The gloomy feeling in Li Bochen's heart disappeared for a moment, and he said: "Mr. Meng, I am truly lucky to meet you."
Meng Peiyong was a little embarrassed by his praise and just said: "Everywhere, there are gadgets - Junhou, can you tell me about that clockwork?"
At this time, Fang Chu boiled water and came in. Mrs. Meng said hurriedly: "Oh, how can I keep the master busy? I'll do it. I'll do it."
Without any explanation, he left the house and went to the kitchen.
Meng Peiyong seemed to be really a machine fan, so Li Boxen told him what clockwork was. Meng Peiyong was very happy to hear this and began to speak fluently again. He asked Li Boxen to talk about other gadgets he had made. But Li Bochen was thinking about Lady Meng.
When she came here for the first time, she brought Chang Qiuwu to witness the transaction. Chang Qiuwu appointed twelve people in charge, and Lady Meng was the only woman, which shows that they have a good relationship. But it was a bit strange for her to come here without visiting Chang Qiuwu first.
Meng Peiyong didn't stop talking until Lady Meng made hot tea and served it.
The four of them drank a few cups of tea, and Madam Meng looked at Fang Cheng. Li Bochen was slightly stunned and said: "Sister Meng, Brother Fang is not an outsider - do you have something to say?"
Madam Meng then smiled at Fang Cheng, reached into her arms, and took out a wooden box. This wooden box is flat and looks quite delicate. I don't know if the corners are inlaid with gold or copper. She placed the wooden box on the table next to Li Bochen and said, "Junhou, please accept this."
She had always called him "Brother Li" in private, but now she became serious about it. Li Bochen thought for a moment and opened the wooden box. He saw a stack of papers inside. When he opened it again, he saw that they were all land deeds and house deeds.
He was stunned and said, "What is this?"
Lady Meng smiled and said: "This is to congratulate the prince. These land deeds are all good land in the village. The rest are not my family's and cannot be considered good land. I kept my own house and the forty acres down the slope. The rest of the land will be given to the princes.”
Li Boxen closed the wooden box and said, "Sister Meng, this gift is too heavy and I cannot accept it."
Lady Meng said: "Your Majesty, go ahead——"
Li Bochen raised his hand and said: "Sister Meng, Mr. Meng, if you must do this, then I will see you off - and don't come to my door in the future."
The three of them were stunned and seemed to be shocked. Li Bochen knew that what he said was a bit harsh, so he sighed again: "I'm not here for this, and I'm not a bandit like Zhu Hou. Besides, when Zhu Hou was here, you guys were fine. I came and accepted it? What does this mean?"
"As a prince, I don't take myself very seriously. I am willing to associate with you, eldest sister, because I think you have a good heart. You helped me a few days ago, not because of being a prince, right? Even if I really want some land and treasure , I won’t want you either. If you want to still think of me as that Brother Li, don’t mention these things.”
The four of them were silent for a while, and Meng Peiyong said: "Look, I'll tell you. You're a womanizer."
Madam Meng said: "Oh, it's my fault, Brother Li, don't take it to heart. I just thought... you have to reward me with something, right? From now on, our whole family will have to count on you... I will give You apologize."
Li Bochen shook his head: "Sister Meng, it's not that you are counting on me, but that we all have to rely on each other."
After he said this, he stopped talking. Lady Meng then said: "Alas, Brother Li... alas, it's my fault. Then, let's go back first."
Li Boxen nodded and said, "That's fine."
He stood up and sent the person to the door. The two took a few steps, and Mrs. Meng turned around and said, "Brother Li, you are kind-hearted, but you have to be careful. When Zhu Hou was here, some people were in charge of people and affairs in the village. Very proud. Now that Zhu Hou is gone, he may not be happy."
Li Bochen thought for a while, raised his hand and saluted, and said: "Okay, eldest sister, I will note it down."
After seeing the two people walking away, Li Bochen stood at the door and sighed again. Fang Chu frowned and said, "General, why were you so angry just now?"
Li Bochen turned around and walked back to the courtyard, saying, "I'm just a little unhappy. But it's my fault. I shouldn't have said those words."
Fang Bao closed the door and said: "If it were me, and someone gave me a land and a house, I wouldn't be happy in time. By then, my wife will live in one apartment, and I will live in another apartment by myself, and I will also buy a few maids to serve and eat. They are all fed into people’s mouths.”
Is he making himself happy? Li Bochen smiled, but then sighed: "Sister Meng helped us a lot when I first came here. But just now, oh, did you want to see if I would accept it? I'm just unhappy that she can't trust me. My little one and I... I had thought before that if I really encounter these things in the future and try it with others, I'm afraid I'll have a headache. Now it's come true."
After he said this, Fang Yu was speechless. When he walked back into the hall, he heard Fang Yu say: "General, do you really want to give it away?"
Li Bochen was stunned and said, "Who could be so stupid?"
Fang Bao walked to the door and stood down, pressed the handle of the knife, frowned and thought for a while, and said: "That's not what I meant. I mean, look, if it were another situation - you just came here from other places a few days ago , the Chang family said to the people here, General, you are from the royal family with the surname Li, and you are a prince, so the people here may just listen to it, and no one will take it seriously - what does this mean nowadays? It is considered a rebellion. "
"But there was Zhu Hou before. Before Zhu Hou came, the people here lived peacefully and paid taxes to the government in Houcheng. The land and house deeds were also issued by the Sui court. No one would give it to others in vain. But now that Zhu Hou is here, This Mengjiatun has become his private property. Perhaps as the general said, the fields were not confiscated when he was here, but sooner or later they will be confiscated, right? Look, he has collected all the grain."
"After a few months, those who were dissatisfied died, and the rest all agreed in their hearts. Then Zhu Hou disappeared, and General you came. Although you are not Zhu Hou, everyone still agreed that this place has become yours. It is no longer time to pay taxes to Houcheng for private property. General, did the Chang family support Zhu Hou in the past? Is this the intention? First find a bandit to offend everyone, but the matter is done. Then General You came and got a good reputation."
"So I think, general, even if you don't want the Meng family's fields and properties, they will still give them to the Chang family."
Li Bochen was startled and realized that what Fang Cheng said seemed to make sense. It's just... Grandpa and Chang Qiuwu always talk about etiquette. Do they really have such thoughts? He didn't know what to think for a while. What they did doesn't seem to be a great evil, but it's not an aboveboard method, right?
He certainly knew that there would always be times when something, especially if it became a "big deal", was unavoidable. But...if the Chang family did this...
But he heard Fang Yu say again: "Oh, General, you really did something wrong just now! They came to give it to you first, and they clearly wanted to give it to you. But if you don't want it, they go to give it to the Chang family... isn't it? Did you push someone over?"
Li Bochen sat down in the room, thought for a while, and said: "Forget it. If you hadn't told me, I might not have been able to think of these things now. I am not naturally suitable for intrigues, so it is not difficult for myself. Fang Brother, if this kind of thing happens again in the future, I will trouble you more."
Fang Cheng looked a little frustrated when he heard him say "forget it". But after hearing his last words, he smiled again and said: "General, these are naturally what I should be thinking about. You are right, those who achieve great things spend all day wondering about these favors."
Li Bochen then smiled. He said these words not as self-consolation - for example, if two armies are facing each other, if one side has an absolute advantage in morale, strength, and armaments, then it can be a decisive victory. Only when you are at a disadvantage or when both sides are equally powerful, do you think of strange strategies.
In fact, it is the same between people. If you want to become the real Beichen, then no favors or designs are worth mentioning. Instead of focusing on these things that you are not good at, it is better to think about how to make yourself stronger.
Besides, where there are people, there are checks and balances. He preferred to believe that his grandfather and Chang Qiuwu were afraid that he was too young and lacked experience, so they planned to think more and plan more. It’s for the greater good, not personal gain.
He then stood up and said, "Brother Fang, it's getting late. I plan to go outside to see Hou Chengjun and Xuantu Army tomorrow. You go back to collect your energy and go to bed early."
Fang Bao agreed, washed himself up again, and returned to the back room. Li Bochen sat in the hall and waited for the lights in his room to go out. After a while, he took the magic knife, walked to the east wall, stretched it lightly, and jumped out.
He had been wondering if the words he heard during the day were said by someone among the more than fifty soldiers, but after listening to Madam Meng's words, he suddenly thought of a person - Sun Cha.
Did Meng Meng refer to him as the person who "used to take charge of people and affairs"?
That day Sun Cha ran to Zhu Hou and said that Xiaoman was beautiful. After he met Zhu Hou, he said that he would send Sun Cha's head over. But before he could take the man's head, he was "killed" by Xiaoman. Then, Sun Cha should still be alive, and maybe he didn't know that Zhu Hou had promised his head.
If there was no selfish hatred, the words I heard during the day would not be so vicious and resentful.
Gotta find out.
When Chang Qiuwu told him the addresses and names of the more than fifty soldiers, he actually showed him the Yellow Book of Mengjiatun. He remembered that there were only three households with the surname Sun in the village. The head of one household was no longer alive, leaving only an orphan and a widow. The head of another household was in his sixties and had no children. The remaining household should be the one of that day. "Sun Cha".
Sun Chai's name was Sun Jilong, he was thirty-four years old, and he was a widower. Zhu Houlai had rented the Meng family's fields before, but later he became an "official official" and ate military rations. Lady Meng is right when she says that some people miss Zhu Hou when he was around.
Sun Jilong lives in a thatched-roof house with earth walls on a ridge in the north of the market town. There is a small courtyard enclosed by a wooden fence in front of the house, which looks pretty good. Li Boxen took advantage of the darkness and came to sit under the ridge, and the Yin spirit came out of his body.
He walked through the wall to the house and saw Sun Jilong. There was no light in the room. Sun Jilong was wearing black clothes and was cleaning a knife. While wiping it, he stretched his neck and looked at another house in the distance.
After both sides of the knife were wiped, the lights in that house were also turned off. Sun Jilong sheathed the knife on his waist, picked up a black cloth package next to him, opened the door softly and walked out.
Li Bochen realized that he had found the right person.
He then returned to his physical body and followed Sun Jilong at a distance, heading north from his home into the meadow. Sun Jilong was not a cultivator. Although he tried his best not to make any noise, it still caused the grass to rise and fall, as if there were wild beasts walking through it. Li Bochen just followed him to the edge of the meadow.
There is still about a mile between this place and the valley where Chang Qiuwu went last time, with only some sparse trees. But now there is some soft light in the air, as if there is a faint mist. Looking up further, you can see colorful phantoms - this is the edge of the formation set up by Sui Buxiu.
Outside the formation were soldiers from Xuantu City. Naturally, it was impossible for a thousand people to guard the outside like an iron barrel, so they were divided into three battalions, with soldiers patrolling each other, and even wooden archery towers were erected. But even so, it is not impossible for a person to cross secretly under the cover of night.
Sun Jilong watched for a while on the edge of the meadow. When a group of patrols passed by in the distance and the wind picked up again, he lowered his body, holding his knife on his waist, and trotted through the grass and trees.
Li Bochen originally thought that someone would come to meet him outside the formation, but he didn't expect that he would actually walk out. Sui Buxiu's formation should be able to exit, but not enter. Doesn't this person plan to come back?
He didn't have time to think too much, so he followed Sun Jilong out. But when he passed the edge of the meadow, he was stunned - he was welcomed into the village by Chang Qiuwu before, and he could feel the existence of the formation. But now when I walk out of here, that formation seems to be gone.
Li Bochen was startled and hurriedly walked a few steps to the left and right to give it a try. He realized that this was a "gap" that only allowed one person to enter or exit, like a hole in the invisible wall.
Who did it? It's not the army of Xuantu City. There was no sound from their camp in the distance. If they wanted to make a sneak attack, they would already be mobilizing. So, since the gap is so small, Sun Jilong shouldn't have found it accidentally. Is that Zhu Hou?
He shouldn't have such ability... This man is getting weirder and weirder.
He held his breath and concentrated, and hurriedly followed. The two of them walked slowly through the wilderness, one behind the other, and saw the mouth of the valley.
Sun Jilong seemed to be relieved, straightened his waist, and ran into the valley with long strides, and Li Bochen followed. He had been to this valley once before and had some impression of the terrain. But now as soon as I entered the valley, I immediately felt something was wrong.
It turns out that there is a small river flowing out of the valley and winding into the meadow. The river is shallow, and you can see the fish, shrimp, sand and gravel at the bottom. In the deeper places, it is only just below a person's waist. But now the river in the valley is getting wider and seems to be bottomless. The river water rolled out of the valley, with some surging momentum.
Li Bochen couldn't help but look behind him, only to find that the moon had been covered by thick clouds at some point, and the earth was pitch black, making it impossible to see where the river was flowing.
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