Li Wu personally went out of the city gate to greet them, and brought with him several other officials from Anli City.
In front of everyone, Pei Zheng did not have a good expression on his face. He held Qi Changyi's hand all the way and walked into the city gate with a cold face.
Li Wu arranged an extremely luxurious place for them to stay in, and also said that he would prepare a welcoming banquet for Lord Pei in the evening.
After everyone left, Qi Changyi sat on a stool in the room, looking angry.
"What's wrong? Why are you so angry?" Pei Zheng pinched his pouting cheeks. "Who provoked you? Hmm? I'll help you vent your anger."
Qi Changyi raised his eyes and looked at Pei Zheng.
"You, you are the one who provoked me."
Pei Zheng found it funny and sat down next to him. He stretched out his legs and hooked Qi Changyi's stool in front of him.
"I was wrong. I apologize to you. Please don't be angry, okay?"
Pei Zheng didn't know what mistake he had made, but it was never wrong to admit it first and have a good attitude.
Qi Changyi frowned, "Then tell me, where did you go wrong?"
Pei Zheng moved closer to him and lowered his voice, "Darling, tell me where I was wrong."
He moved a little closer, almost touching the little guy's lips.
A finger was pressed against his lips, and the corners of Qi Changyi's eyes turned red.
"That Lord Li is unwilling to save those people outside, and he lied. You still trust him so much and want to attend his banquet. I don't want to go. I don't like him. I don't want to go to the banquet. Go by yourself."
After saying that, Qi Changyi moved his stool and was about to sit aside, but Pei Zheng held the stool firmly in place.
It turns out that I was angry at myself.
Pei Zheng smiled. If this little guy could see it, how could he not see it
But the situation is so turbulent now. Anli City is already far away from the emperor, and it seems that the officials and dignitaries in the entire city have become united and want to establish their own power in this chaotic world.
Since Li Wu dared to hold a banquet, Pei Zheng naturally dared to attend it. Maybe, this was more than just a banquet.
It was a bit troublesome to explain all this to Qi Changyi, but Pei Zheng still patiently explained it to him for a long time.
Finally, Qi Changyi seemed to understand some of what he said. He pulled Pei Zheng's sleeve, looked into his eyes and asked, "Really? Can you really save those people outside the city? Are you really not lying?"
Pei Zheng touched his hair and said, "Really? I said I won't lie to you again."
Qi Changyi thought about it for a while, then nodded, "Okay then, I'll go to the banquet with you."
At night, several guards came to invite Pei Zheng and Qi Changyi to go to the banquet, and Chengfeng followed them.
When we arrived outside the banquet venue, we found an even more luxurious place with several exquisite ancient buildings connected together. The lights were bright and brilliant, and we could faintly hear the sound of stringed instruments coming from inside.
There is no trace of the desolation of wartime here, but rather the extravagance of peace and prosperity.
After the few people went up the stairs of the ancient building, they happened to see several dignitaries from the opposite city, all of whom came with their families, dressed brightly and beautifully, as if they were attending a grand wedding banquet.
When those people arrived at the entrance, they were stopped by the guards. After checking that they had no weapons, they were allowed to enter.
Pei Zheng and a few others also walked to the door. The noisy sound from inside could be heard, which was so noisy that it gave people a headache. Qi Changyi frowned slightly, looking like he didn't want to go in, so Pei Zheng quietly pinched his little hand.
The guards also stopped the two men and wanted to search them.
When a guard's hand was about to reach Qi Changyi's shoulder, Qi Changyi shrank back behind Pei Zheng in fear.
Pei Zheng didn't need to do anything, the scabbard of Chengfeng's sword behind him blocked the guard.
"Master, you go in first, I will be here later."
Pei Zheng said calmly, "Don't make a big noise," and then took Qi Changyi's hand and walked into the door.
As soon as I stepped into the door, Li Wu came to greet me immediately.
"Lord Pei is here. I am sorry for not welcoming you from afar. Lord Pei even came to our small town in person. This really makes me feel terrified."
Pei Zheng smiled and said, "I see that Lord Li is not afraid at all. He is quite content in this city."
Li Wu laughed twice.
There was a fearless nobleman next to him who didn't even stand up. He sat on his seat and said in a sarcastic tone, "Sir Pei, who has come from afar, should follow the local customs. Since you have come to our city, you are a guest. If there is any inadequacy in the hospitality, please forgive me, Sir Pei. After all, it is not a good time now. We can't protect ourselves, so how can we entertain guests?"
Li Wu's expression suddenly changed. "Hahaha, Master Pei, Master Sun didn't mean anything else by saying this. Don't think too much about it. Please take a seat."
Li Wu wanted to lead Pei Zheng to take a seat, but Pei Zheng simply pushed his arm away, looked at the seated Master Sun from a distance, and smiled.
Pei Zheng didn't say anything, but Master Sun started to feel uneasy when he was staring at him. However, there were so many people here, and he was a well-known figure in the city, so he definitely couldn't lose face.
Not only did he look back, he also looked up and down at Qi Changyi who was standing next to Pei Zheng.
Qi Changyi noticed his gaze and felt uncomfortable. He pulled Pei Zheng's hand and whispered to Pei Zheng's shoulder, "He, he glared at me.
Pei Zheng glanced at the little guy beside him and comforted him, "If anyone dares to stare at you, I'll have his eyes gouged out."
Seeing the two people's intimate behavior, Mr. Sun said loudly, "I didn't expect that people from the imperial capital are different. Look at Master Pei. He has beauties by his side wherever he goes."
He blinked deliberately and said in surprise, "Oh no no no, it's not a 'beauty', it turns out to be a young master, but it's the same."
Sure enough, a few people started laughing. These people may have never been to the imperial capital in their lives. In their perception, Anli City is the most prosperous city in the world. They are the dignitaries of this city and naturally, they are also prominent figures.
A strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake. No matter where this powerful man, Lord Pei, came from, when he came to their Anli City, he still had to obey their arrangements in everything.
But Li Wu understood Pei Zheng. He was the only one whose expression turned extremely ugly after hearing what Master Sun said. Unfortunately, the short-sighted people around him could not understand the hint in his eyes at all.
How could someone who could follow Pei Zheng be an ordinary person? However, no one present had ever seen the prince, so naturally they did not know Qi Changyi's identity.
And Pei Zheng had no intention of telling them.
It just so happened that Chengfeng had returned at this time. When he was outside just now, he not only packed up the guards at the door and threw them downstairs, but also packed up all the guards who were monitoring around the ancient building and threw them away.
"Be good, go sit over there first."
Pei Zheng whispered to Qi Changyi, "I'll be right there."
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Qi Changyi let go of his hand and said anxiously, "Then you should come here quickly."
"Okay," Pei Zheng patted his little head, "Go obediently."
Qi Changyi followed Chengfeng to a seat nearby, sat cross-legged obediently, and then looked at Pei Zheng without blinking.
Li Wu smiled and tried to smooth things over. "Master Pei, Master Pei, please don't be angry. Listen to me first. Master Sun," Li Wu whispered, "may have money, but he is not very civilized. Please don't take him seriously."
Then Li Wu walked to the side of Master Sun again. The two of them whispered something to each other, but Master Sun's eyes changed when he looked at Pei Zheng.
After the two of them finished talking, Master Sun took the initiative to apologize to Pei Zheng, saying that he was reckless just now. He also apologized to Qi Changyi, saying that he shouldn't have said that to him, but Qi Changyi turned his head away and didn't even bother to look at Master Sun.
Master Sun handed Pei Zheng a glass of wine, "Master Pei, this glass of wine is for you."
Pei Zheng took the wine glass, but did not drink it. Instead, he poured all the wine in the glass onto Mr. Sun's head.
Mr. Sun's face was covered with sores and his hair was in disarray. He looked very embarrassed. His face turned ashen and he pointed at Pei Zheng's nose and started yelling.
"I apologized to you with good intentions. If it weren't for Lord Li convincing me, I wouldn't care whether you were Lord Pei or not. I am the richest man in the city, you know! There are many people who want to come into the city. Which refugee outside doesn't want to come in? I've already given you enough face by allowing you to come in. I didn't ask you to pay the entrance fee, but you're still taking advantage of me, aren't you!"
Pei Zheng didn't hear a word of the conversation, but he heard the three words "entry fee" clearly.
"Refugees who want to enter the city have to pay an entry fee first?" Pei Zheng's eyes were cold and he was really getting angry.
Master Sun said confidently, "Of course! If you don't pay, do you think you can come here and eat and live for free? There is no such good thing in the world!"
Pei Zheng narrowed his eyes slightly, "You are quite clever in making money from the war. But the laws of the Celestial Empire state that it is natural to open the city to accept refugees during war. Who gave you the right to dare to collect city fees?"
The tone of the last few sentences was so cold that it made people feel uneasy.
Mr. Sun was being pressed step by step and had been forced to the wall. He could retreat, but in front of him was Pei Zheng with a gloomy face.
Li Wu was so anxious that he kept shaking his head. This Master Sun was really good at doing bad things. How could he let such a big thing out? He really couldn't stand provocation.
Pei Zheng looked down at Master Sun and asked, "Tell me, how much did you get?"
Mr. Sun now knew how to stammer and stop talking.
Pei Zhengyang took a porcelain bowl from the table next to him, smashed it against the wall with a "bang", and then held a piece of the broken porcelain in front of Master Sun, only a few inches away from his eyeballs.
"No?"
Pei Zheng smiled and said softly, "How did you look at him with these eyes just now? Why not dig one out first?"
Just as the porcelain piece was about to penetrate, Mr. Sun suddenly cried out.
"I said, I said, everyone has to pay twenty taels."
The porcelain fragments did not stop and cut Mr. Sun's eyelids, and blood gushed out all at once.
Pei Zheng asked word by word, "Twenty taels per person?"
"To be exact, it is twenty taels per person per day."
Pei Zheng could no longer control the strength of his hands and actually stabbed the broken porcelain pieces into the eyeball.