Chapter 11

The over two hundred soldiers of the Heavenly Kingdom stationed at Taibai Peak were not brought by Shi Dakai from the south, but were remnants of an army that had been scattered after the failure of the Northern Expedition. At that time, General Liu Lang, the gray-bearded one, was the highest-ranking officer among these soldiers. In the chaos, he managed to carry out a large portion of the Northern Expedition Army's pay, fleeing to the depths of the Taihang Mountains to hide, waiting for the Heavenly Kingdom to launch another northern campaign.

However, instead of waiting for the arrival of the Northern Expedition Army, they waited for their former superior, the Wing King Shi Dakai, who had faked his death and hidden his identity.

The Northern Expedition Army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was composed of elite troops. They captured cities and towns, opened granaries to distribute food, and executed corrupt officials and landlords, accumulating a vast amount of military funds. Not only did they have a large amount of gold and silver, but also many rare treasures, such as pearls, jade, and agate, as well as various ancient paintings and calligraphy.

Now, what was presented to Xiao Letian was a huge, glittering mountain of gold. The ground was covered with exquisitely crafted gold, silver, and jade artifacts. Coral trees over a foot tall leaned against the walls, and pearls spilled everywhere. In the corner, porcelain jars contained scrolls of calligraphy and paintings that were certainly not ordinary.

"This contains the military funds brought by Liu Lang and the treasures I secretly transported from the south. I have secretly established thirteen such holy treasuries in the Qing Dynasty..." Shi Dakai spoke as if it were someone else's property, his tone as calm as water.

"Due to the need to secretly transport the wealth over mountains and rivers, silver and copper coins had to be abandoned. Now, the holy treasuries are the essence of the old Heavenly Kingdom's holy treasuries. Each treasure can be said to be priceless... Unfortunately, it is very difficult to liquidate them..."

Shi Dakai opened a scroll of a Spring Palace painting by Tang Bohu and said with a cold smile, "The wealthy in Jiangnan love to praise such vulgar works by Tang Bohu. If it weren't for the fact that they can still be exchanged for money, I would have burned them long ago..." He then threw it directly into the corner.

Oh, it hurts my heart. You are a moral gentleman, but I am not. Brother, I love this kind of thing. Xiao Letian quickly picked up the genuine Tang Bohu painting, saying, "Look at this craftsmanship, it's truly amazing. Was this kind of double flight already popular in the Ming Dynasty? Is the one being pushed from behind a maid or a concubine?"

As Xiao Letian was deeply immersed in his fantasies about Ming Dynasty street life, Shi Dakai pushed him, "Military Advisor! Military Advisor? I'm asking you a question. What treasures are you going to take down the mountain?"

"Huh? Oh... It's like this. Your Highness should be familiar with the market value of these treasures. Help me find some that are easy to carry and have a value close to 110,000 taels. I need to take them down the mountain." He then casually handed the Spring Palace painting to his personal guard, saying, "This painting is nice, I like it. Put it in my study..."

Cough, cough, cough. Shi Dakai almost choked on his own saliva, thinking, "Are all foreigners from overseas so free-spirited? Even if you want a Spring Palace painting, you should whisper it to me, not be so brazen in front of a soldier. This is too careless about one's reputation."

Indeed, foreigners from overseas are all barbarians who eat raw beef and don't understand self-cultivation. I must advise the Military Advisor more in the future. At such a young age, he shouldn't be overly indulged in beauty.

"Your Highness! Your Highness?" This time it was Xiao Letian's turn to push him. "Ah? Ah... Sorry, I lost my composure... Let me think carefully about the treasures you want."

"Antiques and paintings are indeed very valuable, but only experts will pay a high price for them. It's not easy to sell them quickly. We should think of ways to deal with gold, pearls, jade, and other treasures..."

Xiao Letian and Shi Dakai spent a full hour selecting treasures in the treasury. Finally, under the protection of three personal guards arranged by Shi Dakai, they galloped towards Yixian County.

Even with light travel, it would take two days to travel from Taibai Peak to Yixian County. Xiao Letian, equipped with a fake braid and forged identity documents, headed straight for Yixian County.

By the time Xiao Letian arrived at Yixian County, it was already the evening of the second day. At the west gate, two old soldiers with smoky faces were already driving the last few citizens in and out of the city, and the city gates were about to close.

"Oh, the city gates are about to close, we need to hurry..." Xiao Letian's horse riding skills were definitely at the beginner level. He said to run faster, but he was still the last one.

The three personal guards Xiao Letian brought were carefully selected by Shi Dakai, skilled in archery and horse riding, and also very clever. Most importantly, they could read. The young man leading the group was named Xiao Hexin. Seeing the city gates about to close, he quickly spurred his horse and charged to the front.

The sight of a tall horse charging at full speed was indeed impressive. The large hooves trampled the road, raising dust, and the nearby villagers even felt the ground shaking, causing them to quickly scatter.

The two old soldiers turned around and were startled. If it weren't for the fact that there were only four riders, they would have thought the city was under attack. "Who are you? Didn't you see the city gates are already closed? Go to an inn outside the city and wait until tomorrow..." Before he could finish his sentence, two strings of copper coins rolled over, blocking his mouth.

Xiao Letian saw that Xiao Hexin didn't even dismount, just leaned over and whispered a few words to the two old soldiers. The city gates, which were almost closed, opened again. This time, Xiao Letian walked past the two old soldiers without being asked any questions.

Until they turned the corner, Xiao Letian asked in a low voice, "Isn't the Qing Dynasty supposed to check travel permits? We clearly don't look like people with official titles, yet he let us in so easily?" Xiao Letian's question was reasonable. In ancient times, unless you had an official title, you couldn't easily leave your hometown. You could wander around your own county, but if you needed to cross counties, you had to obtain a travel permit from the county office.

Xiao Letian remembered that when they left, the scribe on the mountain had forged a travel permit for the four of them, but he didn't see Xiao Hexin take it out just now.

"Hey... My dear sir, aren't all the rules in this world made for the poor and powerless? The travel permit system is a law for the common people, but..." Xiao Hexin patted his bulging money bag and smiled, "When you have money, do you still need to follow the law? This corrupt Qing Dynasty should have fallen long ago..."

Xiao Letian was taken aback. He didn't expect Xiao Hexin to be so bold as to say such treasonous things on the street. But when he looked around, there were only a few people on the street, all with numb faces, as if they had been turned into puppets by life. Such people wouldn't care what others said.

"Sir, don't worry. See that big distillery ahead? That's our king's spy in the county. This street is already our territory..."

At the door of the distillery, a sign read "Two Liang Distillery." Before they even entered, a waiter lifted the curtain and bowed, "Welcome, four honored guests, please come upstairs..." His voice was full of enthusiasm, something that couldn't be matched by the fake smiles of modern hotel receptionists.

A distillery that could open a two-story building already indicated that the owner was wealthy. It seemed that the Heavenly Kingdom's intelligence department had ample funds! Xiao Letian lifted his robe and went upstairs. As soon as he sat down in the private room, the distillery owner and the waiter followed in and knelt down without a word.

"May the Military Advisor be well... May the King be well..." The fat owner lowered his voice and bowed three times. Then he waved his hand, and the food that had been prepared in advance was brought in, filling the table with seven dishes and eight bowls.

"Forgive me, sir. We received the message from the mountain at noon yesterday, and there wasn't enough time to prepare anything good. The only thing that could pass muster was a pair of black bear paws we bought last month..." As he spoke, a large porcelain plate was brought in, and a pair of steaming bear paws was placed directly on the table.

Xiao Letian was stunned. This evil feudal dynasty didn't even have animal protection laws? Poor black bears, how unfortunate to be born in this era. Although he was inwardly criticizing, the drool at the corner of his mouth and the greedy look in his eyes betrayed him. In his previous life, he had eaten many high-end dishes, but he had never had the fortune to taste bear paws, the king of mountain delicacies.

"Brother Bear! Brother Bear, I'm sorry for eating your paws. When I gain power, I will be the first to enact animal protection laws, and the first one will protect you..." As he spoke, a piece of tender bear meat went into his mouth.

Xiao Letian's love for clowning around was well-known in the mountain. Xiao Hexin and the others had already seen it when he told stories. They knew that the Military Advisor loved to blurt out strange phrases that no one understood. For example, the phrase "you sister" had become a popular curse on Taibai Peak. Whenever people had a small conflict, they would start cursing with "you sister."

Xiao Hexin and the others were used to it, but the fat owner and the waiter had never seen it before. They thought the black bear paws, which had been soaked for a day and a night and slowly stewed with wild ginseng and pigeon soup, didn't suit the Military Advisor's taste. The fat owner's forehead was already sweating.

It's no wonder he misunderstood. Xiao Letian had already closed his eyes, with a very strange expression, as if he was about to have a stomachache.

Delicious, it's really damn delicious. The gelatinous texture and the unique aroma that he had never experienced before lingered in his throat. At that moment, Xiao Letian felt his tongue enveloped by a rich, gelatinous aroma, as if it were about to melt with the deliciousness.

For three whole minutes, Xiao Letian didn't come to his senses. When he opened his eyes again, he found the fat owner kneeling on the ground, sweating profusely and apologizing.

"Forgive me, sir. Next time, I will definitely get you white bear paws, or at least authentic black bear paws from the deep forests of Northeast China. Today was too rushed..."

"Huh?" Xiao Letian was stunned. I was just savoring it, why did you kneel down? Wait! From what you said, the bear paws I ate weren't the best, there are even better ones? Oh, they say that ancient times were resource-poor, but that's only relative to the poor. For the rich, the feudal dynasty was a paradise.

By the late Qing Dynasty, the concept of hierarchy was deeply ingrained. Even Shi Dakai only ate and lived with the soldiers during wartime. In peacetime, his life was extremely luxurious.

In the eyes of the ancients, being ennobled as a king was already an unattainable heavenly being. Xiao Letian, who could sit on equal terms with the Wing King, was naturally of noble status. In the