“After Marshal Li Tianrun returns, there will likely be a small disturbance in Hangzhou. Search: \(¨Complete¨ Book¨ Divine¨ Station¨) to read high-quality literature for free.”

Lou Shuwan took a small sip of the tea in her cup, smiling elegantly. As she set the cup down, the silver bracelet on her wrist gently touched the porcelain, producing a clear, crisp “ding” sound.

“Li Heng teaches at the academy, and may be indifferent to these matters, but I've heard that the Wen Lie Academy has someone supporting it from behind in order to keep it running. However, this time the impact may be widespread. I heard... that Li Heng once spoke about Elder Qian within the academy. Now that the situation is sensitive, it may be brought up again. Li Heng must be careful... But it doesn't matter. The Lou family can speak with some influence in Hangzhou now, although... Li Heng may look down on the various reasons for that, but if something happens, Li Heng could let me know. I might be able to help, and I hope Li Heng won't be offended…”

Since their reunion at the banquet of officials, this was the fifth time Lou Shuwan had come to visit. Although her reputation was not good before, if she sincerely wanted to give a good impression, a woman like Lou Shuwan was not someone who would be directly disliked. Her demeanor was generous and appropriate, and she kept her interactions within reasonable bounds. Her first visit lasted less than a cup of tea before she took the initiative to leave. Her second visit also seemed hurried. According to her, the Lou family had quite a few properties here and she was simply checking on them. After the war in Hangzhou, she had actually lost many acquaintances. Now that they had met again, they should visit each other more often.

As a result, her third visit felt much more natural. Lou Shuwan was not pretentious and directly sent daily necessities that wealthy families would need, as well as some old books and scrolls. These things were mostly precious collectibles in Hangzhou in the past.

“Now they are not worth much. In the month or two of the war, things were burned and smashed, and those who knew the value were killed. These things, no matter how expensive, are not worth a bowl of rice. The Lou family took the opportunity to collect a lot of them. To be honest, we originally wanted to give them as gifts...” Lou Shuwan laughed as she said this, with a hint of melancholy. “However, even if there are a few scholars in the rebel army, they wouldn't like this very much. Giving them ten boxes of this is not as practical as giving them one box of gold and silver. They know it's valuable, but… they don't appreciate it."

She continued, laughing, "A month ago, General Pan Wende of the West Camp seized a large mansion and renovated it, saying that his home was empty and asked us to send some paintings, calligraphy, antiques, and the like to decorate it. We quickly found a box of the most valuable items and sent it over. General Pan was very unhappy later, saying that the Lou family only sent such a small amount of things, not enough to hang on the walls of even one room, and they were all old. We quickly sent two more boxes of gold and silver to appease him. A few days later, another general wanted paintings, calligraphy, and antiques, so we directly put together ten boxes. That general said that the paintings of dragons and phoenixes were more beautiful than those at General Pan's place… Actually, ten boxes were not worth much silver…”

"Later, I thought to myself, since people don't appreciate it, there's no need to push ourselves on them, so we won't send this kind of thing in the future. But keeping these things in our house is like casting pearls before swine. Li Heng is someone who knows their value, so take them and play with them. In this current situation, these are all small matters, and Li Heng shouldn't decline out of politeness…”

It was difficult to guess what Lou Shuwan's previous interactions with those scholars and talents were like, but in this war-torn, besieged city where everyone was in danger, the Lou family was thriving and rising rapidly. This Lou family's daughter, who was now even more powerful than before, was showing the attitude of a true gentleman's friendship, which is as light as water. If Ning Yi was truly a talent who was down on his luck, he might have already been conquered by her demeanor and mind. Even if he was clear-headed, in this situation where an extra bit of help was an extra bit of help, Ning Yi would naturally not completely reject other people's kindness.

After that, the two visits became even more natural. After learning from somewhere that Ning Yi was talking about Qian Xiwen in the academy, Lou Shuwan mocked her family's power several times, saying it was nothing much. In fact, this was not an act. Even if she was not a talented woman, Lou Shuwan quite yearned for things like scholars and integrity. If this were not the case, she would not have always been in contact with literary circles in the past. And this time, she brought the news that Li Tianrun was returning. She was impressed by Ning Yi but her investigation was not deep enough. If she knew the real reason why Ning Yi was captured or the past between Li Tianyou and Ning Yi, what she was saying now would likely not be these words.

“Uh, how did you know?” As she spoke those words, Ning Yi was conveniently archiving two pieces of information sent by a guard from the Badao Camp in the room. He also knew that Li Tianrun was returning, and he had speculations about what would happen afterward. However, it was truly surprising to hear these speculations from Lou Shuwan’s mouth.

“I heard that there were always pro-surrender factions within the rebel army...” Lou Shuwan lowered her voice, “It’s just that Fang La… the rebel army’s momentum is growing, especially after taking Hangzhou and proclaiming himself emperor, surrender is naturally impossible. Among these people, some have changed their minds and are willing to go along, while others will no longer reveal their thoughts. But all along, the superiors have been very wary of these people. It’s just that the country has just been established, and the foundation is unstable, so it’s impossible to start cleaning up from top to bottom right now, but for more than a month, the rumors about these things have been very tight. Many people have been killed in large and small incidents because of such things. My brother said that Marshal Li Tianrun is coming back this time to make a big move, so I’m a little worried that you, Li Heng, will be affected…”

“Your brother… your second brother?”

“It’s my eldest brother, his name is Shuwang… Oh, you’ve met him once, Li Heng.”

“…Oh.”

*************

As dusk approached, Lou Shuwan walked out of the small courtyard where Ning Yi lived on Willow Street, got into her carriage. The carriage traveled along the adjacent streets in the sunset, then disappeared from view. In the courtyard, Xiao Chan cleaned up the tea set and was talking to Ning Yi under the veranda. Ning Yi also smiled and replied a few times, occasionally waving his hand in the air to draw a few circles, which made Xiao Chan laugh. After a while, Ning Yi picked up a few documents, passed through the side door of the clinic, and went all the way towards the main courtyard of the Badao Camp.

The courses at the Wen Lie Academy had already ended at noon. Without the chattering children, everything seemed peaceful and leisurely in the magnificent twilight. The road from here to the main courtyard passed through a series of courtyards, which were already full of people. However, at this time, those here were mostly women and children, and some members of the Badao Camp had already returned from work. Some knew Ning Yi and waved to him, while other children who saw him came over to salute and chatter.

The children knew that he was a teacher, but most of them still liked him. The main reason was that after Ning Yi came here, they also had many more stories to listen to. Some were told by Ning Yi himself when he had nothing to do, and others were told in class and spread by word of mouth. In short, everyone knew that he was a person with a lot of interesting stories in his belly.

In the past, when he was managing many things, he was not a frivolous and lively person. He certainly had a sense of humor, but the direction of his humor was mostly somewhat profound. It was unexpected that now he would become a character loved by many children. He did not consider himself a good teacher, but he was quite interested in the strange and bizarre changes that occurred after others were influenced by him. According to some novels he had read in the past, many people who existed as great demon kings had such wicked tastes.

Sometimes, when he thought about it, his current situation was already quite bad, and he shouldn't have this kind of illusion that was inconsistent with his identity…

Going to the main residence of the Badao Camp every day had already become familiar. By the time he finished dealing with things and returned, it was already dark. Lights were lit in the courtyards, and the aroma of cooking wafted from every household, contrasting with the clothes hanging between each courtyard, and the running of children, creating a strong atmosphere of an ancient farming village. Many families set up tables in their courtyards, inviting one or two friends to chat, eat, and drink. Ning Yi was often invited, mostly by Liu Tiannan and others. After all, he was the chief steward of the Badao Camp and had close interactions with Ning Yi. Some people who followed Liu Dabiao and became familiar with Ning Yi also knew that he was quite easy to get along with.

“Marshal Li is coming back, and Hangzhou City will probably be restless recently. Li Heng, you know, try to go out less. If something happens, you might as well inform Xiao Sha or A Chang and arrange for more people to follow you. Safety first.”

After asking his daughter to inform Xiao Chan that Ning Yi would not be coming home for dinner, Liu Tiannan invited Ning Yi to sit down. There were already five other people in the courtyard, including Du Sha and A Chang, who were “life for life” killers by Liu Dabiao's side, Chen Fan, An Xifu, whom he had met once or twice, and another deputy under Liu Tiannan, named Liu Shuangmu, whom Ning Yi knew, but was not familiar with.

After nodding to the others, Ning Yi sat down with a smile and took the wine glass that Liu Tiannan handed over: “I heard that Marshal Li is experienced and steady. He wouldn't do anything outrageous for a small person like me, would he?”

Liu Tiannan shook his head and said, “That's hard to say. What I'm afraid of is that he will come with great power.”

“If he comes with great power, he won't act in secret. Everyone will know in advance.”

After the two said these few sentences, Liu Shuangmu frowned: “What great power?”

“The great purge that's about to happen recently.”

“Mr. Ning… hasn’t been handling external affairs…” Liu Shuangmu said doubtfully, “How would you know?”

Regarding the series of events that Li Tianrun’s return to the city might cause, Liu Shuangmu obviously understood. What he doubted was not what specifically would happen, but why Ning Yi would know. Liu Tiannan patted him on the shoulder, and Ning Yi also glanced at him: “Recently, several of the village's businesses and relationships have changed. Xiao Jinjian, Guo Yan, and others were all pro-surrender in the past. The news of Marshal Li's return has not been strictly sealed, and coupled with the war situation in the north, it's not difficult to imagine… After all, numbers don't lie.”

Chen Fan took a sip of wine and shrugged: “Don't overthink it. Since this guy is involved, things can't be hidden from him. Either be psychologically prepared, or Shuangmu, how about you kill him?”

Ning Yi laughed: “Why hasn't the government issued a decree to hang all the unemployed vagrants?” Since being removed from his position as the city management boss, Chen Fan had basically been no different from an unemployed vagrant.

An Xifu listened for a while and asked, “Mr. Ning, what do you think of the war in the north?”

The two did not have much contact, but they had basically had a confrontation in Huzhou. Ning Yi glanced at him: “I can't guess much. Speaking of which, Jiaxing definitely can't be taken down, right.”

These words were said lightly, but Liu Tiannan had no misgivings and nodded: “Yes, Tong Guan led the troops and the siege has been lifted.”

“Fang Qifo probably doesn't want to come back. There will be a bumper harvest of grain between July and August, and the area from Hangzhou to Jiaxing has always been a land of fish and rice. The so-called ‘an army marches on its stomach,’ everyone will collect what they can, and what they can't collect will naturally be burned. Tong Guan's army is large, and the logistical needs of the battle lines are also strong. Here… the plan is probably to defend the city. Is that the case?”

This time, no one answered. Ning Yi smiled: “We just harvested the grain, and if Hangzhou City is not broken, it can last for a long time. With the rebellion and the proclamation of emperor, having a title, there will always be people who come to join, even if the siege of Hangzhou can't be lifted, as long as this place holds on, the pressure on the imperial court from the outside will increase. In addition, the Jin and Liao countries in the north have already started a war, and the Wu Dynasty also has to send troops to the north for a northern expedition, dragging 150,000 troops in Jiangnan, this ebb and flow may… drag down the imperial court. That's all I can guess.”

Ning Yi thought for a while: “Before, when the Yongle Dynasty was first established, it was impossible to immediately kill a batch of people's heads, causing panic, but since we want to clear the fields and prepare to defend the city, whether the city can be united as one becomes the most important thing. I heard that Marshal Li is steady, and when he leads his troops back, clearing a batch of people can also better stabilize the situation in Hangzhou. Political struggle, probably like this.”

What Ning Yi was handling in the Badao Camp now were all internal matters, and some core secrets or matters related to the war in the north had basically been filtered out. This was also why Liu Shuangmu was surprised by him. After he finished speaking, everyone became silent. Chen Fan was probably the most clear about Fang Qifo's thoughts, and frowned and asked, “Is it possible?” He was naturally referring to the goal of dragging down the imperial court.

Ning Yi laughed: “Everyone is talking about theories on paper, making speculations, which I am very good at. If you take this matter seriously… then I don't know. There is no fixed method for things in the world. There is a saying called ‘build high walls, store grain, and delay becoming king,’ but put it here, you are in a hurry to proclaim yourselves emperor, of course you have your own ideas. Whether it can be done is always something that can only be successful after specific operations…”

Everyone looked at each other. Not long after, Liu Tiannan said: “Build high walls, store grain, and delay becoming king, this sentence is quite reasonable, I wonder who said it…”

Ning Yi said: “Han Xin said it to Liu Bang.”

He was talking to Chen Fan about a poetry meeting he was going to attend the next day. In fact, Ning Yi and Wenren Bu’er, the special agent leader sent by Old Qin, had already met for the second time a few days ago. This was the agreed-upon location for the third meeting, so he first laid the groundwork in front of Liu Tiannan and the others, saying that Lou Shuwan had invited him - actually Ning Yi mentioned the poetry meeting today, and Lou Shuwan happened to say that she also had an invitation - and for a moment, he didn't pay much attention to the simple history question, until a group of people started discussing "Han Xin originally said this...", he seriously thought about it.

"Uh... it seems... maybe... yes..."

A long time later, the famous saying "Build high walls, store grain, and delay becoming king" was spread through many peculiar ways. Most people thought it was said by Ning Yi himself or his staff, as for his claim that it was said by Han Xin, it was still impossible to verify many years later…

Ning Yi naturally didn't know these things at this time. Amidst the casual conversations and laughter with the others, he was only thinking about the poetry meeting tomorrow. In the midst of such conversation and laughter among friends, the night deepened. (To be continued. Vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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