Southern Li Today

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Southern Li is a very special place for the Great Qian Dynasty.

It was never truly under the jurisdiction of the Great Qian Dynasty.

During Li Qingjun's regency, this region was merely a vassal state, with complete autonomy in its internal affairs. Because her reign was short, she never even paid tribute, but instead received numerous rewards...

Southern Li unexpectedly destroyed, Li Qingjun followed the immortals to the afterlife. Li Wuxian was taken by the National Teacher Qin Yi to offer her land to Qian and became the Princess of Daqian. At this point, Southern Li was theoretically completely annexed by Daqian.

In reality, the vast mountains between Southern Li and Daqian make transportation extremely inconvenient. Moreover, the mountains are rife with miasma and poisonous insects, and are also teeming with bandits, resulting in very little communication with the Central Lands. Even when caravans travel, they often need military escorts, and envoys and officials are even less inclined to come.

This was the fundamental reason why Southern Li isolated in the south and not be annexed. The situation remains the same today, with Nanli still isolated in the south.

Even if it was nominally annexed, actually sending a prefect or county official here would be tantamount to exile. I heard that one was sent before, but he was killed on the way. I don't know if there was any conspiracy theory... Not long after, the Great Qian Dynasty broke out, and the emperor had no mind to deal with this area. In the end, he was promoted in the same place. Whatever official position Southern Li was still the same official position. It was just that the royal status was abolished.

Even the Southern Nanming Lihuo Army of Southern Li still exists, and its commander is still the veteran general Xie Yuan. Now that the Great Qian Dynasty is in chaos, it is Southern Li, under the management of the old generals and city lords, protected by battle-hardened troops, is a haven from bandits and has become a safe haven.

There seems to be a hint of a tiger crouching in the south and looking north... Of course, the people of Southern Li have no such intention. Due to the limitations of the terrain, the people of Southern Li have no pioneering spirit. Although their folk customs are fierce, they have no ambition. They only want to protect their homeland.

In some ways, Southern Li and Qin Yi are somewhat similar in personality...

In contrast, the Western Wilderness Kingdom was already in chaos, with tribes large and small constantly at war, and the people of Southern Li were too lazy to care, nor did they have the spare energy to do so.

In fact, the fall of Southern Li was so unexpected that it did not die because it lost the hearts of the people. On the contrary, it died inexplicably when people were full of hope and enthusiasm. This led to the people of Southern Li always being loyal to the royal family, and even the army still flew the royal flag of the Li family. In fact, if Li Qingjun had insisted on going back to restore the country, there would have been no problem at all.

This has led to the fact that the people of Southern Li still respectfully regard Li Wuxian as their king, and envoys frequently visit Dragon Abyss City to pay their respects. In addition, many palace maids and eunuchs have come to Nanli Southern Li to take care of Li Wuxian. It is not that Li Wuxian is alone in the Da Qian Emperor; he has quite a few people around him.

This allowed her to maintain close ties with her homeland.

The veteran Xie Yuan isn't actually that old... he's not even sixty yet. However, for a military officer on the battlefield, being over fifty is considered a typical veteran. When Qin Yi met him, he was in his early fifties with white hair, but now, even though he's not yet sixty, he still looks energetic and hasn't changed much from a few years ago.

Unlike some professions called online writers, the pressure isn't this great. They say they're thirty, but they look like they're sixty.

"National Teacher, what brings you here again?" Xie Yuan looked at the waves of Qian Kingdom citizens disembarking from the airship, utterly exasperated. "You've already transported several waves back and forth. We just said goodbye and we'd meet again, and here you are again. Are you trying to amuse us?"

At first, everyone saw Qin Yi with tears streaming down his face, and when he parted, he even waved goodbye with tears in his eyes, saying, "National Teacher, rest assured, we will definitely take good care of the people you sent."

After several rounds of back and forth, everyone wanted to kill him. The former prime minister, now the Lihuo City, had already stopped leaving his residence... Xie Yuan was more familiar with him and dealt with him several times.

Qin Yi smiled ingratiatingly, "Southern Li from repeated wars, and its population has not recovered. This is just adding some households to the register..."

"Relying on you to transport people and register households village by village like this?... Forget it." Xie Yuan crossed his arms and said, "National Teacher, why don't you have a meal here and leave under the cover of night? There won't be much trouble on the road... Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll be going back and forth here for months."

"Forget about eating, we've already decided against it..."

Before he could finish speaking, Cheng Cheng tugged at his sleeve. "Qin Yi, I want to eat."

Qin Yi rubbed his forehead. "Alright, I'll leave it to the old general. Please prepare a vegetarian meal with plenty of fruit."

Xie Yuan looked at Cheng Cheng meaningfully for a long time before saying, "National Teacher, your undisguised behavior puts us in a difficult position... Should we praise your integrity and honesty, or should we have someone else execute you?"

Qin Yi was drenched in cold sweat.

Cheng Cheng blinked, pretending not to understand, but secretly made a victory sign in her heart.

A mere human Princess dares to aspire to be the first wife before This King?

"Don't do this..." Qin Yi put his arm around Xie Yuan's shoulder and walked towards the city. "I'll explain this to Qing Jun later..."

Xie Yuan glanced around and lowered his voice, "Has the Grand Princess truly become an immortal?"

"Speaking of which, I'm curious, how did you know about this? Did the Great Qian border troops tell you? And you believed them?"

"Hmm..." Xie Yuan smiled, "We might not believe rumors like this from ordinary people, but since they said you were there at the time, we believed them. Whether there are Wu Xian, others may not know, but we do know that the National Teacher is an immortal."

"I am ashamed to say that I am still far from being an immortal."

The two chatted idly along the way, with Cheng Cheng obediently following beside them without saying a word, but a smile played on her lips.

She never believed that any loyalty in the world could be as strong as Xie Yuan's. Far from the emperor's reach, with a large army at his disposal, he still remotely addressed the Queen and shared power with the city lord, instead of becoming a de facto ruler himself. There was only one possibility: Xie Yuan was wary of someone, perhaps Qin Yi, or Li Qingjun might return at any moment.

Or to put it another way, if the whole nation believes it, then if he wants to be ambitious, no one will be there for him, and the army may not necessarily obey orders in this matter.

From this perspective, the Li Family is indeed the uncrowned king, and surprisingly, a large part of this is due to Qin Yi.

Qin Yi is not one of those ethereal immortals who are only legends; he frequently appears in the mortal world. He previously appeared unexpectedly to save Li Qingjun and her niece, and also interfered in the affairs of the Great Qian Dynasty, giving people the feeling that he might appear at any moment...

This guy isn't even in Southern Li, yet he still wields such a huge influence.

"Wait a minute." Qin Yi suddenly stopped. "This place... is no longer inhabited?"

Cheng Cheng turned her head and saw a rather large mansion with a plaque that read "National Teacher's Residence" hanging on it.

His former residence?

Xie Yuan laughed, "Who would dare occupy the National Teacher's Residence? Besides, this is the former residence of the late King. Apart from the one he personally bestowed upon the National Teacher, anyone else who dares to occupy it would be bitten to death."

Qin Yi looked up for a while, then said in a low voice, "We don't need to leave the house empty; we can give it to those who need it."

Xie Yuan laughed and said, "There are few people in Southern Li. We'll talk about it when we're short of a house."

Qin Yi nodded and did not go in.

Looking at his expression, Cheng Cheng knew that Qin Yi hadn't felt much attachment when he was in Southern Li, but now that he was revisiting the place, a flood of old feelings had welled up inside him. It wasn't so much feelings for Southern Li as feelings for the people there; seeing old things always brought back many memories.

He wasn't jealous at all; he's a sentimental person, which puts people at ease.

The dinner was held at a nearby restaurant, in a private room. Xie Yuan didn't dare bring the two of them home... not for any other reason, but because Cheng Cheng was too beautiful.

If those little rascals at home get any ideas, I'll really have no way to explain it. It's better not to bring them back to avoid trouble.

"Here, this is the finest Li Huo wine from Southern Li. National Teacher... uh, Madam, please have a taste."

Cheng Cheng took a sip, and her eyes immediately sparkled.

It tastes good.

Just as the book described, the food here is exquisite and meticulously prepared, far more interesting than anything in the Demon City. That wine in the Demon City is so pungent, is it even fit for a human to drink?

"Qin Yi, I want that. What kind of fruit is that?"

Seeing her unusually girlish demeanor, Qin Yi affectionately ruffled her hair and handed her a fruit. "This is a persimmon, but I've never seen one where you live. Try it."

It was only then that Qin Yi realized that Cheng Cheng seemed to have never seen many things before. What kind of king was she, a mountain king?