Pick up a princess to be your wife

"Is it possible that Master Shi is not as noble as you say?" Liu Qian asked.

"You are not allowed to insult the hero in my heart," Li Ertie reprimanded.

"Alright, I misspoke. Sorry, brother, don't take it to heart." Liu Qian chuckled.

"That's pretty much it."

As the group walked and talked, Liu Qian suddenly asked, "Did you send people to keep watch in secret?"

"No, what's wrong?" Li Mu asked in return.

“There should be two people following us,” Liu Qian said.

"Where?" Li Mu asked.

"His movements are elusive; he's a master of surveillance, making it difficult to pinpoint his exact location," Liu Qian replied.

Li Mu was very surprised. They were chatting in the carriage, and Liu Qian never lifted the curtain to look out, but he knew that two people were following them.

His alertness is a bit too high, isn't it?

Based on this alone, it's easy to tell that this short man is definitely not just an ordinary boss.

"Find a way to shake them off," Li Mu said.

"I have my own way of doing things, you just sit down." Liu Qian smiled with narrowed eyes.

Stalking was just a side skill of his; shaking off those who were stalking him was his specialty.

He was able to move freely under the noses of thousands of people, and at that time, he was being followed by many martial arts masters.

These two guys think they can keep up with him? He shouldn't be called a chivalrous thief; he should be called a blind thief.

Liu Qian directed the charioteers to circle around the area continuously.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Liu Qian said that he could leave the person behind and go directly there.

He seemed to be wandering aimlessly, and his pace wasn't particularly fast. But in Li Mu's eyes, this circuitous route was indeed highly skillful.

There were indeed two people tailing us, and they weren't working together.

One of them was Ge Desheng's subordinate, and the other was Xiao Lan.

After going around in circles, Ge Desheng's men were already disoriented and soon lost track of him.

Xiaolan was the same; she quickly lost track of them.

But she knew perfectly well where Li Mu was going.

So she took a detour and went to stake out the area around that dilapidated courtyard.

Li Mu and the others arrived at their destination.

Upon entering the courtyard, the two brothers who were still playing dominoes immediately got up.

"Big brother, second brother," the two greeted each other in unison.

"You've worked hard. I'm giving you both a day off today. Go back and get some sleep," Li Mu said with a smile.

“We’re not tired. We were just planning to go and do some business when you arrived,” Zhao Wuji said.

“There’s no need to work so hard. I told you to go to sleep, so just relax and get some rest,” Li Mu said.

“We’re not tired at all,” Yang Xiaoliu said.

"Since Second Brother said we should go to sleep, then let's go to sleep. Little Six, let's go have some breakfast."

"I brought them for you."

Li Mu took out two breakfasts and handed them to the two boys.

Then, Li Mu went into the courtyard to check and, after confirming that no supplies were missing, had Liu Qian take all the supplies away.

After Liu Qian left, Li Mu saw Zhao Wuji and Yang Xiaoliu squatting in the courtyard eating breakfast, so he went over to them.

"Did you move any supplies last night?" Li Mu asked.

"No, we started playing Pai Gow as soon as we came in," Zhao Wuji replied.

"Second Brother, is something missing?" Yang Xiaoliu asked.

"Nothing's missing, it's alright, go back."

Li Mu and Li Ertie got into the carriage to return home, and he glanced at the dilapidated courtyard.

"Why are you so suspicious?" Li Ertie asked.

“Last night, someone moved the supplies I had left in the yard. They probably tried to steal them, but they didn’t succeed,” Li Mu said in a deep voice.

When Li Mu put things away, he kept a close eye on them and remembered the locations.

The cotton cloth showed no signs of moving, but several bags of fine salt were not in their original positions, and some of the medicated patches were also not in their original places.

So someone wanted to steal the fine salt and also wanted to take some medicinal patches, but for some reason, they failed to do so.

Perhaps it was just then that Zhao Wuji and Yang Xiaoliu arrived.

This place doesn't seem to be well hidden. If we need to exchange supplies in the future, we'll have to keep an eye on it.

Otherwise, losing a batch of supplies would mean Li Mu would lose everything.

"Damn it, how dare they steal our stuff? Don't let me find out who it is, or I'll break their legs!" Li Ertie said angrily.

With that matter behind him, Li Mu began to ponder another question.

"Did the chivalrous Shi Jingqian really steal the congratulatory gift intended for the emperor five years ago?" Li Mu asked.

“What, isn’t your Luyang County part of Lingnan Circuit? This incident caused a sensation throughout the world back then, and you didn’t know?” Li Ertie retorted.

Li Mu immediately searched through his predecessor's memories. Five years ago, he was only fifteen years old and was still farming with his older brother in Luyang County.

The elder brother never paid attention to these things; he only cared about whether the crops in the fields would yield a good harvest this year, and Li Mu naturally didn't pay attention to them either.

"You said he stole ten thousand taels of gold, silkworm silk, and dragon pearls, is that true?" Li Mu asked again.

"of course it's true."

"To be honest," Li Mu frowned.

Li Ertie liked to boast, and Li Mu knew it perfectly well.

Most of the things he said were probably true, but the things he stole were unlikely to be true.

Who has the ability to steal ten thousand taels of gold in broad daylight without being discovered?

“Well, actually I don’t know exactly what Master Shi stole. Back then, the government only said the losses were significant, but they didn’t release a list of the stolen items,” Li Ertie said.

Li Mu could easily find out the truth about this by asking anyone.

Nobody knows what Shi Jingqian actually stole.

"Brother Er Tie, that boss just now most likely knows Shi Jingqian himself," Li Mu immediately concluded.

"What? That guy just now, he knows Master Shi? He's so ugly, how could he possibly know him?" Li Ertie was very surprised.

In this world, being able to know a truly impressive person is a very classy thing in itself.

Li Mu came to this conclusion because of the two antiques he received.

Even the wealthiest person might not be able to acquire rare treasures like the Ice Silkworm Jade Suit and the Qin King's Sword.

That could be the tribute items stolen from the Lingnan Prefectural Governor's Mansion back then, namely the Qin King's sword and the Ice Silkworm Jade Suit.

The governor of Lingnan Circuit wanted to present these two treasures to the emperor as a congratulatory gift, but unexpectedly, they were stolen by Shi Jingqian.

Since Shi Jingqian has not been arrested by the authorities in the past five years, it is possible that the stolen goods have always been in his possession and he has never sold them.

Now, Shi Jingqian is offering these two stolen items in exchange for resources, and they have just fallen into Li Mu's hands.

Stealing ten thousand taels of gold or ten thousand bolts of cloth is probably worthless.

But stealing a light undergarment and a sword would be perfectly reasonable.

"How can you be sure he knows Master Shi?" Li Ertie asked.

"Use your brain more," Li Mu replied.

"I can't figure it out."