Thief Emperor

Chapter 432: No Benefit, No Move
"Invite me to Beijing?"

Mr. Li touched his chin and looked at the wooden box in his hand, thoughtfully.

In front of the two eunuchs, he opened the box, took out the imperial edict, and read it himself.

The content of the imperial edict was very simple. The gist of it was that the empire had just been stabilized, and Li Yun, the three-revolutionary envoy, had made outstanding contributions. Therefore, Li Yun was required to come to the capital to meet the emperor and be rewarded as appropriate.

When Li Yun saw the words "The world is just beginning to settle", he smiled.

But this is indeed the tone of the court, because on the surface, the world is indeed just beginning to be settled. If we don't say that the world is just beginning to be settled, doesn't it mean that those military governors in the capital are all traitors?

After looking at the imperial edict and the two eunuchs, Li Yun waved his hand and said, "Zhou Bi, take the two angels down to have tea."

Zhou Bi responded and quickly invited the two eunuchs to leave.

Li Yun rolled up the imperial edict, threw it into the sky, and it fell back into his hands.

At this time, Xue Yun'er was alarmed. After she walked out, she saw the imperial edict in Li Yun's hand.

"The imperial edict has arrived. Why don't you let your family members come out to receive it together?"

"No need."

Li Yun handed the imperial edict to Xue Yun'er and said with a smile: "It was not until Dong'er woke me up that I knew someone from the court had come. Madam, don't you know?"

Xue Yun'er was startled, then glared at Li Yun and hummed, "That little bitch is getting closer to you!"

Li Yun could tell she was joking, so he smiled but didn't take it seriously. He just said, "I guess I didn't bother you because I saw you were taking care of the kids."

At this moment, Xue Yun'er had already unfolded the imperial edict. After carefully reading it, she frowned and asked, "Your Majesty wants to summon my husband to the capital?"

"Is it weird?"

Mr. Li sat on the chair and said with a smile, "Generally, some county magistrates have to go to the Ministry of Personnel in the capital. I started as a prefecture commander, then a governor, and now a recruiting envoy. I haven't even been to the gate of the capital. It seems reasonable to ask me to go to the capital."

Xue Yuner sat next to Li Yun and whispered, "But there are thieves in our house."

Li Yun coughed and shook his head helplessly: "It's not the case now."

Xue Yun'er snorted, "If I go out now, people will kneel down and kowtow to me and call me Madam when they see me. My husband still wants to hide it from me."

"You are in Jiangdong, and you are clearly setting up a small court."

Li Yun lowered his head to drink tea, and then continued: "Let's not talk about whether I am setting up a small court. Even if I am setting up a small court, it doesn't matter."

"At most I want to build my own nest. There are still a few people in the capital who want to occupy the nest directly."

Xue Yun'er was a little surprised and said, "My husband is really going to the capital?"

Li Yun shook his head slightly and said, "I haven't thought about it yet."

“But most likely I won’t go.”

Going to the capital city doesn't seem to have much benefit for Li Yun. At most, he can see in advance what those big shots look like.

But if he went, there might be some danger. After all, what Li Yun was doing now was actually to set up his own business, and he had not paid money and grain to the court for a long time.

This is actually treason, but it is not stated explicitly.

Who knows, once he arrives in the capital, he might be hacked to death by assassins.

Li Yun stood up and said with a smile: "I will go to Brother Du to discuss it and see what the court means."

Xue Yun'er said "hmm".

"It's better not to go, my husband."

Li Yun nodded: "I think so too, but if I don't go, I'm afraid the court will find a reason to blame us, and we in Jiangdong will become the target of public criticism."

He shook his head slightly and said, "If there are more troops attacking us, we won't be able to hold on."

In today's Jiangdong, even if the Pinglu Army marches south in full force, Li Yun is confident that he can stop them and even find an opportunity to counterattack.

However, if the imperial court issued an edict declaring Li Yun of Jiangdong a traitor to the imperial court, the "imperial court" would send troops to fight him and cooperate with the Pinglu Army.

By then, it will be difficult for Li Yun to maintain his position in Jinling.

He might be forced to leave Nanjing and fight guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare against the imperial court in order to survive.

Having said that, Li Yun walked out of Li Garden and soon arrived at the Jinling government office, where he saw Du Qian still working diligently.

As soon as Li Yun entered the study, he smiled and said, "Every time I come here, I can always see Brother Shouyi busy at work. Maybe he has some spies at the door, who will come over to report to Brother Shouyi when they see me."

"It would be nice if that were the case."

Du Qian put down his brush and said with a wry smile, "There are five prime ministers and six complete ministries in the capital, but I am the only one here and I am extremely busy every day."

"My wife has quarreled with me several times over this matter."

He looked up at Li Yun and said with emotion: "Erlang, please find a suitable candidate as soon as possible to help me, otherwise I may not even live to be forty."

Li Yun said quickly: "That won't do. Brother Shouyi has to work for me until he is at least 80 years old."

Du Qian sighed, lowered his head to drink a sip of tea, and asked, "Is there something urgent?"

"The court sent two eunuchs to convey the decree, summoning me to the capital. I am a little hesitant, so I would like to ask you to think about it." "Summon Erlang to the capital?"

Li Yun nodded and said softly, "The imperial edict said that now that the country has been stabilized, I should go to the capital to report on my work and then a reward will be drawn up for me."

He looked at Du Qian and said with a smile: "If nothing else, the four words 'the world is just settled' are really humorous and interesting."

Du Qian stroked his beard and shook his head slightly, saying, "I haven't received a letter from my father yet, so I really didn't know about this. But I think, under this circumstance, if it was Your Majesty who summoned Erlang to the capital, there would probably be no malicious intent. After all, Your Majesty couldn't possibly go and eliminate Jiangdong for those three at this time."

"If it was those three people who summoned Erlang to the capital under the name of the court, then it would be hard to say."

"That's what I'm worried about."

Li Yun sat down and said softly, "Call me to the capital. If I go, I can kill them with one blow and eliminate all future troubles. If I don't go, they will find a reason to attack Jiangdong."

"Please excuse yourself by claiming illness."

Du Qian whispered, "The situation in the capital is murky and unclear. My father has been away from home for seven or eight days in ten, claiming to be ill. Erlang should not go to the capital and get involved in this mess."

Li Yun also nodded and continued, "I think so too. Given the current situation in Guanzhong, there is really no need to take risks."

Mr. Li's personality is actually that of an adventurous person. As long as the benefits are big enough, he is willing to take risks most of the time, such as when he sent troops into Yangzhou last year.

But there is really no need to take any risks in going to the capital, as there is almost no benefit.

If a few military governors invited him, nothing good would happen.

If the emperor asked him for help, what benefits could the emperor give him?

It did him almost no good.

The two chatted for a while, and when they were about to end the conversation, Zhou Bi's voice came from outside the door: "Sir, Coach Pei is here, and he wants to see you outside."

After Pei Zhuang arrived in Jiangdong and lived there for a while, Li Yun arranged for him to be the chief coach, responsible for teaching the army martial arts.

Up to now, he lived in the military camp most of the time, and only occasionally went into the city to see Li Yun.

Li Yun was curious and asked, "How did he know I was here?"

Zhou Bi replied: "It should be... I have been to Li Garden."

Li Yun said "hmm" and thought for a moment: "Please ask him to come in."

Zhou Bi responded and went downstairs to call for help.

Envoy Du lowered his head to drink tea and said calmly, "I'm afraid it's the Pei family who wants to use him to pass on a message to Erlang."

Li Yun also lowered his head to drink tea, smiling without saying a word.

Soon, Pei Zhuang was brought in. After looking at Li Yun and Du Qian, he lowered his head slightly and said, "Envoy, Envoy Du!"

Li Yun stood up, pulled a chair, and said with a smile: "Brother Pei, please sit down."

"What's the matter? Why are you looking for me so urgently?"

Pei Zhuang took out a letter from his bosom, handed it to Li Yun, and whispered, "Envoy, this is from the capital. Let me pass it to you."

Li Yun took the letter and there was no signature on the envelope.

He pulled out a letter and found it was indeed from Pei Huang.

The meaning of the letter was very simple and clear, that is, the court had reached a critical juncture, and the emperor invited Li Yun and other people with lofty ideals to come to Beijing to discuss important matters.

Otherwise, the first place the three Jiedushi would attack would be Jiangnan.

After Li Yun finished reading the letter, he handed it to Du Qian. After Du Qian read it, he touched his chin, thinking about something.

Pei Zhuang stood up, clasped his fists and said, "Envoy, I will go back first."

Li Yun pulled his sleeve and said with a smile: "Brother Pei, can you communicate with Master Pei?"

Pei Zhuang hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay."

"Well, Brother Pei, go back first. I will write a reply letter to Master Pei in the next two days, and Brother Pei will deliver it for me when the time comes."

Pei Zhuang responded and turned away.

Li Yun looked back at Du Qian and shook his head with emotion: "This Mr. Pei is really working hard. Even I, who used to be an insignificant figure in their eyes, are now being used."

Du Qian asked, "Is Erlang going?"

"Don't go, don't go."

Mr. Li shook his head decisively and said with a smile: "Unless I see something good that I can't refuse, I will stay in Jiangdong and not go anywhere."

He paused and continued.

"In two days, I will write to Pei Huang and ask him..."

"Ask for benefits!"

(End of this chapter)