Early the next morning, Li Mu washed up and took Dugu Jiu out. There were already twenty armed guards ready at the door. When he saw Li Mu and Dugu Jiu coming out, followed by the two men, a large group of people came out.
Departed.
Walking on the street, it can already be seen that the eyes of the people have become less friendly. Although they dare not say anything, they all look wary and respectful. There is no airtight wall in the world, and Li Mu has no control.
Speech. As soon as the merchants' banners came out, all the people in Luoyang City knew that Luoyang's grain reserves were only enough for ten days. Can they not be worried?
Everyone only regrets that when there was food a few days ago, they did not buy more and save it. But who would have thought of this? Luoyang City is a place with connections in all directions, and countless amounts of food are transported through Luoyang every day.
No one would have thought that Luoyang would be short of food one day. There is currently a locust plague in Luoyang. Ships from other places are afraid to come over for fear of offending the 'Locust God' and bringing the locust plague to them. Local merchants in Luoyang are also not active.
What's the use of trying to find a way to transport food if the people are just worried?
The anxiety of the people accumulated and finally turned into hatred for Li Mu. Everyone understood what the current situation was about. It was all on that Marquis. Why do you think you are so arrogant? Just keep your head down. Just one sentence
If you just say something, all the people in the city will have a way to live. Why don't you just refuse to say a word?
For the sake of his own face, he puts hundreds of thousands of lives in the city at risk. Who can love such a person?
Li Mu looked at the expressions of the people and smiled calmly. He could understand what the people were thinking, but he couldn't agree with it. Who was it that ignored the lives of the people? It was clearly the businessmen who did nothing, right? Why didn't these people
Go to embarrass those merchants? Because they know that they can't afford to offend them because they are rich and powerful. Why dare they blame him as a marquis? Because they know that the marquis has an emperor above him, and the emperor can control him. Even if the marquis does not cherish his reputation, the emperor will
Want to save face. Typical persimmon picking and pinching!
But what can he say? He can't just gather a few people on the street, hold a debate, and have a good argument, right? Even if he speaks eloquently and wins these people, so what? At worst, he will be cheating.
?In the current catastrophic situation, food is the top priority. Those who have food say anything is right, and those who don’t have food say everything is nonsense.
Crossing Yongji Bridge, Jishan, Guandefang, exiting from the west gate, and walking only a few miles, you will arrive at the legendary White Horse Temple.
Li Mu stopped in front of the mountain gate and looked at this thousand-year-old temple. Unlike Ci'an Temple, although the White Horse Temple has a large building area, it has no philistine atmosphere at all. It feels as if one is a commercial place and the other is a university campus.
There is a difference.
"It's a good place." Li Mu looked at it for a while and said with a smile.
After stopping for a while, the welcoming monk from White Horse Temple also rushed out. The young monk had lived in the mountains and forests for a long time, so naturally he didn't recognize Li Mu, but he was still discerning. When he saw Li Mu's clothes, he knew that he was a noble man. Thinking of yesterday
Following the noble man's instructions, the young monk said the Buddha's name: "Amitabha, is the donor here to keep your appointment?"
"No," Li Mu is not a person who follows the ordinary path. He looked at the young monk and said, "We are official servants of the Luoyang City Taxation Bureau. Have you heard of the New Deal?"
The young monk was confused, but from Li Mu's tone, he knew that he was looking for trouble, and said: "Donor, what kind of tax bureau, this young monk has never heard of. The White Horse Temple has been favored by the imperial court, and has never heard of the need to pay taxes."
What tax?”
"Didn't you hear about it today?" Li Mu got off his horse and walked in carelessly: "Who is in charge of things in the temple? Are there any account books or something? Take them out and take a look. Don't fool me with fake ones.
,No, this tolerance has a sharp eye and can see through it at a glance!"
"How could the donor be so rude? You can't come in... Oh, you can't come in!" The little monk desperately tried to stop him, but he was no match for the big and powerful guards. They didn't even need to do anything. They just raised their arms and ejected him.
So far away.
After entering the mountain gate, several old monks came to greet them. The young monk saw his relatives and hurried over, crying and recounting what had happened. The leading monk looked at Li Mu and others, as if to confirm, and after a while,
He forced out a smile, bowed and saluted: "I didn't know that when the Marquis arrived, he was not welcomed at a distance. The poor monk Xingzheng saw the Marquis."
"Mr.
"The poor monk is in charge of the Discipline Hall."
"Oh -" Li Mu nodded slightly, and suddenly frowned and asked: "When I come to your White Horse Temple, isn't it worth meeting your abbot? Your abbot is very arrogant!"
"The abbot is receiving guests."
"What guest has more dignity than this prince?"
Monk Xingzheng smiled and did not explain. He just stepped aside and gave way, saying: "In terms of status and dignity, I can't compare to the Marquis. It's just that this guest has done good deeds for many years and is respected by the whole temple. The abbot cannot.
Neglect. The locusts suddenly appeared yesterday, and the abbot was worried about the people. It happened that this benefactor was visiting, so the abbot wanted to ask him for help to see if he could raise some food to help the victims."
"Hey, he is a man of great powers."
"This benefactor is kind-hearted." Monk Xingzheng gestured and said, "Please, Mr. Marquis."
Li Mu was not polite and strode ahead. Dugujiu wanted to lead others to follow, but was stopped by Monk Xingzheng: "In the pure land of Buddhism, it is not appropriate for everyone to carry weapons. We might as well wait here.
——”
"What did you say?" Dugujiu was about to draw his sword, but Li Mu stopped him and said: "The great monk is right, Buddhism is a pure place. I am here today to pray for the victims. How can you wield a sword or a gun? You are here
Rest here while I go and see what kind of person he is, worthy of such courtesy from the abbot."
Dugujiu came up and said, "Brother, your safety..."
"It's okay," Li Mu gently picked up the lapel of his clothes and glanced at Dugujiu: "I brought three rainstorm pear blossom needles, enhanced versions, so I won't be afraid when the bearded guests come."
Dugujiu wanted to say something more, but Li Mu waved his hand: "If I don't come out within an hour, you will go in."
Seeing that Li Mu had made up his mind, Dugujiu had no choice but to give up persuading him, took a step back, stared at Monk Xingzheng, and confronted him.
…
Under the leadership of the young monk, Li Mu bypassed the Main Hall and came to the back hill of White Horse Temple. There was a stone pavilion standing there alone, which looked very abrupt. There were three people in the stone pavilion, two of them were playing chess, and the other was standing in it.
Behind a person, his back is very burly.
He seemed to hear footsteps, and the standing man looked back, and happened to see Li Mu. He saw her eyes condensed, showing a look of hatred. Li Mu recognized her as the assassin who escaped that night, and smiled, but his heart was filled with anger.
He mentioned his throat. He had seen this person's kung fu before. Eunuch Gao was beaten by her, and it was impossible for him to beat her. The only way to win was a sneak attack, so he touched the Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needle in his arms.
I feel a little at ease, thinking that if the other party takes action, I will fight with all my strength. Three Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles, one box for each person, I don’t believe they can survive!
The young monk stopped when he was ten steps away from the stone pavilion, gave a salute and returned the same way. Li Mu walked to the stone pavilion by himself. When the abbot and the old monk saw him coming, he put down the chess pieces in his hand and stood up to salute:
"Master Marquis, the old monk is too far away to welcome you, please forgive me. Now that Master Marquis has arrived, let's play the chess here, and the old monk will arrange a meal for the two donors." This old monk is smiling and older.
, his eyebrows were all white, which really made people feel irritated. Li Mu wanted to give him a hard time, but after thinking about it, he decided not to do it. It didn't make any sense, and he didn't seem generous enough.
Li Mu sat down at the old monk's seat and looked at the woman opposite who might be his biological mother. He had to admit that she was a beautiful woman. From the information he learned, she should be in her thirties.
She is around sixty-seven years old. But looking at her current appearance, she is only around thirty. Although there are some wrinkles looming at the corners of her eyes, they are not obvious and she is still very well maintained.
"Mrs. Lu?"
Miss Lu smiled and did not deny it, which was regarded as admission. She was also looking at Li Mu. Although she had seen the portrait, the real person and the portrait were different after all. The difference between people lies in their charm, and appearance is only secondary.
Miss Lu naturally knew that Li Shimin once regarded him as Li Jiancheng and his own child, so when they met, she looked carefully at Li Mu, hoping to see a little bit of Li Jiancheng in Li Mu. But unfortunately, she did not see a trace of Li Jiancheng in Li Mu.
Similar to Li Jiancheng.
"You are the little man that the Wang family's sister likes? You look quite energetic." Miss Lu held a white piece in her hand and landed on the chessboard: "Are you planning to admit defeat when you come here today? It's easy to admit defeat, for the sake of the Wang family's sister.
On the surface, if you call me sister, I will recognize you as my brother-in-law, and this matter will be over."
"Haha," Li Mu chuckled and said, "I don't believe that such a good thing can happen. You go to all this trouble just to get a brother-in-law?"
"Of course there are conditions."
"Told them together."
Miss Lu smiled and said leisurely: "I hate half-hearted men the most in my life. I heard that you have five wives, and you divorced them all, so I recognized you as my brother-in-law."
"Impossible." Li Mu blurted out without thinking: "Every wife of mine is a woman I treat sincerely, and there is no such thing as half-heartedness. If you put forward such a condition, you just don't want to talk about it."
"Smart." Miss Lu praised her, and stopped beating around the bush and said, "I don't want to touch you because of the relationship between the Wang family's sisters. But I also want to advise you, in the territory of Luoyang, there is no way you can beat me.
, go back to your Chang'an, and you and I will not interfere with the river. If you stay in Luoyang, you will be in even greater trouble."
"Do you think I'm afraid?"
Miss Lu smiled again: "As long as you are not afraid of death, there is nothing to be afraid of. I believe you are not afraid, but," she paused and said, "If thousands of people were affected because of you, wouldn't you feel guilty?
"
"No," Li Mu said with an unsparing look, "I'm not the one who did the bad things, so why should I feel guilty?"
"You are not the one who ran out of food. Are you not a bad person in the eyes of the people?" Miss Lu smiled even more happily: "You are still too young. The people only believe what they think. Who will care about you?"
The truth?"
"Ever?"
Miss Lu nodded and said, "This has always been the case. This is called the people's will."
"Haha!" Li Mu laughed and stared into Miss Lu's eyes: "This has always been the case, is it right? If everything is done as 'this has always been the case', what am I doing in this world?"
Miss Lu's smile froze for a moment. She looked at Li Mu carefully again and said, "What a loud tone." She did not continue to intensify the conflict, but pointed to the chessboard in front of her: "Can you play chess?"
"meeting!"
"What about the next game?"
"Okay." Li Mu agreed readily: "But you have to follow my rules."
Li Mu pulled all the chess pieces on the chessboard aside: "Our Miss Lu smiled and said leisurely: "I hate half-hearted men most in my life. I heard that you have five wives, and you can divorce them all, then I will accept you.
Your brother-in-law."
"Impossible." Li Mu blurted out without thinking: "Every wife of mine is a woman I treat sincerely, and there is no such thing as half-heartedness. If you put forward such a condition, you just don't want to talk about it."
"Smart." Miss Lu praised her, and stopped beating around the bush and said, "I don't want to touch you because of the relationship between the Wang family's sisters. But I also want to advise you, in the territory of Luoyang, there is no way you can beat me.
, go back to your Chang'an, and you and I will not interfere with the river. If you stay in Luoyang, you will be in even greater trouble."
"Do you think I'm afraid?"
Miss Lu smiled again: "As long as you are not afraid of death, there is nothing to be afraid of. I believe you are not afraid, but," she paused and said, "If thousands of people were affected because of you, wouldn't you feel guilty?
"
"No," Li Mu said with an unsparing look, "I'm not the one who did the bad things, so why should I feel guilty?"
"You are not the one who ran out of food. Are you not a bad person in the eyes of the people?" Miss Lu smiled even more happily: "You are still too young. The people only believe what they think. Who will care about you?"
The truth?"
"Ever?"
Miss Lu nodded and said, "This has always been the case. This is called the people's will."
"Haha!" Li Mu laughed and stared into Miss Lu's eyes: "This has always been the case, is it right? If everything is done as 'this has always been the case', what am I doing in this world?"
Miss Lu's smile froze for a moment. She looked at Li Mu carefully again and said, "What a loud tone." She did not continue to intensify the conflict, but pointed to the chessboard in front of her: "Can you play chess?"
"meeting!"
"What about the next game?"
"Okay." Li Mu agreed readily: "But you have to follow my rules."
Li Mu pulled all the chess pieces on the chessboard aside: "Let's