The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 10: Late Night Robbery
Li Yan's residence is located on a small island in the pond, surrounded by water with rippling waves. Groups of carp playing in the water are swimming around, showing their graceful postures and displaying a red beauty; the lotus flowers are standing tall and clean out of the water, and the large lotus leaves are either lowering their heads, or raising their foreheads, or floating on the water to show their sympathy, or burrowing into the leaves, shyly peeking at the pretty face, wanting to speak.

The willow branches on the ancient bank are swaying in the breeze, just like a woman standing on the river bank, gazing at the lotus pond. The pavilion has a single eave and six corners, which are transparent on all sides. The wind can blow in any direction. In spring, it sends the fragrance of grass and in summer, it gathers the beauty of lotus.

Wuzhu Youju is a square pavilion with ingenious and unique design and interesting style. It is the main viewing spot in the east of the central pond.

This pavilion is surrounded by a corridor, which is quite similar to Tianquan Pavilion, but each has its own beauty. The red pillars and white walls complement each other, and the colors are bright. Among the thousands of lotus leaves, such a lotus is even more amazing.

The eaves are raised and angled, with distinct thickness and bright color, and are easy to use. It is backed by a long corridor and faces a wide pool.

With nothing to do, standing by the water, Aldo stood beside him with fish food in his hand. Li Yan occasionally threw some fish food into the water and watched the carp swimming in groups. Large groups of carp in the water scrambled for food. The fish tails slapped the water surface, making a rustling sound, and from time to time the lotus in the water swayed, which was very moving.

"Master Ten, I didn't expect that the officials and gentry in Suzhou are so self-conscious. They have already done their work before I arrived. Now we have some free time. For more than ten days, we have been eating, drinking and having fun every day. Master Ten, I feel like I have gained weight." Aldo said happily.

Li Yan smiled faintly, shook his head and said, "You know what? They are so smart. You are raising money, and they have already raised it for you. You need food, and they have also prepared it. They are so self-conscious, how can we have the nerve to make things difficult for them. Suzhou is close to the sea, and the maritime merchants here are more wealthy than you can imagine. If I were to raise the money myself, it would not be enough for just 500,000 taels, so they would take the initiative to hand it over to stop me from reaching out again."

"They've already handed it over, how can I ask for it again?"

"As for Suzhou, after we arrived, it was a scene of peace and prosperity. All conflicts were hidden to avoid giving me a chance to lose my temper. They left us idle, drinking and feasting every day. Since there is nothing to do, we should leave early. Why are you staying here? You are trying to coax me, the great envoy, to leave! Believe it or not, as long as we don't leave, it will be like this every day in the future."

Aldo frowned when he heard this and said, "Then Master Shi, what should we do? Should we find some fault and teach them a lesson?"

"Forget it. He is so respectful and careful in serving me. He is not rude or disrespectful. He greets me with a smile and gives me generous gifts every day."

"Aldo, do you still have the nerve to cause trouble for others!" Li Yan asked with a smile.

Aldo's face flushed, he scratched his head, smiled innocently and said, "That's true, I've received a lot of gifts, I really can't find a reason."

"Then, Master Shi, what should we do next?"

"Starting tomorrow, tell them not to host a banquet. I, the tenth master, want to visit the beautiful scenery of Suzhou. Ask them to send two guides to take us around. I have been away from Beijing for more than a month and have been busy all day. I, the tenth master, also want to take a break and relax!" Li Yan said with a smile, then picked up the booklet in his hand and began to read.

This is the information about wealthy merchants in Suzhou and Hangzhou that Li Yan asked Gao Fu to collect from the market.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, although the imperial court implemented maritime bans most of the time, maritime merchants from Suzhou, Songjiang, Hangzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou relied on smuggling to sell the Qing Dynasty's tea, porcelain, silk, cloth, damask, gauze, textiles and other products to dozens of countries and regions in Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia, Northeast Africa, etc. by sea transport, and then transported these local specialties to the inland for sale. The profits were so huge that they were beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

Because of the imperial court's ban on maritime trade, private overseas trade became more prosperous. Some unscrupulous businessmen even colluded with pirates to rob other caravans.

In addition, there is no tax, so everyone has accumulated billions of wealth.

A mere 500,000 taels of silver would be considered a huge sum in other places, but in Suzhou and Hangzhou, this amount of money is just a trick. It seems that these people really regard themselves as the Tenth Prince who has never seen the world.

But Li Yan didn't care. After all, the money earned through legitimate means would eventually be used for disaster relief, while the money earned through private means would be his own.

The trip to Jiangnan is not in vain.

The whole next day, Li Yan and his group followed the guide sent by Chen Pengnian to visit various scenic spots in Suzhou City. The guide was a Jiangnan woman in her twenties, with a graceful figure, outstanding looks, a melon-shaped face, big eyes, and a soft Wu dialect, which made Li Yan feel relaxed and attracted to the place.

The officials of Suzhou Prefecture were relieved to see that although the Tenth Master did not leave, he did not interfere in local affairs and went out to play. It was understandable that the prince from Beijing, who had come to the Jiangnan water town for the first time out of the capital, was fascinated by the scenery of the south and was intoxicated by it. He spent the whole day touring the mountains and rivers.

After all, the Tenth Master accepted all the silver, antiques, famous paintings and treasures given by everyone and put them all in his pocket.

The effect came out. Shi Ye didn't care about anything and had fun every day, which was a good thing. As for disaster relief, Shi Ye didn't care about it at all. Suzhou officials who were far away from the disaster area didn't care about it at all, so he was more attentive and invited people to a small banquet every three days and a big banquet every five days.

After a whole day of sightseeing, I had tea in the evening and told Aldo that I had to have a good rest and no one was allowed to disturb me.

Li Yan changed into a nightgown and a black hood covering his head, the type used by Murong Bo, which only left two eyes and nostrils, covering his head and face to make sure that he would not be recognized. He nodded with satisfaction and used his light body skills to quietly leave the Humble Administrator's Garden. Although he did not know martial arts, Li Yan had the inner foundation of Yue Buqun for twenty years, and he would practice boxing and kicking with Aldo and other guards.

Before long, Li Yan had mastered a lot of kung fu. With the help of the internal force in his dantian, he could easily climb over a three-meter-high wall by using the force from the middle. This was because he was not very familiar with it. Li Yan knew that Yue Buqun could fly more than ten meters at a time and he was far inferior to him.

During this period of time, Li Yan figured out some ways to use internal force based on his own knowledge.

For example, if you direct the internal energy to your legs, you will be able to jump more than twenty meters high; if you direct it to your eyes, you will increase your vision, see farther, and see things clearly even at night; if you direct it to your ears, you will be able to hear subtler sounds by concentrating and calming your mind, and so on.

After coming here, Li Yan also learned about the martial arts in this world, and found that there were no martial arts masters who were very powerful.

Aldo was the imperial guard sent by the emperor to serve in the palace. He was at most stronger than ordinary people, but far inferior to the knights in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer. The moves he learned from them, combined with his internal strength, made him fearless. However, what he did tonight could not be known to others, so Li Yan sneaked out secretly.

It was almost midnight and the streets were pitch black. Occasionally, a light would leak out from the shops that were still open, flickering on the road.

At this time, most people had fallen asleep. The sky was covered with dark clouds and the sound of sporadic dog barking could be heard in the distance.

Li Yan, dressed in black, followed the dark shadow at the corner of the wall to a residential area and gently exerted force on his feet.

"Whoosh"

He climbed up the courtyard wall and looked around. He saw a light in the main building in the distance. After a moment of thought, he sneaked into the wide courtyard and went towards the light.

This is the residence of Shen Gui, a maritime merchant from Suzhou. Shen Gui's family has been engaged in business for generations, mainly smuggling by sea, including tea, silk, porcelain, and even human beings.

The family had more than 100 ships, and employed more than 3,000 sailors, servants and guards. The annual profit reached hundreds of thousands of taels. Moreover, they colluded with Japanese pirates in Japan, and kept two teenage Japanese girls at home. It was said that the amount of wealth accumulated over generations was astonishing, rich enough to rival a country, and the family's silver vault could not hold it all.

Li Yan was going to rob Shen Gui tonight to get rid of harm for the people. It was his first time to be a thief, so Li Yan was a little excited. He sneaked in the dark night with excitement and encountered several night guards. Fortunately, Li Yan discovered them in advance with his extraordinary hearing and easily avoided them.

After walking around for a long time, he still couldn't find the place where he saw the light just now. Just when he was worried, a lone servant came over from a distance. Li Yan stepped forward and covered his mouth, pulled him to the corner, and flashed the knife in his hand: "Boy, do you want to live or die?"

"Master, please spare my life. I am just a servant. Take whatever you want, but don't kill me." The servant whispered when he saw the cold knife on his neck.

He nodded fearfully, indicating that he would never scream out loud!
"Where does Shen Gui sleep?" Li Yan asked threateningly.

The servant began to panic: "I have only been in the mansion for three days and I don't know where the master lives."

"That means you are of no use. People without value don't deserve to live. Remember to enter the palace earlier in your next life." Li Yan said sternly, pretending that the knife in his hand was about to fall.

The huge threat of death aroused the servant's will to survive, and he quickly said: "I remember now, I was here to empty the chamber pot for the master, and I was just about to go to the master. I'll take you there now, please spare my life, master!"

Li Yan smiled, grabbed his arm with one hand, and held the knife to his neck with the other hand: "Lead the way, if you dare to move, I will kill you first."

"Yes, yes, I will not move. Master, be careful with your knife."

It seems that I am quite talented. It was so easy for me to do it the first time, thanks to my extensive knowledge from watching TV and playing games.

Li Yan smiled proudly.

The servant brought Li Yan to the brightly lit main building and pointed to the front and said, "The master is resting inside. You can go by yourself. I promise not to make any noise."

"Really? Come in with me. If there's anything wrong, I'll kill you first. You're so loyal to your master. You must be willing to die for him." Li Yan had excellent eyesight. Although his eyes were squinting, he could still see the servant's eyes flickering. He was moved and said tentatively.

(End of this chapter)