In the inner hall of the So family, Suo Mao bowed his head deeply and knelt on the ground, accepting his father's scolding.

"How did you do it? Such a simple thing has been messed up. How can I tell you that you should get the stone wall at any cost, but how did you do it? Where is the stone wall now?"

Suo Qing was so angry that his chest was rising and falling rapidly. He paced back and forth in the inner hall with his hands on his back, and then stopped and pointed at his son and shouted: "Your incompetence ruined my plan and ruined my Suo family's chances, do you know?"

Suo Mao said in great shame: "The child thought they wanted to bargain, so he wanted to negotiate today, but he didn't expect that he would be attacked by the Li family."

"This matter has nothing to do with the Li family, it's your stupidity. Why do you want to spend the night? If you don't pay 5,000 guan, 10,000 guan, or 20,000 guan, I don't believe they will not agree? If it really doesn't work, just grab it. This matter is not a business, you can't bargain, do you understand?"

"The boy knows his mistake!"

"Also, you haven't handled the Li family well. Li Jin is not here, you should communicate with Li Ze in time. When did people like Li Ze consider the family? If you want to consider the family, he has long been the head of the family. He wants money. You can join forces with him to get the right deed, which is better than giving it to Dayun Temple."

Suo Mao was almost crying, and he found that he really despised the importance of this matter. "Father, what should I do now?" Suo Mao asked in a crying voice.

Suo Qing pondered for a moment and said, "You go to Dayun Temple now and discuss with Lingyin that we are willing to fully support the construction of the Maitreya statue. The insufficient construction costs will be borne by our Suo family. There is no need for Dayun Temple to recruit you. In addition, the Suo family will pay 500 stagnant of incense and oil to Dayun Temple every year, and ask him to write the Suo family's support for the Maitreya statue on the statue memorial to the court."

There is no way to do this. Even if the Suo family cannot get the right to major, they can at least share the contributions of building the Maitreya statue with Dayun Temple, so that the priest can see the contributions made by the Suo family to the statue, and then ask Wu Chengsi to speak kindly to the priest, and perhaps it can make up for it.

Suo Mao understood and immediately responded: "The child will never miss his father again this time!"

"Go! Go now, don't be taken first by those who are interested again."

Suo Mao bowed and hurried away. Only Suo Qing was left in the inner hall. Suo Qing looked at the sky with his hands behind his back and said to himself: "This Li Zhen is very powerful! Even Li Wuqing is helping him."

At this time, Suo Qing felt someone outside the hall and immediately shouted, "Who is outside?"

I saw a big pillar behind him walking out of someone tremblingly, "Grandfather, it's grandson."

It turned out to be Changsun Suo Wen. Suo Qing frowned, "What are you doing here?"

Suo Wen knelt down and bowed, "I report to my grandfather, my grandson wants to go to the state army to practice riding and shooting. I wonder if my grandfather agrees?"

The state army mentioned by Suo Wen was a 500-man army formed by Sima Suozhiping of Shazhou. Suo Qing wanted Suo Wen to serve as the captain of this state army so that the Suo family could firmly control this army.

It was rare that the grandson took the initiative to go to the army to practice riding and shooting. Suo Qing smiled gently and said, "It's great that you have this idea, so I will naturally support you. You can discuss this with your second grandfather and listen to his opinions."

The key is that Suo Zhiping needs to make arrangements. Suo Wen agreed and got up and wanted to leave. Suo Qing called him again, "In addition, grandfather hopes that you will learn more from Li Zhen. This young man is extraordinary. He is the most intelligent and capable boy of his grandfather ever met. He not only needs to learn his martial arts, but also his strategies. If you can be half as strong as him, grandfather will be very satisfied."

"Grandson remembers it!"

"Go!"

Suo Wen withdrew from the inner hall and hurried back to his yard. He could no longer help but pull out his sword and slashed hard on the wooden stake in the yard, cursing: "What a bullshit Li Zhen, I've played the Suo family and asked me to learn from him. What is he like!"

Suo Wen overheard the conversation between his second uncle and his grandfather, and was told by his grandfather that he was not even half as good as Li Zhen, which greatly hit his self-esteem and made him extremely angry.

Suo Wen waved his sword and chopped the wooden stakes. He remembered that he had challenged Li Zhen again, and shouted: "I want to compete with him in swords!"

"Who are you going to compare swords with the eldest son?" A cold laugh came from behind Suo Wen.

When Su Wen turned around, he was a mysterious guest in their family named Lan Zhenyu, the younger brother of his uncle Lan Zhenning, and he had just come from Chang'an.

Lan Zhenyu is about thirty years old and has a shocking scar on her face. She is nicknamed the sword face, and she is extremely powerful in swordsmanship and has rich experience.

The reason why he was mysterious was that no one knew what he was doing in Chang'an. It was said that even his brother knew. So Qing asked him a few questions, but he couldn't ask anything.

This time he had something very important to go to Gaochang and happened to pass by Dunhuang. Because he had to wait for someone, he stayed at the Suo family for two days. In the past two days, he also gave some advice on the sword skills of several children of the Suo family.

He had nothing to do, so he came to see Suo Wen practice swordsmanship, and happened to meet Suo Wen getting angry.

The person Suo Wen admires the most is this uncle. He is not only skilled in martial arts, but also has ruthless methods, which is quite in his appetite. He has been learning swords from Lan Zhenyu these two days.

Sowen hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, and he sighed and said, "My grandfather highly praised a young man and said I was less than half of him, so I was annoyed."

"Oh? What kind of boy is so respected by your grandfather?"

"I'm just a poor family. Although my surname is Li, it has nothing to do with the Li family. His riding and shooting is pretty good."

Suo Wenben wanted to say that Li Zhen was quite admired by Wang Xiaojie, but he was jealous and did not mention this matter in front of Lan Zhenyu.

"Riding and shooting?"

Lan Zhenyu hummed contemptuously, "It's not important to ride and shoot in Chang'an, swordsmanship is the king. You just said you want to compare swords. Are you with him?"

"Yes! I asked him for a sword some time ago, but..."

Lan Zhenyu was so smart. He saw the hesitation in Suo Wen's eyes at a glance, and then smiled and said, "Is your swordsmanship worse than his?"

Sowen nodded awkwardly, "I lost to him last year. I practiced swords for a year and wanted to regain this face, but I still felt that I was not as good as him."

Lan Zhenyu patted his shoulder and smiled sinisterly: "I'm here! I'll teach you a move to ensure you can defeat him."

Suo Wen was overjoyed and hurriedly bowed, "Thank you for your teachings from uncle and uncle!"

.........

When Li Zhen returned home, he obediently handed over twenty Roman gold coins to his eldest sister. Li Quan did not ask for his younger brother's money, but she was extremely strict with her brother, for fear that he would not be able to stand the temptation after he had money.

There is a bad atmosphere in Dunhuang. Many young children like to gather together to drink wine and visit prostitutes with some money in their pockets. Li Quan would never allow his brothers to be as unpromising as them.

She would not want these twenty gold coins, she would save them for her brother and give them to him when she was doing the serious business. However, Li Quan was more concerned about where the money came from, whether it was unknown? Did the brother do something illegal? She interrogated Li Zhen for half an hour.

Li Zhen didn't need money. The reason why he refused to hand over the money was because he was afraid that his eldest sister would interrogate him endlessly. He finally got upset and escaped from home.

Li Zhen had already finished his studies in the prefecture early. Because his outstanding performance in the Wuju Provincial Examination also touched the Shazhou Xuezheng. He specially approved him to complete his studies in advance, giving him time to fully prepare for the martial arts and Jinshi in the capital next year.

Li Zhen has not been interested in practicing riding and shooting these two days. After he went to Yumen, his heart was already a little wild, and he was determined to go out for a long trip.

He actually wanted to go to Gaochang or Kucha. After he came to the Tang Dynasty, he had never been to the west of Dunhuang. He wanted to know what was different from the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty and the Xinjiang in later generations?

Li Zhen came to a mule and horse shop near Sanxian Lane. This mule and horse shop is also a guide shop, which provides guides to the Western Regions or Chang'an, and sells travel supplies, such as tents, medicines, etc.

He walked into the store door and the shopkeeper came up with a smile. He recognized Li Zhen at a glance and said with a smile: "Isn't this A Zhen? Come to my small shop and want to buy something?"

"Uncle Lin, I want to ask about going to Gaochang."

"So it's this matter. Just ask me. I'm going to Gaochang a few times a year. Come on! Come on! Let's sit down and say."

Manager Lin enthusiastically pulled Li Zhen down and asked with a smile: "Are you going to Gaochang?"

"I want to go."

"But I'm afraid my eldest sister is not sure, right?"

Manager Lin laughed, and he took out a map and said, "Gaochang is Xizhou, you know this!"

Li Zhen nodded, and Manager Lin said again: "It sounds like Xizhou is next to Shazhou, but it is actually very far away. The main reason is that our Shazhou is too vast. There are deserts or next doors west of Dunhuang. To go to Gaochang, you must take the business road and rest in Puchanghai. However, I advise you to go to Gaochang in summer or autumn."

"Why?"

"There is a sandstorm in spring. If you encounter a sandstorm on the road, it will be a life-threatening one. Summer is much better. I have been walking on the business road for nearly twenty years, and only once in the summer I encountered a sandstorm."

Li Zhen was just asking. He couldn't find a reason to convince his eldest sister to let him go to Gaochang. Although he was a human being in his two lives, he had already felt that his eldest sister was his only relative in this world, and he didn't want his eldest sister to worry about him.

As soon as he walked out of the mule and horse shop, he saw a man riding a horse in the distance and rushed to him in an instant. The person on the horse was Suo Wen.

"Li Zhen, you've picked it up. This is my sword sticker!"

Suo Wen threw a sword sticker to Li Zhen.
Chapter completed!