Chapter 54: Gifts are not easy to accept
Even in Dayan, people still visit relatives to pay New Year's greetings during the Spring Festival.

On the second day of the Chinese New Year, Li Yuan first took his sons to the Prince of Wei's Palace. Because the Princess of Wei was Li Yuan's aunt, she was already the oldest elder in the Li family.

However, he just kowtowed to the old prince and princess, said a few words, and then left. After all, the Prince of Wei's Mansion still had to entertain guests from the royal family today.

The old princess was very happy, and the great aunt even asked the younger generations of the Li family to come back later.

Afterwards, the elder brother Li Xiaoyan took several younger brothers to the Dou family to wish their uncles a happy new year.

On the third day of the New Year, the three elder brothers went to their parents-in-law's house respectively, while their brother-in-law Chai Rong brought their eldest sister back to pay New Year's greetings to their father-in-law Li Yuan. Also coming with them was their seven-year-old eldest nephew Chai Hao, and their three-year-old youngest nephew Chai Zhao, who might have played too wildly during the New Year and caught a cold, so he did not come.

Starting from the fourth day of the New Year, Li Yuan had to go to court, while his brothers continued to visit relatives from his sister-in-law's family.

Li Yuanhui was alone at home, enjoying a rare moment of quiet time, so when he had nothing to do, he would take his younger brother, the fifth brother Li Zhiji, to the small martial arts field in the mansion to practice archery.

Li Yuanhui boasted that he was the last in both civil and military skills at home, compared with his three older brothers.

In fact, compared with other noble sons of the same age, he was quite brave and strong. He could use spears on horseback and was also proficient in archery.

The arrow that shot and killed Yang Xi certainly had an element of luck, but it was also the muscle memory acquired by the original owner from years of archery practice.

Otherwise, if your arrow goes off target by eight feet, no matter how lucky you are, it will be useless.

So Li Yuanhui's archery skills are actually very outstanding. There is no problem for him to teach his ten-year-old fifth brother Li Zhiji. It is enough for him to play against a diamond team in a gold game.

“Remember, when you draw your bow, have no distractions in your mind. There is only you, the arrow, and the target.”

As he spoke, Li Yuanhui drew his bow and arrow, and the arrow hit the red heart dozens of steps away.

"Fourth brother is good at archery." Li Zhiji shouted excitedly.

"Me? Haha, forget it. Compared to my second brother, I'm far behind. And do you know who is the best archer in our family? It's Aye."

Li Yuanhui was talking to his fifth brother when a steward from the mansion came running over and said, "Silang, there is someone outside the door asking to see you. They say they are from the Zhang family, Marquis of Wucheng, Jiangdu."

Li Yuanhui was a little surprised when he heard this. After thinking about it, he realized which family the Wucheng Marquis Zhang family was. He casually asked the steward: "Does our family have any dealings with the Wucheng Marquis Zhang family?"

The steward shook his head upon hearing this: "There is no communication. And he said he wanted to see Silang."

This steward also had the surname Li and his name was Li Zhong. He was also a member of the Li clan and a descendant of Li Yan's cousins. He was usually in charge of many matters at home, so he naturally knew that the Li family had little dealings with the Zhang family in Yangzhou.

Li Yuanhui thought for a moment and then said, "Everyone who comes to my house is a guest. Please invite them to the front hall of my courtyard."

"it is good."

"Fifth brother, you practice with Han Quan for a while. I'll go and see the visitors."

"Okay, Fourth Brother, just go get busy."

"Ah."

As soon as Li Yuanhui left the martial arts arena, he saw a servant leading Liu Xuanji over. Old Liu was carrying some snacks and dried fruits. Seeing the people, he said excitedly, "Silang, Happy New Year."

"Brother Liu, Happy New Year."

It turned out that today was Liu Xuanji's day off. He was in Chang'an City and had some friendship with the Li family, so he went to ask what gifts to give during the New Year.

I learned that people in Chang'an would bring some snacks and dried fruits when visiting relatives during the New Year. This has been the practice since the previous Wei Dynasty, and giving expensive gifts is not popular.

So I bought a few things and came to Li's house.

The Li family had already instructed that if Liu Xuanji came to their house, he could just take him directly to Silang's courtyard.

When the two met, they naturally greeted each other and exchanged a few pleasantries. Li Yuanhui then instructed the steward to take Liu Xuanji to meet Li Yuan.

On his side, he told Liu Xuanji that there was a guest in the courtyard and asked him to meet Li Yuan before chatting.

Liu Xuanji didn't expect that he could also wish Mr. Tang a happy new year. He would have to brag about it when he returns.

Li Yuanhui returned to his courtyard and as soon as he entered the main hall, he saw Zhang Jian and his group.

I was stunned for a moment, "You are not from that day."

Zhang Jian laughed loudly and said, "Hahaha, Master Li, you are so polite. I didn't come here to ask you for money for clothes."

Li Yuanhui also smiled when he heard this: "Brother Zhang, you are joking. Please come and sit down. Tan'er, have someone serve tea."

The people in Qi County naturally breathed a sigh of relief. They didn't expect that the person Zhang Jian knew was actually Li Yuanhui. They finally found the real boss.

After everyone sat down, Li Yuanhui said, "I didn't expect that Brother Zhang is a disciple of Wucheng Hou Zhang's family. I am sorry for the incident in the West Market, but I won't mention anything petty like compensation. Brother Zhang and the others must stay today and have a drink before leaving. By the way, I haven't asked for your names yet?"

When Li Yuanhui saw Zhang Jian, he felt that he was a living Zhang Fei, a fierce general. He was generous and straightforward, and such a person would surely make a name for himself in troubled times.

The five people traveling together, although a little reserved, all had a murderous aura. Only the oldest one had a fair complexion, but his hands were covered with thick calluses, and he must be a martial artist.

The others were even more sturdy, with broad backs and strong arms, and must have been in the military for many years.

Cui Xiaotong immediately bowed and said, "I am the assistant general of the Judicial Department under the command of Lord Murong of Qi County. I am Cui Xiaotong of Boling and I greet the Marquis of Ye."

"Qin Bogui of Qi County greets the Marquis of Ye."

"Qi County sheep presents fruits to meet the Marquis of Ye."

"Qin Zhongyu from Qi County greets the Marquis of Ye."

"Chen Dengyun from Jingzhao greets the Marquis of Ye."

Several people clasped their fists and saluted. Li Yuanhui also saluted and said, "Heroes, please take a seat. There is no need to be polite."

Everyone sat down again, and Cui Xiaotong got straight to the point and stated his purpose.

"In fact, the five of us came to see Marquis Ye today to ask for something. We are all minor officials under the command of Lord Murong, the governor of Qi County. We came to Chang'an in the name of Lord Murong to mediate the matter of suppressing bandits."

Li Yuanhui asked curiously, "Is the uprising in Qi County also serious?"

Cui Xiaotong smiled bitterly and said, "Marquis Ye, you don't know that it's not Qi County that's causing the chaos, it's the entire Qingzhou that's in chaos, there are refugees everywhere, Lord Murong wants to recruit more troops and forge weapons to quell the rebellion, but he is controlled by Gao Zhendong, the military commander of Qingzhou. With the current Qi County soldiers and civilians, it's really a loss. If the rebellion is allowed to wreak havoc, Lord Murong will be implicated. We are all grateful to Lord Murong for his kindness, and we can't bear to see this, so we ask you to help mediate."

After saying that, several people knelt on the ground.

Li Yuanhui hurriedly helped the man up, then smiled bitterly and said, "My dear heroes, why are you doing this? I am just a general of the Xiaoguo Army. This matter involves Gao Zhendong, and Lord Murong is a royal family member. Not to mention me, even my father cannot intervene. It's not that I don't want to help, but I really don't have the ability to do so."

Cui Xiaotong said, "Marquis Ye, you are too modest. Although you cannot directly intervene in this matter, you are the son-in-law of the emperor. Princess Jinyang and the King of Wu are born from the same mother. Moreover, Lord Murong served as a guard in the palace in his early years. He is familiar with both the King of Wu and the King of Jinyang. So please, Marquis Ye, say a few good words in front of the princess."

After that, Cui Xiaotong winked, and Qin Bogui immediately took out a brocade bag from his arms. Cui Xiaotong took it and opened the brocade bag and took out two beads from it, then put the brocade bag on a cushion and placed the beads on top.

"This is a pearl from the East China Sea. It is a small gift from Lord Murong. I hope Lord Ye can help you."

When Li Yuanhui saw this scene, his brows twisted into a "川" shape. This was the first time in his two lifetimes that someone had given him such a big gift.

But this gift is not easy to accept.

(End of this chapter)