The Litchi Road Episode 7 Recap
> The Litchi Road Recap
Li Shande sent Li Xiuer to the embroidery workshop to learn skills. The workshop held a flower basket weaving competition. Li Shande learned the technique of weaving flower baskets with Li Xiuer, then told her to sleep. Li Xiuer wanted to weave with him, but Li Shande didn't want her to stay up late, so he insisted she go to bed and sleep. Li Shande stayed up all night to finish weaving it.
Early in the morning, Li Xiuer took the exquisite flower basket to the embroidery workshop. Her companions didn't believe she wove it, suspecting Li Shande bought it from the street. They even mocked Li Xiuer in public, calling her a child without a mother. Li Xiuer was enraged. She rushed forward to grab her flower basket, but it was stepped on and broken.
Li Xiuer got into a big fight with her six companions and ended up with a bloody face, but she didn't show weakness. Li Shande was so angry he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The Right Chancellor sent a new envoy to Lingnan to meet with Ma Guiyun. Yun Qing, the owner of Konglang Workshop, was a confidante of the Left Chancellor.
When she heard about this, she worried that the new envoy would discover Zheng Pingan's identity, so she sent someone to intercept him midway. However, the new envoy was highly skilled in martial arts and escaped from difficult situations several times. Later, he even changed his route. As more than twenty days passed, the new envoy was about to reach Lingnan.
Yun Qing immediately told Zheng Pingan about this and urged him to secure He Youguang's letter of loyalty and return to Chang'an to report back tomorrow, or his life would be in danger. Zheng Pingan became critically ill and bedridden from anxiety and anger. Li Shande came to visit him, believing he had heatstroke, and opened the window for ventilation. Zheng Pingan had unspoken bitterness in his heart.
Li Shande kept saying that a fortune teller told him he had a destiny of surviving hopeless situations and could transfer his bad luck to others. Zheng Pingan was convinced that Li Shande's bad luck had transferred to him. He was greatly angered. Li Shande didn't know why he was angry and quickly went out to buy him medicine. Gouer spoke favorably for Li Shande, which made Zheng Pingan even angrier, and he forcibly drove Gouer out.
Li Shande went to the pharmacy to buy medicine and unintentionally saw the owner using double-layered jars. He had a sudden idea to use these jars to preserve lychees, so he asked the owner and found out the double-layered jars came from a foreign merchant. Su Liang lost a full ship of benzoin. He sent people to watch the market for anyone shipping goods and quickly found that A Mita, the head of the foreign merchants' association, was selling benzoin.
Su Liang went directly to A Mita to demand an explanation. A Mita was gathering the foreign merchants to discuss electing a new head next month, and everyone unanimously recommended A Mita. Su Liang aggressively came to find A Mita, forcing her to hand over the benzoin he claimed was stolen. A Mita flatly denied it and asked Su Liang for evidence. Su Liang repeatedly emphasized that only he used double-layered jars for packaging spices.
A Mita sent someone to bring the benzoin. The benzoin was stored in ordinary jars. Su Liang was convinced that A Mita had replaced the double-layered jars. A Mita questioned Su Liang for secretly colluding with the Lychee Inspector, using the Lychee Inspector's five-prefecture travel tallies to allow the ship to enter the port smoothly, which violated the principles of foreign merchants doing business. She called on everyone to expel Su Liang from the association.
Su Liang was furious, shouting loudly at A Mita, and then left with his men. Li Shande searched everywhere and finally found the warehouse for the double-layered jars. To his surprise, Yang Xiaowei was guarding it with his men. Li Shande wanted to buy all the double-layered jars. Yang Xiaowei seized the opportunity to demand an exorbitant price. Li Shande saw that he was deliberately being difficult, so he brought up the court. Yang Xiaowei didn't buy it at all.
He picked up a double-layered jar and smashed it to pieces. In desperation, Li Shande took out the document for transporting lychees. He was going to requisition this batch of double-layered jars. When A Mita heard that Li Shande had requisitioned the double-layered jars for imperial use, she didn't want to stir up more trouble. She quickly called for Su Liang and told him to go to the warehouse to retrieve that batch of benzoin.
Su Liang also stopped pursuing the matter. The more A Mita thought about it, the angrier she got. Shopkeeper Hardi came to invite A Mita to a banquet, but A Mita wasn't in the mood and dismissed him with a few words. A Mita saw Hardi's feelings for her and didn't want to reject him outright, hoping to use him to stabilize her position as head of the association.
Su Liang heard that Li Shande had indirectly helped him, so he held a banquet to thank Li Shande. Li Shande took the opportunity to persuade him to invest in the lychee orchard. Su Liang avoided the topic. A Mita was upset, so she went to find her foster father, He Youguang. He Youguang revealed that he wanted to use the soldier fish tally to mobilize the navy to recover from pirates and turn Lingnan into his backyard.
A Mita fully supported him and reminded him to be wary of Su Liang. He Youguang didn't take Su Liang seriously at all. That year, Su Liang transported several ships of spices to Gaozhou, and He Youguang deliberately delayed allowing the ships to enter the port. As a result, a typhoon capsized the ships, Su Liang lost more than half of his family property, and he retired from the world for several years because of this.
Li Shande returned to his lodging very late, holding a double-layered jar in his arms. Zheng Pingan had been waiting for him to come back with medicine. Li Shande had completely forgotten about it. Zheng Pingan unleashed all his anger on Li Shande and even brought up his deceased sister to condemn Li Shande for being irresponsible. Li Shande was full of grievances. He was racking his brains just to complete the task and return alive to see Li Xiuer.
Zheng Pingan advised him to give up early, saying it was impossible for him to transport the lychees back to Chang'an. Yun Qing sent people to pursue and kill the envoy sent by the Right Chancellor. That person, relying on his exceptional martial arts, escaped again. Yun Qing immediately sent someone overnight to inform Zheng Pingan to obtain the letter of loyalty as soon as possible, or he would surely die.
Zheng Pingan came to find Zhao Xinmin early in the morning, wanting to make the exchange immediately. Zhao Xinmin made an excuse that He Youguang had torn up the letter of loyalty. Zheng Pingan found out that He Youguang was at the cockfighting arena, and he immediately rushed over. He Youguang was participating in the match with his own rooster, Red Light General, determined to win.
