Chapter 924 Family
After much persuasion from Li San Niang and her senior brother Zhou, it took them more than two quarters of an hour for Li San Niang to finally emerge from the private room of the teahouse.
Li San Niang looked up at the sky outside and hurried towards where the carriage was parked. As she walked, she said to Song Fuling, "This has wasted a lot of time. We won't be able to get to the West Market now."
Never mind, we'll talk about it tomorrow. Let's just buy some snacks on the way. Quick, let's go home.
Didn't they say that Dalang sent a letter?
It seems they're really coming back this time.
Yes, the reason why Li San Niang was in such a hurry to go home after finishing her shift today was that she received a letter from the Li family at noon, saying that she had received another letter from Li Da Lang and that she should go home early in the evening so that they could read the letter together.
Meanwhile, Li Dalang, whom Li Sanniang and the others were worried about, had already led his brothers to Tianmen Port, the largest natural deep-water port in Jiangnan East Road (I made up the name), with Shi Le'an.
After arriving at Tianmen Port, Li Dalang had not disembarked for seven or eight days.
This was because the special forces unit he led had been assigned a mission: to guard the cargo on their ship and deliver it safely to Chang'an.
The ship's hold was filled with chests of spoils captured from the South, including gold, precious spices and jewels, as well as valuable items treasured by the great tribes of the South.
Although, according to custom, the spoils of war, whether divided 20/80 or 30/70, should first be shared among the soldiers who carried out the work.
Some greedy generals would take the lion's share for themselves, leaving only a small portion for their soldiers, who would then receive a 50/50 or even 40/60 split.
It's just that Emperor Wu also sent Mr. Bu Ke to send some shady characters to accompany them this time. Otherwise, the Shi family army led by Shi Le'an and the Du family army led by Du Qinghui would have only handed over 30% to Emperor Wu, which would have been considered quite conscientious.
After all, maintaining an army is really expensive.
Li Dalang and his brothers went on a mission in the village deep in the woods. Couldn't they have taken something with them while killing people?
This certainly exists, but it's simply a common practice and human nature.
These soldiers risked their lives every day, and although they were able to receive 80% of their pay, which was already the highest in history, they were still under immense pressure.
However, the casualty rate among these soldiers was also quite high.
In other words, Li Sanniang came here and, through the help of the Bad People, extracted high-concentration alcohol.
Because of her previous suppression of the Western Turks, Li Sanniang had urgently taught many skills to the physicians of the Department of Ulcer Medicine at the Imperial Medical Bureau.
And then there's the gunpowder, the kind of firearm developed by Du Qinghui and his gang—that's the real weapon of mass destruction.
This reduced the casualty rate among lower-ranking soldiers, but even so, being a soldier and fighting is ultimately a risky business.
So, if you want a horse to run, you have to feed it well.
Otherwise, who would follow you to take up arms and kill people?
Tianmen Port, the sky is ablaze with sunset colors.
Li Dalang stood at the stern of the boat, looking at the sunset that seemed to be burning like fire, his ears filled with the sounds of various dialects.
There were foremen urging the laborers to carefully unload the goods, young women carrying baskets softly hawking dumplings, and people coming to the dock to buy seafood, haggling with the fishermen selling their goods—it was truly a lively and vibrant scene at the port.
"Boss, I see they're selling crabs. Shall we buy some and eat them?"
Wang Dadan stood on the gunwale not far from Li Dalang, glancing at the fishermen in their small boats selling their fresh catch from the sea, while also glancing back at Li Dalang.
“Next,” Li Dalang pulled a purse from his pocket and threw it at Wang Dadan, “tell Uncle Wang to pick out some things to buy, but only half of the brothers can eat this meal tonight, so that nothing goes wrong and it delays our business.”
He caught the purse that Li Dalang threw to him accurately. "Hey! Boss, this makes things easier for the brothers!"
The evening breeze made the sea surface shimmer, and as the last rays of sunset were about to leave the horizon, the lights on the ship were all lit.
On the deck, more than twenty people were divided into two tables. One table was eating freshly cooked, still-warm crabs and other seafood with ginger and vinegar sauce, while the other table had no seafood to eat but was eating stewed meat.
Some skilled knife-wielders would even prepare fresh fish right there on the sidelines, slicing it into sashimi and eating it with a spicy condiment made from ground mustard seeds.
There was no alcohol at either table. Actually, at this point, the only high-proof spirit available was the baijiu from the north. The rest of the alcohol wasn't very strong, and drinking three or five cups wouldn't cause any problems.
Li Dalang was cautious, not only because he was afraid of making mistakes while drinking, but also because he was afraid that someone might put something unclean in his food and drink.
Therefore, his team would never touch alcohol as long as they were on a mission.
However, most of the people in this group came from poor families. They were already satisfied with having meat to eat, and they didn't really appreciate the taste of the wine.
"As arranged, we'll be crossing from the sea to the river tomorrow. Brothers, be on your guard. When we get back to Chang'an, I'll treat you all to a drink!"
"Don't worry, boss!"
"Boss, the brothers all know what's going on."
"Haha, we're finally going back! We've been away for over a year..."
Li Dalang took a sip of tea and listened to his brothers' conversation. His longing for Chang'an grew even stronger.
Although he did go home once, unlike some of his brothers who hadn't seen their families for over a year, how could he not miss his family every moment?
"Judging by the days, the letter sent from Qiongzhou should have been received by now, right?"
I wonder what Liu Lang looks like now?
Is Shengnan doing well at home?
Are my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents all doing well?
With the night breeze, Li Dalang's longing for home also drifted towards the distant city of Chang'an.
In a large mansion more than 20 miles away from Tianmen Port, the lights were on and the air was filled with the aroma of wine.
This place was none other than the governor's mansion where Du Qinghui, the leader of the Du family army, resided.
Most of the people here, enjoying the beautiful dancers' performances while drinking expensive wine, are generals under Du Qinghui.
Of course, among these people, there were also those dressed like scholars, such as Lü Yunting, who were Du Qinghui's trusted advisors.
Actually, besides these two types of people, there were two other people sitting to Lü Yunting's left, which was quite surprising.
These two were not outsiders; they were actually old acquaintances of Li San Niang from afar, namely the opportunistic Ding brothers, Ding Mingxuan and Ding Anbo.
To be honest, these two truly lived up to their reputation as opportunists. Initially, they wanted to follow Du Qinghui and reap the benefits, but then they were frightened by Li Sanniang's identity as a member of the Bad People gang, and realized that Emperor Wu was the rightful heir. So they turned around and decided to bet on Emperor Wu's side.
As a result, when the opium case broke out, the two of them, still burning with desire, shamelessly went to Jiangnan and hooked up with Du Qinghui.
In Lü Yunting's words, "They are two merchants who will not get up early for nothing. They are not unusable, but we must keep a tight rein on them to prevent them from betraying their masters."
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