Lin Yi smiled slightly, stepped forward and said: "Teacher Rongyu, this is Master Li Yi Li from the capital, he just arrived in Ningzhou yesterday, because he has long heard that the teacher is famous in Yunnan, so he came to meet with the students in the rain, and I ask the teacher to forgive me for my hasty and rash mistakes." ”

When Qian Shitang heard this, his eyes immediately widened, and he looked me up and down, and his expression on his face changed, as if he had seen the most incredible thing in the world.

From his expression, I can already guess that he must have known the details of Sun Decheng's dispatch to hunt down 'Li Yi', and he had already thought that 'Li Yi' had died, so his reaction to my sudden appearance was more of fear and suspicion.

Thinking of this, I stepped forward, hugged my fists and saluted: "Lord Qian is a minister of the imperial court, a highly respected person in Yunnan, and Li Yi is a son born later, and it is really a blessing to be able to see the respected fan!" ”

Qian Shitang saw that I was polite and thoughtful and spoke appropriately, and his expression was slightly soothed, but he still hesitated and asked: "Since Lord Li is from the capital, I don't know what to call Master Li Yinheng of the imperial court?" ”

"It's my father." I said with a respectful clenched fist.

That Qian Shitang's expression changed greatly when he heard this, and he stared at me silently for a long time, and suddenly sighed, and his voice choked: "Alas! I didn't expect that Master Li was auspicious, and he could still let the old man see the honorable fan, which was really a great luck in misfortune. The criminal Qian Shitang rebelled against the Sun thief for the sake of his life, and he was already an unfaithful, unfilial, unkind and unrighteous person. After speaking, he stood up and drew his long sword, about to lead his neck to kill.

Seeing this change, Lin Yi and Qian Cong and I hurriedly stepped forward and held down his arm and snatched the long sword from his hand. Qian Cong was frightened, and said silently: "The Sun thief has not yet been beheaded, how can his father die." Now that Master Li is here, it is time for everyone to discuss and conspire together to counterbalance the rebellion. If my father makes a decision for this, not only will it not help, but it will only make the world laugh in vain. ”

I also said solemnly: "My lord's heart to the Han, Li Yi has long known it. If the adults disregard the big plan and do this act of sacrificing their lives, how can they repay the kindness of the court and the expectations of the people. ”

Qian Shitang, who was originally depressed, listened to my heartfelt words, as if he had just woken up from a dream, and said with a face full of shame: "Qian has reached the age of knowing the destiny of heaven, and he still doesn't know the righteousness and reason, how ashamed!" If you just die by suicide and don't care about the suffering of the people in Yunnan, wouldn't it be a great mistake for the ages. Needless to say, a certain person is willing to follow the adult and swear to kill the thief, so as to fulfill my will. ”

I saw Qian Shitang's resolute determination without hesitation, and knew that he had completely abandoned the idea of living in troubled times. In particular, he learned that I had not been victimized by Sun Decheng, and he strengthened his determination to quell the rebellion.

At this time, it was time to confess to him, and I said impassionedly: "Lord Qian embraces Li Min, his heart is towards the Han, and he is a loyal minister and good man of the country, Li Yi is willing to breathe and share the fate with the adult, and work together to fight the traitor." If you violate this oath, you may be struck by thunder from heaven. After saying this, I couldn't help but smile a little bitterly, cough! Didn't I get here by lightning myself? It seems that the retribution is not happy! You have to be careful when you talk in the future.

The three of them listened to my impassioned oath, and they all showed their determination to serve their lives, and at the same time they were also very interested in what I said, 'breathe together, share the same fate', and even repeated it several times aloud.

Seeing that the heat was almost over, I motioned to Lin Yi to inform the Qian father and son in detail of the current comparison between the forces of the enemy and the counterinsurgency plan drawn up earlier, so that he could act at his discretion.

Lin Yi saw me nodding, and hurriedly told the Qian father and son in detail about the previously discussed plan and the current personnel deployment, and explained the situation of Jian Zheng, He Shoujie and others. Knowing that Jian Zheng, He Shoujie and others had all returned to serve their lives, the Qian father and son were even more overjoyed, which invisibly increased their confidence a lot.

After knowing that his strength had increased greatly, Qian Shitang swept away the decadent expression just now, and said with high spirits: "According to our plan, if it can be implemented smoothly, the day when the Sun thief will be ambushed is not far away." Sun Thief also happily feasted today, inviting our Yunnan officials to discuss the establishment of the country, and the vassals, saying that they would officially ascend the throne on March 18, that is, the day after tomorrow, hehe! Sun Thief is still a chess game after a thousand calculations, and he is still dreaming of being the king and hegemon! It's ridiculous! Ha ha! Ha ha! ”

"I don't know how Sun Thief treats Ningzhou officials? Who are the cronies of the Sun thief? "I would like to take this opportunity to get a better understanding of the situation so that I can treat it differently when countering the insurgency.

"Humph! Don't hide it from Master Li, the people in Ningzhou who sincerely rebel against Sun Thief are actually just his so-called cronies. The thief was suspicious and deceitful, and only believed in the cronies he had cultivated over the years, and the others were just general. In order not to lose the military power, Sun Thief first appointed his younger brother Sun Deya as the general of the prison country this time, commanding all the armies in Yunnan; His brother-in-law, Jin Xiang, who was originally the head of the Xuanfu Embassy, was named the right servant and the secretary of the military department; His close general, Huang Qian, was named the governor of eastern Yunnan and was in charge of the garrison affairs of the three eastern passes; Even the original Yang Baocheng also held the title of a squire in the military department. At present, these are the only people who can really serve him. Most of the other officials, out of the purpose of protecting their lives, expressed their allegiance to Sun Thief, but in fact, there were few who really supported him to stand on his own. Because Sun Thief and others didn't know anything about civil affairs, they had to rely on me very much, and this time they actually sealed me as a left servant and secretary of the ministry, trying to win me over to serve them, which is really a bit whimsical. ”

Qian Shitang's words made my heart feel a lot more steady. Since the Southern Han Dynasty almost completely inherited the official system of the Tang Dynasty, the Jiedu envoys or local military chiefs all had considerable power and had a very strong ability to control local affairs.

Originally, I was worried that the vast majority of officials in Ningzhou had already taken refuge in Sun Decheng, but now it seems that the problem is not very serious. At the very least, many officials are not in favor of breaking away from Han and standing on their own. From this point of view, as long as I ascend to the top and take advantage of the situation, it will not be very difficult for other groups of people to respond and sweep away Sun Decheng's forces.

At this time, Lin Yi proposed that in order to get closer to Sun Decheng, let me present jewelry to Sun Decheng tomorrow as a Lingnan jewelry merchant under the recommendation of Qian Shitang, and take this opportunity to win his favor and obtain the qualification to participate in the founding ceremony the day after tomorrow. Qian Shitang listened to it and praised it again and again, and thought that Sun Decheng, who likes jewelry and jade and loves money like life, will definitely invite me to attend his ceremony at that time.

Everyone discussed here, nearly two hours have passed, in order not to arouse the suspicion of the surveillance personnel outside the door, I briefly instructed a few words before leaving with Lin Yi. Lin Yi still went out from the main entrance, and I climbed over the wall from the garden, met Liu Huang and Le Meng, and returned to the inn in a carriage.

After breakfast the next morning, I deliberately put on the royal blue brocade robe that Lin Yi had prepared for me in the morning, put on a brocade hat inlaid with pearls and jade, and dressed up as a wealthy businessman in Lingnan.

Lin Yi and I sat in the carriage with the bag of crystals, while Liu Huang and Le Meng dressed up as my personal entourage, rode behind our car, and the group went straight to the 'Jicuixuan'.

As soon as he entered the hall of 'Ji Cui Xuan', the guys in the store hurriedly greeted him and greeted him politely: "Lin Gongzi came at the right time, we worked overnight, the jewelry brocade box has been ready, and I also asked Gongzi to check inside." After speaking, with our nod, we led a few of us to the inner room.

Liang Shutong, the owner of 'Ji Cui Xuan', was looking down on the counter to settle the accounts, and when he saw us coming in, he snorted coldly in his nose, turned his face, and pretended not to see it. Lin Yi and I looked at each other and smiled bitterly, and walked to the counter with sandalwood carvings.

The guy took out two purple sandalwood boxes of various sizes from the counter and placed them on the counter. Lin Yi held the two brocade boxes in his hands in turn, and after watching them repeatedly, he sincerely admired: "The craftsmanship of 'Ji Cui Xuan' is indeed impeccable, and the two brocade boxes are so exquisite, they really deserve their reputation!" Hehe! In the future, there may be times when you will have trouble with your store. ”

Then Lin Yi smiled slightly, and said to Liang Shutong: "The selection of these two brocade boxes is really exquisite, and the texture seems to be the top grade of Laoshan sandalwood, but I don't know how much value it is!" ”

Liang Shutong was still just burying his head in the accounts, and he didn't pay attention to Lin Yi at all. Seeing this, the guy hurriedly replied: "Lin Gongzi's vision is really good, this is the old mountain sandalwood from Nanyang, and there are not a few stocks in Tongning Prefecture, although our time-honored brand 'Ji Cui Xuan' is not much in stock, but Lin Gongzi's treasures are all rare treasures, and the old mountain sandalwood can be matched, so the small shop does not dare to hide his secrets, so he let the master of the store carefully make it overnight, and the production was completed this morning, as for the price?" The price of the shopkeeper is three taels or six dollars of silver, I don't know if Lin Gongzi is still satisfied? ”

Lin Yilian said 'not expensive' and 'not expensive', and casually took out a piece of silver ingots of about five taels, put it on the counter and said: "You don't need to look for these five taels of silver, all the excess will be rewarded to the master in the store, and it will also be counted as my reward." As he spoke, he took out the crystal from the bag and put it in the brocade box, which was just the right size. The guy took out two more pieces of brocade and wrapped the brocade box, and handed them to Liu Huang and Le Meng.