Chapter 917: Going Home.
Li San Niang in Chang'an faces many risks, while Li Da Lang, far away in the south, is now facing fewer dangers.
The pattering raindrops pattered on the leaves. Standing on the stilted house, Li Dalang looked at the continuous drizzle outside, feeling quite relaxed.
Before that, they finally caught the mastermind behind the opium case—the archbishop!
As soldiers, Li Dalang and his men were only tasked with arresting people. How to interrogate them or obtain the secrets of the mastermind was none of their concern.
The clattering sound of people going upstairs woke Li Dalang from his thoughts. He turned around and saw Gao Haiping, who was leaning on his cane, and Wang Dadan, who was following behind him.
Wang Dadan was also carrying a plate of snacks and a pot of hot tea.
Upon seeing this, Li Dalang quickly went forward to help Gao Haiping to sit down at the table. After Gao Haiping was settled, Li Dalang reached out to take the teapot from Wang Dadan's hand.
"Boss, sit down, I'll pour you both some."
After pouring tea, the three sat around the window. Li Dalang smelled the aroma of the pastries on the plate and couldn't help but smile as he said to Gao Haiping and Wang Dadan, "You two went to the city again? The Xing family's pastry shop is quite impressive; they can even run a business here."
Upon hearing this, Wang Dadan chewed on the pastry and replied to Li Dalang, "It seems that I was able to open this pastry shop in the city because I got in touch with General Shi."
However, this is convenient for us. The food these natives eat is too strange. The food that Huo Tou and the others make is edible, but it's not good to eat it every day.
This time when we went to the city to collect our supplies, we were given a token, and Lao Qi and I went to get the cakes ourselves.
Brothers, three or four pieces each isn't a small amount.
Gao Haiping was somewhat annoyed by Wang Dadan's habit of talking while eating. He swallowed the pastry in his mouth before continuing Wang Dadan's words: "These pastries are very popular among the Annamese nobles in the city. Many people go to buy them. This place should be an intelligence station that General Shi left openly in the Xing family's shop."
However, it was obvious to everyone that Da Dan and his men were dressed in military uniforms, carrying knives, and driving a cart to retrieve the cakes.
This can be seen as a form of deterrence against these natives.
Li Dalang nodded and agreed to what the two said.
The sound of rain outside the window grew louder, and the three of them turned to look out the window. The earthy smell and moisture that were characteristic of rainy days drifted into the room.
"Boss, the higher-ups haven't said when we can go back?"
It rains every day in this awful place, and the bedding is so damp it's getting moldy.
It's not only humid, but also hot. We have to stay here in the woods. If it weren't for the mosquito repellent we got from the army doctor, we wouldn't be able to sleep at night."
At this point, Wang Dadan felt the large welt on the back of his foot, caused by a poisonous mosquito bite, start to itch again.
However, he was too embarrassed to take off his shoes and scratch at this moment, as he was somewhat ashamed to do so in front of Li Dalang.
Li Dalang did not answer Wang Dadan's question first. Instead, he stood up and took a small porcelain bottle from the shelf in the room: "Take this. This is a mosquito repellent powder specially prepared by my aunt. Add it to the mosquito repellent incense in the room where the brothers sleep at night and light it. It should be more effective."
Seeing Wang Dadan take the small porcelain bottle, Li Dalang sat down again. He glanced out the window before turning back to look at Wang Dadan, who was staring at him with hopeful eyes: "Did the brothers call you here to ask? Are you all homesick?"
Wang Dadan chuckled twice, raised his hand to touch the back of his head, and said to Li Dalang with a little shyness, "Boss, we've been out here for almost a year, fought several battles, and arrested a lot of people. Didn't they say they were going to promote us?"
Brothers, how can we not be anxious to get home?
"Hehe, they asked me to inquire. We all follow orders from above, so I just asked."
Li Dalang could understand his brothers' feelings. To be honest, he himself wanted to go home as soon as possible. He hadn't spent the New Year with the Li family for several years, not to mention that he hadn't seen his newlywed wife for almost a year, and he missed her terribly.
Just as Gao Haiping was about to speak, Li Dalang raised his hand to signal him to shut up.
However, although Gao Haiping did not speak again at Li Dalang's signal, he was thinking to himself: "It's time to teach those lazybones like Dadan a lesson. It's only because the leader has a good temper that he's left. If he were in the hands of another general, which soldier would dare to ask when they would be going home?"
A soldier's first rule is to obey orders!
"When we went to General Shi's place last time, he said that we should go on another mission to bring back the valuables and such, and then we could go home."
You should talk to your brothers and tell them not to worry; we'll definitely be able to go back this year.
Just as Li Dalang had said, five days later, on another rainy night, Li Dalang followed Shi Le'an and his men by boat, winding their way to a place. After boarding a sampan, they reached the riverbank, crossed two hills, and finally found a large amount of gold and silver in a mountain valley guarded by local people.
And in this hidden place, following the archbishop's instructions, Shi Le'an found a rather long wooden box.
Li Dalang, who was following beside him, also saw the wooden box. He took the lead in opening it, since he had practiced martial arts since childhood and his reaction speed should be stronger than Shi Le'an's.
In addition, Shi Le'an was his superior, and he was obligated to protect his superior.
However, the wooden box was not equipped with any mechanisms. Once opened, the group saw a silver-white scepter inlaid with red gemstones lying inside.
"Goodness, this thing is really heavy."
Shi Le'an took the scepter from Li Dalang, felt its weight, and was very happy.
"With this, we can finally wrap things up."
Although they were preparing to return to Chang'an, the return of a large army was not something that could be accomplished just by saying it was possible to set off immediately.
However, Li Dalang and his men could finally rest in the south. They waited for the appointed day to board the ship with the army, first to Guangzhou, then to Qiongzhou (present-day Haikou area), then north to Hangzhou, and finally back to Chang'an by land.
It was another rainy day, and in the same stilted house, Li Dalang, Gao Haiping, and Wang Dadan sat around drinking tea and eating cakes.
"We're almost back. The weather here is unbearable."
"Old Zhou said the 20th of the month will be a sunny day. Dare to go back and ask the brothers if they want to buy anything. Report it to us, and you and Lao Qi can go to the city to buy it for them."
"Hey, boss, Haiping said that it's most worthwhile for us to use the salary to buy spices. We can make several times the money by reselling them back in Chang'an."
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