I am also waiting for the hero to usurp the throne today [Transmigration Book]

When Huo Caiyu woke up again, it was already the second day.

A day and a night of exercises to heal his injuries allowed him to recover a lot of physical strength, and he was able to stand up without Li Jinyu's support.

It's just that the stomach is beating like a drum, and food is urgently needed.

Li Jinyu had expected it a long time ago, and soon brought a bowl of thickly boiled eight-treasure porridge.

Unlike the white porridge that was almost clear water before, this bowl of porridge contains rice, beans, and wheat, and it's full of weight. Huo Caiyu's face is flushed with just one bowl.

Huo Caiyu wanted Li Jinyu to eat first, but Li Jinyu shrugged easily: "I've already eaten."

After being able to walk around, Huo Caiyu stepped out of old man Zhang's room and started chatting with people in the village.

What surprised him was that the villagers who were wary of their arrival yesterday actually became more gentle and friendly today.

During the conversation, Huo Caiyu learned that their village has no name, and there are only these families who have lived here for generations; the popularity was quite strong before, and every household had at least young and middle-aged people, but now there are only old, young, women and children left.

Huo Caiyu picked up an ax to help the peasant woman chop firewood. Hearing this, she was a little strange: "Those young adults..."

"Isn't it that I was dragged into corvee by the court?" The weather-stained peasant woman rubbed the hemp rope, paused in her hands, and sighed, with a hint of despair in her voice. There were rebels who rebelled, temporarily added military service, were taken away, and have not come back. Old man Zhang’s daughter-in-law later got sick and died without medical treatment... This is the way of the world!"

The ax in Huo Caiyu's hand sank slightly, and his heart felt heavy.

General Meng Chilang went to the Southwest to suppress the rebellion years ago, but he has not returned, so these people must have gone there.

Because of his father, Huo Caiyu has a better understanding of the situation in the army.

The Dadi Dynasty is now riddled with holes, and the army is no exception, and it is common to see empty pay.It would be fine if it was in peacetime, but there was an emergency at the border, and there was a rebellion in the southwest, and the moths in the army couldn't make up for the vacancies, so they temporarily pulled the common people to make up the numbers.

He saw that old man Zhang had only one grandson in his family, and wondered where old man Zhang's son and daughter-in-law had gone, but he didn't expect to be dragged into corvee service.

"I heard from your brother that you are going to the county government to visit relatives?" The peasant woman suddenly changed the subject, "Listen to my aunt's advice, get on the road early, don't delay."

Huo Caiyu was startled: "Why?"

"It's not time to collect the spring tax. You two young adults, the tax officer doesn't care where you are from, just drag you into corvee service!"

Huo Caiyu frowned, after chopping the last piece of firewood, he stopped leaning on the axe.

"Thank you little brother for your help." The peasant woman put down the hemp rope and said with a smile, "I will trouble you to take this ax to Mrs. Liu's house later."

There is only one ax in their village.

"It's not that I said, your brother treats you really well." The peasant woman gathered the firewood and babbled, "There is no food in our village, so he goes from door to door begging for some rice, and finally mixes it up and cooks you a bowl of porridge." ...Tsk, you two don't look alike, are you cousins? That little brother looks good, and he looks good when he smiles, I don't know which girl will be so lucky in the future..."

Huo Caiyu could no longer hear the words that followed.

——For him... His Majesty went door to door begging for rice?

No wonder what kind of rice and peas are mixed together in that bowl of porridge!

And after listening to Mrs. Zhao's words, she only cooked one bowl?

Didn't His Majesty eat anything?

Huo Caiyu's eyes flickered, and he turned around suddenly, wanting to see his Majesty.

At this moment, he suddenly heard Li Jinyu's distant shout: "Let go of my chicken!"

……

Opposite Li Jinyu was a beggar-like man with a black body and a limp on one leg, holding on to a struggling hen and not letting go.

It is said to be a hen, but it is actually extremely small, as thin and meatless as everyone else in the village.

Li Jinyu glared at him angrily.

He finally reached a deal with this sister-in-law surnamed Liu, and bought a chicken to supplement Huo Caiyu's body, but was snatched away by this cripple who jumped out suddenly!

Although he was very afraid of dealing with people, it was to nourish Huo Caiyu, the future emperor and lord of the world, how could he be snatched away!

If it wasn't for seeing how skinny this guy is and his legs are not flexible, he would have started beating him a long time ago!

"I don't want to eat this chicken and I can't keep it, so why not just give it to me!" The cripple sneered, "You rich young masters can't afford to spend money to buy it?"

"you--"

Huo Caiyu arrived at this time, frowned slightly when he saw the situation on the field, and stood in front of Li Jinyu to protect him first.

Seeing Huo Caiyu who was full of momentum, the cripple showed a slight fear on his face, he limped back two steps, intending to leave the chicken and escape, but he was reluctant to part with the food he got.

Huo Caiyu didn't want to take any action against such a lonely person, so he said first: "Let it go."

Since His Majesty wanted it, he would naturally help His Majesty keep it!

The cripple gritted his teeth, and was about to say something, when suddenly a middle-aged woman came out from behind the thatched hut, her eyebrows raised upside down: "Lime Qian! You came to my old lady's house by stealing chickens? Get out, get out! Bad luck!"

The cripple retorted: "Your house is only worth a little chicken, so I'm here to help you deal with it!"

"Who wants you to deal with it!" Mrs. Liu pointed out her waist, "My chicken is clean, and it's dirty if you touch it. Take the chicken and get out!"

Li Jinyu couldn't help but yelled, "That's my chicken!"

Mrs. Liu turned her head to comfort him: "Don't worry, little brother, sister-in-law will give you another one, don't pay attention to that bastard."

Qian Laizi sneered, and limped away with the chicken.

Li Jinyu felt a little strange: They obviously had the upper hand, so they just snatched the chicken. Although Mrs. Liu was scolding, she still sent the chicken away...Why?

After Qian Laizi left, the anger on Mrs. Liu's face immediately dissipated, replaced by a somewhat helpless expression, she turned her head to look at Li Jinyu: "I made you laugh, let's get another chicken and go."

Li Jinyu muttered unconvinced: "Sister-in-law, there are only three in your family, and if we take another one, there will be only one left."

"That can't be helped." Mrs. Liu sighed, "Anyway, it won't last long, so it's a good deed."

Taking the chicken again, Mrs. Liu enthusiastically helped to remove the feathers and put it on the pot to cook. While waiting for the soup to boil, she talked about Qian Zizi again: "He is also a poor man. Tax, his family couldn't pay the tax, all the valuable things in the house were taken away, and the worthless ones were smashed to pieces, and he and his father were forced to serve in the military. His father was so cruel that he broke his leg directly. The official didn't want him, so he took his parents away together."

Li Jinyu was stunned when he heard that.

"Later, his legs didn't work well, and he went out to find his parents while begging for food. He went to the county and came back like this." Aunt Liu sighed and added a fire to the stove. On the road, he was insulted by those goddamn insults, his father protected his mother and was beaten to death, and his mother simply committed suicide."

Huo Caiyu lowered his head and clenched his hands.

"You guys should leave earlier, you should be children of a good family, stay at home and don't come out." Aunt Liu persuaded again, "The tax officer will come to collect taxes in a few days."

Li Jinyu said in a daze: "It's not that I heard that there is a new policy..."

"What new policy?" Mrs. Liu gave a "pooh" disdainfully, "Those dog officials are just trying to find a way to squeeze the last bit of oil from us."

Before they could say anything, there was a burst of shouting outside, followed by a high-pitched and sharp shout: "The spring tax is collected! Pull out all the valuables at home!"

A long-standing panic suddenly appeared on Mrs. Liu's face, she stood up abruptly, looked around, then looked at Huo Caiyu and Li Jinyu, and gritted her teeth: "Hurry up and hide in the tank!"

Neither of them moved.

"Hurry up!" Aunt Liu was about to jump in anxiety, "The tax officer doesn't care if you are from here or not!"

Huo Caiyu raised his head again, his brown eyes were filled with forcibly suppressed flames.

He turned his head to look at Li Jinyu: "Your Majesty... you can rest in the room."

After speaking, Huo Caiyu stepped out directly.

Li Jinyu froze for a moment, of course he refused to be obedient, and followed Huo Caiyu out the door.

It turned out to be a tax official outside.

A middle-aged man wearing a blue scarf looked arrogantly at the people in the village, and said with disgust: "Okay, don't be naughty, just pay the taxes—food and iron."

He took out a note from his sleeve and read it over and over again. Poll tax, spring plow tax, young crop tax, field tax... After reading all kinds of taxes, all the people in the village looked ashen.

There are more tax items this year.

According to this tax amount, their whole village can't pay for it even if they sell pots and irons!

Li Jinyu was a little surprised and couldn't believe his ears.

In the long list of tax laws listed by the tax official just now, even raising chickens has to pay taxes according to the number of chickens!

No wonder Mrs. Liu said that those chickens can't be kept!

Three or four yamen servants in the back were pulling a large cart, waiting to put things on it.

Old man Zhang stepped forward with a bitter face: "My lord, I paid the tax at the end of last year, and I really don't have any food left now..."

"No surplus food?" The official squinted at him and sneered, "If there is no surplus food, then hand it over to him! It doesn't matter if you don't need any money."

He glanced over and landed on Huo Caiyu and Li Jinyu, his eyes lit up, "Hey, there are two more people? Coincidentally, you haven't served corvee, have you? Take them away!"

Old man Zhang was shocked: "Your Excellency, these two people are just passing by here..."

The official lost his patience and raised his hand to slap him: "Why do you talk so much, you old man? If you talk too much, you will be dragged away together!"

It's just that before the slap fell, it was firmly caught by a hand.

Huo Caiyu pinched the tax officer's arm expressionlessly, and before the tax officer could react, he gently pulled and pulled him out of the joint.

Although he has not healed from serious injuries, it is not a problem to teach this kind of wicked person who is vain and only bullies the people.

The tax officer immediately howled like a pig, threatening intermittently: "You, who are you... How dare you hinder the court from collecting taxes..."

"It doesn't matter who I am, I just want to ask you, didn't the imperial court issue an order that Qingshui County's tax laws will be enforced in accordance with one whip?" Huo Caiyu's voice was faintly angry, "How dare you resist the order?"

"What a whip..."

The tax officer's eyes turned wildly, and Huo Caiyu saw through just as he was about to deny it. With some force in his hand, he shouted, "Tell the truth!"

The tax officer let out another howl of pain, and then said truthfully: "There is indeed such a thing in the new policy of the imperial court... It requires Qingshui County to only accept cash in the tax law... But, but how can anyone in such a poor place take out cash? The county government is down." Order, if you want us to collect and resell it on your behalf, that is..."

"Nonsense!" Huo Caiyu exerted more force in his hands, "It's not mentioned in the new tax at all! And there are not so many exorbitant taxes!"

"This, I'm a little tax collector, how could I know..." The tax official couldn't stand the pain, begging for mercy and winking at the yamen servants, telling them to act quickly.

Those yamen servants looked at each other in blank dismay, and they all saw the meaning of retreating in each other's eyes.

They are all related households, and they only get into the government servants by flattery and bribery. They are good at drinking flowers and wine, but they are not good at fighting.

The person in front of him looked like a Lianjiazi, his hands were tight, who would go up and ask for trouble?

Huo Caiyu has an excellent memory, not to mention that most of the fines for the New Deal came from him, so he is naturally very clear about the amount of tax that this village should pay.

According to the tax official's collection method, the tax required by the actual whip method is almost ten times higher!

One can imagine where this excess profit went.

The more Huo Caiyu thought about it, the angrier he became, and he wished he could unscrew the tax official's arm.

"This... strong man, since you are passing by here, why bother to meddle in your own business?" The tax official couldn't help threatening, "You must know that the court is not easy to mess with... Ah, it hurts! The strong man spares his life!"

Huo Caiyu suppressed his anger, let go of his hand, and kicked the tax official: "Get lost!"

Only then did the servants come forward to help the tax official up.

The tax officer knew that the trash behind him couldn't beat the man in front of him, so he secretly hated him. He gritted his teeth and wanted to put this man on a wanted warrant when he went back to the county government, and the village's taxes would be doubled!

Seeing that the group was about to leave, Li Jinyu suddenly said, "Wait a minute, I will pay the village tax for them."

All eyes immediately turned to him.

Suddenly surrounded by everyone, Li Jinyu instinctively shrank behind Huo Caiyu, and then reappeared, with two or three more crystal beads in his hand: "Are these enough?"

Huo Caiyu was slightly taken aback, his eyes focused on those beads.

These beads are all black in color and contain gold threads, they are of extraordinary quality at first glance.

The most important thing is that these are exactly the same as those beads in his home!

Those beads and gold cups were inexplicably found in the package after my sister came back from entering the palace last time - so it seems that it is really His Majesty who secretly stuffed my sister with belongings?

When Huo Caiyu was distracted, Li Jinyu had already negotiated with the tax official.

The tax officer could also see that these beads were of extraordinary value, many times greater than his goal of collecting taxes this time, and if he sold them, he could make a huge profit again!

The pain of the removed arm was instantly overwhelmed by greed.The tax officer took a deep look at Li Jinyu's white and ignorant face, with a smile on the corner of his mouth: "In that case, I will accept it."

After collecting the beads, the tax official gave an officer a cryptic wink.

The guard understood and slipped away quietly.

This Eldest Young Master who doesn't know where he comes from looks quite oily, why not just...

Now they can't beat the Lianjiazi next to him, so they might as well go back and ask for help!

……

After sending the tax officer away, Huo Caiyu discussed with Li Jinyu and planned to go directly to the county government.

According to the news from the tax official, the order given by the county government basically remained the same as the original policy - the problem obviously lay with the county guard.

Huo Caiyu knew in advance that the sheriff of Qingshui County was Prime Minister Ye's cousin, and he was undoubtedly a fan of the prime minister's faction.

The only problem now is...they don't know where to go.

In this era without mobile phones and GS, no one knows exactly where this small village is located in Qingshui County.

Huo Caiyu and Li Jinyu ate a chicken meal under the warm hospitality of the villagers.

The village was really poor, but they still worked hard to collect rice and noodles, and picked the few vegetables in the field, in order to make Huo Caiyu and Li Jinyu who helped them eat better.

Mrs. Liu also killed the remaining chicken.

Before leaving, everyone refused to ask for Li Jinyu's beads as a reward. There was no way, Huo Caiyu secretly left a little bit of silver on the table where they had dinner.

Before leaving the palace, he carried a little silver with him, but not much.

Not long after leaving the village, someone stopped them.

Qian Liezi turned out from behind the tree, still holding the chicken that he had snatched away, he seemed a little timid and said cruelly, "Can you take me with you?"

Li Jinyu was a little surprised: "Take you? Where?"

"Are you going to the county mansion? I know the way."

Huo Caiyu frowned slightly: "What are you going to the county government for?"

Lame Qian gritted his teeth and lowered his voice a bit: "Are you adults from the capital who came to check taxes?"

Li Jinyu's eyes widened immediately: "How do you know?"

Before Huo Caiyu could stop him, he looked at Li Jinyu helplessly.

Li Jinyu reacted belatedly and covered his mouth.

With Li Jinyu's confirmation, Qian Laizi's eyes suddenly shone with hope, and his voice was also full of longing: "When I went to the town to inquire about the news, I heard from the beggars in the town that the imperial court seems to be introducing some new taxes. ; but no one here knows about it at all—you two are dressed in expensive clothes and know about the new tax, you must be the imperial envoys who came to the capital for a private visit!"

Li Jinyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry - this guy must have heard too many stories...but it was a mistake.

Huo Caiyu was silent for a while, and asked, "What do you want?"

"The dog officer killed my parents, I want to kill him to avenge my parents!" The black and thin boy's eyes were slightly red, his hands were clenched tightly, and the chicken he was holding in his hand was pinched, and he yelled "cluck" stand up.

Huo Caiyu looked at him, without showing contempt because he was thin, dirty, and ignorant, and said seriously: "We have something to do, and we won't kill people for you."

There was a clear look of disappointment on Lame Qian's face.

Huo Caiyu continued slowly: "But if the dog officer you mentioned is really guilty of many crimes, the best way is to hand him over to the court's three courts to let him get the retribution he deserves."

Lame Qian lowered his head and sneered: "Officials and officials protect each other, and the emperor doesn't care whether we live or die. Is it useful to hand it over to the court?"

"If you think it's useless, why did you come to us again?"

Lame Qian was silent.A drowning man is willing to do his best if he can grasp a straw.

"Whether it can be done or not, we have to try it." Huo Caiyu said, "If you accept it, we will take you with us; if you don't accept it, we can slowly find the way by ourselves."

Lame Qian obviously hesitated, and after a long time he asked, "Will the imperial court really deal with him?"

"If the evidence is convincing." Huo Caiyu turned his head slightly and glanced at Li Jinyu, who was still a little confused, his eyes softened a lot, and his voice became gentler, "At least I know that the person at the top of the court really cares about the country. .”

Emperor Jingchang's reputation can stop children from crying.Lame Qian didn't quite believe Huo Caiyu's words, but after thinking about it for a while, he nodded cruelly: "Okay, I'll show you the way."

"Before then..." Huo Caiyu looked at him and said slowly, "You need to take a shower first."

……

Qian Laizi blushed and went to the nearby stream to take a bath, while Li Jinyu squatted on the ground, poking the dying chicken curiously.

Huo Caiyu looked at His Majesty's appearance that he had never seen a live chicken before, no matter how he looked at it, he found it interesting, a smile hung on the corner of his mouth for a long time, and suddenly realized that this was a bit strange, so he forced himself to interrupt his state: "Your Majesty, are you hungry? "

His Majesty didn't seem to be eating much.

Li Jinyu froze for a moment, took his attention away from the chicken, and replied, "I'm not hungry...are you hungry?"

"No."

Huo Caiyu opened his mouth just to interrupt his inexplicable strange state, and he was speechless after finishing speaking; Li Jinyu raised his head enthusiastically: "Did you call me Your Majesty just now?"

"……Yes."

"Let's go out, let's not reveal our identity, right? Do you want to use a more common name?"

Huo Caiyu was taken aback.Before he entered the palace, he called His Majesty "Emperor Dog", and he always called him "Your Majesty" when he got along with Li Jinyu, and he hadn't thought of other names.

"How does the minister address His Majesty?"

Li Jinyu thought for a while: "Let's call him 'Li Jinyu'."

"Li" is Di Chao's surname, and "Jinyu" is Li Jinyu's name when he was still a hamster spirit, which can be used as a pseudonym.

"Li Jinyu..." Huo Caiyu chewed on the name, and for some reason felt that the name was very easy to pronounce, and nodded, "Chen... I understand."

Li Jinyu didn't give up when he came up with his own name: "Do you want an alias?"

Huo Caiyu shook his head: "I'm a nobody, so I don't need to be so cautious."

Li Jinyu thought that you, the future emperor, really don't care at all... Your name will become a taboo word in the next dynasty.

It's good not to mention this matter, but as soon as it was mentioned, Huo Caiyu remembered what he heard Li Jinyu call him "Brother Huo" at the old man Zhang's house before, and blurted out: "If you want, you can call me brother on weekdays."

"Brother?" Li Jinyu scratched his chin lightly, and called out cheerfully, "Brother Huo."

The three words "Brother Huo" seemed to have a strange magic power. They came in along Huo Caiyu's ears, fell directly into the softest part of his heart, turned into a clear spring, and rose from the gentle light in his eyes and lips. burst into laughter.

After Li Jinyu finished shouting, he was a little strange: "What are you laughing at? Is it not nice for me to call you like that?"

Huo Caiyu straightened his face slightly, and coughed: "It's nothing."

After a pause, he couldn't help whispering again, "It sounds good."

It's really nice to hear.

At this moment, Lie Qian came back after taking a bath by the stream, and Li Jinyu also shifted his attention. He was a little surprised to find that Lai Qian, who had washed his face, was quite handsome, and he could see the youthful appearance. Smart.

Li Jinyu leaned over to look it up curiously, and said curiously, "You're pretty good-looking."

There are countless good-looking people in the palace, but the lame Qian is too different from his previous dirty appearance.

The smile on the corner of Huo Caiyu's mouth disappeared in an instant, and he didn't know why he was in a much worse mood.

He took a step forward, quietly blocked Li Jinyu's line of sight, turned his head and said, "It's time for us to start—is this road ahead the only way to leave the village? Is there any other way?"

The lame money-washed man seemed to have thinned his face a lot, and his voice was not as sharp as before: "There is a trail, but it will go a little further."

"Take the path."

Li Jinyu was a little strange: "Why don't you take the main road?"

Huo Caiyu looked up at the mountain road, stroked the almost healed wound on his body, his eyes darkened slightly: "Avoid those dirty hyenas."

Now that he is still seriously injured, it is not known how many people the other party has brought; if he is the only one, he is willing to ride through the narrow pass alone, but he wants to protect His Majesty and another person who is handicapped, it is better to bypass them.

Li Jinyu blinked and understood.

He thought for a while, turned to the tree behind the excuse of urinating, and condensed a small amount of spiritual power.

He had put a little breath on those three beads before, which could make him sense the tax collector's position from afar, and he could also use it to cast spells.

Although the ability is very limited, it can temporarily affect those mortals whose bodies have been hollowed out by wine and sex.

……

The tax officer has returned to the county seat and is on business with the county government.

He was confirming the matter of robbing the "Fat Sheep" with the guards on the side, but before he could say a few words, he suddenly fell to the ground with a "gudong", and then laughed stupidly as if he was drunk: "Hehehehe I Let me tell you, I saw with my own eyes the matter of the magistrate and his daughter-in-law picking up ashes..."

The guards on the side were all frightened and dumbfounded, and the faces of several county magistrates' cronies suddenly turned black.

Is this tax collector crazy?Tell the county magistrate's private affairs in public? !

……

A few days later, Qingshui County prefecture.

Qingshui County is located on the bank of the capital, with convenient water and land transportation, it has always been a place of prosperity; as the core of Qingshui County, the county mansion is naturally more prosperous.

The street is full of traffic, and the vendors on both sides are shouting endlessly.Tea shops, brothels, tailor shops, and inns are all available, which is dazzling.

Li Jinyu had never seen such ancient folk life before, and he wanted to look around with great interest, but Huo Caiyu dragged him to the inn to open a room first.

Not enough money, Huo Caiyu opened two rooms and gave one to Qian Laizi, and asked, "What are you going to do? Go back to the village?"

Lame Qian pursed his lips: "I can help you find out the news—the beggars in the county are very well-informed."

Huo Caiyu thought for a while, then nodded: "Then I will trouble you."

Before arriving at the unnamed village, Huo Caiyu originally planned to go directly to the county government to hand over His Majesty first, and let the court send His Majesty back to the capital; but after seeing the tax official's problem in the village, Huo Caiyu didn't want to show up.

The sheriff of Qingshui County is undoubtedly a person sent by the prime minister. Instead of fighting against him and checking the account books, it is better to investigate directly from the bottom and bring the evidence to the public.

At that time, even if the prime minister intends to cover up, it will depend on whether other people who covet the position of Qingshui county sheriff are happy or not.

With a clear mind, Huo Caiyu said to Li Jinyu apologetically, "Jinyu, I need you to be patient for a while."

His Majesty suffers with him.

Huo Caiyu originally thought that His Majesty grew up with good clothes and good food, and there must be a lot of discomfort and complaints when going out, but he did not expect that His Majesty was unexpectedly sensible, eating dry food and hiking with him, and never complained of suffering or tiredness.

It made him feel sour and astringent.

Li Jinyu didn't feel that there was anything to be patient at all—on the contrary, he felt much more at ease when he was freed from the shackles of the various rules in the palace, and he didn't have to pretend to be a tyrant any more. Yes, it's really relaxing.

It's just that the lack of rollers makes him a little uncomfortable. Fortunately, he has to walk every day these days, which somewhat alleviates Li Jinyu's lack of exercise anxiety.

Huo Caiyu also wanted to rent a car for him, but he firmly refused.

Telling a hamster to give up exercise is worse than taking food from his mouth!

After setting up the room, Huo Caiyu was going to go out to check the situation.

He originally wanted His Majesty to rest in the room, but Li Jinyu wanted to go out with him, so he agreed with embarrassment on the face and indulgence in the heart.

Turning around on the county mansion street, Li Jinyu looked around with great interest, full of curiosity, and was treated as a big fish by several vendors, but fortunately Huo Caiyu was on the side, so he ensured that Li Jinyu didn't kill him. The silver on his body was wiped out.

There was no other way, Huo Caiyu had no choice but to drag Li Jinyu into a tea shop, and ordered him a plate of melon seeds and peanuts.

Considering that he would get angry after eating too much of these things, Huo Caiyu ordered him an extra cup of clear tea, worried that Li Jinyu would find it bitter, so he specially ordered two more candied fruit.

Li Jinyu didn't pay attention to Huo Caiyu's small movements - Huo Caiyu himself didn't realize that now he was so concerned about His Majesty's taste and habits.

While eating melon seeds, Li Jinyu said enthusiastically, "It's the first time I've seen such a prosperous folk... It seems that the people in the county are doing well."

Huo Caiyu's face was slightly heavy, and he sighed lowly: "Unfortunately, that's not all folks."

Li Jinyu was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

"It depends on the life of the people, not the prosperity on the sunny side, but the cloudiness on the shady side." Huo Caiyu gently pushed the teacup towards Li Jinyu with a solemn expression, "Before we entered the city, we met refugees a few times. do you remember?"

Li Jinyu nodded.

Those refugees looked numb and haggard, and said they were beggars.

"We walked around the street a few times just now, and I noticed that there are crowds of beggars in the streets and alleys, far exceeding the proportion of beggars in normal towns."

Li Jinyu tilted his head slightly, half understanding, "You mean..."

"This shows that the life of the people in the county mansion is very divided. The rich spend their days and nights drinking and having fun, while the poor are starving and displaced." Huo Caiyu tapped the table lightly and lowered his voice slightly, "I'm afraid the life of the people in the county mansion is also very different. It's tough."

"It's not wrong to say that."

Before Li Jinyu answered, he heard a clear voice approaching, and then a young man sat directly at their table and continued with a smile, "This brother is not blinded by the superficial prosperity of the county mansion, but It's also rare."

Huo Caiyu frowned slightly, raised his breath vigilantly: "I don't know who you are?"

Just now he chatted with His Majesty seemingly undefended, but in fact he used his internal force to restrain his voice, and it would be difficult for people who were not skilled in martial arts to hear their conversation clearly.

This person looks ordinary, and his martial arts are definitely not bad!

"Don't be so nervous, it's just a good person next time."

The man was a young man with a baby face, with a friendly smile on his face, and he blinked: "I just saw someone of the same kind, and I was curious to say hello."

Huo Caiyu didn't relax his vigilance, and moved to Li Jinyu's side unobtrusively.In case of emergencies, you can protect His Majesty.

Li Jinyu was rather curious about this man who took the initiative to approach him: "Who are you?"

The young man introduced himself with a smile: "The bell is ringing late."

Chi Zhongming?

Li Jinyu's eyes lit up immediately: He recognizes this person!

In the original book, Huo Caiyu was able to quickly conquer the world all the way, not only because of his opponent Taicai, but also because he had several capable friends and subordinates.

Chi Zhongming is one of the most important people.Compared with the sister of the Huo family who is good at attacking, Chi Zhongming is better at defensive battles. Several times when the imperial army attacked and foreign nationals invaded at the border, Chi Zhongming tried every means to defend and defend until Huo Caiyu came to help.

Li Jinyu didn't see the process of Huo Caiyu and Chi Zhongming getting to know each other, but knowing that they had a heart-to-heart relationship and mutual trust later, Huo Caiyu entrusted him with the defense of key cities several times.

I didn't expect to run into Chi Zhongming now!

Li Jinyu looked at Chi Zhongming with sparkling eyes. It was hard to imagine that this baby face with a very friendly smile turned out to be the most solid shield for the later Huo Dynasty.

Huo Caiyu kept paying attention to Li Jinyu, and seeing His Majesty's sudden strong enthusiasm for this strange man, his mood fell instantly.

"My surname is Huo, this is my cousin, surnamed Li."

"Brother Huo, Brother Li, do the two accents sound like people from the capital?" Chi Zhongming said enthusiastically, "What a coincidence, I also come from the capital."

Huo Caiyu said calmly: "My two brothers are here to visit relatives in Qingshui County."

Chi Zhongming smiled even brighter: "I'm also here to visit relatives."

Li Jinyu listened to the unnutritious conversation between the two, looked left and right, and was full of confusion: Could it be that the process of getting to know the future emperor and his most trusted brothers and subordinates is so...boring?

Huo Caiyu and Chi Zhongming tested each other, and initially confirmed that there was no threat or hostility from the other party. After a little reassurance, the topic returned to Qingshui County itself.

After chatting for a while, Huo Caiyu was a little surprised: this Chi Zhongming knew the popularity of Qingshui County very well.

"Brother Chi seems to be very familiar with Qingshui County?"

"Not really, it's just entrusted by someone, some things need to be investigated in advance." Chi Zhongming stopped talking halfway, opened a folding fan with a smile, and an elegant bamboo forest was painted on the fan.

Li Jinyu saw him gently fanning the wind, and couldn't help but say something more during the interval between gnawing melon seeds: "Aren't you cold?"

It's still early spring, it's very cold, and some wealthy people haven't changed their cotton clothes, why is this person still fanning himself?

The smile on Chi Zhongming's face faltered slightly, he slowly put away his fan, and coughed: "I don't feel cold by my martial arts."

Interrupted by Li Jinyu, Chi Zhongming stopped pretending to be arty, "It's fate when we meet by chance, why don't I be the host and invite the two of you to the Jiangjing Restaurant? I still know a little about the county government. In the early spring, Jiang You have to go to Jingshilou."

Li Jinyu's curiosity suddenly arose, and before Huo Caiyu could answer, he simply decided: "Go!"

The excuses in Huo Caiyu's mouth stopped immediately, and he glanced at Li Jinyu helplessly, feeling a little uncomfortable in his heart: Your Majesty trusts this inexplicable stranger so much?No doubt at all?

God knows, when Li Jinyu knew that the other party was Chi Zhongming, he directly put the other party under Huo Caiyu's banner.

What's more, when Li Jinyu saw Chi Zhongming, he always felt quite kind, even his anthropophobia was not that strong.

Seeing that Huo Caiyu had no objection, Chi Zhongming raised his hand excitedly: "Then let's leave immediately."

……

"The unmissable delicacy of Jiangjing Restaurant is the river crab in early spring." Chi Zhongming's eyes were full of hatred, "Brother Li, what do you order these for?"

The table is full of dried tofu, corn, mung beans, and cauliflower!

What about shrimp?Where's the crab?What about meat?

Li Jinyu held up the spoon, and was about to start it happily, when he heard this, he was taken aback: "Didn't you want me to order it casually?"

Chi Zhongming was heartbroken: "That's true, but..."

But when normal people hear this kind of words, they usually pick the expensive ones!Why is this little brother so polite?

Ordering such a full table of vegetarian food - most of them are dry food, he can't add meat dishes even if he wants to!

"Oh, forget it, as long as you are happy."

Li Jinyu waved the spoon again and began to eat happily.

In the palace before, he didn't dare to disobey the image of the original body too much, most of the tastes of the imperial food were the same as the original body, at most slightly adjusted the ratio of meat and vegetables.Fortunately, it is now a human body, and he will be fine if he eats many things that hamsters cannot eat.

In fact, his favorite is delicious food!

Huo Caiyu looked at His Majesty who was indulging in these ordinary food that had nourished the people for thousands of years, and a smile could not help but appear on the corner of his mouth.

He poured a cup of tea and pushed Li