"Lord Shen, our shopkeeper requests your presence." As soon as Shen Qingfeng returned to his residence today, he saw Sen Ya in black clothes.
Shen Qingfeng remembered that he had previously asked Liu Mei to thoroughly investigate Li Yanqing. He nodded and said, "I'll go right away."
He put down the things in his hands, put on the outer robe Yu Shuang brought, and then followed Sen Ya out with Yu Shuang. Just as they were walking, they happened to run into Xiang Cheng who was walking towards his own quarters.
Xiang Cheng was startled when he saw Shen Qingfeng. He looked at the people beside Shen Qingfeng, then respectfully stepped aside and bowed to Shen Qingfeng, saying, "My lord."
Shen Qingfeng's eyes lit up. He had been too busy these days to visit Xiang Cheng. He didn't expect that Xiang Cheng's attitude towards him had changed significantly. Xiang Cheng even started to call him "my lord" like Yu Shuang did. This made Shen Qingfeng very happy. He quickly stepped forward to help Xiang Cheng up and asked, "Xiang Cheng, where are you going?"
Xiang Cheng paused for a moment and replied, "I... I came to see you, my lord."
Previously, due to the unresolved poison, his speech was still a bit slurred. Now it had improved a lot.
Shen Qingfeng was taken aback. He glanced at Sen Ya who was waiting for him aside, then turned to Xiang Cheng and said, "Xiang Cheng, I'm in a hurry now. Can you wait until I come back?"
"Attend to your business first, my lord." Xiang Cheng nodded. He wanted to say something else, but suddenly felt a gaze on him. He followed the feeling and saw Sen Ya staring at him. When he turned his head to look, Sen Ya neither showed humility nor arrogance and didn't avoid his gaze.
Shen Qingfeng patted Xiang Cheng on the shoulder and said, "Alright."
Then, without saying anything more, Shen Qingfeng led Yu Shuang and followed Sen Ya away. Xiang Cheng stood there, his eyes fixed tightly on Sen Ya's back. No one knew what he was thinking.
The group took a carriage and soon arrived at the Shifangzhai in the East Workshop.
There was still a constant stream of carriages and horses in front of the Shifangzhai. Since Sen Ya was leading the way, the maid in the Shifangzhai let them in directly and led them into the Shifang Pavilion.
Following Sen Ya, Shen Qingfeng was led to the Tianzi Pavilion at the highest level again.
As soon as he pushed open the door, he saw Liu Mei wearing the fox fur robe, showing a pair of long and white legs. She was reclining on the couch, smoking idly. When she saw Shen Qingfeng coming, Liu Mei didn't make any big movements. She just gave Shen Qingfeng a charming smile, pointed to the seat beside her with the tobacco pipe, and said in a charming voice, "Lord Shen is here~"
Yu Shuang and Sen Ya both withdrew and closed the door.
Shen Qingfeng glanced at Liu Mei, stepped forward and sat down. He got straight to the point and asked, "Shopkeeper Liu, have you found out about Li Yanqing?"
Liu Mei took a puff of smoke, exhaled a wisp of thin smoke, and then reached out to caress Shen Qingfeng's arm ambiguously. She said, "Naturally. How could I dare to be negligent about the task entrusted by Lord Shen?"
Shen Qingfeng coughed lightly and sat a bit farther away from Liu Mei. He asked, "I wonder what information you've found out, Shopkeeper Liu?"
"Hehe~" Liu Mei didn't seem to mind that Shen Qingfeng had rejected her caress. Instead, she covered her mouth and chuckled softly. She changed her posture and crossed her legs, saying, "Lord Shen, I'm sure you'll like this information~ I'm even a bit regretful that I gave this order to you for free."
"Oh?" Shen Qingfeng raised his eyebrows and said, "Tell me."
Liu Mei said, "This Li Yanqing is from Yongzhou. He joined the army when he was young and made some minor military achievements. However, he was lucky enough to follow the right person and was brought to Lige City to be a small military officer."
"However, that was before he turned twenty. After that, Qi Shuhuan found him, and he started to have contact with Qi Shuhuan."
Shen Qingfeng thought for a while and said, "Li Yanqing is thirty - six years old this year. Did he have an intersection with Qi Shuhuan sixteen years ago?"
Liu Mei nodded and said lazily, "It's more like Li Yanqing currying favor with Qi Shuhuan than an intersection. Don't think this person has achieved much on the surface, but he can clearly tell which side to stand on. He started to curry favor with the Qi family a long time ago. However, at that time, he was just a small official, and the Qi family didn't take him seriously at all. Even when he later became the main general of the Bing Shi Banner, he was at most just a staff member of Qi Shuhuan and not one of the people Qi Shuhuan valued."
Shen Qingfeng paused and asked, "How is his ability to lead troops?"
Liu Mei raised her eyebrows and said, "Well~ average."
Shen Qingfeng asked again, "Are there any other military officers who are close to Qi Shuhuan?"
Liu Mei thought for a while and said, "If you're talking about the time of taking sides and the degree of loyalty, Li Yanqing is indeed Qi Shuhuan's first choice to seize military power."
Shen Qingfeng stroked his chin and pondered for a while. He said, "Shopkeeper Liu, your main point shouldn't be those things just now, right? What else did you find out?"
Liu Mei gave a charming smile and said, "If you're wondering why Qi Shuhuan chose to marry his son Qi Siyu to Li Yanqing, then, besides Li Yanqing being Qi Shuhuan's first choice, Li Yanqing also gave Qi Shuhuan a treasure."
Shen Qingfeng asked, "What treasure?"
Liu Mei gave a mysterious smile and tapped the table with the tobacco rod. She said, "The month before last, on Qi Shuhuan's birthday, Li Yanqing gave Qi Shuhuan a nine - python robe~"
Shen Qingfeng was shocked all over. He was in a daze for a while, and then suddenly burst out laughing.
He covered his stomach and laughed so hard that his waist was almost level with the table. "Hahaha! Heaven is really helping me!"
Why didn't he discover this in his previous life? If he had investigated Li Yanqing first in his previous life, maybe he and Xia Chuli wouldn't have to stage a palace coup. King Xia Jie would naturally take their lives!
What was a nine - python robe?
The monarch of the Li Xia Kingdom wore a robe embroidered with nine dragons, and the nine - python robe was naturally for the Duke Protector of the State.
It seemed that this old guy had great ambitions. He probably couldn't wait for King Xia Jie to die so that he could support Xia Yonglin to ascend the throne and then become the Duke Protector of the State!
And this Li Yanqing was really strange. He actually gave a nine - python robe.
Seeing Shen Qingfeng laughing until tears ran down his face, Liu Mei couldn't help but smile. She changed the way she crossed her long and fair legs and said, "Lord Shen, you're so excited?"
Shen Qingfeng turned his head and glanced at Liu Mei. He sneered and said, "Shopkeeper Liu, since you've told me this, you should be able to guess what I want to do, right?"
Liu Mei covered her mouth and chuckled. She pretended to be innocent and said, "Lord Shen, what you said. I'm just a little woman. I don't understand these things."
Shen Qingfeng ignored Liu Mei's exaggerated acting. He directly asked, "Where is the nine - python robe now?"
Liu Mei regained her charming look. She held the tobacco pipe with one hand and took another puff. She said, "Previously, it was hung in Qi Shuhuan's room for a while."
Shen Qingfeng frowned and asked, "What about now?"
Liu Mei smiled faintly and said, "Want to know? Pay more~"
Shen Qingfeng burst out laughing and asked, "How much more?"
Liu Mei said coquettishly, "One thousand taels." She paused for a moment. "Of gold."
"You're really a cunning merchant, Shopkeeper Liu." Shen Qingfeng squinted his eyes.
"Lord Shen is joking. Compared with the world, I'm losing money with this one - thousand - tael of gold, aren't I?" Liu Mei laughed. "Or, you can ask your subordinates to find it."
Shen Qingfeng said, "Oh? It seems that you didn't forget to keep an eye on me when you were investigating Li Yanqing for me, Shopkeeper Liu."
Liu Mei said, "Lord Shen, you're making me blush. I'm just a businesswoman."