Chapter 549 Envy and Struggle
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Li Wangtian was dressed in a worn-out linen robe, carrying a thin bundle on his back, and clutching a letter tightly in his hand.
That was given to him by Zheng Meiniang.
Among them was none other than the divorce agreement that Zheng Meiniang had written with Li Wangzheng long ago.
For Li Wangtian, this thin letter was heavier than any bag of grain he had ever carried in his life, so heavy that it seemed to bend his back.
At the entrance of Lijiatun village, he looked around. Most of his relatives in Lijiatun stood far away, looking at him with complicated expressions.
Among them were pity, contempt, and indifferent relief, but no one came forward to say goodbye to him, and no one offered to travel with him.
He seemed to have become a truly lonely person.
Li Wangtian, who had been recuperating in Lijiatun for the past few months, had recovered from his illness, but his heart had died along with it.
He spent the New Year with many of his clansmen in Lijiatun. After the Lantern Festival, he brought up the matter of returning to Youzhou.
He had barely uttered those words when no one responded to him.
Indeed, it's been eight years. Everyone has gone their separate ways. Those who are still alive have long since settled down here. Why would they want to go back to Youzhou with him?
Besides, there aren't many relatives left in Youzhou among the current members of the Li clan from Lijiatun.
Li Wangtian had already decided to head south to Dongmou and then return to Youzhou. Thus, by May, he would be the only one leaving.
In the end, Zheng Meiniang sought out Manager Jin of Xingsheng Restaurant and asked him to help her find a merchant caravan heading south to Dongmou. She suggested that Li Wangtian go with the caravan, which would at least provide some guarantee.
"Although there are caravans to look after you along the way, you should still be careful when you're traveling alone."
"You've put all the money away safely. Having money means you'll never be in dire straits."
Zheng Meiniang stepped forward and gave Li Wangtian these instructions.
Finally, Zheng Meiniang thought for a moment and then spoke to Li Wangtian: "Wangzheng is a good man. If you show him the letter for me, he should understand."
"Brother Wangtian, you've worked so hard. As you can see, the three of us, mother and son, are doing quite well. Tell Wangzheng not to worry."
What could Li Wangtian say?
He simply nodded, assuring everyone that he would deliver the letter.
Finally, Li Wangtian glanced back at Lijiatun, where he had lived for several months, then hunched over and got into the carriage driven by Li Shiliang.
Li Shiliang personally drove the carriage to take Li Wangtian to Sanshan Port. After watching Li Wangtian board the ship, Li Shiliang thanked the ship's manager, cupped his hands in greeting, left the dock, and took the carriage back to Lijiatun.
Before Li Shiliang could return to Lijiatun, Sun Xiaoliu had already led a squad of Xuanjia soldiers and several large carts to Zheng Meiniang's house.
They were sent by Li Shiyue to take Zheng Meiniang and Li Xiatian's family to Jian'an.
However, before Sun Xiaoliu arrived in Lijiatun, he had already completed another mission for his trip to Jinzhou.
After the gold, silver, key evidence, and the heads of Huang Wanchang and others that he had seized from Huang Wanchang in Jian'an were safely transported to Jinzhou, he immediately presented them to Liu Tan, the Prince of Zhenbei.
At that time, Liu Tan looked at the heads preserved with lime and the account books, these irrefutable pieces of evidence. He praised Sun Xiaoliu repeatedly, saying that Li Shiyue was indeed a good general under his command.
But in truth, as Liu Tan looked at these things, he admired Li Shiyue's abilities, but deep down, his fear of Li Shiyue deepened.
Most importantly, Sun Xiaoliu handed over the piece of silk that Niu Sangeng had given to Li Shiyue to Liu Tan intact when they met alone.
In the end, Liu Tan only agreed to allocate another 500 new recruits and a small but sufficient amount of grain to Sun Xiaoliu to take back to Jian'an.
More importantly, he gave Sun Xiaoliu a handwritten letter bearing the seal of the Prince of Zhenbei, granting Li Shiyue the authority to "make decisions arbitrarily and act first and report later."
This was Liu Tan's open strategy—it was both his support for Li Shiyue as the Prince of Zhenbei and his placing greater responsibility and risk on Li Shiyue's shoulders.
How so?
It's a double-edged sword.
However, this was exactly what Li Shiyue wanted.
At the same time, Liu Tan also revealed an important piece of information to Sun Xiaoliu: at the end of the year, he would personally go to Jian'an for inspection.
This statement is both a promise and a warning.
This means that Li Shiyue must produce results that will satisfy Liu Tan by the end of the year—whether it's killing bandits, pacifying the people, or something else.
After finishing his business in the prefectural city, Sun Xiaoliu led his men to Lijiatun without stopping.
When Sun Xiaoliu and his group entered the village and headed towards Zheng Meiniang's house;
The people of Lijiatun gathered from all directions, their eyes filled with envy and struggle as they looked at Sun Xiaoliu and his spirited, well-equipped soldiers.
Envy naturally possesses such martial prowess; here, there is nothing to fear.
Struggle?
The question, of course, is whether or not to go to Jian'an with Zheng Meiniang and the others to seek refuge with Li Shiyue.
Now, is it still worth it for them to abandon their families and go to Jian'an to continue living with Li Shiyue?
Zheng Meiniang had already finished tidying up. Looking at the small courtyard where she had lived for eight or nine years, her expression was calm and resolute.
Li Xiatian was still standing in the yard, with two children standing on either side of her legs;
Pingping and An'an, the siblings, are no longer little children; they have a vague understanding of the concept of "moving."
Behind Li Xiatian stood Jiang Huai, his face calm and expressionless.
Their whole family was bound to leave.
The moment of choice fell to others.
"Auntie? We're all packed!"
Yangzai and Wang Shisan each drove a large horse-drawn carriage to Zheng Meiniang's house.
Upon seeing Sun Xiaoliu helping Zheng Meiniang pack up the cart in the yard, Yangzai and Wang Shisan quickly called out "Sixth Brother" and stepped forward to greet him.
"Hey, you guys' been putting on quite a show, huh?"
Sun Xiaoliu looked at the pile of things, almost half a person high, on the carriage that Wang Shisan was driving, and asked in surprise.
"Sixth Brother, my master is coming with us!"
Hehe! There are quite a few of our tools on that cart.
Yes, Jin Daping decided to go with his two apprentices, Li Yueniang and Yangzai. After all, when he became an apprentice, Li Shiyue had promised that Jin Daping would be her last disciple and that Li Yueniang and Yangzai would take care of him in his old age and see him off in his final days.
Since Li Yueniang was leaving, her mother, Yu Zhenniang, naturally had to go with her.
Yu Zhenniang knew that only by staying by Li Shiyue's side could Li Shiyue's promise that the women in the clan would not marry outside the clan but only take in sons-in-law could be fulfilled.
Otherwise, if she stayed in Lijiatun with Li Yueniang, it's uncertain whether Li Shiyang, the clan chief, would accept what Li Shiyue said.
Since that's the case, the mother and daughter should naturally follow Zheng Meiniang to Jian'an to find Li Shiyue.
Meanwhile, behind the carriage driven by Yangzai and Wang Shisan, people were still driving carriages to gather.
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