Chapter 204: Inquire about information
Walking into the ancient streets and alleys and tasting the rich morning tea full of the charm of the Jiangnan water town, Li Hu felt the unique charm of Yangzhou.

After visiting the Slender West Lake, Li Hu came to the Xiao Qinhuai River.

In the Ming Dynasty, Xiao Qinhuai River was the eastern moat of the old city. Later, a new city was built and Xiao Qinhuai River was sandwiched between the old and new cities. As the number of residents on both sides of the river increased day by day, this place became prosperous. There were rows of taverns and shops on both sides of the river, and luxury mansions and gardens were scattered between them. There were pleasure boats shuttling back and forth in the river, making it very lively.

Li Hu and Wang Daniu, who were in plain clothes, walked down from a stone bridge. They had just visited the villa that Kong Xiaosi had given them, where Wang Yaozu and others had stayed yesterday.

When an official leaves office, he or she cannot just walk away. All the property he or she managed during his or her tenure must be counted and recorded for inspection by the new official. Even everything in the government office, from the walls of the houses to the benches and water tanks, must be accounted for and every item must be kept or removed.

After Li Hu and Lin Ruhai took over, they sent him to Jinan Prefecture to take up his post, and then returned to the capital.

The new Imperial Censor of Lianghuai Salt is already on his way at full speed and is also the emperor’s confidant.

There is a bluestone paved street along the river. Li Hu walked aimlessly with his hands behind his back among the bustling crowd.

In the pleasure boat swaying gently in the river, the music is pleasant to the ears, and the soft Wu dialect is even more gentle, lingering, and moving.

The boat girl rowed the oars and sang a boat song.

Li Hu stopped and listened quietly with his ear tilted. The Wu dialect was pleasant to listen to, and the singing of the local Yangzhou boat girls was also good, each with its own characteristics.

Suddenly, there was a cheer from the front and a lot of people gathered around.

Li Hu was a little curious and walked over.

Wang Daniu and two of his bodyguards hurriedly followed.

It turned out to be a group of acrobats performing arts, and a burst of fire burst out of one of them’s mouth!
Everyone cheered.

Then, a strong man walked into the field with a few iron balls in his hands. He started throwing them there, then threw one of the iron balls into his mouth, and swallowed it with his eyes bulging.

The crowd cheered again.

Li Hu also cheered loudly!

The man clasped his hands together and bowed. When he faced Li Hu, he was stunned for a moment. Suddenly, he grabbed his neck with both hands and his eyes bulged out immediately.

The onlookers cried out in surprise.

The jugglers were panicked. Some of them massaged his back, some stroked his chest, and some brought him water.

After a flurry of activity, the man finally spat out the iron ball that was stuck in his throat.

Seeing that the man was fine, an idle man spoke up: “It turns out that you are not good enough in learning skills!”

A burst of laughter.

The girl holding the gong struck it with a red face, and then another man walked into the field, took off his shirt, revealing his strong physique.

Immediately afterwards, the two men took sticks and hit the man. With two crisp sounds, the sticks broke.

Cheers rang out!
Then, the sound of gong sounded, and the monkey trainer came on stage. The monkey held the gong in his hand and while beating it, he walked to the wardrobe, took a hat and put it on his head.

Li Hu smiled, gave a look to Wang Daniu beside him, turned around and walked out.

Wang Daniu understood and took out a silver piece and threw it in front of the girl.

The group continued walking along the river. Every few hundred steps, there was a single-hole stone bridge running east-west. Pleasure boats passed through the bridge and went directly to the Slender West Lake.

As they walked, a strong young man jumped out from the side and stood in front of them.

Wang Daniu was alerted and drew out the soft sword from his waist with a swish, pointing it directly at the man.

Two personal soldiers protected Li Hu on his left and right.

The man looked at Li Hu and said, “Are you General Li?”

Wang Daniu: “Who are you?”

The man handed over a name card and said, “My master is waiting for General Li in the private room of the restaurant at the corner ahead.”

A personal soldier stepped forward, took the name card and handed it to Li Hu.

Li Hu took the exhibition and looked at it. It turned out to be Wang Ziteng. Why did this old man come here from Jiangning specifically to see him?
Li Hu closed the name card and said, “Lead the way.”

The man replied, “Yes.” and turned to walk forward.

Li Hu followed.

The scene just now attracted the attention of the people around, and they were talking about it for a while.

The people who had been surrounding the performance stall dispersed, and a group of people were packing up the stall.

Several men gathered together and watched Li Hu’s disappearing back.

A man spoke up: “Are you sure?”

The man who was performing the iron ball swallowing performance gritted his teeth and said: “I can recognize it even if it is burned to ashes!”

Another man: “Isn’t he chasing us?”

The man performing hard qigong: “Not really. But we can’t let our guard down. We can’t stay in Yangzhou any longer.”

Another man asked: “Where are we going?” Everyone was silent. They lost contact with the White Tiger Hall Master during their escape and fled all the way back to the branch. However, a rebellion broke out there, so they had to flee with their families again, performing acrobatics and looking for the White Tiger Hall Master while doing so.

The man who performed hard qigong broke the silence: “Go to Henan, that is the territory of Qinglongtang, and the brothers there will never betray the Holy Church.”

After a pause, he said, “The Hall Master will definitely go there as well.”

At this time, the little girl came over with a gong.

Looking at the money in the gong, several people showed complicated expressions. Apart from the small change given by Li Hu, there were only more than a hundred copper coins.

The man performing hard qigong: “Let’s go.”

A group of people, carrying their various equipment, walked towards Chengwai.

On the other side, Li Hu walked into the box.

Wang Ziteng, who was wearing casual clothes, stood up with a smile.

Wang Li and Wang Ren were also there.

Wang Ziteng spoke up: “You little bastard, you don’t know how high the heaven is and how deep the earth is. You offended Lord Zhongyong. I specially prepared a drink to apologize to Lord Zhongyong!” He glared at Wang Ren and shouted: “Why don’t you kowtow to Lord Zhongyong and apologize!”

Wang Ren limped forward, knelt down with difficulty, and kowtowed: “I was young and ignorant, and I offended you, sir. Now that I know my mistake, I hope you will forgive me this time for the sake of our friendship with my uncle.”

Li Hu looked at him and then at Wang Ziteng, and waved his hand: “Forget it.” He then said to Wang Ziteng: “Did you know so soon?”

Wang Ziteng: “To be honest, my niece told me in a letter.”

Li Hu nodded.

Wang Ziteng stretched out his hand and gestured for him to sit down: “Please sit down. We can talk slowly while we eat.”

Li Hu: “This table is quite grand!”

Wang Ziteng smiled and said, “If you come in spring or summer, the river seafood will be the best.”

They both sat down at the same time.

Wang Ziteng poured the wine from the thermos to Li Hu, and said softly: “I am neither surprised nor suspicious when I received the letter from Feng Yatou. You are a rare talent, and it is only a matter of time before you are promoted to a noble. I hope you will take good care of me in the future.”

Li Hu smiled.

Wang Ziteng raised his glass and said: “This glass of wine is to congratulate my brother on being promoted to the Earl of Loyalty and Bravery.” He drank it in one gulp.

Li Hu did it too.

Wang Ziteng picked up the wine pot and filled Li Hu’s cup with wine, then filled his own cup as well, holding it up with both hands: “This cup of wine is for my brother to be promoted to a marquisate soon!”

Li Hu also picked up the wine glass and they both drank.

Wang Ziteng was about to pour more wine, but Li Hu covered the wine pot and said, “If you have anything to say, just say it.”

Wang Ziteng: “Okay.” He first glanced at Wang Li and Wang Ren standing by the door of the box, and then whispered: “I want to ask you something.”

Li Hu looked at him.

Wang Ziteng: “I heard that the prince’s condition is getting worse and worse. He is coughing up blood every day?”

“What’s the big deal? The prince has always been like this.”

Li Hu glanced at him and thought: Is this old guy ready to place a bet, the Second Prince or the Fourth Prince?
Wang Ziteng was silent for a moment, then asked, “Why did your majesty suddenly promote me to the governor-general of Liangjiang?”

Li Hu looked at him strangely: “What’s wrong? Isn’t this a good thing?”

Wang Ziteng’s mouth twitched, and then he smiled bitterly: “A pie falling from the sky can kill you!”

Li Hu understood that the emperor was setting a trap again.

“To be honest, I have been staying in Shandong for a while and I don’t know much about these things.”

Wang Ziteng looked at Li Hu and said, “For the sake of our past friendship, if you hear anything after returning to Beijing, you must remind me!”

“Okay, okay, we are all family.” Li Hu nodded. I’m not going to remind you of anything.

Wang Ziteng: “When will you return to Beijing? If you are interested, come with me to visit Jinling.”

Li Hu shook his head: “We’ll talk about it later when we have the chance. I have to send my father-in-law to Jinan to take up his post first before I can return to Beijing.”

Wang Ziteng was startled: “Is Censor Lin promoted?”

Li Hu: “Governor of Shandong.”

“This is a great joyous event!”

Wang Ziteng picked up the wine jug and filled Li Hu’s glass again, saying, “I will come to congratulate you in person later.”

Wang Li and Wang Ren smiled at each other.

(End of this chapter)