Chapter 576 Meeting
When Li Changtian heard this, he knew that one of the two prisoners must be Mei Tang.
"Sir, meeting is fate, let's find a place to have a few drinks."
"How can this be so embarrassing?" The yamen runner said this, but turned around and walked towards a restaurant on the side of the road. "Tan's Restaurant is the most famous restaurant in Xin'an County. Their bamboo sake is the most popular."
"Then let's go to Tan's Tavern." Li Changtian followed the yamen runner to a two-story tavern.
The waiter quickly warmed a pot of bamboo sake for the two of them.
Li Changtian ordered four or five side dishes.
The yamen runner picked up the wine glass, drank it all in one gulp, and sighed contentedly: "I haven't had a drink in a long time! It feels great!"
Li Changtian did not state his purpose right away, but kept pouring wine for the yamen runners and chatting with them.
After the wine was finished and the side dishes were almost finished, the bailiff asked, slightly tipsy, "Tell me, what do you want to do with me?"
Li Changtian smiled embarrassedly: "You, sir, have seen through it."
The bailiff curled his lips and looked at me mockingly: "No one looks down on us small fry. If you didn't have something to ask of me, why would you be so humble here?"
"Oh? Do you know who I am?"
Yamen runner: "The two people in the cell are all Yun Guogong's men, so you must also be Yun Guogong's men."
Li Changtian bowed his hands and said, "Your Excellency has a keen eye. I am indeed the Duke of Yun's man. I wonder if Your Excellency dares to let me visit my old friend in prison?"
"Why not?"
"Aren't you afraid that Lord Lu will blame you after he finds out?"
The yamen runner drank the last drop of wine and smacked his lips. "Lord Lu wants to side with the emperor for his own career, but he doesn't think about whether the emperor has taken our Hezhong County to heart when the whole Great Zhou was hit by a disaster? Not to mention the emperor, even the governor flooded Pingyang County to protect Hezhong Prefecture, didn't he? Today it's Pingyang County, but next time it won't be our Xin'an County?!"
The yamen runner put the wine glass heavily on the table and said proudly: "Everyone says that Duke Yun is trying to buy people's hearts, but what she did is real! She really saved the people of Pingyang County, and our Baida Express in Xin'an County has never oppressed its employees!"
The drunken eyes of the yamen runner flashed with clarity: "I never listen to what others say, but I look at what they do. In my opinion, Duke Yun is a good person. Only by following her can you have a good life!"
Li Changtian stood up and saluted respectfully to the yamen runner: "I don't need to thank you for your kindness."
Perhaps because there were only two prisoners, Mei Tang and Zhu Chongri, in the prison, Lord Lu did not send more personnel to the prison.
The bailiff said hello to his colleagues and walked in with Li Changtian in a swagger.
"Meitang!" Li Changtian ran over quickly.
Hearing the familiar voice, Mei Tang turned around, surprised and happy: "Li Changtian, why are you here?!"
The bailiff turned and left, leaving the space to the three people.
Li Changtian quickly explained the whole story and the current situation: "Lord Wang of Xingye County has agreed to join us, and is only waiting to bring his family back safely from Xiangzhou."
"Suining County did not receive our envoys, and Taihe County was playing it safe and wavering. I heard from the merchants that Lord Lu took over the Baida Post Station in Xin'an County, and you didn't send any news, so I had a hunch that something was wrong, so I came to investigate."
Mei Tang felt so ashamed.
After all, he was an aide to He Yunyan, the governor of Shuozhou, and he once took a list of names and killed all the powerful families in Shuozhou.
Before departure, Duke Yun gave instructions to all the envoys except himself.
Because Duke Yun was full of confidence in himself, he felt that this little matter would be easy for him to accomplish.
But I never expected that something went wrong on my side!
Mei Tang said ashamedly: "It's me who held everyone back."
Li Changtian looked at the door, worried that someone might break in. "I heard someone say that you were arrested by Lord Lu as soon as you arrived in Xin'an County. What happened?"
Mei Tang: "The emperor has issued a secret decree to Lord Lu, asking him to cooperate with the navy. The navy will arrive in Xin'an County soon."
Li Changtian took a breath. He thought that Lord Lu should be the key to surrender, but he never expected that the emperor would actually give an order that the court's secret army would be stationed in Xin'an County!
"Mei Tang, we must take Xin'an County."
Mei Tang glanced at Zhu Chongri, who knew he had gotten into trouble, and said, "I know. Zhu Chongri, why don't you quickly make amends for your crime and tell me everything you know?"
Mei Tang was a little worried about Zhu Chongri, and reminded him: "Just describe the objective facts, don't add your speculations."
Zhu Chongri didn't know what they wanted to hear, so he could only tell them what he knew: "Lord Lu has an old mother, a wife, a son and a daughter."
"As far as I know, he is the most filial to his mother. The first thing he does every morning when he wakes up is to greet his mother. Every night when he returns home, the first thing he does is to kneel down and pay respect to his mother. If the old lady has already gone to bed, he will bow outside the house."
"Lord Lu's wife is short and stout. It is said that she used to be a peddler, selling things to support Lord Lu's studies for the imperial examinations."
"Lord Lu's son is ill and cannot take part in the imperial examination. His daughter has divorced her husband and is living in her parents' home."
Li Changtian was speechless. He didn't hear anything serious, but just heard a lot of gossip.
Mei Tang's eyes sparkled: "It's a good thing for people to have weaknesses. Lord Lu's weaknesses are his mother and relatives. Changtian, find a way to convince Lord Lu's family, at least to let you and Lord Lu meet!"
Li Changtian nodded obediently: "How can I impress them?"
Zhu Chongri raised his hand weakly: "Perhaps because they have been through hard times for too long, Lord Lu's mother and wife place great value on money. They once sold the opportunity to have a meal with Lord Lu for twenty taels! Although Lord Lu scolded them, they sold it for a hundred taels, and Lord Lu still obediently accompanied them for five meals."
Meitang was happy. It’s good to love money. It’s wonderful to love money!
If a problem can be solved with money, is it still called a problem?
Mei Tang wanted to open his purse, his expression frozen. He almost forgot that all the financial matters he had with him were taken away when he was thrown into prison.
Mei Tang looked at Li Changtian again. Li Changtian took out his purse, opened it and saw that there were only twenty taels!
The two looked at each other awkwardly.
Working under Duke Yun, there is really no need to spend money.
The government office provides meals, and Duke Yun also allocates accommodation and distributes charcoal, grain, oil, etc. on a monthly basis.
Officials of higher ranks would also be equipped with a servant who would be responsible for handling miscellaneous matters in their residence.
Zhu Chongri was filled with joy: "I have money! It's right where I live!"
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