Chapter Eleven Reporting to Li

  Thirty thousand taels? Although it was already autumn and the weather was quite cool, Li Qing and his companions were still sweating profusely. It suddenly dawned on them that the doctor in front of them was no ordinary person. If he were just any other doctor, they would have been beaten to death with sticks and no one would have dared to speak out for them. But this man in front of them was untouchable, and his words carried weight.

  Huan Xi looked at Li Qing with satisfaction, recalling that this kid had actually planned to abduct him earlier, and couldn't help but feel a wave of pleasure. "Huan Qiu, was I wrong? Why does it seem like Captain Li is not very willing?"

  Huan Qiu, a distant nephew of Huan Xi, stood up respectfully and said: "Uncle is not wrong, generally speaking, Uncle's diagnosis costs 100 taels of silver per time, excluding medicine fees. For such a large-scale treatment, more money needs to be added. 30,000 taels is already very favorable."

  "Hmm!" Huan Xi nodded in satisfaction, "Commander Li, then please pay the bill! Since this time is for treating the young men in the army, the medicine fee will be waived."

  Li Qing's sweat dripped like paste, holding a wine bowl as if he were a clay Bodhisattva.

  "How come General Li doesn't plan on paying the bill?" Huan Xi looked at Li Qing with a gentle smile.

  Li Qing shivered and finally came to his senses, looking at Huan Xi's appearance, he couldn't help but feel a surge of anger in his heart. "Damn it, I'm going to get the money somehow, even if I have to risk my life," he thought to himself. "Your Excellency's account, how dare I default on it? It's just that...it's just that things are really tough for me right now. If you'd like, take a look around my camp and see if there's anything that catches your eye, feel free to take it."

  Huan Xi's cold laughter sounded, "What is there in this camp that's worth anything and can catch my eye?"

  Li Qingdao said: "That, that doesn't know if Lord Huan will allow us to owe him money? When I have the money, I will definitely pay it back to Lord Huan." Without money, they could only drag on. Thinking that if Huan Xi did not agree, he would have to think of another way to stall, he racked his brains for a solution, constantly exchanging glances with his three generals, but these three were now as still as statues, not moving an inch.

  "Is that so? Alright then!" Huan Xi's response was far beyond Li Qing's expectations, and he couldn't help but feel overjoyed. However, he soon heard Huan Xi continue: "For such a large sum of money, I'm not at ease with just anyone collecting the debt in your camp. How about this, Huan Qiu? From today on, you'll stay here with Commander Li. Whenever Commander Li repays the silver, that's when you can return."

  "Ah!" Li Qing felt somewhat dizzy, what did this mean?

  Huan Xi finished speaking, stood up, and with a wave of his sleeve said: "Since the matter is settled, I won't be able to eat anything here. It's better for me to go to Tao Ran Ju to drink wine." He then walked out of the room, followed by everyone in the Huan household except Huan Qiu, who remained seated, looking like a wooden chicken as he pondered what Huan Xi meant. Three thousand taels were just written off like that, and on top of that, they even got a free doctor for their camp? It was unclear when they would be able to get the three thousand taels back. This meant that Huan Qiu would have to follow them forever. Ha! There's profit in this. Since Huan Qiu is Huan Xi's clansman, he must have some skills. But why did this business, which seemed so profitable, feel strange? Li Qing couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he thought.

  Of course, what Li Qing could not have imagined was that his fate had already undergone a major change without him knowing it. The source of all this was naturally a memorial from General Xiao Yuanshan of Dingzhou Military Command, and the place where this great change took place was in Luoyang, the capital of Great Chu (Note: This is not the same Luoyang as before, the author just grabbed a random location, don't be surprised.)

  Luoyang Li's mansion, the current head of the Li family, Duke Anguo Li Huaiyuan, held a report in his hand and laughed loudly, "Good one, Xiao Yuanshan! It was clearly a major defeat, but he wrote it as 'encountering strong enemies, fighting bravely without retreating, all troops fought valiantly to kill the enemy, and finally preserved Dingzhou from being lost' - what a victory report! Haha!"

  Under the portrait of Duke Li Huaiyuan, sat two marquises of the Li clan in the capital: Marquis Weiyuan Li Muzhi, who served as a vice minister of the Ministry of Works, and Marquis Shouning Li Tui, who served as a deputy censor-in-chief of the Office of the Censor. Together with Marquis Yining Li Sizhi, who was stationed in Xingzhou, they formed the core of the Li clan.

  Seeing the master of the house was overjoyed, Shou Ding Hou Li Zhi smiled and said: "That's right, this is a great defeat. No matter how well he writes his memorial, it can't cover up the fact that this time the Xiao family will be in trouble. It's just unknown what the master thinks, whether to take advantage of this opportunity to give the Xiao family another heavy blow."

  Li Huaiyuan barely managed to stifle his laughter. "I had originally intended to give him a severe blow, but after reading this memorial, I changed my mind."

  Li Tui Zhi suppressed a smile and glanced at his third brother Li Mu Zhi, saying: "Is it because of Li Qing?" Li Mu Zhi's expression was extremely awkward, he coughed several times to cover up, picked up the tea cup, and covered his face.

  Li Huaiyuan glared at Li Muzhi and scolded, "Muzhi, with the family in disarray, how can you achieve great things? You can't even handle a small matter like this, how can you help me complete the great task of reviving the Li family? After all, Li Qing is also your son, even if he was born unexpectedly, he still has the blood of the Li family. You let him go to Dingzhou and become a minor Yunwei school lieutenant, if Li Qing dies in battle, it will be a joke for our entire Li clan, and we will be laughed to death by other families."

  Li Mu stood up and respectfully said: "Father's teachings are correct."

  Li Huaiyuan nodded: "Mm, you take care of yourself. This time, Xiao Yuanshan gave Li Qing a great credit to escape punishment, but if this credit is to be realized, it would be beneficial for Xiao Yuanshan. As the saying goes, 'to give someone a peach', we'll help him out this once."

  Li Mu nodded and said: "Father is right, this time as long as Xiao Yuanshan is innocent, then Li Qing will only need to be demoted to a Zhēn Wǔ Xiào Wèi to make up for it."

  Li Huaiyuan sneered, "Muzhi, you've underestimated the Xiao family. This time, they're sparing no expense to win us over. I heard that Xiao Haoran has recommended Li Qing as the new commander of the Changsheng Camp, with the rank of lieutenant general."

  "Ah!" Li Muzhi was taken aback, "Colonel? But Qing'er is only just over twenty, how can there be a Colonel so young?"

  Li Huaiyuan hummed: "It's hard for you to remember that he just turned twenty, I just found out that this child has been away from home for five years. Hmph, at the age of fifteen, he joined the army and rose from a common soldier to Yunqi lieutenant. Have you ever paid any attention? If it weren't for Xiao Yuanshan's memorial, I would still be in the dark. My Li family descendants, even if we only have twenty people, how can we not become generals? The defeat of the 30,000-strong army, only this child managed to retrieve the regimental flag and return, this achievement is quite impressive."

  This brought another scolding from his father, Li Mu's face turned black, and he lowered his head and said, "Yes."

  Li Huaiyuan said with satisfaction: "If this child has the ability, he can open up a new situation for my Li family in Dingzhou. Even if the child is not good enough, as long as he can make a name for himself in Dingzhou, it will be enough to make up for the loss of not being able to deal with the Xiao family this time. Mu Zhong, you'll have to help Qing'er later. After this matter is over, I'm afraid Xiao Yuanshan will openly and secretly make things difficult for him, making it impossible for him to gain a foothold in Dingzhou. How to take root in Dingzhou is the most important thing."

  "Don't worry, Father." Li Muzhi said with a humble and obedient expression.

  "Alright, the plan is set. You can go tell that old fellow Xiao Haoran that I'll join him to take down Xiao Yuanshan and with the Fang family's help, it's almost a done deal. Xiao Yuanshan won't be able to escape becoming the commander of Dingzhou."