Thief Emperor

Chapter 591 Life or death
In this era, giving gifts to women is quite normal. It is not particularly different from giving gold, silver, jewelry, or antique jade.

It was not surprising that General Xiao thanked Li Yun and gave him some beauties. However, the daughter of the Fanyang Lu family was a little surprising.

You know, Li Yun just captured Lu Yunzhang alive in the western route of Jiangnan last year and subdued the Lu family of Anzhou.

And the Anzhou Lu family is a branch of the Fanyang Lu family.

The Lu family can be said to be one of the most noble families among the old aristocratic families. In the past, even if a governor like Xiao Xian came to propose marriage, they would not agree.

Now, he would actually give the girl from his own family to Li Yun, and give her to Li Yun together with other ordinary girls.

This is quite surprising.

You know, even in this chaotic period when the old order is about to collapse and the new order has not yet been established, Fanyang Jiedushi Xiao Xian still treats the Lu family with courtesy and has never neglected them, let alone bullied them.

Even some people from the Lu family are working for the Fanyang Army.

After all, these aristocratic families have great influence among scholars, and Zhou Xu, the governor of Pinglu, has vividly demonstrated what the consequences of offending scholars would be.

Logically speaking, there is no reason and no possibility for the Lu family of Fanyang to lower themselves to such a low level.

Seeing Li Yun's thoughtful expression, General Xiao smiled and said, "She is Lu's concubine's daughter."

"Mrs. Lu wants Brother Li to take her in as a concubine."

Li Yun looked at Xiao Xian and said with a smile, "This happened in Fanyang. The Lu family wanted to establish a relationship with the younger generation. The general was not angry but even acted as a matchmaker. He was really generous."

Now, various aristocratic families either do not take sides, or are secretly taking sides everywhere. However, the Lu family of Fanyang, whose hometown is Fanyang, is naturally inseparable from the Fanyang Jiedushi in a time of chaos. Yet now they are "flirting" with Li Yun.

This is no different from cuckolding General Xiao.

That's why Li Yun said he was generous.

General Xiao smiled and said, "If it were anyone else, I would be angry, but I am not that angry about you, Brother Li."

"If Brother Li succeeds in this matter, the Lu family will marry a legitimate daughter to my family, to my son."

At this point, General Xiao couldn't help but smile, with an involuntary hint of pride on his face.

People's thoughts cannot be easily changed.

The aristocratic families have been noble for thousands of years, and even now, they are still out of reach in the eyes of many people, especially in the hearts of the "older generation" like Xiao Xian.

During the time when they were young and grew up, the aristocratic families were still noble and unshakable, so much so that Xiao Xian was even willing to agree to let the Lu family of Fanyang bet on both sides, just so that his own son could marry a legitimate daughter of the Lu family.

In fact, given the current situation, let alone marrying a legitimate daughter of the Lu family, even if the Lu family was raided and all the female relatives were taken to the mansion, no one could stop him.

However, due to the inertia of thinking, Xiao Xian didn't even have this thought.

"Brother Li."

General Xiao looked at Li Yun and said with a smile: "In the next few days, the Lu family should send someone to see you, but with me here, the important people in their family should be embarrassed to come to see you."

Li Yun thought about it, then said with a smile: "Then let's be straightforward and tell the public that I fought with the Khitans, got injured, and can't see guests."

"Besides, I will be leaving in the next few days and return to Jiangdong."

General Xiao asked curiously, "Are you so anxious?"

Li Yun looked towards the south and said slowly, "I've been away from Jinling for a few months, and there are too many things piled up. I have to go back to deal with them, and..."

He whispered, "My second child is about to be born."

Lu Huan became pregnant in the second half of last year. Calculating the time, she is almost due to give birth now.

In a few months, Liu Su will also give birth, and the Li family will soon be bustling with activity.

Upon hearing this, General Xiao first expressed his congratulations, then said with a smile: "With Brother Li's current status and position, your family cannot be too small. This is a good opportunity for you to bring a few beauties back and have more children."

Li Yun smiled and didn't respond.

His eyes were still looking towards the south, but at this time, his mind had already flown back to the south.

…………

Three days later, the Jiangdong soldiers in Jizhou were basically ready and could set off at any time.

Li Yun was leaving, so Zhou Chang of the Pinglu Army naturally couldn't stay for long. General Xiao escorted the two men all the way to the outside of Jizhou City. Major General Zhou Chang rolled his eyes, stepped forward and bowed to General Xiao, saying, "Uncle, I came here to help you, and the casualties are not small. You should at least give me some benefits." General Xiao glanced at him and said, "At this time, do you know that I am your uncle?"

At this point, he snorted and said, "Don't worry, I've already written to your father Zhou... Zhou Xu. Our two families are neighbors, and I will give you the benefits of the Pinglu Army, and you will not be left out."

Zhou Chang smiled and said, "I heard that my uncle gave many beauties to Lord Li, why didn't he give me a few?"

General Xiao put his hands behind his back, looked at him, and said sternly: "I can't give it to you, lest you become like your father."

At this point, he paused, and suddenly said earnestly: "Your father is a gifted man. Although he has been making trouble over the years, it has not prevented him from controlling the Pinglu Army. You are probably not as talented as your father. You should put more effort into your work, and don't learn from your father."

"Otherwise, I'm afraid your family business will be in jeopardy!"

Zhou Xu was known as "Zhou Yaozi" among his peers. He spent most of his life on women. Most people thought he would be a prodigal son in the future. However, after he inherited the Pinglu military town from General Zhou, the Pinglu army not only did not decline, but was managed quite well by him.

At least, the territory is not reduced and the military force is not weakened.

From this point of view alone, General Zhou is a first-class talent.

Zhou Chang bowed to General Xiao.

"Nephew, please teach me."

After escorting them ten miles out of the city, Li Yun asked Li Zheng to lead the Jiangdong Army to continue their journey, while he said goodbye to Xiao Xian here.

After clasping his fists and saluting to General Xiao, Li Yun said with a smile: "General, let's say goodbye now. If there is a chance in the future, please come to Jinling and I will treat you well."

Xiao Xian clasped his fists in return and said with a smile, "I have already given you the horses I promised you. As for the ten beauties I mentioned earlier, I think it will be inconvenient for them to accompany you southward. I will send someone to send them to Jinling in a few days."

At this point, General Xiao narrowed his eyes and said with a smile: "By the way, bring back the mirror that my dear brother promised me."

Li Yun used twenty telescopes to exchange for three thousand war horses, but the telescopes he brought with the army all had owners, so this batch of telescopes could only be delivered later.

But General Xiao was a very open person. Even though Li Yun had not given him the telescope yet, he had already handed over all his 3,000 war horses to Li Zheng.

Li Yun thought about it, then said with a smile, "Okay, when the general's men arrive in Jinling, I will definitely deliver the promised telescopes."

Li Yun did not refuse the beautiful woman that Xiao Xian wanted to give him.

As long as the innocence of these "given" beauties can be confirmed, they can be regarded as an unbound resource. Many of Li Yun's subordinates have not yet married, such as Yang Xi. These women can be distributed to them so that they can get married.

In this way, Li Yun and Zhou Chang parted with the Xiao father and son who had come to see them off more than ten miles south of Jizhou City. The two sides were separated by a long distance, but they still saluted reluctantly with fists clasped together. The scene was quite warm and touching.

When Li Yun and his companions' mounts disappeared from General Xiao's sight, the Fanyang Jiedushi had no expression on his face. He stared at the direction where Li Yun left, and was silent for a long time. Then he asked, "Did you see anything during this period of time in Jizhou?"

"How about this Jiangdong army?"

Xiao Heng stood behind his father and bowed his head slightly, saying, "Dad, these 10,000 Jiangdong soldiers are not inferior to the Khitans in infantry combat, and can even be said to have the upper hand."

"They should be the elite among the Jiangdong soldiers."

General Xiao let out a breath of foul air: "What if all the Jiangdong soldiers are like this?"

Xiao Heng's expression also became solemn, and he whispered: "If all the Jiangdong soldiers are like this, then the strength of this Li Fugong is probably better than most of the vassal states in the world."

General Xiao nodded silently and said, "He has great ambitions. He will definitely not be satisfied with living in the southeast. In the future..."

"I'm afraid we'll have to meet on the battlefield in the future."

Xiao Heng thought for a moment, then lowered his head and said, "Should we make some arrangements for the woman we sent over..."

General Xiao thought for a while, then said calmly, "It's useless. With his physique, even if a woman holds a weapon in the boudoir, she can only hurt him at most, and it will be easy to reveal her true identity."

"We should send people to Jinling, and make sure the women we send over are clean."

"We need to recover as quickly as possible and not make things difficult for him."

Xiao Heng lowered his head and responded.

General Xiao stood with his hands behind his back, looking towards the south, feeling deeply moved.

"In troubled times, there are heroes everywhere."

"It's a life-and-death struggle."

(End of this chapter)