Chapter 216: The New Master of Hidden Dragon

Xiangyi County is a small county with less than a thousand households. After nightfall, the streets were deserted and there was no one to see. Only at the entrance of Qiaojia Inn, the largest county town, was seen walking back and forth in the dark, observing the surroundings. At this time, several horse riders rushed over and dismounted at the entrance of the inn. Several patrolmen hurriedly came up and saluted, "Lord Qi is here!"

A middle-aged man in his fifties nodded and smiled, "Have they all arrived?"

"Everyone has arrived. Except for Chang'an, the others have arrived."

"I know, you patrol well and don't allow anyone to come in!" After the middle-aged man said that, he strode into the inn.

"Huaiyuan is here, everyone is waiting for you."

"I'm late, sorry, are you in better health?"

"It's much better, okay! It's time to have a meeting."

The middle-aged man named Qi Huaiyuan, who is the chief hall of the Han and Tang dynasties in the Jianghuai area. He is also one of the twenty-four members of the core Han and Tang dynasties. This time, he received a secret order and rushed to Xiangyi County to conduct an event that concerns their century-old dream of the Hidden Dragon Society. Qiao Family Inn has been booked by the Hidden Dragon Society. Twenty Hidden Dragon Society members from Suiye and various parts of the Tang Dynasty held their last meeting here. Except for the few officials in the court, the rest of the Hidden Dragon Society members have all arrived. They will decide that a major event that concerns the life and death of the Hidden Dragon Society.

In a confined room, Li Huichun's expression was extremely serious. He glanced at everyone and said, "This time we gathered in Songzhou. This is the first time in our Hidden Dragon Association in nearly ten years. I think everyone already knows the reason. The phoenix-patterned jade pendant is actually on Li Qing'an. He has been wearing it since he was a child. He is very likely to be Li Qi, the eldest son who has been missing for more than 20 years. But this matters is related to whether our Hidden Dragon Association's dream can be realized for a hundred years, so we must be cautious every step."

Speaking of this, he said to a middle-aged man with a beard: "Yun Pei, the Lord Qi has just arrived. You can tell me about the life experience of Li Qing'an you investigated."

Hu Yunpei is the head of the Luoyang branch of the Han and Tang dynasties and one of the members of the Yinlong Association. He nodded and said, "I received an order from Brother Li to investigate Li Qing'an's life experience three months ago. He used all our strength and spent 100,000 yuan. The conclusion was that Li Qing'an was a person of unknown origin, and all his life experiences in the court were fake."

Although everyone has heard a report once, Hu Yunpei's words still caused everyone to sigh in unison. Hu Yunpei took out a slightly yellow document and continued: "This is the original copy of Li Qing'an's military service we took from the Ministry of War. It is the original copy of Li Fei Yuanli, the lord of Sulou Fengzhang Fort, who handled military registration for Li Qing'an in Bahuan City. It contains Li Qing'an's own narrative and his conscription. He said that he was from Luoyang, his ancestral home is Ye County, his grandfather Li Zengyun, his father Li Wenge, who has been practicing martial arts for generations, but we searched all over Luoyang and Ye County.

There are a few Li Zengyun in all the household registration information, but they have no relationship with Li Qing'an, and Li Wenge can't find any of them. In the filing of the Ministry of Personnel, he said that he was a Ye Han man, which was even more nonsense. That was a fake we made for him. This is a question. Secondly, how could he appear in Sulou Fengshi Castle? He said that he followed the Sogdian merchants as guards and was attacked by the Hu people in Tuqi. I checked the records. At that time, no Hu merchants passed by Lingshan within a month, which means he was still lying."

Finally, Hu Yunpei raised a short robe and said, "This is a short robe obtained from Sulou Fengshu Fortress. It was worn by Li Qing'an when he appeared in the Fortress. We obtained it accidentally. This short robe is not a Tang Dynasty item or a Sogdian item. It is exquisitely made and has unknown origin. I have asked many Hu merchants. Some people say it is like an item from the extreme western country. If these clues are combined, I can assert that Li Qing'an is not a Tang Dynasty person, but he is indeed a Han Dynasty person. He joined the army at Sulou Fengshu Fortress, and he definitely did not come from the Tang Dynasty. His life experience is a mystery. I personally support my elder brother's guess. He is very likely a young master who was abducted to the West."

After Hu Yunpei finished speaking, everyone fell into deep thought. Chang Jin, who insisted that Li Qing'an was the eldest son, raised a question, "I heard that Li Qing'an learned Turkic language later, and he didn't understand Sogdian, which is a bit strange."

“It’s not surprising.”

Hu Yunpei smiled and said, "Young Master Feng was abducted to the West since he was a child. It is normal that you can't speak Turkic language. I heard that the West is vast and has many small countries, and does not speak Sogdian language. So we can ask him in person this question, but in addition to this doubt, I can be sure that he is Young Master Feng, and we have the most practical way to confirm it."

Speaking of this, Hu Yunpei looked at Li Huichun, Li Huichun nodded, took out a small crystal bottle from his arms and said, "This is the blood taken from the young master. As long as we drop blood to recognize our relatives, we can know whether they are brothers."

Li Huichun sighed and said, "I originally planned to bring Mr. Wang together, but his physical condition was too poor and he was spending time all the time. He was so ill in Luoyang, so I had to leave him in Luoyang to recuperate."

"That prodigal son is best if he dies!"

Luo Pinfang shouted angrily and stood up and said, "Listen to me, Prince Yin has passed away a hundred years, and Li Shimin's descendants have been deeply rooted in the throne, but Prince Yin's descendants are worse than those of generations. By Li Yan's generation, they are even more unbearable. To be honest, I am already desperate. I feel sad for our ancestors. I think the eighteen families will eventually become a dream. It was not until the phoenix-patterned jade pendant emerged that I suddenly realized that our dream might be realized. Everyone has seen who Li Qing'an is, cut off the killing and swallowing thousands of miles. Only such a person can be descendants of Prince Yin. If it were not for him, when would we have to wait until we hand over this impossible burden to our descendants?"

Luo Pinfang's voice was desolate, full of the bitterness and vicissitudes of the 18 generals for a hundred years. He slowly swept across everyone, and tears were faintly seen in everyone's eyes. He took a deep breath and reached out to Li Huichun, "Brother, give it to me!"

Li Huichun silently handed the crystal bottle containing Li Qi's blood to Luo Pinfang. Luo Pinfang threw a sudden drop on the ground, and a crisp "bang!" sounded, and blood beads splattered everywhere.

"No need to recognize his relatives with blood, he is the young master!"

Nearly a hundred horses suddenly ran out of Qiaojia Inn, and the fierce sound of hooves hit the ground, breaking the quiet night. At the city gate, they bribed the officers guarding the city. The door opened a crack, and the group rushed out of the city gate and rushed towards the south of the city.

Because Xiangyi County was too small, Li Qing'an's team did not enter the city or disturb the government. Instead, they bypassed the county town and continued to move south, stationed in a forest about thirty miles away from the county town. Because the convening time was too short, the canal workers he recruited could not adapt to the high-intensity marching and strict military discipline. They were all exhausted. Once they arrived at the woods, everyone fell asleep and finally buried the pot to make rice. The secret patrol had to be completed by Li Qing'an's personal guards.

In a small tent, Li Qing'an was looking at the letter written by Cui Qiao to his brother Cui Lian with the light. This was a letter that was enough to kill Cui Qiao. In the letter, he actually asked his brother to make a document from the county lord's manor and include the newly occupied 1,000 acres of land in it to cover up his wife's evil deeds in occupying the land of the people. Although the occupation of farmland was done by his wife Xiangyi County Lord, his indulgence of his wife's behavior was not tolerated by his prime minister.

Li Qing'an pondered for a long time. As an emperor, Li Longji would not allow a party to dominate. In history, he used Zhang Yun and Chen Xilie to fight against Li Linfu. When Zhang Yun and Chen Xilie were not Li Linfu's opponents, he used Yang Guozhong to fight. After Li Linfu's death, Yang Guozhong was dominant, and Li Longji used An Lushan to check and balance Yang Guozhong. Although the result of this check and balance was a failure, Li Longji's idea was very clear, that is, to support an important official and also support his opponent. This is the emperor's mind, and it will not change because Yang Guozhong is a relative of the outside world.

Now Yang Guozhong is at its peak, and Li Linfu is in a dilemma. How could Li Longji not want to find someone to check and balance Yang Guozhong? It is not known whether Li Qingan can replace An Lushan as Li Longji's candidate, but he knows that he must do some postures, and even if the princelings counterattack, he must stand up.

Thinking of this, Li Qing'an immediately wrote an impeachment memorial, impeaching Cui Qiao tolerate and hide his wife from embezzling fertile land, and slaughtered the village, and then slapped the evidence of his contract to embezzle the land, and then made Tian Yi's confession together with Cui Qiao's handwritten letter into a bag and handed it to two confidants: "You go to Chang'an quickly and hand the memorial and package to the Censorate."

Two confidants took the order and left. Li Qing'an was about to turn off the lights and rest. At this time, a personal guard ran out and reported: "Eunuch, there are many people coming outside, Li Huichun and others from the Shattered Leaf."

Li Qingan was stunned. Why did Li Huichun run here to find him? He pondered for a moment and said, "Let them come in!"

More than twenty people squeezed into the small tent, which seemed very narrow and embarrassed. He didn't know the other twenty people except Li Huichun, Chang Jin, Luo Pinfang, Song Quanyi and others. They all had serious expressions and looked at Li Qing'an deeply, which made Li Qing'an feel a little uncomfortable. Li Huichun introduced him one by one, "This is Hu Yunpei from the Luoyang Branch of the Han and Tang Dynasties, Qi Huaiyuan from the Jianghuai Branch of the Han and Tang Dynasties, Liu Jin from the Yizhou Branch, Zhao Shujuan from the Jingxiang Branch..." And so on, they were all the leading figures of the Han and Tang Dynasties. Li Qing'an immediately guessed that these were all members of the Yinlong Society. He couldn't help but touched his waist, touched the green phoenix-patterned jade, and smiled and said, "Come and find me, is there anything wrong?"

"Eunuch Li, we want to take a look at the phoenix-patterned jade pendant, but I wonder if it is convenient?"

Li Qing'an had two top-quality jade pieces. One was obtained from Du Bosheng, Yangzhou, and had already given it to Dugu Mingyue as a token of love. The other was the phoenix-patterned jade pendant. He took out the jade pendant and placed it on the table. Li Huichun slowly picked it up. Chang Jin quickly raised the light and everyone surrounded it, staring at the jade with a focused expression. Through the bright light, a phoenix with flapping its wings and flying in front of everyone.

"It's it, it's it!"

Qi Huaiyuan, who had gone to Dashi to look for the eldest son, murmured to himself. He suddenly turned around and looked at Li Qing'an. The more he looked, the more he felt that he was the eldest son he lost back then. He finally couldn't help asking, "Eunuch Li, where did you spend your youth?"

Li Qingan sighed slightly and said, "When I was a teenager, I had been wandering around in the extremely distant West."

"Grandfather, is he really your grandfather?"

"I don't know if it's your own birth. I have followed him since I remember it. In my heart, he is my grandfather."

Li Qing'an looked a little unhappy and asked, "This is my private matter. What are you asking about this?"

Li Huichun quickly apologized: "Stop your anger, this matter is of great importance, so we asked, please forgive me."

He hesitated for a moment and confirmed for the last time: "Can you tell us what the West looks like and what language is spoken?"

Li Qing'an knew better than anyone else about what this group of people was doing. From the time he said that the beautiful phoenix-patterned jade was worn since he was a child, he knew that today's situation would come sooner or later, but he didn't expect it to happen in a small county in Songzhou.

At first, when he heard Feng Yu's origin, he had a thought of impersonating the name in his heart. At that time, it was more because the Han and Tang Dynasties' strong financial resources and local forces made him feel moved. This idea was vague at first, but when he was deprived of the Beiting Jiedushi and was thrown into prison, he finally realized that no matter how skilled the power was, the absolute imperial power of Li Longji, only strong strength was the fundamental guarantee that Li Longji dared not touch him. For this reason, he needed an identity, and Li Jiancheng's descendants might be the best cover. He made this decision while in prison.

Li Qing'an waved his hand and asked his personal guard to go down. This time he said slowly: "There is the same empire in the West, the Byzantine Empire to the north, and the sea to the west. The locals call it the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean is Egypt to the south, and the territory of the Great Food. The north are dozens of small countries, the Frankish Kingdom and the Lombard Kingdom. I have lived in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom since I was a child, which was an island country."

Speaking of this, Li Qing'an took out a piece of paper, wrote down a few lines of English, read it fluently, and smiled at a group of stunned Hidden Dragons and said, "It means I am from the Eastern Tang Empire. My name is Li Qing'an. I am very happy to see you."

Li Huichun looked at several people, and he had no objection anymore. He knelt down, and the twenty members of the Hidden Dragon Society in the tent knelt down. Li Qingan was shocked and quickly helped him up, "What are you doing? Come here quickly!"

"Young Master, please accept our worship!"

"You made a mistake." Li Qingan said a little unhappy: "I am not your Li Yi, and I don't remember my home in Saiye. Please get up!"

Everyone was reluctant to get up, Qi Huaiyuan said with tears in his eyes: "Young Master, I took you to watch the lights back then and lost. You were only three years old back then, and you may not remember it, but I recognized you at a glance, and this piece of jade. Who isn't you?"

Li Qing'an didn't say anything for a long time, and finally he sighed slightly and said, "I am Li Qing'an. This is the name my grandfather gave me, not Li Feng."

Li Huichun reacted very quickly and immediately responded: "Young Master, it doesn't matter what your name is. What matters is that you are the lord of our Yinlong Society, the descendant of Prince Yin, and the hope we have been looking forward to for a hundred years. If you want to call Li Qing'an, there will be no Li Qi in the world."

Li Qingan still shook his head and rejected them again.

"Your master is Gongzi Yan. If you say that, he should be my brother. He is the heir of Dragon Pattern Baoyu. I hope you can assist him in something big. I don't want to hurt him because of me."

"no!"

Luo Pinfang shouted angrily, "That little bastard is not worthy of being our lord, nor is he worthy of being the descendant of Prince Yin. We can only die after him. It is just because you have lost since childhood that I was forced to assist him. Now that you are back, he should stand aside."

Luo Pinfang was so angry that he drew his sword, crossed his neck, glared at Li Qing'an and said, "If the young master doesn't agree, I will commit suicide in front of you."

Under Luo Pinfang's guidance, the others drew their swords and crossed their necks, and said in unison: "If the young master doesn't agree, we will commit suicide in front of you."

Li Qingan stomped his feet in a hurry and said, "It's not that I agreed, but I think you are a bit hasty. Just a piece of jade, I will determine that I am a young master. What if the young master comes back in the future, how should you face it?"

“This is simple!”

Luo Pinfang stroked his index finger on the sword, and blood suddenly surged out. He said with a high voice: "A real man dares to do it, and since we believe that you are the eldest son, we will never regret it. Today I swear with blood that Li Qing'an is the young master, and the lord of the Yinlong Society!"

Everyone also cut their fingers and sweared to identify Li Qing'an. Li Qing'an then said helplessly: "Okay! Since you must recognize me as Mr. Qi and the Lord of the Hidden Dragon Society, I will let it go."

When everyone heard that he finally agreed, they cheered excitedly, scaring Li Qing'an's personal guards rushed in. Li Qing'an waved his hand and asked them to retreat, and said to everyone: "But I have an ugly saying in front of you. I am not a puppet like Master Yan. If I were asked to be the lord of the Hidden Dragon Society, I am afraid that your good days will end."

At present, the head of the Yinlong Society was Li Huichun. Seeing that Li Qing'an was skillful, he forced everyone to make a bloody oath and blocked all the retreats, he couldn't help but exclaim. However, when he mentioned Li Huan as a puppet, he couldn't help but feel a little worried. He sighed and said, "Young Master doesn't know anything. In fact, the power of the Yinlong Society has always been in the hands of the descendants of Prince Yin. It's just that the first lord died early, and Prince Huang really couldn't take on this important task, so we had to discuss it. But the young master's talent and courage are a hundred times better. Recovering the Shattered Leaf makes us convinced, and we will naturally absolutely obey the order of the young master."

As he said that, he took out the dragon-patterned jade pendant and respectfully handed it to Li Qing'an, "Please accept it!"

"You guys... it's fine!"

Li Qingan took the jade pendant and ordered: "Okay then! Li Huichun and Chang Jin stay for the time being, and the others retreated outside the tent to wait!"

Although Li Qing'an made them go out in a tone that was not to be disobedient, everyone was extremely pleased. This was the one who could do great things. Back then, the first lord discussed everything with them. Now Li Yan acted even more at their faces. It seemed respectful, but it disappointed them. What they wanted was the master who could realize the dream of his ancestors, not the weak and useless person. At this moment, they were extremely happy in their hearts, agreed in unison, and retreated.

Everyone stepped back, and Li Qingan smiled bitterly and said to Li Huichun and Chang Jin: "You have hurt me!"

Chang Jin didn't understand what he meant, so he asked quickly: "Where do you start with this?"

"The dream of the Yinlong Society is to realize the unfinished career of Prince Yin, that is, to push Prince Yin's descendants to the throne, but Prince Yin's descendants do not live long. It can be seen that this is against the will of heaven. Now you let me realize your dream. Isn't this harmful to me?"

Chang Jin said solemnly: "Young Master, don't say that. You are the descendant of Prince Yin. You are the responsibility of inheriting the will of your ancestors. How can you reject it because you are afraid of death!"

Li Huichun next to him stroked his beard and smiled: "Young Master is actually worried that the emperor today will know!"

Li Qingan raised his thumb and smiled, "Sir, it's really amazing. I guessed it right. I'm really worried that the emperor knows that if he knows that Prince Yin's descendants are still alive, he will take him instead. Do you think I have a good life?"

"Please rest assured that this is something that has been passed down for four generations of our Hidden Dragon Society. It has always been the top secret and will never be revealed. The identity of the Hidden Dragon Society has been the highest secret of the Hidden Dragon Society from now on. Except for the twenty-four people of our Hidden Dragon Society, no one will know about it anymore."

"What about young master? If he knew he had been replaced by me, it would be hard to guarantee that he would not report it. You should know that he is simple-minded and can do anything to retaliate against me."

Li Huichun immediately smiled and said, "Young Master, please rest assured. Our Hidden Dragon Society has existed for a hundred years because of the strict confidentiality system. Youth Master does not know your true identity, and we have never planned to tell him. Moreover, the wife is also your biological mother, so we will not tell her because we are worried that she will leak it to the second Master. However, please return to Saiye as soon as possible and worship the spiritual position of Prince Yin. Only then can you officially become the lord of the Hidden Dragon Society and become the descendant of Prince Yin."

Li Qingan nodded and sighed: "I don't want to go back, but the time has not come."

Li Huichun and Chang Jin looked at each other and said in unison: "I wonder what time the young master needs?"

Li Qingan pondered for a moment and said with some concern: "Gao Xianzhi is going to launch the Tochari Battle. I am very worried about the situation of Broken Ye. Dumozhi is not dead. I am worried that he will collude with the cannibals to attack Broken Ye, so I hope that Broken Ye's Han people will temporarily retreat to Beiting."

Li Huichun was shocked and quickly stood up and said, "Abbas has replaced the white-clothed food and is stationed in Khorasan to suppress the uprising of the Ali faction. If Gao Xianzhi fights Tocharo, Abbas will definitely send troops. The young master's speculation is entirely possible. We will rush back to Shuye."

"Okay, you guys go back immediately!"

The people from the Hidden Dragon Society left, Li Qing'an paced in the woods with his hands behind his back, and the golden moonlight penetrated through the woods, dyeing the treetops a mysterious luster. Li Qing'an looked up at the bright moonlight. He thought about his future generations. As time went by, he gradually forgot about the future generations. Many past events became blurred. On the contrary, these years in the Tang Dynasty were extremely clear in his mind.

Sometimes when he wakes up at night, he has an illusion, was he traveling through time to later generations, or did he come to the Tang Dynasty, and Zhuang Sheng Xiaomeng is confused about butterflies, did Zhuangzi become butterflies, or did the butterflies become Zhuangzi?
Chapter completed!