The shopkeeper didn't know how to answer when asked by Ze Luo, "Our own shopkeeper?" If he was really our own shopkeeper, then smoke would be coming out of his ancestral graves. This was a blessing that could only be earned after several lifetimes.

"You are joking, sir. How about letting our small shop host the party today? Please come in." The shopkeeper did not dare to reveal Li Hong's identity.

I'm afraid not many people know that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has appeared in the Western Regions, and even Pei Xingjian usually addresses Li Hong as the Grand Protector.

The reason for this is simply that they are afraid that if Li Hong's identity is leaked, someone will target him.

In this way, if something happened to the prince, even if the areas controlled by Ashina Duzhi were recaptured, or even if Tubo was conquered, it would be a loss of face for the Tang Dynasty and could not be considered a great victory.

Ze Luo looked at the attitude of the shopkeeper and became suspicious. This restaurant had always been respectful to him, which was why he liked to come to this restaurant. Not only because of the Tang Dynasty food, but also because here he could enjoy the same noble treatment as the Tang people.

This kind of treatment will make you feel like a true noble of the Tang Dynasty, and your status will suddenly become truly noble.

It's not like other restaurants and taverns, where the shopkeepers would tremble when they saw him. The most important thing is that the environment is completely different from that of this restaurant.

But today, the shopkeeper not only did not treat me as a regular customer as a VIP, and did not chase away the young man who occupied his seat, but he blatantly asked me to change seats!

...

...

In his impression, this was simply an incredible thing, and it made him even more curious about the identity of this young man. Who on earth could he be, and how could he be worshipped like a god by the shopkeeper just by sitting there without saying a word?

Ze Luo retracted his finger that was pointing at the young man and looked at the people sitting at the table again. Each of them was dressed simply, not in fancy clothes, and they all looked like they were from wealthy families.

But everyone seems to exude a vague aura of nobility. That kind of temperament cannot be achieved by wearing any fancy clothes, but requires an environment, an aristocratic temperament that is cultivated from childhood, or even innate.

This is also the reason why he likes to come to this restaurant, hoping to add this kind of nobility to himself.

"I haven't asked what this young man's name is yet?" Ze Luo thought quickly. There was only one young man with a mysterious identity in Anxi Protectorate, and that was the Grand Protector of Anxi Protectorate.

Thinking of this, Ze Luo's face suddenly changed, and his expression became more cautious. He looked at Li Hong and asked for advice.

"You've guessed it, yet you're still asking?" Li Hong didn't look at him. Instead, he lowered his head and fed the little wolf with beef together with Xia Zhi.

"Guessing it and telling it to you are two different things. You might as well explain it more clearly." Ze Luo was very cautious. If it was the Grand Protector of Anxi, then everything would be easy to talk about. If the Tang Dynasty wanted to keep a foothold in Kucha, it could not do without its prestige in Kucha.

But what if it was not the Grand Protector-General, but some other rich young man from the Tang Dynasty, and he deceived the great General Dingyuan in Qiuci, it would be a huge joke.

Li Hong raised his head calmly and looked at Ze Luo quietly. This man was about fifty years old, but he was well maintained despite the harsh weather conditions in the Western Regions.

His eyes were like those of a wolf, full of cunning and depth. His short beard made his face look rough. Despite his age, he had maintained his figure very well. He didn't even have a belly. He looked like a local tyrant.

"Do you come to this restaurant often?" Li Hong ignored Zhe Luo's question, but looked into Zhe Luo's wolf-like eyes and asked lightly.

"What do you mean?" Zhe Luolian didn't realize that he had unconsciously put the boy's identity in the perspective of a superior and used a respectful title.

"Nothing special. If that's the case, go find another table to sit down and eat. Standing here is annoying." Li Hong's tone remained calm.

Just because I didn't say anything about the rudeness to Xiaoxue and the others just now, it doesn't mean I wasn't angry. No one has ever dared to be so rude to my maid.

Ze Luo looked at Li Hong silently. In his opinion, if he was the Grand Protector of Anxi Protectorate, he would not speak to him like this. Doesn't he know how important he is to the Tang Dynasty?

"Okay, okay, okay. Since you are dining with only the servants, I believe you will not leave Qiuci in the next two days. We will have a chance to meet again." There was a chilling look in Zhe Luo's eyes, and he walked straight out of the restaurant after he finished speaking.

The diners originally thought that Li Hong and others would inevitably be bullied by Ze Luo, but they did not expect that it was Ze Luo who left here in the end.

What surprised them even more was that the restaurant owner did not follow Zhe Luo to apologize, but instead bent over and apologized to the young man.

After waving his hand to let the shopkeeper leave, Li Hong asked, "Have you informed Fang Zhan?"

"I have already told you according to your method. But how do you know this? I am just familiar with the furnishings here, so I said that this place looks like there are two princesses..." Xia Zhi was a little confused.

"Go out and look at the sign yourself. Apart from our Chinese characters, what do the patterns on the cloth look like?" Li Hong stretched out his hand and tapped Xia Zhi's jade-white forehead, saying coldly.

"Then I won't go to see it. You must be right, Master."

After the few people finished their meal, some of the diners who came in with them looked at them and walked out of the restaurant slowly and swaggeringly without even paying, with the shopkeeper's attentive farewell.

I continued strolling leisurely on the busy streets. The prosperity of Qiuci City was limited to the two or three east-west streets, while the other streets seemed a bit deserted.

"Someone is following us, Master." Hua Meng frowned and said, "Do you want me to cut off the tail?"

"No need. It would be strange if no one was following us. Don't pay any attention to them." Li Hong said as he looked at the vendors selling whole sheep and picked out the fat sheep.

The little wolf started to get excited again. When he saw the horse team, he wanted to take a bite. Now when he saw the sheep, he struggled in Xia Zhi's arms, wanting to fight to the death for his food.

"By the way, has the guarding of Yumen Pass been much laxer recently as New Year's Day is approaching?" Li Hong looked at the familiar powder on the ground while watching the sheep. He squatted down, picked up a handful, and rubbed it with his fingers.

Looking at the brown powder on his fingers, which started from the sheep vendor and formed a faint straight line extending forward, Li Hong couldn't help but frown.

Cement was actually smuggled out! Although cement was no longer a rare commodity in the Tang Dynasty, it was always forbidden to be smuggled out of the country. How could we see cement here now?

He patted a fat sheep and signaled Mangzhong to buy it. Then he began to slowly explore forward along the cement scattered on the ground.

After crossing a street, we arrived at the back door of a house. There were lines of scattered cement in a small pile at the back door. It was obvious that the scattered cement had piled up here while waiting for the door to open.

I couldn't hear any human voice in the house. I stood at the door and looked around for a while, but I couldn't see any pedestrians walking on this deserted street.

So Li Hong began to walk around the house. When he reached the front gate, he muttered to himself, "This house is not small. According to the Chang'an city's block system, it occupies more than half of the block."

"Who are you? Leave immediately. You are not allowed to stay here." The guard at the door saw Li Hong standing in the middle of the door, looking around the house unscrupulously, and immediately scolded him.

Li Hong was too lazy to pay attention to him. When the guard at the door was about to look at Xiaoxue and the others, he led them away. Behind them, of course, there was Mangzhong, who was leading a live sheep and bleating.

Xia Zhi, that idiot, put the little wolf on the ground. It was now chasing the sheep's hind legs and biting them, but it looked more like it was playing.

The two people who were following them were also confused when they saw Li Hong coming to the front of the house. They didn't expect that he would come here.

But what surprised them even more was that the young man staggered and actually entered the Protectorate. The two people who were following him looked at the backs of Hua Meng and others as they walked in, and they looked at each other in surprise. It seemed that this young man was really the Grand Protector of Anxi Protectorate.

As soon as he entered the mansion, Li Hong saw Xu Yanbo, whom he had not seen since leaving Chang'an, waiting for him anxiously.

Seeing Li Hong and the others come in with a relaxed look, Xu Yanbo's face relaxed, and he hurried over to stand about ten steps away from Li Hong, and said respectfully: "This humble general, Xu Yanbo, greets the Grand Protector."

"You look so dusty. Where did you come from? Haven't you been in the Qiuci barracks all the time?" Li Hong asked curiously as he looked at Xu Yanbo, who looked dusty and had sweat stains mixed with yellow soil on his face.

"Reporting to the Grand Protector, I have just rushed back from the grassland."

"What? Any news about Ashina Duzhi?" Li Hong was delighted. He kicked away the little wolf that gave up the lamb leg and started biting his trouser leg instead. He took two steps forward and asked anxiously.

"Reporting to the Grand Protector, there is no news about Ashina Duzhi yet, so it is impossible for the general to give this letter to you." Xu Yanbo said as he pulled out a secret letter from the gap between the two plates of armor.

"Did he tell you anything?" Li Hong tore open the envelope, took out the letter inside, and asked while reading it.

"Reporting to the Grand Protector, General Wufa has told me that this letter must be handed over to you. I cannot give it to anyone who wants it. Even if someone threatens me, I cannot give this letter to anyone else, including General Pei Xingjian."

Xu Yanbo is now the same as Li Hong. During this period of time, he has become much stronger and has completely lost his bookish air. He looks completely like a military man.