Sui and Tang Dynasties: Awakening the Supreme Skills at the Beginning

A middle-aged man with a sinister look and several fierce-looking men suddenly surrounded Li Mantun's house.

"Silly boy, you didn't expect that we would meet again so soon, did you?"

Zhang Mingyuan held a paper fan in his hand and stared at Li Zhen with resentment on his face.

"Mr. Zhang, what do you want?"

Li Zhen was stunned for a moment, then immediately returned to normal. He walked towards Zhang Mingyuan with a sneer, and whispered to his second uncle, "Take the second aunt and the others into the house first!"

Li Mantun nodded and was about to leave with a few women.

Zhang Mingyuan shouted sternly, "Stop! No one is allowed to leave! Village Chief Cui has something to ask you!"

Village Chief Cui?

Li Mantun followed his gaze and saw a fat and big-eared man with a big black mole at the corner of his mouth standing in front of them with an arrogant look on his face. He was shocked.

He hurriedly put down the flour bag and walked up to Li Zhen to remind him.

"This village chief Cui relies on the fact that he is the distant nephew of Chang'an prefect Cui Hu to do all kinds of evil and bring disaster to the village. Anyone who is targeted by him will have their family destroyed. You must be careful when dealing with him!"

Ok?

Cui Hu, the prefect of Chang'an?

Li Zhen frowned secretly.

Thinking about what happened to him today, Li Zhen understood that the Cui family might have been eyeing him for a long time, and it was possible that Zhang Mingyuan was related to the Cui family.

Oh no, the other party is powerful, wealthy and influential, while I have just solved the problem of food and clothing. There is a huge gap in strength!

Although I could kill them with my own strength, that would definitely implicate my family, and I would have to flee to another place and become a wanted criminal by the government. No, this approach was not feasible.

Then let’s do this!

Thinking of this, Li Zhen smiled slightly and walked in front of Zhang Mingyuan.

Zhang Mingyuan, who had been observing Li Zhen's reaction, grinned with a smug look on his face.

"Come on, grandson, let's go see the feast that your grandpa Zhang has prepared for you. Haha! It's so satisfying!"

Zhang Mingyuan stepped forward, grabbed Li Zhen, came in front of Village Chief Cui, pointed at him and said.

"Captain Cui, this is the guy who is so arrogant. Not only did he beat up my grandson, he also stole two hundred taels of silver from my Zhang family."

"Ok?"

Cui Geng looked Li Zhen up and down and said with his nose in the air.

"Are you the idiot who beat Master Zhang to the point of incapacity? Not only did you injure him, you also stole two hundred taels of silver from Master Zhang. You are simply hated by both heaven and man!"

"This village chief asks you, do you know you are wrong and admit your guilt?"

Li Zhen's face was cold. Although he was prepared, he was still surprised.

A mere village head dared to interrogate and frame people in public. In the Tang Dynasty, this was too lawless!

Li Mantun approached Cui Geng with a flattering look on his face and handed him the wine pot, "Master, this is the best Tanghe Daqu, please have a taste."

Cui Geng took a sip and smacked his lips. "Hmm, it tastes pretty good. Bring me a jar tomorrow!"

"Okay, I'll obey your command!"

Li Mantun returned cautiously.

"Mr. Village Chief, although my nephew is a little stupid, he would never steal. The villagers present here can testify to this. Is there any misunderstanding here?"

"Yes! Yes! We can all testify that although Li Zhen is stupid, he has always been innocent and would never steal!"

The crowd gathered at the gate of the courtyard immediately started talking at once.

"Whether it's a misunderstanding or not, we'll know after searching! He should have 200 taels of silver on him right now, which was stolen from Master Zhang."

"Come on, search for me!"

Cui Geng waved his arms and directed his men.

As soon as Cui Geng finished speaking, four or five men with fierce looks surrounded him.

"Wait a minute!"

Li Zhen naturally couldn't let them get close to him, as he still had more than two hundred taels of silver left in his arms!

If they really find out, there's no way I can wash myself clean even if I jump into the Yellow River.

After shouting loudly, Li Zhen bowed to Cui Gengyi and said, "I am Li Zhen from the Confucian School. I am honored to meet the village chief Cui. Before I search you, may I have a word with you?"

"Hmm? Are you a Confucian?"

Cui Geng looked at Li Zhen with surprise and suspicion.

Emperor Yang of Tang is now reviving the imperial examination system and Confucianism in Chang'an. It is not a wise move to offend Confucianists at this time.

If you offend the Confucian school for Zhang Mingyuan's two hundred taels of silver, the consequences will be disastrous!

He was hesitating when Zhang Mingyuan suddenly shouted.

"How can a fool like him be a disciple of the Confucian School? Village chief, please don't be fooled by him!"

"Humph! Who told you that I can't be a Confucian disciple? Just today, I just became a disciple of the great Confucian scholar Qian Shu from the White Deer Academy. If you don't believe me, you can go check it out."

Li Zhen glanced at Zhang Mingyuan, then moved closer to Village Chief Cui and whispered.

"Village Chief Cui, I have always admired the Cui family and have always respected them very much. I want to make friends with them. If you don't mind, my teacher will come to Beijing to pay homage to the emperor in a few days. I am willing to give 500 taels of silver as an introduction. Then we can make friends together. What do you think, Village Chief?"

"Why do you bother to embarrass me, a member of the Confucian sect, for just two hundred taels of silver?"

"If you cause dissatisfaction to my sect, I'm afraid you, as the village head, won't be able to bear the consequences!"

"this?"

"Five hundred taels, is that true or false?"

Cui Geng stared at Li Zhen's face for a few seconds and then smiled with a forced smile.

"Hearing what you said, I would like to meet your master, but I don't know when he will go to the capital. If it takes ten days or half a month, I'm afraid that everyone in your family will run away by then, right?"

"How can that be possible?"

"Within three days!"

Li Zhen patted his chest and said confidently.

"Okay, I will give you three days to prove your innocence!"

"If you cannot prove your innocence within three days, after three days, not only will your life be in danger, but even your ugly sister will have to marry into the Zhang family and apologize to Master Zhang. Do you understand?"

"Thank you for the reminder, Head of the Village. I will not let you down. See you in three days!"

"Okay, I hope you keep your word! Let's go!"

Village Chief Cui waved his arm and led his men away from Li Mantun's house.

"Boy, I will keep an eye on you. If you can't come up with five hundred taels of silver within three days, I will bury your entire family with you!"

After saying that, he glared at Li Zhen and others and walked away in shame.

Collect 500 taels of silver within three days?

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Li Zhen in surprise.

"Well, thank you all for your kind words, folks. Today's matter has been settled. Li Zhen would like to thank you all here!"

As he spoke, Li Zhen bowed to the villagers present.

"If you ask me, how could the idiot Li Zhen earn dozens of strings of silver in one day? It turns out that he stole it. No wonder he made money so quickly!"

At this time, Granny Li stood up and said something sarcastic.

"Grandma Li, please be more kind and don't talk nonsense at your age!"

Aunt Wang next to her said dissatisfiedly.

"The victim has come to your door, what else do you have to say? If he has nothing to hide, why doesn't he let people search him?"

"If you ask me, this idiot will definitely not be able to come up with 500 taels of silver within three days. In that three days, Jia Ning will have to enter the Zhang family and be tortured and humiliated by Master Zhang. It would be better for her to just agree to marry Mr. Liu. At least it is better than being humiliated by the Zhang family. Don't you think so, Jia Ning?"

"Shut up, don't say any more. Jia Ningning would never marry that Mr. Liu, Granny Li, just give up on this idea!"

Li Jianing looked at him coldly.

"Grandma Li, why do you always go to such great lengths to matchmake for Mr. Liu? Are you taking benefits that you shouldn't be taking?"

Li Zhen asked suddenly.

"Grandma naturally couldn't bear to see Jianing suffer alone..."

"Don't lie!"

Li Zhen stepped forward and shouted softly, and a brain wave rushed towards Grandma Li.

"Ah! Ah!"

Granny Li felt as if the world was spinning around her, but she couldn't help but speak.

"Mr. Liu said that if you can arrange this marriage, he will give me a reward of ten strings of cash!"

With a loud "boom", everyone in the courtyard was in an uproar.

"That fat pig Mr. Liu, isn't this pushing Jianing into the fire pit?"

"You are despicable and shameless, you black-hearted bitch, I will beat you to death!"

Uncle Wang was so angry that he picked up a stick and was about to hit Grandma Li on the head.

"Ah! Ah! What did I say?"

Granny Li's face immediately turned red with shame. She dropped the flour, spread her little feet and ran away.

After Grandma Li’s commotion, people no longer wanted to stay and said goodbye to Li Zhen and Li Mantun and left one after another.

Back in the main room, Li Zhen took a basket full of eggs.

He said to Li Ru.

"Second Aunt, these are eggs my nephew bought. From now on, everyone will eat one every morning. Don't be reluctant to part with them. We will buy more after you finish eating them, okay?"

"Uh-huh!"

Li Ru wiped the tears from her face. Well, Zhen'er knows how to care for others. There is hope for the Li family.

Li Zhen took the steamer and put the meal he had bought for two taels of silver on the table.

Looking at the plate full of chicken, duck, fish and meat, little Li Li sucked her fingers with her eyes wide open.

"Are all these delicious foods for us?"

"Yes, my brother bought it for everyone to eat. Come, uncle, aunt, sister, sister, sit together."

Li Zhen stepped forward and greeted everyone.

"Oh, there are delicious foods, brother is so nice!"

The little kid jumped three feet high with joy.

Li Ru's eyes filled with tears again. She could hardly believe that the scene before her was real. She had been eating wild vegetables during the day, starving, and had a big meal at night.

At night, after dinner, the family sat at the dining table.

Li Mantun looked at Li Zhen expectantly and nervously. "Zhen'er, is the master you mentioned real?"

"It's true. Zhen'er has already become Master's disciple and is studying Confucianism today."

"Don't worry, Uncle. In my master's eyes, Village Chief Cui is nothing but a clown. He is not worth mentioning at all!"

Li Zhen waved his hand disapprovingly and sat down.

Then he took out a silver ingot weighing about fifty taels and handed it to Li Mantun.

"Uncle, this is what I won from a bet at a poetry meeting. You can use it to supplement the family income."

"This... this is not good. We just collected so much food, it's not appropriate to take money now!"

Li Mantu said hesitantly.

"Uncle, don't be so formal, we are all family!"

Li Zhen waved his hand and said disapprovingly.

Li Zhen took out another ingot of silver and handed it to Li Jianing, "Sister, you have suffered a lot these years. I promise that I will not let you suffer anymore in the future."

Li Jianing quickly declined.

"Brother, you still need to save up the five hundred taels of silver, so leave this with you for now!"

"No need, brother, there are still plenty here!"

Li Zhen patted his chest and smiled at Li Jianing.

"What are your plans, brother?"

Li Jianing asked, looking concerned.

Li Zhen pondered for a long time and said softly.

"I want to make wine."