Jiuzifang is located in a corner of the attic on the second floor of Sujia Tea House.
A general from the Hedong Prince's Palace dressed in civilian clothes came to this table just like every night in the past ten years. He ordered a plate of peanuts, a plate of braised pork, and a pound of rice wine. He ate and drank it himself. Started drinking.
He is also a frequent visitor to the Su family tea shop.
Boss Su in the tea shop naturally recognized him. Speaking of this general from the Wang family in Hedong named Lei Li, he was considered a pitiful man.
In Lei Li's family, there is an old mother in her fifties who has handicapped legs and feet. Mrs. Lei's biggest wish in her life is to hope that her son will build a big house in Luoyang and marry a good girl from the capital. Then he brought her to Luoyang, and the family spent the rest of their lives happily together.
But since Lei Li came to the capital ten years ago, he has been running into obstacles. Naturally, Lei Li also worked in the Su family teahouse back then.
This is not to say that teahouses and taverns in Luoyang are not easy to mess around with. Lei Li is physically strong and hard-working. The bosses of various shops also like this guy very much. However, Lei Li himself is very high-spirited. He always feels that For him, living in a restaurant is a huge devaluation of his talents. Therefore, no matter which restaurant he goes to, he will not stay there for more than half a year.
In this way, Lei Li wandered around Luoyang for three full years. Finally one day, his opportunity came, and he finally "made his fortune".
A few years ago, the prince Cao Lin was awarded the title of King. Therefore, the palace recruited good family members with martial arts skills and innocent backgrounds in Luoyang City to serve as bodyguards. Therefore, Lei Li came to the Hedong Palace.
Originally, this was a great happy event for Lei Li, but Cao Lin, the king of Hedong, was famous for his cruelty.
Whenever something went wrong in the house, he would beat and scold the servants and maids at will.
Lei Li had an upright temperament and would not bend his will to flatter others. Therefore, he was the one who received the most beatings in the Hedong Prince's Palace.
Boss Su still remembers that two years ago, Lei Li had one of his legs broken, but he still dragged his lame leg to the tea shop and ordered a portion of braised pork and peanuts and a pound of rice wine. I drank in silence alone until dawn.
They are all miserable people.
The boss was considerate of Lei Li, so every time he would carefully add more meat to Lei Li, who had a slightly larger appetite.
This was one of the reasons why Lei Li always came to drink as scheduled for ten years.
While Lei Li was chewing mutton and peanuts, he was drinking slowly by himself. Today, he is waiting for someone.
After drinking three ounces of a pound of rice wine, Lei Li, who was slightly tipsy, finally heard the familiar footsteps downstairs.
"Brother Lei, I'm late, sorry!"
Lei Li drank another glass of rice wine, smiled slightly and said:
"Li Zi, you came just in time. It's not too late. Sit down!"
The young man whom Lei Li called Li Zi smiled and sat down opposite Lei Li.
With a sound of ding, the two bronze knights touched each other and had already downed a glass of rice wine.
When Boss Su saw another regular customer coming, he quickly went to teach the waiter how to make two more dishes to go with the wine.
The young man known as Li Zi was a newly promoted general in the palace of Cao Hong, the emperor's uncle and the general of the Hussars. He was doing a little better than Lei Li.
Just as Li Zi picked up a beautiful piece of cooked mutton with chopsticks, Lei Li took out a small bottle from his sleeve and handed it to Li Zi.
"Li Zi, isn't there going to be a banquet at the General Hussar's house tomorrow? These are the spices from the Western Regions that you asked me for last time. They can be used to steam meat at the house."
Li Zi smiled and took the spice:
"Brother Lei is still very generous. If you give such an expensive spice to such a large bottle at one time, General Cao will be satisfied. Brother, I have won the reward. I will definitely invite Brother Lei to have a good drink!"
Lei Li smiled slightly, raised his wine bottle, and thought in his mind:
His Highness said this time that as long as this thing is accomplished, he will become the Nine-Five Supreme One in the future, and he will make himself a general.
If he really becomes a general, let alone buying a house in the outer city of Luoyang, I am afraid that he will also have his own place in the twenty-four squares of the inner city, which has always been known as every inch of land. At that time, I can take my mother to Luoyang and enjoy the happiness.
Li Zi, this time, brother, I can only apologize to you...
Lei Li was lost in thought while taking a sip of rice wine.
————
Shizifang, Cuiji Soup Cake Shop.
Cui Sanlang was lost in thought while cleaning up the guests' leftovers on the table.
He hated himself for being just a pauper, and hated that he couldn't redeem himself for Ling'er. After what happened today, Cui Sanlang became more and more frightened.
You Ling'er is just a prostitute. Today, she is lucky to have herself and the noble young master Zhuge Dan who is brave enough to do what is right. Otherwise, Ling'er would definitely be bullied by the noble young master surnamed Cao.
But even if he risked his life, he could only barely save Ling'er once. If there was another time, would he be able to help Ling'er?
He didn't dare to think about it.
"Sanlang, someone is looking for you!"
"ah!"
Cui Sanlang was lost in thought when he was suddenly woken up by a waiter. He was startled.
He looked up and found that the person coming was the waiter from Sujia Tea House in Jiuzifang.
"Cui Sanlang, there is an old man named Lei who asked me to bring you a message."
"thunder?"
Cui Sanlang scratched his head and was a little confused. He didn't remember any of his friends whose surname was Lei.
The man continued to whisper to Cui Sanlang:
"Uncle Lei asked me to tell you that the apprentice in the restaurant today has not given up. Tomorrow night he will pass by Pingchangmen Street and go to Qingqingyuan to redeem You Linger's life and ask Miss You to be his concubine. .If you don’t want Miss You Ling’er to become a concubine, then tomorrow night at the intersection of Pingchang Street will be your last chance. After dealing with the traitor, Miss You Ling’er will be outside Pingchang Gate. Waiting for you, and then, with your martial arts skills, he said he believes you can leave with Miss You Ling'er."
After Cui Sanlang heard these words, he felt suspicious and afraid. He suspected that what the man said was false, and he was afraid that what the man said was true.
"That person named Lei is not related to me. Why should he help me?"
The visitor continued:
"Uncle Lei knew you would ask this question. Uncle Lei said that his master is an enemy of that Cao family disciple, and is a good friend of Miss You Ling'er. That's why he knows everything about you and is willing to get rid of you. That libertine is helping a bunch of wandering girls. I have said all that needs to be said, Saburo, just take care of yourself."
After the man finished speaking what he had brought, he turned around and left the corner.
Only Cui Sanlang, who was full of troubles, was left.
————
Hussar General's Mansion.
Li Zi, who did not dare to get drunk, immediately brought the "spice" that the owner Cao Hong needed after leaving the Su family teahouse.
Li Zi carefully pushed open the expensive and thick sandalwood door of the study room. As soon as he entered, he knelt on the white marble floor that was covered with five layers of bamboo mats and was still cold and intimidating:
"General Hussar, I brought you the spices from the Western Regions collected in the Hedong Prince's Mansion that you requested."
On the couch, the Hussar General Cao Hong and Cao Zilian, the Marquis of Duyang, who had not mounted a horse for many years but whose appetite had not decreased, had gained weight, now opened his slightly narrowed eyes and yawned widely.
He took the bottle handed by the servant and said with a smile:
"Okay, okay, Li Zi, you did a good job. Go to the accounting office and get the ten taels of silver yourself."
When Li Zi heard such a rich reward, his voice began to tremble, and he thanked him profusely:
"Thank you... thank you, General Qiusi, I will resign!"
After Li Zi left, Cao Hong sneered.
This time, Cao Lin actually started talking about business with him.
However, he was very satisfied with the business this time.
The great Sima, the great general, and a hundred thousand household princes, the profit is indeed huge enough.
Your Majesty, Cao Hong doesn't know the body of his nephew anymore.
Cao Pi, a boy, liked drinking and beauty, and he was tireless in government affairs and poetry and writing. He often stayed up all night because of these three hobbies. Therefore, in the past two years, his health has long been in decline.
Even vaguely, Cao Pi's body was already showing signs of exhaustion.
And once Cao Pi dies, and Cao Rui, who is as stingy as him, succeeds to the throne, he, a hussar general who is neither good nor inferior, will probably die of old age without being promoted again.
But this time, Cao Lin, this boy, gave himself hope.
Once Cao Lin succeeds to the throne, everything he wants will become a reality!
Thinking of this, the beard at the corner of Cao Hong's mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.
————
In the palace of Hedong Prince.
Cao Lin looked at Lei Li who was half-kneeling on the ground and completed the task perfectly, and patted his thick shoulder with satisfaction.
"Lei Li, you did a good job."
Cao Lin blinked at the maid next to him. The maid understood and ordered two strong servants to fetch a pair of armor that Cao Lin had just taken out for many years.
Cao Lin helped Lei Li up and said with a smile:
"As the saying goes, swords are given to heroes. Lei Qing, you are my king's great help, and you will definitely become a famous hero in the future. This armor is the 'black dragon armor' that General Zhang Wenyuan gave to the lonely king. , this armor is an extraordinary treasure. Although it is only a small armor, it weighs twenty-eight kilograms. Ordinary swords will not be able to damage this armor. Today, I will give you this black light armor. is you!"
After hearing this, Lei Li, who was bent on making great achievements and had always been self-proclaimed, solemnly took the "Black Dragon Armor". He was extremely excited. He kowtowed to Cao Lin and said:
"My minister Lei Li is willing to go through fire and water for His Highness, no matter what. In the past, five hundred strong men from Tian Heng died protecting us. Today, Lei Li is also willing to be Tian Heng for His Highness!"
In ancient times, Tian Heng led five hundred warriors to die for Tian Rong, and Tian Rong's Qi was finally destroyed. After hearing this, Cao Lin felt slightly unhappy, but he did not show it.
Cao Lin stepped forward slowly, personally helped up Lei Li who was lying on the ground, and said word by word:
"Okay, you are truly a strong man. When I'm alone, I will definitely enjoy eternal wealth with you!"
