Chapter 591 Wuxi City (Part 1)
Wuxi City.
Even though Lord Luo, the envoy , had worked hard to govern the country and rectified domestic and military affairs since he took office, this city, which had once prospered due to its mineral trade, inevitably fell into depression.
But on this morning, when the sky was already bright, 20% of the shops on Fuwang Street had not yet opened for business - Li's Tea House, which specializes in the tea business, was among them.
However, unlike other shops that have lost interest in operating due to declining profits, the reason why Li's Tea House is closing its doors to visitors is to entertain a distinguished guest.
A distinguished guest from the mountains!
Knock knock knock~
At about 2:45 am (7:30 in the morning), the teahouse's head shopkeeper Zhao Haogu personally came with a tray of food and wine and knocked on the door of the main hall in the backyard.
Soon, the door latch was heard to snap, and then a sleepy-eyed man poked his head out. Seeing that it was Zhao Haogu who came to deliver the meal, he stepped aside and yawned, saying, "Send it in. My young leader also has something to say to you."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Haogu quickly agreed obediently, then carried the food into the inner room like a waiter.
After entering the inner room, Zhao Haogu felt uneasy when he saw the young leader sitting at the head of the bed, wiping a short knife. His spine couldn't help but weaken a little.
"Young leader."
He carefully placed the food on the table, then bowed and smiled apologetically, "Did you sleep well last night? If there is anything wrong, just let me know."
"You have the nerve to ask me if I slept well?"
The young leader snorted, wielded the short knife in his hand, and asked Zhao Haogu with contempt, "When I was in the village, I had Han women to sleep with me every night. How come I can't even find a woman to warm my feet after coming to your Han territory?!"
Zhao Haogu's smile froze. Seeing the cold dagger waving towards him, he was so frightened that he almost peed his pants.
He knelt on the ground with a thud, kowtowed and defended himself: "Young leader, please calm down, young leader, please calm down! It was also for safety reasons that we did not arrange for women to sleep with us..."
"shit!"
At this time, the barbarian who had just opened the door also followed into the inner room. After hearing Zhao Haogu's explanation, he scolded him rudely: "Who else in Wuxi City dares to be rude to our young leader? Is it your envoy's hundreds of defeated soldiers, or those cowards who crawled like turtles for several days before crawling out of the city?!"
As he said that, he stepped forward and kicked Zhao Haogu, making him stagger, and yelled, "Hurry up and get a woman to help my young leader calm down! Otherwise, when tens of thousands of warriors from our Tongxi barbarians come to Wuxi City for fun, they may not be able to care about the past friendship!"
The total population of the Tongxi barbarians is only about 20,000 to 30,000, with a maximum of 6,000 to 7,000 young and strong men. How could there be tens of thousands of warriors?
However, how could Zhao Haogu dare to question anything?
He quickly got up, not even daring to pick up his hat which had fallen on the ground, and ran away using both his hands and feet.
"Did you see what he looked like? Is he a Han Chinese? The Han Chinese who have oppressed us Tongxi barbarians for decades?! Hahahaha..."
Hearing the unbridled laughter coming from behind him, Zhao Haogu's face was filled with shame and anger, but he did not dare to ignore the barbarian's request.
So he had to leave the teahouse through the back door and hurried to the boss's mansion in the west of the city.
I waited in the front hall and met the boss Li Changshun.
Zhao Haogu first described the shameless faces of the barbarians, and then he could not help but angrily suggested: "Boss, the soldiers sent by the court are about to enter the city. With these thousand more people, the barbarians may not be able to break into Wuxi City. Why don't we tie up these two barbarians and send them to the Xuanfu Envoy's Office to save ourselves from this humiliation!"
"Confused!"
Li Changshun glared at him and shouted, "More than 3,000 soldiers failed to defend Wuxi City before, not to mention that the soldiers who came back this time are just old soldiers. Even if you want to die, don't drag me down with you!"
In fact, Zhao Haogu also knew that his boss had always been timid and fearful.
Especially recently, rumors have been spreading that the Wuxi barbarians are dissatisfied with the court sending troops to quell the rebellion and are preparing to march down the mountain again. At this moment, Li Changshun naturally dared not take any risks.
Therefore, what I just said was, firstly, to vent my resentment; secondly, to pave the way for shirking responsibility.
Hearing that Li Changshun really didn't allow it, he immediately frowned and said with a wry smile: "But if it's not like this, wouldn't it be like he wants it?"
At this point, Zhao Haogu stopped talking and lowered his voice to remind: "Don't dare to use those untrustworthy prostitutes, otherwise if the rumor spreads that we are secretly colluding with the barbarians..."
Nowadays, the people in the city hate the barbarians to the core. If they knew that the Li family was secretly colluding with the barbarians, I am afraid that the Li family would be eliminated from Wuxi City without waiting for the barbarians to invade.
Li Changshun naturally knew this truth, and thought to himself that let alone a prostitute outside, even if it was a maid at home, he would never dare to let her get involved.
However, after getting rid of the maid, wouldn't it be possible to only use...
Li Changshun's face flashed with embarrassment and reluctance, but he finally gritted his teeth and ordered: "Come here, go and invite the third concubine!"
Zhao Haogu, who was listening nearby, couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
The third concubine was originally a Qingguan woman in Piaoxiang Tower. Because of her talent and reputation, she was married to Li Changshun five years ago and gave birth to a illegitimate son the following year.
Since he has a son to tie him down, he is naturally not afraid that the Third Aunt will sell out the Li family.
It's a pity for the Third Aunt, who has always been a peaceful and harmonious person, but has to suffer such humiliation for no reason.
Not to mention what mood the master and the servant in the living room were in, but the servant heard the news and went to the back house to pass on the message. Not long after, the third concubine hurried over.
At the beginning, Zhao Haogu had only met her from a distance when the Third Aunt married into the Li family. Five years later, when he saw her again, her cool and elegant demeanor had not changed, but her figure had become more mature and voluptuous.
Even the slightly thick winter clothes could not hide her graceful curves. While she walked, one could vaguely see the green mountains and deep valleys.
Perhaps because she was born into a brothel, the third concubine was extremely cautious about the differences between men and women. Therefore, when she learned that Manager Zhao was present, she specially put on a veil.
"well."
Seeing the graceful figure bowing, Li Changshun sighed bitterly and told Zhao Haogu, "Manager Zhao, please talk to Qingniang about that matter."
Having said this, he turned sideways, not wanting to look at the Third Aunt again.
After receiving the order, Zhao Haogu told the whole story about how the young leader of Tongxi barbarians sneaked into the city, stayed in Li's teahouse, and was dissatisfied with the lack of women to sleep with him.
Although he did not reveal Li Changshun's thoughts, Qingniang was a smart girl. She must have understood that her master wanted to use her to please the barbarians.
At that moment, my heart felt like it fell into an icy cave.
He dug his nails deep into his white jade-like palms, finally suppressing the resentment and impulse in his heart, and said coldly and distantly: "If it is to save the lives of the Li family, I dare not disobey the master's wishes."
"Mother Qing!"
Hearing her being so obedient, Li Changshun turned around and called out to her emotionally. He opened his mouth reluctantly, as if he wanted to change his mind, but in the end he uttered, "Be good to me and don't bring disaster to our Li family."
After hearing such shameless advice, Qingniang felt even more hopeless.
She gritted her teeth, bowed, and said resolutely: "Although I am born in a lowly family, I know the four words of courtesy, righteousness, integrity and shame. After I leave today, I will never dare to come back to serve the master with a filthy body. After Qing Niang dies, I hope the master will treat our child well."
Having said that, she stood up without any hesitation and urged Zhao Haogu to lead the way.
When Li Changshun heard that she was going to commit suicide to preserve her reputation, he excitedly chased her a few steps outside, but then he remembered the tragic scene of the barbarians slaughtering the city a few months ago, and his legs became as heavy as gold, and he could no longer move at all .
"Qing Niang, Qing Niang... wuwuwu..."
Watching Zhao Haogu and Qingniang disappear around the corner, he suddenly sat down on the ground, completely losing his composure and crying out in pain.
"Great joy, sir! Great joy, sir!"
Just at this moment, a short-sighted servant suddenly rushed in shouting and was about to say something with a happy expression, but suddenly he found his master sitting on the ground wiping his tears, and he froze on the spot.
"You damned dog!"
Li Changshun hurriedly got up from the ground, wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve, and angrily scolded: "Who told you to barge in? Do you know the rules?!"
"master."
The servant hunched over and said in a low voice, "It was really a great happy event, and I forgot my sense of propriety for a moment..."
Li Changshun sneered when he heard this: "Happy event? What kind of happy event can there be in our Li family nowadays!"
"It's really a great joyful event!"
The servant said hurriedly, "The imperial army that was sent to suppress the rebellion entered the city ahead of time. I heard they won two battles and killed quite a few barbarians!"
Upon hearing this, Li Changshun was furious and said angrily, "How dare you believe such rumors? When the Wuxi barbarians rebelled, the government also said that they had won many battles, but what was the result? Even the envoy was killed by the barbarians!"
"This time it's different, Master!"
The servant pointed outside and said, "Not only did the government troops rescue many abducted women, they also captured the leader of the Tongxi barbarians, Yahamer!"
Li Changshun was surprised, but still couldn't believe it: "What? The leader of Tongxi Barbarians, Yahamer, was...captured alive by the government troops?! You...you didn't hear it wrong?!"
"How is that possible! Many people on the street recognized Yahamer!" The servant added in a vivid voice, "I heard that the government troops also robbed dozens of young and beautiful barbarian women, and now they are all in disarray..."
He was talking about the barbarian girl with great excitement, but Li Changshun had no intention of continuing to listen. He immediately shouted, "Quick, go and bring back the Third Aunt and Shopkeeper Zhao!"
