Episode 19: Liuli rushes to save Rongyi

Pei Xingjian, according to the list, each household has hundreds of acres of fertile land, but the village leader told him that it was all sand dune land and there was no way to harvest food. All he faced were the people's debts and tax issues.If Pei Xingjian did not collect taxes, his life would definitely be difficult; if he collected taxes, how would the people live?Zhang Huaiji showed a proud smile behind Pei Xingjian.

Everyone thought that Pei Xingjian was being pretentious, pretending to be concerned and asking a few words.Pei Xingjian asked that all the bills be burned, because all the bills would sooner or later make the people uneasy.Only in this way can the people of Xizhou not have to bear tax debt.The people all applauded, Zhang Huaiji complained secretly in his heart and ordered people to put out the fire quickly, but everyone was indifferent.Zhang Huaiji reminded Pei Xingjian what to do after the bill was burned today and the army arrived.

Pei Xingjian believes that the people of Xizhou are also the people of the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty implemented the land equalization system in order to allow the people to have fields to cultivate, food and clothing, instead of being starved after owing so much money.He hopes that after clearing his previous debts, he will be able to pay taxes on time in the future.Everyone knelt down to thank Pei Xingjian.

Pei Xingjian announced that from now on, Xizhou would pay taxes according to the Tang Dynasty standards, and all customers in Xizhou would also pay taxes according to their grades.At the same time, the people of Shangxian Township had rushed to Pei Xingjian's yard. Bai San arranged for people to take Liuli to escape, but they were chased and intercepted by more people.Someone attacked Liuli from behind and pierced Liuli's body with a dagger. The people fled in a hurry when they saw that people were killed.Qu Jingtang arrived with people and sent Liuli to Han Si's medical clinic, but because the wound was too deep, he could only resign himself to fate.Han Si tried his best, but Bai San was very emotional, blaming Han Si and blaming himself, and didn't know how to explain to Pei Xingjian.Wang Junmeng reported to the governor that Liuli was injured and his life or death was unknown, and Pei Xingjian was also on his way back.Afraid of causing even greater trouble, the Protector hurriedly asked Wang Junmeng to notify the troops outside the city to enter the city.

Pei Xingjian came back and saw Liuli seriously injured. Without saying a word, he took a knife and went to find the protector.Bai San tried his best to persuade, but Pei Xingjian didn't listen at all. He ordered Acheng to stop Bai San and broke into the gate of the Duhu Mansion alone, shouting the names of Duhu and Qu Chongyu.The soldiers swarmed out and surrounded Pei Xingjian, and Pei Xingjian was seriously injured.Instead, Qu Chongyu was accused of incompetently causing public outrage, and of breaking into Qu's house to kill Qu Duhu.The governor pretended to be generous and let Qu Chongyu go, but also emphasized that he would not let Pei Xingjian off easily if something like this happened again.

The story of Pei Xingjian breaking into the Duhu Mansion with a sword and attempting to assassinate him spread throughout the people. Within a month, the news also reached Chang'an.The eldest princess didn't believe it when she heard the news, and decided to wait for news from Qu Duhu.If the news was confirmed, she would really like to see Liuli lying half-dead on the bed.

Mrs. Su has been upset and unable to eat since hearing the news of Liuli's injury.She discussed with Su Dingfang worriedly.At this time, someone came to ask to borrow the sword of Su Dingfang and his wife.When Mrs. Su came outside the hall, she saw a familiar figure and couldn't help being surprised.That person was Liuli, and she came back safe and sound.Mrs. Su hugged Liuli excitedly and felt relieved to see her unharmed.She almost fainted from worrying for days.Liuli burst into tears when she heard that Mrs. Su fell ill because she was worried about her.

Liuli told Mrs. Su what happened.At that time, they sat down to negotiate together, and Liuli finally convinced the governor.When she left Chang'an, she went to see Empress Wu and specially gave Empress Wu a letter of commitment, which eliminated the misunderstanding between the two parties.The letter of commitment was actually forged by Liuli. The letter of commitment stated that Pei Xingjian would establish a foundation in Xizhou and serve Empress Wu.

After Pei Xingjian returned, he asked Liuli about the authenticity of the commitment letter.Liuli admitted that he wrote the letter of commitment on purpose, and he just wanted to keep Pei Xingjian alive.If Pei Xingjian only considers saints, he must protect himself first.It was a matter of time before Empress Wu came to power in the future. If Pei Xingjian could not save his own life, then no one would be able to help the saint check and balance Empress Wu.Until then, you will have failed everyone.

Pei Xingjian felt like he was enlightened and saluted Liuli, expressing that he understood that everything Liuli did was for his own good.Su Dingfang was also pleased with Liuli's knowledge.In the end, Liuli and Pei Xingjian succeeded in persuading the Duhu couple using their future as the starting point.At that time, Qu Duhu was deeply impressed by their trustworthy attitude.But Qu Chongyu was worried that turning to Empress Wu would harm the interests of the Qu family.Liuli promised that Xizhou would never change hands in the future, and that the Qu family would never be bullied in Chang'an, which would also allow Qu Chongyu to fulfill his ambitions.Qu Chongyu deeply admired Liuli's foresight and entrusted his wife and children to Liuli.Pei Xingjian also volunteered to stay as a hostage and left the matter to Liuli to handle.

Everything that happened later was discussed with the Qu family and his son in advance.The dagger that stabbed Liuli was actually an assassin arranged by the Protector. Liuli used a fake dagger to stab himself in advance and prepared a blood pack. With Han Si's cover, he successfully deceived everyone.All this is to make things more realistic in order to deceive the eldest princess.

Su Dingfang learned that Qu Chongyu's wife and children were under house arrest in the Princess Dachang Mansion and were treated politely.Liuli came with Qu Chongyu's token, hoping that Su Dingfang could arrange a meeting for them. She was confident to convince Qu Chongyu's wife.

Alu reported Liuli's assassination to the eldest princess, but Pei Xingjian burned the bill to calm the public's anger.The eldest princess was very angry about this, thinking that although Liuli was hateful, she was only a minor player, and only Pei Xingjian was a serious problem.She believed that Pei Xingjian's trip to Xizhou was just a play with the saint. When Pei Xingjian comes back, he will definitely become an important minister, general or prime minister, and their land may be taken away by Pei Xingjian.The eldest princess was unwilling to let Pei Xingjian come back alive no matter what, otherwise their good days would come to an end.The eldest princess felt uneasy and thought that things might have changed because the protector did not inform her.She ordered Alu to prepare more manpower, which might be of great use in the near future.

At this time, Qu Chongyu also began to worry about whether Liuli had seen his wife.Pei Xingjian, however, had a high degree of trust in Liuli and believed that as long as Liuli agreed to take the risk, it meant that she was fully confident.Otherwise, she wouldn't let Liuli take the risk.Qu Chongyu reminded Pei Xingjian that if Liuli could not come back this time, the governor would definitely take action against Pei Xingjian.Pei Xingjian was grateful that Pei Xingjian dared to let him take the risk even though he knew the outcome. This was considered a reward for their efforts.Qu Chongyu proposed to become friends with Pei Xingjian, and Pei Xingjian immediately said that he had never regarded Qu Chongyu as an enemy, not now and not in the future.The two toasted and drank together and officially became friends.

In fact, all this was within Liuli's expectation.The eldest princess had already heard the news of Liuli's assassination, but she had not received the letter from the Protector for a long time. She was inevitably worried and would definitely pay close attention to Murong Yi's movements.She suspected that the governor had burned the letter and was closely monitoring Liuli's every move.

The eldest princess did not dare to kill Murong Yi and her son easily, for fear of causing turmoil on the northern border and making the Qu family resent the imperial court.Therefore, she could only hide Murong Yi and her son in a place where Liuli could not find them.She planned to stall for time until the Qu family and his son lost patience and decided to kill Pei Xingjian.

The next day, Liuli came to the eldest princess's house and asked to see Murong Yi, but the eldest princess rejected her request because Murong Yi was out.Liu Li knew in her heart that the eldest princess must have hidden Murong Yi.As for the letter, there was no need for her to give it to the eldest princess.Alu wanted to force Liuli to stay, but Liuli showed a contemptuous smile.