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Chapter 65: The Downfall of the Eunuch

  Chapter 65: The Downfall of the Eunuch

  The accountant behind him couldn't help but admire Li Meng's calm demeanor, thinking to himself that Li Erlang was indeed no ordinary person, able to remain so composed in the face of such great wealth.

  Li Meng stopped for a moment, then continued to walk forward slowly, looking like he was indeed unaffected by the news. The salt dings behind him were silently following, these salt dings had been trained and battled, they were good warriors, but not excellent bodyguards.

  However, Li Meng was not worried about encountering any outstanding assassins, because in Jining City, the so-called "Lao Qing Yan" matter was a tacit understanding among everyone, and no one would mention it, because everyone had made a fortune from it, and no one wanted to cut off their own wealth.

  The best place in Jining City is still the canal dock, not to mention the wine shops on both sides of the riverbank, but the painted boats on the river are the most attractive scenery.

  Although it was approaching the end of the year, the riverbank was still filled with the sweet songs of orioles and swallows, a scene of luxury and beauty. As Li Meng and his companions strolled along, they too were drawn in by this scenery. In the chilly air, there was a faint scent of cosmetics and fine wine, accompanied by bursts of laughter and chatter that occasionally reached their ears.

  Li Meng smiled slightly, gazing at the scenery in the river. The turtle dove mother on the small boat by the shore looked at Li Meng's demeanor and thought he was a wealthy merchant out for a pleasure trip, so they all tried to entice customers for their own families. They didn't realize that Li Meng was just smiling as he looked at the river, without any intention of getting off the boat.

  The tortoise and the mother felt quite bored, wanting to mock and ridicule, but seeing the guards behind Li Meng, not one dared to speak up.

  People all say that the Qinhuai River is a ten-mile scenic area, but this section of the Jining cargo dock facing south is probably no more than three miles. Li Meng strolled slowly and leisurely, taking almost half an hour to leave this area. Further south lies the anchorage for cargo ships overnight, which appears very quiet at this time.

  Strolling here, there are no lights or crowds, it's very quiet, and the chill of winter night is even more severe. The accountant behind him can't bear it either. Just as he was about to speak up and advise Li to go back and rest since it's getting late.

  Suddenly, a faint cry came from ahead...

  The distant sound of joyful songs and laughter from the painted boats on the river can still be heard, intermittent and fleeting, which instead highlights the quietness of this place. This is a place for storing goods, with only the wind lanterns on the cargo ships' heads flickering there. In such a place, suddenly passing through a faint cry, it's indeed a bit eerie.

  The account gentleman who followed Li Meng's body shook all over, almost turning his head and running away. Li Meng was unmoved, but instead looked in that direction. In the darkness, nothing could be seen except for the lanterns at the bow of the ship.

  The gentleman in the account room said with a trembling voice:

  "Sir... sir, I heard a woman crying by the water's edge. It's an ill omen. Let's return to the guest house as soon as possible?"

  Li Meng was quiet for a moment and then said with a sigh:

  "It sounds like an old lady crying, who would still be there crying at this late hour?"

  Just as Mr. Zhang was about to persuade him to go back, he saw Li Mengxing's enthusiastic wave of his hand and shouted loudly:

  "Let's go! Let's take a look."

  Li Meng, a soldier from the modern era, had always been an atheist. Moreover, with so many armed men around him, even if there were any strange occurrences, he could handle them. The young salt carriers following him were also fearless due to their numbers. The tent master had no choice but to follow along with a bitter face.

  It was easy to find the source of the crying in the quiet night, and soon I saw a person lying on the riverbank with a hoarse voice crying there. It should have been crying for a long time. Listening to this sound, it should be an old lady. Li Meng ordered Yan Ding to light the lantern with a fire stick, then picked it up and walked over.

  "What's wrong, Auntie? Why are you crying?"

  Li Meng's voice startled the old woman, who had not expected someone to ask from behind. Her voice came to an abrupt halt, her whole body trembling slightly as she slowly turned around.

  This sudden movement didn't matter, but Li Meng was startled and almost dropped the lantern in his hand. However, the light also shone on the other person's face.

  He wasn't an old woman at all, but a man, yet there was no sign of whiskers on his wrinkled face. In modern times, many elderly people shave their whiskers clean and plain, but in this era, the elders' whiskers were always trimmed and never shaved. After adapting to this era, it's hard not to feel strange when seeing something unusual for the first time. The robes he wore didn't look like ordinary clothes either. This strange man had a sorrowful expression on his face, with tear stains all over, and was staring at Li Meng in surprise.

  Li Meng suddenly heard a loud shout behind him, his salted hand was arguing with someone else, but both sides were in low voices, it must not be something big, looking at the strange face in front of him, Li Meng calmly said:

  "What's wrong with this... fellow? Why so sad?"

  Looking at Li Mengwen's gentle and polite questioning, the man's astonished expression changed back to despair and sorrow, weakly shaking his head and saying:

  "Mind your own business."

  Looking at the old face in front of him, Li Meng suddenly thought of his parents in modern times again. He remembered that his father also shaved his beard clean, and he felt a bit sentimental.

  He took a step forward and helped the person kneeling on the ground up, smiling and saying:

  "It's cold and windy today, kneel on the ground, don't hurt your muscles."

  Li Meng's enthusiasm eased the old man's expression, but he just sighed and said nothing. At this moment, Mr. Zhang from behind came running over and whispered a few words in Li Meng's ear.

  It's really beyond imagination, the old man kneeling down is actually a famous eunuch, who claims to be out of the palace to purchase green salt. Due to the great chaos in Henan and Shaanxi, they naturally couldn't go there, so they had to head south along the Grand Canal to see if the major merchant warehouses had any goods. They didn't know that Jining was experiencing this turmoil.

  It wasn't until he arrived in Jining that he learned of this matter, and the old eunuch was still surprised, thinking it was easy to come by, but who would have thought that the price of Qingyan would skyrocket, everyone kept it in their hands for appreciation, unwilling to sell, where could he buy it.

  I casually found an inn to stay in, and went out on the street during the day to look for a seller. Unexpectedly, the money and silver that were placed in the store were stolen by thieves.

  This old eunuch didn't even have the travel expenses to return to the capital, and was truly in a desperate situation. The two small servants who had left the capital with him also took advantage of the chaos to slip away. Staying at that inn, neither the food nor the lodging fees could be paid for, as there was no silver money available. The innkeeper and his staff came every day to press for payment, as they too were in the business of making a living. Apart from his waist plaque, all the documents had disappeared, and going to the government office to plead his case also yielded no response, truly pushing him to the brink of despair.

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