Thief Emperor

Chapter 1133 Guanzhong and Qingyang

The next day, the emperor's entourage entered Qingyang Prefecture. The prefect of Qingyang, along with a group of officials, respectfully welcomed the emperor all the way to Qingyang City. That night, the emperor stayed at the Ningguo Duke's Mansion in Qingyang.

This Ningguo Duke's Mansion was built by the emperor for General Zhou after he retired from the front line. The emperor ordered the Ministry of Works to build it for him in Qingyang Prefecture. The Ningguo Duke's family also had another Ningguo Duke's Mansion in Jinling, which was the residence of General Zhou when he led the Jinling Army in Jinling for many years.

In addition, among the fifty meritorious officials' residences in Luoyang, there was also one belonging to the Duke of Ningguo. However, no members of the Zhou family lived there; only a few servants maintained the residence daily. People from the Ningguo Mansion stayed there temporarily after arriving in the capital.

The Zhou family of Duke Ningguo is not very large. The old Duke only had two sons and two daughters. Apart from Zhou Bi, the other three children are still teenagers.

As for Zhou Bi himself, because he married General Su's sister and his family was very strict, this eldest son of the Duke of Ningguo, the future Duke of Ningguo, has never taken a concubine.

He now has only one son and one daughter. His youngest son is not yet ten years old. Both are his children with his first wife.

In the vast Ningguo Duke's Mansion, there were very few actual members of the Zhou family. It was just right that Li Yun's family moved in.

After resting for a night, the next morning, Zhou Bi, along with his younger siblings and children, came to pay their respects to His Majesty the Emperor and his family. After everyone had paid their respects, Zhou Bi looked at the Fourth Princess standing beside Li Yun, who was looking around, and said to Li Yun with a smile, "It's been a few years since we last met, and the Fourth Princess has grown up quite a bit."

Emperor Li glanced at him, then at his younger brother, his gaze becoming cautious.

"We're not on the same generation, so don't even think about it."

Even if General Zhou's son is young, he is theoretically of the same generation as Li Yun, but is indeed a generation younger than the Fourth Princess.

Zhou Bi quickly coughed and waved his hand, saying, "Your Majesty, I didn't mean that..."

The emperor stood up, looked at the family members of the Duke of Ningguo's household, and finally looked at Zhou Bi, changing the subject: "When are you going to Luoyang to inherit the title?"

The new dynasty's nobility system was established by Li Yun himself. One of its strict rules was that, regardless of the rank of the nobility, as long as it was a hereditary title, one had to go to the capital to receive the imperial decree before the title could be officially registered and inherited.

This rule was naturally designed to plan for the future, preventing certain local powers from bypassing the imperial court and establishing their own independent territories.

Of course, regardless of the system, the prerequisite is that the imperial court must be strong enough. Otherwise, even if people don't go to the capital, the imperial court will still obediently issue imperial decrees.

Zhou Bi thought for a moment and then said, "After I finish observing the mourning period, I will go to Luoyang to pay my respects to Your Majesty and receive the grace of Your Majesty and the court."

The emperor patted him on the shoulder.

"Alright, I'll be waiting for you in Luoyang in two years."

After speaking with Zhou Bi for a while, Emperor Li spoke with the rest of the Zhou family. Unfortunately, none of the other members of the Zhou family had the same old relationship with Li Yun as Zhou Liang and Zhou Bi. Naturally, they could not remain calm and composed when facing Li Yun.

Upon meeting Li Yun, most people were trembling with fear, answering only one question at a time.

This was pointless, and Emperor Li, feeling disheartened, went to a study in the Ningguo Duke's mansion to carry out his duties.

The Fourth Princess strolled around the Ningguo Duke's mansion, then wandered all the way to the Emperor Li's office. Standing behind her father, she asked, "Father, Mother said our family has a house in Qingyang. Where is it? I can't see it."

Emperor Li put down his brush, looked at his daughter, shook his head and smiled, "When your mother and I got married, we did indeed buy a small house in Qingyang, but we had to pay someone else to buy it."

"Later, they moved to Qingyang, and no one lived in this house anymore."

At this point, Li Yun shook his head and said, "I guess later on, no one knew that it was our family's house. Now Qingyang City is very different from what it used to be, and Father doesn't even know where the house is anymore."

The fourth princess stood behind the emperor and asked again, "What about Cangshan Mountain?"

“I heard from my elder brother, the Crown Prince, that Father used to live in the mountains.”

Li Yun hummed in agreement and said, "Let's rest for a few days. After we pay our respects at the ancestral tombs in a few days, our whole family will go up the mountain together to take a look."

At this point, Emperor Li looked at the Fourth Princess and instructed her, "You are unfamiliar with Qingyang, so you are not allowed to wander around. No matter where you go, you must take the Imperial Guards with you."

The fourth princess chided, "Oh dear, you're always worrying about this and that. Your daughter is all grown up, how could she possibly get lost?"

The emperor grunted, not replying, but instead looking down at the document in his hand, and muttered, "They've really got some nerve."

He looked up at his daughter and said, "Cai Mei, go and call your Uncle Du over."

The fourth princess responded and went to call Du Qian.

Not long after, Minister Du arrived before Li Yun, bowed, and asked, "Your Majesty, what has happened?"

"Another rebellion has broken out in the Lingzhou area."

His Majesty the Emperor narrowed his eyes and said, "These people really don't learn their lesson. How long ago was it that Chen Dacai beat them?"

Du Xiangong took the document handed to him by Li Yun, read it through, and then looked at Li Yun: "Should we ask General Chen to send troops to deal with Lingzhou?"

“The people in the Shuofang area have been too unruly in recent years, and He Jun is too honest and can’t control the locals. Brother Shouyi, you should draft an edict in my name and send it to Guanzhong, ordering the King of Qin to lead 10,000 troops stationed in Chang’an to Shuofang to quell the rebellion.”

"It's clearly stated in the imperial edict."

The emperor clenched his fist: "Tell him to give Shuofang a hard time."

Du Qian responded first, then looked at Li Yun and asked, "Your Majesty, shall we send an assistant to His Highness Prince Qin?" The so-called assistant was actually a gesture of respect to the Li family; to put it bluntly, it meant sending a general who could truly command troops to take charge, and then having Prince Qin take command.

Li Yun shook his head: "Just assign He Jun to him as his deputy."

The emperor said in a deep voice, "This time, we cannot be soft-hearted again. I will send a secret letter to the second prince."

He groaned softly.

"They won't be afraid unless we kill more people."

Du Qian bowed his head and said, "Your subject will go and prepare immediately."

After saying this, Prime Minister Du bowed his head and left. Li Yun pondered for a long time before personally picking up his pen and writing a secret letter to his second son, Prince Qin, Li Zheng.

After the secret letter was written, nine officials immediately knelt before His Majesty the Emperor and received it with both hands.

Emperor Li said in a deep voice, "Send it to the Prince of Qin's residence in Chang'an as quickly as possible."

The man knelt on the ground, bowed his head, and said, "Your subordinate obeys!"

…………

In the evening, at sunset.

The tall and imposing Li Yun changed into ordinary clothes and, accompanied by his two brothers, one fat and one thin, left the Ningguo Duke's mansion.

The three brothers wandered around Qingyang City and eventually found the site of the former Qingyang County Government Office. They circled around the area several times before the Emperor's eyes lit up. He pointed to a tavern not far away and said with a smile, "Look, Xiangfulou."

He nudged Li Zheng's arm.

"I never expected that Xiangfulou would still be here after all these years. Let's go."

"My treat."

Duke Liu Bo of England said with a smile, "It's my treat, it's my treat."

Emperor Li glared at him: "I am the elder brother. With me here, what right do you have to interfere?"

The three brothers pushed and shoved their way into the tavern. They had barely sat down when Emperor Li stood up and walked to the counter.

At that moment, behind the counter was a woman in her twenties, looking down at the accounts. His Majesty the Emperor smiled and said, "Young lady, is Xiangfulou a long-established brand?"

"It's a time-honored brand."

The woman looked up at Li Yun and quickly said, "Back in the old Zhou Dynasty, my family ran Xiangfulou in Qingyang. The Emperor even ate at our house back then."

At this point, she glanced at Li Yun and said with a smile, "Judging from your accent, you're also from Qingyang, sir. Did you just return from out of town?"

"Yes."

Li Yun nodded and smiled, "I've only been back for a few days."

The woman's eyes darted around, then she chuckled softly, "Sir, you're from Luoyang, aren't you?"

Emperor Li was taken aback, then said speechlessly, "How did you know, young lady?"

“We who are in business hear a lot of rumors.”

The woman looked around before whispering, "I heard that the Emperor and his family returned to Qingyang these past few days."

She looked at Li Yun and said with a smile, "Judging from your noble bearing, you must be a fellow townsman who came back from Luoyang with the Emperor."

Emperor Li nodded with a smile, ordered a few dishes at the counter, chatted with the young lady for a while, then returned to his seat with his hands behind his back. He smiled at Li Zheng and said, "Look, doesn't this young lady look like that young lady from back then?"

Li Zheng looked at it: "It doesn't look like...me..."

He shook his head, his gaze becoming somewhat confused: "I... I don't think I can remember."

Seeing this, the Duke of England was so amused that he almost pounded the table and laughed out loud.

Emperor Li chuckled a few times before finally saying, "Of course it doesn't look like it."

He glanced at the woman who ran the shop and chuckled, "I asked about their family situation, and this young lady is most likely the same young lady from back then..."

Prince Jin looked at Li Yun and asked, "Niece?"

Li Yun shook his head slightly, then looked at Li Zheng, coughed, and cleared his throat.

"Daughter-in-law."

(End of this chapter)