The Litchi Road Episode 6 Recap
> The Litchi Road Recap
The story goes back two years. The foreign merchant Su Liang came to Chang'an to do business. He was quick-witted and meticulous in his work, quickly becoming the leader of the foreign merchants. Su Liang built the Chenxiang Pavilion at the Emperor's Xingqing Palace and presented precious beams and Dianbai agarwood to the Emperor. Dianbai agarwood won first place at the incense competition last month. The Right Chancellor loved agarwood and was extremely fond of the Dianbai agarwood.
He sent Su Liang to build him a Sixiang Pavilion, requesting it be built with four precious fragrant materials. This was not difficult for Su Liang, as he had already arranged for ships to transport the fragrant materials. Su Liang's merchant ship reached Zhenzhou and was plundered by the pirates led by Chieftain Feng Ruofang.
Su Liang was therefore removed from his position as the leader of the foreign merchants, and the Right Chancellor also stopped Su Liang from building the Sixiang Pavilion, replacing him with Xu Ji Incense Shop from Yangzhou. Su Liang knew he had no place in Chang'an and could only leave silently. Li Shande bought a basket of lychees from A Tong and asked her for a method to keep the lychees fresh longer.
A Tong suggested soaking them in salt water, but it could only extend the freshness by three days. Yang Xiaowei led his men to the Dong people's village to collect debt, forcing A Tong to use her lychee orchard as collateral. A Tong gave him all the money she had and promised to repay the debt after harvesting the lychees in May, but Yang Xiaowei firmly refused.
Li Shande accidentally discovered A Tong's method of preserving lychees using a water-barrier technique and rushed to ask A Tong for advice. A Tong clearly stated that the water-barrier method could extend the freshness by three days. Li Shande was overjoyed. If the lychees could stay fresh for six days, he might be able to complete the task of transporting lychees back to Chang'an. Yang Xiaowei took out the IOU and wanted to take the lychee orchard.
Li Shande resolutely refused and revealed his identity as the Lychee Inspector sent by the court. Yang Xiaowei didn't buy it at all and told Li Shande to help A Tong repay the debt, otherwise he couldn't report back to He Youguang. Li Shande didn't have that much money to help A Tong repay the debt, and he was utterly anxious. A Tong snatched the IOU and tore it to pieces. Yang Xiaowei wanted to arrest A Tong.
Li Shande desperately tried to stop him, threatening him by mentioning the court and saying he would requisition the Dong people's lychee orchard for the court. He took off his shoe to hit Yang Xiaowei. Yang Xiaowei was scared by Li Shande's imposing manner and could only leave with his men in dismay. Zhao Xinmin was the Chief Secretary of the Prefectural Office, but he was also the Left Chancellor's informant.
The Left Chancellor sent Zheng Pingan to impersonate the deceased Ma Guiyun to investigate evidence of the Right Chancellor's collusion with He Youguang. Zheng Pingan was worried that Li Shande might expose his identity and used every possible means to persuade Li Shande to leave. Zhao Xinmin personally saw Li Shande leave Gaozhou city and immediately returned to inform Zheng Pingan. The huge stone weighing on Zheng Pingan's heart finally dropped.
He took out the soldier fish tally and exchanged it for a loyalty letter with Zhao Xinmin. Li Shande suddenly returned; he wanted to stay and transport the lychees back to Chang'an. Zheng Pingan was instantly dumbfounded. Su Liang's merchant ship was impounded. He spent money to buy five five-prefecture travel tallies from Li Shande. He immediately took the five-prefecture travel tallies to Yang Xiaowei to request their release. Yang Xiaowei had to comply.
Su Liang found the ship empty and suspected someone had stolen a full ship of benzoin. Yang Xiaowei claimed to know nothing. Su Liang called Yang Xiaowei aside and tried to bribe him with money, but Yang Xiaowei didn't fall for it. Su Liang guessed that a powerful figure had stolen his benzoin and sent his men to watch the market. Zheng Pingan advised Li Shande to leave.
He Youguang had already become suspicious of him, suspecting he was the Left Chancellor's spy. Gouer also chimed in. Li Shande couldn't listen at all. He found many jars to test methods for preserving lychees. Li Shande came to the lychee orchard and told A Tong and the Dong people about his experiences in Chang'an and his idea of transporting lychees back to Chang'an. He had tears in his eyes when he spoke of his daughter Xiuer.
A Tong saw that he was homesick and brought out wine made from lychees to entertain him. The Dong people also pulled Li Shande to dance. Only then did Li Shande's mood slightly lighten. A Tong saw that Li Shande was a man who valued feelings and righteousness and developed a good impression of him. She voluntarily drank the 'togetherness wine' with him. When Yan Yazhuang returned and saw this scene, he pulled A Tong aside.
Drinking the 'togetherness wine' meant they would become husband and wife. Yan Yazhuang suspected that Li Shande had impure intentions towards A Tong and advised her not to harbor illusions. A Tong wanted Li Shande to stay and help her manage the lychee orchard. Yan Yazhuang reminded her to be calm, saying that Li Shande would return to Chang'an sooner or later, and if he couldn't transport the lychees back to Chang'an on time, his life would be in danger.
A Tong couldn't care about all that. Su Liang was at a dead end and could only turn to Li Shande for help, asking him to inquire with He Youguang about the whereabouts of his benzoin. Li Shande was also unable to help. Su Liang promised to give Li Shande a large sum of money. Li Shande was tempted by the money, but he really couldn't complete the task and could only give up.
Zhao Xinmin came to visit Li Shande. Li Shande asked him where he could find "bing" (ice). Zhao Xinmin misheard it as "bing" (soldiers). He didn't dare delay and immediately returned to report to He Youguang. Zhao Xinmin suggested Li Shande write a request for soldiers document to avoid trouble if the court blamed him. He Youguang agreed with his idea. Zhao Xinmin came again to bring Li Shande food and asked him to write a request for soldiers document.
Unexpectedly, what Li Shande wanted was ice to preserve the lychees. Zhao Xinmin was also helpless, as there had never been ice in Lingnan. Zhao Xinmin thought Li Shande was being deliberately mysterious and was actually testing him. He became even more vigilant. He Youguang also dared not take it lightly.
