The night passed without incident. The next day, everyone continued on their journey.
Meanwhile, in the prison of Gan Tang County, a figure silently infiltrated.
“Brother!!”
Liu Shi Ba suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with disbelief and joy.
“How did you get here, little brother? Wait, you can actually talk now?!”
“I was enlightened by Lord Wei, and I have awakened my intelligence. From now on, I will serve under his command.” Liu Shi Jiu gave Liu Shi Ba a big hug. For the first time in all these years, the brothers were able to have a proper conversation.
Liu Shi Ba was moved to tears at these words: “Good, good, good. Little brother, you must serve Lord Wei well. He's a good man. With him in the Great Tang, the people will have a better life.”
Liu Shi Jiu nodded firmly: “Brother, you’ll only have to stay in prison for three to five years. I've already asked the Lord, and he said that after you’re released, you can come to Chang’an and look for him. He’ll arrange a good position for you then. We’ll meet again then, brother.”
“Good!” Liu Shi Ba said with a happy smile: “I'll wait patiently. Once I’m released, I’ll go to Chang’an, leave this small county of Gan Tang that brought sadness to both of us.”
Then Liu Shi Jiu's eyes turned cold, and killing intent emerged: “Liu Shi Qi is also in the prison, right?”
“Little brother, no! Liu Shi Qi has been sentenced to death, awaiting execution in autumn. If you kill him now, it's only giving him relief. You should let him suffer for a while, wait for death slowly, only then can it be considered true revenge!”
“Moreover, if you kill him now, you won't be able to explain yourself to County Magistrate Wang. No matter what, County Magistrate Wang Nai Ling is a good man. You can’t cause him any trouble.”
Hearing his brother's words, Liu Shi Jiu abandoned the idea of killing Liu Shi Qi immediately.
On the other side, at the ruins of the Gan Tang Inn.
“Who? Who did this?!”
“Damn it! Damn it!”
“Killed my snake mother? Took away my snake child? I swear on my name, I will not be human until this revenge is avenged!”
At that moment, a figure of a flying celestial maiden emerged from the smoke.
“Snake Immortal, how is your plan going?”
Hearing this, the Snake Immortal shuddered, slowly turned around, bowed, lowered his head, and smoothed his eyebrows: “Celestial Envoy, rest assured, everything is going according to plan. However, my snake mother was killed.”
The celestial maiden said: “Bai Xi was an ancient alien species, a rare beast in the Penglai Immortal Mountain. It's a pity that she died. But the Immortal Lord said that revenge is not urgent. You must go to Ninghu first. One of our outer disciples has lost contact, and you need to investigate.”
“Also, there is an alien beast, the Long Tuo, in Ninghu. If you can subdue it, the Immortal Lord will bestow upon you the name of Tuo Xian (Tuo Immortal).”
“Tuo Immortal?” The Snake Immortal nodded: “This humble one accepts the order.”
“But my snake mother cannot die in vain.”
The celestial maiden nodded: “The person who killed your snake mother is not ordinary. The Immortal Lord intends to take action personally this time to test him.”
The Snake Immortal smiled: “With the Immortal Lord taking action, the person who killed my snake mother will surely die.” Then he changed the subject: “May I ask, Celestial Envoy, who killed my snake mother?”
The celestial maiden was silent for a moment, then spat out two words: “Wei Ming!”
While they were talking, the celestial maiden suddenly turned her head, looking towards the direction of the reeds: “Who’s there?”
The Snake Immortal followed the celestial maiden's gaze, but saw no one. He flew over to investigate, but found nothing. He only saw a python slowly crawling.
“Celestial Envoy, don't worry, it's just a python.”
The celestial maiden frowned, took out a compass from her bosom, tested it before stopping. She then gave the Snake Immortal a few instructions before making a popping sound, turning into a cloud of smoke and disappearing.
At the same time.
In the underground river, inside the snake's lair, Dou Cong was in disbelief. Her soul form could actually be detected?
This Bai Yu Jing was truly not simple.
She was now a Yin General level ghost, killing the Snake Immortal and the celestial maiden envoy wouldn’t be difficult, but she was afraid of alarming them and disrupting the Lord's plan, so she avoided them.
“No, I need to inform the Lord immediately.”
……
Everyone chatted and laughed along the way, enjoying the scenery when there was scenery to be enjoyed, and pushing forward when there wasn’t.
This journey was leisurely and comfortable, stopping and going as they pleased.
During this period, the person who felt the most change was Song A Mi. Following Wei Ming's group, she felt that this was the life she truly wanted.
After spending time with everyone, they had accepted Song A Mi's presence. Although she had some scheming, she was inherently kind, and she harbored a strange affection for Wei Ming.
The others couldn’t tell, but Su Wu Ming and Fei Ji Shi, who were well-versed in the ways of the world, immediately saw through it.
Pei Xi Jun just instinctively felt threatened.
Wei Ming didn't force anything. Matters of fate were best left to run their course. Song A Mi had him in her heart, and he wasn't a Liu Xia Hui (a legendary figure known for his virtuousness and lack of sexual desire). If the time was right, things would naturally happen.
Actually, he had planned to take Song A Mi under his wing from the very beginning. It wasn't because he was a lecherous old man, but because the girl was truly pitiable.
In the movies and TV shows, her husband Long Fa was seduced and tricked by the foot massage therapist Ling Hu Shuo, beating Song A Mi whenever he wanted. Later, Ling Hu the foot massage therapist became his mistress, and cheated on him, but thankfully, Song A Mi stopped in time after Su Wu Ming persuaded her, otherwise, the people of Han Zhou would have suffered greatly.
If he could take Song A Mi under his wing, would he be able to prevent the tragedy from happening?
Let me say it again, he did it for the Great Tang, for the people of Han Zhou. He absolutely did not covet Song A Mi's beauty.
Absolutely not!
A month passed. As they were about to reach Yu Zhou, Fei Ji Shi suddenly proposed to go ahead of everyone else, serving as an advance scout, to find out about the customs and local affairs of Nan Zhou.
Fei Ji Shi rode off alone, leaving everyone behind.
Pei Xi Jun said with a smile: "It must be that Master Ji Shi heard that Nan Zhou has delicious food and wine, and his greedy belly is craving them, so he went ahead to eat and drink."
Wei Ming didn't suspect anything. He just smiled. Fei Ji Shi had three major hobbies in life: drinking, eating chicken, and practicing medicine. Whenever he heard of delicious food and wine, he would go. The fees he earned from practicing medicine were all spent on eating and drinking.
Ever since he started following Wei Ming, Fei Ji Shi never lacked money to spend, so he ate and drank even better. He had even developed a new level of eating and drinking, and had even made a bold declaration that he would eat all the delicacies and drink all the good wines in the world!
Another half month passed quietly, and they finally reached Nan Zhou.
As soon as everyone entered the city, they saw bustling crowds, a constant stream of merchants and travelers, a scene of prosperity.
Lu Ling Feng was surprised: “This Nan Zhou city was originally a wild and remote place. How come it’s so lively?”
Su Wu Ming replied: “General Lu, you don't know. Nan Zhou is the Chang’an and Luoyang of the south. It's a prosperous place, a land of wealth, so it's only natural that it looks like this.”
In the carriage, Wei Ming suddenly had an idea after hearing this: Should I start a major development project in the Jiangnan region?
The Song Dynasty, although weak, had a very developed economy, the most developed in history, accounting for over 80% of the world's GDP during its time. It was truly rich. The fundamental reason for this was the development of the Jiangnan region!
Nan Zhou is located in the area of Sichuan and Chongqing in later generations. In the Tang Dynasty, its commercial and economic activity was quite prosperous, and its handicraft industry was also quite developed, comparable to the two capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang in the north.
If they developed the Jiangnan and southeastern regions, the entire Tang Dynasty's economy would be revitalized. Maybe the Kaiyuan Era of prosperity would come earlier, or even surpass the Kaiyuan Era, reaching the pinnacle of history!
Everyone went to the prefect's residence to pay their respects. As they arrived at the gate, they heard the prefect Xiong Qian Nian reprimanding the assistant prefect Luo Chang Shi.
In the Tang Dynasty, the officials of a state were the prefect, the assistant prefect, and the military administrator. The prefect was the main official, the assistant prefect was the assistant official, helping the prefect handle government affairs, while the military administrator was the official responsible for criminal matters and capturing thieves.
“Assistant Prefect Luo, why have you returned? Didn't I tell you to wait at the city gate?”
Luo Chang Shi said helplessly: “I've been waiting at the city gate for three days now. No one has come.”
Xiong Qian Nian comforted him: “Brother, I know you’ve been working hard, but you have to wait for thirty days! You know that one of the people coming is that Lord Inspector, he is directly related to our future promotions and demotions.”
“The other few are all extraordinary figures. The disciple of Duke Di, Su Wu Ming, is a member of the princess’s household. The Middle Ranking General Lu Ling Feng is the Crown Prince’s person, and he is also a descendant of the Lu Clan of Fan Yang. The father of Pei Xi Jun is Pei Jian, the Minister of Personnel, who is in charge of the verification of officials’ promotions and demotions. We both cannot afford to offend any of them!”
“Alright, go back to the city gate and wait. From now on, you don’t need to come back for lunch. I’ll send someone to deliver it to you.”
Luo Chang Shi was about to decline and argue, but he heard a noise behind him. The two of them turned their heads and saw a convoy of carriages arriving.
Su Wu Ming stepped forward and bowed: “Su Wu Ming, the newly appointed military administrator of Nan Zhou, greets the prefect.”
Xiong Qian Nian was taken aback for a moment, then immediately realized what was going on. He hurried forward, carefully examining him, and exclaimed in admiration: “Your eyes are bright and your demeanor is refined. You must be the disciple of Duke Di. You are indeed Brother Su.”
Then he took a step back and shouted loudly: “Xiong Qian Nian, prefect of Nan Zhou, pays his respects to Military Administrator Su!”
Luo Chang Shi followed suit and bowed.
This scene stunned everyone. Wait, the prefect of a state was bowing to the military administrator?
Su Wu Ming was a little dumbfounded. He hurriedly bowed: “No, no, no. You two are my superiors. I can never bear such a great honor.”
Xiong Qian Nian shook his head: “Although I am the prefect, you have come from Chang’an, and you are not only a disciple of Duke Di, but also a guest of the princess. I should pay my respects.”
Su Wu Ming was dumbfounded. This Prefect Xiong knew a little too much, didn’t he!?
Lu Ling Feng rolled his eyes and snorted coldly. What a bunch of people!
They only know how to curry favor with the powerful and wealthy!