Chapter 219: Fighting Across the Air

"Ill?" Li Zhao stroked his white beard. "Ill at this time?" So many people are waiting to meet the new general manager.

"Logically speaking, he should have entered the Xiazhou territory yesterday. Such a delay, I don't know when he will arrive in Dunyu." Shu Qian said, "Nian Zanli sent a small group of rebel troops to bypass the front line and go deep into Xiazhou for nearly a hundred miles to plunder. My family and the Zhan family have several shops robbed, and the loss is very large. I see that the Zhan family has already had the intention to leave. Although you have warned them, they have been secretly selling off property these past few days."

Old Master Li sighed: "Heaven wants to rain, mother wants to marry, since they are not optimistic about Dunyu, let them go."

Shu Qian cursed the old fox in his heart. The Li family warned the Zhan family to no avail, so they beat the acquisition price very low, low enough to pierce the cellar. It happened that the Li family was the most domineering local snake in Dunyu. No matter what price he offered, who would dare to be higher than him?

If the Zhan family really sold at that kind of cheap price, it would be equivalent to cutting meat and gouging eyes. After years of operation and accumulation, seven-tenths of it was planed away. Even if they could leave Dunyu, they would only have a bloody skeleton left.

Now the Zhan family must hate the Li family to the bone, especially since the Zhan family has produced talents in the past few years, rising all the way in the Wang Ting, and the family's waist has also straightened up, and they speak loudly. Last year, they even wanted to break the wrist with the Li family.

The Li family wanted to take this opportunity to clean them up severely, letting them know that Old Master Li was still Old Master Li.

Alas, is this old man surnamed Li just a fox? He is a vulture, a jackal.

"Are you so optimistic about the new general manager?" This was the question that the head of the Shu family wanted Shu Qian to test. "Can he really join hands with General Zhao Pan to block Nian Zanli's attack?"

The hearts of the people in Dunyu City are floating, and the big families are inevitably thinking of leaving. If they run late, Nian Zanli's army will trample south, and everything they pass will become rubble, and the results of everyone's painstaking operation for decades will all become bubbles.

"This General Manager He has some talent. Killing Sun Fuping and destroying the rebel army, he seems to have saved Ke Jihai in Shi Huan City recently, otherwise the western front would be in trouble. He was entrusted with the defense of Xiazhou in a time of crisis, and should have two brushes." Li Zhao said this in one breath, and gasped. The maid on the side immediately served tea, and the tea was neither hot nor cold.

"Minister Li has instructions, Dunyu is the foundation of the Li family's prosperity, and it cannot be easily left."

He only said it cannot be easily left, but didn't say it wouldn't be, nor did he say it definitely wouldn't be.

Dunyu is very close to the state border in the south, and fleeing south is relatively easy.

Shu Qian hesitated: "Will General Manager He also ask about the fire in the granary?"

"The case has been tried, and the criminals have been sent to the capital. The most important thing is that the grain has been burned out. What else can he investigate?"

There is a birdcage hanging in the hall, and two lovebirds with green heads, red mouths, and yellow bellies stand in the cage. It is snowing outside, but it is as warm as spring inside, and these two little birds are also very active. Old Master Li walked over, personally added food to the cage, and said, "Heaven wants to rain, mother wants to marry, since they are not optimistic about Dunyu, let them go."

"Cooperation between officials and the people, that requires sincerity."

"Then, everything as usual?" The same set as the new official taking office in the past.

"Should be." Old Master Li smiled confidently. First toast, right.

After Shu Qian left, the smile on Old Master Li's face also disappeared.

Dinner was still rich, but he only ate a few mouthfuls. Both sons were a little worried and kept asking.

Shu Qian stood up.

Old Master Li smiled. "It is only right." One must offer a toast first, after all.

After Shu Qian left, the smile on Old Master Li's face vanished.

Dinner was as sumptuous as ever, but he only ate a few bites. Both his sons were somewhat worried and kept asking him questions.

Old Master Li saw through their feigned concern at a glance, which only made his chest feel tighter. If only these sons of his had inherited even two parts of his true ability and fought less among themselves, he wouldn't have to carry the entire burden of the massive Li family on his own shoulders.

He was seventy, after all; he was old.

His only consolation was that his sixth grandson had good natural talent; if he nurtured him well for another two years, perhaps he could take over his mantle. The sixth grandson was the child of his second son, and the eldest son, seeing his father's intentions, had been desperately suppressing his brother.

Sigh, misfortune for the family.

In truth, Old Master Li did not think highly of Dunyu, or strictly speaking, he did not think highly of the Yuan royal court.

Old men of his age might still be immersed in the past prosperity and glory of Great Yuan, but his eyes were not dim, and his heart was not blind.

The national situation was in decline.

Old Master Li sneered inwardly. The Li family did not do things as ostentatiously as the Zhan family, selling off land and houses until the whole city knew about it.

If the enemy came, would land still be worth anything? Over the past two years, the Li family's wealth had been secretly transferred to the interior, and he and Minister Li had already discussed a blessed land. If the flames of war spread south, they would immediately relocate the entire clan.

With the warm fire in the room, he felt sleepy again. The maid beside him noticed and whispered, "Old Master, it is time to rest."

Old Master Li nodded, and she went to the outer room to take down the birdcage and hang it in front of the bed curtains.

Two thirteen-year-old maids had already warmed his bed, and tonight, as usual, they would curl up at his feet.

Before getting into bed, Old Master Li checked the bed curtains as usual; yes, the two copper plates tied to the hanging ropes were both there. These were evil-warding plates; if any evil thing approached, it would be confused by the plates, unable to see him or smell the scent of a human.

He pointed to the top of the bed, and the maid took a red sachet down from the canopy.

Li Zhao opened it himself and saw a yellow protective talisman hidden inside; the spell was correct.

"Put it back." Now he could sleep in peace.

Having offended no small number of people over the years, he was accustomed to being cautious.

￥￥￥￥￥

Steward Qian, weary from his travels, arrived in Ru County once again and met with He Chunhua.

"Is the Chief Steward ill?"

The door was closed, and there was no one else. He Chunhua stood up at once, took a towel to wipe his face, and the sallow yellow on his skin came right off. "Where would the illness come from? I have been waiting for Steward Qian's good news."

Old Mo, the housekeeper, brought in warm tea. Steward Qian was thirsty and gulped down several mouthfuls before smiling. "I have not failed the mission."

He took out a blue cloth bundle tied with five knots and opened it.

Inside, it was wrapped in two layers of oil paper.

Opening the oil paper, there were two layers of straw paper inside.

In the center of the straw paper lay a porcelain bottle the size of a little finger.

Given the volume of this bottle, it was perfectly suited for poisoning someone.

"This is?"

He Chunhua reached for it, but Steward Qian quickly warned, "It reeks, Chief Steward, be careful."

The Chief Steward hesitated. "I thought you were bringing back hair, fingernails, or something of that sort."

The charcoal brazier in the room was warm, and Steward Qian, having come in from the freezing cold, actually broke into a sweat on his forehead. "I had hoped for that too. But Old Master Li is deeply suspicious. Last autumn, a master divined a hex for him, saying he would face a great tribulation this year, and if he passed it smoothly, he could live safely until eighty-eight. So the Li family is exceptionally careful; the fingernails he clips and the hair he loses are all specifically collected and burned. It is said he also wears a protective talisman bought for a heavy price. For enemies to stick pins in effigies or cast curses behind his back—that is impossible to make effective!"

He Chunhua laughed. "Indeed, having done too many wicked things, his conscience is guilty."

If not for a guilty conscience, why take such precautions? There is no logic in being a thief for a thousand days, let alone guarding against one for a thousand days.

"I originally wanted to get some of his hair through the two bed-warming maids." Old Master Li was old, after all, and his feet were cold in the depths of winter; he disliked the heat of a warming pot, so he bought two thirteen- or fourteen-year-old maids to warm his bed. "But these two maids have to change clothes and be inspected every time they leave the room; they are not allowed to carry anything of the master's out, not even a single strand of hair."

"With no other choice, I could only bribe the servant who empties the night soil." Steward Qian spread his hands. "But those who do this work are not fixed personnel; it took some effort to find the right person."

He handed over a note. "This is Old Master Li's birth date and time. Last year, his thirteenth grandson came to my shop to order clothes for his first-birthday gift. At the time, his mother was full of pride, honored that the child was born in the same month and on the same day as Old Master Li, only an hour and a half later. I have confirmed it repeatedly."

Calculating from this was not difficult.

He Chunhua took it and asked, "Do the Zhan family and the Li family still have a rift?"

"They do, they always have. In the last few days, the Zhan family wanted to sell off their property to leave Dunyu, but the Li family found people to drive the price down—drive it down to the death—so no one else dared to offer a high price. The Zhan family was so angry they vomited blood. Before I left, the Zhan and Li families were arguing endlessly over this and even came to blows."

"How is their conduct any different from village boors?" He Chunhua shook his head. "With their descendants serving as officials in the Yuan court, do they not feel ashamed?"

He personally took out a gold bar and pushed it over. "Old Zhu did not praise the wrong person; you are indeed his most capable subordinate."

Steward Qian laughed. "I dare not accept such praise!"

"However, this matter is confidential..."

"Rest assured, I will keep my mouth shut." Steward Qian left no room for doubt, swearing a poisonous oath by his own mother and eighteen generations of ancestors that if the secret leaked, the Qian family ancestors would fall into eternal torment.

"Good, there will be many times in the future when I will rely on you and the Zhu family." He Chunhua smiled. "The days ahead are promising."

After Steward Qian left, He Chunhua returned to his room to sleep for an hour to refresh his spirit.

He had been busy until late at night these past few days and had been sleeping in a separate room from Lady Ying.

The hour of the Rat arrived.

Old Mo, the housekeeper, closed the doors and windows, and He Chunhua took out a cyan candle, lit it, and placed it on the table.

He had moved the table beforehand so that it was in the exact center of the room.

In the sealed room, the candlelight was, of course, straight and almost motionless. He Chunhua took out an orange-yellow paperweight and stuffed it into Old Mo's hand, then sat down and began to mutter incantations.

This paperweight was carved from Shoushan stone into the shape of a kite, but it was entirely translucent like honey, much more steady in color than jade, with radish-like fibers inside, as if the stone were filled with tiny blood vessels.

This kite was entirely golden-yellow, with only its two eyes being blood-red, adding two parts of eeriness to its overall elegance.

Old Mo, the housekeeper, stood behind his master to protect him.

As He Chunhua chanted faster and faster, the smoke rising from the candle began to gather without dispersing, and surprisingly, it was cyan.

(End of chapter)