Chapter 664: Leopard Skin Storm

It was noon after returning from Bashang. Three thousand cavalrymen were stationed outside the city. Li Qing'an also transferred to a carriage. The light carriage was simply passing by and drove into the city. Today was a temple fair. Outside Chunming Gate, there was a large market. Street stalls occupied most of the official roads. The crowds were crowded with pedestrians to the market. Li Qing'an's personal soldiers did not deliberately drive them away. Their lords needed to gain fame. There was nothing particularly important to disturb the market anyway.

Everyone slowed down their horses, guarded the carriage, and moved slowly on the narrow road. It was not too far from the city gate. Li Qing'an sat in the carriage and looked at the lively market outside through the car window with interest. The temple fair was spontaneously organized by the people. To a certain extent, it was a barometer of the economy. Only when ordinary people had surplus items appeared, this temple fair that was similar to the flea market in later generations would appear. Moreover, the more surplus materials in the home, the more prosperous the market would be.

Like those prefectures and counties in Hebei that were ravaged by war, there will be no more markets. The markets in front of them have been stretching for more than ten miles, with a crowd of people, various agricultural and sideline products, various mountain delicacies, various primitive handicraft products, each with agricultural tools, rice sellers, meat sellers, vegetables and fruits, buns and steamed buns, and handmade coarse cloth. Even many shops in the West City have set up stalls, almost everything is available, not only attracting all the people from the ten miles outside Chang'an City, but people in Chang'an City are attracted to buy some fresh wild game, take a look at rare goods that are difficult to see in normal times, help the elderly and the young, and travel with their families, just like a holiday.

"Stop!"

Li Qing'an shouted, the carriage stopped, and the personal captain stepped forward and said, "Please give orders to the general!"

Li Qing'an pointed to a stall dozens of steps away and ordered the captain: "Take me the things in that stall."

More than a dozen personal soldiers rushed over immediately. The stall was not big and did not rely on the roadside. It was difficult to find it in the back rows of people. Perhaps the stall owner of this stall selling fur might have realized this, so he set up a simple wooden rack and hung the top fur on the rack. Li Qing'an sat in the carriage, condescendingly, and saw something familiar to him at a glance.

Perhaps because his stall is relatively precious, several businessmen have discovered this treasure and are bargaining around him.

"Does go! Dos go!" More than a dozen burly soldiers rushed up, scaring several merchants so much that they hurriedly walked away.

After a moment, the soldier took the stall owner and his goods to the carriage. The stall was about thirty years old, with a solid and honest face. He was carried over by the soldiers and was trembling all over, but he was holding a few of the most valuable furs in his arms.

Li Qing'an's eyes were sharp. He saw a piece of black leopard skin on his wooden frame at a glance, which made him a little unbelievable. Could it be that he had read it wrong, not leopard skin?

Now this black fur is in the stall owner's arms and is held tightly by him. Li Qingan looked carefully. Although he was not very clear, based on his feelings, this is a piece of leopard skin.

He didn't open the window, and asked through the curtain: "Is the black fur in your arms a black panther skin?"

The stall owner was so scared that he was trembling all over and couldn't say a word. The soldier pushed him, "Where are you asking you! Why don't you answer?"

"Yes... it's black panther skin."

"Take it to me."

The stall owner was so scared that he took a step back and held the fur tightly. However, the soldier snatched the fur from his arms. The stall owner snatched it, but the soldier held it tightly.

Li Qingan took the black panther skin and spread it on the small table. He saw the scar on the leopard skin at a glance. It was shot through by Gao Wu with an arrow. Later, it was repaired and left an indelible trace.

There is only one black leopard skin with arrow holes in the sky. It was hunted by Li Qing'an in Lingshan ten years ago. After several twists and turns, it finally fell into Li Linfu's hands. However, after Li Linfu was confiscated, the leopard skin entered the palace and was later said to have been rewarded by Li Longji to the royal family.

How could it fall into the hands of a farmer now? This made him puzzled. If this leopard skin appeared in a big shop in Dongshi, it would be understandable, but it was hung on a wooden rack and shouted and sold by an ordinary farmer, and it was in the temple fair market. This was puzzling. Looking at the other furs in his arms, it was quite precious.

"I bought this black panther skin."

"I want... one hundred silver dollars."

One hundred silver dollars would be sold. Gao Wu had to pay 150 taels of silver, but he didn't sell it. This bastard actually only sold 100 silver dollars.

Li Qingan immediately realized that this black panther skin was probably not from the right place. He was about to question this person, but he saw that many pedestrians had surrounded him and there was a little congestion on the road, so he ordered: "Take this person with you and go to the city tower to ask."

The carriage started and took the stall owner of unknown origin to the city gate. After a moment, the carriage entered the city. Li Qing'an went straight to the city tower and sat down on a brick.

Several soldiers brought the stall owner up. The stall owner had already known Li Qing'an's identity a little bit, and he was so scared that he fell to his knees on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, "Prince... please spare your life!"

The man looked like an honest farmer, but Li Qing'an saw a bit of cunning from his eyes. Li Qing'an pointed to the leopard skin and asked him: "I won't kill you, tell me honestly, where did you get this leopard skin?"

The man said tremblingly: "This leopard skin is... my ancestors!"

Li Qing'an's face sank, "Give me twenty sticks!"

Several personal soldiers took the man over and swung the stick and said, "The wooden stick fell like raindrops, and the man cried and called his father and mother. Soon, after twenty sticks, the man was beaten to pieces and was so beaten that he lay on the ground, lying on the ground, unable to move.

Li Qingan said coldly: "I will give you another last chance. If you don't tell the truth, I will kill you on the spot for the crime of stealing!"

The man was so scared that his face looked like a mortal, he had to explain, "These things are my brothers' belongings. He hid the things here, but the people ran away without a trace. My family was about to build a house, so I was thinking about selling the fur and returning it for some money."

"What do your brother do?"

"My brother...my brother..."

The man stumbled and refused to say it. The personal soldier poked his stick with a stick and said, "Say!"

The man grinned and almost fainted from pain.

Li Qingan waved his hand and ordered his personal soldiers not to touch him for the time being. He said to the man: "Tell me, even if your brother commits a crime, I will not pursue you. I will give you money to cure your injuries, but the premise is that you have to tell the truth. Otherwise, once I find out the truth, I will arrest you and punish your brother."

The man dared not hide it anymore and began to honestly explain, "The villain is called Hong Dabao, who is from Baqiao outside Dongcheng. His father is the tenant farmer of King Qi. After King Qi's death, our family became the tenant farmer of King Siqi. The villain had a brother named Hong Sanlang. He was originally a servant of King Siqi's mansion. After King Siqi's family escaped to Chengdu, he kept my brother and several other servants to guard the old house in Chang'an. Last year, my brother stole some things from the King Siqi's mansion, including these furs. He was afraid of the government arresting him, so he ran away. Before leaving, he gave me these furs and asked me to raise his son for him. He said that he would not come back within a year and the furs belonged to me. It has been more than a year since then, and these furs are of no use to me. I just wanted to sell it for some money. As soon as I set up a stall, the prince saw it and begged the prince to spare my life."

After saying that, he kowtowed and Li Qing'an nodded. It was almost the same. It was stolen from Prince Siqi's mansion. This statement was quite reliable.

"Since these furs are all stolen goods, they are not your things. According to the Tang Dynasty's laws, if you secretly store stolen goods, you will be imprisoned for crimes, but since I promise not to pursue you, I will spare you once, but the stolen goods will be confiscated."

Li Qing'an ordered his personal soldiers and said, "Give him twenty silver dollars to heal his wounds and send him away!"

Several soldiers took the man away. Li Qingan gently stroked the soft black panther skin, and a nostalgic feeling appeared in his heart, and he let the Buddha go back to the fortress ten years ago.

The personal army captain next to him saw that Li Qing'an seemed to have a special liking for this black panther skin, so he smiled and said, "If the general likes it, you might as well stay."

Li Qingan shook his head and smiled at the soldiers around him, "This black panther skin is my thing. When I was hunting in Lingshan to make money, I almost died under the sharp teeth of this black panther."

Seeing that the soldiers were all stunned, he stood up and said, "I've stayed with the leopard skin, and now I'm going home."

He ordered the personal captain: "Go to the imperial city and find the Zongzheng Temple Minister for me."

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Zongzheng Temple Minister Li Yi was the "clan beggar ancestor" that Li Qing'an met in Luoyang Taimiao last year. He was in a down-and-out situation, but because Li Qing'an accidentally visited Taimiao, he completely turned over. Not only was he named Sijiang King, but he was also promoted to Zongzheng Temple Minister and became a dignified official of the court.

Li Yi was very grateful to Li Qing'an for this, but he was even more afraid that Li Qing'an would just improve him on a whim, so that the high-ranking official he had just obtained would become a past mist. In order to protect his high-ranking title, he was sharpened all day long to think about Li Qing'an's thoughts.

In fact, Li Qing'an's mind was very clear. Everyone knew that the key was how Li Qing'an was interested in him. After thinking for a long time, Li Yi finally concluded three conclusions: First, he was the oldest among the existing Li clan clans, and even Li Longji wanted to call him the emperor uncle. This noble seniority gave him enough voice in the clan clan; Second, he was not a descendant of Li Shimin, and his grandfather, Li Yuanxiang, was Li Shimin's younger brother, and Li Qing'an was a descendant of Li Jiancheng, which was very important; Third, he did an incident in the Taimiao that shocked the entire clan clan. In front of Li Qing'an, he replaced Li Shimin with the spiritual card of Li Jiancheng.

It is precisely these three reasons that he can turn over and become the Minister of Zongzheng Temple, but Li Yi's mind is clearer than anyone else. Li Qing'an used him not to make him a clay Buddha, but to make him play a role at critical moments.

But Li Yi didn't know what he should do. When the Ruizhao incident occurred a few days ago, he almost became angry and created a Ruizhao in the Taimiao. Fortunately, before he could do it, he started to arrest people, making him secretly grateful.

This also made Li Yi understand a truth: Don’t do anything without authorization. When Li Qingan needs him to do things, he will naturally look for him, such as now.
Chapter completed!