"Sir, sir, please come in, please come in..."
It was just time for lunch, the sun had risen high, and the chirping of cicadas began to rise in the willow trees outside the tavern. He saw a four-wheeled carriage stop in front of his own tavern. The waiter who was greeting the customers at the door of the tavern instantly broke into a warm smile, and hurried over to greet it, holding the horse's bit and stopping the carriage.
"Stop the carriage, give the horses some hay and water. We have to hurry on after dinner..." The coachman jumped down from the front of the carriage, took off his hat, and skillfully inserted the whip into the belt around his waist. It was none other than Yan Liqiang, but at this time Yan Liqiang still looked like Wang Shagen, and with his rustic clothes, who would dare to say that he didn't look like him
"Don't worry, sir. Our store is well-known in this town. There is a stable behind the store. We will make sure your horse is well-fed and well-groomed. If you want horseshoes nailed, we can also help you do it. The price is absolutely fair. If you spend more than one or two taels of silver in our store, all these will be free!"
"Well, add some beans to the hay, or I'll have diarrhea!" Yan Liqiang jumped off the carriage and looked around. He found that there were indeed no eye-catching people in this town. Then he walked to the side of the carriage, pulled the door, and made a respectful gesture like a real coachman, "Master, let's have something to eat in this restaurant before we set off!"
“Cough... cough... cough...!” A coughing sound came from the carriage. Then, an old man in a gray robe, with a bad complexion and looking frail, slowly walked out of the carriage. He supported Yan Liqiang’s hand and got off the carriage. Yan Liqiang picked up a bag in the carriage and put it on his back. Then he handed the carriage to someone else and asked a waiter from the store to lead it to the back.
"Our master likes quietness, so just find a quieter place in the store!" Yan Liqiang said to the waiter.
"Okay, sir, follow me, follow me!" The waiter waved a towel, patted the dust off the feet and hems of Yan Liqiang and the old man in the gray robe, walked in front, and welcomed the two to the upstairs of the shop.
It was lunch time, and quite a few people were sitting in the small restaurant. Most of the tables were occupied, and the restaurant was extremely lively and noisy. The waiter took the two people directly to a relatively quiet table on the second floor and sat them down. Yan Liqiang asked the restaurant for some fresh side dishes, three dishes and a soup, and three large bowls of rice. He carefully asked the price, and only nodded with relief after the waiter quoted the price, and asked the waiter to serve the dishes, looking cautious and prudent.
There were originally several tables of diners on the second floor. They were eating and chatting excitedly. The diners at one table were carrying weapons and looked like gangsters. When Yan Liqiang and the old man came up, a few of the diners at that table turned their heads and looked at them. But after Yan Liqiang finished ordering the dishes, and seeing the old man coughing occasionally, no one looked at them anymore.
Who would have thought that Yan Liqiang and that old man were the real masters and strong men.
Yan Liqiang waited for the food to be served without saying a word. However, the diners at the tables next to him were eating and chatting at the same time. The voices of the martial artists at that table who were armed were the loudest. There was no need to prick up your ears, as almost the entire second floor could be heard from them.
"Have you heard that there was a solar eclipse in Liuzhou a few days ago..."
"It's such a big thing, how could we not have heard of it? It's spread everywhere. So many people have been waiting for it for over a month!"
"It's just that the dog eclipse in Liuzhou came a little late, not until the 26th. I almost thought it wouldn't come!"
"It's not just you. Many people thought it wouldn't come, but they didn't expect it to happen until the end of the month. So it seems that the words of the stone turtle in the Ling'an River in the Imperial Capital are true!"
"Of course, the Imperial Capital is bustling now, but it's a pity that we can't see it!"
"If this is the case, and what is said on the back of the stone turtle is true, then the Imperial Capital will have to move its capital. If we stay in the Imperial Capital, won't we be waiting for death?"
"Of course, the dignitaries in the Imperial Capital are probably all busy moving now!"
"Where should we move to then?"
"I heard they're moving to Anxi City!"
"It's such a big thing, how can we worry about it? His Majesty the Emperor and the officials in the Imperial Capital will naturally take it into consideration!"
"That's true. I just feel that the court has abolished the position of prime minister. I always feel a little weird. This is the first time that the Han Empire has no prime minister in all these years!"
"Isn't there a cabinet in the court? Even without a prime minister, there is still a cabinet. There are many assistants and elders in the cabinet. With so many people together, they are all smart people. I think they will not be worse than a prime minister!"
"makes sense… "
As the people at the next table were talking, they mentioned two major events that had happened in the Han Empire in the past two months. One of these two major events happened within the court, and the other happened outside the court. The thing inside the court was that His Majesty the Emperor took advantage of the news of Lin Qingtian's "assassination" and abolished the position of prime minister on the grounds that no one in the court could take over the position of prime minister. He then set up a cabinet and shared the power of the prime minister. The many assistant officials and elders in the cabinet were directly responsible to His Majesty the Emperor.
The chief officers of the six ministries have been replaced almost three times in the past month!
Sun Bingchen had returned to the imperial capital a few days ago, resigned from his post as governor of Yuezhou, and entered the cabinet as its chief minister.
The big event outside the court was naturally the solar eclipse in Liuzhou. Once the solar eclipse occurred, it meant that the first prophecy on the back of the stone turtle had been confirmed. Now the situation in the imperial capital, under attack from both inside and outside, was probably already boiling over, and it was unknown how chaotic it would become.
Yan Liqiang has been on the road for more than two months. Almost every day when he was eating or staying in a hotel, he could hear various news about Shi Gui and Lin Qingtian being "stabbed to death". Because the people who heard the news were different, their reactions to the news were naturally mixed. Those officials who had previously stood on the side of the prime minister were worried and afraid of being purged, while those officials who had previously stood on the side of His Majesty the Emperor were proud and felt that their good days were coming.
To be fair, His Majesty is indeed good at seizing opportunities, but at this moment, Yan Liqiang doesn’t know what the future will be like. Last time in the Heavenly Dao Divine Realm, Lin Qingtian was fine this year, but at this moment, Lin Qingtian has been "stabbed to death". Yan Liqiang knows that the butterfly effect brought about by the things he has done has changed many things. As for the unpredictable future, Yan Liqiang can only remember some major abnormal celestial phenomena that will be reported at the meeting next year. Everything else related to personnel is completely unpredictable. The fate of the Han Empire has completely slipped into the unknown...
Unlike the optimism of other "royalists", Yan Liqiang knew that the monster who transformed into Lin Qingtian was not dead, but just hid temporarily. He didn't know what he was going to do...
(End of this chapter)