Chapter 6

Here is the Tang Dynasty! Not in a dream!

Li Yuanxing stood in front of the tent, lost in thought. Two young maids immediately ran to prepare washing water and to have the kitchen prepare breakfast!

Old Wolf walked up to Li Yuanxing and said in a moderate voice, "Sir! Yesterday, five families were killed in Chang'an. The king wants to be a sage; these people must die! The general sent someone to tell you to stay here with peace of mind. Chang'an is too chaotic, with too much blood!" After saying this, he took out several knives: "The general said you don't have any weapons. Choose one that suits you."

Tang knives! They should be Tang knives.

Li Yuanxing knew that Old Wolf would never call these knives Tang knives. Poor knowledge of history is truly a sad thing.

How many days have I been in the Tang Dynasty? Li Yuanxing was recalling, seemingly struck by lightning in the forest he managed at night. Then, when he woke up, he didn't know how much time had passed.

"Can I keep all these knives?" Li Yuanxing liked these knives. Compared to Japanese knives, these were the real deal.

Old Wolf didn't say a word and stuffed all four knives into Li Yuanxing's arms.

"Can you teach me how to use the knife?" Li Yuanxing made another request.

This time, Old Wolf ignored Li Yuanxing and turned to leave. Li Yuanxing felt a wave of sadness, realizing he was being looked down upon by a household guard. It's hard to get by in the Tang Dynasty without status.

Just as Li Yuanxing was feeling melancholic, Old Wolf came back.

A log, about a foot thick and six feet long, with one end sharpened, was placed in front of Li Yuanxing.

"Practice your arm and waist strength!" Old Wolf swung his knife a few times, threw the knife to Li Yuanxing, and then ignored him. Building the manor wasn't a big deal, but it wasn't a small matter either. Many things needed Old Wolf's personal attention at the beginning.

Li Yuanxing had breakfast, which was actually already noon.

Holding the knife, Li Yuanxing became increasingly excited, dreaming of becoming a powerful swordsman.

Li Yuanxing swung the knife, excitedly, sweating profusely! Old Wolf couldn't bear to watch, and the surrounding soldiers didn't dare to look, fearing they would laugh and get beaten by Old Wolf.

Only Li Yuanxing was excitedly shouting, chopping the log with his knife. It seemed he wouldn't stop until the log was cut in half.

Tired, he rested against the log, thinking of his brothers who used to hang out on the streets with him. He also thought about coming to the Tang Dynasty, his brother's uncompleted tomb, and whether the forest he managed would be taken over by others.

Tired, he fell asleep. When he opened his eyes again, there were no Tang soldiers, no Old Wolf!

"Brother Xing! Brother Xing!" Voices called out from far away.

Li Yuanxing stood up, now dressed in Tang Dynasty clothing, with a small wooden table beside him. On the table were two earthenware bowls and a lacquered wooden wine bowl. In his hands was the Tang knife he had been practicing with.

Several figures rushed to Li Yuanxing, surrounding him and arguing, "Brother Xing, you went to film a movie."

The one speaking was Little Monkey, a thin and small man surnamed Hou. He was the one who did all the tomb-robbing jobs. Back then, Li Yuanxing could make a fortune by digging graves. In Xi'an, digging a hole randomly, at least three out of ten would contain some ancient artifacts.

Little Hou was slapped hard by Wang Wu, the best fighter in Li Yuanxing's small team.

Wang Wu shouted at Little Hou, "Bullshit, Brother Xing went to film a movie in one night!"

"I did a job, but the other party had too much influence. I suffered a bit, but I got a chance to cooperate. Let's not waste time, let's go to the store. Let Old Flower appraise it, then exchange some money. If we spend enough, we can heal Little Seven's injury. My brother's tomb must be built, which also requires money!"

Li Yuanxing had come to his senses. Even if he considered the great emperor Li Shimin as his brother, what was more bizarre?

Little Seven's injury was for the group; no matter how much money it cost, he had to heal him.

His brother's tomb must be built. His brother's death was not only a regret for Li Yuanxing but also because his brother looked like Li Shimin. Spending money to smooth things over was necessary. Building a tomb might be illegal, but building a family shrine was not. Placing his brother's ashes in the family shrine was also not illegal.

The last of the three who came to find Li Yuanxing was Liangzi.

His full name was Zhuge Hua, but everyone called him Zhuge Liang, then just Liangzi.

Liangzi was the only college student, but he didn't have the intelligence of Zhuge Liang. Perhaps because the old Zhuge was too smart, the younger generations weren't as intelligent. Liangzi was somewhat dull and rigid.

Li Yuanxing's small team had some other members, but they joined later and were not as close as the four of them. The four of them had grown up together, fought together, bled together, been hospitalized together, and been in jail together. Little Seven was a righteous person, and Li Yuanxing would be righteous to him.

Back home, Li Yuanxing changed back into modern clothes and then remembered that he had left his wallet in the Tang Dynasty.

"Liangzi, use your ID to open an account, a public account for everyone. The things I have with me are worth about a million. Money is a bastard; spend it and earn it again." Li Yuanxing's generous words made Liangzi pause for a moment before muttering, "So much money!"

What Liangzi meant by "so much money" was not that Li Yuanxing had a lot of money, but that the amount was too much for him to handle.

"Brothers for life!" Li Yuanxing patted the three of them, wrapping the three bowls and the knife together: "Let's go to the store!"

The four brothers owned three stores. Li Yuanxing had a 40% share, and the other three each had a 20% share. One store was a bar that opened at night. Another was a night market stall managed by Little Hou. The last one was a small shop in the antique market, always dealing in stolen goods.

The store Li Yuanxing was going to was this one, open during the day and receiving stolen goods at night.

At this point, Li Yuanxing had the idea of legitimizing this store. Originally, with his economic capabilities and social connections, it was absolutely impossible. But now, with the backing of Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty, what was impossible?

In the store, the manager was an old man called Old Flower, over sixty years old but very energetic. He lived and ate in the store, and his greatest pleasure was receiving stolen goods at night. When he saw good things, he could be happy for half a month, and even a low-end Xifeng wine could taste like Maotai to him.

"Get Old Flower a case of good wine!" Li Yuanxing said to Liangzi while Wang Wu was driving.

"Two, two hundred!"

Two hundred for a case, six bottles. For Old Flower, this wasn't bad wine.

This time, Li Yuanxing shook his head: "One thousand five!"

Liangzi didn't ask why, nor did he need to. They were brothers; who wouldn't trust each other? They found a tobacco and alcohol store that Wang Wu collected protection money from and bought a case of wine for one thousand three.

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