Joy of Life: I am a Han Dynasty succubus, and I rebel from the beginning

Chapter 23, Visit Si Nanbo, Specialty Lentil Mooncakes
Liu Hong held his head high and chest puffed out, as if he were a general returning from a great victory.

Many forces in the court, like sharks smelling blood, rushed towards Liu Hong.

Moreover, most of them held high official positions, the lowest being the fourth rank, a doctor in charge of a department.

Doctor Wei from the Ministry of War looked at Liu Hong with a smile, not worrying at all that Liu Hong would hand Si Lili over to someone else.

Zhu Ge, head of the Supervisory Commission's First Division, also brought his men to block the way, with a threatening look in his eyes that was evident in his words.

But Liu Hong ignored Zhu Ge.

Although the First Supervisory Office is in a high position and has great power, it is still ranked among the top five in the entire Supervisory Commission.

However, Liu Hong was in a border county, and the department in charge of Kyoto affairs had no control over him.

Besides, this guy secretly defected to the eldest princess, and was soon killed by Chen Pingping and Yan Ruohai.

"Master Wei, the suspect is now handed over to you."

Liu Hong drove the carriage to the side of Doctor Wei.

Doctor Wei received the credit for nothing and was in a good mood.

"No, no! Sir Liu was the commander-in-chief not long ago, but now he has been promoted to deputy commander-in-chief. Soon you should call him Commander Liu."

Every word he said was a compliment.

However, Liu Hong's heart skipped a beat and he felt something was wrong.

Could it be that the Ministry of War felt that Liu Hong was promoted too quickly and was preparing to suppress him?

As expected, he entered the Ministry of War and had a flattering conversation with the Vice Minister of the Ministry.

The assistant minister spoke in a hypocritical manner.

He said that he was worried that Liu Hong would be promoted too quickly and would not be able to control tens of thousands of troops, so he changed the title to Viscount instead.

The so-called bounty of one thousand gold was reduced to only one hundred taels of gold after layers of exploitation.

This made Liu Hong furious.

It's obvious that the Ministry of War must have embezzled some of his credit.

What about rising too fast? That’s just an excuse!

All along, the Ministry of War defined Liu Hong’s troops as second-line county troops.

Therefore, Liu Hong needs to recruit soldiers himself.

You can't control the soldiers you recruited? What a joke!
After returning to the Kyoto compound, Liu Hong could no longer conceal his anger.

He kicked the stool away, and with a flash of sword light, the stool broke into two pieces.

"How dare you, you little brat, bully me like this!"

Shi Chanli hurried over and sighed when he saw the miserable state of the stool.

"Sir, when you bribed the Ministry of War, didn't you foresee this moment one day?"

When Liu Hong saw Shi Chanli appear, he slowly suppressed his anger and snorted coldly.

"Of course I knew that, but I didn't expect that I would be so greedy. For the sake of the Ministry of War, I have offended so many forces in Kyoto, including the Supervisory Council!"

Shi Chanli laughed and poured Liu Hong a cup of tea.

Liu Hong suddenly realized and smiled bitterly.

Yes! I have offended so many people.

The Ministry of War considered itself to be Liu Hong's backer, so it exploited Liu Hong without fear.

The atmosphere became depressing.

The Second Prince has many disciples and doesn’t care about Liu Hong at all, or he doesn’t want to offend so many people in Kyoto for Liu Hong.

"Tomorrow, I will formally visit the Fan Mansion!"

Shi Chanli showed a hint of surprise.

"I thought the Lord would visit the Qin family. After all, the Qin family is a giant in the military."

Although the Fan family is not bad, Si Nanbo has a strong favor from the emperor and is also the Minister of Revenue of the current dynasty, who has real power but no name.

But the county magistrate is not as good as the current one, so Liu Hong should stay close to the Qin family.

Liu Hong smiled bitterly. It was not like he had never had such an idea. After all, the Qin family was still several years away from collapse.

But the problem is that the Qin family looks down on him as a mere deputy commander, who is only the commander of the front-line troops leading ten battalions alone.

Only then could Qin Heng, the son of the Qin family, pay a little attention to him.
Although Shi Chanli is intelligent and has great business talent, he is not an official after all, so he cannot understand the twists and turns involved.

The next day, Liu Hong formally submitted a visiting card to the Fan family.

The personal relationship between border generals and dignitaries in the court is a very serious matter, but it is dispensable for the Fan family.

Si Nanbo Fan Jiandu gave a portion of milk to His Majesty the Emperor, so what was wrong with him receiving a small commander?
"Commander Liu, I have long heard of your great name. The battle between Dingzhou and the Hu people has spread the reputation of Daqing. I have also been friends with Commander Liu for a long time..."

Si Nanbo Fan Jian looks like a very old-fashioned middle-aged man, and he is very careful with his words.

Neither enthusiastic nor indifferent, Liu Hong held the gift box, placed it carefully under Si Nanbo's desk, and spoke enthusiastically.

"Lord Si Nanbo works day and night for state affairs, and yet he still pays attention to me. I am deeply honored."

Si Nanbo raised his eyebrows and looked at the gift box with a smile.

Accepting this thing means that the Fan family will be Liu Hong's backer in the future.

It doesn’t matter whether you accept it or not, but you have to make sure that this guy is a smart person.

"The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and I personally made some mooncakes with lentil fillings. I hope Lord Sinan will accept them."

Liu Hong's attitude became more sincere.

“Mooncakes with lentil filling…”

Fan Jian laughed. In all these years, he had never eaten mooncakes with lentil filling.

If this is used to bribe officials, which official cannot withstand such a test?

Open the gift box casually and you will see a golden scene.

Fan Jian gently covered the gift box and stroked his long beard.

"Commander Liu is thoughtful. I have never eaten mooncakes with lentil fillings before. I must try more this time."

The two foxes, one big and one small, smiled at each other.

This time, the search for a backer has finally yielded some results.

"Commander Liu, you have been at the border for some time. How do you feel?"

Fan Jian was obviously much more serious.

This time the matter of the disciples is not like the second prince and Versace, where they can just give a few compliments and then use their talents to scare people.

This degree of freedom is very high, but the Second Prince and Versace's support for Liu Hong is limited.

If something goes wrong, both parties can change their attitude and pretend not to know each other.

Fan Jian's words were obviously a test for Liu Hong.

This is related to the extent of the Fan family's support for Liu Hong.

Now that the Fan family has married into the family of Duke Liu, their relationship with the Prime Minister has eased, and they also have close relations with Prince Jing's Mansion.

In addition, Fan Xian of the Fan family is a popular and powerful official in the court, and the literary world hopes that he will take over the Neiku and the Supervisory Council in the future.

This force is enough to make even the emperor feel fearful.

Of course, Fan Jian couldn't just accept someone and lay the groundwork for cholera for his family.

Liu Hong also understood Fan Jian's intention. He thought for a while and then spoke firmly.

"There will be a war between Northern Qi and Qing! In this war, Qing will win."

Fan Jian was surprised, as he thought Liu Hong would give a long speech.

I didn't expect such a concise summary of the prophecy.

If there wasn't a force behind Liu Hong.

That guy Liu Hong must be no simple person.

Fan Jian couldn't help but stroke his long beard again and pondered for a moment.

"I have a daughter, Fan Ruoruo. Although she has the support of a talented woman from Kyoto, she is too arrogant. I am afraid that some villains may be causing trouble for her. I will trouble Commander Liu to take care of her in the future."

Liu Hong's eyes showed a hint of disappointment, but his goal was achieved, so he clasped his fists and promised.

Fan Jian is worthy of being in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. He is very smart.

He didn't let Liu Hong focus on Fan Xian and Fan Sizhe at all, but instead talked about protecting Fan Ruoruo.

Use Fan Ruoruo and let Liu Hong support the two children of the Fan family.

Moreover, he did not promise to marry off his daughter, so if anything happened, the Fan family would not be involved at all.

Getting something for nothing, that's awesome.

However, Liu Hong achieved his goal and gained the support of the Fan family, which was quite helpful before he was appointed as a general and given a title of nobility.

It’s all win-win cooperation, I guess!
Liu Hong stood up, bowed, and left Fan Jian's study.

Fan Ruoruo, who was wearing a light yellow elegant dress outside the door, smiled gently, stood up, bowed, and spoke softly.

"I'll trouble you, Master Liu, in the future!"

"No, no... In the future, I will need Miss Ruoruo to give me more advice."

Looking at the smile on Fan Ruoruo's face that remained unchanged.

Well! Fan Xian is still too upright to teach his sister puns.

(End of this chapter)