On the second day, Zhong Shidao and Zhe Kecun led their troops back to Yan'an Prefecture and Fuzhou respectively. However, this incident gave them a wake-up call, so they still left some troops to deploy here. Although Zhe Yanzhi
He made a lot of achievements, but after all, the merits are hard to live up to. Zhe Kecun did not let him return to Weizhou. Instead, he asked Zhe Meiyue to go to Weizhou for a while, and then make a decision after the punishment from the court was over.
Li Qi, on the other hand, led the Imperial Army back to Fengxiang.
After traveling for three days, we finally arrived at the border of Fengxiang Prefecture. Looking from a distance, we no longer saw the barren fields covered with weeds, but neat patches of seedlings swaying in the wind. They were green and refreshing. The fields
You can also see farmers hunched over and their wives working hard to plant rice.
Seeing this scene, Li Qi finally showed a long-lost smile.
"Bu Shuai, look where you are?"
Niu Gao suddenly pointed his hand to a roof.
Li Qi followed his hand and saw a flag on the roof with three characters written on it - Gao Qingtian.
"It seems that this idiot has finally cleared his name. Haha, but he seems to have done a pretty good job. Others are using his name to ward off evil spirits. It's really impressive." Li Qi chuckled, but there was a tired look on his brows.
The color is unmistakable.
It turned out that while ambushing Ji Minren, Li Qi had already asked people to rescue Tian Qi and others, and also brought back all the food. But that night he did not take Gao Yanei and Hong Tianjiu to Lanzhou, and forcibly ordered people to take these people away.
The two idiots were sent back to Fengxiang Mansion. After all, the war was about to break out at that time. If these two idiots were brought along, God knows what they would do.
If you think about it now, you know that Gao Yanei must be using those grains to build his reputation.
"Bu Shuai, let's hurry up and hurry up." The drunkard urged impatiently. He just wanted to go back to Fengxiang and drink heavily. It would be best to stay drunk for three days and three nights.
Li Qi smiled bitterly and said, "Let's go."
...
"My lord is here, my lord is here."
Less than half an hour after Li Qi entered Fengxiang's realm, he suddenly heard shouts one after another, their voices full of excitement.
After a while, I saw a group of farmers running towards Li Qi and the others. Some were shirtless, some were barefoot, and some were carrying baskets. At first glance, it was a very funny scene.
Those forbidden soldiers were afraid of being bitten by snakes for three years. Their expressions tightened and they immediately braced themselves to deal with situations that might happen at any time.
When the people came to Li Qi, they all suddenly knelt down.
An old man said with tears in his eyes: "Sir, the common people are ignorant and have wrongly blamed you. Please punish the common people."
"The common people didn't expect that Ji---he would actually---and made us misunderstand you, sir. You really deserve death!"
...
The people were full of apologies and burst into tears, begging Li Qi for forgiveness.
Li Qi hurriedly dismounted and helped the villagers up with Niu Gao and the others. Li Qi said with a hint of exhaustion: "Folks, you don't need to apologize at all, because you haven't sorry for me or anyone else. It's us who have sorry for you. That's right."
It is because of our own selfish desires that you have suffered this heinous crime. I am very sorry for this. It is I who am ashamed of you, and it is us so-called parents who are ashamed of you. No matter what, you are all victims. If
If you want to kneel down, then we should kneel down and apologize to you."
After saying that, Li Qi really made a move to kneel down on one knee. He knew that if he didn't do this, these people would definitely talk about it endlessly. As expected, the people hurried forward to help Li Qi, and he couldn't stop talking about it.
I don't dare to apologize for it.
Li Qi felt relieved and walked slowly forward with these people on foot. As he walked, Li Qi asked with a smile: "The food shipped from the capital has been distributed to everyone, right?"
The eldest lady nodded hurriedly and said: "We have all received the food, and it is all thanks to Gao Qingtian. He is really a good man, but we wrongly accused him before and thought he was a liar. Now I think about it and I feel really bad."
Li Qi chuckled and said: "It's okay, he's quite an idiot - oh no, he's quite generous. If you call him Gao Qingtian a few more times, he will be satisfied. By the way, the third batch of grain will be lucky."
Come?"
Everyone shook their heads. The lady asked again: "Is there still food?"
"Of course, this amount of food is not enough now. I believe that in a few days, the third batch of food will arrive." Li Qi smiled slightly and added: "However, these two batches of food were spontaneously produced by the people of the Song Dynasty.
Although it was a private act, the number of people was great, so I believe the scale would not be smaller than that of the imperial court. Alas, fellow citizens, in fact, the imperial court also had its own difficulties. At the beginning, the imperial court did not expect that someone would embezzle the disaster relief food, which led to
Both parties have misunderstood, which almost caused a catastrophe. Now the imperial court is preparing to revitalize Jiangnan, and the national treasury is also very tight. However, this does not mean that the imperial court does not care about you. The imperial court has organized some good people to come to help you. We are one nation.
, we should unite and understand each other. If one party is in trouble, all parties will support it. I hope you can also remember this. Maybe others will need your help in the future." Li Qi said sincerely.
"Yes, yes, sir, we will remember what you said."
Everyone nodded.
Li Qi suddenly thought of something and said: "Oh, folks, the day after tomorrow you ask some people who know how to cook to come to Fengxiang Mansion, and I will teach you how to make a kind of food. This kind of food may be of great use when a disaster strikes.
It plays a big role, remember it.”
Although the common people didn't understand it very well, they all nodded their heads.
...
Li Qi walked for a while with these villagers and talked a lot, but they were all about the development of the northwest. Both parties seemed to avoid talking about Ji Minren. This shows that the local people still respect Ji Minren very much.
Even though Ji Minren had abandoned them, they never held any grudge against him. After walking for a while, Li Qi separated from them because he had to get to Fengxiang Mansion before dark.
In the evening, Li Qi and his alcoholic master and apprentice came to Fengxiang Mansion. This was the first time they came to Fengxiang Mansion for so long. As for Yue Fei and others, they still camped outside the city.
"I have seen you sir."
A middle-aged man with a thin body and a goatee stood in front of the government office. When he saw Li Qi and others coming, he bowed respectfully.
"Who are you?"
"Oh, the lower official is Sun Hui, the head of Fengxiang Mansion."
Li Qi smiled and said: "It turns out to be Master Sun Bo!" At this point, he suddenly saw Sun Hui's frightened face. He was stunned for a moment, then understood, patted him on the shoulder and said: "Don't worry, this handsome man is not
Those unreasonable people, I know this matter has nothing to do with you, so I won’t blame you. You can just do your job with peace of mind."
When Sun Hui heard this, the stone that had been suspended in his chest for more than half a month finally fell down. He burst into tears and said, "Thank you, sir, for sparing my life."
Li Qi smiled and shook his head, saying: "Go in."
"My lord please."
Sun Hui took Li Qi inside. Li Qi looked around. Although the inside was simple, it was also clean and tidy.
Li Qi walked around and suddenly asked: "By the way, where does Ji Minren live?"
"The prefect---he lives in a small courtyard at the back."
"What about his family?"
Sun Hui was stunned and said sadly: "Since his first wife died of illness ten years ago, he has not remarried and has no children."
Li Qi frowned and said, "Why don't you marry? Could it be that a prefect like him can't even marry a wife?"
Sun Hui sighed softly: "I have persuaded him to marry again before, and even helped him find a few, but he said that his heart is already full of people and can no longer tolerate anything else. If he marries again,
He would only harm others. Alas, in fact, from the time his wife was ill to the time she passed away, he went home less than five times. He was always outside inspecting her. Even when his wife left, he was not around."
Li Qi was silent for a moment and said, "Take me to where he lives."
...
Sun Hui took Li Qi to a small courtyard behind the government office. There was only one room in the courtyard, about sixty square meters. When he walked in, he saw that the room was very simple. All the things on display were practical and nothing flashy.
The furnishings. There is a small dining table in the middle of the room, and on the left is a bookcase. The cabinet is filled with various books and documents, including bamboo books and paper books. There is a long table in front of the bookcase, and the Four Treasures of the Study are placed on the table. In the window
There is an old wicker chair next to it, and a bed and a small suitcase on the right.
Li Qi asked: "Is this a study or a bedroom?"
"This is a bedroom and a study. In fact, it was originally two rooms, but he said it would be convenient for working, so he asked someone to open it up."
Li Qi nodded, with mixed feelings in his heart, and said: "You go out first, I will take a look here." Sun Hui was stunned and said: "Sir, it's already late now---."
"I'm not afraid of other people, so why should I be afraid of his ghost? Go ahead." Li Qi raised his hand and said before he could finish his words.
Sun Hui sang and said: "What about dinner for adults?"
Li Qidao: "Don't worry about it, I will do it myself later."
"Yes. Then I have resigned."
"Um."
.....
After Sun Hui left, Li Qi walked around the house and came to the bookcase. He picked up one or two small books and flipped through them. Although he didn't recognize many words, Li Qi could clearly read between the lines.
It only contains two words - common people.
After standing for a while, Li Qifang felt a little tired, but he didn't know whether it was because he was physically tired or mentally tired, so he sat on the Fujisaki under the window and looked at everything in the room in trance. The night wind squeezed in through the crack in the door, swaying
Under the illumination of candlelight, it seemed that the room was full of Ji Minren, eating, reading, working, writing, and resting. Inadvertently, Li Qi's eyes were slightly moist, and his mood became very heavy, and he muttered to himself
Said: "Why have you survived twenty years, but you can't wait for these two years? If it had been two more years, maybe you wouldn't have embarked on this path. Your move not only harmed yourself,
You have harmed me and also harmed the people by losing a good official. You have committed a heinous crime. Sometimes I really would rather you were a heinous and corrupt official, but unfortunately - you are not."
As he talked, he slowly fell asleep.
But after a while, he was woken up by the night breeze. As soon as he opened his eyes, he heard someone from the other side saying: "You finally woke up."
"Ghost!" Li Qi exclaimed in fright.
"He also said he wasn't afraid of ghosts."
Li Qi was suddenly startled, and after taking a closer look, he saw that the person coming was really Zhao Jingyan. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It turns out to be you. How did you get in?"
Zhao Jingyan said: "I knocked on the door, but you didn't answer, so I came in."
"You are really polite enough, you have a last name." Li Qi said, quickly looked at himself, and said nervously: "You didn't do anything to me, right?"
"What does this mean?"
"With such a suave, handsome and rich man sleeping here, it's inevitable that you won't plot against me!"
Zhao Jingyan was already immune to this and said calmly: "If I really want to do anything to you, I must sew your mouth shut with needle and thread first."
Said: Is this woman so vicious? If it were me, I would definitely release your vagina. Li Qi felt fiercely in his heart, but said seriously: "Why haven't you left yet?"
"Such a big thing has happened, and I don't feel safe leaving. I might as well stay here." Zhao Jingyan said, suddenly pointing her hand at Li Qi's face, and said in surprise: "Are you crying?"
"ah?"
Li Qi wiped the corners of his eyes subconsciously, and felt a little wet. He immediately said angrily: "Shouldn't I cry? If others are officials, I will be an official too. If other officials confiscate their homes, they will all take advantage of it."
The house is full of money and the bed is full, but here I am, for the first time in my life, I ransacked a house, and the result - well, look at what these are, there is not even a single thing of value. What kind of house did I raid?
It made me rush here non-stop, and the result - well, I have the same official position but different destiny, why would God treat me like this? It's so unfair."
Zhao Jingyan opened her mouth slightly, looked at Li Qi blankly, suddenly smiled, sat in front of the desk, looked around, sighed softly, and said: "Yes! It's so unfair. It's true that the same official has different fate. Some people
It is just a small county magistrate, but it has many wives and concubines and countless houses. However, some people are highly regarded as magistrates and have served for more than 20 years, but they are penniless and have no one to die. It is really unheard of."
What are you doing? Are you mocking me? Are you kidding me? Li Qi was startled again, then lay down, rocked gently, and said calmly: "So what? He committed such a crime, and he deserves to die!"
"
"You are right." Zhao Jingyan nodded slightly, changed the subject, and added: "But it is undeniable that he is indeed a talent. I have read some of the things he has written, and they are all very insightful. They are better than those
It’s a pity that even the first-rank officials are stronger than that---.”
Li Qi asked curiously: "Have you been here?"
Zhao Jingyan hummed and suddenly asked: "Have you ever thought about not killing him?"
Li Qi said calmly: "I am an official and he is a thief." (To be continued.