The Bad Guys: Playing the Fake Li Xingyun at the Beginning

"To Khitan?"

Zhang Zifan was puzzled at first, but then his eyes lit up. "Okay, let's go to Khitan. Please arrange for me to go to Khitan immediately. I really don't want to stay in Luoyang anymore."

Su Ming understood his thoughts very well and said in a deep voice, "No one from the imperial court had ever been to Khitan as an envoy before. You were the only one who had been there once. Therefore, I think it would be most appropriate for you to mediate the matter of opening a trade fair."

Having said this, he paused for a moment and continued, "However, this matter is not up to you to decide. Brother Zhang, I suggest you ask Lin Xuan and Master Xu first."

Zhang Zifan’s joyful expression froze in an instant, his eyes wandering, “My mother will probably agree. As for Lin Xuan, Lin Xuan…” He couldn’t continue the story.

"Brother Li, you have to help me."

"I will try my best to persuade Lin Xuan for you. Don't worry, if nothing unexpected happens, there shouldn't be any big problem." Su Ming comforted.

"That makes me feel relieved, Brother Li, thank you." Zhang Zifan found a chair and sat down, staring at the dome with lifeless eyes, slumped on it, like a puddle of mud, full of fatigue.

He couldn't afford to offend either Qingguo Qingcheng or Lu Linxuan. One of them had extremely high fighting power, and the other was carrying a fetus to control the whole family. He dared not offend anyone.

In addition, Master Xu Huan has made him stay in the Taoist temple for the past few months to preside over affairs and learn the various etiquette procedures of the Tianshi Mansion, which has exhausted him both mentally and physically.

"You don't have to worry too much. I think the two sisters couldn't wait because they saw that Lin Xuan was pregnant. If you marry someone, you have to treat them equally and not show favoritism."

Zhang Zifan grabbed his hair, feeling depressed. "I know, but they have to let me take a break. How can I bear it if they come at me all the time?"

……

In the imperial garden, Lu Linxuan was sitting here basking in the sun. After not seeing her for a few months, her flat belly was bulging higher, and she was pregnant for the first time. There were two middle-aged women in Taoist robes waiting beside her.

These two people were Kun Daoists that Xu Huan brought to Luoyang from Xuanwu Mountain. They were proficient in medicine and good at taking care of the body. They were specially prepared for Lu Linxuan.

The sunlight poured on her, and Lu Linxuan's face looked slightly plump, revealing a strong maternal glow.

"Lin Xuan, I haven't seen you for a few days. You look much better now." Su Ming walked over not far away, smiling.

"Senior Brother, how come you have time to come here?" Hearing the voice, Lu Linxuan opened his eyes and sat up carefully.

"I came to see you and give Brother Zhang a favor."

Speaking of Zhang Zifan, Lu Linxuan snorted softly and curled his lips, "Why doesn't he come by himself? Don't those two people want him to come?"

Upon hearing this, Su Ming couldn't help but smile bitterly. As expected, pregnant women have bad tempers. He used to be quite polite to Qingguo Qingcheng, but now he actually changed his name to this.

"No, it's not that he doesn't want to come, but I want to borrow him for some time, so I want to ask for your opinion."

"Borrow him?" Lu Linxuan was a little confused and couldn't figure it out for a while.

Su Ming found a place to sit down and explained, "The Khitan envoy is about to return home. I would like to ask Brother Zhang to go to the border to preside over the establishment of a trade fair. No minister in the court has ever dealt with the Khitan, and he is the only one who has been an envoy to the Khitan. He is the most suitable person to go for this matter."

"It's just that you're pregnant now, and he's going on a long journey, so I came here to ask for your opinion."

Lu Linxuan was stunned for a moment, with a suspicious look in his eyes, "Brother, you didn't come with him to deceive me, did you? Zhang Zifan must dislike me, so he asked you to come here, right?"

Su Ming looked at Lu Linxuan and spoke earnestly, "The peace talks with Khitan are known to the world, and the trade is related to the peace of both sides in the next few years. We can't be careless. Zhang Zifan married a beautiful woman who has connections with the Khitans. For this reason, they dare not go too far."

"If it was any other official who went, things might not be so simple. This matter has to be handled by him, otherwise my brother wouldn't have bothered him. After all, you are still pregnant, and it is not appropriate for him to travel far."

Seeing the seriousness on Su Ming's face, Lu Linxuan's doubts immediately dissipated. After thinking for a few seconds, he nodded gently, "Brother, since it is related to national affairs, of course I support you. I have my mother to take care of me here, so he doesn't necessarily have to be here."

"But, will this be dangerous?" Although Lu Linxuan knew that Zhang Zifan would not encounter any danger with his strength and identity, he still asked one more question.

"Don't worry, Khitan and Central Plains are in peace talks, and there is no fighting on the border. Brother Zhang will be fine this time." Su Ming gave her a reassurance.

These words immediately made Lu Linxuan feel relieved. She still had more faith in her senior brother. If it was Zhang Zifan, she would definitely not be so easy to talk to.

……

Qianqiu Palace.

Zhang Zifan was walking back and forth in the hall, looking at the door from time to time, feeling anxious and restless.

When he saw Su Ming coming back, his eyes lit up and he quickly went forward to greet him, "Brother Li, how is it?"

Su Ming nodded, "Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission. Lin Xuan agreed."

Suddenly, Zhang Zifan was so excited that he gave Su Ming a bear hug on the spot, "Brother Li, I can finally be free!"

"Alright, alright." Su Ming felt a chill and quickly pushed him away, saying in a deep voice, "This matter can be big or small. You must be careful when you go to the border. You must not offend the governors of the border towns. Although these people cannot accomplish anything, they are definitely good at doing bad things."

Zhang Zifan's heavy heart disappeared, and he regained his previous confidence. "Brother Li, don't worry. I have experience dealing with the Khitans. When I go to the border town, I will stay with the Khitans. I believe those people will not dare to provoke them."

Su Ming smiled. This method was a good idea. Those military governors and soldiers might dare to bully the officials sent by the court, but they would never dare to provoke the Khitans.

They were thankful that the Khitans did not move south. How could they dare to provoke them?

……

The next day, Li Cunli, deputy minister of the Secretariat, submitted a list of officials to be sent as envoys to Khitan in the court, and Zhang Zifan's name was on the list.

Because of the previous mission to Khitan, many people in the court knew Zhang Zifan. They knew that he was the emperor's confidant and had been in charge of the imperial guards. It was appropriate to add him to the list.

Similarly, Li Siyuan was too lazy to care about such trivial matters.

Zhang Zifan's departure from the court would mean one less person available to the emperor. He would love this to happen, so how could he possibly object?

He even accepted the Khitan peace talks, let alone sending someone who had a relationship with the Khitans to visit Khitan as an envoy.

After completing a series of procedures, a few days later, Zhang Zifan and the Khitan envoys left Luoyang and headed for the border.

Before leaving, Qingguo Qingcheng and Lu Linxuan, who was pregnant, bid farewell to him outside the city. They were in tears and very reluctant to let him go, but they could only watch him leave.

I don’t know when I will be able to return this time.

Maybe when Zhang Zifan comes back, everything will be different.

Chapter 192 Yuan Tiangang meets Meng Po

After sending Zhang Zifan away, Su Ming couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. This solved a future worry. Otherwise, he really wouldn't be able to do anything to him.

Unless it is absolutely necessary, he will not attack the companions around Li Xingyun. Before he and Yuan Tiangang decide the winner, these people cannot be touched.

Firstly, if he won, these people might not be his enemies. Secondly, if he killed them now, Li Wentong and You Chuan would inevitably feel grief over their loss and stay away from him.

He could kill even these people, and he might kill them in the future as well. At this juncture, it is easy for things to get out of hand and it is not worth it.

After seeing Zhang Zifan off, Su Ming continued his daily life of reviewing memorials, while running back and forth between Yelu Zhiwu and the empress, enjoying the two completely different styles of beauties.

But in this way, he subconsciously ignored Chi Meng.

Ever since Su Ming brought You Chuan to the palace, Chi Meng found it novel at first and dragged him around everywhere. But after a few days, she got annoyed and felt that he was like a follower.

And You Chuan is a person who silently devotes himself. Although he noticed Chi Meng's emotions, he still waited silently.

On this day, in order to avoid You Chuan, Chi Meng simply ran to Su Ming's Qianqiu Palace.

Except for the time when Su Ming greeted her when she first arrived, Su Ming was busy reviewing memorials for the rest of the time without even raising his eyelids.

After one hour, two hours, Chi Meng felt sleepy.

Finally, seeing that the memorials on the table were almost finished, Chi Meng lay on the soft couch and asked softly, "Little brother, why do you have to revise so many memorials every day? Aren't you tired?"

Su Ming put down the red brush, rubbed his wrist, and replied, "Of course I am tired. Being an emperor is not easy. In the future, there will be more memorials to be revised."

"Then why don't you let someone else do it? You have so many ministers under you." In the past, Chi Meng would not ask. She was naive and did not understand the reason.

I just happened to see you today, so I asked this question.

Su Ming did not answer, but continued to revise the memorial on the table. Then he put down his pen, walked to the couch and sat down, looking into her eyes and said, "If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. Some things are already on people's shoulders when they are born."

"I am the Son of Heaven, shepherding the people on behalf of God. It is my responsibility to govern the people. Likewise, you have a responsibility as well."

"You are the Saint of Raojiang. Although your father was imprisoned by Chi Li, he did not harm you and still retained your identity as the Saint. Logically, you should be living a carefree life in Raojiang. Why are you staying here now?" Su Ming answered her question and then asked her another question.

This question confused Chi Meng. She thought for a long time before speaking sullenly, "Chi Li is not a good person. He imprisoned my father and wanted to bring Rao Jiang to the world. Of course I can't let him succeed."

Su Ming made a cup of tea for himself and her, and said faintly, "Yes, you see, Chi Li didn't kill your father, nor did he kill you. The reason you stopped him was actually to save the people of Raojiang and prevent them from being involved in the war."

"If you were born as an ordinary woman without the status of a saint, would you still have such thoughts?"

Chi Meng sat up, thought carefully, and shook his head, "No."

Su Ming smiled. "Look, you understand all these principles. There are some things you have to do. You went to the Central Plains to save the people of Raojiang, and I review memorials all day long because I want to make this world a better place."

"In some ways, we are doing the same thing, which is responsibility. As a descendant of the Li Tang bloodline, I must shoulder this responsibility and cannot escape it."

"Now, do you understand?"

At this moment, Chi Meng thought of herself and suddenly realized something. She picked up the teacup and looked at Su Ming with a strange look, "Little brother, you are really different now. You are not the same as before."

Su Ming's hand, which was making tea, paused for a moment, "Oh, what's the difference?"

Chi Meng said embarrassedly, "Before, you only had my sister in your eyes and didn't care about these things. Now, after you became the emperor, you seem to have grown up and taken on responsibilities like me."

"Well, although I was forced by the bad guy, little brother, I think a man should be like you, brave enough to take responsibility and not run away."

It’s a pity that the person sitting here now is not the real Li Xingyun.

Su Ming sighed in his heart and looked at her again, "Chi Meng, if one day you find that I am no longer myself, what will you do?"

Chi Meng tilted her head and pursed her lips, "Little brother, your question is so strange. If you are not yourself, who else could you be?"

Well, let's hide it from her for now. It's better for her not to know some secrets. It won't be too late to tell her once I have her under my control.

……

At the port, a group of men in black with swords hanging from their waists stood on the pier, exuding a murderous aura. The leader was an old woman with a cane, who was looking at the sea in the distance, wondering what she was thinking.

Finally, a large ship appeared in her sight on the sea level.

Soon, a large ship arrived at the port and a group of people walked off it.

Meng Po took a few steps forward and bowed, "Welcome, Marshal!"

The group of bad guys behind her also saluted in unison.

Seeing this scene, Li Xingyun felt mixed emotions. Once upon a time, he had thought about the scene when he returned to land, but he didn't expect it to be like this.

Looking at these bad guys, he felt quite uncomfortable.

Seeing that he was in a daze, Yuan Tiangang reminded him: "Your Highness, let's go."

Li Xingyun came to his senses, took Ji Ruxue in his arms, followed Yuan Tiangang into the carriage, and left.

Soon, the carriage stopped at the gate of a manor. Li Xingyun and Ji Ruxue were arranged by the bad guys to stay in a courtyard. There was clear wine, delicious food, gorgeous clothes, beautiful maids, everything you could expect.

Since Yuan Tiangang had made all the arrangements, Li Xingyun simply stopped resisting and accepted the maids' service, wine and food. As soon as he arrived here, he ordered the maids to prepare hot water for them to bathe.

It was an isolated island overseas with a simple environment. He hadn't had a good bath for a long time. His face was covered with stubble and he looked very haggard. Coming here, he naturally needed to take a good rest.

On the other side, Yuan Tiangang ordered everyone to retreat and took Meng Po to the meeting room in the center of the manor.