Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 186 - 173: Has He Lost That Thing? _1

Chapter 186: Chapter 173: Has He Lost That Thing? _1

After returning from Dasheng Pass, Li Xuan immediately went to the Earl Chengyi’s mansion.

He found Earl Chengyi, Li Chengji, his eldest brother, Li Yan, and then slammed the bag given by Yue Qianqian on the table.

"What is this?" Li Yan opened the bag to take a look, and asked with confusion, "These are silver ingots and military equipment made by our family. Where did they come from?"

"They were found on an old ship sold by Wang’s Boat Company."

Li Xuan sipped his tea calmly, "The ship was full of weapons and armour, all from the Dasheng Pass armory."

At this moment, both Li Yan and Li Chengji changed their expressions.

"Is this a set up?" Li Chengji’s face was as pale as water, but what he was more worried about was Li Xuan, "Did you have any trouble taking these things out?"

"Only me and my subordinates were present. You know who Peng Fulai and Zhang Yue are, Father. The other two can also keep their mouths shut."

Li Xuan spoke with a deep tone, "Also, just less than a moment after we arrived at that ship, Xi Ying came."

"Xi Ying?"

Li Chengji’s pupils constricted slightly, "Seven days ago, the emperor approved Cui Chengyou’s resignation. Subsequently recommended by the cabinet, Xi Ying, the deputy Zuodu Yushi, was dispatched to the south to investigate the case. I guess the Emperor and Shaobao Yu approved this probably due to my Li family’s close relationship with Xi Ying before - never expected I, Li Chengji, would raise a thankless, man-eating wolf."

There was an involuntary flash of worry in Li Xuan’s eyes.

He knew that the current members of the cabinet are mostly officials from the Zhengtong Emperor’s period, also survivors of the Tumu Fort defeat, old ministers of the captured True Emperor.

Although the current Emperor Jingtai compromised upon ascending the throne, making the eldest son of Zhengtong Emperor the Crown Prince. But as the power of Emperor Jingtai gradually stabilized, he began to harbor intent to alter the foundation of the dynasty.

And their Earl Chengyi’s mansion might have been caught up in this dispute over the imperial power.

Li Xuan was not ignorant of history. He roughly knew that the Jin Dynasty in this world was similar to the Ming Dynasty from his world, and also aware of the Tumu Fort Incident and the palace coup that eventually led to the restoration of the Zhengtong Emperor.

— If the history follows his world’s trajectory, Emperor Jingtai and his only son will meet a grim end.

"I’m going to Zhenjiang!"

Li Yan couldn’t sit still, he got up straight away, "The ship came from Wang’s boat company in Zhenjiang, these silver ingots and weapons are likely to come from our family’s shops and estates there. I have to go and take a look."

"You can go, but you must be very careful!" Li Chengji’s expression was heavy, "If anything happens, you must be cautious and thorough, don’t be careless."

He was very assured of Li Yan’s trip, there were three estates owned by Earl Chengyi’s mansion in that place, and two hundred family soldiers. Besides, before Li Yan was removed from his position, he was the naval commandant in Zhenjiang, there were many old comrades and extensive contacts there.

When Li Yan heard the word ’cautious’, he immediately thought of the scene of being blocked in the morning, and the corner of his lips twitched, "Father don’t worry, I’ll keep it in mind!"

He answered, then immediately left. Then Li Xuan stretched out his hand to Li Chengji.

"What are you doing?" Li Chengji was somewhat puzzled.

"Of course I’m asking for money!" Li Xuan glared at Li Chengji, "Do you think this ’small Sumeru seal’ doesn’t require any money? I currently owe others tens of thousands of silver taels. Besides, this is not over yet. There are still three ships sold by Wang Ji. I have to keep investigating. Who knows what the situation is with these ships? The ’small Sumeru seal’ might well come in handy."

Mainly the found sailboat was different from what Shopkeeper Han remembered.

"I see, indeed, these three ships are a hidden danger."

Li Chengji did not hesitate, he directly took out a wooden box from his sleeve and placed it in Li Xuan’s hands: "Use this money for now, if it’s not enough, just come to me for more."

Li Xuan opened the box and saw a bunch of one-thousand-teal denomination banknotes. He pinched it and found out there were at least sixty notes, he couldn’t help but look at Li Chengji with surprise, "Dear father, why are you so generous today?"

He was so happy that he didn’t even call him old man.

Li Chengji got goosebumps from Li Xuan’s sudden affectionate calling, he chuckled, "It’s the rules set by our ancestors, when a man of Li family comes of age and sets up his own family, he gets a share of the profit from the family’s assets every year.

In the past, because you were a troublemaker, I had to act as if this rule didn’t exist. But now you have started to work hard, greatly different from the past, I can’t keep this money any longer. Though, it’s not time for the dividend yet, by the end of the year, estimates you can get about one hundred and twenty thousand teals."

Li Xuan was even more spirited than before, feeling that the sky was brighter, the surroundings were filled with the ink fragrance of banknotes. He thought that by the end of the year, he would probably be able to save enough money to buy a Qiankun bag.

But then Li Xuan felt it strange, "My older brother should have more money, shouldn’t he? Why does he seem so poor? whenever he gives rewards to his servants, he is always stingy and never generous."

Li Chengji smiled upon hearing this and looked down to blow a leaf out of his tea without saying a word.

Li Xuan immediately understood, thinking that Li Yan was useless.

Although old man Li Chengji is also a weakling, at least he managed to hold onto the financial power. But Li Yan lost even the financial power.

"By the way!"

Li Xuan thought of something, feeling that while he could hide it from others, there was no need to do so from Li Chengji.

So, he placed the Wenshan Seal in front of Li Chengji, "I went to the Guozi Bureau yesterday and am now the Hufa of Neo-Confucianism."

Li Chengji immediately spat out his tea with a ’puff’.

He looked bewildered at his younger son, "What did you just say? Say it again!"

"I said that I am now the Hufa of Neo-Confucianism, didn’t you see the seal?"

Li Xuan shook the Wenshan Seal in his hand, grinning, "If you raise the price to 160,000 taels, I will deal with this Xi Ying guy for you."

Li Chengji was bewildered for a moment, then grimaced as if trying to squeeze blood from a stone, "How painful! Am I dreaming? What a strange occurrence! How did this reckless son of mine, filled with the five poisons, manage to pass Kouxin and Wendao, the second stages of greed and desire? How did he pass the stage of lust? Could it be that he’s lost his... manhood?"

Li Xuan turned pale, "What nonsense are you talking about? You’re the one who’s lost it! Your whole family has lost it!"

※※※※

In the end, Li Chengji only added 50,000 taels to Li Xuan’s amount, saying that the Earl Chengyi’s mansion had suffered recent blows and even the landlord was running out of food.

As the head of the family, Li Chengji had to keep a substantial amount of money on hand for emergencies and could not use it indiscriminately.

Li Xuan found his reasoning quite sound and didn’t continue to haggle for money.

The 110,000 taels in silver notes that Li Xuan got from Li Chengji hadn’t even warmed up in his sleeve when he handed it over to Yue Qianqian after returning to the Zhuque Hall.

Ninety thousand taels were used to repay the debt, and the remaining twenty thousand taels were used to purchase the ’Locust Puppet’.

Yue Qianqian was quick and delivered the item within two hours. This was because this item was commonly used in Taoism, so there were plenty of them in the hands of the artifact refiner.

Yue Qianqian also took the time to teach Li Xuan the method for ’summoning spirits’, personally guiding him. She was afraid that Li Xuan would mess up the steps or mispronounce the scriptures, giving the Heavenly-Demon an opportunity.

Later, Li Xuan went to the palace at the summons of Princess Changle.

He planned to retrieve the ’Xuanhan Ice Jade’ as soon as possible, and then find a skilled refiner to transform it into a magical instrument.

There was no choice, his recent experiences made Li Xuan feel extremely insecure.

And a top-grade magical instrument would be of immense help in battle.

Princess Changle was truly generous and straightforward. As soon as Li Xuan paid his respects, she took out the promised ’Xuanhan Ice Jade’ and also gave him a bottle of ’Yangshen Elixir’ as a reward for retrieving the stolen goods so quickly.

Li Xuan was overjoyed, wishing he could hold the ’Xuanhan Ice Jade’ in his hand and carefully appreciate it.

But he patiently explained the cause and effect of the case to Princess Changle.

"So, there’s more to this case?" Princess Changle pondered, "There’s a hidden hand behind Shopkeeper Han? And the theft from the imperial treasury might not have been committed by Zidie? And the suspect in this case is likely connected to the recent case of weapon trafficking in south Zhili?"

"Exactly! Those are the directions for my upcoming investigation."

Li Xuan said solemnly, "There are many doubts about the theft from the imperial treasury. I plan to investigate from the perspectives of the stone lacquer used by the suspects and the stolen weapons at Dasheng Pass."

At this point, he noticed that Princess Changle seemed to be listening attentively, but her eyes clearly lacked interest.

Li Xuan quickly realized his mistake.

The one in front of him was probably only interested in the treasures she had lost. As for the real culprit of this case and the weapon trafficking case in south Zhili, the princess was probably not very interested.

As expected, after Li Xuan had explained the case in general, Princess Changle politely smiled, "Youjiao has worked hard. You don’t need to report the following case to me."

Just at this moment, a young eunuch outside the hall asked, "Is Li Xuan from the Liudao Division here?"

After asking, he walked into the hall and bowed to Li Xuan, "Youjiao Li, the second prince has summoned you, please go there as soon as possible."

Not only Li Xuan but also the Princess Changle sitting at the top were slightly stunned at this time.

And after Li Xuan thought for a moment, he first bowed apologetically to Changle, and then followed the young eunuch towards the East Palace of the Forbidden Palace in Nanjing.

When he entered the Grand Hall of the East Palace, the first thing he saw was a young boy wearing a red robe and a imperial crown, exuding a compelling presence, sitting at the top of the hall.

He looked around fourteen, with a pale face and a strong smell of herbs about him.

-- Just as the rumors said, this second prince returned safely from Luzhou but was severely injured and has not fully recovered yet.

Then, Li Xuan saw another person beside the young boy, who was none other than Quan Dingtian, the Jijiu of the Guozi Bureau whom he had met the day before.