380: The horrified Li Chengliang

"General Li has come a long way. This humble general, Lin Yue, failed to greet him, which is truly impolite!" Lin Yue cupped his hands first.

"General Lin is joking. This old man came uninvited today, and I hope you can forgive me." Li Chengliang said with a hearty laugh.

"General, what are you saying? Please come in quickly." Lin Yue said with a smile, leading the way.

"Good!" Li Chengliang laughed.

At this moment, the gatekeeper shouted into the courtyard:

"Commandery Commandant of Liaodong Commandery, General of Liaodong, Lord Li!

Presenting ten thousand taels of silver! One thousand taels of gold! One thousand Liaodong warhorses! Two five-courtyard mansions in the West Market of Xiangping Commandery! Two taverns in the West Market!"

Buzz!

With that, the Earls Mansion instantly erupted in an uproar!

Not only did Li Chengliang come in person, but he also sent so many congratulatory gifts!

One must know that the combined value of these gifts could buy their entire town several times over!

What's more, those five-courtyard mansions in the West Market were something ordinary people couldn't buy even with money!

And those two taverns in the West Market, you could say that even if you sent two dogs to be the shopkeepers, they wouldn't lose money! They were a continuous source of wealth!

These gifts, ordinary people working hard and diligently, couldn't save this much money in ten thousand years!

This time, it really opened their eyes!

Li Chengliang walked towards the main seat with a beaming smile, following Lin Yue, but as he listened to the list of gifts, his heart was bleeding!

This congratulatory gift was enough to make him ache for a while!

But this gift, he had to give it, not just because of Han Tan, but also because of Lin Yue!

The day before, after he returned home, he sent someone to Xianyang to inquire. It was fine not to inquire, but once he did, he was shocked!

Lin Yue, at such a young age, had actually become a Cavalry Commandant!

One must know that this was on the same level as the Commandery Commandant of various commanderies! And it was an official position in Xianyang City!

Moreover, more than one general under his command had been transferred to serve as a General in the Garrison Army in Xianyang City!

One must know that his eldest son, Li Rusong, was also in the Garrison Army!

He was afraid that his eldest son would suffer some unwarranted trouble because of him, so today he added a few more items to the original gift list, hoping to mend the relationship between them!

"Commoner pays respects to Lord Li!" All the common people bowed and cupped their hands in salute, and Li Chengliang also returned the gesture to everyone without any airs!

This action immediately won over everyone's goodwill!

This would be something to boast about later!

Not only were they personally welcomed into the Earls Mansion by the City Lord for the banquet, but even Lord Li Chengliang, the Commandery Commandant of Liaodong, bowed to them!

This was enough for them to boast for half their lives!

As for the latter half of their lives, they had already thought it through.

If the General under the Earl got married with such a grand display, then when the Earl himself got married, wouldn't they have even more to boast about!

Wang Da Tou pouted, somewhat disdainfully: "Putting on such a grand show, truly ostentatious!"

The Generals were stunned, then laughed silently.

These people, despite their significant official positions, lacked some of the foundation compared to those old-established Earls and Viscounts.

Moreover, they were border troops, and their subordinates risked their lives fighting the Xiongnu. You couldn't just drink their blood, could you? So, compared to these local armies, it was like heaven and earth!

They were envious and cursed, but if they were asked to give these congratulatory gifts, they simply couldn't afford them!

"Hey, someone, go tell the gatekeeper to read out the gift list of our Deputy Commander! And also that of the Great General and the Young Master!" Wang Da Tou shouted.

They couldn't lose face either!

Zhao Ponu heard this and immediately stood up to inform them; he was also quite displeased!

She Jian stopped him and said, "Po Nu, remember, what you send isn't important, what's important is to shout the names loudly!"

"This humble general understands!" Zhao Ponu said with a smile, then walked towards the door.

The few people at the table, seeing that Lin Yue had already brought Li Chengliang before them, all stood up.

After all, one doesn't hit a smiling face. Although the Generals had some grievances with him, on such a joyous day, no one wanted to cause trouble for the host, and even Wang Da Tou reluctantly stood up to salute.

"Hahaha, this old man is late, everyone, please don't blame me!" Li Chengliang laughed heartily, cupping his hands in return.

"Not at all, not at all, we've just started. General Li, please take your seat quickly." She Jian smiled.

Then the Generals took their seats in order.

But the tables nearby were all whispering.

"Old master, didn't you say Lord Li came here to be beaten? Why do I see them talking and laughing?" a man asked with a smile.

"Uh... this..." Cui San also looked confused; this was not what he had envisioned either!

Just as he was feeling awkward, the stout shopkeeper, Hong Er, retorted, "Gou Shengzi, what do you know? Stop causing trouble here!"

"This, I was just asking." Gou Shengzi said awkwardly.

He was just a labor worker, so he naturally didn't want to get into a conflict with Hong Er, but he also didn't want to lose face like this.

"Didn't some people swear earlier that he came here to be beaten? Isn't that just spouting nonsense? I can't believe some of you actually believed it!"

The stout shopkeeper also felt it was a bit mysterious, but what he wanted was not rumors, but to cling to Lord Cui San's leg to expand his business network!

He immediately retorted, "How is this spouting nonsense? I think it is precisely so, which proves that Lord Cui San's words are accurate!"

Everyone at the table looked curious, waiting for him to continue.

The stout shopkeeper looked at Lord Cui San and slowly said to everyone:

"I just ask you, have you ever seen anyone give such an expensive gift?"

Everyone shook their heads. In their daily social interactions, giving a few dozen copper coins was already a big deal. Where had they ever seen such a scene?

Seeing everyone shake their heads, the stout shopkeeper smiled even more and said, "You say, this adds up to almost one hundred thousand taels of silver, right? How is this giving a gift? This is almost like buying a life!"

Everyone was startled by the words, not understanding what this meant.

"This is not a congratulatory gift; this is Lord Li buying peace!" the stout shopkeeper said mysteriously.

"Right!" With a smack, Lord Cui San said excitedly:

"This must be the money Lord Li used to buy peace! Without this money, he would probably have to be carried out of this door today!"

"Whoa!" Everyone was startled by the words, constantly pondering in their minds!

Of course, they weren't pondering the truth, because what did truth or falsehood have to do with them!

What they were thinking was how to casually reveal this matter the next time they drank with friends!

This way, they could prove their " Jianghu" (jianghu, literally 'rivers and lakes', referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry, or simply society at large) status!

But Lin Yue and the others not far away looked awkward, because these words had clearly fallen into their ears.

And Li Chengliang, across from them, was currently looking at them with a surprised and somewhat bewildered expression.

"Heh heh, heh heh." Lin Yue kept giving dry laughs, and finally managed to squeeze out a sentence: "Lord Li, please don't mind. As you know, the common folk love to spread rumors. Harmless childish talk, harmless childish talk..."

Li Chengliang turned his head back with a look of utter surprise. That old man was almost as old as his father, and they called that harmless childish talk?

But precisely because of the old man's age, he couldn't really argue, but even after decades of weathering storms, he had never heard such an outrageous rumor.

And damn it, looking at them, they all actually believed it!

It was truly outrageous!

But just as he was silently cursing in his heart, the gatekeeper's shout rang out again!

Followed by a hall full of shock!