Chen Zhiwei, the guard of Duanliu City, looked at the last bite of rice in the bowl and fought against his will. He looked persevering and delivered the bowl to his mouth with difficulty. He swallowed the rice with a resolute attitude. His slender neck wriggled like a snake, and finally swallowed it.

He breathed a sigh of relief, put down the bowls and chopsticks, raised his hand to wipe away the fine sweat from his forehead, and showed a happy smile. He won. In this contest with food, he won and adhered to his principles - never waste a grain of food. This is also his way of becoming an official. Starting from the garrison of the small town, he would vigorously promote saving and emphasize farming every time he went to an official, so he was appreciated by his superiors and was promoted to the position of the city guard.

With the help of two servants, Chen Zhiwei stood up and watched the other two servants take away the empty three bowls and five plates, becoming more and more proud.

The city guard had his hands and feet, but his belly was bulging high, like a turtle shell growing. Chen Zhiwei was quite proud of this, "Food is the most important thing for people, and I pretend to be heaven here."

In the lobby, a group of officials were waiting for the guard of the city who pretended to be the sky. No one dared to disturb him when the adults were having dinner. Even if the sky collapsed, some were pretending to be the belly.

Chen Zhiwei did not raise his head and his eyes, and slowly sat on the chair in the middle. His second way to be an official was to remain in a state of shock. If there were too many officials, they would like to be shocked. The purpose was nothing more than to disturb the boss's judgment and make him scramble for him.

He read a few official documents and suddenly felt that the atmosphere was not right. There seemed to be more officials standing in front of him than before, breathing heavily and unsteady. Everyone seemed to be anxious to speak but dare not speak.

This was also a contest. Chen Zhiwei raised his head, and his thin face was difficult to accommodate majesty. He changed to mocking and disdain, and first gave his subordinate officials a silent warning: No one should think of cheating him, let alone manipulating him.

"What's the matter? Isn't it just that the earth moved a little yesterday, and no one died." Chen Zhiwei set the tone, so that no one dared to ask for things randomly.

The officials looked at each other. Instead of rushing to the top, they asked the Duanliu City Commander to speak first. Before the commander could speak, Chen Zhiwei waved his hand to interrupt, "In order, rules are rules, used to implement them. They are not for fun."

The commander retreated awkwardly and asked the officials of the people, wealth, prison and other places to report the situation.

Chen Zhiwei listened carefully, rushed back and forth in a bunch of daily trivial matters, accurately pointed out several dates and numbers errors, which made the officials involved so ashamed that they dared to look up.

The commander was the leader of the defenders of Duanliu City, and he spoke in the seventh order. Usually he had nothing to report, but today he was impatient, "Sir, a group of refugees came from the west this morning, claiming that a group of demon soldiers broke into Xijieguo and rushed to the capital, and they would probably divide their troops..."

"Wait. Refugees? How many people are there?"

The adults were very sensitive to numbers. The commander swallowed and said nervously: "About eighty or ninety people."

Chen Zhiwei was not very satisfied with the word "probably", but he was not so harsh with military officers and continued to ask: "Do they lack food and clothing? But they have no money to rent a house?"

"Uh... Fortunately, they rented a house in Chengxi Inn and paid cash."

Chen Zhiwei's face darkened, "What kind of refugee is this? Most of them are witchy and confusing the public. He intends to sell goods at high prices, and he is clear about such people and monitors them. He will transport goods into the city within three days, and then he will be arrested."

"Yes, sir." The Duwei had a lot of words, but he couldn't say a word at this time.

"The demon soldiers entered Xijie Country." Chen Zhiwei repeated disdainfully. "At most, there were some scattered soldiers and brave men. The Xuanfu army on the frontier was enough to kill them all. It was so stupid that the tyrants actually scared the people with such things."

None of the dozen officials in the lobby dared to say anything anymore. They all heard some rumors from their respective channels, but at this time they could only nod their heads frequently and praised the adults for their sharp and clear vision.

"The demon soldiers are indeed coming." A voice sounded from the door of the lobby.

The officials turned around and looked at the two young men at the door in shock, and found that they were not officials in the city at all, but obvious foreigners.

The commander was the guard of the yamen, but two strangers broke in without anyone notifying him. This made him lose face, and he strode away and shouted loudly: "Bold madman, who let you in? Do you know..."

Unexpectedly, a man flew over from behind, knocking the captain to stagger, and he turned around in place before he could barely stop. Then he saw a completely different city guard.

Chen Zhiwei ran to the door with the agility and speed that officials had never seen before, knelt down at a young man, and shouted "Your Highness" out of joy, even kowtowed a few times, and his voice became trembling when he spoke, as if he was full of emotions and could not express it, "Your Highness the Prince is here, the official..."

Xin Youtao blinked proudly at Mu Xingqiu, reminding him that this is another world, a larger world, where the royal family is the supreme figure, and Taoist Pangshan is just an illusory legend.

"I didn't expect you to recognize me." Xin Youtao's tone was a little unnatural. He had become accustomed to being a Taoist priest. If he wanted to restore his former princely demeanor, he had to adapt for a while.

"Of course I recognize it." Chen Zhiwei raised his head and was filled with tears in his eyes. "I remember that the prince's blessing the divine seal back then, and the officials watched the audience. The holy light above His Highness rushed to the sky, and the ministers shook the mountains and shouted for thousands of years. At that time, the officials were still vivid in the scene. Later, His Highness joined the army in his weak year, and the officials also went out of the city gate to see him off. He was so handsome that his Highness was so handsome that he had become an immortal. Later, he heard that His Highness was worshipping the immortals as his teacher. He prayed every day, hoping that His Highness would return to the capital as soon as possible. He did not expect to see him today. His Highness had not changed his appearance. He thought he had become an immortal..."

The city guard talked endlessly, and the officials were stunned. They never thought that the adult who was so serious and unkind was so skillful when flattered. He had only met the prince twice, but he acted like a friend for many years. He couldn't help but nod in secret and admitted that the adults were indeed outstanding.

The disappointed person was Xin Youtao. He found that he could not feel the joy of being flattered. It was like a person who had not eaten meat for a long time and felt disgusted and wanted to vomit. "Okay, okay." He waved his hand and signaled Cheng Shou to get up, "I have left Pangshan, and this time I came out to visit privately."

Chen Zhiwei pointed to the group of officials behind him and whispered: "Do you want to lock them all up?"

The officials were startled and didn't expect that they just heard that the prince was so guilty of such a serious crime. The captain took the lead and everyone knelt down together.

"No, just let them stop talking nonsense."

"Yes, yes." Chen Zhiwei bowed and asked the prince to walk into the lobby. He said to his subordinates sternly: "If the news of the prince entering the city is leaked, you should apologize together."

Xin Youtao still remembered the rules of the officialdom. After several humility, the city guard sat on the main seat. Chen Zhiwei personally brought a chair next to him. He keenly realized that the prince's entourage was not an ordinary person, so he immediately brought another chair. After two busy days, he had a layer of sweat on his head, but his expression was extremely happy.

Xin Youtao and Cheng Shou went back and forth, and the group of officials kneeling below did not dare to breathe. Mu Xingqiu was anxious and coughed gently.

I didn't want to show Xin Youtao's identity as a prince immediately. I heard that a demon army had rushed to the capital of Xijieguo. Mu Xingqiu changed his mind. If reinforcements were not delayed, they had to prepare to deal with a small group of demon soldiers. In order not to expose Taoist Pangshan, the main force would be the Xuanfu Army of Duanliu City.

Xin Youtao immediately corrected his face when he heard Mu Xingqiu's hint. "The large group of demon troops has indeed entered Xijieguo and is now rushing to the capital. There may be a small number of demon soldiers plundering all over the place. Are Duanliu City ready?"

Chen Zhiwei's expression immediately became serious, "The officials have heard of this matter for a long time. They have been on guard in secret for a long time. The troops, food, and equipment are all ready. I dare not say that they can block the thousands of troops of the demon clan. It is still more than enough to deal with dozens or hundreds of demon soldiers."

Even Mu Xingqiu admired the city guard and said serious lying. Pang Shan was attacked the night before yesterday, but he actually "had heard of it."

Xin Youtao nodded, looking very satisfied. He should never expose the lies in public at any time. This is one of the rules of the officialdom. Even the prince must abide by it. "It's very good. This Mu Xingqiu is the general of the Purple Talisman Army in the capital. He will go on a private visit with me. He is very good at setting up a marching formation. If the city guard needs it, he can ask him to help."

Chen Zhiwei looked surprised, "It turns out that you are General Mu. I'm lucky to meet you. Please forgive me for being rude before. The little Duanliu City can be commanded by the general himself. This is a great thing that I can't get. Huang Duwei, from now on, General Mu is the lord general of Duanliu City. You immediately transfer all your troops and horses and serve the general in the future to serve the work of dogs and horses."

The demon soldiers were about to come, and Huang Duwei wanted someone else to take responsibility for defending the city, so he kowtowed and took the order immediately.

Mu Xingqiu reluctantly made a few social conversations, saying goodbye and left on the pretext of checking the troops and horses, leaving Xin Youtao alone to deal with Chen Zhiwei.

Huang Duwei followed General Mu happily. His skill in flattering was far worse than that of the Lord Chengshou. He said it over and over again several times.

When he arrived at the front yard of the city guard's mansion, Mu Xingqiu stopped, "How many soldiers are there in Duanliu City?"

"The Xuanfu Army in each city has a fixed number. There are ten Qilins in Duanliu City, twenty Qilin generals, one hundred war horses, two hundred cavalrymen, and five hundred infantrymen."

"Where is the talisman master?" Mu Xingqiu knew that without the talisman master, the combat effectiveness of the Xuan Fu Army would be greatly reduced.

"According to regulations, there are five people."

Mu Xingqiu heard the implication, "I don't want to count, I want real numbers."

Huang Duwei looked at the direction of the lobby and asked in a low voice: "Will the demon soldiers really come to Duanliu City?"

"According to my estimate, the demon soldiers will arrive within three days at the earliest and ten days at the latest. This time, the demon soldiers are not just for looting property, but for occupying territory, it is hard to say whether the capital can be defended."

The disciples who are heading to Wandi Mountain should have news soon, but even if Wandi Mountain sends assistance, Zuo Liuying and Zushita cannot move for the time being, and they still have to face the demon soldiers who will come to fight at any time.

Huang Duwei's face changed and he said in a lower voice: "To be honest, there is only one Qilin left in Duanliu City, and only fifty war horses are there. Most of them are old and weak. As for horse and infantry, there are 300 people in total, and only more than 200 people can go to the battlefield. The five talisman masters are not in the camp at present, and it will take two or three days to recall them."

Dong and Xijieguo are friendly countries, and although Duanliu City is a border city, it is very safe. It has not been attacked by foreign enemies for tens of thousands of years, and the guards have long been slackened.

Mu Xingqiu thought for a while, "Immediately send someone to recall the talisman master, and now take me to check the soldiers and equipment."

What Mu Xingqiu was thinking at this time was not how to defeat the demon soldiers and protect Duanliu City, but how to persist for at least nine days without revealing traces. As long as the ancestor tower could be repaired in time, Zuo Liuying could immediately move to a safer place.

A city guard who has been lying and a broken army, this is the capital that Mu Xingqiu can hold on for at least nine days.
Chapter completed!