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Chapter 227: Frost Waves' Letter, Appointment at the Academy

These letters were piled up in a thick stack and stored in a box. The person in charge of Changfeng Tower in Jiangnan knew the importance of these letters, but he did not have the courage to stand by and watch, so he just bowed and then stepped back.

Li Guanyi held the letters in his hands and sat under the pavilion in the courtyard, putting the wooden box beside him. This was the backyard of Changfeng Tower. Next to the pavilion was a lotus pond with gurgling water.

Beside the pond, there is a winter plum tree, but it is midsummer now, so naturally there is no plum blossom to be seen. Li Guanyi sat in the shade, picked up the stationery, took out a letter and began to read. This letter was not the first letter he wrote to Xue Shuangtao after the girl's reply.

But it was a letter written last winter.

After opening it, the letter seemed to be dyed light pink, and the handwriting was beautiful.

The ancients often said that seeing the words is like seeing the person. Li Guanyi seemed to be able to see the girl who wrote these words, so his expression calmed down and he flipped through the letter.

"Guanyi, I hope you are well. It is already midwinter and the weather in Guanyi City is warm. It just snowed a little. However, Changqing was very happy. He ran outside by himself and opened his mouth to the sky, saying that he hoped to taste the snow."

"My aunt's child was born and became the crown prince, and my aunt became the queen."

"But grandpa told me that the Xue family is so powerful that if it continues like this, it will be in danger of collapse. I know this, but I don't know what grandpa's plan is."

"Changfeng Tower is developing slowly."

"According to your plan, we are collecting intelligence from all over the place, cracking down on the black market for human trafficking, and rescuing the abducted people. If they are willing to leave, we will give them money to return home. If they are unwilling to leave, or if they are unable to leave, they can stay in Changfeng Tower and do what they can to earn money to support themselves."

"Grandpa slowly handed over the business operations of Changfeng Tower to me."

"He said he was betting the world that Chen Dingye would not be able to win among the heroes."

"He said that even if he lost the bet, he would leave a way for us to leave."

"He said that you might reach the Eighteen Provinces of Jiangnan, so I built the Changfeng Tower there as well, which might be helpful to you."

"I was still in Huichuntang and met the old shopkeeper from that time. The old shopkeeper was still in good spirits and was very happy when he mentioned you."

"He still likes to drink in that place where a pot of cheap wine costs only a big coin."

"I heard you left him a jug of wine there."

"The old man is reluctant to drink. He only goes there occasionally when he hears news about you and takes out a glass to drink. But the wine is stored there and will gradually become less. I saved some more for him for you. I hope he can always have this little happiness."

"It's winter now. I planted a plum blossom in the yard. I just thought that you went to a very far place. Are the plum blossoms there different from those in Guanyi City? Walking in the mountains and rivers at the border between Ying State and Chen State, the snowflakes must be very big, and the fragrance of the plum blossoms must be more intense."

"The plum blossoms in Jiangnan are very small, and they grow up in such a warm place."

"I have never seen a world without such a sharp fragrance of plum blossoms."

"But the flowers here are also unique. You can't find such flowers anywhere else. I want to give you plum blossoms like this. I plucked the petals of the plum blossoms and made this letter with the letter paper. I sent it to you with the letter. The color is very beautiful. You can smell it..."

The young general lowered his eyes, and it seemed as if he saw last winter when the girl held the letter in both hands, closed her eyes, and gently smelled the fragrance of the letter. She stubbornly said that Guanyi City was also very good, and talked about the plum blossoms and the things here.

Li Guanyi placed the letter on the tip of his nose, his eyes slightly lowered, and he could smell the faint fragrance of plum blossoms.

Li Guanyi put the letter down, and then picked up the other letters. Each letter had a different color, and the things described in the letters were very plain, talking about what happened in Guan Yicheng, the checks and balances between Mr. Xue and Emperor Chen, and the checks and balances between the aristocratic families.

It is said that the Regent's army was advancing rapidly and continuously encroaching on the land of the Dangxiang people. The Dangxiang king married the daughter of the royal family of the State of Chen and came to request troops from Jiangnan to confront the Regent, but was blocked by Chen Dingye. So the Dangxiang king angrily said that the State of Chen had torn up the alliance.

Talk about what happened in Guanyi City and Jiangzhou City, and the changes in the State of Chen.

She seldom talked about herself, but mentioned Xue Changqing, and even more so Li Guanyi's friends. The young general sat at the foot of the Changfeng Tower. He raised his eyes and looked at the sky. The Changfeng Tower was the first building in Jiangzhou of the Chen State. Li Zhaowen used it as an intelligence organization at that time.

But Li Zhaowen was the daughter of the Duke of Ying State after all. After the grand sacrifice, she took away all her intelligence team. Later, Changfeng Tower was just an ordinary teahouse and restaurant where people listened to piano music. Only then, with the power of the Xue family, it became an intelligence center again.

Later, the second time, Li Guanyi made a big fuss in Zhenbei City.

[Liufeng Huixue Tower] became the second Changfeng Tower.

Although the Eighteen Prefectures of Jiangnan are where the Murong family is located, there is naturally no Changfeng Tower here. But before Li Guanyi's plan required this trap, there was a Changfeng Tower here, which had become the largest and top-notch teahouse in the Eighteen Prefectures of Jiangnan.

The person in charge of Changfeng Tower among the 18 major cities in Jiangnan is from the Xue family, a famous celebrity. Li Guanyi looked at what was written on the letter, saying that Xue Shuangtao became one of the people who managed and operated Changfeng Tower, and looked at the familiar handwriting of the girl.

So I also built Changfeng Tower there, perhaps it will be helpful to you.

Xue Shuangtao.

Li Guanyi looked at the letters quietly. His hands had become accustomed to killing, but at this moment he gently stroked the letters yet it was still gentle. After more than a year of separation, he could always find traces of the girl whenever he lowered his head.

Sometimes separation is not about distance.

When the wind blew, the surface of the pond rippled like the river in Guanyi City.

The plum tree that would not bloom during this period swayed gently. The person in charge of Changfeng Tower in the provincial capital was outside the courtyard. He lowered his head and waited quietly. Just three months after the Qilin Army entered the mountains and there was no news, the girl found him in Guanyi City.

At that time he said that he would not go to such a far and dangerous place to be in charge of such an intelligence agency, not to mention Li Guanyi. Although that name had been raised, who knew if he could survive?
Are there many heroes who become famous at a young age and then die like shooting stars in the sky?
But in the end I was persuaded.

The girl looked gentle, but at this critical moment, she had a heroic spirit that attracted people's attention. She said, "Mr. Shang Yuanzhi is a famous scholar, so do you hope to see the same thing happen again, or to see the rise of a legendary figure like the Red Emperor? ! "

Shang Yuanzhi thought: "She really trusts you, Lord Qin."

When the famous Qin Wuhou was in need the most, there would still be someone standing there quietly, just like at the beginning, inside the private school, the young man who had lost his job and was half-starved to death, held his stomach and raised his head, unaware that the smiling young lady in the tall building was looking at him.

It was as if he was locked up by the Jinwu Guards, and someone was quietly knocking on the iron window, then smiling at him in the sunlight.

He quietly read the casual and plain words in the letter.

"Summer is coming to an end. The lotus flowers have withered, dragonflies skimmed the water and flew by. The autumn breeze is refreshing, and people are flying kites outside Guanyi City."

"Autumn has arrived, and the leaves on the mountain are all red. They look beautiful when they fall."

"Spring has arrived, and the flowers are in bloom."

"I was able to climb up the tree where I sprained my ankle by myself."

In the separate courtyard where no one could enter, Qin Wuhou's sword lay there quietly.

Whenever anyone wanted to go in, they were stopped by Shang Yuanzhi.

The summer wind still has some fierce rhythm.

The young hero, who was famous all over the world at the age of sixteen, sat there alone for a long time, leaning on his sword.

………………

Li Guanyi's troops were about to prepare an envoy delegation, and they needed to enter the majestic Red Emperor's Imperial City in a mighty procession with the standards of a marquis of military merit. The soldiers of the Qilin Army were almost about to enter the second level of the competition directly for this matter.

The political situation in Zhongzhou is equally complicated. It is like a bottomless abyss that will swallow you up if you are not careful. In fact, the most suitable person to lead this delegation should be Pang Shuiyun, who is old but strong, has experienced many things, experienced ups and downs, and has been silent for more than ten years.

But the situation in Jiangnan is complicated at the moment. Although the aristocratic families have a handle in Li Guanyi's hands, the young man follows Yuan Zhi's advice and chooses to hold back until the aristocratic families are dealt with in one go, making those aristocratic families always feel that there is a sword hanging over their heads.

If this sword were to chop down, he and his companions would not be killed, but would be seriously injured.

But what’s even more deadly is that no one knows when the sword will strike.

In this way, many aristocratic families were checked and balanced.

But such a strategy is only a temporary one after all. Those aristocratic families are cunning in their hearts and have already started other plans. They need old veterans like Pang Shuiyun and the Angry Scale Dragon King Kou Yulie, two veterans of both civil and military skills, to keep the situation under control.

As for what Li Guanyi should do after arriving in Zhongzhou, Elder Pang’s idea was simple:
"Go to the academy."

"Your teacher Wang Tong is right there. He has a high status in the academy and is valued and appreciated by King Gongyang Su. Since you are his disciple, once you find him, he will naturally be able to deal with the withered bones in the tombs of Zhongzhou."

So Li Guanyi felt relieved and just started to finish the things before setting off.

Some of the Qilin Army soldiers who had joined the army during the thousands-mile journey took a short leave to move their families back. Li Guanyi's troops then entered the provincial capital where the Murong family was located. The Murong family was one of only two forces in the world that could produce Xuan soldiers. The other was in the Sword Casting Valley in the Central Plains, which was managed by the Jiang family of Ying State.

However, the Eighteen Prefectures of Jiangnan lack mines, so it is better to go for the high-quality route of casting weapons.

It is a bit difficult to cast armor.

So Li Guanyi asked Nangong Wumeng to take some young men and women from the Murong family to the two mines they found along the way, a copper mine and an iron mine, to scout the area. The Murong family, which has the ability to cast weapons, has enough mines that are still undeveloped.

Enough to have the ability to cast armor.

But Nangong Wumeng didn't come back yet, an eagle flew back first.

"When Nangong Wumeng was fishing, the fish was washed away. He was angry, so he went downstream and found a mine. The forging master of the Murong family was overjoyed and hoped that Nangong Wumeng would travel around the world to find the mine."

'Nangong Wumeng refused'

Li Guanyi: “…………”

He held his forehead, feeling that his friends who had joined the group at the very beginning were more outrageous than each other. Recently, he had handed over the prescriptions and formulas left by Hou Zhongyu to a group of alchemists known as the Seven Old Ghosts of Linxia.

Shi Dalin was overjoyed.

They kept shouting: "Fuck, Hou Zhongyu, what a genius!"

"This thing can be made purer this way?! Damn it, what's wrong with this person's brain?"

"Fuck, this corpse powder! Fuck, this is poison!"

“Oh my god, this stuff can even corrode armor!” The formula of Hou Zhongyu’s remaining medicinal powder was quickly reversed, and the remaining prescriptions became a compulsory subject for the Qilin Army’s Alchemy Corps. The members of the Alchemy Corps, which had now expanded to 500 people, all regarded it as a treasure and studied it day and night.

Especially the first few doctors as the core.

Shi Dalin's eyes were almost red.

He almost wanted to dig Hou Zhongyu out of the ground, grab him by the neck and pull out all his inheritance.

It also has [Healing Powder] that can quickly heal wounds, [Corpse-Dissolving Powder] which is essential for killing people and setting fires, as well as [Armor-Breaking] which can corrode steel at ultra-high speeds, [Combustion-Assisting] which can help ignite fire and instantly stir up the flames, and [Detoxification] which can break down more than 90% of conventional toxins.

Together, they became the standard medicine bags that the Qilin Army soldiers carried with them.

After encountering an enemy, you can throw out a porcelain bottle to break the armor before fighting, and the [Corpse Disintegration] can quickly dissolve the corpse and eliminate the possibility of plague. Shi Dalin and others even used this [Corpse Disintegration Powder] to successfully solve the plague that had not yet spread, and turned the sick rats into bloody water.

Later, it was discovered that the sick rats were released by the noble families among the people in an attempt to create the momentum of "The Qilin Army is coming, a major epidemic is spreading in Jiangnan". The middle-level leaders of the noble families who were investigated committed suicide directly, leaving behind suicide notes, saying that it was their own doing.

His wife and children all committed suicide!

and family cutting.

When Li Guanyi found out about this, he was so furious that he almost picked up the Tiger Roaring Sky Halberd, gathered his troops and attacked the family, but he was held back.

That family only killed a dozen or so middle-level members and did not completely wipe them out.

After a long silence, Yuan Zhi told Li Guanyi.

"My lord, bring Wen He back and I will pay you back tenfold."

"He is the only one who is best at dealing with people like this..."

Li Guanyi suppressed the matter briefly and wrote it down in his notebook.

Among them, [Combustion Booster] and [Armor Breaker] were also taken away by the Murong family.

After hearing about the formulas of these two kinds of medicinal powders, the efficiency and quality of the ordinary disciples of the Murong family in smelting ore and casting weapons were significantly improved.

Li Guanyi had never imagined that the things this guy had researched were not only useful when he was traveling around, but also had insanely great effects when deployed in a large, organized army.

Li Guanyi couldn't help but sigh: "Hou Zhongyu! What a good man!"

“What a great guy!”

Yuan Zhi, who was handling government affairs nearby, asked, "Hou Zhongyu? You have been talking about this person for a while. What is good about this person?"

"This is good because..."

Li Guanyi paused for a moment, then replied:

"The good thing is, he's dead."

Yuan Zhi was shocked.

Li Guanyi then told the story of Hou Zhongyu and said, "A talent like this, if thrown into the army, would be a great help to the army. But Chen Dingye threw him into the palace for decades and asked him to research the elixir of immortality for him."

"Such a waste."

"I can't even imagine how happy those seven old friends would be if we had met Hou Zhongyu outside and thrown him to Lao Shitou."

Yuan Zhi shook his head and said with a smile: "Even if he dies, it is enough."

"With the abilities of Doctor Shi and his colleagues, there may be more and better uses for it."

Li Guan nodded, holding the tea, and said: "But, Yuan Zhi, are you really not going to Zhongzhou Academy with me? You are familiar with them all, and if you go this time, you can bring some people with you."

Yuan Zhi shook his head and said gently: "My lord, all talented people in the world must have pride."

"Talents like Brother Yan are not recruited here."

Yan Daiqing raised his chin slightly but said nothing.

Yuan Zhi lightly raised the relationship between colleagues to a higher level, and then said: "Besides, based on the people I know, if the lord can convince them, they will come even if you only give them a penny. What's the point of Yuan Zhi going?"

"But if the paths are not compatible, even if you put a knife on their necks and tempt them with millions of gold, it will be useless. In that case, what's the point of Yuan Zhi going there?"

"Of course, Wenhe's words are an exception."

"Whatever the method, bring the person here first."

"I think you can get some of the top five Ma Fei San from Doctor Shi."

Li Guanyi was dumbfounded: "No, Wen He is not guilty of this."

"Yuan Zhi, you probably don't understand how cruel the things that Shi Laogui has created are, right?"

Yuan Zhi said seriously:
"No, it's you, my lord, who doesn't understand Wen He."

Li Guanyi: “…………”

The young counselor had a rare relaxed smile on his face, then paused and said, "Although I cannot go, I have an unwelcome request, and I hope the lord can agree to it."

Li Guan replied without hesitation: "Of course there is no problem!"

Yuan Zhi hesitated, turned around, bowed deeply, and said:
"My mother lives on the road from here to Zhongzhou. I am not a filial son. When I was young, I killed a bully to avenge my friend. My mother blocked the door with her back to prevent me from escaping. Later, I turned back and saw my uncle there, so I could leave with peace of mind."

"I haven't been back for ten years. This time, I hope you can go see my mother and tell her that I am not a good-for-nothing and I am not a wicked person who kills people indiscriminately."

Yuan Zhi was so young and as soon as he was born, he shocked the counselors from all directions. At this moment, there was a trace of longing and sigh in his eyes. Li Guan heard it and laughed: "What's so difficult about this? Don't worry, I understand!"

The young general clenched his fist and smiled:

"It just so happens that I am going with an envoy this time. I might as well go meet Mr.'s mother before going to Zhongzhou and tell her what a good son she is!"

Yuan Zhi's face was relieved and he said, "Thank you, my lord."

"You're welcome, sir!"

Li Guanyi thought for a moment, looked at the young man from a poor family, chuckled, but said seriously: "Although this is a bit of a lie, sir, please rest assured." The young man clenched his fist and gently hit Yuan Zhi's shoulder, saying:

"I will give your mother the standards that a strategist of the Qilin Army under Qin Wuhou should have."

"Let your mother vent her anger there, and then send her here!"

Yuan Zhi nodded slightly.

Yan Daiqing, however, remained silent, contrary to his usual behavior, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Each unit of the Qilin Army adjusted its personnel and selected elite warriors to join the diplomatic corps. Sword Maniac was in a good mood. After Li Guanyi dealt with many things that day, he went to Changfeng Tower. The famous scholar Shang Yuanzhi who was in charge of Changfeng Tower was surprised.

"I didn't know the Marquis was here."

"please--"

On the surface, Li Guanyi was still just a guest. When he got to the private room, he said, "I am leaving for Zhongzhou City. This time I am going to the emperor's tour. Before I leave, I have to write back to Shuang Tao."

Shang Yuanzhi gave him paper and pen.

Li Guanyi picked up the pen, the tip of the pen in his hand was covered with ink, but when it fell on the paper, it seemed that there were thousands of words in his heart, but he could not write a single word. After a long while, Li Guanyi calmed down, and under Shang Yuanzhi's puzzled gaze, he regained his usual composure.

I wrote down what happened when I went to the academy:
"I am going to Zhongzhou this time because the Great Emperor, the descendant of the Red Emperor, wants me to go."

"It's an old story that when the emperor went on a tour, all the princes followed him. I heard that Emperor Ying is going to go too. But if we all go, I think Chen Dingye will definitely go too. I'm his enemy and I know his character. If we all go but he doesn't, he'll be so angry that he won't be able to sleep, so he will definitely go."

"This time, at least there are four of us here: me, Emperor Chen, Emperor Ying, and the Lord of Zhongzhou."

"So Zhongzhou will definitely be turbulent. However, the more turbulent things are, the safer and more peaceful it will be. Before that, I was planning to travel around the martial arts world and see the ups and downs of this world."

"Also, I have to go to the academy. Although the Eighteen Prefectures of Jiangnan have been pacified, they lack a lot of talents in internal affairs. The academy teaches everyone. There are many students from poor families. I hope they can come to Jiangnan. There will be a place for them to use their talents. Ha, but my personality may not be very compatible with these scholars. I don't know if I can succeed..."

"There was only one Wen He, who prepared 32 types of Ma Fei San."

"The Murong family sponsored a rope of the treasure soldier grade."

Li Guanyi wrote, trying to be as carefree as usual. He lowered his eyes, as if the girl was standing opposite him at the table, supporting her chin with both hands, looking at him with a smile.

Qin Wuhou raised his pen, paused, and ink dripped down and spread out.

The boy crumpled up the paper and threw it away.

Start a new one, pick up the pen, and write.

"I'm going to the academy, miss."

"Want to meet?"

(End of this chapter)