Chapter 12: The Battle of Xudu (2) Section 42

  The horse carriage rushed out of the imperial city, and the drivers were still Xiao Da and Xiao Er. These two men had been investigated by Liu Xie's envoy Li Chen and were found not to be Cao Cao's spies. Liu Xie naturally tried his best to win them over, and they vowed to be loyal. Li Chen and Liu Xie sat in the carriage, and Liu Xie thought to himself: "It seems that something has gone wrong with Lü Yuan's business; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so anxious to see me!"

  Li Chen thought for a moment and said: "Two days ago, I heard that Xu Chang is waging a trade war when I left the palace! It may be related to this matter!"

  Liu Xie nodded, and Liu Yuan, although knowing that his identity was not ordinary, still did not know that he was the current emperor. Liu Yuan had also investigated, but each time returned without success. Except for Liu Xie's efforts, Cao Cao had also made a move, which made Liu Yuan even more convinced that Liu Xie was extraordinary.

  The horse carriage turned a corner and stopped in front of the gate of a restaurant called Kaiyuanjiulou. This was the same restaurant where Liu Xie had coincidentally met Ni Heng, but it turned out to be one of Liu Yuan's properties as well. It wasn't until later that Liu Xie found out that any property with the character "Yuan" in its name belonged to Liu Yuan. The four people got off the carriage, and the doorman naturally recognized the second master, saying: "Master, Master Liu is waiting for you in the wing room!"

  The hall was empty and cold, not a single guest, Liu Xie sighed secretly in his heart, it seemed that something had really happened. The waiter led the four up the stairs, Xiao Da and Xiao Er stood guard outside the door, while Li Chen accompanied Liu Xie inside.

  Yuanshen saw Liu Xie coming in and hastily stood up, sighing: "Brother Xiao, you've finally arrived, something big has happened!"

  Liu Xie was not flustered, pulled over a chair and sat down. Li Chen poured Liu Xie a cup of tea and also gave some to Liu Yuan. Liu Xie slowly took a sip of the tea and smiled: "There's always a solution to everything, Brother Liu, there's no need to rush, let's sit down, have a cup of tea and talk it over slowly!"

  Although Liu Yuan was anxious, he sat down after hearing Liu Xie's reasonable words: "Brother Xiao may not know that the merchant war in Xu Chang these days is aimed at my Liu family. Li, Chen, Song, and Zhou four families joined forces to suppress us, not only pushing the price of goods to the lowest point but also using despicable means. They put croton beans in the dishes of my wine shop. Look now, there isn't a single customer in the wine shop. Not only that, they spread rumors everywhere that our dishes have killed people, making my Liu family's reputation completely lost and affecting other industries. How can we go on like this?"

  Liu Xie basically understood that the Li, Chen, Song and Zhou families were local tyrants. From the moment they entered Xuchang from Liu Yuan, they had been looking for opportunities to suppress the Liu family's business. That's why Liu Yuan spared no expense to find this way out. Now it's the end of the year, everyone is preparing goods for the new year, and the business of various industries is naturally very good. The four families took advantage of this opportunity to deal with Liu Yuan. Even if they couldn't destroy the Liu family, they could still make Liu Yuan have an uneasy New Year. The business during this period would naturally be divided among the four families!