The sun is setting in the west and dusk is approaching.
Li Duozuo and He Lan Minzhi walked side by side on the streets of Hangzhou.
Looking at the dazzling array of small stalls on the street, Li Duozuo couldn't help but sigh: "What a prosperous state city."
He Lanminzhi smiled and said: "Brother Li is overly praised. This place is far inferior to Chang'an."
Li Duozuo shook his head and said: "Otherwise, although Chang'an City is also prosperous, it feels too cold and hard, and it is not as good as the atmosphere of living at home here. If I am disbanded and return to work in the future, this will be a good location."
He Lanminzhi smiled and said: "Brother Li is young and in his prime years. He will definitely live a life of fighting on the battlefield and fighting hard. How can he think about disbanding his troops and returning home?"
Li Duozuo sighed in a low voice: "I'm afraid there won't be that day."
He Lan Minzhi looked solemn and said: "Brother Li still doesn't seem to trust me. Let's do this. I'll take you to see someone first and help you get a new identity. I think you can feel at ease."
Li Duozuo turned around and said, "Who?"
Helan Minzhi raised his thumb and said with a smile: "This one in Hangzhou City."
"The governor of Hangzhou?"
He Lan Minzhi laughed and said: "Brother Li doesn't seem to know much about Hangzhou City. The governor of Hangzhou has long been ignored. The real person who controls Hangzhou City is Sima Qian Deguang."
Li Duozuo hesitated and said: "You are still wanted by the court, so go find Sima Hangzhou. Will there be no problem?"
He Lan Minzhi laughed loudly and said: "Brother Li, to tell you the truth, this wanted order is just a piece of waste paper in most areas of Jiangnan!"
Li Duozuo was silent for a moment and sighed: "Brother Helan's connections are something Li admires greatly."
He Lan Minzhi smiled proudly, pulled Li Duozuo and said, "Let's go to Qian Mansion immediately!"
Li Duozuo said: "We haven't gone to the Yamen yet, shouldn't we go to the Governor's Mansion to find him?"
He Lanminzhi smiled and said: "You don't know Qian Deguang. He knows life very well and never stays in the yamen for more than an hour. If you want to find him, there are three places you should choose."
Li Duozuo secretly sneered, as expected, birds of a feather flock together, and Qian Deguang was not a good guy at first glance.
"Qian Mansion must be one of them."
"Haha, that's right." Without waiting for Li Duozuo to ask, He Lanminzhi said to himself: "The other two places are on the West Lake Painted Boat, and Longyin Mountain, in the Temple of Immortality."
Li Duozuo was secretly confused. It was understandable that he would go to the boat painting. The standard feature of corrupt officials these days is greed for money and lust, but what was he doing at the Taoist temple?
Helan Minzhi saw his doubts and said with a smile: "Qian Deguang has three good things in his life, one is good poetry, the second is beauty, and the third is good health. The reason for going to longevity is to maintain health."
Li Duozuo sneered: Isn't he just afraid of death? That sounds nice.
When passing a cloth shop, Helan Minzhi looked at his wrinkled clothes and said, "Brother Li, I want to go in and change some clothes. Do you want to change into one too?"
Li Duozuo shook his head and said, "I don't have to."
Helan Minzhi nodded, asked Li Duozuo to wait outside the door, and entered the cloth village alone.
At this moment, Li Duozuo saw a man in a bamboo hat waving to him at the street corner. When he looked carefully, he found that the man was Han Cheng.
He glanced in the direction of Buzhuang, and then slowly walked in the direction of Han Cheng.
Han Cheng stopped at a clay figurine stall. After Li Duozuo came over, he also pretended to look at the clay figurine and whispered:
"The governor of Hangzhou has been sidelined, and state affairs are in the hands of the chief minister Qian Deguang. He Lan Minzhi plans to go to Qian Deguang's house. It is still unclear who his backer is in Yangzhou."
Han Cheng didn't ask any more questions and just said: "His Royal Highness is in Lijia Village, thirty miles east of the city."
Li Duozuo put the clay figurine in his hand back into the stall, silently walked back to the entrance of the cloth shop, and took a look inside, only to see Helan Minzhi still choosing clothes.
Looking at the clay figurine stall again, Han Cheng had disappeared.
Not long after, Helan Minzhi came out wearing a white shirt and brocade robe, and a blue jacket outside. He also had a folding fan in his hand, not to mention that he was very showy.
"Brother Li, how do I look like?" He Lanminzhi said with a smile.
Li Duozuo forced a smile and said, "Not bad, pretty good."
He Lan Minzhi shook his head, not knowing whether he was blaming Li Duozuo for his lack of taste or feeling that he was lacking in words.
All in all, on the way to Qian's Mansion, Helan Minzhi's return rate increased greatly, which made him smile very happily.
Li Duozuo suddenly said: "Brother Helan, I have something to ask you."
"Brother Li, speak as soon as possible."
Li Duozuo was silent for a while and said: "When I meet Qian Deguang, I hope Brother Helan won't say anything about me saving you."
Helan Minzhi smiled and said: "What did I think it was? You don't need to tell me this, brothers won't talk nonsense. In fact, I don't intend to tell the story about being caught by Wu Chengsi. Why don't you just treat this matter as yours?"
Keep it my secret."
Li Duozuo nodded repeatedly. His main purpose was not to want He Lan Minzhi to expose Wu Chengsi's itinerary.
In fact, he also guessed that Helan Minzhi would not tell others such a humiliating experience, but just in case, he gave a reminder.
"By the way, if someone asks how Brother Helan and I got together, how should I answer?" Li Duozuo asked.
He Lanminzhi smiled and said: "This is not easy. How about saying that you came to arrest me on Wu Chengsi's order, but I persuaded you with words to abandon the dark side and turn to the bright side?"
Li Duozuo nodded: "Very good."
After crossing two streets, the two of them arrived at the door of Qian's Mansion.
Li Duozuo couldn't help but be secretly surprised when he saw the gate of Qian Mansion.
As a Qianniu Guards general who had stayed in the imperial palace, he had to admit that the gate of Qian Mansion was designed with great style.
It is even more grand than many royal palaces in Chang'an City.
Outside the gate there are two pairs of stone lions, one sitting and the other standing.
There is a stone tablet on the left hand side of the mansion gate with the four characters "For the country and the people" written on it. On the right hand side there is a stone screen with a picture painted on it.
There was a faint figure of an official standing next to the canal, looking with concern at the people building the embankment below.
There is text below, which reads: Qian Deguang, a Yangzhou engineer who joined the army, renovated the Yangzhou section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal for the third time in the first year of Longsu.
I have to say that Qian Deguang is very good at decorating himself.
Soon after He Lan Minzhi announced outside the door, a man dressed as a scholar came out and said with a smile on his face:
"I don't know which gust of wind blew Mr. He here. He came at the right time. My master is hosting a banquet for Prince Yingchuan in the back garden."
He Lan Minzhi used the name He Min when reporting, but judging from the attitude of the housekeeper of Chang Shi Mansion, he obviously knew He Lan Minzhi's identity.
He Lan Minzhi smiled and said: "This is called an invitation rather than a chance encounter. I have always wanted to visit His Highness the County Prince before, but I never had the time. I didn't want to meet him here today."
While talking, the housekeeper led the two of them into the backyard.
It has to be said that the person who designed this mansion must be a master. Not only is the gate design majestic, but the back garden is also quiet and elegant.
After passing through a small forest, a stone pavilion suddenly appeared in front of us.
The pavilion, which is more than two feet wide and long, is made entirely of marble, as smooth as a mirror, and the floor is covered with Western carpets.
A round nanmu table was placed in the center of the pavilion, with more than a dozen exquisite delicacies placed on it. Three men sat around the table.
Sitting at the top of the table was a man in his late thirties dressed in fine clothes.
On the left and right of the men in richly dressed men were a fat scribe in his forties and a lean man with a mustache.
The lean man had the brightest smile on his face and couldn't help but smile at the man in the attire. However, the man in the attire didn't even look at him and only occasionally said a few words to the fat scribe on his left.
Li Duozuo could guess the identities of the three people just by looking at their expressions and attitudes.
The man in rich clothes must be the Prince of Yingchuan County, the fat scribe next to him is Qian Deguang, and the one on the right must also be an official, but his rank must not be too high.
After the three people approached, the fat scribe stood up and said with a laugh: "Brother Helan, you are really courageous. You dare to run around with a wanted order on your head. You are not afraid of being arrested by this officer."
Get up?"
Helan Minzhi smiled and said: "I'm timid and I really don't dare to go anywhere else, but Hangzhou is under the control of your brother Qian, what else does Helan have to be afraid of?"
Qian Deguang's smile became even brighter, and he smiled at Prince Yingchuan next to him and said: "Your Highness, I just said that it was Helan himself who came here. You still don't believe it. How about it? Do you believe it now?"
The prince of Yingchuan County is named Li Xun, and he is the eldest son of King Li Yuanjia of Han Dynasty. He has a serious and majestic face and said calmly: "Brother Helan, I have admired your name for a long time."
Helan Minzhi smiled bitterly and said: "My reputation has been ruined for a long time. It would be fine as long as His Highness the County Prince doesn't laugh at Helan behind his back."
King Yingchuan waved his hand and said: "To be honest, my father and I often talk about Brother Helan, and we both said that if Brother Helan had brought down Wu Chengsi, it wouldn't be so difficult for us to deal with the Wu family now.
"
He Lan Minzhi did not say anything and thought to himself: "If I really became Duke of Zhou, I would naturally side with my aunt. How could I get involved with this inexplicable brother Li Xian?"