Thief Emperor

Chapter 757 Should I ask?

Hearing this voice, Li Yun immediately smiled. He stood up, stretched his body, walked quickly to the young man, helped him up, and said with a smile: "What a coincidence, you are here today too."

Only a few boys in the Xue family could call him uncle, and at this time, there was only one person who could go to Luoyang to see him, and that was Xue Shou's eldest son Xue Gui.

Xue Gui is different from other children in the Xue family.

When the world was in chaos and Li Yun had not yet fully risen to power, Xue Song was worried that his family might be affected in the chaotic times, so he sent his eldest grandson to Li Yun to ensure the continuation of the Xue family's bloodline.

At that time, Xue Gui was only twelve or thirteen years old.

He is also the first person in the entire Xue family, besides Xue Yuner, to follow Li Yun.

Moreover, he was still young at that time, and Li Yun's development focus was in Jiangdong in those years. He could be said to be a child who grew up under the care of Li Yun. Among all the children in the Xue family, he was the closest to Li Yun.

Although Xue Gui came from a scholarly family, he did not like reading. Instead, he was quite active and liked to wield spears and sticks. It was for this reason that Li Yun had decided to let Xue Gui take over Su Zhan's job as early as last year. Now that Xue Gui had turned sixteen, he was arranged by the Xue family in Jinling to come to find Li Yun.

This was a child that Li Yun had watched grow up, so he naturally became much closer to him. He pulled Xue Gui to sit down, and said with a smile, "How did you get here? You've been on the road for a few days. Did you see your father?"

"I came here in a carriage."

Xue Gui said honestly: "There was an official in Jinling who wanted to report to my father, so I followed him to Jingxiang, met my father, and from my father, I followed the grain transport team to Luoyang."

At this point, Xue Gui smiled and said, "The general who escorted me to Luoyang was named He. He was a very nice man and took good care of my nephew along the way."

Li Yun smiled softly and said, "He Jun."

Xue Gui exclaimed, "My uncle is really amazing. I didn't even know the name of this General He, but he knows it."

He grew up under Li Yun's eyes and was close to Li Yun. He didn't have too many restraints and could say whatever he wanted to say.

Li Yun smiled and did not respond, but asked: "Is your father okay?"

"My dad is fine."

Xue Gui took the tea that Li Yun handed to him with both hands, took a sip, and replied, "He just looks a lot more tired and haggard than before. I asked him, and he said that he was tired because of you, uncle."

Li Yun was startled when he heard this, then he burst into laughter. After laughing for a long time, he couldn't help but pat Xue Gui on the shoulder and said with a smile: "You kid, you are really outspoken. If your father knew that you said this to me, he would definitely beat you up."

Xue Gui chuckled and didn't say much.

After the two of them talked for a while, Xue Gui suddenly remembered something. He looked at Li Yun and said seriously, "Oh, uncle, before I came here, my aunt told me something. She asked me to ask you if you received the letter she sent you before. How come you didn't reply for a month?"

At this point, Xue Gui paused, as if worried that Li Yun didn't know what was going on, so he added, "It's about my elder brother paying homage to his teacher."

When Xue Gui entered the Li family, Li Yuan had just been born. As a young man with nothing else to do, he often went to find Li Yuan and took his little cousin to play. As a result, he and Li Yuan became quite close.

Hearing this, the smile on Li Yun's face froze. He lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, then shook his head slightly and said, "I received the letter, but it's not convenient to reply."

As he spoke, he touched Xue Gui's head and said, "Don't ask about this matter, kid."

Li Yuan's apprenticeship has now become a political event of some significance.

Back then, Du Qian agreed without hesitation, but now, Du Qian is somewhat reluctant.

Because he no longer needed to be a teacher to the heir to raise his status, and there was no need to put himself in even the slightest danger.

To put it bluntly, he had no intention of interfering in Li Yun's family affairs.

In other words, the future affairs of the Li family.

Although it now seems that Li Yuan, the eldest son, is a foregone conclusion and cannot be shaken, and no one in the entire Jiangdong can shake Li Yuan's position as the crown prince, being Li Yuan's teacher has only benefits and no harm.

But Du Qian knew that there was someone within Jiangdong who could definitely shake Li Yuan's position.

That person...is Li Yun himself!
The child is still young now. Who knows what he will be like in the future and whether Li Yun will like him?

He is Li Yuan's teacher. What if Li Yun no longer likes this child in the future and wants to appoint another heir? Wouldn't he be going against his own boss?
Du Qian would never do such a thing.

Even from Li Yun's point of view, some of these things are not appropriate. The times have changed. Now that Jiangdong has been established as a country, many things that were not sensitive before have gradually become sensitive.

Take for example this seemingly insignificant apprenticeship incident.

If Li Yun accomplished this now, then in the future, when all his sons reached a certain age, Li Yun would most likely let them worship Du Qian as their teacher and eliminate this difference.

Because this matter was somewhat sensitive and not very convenient to handle, Li Yun did not deal with Du Qian's letter and family letter after receiving them. He threw them aside and planned to deal with them coldly. But he was too busy during this period, and he forgot about this matter. If Xue Gui hadn't mentioned this matter, he would have almost forgotten it completely.

Xue Gui was very obedient. After listening to Li Yun's words, he nodded immediately and stopped talking. Li patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "You have been traveling all the way and you probably haven't eaten yet. Your uncle has been busy until now and hasn't eaten either. Let's have a meal together."

Xue Gui nodded in agreement.

Li Yun called Su Zhan and asked him to arrange the wine and food. Then he pulled Su Zhan together, and the three of them sat down and had a meal together.

During the dinner, Li Yun introduced Xue Gui to Su Zhan, and also introduced Su Zhan to Xue Gui. Xue Gui stood up to toast and politely called him Uncle Su. Su Zhan was only a few years older than him, so he stood up and waved his hands, saying he didn't dare.

Li Yun pushed him down and said with a smile: "Your father is my mentor, your brother is also my senior brother, we are of the same generation, this is my nephew, it is reasonable for me to call you uncle."

"Just bear with it."

Su Zhan took a deep breath and said with a wry smile, "My Lord, I am not married yet. Today, that young man surnamed Zhou almost called me uncle."

Li Yun laughed when he heard this and said, "You can discuss your own opinions."

"But you, kid, are also older."

Su Zhan was silent for a while, then sighed and said, "I really don't want to take up this position."

Li Yun patted his shoulder and chuckled, "But you've been following me all the time, and you're useless after all. If I don't arrange a way out for you, your elder brother will come to trouble me."

Su Zhan remained silent.

Li Yun offered him a glass of wine and said with a smile: "Don't be a sissy. We will have many opportunities to meet in the future."

"At the end of this year, let's go back to Jinling together. I'll have someone arrange a marriage for you and find you a beautiful wife."

Su Zhan stood up in a hurry, clinked his glasses, raised his head and drank it all, then he was refreshed and asked, "Is the superior going back to Jinling this year?"

"Yes."

Li Yun smiled calmly: "Go back and think about whether or not to move."

Su Zhan then smiled and said, "I also miss Jinling a little."

Li Yun sighed softly: "My whole family is in Jinling, how can I not miss it?"

Just when Li Su and the others were thinking about home, Xue Gui suddenly said, "Uncle, aunt knows about what happened in Chenzhou, and is sending someone to take the girl back to Jinling..."

Mr. Li coughed violently twice, and almost spit out a mouthful of wine. After coughing several times, he glared at Xue Gui and scolded him with a smile: "The adults are talking, why do you interrupt me, kid?"

"Stop talking too much!"

Su Zhan was standing aside with a strange look on his face.

Seeing this, Mr. Li shook his head slightly, stood up, and groaned, "I can't drink with you kids, I can't drink. I'm going to find Mr. Yao. You two can drink!"

After saying that, he stood up, put his hands behind his back and left, all the way to a nearby yard, where he found Yao Zhong, who was staying up late and handling official business with a light on.

Yao Zhong's courtyard is very close to Li Yun's headquarters, it can be said that it is right inside the headquarters. At this time, he has more than ten or twenty scholars under his command, helping him to handle official business.

This is almost equivalent to Mr. Li’s personal secretary team.

Seeing Li Yun coming in, Yao Zhong immediately stood up, lowered his head and called "Your Majesty". Li Yun waved at him, and Yao Zhong immediately walked out and followed Li Yun obediently.

"Master, if you have any instructions, please."

"I have something to talk to Mr. Yao about."

Yao Zhong followed behind Li Yun, lowered his head slightly, waiting for Li Yun to ask questions.

After Li Yun took a few steps, he slowly said, "The Khitans are attacking Fanyang fiercely."

"And we have basically occupied the Central Plains. Sir, do you think that regarding the matter of Fanyang, we should..."

"Should I ask?"

(End of this chapter)