knife

Chapter 308 Wanting to Go to the Palace for a Look

On one side of Baqiao Bridge, Li Dachui lifted the sedan curtain and looked at his teacher Yu Entai, who was sleeping soundly inside, and couldn't help but smile.

"Uncle Wang, please take good care of me along the way!" he said to Old Wang, who was sitting cross-legged on the corner of the car.

"Don't worry about that," Old Wang nodded. "But are you sure your teacher won't lose his temper after three days when he's fully sober? You've never seen him angry, but I've seen him angry twice in the past few decades, and to be honest, it was terrifying! If he really comes back then, I won't be able to do anything about it."

"It's alright, it's alright!" Li Dachui laughed. "Teacher knows the principle of 'what's done is done,' so he certainly won't force Uncle Wang when the time comes! You just need to take care of Teacher's health; they will arrange the rest of the schedule."

"That's good!"

Li Dachui lowered the sedan curtain, turned to look at Zhang Rui, who was frowning and looking like he was about to die for his country, and said, "You won't regret going to the area outside the Great Wall. Didn't you see that even Old Master Yu went there to settle down? Compared to the area inside the Great Wall now, the area outside the Great Wall can be called a paradise."

Zhang Rui said irritably, "Guardian Li, did Old Master Yu really go willingly? I think he was kidnapped by you, wasn't he?"

Li Dachui laughed heartily: "That's not important, Young Master Zhang. You've been traveling with Old Master Yu all this way. If you can gain his favor and get some pointers on your studies, thus earning the title of a disciple, you'll be set for life."

"Why can't I just be a personal disciple?" Zhang Rui said irritably.

“That’s impossible, because I’m Old Master Yu’s last disciple!” Li Dachui said, raising his head. “As it stands, you don’t have anything that can impress Old Master Yu.”

Zhang Rui was immediately discouraged.

I really can't compare to Li Dachui.

Although the other person was younger than him, he was of a higher status than his father. When talking to his father, the other person was an equal or even superior, while he could only play the role of serving tea and water.

"Don't be discouraged. Whether you're talented or not depends on who you compare yourself to!" Wu De laughed from the side. "Protector Li is one of the chosen ones, we can't compare to him, but compared to others, we also have things to be proud of, right? Protector Li, I'll get a job for Young Master Zhang. When we get to the border, I'll let Young Master Zhang become a Marquis of Baili, the lord of a county, how about that?"

Li Dachui turned to look at Zhang Rui: "I just don't know if Young Master Zhang is willing to be a people-friendly official and do some practical things for the country and the people?"

“Of course I’m willing!” Zhang Rui quickly replied, “Over the past few years, I’ve been running around. Although I don’t hold a formal position, I’ve done many things for the family myself. Many things that my father couldn’t do himself, I did! To be honest, I really didn’t expect my father to send me to the Northeast. Even if I’m a hostage, there are other people in the family.”

Wu De patted his shoulder: "The reason I'm sending you is because your father values ​​you and doesn't want you to be in danger. The area inside the pass is going to be a fierce battleground, and one wrong move could mean death and the extermination of your clan. Sending you outside the pass is because your father is thinking about the future of the family. You'll understand these things when you get there."

Zhang Rui turned to look at Chang'an City. He was about to leave this bustling and beautiful world. Beyond the Great Wall, it was said to be an extremely barbaric and desolate land.

Is it really as good as Wu De said?
Li Dachui reached out and broke off a willow branch from the roadside, stuck it on the carriage beside him, waved his hand, and the caravan slowly started moving.

"Go back, I'll treat you to breakfast!" Li Dachui said to Wu De with a smile.

“In Chang’an, I’m a local, so I’ll treat the Protector-General to my meal!” Wu De said. “I know a small shop that I always make sure to visit whenever I return to Chang’an; it’s very unique.”

"Oh, I wonder what kind of good stuff it is?"

"It's nothing special, just a tofu shop!" Wu De said. "But their tofu pudding is exceptionally delicious and tender!"

"Is the person who makes tofu a stunningly beautiful woman?"

"She was a beautiful woman with a waist three feet thick and weighing about two hundred pounds. Her old man, on the other hand, was thin and small, but although he was skinny, he was very energetic!"

Li Dachui laughed loudly, spurring his horse and cracking the whip: "Let's go, let's go and try our luck with this stunningly beautiful woman with a waist three feet thick!"

After a short while, just as dawn broke, Li Dachui and Wu De were already sitting in a roadside shop.

The freshly made tofu pudding was steaming hot and placed in front of the two of them. The plump woman brought over a tray containing pickled mustard greens, chopped fried dough, ground soybeans, chili oil, grape blossoms, and fragrant vinegar. Just smelling the aroma made Li Dachui's mouth water.

Staring at the plump woman's swaying buttocks, Li Dachui laughed and said, "It really is good stuff!"

"I didn't expect Protector Li to like fat people?" Wu De joked as he sprinkled various crumbs into the tofu pudding.

“Of course, being fat is a symbol of national prosperity and peace. Only when a country is strong will there be fat people, while when the world is in chaos, you will mostly see people who are skin and bones!” Li Dachui lowered his head, put his mouth to the rim of the bowl, and slurped a mouthful. “Unfortunately, even prosperous times eventually decline!” Wu De sighed.

"So we must do everything we can to shorten the period of chaos as much as possible, bring back the golden age, and have more plump women like these!" Li Dachui said.

Wu De nodded.

"You will go to Sichuan with the main force of the inspection team!" Li Dachui said. "Join forces with Zhang Songlin to resolve the situation in Sichuan as quickly as possible. Then, the military operations battalion controlled by the Ministry of War should be transferred to Sichuan as much as possible."

"After I leave, He Bing's power will likely increase significantly."

"It's alright. You can take the elite troops and leave some of the old, weak, sick, and disabled for him. This will also prevent you from having a direct conflict with him. This person rarely has any real experience and still needs to rely on his subordinates to get things done. As long as you make the arrangements below, there won't be many problems."

"The task of sourcing more equipment from the Ministry of War's armories and war reserve warehouses across the country and hiding it has been entrusted to Luo Liang and his nephew Luo Ying. With Zhang Songlin's cooperation, these local armories will be rendered empty in just a few months," Wu De said with a smile. "I've seen some of Zhang Songlin's arrangements, and I can only say that this man is quite capable."

“Those who have risen to this position are not easily matched,” Li Dachui laughed. “Before you leave, could you think of a way to take me to the palace for a look?”

"Enter the palace?" Wu De was taken aback. "Now it's not a big problem for me to enter the palace, and I can bring people in too. But Protector, the palace is really heavily guarded. Moreover, the emperor is a master of the Innate Realm, and there's also that old bastard Yi Ming, who is also a master of the Innate Realm. It is said that these two people are already at the peak of the Innate Realm."

Seeing Wu De's somewhat worried face, Li Dachui laughed and said, "Are you afraid I'll go and kill the emperor?"

Wu De smiled but didn't say anything.

In his view, Li Dachui was truly audacious; in Luoyang, hadn't he devised a plan to eliminate Kou Dayin?
Once they arrived in Chang'an, it wouldn't be impossible for them to assassinate the emperor.

After all, Emperor Li Anmin was the main culprit who killed his parents back then.

However, Chang'an is not Luoyang, and the imperial palace in Chang'an is not comparable to the battlefield in Luoyang.

"Don't worry, I just want to see the East Palace where my parents used to live. I heard that place is abandoned now, isn't it?" Li Dachui said while munching on tofu pudding. "I just want to pay my respects to our ancestors. My mother's remains are gone, but didn't you find out from Kou Zhong that my father's remains are buried in the East Palace's main hall? It's fine if you didn't come, but since you're here, how can you not pay your respects?"

“Dongying is indeed abandoned. You’re just going there for a look, so there’s no problem!” Li Dachui’s words made perfect sense, and Wu De breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't worry, I value my life very much. I'm so young, and my cultivation is so high. I can live for many, many years and do many, many things. Why would I easily put myself in danger?" Li Dachui said.

"Let's wait a few days, I'll think of a way! I'll bring you into the palace."

"It's strange, isn't Li Anmin also practicing the Heaven-Slaying Technique? This kind of weird skill, if practiced to a deep level, will definitely damage the brain and make one crazy. How come Li Anmin has reached the peak of the Innate Realm and is still perfectly fine?" After finishing his tofu pudding, Li Dachui raised his head, looking quite puzzled.

When Xiao Changche reached the ninth rank, his meridians began to have problems. During the process of treating her, he deeply felt the damage that Fatian had done to her body.

Li Muye, who had cultivated the Heaven-Slaying Technique to the peak of the Innate Realm after his ancestor Li Muye, also suffered from health problems in his prime and eventually died in a fit of madness.

From then on, the number of members of the Li royal family who practiced the Heaven-Slaying Technique gradually decreased. Later, they even modified the Heaven-Slaying Technique and passed it on to ordinary soldiers.

Li Anmin can be considered another master who has cultivated the art of "Conquering the Heavens" to this level.

“How come there haven’t been any problems?” Wu De shook his head and said, “In the past ten years, the emperor has rarely left the inner palace. Instead, he has been staying with that old bastard Mao Yiming, taking drugs every day. He claims that he is using elixirs to help him break through to the Divine Ascension Realm, but who knows what the actual situation is? Anyway, Magistrate Kou once said that the emperor’s condition should be very bad. In the past two years, even the magistrate and Chief Minister Wei have rarely seen the emperor.”

"Can you find a way to get your hands on the medicine the emperor takes?" Li Dachui asked. "I'd like to take a look."

"You want to judge the emperor's health condition by the medicine he takes?" Wu De asked.

Li Dachui nodded: "I'm no slouch when it comes to medicine! Emperor Yingzhuo of the Great Yuan Dynasty was sent to his death by a single pill of mine."

Wu De looked at Li Dachui and shuddered: "Think of a way, maybe we can get some medicine residue. Our Qin emperor is not like the Yuan emperor, it's not very likely that he can be poisoned!"

Li Dachui laughed and said, "You overestimate me. It was his son who poisoned the emperor of the Great Yuan Dynasty. I only provided the medicine."

(End of this chapter)