Chapter 221

The girl gestured; because of the trees blocking the view, Li Zhao squinted for a long time before he realized she was pointing desperately in one direction.

Over there?

Li Zhao turned his head and saw the great flood rushing from afar, the muddy waves surging with the momentum of ten thousand horses and a thousand armies.

"A flood is coming, run!"

The little friends screamed and ran toward the shore. But the Li brothers were standing in the center of the river, where the water was over their navels; walking back was too slow! Before they could reach the shore, the violent tide swept them away.

Above, below, left, and right, it was all water, pouring straight into Li Zhao's mouth and nose, along with grass roots, mud, sand, and broken branches. Occasionally, he was pushed to the surface and could hear the exclamations of the people on the shore.

He struggled desperately, and his hand suddenly grabbed a tree root.

It was a piece of dead wood that had been in the river for many years.

This life-saving tree root was much harder than straw; Li Zhao grabbed it for dear life, and immediately after, his brother slid past him and grabbed his leg.

The lives of both boys were hanging on this piece of dead wood.

On the shore, the Li family servants were trying to find a way to rescue the two young masters.

After swallowing a few mouthfuls of water, Li Zhao discovered in terror that the tree root could not withstand the current and began to bend outward.

It was about to break.

"Rip," the tree root was torn off along with a large piece of bark.

Both boys screamed in terror.

The bark was still hanging on the branch, but it was no longer secure.

Li Zhao turned to his brother and shouted, "Brother, the tree root is going to break!"

But his brother, usually clever, wouldn't listen at all, only shouting incessantly, "Pull me up, pull me up quickly!"

He pulled on Li Zhao's leg with all his might; every time he pulled, the bark broke a little more.

If this continued, both of them would die.

Li Zhao looked at the bark, then back at his brother, and suddenly kicked his brother's hand.

His brother screamed, "What are you doing? Save me!"

Old Master Li saw through their concern, and his heart was even more blocked. If these sons could get two points of his true biography, and a little less internal fighting, the huge Li family wouldn't have to be carried by him alone.

He was seventy after all, old.

The only comfort was that the sixth grandson had good talent, and if he was cultivated well for two years, he might be able to take his place. The sixth grandson was the child of the second family, and the eldest saw his father's intention and had been desperately suppressing his brother.

Alas, the family is unfortunate.

In fact, Old Master Li was not optimistic about Dunyu, strictly speaking, not optimistic about the Yuan Royal Court.

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

The national situation is declining.

Old Master Li sneered secretly. The Li family's way of doing things was not as flamboyant as the Zhan family, selling land and houses until the whole city knew.

The enemy is coming, can the land still be valuable? Over the past two years, the Li family's money had been secretly transferred to the interior, and he and Minister Li had discussed a blessed land. If the war spread south, they would immediately move the whole clan.

The warm fire in the room was baking, and he felt sleepy again. The maid on the side saw this and whispered: "Old Master, it's time to rest."

Old Master Li nodded, and she took down the birdcage from the outer room and hung it in front of the bed curtain.

Two thirteen-year-old girls had already warmed the bed for him, and they would still curl up at his feet tonight.

Old Master Li looked at the bed curtain before going to bed as usual, hmm, the two copper plates tied to the hanging rope were both there. This is a block-evil plate. If any evil thing walks to the front, it will be confused by the plate, unable to see him or smell the human smell.

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

Old Master Li opened it himself and saw a yellow protective talisman hidden inside. The spell was correct.

"Put it back." This is enough to sleep peacefully.

He had offended many people over the years, and he was used to being cautious.

￥￥￥￥￥

Manager Qian, who was dusty, rushed to Ru County again and met He Chunhua.

"General Manager He is ill?"

The door was closed, and there was no one else. He Chunhua stood up, wiped with a towel, and the sallow color on his face fell off. "Where did the illness come from? I have been waiting for Manager Qian's good news."

Steward Old Mo served warm tea, and Manager Qian was thirsty, so he poured several mouthfuls before laughing: "I have not failed my mission."

He took out a blue cloth bag tied with five flowers and opened it.

Inside were two more layers of oil paper.

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

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

With the volume of this bottle, it was just right for giving people medicine and poison.

"This is?"

He Chunhua wanted to take it, but Manager Qian hurriedly reminded: "Stinky, General Manager be careful."

The General Manager hesitated: "I thought what you brought was hair, nails, etc."

The charcoal fire in the room was warm, and Manager Qian broke into a sweat on his forehead after coming in from the ice and snow: "I hope so too. But Old Master Li is suspicious. Last autumn, a high man gave him a divination, saying that he would have a big disaster this year, and if he passed the test smoothly, he could live peacefully to eighty-eight. So the Li family is extra careful. The nails he cut and the hair that fell off must be specially collected and burned. It is said that he also wears protective talismans sought with heavy gold. Enemies sticking villains behind their backs and lowering heads, that is impossible to take effect!"

He Chunhua smiled: "Sure enough, he has done too many evil deeds, and he is guilty."

If it weren't for guilt, why would he be so guarded? Only a thief for a thousand days, how can there be a reason to guard against a thief for a thousand days?

"I originally wanted to get some of his hair through the two bed-warming girls." Old Master Li is old after all, his feet are cold in the middle of winter, and he thinks the soup pot is dry, so he bought two thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girls to warm the bed. "But these two girls have to be checked for clothes as soon as they leave the room, and they are not allowed to carry the master's things out, not even a strand of hair."

"No way, I can only buy the little servant who pours the night incense." Manager Qian spread his hands. "It's just that those who do this work are not fixed people, and it took some effort to find the right person."

He also handed over a note: "This is Old Master Li's birth date. Last year, his thirteenth grandson came to my shop to order clothes for the full moon gift. At that time, his mother was full of pride, proud that the child was born in the same month and day as Old Master Li, only one and a half hours late. I confirmed it again and again."

Calculating from this, it is not difficult.

He Chunhua took it and asked: "The Zhan family and the Li family still have gaps?"

"Yes, always. In the past few days, the Zhan family wanted to sell their family property and leave Dunyu, and the Li family found someone to suppress the price, pressing to death, so others didn't dare to offer a high price, and the Zhan family was so angry that they vomited blood. Before I set off, the Zhan and Li families were arguing about this, and even fought."

"How is it different from a villager?" He Chunhua shook his head. "The descendants are all officials in the Yuan Court, don't they feel ashamed?"

He personally took out a gold bar and pushed it over: "Old Zhu didn't praise the wrong person, you are indeed his most capable subordinate."

Manager Qian smiled: "Don't dare to be!"

"However, this matter is confidential..."

"Don't worry, I will keep my mouth shut." Manager Qian didn't leave any room, and made a poisonous oath with his old mother and ancestors for eighteen generations. If the secret leaked, the ancestors of the Qian family would fall into the infinite hell forever.

"Good, there will be many places to rely on you and the Zhu family in the future." He Chunhua smiled. "The future is promising."

After Manager Qian left, He Chunhua returned to the room to sleep for an hour to recharge his energy.

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

The midnight hour arrived.

Steward Old Mo closed the doors and windows, and He Chunhua lit a green candle and placed it on the table.

He moved the table in advance, making it in the center of the room.

In the closed room, the candle flame was naturally straight, almost motionless. He Chunhua took out an orange-yellow paperweight and put it in Old Mo's hand, then sat down, muttering words in his mouth.

This paperweight was carved from Shoushan stone into the shape of a kite, but it was transparent like honey, much more stable than the color of jade, with radish silk patterns inside, just like the stone was full of small blood vessels.

This kite was yellow and clear, only the two eyes were blood red, adding two points of weirdness to the overall grace.

Steward Old Mo stood behind his master to protect him.

As He Chunhua recited faster and faster, the smoke from the candle began to gather and not disperse, and it was actually green.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 220 =====

An ignorant official runner stepped forward to pull people apart, only to be punched in the nose by Li Zhi, blood streaming down. He was new to the job and young, and not knowing Li Zhi, how could he not fight back? Li Zhi was hit, and the Li family's private soldiers rushed up, aiming straight for the runner's forehead with several heavy blows.

Those fighting, those trying to stop the fight, and those hitting the peacemakers—the entire south of Dunyucheng turned into a pot of boiling porridge.

The surrounding commoners gathered three layers deep inside and out, all stretching their necks to watch the excitement.

This was the Li family and the Zhan family, after all; usually high and mighty, where were they like this today, rolling in the mud and fighting each other? Dignified nobles, fighting to the death like dogs biting dogs.

"Where is Peng Juan?" With the situation out of control, the Assistant Prefect was anxious to find someone. "With something like this happening, where has this Military Aide hidden himself!"

A subordinate kindly reminded him, "Master Peng seems to be resting at home today."

"Go to Qingping Township and drag him back!" The weather was so cold, yet the Assistant Prefect broke into a sweat. "And those thousand or so men of his, bring them back quickly to suppress the chaos!"

Xiazhou had sixteen hundred soldiers; before the new Chief Steward arrived, they were all under the command of the Military Aide.

The subordinate took the order and hurried away.

After he left, half a day passed without him returning.

It was only a little over ten miles from Dunyu to Qingping Township; even without riding a horse, if one ran directly, that much time would be enough for several round trips.

The Assistant Prefect felt even more uneasy:

Peng Juan hadn't come, and his subordinates hadn't returned either; could it be that Qingping Township had encountered an enemy raid? Nian Zanli's small detachments in the north had snuck behind enemy lines to harass the frontier towns more than once or twice. Although Qingping Township was a bit far from the northern line, this possibility could not be ruled out.

The mobility of the enemy cavalry was excellent, after all.

Taking advantage of this gap, the Li family's private soldiers beat the Zhan family until they were black and blue, with several lying on the ground, barely able to move.

Inside the Zhan family, the women and children were crying in a miserable heap.

(End of chapter)