Memoirs of the Heavenly Khan

Chapter 120 Fate is wonderful

Chapter 120 Fate is wonderful
The sun rises high and the sky shines brightly.

The huge river valley basin, bathed in the morning light, seems covered with a golden veil.

In the dock, Li Shuang had already gotten up early. He took a bowl of mutton soup sprinkled with chopped green onions from the cook in the kitchen and took a sip.

The mutton soup was overflowing with the aroma of meat and rich in fat. As I swallowed it, I felt a warmth throughout my body. The drowsiness caused by the chill of the autumn mountains when I woke up early was swept away, and I felt full of energy, and my hands and feet began to warm up.

The cook brought out a plate of Hu pancakes sprinkled with sesame seeds. They were baked until crispy and had a particularly chewy texture. Paired with a bowl of fragrant mutton soup, a whole pancake could be finished in just a few bites.

After Li Shuang had eaten and drunk his fill, he stood up, walked out of the kitchen, and went up to the attic.

The view from the attic is excellent. The sunlight has dispelled the morning mist, and people can be seen farming in the fields outside the fort.

Li Shuang took a book and started reading.

When the sun was about to reach noon, the person he was waiting for finally arrived.

Li Daoyuan was invited to the attic and looked at Li Shuang with a deep gaze.

"The Lieutenant Censor has recently been redressing grievances for the people. Has he achieved anything?"

Li Daoyuan was silent.

After he opened the court to seek justice for people, it wasn't that no one came, but those who came either talked about trivial neighborhood matters or had no purpose at all.

The rest, the most concentrated one, fell on one person.

"Who exactly is this Liu Lisheng, and why has he caused such public outrage?"

"To be honest with you, Lieutenant Censor, this Liu Lisheng is the leader of the bandits in the mountains. He is known to be rude, cunning, and extremely audacious."

"How to say it?"

Li Shuang asked Li Daoyuan to sit down.

"I'm just a small governor. My job here is to protect the country and its people. I watch over the salt ponds in Hedong for the imperial court, preventing local tyrants and bandits from taking advantage of them. Of course, sometimes I have to sell the salt ponds to places like Bing and Si to make some money."

Li Daoyuan didn't expect Li Shuang to be so frank.

"Did you know that court officials are not allowed to participate in the sale of pond salt?"

"I have no choice, because the person behind me is very special!"

"who?"

"The Queen Mother and General Wei!"

As the saying goes, if you walk by the river, you will get your feet wet. Even the inner palace is not airtight.

After Empress Hu came to power, she was no longer as cautious as before. It seemed that she had been imprisoned for a long time. After she came to power this time, she became more unrestrained than when she first came to power.

Over time, the news of Empress Hu and Li Shengui's affair spread out of the palace.

Li Daoyuan had naturally heard of them, but he never expected that these two people would actually do business together.

"Let's not talk about them today, let's talk about Liu Lisheng!"

"Liu Lisheng is incredibly cunning. He hides in the mountains and appears and disappears unexpectedly. Eight out of ten times, he's robbed my goods. Just imagine how rich he must be!"

Li Daoyuan pondered.

"Before I came here, I heard some things about him. I heard that he recruited soldiers and horses, overwhelmed the various tribes of Jihu, and even seized the Hu people in Hexi and even occupied the city of the imperial court."

"Since the Lieutenant Censor knows this, I won't elaborate." Li Shuang put down the book in his hand. "If the Lieutenant Censor can eliminate Liu Lisheng, then he will be paid any amount of money. The grievances of those Xianbei nobles who died tragically at his hands will naturally be cleared up."

"You are the governor, why don't you suppress the bandits?"

Li Daoyuan questioned, but heard Li Shuang say:

"I am only the governor of Tangzhou, but Liu Lisheng is causing chaos in Fenzhou, Hengzhou, and even in Hedong and Hexi. I can only barely protect this province."

After Li Shuang finished speaking, Li Daoyuan had nothing to say. This was indeed not something Li Shuang could control.

At least, that's what it looks like on the surface.

When Li Daoyuan heard this, all the clues were gone, and it seemed impossible to investigate further.

The bandit suppression campaign in Tangzhou seemed to have come to a perfect end here.

After all, even Erzhu Rong, who had a strong army, was defeated in the fight against Liu Lisheng.

Few of the nearby leaders had the ability to do this, and even if they did, no one was willing to do it.

Li Daoyuan looked at the young man in front of him and sighed in his heart:

"Impeccable!" Li Daoyuan thought about this and said with a folded hand:

"Well, I'm sorry to bother you these days. I will write a letter to the court to describe the achievements of the governor in governing the area."

"Thank you, Lieutenant Censor, for your impartiality and your righteous words!"

"I'm leaving now!"

As soon as Li Daoyuan left, Hou Jing hurried up.

"My lord, is this old fellow gone just like that?"

Li Shuang smiled.

"of course not!"

"So what is he going to do?"

"Since we can't find it in Tangzhou, then we'll naturally look for it outside of Tangzhou."

Hou Jing's expression changed and he felt a little worried.

"How about Chen Shuangchi? Should I say hello?"

"Outside of Tangzhou, it's none of my business!"

Xue Yan, the ancestor of the Xue family, served as the prime minister of Donghai in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. His son Xue Lan died in battle in the second year of Xingping. His grandson Xue Yong followed Liu Bei, overcoming all obstacles and conquering Yizhou. He was a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty.

After the founding of Shu Han, Xue Yong served as the prefect of Shu County.

After Emperor Liu Chan surrendered, Xue Yong's son Xue Qi and 5000 households of his family surrendered to Wei, and then moved back to Hedong, and were known as "Shu Xue"!
The Xue family is also known as the Shu people. Of course, this is not meant as a compliment.

When Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty was dividing clans, the Xue family was almost not allowed to be included in the county surnames because of their Shu origin.

Chen Shuangchi was a native of Shu and moved to Jiang County in Hedong. He had a close relationship with the Xue family of Hedong.

Therefore, Xue Xiuyi's greeting was very useful to Chen Shuangchi.

After listening to this, Hou Jing seemed to understand.

"My Lord, should we add some ingredients?"

"No need, let him seek justice, the more the better!"
-
Hongnong.

Xue Xiuyi, who was recruiting soldiers, looked at the secret letter sent by his subordinates, and his brows were almost twisted into a river.

"How did Chen Shuangchi offend Li Daoyuan?"

Xue Xiuyi was also wary of Li Daoyuan's reputation.

Although he was a daring and destabilizing element in society, a tough and fearless person like Li Daoyuan was his natural nemesis.

"I heard he was ordered by the imperial court to investigate the bandit suppression in Pingyang County, but somehow his investigation ended up covering the entire Hedong area, causing chaos."

"Then what does Li Shuang say?"

"He didn't speak!"

Xue Xiuyi burned the secret letter and paced back and forth in the tent, but he could not eliminate the anxiety in his heart.

"Or just kill this old man."

Xue Xiuyi angrily rebuked his subordinate's suggestion.

"You are presumptuous!"

Xue Xiuyi's anger made his men dare not say anything.

"Go, write a letter to Li Shuang and ask him to think of a solution. At least, don't let Li Daoyuan just focus on Chen Shuangchi."

"But Duke Tang is not in Pingyang now."

"Where did he go?"

"He went back to Jinyang!"

"Why would he go back to Jinyang at this time?"