After reading my mind, Daddy, why don't you smile?

Two months ago, inn.

Liang Su greeted Zhao Ying and Zhao Xi and left.

Zhao Ying silently held the paper he left under the teacup in her palm.

Shangguan Shu said that Liang Su was his confidant, and that this man was upright and honest, never deceived others, was willing to sacrifice his own life, and did not covet power and wealth, so she could trust him.

Zhao Ying dismissed the people around him and opened the paper with Zhao Xi. There were only two lines of words on it.

【The underground has ears.】

[The next day at 3:00 AM, at the pagoda.]

As a result, the two of them learned the secret of the underground inn. As for the pagoda, Zhao Ying asked a guard to disguise himself and inquire among the people the next day. When the guard came back, he told them that the pagoda was a pagoda in Dali, about a hundred feet high, and the top of the tower overlooked the whole Dali.

The pagoda was built with donations from Dali clans ten years ago. There are countless rare treasures on the pagoda, and under the scorching sun, the Buddha's light rises into the sky and cannot be looked at directly.

However, there were no eminent monks practicing in such a pagoda. What was even more strange was that there was no one in the pagoda all day long and the door was tightly closed. It seemed as if the pagoda had been built in vain and was just a decoration. The imperial guards wanted to ask more questions, but they could not get anything out of it.

Zhao Ying frowned in confusion. In order to avoid being eavesdropped, they had already passed the message on paper. "Why did Liang Su want to meet at the pagoda?"

Zhao Xi narrowed her eyes and said, "You'll know when you get there."

That night, the two men disguised themselves and sneaked out of the inn and came to the pagoda.

The magnificent pagoda becomes even more intimidating and ominous in the deep night.

There is a circular open space around the pagoda with four exits up, down, left and right. Going deeper into the space, there are houses, horse farms, fields and woodlands.

That corner of the woods was dark and a little creepy, but it was easy to hide people.

Zhao Xi winked at Zhao Ying, and the brother and sister walked towards the woods.

Liang Su happened to be there, having been waiting for a long time.

"Your Highnesses, I will take you to the pagoda. Once there, I will tell you a story and you will understand everything."

Liang Su's expression was obscure and solemn, which made Zhao Ying and the other two feel a little sluggish.

Liang Su was well prepared. He entered the tower, lit a fire, and had no obstacles on his way.

"Your Highnesses, this tower is called the Futu Tower, and it has a total of forty-eight floors."

"Squeak..."

The last door was pushed open, and the night wind from deep space blew in, blowing away the stuffy air in the tower.

The three of them walked to the railing. Dark clouds were hanging overhead and a bright moon was hanging high in the sky. Zhao Ying had never seen such a big moon.

Under the tower, it was dark and quiet.

Perhaps Zhao Xi was a little afraid of heights, so he took a look down the tower and then looked away.

Liang Su suddenly pointed at the high wall behind the woods, which was too far away to be clearly seen.

"Your Highness, please look, there are all the secrets of Dali!"

Zhao Ying looked in the direction of his fingertips, but didn't see anything. She took a long breath, suppressed the depression and strangeness in her heart, and said, "General Liang, just say whatever you want to say!"

"Okay, then I will start from the beginning for you two princes."

"Several years ago... there were four clans in Dali that were highly respected and extremely wealthy. They were the Duan, Qian, Ming, and Chu clans."

"Duan?" Zhao Ying was surprised, and so was Zhao Xi.

Aren’t the four major clans in Dali the Liu, Bai, Xiao, and Chen?

"Your Highnesses, these are the four surnames Duan, Qian, Ming, and Chu!"

"The Duan family is good at farming, the Qian family is good at storing grain, the Ming family is good at medicine, and the Chu family runs a school... The people of Dali live and work in peace and contentment, and leave their doors open at night. Although the people are tough, they are sensible and righteous. The people regard the four major clans as the patron saints of Dali. At one point, the people of Dali did not worship the true gods, but the clans."

"This kind of worship lasted until a few decades ago, when the Duan family married the Chu family and gave birth to a baby girl named Chu Xi. Perhaps the good deeds of the clan were appreciated by the gods, and when the baby was born, hundreds of birds came to congratulate her, and people bowed down to worship her. An old Taoist priest passing by said that this baby was born with a holy body for cultivating immortals. Others would have to suffer many disasters and hardships to ascend to heaven, but this baby only needed to practice normally and would have the opportunity to ascend to heaven."

"The old Taoist wants to take the baby girl as his disciple and bring her back to the temple to raise her. Although the Duan and Chu families are reluctant, they agree."

"Since then, the people have become more and more devoted to the clans, and even ignored the power of the Dali royal family. The Dali royal family was incompetent, cruel and ruthless, and the clans fought against the royal family for many years for the people."

Zhao Ying stared. Da Chu had only controlled Dali for more than ten years. So the four major clans Liang Su mentioned were a long time ago?

She remembered that the first time Shangguan Shu led the southern expedition, they fought against the bandits in the southwest. Of course, they were not bandits originally, but a brave and warlike country. Shangguan Shu turned them into bandits, and then even exterminated their entire clan.

On the way back in triumph, the army attacked Dali along the way.

"What happened next?" Zhao Ying asked.

"Later, not long after the baby girl was sent away, a group of refugees came to Dali."

"There were about 300 people, including men, women, old and young, all in rags. The leader of the refugees claimed to be surnamed Liu, and his ancestral home was an island on the coast of the East China Sea. They could not stand the harsh environment and tyranny there, so they fled with their families to find a way out."

"They went to Jiaozhi, Lancang and other countries, but they were barbaric and bloodthirsty. Seeing that they were helpless, they killed and ate them at will. They finally escaped and came to Da Chu, but Da Chu rejected foreigners and refused to accept them. They drove them away again and again, so they had no choice but to come to Dali."

"The elders of the clan have always been kind and generous. Seeing how lonely and miserable they were, they accepted them, gave them status, shelter, food and clothing, and even arranged jobs for them in their shops, allowing them to settle down completely in Dali."

"Later, the Qian family, which had the most shops and the most prosperous business, found that these refugees were very smart, studious, and good at doing business, so they recommended them to other clans. Gradually, the status of these refugees in the clan became higher and higher, and they became more and more clear about business dealings. So after a few years, many refugees left the clan's shops and started their own businesses."

"Although this is not ethical, the clansmen did not blame them. Anyone can do business, so if they want to do it, just go ahead and do it."

"The Liu family among the refugees was engaged in the grain business, but the Duan family's shop was well-known and they could not compete at all, so they came up with an idea."

"Good grain is 10 wen per jin, inferior grain is 2 wen per jin, and the average price is 6 wen. Liu has launched a high-quality grain, 8 wen per jin, with good and inferior grains mixed in 50-50, so ordinary people can't tell them apart at all."

"So the Liu family made a lot of money, and the shops opened by other refugees copied their practices. However, although this move was powerful, it did not shake the foundation of the family."

"Then the refugees came up with another idea. They hoarded medicine and food, and then spread a plague."

"Countless people were killed and injured. The Ming family, who are good at medicine, tried to save people but couldn't find any. They had to buy medicine from the Liu family at a high price. Similarly, they tried to provide porridge and food... There were so many people in Dali, and it took the clans' efforts to save them. The Dali royal family has always been stupid and happy to see the clans cut blood and flesh, and break bones. After this, the clans and the people are extremely disgusted with the Liu family."

Zhao Xi sneered, "Such a ruthless person who repays kindness with enmity is rare in the world."

Liang Su shook his head, "Your Highness doesn't know, there are even rarer things to come."