Lei Sitong's residence in Pingxi City is in Guanyuan near Plum Garden. Guanyuan is also the residence where Sun Bingchen lived when he came to Pingxi City last time.
At this moment, when Yan Liqiang's four-wheeled carriage entered Pingxi City, in the study of Guanyuan, Lei Sitongzheng, Pingxi County's new governor Wang Jianbei and the commander-in-chief Liu Yucheng were sitting by the stove, warming themselves by the fire and talking.
The exquisite iron stove was burning lotus root coal. The windows of the study were open, so there was no need to worry about the charcoal poisoning. It was freezing cold outside, with signs of snowing, but because of the small stove, the study seemed quite warm.
Lei Sitong, wearing the robe of a governor, was a sturdy man with three long beards, a high nose, and long eyebrows. He just sat by the stove, and a majestic aura surged out. On Lei Sitong's left was the newly appointed Pingxi County Magistrate Wang Jianbei, and on his right was the newly appointed Pingxi County Governor Liu Yucheng. Wang Jianbei was in his forties, and looked gentle and handsome, a bit like a teacher, but unlike a teacher, Wang Jianbei had slender eyes, and his eyes flashed between opening and closing. Liu Yucheng was much younger than Wang Jianbei, probably in his thirties, wearing a silver half-body scale armor, with a tiger head and leopard eyes, two black beards on his lips, broad and thick shoulders, and his upper arms were almost as thick as an ordinary person's thighs. At first glance, he was a fierce general, and his whole body was filled with the aura of a tiger...
"I don't know why you are so fond of that young man named Yan Liqiang. I heard that he is only sixteen years old, just a young man. If you want to see him, tell me and I will ask my soldiers to bring him to you. You have the final say in Ganzhou. I don't believe anyone can turn the tables. In my opinion, that Qi Yun governor is shit. If he dares to leave Baishi Pass, the Shatu people will send his head to us in less than three days..." Liu Yucheng, the new governor of Pingxi County, said in a tiger-like voice. He had just finished speaking when he saw Wang Jianbei shaking his head and smiling. Then he glared at Wang Jianbei and asked unconvincedly, "Why, is there anything funny about what I said?"
Wang Jianbei smiled and pointed at the exquisite iron stove and lotus root coal under the feet of the three people, "Can you make this thing?"
"No!" Liu Yucheng shook his head.
"If you were in the Imperial Capital, could His Majesty the Emperor choose you to be the Crown Prince's archery instructor?"
"No!" Liu Yucheng still shook his head.
"Can you become the guest of the world's number one master of mechanisms?"
"No!" Liu Yucheng continued to shake his head, but then added, "So what? I just need to be able to lead the troops to kill the enemy. I don't need to know everything!"
Wang Jianbei's smile grew bigger. "How do you know that Yan Liqiang can't lead his troops to kill the enemy? Have you heard why the Black Wind Bandits have stopped their activities and disappeared without a trace this year? Your Excellency must have a reason for attaching so much importance to Yan Liqiang..."
"Uh..." Liu Yucheng was speechless for a moment.
"I did meet Yan Liqiang once last year. At that time, he was still an attendant of Sun Bingchen, and I didn't pay much attention to him. I didn't expect that in just one year, he would have such an opportunity to be with Sun Bingchen, and even make a name for himself in Imperial Capital. I was a little foolish!" Lei Sitong shook his head and sighed, "What a pity, what a pity. If I had discovered such a person earlier, he could have been of great use..."
Wang Jianbei's eyes gleamed, and he still smiled as he said to Lei Sitong, "Since Yan Liqiang was able to work for Sun Bingchen in the past, now that he has returned to Ganzhou, he can naturally work for you, my Lord. His position as the governor of Qiyun is, after all, just an empty shell. Now he has only a craftsman battalion with a few hundred craftsmen and the elderly and weak under him, which is nothing. If you want him to bow his head, I naturally have a way!"
"No need, no need!" Lei Sitong waved his hand generously and smiled calmly, "There are so many talented people in the world. Since Yan Liqiang offended Lin Qingtian in the Imperial Capital and was favored by His Majesty, if I really want to recruit him, I might end up losing more than I gain. I won't get to eat the mutton and get into trouble. Yan Liqiang should be a smart man, so he hasn't come to visit you two since he returned to Pingxi County. This is not rude, but to avoid suspicion for me. That's why I want to meet him this time to see what His Majesty's real intention is in appointing him!"
"Lin Qingtian considers protecting the seven tribes of Shatu as his own achievement. If Your Majesty wants to take action against the seven tribes of Shatu, it may not be so easy!" Liu Yucheng said while touching his chin, and said viciously, "If Your Majesty allows, I would like to take action against the Shatu people in Pingxi City. These Shatu people are civilians when they enter the city and bandits when they leave the city. They are arrogant and domineering, and they all deserve to die..."
"As the saying goes, a three-foot-thick ice does not form overnight. If we want to deal with the Shatu people in Pingxi City, we need to make long-term plans. If we act rashly, we will only give others an advantage and ruin your plans!" Wang Jianbei said to Liu Yucheng with a serious face.
"I'm actually looking forward to Yan Liqiang doing something extraordinary when he comes back this time. We can't do anything wrong to the Shatu people, but he has the right to do so..." Lei Sitong said with narrowed eyes.
Wang Jianbei's eyes suddenly lit up, and he asked carefully, "What do you mean, sir..."
Lei Sitong just smiled slightly, Wang Jianbei and Liu Yucheng looked at each other and seemed to understand something...
Just as the three people were talking in the house, there was suddenly a loud noise outside the manor. In just a moment, the loud noise became louder and louder, and seemed to be gradually approaching the manor.
Lei Sitong frowned slightly and ordered the servants guarding outside the room, "Go and see what's going on!"
"Yes, sir!" A servant left quickly.
In less than half a minute, the servant came back with a strange look on his face.
"What's with the noise outside?" Lei Sitong asked.
"Outside... a strange four-wheeled carriage came outside, and the people in the city followed it and watched..."
"A four-wheeled carriage?" Lei Sitong's expression froze for a moment. "Is there anything strange about that carriage?"
"This... This humble official can't really explain it, but I just feel that the four-wheeled carriage is very different from all other carriages. It's wide and big, like, like a moving house, quite... quite impressive!"
If ordinary officials encountered such a thing, they would probably inquire in detail and would not be willing to go out and check in person just for a carriage. However, Lei Sitong was Lei Sitong. When he heard that the four-wheeled carriage outside was interesting, he stood up and said straightforwardly, "Let's go out and see which wise man in Pingxi County has come. A carriage has caused such a stir in the whole city..."
Wang Jianbei and Liu Yucheng were also curious, and when they saw the governor was going to take a look, they naturally followed him out.
Lei Sitong and the other two had just walked out of the gate of Guanyuan when they saw a black carriage slowly approaching the gate of Guanyuan under the gaze of a large group of Pingxi County officials and gentry. Not far away, a large group of Pingxi County citizens were blocked by soldiers who were maintaining order outside Guanyuan and did not come over. The noisy sound came from those blocked citizens, and their eyes were all fixed on the black four-wheeled carriage.
When he saw the four-wheeled carriage, Lei Sitong's eyes suddenly lit up, very bright...
"Greetings to the Governor, the County Magistrate, and the Commander-in-Chief..."
The appearance of Lei Si and his two companions startled the officials and gentry outside the door. They hurriedly saluted the three men and made way for them.
The carriage also stopped at this time. Hu Haihe jumped down from the coachman's seat swiftly, opened the door from the outside, and then stood aside in an orderly manner.
The first person to get off the carriage was naturally Mr. Lu.
When Mr. Lu saw Lei Sitong and the other two, he was also shocked and hurriedly greeted them.
Just when Lei Sitong was wondering who the old man who got off the carriage was and how he could ride in such a carriage, Yan Liqiang, who was wearing a white fox fur and looked handsome, finally walked out of the carriage.
Yan Liqiang just glanced and immediately saw Lei Sitong standing not far away and looking at him.
"Yan Liqiang greets the Governor..." Yan Liqiang saluted Lei Sitong. This salute was not the salute of a subordinate meeting a superior, but the salute of bowing when officials of the same rank meet each other.
Seeing Yan Liqiang being so arrogant, the officials and gentry of Pingxi County at the gate of Guanyuan all twitched their eyelids - although you are the governor of Qiyun, you may have a high position, but that was in the past. Now this position is just an empty shell. How dare you, at such a young age, talk to the governor on the same level? Arrogant!
"Hahaha, I was wondering who could make such a big noise? Just a carriage made the whole city boil. It turned out that the Inspector General has arrived..." Lei Sitong laughed loudly, and seemed not to mind at all. He squinted his eyes and quickly glanced at the carriage, and the smile on his face became even more intense. "The Inspector General is here, so he came. I didn't expect him to be so polite and bring me such an exquisite and valuable gift. I would be disrespectful to refuse it. Come on, take the four-wheeled carriage that the Inspector General gave me away, and don't damage it..."
Upon hearing Lei Sitong's words, Hu Haihe, who was standing next to the carriage, suddenly widened his eyes and looked at Lei Sitong with some anger.
Yan Liqiang was also a little amused and confused. He didn't expect that Lei Sitong, the governor of a state, would actually play tricks. When he saw his four-wheeled carriage, he actually wanted to get off as soon as he opened his mouth. Where is the integrity of this governor
However, in public, Lei Sitong had to be given this face, and it could be considered as the endorsement fee he received for advertising the carriage.
"Hahaha, as long as the governor likes it..." Yan Liqiang said, and winked at Hu Haihe, "Haihe, help the governor to lead the carriage to the garden..."
After seeing Yan Liqiang speak, Hu Haihe sullenly led the carriage and walked away with Lei Si and the two attendants beside him.
"Come, come, let me introduce them to you. This is Wang Jianbei, the governor of Pingxi County, and this is Liu Yucheng, the commander-in-chief of Pingxi County. Your Excellency the Inspector has probably not met them yet!"
"Yan Liqiang greets the county magistrate, greets the commander-in-chief..." Yan Liqiang saluted the two chief officials of Pingxi County again, also using the same rank bow. Seeing Yan Liqiang bow again, the officials and gentry around were stunned again. This time, they did not feel that Yan Liqiang was arrogant, but felt that Yan Liqiang was neither humble nor arrogant, and was very graceful. Many people directly praised Yan Liqiang in their hearts.
Wang Jianbei and Liu Yucheng both looked at Yan Liqiang seriously, and then greeted Yan Liqiang with a bow. The governor called Yan Liqiang "Supervisor" and accepted Yan Liqiang's bow calmly. This was the tone set by the governor for Yan Liqiang's status in Ganzhou. Of course, the two had to obey and follow the tone set by the governor...
"This is my uncle Lu, the owner of Lujia Manor in Huanglong County. He was also invited by the adults, so I came here with Uncle Lu today..." Yan Liqiang frankly introduced Mr. Lu to Lei Sitong, allowing Mr. Lu to show off in front of Lei Sitong.
After the group exchanged greetings at the gate, Lei Sitong and Yan Liqiang entered the garden chatting and laughing...
The Pingxi County officials and gentry inside and outside the garden were all shocked to see Yan Liqiang, at such a young age, chatting and chatting happily with Lei Lao Hu.
As soon as he entered the gate of Guanyuan, Yan Liqiang felt a strange gaze coming from behind him. That gaze was different from the other gazes on him. In the coldness, there was a hint of chilling murderous intent, like a sharp arrow...
Yan Liqiang remained calm on the surface, but when he was about to turn around to see the screen wall at the door, he glanced into the distance inconspicuously.
A few hundred meters away, on a tall building in the Plum Garden, a green figure flashed behind a window of the tall building...
That was a master, a master with a bow, coming towards me...
Less than half a minute after walking into the garden, Yan Liqiang felt a strange feeling of being watched. He glanced up at the sky and saw a gray falcon that had turned into a black dot hovering over Pingxi City thousands of meters above the ground. This feeling was exactly the same as the last time he escorted Sun Bingchen out of Ganzhou and was watched by the Black Wind Bandits...
Damn it!
Two groups of people
Yan Liqiang's eyelids twitched twice, and he cursed in his heart...
(End of this chapter)