Chengdu, Tianlao.
Li Ping, dressed in Tsing Yi, followed the cell leader as he walked slowly down the smelly cell corridor. As the chain of an iron door was opened, the prison guard remained outside the door, and Li Ping walked down with an entourage.
There were not many steps to go down the stairs. What made people curious was that there was a ray of light shining down from the corner of the cell. A light source as big as a fist attracts eyes in the darkness.
"General, are you still unwilling to reveal the mastermind behind the false message?"
Zhang Ren's eyes moved. The case of his rebellion was naturally handed over to the civil officials for trial. He didn't understand what Li Ping was doing?
"What are you here for?"
Although they were ministers in the same palace, Zhang Ren thought he had no friendship with Li Ping.
You can't be here to help me, right?
Li Ping did not answer Zhang Ren's question. There was a table and two benches outside the wooden prison, and he sat on them without hesitation. The attendant behind him quickly took out the lunch box, put the food and wine on the table, and after finishing his work, placed the remaining food and wine into the cell.
"Come on, let's try the food and wine I brought. We live in different towns, and we have never had a drink together."
Needless to say, Li Ping said that Zhang Ren grabbed the chicken drumstick with one hand and ate it, and grabbed the wine jar with the other hand and drank from it.
Wine is good wine.
"It's just a little bit missing."
Li Ping was a little surprised to see Zhang Ren being so generous, and then he grabbed the small wine jar and took a sip.
"happy!"
"Zhang Ren, there is news that Sun Qian met with Fazheng first and then went to Yong'an to see you, and then you sent out troops. Your Majesty asked me to ask you one last question about falsely conveying the king's order and sending out troops privately. Who is the mastermind?"
Zhang Ren laughed wildly twice.
"I, Zhang Ren, am responsible for everything I do! Why should others take the blame?"
"I have said many times that the princes from all over the world are getting closer and closer to unifying the world. How can my king just be trapped in one place and content with his enjoyment? If at that time, the king did not order me to withdraw my troops, but instead gave me soldiers, horses, food and grass With our support, we have already conquered Jiangling and captured Jingzhou! Now there is no need to look at Chu State’s face!”
Li Ping knew that what Zhang Ren said was true, but the world judged heroes based on success or failure.
Li Ping picked up the vegetables and took two bites, then sneered twice and said.
"Zhang Ren, don't think that the king dare not kill you."
"Yes, you have some prestige in the army. But because of this, you should be more cautious at all times. This time, you dare to lead the army on an expedition without the king's tiger talisman. You are too courageous."
"If the king doesn't kill you, will this army listen to you or the king in the future? For the sake of your colleagues, I advise you, go ahead, you can't handle it."
Zhang Ren understood that Li Ping was here to see a joke.
"Oh, how can I, Zhang Ren, listen to other people's orders? I am the mastermind. General Li, please come back."
"you!"
Li Ping's face became a little colder.
"You don't know what's good or bad! Zhang Song was sent as an envoy to the Chu Kingdom and reported back that the conditions proposed by the King of Chu specified that he wanted your head. You should consider it yourself. Don't fight for others and regret it when you are about to die."
The two eventually broke up on bad terms.
The iron door opened and closed, but nothing changed, except that Li Ping's expression changed from leisurely to stern.
The attendant following him saw this and said.
"Master, Zhang Ren doesn't know how to commend himself, why should we help him?"
Li Ping snorted from his nostrils.
"Zhang Ren relied on his prestige from suppressing the Nanmanzi and pacifying the Bajun rebels for many years. Even if he survived this test, the king would not reuse him. What scares me is Fa Zheng. Just like now, Zhang Ren would rather die than help Fa Zheng fight against the charge of being the mastermind. I really don’t understand what kind of ecstasy soup Fazheng fed him! I can’t feel at ease unless Fa Zheng is brought down.”
······
The streets of Chengdu are bustling with activity, and the cold weather seems to have failed to dampen people's enthusiasm for walking in the streets.
"Have you heard? The news just came back from the east. The King of Chu proposed to kill General Zhang and cede Yong'an County before he would negotiate for peace. Zhang Biejia severely humiliated the King of Chu."
"Really? I didn't have much expectations for the King of Shu at first. Only Jiang Wan and the others still didn't give up. I didn't expect that the Kingdom of Shu would be tough this time, and it actually increased its ambition! But in this way, Wouldn’t the peace negotiation be ruined?”
"How can it be so easy to get dirty? This is the same as merchants bargaining. No matter how ugly the argument is, it still depends on the negotiated price."
Two traveling scholars sat in a wine shop and talked about current political events.
Fazheng withdrew his gaze and continued walking on the street.
As we walked, there was another noise coming from the alley next to us.
"Ling Laoer, open the door! Stop pretending! I know you are at home! If you don't pay back the money today, I will demolish your house."
The creditor and two thugs banged on the door and kept shouting, but there was silence in the house and no response.
Fazheng shook his head slightly, continued walking forward, and walked into a brothel.
There were many well-dressed young men sitting in the hall, and there were one or two servants standing beside them. On the high platform in the center of the hall sat a beautiful woman, stroking her hands gently, and the faint sound of the piano made people feel ecstatic.
"Is this your first time here, young master? But it's very unfamiliar."
A middle-aged woman with lingering charm posted up.
"Young master, there is no girl you are familiar with who can listen to music in this hall. There are girls who take turns playing every other hour. The price for tea in the hall is only five taels of silver. The private room upstairs costs ten taels of silver, but you can name a girl to play. , as for whether the girl is willing to be with the young master..."
The middle-aged woman was obviously the madam here. When she saw Fazheng's new guest, she kept introducing him, but Fazheng had no choice but to interrupt with a dozen taels of silver.
"I want to see Miss Lanying."
The madam's face paused, showing an embarrassed look.
"What a coincidence, Master. Miss Lan Ying has a guest today."
After hearing this, Fazheng did not take back the money, but just said again.
"Miss Lan Ying was looking for a jade pendant. I'll give it to you and then leave."
The madam had a smile on her face.
"What are the words on the jade pendant?"
Fazheng smiled slightly, but did not take out the jade pendant for the madam to take a closer look at. He only replied.
"A white letter."
The madam quickly accepted the money and led the way with a smile.
"Master, please come with me."
Fazheng followed the madam up the stairs until he reached the top of the brothel.
Opening the door, the interior was extremely elegantly decorated, and a beautiful woman with bright teeth, ice-cold muscles and jade bones had been waiting here for a long time.
The madam turned and left, and the girl said in a soft voice.
"Master, please come into the inner room."
Fazheng walked in as he was told, but a girl named Lan Ying sat outside and started playing the piano. There was another girl waiting for Fazheng in the inner room.
The woman in front of her was obviously not that dignified. She was sitting cross-legged with one foot, and stood up restlessly with the other foot. Her right hand was resting on her towering knee, and she was holding an exquisite white jade wine bottle between her fingers.
Fazheng raised his eyebrows, knelt down opposite the woman, picked up his own wine bottle and poured a glass.
"Miss Pingting, this seems inappropriate."
"It's a long way to go, and my friend is kind enough to entertain me. How can I refuse? When the old man talks about being frugal, he means not to waste it. How can I waste my friend's kindness?"
