Chang'an is good

"Poisoned..."

After repeating these four words, Master Chu said slowly, "I have never heard her mention such a thing."

The old man seemed to have a long sigh stuck in his chest, but he kept it under control and didn't let it out. He just murmured, "You are really a good student of mine."

Don't say that she doesn't know. He is not such a stupid student... He should not be so stupid as to not even realize this!

No wonder she had never considered associating with Uncle Wang, who used to be very close to her, since she became the Queen of Chang Suining... She must have found out the truth long ago, but she never mentioned it!
The Master slowly clenched his hands that were resting on the coffee table, and his tone became increasingly serious: "The one who killed, the one who was killed... they are all 'fine'."

Wei Shuyi lowered his eyes quietly, and slowly put the note away. He then spoke, "Your Highness probably doesn't want the Master to be angry and sad about this... Please don't blame her for concealing it."

"Blame her..." The Master's voice dropped again: "Just think about what she is doing at the moment. How can I blame her?"

There seemed to be the usual sarcasm in these words, but what was hidden underneath was nothing more than an old man's heart-wrenching pain and "anger at the lack of resistance", but these emotions were no match for the anger that was growing more and more intense in the old man's chest.

This anger never surfaced. The Master even looked a hundred times calmer and more composed than usual, with the slightest fluctuations of his emotions being like ripples on still water:
"She takes the overall situation into consideration and doesn't care about this trivial personal vendetta, but as a teacher, I have always been petty-minded—"

The old man looked at the green banana trees outside the window, his old eyes filled with calmness. "Since she can't settle this matter, I will collect the debt on her behalf."

Wei Shuyi bowed and said, "I will obey your orders, Master."

At this moment, she was guarding the pass with her life and blood. Anyone who stood behind her was grateful to her, and he was no exception.

She holds up the collapsing sky for the people of the world, and the people of the world should seek justice for her.

At this moment, he, Wei Shuyi, is also a citizen of the world - not her subject, not out of admiration, but even if he is just a citizen of the world, he should not look back.

"In that case, Prime Minister Wei will go to Luoyang." Master Chu's eyes were as deep as the abyss, and his words were as decisive as the placement of a chess piece: "The one who sets up the game must also enter the game one day. Prime Minister Wei, wait for the newcomer in the game with me."

On that day, Taifu Chu wrote two letters in person, one of which was secretly sent to Changsun, the Taoist priest in Qianzhong, and the other to Changkuo, the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, in Jiangdu.

The latter letter was not delivered by the courier, but was carried along by Princess Xuan'an.

Li Rong left Taiyuan and arrived in Jiangdu in half a month.

This time, Li Rong did not cover her face with a veil, nor did she use an alias like "Mrs. Rong". She got off the carriage in a dignified manner outside the Jiangdu Governor's Mansion. With a maid in front of her holding the Grand Princess's jade order, she walked straight into the Governor's Mansion.

The official who delivered the message walked quickly in front, and Li Rong and others did not wait either, but followed behind him and strode towards the spacious courtyard.

The official was sweating profusely, but he did not dare to look behind him, as he always felt that the eldest princess had bad intentions.

Li Rong almost half broke into Chang Kuo's yard. Chang Kuo had just finished half of his breakfast when he suddenly saw the newcomer. Before he could react, everyone in the room was driven out by Li Rong, who then began to question and scold him.

"...No matter how you look at it, she is still my niece. All these years you didn't dare to say a word and kept it a secret from me!"

Chang Kuo knew she knew everything when he heard this, but he did not feel guilty at all: "How much earlier do you think I know than you? Besides, that's His Highness, His Highness! - If His Highness didn't say anything, why should I say anything? Who am I! How dare I make decisions for His Highness!"

"Then what am I in your eyes!" The eldest princess suddenly raised her voice, as if she had been poked in a sore spot: "My dear niece, I don't know her when we meet! My dear son, we know each other but can't recognize each other! At this moment, these two children are guarding the gates of hell in the north... Before this, I didn't even have the chance to have a good talk with them, to hear them call me aunt and mother in a serious manner a few more times!"

Chang Kuo, who had frowned tightly, was stunned when he heard this. Wait...what does "call Auntie and Mother two more times" mean? ——"Again"? !

Chang Kuo suddenly realized: "Li Rong, you told Sui An!"

He said that this woman was going crazy for some reason, and she was waiting here! She broke the agreement herself, but she wanted to bite him first! - This woman's usual trick of confusing people!
"What do you mean?" The eldest princess said, "The child guessed it himself!"

"..." Chang Kuo saw through it at a glance: "How could my son not know? If you don't explain it clearly, he won't be able to guess it even if you work him to death!"

"…What are you yelling about! Even if I said that, it doesn't matter!" Li Rong's eyes suddenly turned red, and he felt a little aggrieved: "I gave birth to my son with so much effort, and before I send him off to the battlefield, I can't even hear him call me mother?"

"I'm such a good child, but I've only been following you around and calling you daddy for all these years. You must have gotten tired of that! But what about me? I dream of hearing him call me mommy!"

Li Rong choked up more and more as he spoke, and turned away without looking at Chang Kuo: "If it weren't for the situation back then, how could I have handed him over to a heartless person like you..."

By the end of the conversation, I was already in tears and couldn't continue.

Chang Kuo choked, came back to his senses, sighed, supported himself with one hand on his crutch, and took two steps forward: "I didn't say anything, I just asked you a question..."

"Okay..." He raised his hand and patted Li Rong's shoulder gently: "Why are you crying at your age? Aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"

After hearing this, Li Rong turned around angrily and raised his hand to hit him, as if he wanted to vent all his anger, grievances and worries.

Chang Kuo did not hide, but quietly tightened his pectoralis major muscles and let her pound him, saying: "...be careful! I am not one of those delicate concubines in your house. If you hurt your hand, don't blame me!"

Li Rong stopped what he was doing when he heard that: "Bah!"

"Alright, alright." Chang Kuo pulled her to sit down and said, "The children are fighting desperately outside to guard the gate. We should at least act like elders. It's not right to cry and wipe the clothes."

As he spoke, he held his crutches and raised his hand to pour a cup of tea for Li Rong.

"Do you think I came here just to cry with you?" Li Rong wiped her tears with a handkerchief: "I came here for business, too!"

As he spoke, he took out a letter from his sleeve and slapped it on the table: "This is what Taiyuan Chu Taifu asked me to bring to you. Please read it first, and then we can discuss it in detail."

Chang Kuo put on a serious expression, sat down and opened the letter.

At this time, at the other end of the governor's mansion, in a separate small courtyard, Granny Jin was sitting at a stone table under a jujube tree, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Liu. Both of them were looking towards the courtyard gate and waiting.

Not long after, Luo Ze came back from outside in a hurry.

"Ze'er, is there any news about your father?" Liu asked hurriedly.

Luo Ze's expression changed and hesitant, but when he met his grandmother's eyes, he quickly told her the news.

He hadn't heard anything about the money.

But he heard a piece of news about Luo Guanlin.

This name disappeared three years ago and has rarely been mentioned. It reappeared recently because a sensational news came from the west:

"… Luo Guanlin managed to escape in Jiangdu three years ago, and has been hiding from the world for several years to avoid disaster. Now that he sees the country collapsing, he shows up and joins the army of Rong Wang Li Yin, hoping to help him succeed and rebuild the Li family's territory." Luo Ze repeated these words, his voice a little hoarse.

"How could this be..." Liu was flustered and spoke incoherently: "Why is he so stubborn... After all these years, can't he see what kind of person Envoy Chang is? We both have the surname Li, but just because Prince Rong is a man? I thought he had changed his mind... But now it seems that the difference between men and women is still more important to him than anything else!"

As Liu spoke, she could not help but turn her head away. She felt pain and resentment in her heart, and for the first time in her life she burst into tears: "I think he has gone mad!"

"He's not crazy."

Granny Jin supported herself on the stone table with one hand, slowly stood up, and said, "He must be dead."

Liu turned to look at her mother-in-law with tears in her eyes, and Luo Ze also looked at his grandmother.

"The money is nowhere to be found. He must have been assassinated. It's very likely that he will be in trouble." Granny Jin looked at the two of them and said in a resounding voice, "As for that bastard Luo Guanlin who surrendered to Prince Rong, we don't recognize him!"

"Zer, remember, your last name is Qian! You were born in the Qian family of Wuzhong, and it's clearly recorded in the family tree!"

"Although you have lost your father, you still have these people from your clan to help you!" Granny Jin said, "And your sister and me!"

Luo Ze's eyes turned red with shock.

Granny Jin looked at her grandson and raised her voice, "Remember this!"

Luo Ze held back tears: "Grandson... remember it!"

"Okay..." Granny Jin nodded and lowered her voice. She wiped her water-free hands with the apron she was wearing, then walked away.

Luo Ze hurriedly asked: "Where is grandma going!"

"Go to the workshop! Don't you see what time it is? We can't be late for work..." Granny Jin didn't look back. Her gray hair was wrapped meticulously with blue cloth. Her slightly hunched back was as neat and energetic as usual.

Luo Ze looked at his grandmother's back and suddenly burst into tears.

After her mother-in-law left the yard, Liu could no longer hold on and sat down at the stone table, covering her face and crying bitterly.

Granny Jin got on the green donkey cart and came to the silk workshop as usual. When the female workers saw her, they greeted her warmly and politely, calling her "Granny" and "Manager".

Granny Jin responded to them with a smile and told them to go back to work.

Ever since Li Suining took over the entire Huainan Road and opened up maritime trade, more and more workshops have been opened in Jiangdu, and construction work has been carried out in full swing and in an orderly manner.

On this day, a sudden explosion broke the orderly atmosphere in the smelting workshop.

Two craftsmen who had just come out of the smelting room were sweating all over and shirtless. They were washing their faces and bodies with well water in the yard when they suddenly heard the sound. They saw the water in the wooden barrels in front of them were shaking into ripples.

"Where did the noise come from?"

"It seems to be over there in the gunpowder room..."

"The furnace exploded?"

"Why is there such a noise in the powder room? Is something burning?"

A group of alarmed craftsmen rushed to the gunpowder room to check, but were stopped on the way.

The gunpowder room in Jiangdu was built the year before last, but it was only put on the table this year.

Gunpowder is flammable and promotes combustion, and it was a hot summer, so the stopped craftsmen asked anxiously what had happened, whether there were any casualties, etc.

A manager from the gunpowder room came over and said to them, "No one was hurt! There was no fire!"

"That sound just now was..."

"It's just muffled thunder." The manager pointed to the sky and said, "Muffled thunder in summer is very common. There's no need to make a fuss! Everyone, go back and get back to work!"

The craftsmen subconsciously looked up at the sky, and saw a clear blue sky without a trace of wind.

But seeing that the manager had turned and left, they did not dare to ask any more questions. Moreover, the smelting workshop was related to the country's important equipment. Unlike the silk weaving workshop, all the craftsmen here had signed a death contract, and the workshop's construction skills, including the workshop's affairs, were not allowed to leak out.

As time went by, the craftsmen developed a habit of keeping their mouths shut. Even though they felt that the explosion was a little strange, they never discussed it further.

Shen Sanmao came out of the gunpowder room, his hair and robe were covered with black dust, and he looked very disheveled, but his eyes were filled with excitement. The craftsmen who followed him were even more excited than him.

Shen Sanmao immediately called Ache over and said, "...Ache, you will be the one escorting the weapons and gunpowder that are being transported to the northern border. You must personally deliver them to the girl! Quickly and safely!"

Ache, who was now as tall as Shen Sanmao, agreed with his eyes bright and immediately ran away.

After explaining everything, Shen Sanmao, who had not slept for two days and two nights, was swaying slightly and could hardly stand.

The craftsmen on both sides wanted to raise their hands to help him, but he blocked them with his hands. Then, he lifted the corner of his robe and knelt down.

Shen Sanmao was kneeling towards due north.

His eyes were red from staying up late, and his eyebrows were stained with soot, but that did not prevent him from placing his hands on the ground and performing the most proper and standard salute.

"I am lucky to have lived up to your trust..." Shen Sanmao's voice trembled, and his expression seemed to be crying and laughing: "I have no special skills, so I can help you with my skills... I beg you to return with a great victory!"

After saying this, he kowtowed heavily and prayed for blessings with hope.

Three days later, A Che left Jiangdu with the team carrying military equipment and supplies.

The war in the north is certainly worrying, but in comparison, all parties are more closely watching the battle situation of Prince Rong's army. To them, this is the most important event that truly concerns the direction of domestic affairs.

Prince Rong's army won several battles, forcing the Bian army to retreat step by step. Along the way, they comforted the people and resettled those who were displaced by the war. Wherever they went, the people were loyal to them.

There are rumors that Luo Guanlin played an indispensable role in this, and after several battles, he is now highly trusted by Li Yin.

Moreover, this year, the rainfall in the west of the capital was less than in previous years, and the flood season did not have much impact on Prince Rong's army, which indirectly accelerated the army's pace of attacking the capital. Some people took the opportunity to spread the word that this was a sign that Prince Rong was helped by heaven and that it was the destiny of heaven. (End of this chapter)