Chapter Eleven: The Non-Existent

  Zhao Bian was young and vigorous, and he thought that his appearance couldn't be compared to Pan An's, but he was still a talented and handsome man. He was the kind of person who would make a good match for a gentle and elegant lady. When it came to someone like Gu Yunniang, who was not only beautiful but also had talent and emotions, Zhao Bian naturally fell in love with her.

  Zhao Bi had been harboring ulterior motives towards Gu Yunniang all along. Of course, before Gu Feng's incident, Zhao Bi had already met Gu Yunniang once in Xianyang market and was immediately shocked by her beauty. However, at that time, Zhao Bi was just a humble county lieutenant from a border region, and the gap between him and the metropolitan mayor of Xianyang was too great.

  "General Zhao, you should know that rumors can deceive the masses and destroy a person's reputation. Today, I, Gu Yun Niang, can pretend not to have heard this conversation. But if there is a next time, then please, General Zhao, do not bother coming to Mudan Building again, for I, Gu Yun Niang, am beyond your reach." With that, Gu Yun Niang coldly turned around and left without waiting for Zhao Bin's response.

  "You stinky woman, what are you so proud of? One day, I, Zhao Mou, will crush you under my feet and make you beg for mercy." Zhao Bi gritted his teeth and glared at Gu Yunniang's back, his eyes fixed on her in a daze.

  Although Li You is dead, Xingyang is still his old nest. Many officials in the city were appointed by Li You, and they cannot forget their old feelings. Moreover, there is Yang Xiong, a big shot close to Li You, who is protecting them. For a time, Zhao Bin really couldn't do anything to Gu Yunniang. However, once Wang Ming and Chen Di confirmed Li You's crime of betraying the country, the situation changed. Zhao Bin believed that one day Xingyang would be named after him, his surname Zhao.

  Night, just cool.

  Half of the moonlight spills into the city.

  Peony Building, the building stands in the east of Xiangyang City, named after a courtyard peony, several exquisite houses, a few stalks of green bamboo, layered courtyards, where the most beautiful women in this city live.

  The building is divided into three layers, the front yard is a place for many wealthy guests to indulge in debauchery, the middle yard has winding pavilions where customers who love elegance often visit, and the backyard is the residence of the red cards inside the building. There are idle rascals specifically responsible for guarding the door, blocking those who don't know how to behave and try to disturb them.

  A pond of lotus flowers reflected red, half a vermilion window slightly opened, and two women could be vaguely seen inside speaking in low voices.

  A slender, charming woman in purple clothes with a dimple on her face suddenly spoke out in a crisp voice, with a hint of shyness and anger: "Big sister, that old thing Wang Ming is really not a good person, he actually dares to take advantage of me, Miss, he must have gone blind."

  "Wang Lao'er seems to have resigned himself to being Zhao's dog, cough, don't worry, Yunniang, Xiaoxiang will take good care of him, the old man won't be able to turn things around. Zhong Zheng and Chen Di didn't attend the banquet today, this might be a clue, wait for an opportunity to get in touch with them and see if we can win them over, cough." A somewhat hoarse and aged voice said from behind the bed curtains.

  "Big lady, your illness!" Zi Yin's Gu Yunniang's dark and shiny eyes were full of worry. The woman who was called Big Lady was none other than the owner of Mudan Building, the former number one courtesan of Daliang, Gong Sun Dama, whose dance once captivated the city. In the past, before Daliang was burned down by the Qin army, the sword dance of the Gong Sun family was famous throughout Wei and Liang regions.

  "It doesn't matter, by the way, Daliang came yesterday and that Li Sanlang is really surprising, I didn't expect that the Li family still has such a person?" said Madame Gongsun in a low voice.

  "Li Sanlang, Madam, is that Li Yuan really a descendant of the Li family?" Gu Yunniang hesitated for a moment before curiosity got the better of her and she asked.

  "Cough, Li Si has the guts to steal a chicken, but doesn't have the guts to bring back his illegitimate son home. This child was raised outside for twenty years, does he think no one knows? Madam Gongsun smiled coldly, others may not know about Li's shameful affair, but she is crystal clear. The woman who got pregnant with Li's child and was later abandoned and died a tragic death was her own good sister."

  "Then, does Li Yuan know about his own life?" Gu Yun's heart suddenly tightened. As a fellow outcast, Gu Feng was killed a year ago, causing her to lose the support of her family. In her lonely and struggling situation, fortunately, there were kind-hearted people like Yu Xun Princess and Gu Ji who helped her, otherwise she couldn't imagine how she could survive.

  "The Li family is a group of ungrateful and disloyal people. If it weren't for Li Si's foolishness, how would the Crown Prince Fu Su have died? Now, how could the famous Prime Minister Li possibly tell a private son the truth!" Gong Sun's wife sneered and fell silent for a long time, looking tired and not wanting to talk anymore.

  Gu Yunniang quietly shifted her footsteps, closed the door, and raised her head to see that in the half-moon sky, a star was shining with dazzling light. The light was so brilliant that she couldn't help but move her eyes away again.

  ——。

  Main beam

  Li Yuan lay on the couch, flipping through a thick bamboo book. It had been nearly ten days since that fierce battle, and his wound had already scabbed over. Fortunately, it hadn't damaged any vital organs like his stomach or liver, so he was recovering much faster than expected.

  Yesterday, under Li Yuan's persistent request, Lu Jia brought a sedan chair to take Li Yuan to the military camp for a visit. When Li Yuan arrived, the Qin army officers and soldiers were suddenly excited and surrounded him. After this fierce battle with Peng Yue, Li Yuan can be said to have gained the recognition of the Qin army officers and soldiers.

  No matter whether they were the old soldiers who had followed Yong Qiu on his long march or the new recruits from the local garrison, in their hearts Li Yuan was the commander of this army, a man who dared to risk his life and bring them victory.

  "Hu Zhuang, are you saying that an imperial envoy has arrived in Xingyang?" Li Yuan put down his bamboo slips and asked the unremarkable-looking, slender middle-aged man in front of him.

  Hu Zhuang, the name is actually completely inconsistent with the person. Using the word "Zhuang" to describe a thin and weak man is indeed a kind of irony. Hu Zhuang was an elder of the Hu family in Junyi County, a descendant of the old Qin people who followed the Qin army from Guanzhong to migrate, as one of the beneficiaries of the unification of the Qin state. As such, Hu Zhuang's interests were directly opposed to those of the old kings and nobles of the Wei state, so when Li Yuan led his troops to arrive in Junyi, Hu Zhuang naturally became a supporter.

  "Report to General Li, according to reliable information, Imperial Censor Wang Ming and Minister of Rites Chen Di recently arrived in Xiangyang. They came here to investigate the case of Governor Li colluding with the enemy!" Hu Zhuang replied respectfully. Compared to Wang Laosix and Gan Houbao, who had followed Li Yuan for a long time, Hu Zhuang knew that he was not trusted enough by Li Yuan, so his words were also respectful and courteous, with proper etiquette.

  "Is the crime of Li Junxian communicating with the enemy truly unfounded?" Li Yuan rubbed his forehead, Zhao Gao's methods were really clumsy. In history, this old fellow pointed to a deer as a horse in the imperial court, leaving behind an eternal saying. Now he says that Li Yu, who died on the battlefield for Qin State, had private dealings with the enemy, this is truly a chaotic situation, thinking that everyone would believe it.

  "What is nothingness?" Hu Zhuang asked in confusion.

  "It may be, it may not be. In short, if you say it is, then it is; if you say it isn't, then it isn't. Can you see Lord Yang Xiong in Gongyang?" Li Yuan sighed and thought of another hero who was wrongly killed by the three words "it may be". Before Yue Fei's wrongful death, he had Li You to accompany him, so at least he wasn't lonely. The ones who framed them were two infamous prime ministers, Zhao Gao and Qin Hui, as well as two befuddled emperors, Hu Hai and Zhao Gou.