Chapter 66: County Magistrate Yang Zhao

“General Li, have you conveyed my message to Lord Gao?” Finally seeing Li Qing’an come out, Yang Zhao anxiously climbed down from the carriage.
“Brother Yang, I’m truly sorry. I didn’t manage to see Lord Gao either. When I came out just now, I heard he had already retired.”
“Retired!” Yang Zhao stepped back. He had waited for nearly an hour only to receive such news, filled with extreme disappointment. He wanted to know why the emperor had demoted him, but the imperial concubine refused to see him, and now even Gao Lishi wouldn’t meet with him…
“Thank you, General Li.”
Yang Zhao sighed, deeply depressed. He slowly walked back to the carriage when Li Qing’an suddenly said with a smile, “Brother Yang, I think the emperor’s decision to demote you as a county magistrate is actually a strategy of retreat for progress—it might not be a bad thing after all.”
Yang Zhao stopped in his tracks. He turned to look at Li Qing’an in surprise and stammered, “Wh… what did you say?”
Li Qing’an smiled slightly and said, “I heard that Brother Yang was demoted because he tried to speak up for Yang Shenjin. If you were just a minor local official and offended the emperor by appealing directly, it might be normal to be demoted. But as a high-ranking censor, how could you be punished just for speaking out? Don’t you find it strange?”
In fact, Yang Zhao himself also felt that his demotion was somewhat unreasonable. It was such a minor issue, yet his position was stripped away. Though he thought this way, he wasn’t sure what to do, so he went to Gao Lishi to find out more. Unexpectedly, Gao Lishi wouldn’t see him, but Li Qing’an, as an outsider, saw things clearly and enlightened him with just a few words.
He quickly stepped forward, bowed to Li Qing’an, and said, “Thank you, General Li, for your reminder. I was wondering if you’re free tonight. I’d like to invite you for a drink.”
Li Qing’an, who was quite interested in this later Yang Guozhong, gladly nodded and smiled, “If Brother Yang is treating, how can I refuse? Then I’ll take the invitation.”
Yang Zhao was overjoyed and quickly said, “I’m injured, so it’s inconvenient to drink outside. I happened to acquire another residence a few days ago. How about we go there to drink?”
“Anywhere is fine. It’s Brother Yang’s invitation!”
“Please!”
Yang Zhao climbed back into the carriage and gave an order, and the carriage set off toward his residence.
Yang Zhao’s residence was the one An Lushan had given him two days ago, located in Yanshou Fang. It was a medium-sized estate with over twenty rooms, managed by an elderly couple. Yang Zhao had only taken a quick look at it on the night he received it. His wife was very strict with him, and since having twin sisters, he hadn’t had the chance to enjoy it yet. This was his first time there too.
“Not bad! Not bad!”

Yang Zhao wandered around his secondary residence with his hands behind his back, deeply satisfied with it. At that moment, the twin sisters Fenghua and Xueyue fluttered over like butterflies and bowed to Yang Zhao, saying, “Master, you’ve arrived.” In the eyes of the powerful, these sisters were nothing but possessions. Since they had been given to Yang Zhao by An Lushan, they couldn’t act as freely as they did in An Lushan’s mansion—they had to maintain a master-slave relationship. These beautiful twin sisters were also Yang Zhao’s cherished possessions. He had planned to sneak over this afternoon to enjoy their beauty, but things went terribly wrong—he was severely beaten by Li Longji. Even so, his desire remained unquenched. Ignoring the pain in his leg, he decided to stay at the secondary residence that night to savor these rare twin sisters slowly. He chuckled and reached out to embrace them, but he used too much force, tearing at his injured leg. A sharp pain made him grit his teeth in agony. “Ow!” he cried out in pain. “Master! What’s wrong?” The two sisters quickly stepped forward to support Yang Zhao. He waved his hand and said, “I’m fine. Go prepare some wine and food. I want to have a drink with General Li.” “Master, please sit inside. We’ll get everything ready right away.” They helped Yang Zhao into the house, arranged for him to sit half-reclined, brought him tea, and then left to prepare the food and drink. “General Li, what do you think of these beauties?” Yang Zhao asked Li Qingan, half-reclined on the couch with his eyes narrowed. Li Qingan nodded and smiled. “Brother Yang is truly lucky. These two ladies are indeed rare. It’s the first time I’ve seen them too.” “Envious, aren’t you?” Yang Zhao said proudly. “Not only are they beautiful, but they’re also charming and seductive. I just got them and haven’t had the chance to enjoy them yet. Tonight, I’ll enjoy both sisters together. Heh! Just thinking about it excites me!” But as he smiled, the muscles in his face pulled at his injured leg, causing another wave of intense pain. It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his wound. How could he possibly enjoy those sisters in such conditions? “Damn it… Those bastard guards really hit hard!” Yang Zhao was in so much pain he could barely speak clearly. Li Qingan smiled faintly. “Brother Yang, I believe this beating wasn’t in vain. The emperor is just showing off. Within at most two months, or maybe even sooner, you’ll be promoted. By then, it’ll be your turn to look after me.” Yang Zhao perked up and leaned closer to Li Qingan. “What makes you say that?” “Do you even need to ask? Let me ask you—why were you beaten?”

Yang Zhao sighed and said, “It’s actually just a minor matter. I merely spoke up in defense of Yang Shenjin.”
“What happened to Yang Shenjin then? Was his family confiscated or was he exiled?”
After saying this, Li Qingan also froze in shock. That wasn’t right! He had read a novel about the An Lushan Rebellion, which said that by the end of the sixth year of the Tianbao era, all three brothers of Yang Shenjin were executed, and Yang Zhao also participated in persecuting Yang Shenjin. Yet today, the situation was completely different—Yang Shenjin hadn’t done anything wrong, while Yang Zhao, who had defended him, was demoted but actually became a county magistrate. It seemed history had taken a different path; it was unclear at which point things went wrong.
Li Qingan fell into deep thought, but Yang Zhao understood what he meant. Right! If Yang Shenjin hadn’t done anything wrong, it meant his advice had worked. Since the emperor had accepted his opinion, why then demote him to be a county magistrate? Could it really be as Li Qingan said—using retreat as a strategy to advance?
Yang Zhao was also extremely intelligent. As someone involved in the situation, he hadn’t seen through Emperor Li Longji’s intentions at first. But with Li Qingan’s guidance, he suddenly understood—the emperor was actually protecting him, preventing him from being persecuted by Li Linfu.
Realizing this, he slapped his own forehead hard and bowed to Li Qingan, saying, “Brother Li, you’re truly a lifesaver! Yang Zhao is extremely grateful.”
“Brother Yang, there’s no need for thanks. Although we’ve known each other for only a short time, we’re destined to meet, right?” Li Qingan said with a smile after taking a sip of tea.
“Exactly!” Yang Zhao laughed heartily. “We’re destined to meet.”
Though his face showed joy, Yang Zhao was thinking to himself, “Could it be that this kid also has his eyes set on my two beautiful sisters? Does he want to take one of them tonight? That’s absolutely unacceptable!”
Just then, muffled shouts of anger could be heard outside the room, followed by someone kicking the door violently.
“Break the door! Open it for me right now!”