Chapter 109: A Precious Asset in Hand

Early the next morning, after finishing his morning drills, Li Qing’an was in the command tent carefully reviewing the backgrounds of the 500 soldiers. After four months of training, they would each lead 500 troops to the capital to be inspected by the Ministry of War and the emperor. For Li Qing’an, these 500 soldiers were a formidable force he had painstakingly trained—his own army. It would be a shame to leave them in a place like Yangzhou. He was thinking about how to take them with him.
“General, there’s a scholar outside the camp gate asking to see you!” a soldier reported from outside.
“I’ll go right away.”
Li Qing’an quickly sorted through the documents and stood up with a smile. It was surely Li Bai. After waking up from his drunkenness early that morning, Li Bai had returned to the prefectural office but soon came back again—undoubtedly because Lu Huan had told him about the position as an advisor.
He hurried to the camp gate, and indeed it was Li Bai. He was fully sober now, dressed in a clean, moon-white robe, with neatly combed hair and a flat-top cap on—looking tidy and refined, far from his usual unrestrained state after drinking.
Li Bai seemed preoccupied. Early that morning, Lu Huan had suggested that he recommend him as an advisor to Li Qing’an. At first, he was reluctant—what prospects could there be as an advisor to a lieutenant general? But after Lu Huan’s persistent persuasion, saying that with Gao Lishi’s backing, Li Qing’an could rise quickly, he agreed to give it a try. On another hand, he was extremely poor and indeed needed a job.
Seeing Li Qing’an come out, Li Bai’s face turned slightly red. He quickly bowed and said, “General Li, I caused you trouble yesterday.”
“Brother Taibai, you’re too kind. I felt a strong connection with you from the first meeting. It was a trivial favor, nothing to worry about.”
“Thank you, General Li. I’m willing to give it a try for the position as an advisor.”
“Great! Please come in, Mr. Li.”
Li Qing’an led Li Bai to the office next door and said with a smile, “Brother Taibai, your fame spreads throughout the world, yet you’re willing to serve as my advisor. I feel ashamed! Please rest assured, I won’t treat you poorly. Not only will I cover your expenses for wine, but you can also ask for whatever you need.”
Li Bai smiled and said, “I won’t be polite about it. General Li, you don’t need to worry about that.”
He then changed his tone and added, “Although General Li is a lieutenant general in Anxi, he is highly regarded by the court. The fact that he was sent to the core area of Jianghuai to train troops shows this well. I can assert that within three years, General Li will likely be promoted to a deputy position in Anxi. Do you have any specific plans?”

Li Qing’an glanced at him and smiled, saying, “What plans could I possibly have? I’m just an ordinary middle-ranking officer. I’ll gradually work hard to get promoted. As for coming to Yangzhou for training, it’s just a coincidence. Brother Qinglian, don’t overthink it.”
“Not so! A true man should have ambitions that span thousands of miles, so as not to waste his life here. I think General Li is also a hero, which is why he’s willing to serve as his staff member. If General Li is short-sighted, how can he achieve greatness? Qinglian hopes that General Li will have great ambitions and not underestimate himself. Since he’s a general in Anxi, he should become the governor of Anxi as soon as possible to fulfill his aspirations as a man.”
“I’ll remember Mr. Qinglian’s advice, Qing’an. Come, please, sir.”
Li Bai followed Li Qing’an into the office. There were already two clerks inside. Both had been sent by the Grand Commander’s office to assist with official documents. The paperwork in the training camp wasn’t much, and most of it was trivial—calculating daily grain consumption, soldiers’ training performance, and organizing accounts. This required great patience. The two clerks were experienced, having worked in such roles for over a decade and handling various documents with ease. Though they were diligent, Li Qing’an still felt uneasy. Li Fei Shouyu had also warned him that the two clerks had visited the camp twice last night under the pretext of checking training data to talk to the soldiers, which made Li Qing’an wary.
At that moment, the two clerks were writing furiously at their desks. When they saw Li Qing’an enter, they stood up and said with forced smiles, “Good morning, General Li!”
“Good morning to you both. Come, let me introduce you.”
Li Qing’an introduced Li Bai, saying, “This is my staff member, Mr. Qinglian, who just arrived from Chang’an. From now on, he’ll be in charge of training matters. You two can just focus on calculating grain expenses; there’s no need to be so busy.”
The two clerks exchanged glances and helplessly agreed, “We’ll follow General Li’s arrangements.”
They bowed to Li Bai and said, “Please give us your continued guidance, Mr. Qinglian.”
Li Bai merely snorted and glanced at the ceiling. Li Qing’an smiled and took Li Bai to an empty room, saying, “Brother Qinglian, from now on, you’ll handle official work here. The records of military training need to be submitted to the Ministry of War later—they’re very important. I’m entrusting this to you. Also, if there are any important matters, I’ll discuss them with you.”
Li Bai nodded. “General Li, rest assured! I’ll do my best.”
After thinking for a moment, Li Qing’an added, “Brother Qinglian, I need to say something unpleasant upfront—alcohol is not allowed in the camp. If you want to drink, you can only do so outside. If you bring alcohol back, the guards won’t let you enter the camp.”

Li Bai was stunned for a while before helplessly saying, “Since General Li says so, I will abide by the rules of the military camp.”
“Very well. I’ll go inform them below. In a moment, my personal attendant in charge of finances will also come to see you. If you have any needs, just speak to him.”
After giving a few instructions, Li Qing’an left for the military camp. Li Bai stood with his hands behind his back, looking around the room. The furnishings were simple—a sitting couch, a writing desk, and a bookshelf. The writing desk had all the essential writing tools, and the walls were painted snow white, giving the room a clean and tidy appearance. There was also a small room where he could rest and sleep.
At that moment, a soldier brought over a thick stack of training records—various records kept by the soldiers themselves, which were quite rough and needed to be rewritten and organized into books. Additionally, a daily training ranking had to be calculated as a basis for rewards.
“Sir, this was sent by my general. Please organize it according to the format. I’m Wang Dalang. The general asked me to give you some money to help you settle in.”
With that, he placed two silver ingots, each worth fifty taels, along with the documents on the desk, bowed, and left.
Li Bai slowly sat down and flipped through the documents, lost in thought. Suddenly, he sighed deeply and said, “Alas! I never thought that I, a demoted immortal, would end up in such a situation.”
…
At noon, just as Li Qing’an was about to have lunch, a guard rushed over to report, “General, the Transport Commissioner has urgent matters to discuss outside the camp.”
“I know.”
Li Qing’an quickly stepped out of the camp gate and saw Liu Changyun walking back and forth at the entrance with his hands behind his back, looking worried.
“Commissioner Liu, is something the matter?”
Liu Changyun turned around and saw Li Qing’an coming out. He hurried forward and said, “General Li, do you have time now? I have urgent matters to discuss with you.”
“Just tell me what it is.”
“It’s not convenient here. Come with me to the White Jade Hall!”
Liu Changyun glanced around, then lowered his voice and said to Li Qing’an, “The young prince has arrived and wants to talk to General Li.”
“Very well! I’ll go with you right away.”
Li Qing’an went back to get his horse and brought a few attendants before following Liu Changyun to the White Jade Hall.
In a quiet room in the White Jade Hall, Yan Kai was reporting on the situation over the past two days to Li Qiu, who had just arrived in Yangzhou.

“Young Prince, our people have already obtained detailed information from Du Liangshan. The secret hideout built by the Du family there has been seized by Li Qing’an, and the Du family’s wealth has fallen into his hands. It is said that he handed it over to Lu Huan yesterday. According to the information we’ve gathered, Li Qing’an’s actions in Du Liangshan were quite accidental; he wasn’t aware of them in advance. However, latest reports suggest that after leaving Du Liangshan, he didn’t head straight back to Yangzhou but crossed the river to the south—what he’s doing there is still unknown. I suspect he might have gotten some clues about Du Boseng.”

Li Qiu lowered his head in thought for a moment before saying, “Mr. Yan, it should be easy to clarify these doubts. I can at least suggest three methods: first, buy over his soldiers; second, inquire along the way; third, consult the local authorities. No matter which method you use, you must quickly find out what he’s done and what secrets he holds. This matter is of great importance—send people to investigate right away.”

“Don’t worry, Young Prince. I’ll send people to handle it right away.”

“Still!” Li Qiu raised his hand to stop him. “He was assassinated as soon as he arrived. I find this very suspicious. I’m certain it wasn’t An Lushan’s doing, nor Lu Huan’s, nor ours. So who exactly did it? Because once Li Qing’an dies, the issue in Yangzhou will immediately attract the Emperor’s attention, and my father will be in trouble. Clearly, someone is trying to take advantage of the situation. You must also investigate this thoroughly.”

“Young Prince, I actually have some clues about this.”

“Oh? Go on, tell me.”

“After the assassination, I sent people to search carefully around Ting Shui Ju. Guess what I found, Young Prince?”

“What?”

Liu Changyun took out a greenish-black bronze object and placed it on the table, smiling. “Young Prince, what do you think this is?”

“A crossbow mechanism!” Li Qiu recognized it at a glance—it was from a military crossbow. He picked it up and examined it closely; there was even a serial number engraved on it.

“And then?” Li Qiu asked, highly interested.

“Then I sent people to look up the serial number on that crossbow mechanism. It wasn’t until yesterday that I traced its origin.”

“Where did it come from?”

“The young prince wouldn’t have thought of this. This crossbow belongs to the treasury of the Yangzhou Governor’s Office. I bribed a low-ranking official to check the treasury records. This military crossbow was temporarily borrowed by Luo Tao, an officer in the Yangzhou Governor’s Office, a month ago and then returned—on the day after Li Qing’an was assassinated. Yet the serial number on this crossbow doesn’t match that of the military crossbow; it’s exactly the same as this one. That’s interesting. Li Qing’an’s assassination is actually related to the Yangzhou Governor’s Office. What do you think, young prince?”
Li Qiu pondered for a moment before suddenly widening his eyes. “You mean he…”
“That’s right. He’s the father-in-law of Prince Di. If someone tries to stir up chaos in Yangzhou to draw the emperor’s attention and bring disaster upon Prince Qing, who would benefit?”
“Prince Di!” Li Qiu slammed his fist hard on the table.