Chapter 213 212. Wasn’t anyone eavesdropping on me?
The days in the county town are leisurely and happy.
However, happy times always pass quickly. When it was time for school to start and spring plowing to begin, Lei Li and his family returned to Sanlihe Village from the county town.
The village became busy again.
The rice seedlings are green.
Snails are timid.
Lei Li and Zhou Yi grabbed a bucket of snails and were about to go home to make stir-fried snails with sour bamboo shoots when they heard someone calling them. They looked up and saw Niu Ershu running over and saying,
"Lei Li! Zhou Yi! Young Master Meng Luo is at your house now. He said he has something to talk to you about and wants you to go back quickly."
"Mengluo is here?"
Lei Li was a little confused. "Did he tell us why he wanted to see us?"
"Not really."
Niu Ershu took a breath and said, "But he brought two young men with him. One of them has been to our village before and is Master Mengluo's cousin. I don't know the other young man, but he is very handsome."
After thinking for a moment, he added, "He just looks very different from the people in our village. Although he smiles, he has that kind of... the official aura of a county magistrate..."
"The aura of an official?"
Lei Li was a little surprised, wondering, had Meng Luo brought an official with him? Why did he bring an official to see him and Zhou Yi? Was he a local official or an official from the imperial court?
Niu Ershu scratched his head and said honestly, "I don't know how to put it, but you'll know once you see it."
Lei Li nodded, "We understand. Thank you for making this trip."
"It's okay, it's okay."
Niu Ershu waved his hand and said, "I just happened to be passing by the village entrance and saw Master Mengluo's carriage. If you have nothing else, I'll leave first."
"become."
Lei Li responded and walked back home, whispering to Zhou Yi about why Meng Luo came back.
Sure enough, there were two large carriages parked in front of the house. Several voices were heard from the house, one of which was very strange yet slightly familiar. It didn't sound like cousin Mengluo's, which made Lei Li a little strange.
Zhou Yi carried the snails to the kitchen, added oil and salt to make the snails spit out the mud and sand.
Lei Lize entered the main hall, clasping his fists and smiling, saying, "I apologize for not welcoming you, our distinguished guest, and for any inadequacies in our hospitality. I hope you will forgive me."
In the main hall, his mother, Liu Ye'er, and his father, Lei Dashan, were both there, both with cheerful smiles on their faces, as if they had just been amused. Meng Luo was also cheerful, and sitting next to him were Mei Yuqing and two other people.
A man with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, with an imposing and deep aura, like a sword temporarily sheathed but ready to kill once it is drawn, is Meng Luo's cousin Xiang Chong.
——The atmosphere was completely different from the last time I came to the village to inspect the peppers, as if it had experienced some stormy waves.
The other one was a stranger, with a pair of almond-shaped eyes and a faint smile. He looked at Lei Li very gently and politely. His temperament was warm, like the spring sun in March, which made people feel good and unguarded.
Green clothes and jade crown.
A gentleman is gentle.
Lei Li's pupils shrank slightly, and his heart beat violently. For a moment, he was afraid to speak, confused and unsure what he was doing here.
Lei Li glanced at Meng Luo secretly from the corner of his eye. Seeing that he looked naive, still eating cakes with a smile on his face and talking to his mother Liu Ye'er, he knew that Meng Luo didn't know this man's true identity.
only……
He thought of the imperial edict that was passed to Zhongchuan last year, which made the Meng family the most distinguished merchant in the Dayou Dynasty. Even his relative, the prefect of Xiling, rose in status and was soon promoted back to the capital, becoming a favorite of the new emperor.
The relationship between the Meng family and the new emperor is not simple.
But he didn't know how serious this matter was, so that the new emperor, accompanied by Meng Luo, actually came to Qingmi County and came to this small Sanlihe Village - just to see him and Zhou Yi?
Lei Li's thoughts turned over and over again. Except for the shock and suspicion that flashed through his mind at the beginning, he turned back into a smiling and good-tempered businessman. He smiled and bowed,
"My last name is Lei, Lei Li, the same as Li in chestnut. I don't know this distinguished guest..."
"This is the big businessman my cousin brought in!"
Meng Luo said excitedly, "It's very big, even bigger than our house! This Mr. Wan wants to partner with us in the chili and tomato business. My father also told me to treat him well and not offend him..."
"Doing business..."
Lei Li was thoughtful.
He didn't believe that the new emperor, who was the supreme ruler, had come all the way here just to discuss the pepper and tomato business with him, and his real intention was not to go to the bar.
But he didn't want to get involved in this mess. The saying "living with the king is like living with a tiger" is no exaggeration.
"Long time no see, how are you?"
The elegant and graceful young man chuckled and spoke, his pair of almond-shaped eyes revealing an incomprehensible depth.
"...I hope you are well."
Lei Li was slightly surprised. He thought that the new emperor did not tell Meng Luo because he wanted to keep his identity secret, but he did not expect that he would take the initiative to reveal his identity.
"Huh?" Meng Luo was a little surprised. "Did you know each other before?"
"We met once."
Lei Li said vaguely, "The more you say, the more mistakes you will make," and did not explain when they had met.
"It was only a one-time encounter, but I was deeply impressed by Boss Lei. He's so young, yet he's built such a large business. I really admire him."
Master Wan said with a smile, his tone gentle and amiable with a hint of familiarity, as if he and Lei Li had hit it off right away. However, Lei Li couldn't understand what he meant, so he just smiled and said nothing.
"Why doesn't Boss Lei sit down?"
Master Wan raised his eyebrows slightly, as if puzzled. "Why is Boss Lei so reserved when he sees me? I'm not some man-eating tiger."
"yes!"
Meng Luo nodded repeatedly and said, "Master Wan is very easy to talk to... Lei Li, why are you acting so strange today? You've become less talkative. Did you have an argument with Zhou Yi?"
"……No."
Lei Li sat down with a smile on his face, but in his heart he wanted to knock Meng Luo unconscious. He couldn't help but complain in his heart that he really had no tact at all.
Young Master Wan didn't care and said with a smile, "Why don't you see Boss Zhou? I heard that Boss Lei and Boss Zhou are inseparable, as close as a rock. It's really enviable."
As he spoke, he seemed to glance at Xiang Chong on his left rear side, but Xiang Chong remained calm, as if he didn't notice the glance.
"My husband..."
Lei Li was about to respond when Zhou Yi strode into the main room. His trouser legs and sleeves were covered in mud from catching snails in the fields.
"Someone's looking for me?"
Zhou Yi spoke first before looking at the two strangers who had appeared in the main room. He remembered one of them, it was Meng Luo's cousin Xiang Chong, and the other one... although it was a strange face, he looked inexplicably familiar?
He narrowed his eyes.
Xiang Chong noticed his gaze and frowned slightly, as if he felt that he was being rude and offensive, but for some reason, he kept his composure and said nothing.
Zhou Yi also remembered who this person was, the third prince, the new emperor!
He was startled, and then, out of instinct, he discovered that there was something unusual between the new emperor and Xiang Chong. The new emperor was sitting quietly, while Xiang Chong was not sitting, but standing behind the new emperor, a little to the lower left.
...Like master and servant?
The cousin of the Meng family knew the identity of the new emperor, so he didn't dare to sit?
Zhou Yi's mind turned for a moment, and alarm bells rang. He didn't understand why the new emperor would come to Sanlihe Village and to his home.
Mr. Wan seemed to be here to cooperate in business. He asked to see the chili fields and tomato gardens in the village. As the hosts, Lei Li and Zhou Yi naturally accompanied him.
Meng Luo was left in the main hall, while Xiang Chong followed behind Master Wan like a loyal guard.
But the group did not go to the village, but went into the mountains. Lei Li and Zhou Yi exchanged glances with each other, and both felt confused and puzzled.
"I've known about you two for a long time."
Young Master Wan suddenly spoke, still with a gentle and seemingly friendly smile, "The Meng family has been working for me for twenty years. I was the one who built them up and brought them to where they are today."
"Six years ago, Meng Fuguang noticed that you two were definitely not ordinary people, so he passed on a tip-off. But do you know why I didn't bring you into the game?"
“
“…”
Lei Li and Zhou Yi looked at each other without saying a word.
How could they guess why? Even if they guessed, they wouldn't dare to say it. A smiling tiger who could kill his way out of the dragon fight, how could he be easy to deal with?
"It's just what you think."
Master Wan chuckled. "At that time, I needed to keep a low profile and not reveal too much. Meng Fuguang was enough to handle these things for me."
"However, you have given me quite a few surprises."
"I don't know how a person could come up with such fantastic ideas, whether it's the ingenuity of cooking, the wisdom of controlling locust plagues by attracting light, or even the invention of caltrops to suppress foreign enemies during war..."
Master Wan suddenly turned his gaze towards Zhou Yi, with a look that seemed cold, scrutinizing, admiring, and fond of him—a look that was completely condescending from a superior.
"If I can use such a person, it would be like adding wings to a tiger. If he is targeted by others... it would be better to kill him cleanly and save trouble."
Lei Li's heart trembled.
He suddenly thought that their correspondence with Mengluo must have been under the new emperor's nose and reviewed by the new emperor's people before being sent.
No wonder the Meng family is so well-informed, knowing so many secrets of the court and the palace, and knowing the direction of the court. In addition to making money for the new emperor, the third prince, it is very likely that they also have the purpose of collecting intelligence.
Or perhaps these contents were deliberately revealed to the two of them by the Third Prince through Meng Fuguang and then by Meng Luo, who then used words to guide them to come up with a solution.
And they are still racking their brains foolishly.
How to prevent and control locust plagues, how to take advantage of the foreign tribes' good riding and shooting skills, how to provide effective disaster relief... I guess many of these methods were learned by the new emperor, so the situation was pacified so quickly.
——Among them, the method of using the locusts' phototaxis to burn them to control the locust plague finally fell into the hands of the fifth prince. Thinking about it now, it is thought-provoking.
Lei Li felt a pang of fear when he thought about how his family had been monitored by the new emperor's people in the past few years. He seemed to remember that he... had said a lot of bad things about the princes in the palace. Would the new emperor take revenge on him later?
Zhou Yi was silent for a few seconds, then lowered his voice, "...When Lei Li and I were doing the job, were your people also near my house?"
He was mentally prepared to be monitored, but! He couldn't! Listen to the corner of the bed!
This is so immoral!
Master Wan seemed stunned for a moment, then chuckled and said, "Not really. My people are not so...shameless."
Then Zhou Yi felt relieved.
There was nothing wrong with having a few human-shaped cameras, as long as no one was listening to him and looking at pornographic pictures in the corner of his bed. He didn't know whether others liked being watched or not, but he didn't like it, and Lei Li certainly didn't like it either.
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