Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 17 Clues
Li Ming raised his eyes with difficulty and saw a guy who was even shorter and more timid than Di Renjie.

He pointed at the other person with a dull look on his face and said, "I have to pay one penny for each grain of rice. You ate a bowl of my rice, so you should at least pay one penny."

Lai Junchen almost cried when he failed to get something for free and ended up being raped.

But his rat eyes rolled and he immediately came up with an idea. He shook off the big man and ran over happily:

"Hey, I'll pay, I'll pay!
"I saw someone selling Gaochang's national treasure at a low price in the West Market! If you can buy it at a low price and sell it at a high price, you can earn more than a coin!"

"Oh, I see." Li Ming spread out his little palm, "Where's the money?"

Lai Junchen began to act like a rogue as usual:

"I don't care! You've already heard my news, so I'll compensate you! And you have to give me half of the money you make!"

Li Ming laughed: "Are you trying to cheat me?"

Lai Junchen looked at the big man who came with ill intentions and his face turned pale.

He quickly came up with a solution and shouted with his eyes closed:

"As long as you don't hit me, I am willing to be your younger brother! I will be at your service and obey your orders!"

Li Ming was amused by him.

"Are you afraid of being spanked? Fine, since you are still young, I'll let you go. What's your name?"

You are obviously younger than me, why are you pretending to be an adult... Lai Junchen complained in his heart, but he looked very respectful, imitating an adult and performing the recently popular cross-arm salute.

"My surname is Lai, and my name is Junchen."

What Ning Caichen... This was the first thought that flashed through Li Ming's mind.

The second thought was: Lai Junchen, hiss~ this name seems a little familiar, but I don’t know why...

"Brother Ming, this kid doesn't look like a good person at first glance, don't be fooled by him!" Di Renjie immediately reported.

Seeing Di Renjie, Li Ming immediately remembered——

Oh, that Lai Junchen! The most famous cruel official under Wu Zetian, good at false accusations and torture, and wrote "Luozhi Jing".

Well, you can tell what the ingredients are by looking at the title.

The idiom "lead someone into a trap" comes from this guy. He even came across this in the civil service exam, so Li Ming has an impression of him.

Historically, this evil man falsely accused Di Renjie, who had already become the prime minister, of treason and almost persecuted the famous prime minister to death.

These two guys really have a deep hatred engraved in their blood... Li Ming was a little amused and said to the future prime minister who was full of justice:

"I have my own sense of proportion."

A bad guy needs another bad guy to grind him, and Lai Junchen is the bad guy who grinds him.

Li Ming was born in the deep palace, raised by women, and had no dealings with ordinary people. What he really lacked was a shit-stirring stick to unclog the sewer.

Maybe it will work wonders in the future.

"You can come to my shop when you have nothing to do in the future." Li Ming nodded to Lai Junchen, "You will definitely get something to eat."

Lai Junchen's eyes almost burst into laughter when he accidentally found a long-term meal ticket:
"All right, young master!"

He sang a yes and ran away.

The future Prime Minister Di closed his eyes in disappointment, but said nothing more.

The current Prime Minister Fang suddenly spoke to Lai Junchen:

"My dear, you just said that you saw someone selling Gaochang national treasures?"

"Yes, it's just around the corner across the street! Remember to give me half of the money you make!"

Lai Junchen stretched his neck and shouted, then disappeared like a rat in a sewer.

Li Ming was a little surprised that the arrogant old man with expressionless face was suddenly interested in the street rogue. He said half-jokingly:
"Mr. Fang, I didn't expect you to be in league with Lai Junchen and his ilk. Who do you want to frame? Would you mind telling me?"

Fang Xuanling paused slightly, ignored the nonsense kid, said a few words to the servants, then got up and left.

Do you really want to find a bargain in an old house?

Li Ming's curiosity was aroused, and he followed Fang Xuanling with a swagger.

Fang Xuanling pretended not to see it and followed the wall to the place indicated by Lai Junchen.

At a glance, I found the "Gaochang National Treasure" that the guy mentioned.

Because after turning the corner, the whole street is filled with vendors selling antiques.

Li Ming laughed.

You want to cheat me of a penny with just this "secret information"? What a scoundrel you are.

What? You said I was the one who first cheated him out of a coin by giving him a bowl of porridge?
I am doing charity, how can charity be called fraud? Fang Xuanling's face changed, and his expression immediately became lively, as if he was really an old man who came to pick up antiques at a bargain price.

What great acting skills... Li Ming sighed to himself and followed Lao Fang to visit the antique street.

It feels like going home. The streets are full of old men setting up stalls. They have a piece of cloth on the ground and a cup of tea in their hands. They will catch any enemy they can to feed them for three years.

All I can say is that some professions remain unchanged for thousands of years.

Fang Xuanling stopped in front of one of the stalls.

The old man at the stall glanced at the visitor, guessing that this old man must be an idiot who could splurge on gold coins, and said weakly:
"They are all old items passed down from my family. You can take a look if you want."

This death really gives him the feeling of being a hermit.

Li Ming felt like he was looking at the annual treasure appraisal. Some of the "unearthed cultural relics" on the white cloth looked like those from last week, and some looked like those from the class. They were quite neat.

If there is also a porcelain bowl printed with the Song Dynasty GB2312 font and reading “Made during the Kangxi period”, that would be truly amazing.

Li Ming was thinking about it to himself, Fang Xuanling's eyes lit up, and he picked up a copper lamp covered with dirt with a smile, stared at it carefully, and asked with great interest:
"Shopkeeper, how do you sell this?"

Hooked.

"Your Excellency has a very sharp eye. This was passed down from my grandfather's grandfather. I didn't want to sell it, but my wife is seriously ill and my son is getting married, and we are a poor family and can't keep the treasure. It will only be sold to the right person, at least for this amount."

The old salesman made a gesture.

"Pull out ten thousand coins!"

Fang Xuanling smiled without saying anything and used his fingers to pick the loose dirt off the surface of the cup.

No, big brother. The copper-nickel alloy contains a bit of lead. You won’t grow taller if you touch it too much... Li Ming gritted his teeth as he watched.

Gradually, the "old object" revealed a brand new bronze surface.

"Your grandfather's grandfather is Qu Zhisheng of Gaochang?"

The old man immediately became embarrassed:
"This... I don't know what it is, anyway, this thing has always been in my house... Old friend, it's really an old item! How can I lie to you? Since we are not destined to be together, just forget it if you don't want it!"

The old man reached out to grab it, but was gently pushed away by Fang Xuanling.

"This is a jug, the one used by the Gaochang royal family to offer wine to their ancestors." Fang Xuanling smiled.

"This title originally came in pairs, how come you only have one now? Where did you steal it from? According to the Zhenguan Law, stealing the ritual vessels of the foreign kings will result in immediate execution!"

After being threatened by a real veteran, the old salesman immediately gave in:
"This thing is...I got it from a soldier who was on the Western Expedition!"

"Sergeant?" Fang Xuanling frowned.

"Really? There's no need for me to hide it for him. He's just an ordinary soldier. I really don't know his name!"

Fang Xuanling's expression changed rapidly, like a summer shower, and then immediately calmed down and returned to his normal appearance.

He threw down some small change, turned around and left.

The old man who was selling goods was beaten for no reason, and then he picked up some silver for no reason. He was stunned and kowtowed to express his gratitude: "Sir, make a fortune! Sir, make a fortune!"

Li Ming was not much better than that man. He followed Fang Xuanling back in confusion. He wanted to ask several questions, but couldn't open his mouth.

His intuition told him that it would be best not to provoke Fang Xuanling now.

Before I even walked out of the street, I met an unexpected acquaintance.

"Brother Ming?" The Turkic merchant Zhi Shi Bu Zhen waved at him, "Why are you here?"

"That's what I wanted to ask." Li Ming stopped and deliberately kept a distance from the somewhat scary Fang Xuanling.

"Why, your seafood business can't continue, so you're dealing in fake cultural relics?"

Zhishibuzhen's face suddenly turned red, and he touched the back of his head in embarrassment:
"I really can't hide anything from you...Brother Ming, now is a good time to join the industry, how about we take him down?"

With your physique, the entire Taiji Palace is not enough to compensate you... Li Ming responded politely:

"I'll think about it. Why do you think this is the right career for you now?"

"Because we recently got a batch of good goods from the Western Regions!" Zhi Shi Buzhen lowered his voice:
"I heard from my second brother's cousin's brother-in-law's neighbor in the grassland that the Tang army looted a lot of good artifacts from the Gaochang Palace, and the purchase price is very cheap! As long as they are slightly aged, they can be sold for several times the price!"

You don't even know that Gaochang was destroyed, how dare you talk nonsense here...

Li Ming responded to the Turkic merchant who was really uninformed with an awkward but polite smile, said goodbye hastily and was about to catch up with Fang Xuanling.

When he turned around, he found Fang Xuanling standing beside him without him noticing, staring at Zhi Shi Buzhen with a burning gaze.

"Brother, you said that the Tang army generals allowed their troops to loot the Gaochang Palace?" Fang Xuanling asked with a smile.

With one more enthusiastic listener, Zhishibu really got excited:

"Yeah! My cousin's cousin's neighbor's sister-in-law saw it with her own eyes!"

(End of this chapter)