Behind the main palace of Yunxi City, there is a large-scale garden. There is a lake in the garden that is connected to the lake outside. There are several rockeries standing around the lake, setting off the extremely exquisite water pavilion in the lake.
At this time, two old men were playing chess under the pavilion. There were several guards standing beside them like statues, not daring to disturb them at all.
At this time, a middle-aged man wearing a green robe with golden cloud patterns slowly walked out of the back hall of the city lord's palace and walked towards the depths of the corridor. When he saw the figures of the two old men in the pavilion, he immediately
He took three steps and two steps at a time, and came to the pavilion. However, when he wanted to go forward, the guard in the pavilion stopped him with his hand. Seeing this, the middle-aged man did not dare to take another step forward, for fear of disturbing the two of them.
After waiting for a while, the two old men finished playing chess. Then, one of them waved in the direction of the middle-aged man, and the guard beside him let him go.
The middle-aged man in green robe let out a long sigh of relief, and then wanted to salute the two of them with his hands clasped in fists, but the old man just waved his hand and said:
"No need to be polite, just say it."
The middle-aged man then put his hands in his sleeves, lowered his head and said, "Master Taibao, everyone from those families is here."
This old man was the Taibao of Tan Shui Qing, the head of the Tan family. After hearing this, he just nodded, his expression remained calm, but he asked: "Is the head of the Helian family, He Lian Jing, here?"
"Um...waiting outside the door." The middle-aged man replied in a low voice.
Tanshui Qing put away the chessboard and laughed, then ordered: "Haha, after all, they are also an established family force in Yunxi County, why do you need to embarrass them? Go and let them in."
"yes."
Afterwards, the middle-aged man left the place and headed towards the main hall, while another old man who was playing chess with him slowly stood up after looking at the fish in the water and said:
"Tan Taibao, the person behind this tribute payment is not His Majesty, but Luo Yunzong."
Tanshui Qing nodded. It is not difficult to see from the grain collected this time that this year has increased by nearly 30% compared to last year. Not only Yunxi County, but also Luoye County, Qingchuan County and Moshang County have increased a lot, but it is different.
What is surprising is that the other three counties all supply the imperial court, but Luoye County only supplies Luo Yunzong.
"From the past, when the imperial court paid tribute to Luo Yunzong, it almost always collected local grains first, and then His Majesty personally sent people to deliver them after the collection was completed. Why did our carriage deliver them directly this time?"
Facing Tanshuiqing's doubts, the old man shook his head and said:
"The reason for this is not yet known, but this trip should not go smoothly. You must always be careful of the 'Lu Family' and the 'Zhang Family'. If something goes wrong in between, it will not be His Majesty who comes to find you, but
Luo Yunzong takes action personally, and by then, our situation will only get worse."
When talking about the "Lu Family" and the "Zhang Family", Tan Shuiqing looked a little solemn. The conflict between them is nothing more than partisanship. Judging from the current situation, their party is already at a disadvantage.
If something unexpected happens again during this operation, it will be difficult for him to remain in the court in the future.
"The journey this time is long, so we really need to pay more attention." The head of the Tan family said solemnly.
At this time, the old man said calmly:
"There must be a road before the car reaches the mountain, and it will be straight when the boat reaches the bridge. There is no need to be too nervous in Tan Taibao."
Tan Shui Qing nodded. Although the task was heavy, if it was done well, it would be a big achievement.
"The time has almost passed. Tan Taibao can come out to meet them."
After saying this, the old man slowly walked out of the pavilion, followed by several guards. However, he did not go to the main hall, but walked through the rockeries and headed towards the back door of the City Lord's Mansion.
After Tan Shui Qing watched the man leave, he no longer stayed here and turned around to head towards the main hall.
…
Outside the gate of the city lord's palace, He Lian Jing and He Lian Hai stood upright among a group of escort people waiting quietly, while Zhao Feng, who stood in front of them, was yawning while observing everyone, but looking at their expressions,
None of them seemed to know why they were invited by the Tan family this time.
The long queue in front of them didn't move. I don't know if it was because there were still some family forces that had not entered. These small sects were still waiting in place. As time went by, the lazy young man became impatient with waiting. He turned around and faced
The two members of the Helian family asked:
"Are you two from the Helian family?"
He Lianjing was a little confused. The Helian family had been silent for so many years, but he didn't expect anyone to know him. And he was still an emerging force. But at this time, he was no better than before. After so many years of depression, he had long lost the airs of family power. He smiled.
Replied:
"Haha, I didn't expect my little brother to recognize me."
Zhao Feng's expression was much more indifferent, and he said: "I helped escort the grain escort for your mansion some time ago, so I naturally recognize him."
At this time, Helian Hai was puzzled and wanted to ask who this person was.
"I wonder if your Excellency is..."
The lazy young man pinched his chin, looked at the young man behind him who was speaking, and then slowly replied: "I'm Huo Feng, the boss of Huo Feng Escort Agency."
Helian Haixin didn't know what to say for a moment. He had never seen anyone use his own name as the name of an escort agency, but that doubt was cleared up. The other party should have nothing to do with the Zhao Yuntian he knew. His surname was Zhao.
A person named Huo cannot be beaten with eight poles.
"Haha, it turns out that little brother is the boss of Huofeng Escort Agency."
Facing He Lianjing's politeness, Zhao Feng didn't take it seriously. The real purpose of his conversation with the other party was actually to ask:
"If your family doesn't hurry in, why are you standing with us escort agencies?"
After hearing this, the other escort agencies turned their heads and looked around. The scene made He Lianjing and his son a little embarrassed.
"I said, why don't your family members hurry in and stand in front of us?"
"You don't need to show off in front of the rest of us if you want to show off, right?"
"That's right, we will have to wait here until your family's power is over. Are you doing this on purpose?"
…
He Lianjing and his son were in a dilemma for a while. After all, what the other party said was not wrong, and he was indeed unreasonable.
Just as they were chatting, a young boy walked out of the door. He stretched his neck and looked around, as if looking for someone. When he saw He Lianjing, his eyes showed a trace of disdain, and then he trotted up to them.
in front of people.
"Master Helian, please come inside!"
He Lianjing breathed a long sigh of relief. He did not blame the boy for his contemptuous tone, but instead thanked him for rescuing him.