My years as a soldier

Among the few wine shops in Liaodong City, there is only one restaurant with a slightly larger scale that can provide guests with private and elegant private rooms.

On this day, the private rooms of the restaurant were brightly lit. Since the chaos in the Central Plains, there have been very few patrons in this restaurant who spend money like this.But this day is unusual.

The waiter watched with his own eyes that the magistrate of the county and a middle-aged military officer in Tang army armor entered the private room upstairs.The military officer often went to the store to have fun, so the waiter in the store recognized the military officer's face. The man was surnamed Dong, spoke Guanzhong official dialect, and spent a lot of money, but had a bad temper, and would smash the wine in the store when he was drunk.

Looking at him, the clerk in the shop was about to sweat the new brew that just arrived in the shop today.Not long after him, another richly dressed old man entered the private room.This person is very familiar with Xiaoer, this is one of the largest households in Liaodong City, the head of the Yan family, his name is Yan Suhe, and there are no vendors in Liaodong City who do not know him.The property under this man's hands is huge. It can be said that more than half of the businessmen in the city work for their family, and he... is relying on the support of Goguryeo people to start his family.

In the private room, the three of them sat opposite each other around a small table.

County Magistrate Du Honglin was the first to take a sip from the wine glass on the small table.

He came from a family of officials and eunuchs. Although the highest official position achieved by the ancestors in the family was only the fifth grade of the Ministry of Rites, he is still the highest official position on the scene here.Du Honglin is now over middle-aged, and with the current political turmoil in the Tang Dynasty, his official career may stop at the level of Zheng Qipin.But at this moment, there was no trace of worry on the face of the county magistrate, but he was very relaxed and comfortable.

The county magistrate held the glass in his right hand, and when drinking, he raised his left hand to cover it forward, covered the lower half of his face and the wine glass with his loose robe, took a sip, and said "OK" again, that's enough The demeanor of a literati.And the two opposite him, one is frowning and tying the strap on the handle of the knife, and the other is watching him silently with a half smile, Du Honglin can't help but sigh deeply, even if he feels dissatisfied, he can complain here , is by no means a wise move.He had no choice but to curse secretly in his heart, and when he spoke again, his attitude was still peaceful.

"Mr. Yan, have you already negotiated with Mr. Gao?"

"It's settled, as long as people arrive, 1000 taels of silver, plus 300 taels of gold, will not be less."

When Yan Suhe spoke, he was also amiable.But obviously, his tone was not replying to the words of the official, but talking about business with the other party.

"1000 taels of silver plus 300 taels of gold? Didn't you promise to give you 1000 taels of gold before? How come it's only been half a month, and it has shrunk so much? You bastard—are you kidding me!"

Before Du Honglin could speak, the general beside him couldn't sit still.This person is Dong Junsheng.

"At this time and at that time, Mr. Dong, no one can say for sure about the current situation in the Central Plains. Mr. Gao can only offer this price now, unless you can offer something more valuable."

"You—you! But that is the dignified Prince of the Tang Dynasty after all!"

Dong Junsheng was a little angry, and Du Honglin waved at him quickly.

"Brother Dong, lower your voice! This is not your place."

"Uh--"

Dong Junsheng shook his hand, and did not speak again, but he looked at Yan Suhe with growing disgust.

"In short...the matter has been discussed, what do you think, Mr. Du?"

Yan Suhe turned to Du Honglin without changing his face. Du Honglin squinted his eyes, put his hands in his cuffs, and lowered his eyes for a moment in thought.

"1000 taels of silver, 300 taels of gold... It is indeed a lot lower than the promised price, but...Mr. Yan, I am also for the sake of safety, can I ask Mr. Gao to pay 1000 taels of silver as a deposit first? On the day of the transaction, make up the remaining amount. Otherwise... I can't guarantee that the situation will change."

Du Honglin lowered his eyes and let out a long sigh. His voice was not loud, but he carried an unquestionable momentum.

"This is..."

Yan Suhe raised his hand and twirled the gray beard under his chin.

"It's okay to pay a deposit first, but how much do you need to pay... Mr. Du, please allow me to go back and discuss with Mr. Gao. I believe Mr. Gao can understand your sincerity."

"Tsk, don't push yourself here! Since you can't decide, let Mr. Du and I go directly to talk to that Gao!"

Dong Junsheng seemed to be unable to hold back anymore.

It is true that he is the one who most wants to facilitate this business.As a direct subordinate of An Lushan, he also threatened and imprisoned the Prince of the Tang Dynasty. Even if he has a slight relationship with An Lushan, it is a crime that will punish everyone.Now that the new emperor has returned to Beijing, the main force of the Tang army is pointing directly at the remnants of An Qingxu.Every minute and every second now is painful for him.

"This... I hope Mr. Dong will not embarrass the old man."

Yan Suhe laughed along, but the more smiling his face was, the more unpleasant it was to look at.

This time, Du Honglin didn't intervene, and just watched Dong Junsheng and Yan Suhe's confrontation silently.Yan Suhe smiled and stopped talking, Dong Junsheng is not a reckless person after all, he knows that no matter how angry he is, he will never fall out with Yan Suhe just like this.

I saw Dong Junsheng staring at Yan Suhe for a long time, but Yan Suhe's face was still kind, and even his smile didn't change.In the end, he had no choice but to let out a muffled growl, sit there and turn his face away, no longer confronting Yan Suhe.

At this point, Du Honglin spoke again.

"Mr. Yan, this matter has been dragging on for two months. On our side, we still hope that the matter can be settled as soon as possible. Otherwise, we will go to meet Mr. Gao tomorrow. We can discuss where we meet, but we are sincere. I want to settle this matter as soon as possible. If Mr. Gao thinks this is still inappropriate...then don't do it!"

As Du Honglin spoke, he suddenly raised his voice. At the end, he sighed and took another sip of his wine.

"Hey... I'm still an official of the Tang Dynasty. If I think about it, if I send His Royal Highness King Su back to the court, it would be a matter of glory..."

Du Honglin couldn't help sighing, while Dong Junsheng looked at him with surprise on his face. He was about to say something when Yan Suhe suddenly laughed.

"Haha...how could it be wrong! Master Du misunderstood what the old man meant."

Yansu and Lianlian waved his hands, only to see that there was a faint cold sweat on his head.

"That's it for now, let's stop here today."

After Du Honglin finished speaking, he was about to get up and leave, but Yan Suhe looked at him with serious eyes after wiping off the sweat from his forehead.

"Master Du is willing to send His Royal Highness King Su back to court, which is a good thing. It just so happens that I have something to do here, and I want to ask Lord Du for advice."

"what?"

Du Honglin sat down again.

"Haha... It's not a big deal. A few days ago, it was also a coincidence. I was lucky enough to meet the son of His Royal Highness King Su. Now this young son is also here with me. I don't know if Mr. Du can tell me that the old man is very grateful to the son of King Su. , how to arrange it?"

"What... what? The son of King Su?"

Du Honglin's eyes widened in surprise at Yan Suhe's words, while Dong Junsheng was also stunned.

The lights in the three-person private room were on all night.In the early morning of the next day, the waiter watched the three distinguished guests leave. The waiter didn't know what happened between the three, but when the three walked out of the private room, they all had smiles on their faces.

"The letter has been delivered by the post station. I just don't know when it will be delivered, and I don't know how that Master Lu will react."

Hu Jiuzhang leaned on his crutches, and walked back in front of Li Muyun in a dusty suit.He went out to send the letter before dawn, and by the time he returned, the sun was almost overhead.

Li Muyun didn't want to see him so busy, so he just told him to sit down and rest, and got out of bed and gave him the bean paste dumpling that Yan Zhaozhong sent in the morning, wishing to pour all the food into his stomach.

"Xiaobai, can you get out of bed?"

Seeing him get up, Hu Jiuzhang quickly stood up to help him, but Li Muyun waved his hands at him solemnly.

"How do you know if you don't walk around? Jiuzhang, you don't need to help me. Before the Yan family is in trouble, I will get up and walk around in private, which can be regarded as exercise. I can't ask you to take a useless person with you in the future." Are you on your way?"

"Of course I'm glad you recovered, but don't force it."

Hu Jiuzhang watched nervously, and when he confirmed that Li Muyun could stand still leaning on the armrest beside the couch, he sat down with peace of mind.

"However... what should we do next? No matter how many letters are sent, I am afraid that the distant water will not be able to save the fire. I am afraid that Yan Su and I don't know when they will suddenly get into trouble. It would be great if we can find help in the city." .”

"That's right." Li Muyun nodded in agreement, "Actually... Jiuzhang, why don't you go and have a good chat with Brother Yan? You and I think he is trustworthy, but when something happens, you don't always I would like to talk to him deeply. These bean paste dumplings were also delivered by him in the morning. I chatted with him a few times, and I don’t think this person is a hypocrite. It’s just that if I talk to him about this in my capacity, he will definitely ask more. I think. Didn’t you all serve in Beiting? You explained our current worries clearly to him. I think... even if he is from the Yan family, he would never make the same choice as his uncle. "

"Well... that's true..."

Hu Jiuzhang lowered his head and ate the dumpling, as if he deliberately didn't want to answer.

"...Jiu Zhang, you haven't spoken to him all these days... Do you mind his relationship with your brother?" Li Muyun thought for a long time before finally asking this question.

"It's nothing to mind." Hu Jiuzhang stuffed his mouth with bean paste and glutinous rice, and lowered his eyes not to meet Li Muyun.

Rather than saying that he minded, it would be better to say that he couldn't figure it out at all.

Since seeing Hu Yan again in Chang'an, the two brothers haven't seen each other for nearly six years.When Hu Jiuzhang left home, Hu Yan was only as tall as his chest, but he was just a child, but now Hu Yan has grown to be as tall as him.For Hu Jiuzhang, his younger brother was still alive, which was of course a great comfort.What is the reason for his exhausting fighting in northern Xinjiang?It's just that I want Hu Yan to learn well, go to the capital to find a door, and find an official.But now, in the eyes of this younger brother, he, his biological brother, has become the most disliked one.

Not to mention the amnesia and madness, whether he recognized Yan Zhaozhong as his elder brother, or whether he forgot all the past events, what Hu Jiuzhang couldn't bear the most was the way Hu Yan looked at him, that A look of indifference and contempt...

How can anyone look at their biological brother like this...

On the contrary, when Hu Yan looked at Yan Zhaozhong, his eyes were full of trust.

No one can accept this kind of thing calmly, right?

Hu Jiuzhang never told anyone that he minded this.But this matter had already formed a knot in his heart.He also knew that he should have a good talk with Yan Zhaozhong, but Hu Yan was always by his side, and when he saw Hu Yan, he felt upset and couldn't say anything that he could calmly say.

"Isn't there still a letter to be sent to Chang'an? Is it finished?"

He simply changed the subject directly.In any case, it is right to give priority to sending out the help letter.

"It's finished, I just finished it this morning."

Li Muyun turned around and took out the two letters under the pillow.

"Both these two letters are to be delivered to Chang'an. I have written the addresses. You can send them to the post."

"En." Hu Jiuzhang took the letter and stood up.

"Leave now? No more food?"

"I ate a lot."

"...Okay. After you come back, you should eat more. I'm afraid your legs won't be able to take it after running back and forth like this twice." Li Muyun's tone was slightly disappointed.

"it is good."

Hu Jiuzhang agreed gently.

"As for Brother Yan...I'll go find him tonight, don't worry, I'll make it clear to him. After all, in Yan's family, he is the one who can really help us, I know that."

"En." Li Muyun nodded with a smile, and then sat back on the couch with peace of mind.

Along the way, Hu Jiuzhang repeatedly considered what he wanted to say to Yan Zhaozhong.At this point, he knew that if he procrastinated, he might be in trouble.

Not long after Hu Jiuzhang left, Yan Suhe's figure reappeared in Li Muyun's room.But this time he brought many more people than last time.