The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 57 Prelude
Li Heng was confident in Gao Xianzhi's ability and nodded, "Very good."

"Also," Gao Xianzhi lowered his voice, "Your Highness asked me to check Dou Bai. I have found some information. He did come to Qiuci, but I don't know if he is still here."

Li Heng thought for a moment and said, "If I were him, I would never miss any opportunity."

……

……

……

In Zhao Cheng's mansion.

Zhao Cheng really thought that Li Heng had run out of tricks, and that everything was fine now, so he started playing hide-and-seek with the naked girls again.

But while they were playing, the butler's voice suddenly came from the door: "Alang, Alang, General Gai is here!"

When Zhao Cheng heard that Gai Jiayun had come again, he threw the blindfold on the ground and cursed, "Damn it, you unlucky star, are you going to bring me any bad news again?"

After that, he opened the door and came out. Seeing Gai Jiayun, he immediately smiled and said, "General, don't worry, I have already taken care of everything. There will be no mistakes."

"Really?" Gai Jiayun pulled out a person from behind, who was the secretary.

Gai Jiayun said to the secretary, "Tell him what happened in the past two days?"

The secretary said, "General Zhao, our soldier rosters and account books have all been taken away by Gao Xianzhi."

"What?" Zhao Cheng was shocked. "How did he get it?"

The secretary said, "Gao Xianzhi is the military commander. He said that Tubo was invading and that we needed to urgently mobilize troops and food, so he took away the roster and account book."

Zhao Cheng was furious and asked, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Gai Jiayun said: "He was sent to Khotan by Gao Xianzhi in the name of assisting in the transfer of troops and food. If I hadn't thought of this, he would still be defending the city in Khotan."

"What a great Gao Xianzhi!" Zhao Cheng's back teeth were about to break.

Gai Jiayun said, "Even if this didn't happen, Prince Shou asked Feng Changqing to put all the relatives and friends of those nine people in jail. Don't you think it's suspicious?"

After Gai Jiayun finished speaking, he walked away.

After Gai Jiayun mentioned this, Zhao Cheng reacted.

However, with the advice Gai Jiayun gave him last time, he did not chase after Gai Jiayun like last time, but said: "If that's the case, then you can't blame me."

Outside the house, Gai Jiayun's confidant asked, "General, will General Zhao really do that?"

Gai Jiayun said: "When a dog is desperate, it will jump over the wall."

……

……

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In a cave in Kumtura.

Zhao Cheng came here alone, and there was a person in the cave who seemed to have been waiting here for a long time.

The man said, "General Zhao, you are here after all."

After saying this, the man turned around and it was Dou Bai.

Zhao Cheng asked: "Have you been looking forward to this day for a long time?"

"I'm not looking forward to it, I just know you will come to me. Li Heng is not a simple person. Because of him, our plan was aborted before it even started. General Liu Zhicheng was beheaded before the uprising even started. Not only that, he also..."

Dou Bai didn't say anything else.

Zhao Cheng laughed and said, "He also cheated your Red Moon away, didn't he?"

Dou Bai said: "General Zhao, please don't laugh at me. If you lose this time, none of your girls will be yours anymore."

Zhao Cheng heard this and swung his sleeves, saying, "Let's talk business. What's your trick?"

Dou Bai said: "He is in the inn, heavily guarded. We can't touch him, but there is a chance that we can trick him out of the inn." "How?" Zhao Cheng asked.

Dou Bai said: "Doesn't he like investigating cases and redressing grievances for others? Then give him a chance."

Zhao Cheng understood what Dou Bai meant, but still doubted, "Are you sure you can succeed?"

Dou Bai said: "As long as we deploy in advance, it will be foolproof!"

"Okay, I'll trust you this time." Zhao Cheng turned and left, "I'll give you news."

……

……

……

The wind and snow in Qiuci were getting stronger and stronger, and the sky and the earth were all white.

Li Heng half leaned back in the recliner, thinking about what to do next.

Yang Yuhuan came to Li Ying with a bowl of soup, handed it to him and said, "My dear, please have a taste of my cooking."

Li Heng came back to his senses, took the soup, and said with a smile: "My wife also has this skill?"

Yang Yuhuan said: "It is freezing cold in Qiuci, I want to cook some hot soup for you to warm you up."

"You are so thoughtful." Li Ying smiled knowingly, looked at the soup in the bowl, and asked, "What is this, my wife?"

"I heard that this soup made by Cao Zijian is worth a thousand gold coins per bowl. Guess what it is, my dear." Yang Yuhuan kept it a secret.

When Cao Zhi was mentioned, Li Heng understood that this was camel hoof soup.

Camel hoof soup is a famous dish in the Tang Dynasty.

When it comes to camel hoof soup, Li Ying is most familiar with a poem by Du Fu.

Some of the lines are: "What's more, I heard that the golden plates are all in Wei Huo's room. There are gods in the central hall, and the jade is covered with smoke... I offer guests camel hoof soup, and frost oranges overwhelm the fragrant tangerines. The rich have wine and meat, but there are frozen corpses on the road."

Later, Zhu Xi explained that Du Fu compared Yang Guozhong to Wei and Huo, and the fairy jade nature referred to Yang Yuhuan.

At this moment, Li Ying felt that Du Fu's poem seemed to be talking about him.

But he didn't think there was anything wrong, because after all, delicious food is meant to be enjoyed. Also, when Du Fu wrote this poem, it was the 14th year of Tianbao, when An Lushan rebelled. It was a completely different time.

Thinking of this, Li Heng thought again: "Du Fu failed the exam this year, but now is the time when he is full of vigor and vitality. When I get real power, I will ask him to write two poems for me."

Seeing that Li Heng had been holding the soup for a long time without drinking it, Yang Yuhuan thought that Li Heng was worried that she would not be able to eat it, so she said, "My dear, I have been thinking about this soup for a long time. Although it is a little different from the usual ones, the taste is almost the same. Try it."

Li Heng heard this and smiled, "Really? I was wondering why I didn't know him, but I think there's still one thing missing."

"What's missing?" Yang Yuhuan asked seriously.

Li Ying handed the bowl to Yang Yuhuan and opened his mouth.

Yang Yuhuan immediately understood what Li Heng meant. She smiled and fed Li Heng a mouthful of food. After watching Li Heng finish eating, she asked, "How does it taste?"

Li Heng said: "Cao Zijian made camel hoof soup, one bowl is worth a thousand gold coins, yours should be worth ten thousand gold coins."

Yang Yuhuan laughed and said, "The dignified Prince Shou, who is in charge of all the affairs, would actually say such sweet words in private."

As he said this, he fed Li Heng another mouthful.

Li Heng finished eating first, then said, "Don't you like to hear it? Then I won't say it anymore."

"No, I like to hear it." Yang Yuhuan smiled sweetly, "Just think of it as compensation for the fact that my husband didn't want to repeat what he said to me when he gave me the snow lotus that day."

"Uh..." Li Heng had been busy with work recently and almost forgot about it. When he heard Yang Yuhuan mention it again, he felt a little emotional. He touched Yang Yuhuan's face and said, "You were busy giving me food. Did you eat it yourself?"

Yang Yuhuan said: "This is what I made specially for you, my lord."

"That won't work." Li Heng stood up, found a new spoon, took the bowl, and said with a smile, "Come, I'll feed you. We don't owe each other anything."

(End of this chapter)