Chapter 517 "Gentlemen, no objections, right?"
(Thanks to reader 20181222162734409 for casting 3 monthly tickets.)
The eerie blue light emitted by the deep-sea fish oil lamp flickered on the second floor of the Mirage Boat, casting Li Shiyue's long shadow onto the carved screen, like a ferocious beast poised to pounce.
She lightly tapped the hilt of the knife with her fingertips, the rhythmic sound standing out clearly in the quiet room.
"Du Hui, the Jian'an Sima, has arrived!"
"Wan Kai, the Prefect of Jian'an, has arrived!"
Sun Xiaoliu's announcements came from downstairs one after another, and Li Shiyue's smile grew wider and wider.
At this moment, Chen Yong, who was at the door, listened to the words of the Xuanjia soldier who came to report the news. He then turned around and walked to Li Shiyue's side, whispering to her, "General, the military advisor Chang Hai sent a servant to say that he has suddenly fallen ill and cannot come today."
"oh?"
Li Shiyue raised an eyebrow. "It seems this Military Advisor Chang is a bit timid."
Looking around the round table, Li Shiyue smiled and said to Chen Yong, "It's alright, I was just thinking that this table is a bit small and can't seat so many people."
As the footsteps drew closer, Feng Gui, the Prefect of Jian'an, was the first to enter.
When the nearly fifty-year-old civil official saw Li Shiyue sitting upright in the head seat, he visibly paused for a moment.
However, he quickly bowed and greeted Li Shiyue.
"Your humble servant Feng Gui greets General Li."
Li Shiyue did not get up, but gestured with her eyes for Feng Gui to sit down to her left: "Please sit down, Prefect Feng."
I've heard you're skilled in divination; tonight you can help me with some calculations."
Upon hearing this, Feng Gui broke out in a cold sweat.
Feng Gui took his seat with trepidation. Immediately afterward, Jian'an Sima Du Hui and Jian'an Changshi Wan Kai, who was following behind Du Hui, walked in through the door.
Li Shiyue smiled when she saw the two of them walk in side by side.
Indeed, the two men's appearances are two extremes. Du Hui is a fat man with a big head and ears, and a short and stout build, just like Huang Wanchang.
Wan Kai, on the other hand, was tall and thin, looking like a bamboo pole.
One tall and one short, one fat and one thin, walking side by side—isn't that ridiculous?
After Du Hui and Wan Kai bowed to Li Shiyue and sat down, Cai Hua led Song Fang and another dark-skinned man in.
Cai Hua guessed that Li Shiyue must have something to say when she mentioned there was a banquet that evening.
But Cai Hua didn't expect that Li Shiyue would actually "invite" all the influential officials from Jian'an to come over!
The air inside the room suddenly froze. Feng Gui and the others looked at each other, staring at each other with wide eyes, which was quite amusing.
Hei Zi poked his head in from outside the door and reported to Li Shiyue, "General, the three military advisors have arrived."
Li Shiyue chuckled softly, "You've come at the perfect time. Please come in, everyone. Tonight, everyone at this table is all here."
Sun Xiaoliu clapped his hands at the door, and the servants carrying dishes filed in from outside, bringing out one delicacy after another.
"Please use it, everyone."
The food and wine on this mirage boat are truly delicious to me; you should all eat as much as you like.
Li Shiyue was the first to reach for her chopsticks, saying, "After all, only when you're full will you have the energy to listen to what this general has to say."
Of the eight people sitting around the round table, everyone except Li Shiyue picked up their chopsticks tremblingly after hearing Li Shiyue's words.
But Amen only dared to pick up the food in front of them, and even if they put the food in their bowls, none of them dared to actually swallow it.
Li Shiyue saw this scene and couldn't help but smile to herself.
Why didn't Feng Gui, Du Hui, and others dare to eat it?
Haha, I guess he's afraid Li Shiyue poisoned the food.
However, Cai Hua, who had eaten lunch at the same table as Li Shiyue, hesitated for a moment before reaching for the dish that Li Shiyue had picked up with her chopsticks.
Moreover, while Cai Hua was chewing, his eyes were fixed on Li Shiyue without blinking.
Li Shiyue didn't care about any of that; she just picked up her chopsticks and chose what she liked to eat.
She was really hungry; the table was full of delicious food, and she had spent a lot of money on it.
Even if she bought it with the silver that was taken from Huang Wanchang's house, didn't she still spend money?
We can't let this money go to waste; we have to get our money's worth.
Then, under the watchful eyes of everyone at the table, Li Shiyue kept eating, her chopsticks and mouth moving constantly, and ate quite a lot.
It's not that she was full. After all, with Li Shiyue's build, if she really ate freely, there would be no way she could eat enough of a dozen or so dishes on the table.
She simply picked out the ones she liked and ate a couple more bites.
Even so, the way she ate meat and drank wine with gusto still shocked everyone in the room.
Even Cai Hua didn't expect that Li Shiyue could really drink and eat so much.
After all, he hadn't seen Li Shiyue eat so much food or drink such a full pot of wine at lunchtime.
Li Shiyue drank the entire pot of wine down like water, and she showed no signs of drunkenness whatsoever. She looked exactly the same as when the banquet had just begun.
Cai Hua raised his glass and took a sip of the amber-colored liquid, confirming that it was real wine, not tea.
Cai Hua couldn't help but think: "A great reputation is never undeserved!"
This Li Shiyue looks thin, but he actually rose to the rank of general, so he must have real skills. This...could it be a natural talent?
Why does Cai Hua think this way?
Do you think he admires Li Shiyue because she looks thin and weak, but thinks she has great abilities?
Come on, Cai Hua is thinking that when he plots against Li Shiyue later, he should have a good talk with the Japanese pirates and send more people, otherwise, he might not be able to kill Li Shiyue.
After several rounds of drinks and five courses of food,
Li Shiyue suddenly stood up, raised her glass, looked around at everyone sitting around the round table, and then smashed the glass on the ground with a loud "bang"!
Porcelain shards flew everywhere, accompanied by her loud shout: "From this day forward, all military and political affairs in Jian'an shall be under the control of this general!"
Wan Kai's chopsticks fell to the ground.
Feng Gui and Du Hui were sitting properly with their chopsticks in their hands, but judging from their wide eyes, they were probably still in a daze.
As for the three recruits, they were all huddled to the side, heads down and trembling, not daring to even look up at Li Shiyue.
Cai Hua was the boldest; he even took another sip of wine from his glass.
Li Shiyue nodded to Sun Xiaoliu, who then pulled out another ledger from his pocket and slammed it down in front of Feng Gui.
"Prefect Feng, why don't you open it and take a look?"
Feng Gui's face turned ashen, and his body almost went limp. He trembled as he reached out and opened the ledger.
Every single entry in the ledger was written in Huang Wanchang's own handwriting. Every transaction with the Japanese pirates and the money received were clearly recorded.
Not only that, but it was also clearly written down how much each of these lower-ranking officials received, and every single penny was recorded.
Even their names were written clearly.
Large beads of sweat dripped down Feng Gui's forehead.
No one present was stupid. Du Hui and the others, looking at Feng Gui's expression, naturally guessed what was written in the booklet.
Cai Hua was somewhat surprised, although he had guessed that Huang Wanchang would leave behind their town's military supply ledgers;
But he never expected that Huang Wanchang had even kept records of how he distributed the ill-gotten gains among his subordinates!
"Gentlemen," Li Shiyue raised her glass, her voice neither warm nor cold, "Huang Wanchang, who was corrupt, colluded with Japanese pirates, and trafficked innocent people, has been executed."
However, Jian'an cannot be without a ruler for even a day. Until the Prince sends a new prefect to take office, I, the general, will temporarily govern Jian'an. Gentlemen, do you have any objections?
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