Although he saw his uncle and the others, Li Zhiyun didn't come up with any good ideas on how to rescue them. If that doesn't work, we can only mobilize the army to attack the city. However, attacking the city was a last resort, and he didn't want to do it unless it was a last resort.
The next morning, Li Zhiyun was meditating hard in his room. Hong Jiran suddenly walked in and said to him in a low voice: "Your Highness, I have brought you someone. Please see him." Li Zhiyun asked strangely: "Who is it?" Hong Jiran pretended to be mysterious: "You'll know it when you see it." After that, he walked to the door and shouted to the outside: "Come in." As soon as he finished speaking, a young man in a white robe walked in from outside the door. , Li Zhiyun looked at it for a long time and finally recognized it. Isn't this a scholar? The last time he came to Xia County, he saw this crazy scholar on the street because his wife was missing. Later, it was Zhang Zheng who led people to rescue his wife.
Hong Jiran closed the door, and the scholar walked up to Li Zhiyun, knelt down and saluted, "I have seen His Royal Highness the King of Chu." Li Zhiyun hurriedly pulled him up and said, "Young master, there is no need to be polite, please get up and talk. "The scholar stood up and said with gratitude on his face: "Your Highness, you rescued the villain's wife from the devil's cave. Such a great kindness will be unforgettable for this villain for the rest of his life!" Li Zhiyun asked him to take a seat, and then sat down opposite, He looked at the other party and said, "Do you know your surname?"
"The villain's name is Xu Zisheng."
Li Zhiyun felt very relieved when he saw that his face was ruddy, his eyes were lively, and he looked full of life. Compared with the scholar who went crazy because of his wife's disappearance, he was completely different. He smiled and said, "Is Mr. Xu still well at home?"
"Your Highness, everything is well at home. When my parents heard that Your Highness was here, they told me to invite my benefactor to his humble residence and thank him in person. Please don't refuse, Your Highness."
"This..." Li Zhiyun turned his head and glanced at Hong Ruran. When he saw Hong Ruran nodding towards him, he had already made up his mind and said, "Okay, it's better to obey orders than to be respectful. Then I will disturb Mr. Xu."
So, Li Zhiyun took Cai Hu and Fan Shuxiang and followed Xu Zisheng and Hong Jiran to the Xu family. The Xu family is not too far from the post house. You don't need to take a carriage, you can just walk. Li Zhiyun, Mr. Xu, and Hong Jiran walked in front, and the three of them chatted while walking. Fan Shuxiang and Cai Hu fell behind. Fan Shuxiang didn't know who Mr. Xu was. She tugged on Cai Hu's sleeves and said with her mouth, "Hey, why did he invite us to his home?" Cai Hu then told Li Zhiyun about half a year ago. He led them to eradicate Gao Tansheng and narrated the story of rescuing his wife from the devil's cave. Fan Shuxiang didn't expect that Li Zhiyun still had these two brushes, and the expression on his face couldn't help but be a little surprised.
The Xu family is a prosperous family with a two-entry house. The group walked through the courtyard and entered the hall, where Xu Zisheng's parents were already waiting. Both were in their fifties and dressed neatly and solemnly. It was obvious that the old couple valued this meeting very much. When Li Zhiyun saw him, he quickly stepped forward to greet him.
After the ceremony was completed, Li Yun was invited to take a seat, accompanied by Xu's father opposite. The maid offered fragrant tea, and Xu's father held up a cup of tea to invite him. After Li Zhiyun took a sip and put down the tea cup, he said: "Your Highness, I only have one son. Fortunately, Your Highness rescued my daughter-in-law, Quanzi's madness was cured, and the Xu family has not lost its incest. Your Highness, I have The Xu family is really worthy of reinvention." Li Zhiyun said quickly: "I'm over-praising you, this junior just fulfilled his duty."
Just as he was talking, Xu Ziming helped someone out from the inner hall. When Li Zhiyun saw it, it was Mrs. Xu, and he quickly stood up. Mrs. Xu is already pregnant with Liujia, and it looks like she should be four or five months old. She walked up to Li Zhiyun, bowed and said in salute: "The daughter of the common people has thanked Your Highness." Li Zhiyun quickly made a gesture of support and said: "Madam, there is no need to be polite, please get up quickly!" After Madam Xu saluted, she was supported by her husband again. Then went back to the inner room.
Li Zhiyun was very happy to see that the family lived a happy life and everyone had a smile on their face.
Xu's father chatted with Li Zhiyun for a while. At this time, the maid came to tell him that the banquet was set, and Xu's father stood up to greet her. So, the guests were invited to the table, and the guests and hosts sat around the table, drank and chatted with each other.
After the banquet was over, it was already afternoon time. After Li Zhiyun and others said goodbye to Xu Zisheng's parents, they walked out of Xu's house. Xu Zisheng accompanied them out and wanted to take them back to the inn. Li Zhiyun had been in contact with him for half a day and felt that he was very close to him. The two of them walked and talked. Li Zhiyun said: "Mr. Xu, I have something unclear. When I came to Xia County last time, I saw that the residents in the city lived a prosperous and happy life, but why are there so many refugees on the streets now?" Xu Zisheng and Hong Jiran looked at each other, and then He looked around and then whispered: "Your Highness, I will take you to a place. When you get there, you will understand."
So Xu Zisheng led them to turn around and head north. After walking for a while, a man came from the opposite side and shouted to Xu Zisheng: "Xu Xiaowei." Xu Ziming nodded quickly in return. Li Zhiyun was puzzled: "Mr. Xu, why did he call you Captain Xu?" Xu Zisheng whispered: "To be honest with Your Highness, I am now serving as a captain in the army." When Li Zhiyun heard this, he was surprised: "You Serving under Lu Chongmao?" Xu Zisheng nodded and explained: "The surname Xu is the most common surname in Xia County. There are many children of the surname Xu serving in the military like me." Li Zhiyun listened and nodded. .
They walked for about two or three miles, and suddenly they saw a majestic mansion not far ahead, more than ten feet away from the street. There was a plaque hanging on the huge gate tower, which read "Prince Wei's Mansion" in three golden characters.
This palace covers a large area, and the walls on both sides can't be seen to the end. There were two rows of armed soldiers standing in front of the palace, one every two steps, from the front of the palace to the street. The construction project of Prince Wei's Mansion was probably not completed yet, because carts loaded with stone and wood passed by on the street from time to time, and the cart drivers drove their mules and horses into the gate of the Prince's Mansion.
Xu Zisheng stood next to Li Zhiyun and whispered: "This palace was expanded by Lu Chongmao on his original residence. It covers an area of at least 20% of the county. In order to build this palace, thousands of surrounding households were demolished. Residential house.”
Li Zhiyun now understood that the refugees on the street turned out to be residents whose houses had been demolished. They lost their houses and had to live on the streets. At this moment, Li Zhiyun couldn't help but feel angry. In order to build the palace, Lu Chongmao actually ignored the life and death of the people in the city. It was really abominable!
He glanced at Xu Ziming and saw an angry look on his face. Obviously, he was also dissatisfied with Lu Chongmao's behavior. Li Zhiyun secretly determined to find ways to eradicate this cancer.
At this time, Fan Shuxiang suddenly shouted: "Look, there is a group of women coming over there." Li Zhiyun looked in the direction of her finger and saw a group of soldiers escorting a dozen women walking along the street. In the end, they were also taken into Prince Wei's Mansion. Li Zhiyun didn't know where these women were snatched from.
After leaving Prince Wei's Mansion, the group returned to the inn. Li Zhiyun thinks Xu Zisheng is a good person. He went crazy because of his wife's disappearance, which shows that he is a lover. When his wife was insulted by a thief, he did not dislike her. Instead, he regarded her as a treasure, which proved that he was a kind and righteous person. Such a person should be trustworthy. Therefore, when he arrived at the door of the inn, Li Zhiyun said to him: "Mr. Xu, please come into the room and talk."
Xu Zisheng followed him into the guest room. Cai Hu made tea for them and left. Li Zhiyun sat opposite Xu Zisheng and said: "Master Xu, since you serve in Lu Chongmao's army, you should know the situation in the army. Can you tell me in detail?" Xu Zisheng nodded and said: "Of course. Lu Chongmao has about four thousand soldiers. Of the men and horses, our descendants named Xu account for about one-third. He has two important generals under his command, one is Zheng Lei and the other is Xu Shunchen. Xu Shunchen is also the patriarch of our family named Xu. Although Lu Chongmao is domineering, but because of We surnamed Xu have many people and are powerful, so he has some scruples, so he treats Xu Shunchen with courtesy."
"What kind of person is Xu Shunchen?"
"This man is quite upright and fairly fair in his dealings. He is quite prestigious among our clan members with the surname Xu."
Li Zhiyun pondered for a moment and said, "Can you allow me to meet him?" Xu Zisheng nodded and said, "This is not difficult. Xu Shunchen is my distant cousin. He likes to collect jade, so I will tell you that His Highness is a jade merchant." How about you meet him?" Li Zhiyun nodded and said, "Okay."
At midnight the next day, Xu Zisheng came to the inn to find Li Zhiyun and said that Xu Shunchen had agreed to see him. Because Xu Shunchen's residence was far away from the inn, Li Zhiyun asked Wang Wenqing to hitch a carriage and ride there with Xu Zisheng. The carriage drove for about a cup of tea and stopped in front of a mansion. Li Zhiyun looked out of the carriage window and saw a plaque on the door that read: Xia Gong's Mansion. Xu Zisheng explained: "Lu Chongmao proclaimed himself queen, and Xu Shunchen was granted the title of Duke of Xia."
After a while, the servant opened the door of the mansion, and the carriage drove into the courtyard and stopped in front of the hall.
The two got off the carriage, and a servant was waiting in front of the hall to usher them into the hall. After serving the fragrant tea, the servant said to Xu Zisheng: "Master Xu, please sit down for a while. The master will be here soon."
After the servant left, the two sat drinking tea. After a while, a man came out of the back hall. Li Zhiyun took a closer look and saw that this man was in his forties, of medium height, with a fair complexion. He was wearing a brown satin jacket with copper money patterns, black trousers, and a melon skin hat with a piece of jade embedded in the middle. This man didn't look like a general, but like a shopkeeper.
Li Zhiyun stood up with Xu Zisheng. Xu Zisheng pointed at him and introduced: "Third uncle, this is the prince." Xu Shunchen nodded, sat down opposite, looked at Li Zhiyun and said, "Young master is so young, he travels all over the world to do things. Business is very rare." Li Zhiyun smiled and said, "General Xu, you are mistaken. I am not a businessman, but Li Zhiyun, the King of Chu of the Tang Dynasty."
"Ah?" When Xu Shunchen heard this, he stood up suddenly, looked at Li Zhiyun in horror, and then glanced at Xu Zisheng sitting next to him. Xu Zisheng didn't explain much, just smiled at him slightly apologetically. Li Zhiyun smiled and said: "General Xu, don't be surprised. Please sit down and talk." Xu Shunchen did not sit down, but looked at him with a gloomy expression and said, "What a great king of Chu of the Tang Dynasty, you are not afraid that I will kill you." Catch him and hand him over to Lu Chongmao?"
