Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 404 - 330: So it turns out that Zidie is so innocent_1

Chapter 404: Chapter 330: So it turns out that Zidie is so innocent_1

The next morning when they left, Zhang Yue and Peng Fulai both noticed that Li Xuan was in low spirits and looked listless.

Peng Fulai couldn’t help but laugh: "What on earth did you do last night, Li Xuan? I fought all night and I’m still full of energy, refreshed. Li Xuan, you’re supposed to be conserving your energy, how come you’ve become so languid?"

He thought, with how Li Xuan was, how could he take care of so many ships, they would definitely capsize.

"I didn’t do anything, just chatted with someone." After Li Xuan finished speaking, he laughed scornfully then glanced at Peng Fulai, "That Demoness’s skills are extraordinary, right? I bet you used at least three Yuanyang Vigorous Elixir. Now you’re just relying on the drug’s effects, why pretend in front of me? Wait until the drug’s effect is over, and you’ll be in for it."

Peng Fulai thought to himself, how in the fuck did he guess that?

Zhang Yue then curiously asked: "Chatting? With Luo Yan? How come we didn’t see her this morning?"

"The main hall sent a batch of Earth Dragons, and she received them for me."

As Li Xuan spoke, he looked at Zhang Yue with a faint hint of complaint.

He thought to himself, Zhang Taishan, oh Zhang Taishan, you’ll never know the sacrifices I’ve made to chase after this girl for you.

The girl from the imperial uncle’s mansion isn’t easy to handle, they chatted from poetry to literature last night, then from literature to famous mountains and sights all over the place, and from famous mountains and sights to the situation of the world, and then from the situation of the world, they started to envision life itself.

That girl named Sun Chuyun can really chat, and she’s exceptionally lively and energetic, which makes him have to muster all his energy to keep up, and this went on until the Hour of Chen in the morning.

Just as they were riding out of the alley where Earl Huichang’s mansion is located, Li Xuan saw two men standing solemnly waiting outside the alley.

One was a man in his twenties, dressed in crimson Feiyu suit, with a curly mustache and hair; the other was dressed as a shopkeeper, who looked vaguely familiar to him.

When these two saw Li Xuan, they were overjoyed. The young man immediately bowed his fist to Li Xuan saying, "Please hold on, sir, I have something to discuss with you."

Li Xuan immediately pulled back the reins and stopped his horse: "Are you from Shanwei House? I remember you’re the shopkeeper of Shanwei House, right?"

"Exactly!" The shopkeeper answered first: "Three days ago, I failed to recognize your greatness. Please forgive me, sir. This is our boss—"

"My name is Zhu Donglou!"

Zhu Donglou bowed his fist and introduced himself: "I serve as the Tidu of the Five Army Division."

After a moment’s thought, Li Xuan remembered that the Five Army Division was one of the three main divisions of the Capital City’s Jingying, a Tidu of Five Army Division, isn’t that equivalent to a Zongbingguan?

This guy is only in his twenties, right? Such a young Zongbing of Jingying?

Li Xuan couldn’t help but show respect and bowed his fist, saying, "So it turned out to be Tidu Zhu, I was disrespectful."

"Not at all, it was I who was presumptuous," Zhu Donglou then said with a bitter smile, "You really made it difficult for me to find you. After that night, I mobilized everyone in my house to turn the Capital City upside down searching for you for three days.

If it wasn’t for this coincidence that Earl Huichang’s mansion hired our Shanwei House to prepare a banquet last night, our shopkeeper luckily recognized you. I really don’t know when I would be able to find you."

But Li Xuan was even more puzzled, he asked in a confused manner, "May I ask what Tidu Zhu is looking for me for?"

"It’s about the autograph on the Wuyi Stone you left at our place." Zhu Donglou explained this and then asked somewhat solemnly, "May I ask for your full name, sir?"

Li Xuan then found it difficult, he glanced at Earl Huichang’s mansion behind him and could only perfunctorily answer, "My surname is Li and my name is Qian."

"So it’s Brother Li." Zhu Donglou once again bowed, "May I ask if Brother Li and his friends would take a moment to join us at Shanwei House, where I have already prepared a banquet."

"We’ll pass on the banquet, Tidu Zhu, if you have something to say, just say it." Li Xuan wondered where he had the time to eat and drink at your place today, he had so many things waiting for him at the Liudao Division.

Zhu Donglou had no choice but to get straight to the point, "I presume to request something of you this time, I hope you will permit it, to bring your autograph on the stone to Guozi Bureau."

Li Xuan couldn’t help but be curious, he thought to himself, this guy wants to move the stele into Guozi Bureau, why come to ask him, just move it.

But then Li Xuan understood, realizing that even though he didn’t take this matter seriously, these ancient people cared a lot about rules, especially between literati, there were a set of established rules.

If this were modern times, others’ portraits and works couldn’t also be used randomly.

Sensing this, Zhu Donglou thought that he was unwilling, and immediately bowed deeper, "Please be generous and grant permission, I am willing to offer 150,000 taels of heavy gold to exchange for your autograph on the stone. This small amount of silver is less than one-tenth of the value of this stone, but I am financially embarrassed at the moment—"

"Let’s not speak of money first." Li Xuan laughed dismissively: "Is Tidu Zhu just delivering the stone tablet to the Guozi Bureau? Without any ulterior motives?"

Zhu Donglou thought for a moment, then said solemnly: "To be honest, my father, Zhu Guoneng, is currently the Zongbingguan in Xuanfu. Recently, because he led the cavalry in a proactive assault on the plains, he is being heavily impeached by the censors and finds himself in a precarious situation.

I wanted to send this stone tablet to the Guozi Bureau for two reasons. First, its inscription by you is a gem that can uphold the Dao and leaving it in our restaurant would be a waste. Second, I hope to build connections with the high-ranking officials in the Guozi Bureau and ask these grand scholars of Neo-Confucianism to speak on behalf of my father."

"The Zongbingguan of Xuanfu?"

Li Xuan murmured, and then looked deeply moved: "My apologies! So, Your Excellency Tidu is actually the son of Earl Funing."

If he had respected Zhu Donglou for his official position before, now he truly admired him.

Earl Funing, Zhu Guoneng, has been holding Xuanfu, a military stronghold, against Mongwu since the thirty-second year of the Zhengtong era for twelve years, acting as a great support for the Jin Dynasty in the northern border.

Although this man is not at the heavenly level, he is adept at managing forces and his reputation on the battlefield is no less than that of strong men at the heavenly level. After the incident of Tumu Fort, he held Xuanfu strongly and resisted Yexian for several days at Guan Zi Kou in the first year of Jingtai, leaving Mongwu Khan helpless.

Besides, there are rumors within the circle of nobles that the family of Earl Funing has a son as promising as a Kylin, who is better than his predecessor. He has entered the Fourth Gate in his twenties and has been favored by Jingtai Emperor, this must be the one standing in front of him.

"Let’s do this. I don’t want the money. As long as Tidu Zhu means no harm, just send the stone tablet over. If Tidu feels indebted, you can donate this sum of money to the charity houses in Beijing on my behalf."

After finishing speaking, Li Xuan solemnly bowed: "I have to excuse myself now due to my busy official duties. I have to say that I highly admire both the character and martial arts of Earl Funing. I have also heard that Tidu Zhu is a hero of the generation and an eminent figure. We can have a drink together when we have time."

Hearing this, Zhu Donglou couldn’t help but smile: "Brother Li, I’ll remember your words. You cannot back away. And if you don’t like this money, you can come to my Shanwei House for meals in your spare time as a token of my respect."

Upon hearing this, the innkeeper next to him couldn’t help but tremble. He wondered, how generous is this respect? Free of charge? Considering Li Xuan’s eating habits, if he were to visit their Shanwei House several times, they might go bankrupt?

Then he heard Zhu Donglou murmur in a low voice: "Indeed, as expected of the Hufa of Neo-Confucianism, the Tiger of Jinling who shakes Jiangnan. His character and talent are impressive."

"Hufa of Neo-Confucianism, Tiger of Jinling?" The innkeeper asked in confusion: "Are you talking about the Earl Jingan next to this young master?"

"How can you be so insensitive?" Zhu Donglou gave him a sidelong glance: "Think about his attire that night."

The innkeeper finally understood, and weirdly looked back at the Earl’s mansion behind him. However, he soon heard Zhu Donglou warning: "Don’t meddle! Earl Jingan must have had his reasons to do so. If it doesn’t concern you, don’t interfere."

At this time, Peng Fulai asked Li Xuan strangely: "Don’t you lack money? You rejected a hundred and fifty thousand taels of patterned silver so easily?"

Li Xuan glared at him, thinking that of course he wants money, but his Hao Qi is much more important.

Taking someone else’s poems to flirt with girls occasionally is acceptable. Using them to uphold justice, subdue demons and slay monsters, he thinks the poem’s owner can accept it, but if he uses it for fame and profit, will his Hao Qi still be as pure as before?

He would rather live off women than to let his Hao Qi be tarnished.

In the next few days, Li Xuan was indeed hustling and bustling in the Liudao Division, accepting personnel, receiving materials, liaising with all the agencies of the Division Head and Qinglong Hall, continuing to wrangle with both the Tianguan and Diguan Buildings for funds and personnel, which drained all of Li Xuan’s energy.

By this time, his Shenyi Department had already started to take shape. All seven of the assigned courtyards had been set up, all office appliances were ready, and the number of people reporting to him had reached more than a hundred - most of them were for civil service positions.

Tianguan Building was extremely accommodating in this aspect. There was a huge redundancy among the civil servants in the Liudao Division, so they could take away as many as they needed.

But it was a pity that they could not start the business yet. Fumo Venerable was still detained in the North Sea and had not returned. Qinglong Hall had not relayed any cases upwards yet, and the two Vice Venerables from the Division Head seemed to have turned a blind eye to Li Xuan’s ’Shenyi Department’ due to some reasons.

However, the atmosphere within the ’Shenyi Department’ is pretty good. Li Xuan is good at winning people’s hearts. Since there is nothing to do, he spends his energy on his subordinates. He took care of the food and accommodation for these subordinates who came from far away, showed concern for them, and so on. Coupled with Shenyi Department’s special treatment, everyone from top to bottom was bursting with enthusiasm, all geared up and ready to show their capability.

Only Luo Yan, these few days, kept her distance from Li Xuan out of respect. Every time she saw Li Xuan, or accidentally met his eyes, her face would turn red for a long time.

Li Xuan couldn’t help but marvel, wondering if this was still the defiant Xia Nanyan? Turns out the Demoness Zidie, famous in everyone’s eyes, is so innocent.

Three days later, as Li Xuan was working, he received a flying message from Zhang Yue stating that Gong Xiaowu had invited him to the Guozi Bureau.

At that time, Zhang Yue was on an errand to purchase materials on behalf of Li Xuan. When he received the invitation, he didn’t think much and directly went ahead, fortunately remembering to notify Li Xuan via the message.

Li Xuan held the talisman in his hands, full of doubts. He wondered why the imperial uncle would invite ’Li Xuan’ to the Guozi Bureau in their view? What is he up to?

However, he was certain about one thing. That is, it is about time for the imperial uncle to reveal his plans.