In the afternoon, it rained heavily.

A richly decorated carriage, coming from the heavy rain, entered the Prince An’s Manor.

Li Ye was waiting at the place where the carriage was parked. When the carriage stopped, he took the umbrella from the servant and went into the rain to hold an umbrella for the people who got out of the carriage.

“Elder Brother Ye, why did you open an umbrella?” It was Prince Pu, Li Yan, who stepped out of the carriage. He looked up at the edge of the umbrella.

“It’s raining. Of course, we need an umbrella.” Li Ye smiled and ushered Li Yan into the veranda. Then he took the umbrella and handed it back to the servant.

Li Yan cleaned the sporadic drops of water on his sleeves and sniffed at Li Ye’s behavior. “If we still need an umbrella when it rains, what’s the use of our cultivations?”

Li Ye smiled and said nothing, just pulling Li Yan into the house.

He now had to hide his cultivation, so he was unwilling to use techniques in front of people in case his true cultivation would be discovered. After all, Tian Lingzi, the eunuch behind Li Yan, was a master.

When they sat down in the hall, Li Ye ordered servants to serve them tea and refreshments. Li Yan came with news, so he was quite impatient. As soon as he sat down, he said to Li Ye, “The news just came out of the palace. Han Wenyue and Liu Xingshen have promised to say a good word for you before His Majesty.”

This matter was in accordance with Li Ye’s expectations, so he didn’t show too much surprise. But he was still grateful for Li Yan who waved his hand and showed his righteousness. “Elder Brother Ye, you needn’t thank me. Helping you means helping myself, because we’re now on the same team. To tell you the truth, you went to Niushou Mountain this time and pulled down Li Guanshu. It’s a great help to me. I guess the Eldest Prince is angry with Duke Wei now.”

Li Ye smiled and said, “The reason why Duke Wei helps the Eldest Prince is that he feels that the Eldest Prince is qualified to be an Emperor. The Eldest Prince draws Duke Wei over to his side because he needs his power in the Imperial Court. Although it’s not a secret that they’re close, Li Guanshu’s failure will affect Duke Wei at most. It has little influence on the Eldest Prince.”

Li Yan shook his hand. “I don’t care so much. It is the Eldest Prince’s power that is decreased, which is good for you and me.” Saying that, he smiled, leaned forward and approached Li Ye. “Elder Brother Ye, tell me honestly, how on earth did Li Guanshu die? What’s the identity of the person you brought back?”

“I’ve answered you countless times about it.” Li Ye threw up his hands, helpless, “How did Li Guanshu die? I really don’t know. As for the man I brought back, she just is a cultivator of Jianghu. You think that I have no charm to attract people to work for me and accept some advisors?”

“Of course not.” Li Yan smiled with embarrassment and gave a look to Li Ye. Finally, he couldn’t help but speak out the reason. “I found that you’ve changed a lot since you came back from Tai Xuan Summit in Cloud-engulfed Mountain. We don’t talk about other things. This time you’ve expected that Han Wenyue and Liu Xingshen would promise to help you become an official. It’s amazing to me.”

Li Ye cared nothing for that. “Han Wenyue adopted Tian Lingzi as his son, which shows that they are interested in you. This time, they are willing to help me become an official because I am in the same team with you. They do not help us, but help others?”

Li Yan twitched his mouth. “In my opinion, if you hadn’t exposed Li Guanshu’s plot and given them a chance to suppress Duke Wei, they would not have helped. What did you say before? Catering to his or her pleasure and solving his or her problem are the only two ways to make friends. Now it seems that it’s true! ”

Li Ye smiled and said nothing. He could not boast about himself.

Politically, there are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.

Li Yan continued to ask, like a curious baby. “Elder Brother Ye, how about guessing that whether Your Majesty will adopt Liu Xingshen and Han Wenyue’s suggestions?”

Liquor and refreshments had been served. Li Ye drank grape wine and said without hurry, “This needn’t be speculated. The fact is clear. He will adopt their suggestions.”

Li Yan was not used to the wine from the Western Regions and could not comprehend the artistic conception of Wang Han’s poem. He liked the rice wine originated from the Central Plains. He held his cup and was about to drink. After listening to Li Ye’s words, he put down his cup and asked, “How can you be so sure?”

Li Ye knew that Li Yan did not like to think about things. He said frankly, “When you went back to the East Capital, you heard the rumor about my father’s death. Now the rumor has spread to Chang’an. As long as Han Wenyue mentions this rumor to His Majesty, His Majesty will not treat me badly and stop me from becoming an official.”

Although Li Yan didn’t like to think about things, he was not stupid. He immediately reacted and said, “This rumor is too vicious. His Majesty wants to prove to the people of the world that your father did not die from the suspicion of the king. The best way is to treat you kindly and reuse you, so he will certainly give you a good official position.”

Li Ye said seriously, “His Majesty is naturally not afraid of the rumor, but in order to calm people’s minds, he will do that. Speaking of it, I’ve got a bargain.”

In front of Li Yan, Li Ye would not criticize the emperor Li Cui. After all, he would curse the father in front of the son. But in his mind, Li Ye knew that if the rumor was false, Li Cui might not pay attention to it. However, the rumor was true. In order to cover up his past behaviors and present a false peace, Li Cui would not stop him from becoming an official.

Li Yan couldn’t think of that. After listening to Li Yan’s words, he laughed heartily. “Elder Brother Ye, you’re really lucky. You can get such a big benefit. Speaking of it, I still don’t know who spread the rumor. I hated them before, but now I think I should thank them.”

Li Ye grinned in his mind. Song Jiao had told him that it was the Taoist sect that spread the rumor. According to Li Yan, he should thank the Taoist sect.

However, Xu Qingfeng had schemed to kill him before, so Li Ye naturally didn’t like the Taoist sect. After all, they wanted to subvert the imperial dynasty, and it was in great collusion with the vassal states. It was a great trouble for the imperial dynasty. And these people also made him a king of the subjugated country in his Last Life.

Of course, compared with his Last Life, things were different now. Li Ye first got the green lotuses from the Taoist sect and was unwittingly helped by them on the important affairs of becoming an official. He really gained a lot of advantages.

It had to be said that his Luck was quite different from his Last Life.

Li Yan drank a few cups of liquor and was in high spirits. Thinking of Li Ye and his “bright future”, he couldn’t help but be very happy and clap his hands. “Now Han Wenyue suggests to His Majesty for us and Duke Wang and others help us, Elder Brother Ye, you’re certain to become an official successfully. I’m very happy, cheers!”

…

Ten days later, Li Ye was appointed as an official with real power.

…

Now it was the seventh lunar month. According to the Great Yan Calendar, it was autumn, but the weather was still hot.

After heavy rain lasting three days, the air was refreshing. At dusk, Li Ye climbed onto the second floor of a wine shop. Instead of sitting on a table, he opened a pot of Shidongchun and sat on an armchair, looking at the passers-by on the street, and took a sip from time to time.

This wine shop had a good name, called Yipin Lou. The place was neither too big nor too small. The decoration of it was elegant. It faced the city river, and the environment was quiet. It was supposed to be a good place. But the wine sold was not very good, so there were not many guests.

Li Ye did not drink for long before someone walked upstairs and came straight to him. He wore a white robe and a jade belt. He looked like a scholar, but carried a sword and dressed as a swordsman. He also held a pot of wine in his hand. “My new brew gives green glow; my red clay stove flames up. At dusk it threatens snow; won’t you come for a cup? This poetry of Scholar of Xiangshan Mountain is good. The word Green Ant originally means that the newly brewed wine has not been filtered and the green bubbles on the surface of the wine are like ants, but now they are directly used as the name of the wine. It’s really irrelevant and was a disgrace to the educated class.”

Bai Juyi was called Scholar of Xiangshan Mountain.

The man sat down beside Li Ye, rested his one hand on the wooden fence and laid his legs at random, being completely informal. He put his head up and poured a big mouthful of wine, closed his eyes to enjoy it, and finally clicked his lips. “But the wine is a strong alcoholic, I like it.”

Saying that, he looked at Li Ye. “I wonder if Vice Magistrate likes this Green Ant wine.”