved even faster.
Based on the key information and early clues provided by Lu Xun, they rushed towards the Iron Anchor Society headquarters like a tiger descending from a mountain. With fire and cannons and chains, they captured the powerful Iron Anchor Society president Luo Gongsheng, who had been entrenched in the black and white circles of the capital for many years, in public.
This man who used to stomp across the entire capital was now in a state of disgrace. He was tied up and dragged all the way to the stone steps in the square in front of the palace. He was kneeled on the ground like a piece of boneless flesh, his whole body shaking like chaff.
Hall of Mental Cultivation was filled with sandalwood, but it couldn't dispel the chill.
"His Majesty! My incompetence in restraining my subordinates has actually caused these short-sighted people to get entangled with the remnants of demons, which almost caused catastrophe! I heard that the traitor Lu Xun confessed that the general manager of the palace had colluded with the thief Luo Gongsheng, and my whole body was burned. I came here to apologize! The general manager has committed suicide in the study room of the palace!"
Prince Yan Xiao Jinglie kowtowed to the ground, his voice sincere and filled with grief and indignation, and his posture was kept to the lowest level.
In the square outside the palace, Luo Gongsheng screamed in a hoarse voice, "Unjust! It's all a villain's greed! Prince Yan His Highness has nothing to do with this matter. The villain was also deceived by the thief and has no idea at all. Please His Majesty be aware of it!"
Xiao Qixuan, who was sitting on the throne, listened to Luo MingZi's report with an expressionless face, his eyes were surprisingly cold.
Bang!
He slammed the tea cup in his hand to the ground, causing porcelain shards to fly!
The crisp explosion shocked the attendants in the palace into silence.
"Good! What a 'completely ignorant' person!"
"What a 'self-exclusion from the study room'!"
The emperor's voice was not loud, but it contained the fury of thunder, "My decree has not left this study room, but it has been sent to your Prince Yan's Mansion?!"
"Jing Lie, my Forbidden City, you are doing a good job running it!"
"A son is punished by death!"
Prince Yan felt a chill in his heart and knocked his forehead heavily on the gold brick, not even daring to argue.
He was impatient and came in a hurry when he heard about this matter without consulting anyone.
After hearing the emperor's words, I suddenly realized that I had violated a taboo.
"Hmph!"
Prince Yan was confused, but Emperor Xiao Qixuan was very shrewd and said coldly, "You are a pig-brained person who is being used without knowing it. Who told you this news?"
In the main hall, Han Mo and Luo MingZi both bowed their heads and remained silent.
Anyone can detect something wrong with this.
If Prince Yan Xiao Jinglie has a ghost in his heart and has planted eyes in the imperial city, after learning about it, the best way is to immediately remove all evidence and pretend to be unaware of it and stay in the palace.
It was probably someone who sent it to your door in such a hurry.
"This..."
Prince Yan Xiao Jinglie sweated on his forehead, knelt on the ground and said tremblingly, "The general manager of the royal palace committed suicide. He left a suicide note before his death, saying that he was bewitched by a monster and caused disaster. He had no face to deal with it. Only then did I learn about it."
Xiao Qixuan said in a deep voice, "Go back to the palace! No one in the palace can leave without my instructions! Wait for Zong Zhengfu and Commandery Commandant Office to conduct a thorough investigation!"
He already had a plan to deal with the artifact being leaked in advance.
His anger mostly came from someone leaking secrets in the palace, and it was probably related to the demon.
"As for this bitch slave..."
He glanced at the limp Luo Gongsheng in the square outside the window, "Put him on death row! I will examine him carefully! Skin and bones will be peeled off, and Zhao Qingxu's tail will be pulled out for me! All the Hu merchants in the capital, Hidden Stake, and the dirty officials who colluded with him will not be spared!"
After dealing with Prince Yan, the emperor's cold eyes glanced at Grandmaster Huo Yin who was standing by him. "Huo Qing, you are in charge of the capital to hunt down evil spirits. Luo Gongsheng has been under your nose for so many years, and you haven't even noticed it at all?"
Huo Yin's face was as heavy as water, and he knelt on one knee. "I made an oversight, please His Majesty punish me!"
"Punishment? Pay off the crime first and make meritorious service!"
Xiao Qixuan was still angry, "Commandery Commandant Office cooperates with Mystic Sacrificial Official Enforcement Hall. Any clues involved in this case, no matter whether they are noble officials or powerful businessmen, can be interrogated and arrested! If you make any more omissions, you will be punished for both crimes! Stand down!"
According to the imperial edict, Prince Yan's Mansion will naturally have a difficult time.
From top to bottom, they were reviewed one by one by Commandery Commandant Office and Enforcement Hall.
Even the Earth Immortal who had just escaped into the palace to receive shelter was surrounded by several National Teachers. After careful questioning, they issued a Mystic Sacrificial Official warrant and told him to get out of the capital immediately.
Great Xuan Dynasty The royal power is greater than the divine power. When the emperor is angry, the earthly immortals will have to leave in disgrace.
However, despite such a big fuss, nothing was found in the end.
All clues point to Manager Prince Yan's Mansion.
It was he who placed King Snake in Iron Anchor Society. Later, he was bailed out by Prince Yan on the grounds of ignorance.
Even Luo Gongsheng was the unlucky guy who was implicated. He was deceived by the manager into thinking that it was Prince Yan who ordered it.
Moreover, several of the men who arrested the general manager of the palace also learned that Zhou Miaozhu had been arranged by the general manager to lure them out with a secret message, then kill him and bury him outside the city.
With the death of the manager, all clues were interrupted again.
Luo MingZi judged that this incident happened suddenly, so Zhao Qingxu threw away the chess piece of the palace manager and made a plan to let the impatient Prince Yan come to the palace.
If Emperor Xiao Qixuan is not clear-headed, Prince Yan may be doomed.
In the palace, there was naturally another review. Directorate of Ceremonial The great eunuch Zhao Wujiu also became ruthless and picked out several people one after another. However, they were either stealing things from the palace or embezzling money, which had nothing to do with Jianmu.
From the palace to the palace, the whole day was non-stop...
Li Yan also welcomed two guests one after another.
One was the president of the Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild in the capital, a middle-aged wealthy businessman with an earth-colored face, wearing fine clothes but unable to hide his fear. He rushed into the inn in a hurry with several equally frightened stewards.
Seeing Li Yan, he seemed to be grabbing a life-saving straw. He rushed forward in a few steps and fell to his knees with tears streaming down his face. "Young Hero Li! Great Hero Li! Help! I'm waiting for a thousand knives." The damn Luo Gongsheng was deceived! He used those nonsense about 'artifact related' and 'Iron Ox Cart Official Road' to trick my chamber of commerce into investing huge sums of money..."
"Now that the money has been wasted, it is a trivial matter. If you are implicated in the case of collaborating with the enemy and monsters, it will be the disaster of destroying your family! Please Great Hero Li, for the sake of fellow Jianghu, please help to say a few kind words to the court. We will always be grateful!"
What happened to the Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild was just bad luck.
Invited by General Manager Prince Yan's Mansion and Luo Gongsheng, they dare not not go.
"You all think highly of me."
Looking at these businessmen, Li Yan felt a little helpless.
I wanted to refuse, but Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild was so polite to him that it was really unjustifiable to refuse to save him.
Suddenly, a question popped up in his mind and he said, "Everyone, please tell me first, why did you invite Zhou Miao of Five Paths General Temple to give you a blessing when we discussed it that night?"
Zhou Miaozhu's death is a very suspicious point.
The manager silenced him, and the demonic energy resided in the Five Paths General mud tire, so there must be a conspiracy.
"It's to build a temple!"
How dare President Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild in Beijing hide it, "We discussed that day that Five Paths General is the god of the road, and I, Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild, will fund the construction of Five Paths General along the way. E Temple, firstly, it can keep the road safe, secondly, it can do business on this road, and thirdly, it can help Prince Yan His Highness do some meritorious deeds."
As he spoke, he said with a bitter look on his face, "It was originally a good thing, but who knew it would end up like this..."
Building temples along the way?
Li Yan Spiritual Light flashed in his mind, and he already guessed the reason.
Five Paths General is the god of roads and protects people who are lost by Ghost Wall. Now it is just rebuilding Official Road. If a railway is built along the way in the future, its incense will surely flourish.
And that demonic energy obviously wanted to occupy the magpie's nest and obtain these incense.
Thinking of this, Li Yan rolled his eyes and said, "It's okay to help, but you must agree to one condition."
"Young Hero Li Please say it!"
President Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild's eyes suddenly lit up.
He is not afraid that Li Yan will take the opportunity to extort money, but he is afraid that the money will not be enough, which will lead to disaster.
"Okay!"
Li Yan said in a deep voice, "The plan to build the Five Paths General temple is indeed good. I will help you to intercede, but you must continue to push forward with this matter."
The president of the Chamber of Commerce was stunned and nodded hurriedly, "Just follow the young hero's opinion."
He didn't understand what Li Yan was going to do. As long as he could survive, spending more money wouldn't be a big deal.
As soon as I saw off Jin Prefecture Merchant Guild, the president of the Jingcheng Guild Hall, an acquaintance came to my door.
It is Golden Swallow Gate, the owner of Su Garden and Zhao Wan Fang's master, Su Yu.
The reason for coming to the door was naturally for him to plead with Luo MingZi.
This time, Su Yuan just borrowed a place and sent a letter to Manager Prince Yan's Mansion.
They had no involvement in what happened next.
Golden Swallow Gate has a lot of energy. It doesn't matter much this time. He will definitely avoid the disaster. I'm afraid that Luo MingZi will lead people to pursue him. After checking back and forth several times, Suyuan will close down.
The two parties have already had a cooperative relationship, so Li Yan naturally agreed.
"Yan XiaoGe."
After they left, Sha LiFei said happily, "We have only been here a few days, and people are already coming to us for help. If we had stayed for another year and a half, I'm afraid the threshold would have been broken."
"What a good thing this is..." Lu San muttered in a low voice, with a bit of irritation, "The water in this capital is so muddy that you can't even catch a clean fish! It's so suffocating!"
Li Yan's eyes moved slightly and he nodded in agreement.
To be honest, since arriving in the capital, he has felt exhausted.
Hiding in the darkness, Zhao Qingxu is extremely difficult to deal with. It can be said that the conflicts of power in the capital and the undercurrents of various forces are far more labor-intensive than slaying demons.
"Everyone!"
Thinking of this, Li Yan looked at his companions and said resolutely, "The capital is a land of disputes, dragons and snakes are mixed together, and fame and wealth are like a web. The longer you stay, the deeper the entanglement becomes. We are immortals, so what does it mean to be covered in a fishy smell?"
"What I mean is that after the opening ceremony is over, after we refine the magic weapon, find out Zhao Qingxu and kill him, we will immediately leave the place of right and wrong."
"The world is so vast, where can't we be happier than here?"
"Just what Pindao wants!"
Wang Dao Xuan also nodded in agreement and said, "The capital is surrounded by red dust and entangled with hostility. It is indeed not a place for spiritual practice."
The decision was made, and everyone felt a little relaxed.
This capital city is a place of fame and fortune, but it is also a suffocating giant cage.
Amidst this chaos of undercurrents of forces and turmoil from all sides, the opening ceremony of the hospital finally arrived.
In the early morning of this morning, the rain that had lasted for many days stopped strangely for a moment.
However, the sky was still filled with leaden clouds, giving off an oppressive feeling of imminent rain.
In the eastern suburbs of the capital, outside the Qiankun Academy, there are already three posts per post and five posts per post.
Divine Mechanism Camp Elite soldiers are deployed layer by layer, with bright armor, loaded firecrackers, and traps along the way.
This time, no one is allowed to approach except those invited.
In front of the huge and magnificent academy gate, a huge open-air platform was temporarily built.
The platform is covered with vermilion carpets, which extend to the main entrance of the academy.
Invited civil and military officials, distinguished clan members, envoys from various countries, and representatives of the Xuanmen Sect arrived one after another under strict inspection, and took their places in the viewing areas on both sides of the platform according to their rank and status.
Some people's faces are filled with curiosity, while others' faces are filled with anticipation.
Their eyes met and they talked in low voices. The air seemed to have solidified its weight. Everyone's focus was invariably cast on the back of the platform - a huge outline that was tightly covered by a thick curtain.
Li Yan mingled in the "Attendant" seat arranged by Yan Jiuling, and Sha LiFei and others were also behind him.
The officials of the Ministry of Rites sang loudly, and the long ceremony was carried out one by one.
"Upholding this auspicious day, the universe is determined; the culture and culture are gathered together, and the emperor's beauty is flourishing. Haotian bestows things, the style is exquisite, the sacred knowledge is allowed to flourish, and the emperor's brightness will last forever..."
The new academy supervisor Yuan Feng read out a document on the stage, but no one listened carefully to the content.
"The auspicious time has come!"
Finally, as the supervisor's voice fell, the most attractive moment finally arrived.
Under the gaze of everyone, several powerful soldiers stepped forward and worked together to hold the edge of the curtain.
The Minister of Rites personally stood in the center of the stage, took a deep breath and shouted:
"Respectfully invite--the artifact that determines the universe of the tripod, appears!"
Brush it--!
The curtain falls with a crash!
In an instant, a bell-shaped behemoth made of steel, like the legendary bell-shaped behemoth entrenched in the earth, was exposed to the cold light of the morning!
There are thick knotted connecting rods, a huge flywheel, a huge boiler wrapped in coarse cloth iron hoops and rivets, neatly arranged copper instruments shining with cold light, and complex transmission gears below.
Before they could discuss it, something even more surprising happened.
And Li Yan's face also became extremely weird.
But I saw a huge gilded dragon chariot slowly driving out of the academy.
The dragon chariot was propelled by steam, emitting black smoke while moving slowly.
Emperor Xiao Qixuan sat on the dragon chair and arrived outside the academy gate amidst the roar of machinery.
"Seen His Majesty!"
"Long live my emperor!"
Xiao Qixuan has long been immune to these, and just stretched out his hand to caress the steam dragon chariot.
"Everyone, this object is what you call an 'artifact'!"