Chapter 54: The First Encounter with the Xiongnu Chanyu

  Dian Wei still refused to surrender, unwilling to give himself up as a prisoner. Li Hui glared at him and shouted on the main street: "Dian girl, Dian little lady, you are so stubborn, aren't you afraid of being ridiculed by heroes all over the world?"

  He shouted loudly, and the people on the street all looked over this way.

  Dian Wei was muttering to himself, suddenly being stimulated by him, his body shook, and he exclaimed: "Li Lang, what are you talking about? Can't I become a woman if I don't carry the burden for you?"

  Li QIN shook his head and said: "Wrong, you won't become a woman because there's no such ugly woman under the sky."

  As he spoke, he waved his hand and showed a very impatient expression, saying: "I have separated from Fuping County and will build a castle thirty miles north to resist the invasion of the Xiongnu people. It is at this time that we are using people, so we are recruiting heroes from all over the world to achieve great things together. I didn't expect you to be so hesitant, unable to answer one or two questions for half a day, really annoying and disappointing."

  Dian Wei finally understood that Li Qiang wanted to build his own castle, and it was likely that he had come to Long County to handle related matters. This was a great thing! If he could join the castle army, whether or not he would have a future was another matter, but at least he wouldn't have to hide and flee anymore. And if he could become an officer, he could return home with glory in the future, dressed in embroidered clothes.

  Dian Wei's ferocious face broke into a smile, and he actually accompanied Xiao Xin. He said: "Li Lang, if you had said so earlier, I would have agreed long ago. You are a righteous person, now that you need help, if I don't help, wouldn't I become an ungrateful and disloyal person?"

  Li Qin's face changed, and he smiled: "So you're willing to be my long-term worker? Great, I'll reluctantly accept you. There's no heavy work for you to do here, just lead the horse for me first!" He threw the reins in his hand to Dian Wei.

  Dian Wei's character is not nagging, and he is absolutely not a girl. He won't agree to anything without thinking carefully, after all, this is a big problem that affects his future life. But once he agrees, Li Qiang can make him do whatever he wants, and he will do it without any resistance or complaints.

  Dian Wei grasped the reins and said: "Then I'll lead the horse for Li Gong, and from now on be Li Gong's vanguard."

  Li Qin said: "Don't call me Li Lang, you and they are different, they are my subordinates, but you are my long-term worker, you should call me Young Master."

  Dian Wei grunted in response and turned his head to call out: "Young Master."

  Li Qin was overjoyed and turned to the soldiers: "Everyone, look at this tall worker I've recruited! He's got a strong back and waist, and just now when he shuddered, what kind of aura did he give off? This is called 'Tiger's Body Shakes, Heaven and Earth... the whole street is shocked!"

  Wu Xiaosan and the others hastily nodded, saying: "Dian brother's body shook, indeed like a tiger roaring in the mountains, startling all the beasts!" But everyone thought to themselves: "He was so startled that he became a long-term worker for your family, but it didn't scare anyone!"

  Li Qin felt pleased with himself and at this moment he especially wanted to talk about his own hard work, listen to some praise and show off. He asked Jia Yu: "Brother-in-law, what do you think of the person who helped me with this task?"

  Jia Yu rolled his eyes and said, "This guy is obviously a foodie. How much grain do you need to feed him just to keep him alive? You're really losing out by hiring someone like him to work for you!"

  If Li QIN said this, Dian Wei could only pretend not to hear it, but if Jia Xu said it, it would be unbearable. In this era, the commonality of warriors is that they only recognize one master, and no one else is recognized. The vast majority of generals in this era have this characteristic, and Dian Wei is a typical example. If Li QIN said it to him, he could just let it go, but if Jia Xu said it to him, he couldn't bear it!

  Dian Wei returned the reins to Li Qiang and said, "Young master, he meant that I'm not good at carrying things, which is not right. I have to prove it to you, I'm very good at carrying things!" He took big strides to Jia Yu's side and pulled him down from the horseback with one hand!

  "Hey, what are you going to do?"

  Dian Wei hoisted him onto his shoulder and said, "You're a live one, I'll carry you!" He strode off with large steps towards the Not-Cool-Old-Shop, sending Jia Yu tumbling about and crying out loudly!

  Li QIN and Fu Jiao Bing all laughed, Shen Yi smiled: "Look at the little girl is still angry, the little girl's face is thin, can't say anything unpleasant to her!"

  Wu Xiaosan hastily whispered, "Speak softly, we can't afford to offend him. Looking at his fierce appearance, even if the two of us were to attack together, we wouldn't be a match for him!"

  Shen Yi nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, yes, but I don't dare say it in front of him."

  Everyone rushed to the old shop together. They arrived in a moment, dismounted and unloaded at the door, and let the shopkeeper open an independent small courtyard. Shen Yi and Wu Xiaosan carried the jewelry into the room, watching closely without leaving an inch.

  Li Qin did not eat in the main hall, he asked the shopkeeper to bring him water to wash his face and hands, and had his meal sent to his room. The shopkeeper naturally entertained him warmly, while Liu Zhongyan went out to look for merchants.

  Dian Wei saw the store owner bring wine and meat to Li Kui, he patted his belly and said: "Just now I ate quite full, but after exercising, I'm hungry again."

  Jia Yan rolled his eyes, wasn't he right? He's just a foodie! But this time he didn't dare to speak out loud, afraid that Dian Wei would use him as a human shield again.

  Li QIN washed his face, took a towel to wipe his face and hands, and said: "You think what you want to eat yourself called it, want to eat full, can not starve."

  Dian Wei sat on the doorstep and said to the shopkeeper: "That big pancake with meat, bring me two portions, and also bring two catties of wine."

  The shop assistant whispered, "You're still eating, aren't you afraid of getting bloated? Let me tell you, since you've just followed the young master, you have to pretend to be well-behaved first and can't eat too much. Otherwise, if your young master sees how much you eat, he might drive you away again!"

  Dian Wei glared at him with one eye, pointed at the courtyard wall and said: "Do you believe I can throw you out of the wall?"

  The shop assistant took several steps back, flung the towel in her hand and said: "I'm just kindly reminding you, don't be ungrateful!"

  Before long, Liu Zhongyan returned before finishing a meal, and behind him was a bearded merchant, presumably the kind of merchant who specialized in selling goods with unclear origins.

  Liu Zhongyan went into the house and spoke with Li Qin, while Hu Shang waited outside. Hu Shang saw a giant sitting at the door, holding a large pancake roll meat in his hand, eating voraciously, and laughed: "This brother has a good appetite, this kind of big pancake roll meat is worth me to eat, two pancakes can be eaten for a moment, I see you swallow one in a few mouthfuls, such an appetite is really rare!"

  Dian Wei shot him a glance of disdain, his mouth moving non-stop, but he didn't respond to him. Hu Shang discussed it for a bit to no avail, let out a dry laugh, and then fell silent.

  Liu Zhongyan called out from inside the house: "Hey, come in and pay your respects to Young Master Li."

  Hu Shang responded with a sound, hastily entered the house, bowed his waist to Li Qin and said: "Is this the rich and peaceful Li Gongzi? Indeed good-looking, I am Liu Cha, a descendant of Wang Zhaojun, but because I was stranded outside the pass, it wasn't until recently that I recognized my ancestors and returned to our great Han dynasty..."

  Li Qin was shocked and asked: "Whose descendant are you?"

  Liu Zhongyan said, "What are you yelling about? Save this nonsense for someone else. Mr. Li is a scholar and knows who Wang Zhaojun is! Mr. Li, he's called Liu Cha, a Xiongnu person pretending to be a descendant of the Han people. Don't listen to his nonsense."

  Liu Cha was exposed, but he didn't show any embarrassment and instead smiled: "Since Master Li knows who Wang Zhaojun is, I won't say anything. You can call me Chao Hu Niao (a bird that makes a lot of noise), it's fine. Chao Hu Niao has no meat to eat, I have neither capital nor a warehouse, all I can do is use my mouth to introduce and connect with big merchants, and the money I earn is all spent on food and drink, so others call me Chao Hu Niao."

  Li Qin smiled and said, "Whatever you call it, I'm here to ask for your help in getting rid of a batch of goods and then purchasing another batch. Here's a list for you to take a look at, this is the bottom line, if it's lower than this price, I'll find someone else to be the errand boy." He motioned to Jia Xun to hand over a scroll of silk books, which recorded the goods he wanted to bring back.

  Han Liu examined the contract and said, "There's quite a lot of goods here. Let's not mention anything else, just talking about wanting 200 shi of top-grade seeds? This is no small number! I'm afraid the fields in Young Master Li's household are endless!"

  Li QIN nodded and said: "Indeed, let alone one eye, two eyes can't see the end!" He shouted outside: "Dian Hu, guard the gate well."

  Dian Wei grunted and stood up, blocking the doorway with his massive body, completely sealing off the entrance so that no one could see inside.

  Liu Cha turned his head and took a look, thinking to himself: "Tiger's body? This frame is really wide enough." When he turned back, he saw that Li Qin had already opened the box, and the treasures inside were flowing with colors, all of which were precious jewels.

  "Ah!" Liu Cha crouched down, staring at the jewels in the box with wide eyes and said: "Young Master Li, are you planning to sell all of these? If we go by the items listed on your procurement book, it's more than enough, and there's even some left over! As for the remaining portion, do you want five copper coins or a copper bar?"

  Li Qinglei smiled and said, "Our Beidi County is not peaceful, prices are skyrocketing, money is worthless. Five copper coins are nothing, but a copper bar will do. Give me 1,000 catties..."

  Liu Cha immediately said: "That's impossible, it's already 500 catties."

  "Alright, that's 500 catties." Li Qin said again: "The remaining ones I want 1,000 bowstrings, the kind mixed with silkworm silk."

  Liu Cha took a deep breath, and exclaimed in surprise: "This bowstring is actually used for crossbows! Except for the Metropolitan Commandant of Long'an and the Imperial Guard of Luoyang, ordinary troops are not allowed to use it. It's absolutely forbidden! The Great Han court has clear laws, crossbows cannot be taken out of the pass, private buying and selling is a serious crime punishable by extermination of the entire family!"

  He pointed to the jewelry and said, "After all the relationships have been walked through, this box of things will be barely enough. I think it's just ordinary bowstrings, two or three thousand roots are no problem, you can pick up the goods today."

  Jia Yu said: "Ordinary bows and strings are too affected by the weather, and if we want them, we can get them at home, why bother running all the way here."

  Liu Cha thought for a moment and said, "It's not easy to get rid of Li Gongzi's things, there are many merchants in the city who can afford it, but the thing you want to take back is troublesome. In the city, only Liu Bancheng can afford it, and even if he can afford it, he has to go to the capital to collect it, which takes five days. Can Li Gongzi wait?"

  Li QIN nodded and said, "It's worth the wait. What we're doing now is a life-and-death business, you've taken a huge risk, I can't let you work for nothing." He took out a piece of white jade from the box, about the size of a fist, and handed it to Liu Cha, saying, "Take it and find someone to carve something out of it. The price will immediately increase several times over. You take it!"

  Liu Cha held the white jade material, and his eyes immediately shone with light.

  ——

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