《Top Assassin Retires and Becomes a Farmer After Time Traveling to the Past》


 Chapter 1: The Beginning of the divorce

    <h4>Chapter 1</h4>


    "Oh no, big brother. Mom has fainted!"


    "Come quick!"


    "What?"


    "Mom, what''s wrong with you?"


    "Quick, press on her philtrum! Use more force!"


    ...


    Amidst the cacophony, Li Yao felt a searing pain on her philtrum that instantly jolted her awake.


    As she opened her eyes, she found herself lying on a wooden bed, surrounded by four peasant children with anxious looks on their faces.


    Seeing her open her eyes, joy spread across their faces.


    "Mom''s awake!"


    "Thank goodness, Mom is alright!"


    ...


    Li Yao sat up,pletely baffled.


    In front of her were five children of varying ages and sizes, four boys and one girl, dressed in coarse hemp clothes mended all over with patches.


    Except for a pair of cloth shoes with holes worn through on the girl''s feet, the rest were barefoot.


    "Did you guys just call me..."


    The children looked at each other, a little apprehensive as they replied, "We called you Mom!"


    Li Yao''s mouth twitched.


    She was an orphan.


    Taken in and trained by a mysterious olddy when she was six, she eventually became a top-notch assassin.


    A month ago, the olddy passed away peacefully, so she retired from the profession and bought herself a farm with idyllic scenery, intending to live a quiet andfortable pastoral life from then on.


    But the farm had barely been purchased when she went to sleep after the first night there and woke up to find herself with so many children?


    What exactly was going on here?


    Suddenly, a flood of unfamiliar memories poured into her mind, like a rising tide.


    Li Yao was even more confused.


    She had actually crossed over!


    And crossed over into some ancient era of unknown time and space!


    The original owner was also named Li Yao and was also 31 years old.


    Married for over ten years, her husband had died half a year ago, leaving her a widow.


    The four boys in front of her were all her own flesh and blood, while the gaunt, pale-faced girl was her eldest daughter-inw, married into the family for more than half a year.


    And the original owner was the shrewdiest shrew in the entire He River Bay Vige, even the whole Bai Chuan County!


    Once she opened her mouth, it was bound to bring darkness upon thend.


    With hands on her hips, she knew no match.


    The vigers called her the terror of ghosts and fright of dogs. The dogs would even walk around her when they saw hering.


    Not only that, the original owner was also an utter fool.


    She had fought like cats and dogs with her mother-inw from the second day after her marriage, and wept copiously for a separation from her husband''s family right after her eldest son turned one month old.


    From then on, she lived like a hamster.


    She would transfer anything nice back to her maiden home, leaving her own family destitute with empty pots that couldn''t even boil water, and unable to afford square meals for days on end, staying in the dpidated thatched huts for over ten years.


    After her husband Wang Yuanshan died from falling off a cliff half a year ago while gathering herbs in the mountains, she became even more relentless, wanting to peel off ayer of topsoil and deliver it to her maiden home.


    When her birth mother wanted to borrow her old hen toy a few eggs for her younger brother''s health, she immediately presented both hen and eggs with her own hands, and also took the initiative to give away more than half of the meager food left in her home.


    By now, her family had been drinking wild vegetable soup for three days straight.


    Traveling back into the body of such a shrew and fool, could this be retribution for her?


    Returning seemed unlikely.


    Since she was here, then go with the flow.


    She had intended to retire and live out her remaining years anyway, and this ce, despite being poor, was blessed with a natural environment.


    As for these children, just let nature take its course.


    "Mom, did you crack your head just now?" her eldest daughter-inw He Xiaoya asked with concern.


    Li Yao touched the huge bump at the back of her head, still wet with traces of blood.


    "It''s fine."


    "Mom," her eldest son Wang Dazuang asked, "The Ding family still won''t let this rest. What should we do?"


    A year ago, her second son Wang Er was engaged to Ding Xiaoyan from the neighboring vige.


    But now the Ding family wanted to call it off, sending people repeatedly with the message that the original owner didn''t agree to end the engagement. Today, twenty to thirty of them came knocking to force the dissolution of the engagement.


    Given the current situation in their home, if the engagement was called off, her second son would likely remain a bachelor for life.


    So the original owner had stubbornly refused.


    But faced with the vicious scolding from over a dozen olddies, she couldn''t gain any advantage either.


    Rtions with the girl''s family were already tense to begin with, and they were too ashamed toe lend support.


    Although over a hundred vigers dide, with the original owner''s character, she had offended every rat in the vige, so who would be willing to say a word for her?


    They were here just for the show and gossip.


    When she had her youngest son go to her maiden home to ask for reinforcements, her own mother told her to agree to the dissolution while she could still get the bride price back.


    The original owner was so angry she attacked them with the foulest curses she could spew. Ding Xiaoyan''s brother pped her to the ground and her head hit the sharpening stone, killing her instantly.


    If Li Yao hadn''t traveled back, she would be holding a funeral now.


    "Mom," her second son said, "Why don''t we just agree to them and call it off? Our family now is..."


    "Call it off?" Li Yao frowned. "Why would we call it off?"


    Having assumed the original owner''s identity, she must conduct herself ording to the original standpoint.


    Being pressed to dissolve the engagement at their own doorstep, with the groom''s mother beaten to death, how could she tolerate this?


    Even if they were to call it off, it had to be the other party who took initiative!


    And it definitely would not happen today!


    "Come, watch how I deal with them!"


    ...


    Li Yao walked out of the shabby, dpidated thatched hut.


    In the yard were over twenty people from the Ding family. Seeing her unharmed, they started moring again.


    Their words, implicit and explicit, used the Wang family of being too poor, like a toad lusting after a swan... and so on.


    Li Yao was livid. She put her hands on her hips, "All of you, shut up! Marrying a chicken then follow the chicken, marrying a dog then follow the dog, don''t you understand this simple logic? If you thought we were too poor, why didn''t you make it clear when you were proposing the engagement? You had your eyes in your crotch back then?"


    "Lady of the Wang house," Xiaoyan''s father said arrogantly, "If you agree to call off the engagement, I''ll return the bride price immediately. Back then, your family gave 500 wen. I''ll be generous now and give back 1,000!"


    "You think I''m begging?" Li Yao retorted. "People surnamed Ding, take your people and get lost! Don''t me me for being impolite!"


    "You... I''m giving 1,000 wen already. What more do you want?" Ding''s father yelled. "All your family assetsbined aren''t worth that much!"


    "However poor or rich my family is, what''s that got to do with you? An engagement settled is an engagement kept! If you dare go back on it, I''ll sit at your front door every day and curse up a storm at your ancestral graves!"


    "You shrew, looking to get beaten again?"


    Ding Laoer, Xiaoyan''s brother, charged aggressively again. It was him who had pushed the original owner down just now.


    Li Yao thought, he''sing at the perfect time.


    A gentleman uses his mouth not his fists, but she knew dozens of ways to kill this brat without him even knowing how he died.


    Not only would she not back down, she strode right up to meet him. Dodging a blow, she grabbed Ding Laoer by the hair while delivering a precise knife-hand strike to the vital point on the back of his neck, using the perfect amount of force.


    Ding Laoer only felt his whole body go numb, suddenly devoid of any strength. He could only let Li Yao throw him to the ground.


    "You actually dare toy hands on me?"


    Li Yao picked up a broom and began whacking him randomly.


    After several whacks in session, the Ding family realized Ding Laoer was just lying there limply, and quickly came over to pull Li Yao away.


    "Anyone else?" Li Yao held up the broom and challenged the crowd arrogantly, "Not afraid to die thene on!"


    Her sons also rushed to her side, fists clenched, looking ready to brawl.


    The Ding family finally witnessed the might of the number one shrew in He River Bay Vige firsthand. The women didn''t dare run their mouths anymore, fearing a beating. Some of the Ding men wanted to step up and regain some face, but were stopped by Old Ding.


    This was He River Bay Vige.


    Quarreling was one thing, but if several grown men started beating a widow and orphans, the onlooking vigers would definitely not just stand by.


    If things escted, it would not end well.


    "Alright, alright!" Old Ding said, "Since you refuse to call it off, then it''s not called off! But if you want to marry our Xiaoyan, you''ll need at least ten taels of silver for bride price! And a new house! Don''t even think about it otherwise!"


    Li Yao sneered, "Why don''t you take a piss and take a look at yourself, is your family worth that price?"


    "You..." Old Ding was so angry his beard shook. He stamped his foot heavily. "We''ll see how it all turns out! Let''s go!"


    The indignant Old Ding had people help the limp Ding Laoer up, and left dejectedly.


    The vigers who hade to watch the show also began to disperse, talking amongst themselves as they left.


    "If she didn''t keep moving things to her maiden family until her own kitchen pots couldn''t even boil water, they wouldn''t havee to call off the engagement in the first ce."


    "Poor second young master Wang. He''ll probably be a bachelor all his life now."


    "With a mother like that, how could he even think of taking a wife? Not starving to death would be a great blessing already."


    ...


    Li Yao knew the original owner''s character better than anyone. She had no time to care about idle gossip.


    Right now, she was faced with a very serious problem.


    She was hungry.

 Chapter 2: Wait till you’re Full

    <h4>Chapter 2</h4>


    He Wan vige was surrounded by mountains on three sides, with Li Yao''s house at the foot of the western mountain.


    The four thatched huts had rotting ck straw on the roof, and there were two big holes in the roof.


    A rickety little thatched shed that leaked from all eight sides was the kitchen.


    "Mother," eldest daughter-inw He Xiaoya said, "I''m going to cook."


    Li Yao was starving, with her chest stuck to her back, and her eyes were twinkling stars. It was time to eat something.


    "Cook what?"


    "Wild vegetable soup." He Xiaoya replied softly.


    The wild vegetable soup He Xiaoya cooked was just boiling water with wild vegetables thrown in to cook, without even a drop of oil or a pinch of salt.


    It was incredibly nd.


    It not only cut your throat, but also scraped your intestines clean.


    It was very healthy, but what Li Yaocked now was nutrition.


    "Let''s eat something else today."


    Li Yao went back to the bedroom. There was still a small bag of coarse rice in the cab, about 3 catties, and four eggs that had been there for who knows how long. This was thest food left by the original owner.


    She handed the bag to He Xiaoya, eggs and all: "Cook it all, until it''s dry."


    He Xiaoya knew this was thest food for the whole family, but since her mother-inw had spoken, she didn''t dare ask more and hurried to the kitchen with the rice.


    But she secretly scooped out half a bowl and hid it on top of a shelf in the kitchen.


    While He Xiaoya was cooking the rice, Li Yao went to the hillside behind the house and dug up some wild chives and garlic.


    When she came back, He Xiaoya had already filtered the rice and was about to cook wild vegetable soup.


    Li Yao quickly took over: "I''ll cook the vegetables."


    He Xiaoya was a little surprised.


    Ever since she married into this family, she had done all the housework, and her mother-inw had never lifted a finger. Yet today, she wanted to cook by herself?


    Li Yao looked at the ingredients - only half a bowl of salt left, and just a tiny bit of oil at the bottom of the jar.


    So she would stir fry wild vegetables and make egg drop soup.


    After washing the wild chives and garlic, she had He Xiaoya heat up the wok over high heat.


    "Watch carefully," Li Yao said, "do it this way from now on."


    Since she didn''t n on cooking long term, the best way was to teach someone else.


    "Ok."


    He Xiaoya didn''t dare get careless and kept her eyes glued on every move.


    When the oil in the wok was hot, Li Yao added garlic to release the aroma, then salt, and finally the drained wild vegetables to stir fry.


    Sizzle¡ª


    The earthen stove burned hot and quickly wilted the wild vegetables. Out of the wok.


    Looking at the green wild vegetables coated in oil, smelling fragrant, He Xiaoya swallowed her saliva while her heart felt sliced open.


    Usually when she stir fried, she only dared coat the wok with a feather''s touch of oil... Yet her mother-inw still scolded her for using too much oil and being wasteful.


    But her mother-inw had added this much oil while cooking.


    At this rate, wouldn''t they eat 30 catties of oil in a year?


    What surprised her even more was that Li Yao took out four eggs.


    "Mother, what are the eggs for?"


    "Egg drop soup."


    He Xiaoya had eaten egg drop soup before, but never with four eggs at once!


    After mixing the eggs with salt and plenty of rice soup, steaming them over the rice and sprinkling with chopped scallions, the smooth and delicious egg drop soup was ready.


    Li Yao didn''t immediately start eating, but scooped out the rice and left the crispy rice bits in the pot.


    Along the edges of the crispy rice, she poured a little oil and pan fried them briefly on low heat, breaking them up into pieces with a spat, sprinkling them with salt. Soon a te of golden, crispy, aromatic pan fried crispy rice was ready.


    "Time to eat."


    The children had been outside, swallowing mouthful after mouthful of saliva from the aromas wafting from the kitchen.


    But when the food was set on the table, no one reached for their bowl and chopsticks, obediently waiting for Li Yao to serve the rice.


    With over 2 catties of coarse rice, there was plenty of cooked rice. Each person got two bowls.


    Li Yao divided half the egg drop soup between herself and the children, giving the rest to He Xiaoya.


    "Mother, why are you giving me so much?"


    Looking at the half bowl of egg drop soup, He Xiaoya didn''t even dare pick up her chopsticks.


    In the past, if she took even a bit more food, her mother-inw would rap her hand with chopsticks. She had suffered endless grievances over this.


    Yet today, she was given half a bowl all at once!


    That was worth two eggs!


    The mother-inw today seemed like a different person.


    "Eat up since I gave it to you." Li Yao said. "You must finish the rice, eggs, and eat more vegetables. Just try the crispy rice, it''s not easy to digest."


    The young wife had the weakest health in the family.


    And she had married over half a year ago, could get pregnant any time, so her health must be prioritized.


    "Everyone, start eating."


    The children immediately picked up their bowls and chopsticks.


    It had been so long since they ate so much rice and oil, such delicious dishes. They ate with relish!


    Especially the fried crispy rice, golden and crispy, the rich saltiness made them want to swallow their own tongues.


    After finishing, they still felt unsatisfied. Wang Xiao Si even licked the serving bowl clean, shinier than if it was washed.


    "Mother, the crispy rice is so tasty! Make it again next time!"


    Unlike Wang Xiao Si''s carefree attitude, Da Zhuang and He Xiaoya''s eyes revealed a trace of worry.


    They had eaten their fill this meal.


    But what about dinner? What about tomorrow?


    After the meal, Li Yao drank a bowl of thick rice soup, finally regaining some strength.


    She took a stool and sat at the edge of the yard, looking at the other families in the vige and vast fields. She needed to think hard about how to keep this family alive.


    The great drought had startedst year, causing crops to fail nationwide. Reportedly many ces already had people who couldn''t afford food, and had started fleeing inrge numbers.


    Add to that decades of war on the western border that had drained the national reserves. The court was also unable to care for themon people.


    As He Wan vige was next to the mountains, they had managed to harvest some grainsst year, but this year was a total loss. No family had any spare grains, even wild vegetables were being uprooted to extinction.


    So to get food, they could only try their luck in the mountains.


    Just five or six hills west were the unending Hundred Thousand Mountains. Lush forests and tangled vines, miasma floating about, also many jackals, wolves and leopards, even hunters didn''t dare easily enter.


    But for Li Yao this was nothing.


    At ten years old she had been thrown into the deep mountain forests, surviving alone for at least a month. At fifteen she traversed the Amazon rainforest alone, and came out even fatter.


    So this deep mountain was no different than going back to her maternal home.


    As long as she didn''t go too deep and could get back before dark.


    Having made up her mind, Li Yao cut a piece of old bamboo and made a simple bow and arrow, then called the whole family together.


    Seeing the bow and arrow, Wang Xiao Si''s eyes lit up eagerly: "Mother, is this for me?"


    "Go on, what''s a kid ying with bows and arrows for," Li Yao said. "This afternoon, you''re all going into the mountains with me."


    "What are we going to do in the mountains?" He Xiaoya asked weakly, revealing some fear.


    The other day she heard of a family in White Cloud Vige so destitute they ate up all their grains in one go, then the whole family swallowed pesticide together.


    Could mother want to...


    "Mother, our family still has half a bowl of rice left..."


    "That bit you hid wouldn''t even make a full bowl of congee for me," Li Yao said. "In a while, you all go dig up wild vegetables and herbs, I''ll go see if I can hunt some wild chicken and rabbits."


    The children all goggled their eyes at each other.


    Since when did Mother know how to hunt?

 Chapter 3: Good Luck Eating Chicken Tonight.

    <h4>Chapter 3</h4>


    After crossing over a few hills, Li Yao arrived at the edge of the dense forest in the mountains.


    This area was rtively sparsely popted by vigers, so it was still possible to dig up vegetables here, but there was no trace of medicinal herbs to be seen. Li Yao let the children dig vegetables nearby, while she went into the woods alone.


    After trekking for over an hour, she didn''t find many herbs, but she did have an unexpected gain.


    She saw a lot of spices.


    Star anise, Sichuan pepper, fennel, cinnamon, bay leaves, wild ginger, these were allmonly used and could be bought at the market.


    But cloves, cardamom, cubeb pepper, and lesser gngal, the people of this world had not yet discovered their uses.


    So she gathered some of each, to use for cooking dishes and pickling in the future.


    When she was about to go deeper into the woods, a north-south valley blocked her way.


    On both sides were steep cliffs, more than a hundred meters deep, with no end in sight. The trees and weeds in the valley were dense, and there were no signs of human activity on the cliffs.


    It was this valley that blocked the vigers from going up the mountain. Even experienced hunters had never gone down it. But Li Yao was bold and skilled, what was an insurmountable precipice to the vigers, was a piece of cake to her.


    After carefully observing the terrain, Li Yao plotted a route, using the trees and weeds on the cliff to slowly make her way into the valley.


    The cliff was indeed dangerous. Even for her, without any protection, she didn''t dare go down too quickly. It took a full half hour before she finally stepped onto the valley floor.


    Being in the valley felt like entering a whole new world, a treasury of resources.


    All kinds of herbs could be seen almost everywhere.


    Aconite, white peony root, peony root, ephedra, Fritiria, salvia, ophiopogon... and they were all a few years old. In no time, she had filled half a basket.


    After digging up a clump of ephedra, Li Yao suddenly heard two chirping sounds, which made her heart leap with joy.


    Wild chicken!


    She put down her basket and took up her bow and arrows, stealthily approaching the source. Soon she saw a small, gray chicken pecking around in the undergrowth.


    It would peck a few times, then warily raise its head to listen for sounds around it.


    Li Yao approached to within about three meters in the gentlest manner, before drawing her bow to shoot an arrow.


    Whoosh!


    The bamboo arrow hit the wild chicken''s thigh. It let out a shrill cry and panickedly tried to escape.


    Li Yao pounced and grabbed it, twisting its neck.


    And just like that, she easily caught a wild chicken.


    Where there was one, there would be two. Where there were two, there would be three. Li Yao quickly shot two more nearby.


    The three wild chickens were all small, probably a little over a pound each. They looked very young and tender. This kind of small chicken had tender meat, perfect for frying or roasting.


    But it was a littlecking in quantity.


    However, fortune favored her, or perhaps the valley was just too abundant in resources. She soon encountered a plump wild rabbit and sessfully shot it down too.


    Three small wild chickens and onerge wild rabbit, dinner tonight was finally enough.


    Bringing the herbs into town tomorrow could also earn some money, which solved the pressing problem at hand.


    Climbing up the cliff, Li Yao oriented herself and quickly headed home.


    Before reaching the edge of the woods, she suddenly heard footsteps and immediately tightened her grip on the cleaver in her hand.


    "Who''s there?"


    "It''s me."


    Liu Hunter, carrying a bow and arrows, soon walked out from behind a tree.


    This made Li Yao even more vignt.


    In this kind of forest, a young and beautiful widow meeting a strong man alone was dozens of times more dangerous than meeting a wild beast.


    Fortunately, Liu Hunter was upright. Seeing her alone, he did note closer.


    "I thought it was someone else, turns out it was Li Yao," Liu Hunter was from Li Yao''s natal vige, so he naturally recognized her. "What are you doing alone in the woods?"


    "I''m here to hunt."


    "You? Hunting?"


    Liuughed.


    A woman going into the mountains to hunt, wasn''t that a joke?


    "Well, did you manage to hunt anything?" Liu smiled ambiguously and asked.


    "Not much, just three wild chickens and a wild rabbit."


    Liu Hunter: ...


    Seeing the wild chickens and rabbit in Li Yao''s hands, all shot dead with arrows, Liu Hunter''s eyes were about to pop out.


    She really hunted that much!


    He had set dozens of traps in the woods, checking them every day, and had gone empty-handed for ten straight days already.


    It was only today he got lucky and caught three small wild chickens, so he didn''t have to go home empty-handed.


    Compared to her, it was enough to anger someone to death.


    "Brother Liu," Li Yao said, seeing Liu Hunter had no ill intentions, "Would you like to trade your chickens for something?"


    "What do you want to trade?"


    "I''ll trade the rabbit for your three wild chickens."


    The rabbit Li Yao caught was very plump, no less heavy than the three chickens, and the fur could also be sold for money. This was a very cost-effective trade, so Liu Hunter naturally agreed.


    As for why she wanted to trade, it was because without cooking wine, it was difficult to get rid of the gamey taste of wild rabbit.


    It was better to trade. Added up, it was just six chickens, just right for one each in her family.


    After trading, Liu Hunter kindly reminded: "Wild boars have starteding towards the mountains this season. It''s best if you don''t go into the mountains alone again."


    Wild boars?


    Li Yao''s heart twitched uncontrobly as she thought of crispy, juicy five spice pork belly wrapped in fresh lettuce...


    It looked like she would have to make frequent trips to this mountain.


    "I understand, thank you Brother Liu."


    Carrying the chickens, she headed back the same way and met up with Dashuang and the children. By then, the sun was already tilting west. Seeing that she had actually hunted wild chickens, and a full six of them at that, the children could hardly conceal their excitement.


    But they were also very worried.


    They didn''t know if Mother would give all the chickens to Grandma''s family like before.


    It turned out their worries were unnecessary.


    After getting home, Li Yao immediately started arranging things. Dashuang and Wang Er cleaned the chickens, San''er and Wang Xiaosi started a fire and got charcoal ready, He Xiaoya sorted the herbs and washed wild scallions and ginger.


    She slowly dried the spices over low heat, preparing to make a simple version of thirteen-spice blend.


    "Mother," He Xiaoya didn''t recognize some of the spices and asked, "What are these? They smell pretty good."


    "I picked them in the woods. The aroma seems nice so I brought some back to try out. Where''s the stone mortar?"


    "Under the shelves. I''ll go get it."


    The dried spices were put in the stone mortar and slowly ground into a fine powder. The rich fragrance instantly spread out. He Xiaoya kept smelling it. As expected, it had several more scentspared to the spices she had seen before.


    The mingled fragrances made her feel veryfortable.


    The family was busy but orderly, the atmosphere lively. If not for the dpidated thatched house, who would have thought this was the poorest family in He Wan vige?


    After the chickens were cleaned, Li Yao marinated them with salt, wild scallions, ginger, and the thirteen spice blend for half an hour. She then strung the chickens onto bamboo skewers and slowly grilled them over the red hot coals.


    When the chickens were almost cooked, she put the chicken giblets pierced on small bamboo sticks to grill over low heat. Finally, she brushed on ayer of oil and sprinkled the thirteen spice powder. The rich aroma instantly burst out and the whole yard was filled with the intoxicating smell.


    The children watched the golden brown roast chicken, continuously swallowing their drool.


    "Everyone go wash your hands clean. It''s time to eat."


    The family sat around the table, each with a roast chicken in front of them.


    The chicken skin was golden brown and crispy, the meat tender and juicy. The fragrance of the spices made one unable to resist voraciously digging in.


    A tter of grilled chicken giblets was also golden brown and crispy.


    Just as they were about to start eating, an inharmonious voice called out, "What are you eating that smells so good?"


    Li Yao looked up to see it was her own younger brother Li Fu who had barged in uninvited.


    Seeing the wild chickens on the table, Li Fu''s eyes immediately lit up greedily. He sat down without any hesitation.


    "Big sister, you have so many chickens but didn''t send us any? Good thing I got here in time."


    As he spoke, he casually reached to take the roast chicken in front of Wang Xiaosi.


    Seeing this, none of the children dared to make a peep.


    Usually this uncle didn''t have any good attitude towards them. He was even more casual at their home than his own, taking any good food he saw. And Mother always defended him no matter what.


    Now that he wanted to eat the roast chicken, they figured Mother would not only readily hand it over with both hands, but also let him take several back.


    But what surprised everyone was that before Li Fu could even touch his bowl, Li Yao''s chopsticks shed like lightning and struck out towards him.

 Chapter 4: First market

    <h4>Chapter 4</h4>


    Li Fu was hurt by the beating and quickly retracted his hand. At the same time, he red at her and shouted loudly, "Why did you hit me?"


    "Did I ask you to sit down?" Li Yao asked coldly. "Did I ask you to eat?"


    Li Fu could hardly believe these words came from his big sister. His big sister had always indulged him and endured him, hadn''t she?


    "What do you mean, big sister?" Li Fu said. "It was just some chicken meat. Are you reluctant to share it? If you have difficulties in the future, do you still want us to back you up?"


    Li Yao was impatient and said directly, "I don''t care. Get out."


    The single word "get out"pletely angered Li Fu. He had never been so aggrieved and insulted by his big sister before.


    He immediately stood up, pointed at Li Yao, and started cursing, "You think you''re so great just because you have two chickens to eat. You don''t even recognize your own family! If your family has any difficulties in the future, I won''t say another word to help even if I have to stop using my surname Li!"


    Li Yao turned her face to Da Zhuang and said, "Beat him out with a stick."


    When Da Zhuang heard this, he immediately took out a long wooden stick from behind the door.


    He had been enduring this uncle for a long time. If it came to blows, he would definitely not show any mercy!


    "You guys are rebelling against heaven!" Seeing this, Li Fu was so angry that smoke came out of his seven orifices. "Fine, fine. Since you are so ungrateful, don''t me me. From now on, your Wang Er can forget about studying with my brother Li Xian!"


    "Beat him!"


    With an order from Li Yao, Da Zhuang swung the stick at Li Fu, scaring him into running away cursing.


    "From now on, beat anyone who dares to casually break in, especially your grandmother''s family. As long as you don''t kill anyone, Mother will protect you if anything happens," said Li Yao.


    "Ok," they answered.


    The children were secretly excited.


    Mother finally realized that Grandmother''s family only wanted to take their things. Not one of them was a good person!


    "Hurry up and eat."


    Wild chicken was indeed tastier than farmed chicken.


    Because they were small wild chickens, the meat was tender and not gamey. The chicken vor was very rich, the juices thick. The children ate with continuous lip smacking and finger licking.


    The family had eaten chicken before, but it was chicken raised for many years, so the stewed meat was extremely tough. It was not as tender and delicious as this grilled chicken.


    Seeing the children fully satisfied, licking their skewers clean, Li Yao suddenly felt a strange sense of aplishment.


    "Mother, I''ll go wash the dishes."


    "Mother, I''ll pour water for you to wash your face."


    "Mother, I''ll wash your feet."


    "Mother, change your clothes. I''ll wash them for you..."


    ...


    After dinner, the children took initiative to do their own chores and waited on her like an empress without her direction.


    Li Yao happily epted it all.


    Being a mother didn''t seem so bad after all.


    However, she keenly noticed that something seemed off with Wang Er as he was alone looking at the stars in the yard.


    "Da Zhuang, what''s wrong with Wang Er?"


    Da Zhuang looked at the yard, hemmed and hawed before saying, "Uncle said he won''t let him study with young uncle anymore."


    Li Yao remembered that Li Fu did say something like that.


    But in her opinion, it was not a big deal at all.


    There was a saying: the eldest works hard, the second is smart, the third and fourth jump around.


    Wang Er had been smart since he was little and liked to study.


    Coincidentally, her original body''s youngest brother Li Xian could also study. At twelve years old he had be a child student at the county school and was valued by the old teacher, who guaranteed that he would pass the imperial exam in the future.


    Two years ago, the original body had Wang Er apany Li Xian in studying, hoping he could learn something and give the family someone who could read and write. Her shameless fawning on her maternal family also had this reason.


    Although it sounded good to say it was apanying study, to put it bluntly, it meant that Wang Er had to be ordered around, used as a punching bag.


    Not only did Wang Er have to endure mistreatment from young uncle, grandmother''s family, and young uncle''s ssmates, but also from the old teacher... It was quite pitiful for the child.


    Moreover, he had just been rejected for marriage today, a double blow.


    She went to the yard and looked at the starry sky, sitting down next to Wang Er.


    "Mother, I''m fine," said Wang Er. "I won''t study anymore in the future. I''ll just learn farming from big brother."


    Wang Er was only 13 this year.


    In Li Yao''s understanding, children this age should be studying.


    But in this world, it was very difficult for children from poor families to study. Being able to study required the utmost effort from the whole family, and even then it might not be affordable.


    It was understandable that Wang Er wanted to give up on the path of studying.


    "Don''t you want to study?" Li Yao asked.


    "Now that we''ve offended Grandmother''s family, and young uncle''s side..." Wang Er lowered his head and said softly, "They definitely won''t let me apany studying anymore."


    "Who said you can''t study if you don''t apany studying?" Li Yao said. "Don''t overthink. As long as you want to study, I''ll make sure you can. You can go to the county school, or I can hire a teacher to teach you at home."


    Wang Er was dumbfounded.


    Hiring a teacher toe home, wasn''t that a bit too outrageous?


    Even the rich merchants, low ranked officials, and county magistrates in town didn''t hire teachers toe teach at home!


    But Mother''s words made him feel so reassured.


    "Thank you, Mother. I will study hard and repay your kindness in the future."


    "Go to bed early. We''re going to the market tomorrow."


    ...


    The house had four rooms, a main hall, one room for Da Zhuang and the maid.


    Wang Er and Wang San''er shared a room, and Li Yao stayed with Wang Xiao Si in one room.


    Although he was the original body''s biological child, and Wang Xiao Si was only 7 years old, Li Yao still felt a little ufortable.


    Plus being in a new environment, she didn''t sleep very soundly all night. She got up at the first light of dawn and went to the market with Da Zhuang and Wang Er.


    Hewan Vige was 20 li from the market town.


    The narrow muddy road twisted and turned, barely wide enough for an ox cart. Horse carriages couldn''t even get into the vige at all.


    Of course, no one in Hewan Vige could afford a horse carriage anyway.


    It took them a full hour to reach the market town.


    Li Yao found an herbal medicine shop. Seeing the herbs were all high quality and aged, the owner gave 800 wen.


    "Come back with more medicine in the future. I''ll give you the fairest price," he promised.


    Carrying the heavy copper coins, she went to a noodle shop with Da Zhuang and ordered three bowls of wonton and five steamed buns. On the way out she also bought twenty steamed buns to take home.


    Because it was a famine year, grain prices had risen quite a bit. This meal cost 105 wen.


    Li Yao didn''t mind the money and gave Da Zhuang 500 wen to buy rice, flour, meat, oil, salt, brown sugar, vegetables, and some soy sauce and rice vinegar.


    She wandered around the streets, going through every shop in town.


    Baichuan County was close to the mountains. Although its location was remote and destitute, its jurisdiction was extremelyrge. There were a total of 33 viges below it, with a poption of over 40,000, thergest among the surrounding counties.


    Therefore, Baichuan Town, the county magistrate''s seat, was actually quite big with five wide streets running vertically and horizontally. There was nock of wealthy people in town either.


    There were several restaurants and taverns, inns, teahouses, pawn shops, fabric shops, oil mills, wine shops, cosmetic shops, bookstores, pawn shops, cksmiths, coffin shops...everything imaginable.


    Business looked pretty good.


    If it wasn''t a famine year, it would be even more bustling and prosperous.


    Hunting and gathering medicine could only solve the most urgent needs. Li Yao couldn''t go into the mountains to dig herbs and hunt every day.


    The fastest and most effortless way to make money was still doing business.


    She took special note of the food industry.


    The food of this era really wasn''t very tasty. The cooking methods were simple, the ingredients casual, and very little use of sauces and spices, just the same few cooking techniques over and over.


    Even the best He Ji Restaurant in town only had seven or eight signature dishes,pletely devoid of innovation.


    Therefore, Li Yao decided that her first business would be selling food.

 Chapter 5: Lu Bao

    <h4>Chapter 5</h4>


    At the door of the cksmith''s shop, Li Yao ran into Da Zhuang.


    "Mother," Da Zhuang said, "Prices have risen sharply. A catty of flour costs 12 wen, and a catty of rice costs 15 wen. I only dared to buy 10 catties each."


    "It''s okay," Li Yao said.


    Prices will continue to riseter on.


    "I didn''t buy any meat either," Da Zhuang said. "Pork belly is too expensive."


    In ancient times, fatty meat was the most expensive. Now, a catty costs 40 wen!


    Lean meat, pork ribs, and pork legs are a bit cheaper, while pork offal and bones are the cheapest, almost half-priced.


    Li Yao went to a pork stand and saw that the entire pork offal hadn''t been sold out at all, totaling 25 catties. After some bargaining, she took it all for only 80 wen, which worked out to just 3.2 wen per catty.


    She spent 20 wen to take all the bones that were picked off.


    She also bought a pair of straw sandals for each person.


    Although it wasn''t winter yet, mornings and nights were getting cold. Wearing straw sandals was better than going barefoot.


    After selling 800 wen worth of herbs, she only had over a dozen copper coins left. Li Yao gave them all to Da Zhuang to hold on to.


    "From now on, you''ll be in charge of handling petty cash for the family," she said.


    "Oh!" Da Zhuang happily epted the coins.


    Although he wasn''t managing the whole family, at least Mother had started letting him manage money!


    "Mother, why did we buy so much pork offal?" Da Zhuang asked in puzzlement on the way home. "That stuff stinks badly and doesn''t taste good either."


    "What do you know?" Li Yao said.


    It''s not that it doesn''t taste good, it''s just that you don''t know how to prepare it.


    She had just picked enough spices yesterday and nned to try making stewed meat.


    After a simple lunch at home, the family started cleaning the pork offal together.


    They washed it repeatedly with warm water, soaked it in ginger, scallion and salt water for at least two hours, then nched it.


    At the same time, bone broth was being simmered in a pot.


    When the ingredients were ready and the bone broth simmered into a milky white color with a slight fragrance, the spices were stir-fried briefly and poured into the broth, along with oil, lots of scallions, ginger, salt, soy sauce and brown sugar for color. It was brought to a boil then the pork offal was added. After another boil, it was turned down to a simmer until thoroughly cooked, then left to stew with the heat off.


    Once the vors had fully prated, the meat was taken out to drain and brush with oil from the surface of the stew, giving it a brighter, more appetizing color.


    "Mother," He Xiaoya had been watching the entire time, amazed. "Where did you learn to make it this way?"


    "You didn''t know I could cook just because you hadn''t seen me do it before?" Li Yao said. "Today I''m showing you a thing or two, so watch carefully."


    "Oh!" He Xiaoya understood that Mother had kept her skills hidden.


    Besides meat, stew also needed vegetables. But the only things readily avable at the market this season were cabbage and radish.


    Li Yao scooped out most of the stewing liquid into another container to use as the stock base next time. She cut up some radishes and cabbage to simmer gently in the remaining liquid untilpletely tender and absorped in vor.


    She also shredded some radish as a refreshing, pte-cleansing side dish.


    Once He Xiaoya had the steamed buns ready, the family sat down together for dinner.


    The children had never seen such fragrantly vorful dishes before. Not only was the meat tender and tasty, even the radish and cabbage had fully absorbed theplex vors, making them taste as good as the meat.


    It was nothing like the boiled pork offal they had eaten before! Dipping the hot, soft steamed buns into the oily broth and pairing it with the crisp, sour-sweet shredded radish was absolute bliss.


    "Mother, the stew is so delicious! Even better than roast chicken!"


    "Mother is so skilled."


    Li Yao once again received admiring looks.


    "Let''s sell the stew at the market," Li Yao said, "along with rice and steamed buns."


    The children''s eyes lit up simultaneously.


    Something so fragrant and tasty that required so little capital would surely sell very well and make money!


    "Mother!" Da Zhuang was getting excited already. "I think it''s a great idea!"


    "We''ll help out too!"


    "Then it''s decided. You guys prepare at home tomorrow while I go dig up more herbs for capital."


    ...


    After telling He Xiaoya to properly preserve the stewing liquid, Li Yao headed into the mountains again with a cleaver.


    This time, she prepared a long rope to make descending and ascending the mountain valley much easier, leaving her more time to gather spices and dig herbs.


    With experience now, she directly skipped herbs of low value and focused on digging expensive ones.


    After a whole day, she filled up a entire basket.


    When selling to the herb shop again, the shopkeeper was greatly surprised.


    He had never seen anyone able to dig up so many quality, mature herbs in just two days, and was secretly delighted.


    "The total this time is 1,500 wen," he said.


    Li Yao frowned and picked up her basket to leave.


    Did he think she was some vige woman to be easily fooled?


    "Hey, don''t go!" The shopkeeper couldn''t bear to lose so many premium herbs and hurried out from behind the counter. "The price is negotiable! Negotiable!"


    "Three taels of silver. Otherwise I''ll sell to someone else."


    "I''ve never seen someone bargain so skillfully before!" Three taels of silver was the fair price, so the shopkeeper agreed without much hesitation. "You must sell your herbs to me in the future."


    Three taels of silver was 3,000 wen.


    An officialborer could only earn that much in a whole year, so it was quite a substantial amount of wealth.


    But there were still many things to buy.


    Ensuring adequate rice, flour, oil, salt, sauce...fulfilling the basic living needs of the family was the priority.


    Pork offal, some spices, an iron pot, stove, table, bowls and chopsticks, steamer, and more rope. She also bought the best cleaver from town.


    After another round of spending, only a few dozen copper coins were left, not enough for a cart for now.


    With all the items purchased and the family working together to wash, stew, and steam buns...


    By dusk, everything was ready except the rice, which had to be cooked early next morning.


    Because it used the original stewing liquid, this batch came out even more vorful, with more umami and stew fragrance and less bitterness and herbal taste from the spices.


    As long as the stew liquid was preserved properly, it would only get more delicious over time.


    "Mother," Da Zhuang suddenly remembered, "I have to go borrow a cart from Grandma."


    Li Yao scooped a bowl of pork offal,dled two spoonfuls of the stew sauce over it, and told He Xiaoya to pick ten steamed buns for Da Zhuang to bring as well.


    One should not visit empty-handed when borrowing things from others.


    ...


    It was almost dark.


    Li Yao''s mother-inw, Wang Xue Shi, was making tbreads with wild vegetables and buckwheat noodles.


    "Grandma!" Da Zhuang walked into the yard. "I wanted to borrow..."


    "We don''t have any," Wang Xue Shi didn''t even lift her head, rejecting him outright. "Go back and tell your mother to borrow from her own parents if she wants to borrow food. We have nothing to eat here either."


    Da Zhuang quickly rified, "It''s not to borrow food, Grandma, but to borrow a cart."


    Only then did Wang Xue Shi look up to see him holding a bunch of items, and asked, "What have you brought?"


    "Oh," Da Zhuang set the things down on the table, "these are some food that Mother wanted me to bring for you."


    "Her? Being so kind?"


    Wang Xue Shi was skeptical, but when she uncovered the cloth over the basket, she was stunned.


    Good heavens, so many steamed buns!


    And they were so big and white, clearly made with pure refined flour!


    There was also a bowl of meat!


    She had never smelled anything like this aroma in her life!


    "Where did thise from?"


    "Mother went into the mountains to dig herbs and sold some these past two days..." Da Zhuang exined.


    "Wasting money as soon as she earned some? Not even thinking of saving it for your Second Brother to get married? Acting like she''s rich just because she birthed four sons, even daring to eat white flour buns!"


    "It''s not like that, Grandma. We''re nning to sell food at the market in town."


    "She can even run a business? Don''t lose your pants gambling it all away!"


    Da Zhuang didn''t want to argue further with her. "So Grandma, about the cart..."


    "Take it, take it."


    Da Zhuang was overjoyed. Mother was right, bringing a little something made borrowing the cart much smoother.


    "Alright, I''ll take it away then."


    After Da Zhuang left, Wang Xue Shi put away the steamed buns and stew.


    That bowl of pork offal did smell appetizing, and she couldn''t help salivating.


    "Sister-in-Law even went to dig herbs and is thinking of doing business, borrowing things without showing up empty-handed," Da Zhuang''s second sister-inw Zhou said. "Looks like she also knows she should live properly now."


    "Who knows what she''s scheming?" The third sister-inw immediately followed. "She probably really can''t get by and wants to return to her maiden home. So she''s buttering up to us in advance..."


    "Shut up if you''ve got nothing to say!" Wang Xue Shi yelled when she heard this. "The eldest daughter-inw sent over some food, and even that offends you? Go chop grass to feed the pigs!"


    The third sister-inw Shen pouted and quickly buried her head in chopping grass.


    Mother-in-Law scolded harshly to their faces, but still spoke up for Eldest Sister-in-Law behind her back. Her heart was clearly biased toward the Liu Family Bay!


    Just because Eldest Sister-in-Law had birthed four sons!


    What''s the big deal.


    If it wasn''t for Zhao Laosan working year-round as a docker at the Yizhou pier, and was never home, she wouldn''t have had eight!

 Chapter 6: Make Money

    <h4>Chapter 6</h4>


    At four in the morning, little Ya got up to cook rice.


    Da Zhuang loaded two stoves onto the cart, along with pots, steamers, tables, chairs, benches - filling up a whole big cart.


    At first light, the family was ready to set off.


    Today quite a few people were going to the market. Seeing their big cart loaded with things, wafting delicious aromas, everyone was curious.


    "Da Zhuang, where are you guys going?"


    Da Zhuang was honest, answering every question.


    Hearing they were going to town to sell food, fellow travelers all chuckled together.


    Vigers all knew that Li Yao couldn''t even wash pots clean, yet she wanted to learn to sell food like others?


    A toad lusting after swan meat would probably have better luck.


    "These days we''re all starving to death, who would spend money to buy?"


    "At fifteen wen a bowl, you could buy two jin of corn and feed the whole family for three days."


    "Business isn''t something just anyone can do, or else the streets would be full of businessmen."


    ...


    Hearing the vigers quietly gossiping all the way, the confidence of Da Zhuang and his brothers started to fade.


    "Ma, what if it really doesn''t sell well?"


    "Whether it sells well or not isn''t up to them to say," said Li Yao. "Don''t just believe whatever others say. You have to try for yourself and experience it, to really know what it''s like."


    Da Zhuang''s face reddened and he hurriedly lowered his head to pull the cart.


    Mother was right, without even trying, how could they know the result?


    Arriving in town, Li Yao had already picked out a spot for their stall, near the marketce, where foot traffic was greatest.


    The few of them clumsily set up their small stall. Li Yao lifted the pot lid, immediately releasing the rich aroma.


    Da Zhuang and his brothers hovered nervously behind the stall.


    Seeing them like this, Li Yao shook her head.


    These boys were good in every way, just too simple-minded, too timid.


    "Let me show you how it''s done," said Li Yao. "Later you just copy me calling out like this."


    Li Yao cleared her throat and started shouting loudly.


    "Come,e! Don''t miss out!"


    "Fresh and delicious stewed pork with rice or buns, only 15 wen a bowl!"


    "Big portions, eat until full!"


    ...


    After a few shouts, plus the rich smell, some passersby were immediately drawn over.


    But seeing it was pig offal, they unanimously shook their heads.


    "It smells good, but that stuff has a strong funky taste, probably doesn''t taste good."


    "Uncle," said Li Yao, "I guarantee our stew has no funky taste. Try it and you''ll know."


    "No need to try, anyone who''s eaten it knows."


    "How about this, uncle," said Li Yao. "If you''re willing to be our first customer, this bowl is on the house."


    The man''s eyes lit up.


    "Really free?"


    "Really."


    "Then give me a bowl with rice!"


    Free stuff, only a fool wouldn''t eat. The man immediately sat down, attracting envious looks frompanions.


    This damn old guy was lucky today, actually running into something so good.


    Seeing the man eating with relish, the others with him kept swallowing saliva, eventually unable to resist.


    "Can I also get a free bowl?"


    "I''m afraid not," said Li Yao. "But the first 10 customers get 20% off! Limited spots, firste first served..."


    "I want a bowl with rice!"


    "Me too! With buns!"


    "Give me a bowl too!"


    ...


    In a sh, both small tables were full.


    Da Zhuang and Er Dan were busy nonstop serving rice. San Dun Er and Wang Xiao Si helped add dishes anddle soup.


    "Delicious, so delicious!"


    "I''ve never eaten such fragrant rice and dishes."


    "This aroma must waft for miles around."


    ...


    Word of mouth is the best advertising.


    With the constant sounds of praise, more and more people sat down to try this unprecedented delicious food.


    Near noon, the two small tables couldn''t seat everyone, some stood eating bowls.


    In this freezing cold season, eating a steaming hot, fragrant bowl of stew brought a feeling that these hard days had gotten a little better.


    At first Da Zhuang and his brothers were a bit clumsy, but with time their actions became more smooth, and they gradually opened up, proactively calling out to attract customers.


    Seeing money continually dropping into the cash box, the faint stirrings of excitement appeared on their faces.


    Since this was opening day, they had only prepared around 50 bowls. Before noon everything was sold out!


    "Come back tomorrow everyone."


    Laters looked disappointed, deeply inhaling the lingering aroma.


    "I definitely will, I''lle early to wait."


    Da Zhuang tightly hugged the heavy cash box, feeling on the verge of tears.


    "Ma, we sold out!"


    The three younger brothers were also extremely excited, but even more nervous.


    Not knowing how much they''d earned...


    "Let''s count the money."


    "Okay!"


    The brothers immediately opened the box and started counting coin by coin.


    "1, 2...644, 645!"


    645!


    The boys were as thrilled as if they''d won the lottery, bodies trembling with excitement.


    "Our initial capital was 320 wen," said Li Yao. "Tell me, how much did we earn?"


    Besides Er Dan, the other three were collectively stumped.


    Numbers this big, they didn''t have enough fingers!


    "325 wen," Er Dan quickly answered. "Ma, did I get it right?"


    Li Yao nodded.


    "So much? Amazing!"


    325 in one day, then in a month...


    Even Er Dan couldn''t calcte it now.


    "Close to 10,000 I''d say," said Li Yao. "But this was just the start. Volume will surely increaseter, possibly multiply by a few fold, and we''ll earn even more."


    10,000!


    10 taels of silver!


    And multiplying by a few fold!


    For these boys whose farthest trip was to the vige market, these were astronomical figures beyond imagination, unbelievable they could earn this much!


    An overwhelming happiness left them dizzyheaded.


    Mother really was too amazing!


    "Quickly go buy ingredients," said Li Yao. "Let''s double it tomorrow."


    "Let''s go!"


    There were only two pork stalls in town. Li Yao bought out their pig offal. She estimated 100 bowls of stew was about the sales limit.


    She also boldly bought several jin of pork belly.


    Growing boys couldn''t skimp on nutrition, no matter how poor.


    She also bought a new cart.


    Although all the money made today was spent, being able to buy their own things meant not owing any favors. Owing favors was easy, but hard to repay.

 Chapter 7: Eat braised Pork Today

    <h4>Chapter 7</h4>


    Throughout the morning, He Xiaoya was restless, evencking enthusiasm while sweeping the floor.


    She was worried.


    Having spent so much money, if she couldn''t sell the goods and incurred a loss, then...


    "Big sister-inw, we''re back!"


    Wang Xiao Si barged into the house, carrying three and a half pounds of pork as if he were a flying general.


    "How did it go? Did you sell everything?"


    "We sold out long ago!" Wang Xiao Si said gleefully. "Big sister-inw, guess how much money we made?"


    "Tell me quickly! I''ve been anxious!"


    "325 wen!"


    He Xiaoya felt as though her heart was about to burst.


    If they could earn this much every day, they would never have to endure hardship again. Her family would no longer look down on Da Zhuang, and they wouldn''t even prevent her from returning to her parents'' home.


    Thinking of this, He Xiaoya couldn''t help but feel her nose tingle and her eyes well up with tears.


    "Big sister-inw," Wang Xiao Si asked, "why are you crying?"


    "It''s nothing." He Xiaoya wiped her tears. "Where are our mothers?"


    "They''reing behind us. They''ll be here soon." Wang Xiao Si handed her the pork. "Mother said we''ll have braised pork for dinner tonight."


    He Xiaoya''s tears threatened to fall again.


    Ordinary families might only buy a piece like this for the New Year...


    Since the day Er Dan''s marriage was called off, Mother had changed. Although she was still a bit cold, she hadn''t scolded He Xiaoya again. She even provided good food and found a way to earn so much money.


    As a daughter-inw, she had to be filial and take care of the family.


    Before long, Li Yao and the others arrived home.


    After a quick lunch, the family resumed their busy work.


    With so many items today, they had to divide them into two pots for braising. But everyone was motivated because they could earn money, and they finished everything before it got dark.


    "I''ll make the braised pork," Li Yao took a short break and said, "Xiao Ya,e and learn."


    "Okay, Mother."


    She washed the meat with warm water, cut it into small cubes, nched them in boiling water, and then drained them.


    She heated the pot, poured in oil, and stir-fried the meat until the surface turned golden. When that happened, she added water, salt, ginger slices, shallots, star anise, cinnamon, a little sugar for vor, and soy sauce for color. She brought it to a boil over high heat and then simmered it for forty minutes.


    When she lifted the lid, a rich aroma wafted out.


    The tender meat was reddish, shiny, and trembling. Its color was bright red, and it melted in the mouth.


    He Xiaoya stared in awe.


    In all her years, she had never seen braised pork cooked so fragrantly and beautifully!


    Having earned some money and having braised pork, the family enjoyed a joyful dinner.


    ...


    After dinner, Da Zhuang pulled the handcart and arrived at the old house.


    "Grandma, I''ve returned the handcart."


    "Why? Don''t need it anymore?" Wang Xue Shi asked.


    "Is there a need to ask?" Wang San''er immediately chimed in, reveling in her misfortune. "Business isn''t that easy. They must not have sold anything and incurred a loss."


    "Phew! A dog''s mouth can''t speak ivory. Always negative!" Wang Xue Shi red at her. "I''m just telling the truth..."


    Wang Xue Shi gave Da Zhuang a sigh as she said it.


    Although she often shed with her eldest daughter-inw and criticized her for not knowing her ce, deep down she still hoped that the business would seed. But now even the cart had been returned, indicating that they probably couldn''t sell it.


    "Let her suffer a little loss, so she won''t be restless all the time," Grandma Wang said. "Da Zhuang, if you really run out of food, I still have some buckwheat flour here. Take it back and sustain yourselves for a few days."


    "That''s not the case, Grandma," Da Zhuang quickly exined. "We sold everything today!"


    "What?" Grandma Wang was taken aback. "Everything was sold?"


    "Yes! I returned the cart because we bought a new one."


    "Well... did you make any money?"


    "We did."


    Grandma Wang cursed herself for asking such a redundant question. That shrewd daughter-inw of Da Zhuang''s, she could even squeeze out a half penny from a stone. Wasn''t she capable of making a profitable deal?


    "Good, as long as you made money. It means I can keep my food." Grandma Wang softened her heart but maintained a stern tone. "Go back and tell your mother that she shouldn''t think she''s something just because she has a few sons. She spends money recklessly all the time! Save it for Wang Er to marry a wife! And also, stop sending things to her family!!!"


    "Okay."


    Shen Shi, who was chopping grass nearby, felt a sourness in her heart as she listened. "Oh, look at you, a selfish person. Even though your sister-inw made so much money, it''s still her family''s. She won''t give you a penny..."


    "Are you asking for a fight today?" Grandma Wang''s temper red up when she heard that. "She has to raise four sons on her own. What should she give me? You talk nicely all the time, but how many pennies have you given me?"


    Shen Shi could only shut her mouth obediently, but she felt indignant inside.


    Didn''t her husband give all his earnings to the family?


    "By the way, Grandma," Da Zhuang took out ten copper coins, "my mother said this is for the cart."


    "Why take it and then return the money? Is there really so much money to spare?"


    "My mother said it must be given, otherwise it will be difficult to borrow next time."


    Upon hearing his words, Grandma Wang''s heart warmed slightly. This eldest daughter-inw of hers finally learned to take care of things.


    "Alright, I''ll ept it."


    But she couldn''t help but feel that this eldest daughter-inw had changed a bit.


    In the past, she wouldn''t even give ten coins, let alone this generous. But Grandma Wang still happily epted the money and red fiercely at Shen Shi.


    Learn from her, that''s what filial piety is!


    ...


    In the following days, Li Yao continued to apany them at the stall.


    After closing up every day, she had the kids count the money and do the bookkeeping themselves.


    Wang Er had learned some arithmetic, so he had no trouble with calctions. Da Zhuang and Wang San''er, under his guidance, could barely handle simple calctions, but they struggled withrger numbers.


    What surprised Li Yao was Wang Xiao Si.


    Despite being the youngest and never having been exposed to arithmetic before, he learned quickly. After a few days, he could even do some basic multiplication. He would probably be a clever little devil in the future.


    As for Da Zhuang and Wang San''er, it was evident that they didn''t have a talent for studying, so Li Yao would make arrangements based on the situation.


    "Mother, we earned 750 wen today, 15 wen more than yesterday."


    "Record it in the ount book."


    "I''ve already written it down."


    Keeping ounts was Li Yao''s new task for Wang Er.


    Every day''s ie, the cost of purchases, and all other expenses, no matter how trivial, were meticulously recorded on paper.


    It''s easy to see how much money is left at home now.


    After a few days, they had already made a profit of 3,000 wen.


    Although it couldn''tpare to digging herbs, this was a steady stream of ie, and the best part was that Da Zhuang and the others could handle it, so Li Yao didn''t need to worry too much.


    With the ie, the whole family got a taste of sess and worked enthusiastically from early morning tillte at night.


    But on the sixth day, the number of customers suddenly decreased significantly, and by midday, there were still around 30 bowls left unsold.


    "We still have so many left, what should we do?"


    "If only we had made less today."


    Da Zhuang was so anxious that sweat was dripping from his forehead, but he couldn''te up with a good solution.


    If they left it until tomorrow, the taste would deteriorate.


    Li Yao, on the other hand, was not worried.


    The novelty had worn off, and it was a year of famine, so a decrease in customer flow was inevitable.


    She had anticipated this situation and already had a n in ce.


    "Let''s change the location," Li Yao suggested. "While it''s not toote, let''s move to the entrance of the academy."


    Wang Er''s heart skipped a beat.


    Going to the academy meant there might be a chance of running into Xiaoya''s uncle.


    And also his ssmates and the schrs?


    Thinking about the humiliation he had suffered at their hands in the past, Wang Er resisted with all his might, unable to lift his feet.


    Seeing his change in expression, Li Yao knew exactly what was going on, but she didn''t ask further.


    As a young boy, he had to face such things bravely on his own.

 Chapter 8: A disgrace to the gentry

    <h4>Chapter 8</h4>


    Baichuan Academy was the county academy officially established by Baichuan County and was also the best academy in Baichuan County.


    Only those who were either from rich families or, like Li Xian, Li Yao''s younger brother, who had a gift for studying and whose whole family made sacrifices to support him, coulde here to study.


    Half of the students came from viges far away, so they all lived at the academy. Their meals were either delivered by their families or they spent money to eat in town.


    In short, everyone who was sent here was the apple of their family''s eye and had some pocket money.


    It was just after ss and they set up their stalls.


    Seeing the clean, refined studentsing out in twos and threes, Da Zhuang and Wang Er immediately started shouting energetically.


    Hearing that they were selling stewed meat, they immediately became curious.


    They considered themselves well-informed and knowledgeable, but had never heard of stewed meat before, let alone smelled such an aroma.


    Many came over to take a look. The quantity wasrge and the price was cheap, so a number of them sat down to try it.


    "Oh, the taste of this stewed meat is really unique and lingers in the mouth."


    "I think the meat is the best, fragrant and tender."


    "No, no! If you want to talk about the best, it has to be the radish, more delicious than the meat!"


    ...


    Amidst the elegant praises, Li Xian walked out of the academy with several ssmates.


    Wang Er saw him from afar and wanted to find a ce to hide.


    "Don''t you dare hide!" Li Yao said, "Just stand right there."


    Wang Er didn''t dare disobey, so he stood stiffly in ce like a statue.


    Attracted by the aroma, Li Xian grabbed a returning ssmate and asked, "What are they selling over there?"


    "Stewed meat, with meat, rice and vegetables, very delicious. If you want to eat, hurry, there''s not much left."


    What is stewed meat?


    Just as he was curious, Li Xian suddenly saw busy Li Yao in the crowd, and his heart rejoiced.


    Isn''t that my big sister?


    She is actually selling here!


    "Brother Wen, Brother Liu, Brother Fan," Li Xian smiled slightly and said, "Come on, today I''ll treat you to the taste of this stewed meat."


    "Let''s not, it''s not that we don''t appreciate it, it''s just your family circumstances..."


    "That''s too polite!" Li Xian said, "Don''t be polite today, I must treat you!"


    Does he need to pay when he goes to his sister''s stall to eat?


    Forget a few bowls of rice, if he asked, his sister would give him the whole stall!


    Leading his three ssmates to the front of the stall, Li Xian pretended to have just noticed Li Yao.


    "Oh, howe it''s you..."


    "What auntie? I''m not your auntie, I''m your big sister!" Li Yao said coldly, "You call your big sister auntie, which master taught you that?"


    Stunned speechless by her sharp rebuke, Li Xian was a little surprised.


    What was wrong with his big sister today? Why was she so fierce towards him?


    "Why are you yelling at me?" Losing face in front of his ssmates made Li Xian unhappy too, "Hurry up and give me four bowls of stewed meat, we are all hungry."


    Li Yao sneered inwardly.


    The original body was too indulgent with this younger brother before, he was getting arrogant.


    If he wants to eat, that''s fine.


    "Four bowls, 60 wen."


    Li Xian''s mouth twitched. Was his big sister crazy today?


    "I''m here to eat and you''re asking me for money?"


    "What," Li Yao asked coldly, "In broad daylight, do you still want to openly rob me?"


    "I..."


    Li Xian was so angry that smoke was almosting out of his seven orifices, but he couldn''t refute her.


    Although she was his big sister, she had been married out for more than ten years and was no longer one of the Li family!


    It was normal for her to give food for free out of feelings, and to charge money ording to principle.


    He just couldn''t understand why his big sister, who was always so yielding and obedient to him before, suddenly became like a different person today, not even giving him a smile.


    "Brother Li," his three ssmates could also see what was going on, and advised him, "Why don''t we just buy it ourselves."


    "No!" How could Li Xian lose this face, "A promise is a promise, I said I would treat you, so I must treat you."


    But the problem was, he didn''t have enough money.


    "Big sister, hurry up and serve the rice!"


    Li Yao didn''t move at all: "Pay first."


    "You... you..." Li Xian was anxious now. Suddenly he saw Wang Er standing to the side and said, "What are you staring for, go serve me rice!"


    Wang Er instinctively moved a little, but held back in the end.


    Now that Mother was not siding with Uncle anymore, he didn''t need to be Uncle''s studypanion either, so why should he still listen to him?


    "Can''t even order you around anymore? This uncle?" Seeing that he didn''t move, Li Xian was even more angry. "Watch me teach you a lesson today!"


    Saying that, Li Xian walked over in a few steps, grabbed Wang Er by the cor, and pressed him to the ground.


    Da Zhuang and Wang Er wanted to help, but were stopped by Li Yao with a look.


    Wang Er was 13 this year and Li Xian was 14. The two were only months apart in age and simr in build.


    So Li Yao decided to let Wang Er handle this matter himself.


    Winning or losing didn''t matter.


    The important thing was to let him pluck up the courage to face it himself, so that he could get out of the shadows of the past.


    Obviously Wang Er was still very afraid of Li Xian. Punched on the ground several times, he only dared to protect his head with his hands, and didn''t dare fight back at all.


    Da Zhuang felt distressed watching this and anxiously said, "Mother, look at this..."


    "Don''t help." Li Yao said coldly, "He''s not a child anymore. He has to learn to resolve his own affairs and can''t always be a good-for-nothing."


    Hearing these words while being passively beaten, Wang Er gritted his teeth tightly.


    Mother was right, he was a good-for-nothing.


    In the past when being bullied and humiliated, he never dared to resist, only endured silently.


    But it was different now.


    He didn''t need to follow Uncle to study anymore, so why should he still take this abuse?


    Why should he be beaten without fighting back?


    "If you hit me again, I''ll hit back!"


    "You dare to hit back?" Hearing this made Li Xian even more angry. He simply kicked Wang Er directly, venting all his anger on him, "Watch me teach you a lesson today!"


    "Ah¡ª"


    Wang Er finally couldn''t stand it anymore. He shouted loudly, got up from the ground, swung his fist and punched Li Xian in the face.


    Li Xian didn''t expect him to really fight back. Caught off guard, he was punched hard several times, even bleeding from the nose.


    "I''m your uncle!" Li Xian shouted loudly, "You little bastard, how dare you hit your elder? Aren''t you afraid of heavenly retribution?"


    Wang Er didn''t back down an inch: "If you can hit me, why can''t I hit you?"


    "Big sister! Is this how you indulge your son?" Li Xian turned to Li Yao angrily, "You must give me an exnation for what happened today!"


    "Does it hurt?" Li Yao asked.


    "How could it not hurt? My nose is bleeding!"


    "Good that it hurts," Li Yao said with a smirk, "I was worried just now that he didn''t have enough strength, and was going to help out with a few punches."


    "You... you dare!"


    "Why wouldn''t I dare?" Li Yao said with an icy smile, "It''s normal for an uncle to hit his nephew. Then isn''t it also natural for a big sister to discipline her brother?"


    Li Xian was so angry he almost spit blood. He suddenly remembered that although this big sister was submissive to him, she was a famous shrew in He wan Vige.


    If she really turned hostile, he couldn''t win against her in an argument.


    Or in a fight either.


    But this was in front of the academy gates, with so many ssmates around.


    So he shouted loudly: "Everyonee and judge, who so tantly indulges their child''s violence? Is there no morality or ethics left between heaven and earth?"


    He thought his impassioned speech would earn the support of his ssmates to jointly condemn her.


    But instead, it was dead silent around him.


    Those with eyes could see what had happened.


    The three ssmates who came with him also felt they had lost face.


    "Disgraceful!"


    "Shouting loudly at the academy gates is inappropriate!"


    "We''re going to eat, goodbye!"


    The three turned and vanished in the blink of an eye.


    Li Xian''s face turned pale.


    He never expected that his righteous actions would lead to desertion.


    "Fine, wait for me! I''m going back to tell Mother, let''s see how she deals with you!"


    Li Xian turned and left.


    "That''s great, help me ask her," Li Yao called at his back, "when she''ll return that old hen I lent her toy eggs."


    Lent an old hen toy eggs?


    The students'' eyes bulged wide open. They originally thought it was just a joke in an allegory, and didn''t expect there was really such an absurd matter?


    Feeling their strange looks, Li Xian almost tripped and fell.


    He had truly lost all face today!


    Just you wait.


    When he goes back, he''ll definitely give his elder sister a piece of his mind. Otherwise, how can he get this anger out of his system!

 Chapter 9: Puxin Man

    <h4>Chapter 9</h4>


    Li Yao called Wang Er over privately.


    "Mother, I was wrong," Wang Er knew he had caused trouble today, so he started admitting his mistake right away, "I shouldn''t have hit little uncle."


    "No, you did nothing wrong, you hit him well," said Li Yao.


    Huh?


    Wang Er looked up in disbelief.


    Little uncle was expected to pass the imperial examination. Mother used to praise him all the time. Whenever Wang Erined about little uncle even a little bit, mother would scold him for half a day.


    How could mother now say he did nothing wrong and even hit little uncle well?


    "Wang Er, I will say this only once, remember it well," said Li Yao, "People are equal, regardless of their status. As long as you act properly and sit upright, there is no need to bow your head to others. When faced with setbacks, you must have an unyielding spirit. When oppressed, you must have the spirit to resist. If you be an official in the future, you must also remember not to do evil, tter, or nder. Keep themon people in your heart and the country in your embrace. Be a person of integrity and handle matters righteously."


    Wang Er was stunned.


    When did mother be so knowledgeable?


    Is this really my mother?


    But mother''s words made a lot of sense, and he couldn''t help but clench his fists.


    "Mother, I will remember everything."


    "Well said, well said!" An elderly voice rang out, "I didn''t expect amon woman to say such meaningful words, wiser than most literati."


    Li Yao looked back and saw that the speaker was an old man with all white hair.


    He leaned in to look at the pot, and immediately frowned, "Yet you are also very unreasonable."


    "Elder, how was I unreasonable?"


    "You made such a delicious stew, but only let me smell it without eating it. Isn''t that unreasonable?" said the old man.


    Li Yao was a little exasperated.


    "Although there is no more stew, there is still gravy, rice and buns. If you don''t mind..."


    "I don''t mind, I don''t mind. Hurry and serve me a bowl."


    Da Zhuang filled up a whole bowl of rice and poured two scoops of gravy before serving it. The old man wolfed it all down quickly, finishing the entire bowl of stewed rice.


    "Marvelous, simply marvelous!"


    The old man took out a sizable silver ingot from his sleeve and put it on the table.


    "Elder, this is too much."


    "It''s fine, consider it advance payment for meals," said the old man, "From now on I''lle eat a bowl everyday."


    After speaking, the old man left satisfactorily, almost seeming to float away.


    Looking at the silver in her hand, Da Zhuang and his brothers werepletely confused. This man was too strange.


    This silver was at least five coins.


    Even eating a bowl everyday, it couldst over a month.


    It made no sense to pay so much without having eaten anything yet.


    "Just take it," said Li Yao, "Go exchange it for copper coinster. Wang Er, keep a separate ount just for him. Whether hees here again or not, remember to deliver a bowl to him everyday."


    "Yes mother."


    "Let''s go, buy ingredients and prepare to go home."


    Wang Er took onest look at the academy gates before turning to follow along.


    Li Yao saw it all and knew what he was thinking.


    After the stew business stabilizes, she would send him to the academy to study.


    ...


    With delicious food every day recently, Li Yao felt like she had gained some weight and was no longer as skinny as a rake.


    Indeed, this body had a good foundation.


    The absorbed nutrients seemed to know where to go, supplying wherever needed. Her skin had also quickly regained its luster and smoothness. When bathing, Li Yao would blush seeing herself.


    With this figure, she would be a top model in modern times.


    Drying her damp hair, Li Yao decided she would stop following Da Zhuang to the market starting tomorrow.


    These trivial matters had to be let go for them to handle themselves eventually.


    But she couldn''t idle at home either.


    They were running low on spices at home, so she nned to gather more in the mountains this time.


    The next day, after Da Zhuang and his brothers went out to set up their stall, Li Yao went into the mountains alone.


    Many vigers went into the mountains in groups to dig wild vegetables, but Li Yao avoided them.


    It wasn''t that she was petty.


    The secrets of the spices couldn''t be revealed yet.


    Also, that valley was very dangerous. Ordinary people could not go down there, or they may lose their lives. She could not take on that responsibility.


    But before she even entered the woods, someone followed behind her.


    Seeing the person''s appearance from afar, Li Yao immediately frowned.


    Zhu Yougui.


    This man was the most notoriouszybones in River Bend Vige. Already over thirty years old but still a bachelor. If not for his old mother supporting him, he probably would have starved.


    This kind of person, Li Yao wouldn''t believe he came to dig vegetables even if he was beaten to death.


    So his purpose in following her could be guessed easily.


    If she didn''t teach him a lesson today, he would pester her endlessly in the future.


    "Zhu Yougui!" Li Yao walked out from behind a tree and coldly asked, "Why are you following me?"


    Just as Zhu Yougui thought he had lost Li Yao and felt regretful, seeing her take the initiative toe out, his face immediately showed joy.


    "Hehe, I thought you could really endure it!" Zhu Yougui said as he tried to get closer, "Little widow, you''ve been widowed for so long, must really miss a man right? Hurry up, I''m still a virgin. It''ll be your gain. Remember to deliver a few bowls of your stew to me afterwards."


    Li Yao sneered.


    It seemed scum men existed in every era.


    p!


    The bamboo cane in her hand mercilessly whipped Zhu Yougui''s body.


    "You slut, why did you hit me?" In pain, Zhu Yougui retreated a few steps, face full of resentment, "You seduced me first, yet now you want to turn your face and pretend not to recognize me?"


    Li Yao almostughed from anger: "I seduced you?"


    "You''re dressed so attractively, and deliberately avoided others, walking right in front of me on purpose. If that''s not seduction, then what is it?"


    Li Yao was truly speechless.


    For this sort of Indian-returned type, there was no need to be polite. Going straight to coercive measures was the way.


    p p p!


    The bamboo cane in her hand relentlessly chased and flogged Zhu Yougui.


    Zhu Yougui wanted to dodge and run, but the cane seemed to have grown eyes, urately striking his body every time no matter how he twisted and turned. He cried and screamed in pain until the bamboo cane fragmented, and his whole body was swollen and bruised before stopping.


    "Dare toe within fifty steps of me again, you''ll be sorry! Scram!"


    Watching Zhu Yougui flee in panic, Li Yao lightly breathed a sigh of relief.


    In this era, being too beautiful and having too good a figure, especially as a young widow, also seemed to be a hassle.


    Looks like she''d have to keep a lower profile when going out in the future.


    After settling her mood, Li Yao went down into the valley again.


    This time, not only did she gather enough spices, but she also dug some specific herbs and wild nts.


    There were no mosquitos at home, and she was bothered by mosquitoes every night, unable to sleep well with bites all over her body. So she nned to make some herbal ointment.

 Chapter 10: Grass Paste

    <h4>Chapter 10</h4>


    The form for herbal ointment is different for every family.


    Li Yao developed her own form through trial and error. It works instantly no matter what insect bites.


    The only downside is it doesn''t look appealing.


    If she can fix this issue, it would be another lucrative business.


    Now that the braised food stand is handed over to the kids, she has time to slowly research it.


    But before she even got up, Wang Xiao Si rushed into the bedroom panting, "Mom, eldest brother got into a fight!"


    "With who? Where?"


    "It''s Zhu Yougui! By the well!"


    There are seven wells in He Wan vige.


    With the drought getting worse, six of them have dried up, leaving only one well supplying water for over a thousand vigers.


    Now even thatst well''s water level is dropping. So every day before opening the stand, Da Zhuang would fetch enough water for the day.


    Since he''s making money from the business, others are jealous. And Zhu Yougui ate a loss from Li Yao before, so he wouldn''t let Da Zhuang take too much water.


    No water means no braised food, and no water means Li Yao can''t shower either. How could Da Zhuang allow that?


    A few exchanged words led to shoving at the well. Luckily many people were there fetching water and immediately pulled them apart.


    By the time Li Yao arrived, a big crowd had gathered, even the vige chief came.


    Although Da Zhuang didn''t lose out, being bullied by the likes of Zhu Yougui really pissed Li Yao off. "Zhu Yougui, got an itchy skin?"


    Just beaten yesterday, Zhu Yougui was still traumatized.


    But he stood on firm reasoning today and had the vigers backing him up, so he dared to stubbornly argue back.


    "I''m just speaking fairly," Zhu Yougui said, "There''s only so much well water. Your family is taking too much and others have none left. Isn''t this right?"


    Emboldened by their number, the vigers began loudly using her family.


    "The well belongs to the vige, you can''t monopolize it while others can''t even cook."


    "The well water is diminishing everyday. At this rate, others won''t even have drinking water soon."


    ...


    Before Li Yao could respond, Grandma Wang barged in hands on hips, "So what if they use more water? I know, you all have money-eyed disease from my son''s sessful business! If you can run a decent business, he can take all the well water for all I care!"


    Clearly unreasonable, Grandma Wang''s outburst surprised Li Yao a little.


    "Olddy Wang, stop making a scene. Since the chief is here, let him judge fairly!"


    Vige chief Wang Jiafu had been worried about this issue for days.


    With thest functional well''s water depleting everyday, what will the vigers do if it runs dry?


    "Well water should be shared by all."


    Everyone secretly apuded the chief for his impartiality and courage against the shrew.


    But after stating his verdict, Wang Jiafu stole a nce at Li Yao.


    He felt very uneasy.


    Normally in these situations, Li Yao the shrew would be bawling and threatening self-harm at people''s doors.


    Her abnormal quietness today made him deeply suspect she''s brewing something big.


    "What do you think, Mrs Da Zhuang?" He probed.


    "No."


    See, this woman absolutely won''t take a loss!


    "But the well water..."


    "If you don''t let me use this well, I won''t use it," Li Yao dered loudly. "And when it dries up in the future, don''te asking me for water from my well!"


    The crowd exchanged confused nces, taking time to grasp her implication.


    "You want to dig your own well?"


    In this day and age, well-digging is no trivial matter.


    Experienced elders must pick the location, and sess is not guaranteed.


    Legend has it when He Wan Vige was first established, over twenty locations were selected before seven working wells were finally dug.


    Now Li Yao thinks she can dig a well herself? She must be daydreaming!


    "All the vige wells struck the red rockyer," the chief said. "Other locations won''t have water like the existing wells."


    Li Yao doesn''t know this "red rockyer".


    All she knows is, with Hundred Thousand Mountains behind them, He Wan Vige will neverck groundwater.


    If no water is struck, they must be digging incorrectly.


    Dig deep enough, even deserts have water.


    But arguing now is useless.


    "Let''s go home. Stop selling braised food starting today to dig the well."


    "Yes, mom!"


    Though unsure where her confidencees from, the kids know - just listen to mom.


    They picked a slightly elevated spot by the yard for the well. It may need to be dug deeper, but proximity makes fetching water easier in the future.


    With Da Zhuang as the main digger and the rest hauling mud, over two meters deep was dug on the first day, decent progress indeed.


    But at this depth, hauling mud got much harder. Li Yao erected a tall tripod over the pit, with a long lever for easy lifting.


    The unsold braised food was kept for home consumption. She did send Wang Er to deliver a bowl to the old man at the academy gate, informing him of the temporary stoppage.


    One must provide good service after taking someone''s money. That is integrity.


    Thanks to everyone''s hard work, over three meters was dug on the first day, impressive speed.


    But unexpectedly, a rock smashed Da Zhuang''s toe when they were about to finish for the day.


    "It''s fine, doesn''t hurt. I''ll be good after a sleep."


    The toes are connected to the heart.


    With the nail cracked, how could it not hurt?


    Li Yao had him wash the foot clean and applied medicine to stop bleeding and reduce swelling.


    "Take tomorrow off."


    "But mom, the well isn''t done yet..."


    "Is the well or your health more important? I said take the day off means take the day off!" Li Yao scolded. "No rush on the well, we can continue after your foot heals. No dy."


    "Yes mom."


    ...


    At the Wang manor, Auntie Zhou reported Da Zhuang''s injury as soon as she got home.


    "Is it serious?" Grandma Wang asked in rm.


    "I don''t know," Auntie Zhou said. "But they probably can''t continue digging the next few days."


    "Must be pretending, I bet he got ''injured'' on purpose!" Mother-inw Shen butted in opportunistically. "Obviously he knows they can''t strike water after boldly boasting, so he''s finding an excuse to bow out gracefully!"


    "Shut your trap if you''ve got nothing sensible to say! Go chop straw!"


    After scolding Mother-inw Shen, Lao Wang just returned from outside.


    "Old man, go help them dig tomorrow."


    "Their spot may not..."


    "I said go means go, why say so much crap?" Grandma Wang scolded. "Digging could strike water, not digging guarantees none! Lived to your age yet you don''t understand this?"


    "Alright, alright, I''ll go if you insist."


    Lao Wang sighed sitting on the threshold.


    The women run this family.


    Henpecked by his wife all life, his second and third sons also obey their wives. Even his deceased eldest listened to Da Zhuang''s woman without a peep when alive.

 Chapter 11: There’s Water

    <h4>Chapter 11</h4>


    With grandpa Wang Jia Guiing to help, the well digging could continue without stopping.


    "Little girl, hurry and serve your grandfather some food."


    "Ok."


    A big bowl of steaming hot millet porridge, a te of fat white steamed buns, a boiled egg, and a dish of crispy pickled radish.


    Wang Jia Gui had already forgotten when was thest time he had such a sumptuous breakfast, or rather, he had never had such a sumptuous breakfast in his life.


    It seems that although this daughter-inw was fierce, she was still quite filial to him.


    After eating his fill satisfactorily, Wang Jia Gui started digging the well. After all, he was getting on in years, and could not work as nimbly as a strong young man, having toe up and rest for a while after digging for about half an hour.


    "Wang Er,"


    Du Xiao Hui, the neighbor''s eldest daughter, timidly called out to Wang Er from outside the yard.


    "What''s the matter?"


    "Um... my mother asked me toe over and ask if you need any help."


    "Wait a moment, let me go ask my mother."


    Grandpaing to help was not very surprising to Li Yao, but the neighborsing to help as well made her quite surprised.


    Since ancient times, mother-inw, sister-inw, and neighbors were said to be the three most difficult rtionships to handle, and her original self had messed up every single one.


    The Du family living next door, of course, gained benefits from their proximity, and were scolded by her at least every other day.


    Over time, the neighbors avoided her like snakes and scorpions, and the two families became like strangers.


    As for why they would suddenlye to help, it was probably because they thought that if water could be drawn from the well, their family could also conveniently use the water.


    "Come on in."


    Li Yao did not turn down this goodwill.


    Du Jia Qing was an honest and hardworking man, and his wife Pang Shi was also very virtuous. Besides, they had no deep hatred to begin with, so she thought it would not be bad to take this chance to mend the neighborly rtions.


    Not long after, Du Jia Qing came over with an iron hoe, followed by his wife Pang Shi.


    "Have some breakfast first before starting to dig."


    "No need, no need," Du Jia Qing shook his head vigorously like a drum, "I''ll go relieve uncle Wang right away."


    With that, Du Jia Qing hurriedly went down the well to take over for Wang Jia Gui, and Li Yao could only let him have his way.


    However, she did not go back into the house, but chatted with Pang Shi instead, catching up on things.


    Pang Shi had never imagined there would be a time when Li Yao was so gentle, and felt very unustomed at first, unable to open up in the conversation. It was not until He Xiao Hua joined in that the atmosphere of the chat improved.


    Before they knew it, it was noon, and Du Jia Qing emerged from the mud-covered well.


    "We''ll go home to eat ande back in the afternoon."


    "Why go home to eat?" Li Yao said, "You came to help our family with work, so you should eat here."


    "No need, no need."


    The couple dashed home faster than rabbits, and were gone in a sh.


    Li Yao shook her head helplessly. It seemed her image as a shrew, virago, and fierce wife had already taken firm root in everyone''s minds.


    Of course, grandpa Wang Jia Gui stayed for lunch.


    To help the strong young man recover faster, Li Yao specially stewed pork ribs, adding a fewrge bones, so that the soup was rich and milky white, and the ribs were soft and vorful.


    Arge te of braised pork with thick sauce and pungent garlic aroma looked mouthwatering.


    A te of stir-fried liver and tripe, tender and crispy.


    A te of stir-fried vegetables, light and refreshing.


    After the dishes were cooked, she scooped some of each along with a few buns, preparing to deliver them to the Du family.


    Li Yao had originally nned to send Wang Xiao Si, but then changed her mind. That morning, she had noticed the way the neighbor''s eldest daughter looked at Wang Er was definitely fishy.


    "Wang Er, go deliver this."


    "OK."


    Since they were just neighbors, he was there in just a few breaths.


    Although this Wang Er kid did decently in school, he was aplete clueless straight man. He just put the things at the door and dashed back without even exchanging a few more words with anyone.


    But thinking back, Wang Er was only 13 this year...


    At this thought, Li Yao suddenly realized she was bing more and more ustomed to this motherly role.


    Unknowingly, she had already started worrying over the kids in every possible way.


    ...


    In the next two days, the well digging progressed smoothly.


    But as they dug deeper, the difficulty also increased. By the fourth day, they reached the red yyer that vigers talked about.


    "Da Shuang''s wife," grandpa Wang Jia Gui sighed lightly, "we''ve hit bottom."


    "It doesn''t seem possible there will be water." After working hard for three days, Du Jia Qing also felt a little regretful, "Why not try a different spot?"


    "No need to change," said Li Yao. "Keep digging down."


    "But..." Wang Jia Gui was surprised, "even if we dig deeper, it''ll still be this red y."


    "There must be a sandyyer underneath, and where there''s sand, there''s water."


    Red y with sand underneath?


    Wang Jia Gui had never heard of such a thing in his life.


    "When you''re eating well here every day, I tell you to dig, then you dig!" At critical moments, the mother-inw still maintained control of the situation. "You''ve dug this much already, what''s a few more digs going to do, dig you to death?"


    "Dig, dig!"


    Wang Jia Gui steeled his heart and started hacking away at the red y with the iron hoe.


    This was a rather solid hard earthyer, and took great effort to dig through. Fortunately, Da Shuang''s injury had just about healed, so the three of them could take turns.


    This went on for another two whole days.


    The red y had been dug down three meters, with arge pile of reddish-brown soil chunks stacked next to the yard, still with no sign of a sandyyer at all.


    Naturally, this oue drew ridicule from the vigers.


    "Digging for so many days, still not a single drop of water."


    "See, she thought she could just randomly pick a spot and dig out well water?"


    Finally, Li Zheng couldn''t stand watching any longer either.


    He came to the door in person, took a look down the deep well shaft, shook his head and persuaded: "Stop this futile effort. Even if you dig deeper, it''ll all still be this red y..."


    Crack¡ª


    Just then, a faint sound suddenly came from the well, instantly lifting Li Yao''s spirits.


    That was the sound of an iron hoe striking sand!


    "Mother, mother!" Da Shuang''s voice quickly carried up from the well. "Water, we''ve hit water!"


    What?


    Li Zheng stared in disbelief, hurriedly leaned over the well mouth to look.


    He saw that under Da Shuang''s feet was a small outlet, with clear water bubbling out.


    "How...how can there be water under this red y?"


    But no matter how unbelievable, the facts were right before his eyes.


    This news also spread across the vige in an instant, leaving those who had gossiped behind their backs feeling hot in the face.


    But striking water was just the first step. They still had to empty out thisyer of sand, dig through to the nextyer of red y, then line the well with blue bricks, and finally build a proper well curb from stone bs before the great undertaking wasplete.


    Of course these could be done slowly, with grandpa and Du Jia Qing''s help, and Li Zheng''s assistance here and there, it saved Li Yao a lot of worry, and did not further dy her pickled vegetable business.


    "Da Shuang''s wife," when the well was finally finished, Li Zheng finally swallowed his pride, "I''d like to discuss something with you."


    Li Zheng Wang Jia Fu was the cousin of Li Yao''s grandpa Wang Jia Gui, so she called him uncle.


    "Uncle Li Zheng, speak your mind."


    "I was wrong before to say you wouldn''t dig out well water," Li Zheng said. "You see with so many people in the vige, and the water in that old well is nearly dry..."


    "If you want water, go dig your own well."


    "That''s a given," said Li Zheng. "I don''t think anyone would be shameless enough to draw water from your well. What I meant is, I hope you can help scout some locations."


    Li Yao''s mouth twitched.


    The logic was already so obvious - just dig down and there will absolutely be water - yet he still wanted her to scout locations?


    But it wouldn''t hurt to earn some goodwill either.


    So she took Li Zheng around the vige and mapped out some rtively low-lying areas for the new wells.


    "If water reallyes out, the whole vige will owe you!"


    Under Li Zheng''s leadership, He Wan vige embarked on a resounding well-digging campaign. In just a few days, several spots dug through the red yyer, reaching deeper groundwater.


    With the water supply issue resolved, even the wrinkles on Li Zheng''s face rxed. Without Li Yao this time, this matter would have been impossible to resolve so smoothly.


    Grandma Wang also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.


    This time, Li Yao had finally given the Wang family some face.


    In the future, people could call Li Yao shrewish if they wanted.


    But if anyone dared call Li Yao stupid again, she would be the first to tear their mouths to shreds!

 Chapter 12: Water in Our Village

    <h4>Chapter 12</h4>


    County Government Office.


    Half a year ago, the newly appointed magistrate of Song County was frowning with worry in his backyard.


    Baichuan County was too poor, and it was hit by a severe drought. If the drought persisted, themoners of the entire county would not only be unable to afford meals, but even drinking water could be a problem.


    "Sir," the magistrate''s wife saw his appearance and was also worried, "you should still eat a little."


    "I''m not hungry, I have no appetite."


    The magistrate''s wife shook her head and had the food taken away. Seeing her husband growing thinner day by day, as a woman there was little she could do to help, she could only sigh silently.


    At this time, the head clerk came over and cupped his fists: "Magistrate, the vige heads are here."


    On the first and fifteenth of each month, the vige heads had to report to the county government office on time and report on the situation in each vige. This was a new regtion set by the Song magistrate since he took office.


    It helped him stay informed about the livelihood of the people, so that problems could be solved in a timely manner.


    ...


    The 23 vige heads of Baichuan County were talking together.


    "With this drought, we can''t even nt wheat. What are we going to do next year?!"


    "Forget next year, our vige has twelve wells, and half of them have already dried up."


    "It''s the same in our vige. If the drought continues, the vigers will have to flee from famine."


    "Vige Head Wang," someone suddenly asked, "I heardst time that the wells in your H¨¦w¨¡n Vige had run dry, they must all be dried up now, right?"


    In the past, Wang Jiafu would naturally have sighed along with them.


    But today was different.


    "There''s plenty of water in our vige."


    "What? How is that possible?"


    "H¨¦w¨¡n Vige is the highest point, even we are almost out of water, how can you still have any?"


    "Vige Head Wang, the magistrate does not like people telling lies, you should think clearly before you speak."


    Wang Jiafu lifted his head and said, "Why would I need to lie? If you go take a look, won''t you know if there''s water or not?"


    Magistrate Song, who was pacing over, immediately quickened his steps when he heard this.


    "Wang Jiafu, what did you just say?"


    "Magistrate, I said we dug several new wells in H¨¦w¨¡n Vige, and now we have more well water than we can drink."


    Magistrate Song was also incredulous.


    In the previous two meetings, it was Wang Jiafu who hadined the loudest that the well water had dried up and the entire vige had trouble getting drinking water.


    How could there suddenly be more well water than they could drink?


    "Tell me exactly what happened."


    "Yes."


    So Wang Jiafu recounted in detail the story of the vigers digging wells. He didn''t hold anything back either, and gave all the credit for finding the well water to Li Yao.


    Everyone else listened and felt even more incredulous.


    The vige head of B¨¢iy¨²n Vige asked, "I don''t even know this Li Yao from your vige? She is known far and wide as a shrew and fool, how could she suddenly know how to find ces to dig wells?"


    "I don''t really know either."


    "You..." Magistrate Song was exasperated, "As vige head, how can you not know anything clearly?"


    Wang Jiafu quickly said, "But the wells in our vige that produce water now are all from locations she pointed out."


    "If she can find well water in your vige, can she do the same in other viges?" Magistrate Song asked.


    "That... should work too," Wang Jiafu said. "She''s at the market today, why don''t I go find her and ask her right away?"


    "Quick, go quickly! Tell her toe to the county government office directly!"


    ...


    Li Yao was watching her braised food stand when Wang Jiafu hurriedly came looking for her.


    Being summoned by the magistrate was a great honor that most people don''t have the chance for in a lifetime.


    But unexpectedly, as soon as Wang Jiafu finished speaking, Li Yao tly refused.


    "I won''t go."


    It wasn''t that Li Yao was afraid to see the magistrate, she just didn''t want to kneel and kowtow to others.


    That was the annoying thing about this world.


    "How... how can you not go?" Wang Jiafu said. "Or do you expect the magistrate toe see you instead?"


    "That''s unnecessary." Li Yao said. "Isn''t it just about digging wells? That''s easy, Vige Head Wang, you can do it too."


    "Me? No no, I don''t have that kind of skill," Wang Jiafu shook his head like a rattle drum, "Lady Li, I''ve already agreed to this matter, one way or another pleasee with me this time, or else I won''t be able to exin it to the magistrate."


    Li Yao thought for a moment and looked at Wang Er who was serving food.


    In the future, Wang Er was supposed to take the imperial examinations to be a schr. Getting to know the magistrate''s face early wouldn''t be bad.


    So she called Wang Er over and roughly exined to him the principles of finding wells.


    "Just remember what I said."


    "Okay."


    Feeling nervous, Wang Er went with Wang Jiafu to the county government office. Wang Jiafu also went along.


    Magistrate Song was quite meticulous in his work. He didn''t immediately make Wang Er go dig wells in other viges. Instead, he asked some questions about how to find well water.


    Seeing Wang Er answer fluently, and even able to talk about the differentyers of soil underground and what each contained, he couldn''t help but feel extremely surprised.


    "I didn''t expect a vige boy to have such knowledge."


    Wang Er didn''t dare take credit for the praise, and said, "This was all taught by my mother."


    "Very good, very good." Magistrate Song said, "Sheriff Wu, send two men to go with him and try at B¨¡ji¨¡o Vige first. If they can really dig out well water, the other viges can start working."


    "Yes!"


    Wang Er went to B¨¡ji¨¡o Vige with two yamen runners, and Wang Jiafu went along too.


    Magistrate Song, who had been busy all day, also breathed a long sigh of relief in his heart.


    Since taking office, when facing Baichuan County''s circumstances, he had always been at a loss. If this time he could resolve themoners'' food and water problems, it would count as getting some real work done.


    ...


    Business was especially good the past few days Li Yao didn''t run her braised food stand. A whole pot of braised food was sold out clean before noon.


    Li Yao went alone to buy some things, and on her way back ran into Da Zhuang pulling a cart.


    "Wang Er went to B¨¡ji¨¡o Vige, probably won''t be back for a few days. Let''s go home first."


    "Mother," Da Zhuang''s face didn''t look well, "when I was packing up the stand, Grandma came looking for me."


    "What''s the matter?"


    "She said Wang Er injured Little Uncle, and wants us topensate. " Da Zhuang said, "We have to give her 5 taels of silver for medical expenses before noon tomorrow."


    Li Yao humphed inwardly, so Li Xian really did go home and tattle.


    The original body''s old mother was also a weirdo, actually wantingpensation. She probably heard they were making money selling braised food, and immediately dared to ask for 5 taels of silver.


    She really opened her mouth as wide as a lion''s.


    Seeing herck of reaction, Da Zhuang hesitantly continued, "She said if we don''t pay, she''ll... she''ll..."


    "Say it."


    "She said she''ll bring people to our door and demand justice." Da Zhuang was very worried, "Mother, what should we do?"


    It was normal for Da Zhuang to be worried.


    In Li Family Vige, the Li family was a big n. The nsmen all felt that Li Xian could make something of himself, so with a snap of his fingers, he could easily gather twenty to thirty strong men.


    If they really came to the door to demand justice, they wouldn''t stand a chance at all.


    "I''ll go tomorrow."


    Hearing this, the children felt slightly relieved, but also very indignant. However, they were in an inferior position, so no matter how indignant, they could only endure.


    "Here''s the money earned today," Da Zhuang took out the money box, "but we haven''t run the stand these past few days, definitely won''t be enough for five taels of silver. Mother, tell Grandmother we''ll gather it together in a few days to send over, she should agree."


    Wang San''er clenched his fists tightly, filled with righteous anger, "A man knows when to yield and when to resist. Let them gloat for now. When I be a Grand General in the future, I''ll make them see!"


    Wang Xiao Si also chimed in, "When big brother bes an official, we''ll make them see!"


    Seeing the children''s reactions, Li Yao was also speechless.


    What were they thinking?


    "I am going, but not to apologize and pay money."


    "Huh?"


    The children looked at each other in confusion.


    "Mother," Wang Xiao Si asked, "then what are you going for?"


    "To take back our old hen!"


    It was time to make a clean break from this original maternal family.

 Chapter 13: As I Die

    <h4>Chapter 13</h4>


    Li Vige.


    In Li Yao''s family courtyard, arge group of people had already gathered.


    In addition to Li''s three aunts and six grandmothers, there were also more than twenty strong young men, all discussing what to do next if Li Yao did note to paypensation voluntarily.


    "She dare notpensate!" Li Fu, who had previously been embarrassed at Li Yao''s house, said loudly, "If she dares notpensate, wait for me to take you guyster and demolish her house!"


    "Even her own family gets beaten, this kind of wolf-hearted dog-lunged thing, must be severely dealt with."


    "Look, is sheing?"


    The crowd turned to look, and indeed saw Li Yao''s figure, walking quickly towards them.


    When Li Yao arrived in the yard, Li Fu asked a little smugly, "It seems you are still afraid, so you came so early. Did you bring the silver?"


    "What silver?" Li Yao asked.


    "What silver do you say?" Li Fu was angry when he heard these words were wrong, and immediately became angry, "Wang Er injured Li Xian and has topensate five taels of silver!"


    "Oh, you''re talking about this," Li Yao said unhurriedly, "That day Wang Er was also injured by Li Xian, and spent a whole ten taels of silver on medicine. So if you calcte it this way, you still owe me five taels."


    When Li Yao''s mother Lu Shi heard this, she immediately scolded, "Shameless cheap slut, are you trying to rebel against heaven? You beat your own family members and still dare to ask us for money?"


    Li Fu also shouted loudly, "Today if you don''t pay, I will beat you to death!"


    More than a dozen strong men surrounded them with unkind expressions.


    But Li Yao was not to be easily threatened either. With one hand on her hip, she pointed at Li Fu''s nose and said, "Come on if you dare! If you take half a step back, I''ll curse your name backwards!"


    "You little slut, you really want to rebel against heaven! Watch me fix you today!"


    As Lu Shi spoke, she picked up a broom and hit Li Yao, but she didn''t expect that the usually obedient Li Yao would not tolerate it today. She grabbed the broom.


    "I''ll spare you for your age, I won''t fight you. But if you continue to be shameless, don''t me me for turning against you!" Li Yao said.


    "You... you..."


    Lu Shi didn''t expect Li Yao to be so arrogant. She was so angry her face turned pale.


    "Beat her! Beat this little bitch to death!"


    As soon as Li Fu heard this, he directly grabbed Li Yao''s hair, but before his hand arrived, he was kicked in the belly by Li Yao. The intense pain made him involuntarily bend over, but waiting for him was Li Yao''s knee.


    Snap!


    Li Fu''s nose was smashed and tears and blood spurted out together.


    When the other Li men saw this, they wanted toe forward to help, but Li Yao raised her broom, "Who else dares toe! I''ll say it today, whoeveres across me, don''t me me for fighting desperately with him!"


    The crowd was deterred by her momentum, and no one dared to take another step forward.


    After all, the injured Li Fu was just a nsman, not a brother. And Li Yao''s notoriety was already well known to all. If they really provoked her to desperation, it would be more trouble than it was worth.


    Seeing that so many people were helpless against Li Yao, and her eldest son was groaning in pain on the ground, Lu Shi jumped up again.


    "Little slut, you ate leopard guts and still dare to hurt people! Take her to sue!"


    "Hurry up and sue!" Li Yao didn''t back down at all, "I''d love to see how the magistrate will rule when dozens of men bully a woman alone! It will also let everyone know how you rely on power to oppress the weak, and add glory to Li Xian''s face."


    At the mention of Li Xian, Lu Shi panicked.


    The literati''s greatest fear was losing face.


    Li Xian was going to take the imperial examination and be an official in the future. If this matter got big, it would definitely affect his career.


    "You unfilial thing! When Li Xian bes an official, don''t expect to get any favors! From now on, don''t expect me to say a word for you for anything!"


    "As if you''ve ever helped me," Li Yao said, "How much have I given you over the years, how much money have I taken, and you say nice things, that you''ll help when there''s an issue. But what happened? When Wang Er was rejected for marriage, who hid in the room like a tortoise? A natal family like this is better off not having!"


    "Fine, fine, since you say it so heartlessly, don''t me me for disowning you! From now on, don''t even think about stepping through my Li''s door again!"


    This was exactly what Li Yao was waiting for her to say; "Consider me already dead. Let''s all bear witness, in case she goes back on itter."


    Lu Shi was so angry her face turned green.


    She didn''t expect that Li Yao, a widow with four children to raise, would really dare to disown her own mother.


    But breaking off rtions was impossible.


    Everyone knew Li Yao had made money from her business. If rtions were really cut off, how would she still give money to support Li Xian''s studies?


    So she neatlyy down on the ground.


    "Heaven, what sin have Imitted?"


    "I raised an unfilial and rebellious thing who won''t even recognize her own mother!"


    "Heaven, strike her dead with lightning!"


    ...


    After wailing for a while and seeing Li Yao hadn''t left, thinking this tactic was working, Lu Shi secretly signaled her eldest daughter-inw Zou Shi.


    "Sis, what''s all this noise about?" Understanding her meaning, Zou Shi hurried forward to reconcile, "We''re all one family. Arguing a few words over a small matter, it''ll be over after turning away for a bit. What''s more, you''re mother''s own daughter. Just say a couple good words to coax her, her anger will vanish. We''ll still be one family in the future, right?"


    "Done?" Li Yao asked. "Hurry up and return my old hen, I''m in a rush to go back."


    Zou Shi: ...I tried to reconcile, you talk to me about an old hen?


    "I''ll go find it myself."


    Li Yao went straight to the chicken coop, immediately spotting her family''s old hen.


    Seeing her really leaving with the old hen, Lu Shi jumped up from the ground and hurled all kinds of vicious curses and foulnguage at her retreating back.


    Li Yao knew it wasn''t realistic topletely free herself of her original family.


    But at least she could have some peace for now.


    Thinking this, she couldn''t help feeling light and refreshed.


    But she hadn''t gone far when she saw He Xiaoya and Second Sister-in-Law Zhou walking anxiously towards her.


    "Mother!"


    "Sister-inw!"


    "What are you doing here?" Li Yao asked.


    "Xiaoya was anxious at home, so she went and told Mother," Zhou said, "Mother told me toe see if something really happened, then hurry back and tell her so she could bring people toe snatch you back."


    Li Yao: ...


    "What happened, are you alright?"


    "What could happen to me?"


    Seeing she really was fine, Zhou and He Xiaoya finally felt relieved.


    Also seeing her still holding their family''s old hen, He Xiaoya''s admiration grew even more.


    Mother really is amazing!


    "Hurry back, don''t let Mother worry at home," Zhou urged.


    Under her urging, the three hurried back.


    Da Zhuang had already packed up his stall and returned home, where he was being scolded by his mother-inw for not going with Li Yao to her natal family, listening with grievance on his face.


    He had wanted to go, but Mother insisted against it.


    But when Mother returned home, he was spared scolding, as Grandma Wang directly shifted her aim to Li Yao.


    "A mother of four children, no sense when doing things!"


    "If you got beaten to death, it would be over and done, but what about your children?"


    "You''re still my Wang family''s person before you remarry! If something like this happens again in the future, if you dare hide it from me again, believe I''ll skin you!"


    ...


    Facing the olddy''s torrent of scolding, Li Yao uncharacteristically didn''t talk back, and went straight into the kitchen to make lunch.


    By the time she tired of scolding, the food was also ready.


    "You''re already here, eat before going back?"


    Hearing this, the olddy shot up from her stool as if it had sprouted teeth, got up and walked away.


    "I won''t eat, I can''t stand the food in your home."


    "Don''t put on airs just because you have some money, save it for Wang Er to get a wife!"


    Her voice continued drifting over, but the olddy''s figure had already disappeared.


    "It''s rare you didn''t argue with her," Zhou said with a smile. "She''ll probably feel proud for a while this time."


    Li Yao had made extra food to begin with, so she let Zhou sit down and eat with them.


    "I shouldn''t..."


    "Sit down," Li Yao said. "I have something I want to discuss with you."


    The braised food stall had gained some fame in Baichuan Market, and the business could stabilize. Next she needed to expand operations, so more manpower was needed.


    The first franchise, Li Yao nned to hand over to Zhou.

 Chapter 14: Tender

    <h4>Chapter 14</h4>


    When Zhou Shi heard that Li Yao wanted her to help with the boiled meat business, she was excited and readily agreed.


    "Sister-inw, don''t worry, I will definitely do a good job."


    "You won''t be able to handle it alone," said Li Yao. "Later, ask your second son-inw toe back and help you."


    "Okay, I''ll tell my mother when I get home."


    Zhou Shi''s husband was Wang Yuan Ding. He was the second son in his family.


    Because of the drought, there was no farm work at home. So he went to the port of Yizhou to work as aborer.


    In Li Yao''s memory, Wang Yuan Ding was honest and simple like Wang Yuanshan. So she considered their family first for this business.


    Li Yao would be responsible for making the boiled meat, rice and steamed buns.


    Every morning, Zhou Shi and Wang Yuan Ding would take them to the Yongding market to sell. Then they woulde back in the afternoon to settle ounts.


    Li Yao calcted that the wholesale price per serving was 13 wen. This way, Zhou Shi could earn 2 wen per serving. If they sold 100 servings a day, they could make 200 wen in profit.


    And Li Yao could earn 500 wen.


    When Zhou Shi heard they could earn so much every day, she felt dizzy.


    Her husband earned only 700-800 wen a month doing hardbor at the dock.


    Now just by selling boiled meat, they could easily earn thousands of wen. This was beyond her wildest dreams!


    "You''ll need to prepare the carts, tables, chairs, stoves and other things yourself. It''s best to find a ce there to store them instead of hauling them back and forth every day."


    Zhou Shi said, "My maternal home is right there, not far from the market. We can store everything there."


    Li Yao nodded. Zhou Shi was quite quick-witted.


    After discussing some more details, Zhou Shi excitedly went back to the old house and immediately spoke to her mother-inw about it.


    "You''re just a simple honest man. That''s why your sister-inw is giving you this business opportunity," said the olddy after listening. "I''ll provide the money to get the things you need."


    "Thank you, Mother!"


    "Follow her and learn first tomorrow," said Wang Xue Shi. "I''ll send your fourth brother to fetch your second brother back right away. You two work hard from now on."


    Zhou Shi feltpletely reassured.


    Just thinking about the 200 wen profit each day made her too excited to sleep that night. She went to Li Yao''s before dawn to help out, then followed Da Zhuang to the market to learn how to set up the stall.


    Zhou Shi was quite agile. Other than some minor issues with bookkeeping, she adapted well.


    On the third day, Wang Yuan Ding returned home. All the necessary items were also prepared. Li Yao then gave them 100 servings of boiled meat for them to sell on their own.


    That day, Wang Xue Shi didn''t go anywhere. She just sat by the front gate drying vegetables, asionally ncing towards the vige entrance.


    Shortly after noon, Wang Yuan Ding and Zhou Shi came back.


    "You''re back so early?"


    "Mother," Zhou Shi''s face was blooming with joy. She handed over all the money they had earned that day. "Sister-inw''s boiled meat sold too quickly. In less than an hour, all 100 servings were sold out!"


    "Good, very good!"


    Holding the heavy money bag, Wang Xue Shi also felt reassured.


    Wang Yuan Ding ingratiatingly took out a piece of pork. "Mother, I bought meat. Let''s stir-fry it for dinner tonight."


    "You wasteful fool, what did you buy so much for? You''re just like your sister-inw, barely earned some money and can''t tell directions anymore!"


    "Mother, we''re going to help at sister-inw''s ce. Qiao Er, Yan Zi,e with us!"


    Unable to bear his old mother''s nagging, Wang Yuan Ding hurriedly took the two pig trotters he bought from Yongding market, and left with Zhou Shi and his two daughters.


    "Wait!"


    Wang Xue Shi took a basket and pulled up half a basket of radishes from the vegetable garden.


    "Bring these to your sister-inw, so she doesn''t have to buy from others every day."


    "Oh!"


    ...


    After Wang Yuan Ding left, Shen Shi could no longer restrain herself.


    Her sister-inw was clearly ying favorites!


    The second branch only had two daughters, but she had given birth to a son!


    By all reasoning, her sister-inw should have given this business opportunity to the second branch first.


    "Mother, are you just going to watch as sister-inw favors one over the other?"


    "Don''t stir up trouble with me!" Wang Xue Shi red up again at the mention. "Your sister-inw chose the second branch because she knows your sister-inw Zhou Shi is steady and won''t gossip idly everywhere! If you want your sister-inw to give you business opportunities, you have to first learn how to behave!"


    Shen Shi pouted sullenly.


    Favoritism was favoritism, yet her mother-inw was making up so many excuses!


    "What are you still dawdling around for? Hurry up and go cut grass!"


    ...


    "Sister-inw, take a rest and let us do the work."


    In Li Yao''s courtyard, Wang Yuan Ding and Zhou Shi voluntarily helped clean up.


    Qiao Er and Yan Zi also came along.


    The two girls were twelve and ten years old.


    They were probably too afraid of Li Yao, sitting quietly at the edge of the yard not daring to move around.


    The two girls were as thin as monkeys. There were no snacks at home either. So Li Yao cut two cubes of brown sugar for them to curb their craving.


    "Thank you, auntie."


    Li Yao said, "Eat up then go y with Xiao Si."


    "Okay."


    The two girls licked up every bit of brown sugar on their fingers before finally bringing Wang Xiao Si to y elsewhere.


    "Sister-inw, you''re spoiling them too much," said Zhou Shi. "Sugar isn''t cheap nowadays."


    Li Yao thought it was just a small piece of brown sugar, no big deal.


    Wang Xiao Si sneakily ate several pieces every day.


    "Since you''re storing things at your maternal home, remember to give them your filial respects often."


    "I know, sister-inw," said Wang Yuan Ding. "I''ll buy them some meat tomorrow."


    A sister-inw is like a mother.


    Wang Yuan Ding used to only fear his sister-inw. But now, he also felt a lot of gratitude towards her.


    With two more people helping out, the cleanup was quicklypleted. Wang Yuan Ding foolishly wanted to go into the kitchen to help stoke the fire. Zhou Shi grabbed him by the arm and dragged him home.


    "Can''t you show some sense?"


    "What''s wrong?" Wang Yuan Ding was very puzzled.


    "Sister-inw''s boiled meat is selling so well, yet no one else can replicate it. This shows that sister-inw has secret recipes," exined Zhou Shi. "If you recklessly rush into the kitchen, what if sister-inw thinks you''re trying to steal her recipes? You know her temper. She res up at the slightest thing. If she stops giving us this business, even crying won''t help."


    Wang Yuan Ding grinned foolishly. "You''re right. I''ll listen to you."


    Seeing her husband whom she hadn''t seen in a long time, Zhou Shi''s mouth curved into a smile.


    ...


    The booth locations at Yongding Market were decided.


    With two more market daysing up, Li Yao also nned to open stalls there while interest was still hot.


    She already had ns on who to give the stalls to and how to allocate them.


    Bidding.


    She exined it to Li Zheng for a long time until he understood the concept of bidding.


    "I just don''t get it," said Li Zheng. "This is such a good opportunity. Why would you give it to outsiders? Isn''t Wang Yuan Guo still working as aborer in Yizhou?"


    "I''ve already given a share to my family. That''s considered preferential treatment," said Li Yao. "Also, if it''s all kept within the family, it would be problematic if issuese up."


    "You have a point there."


    So under Li Zheng''s notice, the vigers quickly learned about this.


    That afternoon, hundreds of people crowded outside Li Zheng''s yard. They all found this unbelievable.


    "She''s willing to give us such a good opportunity? This must be a scam."


    "If Li Zheng scams us, we''ll hold him ountable!"


    "I heard Wang Yuan Ding earned money after selling at Yongding Market in just one day."


    ...


    Amidst the moring voices, Shen Shi was anxious as ants on a hot wok.


    She had conceded when her sister-inw gave the first stall to the second branch. But now, she was giving the remaining two stalls to outsiders. What kind of logic was this?


    Elbowing out her own family!


    She immediately went to her mother-inw, only to get yet another dressing down.


    "Your sister-inw already gave us one. How can you still be so greedy?"


    "If you really want to do it, do it ording to your sister-inw''s rules!"

 Chapter 15: Do wholesale

    <h4>Chapter 15</h4>


    Shen Shi had arrived.


    Like everyone else, she waspletely puzzled.


    She didn''t understand a word about bidding and tendering.


    "Everyone stop yelling," Li Zheng said standing on a bench to speak once most people had arrived, "You all know what''s going on, but let me exin the details clearly again."


    Li Yao''s n was to wholesale from home from now on. Anyone who wanted to sell her stewed food could buy inventory from her. The highest bidder wins.


    If the bids were the same, Li Yao would decide who to sell to.


    The winning bidder had to purchase at least 50 bowls per day, and must use the sign "He Wan Vige Li Family Stew".


    They must sell at the uniform guided price set by Li Yao, and could not arbitrarily raise or lower prices.


    They could not do anything to damage the reputation of the brand.


    They could not cheat on the quantity or quality.


    Once discovered viting the rules, the contract would be terminated immediately, and they would never cooperate again.


    Li Zheng exined each point clearly, and everyone finally understood. But everyone looked at each other, not daring to step forward.


    Finally, Shen Shi was the first to stand up and bid 13 wen.


    She got this price from asking Zhou Shi, so she was certain it wouldn''t be wrong.


    Seeing Shen Shi be so proactive, the others were emboldened, and after whispering with their families, they began to bid one after another.


    In the end, 9 families bid.


    "The results are out," Li Zheng said, "The highest prices are from Wang Yuan Cai and Fang Ming Chuan."


    Li Yao was not surprised at all by this result.


    Wang Yuan Cai was the eldest son of Li Zheng''s older brother.


    With Li Zheng handling this, how could he let the benefits go entirely to other families?


    And the Fang family was the second biggest family name in He Wan vige. The patriarch Fang Shi An was also a respected elder who was worldly wise. Fang Ming Chuan was his second son.


    The prices offered by the two families were 14 wen for stew with rice and 11 wen for stew with steamed buns.


    That meant they would only earn 1 wen profit per serving sold.


    "They bid so high. Aren''t they afraid of losing money if they can''t sell it all?"


    Facing such doubts, both families just smiled without answering.


    How could they possibly not sell out?


    Just go to the market to see, Li Yao''s stewed food was in high demand with insufficient supply.


    As for only making 1 wen profit per serving, what did that matter?


    Selling 100 servings per day, they could steadily earn 100 wen, without needing much capital. Where else could they find such a good business?


    They even felt that this was Li Yao deliberately letting them have a high profit margin out of worry that they would be jealous of too much money.


    With Li Zheng as witness, Li Yao signed contracts with the two families, and their cooperation officially began.


    Starting tomorrow, the marketces of Changhe County and Linyuan County would have stalls selling He Wan Vige Li Family Stew.


    The two families were ambitious, and booked 100 servings each for the first day.


    That was 400 servings total for the four stalls.


    Before noon the next day, all the vigers were craning their necks, waiting for Wang Yuan Cai and Fang Ming Chuan toe back, wanting to know how they did.


    The results were of course very smooth. The two families easily sold all 100 servings, earning 100 wen each.


    Hearing this result, those who bid lower prices yesterday regretted it immensely.


    The most regretful and resentful was Shen Shi. She felt Zhou Shi had tricked her with the random price she told her, and got another scolding from Wang Xue Shi.


    "With your pig brain, you still want to do business?"


    "Your elder sister gave us low prices to look after us!"


    "If you dare speak nonsense and ruin your second brother''s business, watch me rip your mouth apart!"


    The aggrieved Shen Shi realized that her mother-inw not only favored her elder sister-inw, but also favored her second sister-inw more and more.


    She really didn''t understand why, when her second sister-inw hadn''t even given birth to a son yet.


    ...


    "Mother." After dinner, Wang Er had calcted the day''s earnings, "Today we sold 400 servings total, and earned 2,095 wen."


    Li Yao nodded, "Too little."


    The children were shocked into silence, not daring to breathe.


    Earning 2 taels of silver in one day, and mother still thought it was too little?


    "Mother, it''s not little."


    "It''s really not little!"


    They only needed two months to buy a house in the marketce!


    But Li Yao felt it truly wasn''t enough.


    The whole family eating their fill and dressing warmly was only the first step of her n.


    Next, she still had to build a house.


    ording to her design, just the main structure would need over 300 taels of silver. At their current ie, it would take half a year to save up that much money.


    Winter would arrive soon, and she didn''t want to rely on righteousness to get through the winter.


    "We need to earn more money."


    The children looked at each other, confused.


    "Mother," Da Zhuang asked, "How do we earn more?"


    "By making high-end stewed dishes."


    ...


    Li Yao''s next n was to make high-quality stewed foods to earn money from the wealthy.


    But the ingredient supply was a big problem.


    After circling the marketce for half the day, she only saw a few chickens and ducks, still the kind raised for years, unsuitable for making stew.


    Finally on the streetside she suddenly spotted an old man with a big white goose before him, making her eyes light up.


    Goose meat was generally tough and old, and the birds wererge, so a single one was not cheap.


    Most importantly, there was little profit, somoners in this era rarely ate goose.


    People who raised geese mostly did so for the eggs.


    But stewed goose, she felt, would be a good product.


    "Old Zhang, how much to sell the goose?"


    Old Zhang had been trying to sell the goose for three days already. Some had asked but eitherined the goose was too big, or offered too low a price.


    A potential buyer had finally arrived, so he tried asking, "25 wen per pound, what do you think? Or I could do 24."


    He immediately started lowering the price before she could bargain, clearly the goose was hard to sell.


    Li Yao weighed it in her hand. This goose was at least 10 pounds. A single one would cost over 200 wen. Ordinary families really couldn''t bear to eat it.


    "I''ll take it."


    "Great, let me weigh it for you."


    In the end it came out to 11 pounds.


    Taking the 264 wen from Da Zhuang, Old Zhang breathed a long sigh of relief.


    "Finally sold one."


    Li Yao asked, "From your words, your family still has more?"


    "Over ten more," Old Zhang gave a long sigh, "I''m so anxious I could die!"


    It turned out Old Zhang was from Baiyun Vige, also next to the mountains. The wild grasses were plentiful, so vigers raised geese for the eggs to sell to peddlers who brought them to Yizhou Prefecture.


    The continuous drought had killed all the wild grasses, and without grain to feed them, the geese couldn''ty eggs to sell for money, instead bing a burden for the vigers.


    "If we really can''t sell them, we have to kill them to eat ourselves. But with over 300 total in the vige, we''ve invested heavily in them."


    Old Zhang felt his eyes tear up as he spoke.


    "Old Zhang, go home and grab 3 more for me," Li Yao said, "And tell your vigers not to kill them yet, I may buy them all."


    "Really?"


    "My mother''s word is as good as gold," Da Zhuang said. "Our family still has a stall in the marketce selling stew. You can find us any time if you don''t believe us."


    Hearing this, Old Zhang said, "So you''re the Li mother known for selling stew! No wonder, I''ve met a noble person today!"


    Li Yao smiled to herself, she didn''t realize she had be so well-known.


    "I''m going back to grab geese right now!"


    Old Zhang happily returned home.


    When he came back, he carried 3 morerge white geese, 35 pounds total, for 840 wen.


    "Come to the market in two days. By then I''ll know if I want the rest."


    "Of course, I will definitelye."

 Chapter 16: Spiced Geese on the Market

    <h4>Chapter 16</h4>


    The process of making braised goose is veryplicated and time-consuming.


    First is the marinating. The goose is cleaned thoroughly, then soaked in clear water with wine, scallions, ginger, and salt for over three hours.


    The braising liquid also needs to be prepared separately. Braised goose requires a stronger braising vor, so a lot of spices are used. These need to be tied in cloth bundles and nched first to remove any bitter or herbal tastes.


    Take some old braising liquid, add an equal amount of clear water, then add the spice bundles, oil, salt, a small amount of soy sauce, and brown sugar for color. After bringing it to a boil, simmer for 30 minutes over low heat until the aroma bes richer to make the new braising liquid.


    Now take out the marinated goose, nch it, then put it in the braising liquid. Braise for 20 minutes over medium heat until the meat bes tender, then switch to low heat and braise for 1 hour.


    Poke dense small holes all over the goose with a thin bamboo skewer so the vors can prate better, then continue soaking in the liquid for 1 more hour.


    Take it out and let it cool, then brush on ayer of braising oil. The skin will instantly be shiny and golden.


    Ever since the family became wealthy, they could eat meat almost every day. Combined with the daily aroma of braising, the kids had be somewhat immune to food smells.


    But today, they started salivating again.


    "Mother," He Xiaoya said, "This braised goose smells so much better than the boiled brisket!"


    Li Yao thought to herself that this was only natural, just look at how many spices were used.


    "Mother, is the braising done?" Wang Xiao Si couldn''t wait any longer, "Can we eat it now?"


    "No."


    To make braised goose taste great, there was still the most important step - the second braising.


    Let it sit for a few hours, then braise again over low heat for two hours.


    When taken out again, the goose skin quickly turned brownish-red. Li Yao knew it was basically sessful.


    Let it cool again, brush on braising oil to give it a shine and keep it moist.


    By the time the 4 perfect geese were done, it was almost dawn.


    The exhausted Li Yao had He Xiaoya cut up a whole goose and fill up severalrge tes, served with rice as breakfast.


    Well begun is half done.


    Eating hearty and full in the morning gives the energy and vigor for the day.


    Not getting to eat the braised goosest night, none of the kids could fall asleep. But at the first bite of goose this morning, they felt the wait through the night was worth it.


    "It''s so fragrant! Several times more than the boiled brisket!"


    "The meat is so soft, it falls apart with a light bite!"


    Even the usually reserved He Xiaoya couldn''t hold back this time, licking her fingers with everyone else.


    Li Yao was also very satisfied with her braised goose. After breakfast, she took the remaining three geese to the market, leaving her third son to man the boiled brisket stall, while she went to the restaurants with Da Zhuang.


    There were four restaurants at the Bai Chuan Market - He''s, Liu''s, Zhang''s, and Jing Shui Lou.


    Li Yao nned to partner with all four, as that would give higher sales volume.


    But ideals are plentiful while reality is sparse.


    At the first three restaurants, the proprietors didn''t even let her finish speaking before having the waiters escort them out.


    "A peddler of offal wants to talk business with us? Laughable!"


    Da Zhuang was indignant at being kicked out like this, and even a little discouraged.


    But Li Yao didn''t care one bit, and went straight to thest one.


    He''s Restaurant.


    "Owner, do you have a moment?"


    "Isn''t this Mrs. Li who sells boiled brisket?" Manager Fan looked up as he opened the doors for business, immediately recognizing Li Yao. "What can I do for you?"


    "I''d like to discuss a small business proposition with you."


    "Sure," Manager Fan was delighted, and courteously came out from behind the counter. "Please, upstairs." He called to a waiter, "Bring tea!"


    Li Yao''s boiled brisket was already renowned at the Bai Chuan Market, and sold very well at nearby markets too. Manager Fan knew this clearly.


    He had bought it to eat before, and had his chefs try to replicate it, but they could never match the fragrance and vor.


    Now that Li Yao openly wanted to partner with him, how could he miss this opportunity?


    Sitting upstairs in a private room, Da Zhuang took out half a braised goose. With just one whiff of the rich aroma, Manager Fan started regretting things.


    After all, he was a seasoned restaurant owner, and had lost sensitivity to delicious food long ago. Yet now, before even tasting it, he couldn''t stop salivating.


    It was really embarrassing.


    While silently gulping down his drool, Manager Fan scrutinized the half goose.


    The reddish-brown color and glossy sheen looked very tempting. Poking it lightly with chopsticks easily sunk into the meat - it must be extremely tender, yet the exterior was still perfectly intact.


    Just this was already beyond the reach of many master chefs.


    "Manager Fan," said Li Yao, "Why not try some?"


    "Of course, I''ll have them cut some pieces right away."


    Manager Fan first chose the breast and leg meat that was hardest to infuse vor into, then tasted the belly that absorbed it most easily.


    After carefully sampling each part, he gently put down his chopsticks.


    "What do you think?"


    Manager Fan pondered briefly before replying, "I''m afraid my limited education prevents me from articting it well. I can only say, this is the most delicious goose meat I''ve ever eaten!"


    Hearing such an evaluation, Li Yao knew the deal was sealed.


    Next was discussing the pricing and quantities.


    After ughter and braising, the goose would shrink by 40%. And with the extra spices used, the cost per jin of finished product was around 45 wen.


    The offal could also be sold at the same price.


    Li Yao asked for 100 wen per jin, earning 55 wen profit per jin. Each goose could earn around 400 wen.


    Manager Fan didn''t hesitate at all before agreeing to this price.


    "I''ll take 3 geese per day," he said. "If it suits you, I can take one today to try first."


    Li Yao knew right away that wouldn''t work.


    Trying with one goose first, then waiting for word-of-mouth to spread, sales volume would take at least several days to pick up.


    Since this was a long-term partnership, Li Yao felt imparting some business secrets would be mutually beneficial.


    After hearing Li Yao''s idea, Manager Fan was so shocked his jaw hung open. In his twenty years as owner, he had never heard of this method to attract customers.


    How did this Mrs. Lie up with it?


    "Excellent, let''s do it this way!"


    So he bought up all the geese, keeping half to sell in the restaurant, and cutting the other half into tiny pieces and piling them on arge tter at the entrance.


    "Don''t miss out while passing by!"


    "He''s Restaurant new dish - Li''s Braised Goose from Hewayuan Vige, free tasting!"


    "Limited quantity, firste first served!"


    ...


    Hearing of something free, passing pedestrians crowded around.


    The waiters maintained order while spearing a small piece onto bamboo sticks for each person.


    "Amazing fragrance!"


    "This is really goose meat? How can it taste this delicious?"


    "The portion is too small, can I get one more?"


    "One per person, no second helpings," the waiters quickly advertised, "If you want to eat your fill, pleasee inside, we guarantee you''ll eat enough!"


    In less than half a shichen, news that He''s Restaurant was offering a new signature dish spread across the entire Bai Chuan Market.


    Those who tasted it raved about the braised goose, praising it as dragon liver and phoenix marrow. Those who hadn''t tried it rushed over when they heard it was free.


    The entrance to He''s Restaurant was packed shoulder to shoulder the whole time.


    But to the owners of the other three restaurants, this spectacle was a huge joke.


    "Giving it away for free, however much they eat, won''t get a single one to actually buy wine and dishes there. What a waste."


    "I wonder if He''s owner knows about this, he might vomit blood from anger."


    "I see Manager Fan getting fired very soon for this."

 Chapter 17: To Me and to You.

    <h4>Chapter 17</h4>


    He Jiajing was the owner of Heji Restaurant in Baiquan Vige.


    In addition to running Heji Restaurant in the vige market, his family also owned several hundred mu of good farnd, making him the undisputed localndlord in Baiquan Vige.


    During years of poor harvest, they had to rely on the restaurant''s ie.


    Under Manager Fan''s management, the restaurant''s business was quite stable, but today he suddenly heard that Manager Fan was giving free food to the poor on the streets!


    What''s more, it was goose meat!


    He Jiajing was so angry he almost choked. He immediately took some servants and rushed to the restaurant.


    At the door, he saw over a hundred people lining up for free food. His face turned ashen. He pushed through the crowd and stormed inside.


    Seeing him, Manager Fan came over at once: "Master, what brings you here?"


    "What brings me here?" He Jiajing suppressed his rage. "If I hadeter, would you have given away my entire restaurant?"


    "Master, please let me exin..."


    "What''s there to exin?" He Jiajing wished he could kick him to death. "Take the food back immediately! And you, get out of here now!"


    "Master, don''t be angry!" Manager Fan said. "Hear me out first. If you still think I''m wrong after, I''ll leave without you having to drive me out!"


    Since he had said so, He Jiajing decided to wait a little longer, though he was even angrier after listening. Pointing at Li Yao sitting nearby, he said, "Was this all her idea?"


    "Yes."


    "You fool!" He Jiajing cursed angrily. "You''re an experienced manager. How could you listen to a stupid woman? Get out of here!"


    Seeing the master so furious, Manager Fan sighed and prepared to leave.


    Meanwhile, Li Yao frowned slightly.


    It was understandable that He Jiajing disapproved of her methods due to his limited perspective. But to call her stupid was uneptable.


    She stood up abruptly, one hand on her hip and the other pointing at He Jiajing: "What did you just call me? Say it again if you dare, and I''ll tear your mouth apart!"


    He Jiajing was stunned.


    He didn''t expect a crude vige woman to dare point at him and throw a tantrum, even threatening to tear his mouth apart!


    What was the worlding to!


    "Throw her out!"


    Several waiters came forward, but Li Yao picked up a long bench: "Come on if you''re not afraid to die!"


    The waiters looked at each other, unsure whether to approach her or not.


    He Jiajing was so angry he could hardly breathe.


    First the manager causes trouble, now the waiters dare to disobey him too - was this still his restaurant?


    "Fine, I''ll let you stay since I''m afraid of you. Please leave when you wish!"


    "That''s better," Li Yao put down the bench. "Speak nicely. Harmony brings prosperity. Why shout and yell?"


    He Jiajing: "So what do you want?"


    "I don''t want anything," said Li Yao. "It was my idea to give Manager Fan free samples. Now you want to drive him away without investigating. Of course I don''t agree."


    "You gave away my stuff for free, and you think you''re right?"


    "It''s to help you earn doubleter. Don''t you believe me?" Li Yao asked.


    How could He Jiajing believe such nonsense?


    No free lunch in this world could bring double profits!


    Ridiculous wishful thinking!


    "Fine," said Li Yao. "If it doesn''t work out, I won''t take any money for the roast goose - it''ll be my gift to you."


    Though He Jiajing thought it impossible, he still asked, "What if it does work out?"


    "You apologize to Manager Fan and me in front of all the staff."


    He Jiajing hesitated briefly, then agreed.


    "I''ll watch the counter so no one can trick me!"


    But before she even sat down, some customers came in: "Bring us the roast goose first. We want to see if it''s as delicious as rumored!"


    "Coming right up!" The waiter seated them quickly. "Roast goose for these guests!"


    More people streamed in as the first group was served. The waiters rushed about taking orders.


    "One roast goose, good wine..."


    "One roast goose, stir-fried shredded pork..."


    "One roast goose..."


    In just a few minutes, the restaurant was packed, with no empty rooms upstairs either.


    Seeing this, He Jiajing was dumbfounded.


    Business had never been this good, not even during peak hours!


    And it wasn''t even meal time yet!


    ...


    The Heji waiters were overwhelmed.


    Before the first group finished their meal, more people lined up outside moring to be served. Whether regrs or neers, all came to try the famous roast goose.


    Manager Fan and the chefs were rushed off their feet, and also worried.


    Having decided on the free tasting hastily, the kitchen was not stocked for so many. They had to keep buying ingredients.


    But the real problem was not enough roast geese!


    Realizing the situation, Manager Fan made a bold decision - halve the portion size!


    Still not enough?


    Halve it again!


    The goal was to let each table have at least a little taste.


    "So sorry, we didn''t prepare enough roast goose today. Pleasee back tomorrow!"


    After thest guests left, Manager Fan wiped his brow and heaved a long sigh of relief.


    In his years as Heji manager, this was the first time business had been so explosive they could barely cope. Truly a first.


    And ultimately, this was all thanks to Li Yao''s roast goose and her free tasting idea.


    "Master," Manager Fan presented the day''s ounts. "Today''s earnings."


    "Just tell me."


    "A total of 132 taels and 4 coins..."


    "How much?"


    Though prepared, He Jiajing still shot up in shock.


    His restaurant''s best day ever earned just over 30 taels - pocket changepared to today!


    "Quick! Invite Ms Li... No no, I''ll invite her myself!"


    He Jiajing rushed downstairs to Li Yao drinking tea in the hall, smiling as he bowed: "Ms Li, pleasee upstairs."


    Without looking up, Li Yao said, "Apologize first."


    The waiters were shocked.


    She really made the master apologize to her!


    Did she not know his status?


    He Jiajing was briefly surprised, but reacted quickly.


    Apologizing to a vige woman before all the staff did seem beneath his standing.


    But was Li Yao an ordinary vige woman?


    No!


    She was the God of Fortune incarnate!


    What shame was there in apologizing to the God of Fortune?


    "I''m terribly sorry Ms Li. I was too rash and rude earlier, I hope you''ll be the bigger person and not hold it against me."


    He spoke gently, sounding like a contrite student. Manager Fan and the waiters could hardly recognize this master.


    Seeing his sincerity, Li Yao nodded.


    "Fine," said Li Yao. "You show me a foot of respect, I''ll return a yard. From now on in Baiquan Vige, my roast goose will only be sold at your restaurant. Any new creations will also be considered for cooperation with you first."


    "You''re too kind, too kind!"


    He Jiajing was overjoyed.


    Although Li Yao had a fiery temper, her roast goose was incredible. Selling it exclusively at his restaurant would ensure booming business!


    "If there''s nothing else, we can settle ounts."


    "It''s ready."

 Chapter 18: Hunger Marketing

    <h4>Chapter 18</h4>


    Li Yao beckoned, and the attendant immediately brought over a tray.


    A bag of copper coins, totaling 2160 wen.


    And two whole silver ingots.


    "The 2160 wen are for the braised goose," Li Yao exined, "The extra ten taels of silver are just a token of my appreciation. Please don''t think it''s too little, Miss Li."


    Li Yao directly took the money for the goose, and didn''t even nce at the other two ingots of silver.


    "No need."


    "This is..." He Jiajing didn''t understand, "I don''t have any other intentions, it''s just a token of my sincerity."


    "I already said earlier, I''m helping Boss Fan for free today," Li Yao said. "Although it''s free this time, if you want me to helpe up with ideas again in the future, I will charge."


    As they watched Li Yao turn and walk out of the restaurant, and the silver that had failed to be gifted out, no one knew what to say.


    Giving away ten taels of silver without the slightest hint of greed, just what kind of person was this Miss Li?


    "Miss Li, please wait a moment." Boss Fan hurriedly chased after her.


    "Is there something else?"


    "Nothing else," Boss Fan said, "Just that I wanted to order a few more braised geese tomorrow..."


    "No, we agreed on only 3 geese per day, so it will only be 3."


    "Ah?" Boss Fan was surprised, "Why...why is that?"


    Why? This was hunger marketing.


    Of course she couldn''t easily tell others the reason, after all Li Yao still wanted to earn a little money by selling ideas.


    "Do you want it or not?" Li Yao was toozy to exin further, and asked directly, "If not I can sell to others."


    "Want, I want it," Boss Fan sighed lightly, "3 it is, please deliver them early tomorrow Miss Li."


    ...


    Da Zhuang said, "Mother..."


    "You want to ask why I didn''t want those ten taels of silver?"


    "Mm."


    "Remember, don''t take what you didn''t earn," Li Yao said. "What''s yours is yours, down to thest penny. What isn''t yours, you can''t take even if it''s a mountain of gold and silver."


    "I understand."


    Seeing that he still seemed to have more to say, Li Yao asked again, "Did you see they sold over a hundred taels worth in one meal, and feel envious, thinking you also wanted to open a restaurant?"


    "This is..." Da Zhuang was a little surprised, he didn''t expect his mother to know what he was thinking, "I just thought, I don''t have that kind of ability, and don''t have that much money either."


    "Don''t underestimate yourself, you have ability, and money isn''t a problem either," Li Yao said. "But there''s no need to open a restaurant."


    "Why?"


    "You''ll understand in the future."


    Li Yao also had ns for Da Zhuang''s future path.


    ...


    When she arrived at the braised food stand, San''er had already cleaned up.


    Old man Kang who sold the geese was also there, holding 3 big white geese, and had waited for a long time. Hearing that he would definitely be able to buy all the geese in the vige in the future, old man Kang was so excited he thanked them profusely.


    Eager to hurry back and tell the vigers the good news.


    "Don''t know why, but business was especially good today," after old man Kang left, San''er started reporting, "sold out half an hour earlier than usual."


    Good business was natural.


    After all, they had done such big advertising today. Those who had tasted the braised goose but didn''t have the money to dine at the restaurant must havee to satisfy their craving.


    "Was the lunch for the old master from the academy delivered?" Li Yao asked.


    "Delivered," San''er said. "Just as you instructed, gave him two extra pieces of braised goose meat."


    As long as it was delivered, that was good.


    Li Yao didn''t care who the white-haired old man was, but one must be honest when doing business.


    "Let''s go home."


    Just as they reached the market entrance, someone called from behind, "Miss Li, please wait!"


    A dignified looking middle-aged man, along with two servants, hurriedly caught up.


    "Miss Li," the middle-aged man said, "I am the owner of Zhang Restaurant, and wanted to discuss purchasing geese with you."


    Coming only now, it was toote.


    "I have a contract with He Restaurant, the braised geese are only sold to them."


    Watching Li Yao''s group leave, Zhang Guangcheng was so angry he stamped his feet right where he stood.


    "Hurry back and tie up that bastard surnamed Shu!"


    "It was clearly me who asked Miss Li first, yet he forcibly drove her away!"


    "A bunch of blind fools. I''m going to skin him alive!"


    ...


    The braised geese from Riverbend Vige became famous. Not only did He Restaurant''s business increase several folds, even the braised food stand followed and became popr again.


    Every day they bought all the pigs they could, but it still didn''t feel like enough to sell.


    Da Zhuang and his brothers were full of energy, and also had to braise geese, so they got up earlier than chickens and sleptter than dogs every day. Continuing long-term like this was definitely not ok, and would ruin their health.


    So Li Yao once again looked for Li Zheng.


    "Recruit workers from the vige?"


    Li Zheng was puzzled for half a day, wondering why they didn''t just get their own family to do this good thing, but instead went through all this trouble.


    If they weren''t family, would they work as diligently?


    "I have my own ns," Li Yao said. "The main job is to clean the pigs and geese every afternoon, 10 wen per person per day, pay them as soon as the work is done."


    Half a day''s work for 10 wen, and not tiring at all. Where else could one find such a good opportunity?


    If his family didn''t already run a braised food stand, Li Zheng would have asked his daughter-inw to go.


    "Alright, I''ll help spread the word now."


    Li Zheng climbed up the big tree in his yard, and loudly announced the news.


    After the previous "bidding" incident, the vigers'' impression of Li Yao had changed somewhat. They put down what they were doing and rushed over in groups.


    San Jie Shen Shi ran the fastest.


    She didn''t win the bid for the braised food standst time, so this time she would fight for it no matter what.


    In her anxiousness, Shen Shi went straight to Li Yao, "Sister-inw, please let me have this. Don''t worry, I will do a good job."


    Asking Li Zheng to help recruit workers was so that Li Yao could avoid people getting the job through "backdoors". So she said, "It''s up to Li Zheng to decide who to hire."


    "For your family''s matters, how could it be all up to him... We''re all family..."


    "You go sign up then."


    Seeing that Li Yao didn''t give her any face at all, Shen Shi was furious. But afraid that signing upte would ruin her chances, she hurriedly went to look for Li Zheng.


    In the end, over seventy people signed up.


    Some even wanted to voluntarily lower the pay likest time, fervently offering to work for just 5 wen a day.


    Li Zheng knew the vigers all too well, and quickly picked two honest women in their thirties who could work steadily.


    Loudmouths like Shen Shi were directly eliminated, angering her so much that she stamped her feet and went to tattle to her mother-inw.


    "Li Zheng, we already offered to lower the pay, how could you still pick them?"


    "That''s right, why not use the cheaperbor? Isn''t that losing money?"


    "Listen to me!" Li Zheng shouted, "Li Yao said it won''t be long before she needs more people. Those who weren''t picked, just wait for now."


    "You must pick me next time!"


    ...


    After the crowd dispersed, the selected Liu Sister-inw and Hu Sister-inw came to Li Yao''s home.


    The two honest women had never dared provoke Li Yao before. Now having to work for her family, they were still a little apprehensive. If they unwittingly displeased her, who knew if they would be scolded terribly or have their wages docked...


    So the two kept their heads down working, washing the pigs and geese until they were spotless. After Li Yao inspected and saw no issues, she paid them on the spot.


    "Come back tomorrow afternoon again."


    On the way home, both were a little dizzy.


    No matter how carefully one worked for others, no matter how easygoing the homeowners were, there would normally still be some petty fault found to nitpick and deduct wages. But this shrew Li Yao was actually so reasonable.


    This definitely wasn''t the Li Yao they knew!


    Having two more people working made things much easier for Li Yao. She no longer needed to stay up all night, and was a lot more rxed.


    The next three days went smoothly.


    The four braised food stands made 2600 wen profit each day. The three braised geese made 1200 wen profit per day. After deducting daily expenses, the family had 3500 wen of ie per day.


    After a few days, Li Yao already had 15 taels of silver savings, surpassing the vast majority ofmoners of this time.


    But she wanted to build afortable big house, and this little bit of money wouldn''t even cover the foundation.


    Just as she was preparing to expand the braised goose business, problems arose on old man Kang''s side.

 Chapter 19: The First Rich Woman in Hewan Village

    <h4>Chapter 19</h4>


    After Old man Kang sold all his geese to Li Yao, he started helping her collect geese in the vige as promised.


    But he didn''t expect to be shut out by the first family he visited.


    "24 wen per catty is too cheap, we''re not selling."


    "Old Kang, you''re too honest. How much more could that Lidy from He Wan Vige earn by selling a braised goose? She''s only giving you 24 wen per catty, aren''t you losing money?"


    "Without our geese, she can''t do business either. She''ll raise the price herself eventually, let''s wait and see."


    ...


    After visiting the whole vige, Old Kang was very anxious.


    He had promised and guaranteed that he would help Li Yao get this done, earning 10 wen per goose as hard-earned money.


    But now the vigers were holding on to their geese and not selling any. How could he exin this to Mrs. Li?


    In the end, he barely managed to buy 3 geese from one family after pleading and offering an extra 30 wen. He delivered those to Li Yao.


    "I''m so sorry Mrs. Li," Old Kang said. "I wanted to help but I guess I''m useless."


    "It''s not your fault, why apologize?"


    "But...without the geese, how can your restaurant continue?" Old Kang asked.


    "Have you heard of anyone else buying geese in your vige?" Li Yao asked.


    "Well..." Old Kang thought hard and finally said, "I did hear someone mention they''d pay 27 wen per catty. I was in a hurry then and didn''t listen carefully."


    That''s it.


    There were only two reasons the vigers wouldn''t sell their geese.


    One, they wanted to raise the price. Two, someone was sabotaging this.


    It seemed to be thetter.


    And those sabotaging must be the shop owners or bosses of the other three restaurants in the market. They were jealous of He''s Restaurant and wanted to secretly cause some trouble.


    If they couldn''t have it, they didn''t want Li Yao to seed either.


    To fully resolve this, there was only one solution.


    "Old Kang," Li Yao asked again, "Do you know of any other ces with geese?"


    "Well...there are some, but very far away and not as many as our vige has."


    "Then let''s do this," Li Yao said. "From now on, help me purchase geese from everywhere. Don''t limit the price, follow market rates. I''ll pay you an extra 1 wen per catty as your hard-earned money. What do you think?"


    "That much?"


    If he bought 3 geese a day, that would be over 30 wen extra. In a month that would be over 1000 wen... For a poor old man like him halfway into the dirt, he could earn so much?


    Even after messing up the goose purchase, she not only didn''t me him but even gave him such a good deal.


    "Mrs. Li, you must be an immortal goddess!"


    "I''ll needrge quantities going forward, so you''ll have to travel far and wide. 1 wen more per catty is not much," Li Yao said. "But you must ensure supply and quality of the geese."


    Old Kang patted his chest and promised, "Mrs. Li, don''t worry. I''ll do a good job on anything I promise you!"


    "I know Huanghua Vige has some goose raisers, I''ll go buy from them now!"


    Li Yao gave him 2000 wen as working capital.


    She also gave 500 wen for him to help buy goslings or goose eggs that could hatch goslings.


    Buying geese from all over long term was clearly not sustainable. She intended to raise them herself.


    ...


    At Zhang''s Restaurant.


    The boss Zhang Guangsheng drank tea while asking the new shop manager,


    "Did you get it done?"


    "Done," Manager Wu said. "I paid a 10 wen deposit to each family in Baiyun Vige. They won''t sell a single goose to someone surnamed Li. But I''m worried she may raise the purchase price, then..."


    "If she raises the price, we''ll raise too," Zhang Guangsheng said. "Those poor vigers will hold on to their geese as long as you promise half a wen more per catty.


    "But we''re not really buying. If this drags on, won''t the vigers eventually sell to her?"


    "Are you dumb?" Zhang Guangsheng said. "We paid deposits so they can''t sell before the agreed date no matter what. Just stalling them for 10-15 days will divert business back to us once He''s Restaurant has no braised geese to sell."


    "The boss is brilliant."


    Looking out the window, Zhang Guangsheng smiled as he saw He''s Restaurant in the distance.


    Sometimes only a small spend was needed to aplish big things.


    Just then, a waiter rushed in in panic, "B-boss, trouble!"


    "What''s got you so frantic?"


    "He''s Restaurant has braised geese today too!"


    "What''s there to panic about? That''s definitely leftover stock from yesterday."


    But what Zhang Guangsheng didn''t expect was He''s Restaurant still had braised geese every day for the next three days too.


    Not only that, Li Yao had also partnered with restaurants in the 3 nearby markets!


    Yet not a single goose had been sold from Baiyun Vige.


    "Where is she getting the geese?"


    "I asked around, she hired an old man to buy up geese from several neighboring counties."


    Zhang Guangsheng felt frustrated.


    He thought Li Yao was just a farmer''s wife, naive and helpless without geese from Baiyun Vige. Turned out the clown was himself.


    "Boss," Manager Wu said, "Should we teach that old man a lesson?"


    "What nonsense idea is that?" Zhang Guangsheng snapped. "What if you kill that old man? She''ll just find another. Besides the new county magistrate is cracking down hard, don''t cause me trouble."


    "Yes, yes. What should we do about the Baiyun Vige deposits then?"


    What could they do, just consider it money tossed into water.


    "There aren''t that many geese in nearby counties. I''d like to see what she uses once that runs out!"


    ...


    Old Kang traveled several counties but didn''t manage to buy any goslings. He did buy tworge crates of goose eggs though.


    He Xiaoya was a little worried.


    They only had one old hen at home. How to incubate so many goose eggs?


    Li Yao said, "No need for the hen. We''ll incubate them ourselves."


    He Xiaoya: ...


    Mother must be confused today. How can humans incubate goslings?


    Sleep hugging goose eggs in bed for a month?


    The biggest challenge of artificial incubation at that time was precise temperature control. After thinking hard, Li Yao decided to use the heated brick bed to incubate.


    She bought lots of wood and had Li Zheng saw it into nks to build doubleyered walls and roof, with the gap stuffed fully with hay. This was the incubation room.


    The incubation bed was harder to build.


    To evenly transmit heat, Li Yao spent heavily to have the cksmith cast an iron tub 1 meter square and 15 cm thick, propped up by a ring of adobe.


    The tub was filled with hot water, thenyered with grass ash, cloth and thin quilts on top.


    Several oilmps burned below to maintain temperature.


    Preparations were done.


    If sessful, they could even incubate chicks and ducklings in future.


    When the bed temperature matched body temperature, she washed the goose eggs clean andid them one by one on the bed, covered by two thick quilts.


    The incubation duty was handed to He Xiaoya.


    "Check the temperature every quarter hour. Same warmth as your body means correct temperature," Li Yao instructed solemnly. "If too hot remove an oilmp, if too cold add one. Also turn the eggs over every 2 hours, and swap inner and outer eggs every 3 days."


    "Got it mother. I''ll incubate them properly."


    This was two hundred goose eggs. A failure would mean huge losses.


    He Xiaoya simply moved into the incubation room. Every quarter hour she would ce a goose egg inside her clothes to test temperature and adjust oilmps ordingly.


    After five days, Li Yao candled the goose eggs under an oilmp. Those without blood vessels inside could not hatch goslings.


    She picked out over 50 of them and braised into tea eggs for He''s Restaurant. Unexpectedly they became quite popr.


    The news of Li Yao incubating goslings without a hen soon spread through the vige.


    "She really dares to think of anything and do anything."


    "If she seeds, wouldn''t she be able to incubate hundreds or thousands at one go?"


    "Just daydreaming! If she''s really that capable, I''ll read my name backwards - Jewel Gui!"


    ...


    While waiting for the goslings to hatch, braised goose sales were also stabilizing.


    They could sell 10 braised geese every day across the 4 markets and 4 restaurants, generating around 4000 wen profit daily.


    Adding the braised food stall, total daily profit was now up to 6600 wen.


    Li Yao now firmly held 50 taels of silver, establishing herself as He Wan Vige''s number one richdy.


    With these stable ie sources, Li Yao finally had time to research on the grass ster.

 Chapter 20: Want to Read

    <h4>Chapter 20</h4>


    "I''m home, Mom!"


    Wang Er''s voice rang out from outside while Li Yao was arranging herbs inside the house.


    These past few days, he had been so busy following the people sent by the County Magistrate to dig wells in each vige that he had lost a lot of weight.


    "Mom!" Wang Er rushed into the yard excitedly, impatient to report his results, "I helped pick 120 well locations, and every one produced water!"


    "Not bad."


    Although it was just two simple words, it still made Wang Er feel ted inside.


    His mother rarely praised people so easily.


    "Wang Er really stepped up this time," Li Zheng also chimed in. "The County Magistrate was very happy and said he would reward him."


    Li Yao didn''t care about rewards.


    But now that the family had money, it was time to make ns for Wang Er''s education.


    Early the next morning, Li Yao took Wang Er to the academy, but they were stopped at the gate by the gatekeeper.


    "Wait here."


    Seeing the gatekeeper''s impatient expression, Li Yao''s good impression of the academy diminished.


    ...


    Inside the academy, Teacher Liu was supervising the students'' reading.


    When the gatekeeper said someone wanted to enroll in the academy, he asked, "Where are they from?"


    "River Bend Vige," the gatekeeper replied. "It''s the former ssmate of Li Xian."


    Teacher Liu''s brow furrowed when he heard this. "Have theme see me."


    Li Yao led Wang Er to stand before Teacher Liu.


    Before she could speak, Teacher Liu said coldly, "So it''s you, the little beast who assaulted his elder in public."


    When she heard him begin with insults, Li Yao''s brows tightened. "What did you say?"


    "Shut up!" Teacher Liu bellowed. "This is a dignified academy, not somece for vige women like you to speak as you wish!"


    Li Yao was furious.


    She had kindly brought her son here to study and was prepared to pay the tuition fee. Yet they treated her with such contempt?


    "Whatw says that women cannot speak in academies?"


    Teacher Liu let out a coldugh. "I''ve long heard you''re a notorious shrew. What, do you want to throw a tantrum in my academy now?"


    Long heard?


    Looking at Li Xian seated there, Li Yao suddenly understood.


    She had heard Li Xian was clever and favored by the teacher. He must have told about the fight with Wang Er on purpose so the teacher could publicly chastise them and stand up for Li Xian.


    A schr, yet so petty.


    It seemed there was no chance of getting into this academy. Even if they did, they would face discrimination everywhere.


    But if not the academy, where could Wang Er get an education?


    "What is themotion here?"


    Just then, an old man walked over with his hands behind his back. Teacher Liu quickly stepped forward and bowed, "Master Shan, you''re here."


    Looking up, Li Yao recognized him as the elderly man who had paid a month''s meals upfront before. She could tell at their first meeting that the old fellow was no ordinary man. She just hadn''t expected him to be the academy''s Master Shan.


    "Oh, it''s you two." Master Shan chuckled and asked Wang Er, "You want to enroll in the academy?"


    Wang Er nodded.


    "A good thing to want to study!" Master Shan said. "Pay the tuition tomorrow and you can start right away."


    "Master, you can''t do that!" Teacher Liu hurriedly advised, "This boy assaulted his elder in public. His conduct must becking. How could our academy allow in such a troublemaker?"


    "Assaulting someone meanscking conduct?" Master Shan asked coldly. "Did you even ask why he fought in public?"


    "Well, this is..." Teacher Liu hesitated but remained adamant. "No matter the reason, assaulting one''s elder in public cannot be justified legally. Master, if you rashly ept him and the County Magistrate finds out, you may also face punishment."


    Master Shan''s brows furrowed slightly.


    He had not expected Teacher Liu to bring up the County Magistrate like this.


    "Then don''t ept him if you don''t want to," Li Yao had no patience to listen to the two old men bicker. "We can still study without the academy." She said to Wang Er, "Let''s go."


    After the mother and son left, a trace of a cold smile appeared at the corner of Teacher Liu''s mouth.


    The wild child from Riverbend Vige dared to dream of studying and bing one of the gentry?


    Keep dreaming!


    ...


    "I''m sorry, Mother." As soon as they were out of the academy gates, Wang Er started apologizing. "It''s all because of me that Mother suffered such humiliation."


    "It''s got nothing to do with you."


    "No, it must be rted to me," Wang Er said. "Teacher Liu has never liked me."


    ording to Wang Er, when he first started as Li Xian''s readingpanion, Teacher Liu rather liked him for being diligent and eager to learn. Although just an assistant, he was allowed to listen outside the window during lectures.


    But suddenly one day, Teacher Liu''s attitudepletely changed. Not only did he forbid Wang Er from listening by the window, he would often find various excuses to reprimand and insult him, causing Wang Er much grievance.


    Hearing this, Li Yao was very surprised. "Do you know what caused it?"


    Wang Er shook his head.


    He had always been confused about this matter.


    "But I remember he said that no one from our Riverbend Vige is a good person."


    This was even stranger.


    Could Teacher Liu have some feud with Riverbend Vige?


    Nevermind, Li Yao didn''t want to think more about it.


    After this incident, she gave up on sending Wang Er to the academy and decided to directly hire a private tutor at home instead. But qualified schrs were pitifully scarce in Baichuan County, and almost all of them were concentrated in the academy and county government. So she would need to carefully consider where to find a suitable tutor.


    "Let''s go buy some things for you first."


    Leading Wang Er, Li Yao entered a bookstore.


    "What can I interest you in today?" The shop assistant enthusiastically came over. "We have all kinds of books here, as well as writing supplies."


    Li Yao let Wang Er pick out books himself.


    Having already studied the primers, he chose the Four Books and Five ssics this time.


    Thoroughly reading through these should pose no problem for passing the imperial exam.


    After selecting the books, the total came to 3 taels of silver. Li Yao also asked about writing supplies and was shocked by the high prices.


    Even the cheapest goat-hair brush cost 1 tael of silver, while the best wolf-hair brushes were 15 taels!


    Ink stones, paper, and ink were also very expensive, making one gasp at the cost.


    And paper and ink were consumables. A single essay could easily cost over 10 or 20 wen in fixed costs.


    "It''s okay Mother, we don''t need to buy these now," Wang Er considerately said. "I can practice writing on the ground."


    While they couldn''t afford them for now, there was no need to be that destitute. Li Yao already had an idea.


    She had also thought of a suitable tutor.


    Back at home, Li Yao went to find Li Zheng.


    "What else do you need, Mistress Li?"


    "I''d like you to help make two stone tablets for me," Li Yao said. "They''re for Wang Er to practice writing."


    Hearing they were for proper use, Li Zheng readily agreed.


    "But it''s not a permanent solution for Wang Er to study at home."


    "That''s also why I came to find you today," Li Yao said. "I want to ask Tutor Lv to teach him, but I''ll need you to make the request."


    "Him? No no no."


    Li Zheng immediately shook his head at the suggestion.


    Although called a "Xiucai", Lv wasn''t actually an imperial exam graduate.


    Back then, his family had also spent everything they had to support his studies. But due tocking talent, now nearing fifty, he was still just a student.


    Failing the exam repeatedly, his parents had also passed away early, and he had no children. On top ofcking any practical skills... Tutor Lv had now bepletely useless, dependent on his wife''s farming to survive.


    With the natural disasters these past couple years, their family probably couldn''t even afford meals.

 Chapter 21: Lu Xiucai

    <h4>Chapter 21</h4>


    "I don''t n to have him teach for the long term," Li Yao said. "Wang Er has some education already. He should be able to manage."


    Li Zheng thought about it for a moment and asked, "How much are you nning to pay him?"


    "I want him toe every day to teach Er Dan, and when he has time, also give the other three children some beginner lessons in basic arithmetic," Li Yao said. "As for pay, of course I won''t shortchange him. I''ll provide him with lunch, and give him 2 taels of silver per month. There will also be customary gifts for ceremonies like starting lessons and holidays."


    "Isn''t that too much?" Li Zheng said. "He''s not even a xiucai. You''re giving him 2 taels a month? I think 500 wen would be enough!"


    Even for a family tutor, 500 wen was far too little.


    If the pay was too low, the tutor wouldn''t put his heart into teaching. That would just be a waste of money.


    "Let''s do it how I said," she insisted.


    Seeing that she wouldn''t budge, Li Zheng didn''t try to persuade her further. He went with her directly to Lv Xiucai''s home.


    Lv Xiucai''s wife, Mrs. Bo, had been worrying over their livelihood. Now a huge windfall had suddenly fallen from the sky, nearly knocking her dizzy.


    "You want me to go be a tutor at your home?" Lv Xiucai asked.


    "When have we ever been able to afford filling the stove?" Mrs. Bo said. "I don''t care if it''s a tutor for the east or west room, just say yes!" She was afraid this useless old bookworm would refuse, so she hurriedly added, "Hurry up and agree!"


    "Uneducated country woman! Teaching is a refined affair..."


    "I don''t know anything about being refined. All I know is there''s no rice at home! If you dare refuse, just go work the fields!"


    "You...you...boorish and vulgar!"


    "Will you go or not?"


    "I''ll go, I''ll go."


    And so Lv Xiucai became the tutor at Li Yao''s home.


    ording to local custom, when inviting a teacher to the home, they had to perform the rite of bowing to the master.


    Li Yao knew Lv Xiucai''s temperament, so she didn''t need to give too many gifts, but an auspicious yellow calendar date had to be chosen. The ceremony had to follow all the proper etiquette.


    Two dayster was an auspicious day.


    Before the day even arrived, news had already spread through the vige.


    "Sister-inw is inviting Lv Xiucai to tutor Wang Er," Shen Shi told her mother-inw as soon as she got home that evening. "I heard she''s paying 2 taels of silver. Looks like she''s earned quite a bit of money."


    When Grandma Wang heard this, her blood pressure shot up. "What business is it of yours whether she earns money or not? If you can earn money, go do it yourself! All you do is p your mouth all day causing trouble instead of helping out. Go chop grass!"


    Shen Shi knew she shouldn''t have brought it up. She quickly shut her mouth, not daring to make a peep. But in her heart she was filled with envy and resentment.


    Sister-inw had earned money and even dared to invite a tutor to the home, yet she didn''t see her bringing over even a bowl of meat stew to honor her inws.


    Just thinking about the taste of that stew she had eatenst time made her mouth water.


    "It''s good that sister-inw is willing to spend money to have Wang Er get an education," Zhou Shi, the more sensible second daughter-inw, said. "Maybe in a few years our Wang family can produce a juren."


    Her words struck close to Grandma Wang''s heart.


    Of all things lowly, studying is most noble.


    Ever since He Wan Vige existed, not even one xiucai hade from the vige.


    If Wang Er could test as a juren, that would bring great honor to their ancestors!


    She had always felt Wang Er was a clever child since he was little.


    That unreliable daughter-inw had done one decent thing for once.


    Thinking this, the old woman stopped making dinner and hurried back to her room. She opened a chest and took out a bag from the very bottom. She counted out 500 wen in copper coins.


    After counting it, she thought some more and picked out a slightly bigger broken silver piece, about 5 qian in value. She wrapped it in a cloth, and as the sky was just growing dark, rushed over to Li Yao''s home.


    ...


    To provide Er Dan with a good study environment, Da Zhuang had spent a lot of effort these past few days building a small thatched hut along the edge of the courtyard.


    Though the wind could blow in from all sides since it had no walls, it was bright and open. Most important was that it gave a sense of ritual.


    In front was a long wooden table, the desk for Lv Xiucai.


    There were five small wooden tables. Four were study tables, with straw mats ced alongside as seats. The other table held a smooth, t te for practicing calligraphy.


    In a straight, smoothly sanded bamboo tube was inserted a brand new sheep hair brush.


    When Grandma Wang arrived, Wang Er was with Da Zhuang putting the finishing touches on making a grand master''s chair for Lv Xiucai.


    "Wang Er, what are you doing?" Grandma Wang called out before even entering the yard. "A schr like you shouldn''t be doing hardbor. You''ll hurt your hands. Quickly stop and let your big brother do it!"


    "Grandma, I''m fine," Wang Er said softly.


    "Listen to grandma and stop immediately!" Grandma Wang snatched the things from Wang Er''s hands, then turned to Li Yao lounging nearby and yelled, "What kind of mother are you? Sitting around with nothing to do while making Wang Er work?"


    Li Yao didn''t want to argue. She just said, "If you have something to say, say it."


    "What would I have to say to you?" The old woman pulled Wang Er to the side and stuffed the cloth bundle with coins and silver into his arms. "This is for your studies. Grandma is giving it to you, so keep it safe."


    "Grandma, I can''t take your money."


    "I''m telling you to take it so take it! Keep it safe yourself!" Then she turned back to Li Yao and said in a drawn out tone, "Don''t you dare give it to your maternal family again."


    Li Yao: ...


    "Grandma, Mother won''t give it away," Wang Er said softly. "Mother doesn''t keep in contact with Grandma''s side of the family anymore."


    "Humph. How do we know if that''s true or not? Although she''s your ma, her surname is still Li." Grandma patted Wang Er''s hand. "Study hard. Our Wang family ancestors will bless you. In the future you will certainly be an important official."


    Li Yao scoffed.


    This wish was truly naive, yet also pragmatic.


    As etiquette dictates reciprocity, Li Yao called to the kitchen, "Xiao Ya, cut a bowl of stewed meat for your grandma, and add some steamed buns."


    "Yes, Mother."


    "I don''t want it, don''t want it. I didn''te to beg food," the old woman yelled as she turned to leave. "You all keep it to sell for money. Giving it to me would just be wasteful."


    Wang Er hurriedly pulled her back. "Grandma, go ahead and take it. Even if you don''t want it now, Xiao Si will deliver it to youter."


    Luckily, Xiao Ya was quick with her hands. She soon had everything packed up neatly. Carrying the heavy bamboo basket, the old woman for once didn''t nag them further. The look she gave Li Yao wasn''t as sharp as before either.


    "It''s good that you have some conscience to get Wang Er a tutor," Grandma Wang said. "No matter whether you stay married or not in the future, our Wang family will not forget your kindness."


    "There''s no need for you to remember any kindness," Li Yao replied. "Tomorrow is the rite of bowing to the master. Come with Father at noon to eat."


    "We''re noting, noting," the old woman said with a wave of her hand as she walked away. "Making such a fuss over bowing to Lv Xiucai. If you have spare money, it''d be better spent buying Wang Er some decent clothes!"


    Before she even finished speaking, her figure had disappeared.


    Wang Er handed over the bundle. She discovered it contained nearly 1 tael of silver.


    The old woman was quite generous despite her prickly demeanor. She just had an awkward way of showing concern.

 Chapter 22: Six Rites of Worship

    <h4>Chapter 22</h4>


    An Auspicious Day Arrives at an Auspicious Time


    Lv Xiucai and his wife had purposely put on a set of clean clothes. Under Li Zheng''s lead, they arrived at Li Yao''s home.


    Seeing that a ce had been specially prepared for studying, Lv Xiucai felt he was given due respect and was very satisfied. His entire face was smiling radiantly.


    Many vigers had also rushed over to watch the liveliness, surrounding the courtyard.


    The ceremony took ce in the yard. On the square table there was a boiled pig head, pig tail, a jar of rice wine, half a radish and a few incense sticks.


    Lv Xiucai lit the incense. Together with his four children, he paid respects from afar to his former teacher, praying that Wenqu Xing would bless them. Only then did he insert the incense into the half radish and sit on the bench with his wife.


    After the four children had lined up in a row and performed the grand ceremony of three kowtows, they presented the six gifts for paying respect to a teacher.


    The six gifts for paying respect were:


    Celery, lotus seeds, red beans, red dates, and longan. These five kinds were worthless, purely for their auspicious meanings.


    Thest was dried meat, which was for giving the teacher a "tooth sacrifice."


    But after searching the entire marketce, Li Yao hadn''t found anyone selling dried meat. So she had prepared an entire pig hind leg, salted it for three days, and had He Xiaoya roast it over a small fire for a whole day. She reckoned the inside should be thoroughly cooked. Lv Xiucai surely wouldn''t mind.


    Lv Xiucai''s delight was genuinely written on his face.


    Previously when vigers saw him, it was as if they were watching a joke. His wife at home, although she didn''t say it explicitly, her words hinted that he couldn''t earn money to support the family.


    He was well aware of these matters in his heart, but he really was helpless. When he went to copy books for others, they thought he was too slow; when he did letter writing for others, they still thought he wasn''t a true xiucai.


    Now it was good. He had studied poetry and books for decades, and could finally earn money.


    What''s more, Wang Er Niang had made such a big scene, giving him face.


    From now on, no one would say she was vulgar, no one would say she was a shrew. Ahem.


    "She was really willing to give such a big pig leg."


    "I heard she even gives 2 taels of silver each month. Lv Xiucai has hit the big time."


    "It looks like their family earns a lot from selling food at the market."


    ...


    The vigers whispered, almost all sounding envious.


    However, there were also some discordant voices: "A widow, letting a grown man stay at her home every day, tsk tsk... I see her getting someone to teach is fake; she must be longing for a man, that''s the truth!"


    Although the voice wasn''t loud, Li Yao heard it very clearly. Her eyes instantly narrowed.


    A few days without showing off her might, she had truly forgotten she was a shrew!


    But before she could speak, Wang Xue Shi''s grating voice was like thunder, seemingly wanting to shatter everyone''s eardrums.


    "Zhu Yougui, you useless fool!"


    "Your father died early. Does your mother also think of men every day at home?"


    "Ill-mannered thing, dare to gossip again, and I''ll skin you!"


    Although Zhu Yougui was the vige rogue, no one dared to really provoke Wang Xue Shi. Without even daring to continue watching the liveliness, he fled in defeat.


    After cursing at his back a few more times, Wang Xue Shi then walked over with her husband Wang Jia Gui.


    The couple were both dressed in clean clothes and cloth shoes, looking as if they were celebrating a festival.


    Who was it yesterday saying they wouldn''te?


    Of course it was even better that they came. They could just apany Lv Xiucai to drink and eat.


    Seeing it was gettingte, Li Yao then went into the kitchen and started preparing lunch for the day.


    Pig ears were sliced thin and mixed with shredded bamboo shoots for a cool sd.


    The pig head meat and pig tails were also braised in broth. Arranged on a tter, it became a bowl of luwei.


    With sweet and sour spareribs and minced garlic pork, four cold dishes were set on the table. She let Grandpa apany Lv Xiucai and Li Zheng to drink wine.


    The wine was the best rice wine from the marketce. Aside from having a slightly lower alcohol content, the taste was still pretty good. The pity was no peanuts, otherwise it would''ve been perfect.


    Returning to the kitchen to continue making hot dishes:


    The red braised pork was premade by He Xiaoya. Li Yao only needed to adjust the vors a bit, reduce it down over high heat, then it could be served.


    Twice cooked pork, red braised fish, fish fragrant pork slices, also didn''t take much time.


    The cold dishes on the other side still hadn''t been touched much. The hot dishes were already all prepared.


    Finally, she brought out a pot of slowly simmered chicken soup. A full table of food that dazzled Lv Xiucai and his wife, and pained Wang Xue Shi.


    These dishes must have cost 1-2 taels of silver!


    Even a rich family''s New Year''s Eve dinner might notpare!


    This wasteful wretch of a woman, how could she squander things like this!


    If not for Lv Xiucai and Li Zheng here, she would have scolded Li Yao fully on the spot!


    Meanwhile, Lv Xiucai and his wife also hadn''t expected Li Yao to have prepared so ceremoniously. They only felt honored.


    Country vige rules weren''t many, nor were there customs of separating men and women, young and old, when eating meals.


    But the square table could only seat eight. He Xiaoya had low seniority, so she and Wang Xiao Si kept food in the kitchen to eat. As soon as Wang Xue Shi saw Li Yao had nowhere to sit, she directly dragged Wang San''er up.


    "Go eat aside, let your mother sit."


    Wang San''er was extremely delighted. Carrying his bowl he ran to the kitchen.


    Sitting together with Lv Xiucai to eat was extremely awkward. After every bite, they had to put down their chopsticks, chat a few sentences, drink some wine, before picking up their chopsticks to eat another bite.


    She reckoned the food had already been digested in their stomachs. The second bite still hadn''t caught up.


    When Li Yao noticed this situation, it was already toote for regrets. If she had known earlier, it would have been more refreshing to just eat in the kitchen.


    In the end, the wine and food were plentiful, and host and guests were joyful.


    The next day, Lv Xiucai came early at dawn to urge Wang Er to study.


    They read over and over in the morning. After lunch he exined the essence and cited the ssics, taught calligraphy, and when Da Zhuang and the others came back from their stall, taught them basic literary studies and wrote some simple words. By evening he taught some foundational math.


    This could also be considered integratingnguage and numbers.


    Li Yao secretly observed for the entire day. She discovered that once Lv Xiucai started teaching, it was as if he had be a different person. His eyes seemed to shine when teaching, and he was very attentive and careful.


    His words were well written. A flowing clerical script, writing elegantly and neatly, with an orderly method.


    Moreover, Li Yao felt Lv Xiucai truly had some learning.


    He exined the essentials very clearly and thoroughly, citing the ssics off the top of his head.


    She was a bit puzzled. How could such a person have not even tested as a xiucai? Could it be the schrly world of this world was also toopetitive?


    ...


    After getting Wang Er''s studies in order, Li Yao continued fiddling with her menthol balm.


    Through this period of experiments, she had already developed a rtively mature method.


    To make perfect menthol balm, aside from the herbs, two more things were indispensable.


    Tea seed oil and beeswax.


    The mountain had both of these things and were easy to obtain.


    After roasting the collected tea seeds until dry, press them to extract tea seed oil. Mince the dried assorted herbs and put them into the tea seed oil. Heat over low temperature in a water bath for 5 hours.


    This allowed the effectiveponents of the herbs to be fully released into the oil.


    Likewise, melt beeswax in a water bath. Once liquefied, mix with the oil that had absorbed the herb essence.


    After cooling, it became a green paste.


    Sealed in jars, the menthol balm was finished.


    The entire process wasn''tplicated. The keys were the herb varieties and proportions.


    To test the effects, Li Yao called everyone in the family over.


    "Who here has been bitten by mosquitoes?"


    Although it was nearingte autumn, there were still countless mosquitoes and bugs near the mountain forests. Each child had more or less some bumps on their bodies.


    Li Yao let them apply the menthol balm.


    "It''s so cool!" Wang Xiao Si was the first toment.


    "Mm, it''s cool and reallyfortable. The itch goes away immediately."


    He Xiaoya used a finger to dab a bit, bringing it to her nose to smell.


    "The scent is also very nice, unlike the strong smell of herb paste. After trying some on my arm, it''s also very smooth, no residue at all, and doesn''t leave an obvious color."


    The final effect reassured Li Yao.


    In over ten minutes, the bumps from mosquito bites showed signs of fading. Apply some before sleeping, and they would bepletely gone after waking up the next day.


    Because mosquito-repelling herbs were also added, the mosquito repellent effects weren''t bad either.


    Li Yao bought an exquisite green porcin cosmetics box and put in some menthol balm. Only then did she walk into a cosmetics shop called Zou''s and directly look for the owner.

 Chapter 23: Money Must Be Spent

    <h4>Chapter 23</h4>


    Zou Youcai was the shopkeeper and the boss.


    After personally testing the effect of the green grass ointment, he immediately wanted to buy all the finished products.


    "For one box like this, I can give you 300 coins."


    He thought the price was generous enough, but Li Yao shook her head. This time she was going to fleece some rich people first, so how could she set the price so affordable?


    "Two taels of silver per box."


    The shopkeeper was so shocked that he staggered.


    If he had to sell it to him for two taels, how much would he have to sell it for?


    "Even if the product is good, selling it at too high a price would be futile."


    "That''s because you''re using the wrong method," Li Yao said. "If you do as I say, you will not only be able to sell it, but I guarantee you will have more demand than supply."


    After listening to Li Yao''s method, Zou the shopkeeper''s eyes kept shing.


    "Okay, I''ll try it your way."


    ...


    Before long, a message began to circte among thedies and youngdies in Baichuan Market.


    "Have you heard? Zou''s Rouge Shop has a new type of green grass ointment that takes effect immediately. If you get bitten by mosquitoes, just apply a little and it will heal right away."


    "It doesn''t stain your skin at all when applied, and feels nice and cool."


    "I heard about it too. It seems it can also repel mosquitoes."


    ...


    Through word of mouth, some people began toe to Zou''s Rouge Shop.


    But they were told: Indeed there is such a magical green grass ointment, but I''m afraid I can''t sell it to you for now as we have run out of stock.


    No stock? Then just wait a little longer.


    As a result, they kept waiting and waiting, but there was still no stock.


    There was no green grass ointment, but there was no shortage of mosquitoes. No matter how well you protect yourself, you''re bound to get a few bites.


    The mosquitoes this season were like venomous, even a light bite would immediately swell up badly.


    The more unbearably itchy thedies felt, the more they thought about that magical green grass ointment. Those with bad tempers brought their servants to threaten,


    "If you still have no stock, do you believe I will smash your shop?"


    "Tomorrow, I will definitely have it by tomorrow!" Zou Youcai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, "It''s just not easy to make this stuff, so the price will be a bit high..."


    "I don''t care how expensive it is! Just get me the goods!"


    "Yes, yes..."


    Anyway, recently Zou Youcai has been rather frightened, afraid that someone would smash his shop. It wasn''t until Li Yao delivered 60 boxes of green grass ointment as promised, that he finally breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly spread the word,


    "The green grass ointment is in stock!"


    This news exploded and spread throughout Baichuan Market instantly. Thedies who were free and had nothing to do immediately threw aside what they were doing and rushed to Zou''s Rouge Shop.


    "I came first, I want two boxes!"


    "What do you mean you came first, I obviously came first. I want 10 boxes!"


    "Don''t fight with me, I want them all!"


    ...


    Zou Youcai was dumbfounded.


    In over twenty years since he opened his shop, it had never been so lively. Let alone seeing such a frenzied scramble.


    "Everyone listen to me!"


    "This green grass ointment is not easy to make. We only managed to produce 50 boxes with great difficulty."


    "So that everyone can buy some, the limit is one box per person. It will be cold soon and there won''t be as many mosquitoes."


    "But don''t worry, there will definitely be new stock next spring."


    The crowd thought it made sense, and the price was indeed expensive at 3 taels of silver per box.


    So they started taking out money.


    The green and smooth green grass ointment looked good, and smelled nice too.


    Most importantly, it was very delicate, finer than even the best rouge and powder, and was invisible when applied to skin. And the cool sensation made people feel refreshed and moods improved instantly.


    Thesedies had seen fine goods before, yet they still raved about the green grass ointment.


    "This really works well, the itch is gone immediately."


    "It was worth the wait."


    "Xiao He, go buy another box for the old master to use too."


    In a moment, the originally aggressive scrambling scene turned harmonious.


    The 50 boxes of green grass ointment were snatched up in the blink of an eye.


    Zou Youcai dared not take out the remaining 10 boxes no matter what.


    He was afraid that if some unaffordable big shot wanted to buy it and he couldn''t produce the goods, the consequences would not be so wonderful. He also wanted to send several boxes to Yizhou, as he could probably get better prices there.


    "Ms Li, your idea was great, but you really scared me!"


    "But you also earned a lot." Li Yao said.


    "That''s because Ms Li''s goods were good."


    "It''s also because Boss Zou dared to do it."


    ...


    After a round of businessplimenting, Zou Youcai took out the silver notes.


    A 100-tael banknote, plus 20 taels of silver, totaling 120 taels.


    Li Yao calcted that the profit was probably around 119 taels?


    The herbs grew wild in the mountains, she just put in some effort. The biggest expense was just buying some rouge boxes.


    It was like Da Zhuang running a braised food stall for half a year.


    This showed that no matter the era, it was easy money to earn from the rich, especially rich women. It seemed that she could make some high-end cosmetics in the future, they would definitely sell well.


    With money and goods settled, Zou Youcai hurriedly asked again: "Ms Li, is there any more of this green grass ointment?"


    "There is, how much do you want?"


    Hearing there was more, Zou Youcai immediately perked up: "As much as you have!"


    Rarity means value, so unlimited supply was definitely impossible. Li Yao thought for a while and said, "It depends on the situation, hard to say for now."


    "Ms Li, you must make more!" Zou Youcai thought for a while and said, "How about this, I''ll treat you and your family to lunch at He''s Restaurant, consider it my humble gesture of appreciation?"


    Turns out treating guests to meals to improve rtions was a thing in ancient times too.


    "No need for meals," Li Yao said. "How about this, I''ll first go to the market to see how much ingredients I can buy, then I''ll let you know."


    "Okay, okay, I''ll await your good news! Let''s meet at He''s Restaurant at noon!"


    Zou Youcai said and took out 20 taels deposit upfront, and gave her a box of the best rouge and powder each. This Ms Li looked in, but she was his God of Wealth, he had to curry favor with her.


    ...


    With a huge sum credited to her ount, Li Yao finally didn''t have to pinch pennies.


    She had been in this world for a while now, wearing coarse cloth clothes and sleeping on straw mattresses every day made her very ufortable. It was time to improve things a little.


    Bringing the children to a fabric shop, they each bought 3 sets of ready-made clothes first. 800 coins per set on average, 15 sets cost 12 taels of silver.


    Shoes of course could not be omitted.


    Forget about brocade shoes, they were expensive and not practical. Cloth shoes with thousandyer soles were good, 160 coins a pair, 3 pairs each.


    Seeing her spending freely, the fabric shop owner seized the opportunity to make a sale: "Madam, it will be cold soon, we have new cotton, would you like to take a look?"


    There was no cotton yet in this era, or rather it wasn''t widespread. For quilted jackets andforters, good ones would usually have bulrush flowers or willow catkins stuffed inside, poorer ones would stuff straw.


    Warming effect aside, wearing them felt really awkward.


    Kapok was a rtively high-end filler, but also expensive, 500 coins per jin, only the rich could afford it.


    "Son, there''s no hurry for the kapok," Da Zhuang saw her spending money like flowing water and felt a little distressed, "Winter is still early."


    "It''s not early."


    Kapok must be bought.


    Li Yao had endured the straw bedding for a long time. Sleeping under it every night made her feel itchy all over, this time she would change it no matter what.


    Making 4 quilts and mattresses each, 8 jin per set, totaling 64 jin.


    Plus 2 sets of cotton jackets and pants for each person, at least 10 more jin would be needed.


    "80 jin to start with."


    "8...80 jin???"


    The fabric shop owner was stunned.


    In his many years running the shop, he had never met anyone buying 80 jin of kapok in one go. Even when Zhang Official married off his daughter, the 30 jin of kapok as dowry was the biggest deal he had ever done.


    Thisdy didn''t look like much, he didn''t expect her to spend so extravagantly. He really hit the jackpot today!


    "Don''t you not have that much?"


    "There is, definitely enough!" The fabric shop owner''s face blossomed with smiles. "Go get the goods for thisdy! And we have fine silks, great for making quilted jackets..."


    "I''ll take them!"


    "And high quality cotton cloth..."


    "I''ll take them!"


    ...


    Li Yao also bought a bolt of silk to make jackets and pants.


    Three bolts of cotton cloth.


    Although the workmanship was a bit crude, they were all made of pure kapok and felt very soft to the touch, perfect for making quilts and nkets.


    Finally, there were severalrge spools of cotton thread, for making the batting.


    In total it cost 60 taels.


    Half of the money they had just gotten went straight out.


    But it couldn''t be helped, that''s what happens when there''s so many people in the family.


    The kids neatly organized everything on the cart, loading up the big bundles of kapok, filling up the whole cart.


    Although it hurt to spend the money, being able to wearfortable new clothes and cloth shoes, sleep in a soft bed at night under a thick warm quilt...


    Just thinking about it made the kids tremble slightly in happiness.


    "Mother, we''ve bought most of what we need, can we go home now?" Li Yao asked.


    Li Yao shook her head. Going home was out of the question, they hadn''t finished buying everything yet.


    "What else do we need to buy?"


    "Cattle."

 Chapter 24: Refaeli and the Tractor

    <h4>Chapter 24</h4>


    Cows are precious, and expensive.


    An adult water buffalo, would cost no less than 10,000 coins. So generally, only arge n would raise one cow, and take turns using it for plowing. They would also take turns feeding it.


    Those who can''t afford it, can only pay others to plow their fields.


    But Li Yao was hesitating whether to buy a cow, or a horse.


    "Da Zhuang, what do you think?"


    "Of course it''s better to buy a cow!" Da Zhuang said, "Cows can pull carts, and plow fields. Horses can''t do that. You''d still need to borrow from Granny Apo''s family for plowing."


    Farm kids will be farm kids.


    Given the choice between a tractor and a Ferrari, he would still choose the tractor.


    Finally Da Zhuang picked a yellow calf around one and a half years old, for 6,000 coins. It can be used to pull carts for now, and by next year it would be perfect for plowing.


    "I''ll leave it to you to take care of from now on."


    "Oh!"


    Having his own cow, Da Zhuang was as excited as getting a wife. He carefully put the cart on the little cow''s back, and let it slowly walk along pulling it.


    There were also little chicks at the market, just hatched and fluffy like cotton balls. Li Yao noticed Wang Xiao Si kept ncing over.


    "Do you want to raise chicks?"


    "Mother, buy them if you want."


    "I can buy them for you," Li Yao said, "But you''ll need to take good care of them."


    "Don''t worry Mother, I''ll definitely take good care of them!"


    Since Wang Xiao Si was still young, Li Yao didn''t n to buy too many.


    "How much is each chick?"


    "30 coins for a pair," said the chick seller, "Don''t worry, they''re all hens I''ve picked out, roosters guaranteed refunded!"


    Li Yao didn''t care if they were roosters or hens. Roosters actually grow faster and the meat tastes a little better. Seeing the chicks were lively, she directly bought 20 of them. The seller happily threw in the bamboo basket for free.


    The oldest and the youngest both hadpanions now. As for the second oldest...


    "Mother," said Wang San''er longingly, "I think we could raise two pigs. I''ll cut grass to feed them every day."


    "Let''s just buy one pig," said Li Yao. "But it can''t be penned up, it has to graze freely. You''ll need to carry it up the mountain every day to eat grass, then carry it back home. Can you do that?"


    "Why carry it?"


    "Don''t ask so much," said Li Yao. "Just say if you can do it or not."


    "Of course I can!"


    So Li Yao bought a little pig as well.


    Now with something for each person to do, their days should be more fulfilling.


    Next, Li Yao went to the medicine shop and bought up all the beeswax they had, over ten catties in total.


    With this beeswax, they could make more of the balm next time.


    Thinking she still needed to reply to Zou Youcai, Li Yao decided to eat at the market.


    Arriving at He''s Restaurant, Manager Fan naturally had the waiter take them upstairs to a private room to dine, upon seeing Li Yao''s familying for a meal.


    But just as they reached the second floor, she saw someone familiar¡ªDing Xiaoyan, betrothed to Wang Er. She was in a private room with a young man, sitting very close in an intimate atmosphere.


    Seeing this, Li Yao used her body to block the slightly open door, preventing the children from seeing.


    "How could it be her?"


    Wang Er froze at the door.


    His future wife was actually being intimate with another man! Wang Er felt extremely awful inside, his eyes full of indignation. Da Zhuang was about to go in and confront them, but Li Yao stopped him, and led them into the private room next door instead.


    As a modern person, she didn''t n to interfere too much with Wang Er''s marriage, and would respect his own wishes as much as possible.


    "Do you want to marry her?"


    After being rejected by the Dingsst time, and now this, Wang Er naturally had no feelings left for Ding Xiaoyan.


    "I don''t want to."


    Li Yao nodded slightly. This was a wise decision.


    "Let''s eat first," said Li Yao. "We''ll go call off the engagement after."


    It was their first time eating in a restaurant. Li Yao ordered some signature dishes. She felt the tastes were pretty good, and they ate with gusto. The children however, ate very little, still feeling indignant inside.


    After the meal, Li Yao asked Manager Fan for some details.


    The young man with Ding Xiaoyan turned out to be Yun Jingyu, eldest son of the Yun Family.


    The Yun Family owned several hundred mu of fertile fields in Baichuan County, and a fabric shop in Baichuan Market. They were very wealthy. But Yun Jingyu was already married, with two concubines besides his main wife. Rumor had it he often frequented brothels, and spent nights out.


    After the meal, Li Yao had the children go get the cart first, while she waited at the entrance of He''s Restaurant.


    Soon, Ding Xiaoyan and Yun Jingyu came downstairs.


    Seeing Li Yao suddenly, Ding Xiaoyan was a little panicked at first. She knew what kind of shrew Li Yao was.


    But thinking back, Young Master Yun had already agreed to marry her. Not only would he provide a generous dowry, but also promised to resolve the engagement. So she lifted her head haughtily and walked over.


    "Auntie Li, what a coincidence."


    "It''s no coincidence. I''ve been waiting for you here for a long time," said Li Yao. "Ding Xiaoyan, do you know what you''re doing?"


    Faced with her questioning, Ding Xiaoyan didn''t back down at all. "I''m not married into your Wang family yet. I''m still not one of you. Don''t you think you''re overstepping?"


    Yun Jingyu also walked over, and said to Ding Xiaoyan, "Why are you saying so much to a silly vige woman?"


    "Let''s get this clear today, Auntie Li," said Ding Xiaoyan, emboldened with a man backing her. "Even if we have to go to the authorities, I absolutely won''t marry into your family. If you want to go make a scene at my home, my father said to go ahead as you please."


    Li Yao chuckled, "Are you sure?"


    "Of course I''m sure. I''ll marry Young Master Yun." said Ding Xiaoyan. "Do you even know about the Yun Family? They own five hundred mu of fertile fields, and a fabric shop in the market. Even the county magistrate has to give them some thin face. Can your Wang familypare?"


    As she spoke, Ding Xiaoyan took out a box of balm from her bag.


    "Do you know what this is? It''s called balm, he bought it for me. Just this small box costs five taels of silver. Your Wang family can''t earn that much in a year!"


    Li Yao: ...


    Well, as long as you''re happy.


    She had been worried before, that if the Ding Family found out about the family''s money making abilities, they might refuse to call off the engagement no matter what. It seemed that worry was unnecessary.


    Might as well call it off quickly and be done with it.


    "Since you''re unwilling to marry into my family, I''ll grant you your wish," said Li Yao. "Go get your father, let''s call off the engagement now."


    Hearing this, Ding Xiaoyan was overjoyed.


    She never imagined that with just some casual words, this shrew would actually agree to calling it off!


    Li Yao must be intimidated by the Yun Family''s influence, and didn''t dare make things difficult for her. She gazed deeply at Yun Jingyu, filled with a nameless happiness.


    "You know your ce," said Yun Jingyu. "Xiaoyan, your father''s at the market right? I''ll send someone to fetch him."


    Soon the family servants brought Ding''s father over. They borrowed a table at He''s Restaurant and wrote up the annulment agreement on the spot.


    The moment she received the annulment agreement, Ding Xiaoyan felt she had reached perfect happiness.


    No one could stop her from marrying into the Yun Family and bing Yun Jingyu''s wife. No one could stop her from rising up and bing a golden phoenix!


    Ding''s father also felt triumphant and magnanimously flung five hundred copper coins onto the table. "The betrothal gift, returned to you. From now on our families will have nothing more to do with each other!"


    Seeing this, Manager Fan standing by couldn''t help butugh.


    This Ding Family must be idiots!


    Did they not know that Madam Li now had at least ten taels of ie daily?


    Though it was normal they didn''t know.


    The Dings probably didn''te to market often, and were unaware of how much money Madam Li could make.


    So he came forward and asked, "Madam Li, are you done over here?"


    "Done, what is it?"


    "It''s like this. Liu Employee''s family is holding a one month celebration in two days. They specifically asked for 30 braised geese, so I wanted to ce the order early," Manager Fan said, cing twenty taels of silver lightly on the table. "This is the deposit, please take it."


    "Mm, noted, thanks."


    "Good good."


    Seeing the silver ingots on the table, father and daughter both changed expressions.


    Twenty taels!


    That was twenty taels!


    And it was just a deposit!


    And the hugely popr, delicious braised geese were made by Li Yao?


    How...how was this possible?

 Chapter 25: The Rumored Lee

    <h4>Chapter 25</h4>


    Li Yao put the 20 taels of silver into her bag, and of course she did not forget to put away the 500 wen in copper coins as well. Although not much, it represented the end of a troublesome matter. She was just about to get up and leave when Zou Youcai rushed in hurriedly from outside.


    "I''m sorry Mrs. Li, I''mte," said Zou Youcai. "I don''t know if you''ve bought the materials yet. How much herbal ointment can you make this time?"


    Herbal ointment?


    Ding Xiaoyan was taken aback when she heard this. Of course she knew about the herbal ointment. She had a box of it in her bag, given to her today by Yun Jingyu. She had even taken it out earlier to show Li Yao.


    But something so precious, could it really be made by Li Yao?


    Li Yao calcted in her mind. The beeswax she had received this time was no small amount, but she couldn''t use it all up, she had to keep some for future needs.


    So she replied, "100 boxes should be possible."


    When he heard there would be so many, Zou Youcai was overjoyed, "That''s great! Then let me give you some deposit first!"


    Saying so, he took out a silver banknote from his bosom and ced it in front of Li Yao.


    Ding Xiaoyan had sharp eyes. At a nce she saw it was actually a 100-tael banknote. She couldn''t help but gasp.


    If it was just the earlier 20 taels, she didn''t think much of it. After marrying Yun Jingyu, she would be the mistress of a wealthy family anyway.


    But this was 100 taels!


    How many families in Yunzhou, even the rich ones, would have 100 taels at hand?


    "Big Sister Zhuang, I finally found you," Just as Li Yao put away the banknote, Vige Head Wang Jiafu also rushed in hurriedly.


    "What''s the matter?"


    "Of course it''s good news!" said Wang Jiafu. "The county magistrate has reported the well-digging matter to the Yizhou prefecture. The prefect was extremely pleased and praised highly. Now the county magistrate wants to reward achievements. Wang Er was the lead effort! The county magistrate also said Wang Er is capable and knowledgeable. He wants Wang Er to go to the county office immediately. He wants to reward Wang Er personally with 10 taels of silver!"


    When Manager Fan and Zou Youcai heard this, they immediately sped their hands in congrattions.


    "Congrattions Mrs. Li, that the young master is able to receive the county magistrate''s praise, he must have a boundless future!"


    "That''s right, in all of Baichuan County, how many people can make the county magistrate take notice?"


    "You two praise too much, it was just a small matter," said Li Yao.


    After putting away her things, Li Yao went out the door, just as Da Zhuang came driving an ox cart with his three younger brothers.


    When they heard that Wang Er had received praise from the county magistrate, Da Zhuang and his brothers were also happy for him.


    "Hurry ande with me, don''t keep the county magistrate waiting," said Vige Head Li Zheng hurriedly, taking Wang Er to the county office.


    Meanwhile, the Ding father and daughter had beenpletely dumbfounded.


    They would never have imagined that Li Yao, who was so poor she couldn''t put food on the table just half a month ago, could now earn so much money. And Wang Er, who they mocked all his life for not being able to marry, was now personally praised by the county magistrate!


    At this moment, old man Ding regretted it so much his guts turned green!


    If only he had known all this earlier, he would have died rather than call off the engagement!


    But Ding Xiaoyan quickly regained her calm. She firmly believed she had made the right choice by marrying into the Yun family and bing Yun Jingyu''s wife. That would surely be better than marrying into the Wang family.


    ...


    Song County Magistrate was in an unusually good mood. He was reviewing documents in his study when Vige Head Wang Jiafu brought Wang Er over.


    He had met Wang Er once before, and asked some questions. Wang Er had answered them all fluently, speaking in an orderly manner with perfect etiquette, so he had a good impression of Wang Er.


    Moreover, with the drinking water issue for the people of Baichuan County solved this time, adding the first heavy stroke to his political achievements, he saw Wang Er in an even more favorable light.


    Compared to his own prodigal son, Wang Er was so much better in every way.


    "No need to be nervous," Song County Magistrate asked gently, "Wang Er, where did you study?"


    "County Magistrate, my mother hired a private tutor to teach me at home," replied Wang Er.


    A home tutor?


    Song County Magistrate was from the capital and naturally used to hiring private tutors.


    But this was the destitute Baichuan County!


    Moreover, he had also heard that Wang Er''s father had passed away already. The family had four brothers and could barely afford meals. Yet they were still willing to spend money to hire a tutor.


    "Why didn''t you go to the county school then?"


    "I did, but Teacher Liu at the school said..." Wang Er thought for a moment and continued, "He said I was immoral and refused to ept me."


    "Nonsense!"


    Song County Magistrate burst out cursing.


    He had been keeping an eye on Wang Er the whole time during the well digging.


    As soon as his subordinates came back, he asked about it. During those days of digging the well, Wang Er had worked diligently and conscientiously the whole time. He didn''t go home for days, just took short naps on some straw when he got tired. He neverined one bit.


    How could such a good child be immoral?


    Moreover, he had confidence in his own judgment. He would definitely not make a mistake.


    It seemed he would have to find time to look into this county school as well.


    Luckily the child''s mother had the foresight to spend money to hire a private tutor, so his studies were not dyed.


    "These 10 taels of silver are your reward."


    "Thank you, County Magistrate."


    After the two left, Song County Magistrate became even more curious. How could a woman known as a shrew and a fool raise such a sensible son?


    Just as he was pondering this, the county magistrate''s wife came over, "Old Master, is it time to eat?"


    "Yes."


    Seeing his rare appetite, the county magistrate''s wife quickly had the meal brought out.


    "I had someone buy braised goose from Heji, try it quickly."


    This was County Magistrate Song''s first time eating braised goose.


    With one bite, the meat was soft and tender, the braising sauce rich and aromatic. He couldn''t help but praise, "The taste of this braised goose isparable to the Peking duck of Quanjufu restaurant in the capital!"


    "This was made by a peasant woman named Li from Heguan Vige, the mother of that Wang Er," said the county magistrate''s wife. "To be able to make such delicious food, this Lady Li must be very capable."


    Song County Magistrate nodded slightly.


    To be able to produce such vors, it was only natural that she could earn some money.


    "Oh right, there''s another thing."


    The county magistrate''s wife then took out two boxes of herbal ointment and put them on the table.


    "What is this?"


    "This is herbal ointment," replied the county magistrate''s wife. "I''ve tried it. It can immediately relieve itching and swelling from insect bites. Rubbing some regrly can also repel bugs and refresh the mind."


    "You can just use it yourself, what''s the point of giving it to me?"


    Seeing that he still didn''t get it, the county magistrate''s wife reminded, "Such a wonderful thing, have you ever seen it in the capital?"


    Song County Magistrate thought about it. There were simr ointments that could be bought in the capital, but none had effects as instant as this one.


    "There are hidden talents among themon folk, it''s nothing to make a big fuss about."


    "Old Master, do you still not understand my meaning?" said the county magistrate''s wife. "You were demoted to this poor remote ce. Without some great aplishments, I''m afraid it would be harder than reaching heaven to get back to the capital. But where there''s a will there''s a way. This herbal ointment is an opportunity. Send some back to the capital, have someone present it to the imperial concubines. If it gains the favor of Her Majesty... "


    "Impossible!" Song County Magistrate firmly rejected. "How could I, Song, curry favors in such a manner? Do not mention this matter again."


    Seeing him so adamant, the county magistrate wife could only sigh lightly.


    No matter how delicious Lady Li''s braised goose, or how amazing the effects of the ointment, this Baichuan County could neverpare to the prosperity of the capital.


    Seeing her crestfallen, Song County Magistrateforted gently, "Rest assured, wife. I will certainly aplish something here in Baichuan County. Perhaps in just a few years, we can go back."


    "I hope so."


    "Right, where did you buy this ointment that has such miraculous effects?"


    "At Zou''s Rouge Shop," said the county magistrate''s wife. "But I heard it''s also made by that Lady Li from Heguan Vige."


    Her again?


    Song County Magistrate was slightly taken aback.


    Able to dig wells, and every well produced water.


    Able to make braised gooseparable to the famous Quanjufu.


    Able to make ointment with instant effects.


    Looking at these three matters separately, they didn''t seem to warrant much attention.


    But when all three were concentrated in one person, and that person was one known as a shrew and a fool, it became somewhat unbelievable.


    Just what kind of character was this Lady Li?

 Chapter 26: Collecting Tea Seeds

    <h4>Chapter 26</h4>


    Back home, it suddenly became lively again.


    Da Zhuang tied the calf in the yard, and gently brushed its fur with a bristle brush. Wang San''er held the piglet and took it to the back mountain to eat grass. The chickens were enclosed by a fence, chirping incessantly. Wang Xiao Si not only sprinkled them some greens, but also dug for earthworms everywhere.


    Recently, He Xiaoya has been taking care of the hatchery and has gained quite some experience. She was no longer as nervous as when she first started. She set up a table at the hatchery door, cut up silk and cotton cloth, and sewed wadded jackets, cotton trousers, nkets and quilt covers for everyone.


    Li Yao was not idle either.


    Since they were going to make cotton quilts, they would definitely need to make cotton batting first, and to make cotton batting, they would need to tease raw cotton.


    This was a technical task, and she only roughly knew the method, never having tried it with her own hands before, so she couldn''t be impatient and had to carefully prepare.


    "Brother Er," Du Xiao Hui, a neighbor''s daughter who now dared toe into the yard, said, "These are some wild fruits I picked in the mountain. Try a couple."


    Li Yao took a look. They were a few kiwifruits, looking quite delicious. But with so many people in the yard, why did this girl only give them to Brother Er?


    "Du Xiao Hui,e over here."


    "Ah?" Du Xiao Hui''s heart skipped a beat as she walked over apprehensively, clutching her clothes tightly, "Auntie, do you need something?"


    "Do you know tea seeds?"


    "I do."


    "Then go and help me pick some tea seeds," Li Yao said. "Pick one pound and I''ll pay you 2 wen forbor."


    Du Xiao Hui waspletely dumbfounded.


    Tea seeds could be found everywhere in the mountain, falling on the ground with no one to pick them up.


    Just one tea seed tree could produce dozens of pounds!


    Aunt Li was actually willing to pay her 2 wen per pound, this was simply letting her pick up money!


    "I''ll go right now!"


    "Don''t rush," Li Yao said, "Don''t go alone, it''s best to ask your mother to go with you."


    "Okay!"


    Du Xiao Hui hurried home, halfway through she turned back, ced the few wild kiwifruits next to Brother Er, before calling her mother to go pick tea seeds together.


    "Brother Er," looking at the few kiwifruits, Wang Xiao Si''s saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth, "Do you think these fruits are sour?"


    "Don''t know." Brother Er handed the kiwifruits to Li Yao again, "Mother, you eat."


    "I won''t eat, you can share them."


    Li Yao didn''t know if the kiwifruits were sour, but the damned taste of love really was.


    ...


    "Grandma!"


    Wang Xiao Si charged into the old Wang house like a gust of wind.


    "Why the panic? Did something happen?"


    "My mother asked me to borrow your scale and two needles."


    "Needles?" Grandma Wang was taken aback. "What does your mother need needles for?


    "Big sister-inw is making wadded jackets and cotton trousers for us, and sewing quilts too."


    Only then did Grandma Wang notice that Wang Xiao Si was wearing brand new clothes with brand new cloth shoes.


    "You wasteful girl, can you all wear such things? Do you really think you are the rich? Heaven above, how much silver must this have cost?"


    "Grandma," He Xiaoya said, "My mother said no matter how much money,fort is most important."


    "Canfort fill your stomach? There are holes in the roof of your home, leaking from all directions. Thankfully it hasn''t rained, otherwise I''d like to see how you all live!"


    Though sheined, Grandma Wang busied her hands, using a thin rope to take measurements for He Xiaoya, then helped cut the fabric. Despite her age, she was very skilled with needles and thread, moving as swift as flowing water.


    When the sky darkened, Du Xiao Hui came staggering into the yard with arge basket on her back.


    Seeing her struggle, she must not have picked a small amount.


    "My mother said there''s about 70 pounds here."


    Li Yao had Da Zhuang weigh it, 75 pounds.


    "Aunt Li, my mother said to just calcte 70 pounds."


    "However much it is, is however much it is."


    Li Yao had Da Zhuang count out 150 wen and give it to Du Xiao Hui.


    The moment she received the money, Du Xiao Hui''s face flushed red.


    She and her mother had earned 150 wen in just an afternoon!


    "You can keep gathering tomorrow, I''ll buy however much you pick," Li Yao said. "Hurry back and give it to your mother, don''t lose it."


    "Okay!"


    After Du Xiao Hui left, Grandma Wang asked, "Since you want tea seeds, why not just gather them yourself in the mountain? Why pay someone else to pick them? Even if you''re busy, making Er, San and the kids go would work too. Must you give the bargain to outsiders?"


    Li Yao said, "Anyone can gather, I pay 2 wen per pound to all."


    "Then I''ll have them all go tomorrow."


    "Beeswax and herbs too, the more the better."


    "Herbs might be hard to say, but beeswax will be difficult," Grandma Wang thought for a moment. "If you really need a lot, I''ll have someone pass word to Er and San to bring some back from Yizhou Prefecture."


    "Even 180 pounds is not too much."


    "Alright, I''m heading back for today then."


    "Stay for dinner..."


    "No need, I didn''te to beg for food." Hearing she was asked to stay for dinner, Grandma Wang immediately put down her needlework. "Xiaoya, leave this for now, I''lle back tomorrow."


    Seeing the old woman run off quicker than a rabbit, her voice still audible after her figure disappeared, Li Yao found it quite amusing.


    Every time she asked her to stay for dinner it was like this. Those unaware would think the food at her home was terrible.


    ...


    Overnight, everyone in the vige learned that Li Yao was purchasing tea seeds, herbs, and beeswax.


    Early next morning, some had already arrived at her door. After confirming she would pay the same no matter who picked, they headed into the mountains in groups.


    "Xiao Si hurry, or everything will be picked clean by them!"


    Wang San''er held his piglet anxiously urging by the yard.


    Mother said they would also be paid 2 wen per pound of tea seeds picked, and they could save the money themselves.


    What other kids could save their own money?


    The two brothers were so excited they barely slept, rising before dawn.


    Wang Xiao Si stuffed an egg into his mouth in one go, drank two mouthfuls of millet porridge, then rushed out with a basket on his back.


    Last night they had agreed to gather 100 pounds of tea seeds today!


    It was a pity Brother Er had to study and couldn''t join them in picking tea seeds.


    But his task was to study.


    When he became an official in the future, mother and brothers wouldn''t have to work so hard.


    After everyone had left, Li Yao took out the prepared catapult and bamboo mat, eager to start teasing the raw cotton.

 Chapter 27: Springcotton

    <h4>Chapter 27</h4>


    Bamboo sticks were spread all over the bamboo bed. With a long pole that had a small ring on top, cotton threads were densely threaded onto the bamboo sticks. Then 8 catties of cotton were evenlyid on top, ready for carding.


    With one hand controlling the bow, and the other holding a wooden mallet, she gently tapped the cow tendon bowstring.


    The rhythmic sound suddenly rang through the quiet vige. The clumps of cotton were soon carded into a fluffy texture.


    When Wang Xue Shi and Wang Jia Gui came, Li Yao was carding with gusto, her hair covered in cotton fluff.


    Wang Jia Gui was holding a wooden patty that Li Yao had asked him to help make. Seeing Li Yao carding cotton, Wang Jia Gui''s eyes widened.


    "What are you doing?"


    "Carding cotton," Li Yao said, "to fluff it up for making cotton mattresses."


    Shouldn''t making cotton mattresses require putting cotton between cloth, then sewing it up with needles?


    Wang Jia Gui didn''t understand what was going on, but the rhythmic tapping made him feel strangely itchy.


    "Can I try?"


    "What mess are you trying to make?" Wang Xue Shi doubted her husband''s dexterity, "Go pick tea seeds quickly!"


    "Dad wants to try, just let him try."


    Li Yao took down the bow and gave it to Wang Jia Gui.


    Sure enough, men were naturally better suited for this task. After getting used to it for a while, Wang Jia Gui was carding skillfully. By the time all the cotton was fluffed up, Li Yao taught him how to even it out.


    "Make it thicker in the middle and thinner at the edges, so the mattress will be more usable."


    After finishing, Li Yao taught him to sew cotton threads across, then press with the wooden patty. Afortable cotton mattress waspleted.


    Looking at the neat and cozy cotton mattress, Wang Jia Gui and his wife sang praises.


    "How did youe up with this method?"


    "I heard it from the cotton shop owner," Li Yao said.


    Wang Jia Gui carded a mattress and felt unsatisfied, so he asked, "Shall we card some more?"


    Although Wang Xue Shi didn''t say anything, her eyes also showed some anticipation.


    The mattresses made this way were very neat and tight, clearly less prone to clumping. They had never seen such nice mattresses before. If they could learn this skill, the old man might be able to earn some money with it.


    Of course Li Yao wouldn''t go be a cotton carder, so it didn''t matter.


    If father-inw could learn this skill and earn money, it would be his capability.


    "Then you can card some more."


    Wang Jia Gui happily picked up the bow again.


    That whole afternoon, he indulged in a rhythmic melody, feeling like this thing was addictive. If Wang Xue Shi hadn''t pulled his ear to make him stop when it was gettingte, he probably could have carded until dawn.


    "Sister-inw, we''vee to sell tea seeds!"


    Shen Shi led three children in, carrying heavy baskets of tea seeds into the yard.


    There were quite a lot of tea seeds in the mountains. Today she brought a son and two daughters to pick nearly two baskets full. If she wasn''t worried they might pick too much for Li Yao to buy it all, she wouldn''t havee back this early.


    "Da Zhuang, go weigh this for your auntie."


    Da Zhuang poured the three baskets of tea seeds into a t basket and weighed them, turns out it was a whopping 103 catties.


    "Auntie, this is 206 wen."


    "Wow, I can earn 200 wen a day now!" Shen Shi happily took the money, her face instantly blooming into a flower.


    "What did you earn?" Wang Xue Shi scoffed, "Did those kids do nothing?"


    "How much could they pick..."


    But Shen Shi quickly snapped back and reluctantly handed the money she just got to Wang Xue Shi. She kept staring longingly at the money.


    "Look at you, so shameless!" Wang Xue Shi took out 50 wen and gave back to her, "Keep it yourself."


    "Oh!" Shen Shi couldn''t help rejoicing as she got 50 wen, a little gold reserve for the third house.


    Soon, other vigers also gradually returned, everyone''s baskets full of tea seeds.


    In the end, a total of 1300 catties of tea seeds were collected today.


    Almost every family that worked hard picking seeds had an ie of over 100 wen, which gave everyone motivation.


    "Da Zhuang''s wife, do you still need more tomorrow?"


    "The tea seeds are enough for now," Li Yao said, "but we still need a lot of herbs."


    "Then what''s the price?"


    Li Yao thought about it: "Same as the medicine shop in town."


    She didn''t dare underestimate the vigers'' speed.


    In just one day, they had brought 1300 catties of tea seeds. If she offered a higher price for herbs, these people could probably dig the whole mountain empty.


    But the town''s price was still very good. Plus medicine shops didn''t buy all kinds of herbs, and deducted heavily. Selling to Li Yao directly saved them a trip into town.


    After everyone left, Li Yao realized Wang San''er and Wang Xiao Si still hadn''te back.


    "I''ll go look for them." Da Zhuang said.


    "I''ll go, you prepare the braised food at home."


    Li Yao took a bamboo stick and headed towards the back mountain before it got dark. She didn''t go far before seeing two small figures sitting on a rock resting.


    "Mom!"


    "Look, we picked so many tea seeds!"


    Indeed quite a lot, nearly a whole basket full, at least 70-80 catties. Too heavy to carry, and Wang San''er had to hold the piglet, so they were dyed until now.


    "Why didn''t you lead the piglet on a leash?"


    Wang San''er scratched his head: "Mom, you said to carry it out and back every day."


    Li Yao: ...


    Nevermind, let''s just go home.


    Taking the heavy basket, Li Yao led the twote children back home, and weighed it herself.


    "78 catties."


    Upon hearing so much, the brothers eagerly asked, "Mom, how much money is that?"


    "Calcte it yourself," Li Yao said, "Only if you calcte correctly will you get the money, calcte wrongly and you get nothing. No asking others for help."


    Wang San and Wang Xiao Si were stumped.


    Such big numbers, they didn''t know how!


    Finally it was clever Wang Xiao Si who grabbed a handful of seeds andid them out on the ground.


    "Two seeds represent two wen, so we ce 78 pairs, then count them!"


    Although the method was a bit silly, it was pretty good thinking.


    In the end, the brothers sessfully got 156 wen.


    "Mom, we want to go again tomorrow."


    "You can," Li Yao said, "But tomorrow you have to calcte by yourself, and can''t use today''s method."


    The brothers started scratching their heads again.


    "Then what if we don''t know how?"


    "You can learn."


    "Oh right!" The brothers ran to find Wang Er, "Second bro, hurry and teach us to calcte!"


    ...


    That night Li Yao personally cooked dinner.


    Today at the market she bought two big hens, cleaned them thoroughly, then briefly rinsed in boiling water to shrink the skin, so when cooked the skin would be crispy and tender.


    Salt baked chicken didn''t need spices, just colored with salt and peri leaves. Then tightly wrapped in big fig leaves and buried in salt, slow cooked over low heat until the tempting salt baked chicken was done.


    The golden skin, tender and juicy chicken meat, the salty and fresh taste made everyone drool. They almost wanted to swallow the bones too.


    After dinner, Li Yao washed up and changed intofortable underwear, thenid out the cotton mattresses and quilts she made today, and cozily lied down.


    Thick cotton mattresses were just sofortable to lie on, sweeping away all the fatigue of the day. Covered with a soft cotton quilt, her whole body felt like melting.


    Aftering here for so long, this was the first time Li Yao slept so well.

 Chapter 28: Goose Blood Tofu

    <h4>Chapter 28</h4>


    It had been almost a month since Li Yao arrived in this world. She was nowpletely adapted and her original body had mostly recovered. She felt it was time to start rebuilding her physique, beginning with something simple like running.


    She ran from home towards the woods, all the way to the edge of the forest and back. Although she was panting heavily by the end, she managed to grit her teeth and finish. However, she was still far from her peak condition back in the day. This was a decent start.


    Old Man Kang delivered over 30 geese at the break of dawn today. Liu Sao and Hu Sao came early to help. Grandpa and grandma had said they woulde to assist yesterday.


    Shen Shi also came over with her three kids, but they seemed reluctant. After all, they could earn money gathering herbs in the mountains. At most, plucking geese would get them a free meal, no cash to speak of.


    "You all stay put and help out."


    Wang Xueshi knew her daughter-inw like the back of her hand. One look was all she needed to know what Shen Shi was thinking.


    "You can gather herbs tomorrow. We can''t dy your sister-inw''s business."


    The most tedious part about ughtering geese was plucking the feathers.


    Most feathers could be easily removed after being scalded with boiling water. But those tiny pin feathers were difficult to clear off.


    When there were only a few geese, plucking them one by one didn''t take much time. But with almost 40 today, using the same method would take them well into the night.


    Shen Shi was most unhappy, muttering under her breath, "It''s not like you''ll give me a penny of the money she earns..."


    "Money, money, money. Is money all you can think about? Did you fall into a money pit or something?"


    Seeing the two bickering, Li Yao quickly said, "Go gather herbs. We don''t need your help here. Wang San''er and Xiao Si can go with you."


    "Great!"


    The two kids were thrilled they still had a chance to earn money today.


    Naturally, Shen Shi was only too d to leave as well, slipping away as if pardoned.


    Li Yao didn''t ask Wang JiaGui to help process the geese either, letting him continue ginning cotton while Wang Xueshi helped He Xiaoya sew quilt covers and make cotton clothes.


    This left Liu Sao and Hu Sao as the main workforce for goose processing.


    "Can just the three of you finish it?"


    Wang Xueshi was worried, but Li Yao had her ways.


    She was in charge of ughtering, Liu Sao scalding, and Hu Sao plucking. They only needed to pluck off most feathers, leaving those tiny ones forter.


    After a few geese, Li Yao set up arge pot in the yard, first adding two jin of vegetable oil, then over ten jin of rosin.


    Once melted, she put the partially processed geese in to coat them with rosin, then quickly dunked them in cold water. Now, with just a gentle tug, all the small feathers came right off, stuck to the rosin.


    Neither Liu Sao nor Hu Sao had seen such an ingenious feather-plucking method before, marveling at it continuously.


    "Li Yao, how did youe up with this?"


    "I heard it from someone else."


    Liu Sao and Hu Sao exchanged a look. They all lived in the same vige, howe they''d never heard of this technique?


    But they knew Li Yao''s temperament, and didn''t dare ask more. As long as the job today was easier, that was all that mattered.


    "Collect the excess rosin and reuse it. Be careful not to burn your hands."


    After teaching Liu Sao and Hu Sao, Li Yao didn''t need to help at all. The two women were able to breeze through the geese.


    "Auntie Li."


    Just as she was about to take a break, Du Xiao Hui came over with a few yellow kumquats in hand.


    "You''re not out gathering herbs?" Li Yao asked.


    "Granny said I don''t know herbs, so she went herself after telling me to watch the house." Looking at the dozens of geese in the yard, Du Xiao Hui asked, "You''re ughtering so many geese today? Need me to help?"


    "No need, we can manage."


    "I''ve got nothing else to do anyway."


    Du Xiao Hui put the kumquats on Wang Er''s desk and rolled up her sleeves to pitch in. The twelve-year-old girl worked efficiently, greatly speeding up the goose processing.


    Before evening fell, they were done with all the geese.


    "Auntie Li, I''m going home now." Seeing there was nothing left to do, Du Xiao Hui headed back.


    "Wait."


    Li Yao took out 20 copper coins.


    The girl had helped the whole day without even staying for lunch. She deserved wages for sure.


    "I don''t want it."


    Unexpectedly, Du Xiao Hui shook her head and didn''t take the money.


    "I came to help voluntarily. If I didn''t, you''d have finished anyway. So I can''t take this money."


    With that said, she turned and ran off.


    Li Yao could only put the coins away, nning to find an opportunity to give it to herter.


    After such aborious day, Li Yao was not stingy, giving Liu Sao and Hu Sao double wages, leaving them grinning from ear to ear.


    As for her mother-inw, Li Yao didn''t pay her either, knowing she wouldn''t ept it. Instead, she split the goose blood and let her take some home to eat.


    Tonight they would be upied brining geese through the night. Li Yao nned to make something delicious first, to reward herself.


    Looking at the pink goose intestines, she suddenly thought of hot pot for some reason, drool flowing involuntarily. But she couldn''t make hot pot ingredients now. That would have to wait until she found chili peppers.


    Since Da Zhuang bought tofu, she could make goose blood tofu instead.


    As she gently simmered the goose blood, she also rendered goose fat. The unique aroma of poultry fat made it perfect for cooking.


    After rendering the goose fat, she kept some in the wok, stir-fried minced meat until fragrant, then added Sichuan flower pepper, salt, paste, goose blood, tofu and oil residue. She let it simmer to infuse the tofu, then started thickening.


    Finally, she sprinkled crispy garlic sprouts and green onion. An intense, mouthwatering aroma instantly filled the air.


    Da Zhuang had worked all day and was starving, but the two younger brothers weren''t back yet. He could only endure for now.


    Li Yao figured the little ones wanted to gather more herbs and lost track of time. She didn''t n on waiting: "Let''s eat first. We still have to brine geese after."


    A steaming bowl of rice smothered in a heaping spoonful of goose blood tofu was tonight''s dinner.


    The tender goose blood and tofu melted upon entering the mouth. The rich, thick sauce mixed with rice was incredibly smooth.


    "Ma, this goose blood tofu is too delicious," He Xiaoya said as she mixed the sauce with her rice. She had already eaten tworge bowls. "I think this is the best way to cook goose blood."


    Li Yao smiled faintly.


    In her opinion, hot pot or boiled goose were still the best ways to enjoy goose blood.


    Just thinking about hot pot made her feel like thatst bowl was for nothing. The gluttons in her stomach rioted once more.


    She really needed to hurry to the mountains and find chili peppers.


    "Ma, trouble!"


    Before she even finished eating, she heard Wang San''er''s urgent voice as he charged in holding a piglet.


    "Slow down and tell me."


    "It''s Elder Sister Hui''s mother. She...she fell and hurt her leg!"


    It turned out there were too many people gathering herbs today. To get more, Pang Shi''s mother-inw had her climb a small cliff, but she fell and got injured.


    Li Yao''s brows furrowed. How could this happen?


    "Where is she now?"


    "Already taken home."


    "Let''s go see."

 Chapter 29: Healing the Wound

    <h4>Chapter 29</h4>


    Du family.


    When Li Yao arrived, Pang Shi was still sitting in the chair under the eaves.


    Her calf was wrapped in a cloth that had already been soaked through with blood. It looked like it was still bleeding. Pang Shi''s face was pale, her forehead covered in beads of sweat, but she gritted her teeth tightly and didn''t dare make a sound of pain.


    Seeing his wife in such distress, Du Jiaqing couldn''t help but say, "Dear, why don''t we get a doctor to take a look..."


    "What''s there to look at?" Du Jiaqing''s mother, Xu, said irritably, "Hiring a doctor costs money? It''s just a small injury, bear with it and it will pass."


    Du Jiaqing was an honest man. Since his mother had spoken, he didn''t dare mention it again.


    "Let me take a look."


    Li Yao walked over to Pang Shi and slowly unwrapped the white cloth. A shocking gash over 10 cm long was revealed.


    The wound was very deep, the bone was almost visible, and it continued to bleed.


    Moreover, it clearly hadn''t been treated at all, with some dirty things still stuck to it.


    "It needs to be treated immediately," said Li Yao. "Otherwise if it gets infected, you''ll lose the leg."


    In ancient times, due to the extremely poor medical and sanitary conditions, even a small cold could be fatal, let alone such a serious external injury. Once it got inmed, just keeping your life would be considered lucky.


    "Whether it can be kept or not, what''s that got to do with you?" Unexpectedly, Xu didn''t ept Li Yao''s good intentions at all. "If it wasn''t for you wanting to buy herbs, this wouldn''t have happened!"


    Li Yao''s mouth twitched. What did this have to do with her?


    Shouldn''t the me lie with you for forcing her to climb the cliff?


    "You should leave quickly!" Xu continued. "Our family doesn''t need your fake kindness!"


    Xu was telling her to get lost, making Du Jiaqing and Pang Shi''s faces even more ugly.


    Although they''d been like water and fire with Li Yao''s family in the past, after the well digging incident, the rtionship between the two families had significantly improved. Now Du Xiao Hui even dared to go y at Li Yao''s house.


    But they didn''t expect the old mother to still hold such a grudge,pletely refusing another''s goodwill.


    "Sister-inw, you should go back," Pang Shi said softly. "I...I''m fine."


    "How could you possibly be fine?"


    "What''s with you?" Xu started shouting again. "Mind your own business! Do we need you to worry about our family''s matters?"


    Originally, Li Yao didn''t want to argue with her, but this old woman was going a bit too far. Her daughter-inw was injured like this, yet not only would she not get her a doctor, she wouldn''t even let others ask about her condition?


    She really didn''t understand the mentality of this mother-inw.


    Shouldn''t a daughter-inw be considered one''s own?


    Hadn''t she been a daughter-inw herself before?


    Or was it that she''d been mistreated terribly by her own mother-inw back then, and now wanted to get back at her own daughter-inw double?


    "Fine, I won''t ask about it," said Li Yao. "But if it was my daughter-inw who was injured, I would definitely find her a doctor. When I''m old and bedridden, my daughter-inw will also take care of me."


    Xu suddenly fell silent.


    She was already over 50 years old this year. The time when she''d be bedridden and unable to move didn''t seem that far off. If her daughter-inw didn''t take care of her then, just imagining it made her feel deste.


    "Mother," said Du Jiaqing, taking the chance to speak up again. "Why don''t we just get a doctor..."


    "With what money?" said Xu. "If we still had money at home, I wouldn''t have made her take such risks today."


    With one sentence, Xu revealed the helplessness in her heart.


    Du Jiaqing looked at his wife, feeling incredibly anguished, yetpletely helpless.


    "I know how to treat injuries with herbs," said Li Yao. "If you''re willing, I can help."


    "Really?" Du Jiaqing was overjoyed. He looked back at his mother, "Mother, why don''t we..."


    "I don''t want to owe her any favors!"


    "Mother, look at the situation!" Du Jiaqing finally got angry and shouted, "Fine, fine! If you don''t want Sister Li to help, that''s fine too. But in the future when you''re old, don''t me me for not being filial to you!"


    "You unfilial thing, are you trying to anger me to death right now? Why did I give birth to a thing like you..."


    "Are you letting her or not?"


    With the sonpletely taking his wife''s side, what more could Xu say?


    "Let her take a look then. You''ll have to repay this favor yourself in the future!"


    Having said that, Xu harrumphed and went into the house.


    Du Jiaqing sighed lightly, then came to Li Yao and said, "Sister Li, thank you for the trouble."


    "It''s nothing."


    Li Yao carefully examined Pang Shi''s injury, sending Da Zhuang back home to fetch wine and herbs, and getting Du Xiao Hui to hurry and boil some water.


    "Bear with it, it may hurt a bit."


    "Mm."


    It wasn''t high purity alcohol, but it was still better than not cleaning it.


    Once the wound was cleaned, the boiled water was ready. Li Yao put a piece of cotton cloth in the hot water to sterilize it, then applied the crushed mix of a dozen or so herbs to the wound before wrapping it with a white cloth.


    These herbs weren''t randomly chosen, but rather herbs specifically for treating wounds from her memories. She had used this form for over a decade with effectsparable to white medicine.


    "That''s it," said Li Yao. "But you''ll need to change the dressing every day. Come to my ce to get it changed."


    "Thank you, Sister Li."


    "We''re neighbors, no need to stand on ceremony."


    After Li Yao left, Du Jiaqing helped Pang Shi into the house. The couple whispered to each other, thanking their luck that Li Yao was there to help this time. Otherwise even if the leg healed, she''d probably have ended upme.


    "Tomorrow I''ll go help out at her ce," said Pang Shi. "I can''t do any heavy work, but I can still pluck goose feathers. It''ll help pay back her kindness a little."


    "Mm. Tomorrow I''ll go dig herbs by myself, and once we sell them and have money, I can buy you some meat."


    "Ah, don''t know how we''ll get by in the days toe..."


    ...


    Back home, dozens of vigers were waiting for Li Yao to collect herbs!


    Herbs were more troublesome than tea seeds, requiring sorting and calcting. Li Yao left this job to the kids.


    Da Zhuang was in charge of checking the amounts, Wang Er handled the ounting, while Lao San and Lao Si put away the collected herbs. The family was busy until veryte, but the harvest was quite good.


    Based on today''s amount, they just needed two more days of collecting.


    The vigers also left with varying amounts of copper coins, happily going home and preparing to head up the mountain again tomorrow.


    ...


    The next afternoon, Pang Shi came over limping on a wooden cane.


    After getting her dressing changed, she joined Liu Sao in plucking goose feathers. Li Yao didn''t stop her either, knowing that she would feel bad if she wasn''t allowed to do something.


    However, the herbs of this world were quite effective. Pang Shi''s wound showed no signs of infection.


    But directly applying herbs to a wound wasn''t very sanitary or effective. Li Yao felt that when she had time, she could process them into a medicinal powder specifically for treating injuries.


    It could be kept at home and might even sell for a small profit.


    Three dayster, new flesh had grown over Pang Shi''s wound, and scabbing could be seen around the edges. This was good news.


    "You don''t need to apply medicine starting today," said Li Yao. "Just lightly cover it with a clean, dry cotton cloth."


    "Thank you, Sister Li. If not for you this time, I''m afraid this leg would have be crippled."


    "No need to be so polite. These past few days, you and Xiao Hui have also done a lot to help my family."


    As she spoke, Li Yao took out 100 copper coins and ced them in Pang Shi''s hand. This was payment for when Du Xiao Hui had helped pluck the big goosest time, as well as the mother and daughter''s work over the past few days.


    "Sister Li, how could I take your money?"


    "Take it."


    "No, I really can''t take this money!" Pang Shi hurriedly tried to give the coins back. "If I took it, how could I still have a conscience?"


    "If you don''t take it, then don''te to my home anymore."


    Pang Shi could only express her deep gratitude again and again, feeling warmth in her heart.


    She felt that although Li Yao still had a cold expression all day and spoke curtly,pared to before, she seemed to really have changed.

 Chapter 30: The Buyer

    <h4>Chapter 30</h4>


    Pang''s wounds had healed somewhat, and she came more and more frequently. Du Xiaohui also brought Wang Er several little kiwifruits she had picked from the mountains every day.


    Li Yao saw everything but did not interfere. Her main goal was to make money and then retire. Everything else could take its own course.


    It was getting dark again, time for the vigers toe and sell herbs.


    Today was already the fourth day of buying herbs, and people''s harvests were not that great anymore. Fortunately, there was enough, so Li Yao announced that starting tomorrow, she would no longer buy herbs.


    "Really no more?"


    "We can still dig in more distant ces."


    "Why not buy for one more day?"


    ...


    The vigers were all reluctant.


    But now there were enough herbs. Making the vigers take risks going deep into the mountains would not be good if something happened.


    ...


    The herbs had been dried, and Li Yao was ready to start making the second batch of herbal ointment today. After working hard all morning, she finally extracted more than ten catties of tea seed oil, enough to make 300 portions of ointment.


    But she was in no hurry this time. She only took a big tub and soaked the herbs in oil so that although it was slower, the effect would be better.


    "Mother," When Da Zhuang came back at noon, he was carrying arge piece of beef. "The boss of Zou''s Rouge Shop gave this to us. I didn''t want to take it, but he put it in our cart and left, so I could only bring it back. What should we do?"


    Beef was a raremodity nowadays.


    Raising a cow was not easy. ughtering required reporting to the county and obtaining permission before killing. Such arge piece of beef would cost at least two taels of silver, and even if you had money, you might not be able to buy it.


    "Did he say why he wanted to give us beef?"


    "He did," Da Zhuang said. "He asked me to tell you that he hoped to order more herbal ointment because he wanted to take it to sell in Yizhou Prefecture."


    "I see," said Li Yao. "Next time hees to find you, tell him the goods are avable but he''ll have to wait a few more days."


    Since this was a business favor, Li Yao would not stand on ceremony.


    Aftering here for so long, she still hadn''t tasted the beef in this world.


    Looking at this piece of beef, it was mostly fat - beef brisket. Li Yao felt a little regret. But the people in this world probably thought this kind of fatty beef was the best.


    "Then let''s have braised beef brisket today."


    Hearing this, the children were overjoyed.


    This was beef!


    In all their lives, they had never tasted beef before!


    Mother was really amazing.


    Now everyone wore new clothes and shoes every day, and had veryfortable quilts to sleep in at night.


    They could eat meat every day, and now they were even having beef. Their lives were as good as those of wealthy households!


    Xiaoya He also came out of the hatchery and went straight to the kitchen. She wanted to hurry up and learn how to cook beef.


    Braised beef brisket was simple - cut into pieces, nch, stir fry with oil, add eight-cornered fruit, cassia bark, and various seasonings, then simmer until soft and ze at high heat.


    The soft, aromatic braised beef brisket was ready.


    The unfamiliar fragrance, so different from pork, made the children swallow mouthful after mouthful of saliva.


    Li Yao handed the chopsticks to Xiaoya He and let her try it first.


    Xiaoya picked up a piece from the pot, blew on it, and put it in her mouth to carefully taste the first beef of her life.


    "Is it delicious?"


    "Delicious!" Xiaoya nodded violently. "Even better than I imagined!"


    It took a long time to braise the beef brisket, and it was already past noon. Everyone was starving with hunger. They hurriedly served the dishes and rice.


    "I haven''t eaten beef for many years," Schr Lv was also looking forward to it today. "Thest time was when I was studying at the academy."


    "Then let''s eat."


    Just as the family and Schr Lv were about to pick up their chopsticks, the neighbor Lady Pang came over leaning on a cane.


    Seeing they were still eating, she stood in the yard and waited. Li Yao noticed she looked unwell, with red eyes, so she went out.


    "Lady Pang, what''s the matter with you?"


    "Sister Li," Pang had just said a few words when tears streamed down her face. "I know I shouldn''t bother you with my family''s affairs, but I really have no choice."


    "Just tell me what''s going on."


    "My mother-inw said she wants to sell Xiaohui."


    Li Yao was slightly stunned and it took her a while to regain herposure.


    She had always felt that selling one''s children was a very distant tale, but now it was happening right before her eyes.


    She didn''t know the exact circumstances in the Du family, but if they weren''t truly destitute, they certainly wouldn''t sell their own daughter.


    "Why sell Xiaohui?" Li Yao asked.


    Pang had two children. Her eldest son Du Changming was the same age as Da Zhuang, but he still wasn''t married, which made Pang''s mother-inw very anxious.


    Some time ago, she had arranged a marriage for him, thinking it wouldn''t happen, but unexpectedly the other party sent a matchmaker to speak yesterday and agreed.


    But the bride''s side had a condition that they must pay a bride price of 2 taels of silver, and another 2 taels of dowry at the wedding.


    Even if it wasn''t a disaster year, 4 taels of silver was not a small sum for an ordinary family. Where could the Du family get it now?


    This was why Pang''s mother-inw had insisted she go take the risk to dig for herbs these past few days.


    But without money, Du Changming could not marry. If it dragged on for another two years, he would be an old bachelor, and it would be even harder to find a wife.


    Xiaohui was too young to marry out for the bride price and dowry, so Pang''s mother-inw decided to sell her. This way, the family would have one less mouth to feed, and her grandson could perfectly resolve the issue of his marriage.


    "Sister Li, I don''t want to sell Xiaohui. Please think of a way to help me, I''m begging you!"


    At this time, the children also came out upon hearing her words.


    Da Zhuang had watched Xiaohui grow up. Wang Er was also on good terms with Xiaohui. And Lao San and Lao Si had often yed together with Xiaohui before the two familiespletely fell out.


    Xiaoya He didn''t know Xiaohui well, but as a young girl herself, she naturally didn''t want to see Xiaohui sold off. Being sold to others was miserable. When she was naughty as a child, adults would always threaten her with it.


    "Mother," Da Zhuang said, "why don''t you help Aunt Pang?"


    "Yes, Mother," Lao Si Wang said. "I don''t want Sister Xiaohui to be sold away. That would be so pitiful, never able to see her parents again."


    Li Yao didn''t want to meddle too much in others'' affairs.


    Not just the Du family was poor.


    The whole vige, the whole county, the whole country was going through difficult times now. How much could she help?


    But seeing the pleading in the children''s eyes, she suddenly felt somewhat reluctant for reasons unknown.


    She never thought that she, a cold-blooded killer, would be moved by such innocent eyes. If this got out, it would surely make her colleaguesugh their heads off.


    There was also the matter of selling a granddaughter to get a bride for a grandson - just hearing it made her very averse.


    So she said, "I can lend you money."


    Seeing she didn''t refuse outright, Pang was overjoyed: "I don''t want to borrow money. I''m afraid I can''t pay it back."


    "Then you..."


    "My thinking is, since my mother-inw has decided to sell Xiaohui, then sell her. But I hope you can buy Xiaohui to be a maid for you, just to give her a meal to eat. That''s all that matters."


    Li Yao: ...You didn''te to ask for help, you came to make a sales pitch!


    Even if Li Yao had more money, she had never thought of buying a maid!


    Such envement of others went against every fiber of her being.


    "No."


    "Sister Li, I beg you..."


    "I said no means no." Li Yao said coldly. "If you keep pushing this, go back home and don''te to my home again."


    Pang didn''t dare make another sound, only silently wiping away her tears.


    Seeing this, Li Yao sighed softly to herself and said, "But I do need an extra hand at home to help cut grass and sweep every day. So you can have Xiaohuie work for me as a monthly hire. 50 coins a month, with meals included. I know you need money urgently now, so I can pay a year''s wages upfront."


    Pang suddenly lifted her head in disbelief and stared at Li Yao.


    More than 600 coins upfront for a whole year - was she dreaming?

 Chapter 31: The Long Worker

    <h4>Chapter 31</h4>


    "Granny, please don''t sell me!"


    "Dad, I beg you, I will be obedient from now on, please don''t sell me!"


    "Mom..."


    Heart-wrenching cries suddenly came from Du Xiaohui in the Du family yard. As soon as Pang Shi heard it, she hurried over with her cane.


    "Let''s go too."


    Li Yao led several children and came to the Du house.


    A fat-headed man with big ears, along with a tall thug, was looking satisfied at the ceaselessly crying Du Xiaohui. Du Xiaohui was holding onto the doorstep, refusing toe out.


    Seeing Pang Shie back, she hurried to her side: "Mom, please don''t sell me."


    "I won''t, I won''t," Pang Shi hugged her and said with immeasurable tenderness, "Don''t worry, we won''t sell you."


    "Not sell her?" As soon as Xu heard this, she started yelling, "If you don''t sell her, how are you going to get money for Changming to marry a daughter-inw? Are you going to chop her up and sell her in pieces?"


    "Mom, I already told Li that she is willing to hire Xiaohui as a long-term worker," Pang Shi quickly said, "And she can even pay one year''s wages in advance."


    Xu looked at Li Yao in surprise, seemingly unable to believe this was true.


    When did this shrew from River Bend vige be so kind-hearted?


    "What now?" The human trafficker''s face suddenly darkened as he said coldly, "You want to renege on our agreement? There''s no such good thing in this world!"


    "I''m sorry, brother, we really won''t sell her anymore..."


    "Bullshit!" The human trafficker shouted, "I came all this way, and you say you won''t sell her just like that? If you don''t let me take her today, I''ll make you regret it!"


    Seeing him get angry, the Du family didn''t dare make a sound.


    Anyone who can be a human trafficker nowadays is a vicious character.


    Offending them would lead to terrible consequences.


    Seeing them give in, the trafficker''s thug threw a money bag on the ground: "This is the agreed silver. Hand her over quickly!"


    Seeing the mane towards her, Du Xiaohui turned pale with fright and huddled tightly in Pang Shi''s arms.


    But the thug was very strong. He grabbed her slender arm, pushed Pang Shi to the ground with one hand, and dragged Du Xiaohui to leave.


    "What are you doing?"


    The Zhuang brothers rushed over to block the thug.


    Wang Er''s sense of justice red as he shouted loudly: "You still dare to openly kidnap an innocent girl in broad daylight?"


    "Oh, you sound like a schr," the traffickerughed and said, "But I''m afraid I paid money, so this isn''t kidnapping, it''s fair trade. If you continue blocking the way, don''t me me for being impolite!"


    But Wang Er was fearless: "They didn''t take your money, so the deal is off!"


    The trafficker was also vicious. He raised his hand to toss Wang Er aside, but before he could grab his cor, a fair hand grabbed his arm.


    "You stinking woman, you..."


    Li Yao red at him and increased her grip, twisting the man''s arm behind his back. Then she forcefully pushed down, kneeling him on the ground.


    Seeing this, the thug immediately came over to help, but before he got close, Li Yao kicked him in the crotch. He curled up in pain on the spot like a shriveled shrimp.


    "You stinking woman, let me go!" The trafficker was used to being arrogant. Having never suffered such humiliation before, he couldn''t help but curse loudly, "My cousin is a government official! I''ll have him arrest your whole family and thrown in jail!"


    "Oh, no wonder you dare be so arrogant. You have backers up top."


    "You know that''s good!" The trafficker said, "Hurry up and let me go, thenpensate me for medical expenses. I can let you off."


    "Hehe, but do you know, I specialize in dealing with scumbags like you!"


    Li Yao didn''t stand on courtesy either. She stomped the trafficker''s head into the ground and vigorously ground it.


    If she didn''t have to continue living in River Bend vige, with her original temperament, she would have just twisted this trash''s neck and tossed him in the sewers.


    "Don''t...please spare me, I won''t dare anymore..."


    Li Yao said coldly: "You can go back and tell your official cousin toe take revenge on me, Li Yao from River Bend vige, for bullying you."


    "I don''t dare, I don''t dare..."


    "Scram!"


    The trafficker picked up the money bag on the ground and crawled away with all his might.


    After the two men left, Du Xiaohui knelt before Li Yao and kept kowtowing to her: "Auntie Li, thank you for saving my life. I will be your ox and horse from now on..."


    "Get up." Li Yao pulled Du Xiaohui to her feet. "Promise me one thing."


    "Okay," Du Xiaohui said, "Auntie Li, just tell me. I''ll agree to anything."


    "From now on, no matter what happens, don''t cry easily."


    Du Xiaohui looked at Li Yao nkly, but soon wiped the tears from her face and nodded heavily: "I understand. I won''t cry anymore in the future."


    Li Yao had Da Zhuang take 600 wen in copper coins from home. This was one year''s wages to hire Du Xiaohui as a long-term worker.


    The wages were very low.


    But with food and lodging provided, and new clothes added, after all for a young girl like Du Xiaohui, giving her too much money wasn''t necessarily a good thing, unless when she grew up andpletely rid herself of the influence from her original family.


    After giving the money to Pang Shi, Li Yao said to Du Xiaohui: "Let''s go,e work for me now."


    "Yes, Auntie Li."


    Du Xiaohui took onest look back at Granny and Du Jing, then resolutely turned and followed Li Yao.


    Her heartless granny wanted to sell her, and her dad not only agreed, but didn''t say a word from start to finish!


    And her brother, just to raise money for his wedding, she was almost sold, yet he hid in the house and didn''t evene out to look at her once.


    In the end, it was only because mom pleaded with Auntie Li that she narrowly escaped her fate of being sold.


    Just thinking about it made her heart ache with sadness.


    But she had promised Auntie Li that no matter how heartbroken she felt, she wouldn''t cry.


    Soon they arrived at Li Yao''s home.


    Usually when she came to y, Du Xiaohui could still rx. But now that she was here to work for Auntie Li''s family, she became somewhat ill at ease.


    Seeing her not knowing what to do with her hands and feet, He Xiaoya took her hand and asked, "Sit and eat with us."


    "Oh no, how could I eat with you?"


    Looking at the braised beef on the table, Du Xiaohui became very nervous.


    She had heard before that long-term workers absolutely could not eat at the same table as the masters, and they also could not eat the same food as the masters.


    "I''ll just eat something on the side."


    "Sit down," Li Yao said. "We don''t have so many rules in this family."


    Hearing Li Yao say this, Du Xiaohui finally sat down apprehensively.


    He Xiaoya scooped her a big bowl of rice and handed her chopsticks. Seeing that she didn''t dare take any beef, only eating the side dishes, she picked some more meat chunks for her.


    This was the first time in Du Xiaohui''s life tasting the vor of beef. It gave her indescribable feelings.


    From young till now, she had only heard how delicious yet expensive beef was, that only rich households and officials could eat it once in a while on holidays.


    But in Auntie Li''s home, they ate it everyday!


    And they even let her, a long-term worker, eat it too.


    This life was so much better than at home!


    With wages, food, and lodging, which family could give her such good treatment? She must work hard to repay Auntie Li''s kindness in keeping her for many years.

 Chapter 32: Hatching

    <h4>Chapter 32</h4>


    With Du Xiao Hui around, making green herb ointment became much easier for Li Yao. This girl was quite nimble and clever. She could grasp most tasks after being told only once.


    After finishing up the green herb ointment, she went on to help Liu Sao with washing vegetables and geese. Once that was done, she swept the house and courtyard until they were spotless.


    Finally, seeing there was nothing else to do, she picked up her basket, preparing to go cut grass again.


    "Xiao Hui, no need to cut grass today," said Li Yao.


    "Then..." Du Xiao Hui looked left and right, "It''s gettingte. How about I help make dinner?"


    "No need. Come with me," said Li Yao.


    Every evening when the children were having lessons with Tutor Lv Xiucai, Li Yao brought Du Xiao Hui into the "schoolroom" and had her sit in to learn as well.


    "Auntie Li, I...I can''t study," said Du Xiao Hui.


    "Why not?" asked Li Yao.


    "My grandma said a woman''sck of talent is a virtue," exined Du Xiao Hui. "Only youngdies from wealthy families can study."


    Li Yao had no patience for such feudal principles. She cut her off directly, "You work for my family. You''ll do as I say. If not, you can go back home."


    Du Xiao Hui was frightened by her tone. She absolutely did not want to go back.


    She also knew Auntie Li meant well for her, so she obediently sat down without further protest.


    Seeing the girl so obedient, Li Yao didn''t say anything more. She turned to Lv Xiucai and said, "Mr. Lv, I hope you don''t mind teaching one more?"


    "Not at all, not at all," said Lv Xiucai happily.


    Eating lunch at the Lv''s every day was like living the life of a rich man. He got to eat meat every meal! Now he was just being asked to teach one more little girl. How could he possibly refuse?


    Offending Li Yao''s fierce temper would be a huge loss. He''d lose this cozy western-style seat for sure.


    After getting Du Xiao Hui settled, Li Yao went into the incubation room.


    He Xiaoya had been watching the goose eggs day and night. Herplexion was looking rather poor from the effort. Fortunately, everything had gone smoothly over the past half month.


    Li Yao tested the temperature of the eggs and said to He Xiaoya, "At this stage, the goose eggs will start heating up on their own, so we can reduce the oilmps below. Juste check them once a night and get some more rest."


    "Yes, Mother," said He Xiaoya.


    She was filled with anticipation and nervousness.


    In another half month, the little goslings would hatch. Da Zhuang had woven the fence for the gosling pen already. They just didn''t know how many goslings would hatch sessfully.


    If this worked out, they could incubaterge amounts of goslings, chicks and ducklings in the future.


    Thinking of the courtyard filled with fluffy little cuties, He Xiaoya felt her heart would melt. An unconscious silly smile spread across her face.


    Over the next few days, Li Yao increased her own exercise regimen. She went running in the mountains morning and evening, and cleared out a space deep in the woods to build training equipment like pull-up bars, parallel bars, plum-blossom piles, etc.


    When home, she slowly pressed some tea seed oil and soaked medicinal herbs, while making some green ointment. Her days passed calm and peaceful, as if the famine guing thend had nothing to do with her family.


    ...


    In the old Wang manor, Wang Jia Gui sat in the courtyard with knitted brows.


    Ever since ying the kapok cotton at Li Yao''s house days ago, he had been somewhat obsessed, constantly thinking of ying it again.


    The problem was, there was no kapok anywhere else in the vige for him to y.


    So he racked his brains and decided to go to the market town to y for wealthy households. Not only could it satisfy his craving, if he yed well, he might even earn some money.


    But when he mentioned this idea, it met with strong opposition from Xue.


    "A man your ageing up with such ideas!" Xue had always been amanding woman. She yelled loudly, "This work earns just pennies! You might even damage the instrument and have to pay for it!"


    "My skills aren''t that terrible..." said Wang Jia Gui.


    "You''ve only yed it a few times!" Xue retorted. "Even making those cotton-padded mattresses, you still needed Daughter-in-Law Yuan Shan there to teach and supervise you every step. Do you think you''re skilled at it now?"


    Wang Jia Gui felt wronged but didn''t dare talk back.


    In this household, Xue had always called the shots.


    "Then what''s the n if we''re just sitting around idle all day?" said Wang Jia Gui. "Second Son''s family is getting by selling braised meat rice, at least. But in the long run, won''t folks start gossiping about them?"


    "I know the family''s affairs better than you!" Xue thought for a moment before saying, "Just wait!"


    After that, Xue took some chicken eggs from home and went to Li Yao''s house.


    Li Yao was sitting in the yard sunning herself when Mother-in-Law arrived, feeling puzzled.


    Although the old woman had helped make quilts and cotton-padded clothesst time, she had clearly been very kind to the children and maids, speaking gently to them.


    But only when talking to her was she still cold and curt, often reproaching her.


    Who knew what she was here for this time.


    "I''ve brought some eggs for Er Lang. A schr needs good food," said Xue.


    "Just tell me straight out why you''vee," said Li Yao.


    Xue set down the eggs and finally said, "Alright, I''m here to swallow my pride and ask a favor. Go ahead andugh if you want."


    Li Yao scoffed internally. She didn''t have time for such antics.


    "Yuanshan Dad wants to go to town to earn money ying kapok," Xue continued. "But he''s unskilled, and we have no cotton at home for him to practice. So I wanted to ask if you have any left, and have him make you some more padded mattresses."


    "The cotton I boughtst time is used up," said Li Yao.


    "Then forget it," said Xue. "This is just as well, it''ll stop him from getting fanciful ideas."


    Although she said this, Li Yao knew Xue still wanted Father-in-Law to take this job, or she wouldn''t havee herself. Having him idle at home all day clearly wasn''t a solution either. Earning a little money each day would be better.


    "If he wants to do it, I can buy more back for practice," offered Li Yao. "The weather is getting colder. A thick quilt at night would be nice."


    "You still find that heavy quilt not warm enough?" Hearing this, Xue reflexively raised her voice. "Do you think you''re some young mistress from a rich n?"


    Li Yao''s brows furrowed. "So do you want it or not? If not, then forget it."


    Normally, Xue would have refused to swallow her pride no matter what.


    But the situation now left her no choice. Although the family still had food and Second Son could earn money, the famine had only just begun. Who knew how things would be?


    "We''ll take it."


    The next day, Da Zhuang brought back twenty catties of kapok cotton from town, along with bamboo beds, catapults, and other items. These were all delivered to the old manor.


    Having cotton to y with, Wang Jia Gui couldn''t even be bothered to eat. He ceaselessly practiced.


    Following Li Yao''s advice, he took apart the cotton after ying it well once. Cutting the threads allowed the cotton to be re-yed many times without any waste.


    After two days of practice at home and dozens of padded mattressester, his skills had reached a proficient level.


    Seeing the mattresses he made independently, even Li Yao agreed he was ready to earn money.


    "Wonderful, wonderful!" Wang Jia Gui was excitedly rubbing his hands. "I''ll go to town tomorrow!"

 Chapter 33: How Luck Turns

    <h4>Chapter 33</h4>


    First thing in the morning, following Li Yao''s instructions, Wang Jia Gui rode Da Zhuang''s ox cart, bringing various tools to the market.


    He set up a bamboo bed in an open area, tied some cotton threads on it, spread chunks of kapok on top, and then demonstrated on site.


    Bang bang bang--


    The people here had never seen anything like this before. Coupled with the extremely rhythmic sound, it immediately attracted quite a few onlookers.


    "Old buddy, what are you doing?"


    "I''m making cotton mattresses!" Wang Jia Gui said, "If you have lumps of kapok at home, you can bring them to me. I guarantee I''ll fluff them up nice and soft! And the cotton mattresses I make won''t get lumpy for three years!"


    "Haha, aren''t you bragging, old pal?"


    "Just fluffing them up like this keeps them from getting lumpy?"


    ...


    Facing everyone''s skeptical voices, Wang Jia Gui was unperturbed.


    While plucking the bowstring, he started singing the tune Li Yao had taught him.


    "Fluffing cotton, fluffing cotton, half a pound fluffed to eight ounces..."


    Before long, the kapok was fluffed up loose, soft and even. Wang Jia Gui put down the bow, started tying upperyers of cotton threads, and finally pressed it down with wooden blocks. A beautiful cotton mattress was disyed before everyone.


    "It looks pretty good."


    "I thought the cotton threads would fall off. Didn''t expect them to stick so tightly."


    Amidst everyone''s exmations of admiration, Wang Jia Gui was extremely satisfied.


    "Anyone who has old kapok can bring it over for me to fluff!"


    But he waited until noon, people came and went, but not a single person came to have their cotton fluffed.


    This really upset him. Could it be an inauspicious start?


    "Old pal," just as he was frowning with worry, a somewhat fat steward came up to him, "how much do you charge for making a cotton mattress?"


    Wang Jia Gui''s eyes lit up. Was this his first business opportunity?


    "50 coins."


    "That''s expensive!" Upon hearing the price, the steward immediately shook his head, "Can you make it cheaper?"


    "Young man, I can''t make it cheaper," Wang Jia Gui said, "I provide the cotton threads, and cane to your home to do it."


    This was the price Li Yao had helped him set.


    Although it only took a little over half a hour to fluff a mattress, he wouldn''t have kapok to fluff continuously. And those who could afford cotton bedding were definitely notcking money. It was a luxury item in this era, he couldn''t make it cheap.


    The steward thought for a moment, and finally said, "Then how about this - you go make one first, we''ll discuss more after you finish it."


    "Okay, where to?"


    "The county office."


    Wang Jia Gui gasped.


    His first business was for the county magistrate. Did he... dare charge for this?


    ...


    Bang bang bang...


    Soon, sounds of fluffing cotton drifted from the backyard of the county office.


    Magistrate Song was reviewing government documents in the study. Upon hearing the sounds, his brows immediately furrowed.


    "What''s that noise outside?"


    "Sir," Tutor Liu who was apanying him in the study quickly replied, "it''s someone thedy has brought in to make cotton mattresses."


    "How can making mattresses make such loud noises?"


    "I heard it''s an old peasant who came up with this method himself," Tutor Liu said. "I saw the mattresses he made just now, the workmanship is quite good."


    Magistrate Song just happened to be tired, so he got up and went to the backyard to see what this method was.


    The result - he was immediately engrossed.


    The unceasingly plucked bowstring quickly fluffed up the originally clumped kapok into extremely soft and fluffy cotton. This made him feelfortable already. More importantly, the highly rhythmic banging sounds actually calmed his previously agitated heart and made it serenely tranquil.


    "Dear?" When the county magistrate''s wife saw him standing there in a daze for a long time, she came up and asked, "What''s the matter?"


    Magistrate Song came to his senses, and quickly concealed hispse in dignity: "Just happened to recall some official business."


    "Do you want me to have him wait for a bit? Or move outside to fluff, so as not to disturb you?"


    "No need, this is good." After thinking for a moment, Magistrate Song told Tutor Liu, "Go get a table and chair here, I''ll review documents right here."


    "But..."


    Tutor Liu was taken aback.


    He could peacefully review government documents with the banging sounds out here?


    What kind of hobby was this?


    "Go on now."


    "Yes, right away."


    Soon, the table and chairs were set up. Magistrate Song sat down, listening to the sounds of cotton fluffing while drinking tea and handling government affairs.


    He wasfortable, but Wang Jia Gui fluffing cotton was extremely nervous, forehead sweating.


    This was the county magistrate!


    He''d never imagined in his life that he could meet the county magistrate, yet now he was fluffing cotton right in front of the county magistrate!


    This cow was enough for him to brag about for a lifetime!


    Wang Jia Gui was anxious the entire afternoon.


    He was scared that the sounds he made might not align with the county magistrate''s preferences, affecting his mood.


    Fortunately the results were not bad.


    He made 4 mattresses that afternoon. After the county magistrate''s wife inspected them, she was very satisfied and promptly paid him 200 coins.


    After deducting the cost of cotton threads, he earned 180 coins that afternoon!


    The moment he received the money, Wang Jia Gui was so excited he almost fainted.


    "Thank you, mydy, and thank you, my lord!"


    "Old pal,e over."


    Just as he was getting ready to pack up and go home, unexpectedly the county magistrate called him over. Wang Jia Gui tidied himself up and walked over nervously, about to kneel on the ground.


    "No need to kneel, we''re not in court," Magistrate Song asked, "Let me ask you, this cotton fluffing method, did youe up with it yourself?"


    "This..." Wang Jia Gui was startled, and quickly replied, "Replying to you my lord, it wasn''t invented by me, but by my eldest daughter-inw."


    "Your daughter-inw?"


    "That''s right," Wang Jia Gui said, "I''m from He Wan vige. My eldest daughter-inw is called Li Yao. Last time she also had my grandson go dig wells in other viges."


    Magistrate Song was slightly surprised. It was her again?


    Braised food, braised goose, digging wells, herbal cream, and now cotton fluffing.


    Recently, she seemed to be behind every new development.


    One innovation could be a coincidence.


    But with so many things happening to one person, it was absolutely not a coincidence.


    Just what kind of character was this woman?


    Was she really just a shrew like the rumors said?


    "Dear," when the county magistrate remained silent in contemtion, his wife gently reminded him, "It''s gettingte, hurry and let the old peasant return home."


    "No rush." Magistrate Song stroked the cotton mattress, seemingly brand new, and asked his wife, "Mydy, what do you think of this mattress? Can it be described as exquisite craftsmanship wrested from nature?"


    "You jest, my lord," his wifeughed. "But the workmanship is very good."


    "Then do you think this method is worth promoting on a wider scale?"


    "Of course it can," his wife said. "Tomorrow when I have tea with the otherdies, I think they''ll be very interested."


    Magistrate Song nodded, giving his wife a profound look.


    If anyone could understand his thoughts, there was only one person in this world.


    Yet in her heart, the county magistrate''s wife sighed softly. Her husband was great in every way, only he thought of themoners'' affairs all day, and waspletely indifferent about returning to the capital.


    Who knew how many more years they''d have to spend in this impoverished backwater ce.


    "Old pal," Magistrate Song said to Wang Jia Gui. "Come to the market again tomorrow. I''m sure many people will look for you to make cotton mattresses. You must do a good job for them."


    Wang Jia Gui was moved inside, he was so excited he almost couldn''t speak, only able to express endless gratitude.


    Walking on the way home, he kept thinking - could it be my Wang family''s fortunes are finally turning around?

 Chapter 34: Have it her Way

    <h4>Chapter 34</h4>


    "Mother, it''s already dark. Why isn''t Father back yet?"


    In the old Wang family house, Zhou anxiously looked at the pitch ck road, worried about her father-inw''s safety.


    "What could happen to an old man like him?" Xue said. "He probably just has too much stuff to carry back himself."


    "Then let me ask Yuan Ding to go pick him up," Zhou said.


    But just then, Wang Jia Gui''s voice sounded from outside: "No need to pick me up, I''m back!"


    Putting down the slingshot and bamboo bed on the ground, Wang Jia Gui was already drenched in sweat.


    "Father," San Fang Shen, who was waiting for dinner nearby, poked her head out and asked, "Did you earn any money today?"


    "Money, money, money, that''s all you can think about!" Xue scolded as soon as she heard this. "He''s exhausted like this, and you don''t even have the tact to get him some water first?"


    Shen obediently closed her mouth and hurriedly went to pour water, though she still kept her ears pricked to listen to the conversation outside.


    Wang Jia Gui didn''t even catch his breath before taking out a money pouch from his clothes and handing it directly to Xue.


    Feeling the heavy weight, Xue''s eyes widened in surprise. "This much?"


    Wang Jia Gui raised his brow arrogantly. "A full 200 wen!"


    The whole family was shocked by this number.


    At noon, Da Zhuang had said the old man didn''t get any work in the morning.


    In other words, he had earned these 200 wen in just an afternoon!


    To earn 200 wen in half a day, this was unimaginable in the past.


    "Do you know who I was making cotton mattresses for today?" Wang asked.


    "It must be a rich family in town," Xue said. "To be so generous, could it be Master Lai''s family?"


    "What Master Lai?" Wang Jia Gui snorted disdainfully. "I went to the county yamen today and made cotton mattresses for the county magistrate! He even said he would introduce me to other wealthy families and have me make mattresses for them too."


    "What luck!"


    Indeed, Wang Jia Gui''s luck was very good.


    But he knew that if Li Yao hadn''t taught him how to tease cotton, he would never have had this opportunity in his life.


    This daughter-inw really was a blessing!


    "I think we should buy some meat for her family tomorrow to show our thanks?"


    "As if her family iscking your few taels of meat?" Xue said impatiently when she heard this. "But since you were able to earn money all thanks to the daughter-inw, this year, split half your earnings with her."


    "Fine with me."


    The old couple had decided, leaving San Fang Shen anxious and exasperated beside them.


    Her father-inw had earned this money through blood and sweat, but now half of it was to be given to her sister-inw for no reason! How was this fair?


    But she knew she had no right to object to her inws'' decision, she could only think of other ways.


    "Father," Shen said with a smile, "you''re getting older too, and teasing cotton everyday must be tiring. Why not call San back to help you?"


    "But..."


    "What but?" Xue said coldly. "It''s just starting, we don''t know how it''ll go. Let''s wait and see."


    It wasn''t that she was stingy, but this daughter-inw was always money hungry. This temper had to be dealt with, or there would be trouble in the future.


    ...


    Li Yao was preparing dinner when Xue came over.


    Hearing her father-inw had earned money today, Li Yao also breathed a sigh of relief.


    With this extra ie for the old house, they could withstand a few more years of drought. On the surface, she had fulfilled her duty as a daughter-inw.


    But what surprised her was her mother-inw giving her half of today''s earnings. Though she declined, her mother-inw left the money on the table and walked away.


    "Your family will have many expenses in the future," Xue said as she left. "The house is so run down it needs repairs, and you have three sons to marry off. Wang Er''s studies to be a juren will cost even more money, so don''t stand on ceremony with me."


    Looking at the 100 wen on the table, the few children and Xiao Ya nced at each other.


    Since when did Grandmother treat Mother this well, even splitting her own hard-earned money?


    But with Grandmother and Mother no longer arguing when they met, they felt this was good too. They were one family, and hoped to live in harmony.


    "Mother," Da Zhuang said, "we should not ept this money."


    "Since it''s your grandma''s intention, keep it for now," Li Yao said.


    She knew if they didn''t ept the money, it would leave a knot in Xue''s heart. Rather than letting the old woman brood alone, they should oblige her.


    ...


    "Da Zhuang!"


    In the bustling marketce, Da Zhuang had just set up his braised food stall when Zou the rouge shop owner came over.


    "Zou manager, did you need me for something?"


    "Nothing major," Zou said politely. "I just wanted to ask if your family has the green cream ready yet."


    "Not yet," Da Zhuang said. "My mother''s been making it everyday these past few days, but green cream is hard to make, so it may take a few more days."


    "I see, then I''lle back in a few days."


    Zou sighed lightly in his heart as he returned to his shop.


    A middle-aged man in silk robes immediately asked: "How was it?"


    "I''m afraid we''ll have to wait a few more days, Mr. Hong," Zou said apologetically.


    Mr. Hong was the boss of the rouge shops in Yi Zhou Fu, and Zou''s rouge shop got all their goods from him.


    Last time, Zou had given him some boxes of green cream, and the results were exceptionally good after selling them. News spread overnight in Yi Zhou Fu, and orders for the green cream came pouring in daily.


    Seeing this, Boss Hong immediately came to Bai Chuan County, thinking he could buyrge quantities of the green cream and make a fortune before winter arrived.


    But this useless Zou still hadn''t gotten any goods after three days.


    "Can''t even handle such a small matter, what do I keep you around for?" Boss Hong said displeased. "Don''t bother getting goods from me in the future."


    Boss Hong walked away after speaking, leaving Zou with a bitter taste in his mouth.


    He had hoped to earn more with the green cream, but now things had be like this, what could he do?


    Leaving the rouge shop, Hong Shan didn''t return to Yi Zhou Fu.


    In the few days waiting in Bai Chuan County, he had gotten the story out of Zou, and knew the green cream was made by a woman called Li in He Wan vige.


    Now he would go find this Li himself and buy the green cream directly, cutting out Zou as the middleman and earning more.


    After finding an ox cart at the market entrance, he slowly made his way to He Wan vige.


    Seeing the direction he went, a person dressed as a waiter immediately ran back to Zou''s rouge shop.


    "Boss, this is bad!" The waiter found Zou in a panic. "Boss Hong went to He Wan vige!"


    "What?"


    Zou paled in shock.


    With Hong Shan going to He Wan vige, it wasn''t hard to guess his purpose.


    This was terrible!


    The man had immense wealth and influence, with a huge business in Yi Zhou Fu. Going to Li himself, he would certainly buy up all the green cream.


    As a small shop owner in Bai Chuan County, how could hepete?


    "Boss, what should we do?"


    "Let''s go too!" Zou thought for a moment, then added, "Buy a few boxes of osmanthus cakes first, and bring themb leg I bought this morning too!"


    "Yes!"


    ...


    Hong Shan had lived a pampered life in Yi Zhou Fu since childhood, travelling mainly by carriage, barely having seen mud before.


    The bumpy ride had left him dizzy and nauseous. The narrow roads filled him with dread, worried the ox cart would slip into the roadside ditches at any moment.


    When they finally arrived at He Wan vige, his heart was cold as ice.


    "What kind of shabby ce is this?"


    "Sir, did wee to the wrong ce?" his servant said. "Somewhere this poor couldn''t possibly make anything good."


    But havinge this far, Hong Shan could only have his servant ask around until they were led to Li Yao''s door.


    Seeing the dpidated thatched hut, Hong frowned in distaste, standing far away in the yard and refusing to step inside. He had the servant shout for Li Yao from the edge of the yard.


    "Hey, anyone home?" The servant yelled loudly. "Is the woman called Li here? Our master is here to buy green cream, hurry up!"

 Chapter 35: Fast and Urgent

    <h4>Chapter 35</h4>


    Li Yao was in the incubation room when she heard people shouting outside, so she walked out.


    "Who''s looking for me?"


    "Are you Mrs. Li?" the servant asked.


    "Yes, I am."


    "Is that herbal ointment made by you?"


    "Yes."


    "Our master is from Yizhou Prefecture," the arrogant servant said loudly, "We''ll buy however much herbal ointment you have, hurry up and take it out!"


    "There''s none right now."


    "Then hurry up and make some!" The servant was impatient, "Our master came all the way from Yizhou Prefecture to this shabby countryside, you don''t expect him to leave empty handed, do you?"


    Li Yao frowned.


    No one invited you here, this man must be out of his mind.


    But she wondered, how did the reputation of the herbal ointment reach Yizhou Prefecture?


    This was good news for her, but these two men were really annoying.


    "There''s none, so there''s none," she said, "You two should leave."


    Ignoring them, she turned around and went back into the incubation room.


    Seeing herck of sophistication, Hong Shan was so angry his face turned pale.


    "Ungrateful thing!"


    "Master, what should we do now?" The servant was also indignant, "If this was Yizhou Prefecture, I would definitely teach her a lesson!"


    Hong Shan wanted that too, but this wasn''t Yizhou Prefecture, this was He Wan vige.


    Viinse from poor remote mountains, and Li Yao was a local tyrant here, he didn''t dare make trouble here.


    "Go ask her again, offer her more money! I don''t believe I still can''t buy anything with money!"


    "Hey, Mrs. Li, did you hear that?" The servant immediately shouted, "Our master is generous, he''ll add 1 tael of silver per box of ointment."


    Hearing this in the incubation room, Li Yao was toozy to respond.


    "2 taels of silver!"


    "3 taels!"


    "Half a tael!" the servant said, "Don''t be greedy, this is already the highest price! You can look all over the world and won''t get a better price!"


    In the incubation room, Xiao He''s heart was pounding.


    After just a few sentences, the price per box of ointment had gone up by half a tael!


    There were at least 300 boxes of ointment this time, half a tael each meant 150 taels of silver!


    But Mother seemedpletely unmoved, she didn''t know what she was thinking.


    "Are you wondering why I''m ignoring them?" Li Yao suddenly said.


    "Mother, they offered such a high price, I think..."


    "Business is built on integrity, we already promised this batch to Zhuo the shopkeeper, of course we can''t change our minds and sell to others," Li Yao said, "Besides, those two are very annoying, I wouldn''t sell to them no matter how much they offer."


    Hearing this, Xiao He quickly nodded: "Oh, I see, those two are very annoying indeed, shall I send them away?"


    "I''ll go."


    Outside, Hong Shan and his servant were so angry they could burn down the house.


    They offered half a tael more, but this ungrateful woman didn''t even look at them.


    "Hey, did you die in there? At least say something!"


    When Li Yao came out of the incubation room again, she was holding a broom and went straight to the servant.


    "Did you just curse at me?"


    "You asked for it!" The servant said, "So what if I cursed you?"


    "Oh, is that so? Then let me show you what I''ll do!"


    Saying so, Li Yao whipped the servant in the face with her broom, stunning himpletely.


    He never imagined a woman from a small vige would dare attack him!


    "You''re asking for a beating..."


    p!


    Li Yao whipped him again, leaving him dizzy.


    Her body looked soft, her waist so slender it seemed it could break with a pinch, yet she wielded the broom so nimbly he simply couldn''t dodge.


    One strike after another, fast and fierce, eachnding squarely on his face.


    "Barking like a dog at my door, you''re the one asking for a beating!"


    "You..."


    p!


    "Get lost right now, or I''ll use more than just a broom on you."


    The servant had never met such a fierce woman before, he was so frightened he scrambled back to Hong Shan.


    "Master, she..."


    "Fool!" Hong Shan berated coldly, "Can''t even handle a simple task, what use are you?"


    He had clearly underestimated this Mrs. Li, thinking she would happily agree to a small raise, but instead he had made things worse.


    But it wasn''t a big problem.


    If half a tael didn''t work, he would offer 1 tael, if that didn''t work then 2 taels!


    He didn''t believe anyone would turn down more money.


    So he put on a smile and walked over: "My servant was out of line, please don''t be angry, Mrs. Li..."


    "The ointment will not be sold to you, leave now or I''ll sweep you out."


    Hong Shan: ...


    Seeing Li Yao turn and go back inside, Hong Shan was so angry his lungs would explode.


    As expected, a fallen tiger bullied by a dog.


    He, an esteemed man from Yizhou Prefecture, was being snubbed in this poor backwater.


    "Let''s go!"


    "Yes master," the servant asked, "Master, what about the ointment..."


    "Humph, the world is so big, is she the only one who can make it?" Hong Shan said coldly, "Let''s not go back yet, walk around the vige, maybe someone knows how the ointment is made. Then I''ll make sure she can''t sell a single box!"


    "Brilliant, master!"


    The two walked around the vige, stopping people and having the servant strike up conversations. But no one knew how the ointment was made, they had only heard of it recently.


    Just when they thought it was a wasted effort, a voice suddenly called out.


    "Dear lord, I can get the method for making the ointment."


    Hong Shan turned to see a man in his thirties, dressed in rags, clearly azy good-for-nothing.


    But he knew that sometimes, scoundrels were useful for getting things done.


    "Young man, you speak truly?"


    "Absolutely true," Zhu Yougui said, "That Li Yao had the vigers gather herbs for the ointment days ago. I remember everything clearly. As for the method, I can definitely get it for you."


    Hearing this, Hong Shan was delighted, "I''ll thank you handsomely if you can."


    "Empty words don''t mean much," Zhu Yougui said, "My lord surely has money to spare, shouldn''t you show your sincerity first?"


    With a look from Hong Shan, the servant immediately took out a small piece of scrap silver, about half a tael, and tossed it to Zhu Yougui.


    Receiving the silver, Zhu Yougui could hardly conceal his joy.


    "How much will you give me if it''s done, my lord?"


    "How much do you want?" the servant asked.


    "For such a valuable recipe, it''s got to be at least 100...no, 500 taels should do it," Zhu Yougui asked exorbitantly, "I heard a box of ointment sells for 3 taels at Baichuan Market."


    "500 taels?" The servant was almostughing now, "You''re daydreaming!"


    "Deal," to his surprise, Hong Shan agreed at once, "Get me the real method for the ointment and I''ll give you 500 taels after, plus a house at Baichuan Market."


    Zhu Yougui was stunned.


    Not only money, but a house too?


    "Don''t worry my lord, it will be done within three days!"


    "You better hurry," the servant said, "We''re staying at Laifu Inn in Baichuan Market, go find Master Hong when it''s done."


    Watching them leave, Zhu Yougui kept fondling the silver in his hand.


    He had never held such arge piece of silver in his life.


    Bah, this was nothing.


    Once he got the recipe for the ointment, he would hit the big time!


    The more he thought about it the happier he got, Zhu Yougui hummed a tune as he walked home.


    After he left, a slender figure silently emerged from behind a corner wall, it was Pang Shi who had gone to cut grass with a basket on her back.


    Hong Shan had encountered her earlier, asking about the ointment, but she ignored him then. However, she felt something was off and secretly followed them.


    She never expected to overhear such an explosive matter.


    The recipe for sister-inw''s ointment was so valuable!


    This was serious business.


    In an instant, she came up with a brilliant idea.


    This time, she would make it big!


    After the excited Shen Shi left, the petite figure of Du Xiao Hui quietly slipped away from the other side of the wall.


    Aunt Li was right, those two were up to no good, wanting Zhu Yougui to get the recipe for the ointment, even eavesdropped on by Shen Shi.


    I must hurry back and tell her about these things.

 Chapter 36: The Test

    <h4>Chapter 36</h4>


    "Are you sure Shen Shi heard all that?"


    "She was very close to Zhu Yougui at the time," Du Xiao Hui answered truthfully. "I could hear everything crystal clear, so there''s no reason she couldn''t hear it too."


    "Mother," He Xiaoya asked a little nervously after hearing this, "What if Auntie Shen really wants toe and secretly learn? What do we do then?"


    "Don''t jump to conclusions," Li Yao said. "No matter what, I think she''lle looking for me very soon. We''ll know for sure then."


    Right now, the other side of the old house, Er Fang is making potted meat with her and Grandfather has started ginning cotton at the market, so they must be making quite a bit of money just starting out.


    So only San Fang is free.


    Third brother Wang Yuanbang is still working as aborer at the Yizhou docks.


    It''s notck of people butck of fairness that is the problem.


    Shen Shi must resent her in her heart. Of course, she doesn''t care.


    She just doesn''t like the way Shen Shi talks. Her words are really unpleasant to listen to. That''s why she didn''t want her interfering.


    She doesn''t know what she''ll do after getting this information.


    Will shee to her and tattle, or will she try every means toe help around the house and secretly learn how to make green ointment.


    Just wait and see.


    ...


    On the way home, thinking about how she was about to strike it rich, Shen Shi smiled to herself.


    But as soon as she got to the door, she ran into her mother-inw Xue. "What are youughing about?" Xue said. "I told you to go cut grass. Howe you''vee back with an empty basket?"


    "Mother, hurry inside with me. I''ve got great news to tell you."


    Xue frowned. These three daughters-inw are acting so odd today. Could they have eaten something bad?


    "Just tell me out here."


    "No, no, this is big!"


    Xue was dragged into the room. Seeing how mysteriously Shen Shi even closed the door, she became even more puzzled.


    "What is it already?"


    "Mother, we''re going to get rich!"


    Shen Shi told her everything she had overheard.


    After listening, Xue thought for a moment before asking, "Then why don''t I go tell your sister-inw and ask her to let you help make the green ointment. Then you can learn how and sell it to make money?"


    "Huh?" Shen Shi was dumbfounded and took a long time to recover. "Mother, how could you think like that?"


    Xue frowned. "Isn''t that good? That''s 500 taels of silver, plus a whole courtyard house. It must be a three-sectionpound at least. With that, you can live in luxury for the rest of your life."


    "That won''t do!" Shen Shi resolutely refused. "Wouldn''t that ruin Sister-in-Law''s business?"


    "Think carefully. A chance to get rich overnight like this might onlye once in your life," Xue said. "Miss it and you''ll never have it again."


    "But I can''t do something like that. It would break my backbone!" Shen Shi firmly shook her head. "Besides, that money isn''t so easy for those people to give away. Zhu Yougui is an idiot to believe it. What if we don''t get the money in the end and they make us pay instead. Pies don''t just fall from the sky!"


    Hearing her say this, Xue secretly breathed a sigh of relief.


    Although this third daughter-inw was annoying, she still had some conscience when it came to big matters like this.


    "At least you''ve got some decency," Xue said. "If you had nodded just now, I would have skinned you today and had Third divorce you."


    Shen Shi: ...They say mothers-inw are petty, but I didn''t think that much.


    Luckily she had never considered secretly learning to sell it, or she would be dead today.


    "Tell me, if you''re not going to secretly learn it, how are you going to get rich?" Xue asked.


    Speaking of business, Shen Shi immediately perked up.


    "You go tell Sister-in-Law about this. She''ll definitely owe us a favor," Shen Shi said. "Then you ask her to set Third Brother up with a potted meat stand too. Won''t we get rich then?"


    Xue twitched her mouth.


    Although potted meat stands can earn 200 wen a day, they''re still far from getting rich.


    Not even close.


    It looks like this third daughter-inw really doesn''t have much going on up there.


    "Why don''t you go yourself?"


    "I won''t go," Shen Shi hurriedly shook her head when she heard this. "I''m a little scared of Sister-in-Law. She''s too fierce."


    Xue: ...And I''m not?


    Especially since she had just begged Li Yao the other day to let the old man gin cotton. To turn around and ask another favor of Li Yao, her old face wasn''t nearly thick enough for that.


    Since Shen Shi didn''t have malicious intent and had done good this time, Xue felt she could ask her oldest daughter-inw. If she agreed, they could also let Thirde back.


    That way the whole family could be reunited instead of being apart for so long.


    The third daughter-inw was still young. Having two more grandsons would make the Wang family''s incense burn more vigorously.


    "Look at you with no ambition!" Xue said. "She''s your sister-inw, not a tiger. What can she do, eat you up?"


    "Let''s go together!"


    ...


    Li Yao was making green ointment at home.


    Based on today, the market for green ointment was really good. She had better hurry and make as much as she could before winter came, otherwise she would have to wait until next year.


    To speed things up, she had Xiaoyae help too. The two worked hard together striving to have stock ready to deliver tomorrow.


    "Sister-in-Law, are you home?"


    Right when they were busy, Shen Shi''s voice came from outside.


    He Xiaoya looked at Li Yao. Right on cue, just like Mother predicted.


    Seeing Auntiee along too, Xiaoya became even more nervous.


    If Auntie also supported Third Aunt learning it secretly, with Mother''s temperament, she would definitely cut ties with the old house. Second Uncle''s potted meat business would certainly be done too.


    She didn''t want that to happen. She wanted the whole family to live in harmony. That''s what a big family n should look like.


    "So it''s Third Daughter-in-Law," Li Yao said. "Free today?"


    "Yes, we sold two pigs yesterday, so not much grass to cut today," Shen Shi felt inexplicably uneasy facing Li Yao. This was supposed to be good news, but she didn''t know how to bring it up.


    Seeing her like this, He Xiaoya''s heart sank even more. The thing she least wanted to see might really be about to happen.


    "Since you''re free, how about youe help me for a couple days?" Li Yao asked. "I''m too busy making green ointment by myself."


    "Huh?"


    Shen Shi never imagined Li Yao would take the initiative to ask for her help. She waspletely thrown off.


    This was a golden opportunity!


    As long as she learned how to make green ointment, that was 500 taels of silver and a three-section courtyard house hers for the taking!


    Should she...do it...


    Seeing her suddenly start hesitating, Xue, who was standing to the side, also stayed silent with a cold look on her face.


    She also wanted to see what the third daughter-inw would choose.


    "Sister-in-Law, I cane help," Shen Shi finally made her decision after agonizing over it. "But there''s something I have to tell you. Earlier, two people from Yizhou..."


    Li Yao cut her off. "No need to say it. I already know."


    "Huh? You know already?"


    Li Yao nodded. It looked like this sister-inw still had a decent heart to withstand the test of profit.


    He Xiaoya and Xue both let out a deep breath, their gazes toward Shen Shi softening considerably.


    "Eldest Daughter-in-Law," Xue finally spoke up. "We don''t dare im credit for this matter, but Third Son is still working as aborer at the docks. Their third room only has two children."


    "I understand. But I don''t have any work for Third Son right now," Li Yao thought for a moment then said, "How about this - have him help me procure beeswax for now. You can''t buy this stuff just anywhere, so you have to travel all over to find it. It''ll be a bit tough."


    "That''s still better than being aborer at the dock," Xue immediately agreed when she heard there was a chance. "I''ll have Fourth Son go over tomorrow and have hime back right away. You can teach him well when he gets here."


    Just like that, the matter of Third Son was decided.


    Returning home, Shen Shi couldn''t help but shudder at the thought.


    It was good she wasn''t greedy!


    If she had uttered a wrong word earlier, the oue definitely wouldn''t have been as perfect as now.

 Chapter 37: The Boutique

    <h4>Chapter 37</h4>


    "Li Yao, someone is here looking for you."


    Li Yao was just about to make lunch when a viger brought Zou manager over.


    Seeing Li Yao''s home was so dpidated, Zou manager was also very surprised. He felt that someone who could make something as amazing as the herbal paste must have some savings at least.


    However, he was not disgusted like Hong Shan. Instead, he walked generously into the yard.


    "Mrs. Li, pardon my intrusion." Zou manager smiled and handed over two boxes of osmanthus cakes, as well as a freshmb leg, "This is a little token."


    Having just given beefst time, and nowmb again, along with osmanthus cakes, this Zou manager was really courteous.


    "My home is small. Let''s just sit in the yard," Li Yao said. "Xiao Hui, bring the stool."


    "Coming."


    Du Xiao Hui carried over an old long bench. Zou manager did not decline and sat down on it generously.


    "Mother," He Xiaoya called out from the incubation room just after he sat down, "I''m ready."


    As time went by, eggs that failed to hatch goslings could be selected out again. They also had to be selected out. Otherwise, the goose eggs would rot in the incubator over time.


    Selecting goose eggs was important. Li Yao could only say, "Zou manager, please wait a moment."


    "No problem, no problem, you go ahead."


    Seeing her turn and leave, Zou manager was not annoyed either. Instead, he began to look around.


    It had to be said that Li Yao''s house was really shabby. It looked like a shed for stacking firewood by the roadside. The roof even had a few big holes.


    But there was a bamboo shed in the yard, and a teacher was teaching a child to read.


    In this day and age, those who could afford to hire a private tutor must be either rich or noble.


    So he was a little confused. Was this Mrs. Li so poor that she was penniless, or so rich that she was dripping with oil?


    After waiting for half a shichen, Li Yao finally finished selecting the goose eggs.


    The first time she selected 50, this time she selected another 20, leaving 130 still in the incubator. Not all of those may hatch goslings either.


    When they hatched, she may have to cull another batch.


    "Mother, what should we do with these goose eggs?"


    "Boil them and feed them to the pigs."


    After being incubated for twenty days, they must have gone bad. People definitely could not eat them. They could only be fed to pigs.


    Hearing that she was going to take 20 goose eggs to feed the pigs, Zou manager felt bad.


    His rouge shop made a lot of money. He was quite a prominent family in Baichuan Market. But he would definitely not feed goose eggs to pigs!


    "Mrs. Li," Zou manager steadied himself and exined his purpose, "I came today also for the matter of the herbal paste."


    "I know," Li Yao said. "Someone from Yizhou Prefecture also came to find me before."


    Zou manager''s heart sank. He quickly asked, "So Mrs. Li, do you mean... you intend to sell it to him?"


    After all, Hong Shan was rich and arrogant. He would definitely not be petty when buying it.


    And in this world, who would turn down money?


    It was a pity that he did not have Hong Shan''s wealth!


    "Actually it doesn''t matter," Zou manager went on. "Let the highest bidder have it. This is only fair. I only hope Mrs. Li still keeps Baichuan Market''s share for me. I will match whatever price Hong Shan offers."


    "Manager Zou, you misunderstood," Li Yao said. "I never intended to sell the herbal paste to anyone else."


    "Ah?"


    Zou manager thought he had misheard. It took him a long time to recover.


    Not selling to others meant selling everything exclusively to him? Letting him earn all this money alone?


    Was there still such a windfall in this world that would fall on his head?


    "You don''t need to be surprised either," Li Yao said. "I''m a ratherzy person. I don''t want to run a shop, so I thought about finding a reliable person to cooperate with."


    "Mrs. Li jests. How can azy person make the herbal paste? I just don''t know what kind of cooperation Mrs. Li is referring to?"


    "Let''s adopt a shareholding system."


    Zou manager: ......


    To be honest, in all his years doing business, he had never heard of this novel term "shareholding system".


    But he was a smart man. He could guess the meaning from the words.


    Li Yao meant that she and Zou manager would partner to open a shop specifically for selling the herbal paste. She would supply the goods, then Zou manager would be fully responsible for operations.


    She would just be a hands-off shareholder, not getting involved in any business matters.


    The profits would be split with 40% for Li Yao, and 60% for Zou manager since he was responsible for operations.


    It seemed Li Yao earned less, but in fact she earned more. After all, the shop got goods from her, so she profited first.


    "Let''s first open a shop in Baichuan Market," Li Yao finally said. "If it works out, we can open branches elsewhere."


    "It will work, definitely!"


    How could Zou manager reject such an exclusive deal?


    He had already thought about buying several stores in the Capital City!


    "But I think your proposed split is a bit inappropriate."


    "Then how do you think it should be split?" Li Yao asked.


    "It should be reversed," Zou manager said very seriously. "40% for me, 60% for you. That would be more reasonable."


    Li Yao: ......


    Wasn''t there a saying ''no business without cheating''?


    How did this Zou manager seem like a silly honest man, willingly giving up 20% profits?


    "Mrs. Li, I have no other intentions," Zou manager said. "Although I''m responsible for operations and contribute effort regrly, I think at critical moments, you still need to oversee things. "


    He was convinced by her timed limited-supply sales tacticst time.


    "Then let''s split it evenly, 50-50. Let''s do that," Li Yao also wasn''t someone who only thought about taking advantage. She knew uneven splits would lead to conflictster.


    "Then we''ll do as Mrs. Li says," Zou manager did not decline further. "For the ounting, Mrs. Li, you still need to find a reliable person."


    "No need for now, we''ll talk about itter. I trust your character."


    Zou manager felt relieved.


    Going into business together, yet the other party did not arrange for supervision of ounts. What trust!


    "Mrs. Li, rest assured. Zou would never cook the books," Zou manager looked at the overhead sun. "It''s gettingte. I should hurry back to prepare."


    "Since we''re partners now, stay for a casual meal," Li Yao said.


    "Good, I won''t stand on ceremony." Zou manager smiled. "I''ve long heard your pot-stewed goose is superb. Today I can finally have the pleasure."


    "Pot-stewed goose will take too long. But we can do roastedmb skewers."


    No matter what meat, the fresher the better.


    So themb leg Zou manager brought definitely could not be left until night.


    After washing themb leg clean, removing the membranes and cutting into small pieces, she marinated it with salt, sesame, pepper powder, fennel, sichuan peppercorn powder, flour.


    She built a makeshift grill with bricks in the yard, lit charcoal inside, and had Du Xiao Hui, Wang San and Wang Si skewer the marinatedmb on bamboo sticks. Li Yao was responsible for grilling.


    The finely dicedmb cooked quickly. Crispy on the outside, tender inside. Finally, she brushed on ayer of oil and sprinkled with cumin powder. A unique, rich aroma immediately drifted out, making people drool uncontrobly.


    Zou manager had seen the world, but never ate such delicious grilledmb.


    Not only was the smell appetizing, the taste was also exceptionally tender.


    "Mrs. Li, this should be a northern style dish. How did you learn it?"


    "I heard it from someone else," Li Yao said. "Manager Zou, since we''re partners now, don''t stand on ceremony, eat as you like."


    "Alright, I won''t be polite." Zou manager beckoned the children. "Come on, all of you. And you, Sir, may I ask your surname?"


    "Certainly, I have the humble surname Lv."


    "So you are Mr. Lv," Zou manager gave the private tutor sufficient respect, and took the initiative to let him sit in the honorable upper seat, "Please go ahead, Sir."


    "No need to be polite, let''s eat together."


    The family plus two guests ate while grilling.


    Soon the entiremb leg was eaten clean. Zou manager still felt unsatisfied, regretting that he hadn''t brought anothermb leg.


    After the meal, Zou manager got up to leave.


    "Mrs. Li, I will go back immediately to prepare now. It will only take three days for our new shop to be ready," Zou manager said. "But now we should decide on the shop sign, so I can find someone to make it."


    "You decide it." Li Yao did not care what the sign was. She only wanted to be a behind-the-scenes shareholder.


    "How about ''Li''s of Riverside Vige''? What do you think?"


    Li Yao thought about it. This name did have strong individuality, but stillcked something.


    "Li''s of Riverside Vige Boutique."


    "Boutique?" Zou manager''s eyes lit up. "Wonderful, marvelous! Anything from Li''s of Riverside Vige is bound to be a boutique product. I''ll go make it now!"

 Chapter 38: A dead man’s Door

    <h4>Chapter 38</h4>


    On the way back to Baichuan Market, Zou manager traveled with the wind at his heels.


    He was secretly pleased with himself for personallying to He Wan vige today. Otherwise, he might have lost this lucrative business deal to someone else.


    From now on, he wouldn''t bother selling rouge and face powder anymore. This grass ointment alone could make him rolling in money.


    nning his new store''syout and operations along the way, Zou manager soon returned to his shop and immediately got to work setting up the new store.


    In He Wan vige, Zhu Yougui didn''t rush to learn how to make the grass ointment after getting silver from Hong Shan. Instead, he first bought good wine and meat to eat and drink his fill.


    Drunken from the revelry, he fell into bed and slept soundly. When he awoke, the sky was already dark and only then did he remember to get down to business.


    He had decided that going himself would definitely not work if he wanted to get the method for making grass ointment. But he knew Du Xiao Hui was currently working as a long-termborer for Li Yao''s family, and Du Jia Qing was preparing to find a daughter-inw for his eldest son and was surely short on money.


    Therefore, he could definitely get Du Jia Qing''s full cooperation if he promised him a cut of the money after the deed was done.


    So under the cover of night and reeking of alcohol, he went to Du Jia Qing''s home.


    Everyone knew Zhu Yougui was a scoundrel in He Wan vige, so seeing him show up drunk put Du Jia Qing on guard that he was up to no good.


    "Du, brother, I''vee to make you rich."


    Pulling Du Jia Qing behind his house, Zhu Yougui whispered mysteriously for a while. Du Jia Qing''s brows furrowed into a frown.


    Their family had just received a huge favor from Li Yao. To now turn around and ask Du Xiao Hui to steal the method was not something a decent person would do.


    "Don''t rush to reject me," Zhu Yougui said. "Go discuss it with your mother first, then give me an answer slowly. But I can tell you now, if this seeds, I can get at least 50 taels of silver! I''ll split it with you fifty-fifty!"


    After seeing Zhu Yougui off, Du Jia Qing returned home.


    "What did he want?" Xu asked.


    Du Jia Qing was an honest man and told Xu everything Zhu Yougui had said verbatim.


    Upon hearing they could get 25 taels of silver, Xu was speechless for a long time. Du Jia Qing knew his old mother must have been tempted.


    "Mother, we can''t do this. Heaven will strike us down with lightning."


    "It''s not you doing it, it''s your maid. What are you afraid of?" Xu said. "Besides, 25 taels of silver, how many years would it take you to earn that much?"


    "But..."


    "Don''t worry about this anymore. I''ll talk to Xiao Hui," Xu said coldly. "Keep your mouth shut. Don''t tell your wife either."


    Du Jia Qing sighed. He shouldn''t have told her.


    Now what could he do?


    Not long after, Du Xiao Hui returned from Li Yao''s home. Her eyes were red and swollen when Xu called her alone into the bedroom.


    "If you do as I say, I''ll find you a good family to marry into. You won''t have to suffer poverty in yourter years," Xu said. "Otherwise I''ll marry you off to an old widower next year and you can suffer your whole life. It''s up to you."


    Du Xiao Hui was stunned.


    Was this really her grandmother?


    To use such methods just for some silver, she must be truly desperate from poverty.


    Du Xiao Hui absolutely did not want to betray Auntie Li, but if she married an old widower, what could she do?


    Thinking of this, Du Xiao Hui felt her nose turn sour, but she remembered Auntie Li''s words and managed not to cry.


    Sleepless all night, her eyes were still red and swollen when she arrived at Li Yao''s home the next day.


    Seeing her like this, Li Yao knew she must have suffered more mistreatment after returning home, and asked, "Tell me what''s going on."


    "Auntie Li, I... I probably can''t work for you next year," Du Xiao Hui said, biting her lip.


    "Why?"


    "My grandmother said she''s marrying me off to an old widower next year."


    Li Yao: ...


    She understood Du Xiao Hui quite well and knew there was something she didn''t feel right telling her, so she was putting herself in a difficult spot instead.


    "You don''t have to tell me. You can bear it yourself," Li Yao said. "But if you do tell me, we may be able to find a solution. It''s up to you."


    After hesitating a moment, Du Xiao Hui finally told her the whole story.


    "What are your parents thinking?" Li Yao asked.


    "My father doesn''t dare oppose my grandmother. My mother doesn''t know."


    So this was Xu''s idea.


    Li Yao didn''t have a very good impression of the old woman.


    But greed for profit, especially for poor people terrified of poverty, could be understood as the reason for making this choice.


    And the root of this matter was still Hong Shan and Zhu Yougui.


    "Even if I knew how to make the ointment, I would never tell anyone, Auntie Li," Du Xiao Hui said. "Let my grandmother marry me off if she wants. I''m not afraid."


    "No, promise her."


    "Huh?"


    Du Xiao Hui was dumbfounded.


    If she told others how to make the ointment, they could make it themselves. How would Auntie Li earn money then?


    "Don''t worry," Li Yao said. "When the timees, I''ll write down the method for you to give them. Just say you took it from my home."


    ...


    The next night, Zhu Yougui came calling again.


    "Well? Did you get it done?"


    "Done," Xu took out the method Du Xiao Hui had "stolen" and gave it to him. "But none of us can read, so we don''t know if it''s right."


    Zhu Yougui was also illiterate, but this wasn''t a big issue.


    "I''ll find someone to take a look. Then I''ll know."


    The next morning, Zhu Yougui went to Baichuan Market early. He found a schr outside the market who could write and read letters, and had him look over the method.


    Hearing it was the method for making grass ointment, he immediately went to Lai Fu Inn to find Hong Shan.


    "Got the method!"


    "Really?"


    "Would I lie about this?" Zhu Yougui said smugly. "When has Zhu Yougui ever failed to deliver on a promise?"


    Hong Shan looked over the method and it did seem promising.


    But he was a cautious man, so he had to validate it first before paying out.


    "ording to the method, it should take at most half a day to make. Wait here a bit, I''ll have my men go buy the ingredients to make it now. If it really works, I won''t shortchange you a single penny."


    "Sure, I''ll take you to the medicine shops to buy ingredients."


    Led by Zhu Yougui, Hong Shan brought his servants to the medicine shops in the market to buy ingredients ording to the method.


    Everything went rtively smoothly and they bought most of the ingredients, only missing two types.


    One was pinellia tuber, which was out of stock at all the shops.


    The second was honey.


    It was hard to find any honey this season on short notice.


    Unable to buy all the ingredients, the three men were anxious. Zhu Yougui was a local after all, and quickly came up with a good idea.


    "Why don''t we go to the market and take a look. Sometimes people sell assorted goods there."


    Hong Shan had no choice but to go to the market, and surprisingly they did find both items for sale.

 Chapter 39: The Future is Bright

    <h4>Chapter 39</h4>


    An old man with white hair set up a small stall in the corner of the market.


    In addition to two jars of honey, he also had a full basket of herbs, which happened to contain pinellia.


    "Old man, I''ll take all the pinellia," said Hong Shan.


    "No," the old man shook his head, "I''m selling all these herbs together."


    "You...Fine, fine," Hong Shan was in a hurry to try the recipe, so he didn''t care about the money, "How much for everything?"


    "10 taels."


    "How much?" Hong Shan''s eyes were about to pop out. "A whole basket of rotten herbs, and you dare ask 10 taels of silver?"


    "Dear sir, you don''t know," the old man took out a little polyrhachis from under the basket, "Look, this is a human-shaped polyrhachis. Eating it can prolong life and improve health. It''s very valuable."


    "Still not worth 10 taels!"


    "Not a penny less."


    Hong Shan had no choice. He had to buy it.


    As long as he could make the green cream quickly, 10 taels, even 100 taels, he would pay.


    "Then give me those two jars of honey for free."


    "No."


    "I''m spending 10 taels to buy your herbs, and you can''t even throw in some honey?"


    "Dear sir, you don''t know," the old man suddenly looked sad, his eyes turned red, "These two jars of honey, my son risked his life climbing a cliff to collect. He broke his leg for it, and now he still can''t get out of bed."


    Hong Shan: "Then... how much do you want for them?"


    The old man thought for a while, then said slowly, "5 taels. For one jar."


    If this was in Yizhou Prefecture, Hong Shan would definitely have this wicked old man beaten to death!


    5 taels for a jar of honey, you''re worse than a bandit!


    "Sold!"


    Although it pained him to spend 20 taels on this junk, Hong Shan couldn''t care less now. He hurried back to the inn and told his servants to prepare everything so he could start making the green cream.


    "Boil all the ingredients in water, then add honey, and slowly cook into a paste over low heat..."


    The servant followed the instructions in the recipe step-by-step.


    Outside the inn, Zhu Yougui was happily dreaming.


    He was going to strike it rich!


    After getting the 500 taels and house, the first thing he would do is marry a beautiful wife!


    And take three concubines!


    Eat fish and meat every day!


    ...


    On Hong Shan''s side, the green cream was almost done.


    But strangely, the paste in the pot smelled a little off, and the color also looked abnormal, not green at all.


    After cooling, he tried some on the back of his hand - not a hint of coolness!


    "Master, did we not make it right?" asked the servant.


    "We followed the recipe exactly."


    "Then how could this happen?"


    "How could this happen?" Hong Shan sneered coldly, "This can only mean one thing - the recipe Zhu Yougui gave us was fake! And that old man who sold the herbs must have been arranged by him to swindle my money!"


    "What?" The servant was shocked to hear this.


    Usually in Yizhou Prefecture, he relied on Hong Shan''s domineering ways. He didn''t expect toe to this shabby Baichuan Market and get tricked by a country bumpkin!


    "Master, I''ll go beat him up right away!"


    "Beat him up good!"


    ...


    Before Zhu Yougui could finish his sweet dream, he saw Hong Shaning out, so he went up to greet them.


    "Mr. Hong, how did it go?"


    "How did it go? Let me tell you how it went!"


    Hong Shan''s servant''s expression darkened, and he took out a wooden stick from behind and started mercilessly beating Zhu Yougui over the head.


    Zhu Yougui was no match for him. In an instant his face was battered and bruised, full of bumps.


    "Why are you hitting me?"


    "You tried to cheat our money with a fake recipe. Consider yourself lucky I''m not beating you to death!"


    "Fake? Zhu Yougui''s heart sank, realizing he had been tricked.


    But he couldn''t openly confront the Du family about this, so he could only swallow this silent grievance.


    "Get lost!"


    After chasing away Zhu Yougui, Hong Shan still hadn''t vented his anger, so he went to the Zou rouge shop with his servant.


    "Yo, Mr. Hong is here. What business brings you?"


    "Zou Youcai," Hong Shan said coldly, "Let me ask you, didn''t you secretly tell Li Yao?"


    "Tell what?" Zou Youcai was puzzled. "Mr. Hong, what are you talking about?"


    "Hmph, stop pretending!" Hong Shan said, "From today on, don''t expect to get a single penny of goods from me! None of the rouge sellers in Yizhou Prefecture will sell you anything either! You can go ahead and close down this rouge shop!"


    "Is that so?" Zou Youcai was not anxious at all. He smiled, "To be honest with Mr. Hong, I don''t really want to keep this shop open anyway. Shop boys, hurry and take down the old sign and put up the new one!"


    "You got it!"


    The two shop boys set up adder and took down the "Zou Rouge Shop" sign, efficiently recing it with an exquisite new signboard.


    "Li''s Finery Shop, Riverside." Zou Youcai looked at the sign happily, turned to Hong Shan and bowed with hands sped, "Mr. Hong, my new shop will be opening in a few days. Will you stay and liven things up?"


    Hong Shan''s face turned green with anger.


    One look at the sign and he knew Li Yao was involved.


    That ungrateful wench, refusing to cooperate with him, actually took on this Zou guy as her partner instead.


    "Fine, go ahead and slowly sell your green cream at Baichuan Market," Hong Shan said, "But if you want to sell to Yizhou Prefecture, it still depends on whether I allow it or not!"


    "Oh my, I just realized today that apparently Yizhou Prefecture belongs to Mr. Hong''s family," Zou Youcai said with augh. "I just wonder if the prefect knows about this."


    "You... let''s go!"


    Watching Hong Shan stomp off angrily, Zou Youcai felt extremely satisfied.


    He used to get condescending looks from Hong Shan when taking goods from him, and had swallowed the indignation. Today he finally got to spit it back out.


    "Boss," a white-haired old man walked out from the back yard, "Here''s the 20 taels of silver from selling herbs and honey. That guy was really dumb. He actually believed everything I said just like you told me."


    Zou Youcai sighed inwardly. Was Hong Shan really that dumb?


    It was precisely because of his insatiable greed that he was blinded by profit, falling right into Li Yao''s clever scheme.


    "Come here, Little Liuzi."


    "Boss, shouldn''t we give this silver to Ms. Li?"


    "No need," Zou Youcai said. "Ms. Li said this is ill-gotten money that we shouldn''t take."


    "You can''t mean to throw it away, can you?" Xiao Liuziughed. "This is 20 taels of silver!"


    "Of course not," Zou Youcai said. "Use this silver to buy 500 jin of rice, 500 jin of flour, and 1000 eggs. Have it all bought before the day after tomorrow."


    "Boss, we sell green cream. Why do we need so much rice, flour and eggs?"


    "To give away."


    Xiao Liuzi: ......


    Zou Youcai looked at the old signboard, and steeled his heart: "Also, take this sign out and find an empty ce to burn it."


    From now on, there would be no more Zou Rouge Shop at Baichuan Market, only Li''s Finery Shop, Riverside.


    He knew he was starting over from scratch.


    But this time, the future looked boundlessly bright.

 Chapter 40: Know People and Use Them Well

    <h4>Chapter 40</h4>


    Under the management of Zou Boss, the boutique shop was soon neatly arranged. Li Yao also prepared 200 portions of herbal paste.


    She asked Zou Boss to buy 200 exquisite small porcin bottles. ording to one tael per bottle, which is 50 grams, she packaged them at home.


    "Mother, are we really going to partner with Zou Boss to open a shop?" He Xiaoya finally couldn''t hold back her doubts and asked.


    "Yes."


    "But why partner?" He Xiaoya continued to ask, "In fact, we can open it ourselves. At most, we can hire a trusted steward and be the boss ourselves."


    "You also know you have to hire someone trustworthy," Li Yao said, "But in the face of benefits, who can really be trusted? Even if there are trustworthy ones, how many can there be? If you have to find trustworthy people to do business, then the business can''t be done."


    "Then let my sister Xiaoya be the steward," Du Xiao Hui said. "I think my sister Xiaoya is so capable that she can run a shop."


    Li Yaoughed and said, "She is definitely capable, but it would be tiring, and there would be a lot of troubles opening a shop. There is no end to making money. It''s better to divide some of it and thenfortably sit at home. How nice."


    This is the philosophy Li Yao wants to instill in her children.


    Many things don''t need to be done by oneself. Knowing how to make good use of people is the best way to livefortably.


    "The shop opens tomorrow. I have to go see it. Does anyone want to go with me?"


    "I want to set up a stall." Da Zhuang said.


    "I have to take care of the goslings." He Xiaoya couldn''t go either.


    Wang Er had to study. The third and fourth ones initially wanted to go, but finally discussed and decided to go to the mountains to pick tea seeds instead. After all, the hustle and bustle would be over after seeing it, but picking tea seeds and trading them with Mother for cash was real money!


    Seeing that everyone was not going, Du Xiao Hui didn''t go either.


    "I''ll stay and cook for Brother Wang Er."


    ...


    Dang dang dang¨C


    Dong dong dong¨C


    The next day at dawn, loud gongs and drums sounded in the Baichuan Market.


    More than a dozen old men and women in red robes, some carrying ques and some carrying gongs and drums, kept beating and tapping in the streets.


    People rarely saw such a lineup and quickly attracted everyone''s attention.


    "Which family is getting married?"


    "It doesn''t look like a wedding. There is no groom."


    "Can anyone read the que? What does it say?"


    "He Wan Li¡¯s Boutique! Grand opening and big rewards! Get 8% discount when you be a VIP! Get free gifts when you shop!"


    "What boutique? Where is it?"


    ...


    With Li Yao''s promotional methods, almost everyone in the Baichuan Market knew that the boutique was opening today, and you could get gifts if you became a VIP.


    Some women with money, after carefully tidying up, decided to go see what this boutique sells.


    People with no money also took time to go see the excitement.


    Soon, crowds of people gathered at the door of the boutique. As the shareholder and steward of the store, Zou Boss was also dressed very festively today, with a beaming smile on his face.


    "Folks, our He Wan Li¡¯s Boutique opens today. Wee everyone!"


    "Zou Boss," a properly dressed maid came up and asked, "My mistress asked me to ask what kind of products you mainly sell in this boutique?"


    "We only have herbal paste for now. More products will be addedter. Please pay attention."


    It suddenly dawned on everyone that it was herbal paste.


    Those with some money at the market had bought itst time. After using it, the effect was really good. Many people came to buy again, but were told it was sold out.


    "Don''t tell me there are only a hundred boxes again?"


    "No no, we prepared 200 boxes this time!" Zou Boss said, "And if you be a VIP of our store, you can enjoy a permanent 20% discount on shopping! Also, everyone who buys 1 box of herbal paste today will get 1 free jin of rice, 1 free jin of flour, and 2 free eggs!"


    The 20% discount was equal to 240 wen less. Plus the free stuff, at least 300 wen could be saved!


    Although those who could afford herbal paste were rich people who didn''t care too much about this little 300 wen. But free benefits right in front of them, they certainly wouldn''t say no.


    "So how can I be a VIP?"


    "It''s very simple," the shopkeeper Zou said. "Just deposit 5 taels of silver in our store and you can be a lifetime VIP, enjoying all discounts. And the 5 taels of silver can be used to offset your purchases in the future. We will never embezzle a penny from you.¡°


    "Is there such a good thing?"


    People suddenly felt a little unbelievable.


    ording to what he said, wouldn''t that mean you could be a VIP and enjoy discounts forever without spending a penny?


    "Shopkeeper Zou, you won''t take our silver and run away overnight, right?"


    "Haha, thisdy is joking," Zou shopkeeper said. "Let''s not talk about my reputation in Baichuan Market over the years. Do you know who the other boss of the store is?"


    "Who is it?"


    "When I say it, many of you must have heard of her," Zou shopkeeper said. "She first set up a braised food stall in the market. Now she has stalls in three nearby markets. She invented braised goose, which is sold in several nearby markets. She invented the cotton futon, I believe many families'' futons were made by her father-inw. She invented the herbal paste and didn''t even look at it when someone offered 5,000 taels to buy the form from her."


    At this point, many people knew who it was.


    It was Mrs. Li!


    No wonder the shop was called He Wan Li¡¯s Boutique, it was named after her surname!


    "Yes, it is Mrs. Li," Zou shopkeeper said. "She is the biggest shareholder of the store, and her home is in He Wan vige. She has long been the richest person in He Wan vige! Do you think she would run away overnight for a little silver?"


    In this era, leaving home meant losing roots, so unless there was no other choice, people were generally unwilling to leave their hometown.


    Just as everyone had thest bit of doubt, a few yamen runners slowly cleared the crowd.


    "Make way everyone, the county magistrate''s wife is here!"


    The crowd quickly gave way to the county magistrate''s wife.


    The county magistrate''s wife wore dark clothes today, with not much decoration, but each piece could be seen to be very expensive, making the county magistrate''s wife look solemn and dignified, highlighting her status perfectly.


    Compared to her, those women dressed up beautifully werepletely outshone.


    "Madam, why did youe in person?" Zou Boss quickly came up to greet her, "Just let me know what you need, and I will have it delivered to the county government immediately."


    "I feel stuffy in the county government all day," the county magistrate''s wife said. "I heard your shop is opening today. I n to buy some herbal paste and send it to my family in the capital, so I came to take a look."


    "Yes, we have as much as you need, and VIPs enjoy 20% off."


    "What VIP?"


    After listening to Zou Boss''s exnation, the county magistrate''s wife immediately signaled her maid to take out 5 taels of silver.


    "I''m buying a lot, so 20% off will save some money," the county magistrate''s wife said. "I''ll sign up as a VIP."


    The herbal paste is quite useful. She could buy some to give away, and for her maternal family, as well as some acquaintances¡¯ wives.


    It can be used by herself, and also shared with people around her. Not too light or heavy, and very practical.


    Dang dang dang¨C


    The gongs sounded, and a shop assistant loudly sang: "Congrattions to the county magistrate''s wife for bing the first VIP of He Wan Li¡¯s Boutique!"


    Seeing that even the county magistrate''s wife had be a VIP, those wives and youngdies who were still hesitating hurried to follow suit.


    "I want to sign up too!"


    "Sign me up for one too!"

 Chapter 41: Cutting the Ribbon

    <h4>Chapter 41</h4>


    The already bustling entrance became even more crowded. Those who had a little extra money at home lined up to be VIPs. After all, the green ointment was expensive, 5 liang of silver couldn''t even buy two boxes.


    Zou the manager saw the opportune moment had arrived, so he had the tables at the entrance moved aside to reveal the door draped with a red ribbon. There were three red knotted flowers on the cloth bag, dazzling people''s eyes.


    "What''s this for?"


    "Since it''s a new store opening, we prepared a ribbon cutting ceremony for good fortune," Zou the manager quickly exined. "Madam county magistrate, may I ask you to help cut the ribbon?"


    "Ribbon cutting? This is my first time hearing about this. Was this also Li Yao''s idea?"


    "Yes, exactly."


    "She really is a smart woman, an ordinary person couldn''t think of so many good ideas," the county magistrate''s wife was very generous with her praise of Li Yao, "But since this is your store, it''s not very appropriate for me to cut the ribbon alone. Why don''t we ask Li Yao toe out and have the two of us cut it together."


    "Alright, she should be arriving soon."


    Just then, Li Yao arrived with her family members in an ox cart driven by the robust Dazhuang.


    Li Yao wore new clothes today, with her sleek hair tied at the back. As a widow, she couldn''t wear anything too ostentatious. She also didn''t wear any flowers or kingfisher feathers. Her whole outfit was simple.


    Far less morous than those madame''s and youngdies, but it gave her apletely different kind of unrestrained temperament. Although petite and delicate, with charming features, her brows and eyes contained a heroic spirit, which was very unexpected.


    Many people already knew about her, but it was still the first time seeing her, and they whispered to each other.


    "So this is Li Yao? You can tell just by looking she''s no ordinary person."


    "To use the words of us schrs, this is called transcendent and extraordinary, akin to a fairy."


    "But I heard she was a shrew?"


    "How could a widow not be a bit fierce, or she''d be bullied everywhere... Her temper doesn''t matter much..."


    ...


    Li Yao walked through the crowd and greeted the county magistrate''s wife first.


    The county magistrate''s wife held her hand, the two of them like best friends for many years, "Li Yao is indeed graceful and dignified, a rare talent in our Baichuan County. We should get to know each other better in the future."


    Li Yao sneered internally.


    She really didn''t know why the county magistrate''s wife came to tter her, and even told tant lies with eyes wide open.


    Graceful and dignified?


    A talent?


    She dared to guarantee she was neither, and didn''t want to be that kind of person either. She just wanted tozily lounge at home every day.


    However, since this county magistrate''s wife came uninvited and praised her like this in front of everyone, it was unlikely just a whim. Everyone knew officials and their wives had at least a hundred ulterior motives.


    It seemed that after cutting the ribbon, she had better hurry home.


    "The county magistrate''s wife tters me, I''m just an ordinary vige woman, how could I have any talent?"


    "Don''t be so modest," the county magistrate''s wife smiled, "It''s gettingte, everyone''s waiting, why don''t we start?"


    Zou the manager announced loudly, "The Li''s Specialty Shop in Huanwan is officially open for business!"


    Dang dang dang -


    Dong dong dong -


    The street parade team had returned and immediately began beating gongs and drums. An old man in a red hat puffed up his cheeks fully and yed a celebratory tune on a suona horn.


    Li Yao and the county magistrate''s wife took up the scissors at the same time and snipped the red ribbon at the door.


    "Grand opening!"


    "Wee customers!"


    Several assistants stood at the door, wearing uniform white tops, smiling at everyone, "Wee!"


    Seeing the crowd filing into the store, Li Yaomented that if there were firecrackers going bang bang bang, that would be lively.


    But there were no firecrackers in this era, only fireworks, so they would have to wait untilter.


    Although there was only one product, green ointment, the three assistants manning the counters were still busy beyondpare. Snowy white silver, strands of copper coins, ttered noisily into the money boxes.


    The ountant to the side busily recorded the transactions, wishing he had two more hands.


    The county magistrate''s wife was true to her word, buying 20 boxes of green ointment in one go, a huge investment.


    After Song the county magistrate was demoted to govern this poor ce, he stuck here like mud, without any thought of returning to the capital city. So it was up to her as his wife to find ways to help him get ahead.


    She hoped that sending these green ointments back to the capital would gain favor with the pcedies.


    After apanying the county magistrate''s wife for tea upstairs, Li Yao made the excuse of going to check on the sales situation to slip away.


    But before she could sneak off, He Jiajing, the owner of He''s Restaurant, arrived with Fan the manager and some servants.


    "Li Yao, congrattions, grand opening!"


    "Boss He, what brings you here personally?"


    "How could I miss Li Yao''s boutique grand opening?" He Jiajingughed heartily, "It''s just that you didn''t let me know in advance, so I didn''t prepare a gift. I brought some casual things, please don''t look down on them."


    As He Jiajing spoke, his servants brought up an exquisite small wooden box. Inside was an extremely refined set of porcin.


    With much experience, Zou the manager recognized at a nce the extraordinary nature of this porcin set.


    To be made so exquisitely, even if one was wealthy, it may not be obtainable. It belonged to the upper ss that only high officials could enjoy.


    He didn''t know what connections He Jiajing used to obtain a set as a gift. Hisvish generosity was impressive.


    So he whispered to Li Yao, "This is Guanyun kiln porcin."


    He expected that hearing something so valuable, Li Yao would show at least some mild surprise. But he discovered that Li Yao''s gaze just swept over the porcin once, and didn''t look at it again.


    It was as if in her eyes, something so precious was no different than a bowl of stew.


    This made him sigh internally that Li Yao was indeed Li Yao. Faced with such valuables she was actually able to remain expressionless and unperturbed, which made him feel utterly inferior.


    Of course, in Li Yao''s opinion, this set of porcin was basically crudely made junk.


    How could street stall goods excite her?


    Absolutely impossible.


    After entertaining Boss He and Fan the manager, Li Yao thought she could finally sneak away, but before reaching the door, another group came in carrying arge box.


    "Li Yao, congrattions!"


    Seeing the visitor''s face, Li Yao frowned involuntarily.


    Zhang Guangsheng?


    How did this guye too?


    Compared to He Jiajing, Zhang Guangsheng''s aura was even more powerful, exuding a local tycoon''s air all over.


    He casually waved his hand, and his servants immediately opened therge box.


    "Wow - "


    "At least 100 liang!"


    "As expected of Boss Zhang, so generous!"


    There were low exmations of surprise from the crowd. Inside the box was actually a whole box of luxurious silk fabric, with a wooden tray on top neatly filled with shiny silver ingots!


    Compared to the porcin He Jiajing gifted earlier, this was even more eye-catching.


    Nothing to be done about not recognizing value, just don''tpare goods to goods.


    Anyone with eyes could see Zhang Guangsheng''s gift was much more valuable.


    This made He Jiajing''s expression very awkward, and his heart nervous.


    If Li Yao epted this gift, it meant she might also cooperate with Zhang Guangsheng. The stewed geese in the future, or any new dishes Li Yao created, might not be his He''s Restaurant''s exclusive anymore.


    There was even the possibility that after the contract period ended, she could hand everything directly to Zhang Guangsheng.


    After all, in Baichuan Market, Zhang Guangsheng had more money than him.


    "Li Yao," Zhang Guangsheng''s face was full of insincere smiles, "Just a small token, don''t stand on ceremony and ept it with augh."


    He thought that since he was smiling and had brought such a big gift in front of so many people, how could this vige woman refuse?


    How could she bear to refuse?

 Chapter 42: You Wait for Me

    <h4>Chapter 42</h4>


    What exactly was Zhang Guangsheng thinking? There''s no way Li Yao didn''t already know.


    Money doesn''t fall from the sky.


    No matter which world or era you''re in, it''s impossible for someone to just hand you a huge amount of benefits for no reason. If someone does, they must be trying to get even more out of you in return.


    Besides, she still remembered what happened with Zhang Guangsheng buying geese in Baiyun Vige.


    There''s no time like the present.


    Why not just settle this debt today?


    So she said to Zhang Guangsheng, "Take it away."


    With those simple three words, she conveyed an irresistible aura.


    Not just Zhang Guangsheng, but all the customers in the shop were stunned.


    This was a gift worth over a hundred taels of silver, yet this Lidy rejected it without any hesitation!


    How...how could this be?


    Didn''t they say she was just a poor and foolish shrew from He Wan vige before?


    Even if she''s earned some money recently, there''s no way she could be totally unmoved by such a huge amount of silver!


    Zhang Guangsheng hadn''t expected his well-meaning congrattory gift to be publicly rejected. The smile that had just been stered on his face instantly faded away.


    "Ms. Li, you''d better ept this graciously instead of disgracing yourself."


    Li Yao scoffed inwardly.


    This guy''s face changed faster than flipping pages in a book.


    But...she liked dealing with shameless types like him.


    "Mr. Zhang, you''d better obediently take your gift away instead of pointlessly asking to be beaten up."


    "You...shrew!" Zhang Guangsheng had never been spoken to so rudely before. He was instantly furious with embarrassment. "Since you''re going to be so unreasonable, don''t me me for showing no mercy! Men, bring me a chair to ce in front of the door. I''d like to see who still dares to shop here today with me sitting right outside!"


    A servant immediately brought over a prepared chair from outside and ced it right in the center of the shop entrance.


    Seeing his posture, no one else dared to say anything more.


    In Bai Chuan Town, besides the Lai n, Zhang Guangsheng''s family was the most powerful, so ordinary people really couldn''t afford to provoke him.


    Seeing this situation, shop owner Zou broke out in a nervous sweat on his forehead.


    "Ms. Li," he whispered and offered a suggestion, "Why not go invite the county magistrate''s wife toe?"


    "No need."


    There was no way Li Yao would get into debt with the county magistrate''s wife over some unprofitable business.


    Besides, could she not handle such a trivial matter herself?


    "Bring me a broom."


    "Huh?"


    "A broom," Li Yao repeated. "Go get the big one from the back courtyard."


    "This is..."


    The corners of Zou''s mouth twitched uncontrobly.


    If he hadn''t guessed wrong, Ms. Li was about to revert to her shrew nature and beat Zhang Guangsheng out of the shop.


    Fight fire with fire!


    In the end, he steeled his heart and immediately signaled to the waiter to hurry and fetch it.


    Seeing Li Yao holding arge broom, the customers in the shop quickly moved out of the way, but their eyes were full of anticipation.


    If a real fight broke out, things would get truly lively!


    He Jiajing also took two steps back.


    He had personally experienced Li Yao''s fierceness before. Last time at his restaurant, she had nearly beaten him up.


    Thinking of this, he didn''t know why, but a sense of anticipation suddenly arose in his heart.


    "What are you trying to do?"


    Seeing Li Yao approaching aggressively, Zhang Guangsheng''s servants quickly moved to shield their master.


    "Looking to make trouble in my shop? Seems you lot are tired of living!"


    As Li Yao spoke, she swung the broom at their faces, smacking them painfully until they hurriedly ducked their heads.


    But Li Yao showed no mercy to theseckeys. The broom stuck to them like a shadow, whacking them relentlessly no matter which way they fled, until they were cowering and howling in pain.


    Seeing this, Zhang Guangsheng''s face turned green with anger.


    "Useless fools, where''s your might from before?"


    After ring fiercely at his servants, Zhang Guangsheng said coldly to Li Yao, "A shrew is a shrew!"


    "Are you leaving or not?"


    "I''m not even in your shop, what right do you have to make me leave?" Zhang Guangsheng stood tall and arrogant. "If you have the guts, go ahead and try hitting me!"


    Li Yao chuckled.


    "I''ve lived over thirty years and this is the first time someone''s made such a request. Since you asked for it, I''ll dly oblige!"


    Rather than using the broom, she tore off one of the stiff twigs.


    Snap!


    The solitary twigshed Zhang Guangsheng''s face mercilessly, leaving a bright red bloody mark.


    "You...you dare hit me?" Zhang Guangsheng cried out in pain, beside himself with rage. "You''re done for..."


    "I''m done for? I''ll make sure you''re done first!"


    Li Yao strode forward, whipping Zhang Guangsheng repeatedly with the twig.


    Zhang Guangsheng had never suffered such a vicious beating before. He hopped and danced in pain, making a ridiculous spectacle of himself.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t want to dodge, but Li Yao''s twig was like it had eyes, always managing to strike him urately no matter which way he tried to flee.


    From the outside, her moves looked sloppy and without finesse, just a peasant womanshing out chaotically, yet somehow she alwaysnded painful blows that sent Zhang Guangsheng leaping about. It was just uncanny.


    The way she moved her waist and body was mesmerizing, like a slithering snake, and with that charming face, she left all the spectators'' hearts pounding erratically.


    When several servants rushed up together to protect their master, she whipped them just as easily until they couldn''t tell north from south.


    Only after driving them out into the street did Li Yao have the waiter toss the box of gifts out after them.


    Seeing the scattered piles of silver and silk brocade on the ground, the crowd of onlookers was filled with admiration.


    "Ms. Li''s fierceness is unmatched in Bai Chuan county!"


    "Forget fierce, she''s a heroic woman!"


    ...


    The utterly routed Zhang Guangsheng was hopping mad with humiliation out on the street.


    "Just you wait!"


    "I''m going to the authorities right now and charge you with public assault!"


    "Just you wait to rot in prison!"


    Hearing his continued mad ravings, Li Yao was just about to continue chasing and beating him when the county magistrate''s wife emerged from the shop.


    "Who''s causing trouble here?"


    Zhang Guangsheng froze.


    How could he have imagined that the wife of the county magistrate would personally grace the opening of amoner woman''s little shop!


    "Greetings, Madam."


    "Why, if it isn''t Boss Zhang," the county magistrate''s wife said coldly. "I heard my sister opened her new shop today and you came to congratte her?"


    The corner of Zhang Guangsheng''s eye twitched.


    Even a deaf man could hear that the county magistrate''s wife was clearly taking Li Yao''s side, even calling her sister already!


    Fine, his ns today had clearly failed.


    Even if he did report this to the county office and the new magistrate was upright and just, how could he possibly win against the woman''s pillow talk?


    Knowing when to retreat, Zhang Guangsheng replied, "I did indeede to congratte her, but Ms. Li looked down on my gift, so I will take my leave."


    Watching Zhang Guangsheng''s dejected departure, the crowd of onlookers suddenly felt emboldened. In the past, everyone had been oppressed by Zhang Guangsheng in Bai Chuan Town and no one dared provoke him, but now he had finally been taught a lesson.


    After driving away Zhang Guangsheng, the county magistrate''s wife turned to Li Yao with a charming smile. "Sister, you''re not hurt are you?"


    "Thank you for your concern, I''m fine."


    "That''s good," the county magistrate''s wife took Li Yao''s hand. "Leave the cleanup to the helpers. Come keep mepany a while longer."


    Li Yao sighed inwardly.


    She had been determined not to owe anyone favors, yet in the end she was the one who ended up owing one.


    Most vexing of all was that she would have to keep up polite conversation in return.


    Whatmon topics could ady of the county magistrate''s wife''s status have to chat about with a lowlymoner woman like her?

 Chapter 43: Immortals Descend to the Earth

    <h4>Chapter 43</h4>


    Li Yao was surprised to find that the county magistrate''s wife was very talkative.


    Although she was from a distinguished family, the topics she chatted with Li Yao about were all agricultural matters rting to the fields and people''s livelihoods. It was clear that she had some knowledge about these things, but not very thorough.


    Fortunately, Li Yao''s understanding about farming matters was also limited, so the two could chat quite happily with their half-baked knowledge.


    "s," the county magistrate''s wife sighed softly in the end, "Ever since my husband got transferred here, we''ve encountered the once-in-a-century severe drought. He''s so worried that he can''t even eat. And I don''t have any good solutions either."


    "Natural disasters are indeed very difficult to deal with."


    "I''ve heard some folk legends before," said the county magistrate''s wife. "They say that whenever there are consecutive years of major disasters like this, the Jade Emperor will send down an immortal to help themon people get through the hard times."


    Li Yao scoffed internally. She had heard this legend when she was little, but never saw it happen.


    "Youngdy, if an immortal really descended to earth, how do you think he would help themon people of the world?"


    "Well..." Li Yao twitched her mouth and said, "I think... He should havee a few years earlier and build water conservancy projects and develop transportation in advance. That way people wouldn''t have to worry about droughts or floods."


    The county magistrate''s wife pondered her words for a moment, then her eyes lit up.


    "Youngdy, you really have great insight and vision. This is more enlightened than some senior officials in the capital!"


    The more Li Yao listened, the more she realized something was wrong.


    Why was the county magistrate''s wife seizing every opportunity to tter her like this?


    This could only mean one thing - she wanted something big from her!


    No, she absolutely couldn''t continue this conversation today. She had to find an excuse to slip away.


    "Madam, I''m just azy housewife. The farthest I''ve been is the next county over. I don''t have any great insights." Li Yao said, "Oh, speaking of which, it''s gettingte. I still have braised goose cooking at home and must get back."


    "Well... alright then," the county magistrate''s wife said reluctantly. "When you have time, feel free toe find me at the county office."


    Li Yao would rather not.


    Getting involved with officials undoubtedly had many benefits, but even more troubles.


    After Li Yao left, the county magistrate''s wife did not stay long either. She went straight back to the county office.


    She had the purchased green ointment neatly packaged and rushed back to the capital, before gently walking into County Magistrate Song''s study.


    "You''re back?"


    "Mm," said the county magistrate''s wife. "I got a good measure of her today. That Li Yao is really a fierce one."


    "Oh? Tell me about it."


    "There''s a Zhang Guangsheng from the market. He''s given over ten gifts to the county office. Do you remember him, my lord?"


    When the county magistrate heard this name, he got a headache.


    He was from an influential family in Baichuan Market and had great wealth. Even the county secretary had to speak for him. And he had heard that several yamen runners were also quite close with him.


    But he broke rules openly without any concrete evidence of wrongdoing, so no one could touch him.


    "What about him?"


    "Li Yao beat him up badly in public. Beat him until he was a sorry sight."


    County Magistrate Song: ......


    ......


    The husband and wife chatted for half an hour, even forgetting to eat lunch.


    Finally, the county magistrate''s wife concluded: "The impression Li Yao gives me can be described in four words."


    "What four words?"


    "Inscrutable and unfathomable."


    County Magistrate Song''s eyebrows furrowed slightly.


    He knew that his wife''s father was a schr from the Imperial College, and she had been well-read since childhood and had discerning eyes. For her to give such an evaluation meant that this Li Yao was indeed not an ordinary country woman, as he had guessed.


    "My lord," said the county magistrate''s wife. "A person like this may be useful to you, to help you aplish things and build up your political record..."


    "Alright, enough." Talking about his political record put County Magistrate Song in a bad mood. "Themoners can barely afford meals right now. How can I be bothered to think about my record? Don''t keep mentioning this to me."


    The county magistrate''s wife sighed internally. Why was her husband so stubborn?


    ......


    Returning home, Li Yao had nothing to do in the afternoon, so she went to train in the mountains.


    At dusk, she happened to run into Third and Fourth Son, who were up the mountain herding pigs and picking tea seeds. The two brothers had a good haul today, filling up a whole basket again, and happily came to exchange it for copper coins with her.


    On the way home, Li Yao couldn''t help asking, "You''ve saved up so much money, what are you nning to use it for?"


    "I want to buy Mother a lot of nice clothes," Fourth Son said quickly, "And lots of tasty food for Mother too."


    Li Yao chuckled softly. Although Fourth Son didn''t seem capable of much, his sweet talk was truly something.


    Of course, it wasn''t that he waspletely useless. He was still young, and he was decent at arithmetic now, able topete with Second Son.


    It was just that mathematics wasn''t valued very highly in a ce like this, so even if he was clever, it would be hard for him to aplish great things.


    "What about you, Third Son?"


    "I want to buy a big sword!" Third Son said eagerly. "And a suit of armor, and a warhorse! In the future I want to be a mighty general and kill savages at the border!"


    Li Yao twitched her mouth. Little boys just loved violence.


    Speaking of which, herte husband had been conscripted until he passed away.


    Military service was a little different in this era though. Men had to serve from age sixteen to sixty, averaging three months a year stationed at the border. But during that time, they had to provide their own provisions and weapons.


    In short, the court couldn''t support too many professional soldiers, yet the borders still needed defence, so they came up with this method.


    But the drawbacks were also obvious.


    These part-time peasant-soldiers barely had any realbat abilities. In the event ofrge-scale war, casualties were bound to be enormous.


    So in ancient wars, it was usually a case of a general gaining sess at the cost of thousands of bones turning to dust.


    Originally after her husband died, Da Zhuang would have had to take his ce at the border. But after her tearful pleas, Clerk Li took pity on her family''s circumstances and granted a temporary exemption.


    Now that she had money, she didn''t need to worry about this issue either. She could directly pay a fee, or pay someone to take his ce.


    But she estimated that in a few years, when Third Son grew a bit older, even his mother wouldn''t be able to restrain his ambitious spirit.


    "You really want to be a mighty general?" Li Yao asked.


    "Mm!"


    "A man''s word is his bond. If you say you''ll do it, you must see it through," said Li Yao. "But it won''t be as easy as you imagine. If you really want to do this, you must start training from now."


    "Mother, how should I train?"


    Li Yao thought for a moment. "From now on,e with me to the mountains every morning and evening. I''ll think of ways to train you."


    "Okay! Thank you Mother!"


    "Also," Li Yao continued. "During the day, you need to study with your Second Brother."


    "What do I need to study for if I want to be a general?"


    "Of course to make you smarter," said Li Yao. "If you can''t even recognize big characters and can''t read military books, how will you lead troops into battle?"


    Third Son thought about it and realized she was right. He nodded heavily.


    Starting today, he would train hard and study diligently.


    When he turned sixteen, he could go to the battlefield and kill enemies!

 Chapter 44: Buying Land

    <h4>Chapter 44</h4>


    "Ms. Li, you''re finally back," Zou Boss said eagerly as soon as she walked into the courtyard. Seeing the happiness all over his face, Li Yao knew the boutique shop must have done good business today.


    "Today we served 30 VIP customers total," the shop owner said. "Almost all the wealthy families in Baichuan Market have be VIPs of our store."


    "How much of the aloe cream was sold?"


    "All 200 boxes were sold out! The profit was 160 taels!"


    Li Yao nodded. This result was within her expectations. After all, not only was the aloe cream effective, she had also used modern marketing methods.


    This way, her ie was quite considerable.


    She sold 200 boxes of aloe cream to the store, so her ie was 400 taels. Plus the store''smission of 80 taels, the total was 480 taels.


    As for the cost... it seemed to be less than 5 taels of silver, almost negligible.


    It was simply outrageous profit.


    Zou Boss took out four 100-tael banknotes and said, "This is 400 taels, the money for purchasing aloe cream. In addition, I will have the ountant finish today''s books tonight and have someone bring you your share of the profits tomorrow."


    "How can there be profit sharing on the first day?" Li Yao said. "Just do it monthly."


    "Alright."


    "Also, before profit sharing, first set aside 10% of the total profit in the books as development funds for the future," Li Yao said. "Our boutique store won''t just open one in Baichuan Market."


    This was exactly what Zou Boss was waiting to hear.


    He could almost foresee River Bend Boutique Stores opening all over Yizhou Prefecture.


    But dreams are dreams. There was still a big problem right now.


    "We''ll have nothing left to sell tomorrow."


    Li Yao shook her head and had He Xiaoya bring another 50 boxes of aloe cream.


    "Use these as ceholders first," Li Yao said. "In a few days, I''lle up with some new stuff. When that happens, we''ll make another push."


    "Sounds good. I''ll wait for your good news."


    After seeing Zou Boss off, Li Yao casually put the banknotes in her pocket, then announced to the children, "We''re havingmb skewers tonight!"


    After working so hard today and earning quite a bit, they definitely deserved to treat themselves.


    Hearing they could eatmb again, the children immediately got busy cutting the meat, marinating it, setting up the grill, and starting the fire... Soon, the aroma ofmb skewers drifted over the simple courtyard.


    "Mother," Da Zhuang said while grilling the skewers, "Now that we have some money, shouldn''t we fix up the house before winter sets in?"


    "Fix up what?" Li Yao said. "We''ll build a new one."


    This made the children even more excited.


    The dpidated thatched cottage really wasn''t suitable for living anymore. It leaked when it rained and let the wind through.


    Building a new house was perfect.


    "Mother," Da Zhuang asked excitedly, "when do we start construction?"


    "No hurry," Li Yao said, nibbling amb skewer. "I''ll sketch a draft tomorrow first, then go find Li Zheng to buy somend."


    ...


    "You want to build a house this big?"


    Li Zheng wasn''t surprised to hear this news.


    But after seeing Li Yao''s sketches, his jaw nearly hit the ground.


    He knew Li Yao had made money recently, but he never imagined she was this wealthy.


    The sketches Li Yao showed him had five buildings!


    One residence, a spacious six-room unit. nking it on both sides were two more units, each with four rooms!


    There was also a very wide-open space in the middle.


    This was no longer a house for one family. It was practically a whole estate!


    Was it big?


    Li Yao didn''t think it was big at all.


    Not to mention her own six-room main unit, the children''s houses were just nicely 100 square meters each. What was the fuss?


    "Living spaces definitely need to be more spacious," Li Yao said. "In the future when the kids grow up, they''ll certainly need their own independent living spaces as well."


    Li Zheng frowned. While it made sense to say that, was it really necessary to build everything in solid brick?


    Solid brick was in no way cheap.


    With so many buildings, they would need at least 60,000-70,000 bricks minimum, which at 2 coins per brick would be 100,000+ coins, or 100+ taels in silver!


    And that was just the bricks.


    Building houses also required lots of timber, tiles, etc.


    Without at least 200 taels, how could it be built?


    "Li Yao, I know you''ve made money recently, but there''s no need to waste it like this," Li Zheng advised. "With this money, you could buy a five-courtyard house in the market and still have plenty left over. Why spend it in this mountain ravine?"


    "Li Zheng, I''ve made up my mind," Li Yao said. "Living in the market is certainly more convenient, but it''s too noisy. I still prefer the tranquility here."


    Seeing her mind was set, Li Zheng stopped trying to dissuade her.


    "There''s plenty of vacantnd in the vige, and the prices are low too," Li Zheng said. "Do you have a location in mind?"


    "Yes, that vacant lot halfway up the hill behind my house will do."


    "What? You want to build the house halfway up a hill?"


    Li Zheng was more and more puzzled by Li Yao''s thinking.


    Most people built houses with convenience as the priority, so they were basically all at the foot of the mountains.


    Yet Li Yao insisted on going against convention and building so high up. Wouldn''t it be tiring going up and down every day?


    "The mountainousnd here is barren, so it''s originally just 200 coins per mu," Li Zheng said. "But as a house lot, it would be 500 coins per mu. I''d say you need at least 3 mu for this house..."


    "Make it 6 mu, bigger is better."


    That was only 3.5 taels of silver, and she liked more spaciousness. There would be room for lots of things in the yardter on.


    "Alright, I''ll take you to survey it now."


    "No rush," Li Yao said. "I also want to buy the whole back mountain, and the two mountains behind that too."


    This time Li Zheng was stunned for quite a while.


    The several mountain ridges behind Li Yao''s house, apart from weeds, couldn''t grow anything. There wasn''t even a single tree.


    Although as infertile mountainnd the prices were low, that was still almost 5,000 mu!


    Even at the bare minimum 100 coins per mu, it would cost 500 taels of silver!


    500 taels!


    Spending so much to buy a few barren mountains that could only grow weeds, this was nothing short of madness.


    "What...what do you need so many barren mountains for?"


    "I have my own uses for them."


    Green waters and green mountains are gold and silver mountains. It seemed people of old times didn''t really understand this reasoning.


    Besides, if this was for farming and retirement, naturally there had to be somend first.


    She didn''tck food, so buying some hills to amuse herself and casually grow some pasture to raise cows and sheep, as well as some fruit trees and such, this was the retirement life she envisioned.


    She had originally only nned to buy the mountain behind her house. The reason for buying the two mountains further behind was to solve the water problem.


    Those two mountains were rtively much higher, and were positioned north-south. If she could build arge dam between the mountains, the water flowing down from the big mountain could gather here and form arge reservoir.


    Then He Wan vige wouldn''t need to worry about irrigation.


    She could also divert the water to her home and utilize hydropower to build some water-powered machines, like watermills and water wheels. Maybe it could even be used for generating electricity.


    Of course, that was all a long way off.


    What she looked forward to most now was nting lotus flowers in the reservoir, raising many fish, and rowing small boats for leisure during free time. Just thinking about it made her very happy.

 Chapter 45: Buy the Mountain

    <h4>Chapter 45</h4>


    Li Zheng had been busy for two whole days, recruiting over a dozen people to help measure the three barren hills. In total there were 4,800 mu.


    These hills all belonged to the vige, and were extremely infertile, so Li Zheng gave Li Yao the lowest price¡ª100 wen per mu, totaling 480 taels of silver.


    The 400 taels earned from the opening of the upscale shop, plus her previous savings, left her with around 100 taels after paying this money. She would use this to make bricks.


    As for the shortage, didn''t she earn money every day? With so many bricks, they couldn''t be fired in just a day or two. She could pay in installments, or even wait until the quantity built up before paying¡ªso there was no need to worry about money for building the house.


    These past two days, Li Zheng had marveled continuously.


    He had lived over half his life, and never imagined that River Bend Vige could produce such a wealthy person, and it just had to be Li Yao. He really didn''t know where her luck came from.


    The vigers also knew that Li Yao had bought several thousand mu of barren hills. While incredibly envious, some soured greatly, badmouthing her for being foolish.


    With so much money, she could have livedfortably in Yizhou Prefecture. She really was an idiot.


    Li Yao turned a deaf ear to this. Let them be sour¡ªshe was andowner now.


    "I''ve received the money. I''ll go to the county office to handle the title deed now," said Li Zheng before leaving.


    After he left, Li Yao took Da Zhuang and his wife Xiaoya to the back hill, pointing to the vast mountainous area, "Da Zhuang, from now on, manage thesends."


    "Yes ma''am!"


    Although it was barren mountainnd, the quantity was massive. Da Zhuang was so overjoyed he nearly fainted.


    Since childhood, he had farmed with his father, and knew deeply how importantnd was. He had always dreamed of owning tens of mu of good farnd, so his family would never have to worry about starving again.


    Now his childhood dream hade true!


    Although it was barren hills, he was confident in making them fertile¡ªgrowing wheat, or vegetables to raise geese. Wouldn''t that be a hundred times better than tens of mu of good farnd?


    Xiaoya tightly grasped Da Zhuang''s sleeve, on the verge of tears.


    She had suffered too much hardship marrying Da Zhuang, and endured too many contemptuous looks. Even now, her parents looked down on Da Zhuang, not even letting him sit at the table when they ate at her parents'' home...


    But now things were good.


    Not only could they earn money from the business, but they also had so much mountainnd. Life would get better from now on.


    At thising Spring Festival back home, Da Zhuang could finally stand tall and not have to stay silent before her parents.


    "Mother, starting tomorrow I won''t hawk anymore," said Da Zhuang. "I''ll start opening up wastnd."


    "Why do you need to open up wastnd?"


    "If I don''t, how can I farm in the future?" asked Da Zhuang.


    "With the drought now, what could you grow after opening it up?" said Li Yao. "Plus you''re alone - when would you finish?"


    Da Zhuang was even more confused. If they didn''t n on opening up wastnd, why buy thend?


    "Just stockpile it for now. In the new house vicinity, sow over ten mu of cabbage seeds -ter it can be used to feed the geese. That''s fine," said Li Yao.


    The goslings hatching at home woulde out in another ten days, estimated at over a hundred. So many geese needed to eat a lot of greens daily, relying solely on foraged weeds was definitely inadequate.


    So they had to grow their own vegetables and grass, but without water now,rge-scale nting was impossible. Just over ten mu was the limit.


    "Don''t worry about watering either," said Li Yao. "Spend a little money to hire some vigers - two days at most to water thoroughly. Watering twice a month should be enough."


    Da Zhuang was even more baffled. If others were doing the work, what was he supposed to do?


    "You''re in charge of management," said Li Yao. "In the future, I''ll tell you what to nt where on this mountainnd, and how to nt it. You just need to tell the hired people and get the specific work done well¡ªthat is your responsibility."


    "Understood, ma''am. But I still want to farm a few mu myself, otherwise just watching others work while I do nothing will make me very ufortable. The ox at home will be wasted too."


    Li Yao: ...


    "Do as you wish, it''s your ownnd. You can farm it however you want."


    The three arrived at the tnd halfway up the hill. Li Zheng had already marked out a rectangr foundation with wooden stakes.


    Surrounding the foundation was considerable t open space, especially therge area behind the main house, plus the gentle slope - over ten mu in total.


    Li Yao had deliberately reserved this space. In the future, it would be her backyard garden.


    "Li Zheng will help check the almanac. The day after tomorrow is suitable for breaking ground, so excavate the foundation," said Li Yao. "I''ll tell you how to dig now, and you supervise on siteter."


    "Alright."


    In this era, house foundations weren''t dug too deep, with just one story after all.


    But Li Yao wanted durability, so the digging had to be deep and wide enough. She would then fill it with rocks, lime, fine sand, and copious amounts of glutinous rice and tung oil paste.


    The mortar used to build the Great Wall followed this recipe. Although not as good as reinforced concrete, it would certainlyst decades.


    ...


    In the study, after hearing Wang Jiafu''s words, the Song County Magistrate took a long time to recover from the shock.


    "You''re saying... Li Yao from your River Bend Vige spent 480 taels of silver to buy 4,800 mu of barren hills?"


    "Yes sir," said Wang Jiafu. "If she hadn''t already given me the silver bills, I wouldn''t have believed it either."


    "Do you know what she ns to do with so much barren hills?"


    "I didn''t ask for details," Wang Jiafu replied.


    She was probably crazy, or had her own ideas, but Wang Jiafu didn''t dare say this in front of the county magistrate.


    "This Li Yao is increasingly puzzling," said the Song County Magistrate. "Since she''s paid the silver, go find the clerk to register it and handle the title deed."


    "Yes sir."


    "Right," the magistrate asked again, "How are things in River Bend Vige now? Do you still have surplus grain?"


    "Who has any grain left, sir? Most families are just getting by on wild vegetables. Winter is almost here, and there won''t be many wild veggies left. Everyone is still hoping the court could open the granaries for relief."


    Opening the granaries was impossible. With drought across thend and border conflicts, the court''s belt was cinched even tighter than themoners''. Where would they find grain for disaster relief?


    "You should figure something out first," said the Song County Magistrate. "Didn''t you just sell several thousand mu of hills for silver? Aside from remitting taxes, 96 taels could be left. Use that to purchase grain. If you get through this winter, things might improve in the spring."


    "That''s all we can do now."


    After Wang Jiafu left, the Song County Magistrate heaved a long sigh.


    The most difficult time had arrived.


    River Bend Vige was slightly better off, but he heard other viges in Bai County were already preparing to flee the famine.


    Yet faced with this, he still hadn''te up with any solutions.


    If a massive exodus urred, with refugees scattering everywhere, he would be guilty of dereliction as the new county magistrate.


    What should he do?

 Chapter 46: Building a House

    <h4>Chapter 46</h4>


    With the deed in hand, the auspicious day had arrived.


    Da Zhuang led over ten vigers to the site of Li Yao''s new home, ready to start digging the foundation.


    The propitious moment hade.


    After Li Yao dug the first spadeful, Da Zhuang led everyone to get busy.


    For Li Yao''s family to build such a big house, Wang Jiafu as the vige chief would definitelye to take a look. Li Yao also had a lot that she needed the vige chief''s help with.


    "I''ve already talked with the people firing the green bricks. In a few more days, they''ll be able to start delivering them," said the vige chief. "Since you need a lot, I got them to give you a discount, at two cents per brick. It''ll save quite a bit when calcted."


    "Thank you for going through the trouble."


    This vige chief really knew how to manage things.


    "We''re all one family, no need to stand on ceremony," said Wang Jiafu with a soft sigh as he looked at the dozens of busy vigers. "These dozen or so are lucky to be helping build your house. Your family is also providing meals, so they can earn a bit to buy food and provide for their families. But other families... Ah, I''m afraid they won''t be able to make it through this winter. Don''t even think about next year ¡ª they''ll probably all have to flee the famine. Not many will be left in the vige."


    Seeing his worried expression, Li Yao silently shook her head.


    It was said that those who live on a mountain live off the mountain.


    Therge mountain behind He Wan Vige was filled with unknown resources. It was just that people''s horizons were limited and they didn''t know any better for now.


    "Vige Chief, it''s not that difficult."


    "Ah?"


    Wang Jiafu''s eyes widened.


    With over a thousand vigers, they needed at least a few hundred catties of grain per day. How could this not be difficult?


    The fields were cracked and seeds sown would be wasted. How could this not be difficult?


    "I have a way for everyone to be able to nt grain."


    "Really?" Wang Jiafu couldn''t help his heart from racing. "What method do you have?"


    "It still relies on digging wells."


    The northern winters were dry enough. If each vige dug a well, it would ensure there was water for sowing in early spring.


    With He Wan Vige backed by such arge mountain range, there definitely wouldn''t be ack of groundwater either. Using it to irrigate thousands of mu should be no problem.


    "Vige Chief, if you believe me, then gather the vigers. We can start work today. My family''s Da Zhuang doesn''t have time or manpower to spare, so I''ll provide the funds to reinforce the well." Li Yao said, "If you don''t believe me, then forget I mentioned it."


    "I believe you!"


    They had reached this point. Even if he didn''t believe, he had to give it a try.


    What if it did work?


    So the vige chief immediately returned home and climbed up the big tree in his yard. He cleared his throat and started yelling.


    "Everyone listen up! Send someone to my home right away for an important discussion!"


    "Every household must send someone!"


    ...


    Before long, someone from every household had arrived.


    But when they heard it was about digging a well and relying on well water to grow grain, not a single person believed it.


    "A single well''s worth of water is probably not even enough to water one mu ofnd."


    "That''s right, we can''t exactly dig a well by every plot ofnd."


    "This Li Yao must be struck with foolishness again to think of such a rotten idea."


    "Who are you calling foolish?" Wang Xueshi immediately yelled when she heard this. "You''re so smart, yet still poor enough to eat chaff!"


    "Alright, stop arguing and listen to me!"


    The vige chief quieted everyone down and said, "Digging the well this time requires money if you have it,bor if you can provide it, but it is not mandatory. If you are willing to contribute either,e join. If not, that is fine too. However, after the well is dug, families who did not participate in digging the well cannot use the well water! Is that clear?"


    As vige chief, Wang Jiafu still held considerable prestige in He Wan Vige.


    With his statement, the previously disgruntled vigers all shut their mouths and stopped speaking.


    "Our family agrees to dig the well."


    At this time, Wang Yuancai stood up.


    He was the vige chief''s eldest son. His family ran a stewed food stall and owed Li Yao a huge favor, so he had to be the first to stand up and support Auntie Li''s and his father''s decision.


    "Our family will naturally participate," Wang Xueshi quickly followed, representing the Wang family ancestral home. This was the daughter-inw''s idea, so she had to show her support.


    Fang Mingchuan soon also said, "The Fang family also agrees."


    In He Wan Vige, the Fang family was arge n. As the patriarch, Fang Mingchuan also held significant sway.


    With the Wang and the Fang families banding together, they now represented over half of He Wan Vige.


    The remaining were all lesser families and households who mostly followed the greater flow.


    "Thankless work," Zhu Yougui said impatiently. "You all can do as you please. I certainly won''t go!"


    "Anyone else not participating?" Wang Jiafu asked.


    The crowd nced at each other, but no one else spoke up.


    And so, only Zhu Yougui''s family would not join the well digging effort.


    Wang Jiafu had already expected this result and could not be bothered to deal with thatzy Zhu Yougui.


    "Then it''s decided. Everyone gather at my home this afternoon and we''ll start work today."


    ...


    Wang Jiafu called Li Yao over to personally select a location.


    The well should not be too far from the fields, but also could not be too close to the river beach. So Li Yao selected an open spot not far from the vige entrance.


    "How wide should the well mouth be?"


    "Best if it''s 6 zhang." [1 zhang = 3.33 meters]


    The two hundred some people simultaneously gasped.


    A 20 meter wide well, how could that still be called a well?


    No wonder it required the strength of the entire vige. If only a few people or a few dozen worked on it, it would probably take them until next year to finish.


    "Alright, let''s get to work!"


    With twenty to thirty people able to stand and freely move about in a space of 20 meters, and everyone determined to see this through, they made significant progress in just three short days. They started setting up supports outside the well to use arge lever to haul out earth and rocks.


    On the fourth day in the evening, they reached the firstyer of red stone. That night they reached the secondyer, and there was already a lot of water.


    They had assumed this would be enough, but Li Yao did not let them stop.


    The well depth was not even 10 meters yet at this point, far from enough.


    "Keep going."


    If Li Yao said to keep going, then they would keep going.


    After continuously working another two days and nights, they finally reached the sixthyer of red stone, and the depth exceeded 20 meters. Li Yao felt this was about right.


    There was a huge amount of groundwater now that they could barely keep up with baling it out.


    Plus without advanced machinery, it would be extremely difficult and dangerous to dig any deeper.


    Next was reinforcing the well.


    Ideally they should userge stone bs for a well this big, but there was no time to obtain those. The green bricks Li Yao had ordered happened to arrive, so she had them brought directly to the well to be used first.


    The vige chief was knowledgeable about this and had prepared ked lime, glutinous rice, and fine sand ahead of time to make thick mortar. They used the green bricks to line the well walls from the bottom upyer byyer.


    To make it convenient for future ess, they also built stairs into the well walls, allowing easy ess to the well bottom at any time for drawing water or installing a water wheel.


    Outside the well opening, they also built the walls over a meter high to prevent people or livestock from identally falling in.


    After finishing reinforcing the well, they still needed to continuously bail out the well water to allow the walls to dry.


    Of course Li Yao did not need to worry about these matters. She was with He Xiaoya, looking forward to the gosling hatching from its egg.

 Chapter 47: Gosling Well

    <h4>Chapter 47</h4>


    "Mother, how much longer do we have to wait?" Inside the incubation room, He Xiaoya anxiously looked at the goose eggs that showed no sign of hatching.


    "Don''t be impatient. They''lle out when the time is right."


    The two waited another half hour in front of the incubator, when one of the goose eggs suddenly moved a little.


    "It moved! Is it going to hatch soon?"


    "It should be."


    "The egg shell is so thick. What if the gosling can''t peck through it?" He Xiaoya asked worriedly.


    "That''s unlikely. Don''t underestimate them."


    Li Yao hadn''t actually seen goslings hatching, but she believed in science. In nature, so many species of birds hatched by pecking through the egg shell themselves.


    If any were really underdeveloped and couldn''t break through, they could lend a handter. It wouldn''t be toote.


    Soon after, the first gosling finally pecked a small hole in the egg shell, then slowly pecked away at the surrounding shell, poking out aplete little head.


    An hourter, the vast majority of goslings had sessfully hatched.


    Once dry, they were fluffy feathered. Seeing these cute little goslings, He Xiaoya felt her heart melting.


    But even more was her admiration for Li Yao.


    Without a mother hen, relying only on a few small oilmps, she could hatch goslings. No one else in the world had such skills.


    The few that couldn''t hatch themselves, He Xiaoya helped crack the shells, and they crawled out sessfully too.


    But these were noticeably smaller, and it was unknown whether they could survive.


    "Raise these separately for now," said Li Yao, "and mix them with the others when they grow up some."


    "Okay." He Xiaoya nodded, looking at the unhatched eggs somewhat regretfully, "It''s a pity these few didn''t make it."


    "Survival of the fittest is normal," said Li Yao. "Did you count how many hatched?"


    "A total of 121."


    Out of 200 eggs, 121 goslings hatched.


    Under these conditions, the hatch rate was quite good.


    And with the experience from the first try, future hatch rates would improve.


    Newly hatched goslings couldn''t eat grass, but were first fed egg yolks for two days, then soft cooked rice mixed with fine bran or wheat bran.


    After a week they could be fed boiled rice or wheat.


    Fortunately the goslings didn''t have huge appetites, otherwise feeding so many would eat the family poor.


    Under He Xiaoya''s attentive care, the goslings grew very well, lively and energetic. Wang Xiao Si also brought back good news from the dry well.


    "Master Li said we can start collecting water today."


    "Don''t know how much it''ll collect overnight," Da Zhuang was very concerned about the well, because they needed water to nt crops. "I''ll go take a look first thing tomorrow morning."


    "I''ll go too."


    The next morning, after basic training on the hillside with Wang San, Li Yao came to the well.


    Other vigers had arrived much earlier, surrounding the well in severalyers.


    Seeing the unconceble joy on their faces, Li Yao knew there must be a good amount of well water.


    "Li Yao,e see!" After just one night the well filled up! So much well water, we can nt all the fields in our vige!"


    Li Yao went over to look, and saw the water level was about even with other wells, around five meters above ground.


    This was the highest groundwater level, no more would rise.


    But there were still over 15 meters below, about 5000 tons of water. Even with dry soil and flooding irrigation, it could irrigate 50 mu in one go.


    "Let''s start digging the irrigation channels," said Li Yao, "then set up a waterwheel to channel water to the fields so everyone can start nting."


    "No rush, no rush."


    The vige head and Fang Mingchuan came over, representing the two biggest surnames in He Wan vige, as well as most vigers.


    "Li Yao, not only did you propose a good solution this time, but also funded it yourself, your contributions are too great! But you also know everyone is very poor now, and can''t offer much to thank you."


    "It''s no big deal, no need to thank me."


    "No no no, this is a huge deal," Fang Mingchuan said solemnly. "You''ve saved our entire vige, your merit is immense!"


    "So we decided to name this well after you," the vige head announced loudly. "From now on this well shall be called Yao Well! I will go find a big stone and carve these characters to ce by the well side! Whenever peoplee to draw water, they will be reminded of your merit!"


    Li Yao: ......


    Let''s not do that.


    Naming a well after her was too embarrassing no matter how she looked at it.


    "Why don''t I pick a name?"


    "That works too," said Wang Jiafu. "Go ahead and pick one now."


    Li Yao thought about it. When the well was dug, her goslings had just hatched.


    "Let''s call it Gosling Well."


    "Great, Gosling Well it is!"


    And so the name of this dry well was happily settled.


    The next few days, vigers didn''t continue going up the mountain to dig vegetables, but the whole families went out to work on the irrigation channels and fields. For a time all of He Wan vige was filled with the vigers''bor.


    The cracked dry earth quickly softened under everyone''s hard work. The waterwheel was erected over the well mouth, ready to draw water out at any time.


    To show thanks to Li Yao, everyone decided unanimously that her family would use the water first.


    Da Zhuang had already leveled the ground and sown the wheat seeds and fertilizer, and eagerly climbed onto the waterwheel.


    Wang Jia Gui, Wang Dingyuan, and Wang Yuancai, the eldest son of the vige head''s family, also came to help. The four men worked the waterwheel together.


    Gurgle gurgle...


    As the waterwheel turned, clear well water was quickly brought up and flowed down the irrigation channel towards the fields.


    Seeing the parched earth turn moist, continuously bubbling, the vigers were deeply moved.


    With this well, they could have a wheat harvest next year. No one needed to think about fleeing famine!


    Being able to live and work in one ce, who wanted to leave their home and well behind?


    "Li Yao, mention anything you need help with in the future, we''ll alle lend a hand."


    "Why state the obvious?" someoneughed. "Aren''t they building a new house? We''ll all send one person from each family to get it done for them quickly!"


    "Right, that''s a good idea, let''s go tomorrow!"


    Seeing the beaming smiles and changed attitudes of the vigers towards her, Li Yao felt somewhat strange for reasons she couldn''t pinpoint. She had never experienced such a scene growing up.


    Although not ustomed to it, she didn''t feel averse either.


    "Mother," He Xiaoya stood on the ridge, eagerly looking at the just-nted earth, her eyes full of expectation for the future. "Next year we''ll definitely have a good harvest, right?"


    Li Yao nodded.


    Having a good harvest was probably the greatest expectation of people in this era.


    "Hurry home, there''s a strong wind outside."


    Packing away the feelings from her maiden name, Li Yao quickly headed home.


    ......


    "Sir!"


    "I have great news!"


    Hearing Wang Jiafu''s voice, magistrate Song frowned.


    This old vige head was usually very steady. Why was he so impetuous today, his voice preceding his person?


    "Come in, what is it?"


    "Wonderful news, sir!" Wang Jiafu, disregarding etiquette, rushed in breathlessly. "We''ve nted all our crops in the vige!"


    "What?"


    Magistrate Song shot up, forgetting the dignity of a county magistrate. "Speak! What happened?"

 Chapter 48: Great Work

    <h4>Chapter 48</h4>


    "Dig a well?"


    Song County Magistrate couldn''t figure out how the water in a well could be enough to irrigate thousands of acres of parchednd.


    "Is there really that much water underground?"


    "Sir," Wang Jiafu said, "Would I dare to talk nonsense in front of you? Most of the fields in our vige have been irrigated once, and the seeds have been nted."


    Song County Magistrate''s heart suddenly thumped uncontrobly.


    If this was true, it would be too good!


    After pacing around, he immediately thought of the key to the matter.


    "Zhang County Captain, prepare a carriage immediately. I want to go see it myself! If it''s really feasible, other viges should start digging wells overnight!"


    "Yes!"


    ...


    "Mother! Mother!"


    Li Yao was sunning at home when Wang Xiao Si rushed back like a gust of wind.


    "What are you yelling about?"


    "Mother, the county magistrate is here! Grandpa Li said he''s here to see the little goose well."


    What?


    Just a well could make the county magistratee in person?


    Li Yao thought for a bit and felt something was wrong.


    The county magistrate was an official, a parent official, so ordinarymoners would kneel and bow when they saw him. As a modern person, she didn''t want to do that.


    If you can''t afford to provoke someone, can''t you hide from them?


    "Wang San''er."


    "Yes Mother?"


    "Let''s go. Mother will take you to the mountains to train wilderness survival."


    Wang San''er blinked and asked, "What''s wilderness survival?"


    "That''s spending a whole day in the big mountain with just a knife and fire-starter."


    Wang San''er''s eyes lit up. This sounded super fun. He picked up the firewood axe and left.


    Seeing them leave in such a hurry, Wang Er, who was studying in the yard, wondered. Mother was always fearless, why did she rush into the mountain when she heard the county magistrate wasing?


    ...


    In the end, Song County Magistrate came on horseback.


    The roads in River Bend Vige were too narrow for the county carriage.


    Besides Yu County Vice Magistrate, Zhang County Captain, Liu Tutor, he also brought several attendants with swords - the entire county yamen contingent was here.


    Seeing such a huge entourage, the vigers of River Bend were so scared they hid in their homes and didn''t daree out, so when Song County Magistrate arrived at the fields, he didn''t see a single person.


    "Didn''t they say they were farming here?" Yu County Vice Magistrate looked and immediately became unhappy. "Where are the people?"


    "This..." the vige head said, "The fields are all nted, everyone probably went back to rest..."


    "Nonsense!" Yu County Vice Magistrate''s face darkened as he coldly said, "Knowing Sir Song wasing, instead ofing out to greet us, they all ran home to hide. What kind of etiquette is this? Hurry and call everyone out!"


    "Yes, I''ll go right away."


    "No need."


    Song County Magistrate waved his hand. Right now he had no interest in putting on official airs. He only wanted to know if thend before him had really been nted, and if there would really be a harvest next year.


    "Let''s go look at the fields."


    "Sir, how can this be?" Yu County Vice Magistrate quickly advised, "The fields are so dirty, it will soil your shoes."


    "Haha, I''m not that pretentious."


    Song County Magistrate walked into a field, used his hand to dig up some soil, and indeed saw some plump wheat grains.


    The mud in the field was also moist one chi down, looking freshly watered and soaked through.


    "Not bad, not bad at all! Vige Head Wang, take me to see that well."


    "Yes sir, please follow me."


    The group came to the well. Song County Magistrate looked and silently praised it. The well was so big, with so much water, no wonder it was enough to irrigate thousands of acres.


    If other viges, even other counties, even the entire Yizhou Prefecture followed suit, even if next year was dry again, there would be no worries about the grain harvest.


    "Vige Head Wang, you have rendered outstanding service this time."


    "No no, it wasn''t my contribution," Wang Jiafu quickly waved his hands, "I could not havee up with this method."


    "Then who thought of it?"


    "Replying to you sir, it was Li Yao from our vige."


    For some reason, Song County Magistrate was not surprised at all upon hearing this news.


    When he first heard of this, he had a vague feeling that this matter was rted to Li Yao, and now it turned out to be so.


    He then saw arge stone erected by the well and asked, "What is this stone for?"


    "This is prepared to engrave the well''s name," Wang Jiafu replied, "We just haven''t had time the past few days."


    "Oh?" Song County Magistrate curiously asked, "What is this well called then?"


    "At first we nned to call it Yao Well, using Li Yao''s name, but she didn''t agree to it," said Wang Jiafu. "Then Li Yao gave this well a name - Little Goose Well."


    She could have had a well named after her, with her name carved on stone to be passed down for generations, yet in the face of such an honor, Li Yao actually refused it?


    Song County Magistrate became even more curious. Just what kind of person was this Li Yao?


    "Where is she? I want to meet her."


    "I''ll go get her right away."


    But soon Wang Jiafu ran back: "Li Yao went into the mountains to dig herbs..."


    "What?" Yu County Vice Magistrate unhappily said, "The County Magistrate wants to see her and she runs off to the mountains to dig herbs? Why isn''t someone going to fetch her back immediately?"


    Wang Jiafu was sweating profusely: "Sir, the mountain is huge, no one knows where she is..."


    "Are you saying the County Magistrate has to go into the mountains himself to look for someone he wants to meet?"


    "Yu County Vice Magistrate," Song County Magistrate coldly said, "She''s not home, forget it. Don''t bring this up again."


    "But sir, reproaching..."


    "I said, don''t bring this up again." Song County Magistrate''s face darkened. "Also, speak to themoners with less pretense in the future."


    "Yes."


    Yu County Vice Magistrate verbally agreed, but was extremely unhappy inside.


    This County Magistrate really thought highly of himself, actually dressing him down in front of so many people.


    Hmph, reprimanding him, Yu County Vice Magistrate! One day, he would make this County Magistrate know his might!


    After rewarding Li Yao, Song County Magistrate called over his clerk and ordered: "Li Yao has again rendered outstanding service by digging wells to fight drought. Note this down. Also, reward 50 taels of silver."


    "Yes!"


    50 taels of silver was no small sum, even making Yu County Vice Magistrate a little envious.


    This contribution for digging wells to fight drought was merit the County Magistrate could have imed for himself. They could have divided the rewards in private.


    But now, none of them got any credit, let alone any rewards, and still had to suffer this pointless trip.


    Keep up your high and mighty attitude! One day, he would make this County Magistrate know his capabilities!


    After rewarding Li Yao, Song County Magistrate also instructed Wang Jiafu to have Li Yao visit the county yamen as soon as she returned home, to discuss digging wells in other viges.


    Baichuan County had over 20 other viges. If they could all use this method to dig wells for water, themoners of the entire county would have a harvest next year.


    After sessful trials in a few viges, he would immediately report to Yizhou Prefecture and havemoners across Yizhou use this method to fight drought.


    If sessful, it would definitely be a great achievement that would astound even the Emperor!

 Chapter 49: A Couple of beatings and then you’re cool.

    <h4>Chapter 49</h4>


    "No."


    That evening when Li Yao brought Wang San''er back home, Vige Head was still waiting for them in the yard. As soon as he heard that she was asked to go see the County Magistrate, she rejected it without a second thought.


    "Li Yao," Wang Jiafu said solemnly, "Let''s not talk about giving County Magistrate face for now, but he is an official and we aremoners. Asmoners, how can we not obey the officials?"


    Li Yao sighed inwardly. The most annoying thing about this social system was exactly this.


    Everyone must be divided into sses.


    And people at the bottom didn''t seem to have the courage to rebel either. She didn''t see a shred of the bold spirit of "a man should aspire for more".


    "Then let Wang Er go," she said.


    "It''s better if you go yourself."


    "I''m sick," Li Yao said. "I caught a cold from the cold winds on the mountain today. I''ll have to stay in bed for at least ten days to half a month. If the County Magistrate can wait, I''ll go see him after I recover."


    Wang Jiafu''s mouth twitched. What nonsense illness was this! But since Li Yao insisted on not going, he had no choice but to lie for her. Fortunately, she said to let Wang Er go, so he could still exin himself.


    Wang Er was a little nervous about this task.


    This time waspletely different fromst time.


    Last time they were just digging a small well. It wouldn''t matter much if they couldn''t get water. But this time they were digging a big well, which required the effort of the whole vige for many days.


    If they couldn''t get water, the loss would be huge.


    "Don''t worry," Li Yao said, "Since the small well has water, you can definitely get water from the big well too."


    Wang Er nodded and hurriedly packed up.


    When Lv Xiucai heard that Wang Er was leaving for at least ten days to half a month, he also went home and packed some things.


    After teaching Wang Er for so long, he realized Wang Er was a promising talent. So he couldn''t fall behind on his studies. Anyway, he didn''t need to work on digging the well. It would be good to teach him some reading when they had time.


    Li Yao didn''t object to this. She prepared enough rations for the two and also packed a thick cotton quilt. The night temperature was a bit cold now. It would be easy to catch a cold without shelter and food.


    After Wang Er left with Vige Head for the county government, Li Yao went to check on the new house construction site.


    All the foundations had beenid and were now drying. Over a dozen vigers were helping transport bricks from the foot of the mountain, already stackingrge piles.


    These weren''t the adults Li Yao called on, but people who came to help voluntarily after she had solved the water shortage problem. Yesterday the adults wanted to pay them wages, but no one epted any money.


    Li Yao felt this was inappropriate.


    Everything should be separate. She dug the wells and fought the drought, for which the County Magistrate had already rewarded 50 taels of silver. So she absolutely would not take advantage of the vigers'' small favor.


    So she asked Wang Xiao Si to go to the market with the adults to buy a few jin of high-quality pork, and cooked tworge pots of dishes, as well as steaming baskets of big white buns.


    When it was noon, the vigers who were helping with the work were about to go home for lunch when they suddenly smelled the aroma of meat dishes.


    Wang Xiao Si and He Xiaoya brought over tworge pots of dishes on a cart, as well as severalrge steaming baskets.


    "Everyonee eat!"


    Looking at the big white buns and smelling the rich meaty aroma, over a dozen vigers couldn''t help but swallow drool. But everyone had agreed earlier that they were helping to transport bricks and would absolutely not ept any money from Li Yao, so they definitely couldn''t eat this meal either.


    "Your granny said to let me go home and eat," Wang Yuanbang said. "If I take advantage of sister-inw''s generosity, I''ll be scolded when I go back."


    Wang Yuanbang was Li Yao''s husband''s youngest brother, the fourth child in the family. He was 17 this year but didn''t have a wife yet.


    He had been working as aborer with his third brother Wang Yuanguo at the Yizhou Prefecture pier. Now Wang Yuanguo didn''t do hardbor anymore and was helping Li Yao purchase beeswax and other things, bing a professional purchaser.


    So Wang Yuanbang didn''t want to do hardbor either. He wanted toe back and work for sister-inw Li Yao.


    It was just that he had only been back for a few days and hadn''t even seen Li Yao''s face yet.


    "Fourth uncle, don''t be so polite," He Xiaoya said. "It''s just a meal. How can that be taking advantage? Besides, you''re alling to help our family work without taking any wages. If we don''t even give you meals, what will others say about us? My mother said that if you don''t eat this meal, then don''te help our family in the future."


    Everyone looked at each other, unsure what to do, and kept looking to Wang Yuanbang, since he was the closest to Li Yao here.


    Wang Yuanbang really wanted to eat this meal. After all, it smelled too good, far better than the fare at the canteen. But working as aborer at the pier, he only made 70-80 wen a month. How could he afford to eat out?


    "Alright, let''s eat then," Wang Yuanbang made up his mind. He''d just take the scolding when he went back. At least his stomach would be full first.


    Seeing him agree, the others also revealed joy on their faces. They wiped their hands on their clothes and crowded over to divide up the dishes and buns.


    Today''s dishes were made by He Xiaoya.


    One was garlic sprout braised pork, and the other was a stir fry of pork belly cut in a 3:7 ratio, boiled then sliced into strips and stir fried into a scrambled egg shape, with plenty of sauce, and finally tender garlic sprouts added in at the end. With the rich aroma of pork fat, how could anyone resist this vor?


    Especially for vigers who rarely got to eat meaty dishes and did physicalbor all year round, as soon as a slice of the fatty yet not greasy pork entered their mouths, the wonderful soft and chewy feeling could make their souls leave their bodies.


    The other dish was stir fried cabbage.


    Cabbage is verymon, but few people love to eat it.


    Because cabbage doesn''t have oil or juice, when cooked it bes soggy and runs through your intestines.


    But He Xiaoya''s cabbage was different. She didn''t boil it in water, but used a lot of oil to stir fry it over high heat, and added a lot ofrd cracklings right before taking it off the heat.


    The cabbage cooked this way had some crispy tenderness, and was permeated with the fragrance of porkrd.


    "Xiaoya, your cooking skills are so good!"


    "These dishes are too delicious!"


    "Sister-inw Li Yao''s casual home cooking is better than what we eat on New Year''s!"


    Seeing everyone eat the dishes heartily, He Xiaoya was filled withplex emotions.


    Her mother didn''t even let her eat a lot of these two dishes at home.


    She said eating too much fatty meat andrd could make you fat easily. Although people say a broad mind and a fat body are fortunate, her mother didn''t think gaining weight was good. She didn''t understand why, but just listened to her mother as always.


    But in the eyes of these other vigers, this was cuisine they might not even get to eat on New Year''s.


    This reminded her that not long ago, her family was probably not as well off as the people in front of her. But now, everything waspletely different.


    And all of this was brought by her mother.


    Not only did her mother change their family''s life, she also brought blessings to the vigers. So in her eyes, even though her mother was still cold-faced all day, she knew her mother was definitely not a ruthless, unfeeling shrew who didn''t even recognize her own family like some people said.


    Just as He Xiaoya was lost in thought, shouts suddenly came from the foot of the mountain.


    "Everyonee quickly!"


    "Zhu Yougui is stealing water to irrigate his fields!"


    Upon hearing this, several people who were eating immediately put down their food in righteous indignation.


    "Wanting to use water without contributing effort, how can there be such good things?"


    "Let''s go see!"


    "We need to teach people like him a lesson with a beating or two to make him behave!"


    Seeing over a dozen people rush to the drought relief well without even finishing their meals, He Xiaoya also felt a little anxious.


    "Xiao Si, I''ll watch the food here. Go call mother back from the mountain quickly."


    "Okay."


    Wang Xiao Si immediately ran off like the wind.

 Chapter 50: What a good thing.

    <h4>Chapter 50</h4>


    Although Li Yao bought the mountain, her training grounds were still located in the more distant forest.


    She didn¡¯t want too many people to know about her business. After all, it would easily arouse people¡¯s suspicions that a formerly petnt and unreasonable farmer¡¯s wife suddenly became skilled with knives, guns, sticks and swords.


    Even when training with Wang San¡¯er, she had never revealed her true strength to him.


    Wang San¡¯er was 11 years old this year and his bones were still developing. However, after carrying the little pig up and down the mountain every day for this period of time, in addition to adequate nutrition, he had genuinely grown taller and stronger by a significant amount. His strength was far greater than the vige boys of the same age.


    Coupled with the scientific basic training she had devised, Wang San¡¯er''s growth was visible to the naked eye.


    "Mother! Something happened in the vige!"


    Li Yao was just having Wang San¡¯er practice the plum blossom stakes when she heard Xiao Si''s voice.


    When she heard that Zhu Yougui was stealing water to irrigate hisnd and was likely to be mobbed, Li Yao decided to go back and watch the fun.


    Zhu Yougui was the kind of person who not only contributed money and effort when Vige Head first gathered everyone to dig a well, but also sniped with cold words there. Now that the well was done, he wanted toe and use the water too. There was no such good thing in this world!


    When she arrived at Gosling Well, dozens of vigers had already surrounded Zhu Yougui there.


    Amidst the condemnation of the crowd, Zhu Yougui was like a dead pig not afraid of boiling water, with an unchanging expression, allowing everyone to criticize him in all sorts of ways,pletely unmoved.


    "Zhu Yougui, you didn''t do anything at first, now you have the nerve to use the water?"


    "Why wouldn''t I dare?" Zhu Yougui said, "This is the vige well, not yours. On what basis can you not let me use it?"


    "Vige Head said it very clearly at the beginning that whoever''s family did not contribute work and funds, they would not be allowed to use water in the future!"


    Zhu Yougui showed a contemptuous look and said, "So what if I use it now? What can you do about it? Ask me to pour the water back? I can go piss in the well if you want!"


    "You dare!"


    "Or should I just piss now?"


    Seeing him so shameless, some of the young vigers really couldn''t stand it anymore.


    The hot-blooded Wang Yuanbang rushed to Zhu Yougui first.


    "Go ahead and piss if you dare, let¡¯s see if I don''t beat you to a pulp!"


    "Then I''ll just piss."


    As he spoke, Zhu Yougui actually walked to the well and started taking off his pants in front of dozens of people, frightening the women who hade to watch and quickly turned their heads.


    Seeing him so shameless, Wang Yuanbang grabbed him by the cor and lifted him up in one go.


    Having worked as a docker at the pier for two years, his strength was far beyond ordinary people. He mmed Zhu Yougui heavily to the ground.


    Bang!


    mmed violently to the ground, Zhu Yougui saw stars and was beaten silly and stupid.


    Knowing that he was no match for Wang Yuanbang, and there were so many people around, he simply started moaning on the ground.


    "Ouch...you''re beating me to death..."


    "Vige Head,e quick, someone wants to beat me to death..."


    ...


    "Disgusting thing, you deserve to be beaten to death!"


    "Scum like him remaining in the vige will only bring disaster, let''s drive him out!"


    "Right, drive him out of He Wan Vige!"


    "Drive him out!"


    No one would sympathize with this kind of person, they all looked at him with disgust.


    This guy was used to beingzy and making trouble, asionally stealing chickens and dogs, and everyone was already fed up with him.


    But Zhu Yougui was a viger of He Wan Vige, registered on the roster, so Vige Head would have to be involved to drive him out of the vige.


    Unfortunately, Vige Head was with the county magistrate digging wells in other viges these days.


    At this moment someone saw Li Yaoing over and suddenly felt hopeful: "Sister-inw Li is here!"


    "Auntie Li, this Zhu Yougui is really hateful. We all want to drive him out of He Wan Vige. Can it be done?"


    "Sister Li, this guy often opposed you in the past, you can''t be soft-hearted!"


    Li Yao was a little confused.


    Whether to drive someone out of the vige was up to her to decide?


    Let alone whether it was legal, wasn''t Vige Head still in the vige?


    It seemed that her status in the vige had reached the point where it could pose a threat to Vige Head, which was not a good thing at all.


    "Talk to Vige Head about this matter. I''m just here to watch the excitement."


    Seeing that Li Yao didn''t want to get involved in this trivial matter, Zhu Yougui, who was lying on the ground, suddenly became delighted in his heart.


    In the past, he was not afraid of anyone in the vige, but now he was afraid of Li Yao, and it was a fear mixed with hatred. This woman really dared to beat him violently, and even the county magistrate had asked to see her by name, so he didn''t dare provoke her.


    As long as Li Yao didn''t intervene, then no one could do anything to him!


    Seeing that Li Yao was unwilling to intervene, people were somewhat discouraged. Then Li Yao suddenly asked, "Who hit him?"


    "It was... it was me."


    Although he had just returned home for a few days, Wang Yuanbang knew about his capable sister-inw Li Yao, who was formidable beyond measure.


    Seeing Li Yao frowning slightly, he thought he had done something wrong, so he felt a little uneasy in his heart.


    Unexpectedly, Li Yao asked again: "Why did you hit him so lightly?"


    "Huh?"


    Wang Yuanbang was stunned.


    Did sister-inw mean for him to hit harder?


    Worthy of being my sister-inw!


    "Then I''ll beat him up some more!"


    Wang Yuanbang said as he pulled Zhu Yougui up again and punched him in the face several times.


    This time Zhu Yougui was really beaten up badly, with fists the size of sandbags hitting him like iron, beating him silly and dizzy, with blood streaming from his nose.


    Finally he simply closed his eyes andy still on the ground pretending to be dead.


    "What are you doing?"


    Suddenly a shriek, as Zhu Yougui''s old mother pushed through the crowd and saw Zhu Yougui beaten half to death, she immediately tore open her throat and began wailing loudly.


    "Oh heavens! What has the worlde to?"


    "Robbery and murder in broad daylight!"


    "I only have this one son, now he''s been beaten like this, how are we supposed to live?"


    "We might as well take a rope and hang ourselves by this well!"


    ...


    Weeping, making a scene and threatening suicide, this olddy was quite skilled at it.


    In the past, because of her age, the vigers basically would not continue to hold it against her under these circumstances, so they were all prepared to go home and make lunch.


    As for how to deal with Zhu Yougui, they still had to wait for Vige Head toe back.


    Just as people were about to disperse, Li Yao took the rope handed over by Wang Xiao Si and pped it in front of Zhu Yougui and his mother.


    "Weren''t you going to hang yourselves? It just so happens I have a rope here, let me lend it to you."


    Zhu Yougui''s old mother was stunned. What was going on?


    In the past, she only needed this trick and no one would dare continue to persecute her. But today, Li Yao was lending her a rope?


    "You...you have such a vicious heart, how can you be so cruel?"


    "How am I vicious?" Li Yaoughed. "I''m being kind, afraid your rope at home is not sturdy enough and would snap halfway through. Then you''d be dead without seeding, and still suffer miserably alive."


    "You...you..."


    Zhu Yougui''s old mother was so angry her face turned pale. The other vigers cheered in their hearts.


    It was time someone dealt with this mother and son, and the most suitable person was naturally Li Yao.


    "What, don''t want to die anymore?" Li Yao asked.


    "Humph, what does it matter to you whether I live or die?"


    "It doesn''t matter to me," said Li Yao. "But you stealing the water from this well does matter to me."


    "This well doesn''t belong to you..."


    Li Yao stepped forward and said coldly, "I had this well dug, I paid for the digging, I paid for the well lining too. Now if I say this well is mine, who would object?"


    "That''s right, this well belongs to Sister-inw Li!"


    "It was even named after Auntie initially, she just didn''t want to take credit for it!"


    "Did you hear that?" Li Yao''s words were ruthless. "This is my well, so without my approval, you won''t get a single drop of water! If you dare to steal again next time, don''t me me for being impolite!"


    Zhu Yougui''s old mother had nothing to say.


    In front of others she could y the elderly card, throw tantrums and make trouble, but this Li Yao was ten times more powerful when she wanted to make trouble!


    But if they didn''t use water, what would they eat next year?


    So she came up with an idea, and two streams of tears instantly flowed down her face.


    "How can you bear to watch this old mother and son starve to death? How can you be so heartless?"


    Li Yao coldlyughed and retorted, "What were you doing when we were digging the well? Did I not let youe? Did the vige head not let youe? Or did other vigers not let youe? You don''t want to do anything yet expect good fortune. Tell me, where in this world can you find such good things? I too wish I could go."

 Chapter 51: The Most Annoying Moral Kidnapping.

    <h4>Chapter 51</h4>


    Li Yao was most annoyed by moral kidnapping.


    Therefore, no matter how tragically Zhu Yougui''s old mother cried or how pitifully she pleaded, Li Yao was not moved at all.


    If you indulged people like this once, there would be a second time, a third time, and countless times more. If you did not discipline them thoroughly, they would never change.


    "Xiao Si," she called.


    "Mother, what is it?"


    "From now on, you keep watch here during the day. At night, have your eldest and third brothers take turns keeping watch," Li Yao said. "If they dare toe draw water, tell me immediately."


    "I understand, Mother!"


    Seeing that she was truly so ruthless and resolute, Zhu Yougui''s old mother knew that continuing to cry and plead was useless.


    But when she thought that they would have no grain harvested next year at best, and would have to flee the famine at worst, the uneasiness in her heart grew stronger.


    "Li Yao," she came before Li Yao and fell to her knees with a thud, "I know we were in the wrong before, but this time I''m begging you, let us use a little water to nt the seeds. Otherwise we really won''t have any way to survive next year!"


    "Impossible."


    "Then...then what do I have to do for you to agree?"


    Seeing that she was starting to soften, Li Yao pretended to think before saying, "If you want to use the water from this well, you have to contribute money orbor like everyone else."


    "But where would our family get money?" Zhu Yougui''s old mother said mournfully, "What''s more, the well is already dug, we can''t contribute anybor..."


    "The well may be dug, but the roads in our vige are still in poor shape," Li Yao said. "Your family should repair the road from our vige to the market town. I won''t ask you to repair the whole thing, just our vige''s section. Then you can use the well water like everyone else in the future."


    Zhu Yougui''s old mother was old but not stupid at all.


    Even if they only repaired the section for He Wan Vige, that was still three li.


    She knew best what kind of person her son was. She was also advanced in age and couldn''t do much work in a day. By the time they finished repairing the road, the final nting time would certainly be missed.


    "Li Yao, please, do me a favor. You know my son is useless. He definitely won''t repair the road, so I''d have to do it alone. How long would that take me? So can''t you let us nt first, and then repair the road?"


    "No. It''s your business if your son doesn''t listen to you," Li Yao said coldly. "Do you expect me to let you use my family''s well water and help you discipline your son too?"


    Having said this, Li Yao didn''t want to waste time bargaining with this old woman. She turned to go back home. The original body was an unreasonable shrew, and she wasn''t some softhearted phnthropist either.


    But before she had taken more than a few steps, Zhu Yougui''s old mother agreed: "Fine, I''ll repair it."


    Li Yao did not look back but continued swiftly towards home.


    Not long after, vigers saw Zhu Yougui''s old mother shouldering a hoe and starting to repair the road. The vigers did not continue to make things difficult for her. After all, these were the conditions Li Yao had proposed, and everyone agreed with her approach.


    It was just that seeing the old woman digging there alone without any sign of Zhu Yougui, the vigers couldn''t help but shake their heads.


    The fault lies with the father for failing to discipline his adopted son. Who else could be med?


    ...


    At dusk, Wang Yuanbang came to the door covered in dust.


    Today he and over a dozen vigers had carried bricks all day. As head of his household, he naturally had to tally the number and report it to Li Yao.


    "There were exactly 5,000 bricks today, not one more or less."


    Having seen Wang Yuanbang violently beat someone earlier, Li Yao knew he was quite strong. She hadn''t expected him to be so meticulous as well.


    "Thank you."


    "Sister-inw, you''re too polite," Wang Yuanbang scratched his head. "Well, I''m heading back now. I''lle move more bricks tomorrow."


    After interacting a couple times, Wang Yuanbang was no longer as afraid of Li Yao. After reporting the numbers, he would chat with Wang San''er.


    The uncle and nephew were both fans of brute force. As soon as they started talking, it was about how to wage war at the frontiers, how to kill enemies, and how to win achievements and promotions... Two snotty brats who hadn''t seen any blood were miming excitedly in the yard.


    This made Li Yao shake her head repeatedly. This was how men were, liking to wield des and fight battles.


    She was different.


    She liked to suddenly make her move when her opponent was unprepared, delivering a fatal blow...


    ...


    Baiyun Vige suffered the most severe drought in Baichuan Market. Therefore, the county magistrate chose it for the first emergency relief well.


    If plentiful water could be drawn here, the other viges would likely be fine too.


    But this drought relief well was quiterge, and the digging progressed slowly. By the evening of the third day, they had only gone down more than ten meters.


    The county magistrate had not returned to the county office these past few days. Instead he stayed in the head family''s home in Baiyun Vige. He kept watch until midnight every night, and got up before dawn every morning. As a result, he had lost a whole circle around his waist.


    Seeing the county magistrate share their hardships like this, the vigers of Baiyun picked up their pace as well.


    But unlike Li Yao''s vige, the well diggers of Baiyun returned home every day to eat a bit of wild vegetables. They no longer had any strength left, so progress was truly slow.


    Watching the sky darken as another day passed, the county magistrate grew increasingly anxious.


    "How is it going?"


    "Sir," the apanying Captain Zhang reported, "they''ve broken through the fifthyer of red rock, but there''s very little water. They''re digging the sixthyer now."


    So they had reached the most critical juncture?


    If he remembered correctly, the shallow well in He Wan Vige had also broken through the sixthyer of red rock.


    "Let''s go, I want to watch them dig."


    "Sir, you''ve been working nonstop for days. Please rest first," Captain Zhang said. "I''lle get you when they break through..."


    "Rest? What rest?" The county magistrate flung his sleeve. "Themoners can barely afford meals. How could I think about resting? Send two men back to the county office and tell my wife to take 5 taels of silver and buy noodles. The well diggers are exhausted and should enjoy a full meal today."


    Captain Zhang cupped his fists in acquiescence. He wanted to dissuade the magistrate further but knew it was futile.


    This new county magistrate was hard to describe.


    To themon people he was certainly a good official, but governing like this, he would go bankrupt sooner orter.


    How could a bankrupt county magistrate curry favor with the prefect? How could he get promoted?

 Chapter 52: A Letter from Home

    <h4>Chapter 52</h4>


    In front of the dry well in Baiyun Vige.


    Although dusk had already fallen, Wang Er was still holding on to his book without letting go, and Lv Xiucai had not rxed his urging of him.


    Lv Xiucai felt that he was right toe along.


    After all, for a job like digging a well, Wang Er only needed to find a location, he didn''t need to do any manualbor. So these three days had not dyed Wang Er at all.


    This kid was also diligent. With all the mor and noise of digging the well, he was able to ignore it all, as if he couldn''t hear anything.


    A true schr must be like this, shutting out all outside matters and focusing only on reading the sages'' books.


    These past few days, Song County Magistrate had also noticed Wang Er''s diligence and desire to learn, and he was quite appreciative of it. But right now his mind was focused on the well water, so he didn''t have time to mentor Wang Er.


    Not long after, two yamen runners came back with noodles and cooked up several big pots full next to the well.


    After the vigers had eaten their fill and regained their strength, they lit their torches and continued working.


    But thisyer of red stone seemed exceptionally thick. They dug untilte into the night but there was still no sign of breaking through.


    "Sir, you should go rest."


    "No need, I''m fine."


    Song County Magistrate stubbornly rubbed his eyes and took some medicinal cream his wife had prepared for him out of his pocket, applying it to his forehead and temples.


    The cooling sensation revived his spirits a bit.


    Just then, someone in the well suddenly shouted,


    "Broke through!"


    Song County Magistrate was overjoyed, and also extremely anxious. He hurried over to the mouth of the well.


    "Is there a lot of water?"


    "Yes County Magistrate, very much!"


    "Quick, quick, let me go down and see!"


    With everyone''s help, Song County Magistrate was gently lowered to the bottom of the well with a lever. When he saw a stream of water as thick as his fist continuously bubbling up from the ground, he was at a loss for how to express his excitement.


    "Good, good, excellent! This much water is enough to irrigate thousands of mu. We''ll have enough!"


    "This is all thanks to you, sir!"


    "Don''t talk nonsense!" Song County Magistrate said. "This aplishment could be attributed to you well diggers, or to Li Yao from He Wan Vige, but it certainly cannot be attributed to me!"


    When he returned to the surface, Song County Magistrate, whose brow had been furrowed for days, finally rxed.


    "Zhang County Captain!"


    "Here sir, do you have any orders?"


    Song County Magistrate said, "Leave two people here to oversee securing the well. The rest will return to the yamen."


    "Yes sir."


    "You will escort me to Yizhou prefecture."


    "Huh?" Zhang County Captain was startled. "Sir, it''s already midnight. Why not leave early tomorrow morning?"


    "No! Every moment of dy means one moment less of harvest for Yizhou next year. There is no time to lose!"


    Song County Magistrate was eager to report this tremendous news to the prefect, so it could be implemented across Yizhou.


    Finally he came to Wang Er and nodded to him with a smile, "You and your mother have made a great contribution this time. Go home and wait for your reward."


    Watching Song County Magistrate hurry away, Wang Er was lost in thought.


    Was this County Magistrate the kind of good official his mother had spoken of?


    ...


    Hu Prefect had just gotten out of bed and hadn''t eaten breakfast yet when a yamen clerk came to report:


    "Prefect Sir, the Song County Magistrate from Baichuan County is here."


    Upon hearing the name Song County Magistrate, Hu Prefect frowned, feeling the onset of a headache.


    Yizhou Prefecture administered 18 counties, with 18 county magistrates. Of them all, this Song County Magistrate who had just taken office was the most annoying.


    Every few days he would send over a memorandum, saying Baichuan County was suffering from severe drought, themoners were destitute, on the verge of starvation, and they desperately needed grain and disaster relief.


    As heaven can attest, even as the Yizhou Prefect he did not possess the magical powers to conjure grain out of thin air!


    And to make matters worse, Song County Magistrate used to be an official in the capital. Although he had been demoted, with his rank lowered several grades, the crucial point was that his prestige rank had not been lowered! He was still a third grade!


    Whereas he, the mere Yizhou Prefect, was only a substantive fourth grade. So when they met, Song County Magistrate would have to greet him first, and then he''d have to return the greeting. He had no recourse to reason with the man.


    "Did he say what business he''s here for?"


    "No, just that it was an important matter."


    "I see. Have him wait in the tea room first. I''ll be over shortly."


    After hurriedly washing up and getting dressed, Hu Prefect went to the living room all smiles.


    "Greetings, Prefect Sir." Song County Magistrate greeted him first.


    "Greetings, Magistrate Song." Hu Prefect returned the greeting.


    Seeing the fatigue on Song County Magistrate''s face, and the bloodshot eyes, Hu Prefect hurriedly asked, "Magistrate Song, what happened? Did something happen in Baichuan?"


    For officials who had attained the rank of Prefect in ancient times, natural disasters were no longer frightening.


    After all, natural disasters were acts of heaven. As a mortal, what could he do?


    What he feared most was man-made disasters.


    If human error urred, that meant misgovernance, and he would be held ountable.


    "A major event."


    Hu Prefect''s heart thudded. Hisplexion changed. "How major?"


    "An event affecting all under heaven."


    "What?!" Hu Prefect''s face turned ashen. "Could it be... the southwestern tribes are rebelling?"


    Song County Magistrate smiled slightly. "No, the southwestern tribes have been quiettely."


    "That''s good," Hu Prefect felt some relief. "Then what is the matter?"


    "Next year''s harvest for themoners of Yizhou is secured!"


    Listening to Song County Magistrate''s report, Hu Prefect''s expression went from pale to flushed.


    Finally, before Song County Magistrate could finish, he eagerly asked, "Is everything you said true?"


    "Absolutely true. I personally oversaw the digging of the second artesian well."


    "Excellent, wonderful!"


    Hu Prefect paced around. "Magistrate Song, write up a detailed report right now. I''ll dispatch a courier to rush it to the capital!"


    Song County Magistrate was startled. He frowned slightly. "Prefect Sir, shouldn''t we first spread this method locally, to resolve the spring sowing for Yizhou''smoners?"


    "Oh of course, of course," Hu Prefectughed. "Yizhou is but one prefecture. If we can promote this method across the entire country, that would be a tremendous aplishment!"


    "The Prefect''s vision is far-reaching."


    "Hurry and write it. I''ll be waiting." Hu Prefect said. "Assistant, take Magistrate Song to the study. And tell the kitchen to prepare some food for Magistrate Song. He must be exhausted after traveling overnight."


    "Yes sir. Magistrate Song please follow me."


    Once in the study, Song County Magistrate swiftly wrote up a short report. But when the Assistant looked it over, he didn''t seem satisfied.


    "Magistrate Song, could you... make some revisions?"


    "Revise what?" Song County Magistrate was puzzled. "I wrote the facts, there is no embellishment."


    "I know," the Assistant smiled. "But you gave all the credit to a peasant woman. Isn''t that... well, let me speak bluntly. Rewarding her with some silver should be enough for a peasant woman. But for you, this is hard-earned political achievement, an aplishment for our Prefect as well!"


    Song County Magistrate understood. The Prefect wanted to steal the credit!


    Moreover, he wanted to keep the lion''s share for himself, leaving just a small portion to him.


    As for Li Yao, she would be dismissed with a bit of silver.


    "Sir, this is something I, Song, absolutely cannot do!" Song County Magistrate said. "The report is finished. I shall take my leave!"


    Seeing Song County Magistrate turn to leave, the Assistant hurried to report to Hu Prefect.


    After listening, Hu Prefect disdainfullyughed. "No wonder he was demoted to county magistrate. I''ve never seen someone so foolish!"


    The courier sent to the capital would carry the prefect''s report as the authoritative ount, while the magistrate''s memo would just be corroborating evidence. Whether it was included or not was insignificant.


    "Then what of this memo?"


    "Burn it. It''s useless anyway." Hu Prefect thought for a moment, then instructed the Assistant, "But we must handle this prudently. Go to Baichuan Market, give that peasant woman some benefits, and tell her to keep her mouth shut."


    "Yes sir." The Assistant asked, "And if she refuses toply..."


    "She''s just an ignorant peasant woman," Hu Prefect said. "Give her 100 taels of silver. She''dugh herself awake even in her sleep. What is there to worry about her not agreeing?"


    "You are absolutely right, Sir. I will go immediately."


    ...


    On the road back to Baichuan Market, Song County Magistrate remained silent.


    He didn''t know Hu Prefect well enough to determine if he would falsely im credit for political gain.


    He personally didn''t care much about political achievements.


    But it was unfair to Li Yao.


    If amoner has clearly made tremendous contributions, yet receives no reward, then who else will do good deeds for the country and people like Li Yao?


    Thinking thus, he could sit still no longer. At a post station, he borrowed paper and brush and immediately wrote a letter home to Beijing.


    This matter must be made known to His Majesty.

 Chapter 53: Upper Beam

    <h4>Chapter 53</h4>


    It was an auspicious day again.


    Afterying the foundation for many days, it had finally dried thoroughly and be very firm.


    So today, the new house of Li Yao''s family was going to officially start building the walls.


    The mason was found by the Vige Head to help. He had brought masons and carpenters from ten li around, and had also found over ten people from the vige to help with odd jobs.


    Of course this time Li Yao said in advance that those who came had to be paid wages, otherwise don''te.


    "Hey, this is the first time I''ve heard that wages must be paid," a mason from another vige said, "All the homeowners I''ve met were reluctant to pay even a penny in wages."


    "You''re not looking at who the homeowner is," a He Wan viger said, "It''s our Lady Li from He Wan vige, she has plenty of money at home."


    "It''s Lady Li who runs the boutique store at the Baichuan Market?"


    "Who else could it be?"


    ...


    Hearing the vigers'' praises of herself, Li Yao could only quietly walk to the side, watching from afar as the masons built the bricks ording to her instructions.


    The walls were 24 inches thick, although it used twice as many green bricks, it was sturdy and reliable, and could also inste against heat and keep warm.


    The roof was also doubleyered.


    After the walls were built, they had to build a row ofrge wooden beams, equivalent to a ceiling, and then build an outer wall and put on roof beams and tiles.


    As for the floor, she had carefully considered and decided to temporarilyy ayer of green bricks for the time being.


    Later when she had time she would make a kiln, find a craftsman with experience, and try to figure out how to fire floor tiles.


    The masons worked quickly, and with so many people the walls were built up in just two days. The carpenter masters had already started building the roof beams.


    Thest main beam must be installed on an auspicious yellow calendar day, the so-called "topping out¡± ceremony.


    And the next auspicious day was in two days, so before that, Li Yao nned to have the craftsmen build a kang stove-bed in each bedroom.


    Although the winter temperatures in Yizhou Prefecture were at lowest only two or three degrees below zero, being close to the mountains meant damp air. That kind of bone-chilling dampness easily made people sick.


    This was also why many vigers had serious arthritis before they were even forty years old.


    The solution was simple ¡ª a small kang stove-bed, at the cost of a little firewood.


    When Li Yao exined what a kang was, the dozens of craftsmen''s eyes almost popped out.


    "You mean people sleep on it, with a fire burning underneath?"


    "Yes."


    "Then... aren''t you afraid of getting roasted?"


    Li Yao: ...Do you think it''s for roasting sweet potatoes?


    "Make it ording to what I said, and you''ll understand when it''s done."


    Before long, everyone in the vige knew that Li Yao''s new home didn''t want beds, but wanted to make something called a kang.


    No one had heard of such a thing before, and everyone came to watch the lively scene.


    Under Li Yao''s personal guidance, the kang in her bedroom was quickly built. But in her design, she didn''t leave the firece inside the room. Instead, she built a small wing room outside the back wall, specially used for the fire.


    This way, the room could be clean and clear, and not foggy every time a fire was lit. In the future, if conditions allowed the use of coal, there would be no worry about carbon monoxide poisoning either.


    Seeing everyone was very curious, Li Yao let Da Zhuang bring firewood to light the kang.


    The new kang was still a little damp, but after being smoked by the big fire for half a day, the whole kang started to get warm too.


    The vigers touched the heated kang, all eximing in wonder.


    "How did we never think of this before?"


    "With that little brain of yours, if you could think of this, you''d be the richest man in our vige."


    "You''re right this really is good. With a kang like this in the cold winter, you won''t have to worry about the cold when sleeping at night."


    "That''s right, nice and warm, just need a quilt."


    "Actually not just for sleeping," Li Yao said, "You can keep the fire going all day, and it won''t use up much firewood. But as long as there are no drafts, the house will be very warm all day."


    "Yes, yes, yes," some women''s eyes began to shine, "In winter doing needlework, I won''t have to worry about frozen stiff fingers."


    "Families with babies, this would be sofortable for them."


    "Tomorrow I¡¯ll make one for my mother too!"


    So overnight, vigers in He Wan vige nned to renovate their bedrooms and build a big kang to get through the winter.


    Those craftsmen from other viges also brought this thing back to their own viges, causing their fellow vigers to emte it.


    Those better off used green bricks, those poorer used mud bricks, but in any case it didn''t cost much money. Yet it ensured no freezing for a whole winter, who wouldn''t love such a cost-effective thing?


    ...


    ording to local customs, topping out was an even bigger celebration than a wedding, requiring inviting the whole vige for a feast, so preparations had to be made well in advance.


    There were over a thousand people in the whole vige. Not counting those who were away, there were still about 800 people.


    "There can''t be that many," Wang Xueshi, who hade to help, said. "Children don''t need to be counted."


    "Children are people too, why shouldn''t they be counted?" Li Yao said. "Count everyone, we can''t be stingy about this."


    When Wang Xueshi heard this, her head started spinning.


    Listen to this, was this reasonable?


    She was trying to save Li Yao some money by counting less people, but instead she became the stingy one.


    "If you''re not worried about money, do as you please."


    Li Yao took out pen and paper and asked Wang Er to start writing the menu.


    First the meat dishes.


    Fourrge meat dishes: whole chicken, whole duck, whole fish, pork hock.


    Four steamed dishes: stuffed pork, stuffed shredded pork, steamed fragrant bowl, steamed crispy pork.


    Two stir-fries: wood ear mushroom with pork slices, twice cooked pork.


    Two cold dishes: braised goose, mixed braised tter.


    Altogether 12 meat dishes.


    The vegetable dishes were simpler: cold spinach, cold noodles, stir fried cabbage, stir fried bean sprouts.


    Finally two soups: a sweet soup of red dates and snow fungus, and a vegetable soup.


    If each table sat ten people, based on the vigers¡¯ appetites, Li Yao estimated it would just be enough to finish. So calcted this way, the ingredients for each table would cost at least one or two taels of silver.


    With 80 tables, that was 80 taels.


    And with so many dishes, she definitely wouldn''t be able to cook them herself, and there were far from enough bowls, chopsticks and steamers, so she had to hire special chefs to cater the banquet.


    "Hire someone? That''ll cost money?" Wang Xueshi, who had agreed not to interfere, felt her heart dripping blood when she heard a banquet would cost 80 taels of silver. She hurriedly said, "I''ll have your father take your younger uncles, three of them, and find a few more people from the vige who can cook, that should be enough."


    "Better not," Li Yao said. "Banquet cooking is difficult, we should hire professionals. You are guests, just sit and wait for the banquet when the timees."


    To save meat as much as possible, following the principle of frugality whenever possible, Li Yao asked her father-inw and three uncles to buy two fat pigs from nearby viges.


    "One is enough!"


    "Two," Li Yao said, "We can make smoked and cured meat with any leftovers."


    Wang Xueshi: ...


    Wang Xueshi sighed lightly in her heart.


    In such a short time, she felt she no longer recognized this daughter-inw.


    Just over a month ago, let alone spending nearly a hundred taels on a banquet, she wouldn''t have dared to ask for a pound of rice!


    Yet now she was nning it like a rich household.


    "Right," Li Yao said, "After ughtering the pigs, keep all therd and pig oil, don''t use it for anything else."


    "What are you keeping those for?"


    "I have my purposes."


    After the house topping out event was done, it would be time to prepare some new goods for the boutique store.

 Chapter 54: Lucky Hour

    <h4>Chapter 54</h4>


    On the day of putting up the main beam.


    Early in the morning, almost all the vigers came to Li Yao¡¯s new house. Thanks to therge courtyard in the middle of the new house, the hundreds of people did not feel crowded at all.


    Wang Jia Gui and Wang Xueshi wore their newest clothes and shoes today, and came over early in the morning to help. Li Yao did not understand the customs of putting up the main beam, but the old couple were busy and happy, so she let them go about it.


    ording to local customs, ancestors had to be worshipped before putting up the beam.


    Arge square table was full of chicken, duck, fish, goose, tofu, eggs, liquor, an entire pig''s head, and a piece of pork butt with the tail.


    When the auspicious time arrived, Wang Jia Gui lit incense and spirit money, and led Li Yao''s family to kneel on the ground and pay respects to their ancestors.


    This time, Li Yao did not resist and could ept worshipping her ancestors.


    After the ancestral worship waspleted, it was the carpenter''s turn to go on stage.


    The one in charge of today¡¯s entire beam-raising process was Qiu Carpenter, the most senior and respected old carpenter from the neighboring vige. He was 66 years old this year, with all white beard and hair, but his body and spirit were still very good, and his voice was loud like a big horn.


    Today¡¯s Qiu Carpenter wore clean clothes with a red cloth tied around his waist, and held a bronze gong in his hand. He was just waiting for the auspicious time toe before striking it heavily.


    Dong¡ª


    With a sound of the gong, Qiu Carpenter stood on the wall, happily announcing in a loud voice:


    ¡°Today we are raising the main beam, the owner is building a nice hall!¡±


    ¡°The hall is built under the dragon''s mouth, let''s all work together to raise the beam!¡±


    Dong¡ª


    Eight young men with red cloths tied around their waists carried over a straight main beam pasted with red paper.


    After tying both ends with ropes, several people climbed onto the wall and grabbed the ropes together.


    ¡°One step to gain the present prosperity!¡±


    ¡°Two steps to wee the double phoenix!¡±


    ¡°Three steps for the three abundances!¡±


    ¡°Four steps to prosper in all four seasons!¡±


    ¡°Five steps for the five grains to be plentiful!¡±


    ¡°Six steps for the spring harmony!¡±


    ¡°Seven steps for the seven stars to shine high!¡±


    ¡°Eight steps for the eight immortals to sail the seas!¡±


    ¡°Nine steps for the nine generations to pass the imperial exam!¡±


    Qiu Carpenter shouted a line each time, and everyone pulled the ropes up ordingly.


    The ropes could not be pulled randomly. The length of each pull had to be calcted in advance.


    The two sides also had to be in sync, exerting force at the same time, absolutely not allowing the main beam to be higher on one side.


    Otherwise, the owner would feel it was inauspicious and would be very unhappy.


    Fortunately, these young men were all trained in advance by Qiu Carpenter, and also had rich experience. So theypleted it beautifully.


    Dong¡ª


    With another sound of the gong, there was only one more pull before the main beam could bepletely raised.


    ¡°The tenth step, it¡¯s done!¡±


    ¡°Glory, wealth, and longevity for ten thousand, ten thousand, ten thousand years¡ª¡±


    Everything went smoothly. Qiu Carpenter gleefully said to Li Yao: ¡°Mistress, it''s your turn to go up now.¡±


    Li Yao went up to the roof via the scaffolding, put a red envelope she had prepared earlier in the middle of the beam, and wrapped it tightly with arge piece of red cloth.


    The red cloth bag contained the five grains, implying harvests of the five grains.


    Qiu Carpenter put away the gong and bowed deeply to Li Yao: ¡°Congrattions Mistress, congrattions!¡±


    Li Yao knew the carpenter was asking for a tip, so she handed over the red envelope she had prepared earlier.


    Wang Xueshi had specifically reminded her yesterday that this red envelope had to be quite big. If the carpenter thought you were stingy, he might not say as many auspicious words.


    Some petty ones might even curse you secretly.


    Li Yao didn''t really believe in these things, but the red envelope was certainly not skimpy. She had noticed these past few days that Qiu Carpenter worked hard and did his best.


    Feeling the weight of the red envelope, Qiu Carpenter''s smile became even brighter. His auspicious words flowed like strings of firecrackers.


    Then came the most exciting moment for the vigers¡ªscattering the five grains.


    Many people had heard in advance that the variety of five grains prepared by Li Yao was simply amazing. Not only all kinds of fried snacks, but also sugar cubes bought from the market, and even real copper coins!


    Copper coins were real money. Picking up even one coin was earning one coin!


    Qiu Carpenter put down the gong and had people carry up arge full basket onto the wall.


    ¡°I invite the Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady, to bestow the five grains!¡±


    Swish¡ª


    After reciting a line, Qiu Carpenter grabbed a handful from the basket and scattered it towards the crowd.


    ¡°May the descendants be blessed, gain fortune, and longevity!¡±


    Swish¡ª


    ¡°Scattering a handful of grains, dispels tens of thousands of disasters!¡±


    Swish¡ª


    ......


    Below, the hundreds of vigers were happily picking up the grains.


    Since the preparation was ample, almost everyone picked up a few copper coins and was extremely delighted.


    ¡°Li Yao is really generous!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s scattering money! Just this one basket must be at least a few taels of silver!¡±


    In high spirits, the vigers naturally became very festive.


    After scattering the five grains, everyone stayed busy by moving square tables and long benches from their homes and filling up the even courtyard.


    The chefs were even busier, working at full steam.


    To prepare for this banquet, the chef hade over yesterday morning to get ready.


    The kitchen was too small to amodate everything, so several mud stoves were set up on the open ground with severalrge pots hung over them.


    Bowls, chopsticks, tes, cups were piled up like a mountain. All kinds of ingredients waiting to be cooked covered severalrge tables, and a dozen big steamers emitted mist.


    Wang Xueshi led the second and third daughter-inws, as well as the Wang family¡¯s women to arrange bowls and chopsticks on the tables.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start the feast!¡±


    ¡°Everyone please sit anywhere you¡¯d like!¡±


    With Wang Jia Gui¡¯s call, vigers quickly surrounded several dozen tables.


    Fortunately, Li Yao¡¯s preparation was ample, and almost everyone could have a seat without the embarrassing situation of more than ten people squeezing together.


    After a few cold dishes were served, it was time for the main courses - whole stewed chicken, whole stewed old duck, braised pork elbow, braised fish. With these four extremelyvish dishes, the vigers couldn¡¯t help but be amazed inwardly.


    Li Yao was being fancy!


    Even rich families hosting banquets might not be able to prepare all these dishes.


    Especially the fish - they were hard to buy nowadays with rivers drying up everywhere. So many fish could only be bought from Yizhou Prefecture!


    There were also braised pork belly, stuffed sand pork, fragrant soup bowls... even snow fungus soup!


    Snow fungus was not hard to buy these years, but rock sugar was difficult to acquire!


    It was definitely not avable at Baichuan Market. To buy rock sugar one had to go to Yizhou Prefecture.


    What excited the men the most was that Li Yao had bought fine liquor, with a big pot at each table. People could drink their fill and add more if it wasn¡¯t enough!


    ¡°This is probably the best banquet I''ve had in my life.¡±


    ¡°Yes, don¡¯t know if there will be another chance to eat like this in the future.¡±


    ¡°There will be plenty of chances. Li Yao still has three unmarried sons!¡±


    ......


    Li Yao sat at the main table, still wearing in clothes, but herplexion was increasingly fair, with red lips and white teeth. She sat upright, with a cup of liquor in front of her.


    However, she didn''t actually drink it. Whenever someone toasted her, she just tipped the cup to her lips, while others didn''t care about such details and just drained their cup when toasting her.


    When the banquet was nearing the end, Liu''s wife threaded through the crowd and came to Li Yao¡¯s ear.


    ¡°Your mother is here, standing at the foot of the slope.¡±


    Li Yao frowned.


    She had a premonition early in the morning that things wouldn¡¯t go smoothly today. It seemed to being true now.


    So she apologized and prepared to go see alone - what tricks would her old mother try to pull today.

 Chapter 55: The Six Relatives

    <h4>Chapter 55</h4>


    Before Li Yao could even walk up to her, Lu Shi had already pulled her old face and said sarcastically,


    "Oh, now that you''ve made it, building such a big house and holding a housewarming banquet, you didn''t even tell your maiden family a word."


    "Didn''t you disown me as your daughter? Why would I tell you?"


    "I may disown you, but how dare you disown me?"


    Li Yao found it funny.


    Did she really think she was somebody''s mother and could do whatever she wanted?


    "If you have something to say, say it. If not, leave quickly. I don''t have time for you."


    "Is that how you talk to your mother?"


    "I''ve said it before," Li Yao said, "We''ve severed ties. I don''t have a mother like you."


    "You..."


    Lu Shi was furious.


    She had heard that Li Yao had recently made a lot of money and built a big house. Today they were holding a housewarming banquet.


    She thought that no matter what, she was still Li Yao''s birth mother. Even if they had conflicts before, Li Yao would at least invite her maternal family over for the banquet to save face.


    She had nned that she could take this opportunity to reconcile her rtionship with Li Yao a little, so Li Yao could continue giving her money for Li Xian''s education.


    But she didn''t expect Li Yao to be so heartless and not give her any chance at all.


    Of course she had anticipated this situation and came up with a n beforehand.


    Today was Li Yao''s big banquet, with all the vigers present. As long as she cried and made a scene, letting everyone see how heartless Li Yao was to her own old mother, let''s see if she still had any face left!


    Lu Shi did as she nned, and started wailing at the top of her lungs.


    "Heavenly Lord, how could I have given birth to such a creature? She doesn''t even recognize her own mother now that she has some money!"


    "How can there be such an unfilial creature in this world!"


    "Ah... Ah..."


    Lu Shi''s loud crying soon attracted the attention of the vigers eating at the banquet. Many busybodies put down their chopsticks and gathered around.


    Seeing more and more peopleing, Lu Shi''s cries grew even louder.


    "Fellow vigers, you should all speak reason!"


    "I raised her painstakingly, and found her a good family!"


    "When she had no food and her children were starving, her inws didn''t care and left them to die. It was me who gave them food to keep them alive!"


    "Now that she''s rich, she doesn''t even recognize me!"


    The vigers of River Bend were very disgusted.


    Everyone knew how Li Yao used to pander to her maiden family, wishing she could scrape threeyers of skin to give them.


    But now this old woman was spewing nonsense, iming that she had helped Li Yao. Anyone with a brain wouldn''t believe her!


    "This olddy really has no shame."


    "That''s right, calling white ck and ck white, she has quite the skill in reversing right and wrong."


    "I''ve never seen someone so shameless."


    ......


    The vigers spoke one after another, leaving Lu Shi stunned.


    What was going on here?


    Wasn''t it said that Li Yao had incurred the wrath of heaven and man in River Bend, and no one thought well of her? Howe everyone was speaking up for her now?


    Even if her family was hosting a banquet today and everyone was being polite after eating her food, they wouldn''t fawn to this extent, right?


    "Are you all blind? She doesn''t even recognize her own mother!"


    Vige head Fang Mingchuan said, "With a mother like you who wished she could chew her bones and eat her alive, who would dare recognize you!"


    "That''s right. Recognizing you means having to give you grain, and lending you their old hen toy eggs."


    "That''s nothing. She''d even have to give money to support her brother''s education! I heard at least three taels of silver a month. What kind of mother and brother is this? Who is willing to recognize that? I''d keep as far away as possible if I were her."


    "Olddy, go back. You''re not young anymore, don''t embarrass yourself in front of everyone."


    Even if Lu Shi had skin thicker than city walls, she was still burning with shame now.


    She was quite an influential figure in the vige, but couldn''t get a word out now.


    "Li Yao, do you really not recognize me as your mother?"


    "I don''t have a mother," Li Yao said coldly. "I sprouted out of a rock."


    "Fine, remember what you just said!" Lu Shi said viciously. "I know your Wang Er is studying, but don''t forget, Li Xian can take the county exam next year and be a schr in a few years! All it takes is one word from me, and Wang Er won''t ever seed in his life!"


    "Who''s spouting nonsense here!"


    Before Li Yao could retort, a loud, majestic voice rang out.


    Everyone looked up to see a burly man in ck official robes with a sword hanging from his waist, walking over imposingly with two yamen runners.


    Vige head Wang Jiafu recognized him at once. "That''s Zhang, the county captain!"


    The county captain was the assistant to the county magistrate, in charge of public security and capturing criminals. His authority was tremendous.


    Zhang the county captain currently had a ck face and extremely majestic bearing. Even if they had done nothing wrong, the vigers felt afraid just looking at him.


    Zhang marched right up to Lu Shi and barked harshly, "What did you just say? Say it again for me!"


    Lu Shi''s mind went nk as her body shook like a sieve.


    How could she ever have expected to run into the county captain in a ce like this!


    "County... County Captain, you must uphold justice for me!"


    Zhang frowned. "Uphold justice for you? You ndered an official''s reputation. It''s already very lenient that I''m not beating you twenty times. What justice do you still want from me?"


    "I didn''t, really didn''t..."


    "So you''re saying I''m framing you? Men, take her away!"


    "I don''t dare! I didn''t! Please let me go, Your Honor. I''m just an old woman. Even my own daughter doesn''t recognize me..."


    Zhang nced at Li Yao and saw she had no intention of speaking up. He immediately guessed the gist of it.


    This old woman must have gone too far, resulting in Li Yao severing ties with her. Otherwise, how could someone like Li Yao do something so unfilial?


    "In consideration of your old age, I won''t pursue this with you. Hurry and scram, don''t get in my way."


    "Yes, yes."


    After Lu Shi cowered away in fright, Zhang finally approached Li Yao.


    "Mistress Li, congrattions."


    "You tter me, County Captain," Li Yao replied. "May I ask what business brings you here?"


    "A joyous asion." Zhang beckoned his runners, and they immediately brought up a small box. "The county magistrate said you dug a well to fight the drought and brought benefit to the entire Baichuan County, even the entire Yizhou Prefecture and the whole world. So the county magistrate specially brought a set of exquisite porcin from Yizhou as his personal reward to you."


    Li Yao: ...More... porcin?


    The runner opened the box, and inside was indeed a set of exquisite... street market wares.


    The porcin of this world really couldn''t please Li Yao''s eyes.


    "Thank the county magistrate for me."


    "Mm," Zhang continued, "The county magistrate said for you to rest assured that he has memorialized your achievements to the court. There will be even more rewards in the future."


    Wow!


    The vigers unanimously gasped. This was definitely going to lead to meteoric sess!


    "Right," Zhang asked, "What''s going on in your family today?"


    "Oh, we''re holding the housewarming banquet for our new house today," Li Yao said. "County Captain Zhang, if you don''t mind the poor hospitality, please join us for a simple meal."


    "To encounter such a joyous event!" Zhang was eager to curry favor with Li Yao and immediately epted with a beaming smile. "Then I shall humbly oblige and impose on your celebration banquet with two of my brothers."


    "Pleasee in, County Captain Zhang!" Vige chief Wang Jiafu immediately said ingratiatingly, "I''ve been wanting to drink with you for some time, just never had the chance. Today I must make it up to you and drink you under the table!"


    The vigers followed behind as they returned to the banquet table, no longer giving Lu Shi another nce.


    At this time, Lu Shi was already regretting it to her guts. If she had known Li Yao would have this kind of dumb luck, she never would have said those words about severing their mother-daughter rtionship.


    No, she must think of something. She had totch onto Li Yao no matter what.

 Chapter 56: Steam

    <h4>Chapter 56</h4>


    Under Li Zheng''s carefulpany, Zhang County Captain and two other people sat at a small table alone.


    He was also worldly wise, but still couldn''t stop praising the scale and quality of this banquet.


    After three rounds of drinks, Zhang County Captain''s conversation box opened up.


    "You don''t know," Zhang County Captain said, "The county magistrate spoke very highly of Li Yao, and immediately went to Yizhou Prefecture overnight and wrote a memo to report to the imperial court. If nothing unexpected happens, even His Majesty will probably get to know about this."


    Li Zheng couldn''t help but gasp.


    He knew it was reported to the imperial court, but shocking His Majesty... wasn''t that too exaggerated?


    It was just digging a big well!


    "Don''t underestimate a well," Zhang County Captain said, "This well can save the whole world from famine!" In my opinion, I won''t be surprised even if Li Yao gets a title. "


    Li Zheng was shocked.


    For a woman to get a title, she was usually a rtive of an official, but Li Yao was just amoner!


    "But don''t go around telling people about this," Zhang County Captain said, "Who knows what will happen in the imperial court?"


    "Of course, I absolutely won''t say it randomly."


    Li Yao heard their conversation from afar, but didn''t care much.


    She had no interest in titles. Being andlord freely was morefortable.


    ...


    This meal took a full hour before it ended. After the meal, some vigers took the initiative to help clean up the leftovers.


    Although a lot of dishes were prepared, there was really not much left. Basically everything was eaten cleanly. After Wang Xueshi poured the soup into the vegetable residue and distributed it to those who came to help, nothing was wasted.


    After the roof beam was installed, the remaining work was basically carpentry.


    Nailing rafters, installing doors and windows, making tables, chairs, benches, wardrobes, etc., and finally tiling the roof, then the house would bepleted and ready for selecting an auspicious day to move in.


    It was estimated that it would take at least half a month.


    So during this free time, Li Yao decided to make some new things for the specialty store. Otherwise, letting Zou Boss only sell some alfalfa ointment, the buddy he hired at the store would be bored to sleep every day.


    As for what to make, Li Yao had already thought about it.


    Soap and fragrant soap.


    Sell soap to ordinary people, and fragrant soap as a high-end item, specially to earn money from wealthy families.


    Soap was easy to make withrd and soda ash, and its cleaning effect was many times better than pancreatin. As for fragrant soap, it was just adding some fragrance and color to the soap.


    "Xiaoya, boil therdter. Remember not to boil it too long. It must be boiled snow white."


    "Okay, ma''am."


    After arranging Xiaoya to boil therd, Li Yao took a blueprint to the new house and found the busy carpenter Qiu.


    "Can you make this?"


    Carpenter Qiu looked at the pattern. It was a square wooden tray divided into 20 small grids.


    "It''s not difficult," Carpenter Qiu said, "But you said the words and patterns in each grid have to be exactly the same, which is a bit tricky. Even those who specialize in wood carving probably can''t do it."


    "It''s okay. I had the cksmith make an iron mold a few days ago," Li Yao said. "After heating it up and putting it in the grid, it can burn the same words and patterns. This way, carving won''t deviate too much."


    "This..." Carpenter Qiu had never heard of this method before, but after thinking about it, he suddenly felt enlightened, "What a good way, why didn''t I think of it before?"


    "Then I''ll leave it to you. How long will it take to finish?"


    "Very soon, I can finish it today."


    Carpenter Qiu handed over the work at hand to his apprentice, and went to find somerge enough wooden boards. Then he took out the inkstone, ruler, and started marking.


    As an experienced carpenter for decades, it didn''t take long for him to make a basic wooden board.


    Next, he heated up the iron mold again and again, and put it in the small grids to burn the ck patterns.


    The most time-consuming was the carving. It was delicate work, but Carpenter Qiu was skilled. He spent most of the day and finally made the first mold.


    "The carving is still a bit rough. I don''t know if it can be used?"


    "Let me take it back and try it first," Li Yao said. "If the effect is good, please help me make more."


    "Okay."


    When she returned home, it was already evening. Therd boiled by Xiaoya had cooled and solidified, filling up arge basin, snowy white.


    Li Yao took out soda ash and quicklime, as well as some jars and pots, and started working.


    "Boil arge pot of water first, then learn from me," Li Yao said to Xiaoya. "You''ll have to do this in the future."


    "En."


    Although she still didn''t know what to do, Xiaoya nodded very seriously, and busied herself filling the pot with water and started boiling it.


    The reason for boiling so much water was because soap stock needed distilled water.


    When the water in the pot boiled, Li Yao took out a wooden lid. This lid was different from ordinary ones. It was arched with a small hole at the top, and inserted with several sections of hollow bamboo, with a small hole at the bottom to drip water onto the bamboo.


    The steam cooled down when going through the bamboo and soon liquefied again, flowing back into a clean crock through the bamboo. This was a simple distiller.


    Of course this method was very crude. Forrge-scale production in the future, they would definitely need to find a cksmith to build more professional equipment.


    With the distilled water, they could start the formal production process.


    First, take half a pound of soda ash and put it in a jar, add one and a half pounds of warm distilled water, stir to make an alkaline solution, then pour in three and a half pounds of meltedrd.


    Then ce the jar on a low me for heating, while constantly stirring with a wooden spoon, allowing therd and alkaline solution to fully integrate, and it quickly became a creamy paste like cream.


    After about ten minutes, the paste became very viscous. The ripples left by the stirring spoon took a long time to disappear. This was the simplest soap, also called soap stock.


    Pour it into the mold and it would solidify in about half an hour.


    When time was up, Li Yao dismantled the mold and got 20 rectangr handmade soap bars.


    Li Yao picked one up and smelled it first. It was the familiar smell of soap. She pressed it with her fingernail and found that the hardness was not enough, a little soft.


    This was possibly because the boiling time was a little short, or the ratio of alkali tord was off, but it was not a big problem. Just pay attention to adjust itter.


    Xiaoya also picked up a piece and smelled it, and her face was quickly filled with puzzlement: "Ma''am, how do you eat this?"


    Li Yao: ...


    "This is not for eating."


    "Ah?"


    Xiaoya blushed.


    Seeing Li Yao added so muchrd, she thought it was some kind of pastry.


    "Then what is this for?"


    "For washing clothes."


    "Is it pancreatin?" Xiaoya asked.


    Pancreatin was made by pounding animal pancreas and nt ash together and drying it.


    In short, it also used saponification, but animal pancreas contained a lot of non-fatty tissues, and nt ash also had many impurities, and the alkalinity was very weak, so the effect was not very good when used.


    "Ours is stronger than pancreatin. You can try it now," Li Yao said. "Just wash your apron."

 Chapter 57: Soap

    <h4>Chapter 57</h4>


    He Xiaoya took off her apron.


    Ever since the gosling hatched, she had been cooking around the stove every day, and her apron was stained with a lot of oil that could not be washed clean even with soap beads.


    Following Li Yao''s instructions, she took a wooden basin, filled it with some hot water, soaked the apron, then smeared some soap on it and slowly kneaded it.


    Strangely enough, as some white stuff started to appear, those stubborn oil stains quickly washed off. After rinsing it with warm water again, the apron became clean and looked brand new.


    Moreover, the apron washed with soap still retained the unique fragrance of soap, which also smelled very nice.


    "Mother, this is too amazing!"


    Seeing the apron washed so clean, Li Yao was relieved too.


    She knew how soap was made, but actually doing it with her own hands was the first time.


    Although it was not perfect, she did seed in the end.


    Next would be to make perfumed soap.


    Since there were no whitening or fluorescent agents, she could not directly upgrade the soap. Instead, she needed to use tea seed oil to rece pig oil and remake the soap base.


    The soap base made from tea seed oil naturally carried a hint of ivory white.


    After the white soap base was ready, Li Yao divided it into two halves. She added honey into one half, which became honey soap.


    The dried honey soap presented a pure ivory white color and had a light fragrance of honey. Using it to wash hands and face also provided some moisturizing effects on the skin.


    The other half had ¡°rose essential oil¡± added into it.


    Of course, the ¡°rose essential oil¡± Li Yao used was not authentic rose essential oil. She reced rose with rose mallow flowers. After steeping the flowers in tea seed oil for a month, she obtained the essential oil.


    Since all pigments from the petals went into the oil, the essential oil was reddish. When added into the ivory white soap base and cooled, it presented a pinkish color and had a light scent of rose mallows.


    Although the color was a little light without direct colorants, it was natural and harmless to skin.


    After the two soaps were molded, He Xiaoya almost felt her heart melting.


    My mother, how could you make such amazing things with your clever hands and mind?


    "Try both and see."


    "Alright!"


    He Xiaoya quickly fetched some hot water, and the mother and daughter each took a bar of soap and started washing their faces.


    In the almost two months sinceing to this world, this was the first time Li Yao felt an extreme cleanliness on her face. It was as if all pores were thoroughly cleansed and greedily breathing in the fresh air.


    If she could apply some moisturizing cream now... But that had to wait, as she didn''t have the means to extract glycerin yet.


    "Mother, it feels so good. I''ve never felt my face this clean before!"


    He Xiaoya also experienced this refreshing feeling for the first time. She excitedly rubbed her little face over and over.


    "If it works well, go call Da Zhuang and the rest. Today everyone must wash themselves squeaky clean before going to bed."


    The kids were all called over. As wife and sister-inw, He Xiaoya first taught them how to use the soap to wash their faces, then washed everyone''s hair one by one.


    Under Da Zhuang''s lead, the four brothers even took a bath.


    When everyone came out, they were all fragrant. Their faces, necks, hands...had no trace of dirt anymore, and looked much more pleasing to the eye than before.


    Especially He Xiaoya. Her skin was good to begin with, and after washing up snow white, she was like an exquisite porcin doll.


    After the children were asleep, Li Yao also thoroughly washed herself.


    But after a few days of not seeing herself, she found her figure seemed a bit more full, and secretly decided to double her training tomorrow.


    In the next few days, Li Yao and He Xiaoya kept making soap and perfumed soap. Through constant adjustments, they finally determined the most precise ratios.


    Now the soap and perfumed soap she made had achieved the ideal hardness and fragrance.


    After making the soaps, Li Yao did not rush to take them to the boutique shop for sale.


    For a product to sell at a high price, it needed not only high quality, but also exquisite packaging.


    It was toote now to make ceramic or wooden boxes. In the end, Li Yao had Da Zhuang buy some xuan paper.


    Unlike the words on the soap, the words on the packaging had to be written beautifully. But Li Yao did not know any calligraphy masters, so she could only set her sights on Tutor Lv.


    She had seen that Tutor Lv''s handwriting was truly excellent.


    With the cut xuan paper in hand, Li Yao went to the bamboo shed where Tutor Lv stayed and asked if he could write the words on the packaging. Tutor Lv was delighted to agree.


    "Do you want flowing style, formal style, or ancient style?"


    Li Yao: "..."


    Why did it feel like listening to Mr. Kong boast about the many ways to write the character for fennel?


    "No need. Just write in regr script."


    Tutor Lv was surprised to hear this and asked, "What is regr script?"


    Only then did Li Yao suddenly realize that regr script did not exist in this world yet. But the words were already out and could not be taken back, so she had to gloss over it.


    "Um... just horizontal and vertical strokes."


    As she spoke, she picked up a brush and wrote the characters for "River Bend Li Family" in regr script on the paper.


    Though not a professional calligrapher, the strokes were upright and square, with some imposing feel.


    After seeing it, Tutor Lv''s eyes opened wide in shock. In his decades of reading, he had never seen such writing. Yet this kind of writing looked surprisinglyfortable, and even gave off an upright and dignified aura.


    "Good writing, such good writing!" Tutor Lv praised. "Mrs. Li, who taught you this?"


    "Uh... I came up with it myself in my spare time."


    Tutor Lv: "......You...you know how to write?"


    "A little," Li Yao said. "Haven''t I been listening in on your lessons with Wang Er? I memorized some of it. And I practice writing in my free time."


    Tutor Lv looked at Li Yao in disbelief, at a loss for words.


    Just listening casually and she could remember it, evening up with a whole new writing style herself. If Li Yao were a man, the top schr title would surely be hers!


    But like mother, like son. Wang Er was also very bright, and would definitely be the top schr in the future.


    Thinking that he might have a top schr student in a few years, Tutor Lv was energized. He picked up his brush and started writing.


    In half an afternoon, he finished writing all the hundred-odd packaging papers.


    Moreover, he increasingly felt that the writing style Li Yao came up with seemed better than clerical script for writing and looked morefortable to the eye. He decided to practice it well and improve on it in the future.


    When Wang Er became the top schr, he would use this style of writing for the exam, surely astonishing all the examiners.

 Chapter 58: Shanghai New Product

    <h4>Chapter 58</h4>


    Carrying packages of soap and detergent, Li Yao walked into the boutique shop.


    Zou Boss and several shop assistants had been so idle these days that they felt their bones were going to rust. Zou Boss was a little better off. Thest batch of herbal cream had earned him a good amount of money, equivalent to his ie for several months. He could afford to rx for a few days without worrying too much.


    But the shop assistants were on tenterhooks every day.


    With no customers in the shop, they wouldn''t need so many people. The manager was sure toy off some of them. Losing their jobs meant they wouldn''t earn any money... So these shop assistants had been desperately wiping tables and sweeping floors, keeping the whole shop spotless.


    Now seeing Li Yaoe in, they all hurried up to greet her.


    "Boss, you finally came!"


    "If you didn''te soon, Zou Manager would have fired us!"


    Li Yao smiled gently. In fact, this was something Zou Boss had mentioned to her, that the shop didn''t need so many assistants. But Li Yao hadn''t let him reduce the staff.


    She wanted to build a high-end boutique shop, which must have attentive service. How could they manage with fewer people?


    "Don''t worry," Li Yao said. "When there''s work to do, work hard. When there''s no work, rest properly. Your wages won''t be reduced, let alone firing you."


    "With your word we''re not worried anymore. I''ll go call Manager Zou!"


    Zou Manager, who was idle in the backyard, immediately put down what he was doing when he heard Li Yao had arrived, and came out.


    Seeing that Li Yao had brought new goods, his face instantly lit up happily.


    "This time it''s soap, for washing clothes, and detergent, for washing face, hair and bathing."


    Zou Manager personally tested the efficacy of soap and detergent, then rubbed his hands excitedly again and again.


    The effect of these two items was extraordinary!


    The soap made clothes incredibly clean when washing. Not to mention the detergent, after washing face with it, it felt veryfortable. He felt sure it would be a new darling of thedies in the market town!


    As expected of Li Yao''s products, they must be boutique items!


    This time they could earn big again!


    "How about the price?"


    "One soap weighs 2 liang, the cost price is 100 wen, I think selling around 300 wen should be reasonable."


    Zou Manager was startled, it''s so cheap?


    He thought something so useful must sell for at least 2 liang of silver per piece.


    Selling for only 300, the difference from the herbal cream was too big.


    But unexpectedly, Li Yao went on to say, "Also, all the money earned today will be changed into prizes to give away. We won''t earn a penny."


    "Huh?"


    Zou Manager was thoroughly baffled.


    These were new products!


    No matter what shop it was, who didn''t make a big profit whenunching new products?


    But Li Yao said they wouldn''t earn anything. What was the point of these new products then?


    "The first batch of products is to build up reputation first," Li Yao said. "In future, we want every household in the world to be able to use our soap, even if we only earn 1 wen per piece, it will be a lot."


    "Yes, that makes sense." As for Li Yao''s business strategy, Zou Manager didn''t dare doubt it. He only hoped detergent wouldn''t be handled the same way, otherwise the ounts this month wouldn''t look good!


    "What about the detergent then?"


    "Same as the herbal cream, cost price is 2 liang of silver, so retail price should be 3 liang too."


    "Alright, let''s do it that way!" He could earn big this time, so Zou Manager was immediately full of drive. "We''ll use the same, spacetime rupture promotion method?"


    "No, just use a drum team," Li Yao said. "Also organize an on-siteparison to let everyone see the effect of soap with their own eyes. At the same time, hold a lottery event. Put the detergent on the second floor, only sell to VIPs, let them experience the different treatment of VIPs."


    "Good, I''ll arrange it now!"


    ......


    ng ng ng-


    Boom boom boom-


    With the deafening sound of gongs and drums, a pair of drummers dressed in festive clothes began wandering the streets and alleys of Baichuan Market again.


    With the experience fromst time, everyone immediately guessed this must be the River Bend Li Boutique Shop,unching some new product again. So they gathered around.


    "River Bend Li has new products!"


    "Soap that can wash anything clean, limited stock today!"


    "Also an on-site lottery, top prize 1888 wen!"


    "Buy quickly,ete and it''ll be gone!"


    ......


    People didn''t really understand what soap was, but they did understand 1888 wen in cash.


    1888 wen, almost 2 liang of silver!


    Even if they didn''t win it, they had to go see the bustle!


    So everyone with a bit of free time in the market began to converge at the boutique shop entrance, soon packing itpletely full.


    Seeing so many people arrive, a shop assistant climbed onto the table by the door.


    ng- he struck a copper gong. Then as Li Yao had taught, he began to speak.


    "Dear fathers and elders! Today our River Bend Li Boutique Shop grandlyunches a new product- soap!"


    "What is soap? What''s it for?" Someone immediately asked.


    "I won''t say first," the shop assistant left them hanging. "Now I want to invite someone on stage to cooperate with me. Of course, afterwards we''ll give you 88 wen in a red envelope."


    "Me, me!"


    "Let me do it!"


    Hearing there was money, the onlookers were eager to rush up. Finally the shop assistant picked an old man from the crowd.


    Not just because he was elderly and should be given some precedence, but also because his clothes were the dirtiest. He probably often chopped firewood, his clothes were covered in pine sap.


    This kind of sap was extremely difficult to wash off. After a long time, you could even scrape off ayer with a knife.


    "Old pal, take off your coat."


    "Huh?" Old Zhang was startled. "Why do I need to take off my coat? You didn''t say anything about taking off clothes earlier! This coat is expensive, what if you damage it?"


    Shop assistant: ......


    Finally Old Zhang happily took it off when he heard it was to wash his clothes.


    "Everyone look," the shop assistant held up the coat for everyone to see. "Do you think Old Zhang''s coat can be washed as clean as new?"


    "How is that possible?"


    "This much thick pine sap, even 10 pieces of soap bean couldn''t wash it off!"


    "Right, soap bean definitely can''t wash it off!" The shop assistant said loudly. "But our soap, definitely can wash it clean!"


    "Blowing smoke!"


    "This is pine sap. To wash it clean, you''d have to... have to boil it in water for days and nights!"


    The shop assistant smiled. Swiftly he took out scissors and snip snip, cut the coat in two.


    Old Zhang: ......


    "Now, we''ll use soap bean for one half, and soap for the other half," the shop assistant said. "What will the result be?"


    ng ng ng-


    With a drumbeat, two other assistants brought over two basins of hot water, and started washing the two coat halves.


    Everyone''s gaze focused on the soap side.


    They saw as the assistant scrubbed,rge amounts of bubbles appeared, along with ck dirty water. Then the whole basin of water started to turn ck.


    People who wash clothes know, this is the dirt from the clothes washing into the water.


    The effect on the soap bean side was clearly much inferior.


    The two assistants rinsed the coat halves in clean water after scrubbing, then presented them before everyone again.


    "Wow, really so clean! All the pine sap is washed away!"


    "Yeah, is this soap really so amazing?"


    "Something so great must be really expensive right?"


    "Right, soap really is expensive!" The shop assistant said loudly. "One piece of soap costs nearly half a liang of silver! But- today our shop is giving back to old and new customers. The boss said we must sell at a loss!"


    "So today if you buy, one soap is not 998, not 888, only- 288! 288, one soap to bring home, the wife and daughters will smile happily!"


    Li Yao: ...... Who on earth taught thisst sentence?

 Chapter 59: He Deserved to Get Rich

    <h4>Chapter 59</h4>


    A two-ounce bar of soap cost less than 300 wen. This price was a little more expensive than bean curd, but its cleaning effect was many times better! Many people still did not believe it, thinking there must be a catch - maybe the old man''s clothes were not as dirty as they looked!


    "You can try it yourself!"


    "I''ll do it!" A chef covered in oil stains stepped forward and was quickly recognized. "Isn''t this Chef Hu from He''s Restaurant?"


    "You''re not cooking in the restaurant. Why are you here causing amotion?"


    "Why can''t Ie?" Chef Hu said. "Besides, with my clothes this dirty, do you think the food I make would taste better?"


    "I..."


    "So I''m here to buy some soap and wash my clothes cleaner."


    As he spoke, Chef Hu took off his clothes and efficiently scrubbed them in a basin of hot water.


    When he lifted his clean clothes, he eximed, "My goodness, is this the original color of my clothes?"


    The crowd naturally had eyes. They could clearly see his clothes were washed very clean.


    "Let me tell you," Chef Hu said, "this stuff is so good, why don''t you hurry up and buy some? I''m definitely going to buy two blocks!"


    Li Yao felt a headacheing on.


    This situation definitely called for a couple of actors, but she had not expected the actors Boss Zou brought to be so unprofessional.


    "Chef Hu, don''t be impatient." The shopkeeper said.


    "What, you won''t sell it to me?"


    "Of course not. But I haven''t finished speaking yet," the shopkeeper continued loudly. "Our boss said that for every bar of soap purchased today, there is a chance to draw a prize! The top prize is 1,888 wen! There are also various other nice prizes!"


    Soon, two clerks carried out arge prize box, and there were also rice, flour, eggs and other prizes.


    The most eye-catching, of course, was the big red envelope containing 1,888 wen.


    "Give me one first!"


    The old man whose robe was cut, being close to the action, got the first chance to buy.


    "Old Zhang, please draw a prize."


    Old Zhang stuck his withered hand into the box and hesitated for a long time before finally selecting a prize slip.


    The clerk opened it and immediately shouted loudly: "Congrattions to Old Zhang for drawing third prize - one jin of white flour!"


    Although he did not draw the big prize, Old Zhang was still smiling from ear to ear.


    This jin of white flour was gotten for free.


    "My robe..."


    "Go to our shop, the manager willpensate you with a new one."


    Hearing that his old robe could be exchanged for a new one, the wrinkles on Old Zhang''s face smoothed out in delight.


    With someone taking the lead, the onlooking crowd did not wait any longer.


    This soap was really good, and most importantly there was a chance to draw prizes. What if they drew 1,888 wen and struck it rich?


    "I want one!"


    "I want three!"


    "I want one too!"


    "Can I buy half a bar?" Suddenly, a little girl asked timidly.


    The clerk was taken aback upon hearing this - Boss Zou had not mentioned this!


    "I''m sorry miss, our shop..."


    "Sell it to her." Li Yao stepped forward and personally cut half a bar of soap and ced it in the little girl''s hands. "Hold on to it tightly, don''t lose it."


    "Okay, thank you Lady Li."


    Although it was just a small gesture, in the eyes of these poormoners, Li Yao was like a kind-hearted fairy.


    "From now on, whoever dares to say Lady Li is a shrew, I will not let them off!"


    "That''s right, she deserves to strike it rich."


    "Hehe," an onlooking schr also nodded and praised, "Lady Li has beauty, kindness, great temperament - she''s a fairy who descended into the mortal realm!"


    Li Yao: ...I''m really wasting my talent not being a livestreamer.


    As more and more people bought soap, the prize drawing continued.


    Rice, flour, eggs, discount coupons...all kinds of prizes were drawn by people. But that biggest prize still hung there.


    Seeing that 400 bars of soap were about to be sold out, discordant voices began arising from the crowd.


    "It''s fake, definitely fake!"


    "There are no big prize slips in that box at all!"


    "The final big prize must be kept for their own people!"


    "Fellow vigers, you''ve all been cheated!"


    Li Yao frowned. The ones stirring up trouble in the crowd were two servants from Zhang Guangsheng''s family. And Zhang Guangsheng himself was currently sitting in the teahouse across the street, looking down at her from above.


    Had this guy not learned his lesson after she beat him upst time?


    "It''s my turn to draw a prize!"


    An olddy dressed in rags came to the prize box holding a bar of soap. But she did not hurry to draw a prize. Instead, she put her hands together and muttered.


    "Buddha bless me. I borrowed money to buy this soap. You must let me win a prize!"


    After that, she groped around in the box for a long time before finally taking out a prize slip. She looked at the clerk expectantly, "How is it? Did I win? It doesn''t have to be the big prize, even a few eggs would be good."


    "I''m sorry Granny, you didn''t get any eggs." The clerk shook his head.


    "What about flour then?"


    "No flour either."


    The olddy suddenly became a little anxious. "Then...then at least I got white flour right?"


    The clerk continued shaking his head. "No white flour either."


    "I didn''t get anything?"


    The expectation on the olddy''s face instantly turned into immense disappointment.


    Just as she was about to leave, the clerk said to her, "Granny, why don''t you ask if you got the biggest prize?"


    "The biggest prize?" Hearing this, the olddy kept shaking her head. "How could I be so lucky..."


    "No, you have to believe in yourself!" said the clerk. "Go on Granny, ask me, hurry!"


    "Forget it if I didn''t win, don''t tease me..."


    "Just give it a try, what if?"


    The olddy hesitated.


    Of course she wanted to win the biggest prize, but the clerk looked unreliable, just deliberately ying a joke on her right?


    But what if...


    "Alright, I''ll ask you - did I win the big prize or not?"


    "You did!"


    "Hehe, I knew it..." She said. "Wait, what did you say?"


    "I said you did!" The clerk eximed. "You really do have this luck! Fellow vigers, our shop''s biggest prize has been won today! Congrattions Granny!"


    What, she really won the big prize?


    As the heavy red envelope was ced in front of her, the olddy felt as if she was dreaming.


    "This...is really mine?"


    "It really is," the clerk said. "Hurry and open it and take a look."


    The olddy wiped her hands on her clothes before epting the red envelope. Her hands trembled slightly as she carefully opened it.


    Inside the envelope were really ingots and strings of brand new copper coins!


    Seeing the silver coins, the olddy suddenly burst into tears for some reason.


    "How wonderful...sob...sob..."


    "Finally I can buy more meat for my grandson to eat..."


    "Thank you all, thank you Lady Li, you are a living bodhisattva!"


    The olddy wanted to bow to Li Yao, but was stopped by her. "Hurry home."


    "Alright, I''m going right now."


    Under the extremely envious gazes of everyone, the olddy quickly left the crowd. With so much money on her, she did not dare linger and hurried home to hide it.


    With the big prize already taken, the enthusiasm of the onlooking crowd dampened.


    Additionally, the 400 bars of soap were almost sold out. Some wealthy madams and misses felt it was no longer interesting and were about to head home. But several nimbly-dressed clerks came up to them.


    "Lady Wang, please wait. Our shop has other goods today."


    "Oh? What is it?"


    "It''s a product ten times more advanced than soap," the clerk said with a smile. "And it''s only open for sale to VIP guests. If Madam is interested, pleasee upstairs."


    Ten times higher grade?


    Only open to VIPs?


    Just these two points perfectly stroked the vanity of the madams and misses.


    Of course.


    Everyone knew Riverbend Li''s Boutique only sold high ss goods.


    It was impossible for them, these esteemed VIP guests, to only buy the same stuff asmoners after waiting on the streets for so long.


    What kind of VIP would that make them, right?


    "Hurry and take me there!"


    "This way, Madam!"

 Chapter 60: Who Backs Who

    <h4>Chapter 60</h4>


    On the second floor of the luxury shop.


    A group of madams and youngdies had just gone upstairs, and they smelled a faint scent of honey and freesia, but did not see any flowers anywhere, which made everyone even more curious.


    Most importantly, the counter waspletely empty, and they did not see any new products at all.


    "Little Er, what is it? Hurry up and take it out!"


    "Madam,dies, please take a seat," a clerk said very politely, "We will show you right away."


    After everyone sat down, several clerks got busy.


    Someone brought in an exquisite copper basin and ced it in the middle of the room. Someone else carried arge bucket of hot water, and another person brought a steaming hot towel for washing faces and hands.


    The grand setup left everyone confused about what the luxury shop was trying to do.


    "Madam,dies, this is what we have prepared for you esteemed guests this time," the clerk said as he took out two paper packages and showed them to everyone.


    "This... still looks like soap, doesn''t it?"


    "Yes," the clerk replied. "This is indeed soap, but not ordinary soap. Our boss said this is the finest soap she has carefully refined¡ªperfumed soap!"


    "Perfumed soap?"


    "That''s right," the clerk went on. "Just now you all saw that we sold 400 bars of soap downstairs, and the price was very cheap. Why was it cheap? Because all the essence in those soaps has been extracted to make perfumed soap."


    The clerk unwrapped two perfumed soaps, and an even more intense fragrance instantly assailed their noses. Moreover, the milky white and light pink colors made everyone''s eyes light up.


    The lye they usually used to wash their faces was pitch ck and looked very ufortable, with a strange smell.


    But the perfumed soap before them had such nice colors and such a fragrant scent.


    It really deserved to be called a refined luxury product!


    "What''s more, this perfumed soap not only smells nice, it also has excellent cleansing effects," the clerk continued. "You all know our boss Ms. Li used to be a farm woman. But now look at her face¡ªwhere''s the trace of a farm woman left? It''s because she uses perfumed soap to wash her face, wash her hair, and cleanse her body every day that her face is so fair and tender, her hair so silky and smooth, just like an 18-year-old girl!"


    Everyone''s eyes shone brighter.


    They were all women. What woman doesn''t love beauty? What woman doesn''t want to stay forever young?


    A wealthy madam immediately said, "Xiao Qian, go try it!"


    A dark-skinned little maid named Xiao Qian promptly stepped forward and asked, "Is there any difference between these two?"


    "Good question," the clerk replied. "The pink rose soap leaves lingering fragrance after use. The white one is honey soap, with more emphasis on skin care."


    "Then I''ll try the pink rose soap."


    The little maid began washing her face with the light pink rose soap following the clerk''s instructions. When she used a hot towel to wipe her face dry, she went before her mistress.


    Seeing the maid in front of her, the wealthy madam''s eyes lit up with amazement.


    She knew her maid well. She was usually very clean and washed her face carefully every day. But never before had she been this clean.


    Those tiny ck dots on her face were so much lighter!


    Her little face also felt more tender when pinched.


    The obedient little maid washed her hair again on the spot. The oily hair instantly became silky and clean. Not only was the odd smell gone, it left a faint floral scent.


    Such instant visible effects¡ªthe madams and youngdies present could wait no longer. They didn''t even ask the price, just grabbing a few bars each first.


    In the blink of an eye, the 200 bars of perfumed soap were snapped up clean.


    The perfumed soap was priced at 3 taels of silver per bar. Since they were VIP customers, the total revenue was 480 taels.


    Ms. Li gave the shop 2 taels per bar. With the 40 taelsmission, sheted 440 taels. By her calction, each bar cost no more than 20 copper coins to make.


    Just like Clear Gel, sky high profits.


    Ms. Li didn''t let them take out the remaining 200 bars. The consumer base at Baichuan Market was this big. Rather than letting these upper-ss women buy them to stockpile at home, it was better to keep them on hand,


    to have Manager Zou send them to Yizhou Prefecture, or have professional merchantse buy them.


    Anyway, her intention was that products of the Li Family of Heway in the future would surely sell all over the world.


    While a group of madams anddies were trying perfumed soap upstairs at the luxury shop, across the street at the teahouse, Zhang Guangsheng wished he could kick his two servants a few times.


    "I''m feeding you for nothing when you can''t even make a mess properly," Zhang Guangsheng scolded them.


    "Master, we tried our best," one servant said to Zhang Guangsheng. "We just didn''t expect that Ms. Li would really be willing to give away money like that!"


    This was also unexpected for Zhang Guangsheng.


    He had thought the 1888 taels grand prize was just a gimmick to attract people. After all, selling soap so cheaply, she couldn''t be earning much money.


    "Is it possible that auntie was hired by Ms. Li to act it out?" Zhang Guangsheng asked. "She took the top prize, then secretly gave it back afterwards?"


    "That''s unlikely," the servant said. "That auntie''s surname is Wu. She''s from our vige. I don''t think she was pretending."


    "No, she was pretending," Zhang Guangsheng insisted.


    "No..."


    "What do you mean no?" Zhang Guangsheng frowned. "I say she was so she was!"


    The two servants were confused.


    Although the master was usually very overbearing, the truth was the truth. How could he stubbornly insist on calling the truth a lie?


    Who would believe that?


    "Pig brains, can''t even figure this out?" Zhang Guangsheng looked at them impatiently. "Come here!"


    They quickly leaned in, and after a whispered exchange, had an epiphany.


    "Don''t worry, Master," the excited servant said. "I''ll go right now and guarantee it''ll be done wlessly!"


    The auntie who had won the big prize made a beeline for home after leaving the market, no stops. But not long after she left, two men began following her from afar.


    Seeing the two sneaking figures always hiding at the roadside woods, the yamen runner who had been secretly waiting grew excited and quickly tailed them.


    "Chief, Ms. Li really is capable to have predicted this," a yamen runner whispered. "I recognize those two. They''re Zhang Guangsheng''s servants. They usually bully people relying on their master''s power. They caused trouble at the marketst time, but were taught a lesson by Ms. Li. Didn''t expect they would dare toe make trouble again."


    "Ms. Li has extraordinary wisdom. How could she not foresee something so small?" Captain Zhang said. "What''s rare is her willingness to give us this credit."


    "Then we''ve epted her favor, so of course we should back her at Baichuan Market in the future."


    Back Ms. Li?


    Captain Zhang secretlyughed to himself.


    Let alone that she had earned great merit this time, with so much business she did every month, how much money did she make?


    It probably wouldn''t be long before she became the wealthiest person in Baichuan County.


    Who would be backing whom in the future was hard to say!

 Chapter 61: Framed

    <h4>Chapter 61</h4>


    On her way home, Wu Auntie was both happy and afraid.


    She was happy because she had won a big prize. The silver and copper coins in her arms were enough to cover her family''s food and clothing for half a year. She was afraid because she knew some people would be envious when they saw her win such a big prize, and some might even harbor evil intentions.


    Moreover, ahead was a small grove where there were few people. If something happened there...


    "Stop right there!"


    Suddenly a loud shout made Wu Auntie jump in fright. She turned around in panic to find two men with their faces covered in ck cloth. Her soul nearly jumped out of her body.


    This was exactly what she had feared!


    "Good...good sirs...what do you want?"


    "What do we want?" Housekeeper A grinned evilly. "Hand over all your money!"


    "I don''t have any money!" Wu Auntie was about to cry. "I''m just a poor old woman, where would I get money from..."


    "Still pretending?" Housekeeper B said. "You think the big prize you won at the Li''s Luxury Shop was really just given to you for nothing?"


    Li''s Luxury Shop?


    Wu Auntie was stunned. "You...you were sent by Ms. Li to take back the big prize she gave away?"


    "Humph, you''re not that stupid after all," Housekeeper A said. "Hand the money back quickly, and we might spare your life! Otherwise, this grove will be your burial ground!"


    Seeing the vicious look in the two men''s eyes, endless despair rose up in Wu Auntie.


    She knew it was too good to be true. How could anyone give her so much money for no reason?


    Since they were sent by Ms. Li, she should just give the money back. It was never hers to begin with anyway.


    "Alright, I''ll give it back to you."


    "Wise choice."


    With weak limbs, Wu Auntie took out the silver ingots and copper coins from her pocket.


    Just as the two housekeepers got the money and were about to flee, two bailiffs suddenly leapt out from the nearby woods, pressing their bare des against the housekeepers'' necks.


    The icy cold de pressed against their skin, scaring the two housekeepers so much that they squeezed their eyes shut and begged for their lives.


    "Spare us...spare us..."


    "Take the money, just let us go!"


    "Want to leave? It won''t be so easy."


    Just then, Zhang County Captain walked out from the woods, looking majestic as he came before the two men.


    "Open your dog eyes and see who we are!"


    The two housekeepers opened their eyes, only to see the man in front of them dressed in official robes - it was none other than Zhang County Captain from the county government!


    Damn it!


    Why would a county captaine to a godforsaken ce like this?


    "Captain Zhang, this is a misunderstanding..."


    "What misunderstanding?" Zhang County Captain loudly rebuked as he ripped the ck cloth off the two men''s faces. "You two scoundrels dare to brazenlymit robbery in broad daylight. And now that you''ve been caught red-handed by me, you still dare to make excuses?"


    The two housekeepers'' hearts turned icy cold.


    Now not only had they failed their task, they would also be thrown in jail. What had they gotten themselves into!


    Zhang County Captain slowly walked up to Wu Auntie and returned the money to her. At this moment, Wu Auntie felt as if she were dreaming - she didn''t even dare ept the money when she saw it.


    "I...I don''t want it anymore..."


    "This is your money, why don''t you want it?"


    "I really don''t want it anymore," Wu Auntie waved her hands again and again. "Please return it to Ms. Li for me. I really don''t want it."


    "Take it," Zhang County Captain said. "Those two men were not sent by Ms. Li."


    "What? They weren''t?"


    "That''s right. They were trying to frame and nder Ms. Li. But don''t worry, these two will surely be punished ording to thew. At the very least they''ll be exiled, so they won''te back to take revenge on you. You can rest assured and take this money. I''ll also send someone to escort you home."


    At that, Wu Auntie could no longer hold back her tears.


    "Thank you, Captain. I bow to you in gratitude!"


    Zhang County Captain quickly stopped Wu Auntie from bowing, and had a bailiff escort her home.


    After the two had left, he gave the housekeepers a kick in the backside. "Walk!"


    ...


    In the county office.


    After listening to Zhang County Captain''s report, Song County Magistrate was quite surprised.


    "You''re saying Ms. Li was the one who told you all this?"


    "That''s right," Zhang County Captain said. "If not for Ms. Li informing me, I wouldn''t have been able to catch these two. But I''ve already interrogated them, and they stubbornly insist it was their own idea to rob her when they saw the money. They''d rather be exiled than reveal who put them up to it."


    This was not surprising to Song County Magistrate at all.


    Housekeepers would take the fall for their masters. Otherwise they and their families would suffer.


    But that was beside the point.


    He already knew Li Yao was clever and skilled, but now it seemed there was more to her than that.


    Just who was this Ms. Li?


    After thinking for a moment, Song County Magistrate said, "Since Ms. Li has rendered merit, she should naturally be rewarded. And since this matter involves you, go with me to He Wan vige tomend her."


    "Yes sir! What shall we award her?"


    Although he was the county magistrate, Song County Magistrate''s coffers were embarrassingly empty. There was little silver or copper coins in the government treasury either. The ceramic set he had previously awarded Li Yao was paid out of his own pocket.


    "Let''s just give her a verbalmendation." Song County Magistrate said. "But do it in front of all the vigers of He Wan, so go and have Wang Vige Chief gather everyone first."


    "Understood."


    ...


    Things were going smoothly at the shop. All the soap had been sold, and Old Master Zhou had the bookkeepers tally up the day''s ounts.


    Per Li Yao''s prior instructions, the shop didn''t earn a single copper coin from the 400 bars of lye soap they sold. Any profit was used for the lucky draw.


    Of course, Li Yao still made a small profit.


    She sold the soap to the shop for 100 copper coins a bar, so 400 bars earned her 32,000, or 32 taels.


    So while the selling price was low, with enough volume, the profits were still considerable.


    The glycerin soap was even better.


    Each bar cost just a few copper coins more than the lye soap, but sold to the shop for 2 taels of silver.


    200 bars made 400 taels of silver. Deducting costs of about 5 taels, the profit was 395 taels.


    Add to that the 200 copper coins per bar the shop paid out, which was another 40 taels.


    Before noon had even arrived, 467 taels of silver were already in hand.


    The remaining 200 bars of glycerin soap would surely sell out soon, adding another 435 taels.


    At this rate of earning, Li Yao felt she would soon attain financial freedom and could just lie back and rx every day.


    Leaving Old Master Zhou to handle shop matters, Li Yao went to the market and bought half amb. The children had been cravingmb skewers, and she was also quite hungry for them, so they would eat well today.


    "Mother," Da Zhuang said on the way home, "when I went to pick you up earlier, the bookkeeper quietly told me something."


    The bookkeeper?


    Li Yao''s brows furrowed slightly. Could there be a problem with the shop''s books?


    But the bookkeeper was hired by Old Master Zhou, and had some reputation in Baichuan Market. And they had only been open a few days, so there shouldn''t be any issues.


    "What did he say?"


    "Nothing major," Da Zhuang said. "He just asked if I wanted to buy a house in the market town. He said he knew of two good locations if I was interested in buying."


    So he wanted to broker a real estate purchase.


    She had never considered buying a house in the market town. Wherever she had money she could livefortably.


    But Da Zhuang was already a grown man, and would be a father next year. It was time for him to start thinking independently about some matters.


    "What do you think?" Li Yao asked.


    "Me? I don''t know. I''ll listen to whatever you say."


    "A man should have his own opinions," Li Yao said. "Tell me what you''re thinking."


    "Yes." Da Zhuang thought for a moment. "I think each has its pros and cons. Living in the market town is convenient, while the vige is peaceful. I prefer the vige. If only..."


    "What?"


    "If only this road was a bit wider and more level," Da Zhuang said, "then you could ride in the ox cart morefortably."


    Li Yao: ...Thank you for thinking of me, but I definitely won''t be riding ox carts for the rest of my life!


    Even if it takes all her money, she would absolutely not ride ox carts forever!


    No way!


    "Ms. Li," a voice suddenly called from the roadside, "please wait."

 Chapter 62: Be Envied

    <h4>Chapter 62</h4>


    Turning around, Li Yao saw that three well-dressed men were blocking her and Da Zhuang''s way home. Seeing they were strangers and this was an isted spot in the woods, Da Zhuang became wary, keeping a close eye on the three men''s actions.


    Now that the family hade into money, they were bound to arouse jealousy and greed.


    "Mistress Li," the one with a goatee who seemed to be the leader came forward with a chuckle, "may I have a word?"


    Da Zhuang said, "Say what you want to here!"


    Goatee ignored Da Zhuang and looked to Li Yao, seeming to know she was the one in charge.


    Li Yao was unafraid of these men. Even if ten more came, she could guarantee her own safety. Rather, she worried for Da Zhuang. The boy had only brute strength without any martial arts training.


    If a fight broke out, he was very likely to get hurt.


    "Da Zhuang, go home first. I''lle backter."


    "But Mother..."


    "Go home."


    Seeing her expression turn icy and hearing the upromising tone, Da Zhuang felt no urge to disobey. He could only look back worriedly and head home with the oxcart.


    After Da Zhuang had gone far, Li Yao said, "Where to talk?"


    "No need to go far, just somewhere away from prying eyes," said Goatee.


    Goatee led Li Yao a short way into the woods and stopped.


    "Mistress Li, you''re quite bold."


    "Just say what you came to say."


    "That''s even better, so direct," Goatee said. "I''ve actuallye about the matter of the dry well."


    Li Yao''s brows furrowed slightly.


    She had thought Goatee wanted to make a shady "exclusive deal" with her for the Green Grass Ointment and Fragrant Soap selling so well. It seemed she had guessed wrong.


    "What about the dry well? No good?"


    "On the contrary, very good," said Goatee. "So the magistrate wants to reward you for it."


    What?


    Li Yao wondered if she had misheard.


    The magistrate wanted to reward her, yet sent people to summon her to the woods for a secret meeting?


    But she understood the key point right away.


    The magistrate likely wanted to im exclusive credit for the dry well.


    Although she did not care about credit or rewards, there was no way she would let someone else take it. If it had to be given to someone else, it could only be the Song County Magistrate. At least he had stayed up all night for the benefit of Baichuan County''smon folk.


    As for this magistrate, he probably hadn''t left his yamen yet wanted to im the credit. That was uneptable.


    "What do you think, Mistress Li," said Goatee. "As long as you promise not to say a word about the dry well, I can give you... 50 taels of silver!"


    When he finished, he looked expectantly at Li Yao, waiting for her to be overjoyed.


    After all, 50 taels of silver was enough for a vige woman to live ten years!


    But instead of readily agreeing, Li Yao gave a cold smile.


    Goatee frowned. "What are youughing about? Or is it not enough?"


    "It''s not that it''s not enough, but too little," said Li Yao. "To get me to give up credit for the dry well, you''d have to offer at least 50 taels of gold."


    "You..." Goatee''s eyes bulged. "50 taels of gold? What fantasy are you living in! Fine, 100 taels! Take the money and live well. Otherwise..."


    Here, the two men behind Goatee took a few steps forward, clearly ready to use force at hismand.


    Facing their overt threat, Li Yao was utterly unmoved.


    "Go back and tell your magistrate if he wants political achievements through this, he should govern properly and do more for the people. If all he thinks about is scheming, who knows how he''ll die in the end."


    "You, you dare!" Goatee was so angry his hair practically stood on end. "Stupid woman, you dare threaten the magistrate! Men, seize her!"


    On his order, the two thugs pounced almost in unison.


    In their eyes, Li Yao was just a vige woman. Even with years of farm work, she wouldn''t have much strength. She''d be easy to subdue.


    Seeing the ring ws in their attack, Li Yao flicked her wrist, sending a dagger from her sleeve into her palm, about to kill them both in the blink of an eye.


    Suddenly, a roar came from behind.


    "Impudent thieves, you dare!"


    Li Yao''s brows knitted, immediately recognizing the voice as belonging to Zhang County Captain. She swiftly hid away the dagger.


    Seeing someone from the authorities, Goatee shot Li Yao a fierce re.


    "Let''s go!"


    The three hastily retreated. As Zhang County Captain was alone, he didn''t pursue them for fear Li Yao would encounter other dangers.


    "Mistress Li, are you alright?"


    "I''m fine."


    "County Magistrate sent me ahead to honor you in He Wan Vige. I happened to meet your Da Zhuang and he said you were taken by three men, so I hurried over."


    Li Yao''s mouth twitched. The county magistrate wasing again?


    This was bad. With Zhang County Captain here, it seemed she couldn''t avoid it this time.


    "Mistress Li, the county magistrate will arrive shortly. Let us wait for him on the road."


    "Alright."


    With no choice, Li Yao went back to the road where she saw the anxious Da Zhuang from afar.


    "Didn''t I tell you to go home? Why did youe back?"


    "Mother...I just couldn''t stop worrying..."


    "Fine, you''re back already," said Li Yao. "But never do this again, understand?"


    "Yes."


    Soon, Song County Magistrate arrived with two yamen runners, riding quickly towards them.


    After hearing Zhang County Captain''s report, Song frowned deeply. In a few steps he was before Li Yao.


    Li Yao bowed.


    "Mistress Li need not be so formal."


    Song waved his hand to stop her from bowing. Li Yao was delighted and immediately stood up straight.


    As long as he didn''t make her kneel, she could tolerate anything.


    This was Song''s first time seeing Li Yao up close. As a man from the capital previously holding the third rank, he had seen all kinds of exceptional women.


    Yet Mistress Li here was very different from those women, with lively brows and carefree grace in her every move.


    Wearing in clothes, her features were charming yet she emanated a heroic spirit, unforgettable at first sight.


    "County Magistrate?" Seeing him lost in thought, Zhang County Captain quietly reminded him.


    "Oh, ahem..." Song snapped back to the present, feeling slightly flushed. He quickly got to business. "Mistress Li, do you know who those three men were?"


    "They should have been sent by the magistrate."


    "The magistrate?" Song eximed in shock, eyes wide. "This...this...this..."


    That was very possible!


    The dry well was a huge aplishment. If the magistrate could im sole credit, his year-end performance review would shine brilliantly. He might even get promoted and transferred to an important post in the capital next year.


    And because the benefits were so great, he wanted to silence Li Yao.


    But how could Song allow this to happen in his jurisdiction right under his nose?


    "Captain Zhang, return to the yamen."


    Zhang was slightly surprised. Wasn''t the n to honor Mistress Li?


    Could the county magistrate have changed his mind out of fear?


    Seeing Song and his men head back, Li Yao felt relieved. If the county magistrate hade to the vige to publicly honor her, she really wouldn''t have known what to do.


    "Da Zhuang, let''s go home too."


    "Yes Mother," Da Zhuang immediately brought over the ox cart, worriedly saying, "Mother, just stay home from now on and don''t go out. Let me handle any business outside."

 Chapter 63: Catch a Fish

    <h4>Chapter 63</h4>


    On the way back to the county office, Captain Zhang had been gloomily silent the whole time.


    He was quite impressed with this new county magistrate. Unlike the previous ones who only knew about extorting money and barely cared about themon people''s affairs.


    So when Magistrate Song didn''t continuemending Ms. Li, it inevitably left a lump in his heart.


    Seeing his mood, Magistrate Song knew what he was thinking, so he took the initiative to ask: "Do you think I was intimidated by the prefect''s power? Or am I trying to curry favor with him and take credit for the drought well?"


    "I dare not think that."


    "There''s nothing to not dare about!" Magistrate Song said, "It''s normal for you to have such thoughts, and I won''t me you for it either."


    "Sir," Captain Zhang finally couldn''t help but ask, "Then what are you really thinking?"


    "Prefect Hu wants to take credit to boost his political achievements, I actually have no good way to stop it."


    Captain Zhang sighed inwardly, wasn''t that right?


    Higher officials oppress their subordinates.


    Magistrate Song was just a seventh-rank county magistrate, even if his family had some background in the capital, how could hepare with a prominent local official?


    Let alone Prefect Hu could directly report to the emperor.


    But when he thought about Li Yao''s contributions, Magistrate Song''s contributions, and how someone was going to take credit, Captain Zhang felt extremely unwilling.


    He was ofmon people origin, so he naturally knew how important an upright magistrate like Magistrate Song was to themoners. And a genius like Li Yao could bring endless benefits.


    "Isn''t there any way?"


    "Hehe, I didn''t see you wrong," Magistrate Songughed, "As the parent official of Baichuan County, I certainly won''t let this happen."


    "Sir, if you have any orders, please instruct me!" Captain Zhang said, "I will go through fire and water, and will not shy away!"


    "It''s not that serious," Magistrate Song slowly said, "When you go back, immediately find some opera troupes."


    Huh?


    Captain Zhang was confused.


    "What do you need the opera troupes for?"


    "Three dayster, I, the county magistrate, will perform a ritual to pray for rain to help the people of Baichuan County get through this natural disaster."


    Captain Zhang: ......


    ......


    "Did you hear that?"


    When Shen Shi got back from the market, she immediately told the vigers about the news she heard.


    "She said three dayster, the county magistrate will hold an altar to pray for rain!"


    "Those who go to observe the ritual can get one jin of coarse grains per person! Non-Baichuan County residents can get half a jin!"


    "There''s such good thing?" A viger expressed disbelief.


    "The notices are posted at the market. If you don''t believe, go see for yourself," Shen Shi said, "I heard several opera troupes were also invited to perform for us!"


    "Is it true? Hurry up and ask the vige head."


    The news of the county magistrate holding an altar to pray for rain thus spread through the vige. When Li Yao heard the news, she was leaning against the deliciousmb skewers in the yard.


    And the vige head Wang Jiafu was next to her, barely holding back his drool.


    "Vige Head Wang,e sit and have some. Don''t be polite, there''s still plenty more." Li Yao waved him over.


    "Then I''ll really not stand on ceremony."


    Wang Jiafu sat down and ate themb skewers, while saying: "The county magistrate told me to tell you that you must go to the market in three days."


    Li Yao knew the so-called ritual was just a scam. Magistrate Song''s real intention was probably rted to the credit for the drought well. Most likely he wanted to establish her contributions in front of all the county residents.


    Then Prefect Hu would have to think twice before trying to take credit.


    After all, the Yellow River''s water could be blocked, but themon people''s mouths were hard to cover up. Once this matter spread to the capital and the emperor found out, it would be deceiving the emperor, the lightest punishment would be family expulsion and exile to the frontiers.


    But beingmended in front of the whole county was even worse than being roasted on a fire to her.


    "I won''t go."


    "You...why are you always like this?" Wang Jiafu was anxious when he heard this, "Let''s not talk about how great an honor this is, this is the county magistrate''s order!"


    "I just won''t go," Li Yao said, "What can he do, arrest me and drag me there?"


    Wang Jiafu really had no way, and finally looked at Wang Er: "How about letting Wang Er go instead?"


    "That works."


    Wang Er shuddered when he heard this. He knew it!


    Whenever something like this came up, Mother would make him take the fall!


    He was just a schr who only read the sages'' books and turned a deaf ear to the outside world!


    How could he always get involved in these things?


    "Mother, can we let Eldest Brother go this time?"


    "Me?" Da Zhuang immediately shook his head when he heard this, "I can''t, absolutely not, besides, I still havend remation to do, where do I have the time."


    Wang Er looked to Third Brother and Fourth Son again: "How about you go?"


    "Are you kidding, Second Brother?" Wang San''er didn''t even lift his head and said, "I have to herd pigs, where do I have time?"


    Fourth Son also nodded vigorously: "I have to massage Mother, I''m also busy."


    Wang Er sighed inwardly. It looked like it had to be him after all.


    "Then let me make this clear first, just this once."


    "That''s right," Da Zhuang cheerfully patted him on the shoulder, "Second Brother, you''re destined to be an official in the future. Getting used to this kind of thing early is not bad."


    Seeing Wang Er''s worried look, Wang Jiafu really didn''t understand this family.


    This was such a good thing. Others racked their brains to get it but couldn''t. Yet they were all acting as if walking to the execution ground.


    "Then it''s settled," Wang Jiafu said, "County Captain Zhang wille to pick you up in person, so get ready early."


    After the vige head left, Li Yao stretched out a longzy waist.


    Themb skewers today were grilled by her own hands, and tasted especiallyfortable. She ate more than usual too.


    Normally she should watch her weight now that it''s trending up. But she had an important task tonight, so she had to stock up on nutrients.


    "We''re running low on spices at home. I''m going into the mountain to pick some."


    "Mother, it''s sote now," He Xiaoya said, "Why not wait until tomorrow?"


    "I''m going now. No dying when ites to spices," Li Yao said, "It may take a few days this time before Ie back."


    The children looked at each other. Was Mother so desperate for money that she didn''t even care about her life?


    Or rather, she wasn''t actually going to pick spices, she was avoiding the county magistrate''smendation?


    Highly likely!


    "Then be careful, Mother."


    "I don''t need you all worrying about me."


    Changing into easy-to-move clothes and taking some tools, Li Yao headed for the back of the mountain under the dark night. After a distance, making sure no one was around, she changed direction and rushed toward Baichuan Market.


    Prefect Hu wanted to seal her mouth with money, if not, he would eliminate her. She could not pretend this never happened.


    With her current recovered abilities, the prefect was out of her reach, being heavily guarded in Yizhou Prefecture. She indeed couldn''t get to him, and didn''t want to take too big risks.


    But those threeckeys, she could deal with more freely.


    Maybe she could even catch bigger fish.

 Chapter 64: Explore the Canyon

    <h4>Chapter 64</h4>


    Baichuan Market, Lai Fu Inn.


    Goatee man brought people to block Li Yao''s way in the daytime, and knocked on the door of Room No.1 in a flurry.


    "Counselor He?"


    The door opened, and Counselor He, the treacherous military advisor of Prefect Hu, looked furious. This useless guy often caused more harm than good. He had sent Goatee man to deal with Li Yao in the daytime, but the matter was botched.


    "What''s the matter sote?"


    "Counselor He, I''vee to redeem myself!" Goatee man hurriedly smiled apologetically, "I''ve just got some very important news."


    Counselor He suppressed his anger and let Goatee man in.


    "Speak, what news?"


    "It''s like this. This afternoon, the county magistrate let people post notices everywhere, saying that he would hold a ritual in three days to pray for rain, and also invite all the people in the county to watch the show..."


    After hearing the news, Counselor He''s face became even more solemn.


    It was quite odd that an official appointed by the imperial court would hold a ritual to pray for rain.


    As a counselor, he was very shrewd. He soon realized the key point.


    "He wants to firmly establish the credit of ending the drought on Li Yao!"


    "Ah?" Goatee man was surprised, "He...he dares to confront the Prefect like this? He is tired of living!"


    "Humph!" Counselor He sneered coldly, "Relying on his status as a gentleman from the capital city and his connections, he has never taken the Prefect seriously. He has held this position for so long without giving the Prefect a penny!"


    "What should we do then?"


    "No need to panic. Now that I know about it, his tricks are nothing to worry about." Counselor He lowered his voice and said, "Tonight, bring more men, pretend to be bandits..."


    As he spoke, he pped his own neck viciously: "Leave none alive!"


    Goatee man was shocked. This was about killing the whole family!


    "Don''t worry, I will certainly reward you well." Seeing his hesitation, Counselor He immediately took out a bill of 100 taels of silver, "After it''s done, I''ll give you 200 more taels. And all the money in that house will be yours."


    Wine reddens the face, and money moves the heart.


    This was 300 taels in total!


    Who knows how much more he could get from Li Yao''s house!


    With so much money, let alone killing a whole family, he would even dare to massacre a vige!


    After taking the bill, Goatee man said coldly, "I''ll go now and get it done for sure."


    After Goatee man left, Counselor He immediately took out pen and ink, wanting to report the matter to Prefect Hu right away. If he sent an express messenger, the letter could arrive before dawn, and the Prefect would certainly be able toe up with countermeasures.


    Knock knock knock--


    Just as the letter was finished, there was a knock at the door.


    "Who is it?"


    "Guesthouse, I''vee to bring you hot water."


    "Wait a moment."


    Counselor He sealed the letter before getting up to open the door.


    Unexpectedly, instead of a waiter with hot water, it was a person with a ck cloth covering his face. Shocked, Counselor He staggered back, wanting to yell for help.


    Li Yao would certainly not give him a chance. With a rope coiled around his neck, she strangled him directly into unconsciousness.


    For someone who wanted to kill her whole family, she would naturally show no mercy. After throwing the rope over the beam, she hanged Counselor He. He kicked his legs desperately for a few times before going straight to hell.


    Li Yao moved a stool under his feet, making it look like a suicide by hanging. Then she opened the letter on the table.


    After reading it, she kept the letter carefully. This was important evidence that mighte in handy in the future. Then she picked up the writing brush and mimicked Counselor He''s handwriting to write a "letter of repentance" in his voice.


    The gist was that he came to Baichuan on the orders of Prefect Hu to kill and silence people, but he was an upright person and did not want to associate with Prefect Hu''s evil ways. However, if he disobeyed, his whole family would be persecuted by the Prefect, so he had no choice but to prove his integrity through death, and so on.


    To make him look very righteous and innocent, Li Yao took out all the bills and coins he had, adding up to more than 200 taels.


    She took 200 taels in bills and 20 taels in coins, leaving some loose change and a few dozen copper coins.


    After all, an upright man could not be too wealthy.


    Having done all this, Li Yao silently left the crime scene.


    ...


    Goatee man led five men to the woods near He Wan vige.


    "Listen up," Goatee man warned everyone again before taking action, "We are bandits, here to rob and loot."


    "Got it, boss."


    "Also, don''t call out names, in case you reveal your identities!"


    "Boss," someone asked, "Apart from robbing and looting, can we also..."


    "Can we what?"


    "Hehe..." someoneughed, "I heard the eldest daughter-inw of that house is very pretty. And that Lidy also looks good."


    "All you think about is fooling with women. One day you''ll die by a woman''s hands."


    "So boss, you agree?"


    "As long as you don''t alert others, do as you wish."


    "Thank you boss! It''s gettingte, let''s get to work!"


    "Let''s go!"


    The group of viins immediately took out their knives and quickly crept towards He Wan vige.


    Li Yao, who had been following them all along, also took out her slender needles and silently followed them.


    It was the first day of the lunar month today, with no moon in the sky, only faint starlight. The woods were pitch dark, with almost no visibility. But for Li Yao, such an environment was ideal.


    She was like a patient leopard, eyes fixed closely on the six men ahead.


    "Boss, you guys go first, I need to take a leak."


    "Hurry up and catch up!"


    One man in ck immediately pulled down his pants in front of a big tree, not expecting that death was already behind him.


    Covering his mouth and nose, Li Yao stabbed a needle into his temple. After twitching for a bit, the first viin silently went to the Yellow Springs.


    The reason for using needles was to leave as little blood as possible.


    Continuing to follow them, with little effort, Li Yao silently took out two more men.


    Goatee man walked at the front, but felt more and more uneasy. The footsteps behind seemed to be decreasing.


    "Brother Five, Brother Six? Brother Three?"


    After shouting several times with no response, Goatee man frowned.


    Just then he saw a ck shadow rushing towards them at great speed.


    "Who''s that?" Goatee man held his knife tightly and shouted loudly, "Show yourself!"


    What answered him was a fatal needle piercing his body.


    Even in the darkness of a frontal confrontation, the three men were no match for Li Yao at all. They died without even knowing where Li Yao was.


    After taking all their money as usual, Li Yao spent most of the night dragging the corpses deep into the mountains. In less than two days, nearby wolves and wild dogs would discover thevish feast fallen from heaven.


    Even if their skeletons were discovered in the future, they would be considered bandits hiding in the mountains, since no normal person would wander around in ck clothes carrying knives.


    Having finished all this, the eastern sky was turning pale.


    After a short rest, Li Yao headed towards the deeper mountains.


    This time when she went out, taking care of Counselor He and his men was secondary. She had a more important thing to do - continuing to explore that valley, as a little vacation for herself.

 Chapter 65: Cumin Potatoes

    <h4>Chapter 65</h4>


    Someone hanged themselves at Lai Fu Inn.


    When the Song County Magistrate received the report, he took it very seriously. This was the first homicide case since he took office, so he could not be careless. However, when he saw the appearance of the corpse, it was not what he had expected at all.


    "How could it be him?"


    "Sir," Zhang County Captain quickly asked, "Do you know this person?"


    "I wouldn''t say I know him," the Song County Magistrate said, "This person is Counselor He, the master of Prefect Hu."


    Ah?


    Zhang County Captain was stunned.


    The master of Prefect Hu, how could hee to Baichuan County and hang himself dead in an inn?


    Although the scene did not reveal anything suspicious and he even left a suicide note, this was still quite bizarre.


    Could this master really havemitted suicide out of righteousness, unwilling to get involved in shameful affairs?


    Of course the Song County Magistrate did not think so. In fact, he had a very bold guess.


    "He did not hang himself, he must have been murdered," the Song County Magistrate said. "And the murderer could be none other than..."


    Zhang County Captain swallowed hard, very nervously asking: "Who?"


    "You."


    Zhang County Captain: ......


    "I know you are very loyal to me and want to protect Ms. Li from He Wan Vige," the Song County Magistrate said. "Yesterday you saw someone trying to secretly harm Ms. Li. Then you inadvertently learned that Counselor He wanted to harm me, so in a hurry you killed him to keep him silent. Zhang Yi, although I understand your good intentions, there are many ways to resolve this matter. Why did you have to take thew into your own hands? Guards, arrest this official!"


    The people at the scene looked at each other in nk dismay.


    Could this person really have been killed by Zhang County Captain?


    Facing the guards who did not know whether to pin him to the ground, Zhang County Captain was sweating profusely on his forehead and quickly defended himself: "Sir,st night I was on duty in the county office. My brothers can testify for me..."


    "Is that true?"


    "This lowly one would not dare deceive you!"


    "Sir," a guard also said, "Zhang County Captain is telling the truth."


    "If it wasn''t you, and no one else had a motive to kill him..." The Song County Magistrate frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, then said, "It appears to have been a suicide after all. Close the case, and be sure to inform Prefect Hu."


    "Yes."


    Zhang County Captain heaved a long sigh of relief. Why did he feel like the Song County Magistrate was a little off today?


    The Song County Magistrate also did not stay long. He turned and left the scene.


    Of course he knew that Zhang County Captain was on duty in the county officest night. His deliberate "framing" of him just now was only for show to others.


    As for how Counselor He actually died, he knew very well.


    After being demoted, although his elderly father at home was extremely disappointed in him and didn''t even want to see him, he knew that his family had still sent some people to secretly protect him.


    But this time, they went too far. This was also one of the reasons why he disliked his father''s methods.


    They were too sinister.


    ...


    Li Yao took the familiar route and went down to the bottom of the valley.


    Last time due to the urgency, she had only explored a few miles. This time she nned to spend two to three days and go to the end of the gorge.


    The humidity in the valley was heavier, so the vegetation was more lush than outside. Because almost no one came here, there was a rich abundance of wild delicacies.


    After walking only three miles, Li Yao had already caught two plump wild chickens, taking care of lunch and dinner.


    Continuing forward, after passing through a very long narrow section as the evening approached, what suddenly came into view was a very open tnd.


    The t ground was veryrge, at least two thousand acres. It was surrounded by steep cliffs, and there was no way forward. This appeared to be the end of the valley.


    Looking around, the entire t ground only had some trees less than a hundred years old at the edges against the cliffs, still sparse. The closer it got to the middle, there were only some low bushes and weeds left.


    She had thought she could still find some fresh things in the valley, but it looked like this wish woulde to nothing.


    Li Yao found a shallow rock crevice on the cliff and cleared it out. This would be her campsite tonight.


    Putting down her backpack, she took out a cleaver and collected firewood to slowly roast the chickens.


    But when she pushed aside a clump of weeds, a string of heart-shaped leaves made her heart suddenly beat wildly.


    Were these leaves and vines sweet potato?


    She immediately put down the firewood and followed the vines. After some digging, she did indeed dig up a string of sweet potatoes!


    And there was more than just one.


    Everywhere in the surrounding grass, there were sweet potato vines hidden in the weeds.


    This was a big surprise to her.


    Sweet potatoes originated from the Americas. She had thought it would be at least many more years before she would see them.


    Of course, this world was not the ancient times of her memories, so anything was possible.


    If there were sweet potatoes, what else might there be?


    With this thought, Li Yao could not wait until the sky waspletely dark. She searched around, and with perseverance, just 300 meters away she found a small patch of potatoes.


    In an instant, Li Yao''s mind was filled with all kinds of delicious dishes.


    Potato shreds, cold potato slices, wolf tooth potatoes, potato pancakes, cumin potatoes, braised potato with beef...


    Li Yao decided that tonight she would have roasted potatoes.


    After digging up some potatoes and sweet potatoes, Li Yao returned to her campsite and lit a fire. She first put the cleaned wild chickens on low heat to roast slowly. Then she dug a shallow pit in the ground and put in the sweet potatoes and potatoes, moving some embers on top.


    After eating the roast chicken, the sweet potatoes and potatoes were also nearly done roasting.


    She would eat the sweet potatoes first.


    Peeling off the charred skins, the unique sweet aroma of roasted sweet potatoes wafted up. After blowing on them to cool, they were soft and sweet with one bite. That feeling of dessert after a meal gave her the satisfaction she hadn''t felt since firsting to this world.


    After a few sweet potatoes, she was still reluctant to stop. She reached into the ashes and took out the roasted potatoes.


    Without even peeling off the skins, she could already smell the familiar aroma.


    Compared to the sweet potatoes, the smell of roasted potatoes was slightly lighter, but that was no problem. Li Yao was prepared.


    She had saved the oil from the chicken belly, and used the small pot she carried to fry it. Cutting the roasted potatoes into small pieces and frying the skins golden in the chicken oil, then sprinkling on spice powder and salt, it was perfect.


    A delicious te of cumin potatoes was ready.


    After absorbing the chicken oil, the potato aroma had elevated at least several levels. Especially the crispy skins, they were so fragrant with each bite.


    With the first piece, Li Yao felt her soul leave her body.


    If she wasn''t already so full, Li Yao would have wanted to make another te.


    After eating her fill, Li Yaoy satisfied on the hay, looking at the starry night sky.


    Although conditions were harsh aftering to this world, now she felt that heaven was still treating her pretty well.


    With these sweet potatoes and potatoes, she could do a lot of things now.

 Chapter 66: Mother is Always Right

    <h4>Chapter 66</h4>


    The next morning, Li Yao ate some rations and then went to check the tnds in the valley.


    This piece of tnd was at least a thousand acres, of which about 800 acres were nted with sweet potatoes. Although far less dense than artificial ntations, and the tubers were very small, she estimated that even at one-tenth the yield of artificial ntations, each acre could produce about 300 jin.


    800 acres would yield 240,000 jin.


    With over 1,000 vigers in He Wan vige, each person could get about 160 jin on average.


    Although not enough for every viger tost until next year''s wheat harvest, with careful rationing, it would definitely be enough to get through the new year.


    Of course, how to distribute these sweet potatoes - who gets them, how much each gets - needed careful consideration.


    Compared to the sweet potatoes, the potatoes were far less, probably just over ten acres, estimated to yield about 5,000 jin.


    Given the small amount, she decided not to distribute the potatoes to vigers, keeping them for her own family. The leftovers could be kept for seed potatoes, to nt on the barren mountains along with sweet potatoes next year.


    Once there was a surplus, they could slowly promote wider nting.


    After making a rough n, Li Yao dug up some sweet potatoes and potatoes, then started gathering spices on her way back.


    This ce was at least 30 li from the vige, deep in a valley, so even with several hundred ableborers in the vige, transporting so many sweet potatoes back would not be easy.


    They would need to build a road first, then use ox carts for transportation, in order toplete this task in the shortest time.


    Otherwise if it dragged on too long, the sweet potatoes would spoil. And if other viges got word of this, they might want a share too.


    After a whole day gathering spices, Li Yao arrived home before dark.


    "Mother, weren''t you going to be gone for a few days?"


    "Something came up, so I came back early."


    She looked in the kitchen, where He Xiaoya had already steamed some buns, but didn''t seem to have started on any dishes yet. So she asked, "What are we eating for dinner tonight?"


    "Um... I wasn''t nning to make any dishes," He Xiaoya said. "I was thinking of just dipping the buns in some broth, and nching some cabbage. That''s enough."


    Li Yao twitched her mouth.


    She knew He Xiaoya wasn''t beingzy, but frugal.


    After all, they had been living off wild vegetables before earning money at home. Suddenly being able to eat their fill every day, even meat, was probably still an adjustment for her.


    "Let''s save the buns for tomorrow. Cook some rice instead, and I''ll make a few dishes."


    From her backpack, she took out two plump wild chickens and had Da Zhuang clean and prep them. Li Yao also peeled some sweet potatoes and potatoes.


    "Mother, what are these?"


    "I don''t know, I dug them up in the mountains," Li Yao said casually. "But I tried them, you can eat them, and they taste pretty good."


    Hearing they were edible, He Xiaoya''s eyes lit up. Wang San''er and Wang Xiao Si also crowded around eagerly.


    These days, nothing attracted people more than food.


    Once the rice was drained from the pot, Li Yao cut the sweet potatoes into chunks and added them to the pot, then poured the cooked rice grains over them. She added a few scoops of clear water.


    "High heat at first, then simmer over low heat."


    "Got it."


    Meanwhile, Da Zhuang had cleaned and chopped the chickens into bite-sized pieces.


    In another pot, he heated oil, stir-fried the chicken chunks until the surface was golden, then added garlic, bean paste, salt, Sichuan pepper, and stir-fried until fragrant before adding the potato chunks.


    He poured in thick rice broth just enough to cover the ingredients, covered the pot, and turned up the heat.


    Soon, the aroma of chicken, potatoes, and sweet potatoes began to fill the simple kitchen.


    Especially the sweet fragrance of the sweet potatoes - although not as pronounced as when roasted, for the children who were extremely deprived of sugar, even a hint of sweetness was enough to make their mouths water.


    Once the rice had finished steaming, the chicken and potato stir-fry was also ready.


    "Time to eat."


    Severalrge tes of slowly braised chicken and potatoes, and a bowl of rice cooked with sweet potatoes for each person, were soon set on the table.


    "Mother," looking at the orange potato chunks, Wang Xiao Si didn''t dare pick up his chopsticks. "What does this taste like?"


    "You''ll know when you eat it."


    In the end, it was Wang San''er who went first, popping a piece directly in his mouth, then frowning.


    "San Ge, is it not tasty?"


    "Hmm...it''s a little bitter, not very good," Wang San''er said. "You should just eat the meat."


    But Wang Xiao Si noticed that although San Ge said it wasn''t tasty, he immediately picked up another piece.


    "I knew you were lying to me!"


    Wang Xiao Si also quickly grabbed a piece to try. After just one bite, he piled two more chunks into his bowl.


    "Mother, this stuff is too delicious!"


    He Xiaoya also gave her expert opinion: "Cut into smaller pieces and dip into more sauce makes it tastier."


    As they eagerly snatched pieces, the potatoes were soon all gone, leaving only the chicken behind.


    Li Yao didn''t know whether tough or cry. They had only started eating meat a few days ago, and were already disdaining it?


    "Mother, the red ones are tasty too," with no more potatoes left, Wang Xiao Si turned to the sweet potatoes in his bowl. "It''s soft and sweet, like eating candy!"


    The sweet potatoes were indeed sweet. Li Yao considered drying some into sweet potato snacks after harvesting them.


    "Mother, why don''t you give them names?" He Xiaoya suggested.


    "Sure," Li Yao pretended to think, then picked up a piece of sweet potato and said, "This one is orangey red, a bit like taro, so let''s call it sweet potato. As for this one...it looks like a big bean grown in the soil, so let''s call it potato."


    The children twitched their mouths. How did it look anything like a bean?


    But since Mother had named it potato, they would have to call it potato.


    "Mother," after dinner, Da Zhuang couldn''t help asking, "Where did you find these? Should we go dig up some more tomorrow?"


    "I was just about to discuss this," Li Yao said. "Tomorrow, you, San''er and Xiao Si wille with me into the mountains. I found a ce with huge amounts of sweet potatoes, enough to feed the whole vige for half a year."


    The children all gasped.


    "That much?"


    "Then will no one in our vige go hungry anymore?"


    "Or have to flee famine anymore?"


    "What do you think?" Li Yao asked. "Should we tell everyone, and let them go dig together? Or keep it to ourselves, and sell them to make a lot of money?"


    The children looked at each other, unsure how to answer.


    "Da Zhuang, you go first."


    "I think...we should tell everyone," Da Zhuang said. "We aren''tcking money now, but most vigers have no food left, surviving on wild veggies.


    Li Yao nodded approvingly, then asked Wang Er''s opinion.


    "Of course tell everyone," Wang Er said. "But as the ancients said, ''Benevolence begets enmity''. So we can''t just let everyone go dig. We should inform the vige chief first, and think of a prudent approach."


    Li Yao nodded approvingly again.


    As expected of the educated one, thinking further than the eldest.


    Finally she looked to San''er and Xiao Si.


    Wang San''er: "I think Eldest Brother makes sense."


    Wang Xiao Si: "I''ll listen to Mother, Mother is always right."


    Li Yao: ....little bootlicker.


    "Then we''ll do as Eldest Brother suggested," Li Yao said. "But there are very few potatoespared to the sweet potatoes, so we''ll keep the potatoes to ourselves. Save them to eat."


    "Sounds good!"

 Chapter 67: He’s Got a Crush on Her

    <h4>Chapter 67</h4>


    To be able to dig up all the potatoes as soon as possible, Li Yao brought Da Zhuang, Third Son, and Fourth Son with her before dawn had even broken the next day.


    Mother had said that sweet potato leaves and vines were liked by oxen, while piglets liked raw sweet potatoes even more. So Da Zhuang must have brought the little yellow ox, and Wang San''er must have been holding his little pig.


    He Xiaoya had wanted to go too, but after thinking about it decided to stay home to make stewed meat and stewed goose. Although these were small businesses for the family now, she felt they couldn''t just give up on them altogether.


    Wang Er had also wanted to go, but Li Yao didn''t allow it.


    Tomorrow was the big day when Song County Magistrate would be "praying for rain," and Wang Er had to prepare for it.


    When they reached the edge of the valley, Li Yao lowered a rope first and worked with Da Zhuang to slowly clear a small path. Although it was winding and very narrow, luckily the little yellow ox wasn''t too big, so he could still go down smoothly.


    Once they were in the valley it was easy. Under Li Yao''s lead they soon reached the end of the valley.


    The happiest ones were naturally the little yellow ox and the piglet. There was green grass and sweet potato vines everywhere, and if they rooted around a bit they could even eat the sweet potatoes. You can imagine how carefree they were.


    Digging up potatoes was no easy task, because the ground was rather hard, making it quite strenuous work.


    After digging for a couple hours even Da Zhuang was starting to tire.


    Finally Li Yao thought of a solution - she had Da Zhuang go back home to fetch a plough and had the little yellow ox pull it. They turned the soil over directly with the plough, while the others only needed to look through the overturned soil for potatoes.


    Seeing therge pile of potatoes, Third Son and Fourth Son were extremely happy and immediately lit a fire to start roasting them.


    They definitely wouldn''t be able to dig up all the potatoes from the dozen or so acres in one day. Li Yao nned to spend the night in the mountains since they had brought everything they needed. They would go home whenever they finished.


    ...


    While they were busy digging up potatoes, themon people of Baichuan County were excitedly bringing their families to the market gathering.


    Today was a big day!


    Although people didn''t really care if the county magistrate Song was going to pray for rain or not, and watching ys wasn''t that important either, the key was that everyone could get one jin of unpolished rice!


    Now very few families had any extra grain left, and one jin of rice porridge was enough to feed a family for several days.


    And in thest few days this news seemed to sprout wings, flying to neighboring counties, and even their neighboring counties. So many people who could walk had converged on the Baichuan Market.


    The sun had just risen not long ago, yet thergest open area outside the Baichuan Market was already filled with crowds.


    Facing so many people, Magistrate Song had prepared in advance and had Captain Zhang organize a team of two hundred men, responsible solely for maintaining order and preventing any incidents.


    At the morning geng hour, under the extremely eager gazes of the masses, Magistrate Song strode up onto the high tform in the center.


    Dong- A clerk beat the big gong and the scene instantly quieted down.


    "Dear elders and vigers," Magistrate Song said loudly, "everyone can get rice now and go home."


    Huh?


    Among the crowd of at least tens of thousands, they were all left scratching their heads in confusion.


    Wasn''t he going to pray for rain?


    Why was he letting everyone go home already when he hadn''t even performed the ritual?


    "Sir, you''re not praying for rain anymore?"


    "Rain?" Magistrate Song said, "The rain has already been delivered to your viges, to every household and field."


    Themoners were even more bewildered, thinking the magistrate must be spouting nonsense.


    "Have you forgotten, just ten days ago every vige organized themselves to dig wells, and your grains have now been nted as a result?"


    "Oh... so this is what the sir magistrate meant by praying for rain."


    "That makes sense," someone said, "Actually I feel like these wells are more reliable than relying on the heavens. At least we can use them to water the fields whenever we want."


    "That''s right, these wells are a great invention."


    ...


    "But do you know who first discovered these wells, who first dug them out?"


    Themoners of Baichuan County had heard something about this, but those from further counties truly did not know.


    "She is the housewife from our Baichuan County''s He Wan vige - Li Yao!"


    "She was the first to dig a well for drinking water, then the first to dig a drought-relief well!"


    "So you see, don''t forget the one who dug the well when drinking the water. You''ve all been able to nt grains this year and won''t have to face famine next year, this is all thanks to Li Yao!"


    "Who is Li Yao?" asked themoners from other counties, still confused.


    "You don''t even know Madam Li?" the Baichuan Countymoners immediately exined. "Madam Li from our county is incredible. You must have eaten her stewed meat and stewed goose before."


    "Oh, so it was her!"


    "Amazing, amazing! She can be considered our great benefactor."


    ...


    "Therefore, tomend Li Yao for her merits, our county has decided to reward the housewife Li Yao with one hundred taels of silver!"


    Whoa-


    They may not have understood the talk of merits before, but one hundred taels of silver instantly shook everyone tremendously.


    One hundred taels, they probably wouldn''t have to worry about food and clothing for life.


    Seeing themoners buzzing in discussion, Magistrate Song knew his first goal had been achieved.


    In no time, the people of Baichuan County and surrounding counties would know the drought-relief wells were Li Yao''s achievement.


    But this was still not enough, the impact was too small.


    "Additionally, not only did Li Yao invent the drought-relief well," Magistrate Song continued, "her stewed meat and stewed goose are also extremely delicious, and I personally am very fond of them. She has also opened a specialty shop, specifically selling green grass ointment, soap, and handmade soap. All of these are rare quality goods..."


    Listening to the county magistrate endlessly advertising for his family, Wang Er waspletely bewildered.


    Among schr, farmer, worker, and merchant, merchant was the lowest status!


    How could a county magistrate do something like this?


    But what Wang Er didn''t know was that Magistrate Song''s words made some merchants who hade to watch the hubbub and look for business opportunities eager to immediately find Li Yao and discuss these products.


    Magistrate Song saw that many people were already leaving the scene, probably heading to the specialty shop.


    This aplished his second goal as well.


    Merchants traveled far and wide, they would surely spread tales of Li Yao even further, letting more people know of her.


    "Li Yao,e get your reward!"


    Everyone craned their necks, wanting to see just what kind of character Li Yao was. But they saw a handsome young man walk up on stage instead.


    "My mother is feeling unwell and had me collect this on her behalf."


    "Very good," Magistrate Song said smilingly to Wang Er, "like father like son. Wang Er studies diligently and has bright intellect. He is the most outstanding schr in our county, and will surely pass the county exam to be a xiucai next year."


    What?


    This time Wang Er really was stunned.


    He didn''t understand why he was able to gain such favor from the magistrate, who actually praised him so generously in front of so many people!


    Just what was the magistrate''s intention?


    Could it be... he had eyes for Mother?


    Of course Magistrate Song had no designs on Li Yao. He simply loved talent. After interacting with Wang Er a few times, he discovered the boy was quite gifted in academics, and even more rare - diligent and modest.


    He naturally did not want such a sapling to wilt in the dust.


    In the crowd, Li Xian''s face was turning green as he watched the magistrate personally hand the hundred taels'' silver note to Wang Er.


    It wasn''t that he was jealous of the money, but that the magistrate had called Wang Er the most outstanding schr!


    Clearly he, Li Xian, was the most outstanding schr in all of Baichuan County!


    "Now everyone get in line to collect rice and watch the ys!"


    As soon as they heard they could collect rice, themoners immediately erupted. Watching the scene like a groundswell, Magistrate Song actually felt heavy-hearted.


    One jin of unpolished rice truly could not change themoners'' circumstances, yet for now this was the limit of his capabilities.

 Chapter 68: Roast Beef brisket with Potatoes

    <h4>Chapter 68</h4>


    "Manager!"


    The attendant at the upscale shop hurried upstairs.


    "What''s the rush?"


    "Bad news, Manager," the attendant said, out of breath, "There are over twenty people downstairs, all saying they want to buyrge quantities of our goods! They want everything we have - calend ointment, soap, fragrant soap!"


    "That''s good news." Zou the manager said.


    "But we don''t have any goods!"


    Zou the manager: ....That''s true.


    "Invite them all upstairs, serve the best tea, and prepare some samples. We can''t let them make the trip for nothing."


    Soon twenty-plus people were invited upstairs. Seeing Zou the manager, they crowded around him with one purpose - to buy goods!


    "Don''t rush!" Zou the manager feigned calm and said, "There are definitely goods.


    "Then hurry up and sell them to us!"


    "But! The boss isn''t here, I can''t make that decision!" Zou the manager said, "How about this - everyone try our goods first to see if they''re good. After the boss returns we can discuss details."


    With no other choice, this was the only way he could stall for time.


    Who knows what Li Yao was thinking, just when huge business had arrived, she took the whole family to the mountains to dig herbs.


    "Hurry to Hexi Vige, even if you have to go into the mountains, you must find her and bring her back!"


    ......


    Digging potatoes was tiring, but a very happy thing to do.


    Especially Da Zhuang. Every time he dug up a pile of potatoes from the mud, he was as happy as if he''d found treasure.


    After three days of hard work, the family had dug up almost all the potatoes, piled up like a small mountain, bending Da Zhuang''s mouth into a crooked smile.


    "Mother, this is at least 3000 catties right?"


    "About that."


    Li Yao wasn''t very satisfied with this yield. After all, they were wild potatoes, the output was too low.


    "If we nt all our fields with potatoes next year, we''ll neverck for food again."


    "It''s not just us who won''tck food," Li Yao said. "I think if they''re nted and fertilized well, one mu could yield over 1000 catties.


    "How much?"


    Da Zhuang was shocked speechless.


    One mu yielding 2000 catties was enough to feed two people for a year!


    With all the mountainnd they''d bought, if it was all nted with potatoes, how many people could it feed?


    But the shocking news wasn''t over. Li Yao continued, "Sweet potato yields could be even higher, 1500 catties per mu or more."


    In fact, Li Yao was estimating conservatively here.


    With proper farming, one mu could yield up to 4000 catties of potatoes, and 6000 catties of sweet potatoes.


    Of course that would require lots of technical expertise and cultivating excellent varieties, but even half that yield would be tremendous.


    If it could be promoted nationwide, the whole country would neverck for food again.


    "Let''s transport them back quickly then," Da Zhuang said. "We''ll eat less from now on to save seeds for next year."


    Transporting them back now wasn''t realistic. There weren''t even roads yet. How would they transport them?


    While they rested earlier, Li Yao had found a natural cave under a cliff, about fifty or sixty meters deep, perfectly usable as a cer.


    After the roads were built and ox carts coulde in, they could talk about transporting them home.


    "Alright, let''s start moving them!"


    The three brothers began carrying the potatoes into the mountain cave. After settling them in, they rolledrge boulders over the opening, sealing it tight.


    Wang Xiao Si still wasn''t reassured. He went to chop branches to further conceal the cave entrance.


    With everything settled, Li Yao took the three children back home, but was intercepted halfway by two attendants from the upscale shop.


    "Boss, hurry back, Zou the manager can''t handle it anymore."


    Hearing the shop was filled with merchants from other ces, and Zou the manager was at his wit''s end without goods to sell, Li Yao decided to head to town first.


    "Li Madam, you''re finally here!" Zou the manager looked as if he''d seen his savior. "If you didn''t show up, these people would have dismantled my bones to sell!"


    Seeing the boss finally arrive, the twenty-plus merchants eagerly crowded around.


    Li Yao took a look - mostly unfamiliar faces, not locals from Baichuan Town.


    "Everyone state your business areas first."


    Business areas?


    The merchants looked at each other, not understanding her meaning.


    As businessmen, didn''t they just go wherever there was business?


    "Madam Li, what do you mean by this?"


    "Right," someone said, "We''re paying you money to buy your goods. What we do after is our business. We can sell wherever we want, right?"


    "Not with me," Li Yao said. "Anyone who wants to buy from me must follow my rules."


    Li Yao''s rules were simple, basically the franchise model from her past life. One difference was requiring merchants to pay a security deposit to join.


    After all, legal protections were non-existent here. Large deposits deterred any ideas of cheating.


    This cooperative model was fresh and new to the merchants. And the mention of needing to tie up capital made them hesitate.


    "You''re all savvy people," Li Yao said. "I''m sure you understand the rationale behind my rules. I''m giving you half a month to consider. If you find it agreeable,e back with the required silver to sign the contract."


    "Alright, we''ll think about it carefully."


    Before leaving, Li Yao had Zou the manager draft a cooperation agreement for each merchant to take and study slowly.


    She was confident this mutually beneficial model would move them.


    After sending the merchants off, Zou the manager heaved a huge sigh of relief.


    The past three days had him more agonized than being roasted over a fire. Now, with Li Madam smoothly resolving such a huge matter, and even devising this ingenious cooperation model, he felt like a country bumpkin seeing the world for the first time.


    He''d been doing business for years and thought he''d mastered it fully, but in front of Li Madam he was like a child who''d never left home.


    "Oh right, Madam Li," Zou the manager said, "The county magistrate''s wife asked me to ry that she hopes you can visit the county office for tea if you have time."


    "I don''t have time."


    Visiting the county office to entertain the magistrate''s wife - no thanks.


    She was just amon woman. She didn''t belong meddling in high society affairs. Better to hurry home and dig sweet potatoes.


    ......


    Li Yao bought a piece of beef shank, nning to make the long-awaited potato braised beef shank for dinner. But she could smell the aroma from far away outside her home.


    It must be Wang Xiao Si''s greedy stomach at work, roasting potatoes at home.


    The boy had a sweet tooth and appetite like a cat, just like someone she knew.


    Just as she reached the edge of the yard, a quavering voice suddenly called out from the side.


    "Li Yao, you''re back."


    Li Yao turned to see it was Wan Old Lady from the vige.


    In her sixties, after her husband died, her two married daughters barely looked after her. She had previously relied on helping neighbors with farm work to barely eke out a living each year.


    But now no one could spare the effort to help her.


    "Granny Wan, did you need me for something?"


    "Since you asked, I''ll be direct."


    Wan Old Lady fumbled for something, unwrapping it from severalyers of cloth - it was a pair of ckened silver bangles.


    "These were my dowry bangles. I''ve kept them hidden all this time," Wan Old Lady said. "Now I can''t even afford food. I thought I''d pawn them. But the pawn shop would only give me 300 wen. I thought since you have money now, if you''re willing to buy them, I can sell them to you for 20 wen more than the pawn shop ... or even 10 wen more."

 Chapter 69: I Have an Idea Now

    <h4>Chapter 69</h4>


    A pair of silver bangles, they looked to be at least half a tael, worth at least 500 copper coins at minimum.


    The pawnshop only offered 300 wen, it was very unfair.


    Wan Old Lady''s situation was also very difficult, but Li Yao didn''t agree to exchange her bangles.


    "Wan auntie, I don''t really need these bangles."


    Seeing that she was unwilling to exchange, Wan Old Lady was a little anxious: "Li Yao ah, just do me a favor, it''s as if I''ve pawned them to you, next year after the harvest I''ll redeem them back."


    "Wouldn''t that make me a pawnbroker?" Li Yao said, "Auntie, it''s gettingte, you should hurry home."


    An extreme disappointment showed in Wan Old Lady''s eyes, but she didn''t say any more in the end, putting away the silver bangles she turned around and walked towards home.


    "Mother," He Xiaoya heard Li Yao''s voice and walked out from the kitchen, "Who were you talking to?"


    "It was Wan auntie."


    "Did she need something?"


    "She wanted me to buy her bangles cheaply," Li Yao said, "but I didn''t buy them."


    He Xiaoya asked: "Mother, why didn''t you tell her about the sweet potatoes?"


    "It''s not that simple," Li Yao said, "If everyone knows now that there are a lot of sweet potatoes in the valley, they would definitely swarm up to grab them."


    He Xiaoya nodded, mother considered things much more thoroughly than her.


    "Mother," Wang Erji brothers also came over, "Then when will you tell everyone?"


    Li Yao could see that the children all wanted to resolve everyone''s food problems as soon as possible. To tell the truth, they were still too kind.


    Kindness wasn''t bad, but a lot of times it would bring trouble for oneself, so they had to teach them that while being kind, they also had to protect themselves well.


    "Tomorrow," Li Yao said, "It happens that the new houses arepleted over there, I''ll ask the Vige Chief to help inspect them tomorrow, I''ll tell him about it then."


    ...


    Looking at the new houses in front, Li Yao had a feeling of returning to the countryside in her past life.


    Five houses of blue brick and blue tile were arranged in a circle, connected by two and a half meter high enclosing walls between each building.


    In order to be sturdy, whether it was the house walls or enclosing walls, Li Yao had the bricyers build them very thick, after all asmoners in this kind of world, they still didn''t have much sense of security.


    The pirs at the entrance were made from two one-meter diameter monolithic stone pirs.


    In order to obtain these two pirs, the Vige Chief led some stonemasons to chisel away in the mountains day and night for several days, and mobilized dozens of people to haul them back.


    The entrance gates were not yet installed, because she didn''t want wooden doors, but had the cksmiths forge tworge iron gates instead. Because it consumed a lot of iron and was not easy to make, it would probably take a few more days.


    After entering the gates, there was a courtyard the size of half a football field, the ground was all paved with blue bricks, and there was drainage underneath.


    This way even if it rained, water wouldn''t umte in the yard.


    Each house had 3 meter wide eaves, so no matter if it rained or was scorching sun in the future, they could rest under the eaves, and children could also y under them.


    Although the walls were not whitewashed, the brick powder was very carefully inscribed, as if drawn using a ruler, looking veryfortable.


    The doors and windows were newly made, having just been painted, still exuding a strong odor.


    The interior of each room was fitted with a solid wooden ceiling, the benefits were keeping warm in winter and cool in summer. Through the small holes left in the ceiling, things could also be ced in the space between.


    The only regret was no ss, the windows could only be temporarily papered for now, but locations for installing ss were left.


    ss wasn''t hard to make, it would definitely be figured outter.


    Although there would be five families in the future, it would be best for each to have their own space, but that should be a matter much farther in the future, so this time Li Yao had only arranged for one kitchen and bathroom.


    The kitchen was a separate room, with two rows of stoves and six pots, as the braised food business would need to continue in the short term, so many stoves and pots were necessary.


    Finally, Li Yao entered the bathroom, this was the most important ce.


    The bathroom was partitioned into three sections, the outermost part had five wash basins, the countertops and sinks were all chiseled blue stone ording to Li Yao''s specifications, the surfaces polished extremely smoothly, not at all inferior to marble.


    The inside had male and female toilets, and further inside was a spacious bathroom.


    The floors of the entire bathroom were paved with blue stone bs, rather than blue bricks, bare feet against them was also veryfortable, and wouldn''t slip, even better than ceramic tiles from her past life.


    The drainage was also carefully designed by Li Yao, all the sewage flowed from underground culverts, draining directly to the closed biogas pool behind the houses.


    Biogas was a good thing, as long as safety was noted, it would definitely bring great convenience to life, adding copper pipes they might even be able to build a water heater.


    "Li Yao," returning to the courtyard, the Vige Chief asked, "Let me know if there''s anything you''re not satisfied with, I''ll have them change it immediately."


    "No need, everything is quite good," Li Yao said. "Vige Chief, thank you for helping to keep watch these days."


    "Hehe, we''re all family, no need for such polite words," the Vige Chief said. "Since you''re satisfied, can we settle the wages for these craftsmen so they can go home?"


    "No problem."


    epting the ledger handed over by the Vige Chief, Li Yao didn''t look closely, she believed the Vige Chief wouldn''t mess around with this.


    But in the ledger there was only the work days and wages for the craftsmen recorded, not a single viger who came to help was written down.


    "Vige Chief, what about the vigers who came to help?"


    "They don''t need wages," the Vige Chief said. "We''ve always been like this, when a family builds a house, people from other families send people to help. And to work at your family''s ce, they get to eat meat every day. This kind of good thing is hard toe by even looking for it, they even fight toe help, why pay them wages?"


    Li Yao shook her head: "Eating is one matter, but wages can''t be short a single wen. Vige Chief, please help calcte it again. Every person who came to help work, 30 wen per person per day."


    "Really no need..."


    "If you don''t want it, then don''te help my family work in the future."


    Seeing she insisted this way, the Vige Chief could only say: "Only you would be so generous."


    After busy working for half a hour, the Vige Chief calcted all the wages clearly, and had people call over all those who had helped.


    Hearing they could still get wages, the vigers were overjoyed.


    The most received over 500 wen, the least also over 300.


    "Sister-inw Li is so kind, giving us meat every day, and so much wages too."


    "That''s right," Wang Yuanbang said, "I do hardbor at the docks, and don''t even earn 30 wen a day."


    "Alright alright, take your wages and go home," the Vige Chief said. "Remember to hand over the money to whoever manages the household, use it frugally to buy some food, money isn''t easy to earn nowadays."


    After the delighted vigers left, Li Yao took out a one tael silver ingot, handing it to the Vige Chief.


    "You...what are you doing?" The Vige Chief quickly waved his hands, "I didn''t do any work, how could I take your money?"


    "You kept watch all this time, how is that not working?"


    "I''d be idle at home anyway," the Vige Chief said. "And I''m the Vige Chief, whenever someone builds a house I have to go keep watch, it''s my duty. This silver, no matter what I cannot ept!"


    Li Yao thought for a bit, then said: "Vige Chief, I have a way now that can let everyone in our vige eat their fill until the wheat harvest next year. If you don''t ept this money, I won''t tell you about it."

 Chapter 70: Valley of the Dead

    <h4>Chapter 70</h4>


    Being able to feed the entire vige andst through next spring? Even in his dreams, Wang Jiafu hadn''t dared to imagine such a good thing!


    Adding up all the old and young in the vige, there were over 1,500 people. Even if each person only ate 2 liang of coarse rice a day, that would still be 300 jin of food, 9,000 jin a month!


    Now until next year''s harvest, there were at least 5 more months left, requiring 45,000 jin!


    "Li Yao, don''t joke with uncle," the vige head said. "I know you''ve earned quite a bit of money, but if you want to help the entire vige, I advise you not to. Rice charity arouses resentment, not every person will remember your kindness. If you really want to help, just pick a couple families who really can''t get by and give them a little support. The rest of the people all have functioning hands and feet, they''ll always find a way."


    Li Yao knew he had misunderstood her meaning.


    "It''s not me giving money to everyone, but another method," Li Yao said. "But first you have to ept this silver, then I''ll tell you."


    "Vige Head, just take it!"


    Seeing him still hesitating, Wang Xiao Si directly grabbed the silver ingot and stuffed it in his pocket. The Vige Head could only say: "Ai, you kids really have kind hearts. Fine, I''ll ept it. This method you mentioned is..."


    "Let''s go inside to talk."


    Li Yao had already thought of a wayst night to distribute the sweet potatoes to the vigers without causing chaos.


    She had the Vige Head first find thirty trustworthy people, best chosen from the Wang and Fang families, the two biggest ns in the vige, to go to the valley and dig up sweet potatoes.


    Before all the sweet potatoes were dug up, these people couldn''t return home.


    As for the rest of the vigers, they couldn''t just sit at home waiting for food to fall from the sky. If they wanted to eat the sweet potatoes, they had to contributebor.


    First, so many sweet potatoes needed to be transported back, so a road was required. This would be the responsibility of all the remaining vigers. Whether male or female, old or young, even kids just a few years old, all would help fix the road to Li Yao''s home.


    Of course, Li Yao definitely wouldn''t pay them, but instead distribute sweet potatoes based on how much work people did.


    Hearing that there really were so much food in the mountain, Wang Jiafu had been dumbfounded all along, feeling like he was in a dream.


    But after he recovered, he quickly realized Li Yao''s n wasn''tpletely reasonable.


    "Thirty li road doesn''t need that many people," the Vige Head said. "Let''s do this, split into two groups. One group goes to build the road, one helps work at your home."


    "My home doesn''t have work needing that many people."


    "How could there not be?" the Vige Head said. "You just bought thousands of mu of barren mountain, it can''t just stay barren forever. Eventually you''ll want to open it up and nt things right? I''ll just have half the people go open up wastnd, so next year you can nt too."


    The wastnd definitely needed to be opened up. Li Yao had originally nned to hire people to help after the sweet potatoes were harvested.


    Since the Vige Head had arranged it this way, she was happy to save some money.


    "Also," the Vige Head continued, "Now everyone knows working at your home means getting fed. But with so many people to feed, you can''t be expected to pay for it all. Last time when you bought the wastnd the vige got some silver, just use that to buy some coarse rice and broomcorn millet. Although it won''tpare to your family''s food, with so many people able to eat their fill, I''m sure no one willin."


    "Then let''s do as you proposed," Li Yao said. "Also during the day when everyone''s working in the mountain, people need to be arranged to guard the vige."


    "Mother, I can do it!" Wang San''er immediately stood up when he heard this. "I guarantee I can guard the vige well!"


    The Vige Head immediately thought this was perfect.


    Boys Wang San''er''s age, at least ten something in the vige, weren''t much use forbor. Better to have them stay and watch the homes.


    Anyway it was broad daylight, they wouldn''t encounter anything too difficult.


    "Alright, I''m going to gather people then!"


    Wang San''er shot off like an arrow to find his little friends.


    The Vige Head also hurriedly went to find the heads of the Wang and Fang families and some others, quickly pulling together a thirty man digging team, all strong youths around twenty, including Wang Yuanbang.


    Seeing the Vige Head gather so many young men, Da Zhuang felt a bit strange.


    Were they going to start a fight with another vige?


    "Vige Head, what are we going here for?"


    "Don''t ask," the Vige Head said sternly. "Remember to bring your weapons. That''s all you need to know."


    The crowd exchanged nces, excitement shining in their eyes.


    Wang Yuanbang was seventeen this year, hot blooded youth. He thumped his chest and asked: "Uncle, go on, which vige provoked us?"


    "What provoking or not?" The Vige Head frowned when he heard this. "You brat''s not small anymore, still thinking about fighting and killing all day. Serves you right for not having a wife yet!"


    "Hahaha..."


    The crowd burst outughing, joking about him.


    "Fourth Uncle Wang won''t have trouble getting a wife. It''s Fifth Uncle Wang who won''t get a wife."


    "Right, Fourth Uncle has a great sister-inw, how could he not get a wife?"


    "That''s right, Fourth Uncle you better go beg your sister-inw. Look how young Big Zhuang is, he might be a dad next year already."


    Wang Yuanbang''s face burned red with embarrassment: "Piss off! I''ll earn money myself to get a wife, why would I need my sister-inw''s help?"


    "Alright, stop bickering!" The Vige Head shouted. "Go get your tools, I''ve prepared them for you."


    The crowd followed the Vige Head to Li Yao''s new house. Opening a door, they saw it was filled with hoes, baskets, shoulder poles and other farming tools.


    "Are we going to help the widows in the next vige with work?"


    "You brats, always talking nonsense!" The Vige Head scolded. "Listen up,ter young mistress Li will tell you where you''re going and what you''ll do. You all must listen to her, got it?"


    When they heard they would be working with Li Yao, the crowd immediately quieted down.


    If this was asked of them before, almost none of the young men would be willing to work with a shrew like Li Yao.


    But things were different now.


    Everyone knew the reason the Zhuang family was so wealthy now was because of Li Yao. The families in the vige who did business with Li Yao had all earned lots of money.


    Even Wang Yuanbang''s dad, after learning to process kapok, was now busy non-stop everyday. He had even bought a small ox to pull a cart, traveling dozens of li around processing kapok.


    So knowing this was arranged by Li Yao, they all vaguely felt they were about to strike it rich.


    Soon Li Yao arrived leading her yellow ox, carrying two big bundles.


    "Bring your things and follow me," she said simply.


    Not daring to ask much, they silently picked up their tools, led their oxen, and followed her up the mountain.


    Reaching the edge of the valley, Li Yao had them stop and rest.


    The crowd was even more curious, but no one dared ask. They all looked pleadingly at Wang Yuanbang. Finally unable to endure, he asked: "Sister-inw, where exactly are we going?"


    "Down below."


    She wanted them to go down Ghost Valley?


    Hearing this, they immediately grew uneasy.


    From young they had heard the adults say that Ghost Valley must never be entered lightly.


    Not only were there wild beasts inside, but poisonous miasma and more. Few who entered came back out. Even seasoned hunters generally would turn back at this point.


    Now Li Yao wanted them to descend into Ghost Valley. What exactly did she intend?

 Chapter 71: Digging Medicinal Materials

    <h4>Chapter 71</h4>


    "Sister-inw, this is Broken Soul Valley. I heard from Father and Mother that we must note here."


    "There are so many beasts inside. I don''t want to go looking for death."


    "Yeah, Auntie Li," someone said, "aren''t you sending us to our deaths by asking us to go down?"


    "Forget it, let''s go back."


    Li Yao''s eyebrows furrowed. It was just a small gorge, yet it was made out to be so sinister?


    Of course, it was understandable too. After all, not everyone had her skills to walk on cliffs and precipices as if on t ground. Going down recklessly could easily lead to injuries.


    In this day and age, breaking your arms or legs was as good as being scrapped.


    But they had alreadye this far, there was no way she would let anyone leave and spread the news.


    Li Yao said, "I can tell you, there is no danger in this gorge."


    "Just because you say there isn''t doesn''t mean there isn''t," someone said. "Besides, with such steep cliffs, what if something happens?"


    "I''ve already built a small path earlier."


    "I''m still not going!"


    Someone stood up.


    This person was Fang Mingtai, the third son of Fang Shian, 20 years old this year. Although his eldest brother worked with Li Yao in the braised food business, he himself was quite a troublemaker in the vige, and did not submit to Li Yao.


    "Whoever wants to go can go. I''m going home."


    Having said that, Fang Mingtai threw down his basket and turned to leave.


    Of course Li Yao would not let him leave. But she did not intend to take action personally either. Instead, she told Wang Yuanbang, "Tie him up."


    Wang Yuanbang was taken aback. This was probably inappropriate, right?


    He wasn''t a government official, what right did he have to tie someone up?


    Seeing his hesitation, Li Yao said again, "What, you won''t listen to what I say?"


    Wang Yuanbang steeled his heart. Tie him up it was.


    When he left home, his mother had told him to listen to Sister-In-Law in everything.


    So he signalled the Wang family youths with his eyes. They swarmed up and pressed Fang Mingtai to the ground, and began tying him up.


    "What are you trying to do? Let me go!"


    "Wang Yuanbang, I''m not done with you!"


    "You B*tch surnamed Li..."


    "Gag him too," said Li Yao.


    Wang Yuanbang and the others tore off a piece of cloth, and gagged Fang Mingtai''s mouth tightly.


    With his body unable to move and his mouth unable to speak, Fang Mingtai could only re fiercely at Li Yao, ready to fight her the moment he was freed.


    Li Yao was toozy to bother with him further. She told the others, "Now that we''re here, you have to listen to me. If anyone still refuses to obey, I don''t mind tying you to a tree and feeding you to the wolves."


    Everyone swallowed involuntarily. No one dared suggest going back anymore. They all knew this shrew Li Yao really would do something like that.


    After sufficient rest, Li Yao led the group onwards, following the small path she had prepared earlier. They reached the bottom of the gorge without incident.


    This was everyone''s first time at the valley floor. Though they were all strapping youths, they were incredibly nervous. Fortunately, after walking a stretch, they discovered there were no man-eating beasts covering the ground as rumoured, nor any poisonous miasma. Gradually, they began to rx a little.


    Soon, they reached the end of the gorge. Wang Yuanbang realized there was no more path ahead and asked, "Sister-inw, it looks like the path ends here."


    "This is it."


    Everyone looked around. All they saw was wild grass everywhere, and they were even more confused.


    "Sister-inw, what are we doing?"


    "Watch."


    Li Yao parted the grass to reveal a sweet potato vine, then forcefully dug into the earth with a hoe. Very quickly, she unearthed several sweet potatoes.


    Having never seen such things before, everyone was intrigued.


    "Sister-inw, are these medicinal herbs?"


    Li Yao smiled and shook her head. She peeled one with a knife, then took a loud crunchy bite.


    Seeing her eat it directly, everyone held their breath, their hearts involuntarily beating faster.


    In times of famine like these, what could make one''s heart pound more than edible food?


    "Try it too, they''re pretty good raw."


    "Alright, I''ll dig!"


    More sweet potatoes were unearthed. Wang Yuanbang impatiently peeled one and took a huge bite.


    Apanying the crunchy sounds in his mouth, Wang Yuanbang''s eyes grew brighter, his expression more and more delighted. "So sweet!"


    "Yes, really delicious!"


    "Auntie Li, what is this called?"


    "It''s called sweet potato," said Li Yao. "This field is full of them, enough to feed the whole vige until next year."


    "Full of them?"


    "Enough to feed the whole vige until next year?"


    Everyone could hardly resist jumping up and down!


    Currently in the vige, families who could still eat their fill were few and far between. Then suddenly manna from heaven in the form of thisrge patch of sweet potatoes had fallen from the sky. How could they not be excited to the point of trembling all over?


    "But let me make this clear first," Li Yao said. "This is our H¨¦ W¨¡n vige''s food supply. No one can leave before we finish digging everything up, and you definitely can''t let this information leak out."


    "Don''t worry Sister-inw, none of us are fools."


    "Also, the distribution of sweet potatoes will be based mainly on those who work more get more," Li Yao said, deliberately ncing at Fang Mingtai. "Those who didn''t contribute any effort won''t get a single one."


    Tied to the tree, Fang Mingtai''s guts were twisting in regret.


    If only he had known Sister-inw brought them here to dig for food, he would have dly submitted to her instead of talking back!


    Now, just because of his momentary temper, he could only watch enviously as others'' households obtained food while he remained bound here to suffer.


    He looked pleadingly at Li Yao, hoping she would give him a chance. But Li Yao ignored him and began leading the others in work.


    They were all brawny youths in their prime. Together with the hard work of several oxen, their enthusiasm exceeded even burning coals.


    Under Wang Yuanbang''s arrangement, some specialized in ploughing while others searched for sweet potatoes in the overturned earth. Before long, they had unearthed arge pile.


    "There must be several hundred catties here already!"


    "We''ve only dug this little area, yet there''s so much. It really seems Auntie Li was right, digging up this whole patch will be enough to feed our entire vige until next year!"


    "It''s only expected when you consider who my sister-inw is," Wang Yuanbang said proudly. "Anyway, Mother said to listen to her in everything from now on."


    On top of their excitement, everyone was even more in awe of Li Yao, and increasingly respectful towards her.


    Near noon, Li Yao had people gather firewood to build a bonfire, and began roasting sweet potatoes. Soon, the aroma of baked sweet potatoes drifted through the air, making everyone drool uncontrobly.


    The soft, sweet roasted sweet potatoes tasted even better than meat when eaten.


    While tied to the tree, Fang Mingtai watched enviously as others ate to their heart''s content, feeling more ufortable than a cat whose tail got stepped on. But he knew Li Yao definitely wouldn''t let him have any.


    The reputation of being H¨¦ W¨¡n Vige''s Number One Shrew was no joke.


    He sighed deeply in his heart and squeezed his eyes shut.


    "Want to eat?"


    Suddenly Li Yao''s voice sounded before him, giving his heart a jolt. He quickly opened his eyes to see Li Yao holding two roasted sweet potatoes.


    The sweet scent wafted over, making him swallow his saliva against his will. He nodded eagerly.

 Chapter 72: By Man

    <h4>Chapter 72</h4>


    Li Yao let Wang Yuanbang remove the rag from Fang Mingtai''s mouth.


    "Sister-inw Li, I''m sorry, I..."


    "You don''t need to apologize to me," Li Yao said, "You should go back and apologize to your family, because you caused them to not get any sweet potatoes, and could only watch other families eat their fill every day while you were hungry. "


    Fang Mingtai lowered his head.


    Li Yao''s words made him feel utterly ashamed and full of regret.


    Li Yao had discovered so many sweet potatoes and not only didn''t hide them for herself, but took them out to share with everyone - she was a great benefactor to all the vigers of He Wan.


    And yet he had suspected her of harboring ill intentions.


    He really was not human!


    "Sister-inw Li, I was wrong," Fang Mingtai said, "Please give me a chance, I promise I won''t act rashly again!"


    Li Yao had not intended to keep him tied up for long anyway, so she let Wang Yuanbang loosen his bonds, then brought two roasted sweet potatoes over to him.


    Holding the still warm roasted sweet potato, Fang Mingtai peeled off the charred skin, and when the soft, sweet, delicious vor exploded in his mouth, he suddenly couldn''t hold back the tears that welled up and streamed down his cheeks.


    "Sister-inw Li, from now on I''ll listen to whatever you say! Whatever you ask me to do I''ll do, I absolutely won''t say another word!"


    "There''s no need for that," Li Yao said. "Just work hard."


    "Mm!"


    Fang Mingtai quickly joined the ranks digging up sweet potatoes.


    Just as everyone was busily digging away, all the vigers of He Wan had gathered in the open area in front of the Zheng family''s door.


    "Li Yao said that no matter old or young, everyone can go," Zheng said. "She''ll provide two meals a day, and give 10 wen in wages each day afterwards."


    "Even the little kids?"


    "Anyone who can walk!"


    In other words, even the toddlers of two or three years old, and the old men and women in their sixties and seventies, would earn 10 wen a day?


    Everyone looked at each other in disbelief, feeling as if they were dreaming.


    "Our Eldest Sis is a kind person," Wang Xueshi timely added. "Only she would help you all like this for no reason."


    "Yes, Eldest Sis really is a wonderful person!"


    "Let''s all go then. Anyway there''s not much to do in the fields now. We can eat every day and even earn money."


    "An opportunity like this is rarer than finding a torch at night. Our whole families will definitely go."


    "Hmph, she''s not necessarily so kindhearted!"


    A dissonant voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.


    Looking back, who else could it be but Zhu Yougui?


    "Zhu Yougui, if you don''t want to go then don''t go," someone said. "Don''t make snide remarks here."


    "I''m doing this for your own good," Zhu Yougui said. "Have you thought this through? How many people are there in the whole vige? Not counting those not at home, at least 1000 right? Just the wages alone would be 10,000 wen a day! The meals, let''s say 5000 wen a day. That mountain area will take at least half a month to clear, 15 taels a day - over 200 taels for half a month! Do you really think she''ll pay that much when the timees?"


    Hearing this, it did seem to make sense. After all, 200 plus taels of silver was not a small sum, even rich families couldn''t just take it out on a whim.


    Even if Li Yao had that much money, would she really spend so much just to clear somend and build some roads?


    Seeing that some people were starting to believe him, a smug look appeared on Zhu Yougui''s face. He continued, "In my opinion, she''s just trying to get you to work for free. In the end it was Zheng who told you about this. If she doesn''t acknowledge the debt, what can you do?"


    "Zhu Yougui, are you asking to be scolded?" Wang Xueshi yelled.


    "Yelling loudly is useless," Zhu Yougui said. "If you dare to say that if Li Yao doesn''t pay, you will pay instead, then I''ll take back everything I said."


    Wang Xueshi was taken aback by this. Even with her faith in Li Yao, she didn''t dare make such a guarantee!


    "Right, where is Li Yao anyway? Why doesn''t shee to tell us herself?" someone asked.


    "I''d believe it if she came herself."


    "That does make sense. It would be hard to do anything if she doesn''t acknowledge the debtter."


    ...


    Seeing the vigers engaged in spirited discussion, Wang Jiafu also started to feel anxious. He truly hadn''t expected this situation.


    "Let me say a few words," Fang n chief Fang Shian stepped forward.


    "I won''t say much. I just want to ask you all, how many households still have enough food tost until the new year?"


    Hearing this, everyone fell silent.


    Out of the hundred plus households in He Wan vige, the number that could confidently im this could be counted on one hand. The majority had already started eating wild vegetables every day.


    "Li Yao has invited everyone to work, she doesn''t discriminate between men and women, young and old. She is willing to provide two meals a day for elderly in their sixties and seventies, and for toddlers who have just learned to walk," Fang Shian said. "I don''t know what you all think, but I feel that even if she didn''t pay a single wen, we would stille out ahead. At the very least, we can eat our fill these two weeks."


    After he put it this way, everyone suddenly understood.


    Indeed, what time was it right now? Just being able to eat their fill was an enormous blessing, so what was there to worry about wages?


    "Our whole family is going!" one viger loudly proimed. "Elder Fang is right. What times are these, when beggars are being picky about free rice?"


    After his rousing call, the other vigers also began to voice their intentions.


    In the end, Wang Jiafu roughly calcted that every family was going except Zhu Yougui''s, and the anxiety in his heart finally disappeared.


    He had truly been worried that if too many people didn''t go, there wouldn''t be enough sweet potatoes and they would go hungry.


    As for Zhu Yougui, since he was a fellow viger after all, as vige chief he naturally still had to give a reminder.


    "Zhu Yougui, are you going or not?"


    "Not going," Zhu Yougui said with a mocking smile. "It''s clearly a scam, only fools would go for it."


    "Auntie He, what about you? If you want to go it''s the same as everyone else," the vige chief asked Zhu Yougui''s mother.


    Mrs. He was just about to agree when Zhu Yougui red fiercely at her. "Wasn''t it enough that you did free road work for the vigest time? Let''s go."


    Mrs. He didn''t dare defy him, she could only sigh deeply in her heart and leave with Zhu Yougui.


    The vigers were already used to this kind of thing and didn''t interfere.


    Wang Jiafu first recorded the names of those who were going. He assigned 100 able-bodied people for road work, the rest would go clearnd. He would lead the road work team, while Eldest Sis would lead thend clearing.


    Over 1000 vigers set off in an impressive line toward the back mountain.


    After everyone had left, Wang San''er immediately brought several boys his age and started patrolling the vige.


    They all carried crude bows and arrows on their backs, and held "swords" whittled from bamboo blocks in their hands, feeling extremely majestic.


    Especially Wang San''er. His bow and arrows were made by Li Yao, much better than what others had. His weapon wasn''t a bamboo arrow, but a long firece poker from home.


    Most importantly, he was also leading his little pig.


    Although not as impressive as a warhorse, sitting on a rock on the hillside overlooking the vige really made him feel like a grand general.


    From now on, I''ll protect He Wan vige!

 Chapter 73: Sweet Potato

    <h4>Chapter 73</h4>


    Time flies, and half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.


    Li Yao''s sweet potato digging team is about toplete their task. They have to turn over nearly 50 mu of barrennd every day. Even with the help of oxen, everyone is exhausted. But after dinner every day, instead of hurrying to lie down and sleep in the grass nests, they are excited to weigh all the sweet potatoes dug that day.


    After calcting everything in the end, they dug up a total of 200,000 catties of sweet potatoes, which is a lot less than Li Yao expected.


    But Wang Yuanbang and his guys are already extremely satisfied.


    The average household in He Wan Vige has 10 mu of good fields, and each mu can produce more than 200 catties of grain. After digging sweet potatoes for half a month, it is equivalent to the harvest of one year. What is there to be unsatisfied about?


    "Sister-inw," after finishing thest stretch, Wang Yuanbang said happily, "When are we going back?"


    Everyone looked over, obviously eager to share the good news with their families.


    "It should be about time," said Li Yao. "You''ve been digging sweet potatoes here, and Vige Head Li is leading the vigers to build the road. I guess you''re both about done."


    The road construction team led by Wang Jiafu has indeed nearlypleted their task.


    After half a month, the road builders are also extremely tired. They start working before dawn every day, and don''t go home until it''s pitch dark. Their bones feel like they''re about to break.


    But despite this, no one has anyints.


    Because He Xiaoya is responsible for cooking their meals, and seeing how tired they are, she always adds more oil when cooking for them, and they can even see some meat pieces every other day.


    Being able to eat such meals every day, let alone building roads in the mountains, even if you ask them to dig away these mountains they would be willing.


    "Uncle Wang," a viger asked, "The road has reached the edge of Valley of Broken Souls, where else are we building it to?"


    Wang Jiafu looked at the deep valley for a long time before replying: "Just here, no more building."


    "I don''t mean to pry, but I just want to ask why Sister-inw Li wants to build the road here?"


    "Yeah Vige Head, these hills don''t belong to our vige, right?"


    Wang Jiafu looked at everyone and said, "Now that we''vee this far, I can tell you the truth."


    "This road is for transporting food."


    What?


    Everyone was confused at the same time.


    You look at me, I look at you, wondering where this food ising from.


    Could there be farnd inside these big mountains?


    "Uncle Wang, where''s the food?"


    "Here it is!"


    At this moment, Wang Yuanbang''s voice came from behind. Everyone looked back and saw him holding some sweet potato-like things running over.


    "Wang Yuanbang, what do you have there?"


    "You guys don''t even know about this?" Wang Yuanbang held out the sweet potatoes proudly before everyone. "This stuff - you can eat it!"


    "It looks like little wooden yams, can you really eat it?"


    "Don''t believe me?" said Wang Yuanbang. "I''ll eat it in front of you."


    As he spoke, he nimbly peeled it with a knife, and took a crunchy bite.


    Seeing him eat with gusto, someone tried taking one, peeled it and started eating like he did.


    Soon the mouths of several people were filled with crunching sounds, making everyone else crane their necks eagerly.


    "How is it?"


    "Not delicious," Wang Yuanbang put on a pained expression. "Both bitter and astringent."


    "I knew it, nothing edible can be found in these hills, I''ve seen it all... Hey hey, you said it''s not tasty, howe you''re still eating it?"


    Seeing Wang Yuanbang snatch away thest sweet potato, the others finally realized they were tricked.


    "Alright alright," said the Vige Head, "as my wife said, there''s a lot of this, we built the road to transport it out."


    To build a whole road specially for transport?


    Everyone''s hearts skipped a beat, thinking how massive the amount must be.


    "Wang Yuanbang, tell everyone about it."


    "Actually it''s not that much," Wang Yuanbang said seriously. "Just around 200,000 catties."


    Everyone had the urge to beat him up.


    This braggart, calling 200,000 catties not much?


    In bad crop years, the whole vige may not even produce that much grain!


    With food secured, no one in the vige will go hungry this winter. Wang Jiafu''s hanging heart for half a month finally settled downpletely.


    "Where''s the stuff?"


    "In the valley, my sister-inw told me toe find you, said to prepare more ox carts," Wang Yuanbang said. "She also said to bring more ropes to haul the sweet potatoes up from below."


    "Good good, I''ll go prepare now," said Wang Jiafu. "You take them down to start moving the sweet potatoes here."


    With food at hand, everyone was full of motivation.


    Wang Yuanbang led the road builders down to the valley to move the dug sweet potatoes towards the road exit. Wang Jiafu went back to the vige and brought all usable ox carts and wheelbarrows along the newly built mountain road.


    Li Yao had the vigers who knew some carpentry make more than a dozen pulleys hung on the tree branches, so the sweet potatoes could be easily pulled up the cliff.


    More than a hundred people worked busily for three whole days before finally transporting all the sweet potatoes to therge yard of Li Yao''s new house.


    Seeing the mountainous pile of sweet potatoes, all the vigers were so excited that their faces turned red. The way they looked at Li Yao was as if looking at their life savior.


    "With everyone from the vige here, let me say a few words first," Wang Jiafu stood on arge square table and addressed everyone. "These sweet potatoes originally all belonged to Li Yao. But she''s kind-hearted, and didn''t want to see everyone starve, so she thought of sharing with everyone. I feel we can''t just take her stuff for free, so I had everyone help out with some work at her home. This way when we take the food, we won''t feel bad."


    "That''s right, this is only proper."


    "There are two options now, choose for yourselves," Wang Jiafu continued. "First, you get paid as originally agreed. Second, use your wages to exchange for these sweet potatoes, one penny for one catty..."


    "I''ll exchange for sweet potatoes!"


    "Me too!"


    Wang Jiafu hadn''t even finished speaking when nearly all vigers started voicing their choices. Rice prices have skyrocketed nowadays, costing over ten pennies per catty.


    Grain priced at one penny per catty is unheard of even in dreams!


    So anyone sane would definitely choose to directly exchange for sweet potatoes.


    But could there really be such a good deal?


    "Vige chief, you''re not joking with us, right?"


    "Whether I''m joking or not, you''ll find out right away." Wang Jiafu took out the work log. "I''ll call each family one by one. Fang Shian, you first."


    "Then I''ll go first."


    Fang Shian walked up all smiles. His family had 23 people total. Excluding two babies under two years old, 21 people helped withnd remation and road construction, so they immediately got 3,150 catties of sweet potatoes!


    Seeing him haul away three ox carts full of sweet potatoes, the remaining vigers no longer had any doubts. They hurried home to fetch baskets and tubs.


    Seeing the beaming faces of the vigers, Da Zhuang felt even happier than having a bowl of honey.


    Everyone finally didn''t have to eat wild vegetables everyday or go hungry. They probably won''t call his mother a shrew anymore, right?

 Chapter 74: Green Waters and Green Mountains

    <h4>Chapter 74</h4>


    Li Yao was busy distributing sweet potatoes to each household until midday. The food shortage that had seemed so bleak was somehow solved, and Wang Jiafu felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his chest.


    It seemed that ever since Li Yao had started her business, she had changed.


    "Li Yao, on behalf of everyone, I really need to thank you properly for this," said Wang Jiafu.


    "No need," said Li Yao. "The vigers have also helped work my fields. Otherwise I wouldn''t know when those barren hills could be opened up."


    "That''s not right. That sweet potato money could open dozens of barren hills for you," said Wang Jiafu. "If you were a man, I''d offer you an official position right now."


    Only men could be officials - that was the sad truth of this world.


    But Li Yao was quite happy living afortable life on her own terms. She had no desire to be a vige headman.


    "But I absolutely won''t forget your contributions," Wang Jiafu continued. "Tomorrow I''ll go to the county office and report this to Magistrate Song. You''ll definitely get amendation again."


    "Vige Headman, please don''t," said Li Yao.


    "Why not?"


    "It''s not thieves we need to worry about, but their envious thoughts," said Li Yao. "Our entire Baichuan County, even the whole Yizhou Prefecture, iscking food. If our vige alone is suddenly notcking, don''t you think it might make others envious?"


    Wang Jiafu was shocked.


    With the grain, he had gotten a bit carried away and forgotten to consider this.


    But if he didn''t report it, how could he reward Li Yao for her contributions? The vige didn''t have money formendations!


    In the end, he could only prioritize the greater good. As for rewarding Li Yao, he had already thought of a better way.


    "Li Yao, from now on, for any vige affairs, I''lle discuss with you and listen to your suggestions," said Wang Jiafu.


    Li Yao twitched her mouth. She suddenly felt like the vige tyrant.


    Are you sure this is a reward and not a punishment?


    Oh well, there weren''t that many vige affairs anyway. She coulde up with a few ideas without too much effort when needed.


    After the vige headman left, Li Yao finally had time to catch her breath.


    They had dug up 200,000 catties of sweet potatoes this time, and distributed 180,000 catties. There were still around 20,000 catties left in the yard.


    Keeping a few hundred catties to eat, the rest would be used to grow seedlings next spring. Most of the reimednd on the back hill could be nted. Any extra seedlings could also be sold for money.


    Speaking of which, sinceing back Li Yao had been busy and hadn''t had time to go take a look at the back hill. So she brought along the kids and He Xiaoya and went straight there from the new house.


    Thend remation was being arranged ording to her ns by the able-bodied men.


    The gentler slopes below the mid-hill, which were turned into terraced fields, totaled about 1000 mu.


    Although these terraced fields looked barren, they could grow grains - wheat, rapeseed, sweet potato, potato, taro, and all kinds of vegetables.


    With sufficient fertilizer and water, and scientific nting methods, the yield would definitely not be less than the so-called fertilends.


    On the mid-hill and above, there was a soil pit every 20 meters, which Li Yao nned to use for fruit trees - apple, pear, citrus, orange, apricot, plum... As long as it was something He Wan vige could grow, it had to be thoroughly arranged.


    The spaces between the fruit trees would be used to grow fodder or scattered with cabbage and rapeseed seeds, to grow naturally as feed for chickens, ducks, pigs, cows, sheep and other livestock.


    In addition to these, there was a one-meter wide water channel winding around the waist of each hill, to supply water to the entire mountainside in the future.


    "Mother," asked Da Zhuang, "I understand the rest, but what''s the water channel for? There''s no water that can flow here!"


    "There will be in the future," said Li Yao.


    When she had saved up some more money, Li Yao nned to build a dam.


    She had surveyed the terrain early on. The reservoir''s water level was higher than the water channel. Later, they only needed to build a trestle between the hills to divert the water source over, instead of carrying water up from the foot of the mountain.


    As they slowly reached the top of the hill, Li Yao looked down upon the new house and entire He Wan vige, imagining the scene of verdant greenery and drifting fragrances of fruits and flowers. She felt all the efforts aftering here were worth it.


    "Da Zhuang, Xiaoya,e here," she called seriously.


    Seeing her solemn expression, the two quickly came over.


    "These 5000 mu of mountainnd, plus the dozen or so mu of paddy fields at home, will now be fully handed over to you two to manage," said Li Yao. "I will teach you how to n and nt. If you encounter any problems you cane ask me."


    All of it?


    The couple was stunned.


    That was 5000 mu!


    1000 mu could grow grains and vegetables, 4000 mu could grow fruits and fodder. It could be said no other family in the entire Baichuan County had so much usablend!


    Recalling just two months ago when they were eating wild vegetables every meal, and now having be the biggestndlords in Baichuan County... This earth-shattering change made the couple''s hearts race.


    "Mother," asked Wang Er, "Why are we spending so much effort to reim these barren hills?"


    Li Yao turned the question back on him: "How are your studies recently?"


    "Pretty good," Wang Er quickly replied. "Teacher Lv said I will definitely pass the county exam next year, but I want to try the autumn provincial exam."


    Passing the county exam made you a private candidate, passing the provincial exam made you a licentiate - a gentleman schr. Wang Er was only going to be 14 next year. Li Yao felt passing the county exam would be enough, without needing to push himself so hard.


    But seeing his attitude, he probably wouldn''t listen even if she said anything.


    "Green hills and clear waters are as good as mountains of gold and silver," said Li Yao. "If you want to be an official, benefiting themon people, or rising to prominence in the imperial court, benefiting all people under heaven, you must always remember this saying."


    Wang Er''s heart stirred. He knew this was his mother imparting wisdom to him, and firmly engraved those words in his heart.


    Wang San''er and Xiao Si also watched longingly, hoping Mother would say something to them too. But Li Yao just said, "Go home and make dinner."


    After overworking for half a month with barely any decent meals, today they finally finished the pressing matters at hand. It was time to make something delicious to reward themselves.


    ...


    Early next morning, Li Yao took the ox cart to the market town.


    Half a month had passed. Those merchants who hade seeking partnerships had made their decisions. Most were willing to pay the deposit to join the chain stores.


    Actually they had already decided earlier, but could never find Li Yao''s people, so they could only wait at the store every day.


    The contracts had long been prepared. After signing and paying the deposit, everyone returned to their territories to prepare opening their stores. And to ensure they had sufficient goods to sell at opening, Li Yao also began purchasingrge quantities ofrd, tea seeds, beeswax and other raw materials.


    While she was busy, Wang Jiafu also put on clean clothes and followed other vige headmen into the county office.


    The county magistrate would convene these meetings every half month, both to understand each vige''s circumstances, and also to pool their wisdom on how to weather the difficult times together.

 Chapter 75: She Looks like a Chivalrous Woman

    <h4>Chapter 75</h4>


    The county magistrate Song had convened meetings many times and was well versed in the situation of each vige. However, there had been little progress on how to solve the problems at hand.


    "County magistrate," the vige elder of Baiyun Vige said, "There are already 21 households in our vige that cannot get enough to eat."


    "There are also several more households in our vige."


    "Half of our vige can''t even get coarse rice now," the vige elder of Banana Vige was the most dejected. "Several families are preparing to flee the famine."


    ...


    Hearing everyone''s words, County Magistrate Song''s eyebrows were already wrinkled into the shape of the character chuan.


    The disaster was getting worse and worse, but there was still no solution. The court had said that some relief grain would be distributed, but he had already sent people to ask Yizhou Prefecture many times. Each time, he was told that the grain had not yet arrived and to wait a little longer.


    If this continued, people would really starve to death!


    With a long sigh in his heart, County Magistrate Song was about to speak words offort and encouragement to everyone. But he realized that Wang Jiafu was acting a bit strange today.


    This old man was usually very talkative during meetings, but today he stood silently at the back of the crowd without saying a word.


    "Wang Jiafu!" he asked, "How are things in your He Wan Vige?"


    Wang Jiafu was truly unable to keep things in his heart. He did not dare to lie in front of the county magistrate, so he tried his best to hide behind the crowd, hoping not to be noticed.


    But he had not expected that the county magistrate would call on him as soon as he arrived. What could he do now?


    "Rep...replying to County Magistrate," Wang Jiafu stammered, "Our vige is still the same."


    County Magistrate Song''s eyebrows wrinkled. With one nce, he could see that this little old man was hiding something.


    However, he did not expose it on the spot. After speaking with everyone for a few more words, he kept Wang Jiafu behind alone.


    "Do you know why I kept you behind alone?"


    "I don''t know." Wang Jiafu''s forehead was already sweating.


    "Do you know that whenever something happens, it shows all over your face?" County Magistrate Song smiled. "Speak, what is the real situation in your vige?"


    Wang Jiafumented in his heart, but since it was just the county magistrate alone, he honestly recounted how Li Yao had discovered the sweet potatoes and figured out a way to distribute them to the vigers.


    Upon hearing that Li Yao had found 200,000 catties of edible grains and distributed them to the vigers through a method simr to "food for work", he was stunned for a long time.


    How could Heaven bless this woman so much?


    "County Magistrate Song," Wang Jiafu said, "It''s not that I didn''t report it, but Li Yao was afraid it would attract greed, so..."


    "Don''t me yourselves for this matter," County Magistrate Song knew that with the current situation, not to mention 200,000 catties of grains, even 20,000 catties would make people green with envy.


    He Wan Vige''s grains were taken care of, but what about the other viges?


    There were a total of 23 viges in Baichuan County.


    Seeing his worried frown, Wang Jiafu carefully said again: "County magistrate, I actually think Li Yao is a very resourceful person. Now for all matters big or small in the vige, I always discuss with her."


    County Magistrate Song immediately understood the implication. This little old man meant for him to go find Li Yao and ask if she had any ideas to solve the problems.


    Although it was not unreasonable, could she reallye up with solutions?


    After some consideration, County Magistrate Song decided to still go find Li Yao himself.


    Just in case.


    So he made up his mind to go take a look at He Wan Vige now and try the sweet potatoes himself.


    Of course, he would take his wife with him to chat with Li Yao and the like. His son Song Zhe also had a day off from school today, so he might as well bring him along to experience themon people''s lives.


    ...


    Li Yao had already returned from the market by noon. He Xiaoya was making lunch, when she heard the voice of the vige eldering from far away.


    "Li Yao, hurry to my home. The county magistrate and his wife are waiting for you."


    "The county magistrate?"


    The few children were all stunned and looked at Li Yao simultaneously. And smelling the fragrance of the food drifting out from the kitchen, Li Yao felt a burst of irritation in her heart.


    She really did not want to meet any county magistrate. Couldn''t he choose another time instead of right at mealtime?


    "Are there still spices left at home?"


    "Mother, you picked so muchst time, almost none of it has been used yet." He Xiaoya replied.


    "Then...that''s right, those potatoes are still outside. I have to go take a look..."


    "Mother," Wang San''er said, "I just went to check them this morning, it''s fine."


    Li Yao: ...You foolish child.


    By this time, Wang Jiafu had already arrived in the yard, along with him was Zhang the county captain.


    Seeing that she could not get away, Li Yao sighed lightly in her heart.


    Fine, meet it is.


    But before going, she had to put on a pair of cotton trousers, lest her knees hurt from kneelingter.


    Following the two men to the vige elder''s home, she saw arge group of people sitting in the yard from afar. The county magistrate''s wife stood up first and came over with a smile.


    "Sister Li Yao, we meet again."


    "Greetings to the county magistrate''s wife."


    "Oh ho, we are all sisters, no need to be so polite," the county magistrate''s wife said. "When our family''s lord heard that you found some sweet potatoes, he insisted oning to take a look."


    Li Yao walked in front of County Magistrate Song and was about to bow, when County Magistrate Song said: "We''re not in the court hall, so there''s no need for formalities."


    Li Yao blinked. So there really was no need to kneel?


    In the TV shows she had watched before, whenever a county magistrate''s carriage passed by on the road, themon people by the roadside would all kneel down to salute. If anyone dared to move, they would be whipped a few times by the yamen runners.


    It seemed this County Magistrate Song did not have that kind of preference.


    So she cupped her fist and said, "Thismon woman Li Yao greets County Magistrate."


    This was County Magistrate Song''s first time seeing Li Yao. He realized she was indeed different from ordinary people. Rather than an orthodoxmon woman, she was more like thedy of a wealthy household in the city.


    Yet that wasn''t quite right either. Compared to thosedies, Li Yao had more of a carefree temperament, somewhat resembling the female knights described in storybooks.


    "My lord," the county magistrate''s wife said in a low voice, seeing him stare straight at the woman, "Didn''t you say you wanted to go to Li Yao''s home to try the sweet potatoes?"


    "Oh, ahem," County Magistrate Song came to his senses. "Yes, I dide for the sweet potatoes this time."


    Since the county magistrate''s wife had said so, Li Yao could not refuse either: "Then pleasee with me, County Magistrate and wife. But my home is poor, I hope you will not look down on it."


    Poor...poor home?


    County Magistrate Song twitched his mouth. Although he did not know how much money Li Yao had earned, describing it as poor was going too far.


    But when they arrived at Li Yao''s tattered thatched hut, only then did he know it really was too poor!


    A few thatched huts that were who knows how many years old, with windsing in from all eight directions of the walls. There were even several big holes in the roof... If he had not already known that Li Yao had built a veryrge new house that she just had not moved into yet, he really would have thought it was destitute.


    "Xiao Hui, hurry and bring some stools."


    "Oh!"


    "Xiaoya, wash some sweet potatoes and steam them," Li Yao instructed. "And add a few more dishes, we have guests today."


    "Got it, mother."


    The county magistrateing to their home to visit made Da Zhuang and his brothers very uneasy. They directly hid inside the room and did note out. He Xiaoya was even more so, tightly shutting the bamboo fence door of the kitchen, bowing her head inside to cook.


    On the contrary, Du Xiao Hui acted veryposed, bringing over several long benches and cing them in the yard. The county magistrate couple did not fuss over the old benches, very naturally sitting down on them.


    But their son Song Zhe who hade along, had already revealed an impatient expression long ago.


    If it wasn''t for County Magistrate Song pressing him, how could he havee to such a tattered ce?

 Chapter 76: Faux pas

    <h4>Chapter 76</h4>


    After Li Yao had arranged everything, she asked Da Zhuang to move the square table out of the house. Then she poured some boiling water into coarse bowls.


    "County Magistrate and madam, we farmers don''t have tea leaves. Please just drink some boiled water," said Li Yao.


    Song County Magistrate and his wife didn''t mind at all. After bumping along the vige paths for half a day, the couple was quite thirsty. Song Zhe scowled and turned his face away from the bowl with many chips.


    Li Yao noticed but didn''t fuss over a child.


    After quenching their thirst, Li Yao chatted idly with the county magistrate''s wife about household affairs or women''s matters. Song County Magistrate couldn''t get a word in and started looking around.


    Soon he noticed Wang Er studying in the bamboo shed, with a teacher specially tutoring him. So he shuffled over and stood outside the shed, eavesdropping.


    And this listening was no trivial matter!


    As someone from a literary family who had served as a third-rank official, he could of course tell if Teacher Lv was lecturing well or poorly.


    He was astonished to find such a distinguished teacher in this remote vige. This teacher was absolutely better than the tutors at the county school!


    No wonder he had felt Wang Er was well-read whenever they met. So he had such an excellent teacher! He made a mental note to ask about the teacher''s backgroundter.


    After listening for a while, Song County Magistrate''s eyes were drawn to Du Xiao Hui feeding goslings.


    Looking around, he saw that Li Yao had at least a hundred geese. That was very rare for an ordinary vige. After all, geese ate a lot of wild grass.


    And to get them toy eggs, you''d need to feed them grain too.


    But he was even more curious where Li Yao had bought so many goslings of the same size.


    "Little girl," he asked, "Where did you buy these geese?"


    "We didn''t buy them," Du Xiao Hui replied. "Auntie Li hatched them in her incubator."


    Incubator?


    Song County Magistrate suddenly felt rather ignorant, not knowing what an incubator was.


    "Take me to see what an incubator looks like."


    "Sure, pleasee with me."


    Du Xiao Hui led Song County Magistrate into the hatchery. He was quite impressed after seeing it.


    The design wasn''t ingenious, but it was definitely very clever, not something an ordinary person could think up.


    "How many goose eggs can it incubate at a time?"


    "I heard about 300."


    That made sense.


    With 300 goose eggs per batch, and 40% hatch rate, it could hatch over 100 goslings.


    If this method spread, poultry could be hatched and raised on arge scale in the future. The more raised, the lower the feeding costs, the cheaper to sell, so moremoners could afford it...


    In an instant, Song County Magistrate''s thoughts raced far ahead. When he came to, he realized he had been staring nkly at Li Yao''s profile, not knowing for how long.


    How rude.


    Fortunately no one had seen him, or he wouldn''t have been able to exin himself.


    After wandering around a bit more, it was time to eat. He Xiao Ya swiftly brought out dish after dish from the kitchen.


    Fish fragrant pork slices, twice cooked pork, braised tofu, radish and meatballs, scrambled eggs with scallions. There was also braised goose, a braise tter, and arge tter oftromb.


    She had learned to cook all these dishes from Li Yao. They were her specialties, especially thetromb, which she had studied diligently. She noticed Li Yao especially likedmb, so she had paid extra attention when learning.


    Song County Magistrate was from the capital and had grown up eatingmb. But sinceing to Baichuan County he had never smelled such an authentic aroma. He shamefully swallowed several mouthfuls of saliva.


    But to be fair, Li Yao''s daughter-inw must be very clever to make such authentictromb.


    "Youngdy of the Li family," the county magistrate''s wife also thought themb was delicious, "Where did you learn to make thismb?"


    "From a northern merchant who came to buy goods."


    "I see." The county magistrate''s wife smiled. "Well, call everyone out to eat quickly. Lamb isn''t good when it gets cold."


    "No need, they''re eating inside."


    Although unwilling to follow old conventions, Li Yao still didn''t let the children eat at the table, as there wasn''t room.


    Just then, Du Xiao Hui brought out a te of steamed sweet potatoes: "County Magistrate, madam, these are sweet potatoes."


    Seeing the sweet potatoes, Song County Magistrate''s eyes lit up. "How do you eat them?"


    "Just peel off the skin and eat them directly," said Du Xiao Hui. "They''re very soft and sweet."


    Song County Magistrate and his wife each took a sweet potato, peeled off the skin, revealing the orange flesh and sweet aroma.


    After a small bite, it was indeed soft and sweet.


    "Quite delicious," the county magistrate''s wife remarked. "It seems finer than taro, sweeter than pumpkin, and not as watery either."


    Song County Magistrate nodded in agreement.


    The vigers of River Bend were really fortunate. In this famine year they could still eat such filling and delicious grains.


    "Can this be nted on arge scale?"


    "Yes," said Li Yao. "And sweet potato yields will be much higher than rice or wheat."


    Song County Magistrate quickly asked, "How much can it yield?"


    "With careful cultivation and sufficient fertilizer, at least 2,000 catties per mu," said Li Yao. "It doesn''t require good soil or much water either, and can be nted extensively even on barren hills."


    2,000 catties per mu?


    On poor soil too?


    Song County Magistrate stared incredulously at the sweet potato in his hand, unable to process this information.


    2,000 catties per mu, that''s 20,000 catties for 10 mu!


    If a person eats 3 catties per day, 10 mu could feed 18 people for a whole year!


    Most importantly, it wasn''t picky about soil and could withstand drought!


    If it was nted nationwide under Great Ling, there would never be grain shortages again!


    And Li Yao would be a heroine for the ages!


    After calming his excitement, Song County Magistrate asked solemnly, "Are you sure sweet potatoes can yield over 2,000 catties per mu?"


    "Absolutely."


    2,000 catties was nothing.


    In his previous world, yields of over 6,000 catties per mu weremon, averaging 3,000-4,000 catties. So ordinary people there no longer ate sweet potatoes, using them instead for starch, noodles and other byproducts.


    Or to feed pigs.


    "Then what is this careful cultivation method you mentioned?"


    "That will take some time to exin," said Li Yao. "Let''s talk while we eat."


    So as they ate, Li Yao described her understanding of sweet potato cultivation in great detail. Although it sounded fantastical, Song County Magistrate found it very logical.


    Gradually their conversation drifted, from growing sweet potatoes toparing north and south customs and anecdotes.


    Song County Magistrate gradually realized that this rural housewife seemed to know more than he did.


    He suddenly felt rather disoriented, as if he was the country bumpkin who had lived in the vige his whole life without seeing the world!

 Chapter 77: Gay Construction

    <h4>Chapter 77</h4>


    After lunch, Li Yao saw that the family of the county magistrate Song still had no intention of leaving. She told Du Xiao Hui to boil some water.


    ¡°Young Miss Li, there¡¯s no need to trouble yourself,¡± said the wife of the county magistrate. ¡°I¡¯d like to take a walk in the hills to aid my digestion. Would you apany me?¡±


    The wife of the county magistrate going on an inspection of the hills?


    Li Yao thought this was rather odd. As the host, she didn¡¯t want to refuse a small request from her guests either.


    So the two of them slowly made their way up the small hill behind the house along the mountain path.


    The wife of the county magistrate was quite talkative, but Li Yao could also tell that she didn¡¯t really want toe inspect the hills. Rather, she had something to say.


    ¡°Madam, there¡¯s no one else here. Please just speak your mind.¡±


    Seeing her be so direct, the wife of the county magistrate also stopped beating around the bush with a light sigh, ¡°You must have realized what kind of man my husband is.¡±


    Li Yao nodded.


    Compared to the legendary ancient officials, County Magistrate Song was indeed a rare good official. At the very least, he always kept the livelihood of themon people in mind when carrying out his duties, unlike those greedy officials who scraped the ground bare.


    To have a county magistrate like this was a blessing for themon people of Baichuan County.


    ¡°Lately, in order to resolve the livelihood issues of the people of Baichuan County, he¡¯s been fretting with furrowed brows every day,¡± the wife of the county magistrate continued. ¡°But as you know, he¡¯s just a lowly county magistrate. There¡¯s little he can do about many matters.¡±


    ¡°As long as he does his best.¡±


    The wife of the county magistrate took Li Yao¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Young Miss Li, I know you¡¯re very resourceful. Can you think of a way to help my husband out of his current predicament? If you can resolve the present difficulties, I¡¯m sure all themon people of Baichuan County will be grateful to you.¡±


    Now Li Yao understood.


    All this talk ofing to taste sweet potatoes was just an excuse. What County Magistrate Song really wanted was her wisdom.


    At least he had some discernment.


    But it was a bit unmanly to note himself and instead send his wife.


    So she replied, ¡°I do have some ideas.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± The wife of the county magistrate was overjoyed. ¡°Wonderful, I just knew there¡¯d be no mistake ining to you!¡±


    ¡°However, Madam,¡± said Li Yao, ¡°this matter is rather tricky. It¡¯s best if the county magistratees himself. Otherwise, things might get lost in transmission.¡±


    Upon hearing this, the wife of the county magistrate was taken aback, but soon understood the implication behind those words. Somewhat embarrassed, she exined, ¡°Oh, my husband is just shy. Don¡¯t take it to heart. I¡¯ll have him properly consult youter.¡±


    ¡°You tter me, Madam. Shall we return now?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just stay here. I¡¯ll have someone fetch him over,¡± said the wife of the county magistrate. ¡°There are no such hills in the capital. Come winter, it¡¯s just a barren wastnd without a de of grass in sight. The scenery here is much better.¡±


    It will be even better in the future, Li Yao thought to herself.


    Since the wife of the county magistrate had such elegant tastes, Li Yao had Du Xiao Hui bring over a kettle from home, as well as some grass mats. They would brew water and discuss matters right here on the hilltop.


    ...


    Li Yao was apanying the wife of the county magistrate on her hill inspection. County Magistrate Song had nowhere else to go, so he leisurely made his way into Schr Wang¡¯s bamboo hut.


    Schr Lv hadn¡¯te up for meals today either. Seeing the county magistrate arrive, he quickly stepped forward to greet him.


    ¡°Greetings to you, County Magistrate.¡±


    County Magistrate Song also returned the gesture with cupped fists. ¡°Please, no need to stand on ceremony, Sir. I¡¯m just here to casually sit for a bit. Treat me as one of your students.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare, I wouldn¡¯t dare!¡±


    ¡°Sir Lv,¡± said County Magistrate Song as he sat down, full of interest, ¡°I¡¯ve heard your lectures are most astute. Might I ask which year you passed the imperial examinations?¡±


    ¡°I...¡±


    Schr Lv was filled with shame.


    The man before him used to be a third-rank official, at least having passed the imperial examinations.


    While he was still just a tongsheng student.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid this is rather mortifying,¡± said Schr Lv. ¡°This student has yet to even pass the county examinations.¡±


    County Magistrate Song¡¯s brows furrowed slightly. That couldn¡¯t be right.


    A lecturer of such skill should have easily passed at least the provincial examinations.


    For him to still be a tongsheng even now could only mean one thing¡ªsomeone had pulled strings at the examinations, taking his spot year after year.


    And this had gone on for over twenty years!


    Such a thing would have been unthinkable in the capital, but here in this remote Baichuan County, there really could be someone powerful enough to cover the skies with one hand.


    As a schr himself, he understood the struggles of schrs.


    Things would have to be thoroughly investigated for next year¡¯s examinations.


    ¡°County Magistrate,¡± said Captain Zhang,ing down from the back hills, ¡°your wife and Miss Li invite you to join them atop the hill. They said it was to discuss ns to resolve the current difficulties.¡±


    County Magistrate Song was ted to hear this. It was precisely what he hade for today.


    Just as he was about to head over, he suddenly noticed his son Song Zhe was missing.


    ¡°Where is Song Zhe?¡±


    ¡°Oh, the young master was bored and wanted to look around the area,¡± said Captain Zhang. ¡°I had Liu Kun follow him, so there¡¯s no need to worry.¡±


    County Magistrate Song wasn¡¯t worried about Song Zhe getting into trouble, but rather about him causing trouble.


    He knew his own son best.


    Ever sinceing to Baichuan County, this ne¡¯er-do-well son had done nothing but fool around with the sons of yamen underlings instead of studying properly. His behavior had be increasingly unseemly.


    If he didn¡¯t discipline the boy soon, he really might turn into a wastrel.


    Just look at Li Yao¡¯s children, especially Wang Er who was the same age as Song Zhe. They were simply iparable!


    ¡°Go fetch him back here and have him obediently wait.¡±


    ...


    At the top of the back hills, County Magistrate Song was huffing and puffing by the time he arrived.


    By the time he got there, Li Yao and the county magistrate''s wife had already lit a pile of firewood. Du Xiao Hui was cing an old kettle over the fire to boil water.


    On a rtively trge rock nearby were set a few rough y bowls, surrounded by three grass mats. Li Yao and the county magistrate''s wife were already seated.


    ¡°County Magistrate, please excuse the simple surroundings. We have no fine tea, so I hope you won¡¯t be offended.¡±


    ¡°Miss Li is too kind.¡±


    How could County Magistrate Song take offense?


    As long as Li Yao had a solution for their plight, he would dly sit here blowing in the cold wind atop this hill for a month in a makeshift tent if need be.


    The water soon boiled. No tea leaves was no problem. Li Yao ced some dried flower petals into the bowls to steep, adding some rock sugar to the county magistrate¡¯s, while she and the county magistrate¡¯s wife had brown sugar in theirs.


    Looking at the three pleasingly colored bowls of floral tea, County Magistrate Song and his wife showered praise once more.


    After the pleasantries, County Magistrate Song got down to business.


    ¡°Miss Li, I¡¯ve heard you have a way to resolve the current difficulties of themoners being able to afford the five grains. Could it be you¡¯ve discovered even more sweet potatoes deep in these mountains?¡±


    ¡°No, I haven''t. Besides, it¡¯s not so easy to go deep into the mountains.¡±


    ¡°Then what other methods do you have?¡±


    Li Yao took a sip of her flower tea and calmly gave a three character answer.


    ¡°Invest in infrastructure.¡±

 Chapter 78: Justice

    <h4>Chapter 78</h4>


    County Magistrate Song listened with a bewildered look on his face.


    Infrastructure construction... This was something he had never heard of before!


    Adopting an attitude of being willing to learn, County Magistrate Song cupped his hands and asked, "Miss Li, what is infrastructure construction?"


    "Infrastructure construction refers to building the most fundamental structures," Li Yao exined, "such as bridges, roads, irrigation projects, etc."


    Now County Magistrate Song understood.


    The method Li Yao proposed was still usingbor in lieu of relief grains.


    Moreover, since Baichuan County was located in a remote area, right next to the mountains, the roads were winding and bumpy. For example, even carriages could not get into He Wan Vige. There was indeed a need to rebuild and improve the roads.


    The water conservancy facilities were also severelycking. Themoners practically relied entirely on the heavens to eat.


    But the problem was, there was no money!


    Even if materials could be obtained locally, the wages for theborers still had to be paid!


    Not paying wages was also fine, but at least a meal had to be provided for the people to eat!


    Therefore, without sufficient food supplies and silver, substitutingbor for relief grains was just empty talk.


    "Does Baichuan County really have no money?" Li Yao asked in response, "Just at the Baichuan Market, there are at least dozens of youngdies and madams who can casually buy a few bars of soap without any hesitation. In their families, they must have at least several thousand or even tens of thousands of taels of silver. And there is so muchnd, the stockpiled grains are certainly notcking either."


    "I know about this," the County Magistrate said, "But those are private assets, they cannot be forcibly appropriated."


    Li Yao smiled and said, "There are many ways to make the rich pay up, it just depends on whether the County Magistrate is willing to do it or not."


    County Magistrate Song was slightly stunned and asked, "May I ask what methods they are?"


    "For example, organizing charity wine parties, auctions, etc."


    After a brief exnation, County Magistrate Song''s frowning brows rxed slightly. He felt that the methods Li Yao proposed were quite viable.


    "Relying solely on these is still not enough, right?"


    "It''s fine as long as there''s money to buy grains."


    There were a total of 30,000 people in the entire county. Based on 3 taels of staple food per person per day, 9,000 catties were consumed every day, totaling 1.08 million catties over 4 months.


    Now the price of unhusked rice had already soared to 20 wen per catty.


    Therefore, if all unhusked rice was purchased, the total silver required would be 21,600 taels.


    "So, we only need to raise enough money to buy one month''s worth of grains, which is 5,400 taels, then we can start work," Li Yao said.


    County Magistrate Song felt relieved in his heart.


    If he adopted the few methods Li Yao had just mentioned, raising these 5,400 taels would not be too difficult, 10,000 taels could even be raised.


    But it still fell short by quite a bit.


    "What about the remaining 3 months?"


    "There will always be ways," Li Yao said. "If it reallyes down to it, we can borrow the money. I believe more than 10,000 taels can be easily borrowed."


    One or two monthster, Li Yao believed she would also have the ability to lend some money to the county magistrate.


    Naturally, County Magistrate Song also understood the implications of her words, marveling that Li Yao''s business was actually so profitable.


    But in any case, this was a good thing. At least he could feel more rxed now.


    There was still onest issue left.


    The food problem was solved, but what about the wages?


    It was impossible to get themoners to work just for a few meals. They had to be paid daily wages, which were much higher than the cost of meals.


    "It can be deducted from next year''s grain taxes," Li Yao said. "The wages earned by the workers will be calcted at the normal double rate and deducted from the grain taxes they should pay next year."


    That''s right!


    Now that wells had been dug in every vige across the county, the early summer harvest next year would basically not be affected by drought anymore. And with therge-scale water conservancy projects this winter, there would naturally be rice harvests next year as well.


    If the nting of sweet potatoes could also be promoted... Then the slight reduction in grain taxes would be negligible.


    The collected taxes might not even be less than previous years. On the contrary, they could potentially increase!


    Thinking thus far, County Magistrate Song suddenly felt enlightened.


    The difficult problem that had been guing him for so long was actually solved so easily!


    Was this Li Yao really just an ordinarymoner woman?


    If it were up to him, even if Li Yao was appointed to govern a prefecture, she would definitely be more than capable!


    "Hahaha..." Finally seeing a ray of light, County Magistrate Song was in an exceptionally ted mood. "Li Yao, you''ve rendered an immense service this time!"


    Li Yao did not want any credit.


    Everyone being well off was the real good.


    If she was living afortable life while everyone around her was suffering, such days would be meaningless.


    The county magistrate''s wife was also beaming with joy.


    Although the ideas were all Li Yao''s, County Magistrate Song was the one taking the lead in carrying them out. Naturally, he would also get his share of credit and rewards in the future.


    With such outstanding political achievements, they would be able to leave this remote ce. It was possible they could return to the capital city very soon.


    Just as the three were discussing the details of organizing a charity wine party, He Xiaoya rushed in panic.


    "Mother, this is bad!"


    "What happened that you''re in such a panic?"


    "A lot of people from grandmother''s family havee. They said Wang Er stole something from their home. The young master county magistrate has already apprehended Wang Er to interrogate him..."


    What?


    County Magistrate Song jumped up, his face ashen.


    That unfilial thing had just left his side less than half an hour ago and was already causing trouble!


    He would definitely have to teach him a good lesson today!


    ...


    While Li Yao and County Magistrate Song were brewing tea and chatting on the hilltop, Song Zhe was wandering around alone outside the vige, bored to death.


    He was extremely annoyed today, but his parents were still reluctant to leave.


    Just then arge group of people walked over from afar. When Song Zhe saw one of them, his eyes lit up.


    Among the people was Li Xian.


    The two of them studied together at the academy. Song Zhe had no interest in studying, while Li Xian was the most outstanding. So he often got Li Xian to write some essays for him to fool the teacher.


    Moreover, Li Xian was sensible and eloquent, so the two were on very good terms, addressing each other as brothers every day.


    "Brother Li!"


    "Song Zhe?" Li Xian was also very surprised. "What are you doing here?"


    "I was brought here by my father."


    "What is the County Magistrate doing in He Wan Vige?"


    "Just some trivial matters, not worth mentioning. What about you, Brother Li, what are you doing here?" Song Zhe asked.


    Li Xian said resentfully, "We''vee to seek justice!"


    "Seek justice? From whom?"


    It turned out that ever since Li Yao stopped funding his education, money at home gradually became scarce. So Granny decided to take out the biyu hairpin passed down in the family for decades to sell.


    But unexpectedly, the hairpin that was still around two months ago could no longer be found!


    Therefore, Granny concluded that Wang Er must have secretly stolen the hairpin while tutoring him.


    "Think about it, how poor their family used to be?" Li Xian said. "But now, they''ve built such a big new house, costing at least 300-400 taels! What business could earn so much money in just two months? It must be that they stole our family''s hairpin and sold it!"


    After listening, Song Zhe''s eyes lit up.


    Hadn''t his father said that he was useless, only capable of causing trouble?


    Today he would show the old man that he, Song Zhe, was capable after all.


    "Let''s go!" He thumped his chest and said, "This young master will uphold justice for you today!"

 Chapter 79: Exile

    <h4>Chapter 79</h4>


    Following Song Zhe, Li Xian and his mother were in a good mood.


    Ever since being humiliated at Li Yao¡¯s housest time, Lu Shi hadn¡¯t been able to sleep well after returning home, racking her brain for a long time before finallying up with a clever n.


    She would say that Wang Er had stolen the jade hairpin she had brought from her maiden family, and demand that Li Yao return it. If she didn¡¯t, Lu Shi would ask for money aspensation.


    She had already decided that 50 taels of silver would be about right.


    To be more convincing, she had also found two witnesses, promising them one tael of silver each for their trouble after the deed was done. She had also called up all the young and middle-aged men of the Li n in Li Jia vige.


    Originally, given Li Yao¡¯s temperament, Lu Shi thought it would take some trouble today. She didn¡¯t expect to run into the county magistrate¡¯s son near He Wan vige, who seemed to be on good terms with Li Xian.


    With the county magistrate¡¯s son backing them up, Lu Shi felt her clever n couldn¡¯t possibly fail!


    Today she would get at least those 50 taels of silver...no, now it would be at least 100 taels for sure!


    Just as she was happily thinking this, a group of people led by Song Zhe arrived swaggeringly at Li Yao''s front door.


    Seeing her mother-inw arrive so aggressively with a crowd, the Li brothers sensed trouble. The olddy must be here to stir up trouble again!


    Song Zhe strode in arrogantly, not bothered by the worn benches and tables in the yard, and sat right at the head of the table. He mmed the table loudly and shouted, "Bring the criminal Wang Er here!"


    Wang Er, who had been studying in the bamboo shed, came out when he heard this.


    "Still daring to stand? Kneel down!"


    Wang Er was confused, but since the other was the county magistrate''s son and Zhang County Captain was also present, he obediently knelt down.


    "Let me ask you, did you steal your grandmother''s jade hairpin?"


    "What jade hairpin?"


    "And you still want to equivocate when there are witnesses here?" Song Zhe said coldly.


    Although Wang Er was timid by nature, there was no way he would admit to such a trumped up charge.


    "I don''t know anything about a jade hairpin."


    Seeing hisck of cooperation, Song Zhe mmed the table heavily again. "Come, give me twentyshes!"


    Zhang County Captain''s face was turning dark.


    Although Song Zhe was the county magistrate''s son, it was understandable for him to uphold justice for themon people. But to resort to corporal punishment without investigating the rights and wrongs of the matter... this was going too far.


    "Young master, you can''t do that."


    "What do you mean I can''t?" Song Zhe was baffled that Zhang County Captain would dare disobey him. "Zhang County Captain, if you won''t do it, then let Liu Kun administer theshes!"


    "That won''t do either."


    "You...you all dare to disobey me?" Song Zhe said furiously, his face flushed. "Fine! I''ll do it myself! Today I''m going to beat a confession out of him no matter what!"


    Seeing this, Zhang County Captain felt his head would split open.


    Although Song Zhe was the county magistrate''s son, his father still had toe resolve this matter. He hurriedly said to Li Dazhuang, "Go quickly and ask your father to return!"


    Li Xiaoya nodded heavily and rushed up the hill to find Li Yao.


    Zhang County Captain pretended to look for a wooden rod, while the crowd from the Li family had already been noticed by other vigers. Soon a crowd of onlookers surrounded the Li house.


    But upon seeing the county magistrate''s son present, no one dared speak up, only whispering quietly about what was happening.


    After searching for a while, Zhang County Captain couldn''t find a suitable rod. Song Zhe was impatient from the wait and randomly pointed at a bamboo pole.


    "Use this to beat him."


    "This won''t do..."


    "If you can''t do it, I can!"


    In his impatience to "dispense justice," Song Zhe picked up the bamboo pole and went before Wang Er, shouting harshly, "Wang Er, I''m giving you onest chance. If you confess honestly, you can avoid the pain and suffering!"


    Facing Song Zhe''s threats, Wang Er waspletely unintimidated. He lifted his head and replied firmly, "I don''t know anything about a jade hairpin."


    "I''ll make you talk!"


    As Song Zhe was about to strike, he heard County Magistrate Song bellow, "Wretched boy! Stop what you''re doing!"


    Hearing it was the old man, Song Zhe quickly said, "Father, this man stole a jade hairpin and refuses to admit it honestly, so I was..."


    "Shut your mouth!"


    County Magistrate Song was so angry that his lips were trembling.


    This wretched boy had no idea the amount of trouble he had caused!


    "Kneel down!"


    Song Zhe was taken aback. "Why do you want me to kneel? I''m not the criminal..."


    "I said kneel down!"


    "I won''t kneel!"


    "You..." County Magistrate Song was so angry he almost ground his teeth into powder. He turned to Zhang County Captain and said, "Zhang County Captain, make him kneel!"


    "Yes sir!"


    With Zhang County Captain''s shove, Song Zhe was immediately forced to the ground.


    Faced with this sudden reversal, the vigers and Li family members were stunned. What was going on with the county magistrate? How could he force his own son down?


    "On what grounds are you making me kneel?" Song Zhe still refused to back down. "I didn''t do anything wrong!"


    County Magistrate Song calmed himself and sat down at the table. "You want to know what you did wrong? I''ll tell you now. As amoner, you privately held court and abused corporal punishment, which are major crimes! You shall be punished with exile!"


    Exile...?


    Song Zhe was suddenly frightened.


    He had merely been upholding justice for others, so how could he be exiled for it?


    The county magistrate''s wife was also anxious. She knew her husband had a stubborn temperament, and would surely follow through on his words.


    But Song Zhe was their child! If he really was exiled...


    "Old master, Zhe''er is still young and ignorant..." the county magistrate''s wife pleaded.


    "He''s already thirteen and still ignorant? How old does he need to be before he wises up?" County Magistrate Song said. "Although I am reluctant, thew is thew and cannot be bent for personal reasons! I have dered exile as the punishment, so he must be exiled!"


    The county magistrate''s wife was on the verge of tears. They only had this one son!


    "Sister Li Yao, please persuade him for me."


    Li Yao also hadn''t expected County Magistrate Song to be so upromising.


    To be honest, this whole matter could be dealt with leniently or harshly. As long as she as the aggrieved party''s mother didn''t push the issue, no one else could say anything.


    But she wanted to see just how sincere the county magistrate was about his reputation for being strict and impartial, or if he was deliberately putting on a show before the vigers.


    So she replied, "Madam, this is the master''s official business. We shouldn''t interfere."


    The county magistrate''s wife didn''t get to finish her sentence before she fainted from anxiety. Li Yao quickly had Li Xiaoya take her inside the house.


    Seeing how things had suddenly taken such a turn, Li Xian strode forward from the yard.


    He felt this was an even better opportunity than asking Sister for 100 taels of silver!


    "County Magistrate, this all started because of me," said Li Xian. "If someone needs to be punished, please punish me instead."


    "Who are you?"


    "I''m the victim who used Wang Er of stealing the jade hairpin," Li Xian exined. "Wang Er stole first, which led to Young Master upholding justice for me. So if you want to deal with the young master, please settle the theft case against Wang Er first."


    "Alright. Since this is the case, I shall try this case on the spot," County Magistrate Song sat at the table with an imposing demeanor. "Zhang County Captain, begin the proceedings!"


    "Begin¡ªproceedings¡ª!"


    While Song Zhe had been messing around earlier, this was now a formal county magistrate presiding over a case. The vigers watching knelt down in awe of his authority.

 Chapter 80: One Hundred Minds

    <h4>Chapter 80</h4>


    Li Xian, do you have any evidence for using Wang Er of theft?"


    "Yes! And there are two witnesses." Li Xian said, "One is my cousin Li Yu who saw Wang Er steal the jade hairpin from my mother''s room a couple months ago. The second is my grandmother''s rtive Granny Hong. When my mother got married, Granny Hong helped dress her up and saw the jade hairpin with her own eyes."


    Li Yao listened and chuckled to herself. The original owner of this body really went out of her way to extort some silver from her, even preparing the witnesses thoroughly.


    With this, even if Wang Er sprouted ten mouths, he probably couldn''t talk his way out of this. After all, it was true that his family was desperately poor two months ago, so stealing something to pawn for money seemed reasonable.


    She wondered how the new County Magistrate Song would handle this case.


    "Li Yu," County Magistrate Song asked in a loud voice, "Did you see Wang Er steal with your own eyes?"


    "Yes, I saw it with my own eyes."


    "Clearly?" County Magistrate Song continued asking, "Could you describe what the jade hairpin looked like?"


    "This..."


    County Magistrate Song nodded, then asked Granny Hong: "Could you see the jade hairpin back then?"


    "Yes, sir, I saw it clearly."


    "Do you still remember what it looked like?"


    "I...remember..."


    "Good!" County Magistrate Song said, "Captain Zhang, take these two down separately and have them describe the hairpin in detail, thenpare their descriptions. If they match, then Li Xian''s family did have such a jade hairpin. But if they don''t match, then it means these two never saw such a hairpin and they''re framing Wang Er! False users shall have their punishment reversed. Byw they should be caned sixty times and jailed for three years!"


    When Li Yu and Granny Hong heard this, their faces instantly turned pale and their calves started shaking.


    Who would''ve thought the county magistrate would make such a move?


    They did mention the hairpin before, but never described it in detail!


    Now what could they do?


    Seeing the two falter, County Magistrate Song knew he had guessed right. He sternly shouted, "Li Yu! Granny Hong! I know you two were deceived. If you tell the truth now, I can exempt you from punishment."


    "I''ll tell, I''ll tell! It was my mistress who told me to say this. I never saw any hairpin."


    "Me too," Granny Hong quickly added, "She said she''d give me 1 tael of silver after everything, so I was blinded by greed!"


    The crowd of onlookers immediately erupted.


    They knew Wang Er was an honest boy, how could he steal from others?


    And this county magistrate was quite capable, solving the case with just a few questions.


    At this time, Li Xian''s face was pale and his body soft.


    He didn''t know how Mother did this, how could there be such a big loophole? Now...now it was really over!


    "Li Xian, do you have anything else to say?"


    Bean-sized beads of sweat had already rolled down Li Xian''s forehead.


    At this point, he did have a way out - to push everything onto his mother, pretend he knew nothing. But that would lead to Mother being caned and jailed.


    If he took the me himself, then his future...would be gone!


    So without thinking more, he replied, "County Magistrate, my mother told me all this. I don''t actually know the details."


    When he said this, Hu next to him widened her eyes in disbelief as she looked at the son she loved most.


    She knew he was trying to push all the me onto her alone!


    How could there be such an unfilial son in this world?


    "Hu, is this true?" County Magistrate Song asked.


    Hu suddenlyughed despairingly and knelt on the ground trembling, "County magistrate, it was all me. My son had nothing to do with it."


    County Magistrate Song shook his head. He naturally knew what was going on, but now that Hu had confessed, he could only rule ordingly.


    "Considering your old age and muddled mind, I will be lenient. The caning is exempt, just one year in jail."


    "Thank you, county magistrate!"


    "Liu Kun, take her to the county jail now to serve the sentence."


    After Liu Kun took Hu away, the case still wasn''t over.


    Like I said, after trying Wang Er''s case, the county magistrate''s son still needed sentencing.


    Everyone craned their necks in anticipation, wondering how the new county magistrate would rule.


    "Song Zhe!"


    "Father, I know I was wrong!" Song Zhe knew he couldn''t escape today, so he quickly admitted fault, "I really didn''t know they were trying to frame Wang Er..."


    "Toote," County Magistrate Song sighed lightly, "You broke thew, you should be punished."


    Now Song Zhe was truly panicking.


    He was only 13! If he was really exiled to the frontiers, how would he survive?


    His mother was still unconscious. The only one who could influence the old man was Li Yao.


    So he rushed to Li Yao and kneeled before her, "Auntie Li, please say something for me. As long as I''m not exiled, I''ll do anything!"


    Li Yao twitched her lips. This matter still came down to her in the end.


    She didn''t know what the county magistrate was thinking, but she knew if she stayed silent, Song Zhe would definitely be exiled.


    That wouldn''t do.


    So she said to the county magistrate, "County magistrate, considering the young master''s youth and that he was misled into improper conduct, please be lenient."


    "This...how can I be biased?"


    "Wang Er and I will not pursue this."


    With things phrased this way, the county magistrate naturally had to find an excuse to let the matter drop. After some thought, he said, "Then how about this - exile is still necessary, but not too far. Just exile to He Wan vige."


    Li Yao: ...Exiling to a vige just 20 li away, are you for real?


    "From today, he cannot leave He Wan vige for one year. Have him do chores for your family to redeem himself. If he dares disobey, add another year!" the county magistrate continued.


    Li Yao frowned.


    Sending his own son to her home as a servant, making her provide food and shelter and discipline him.


    Who exactly was being punished here?


    "Miss Li, Zhe''er will have to trouble you from now on." At this time, the county magistrate''s wife also tottered forward. "If he misbehaves, feel free to beat and scold him."


    "Alright, time growste. We should return."


    "Miss Li,e find me at the market next time."


    "Oh right," County Magistrate Song added, "I''ll have someone prepare the funds when I get back. County Captain Zhang will inform you when it''s ready. Farewell!"


    Watching County Magistrate Song hurry off with his people, the Li family stood stunned in their yard for a long time.


    "Mother," He Xiaoya still didn''t understand. "How did this happen? Why would the county magistrate send his only son to our home as a servant?"


    Li Yao shook her head.


    To be honest, she didn''t expect to be outsmarted by an ancient person either.


    These officials really had at least a hundred tricks up their sleeves!

 Chapter 81: Feed Me

    <h4>Chapter 81</h4>


    Song Zhe never expected that he would be thrown into Li Yao''s family by his parents and had to help them with the chores.


    He waspletely unwilling to do this. Having been raised in luxury since childhood and even fed until the age of eight, how could he do any work!


    However, he was very confident that as the county magistrate''s son, this family would not only not make him work, but would pamper him well.


    In a few days, when things settled down, his mother would naturally send someone to take him back.


    Thinking of this, Song Zhe felt relieved and arrogantly said to Li Yao, "Your family is building a new house, right? I''ll move in tonight."


    Li Yao twitched her lips. This brat really didn''t take her as an outsider.


    Having been schemed against by Song the county magistrate couple, she still had nowhere to vent her anger, so of course she had to torment this brat to her heart''s content.


    "The new house is not dry yet and cannot be lived in."


    "Then where do you want me to live?" Song Zhe stared wide-eyed and pointed to the tattered thatched hut. "Anyway, I won''t live here. This is not a ce for people to live at all!"


    Li Yao sneered and pointed to the incubation room, "You can live there."


    Song Zhe went over and saw that the incubation room was small and narrow without windows. Of course he was unwilling.


    "How can I live in this ce? There''s not even a bed!"


    "That''s true too," Li Yao turned and said to Du Xiao Hui, "Remember to make some hay for him tonight."


    Song Zhe: ... I, the honorable son of the county magistrate, you want me to sleep on hay?


    "Right, go dig the ground in the afternoon."


    "I won''t go!" Song Zhe crossed his arms and said, "Let''s see what you can do to me!"


    "No work, no food."


    "Then I won''t eat. You dare starve me to death?"


    Li Yao ignored him.


    She had signed contracts with the merchantsst time to open boutique stores in another 17 counties in Yijzhou Prefecture. The decoration was starting now.


    These days, decorating didn''t take many days, so she had to make more products as soon as possible, otherwise there would be nothing to sell when everyone opened.


    Of course, the production of herbal ointments, soaps and detergents was mainly undertaken by He Xiaoya now, with Du Xiao Hui helping out. She was responsible for quality control.


    The three of them worked busily, and no one went to take care of Song Zhe.


    Song Zhe was left there alone. At first there was nothing wrong, but as time went on, he couldn''t restrain himself and wanted to sneak up the mountain to y. He was caught by Li Yao and brought back several times.


    Finally he gave up and fell asleep on the long bench. When he woke up, he found that Li Yao''s family had already eaten dinner, and indeed did not leave him any food.


    "If you don''t eat, then don''t eat. Let''s see if you really dare starve me to death!"


    Song Zhe crawled sullenly into the incubation room. Inside, there really was no bedding, only a pile of messy hay.


    "Wait until this young master goes back, I''ll make you pay!"


    Having slept too much in the afternoon and not eaten dinner, and being lured by the drifting aroma of braised food, Song Zhe''s stomach rumbled all night and he did not fall asleep.


    At dawn the next day, just as he was half asleep, Li Yao came over and dragged him up.


    "Go work."


    "I won''t go."


    If you don''t go, then continue being hungry.


    For the next two days, Song Zhe remained stubborn and didn''t eat a bite except for some clear water.


    He believed Li Yao would definitely not starve him to death. When she saw he couldn''t hold on any longer, she would beg him to eat.


    But the facts proved he thought too much.


    Li Yao''s family cooked up a feast every meal, with all kinds of aromas drifting around, but they didn''t even give him a mouthful of leftovers!


    This shrew, could she really starve him to death?


    No, persist for two more days!


    Song Zhe said and did so, but after persisting for one more day, he couldn''t persist anymore.


    He decided that tonight, when Li Yao was asleep, he would sneak away!


    With great difficulty enduring until midnight, Song Zhe tiptoed out of the incubation room and quickly slipped towards the back mountain.


    Seeing his sneakily figure, Da Zhuang couldn''t help asking: "Mother, is this okay? If something really happens to him, how do we exin to the county magistrate?"


    "Let''s follow him," Li Yao said, "But remember not to let him find out. Catch him back when he tries to leave the boundary of He Wan vige."


    "Okay, I''ll bring my bow and arrows!"


    Li Yao took Da Zhuang and Wang San''er to follow Song Zhe from afar.


    But this brat had never been to He Wan Vige before and waspletely unfamiliar with the terrain here. He soon went the wrong way and walked straight into the woods.


    When he realized something was wrong and looked back, he could no longer find the way he came, and went deeper and deeper into the woods.


    Looking at the pitch-ck woods, and the asional cries of wild beasts in the distance, he didn''t dare wander around anymore, and found a big tree to sit under, preparing to wait until dawn.


    But having not eaten for three days and not slept well, he was extremely weak now.


    Sitting down, he felt the wind in the woods was colder than the coldest winter, shivering violently.


    "No, I have to persist until dawn, then go home!"


    Song Zhe kept encouraging himself, but soon he discovered several green shiny lights in the grass ahead.


    He was from the north and was too familiar with these lights.


    They were wolves!


    Song Zhe was so scared that he didn''t even dare breathe. But those green dots kept getting closer, and he could vaguely see the shadows of several wolves, already surrounding him in a circle.


    "Ah - I don''t want to die!"


    "Dad - Mom - Come save me!"


    Song Zhe finally couldn''t help crying out loudly.


    Seeing this, the wild wolves, instead of retreating, swiftlyunched an attack on him.


    A wolf shadow pounced over, its white teeth like death tokens from hell. Song Zhe was so frightened that he hugged his head tightly and shivered like a quail.


    It was over, it was really over this time.


    He never thought that he would be bitten to death and eaten by wild wolves.


    If he had known earlier, it would have been better to work honestly at Li Yao''s house.


    At this moment, Song Zhe regretted it till his guts turned green.


    But the expected pain did note. Instead, there were a few miserable howls of wolves. He carefully raised his head and found that it was Li Yao standing in front of him.


    In her hand was a long-handled cleaver stained with blood.


    And the few wild wolves had all been killed by her.


    Seeing this scene before him, he stared wide-eyed in disbelief.


    How was this possible?


    A shrew, relying only on a cleaver, actually killed several vicious wild wolves in a dozen breaths!


    He had never heard of chivalrous knights in storybooks with such great skills!


    "I... I must be dreaming!"


    "Then you should wake up," Li Yao said. "Will you continue staying here ore back with me?"


    "Go back."


    Even with an iron head, Song Zhe didn''t dare stay in this woods anymore.


    Li Yao picked up a dead wolf and threw it in front of him, "Carry it back."


    "I... I have no strength, can''t carry it."


    "No carrying means no food."


    Song Zhe gritted his teeth hard and used all his strength to carry the wolf on his shoulder.


    At this time, Da Zhuang and Wang San''er also came over. Da Zhuang carried two, Wang San''er carried one, and Li Yao carried another one.


    "Let''s go home."


    Song Zhe followed the three, staggering. When he finally reached Li Yao''s house, he felt like he was really going to die, andy on the ground like a pile of mud.


    "Food... give me food..."


    Li Yao went to the kitchen and scooped a bowl of cold rice, poured some boiled water in it, and ced it in front of him.


    In the past, Song Zhe would never eat such leftover rice even if he was beaten to death.


    But now in his eyes, it was more delicious than any delicacy. He wolfed down the entire bowl cleanly.


    "Any more?"


    "No more." Li Yao said, "If you want to eat, work tomorrow."


    After that, Li Yao ignored him and went back to sleep.


    Song Zhe looked at the empty bowl, then went into the incubation room and curled up on the soft hay.


    Tomorrow, he would try to work.

 Chapter 82: Eulogy

    <h4>Chapter 82</h4>


    ¡°Are you going to work today?¡±


    Song Zhe nodded awkwardly.


    ¡°Then follow Xiao Hui Du to cut grass and feed the goslings.¡±


    Under the lead of Xiao Hui Du, Song Zhe carried a back basket and a sickle, and set off towards the mountain.


    When they reached the edge of the woods, he was a little afraid to go in. The shocking scenest night still left him terrified.


    There were man-eating wolves in the mountains!


    Was this little girl not afraid at all?


    ¡°Your name is Xiao Hui?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Xiao Hui Du,¡± Xiao Hui Du said. ¡°Young Master Song, feel free to ask me anything you don''t understand.¡±


    ¡°Nothing else, I just want to ask, what are you going to do with the wolves that were beaten backst night?¡±


    ¡°Wolf meat,¡± Xiao Hui Du thought for a moment and said, ¡°I heard Aunt Li saying this morning that most of them would be pickled and dried, but we¡¯d cook a pot tonight to try the fresh meat.¡±


    Cook and eat it?


    Song Zhe stared with wide eyes.


    How could they cook and eat wolf meat?


    But thinking of the aromatic meat, he couldn''t help drooling.


    ¡°But Auntie said,¡± Xiao Hui Du went on, ¡°if you don''t cut three baskets of grass today, you won''t get to eat the meat, only leftover rice.¡±


    Song Zhe: ...


    Oh well, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.


    Song Zhe gritted his teeth and followed Xiao Hui Du into the sparse woods and began cutting wild grass everywhere.


    Fortunately, there were quite a few vigersing to the woods to cut grass and look for wild vegetables, and it was daylight, so he wasn''t too afraid.


    But every viger who saw him was secretly surprised.


    Li Yao really had a way with things, to make the young master from the county magistrate''s family help with her chores. This was probably a one of a kind thing across thend.


    By noon, Song Zhe had finally filled the first basket with wild grass, but his hands were also cut open in several ces by the grass des. On top of being tired and hungry, he had never felt so miserable in his life.


    But thinking of the aromatic food renewed his determination.


    He refused to believe that he, a grown man, would be inferior to a little girl like Xiao Hui Du.


    Even if he had to work himself to death on this mountain today, he must fill those three baskets with grass!


    ...


    Li Yao wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel.


    She had been working non-stop for the past two days and was exhausted every day, but finally made 500 jars of herbal ointment, 2000 bars of soap and 1000 perfumed soaps.


    It looked like a lot, but divided among 18 shops, each didn¡¯t get much, only enough for opening day.


    It seemed after this was over, it would be time to consider hiring people for production.


    Just as she was about to take a break, County Captain Zhang led two horses to her door. The ¡°charity dinner¡± at the county magistrate''s ce was ready and would be held in the courtyard behind the yamen tonight. County Captain Zhang hade to pick her up.


    ¡°Did you prepare everything as I said?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± County Captain Zhang said. ¡°The County Magistrate is worried there might be problems, so he¡¯d like Mrs. Li toe early and take a look.¡±


    What Li Yao had the County Magistrate prepare was a buffet style dinner, not because she admired foreign ways, but because it would be more casual and give her room to improvise.


    ¡°Then give me a minute, I¡¯lle right away.¡±


    After washing up at home, Li Yao put on a new cotton jacket and deliberately wore a new pair of cloth shoes.


    Although these clothes were veryfortable and rather upscale in the vige, she knew that to the wealthy people at the market towns, the fabric of these clothes was nothing but low grade material.


    The wealthy at the market towns, who didn¡¯t love wearing silks and satins?


    The County Magistrate¡¯s wife had also reminded her earlier to make herself a silk outfit, otherwise people would look down on her.


    But Li Yao didn¡¯t.


    She liked wearing cotton clothes, they werefortable.


    Besides, she wanted certain people to look down on her today.


    ...


    Night fell, and many tables and chairs were set up in the courtyard behind the yamen, with tables full of delicious food, bowls and chopsticks, as well as good rice wine.


    The surrounding trees and pirs were hung withnterns and candle stands, lighting up the entire courtyard.


    Li Yao deliberately dyed a little on the way, so by the time she arrived, the other invited guests were already there.


    Knowing beforehand of the County Magistrate¡¯s ns, those invited had all brought their families.


    The County Magistrate¡¯s wife, who was quite familiar with these women, was leading them in gathering behind a curtain, chatting harmoniously.


    Seeing Li Yao finally arrive, the County Magistrate immediately strode over to wee her: ¡°Mrs. Li is here.¡±


    ¡°Greetings to you, County Magistrate.¡±


    ¡°No need to stand on ceremony,¡± the County Magistrate said with a broad smile that revealed none of his anxiety, ¡°This way, please.¡±


    The dozen or so invited male guests nced at each other.


    Recently they had heard a lot about Li Yao, and knew she had made some money, but didn¡¯t know why the County Magistrate held her in such high regard.


    To be honest, any one of them was worth dozens or hundreds of times more than Li Yao, in terms of personal wealth.


    Yet the County Magistrate treated them indifferently, refusing their gifts, while holding this upstart in high esteem, which already left them a bit unhappy.


    Of course they weren¡¯t unhappy with the County Magistrate, but with Li Yao.


    So when Li Yao came before the crowd, no one took the initiative to speak to her.


    Especially Zhang Guangsheng, the owner of Zhang¡¯s Restaurant, who had been viciously beaten by Li Yao in public, and already harbored resentment towards her. Enemies meeting naturally red daggers at each other.


    Li Yao had also guessed what the crowd was thinking, and made no effort to be polite or greet them. With undisguised arrogance, she walked past them and headed straight for the County Magistrate¡¯s wife.


    ¡°Humph, what a thing!¡± Zhang Guangsheng¡¯s face was very ugly. In a low voice he said, ¡°Thinks she¡¯s something just because she earned some money.¡±


    ¡°This Mrs. Li really does have eyes higher than her head.¡±


    ¡°With her disposition, I¡¯m afraid any business, no matter how good, won¡¯tst long for her.¡±


    ...


    Oblivious to the crowd¡¯s judgment of her, Li Yao had already be fast friends with the group of wives.


    With her experience and learning, she naturally dazzled these wives, who were soon looking up to her in admiration.


    ¡°Ladies,¡± Li Yao finally said, ¡°you must all know why we are gathered here tonight.¡±


    Everyone nodded, pride in their eyes.


    The County Magistrate wanted to save themon people of the whole county, but didn¡¯t have a penny in his hands, so he wanted them to give him a boost.


    When it came down to it, it still relied on them!


    ¡°So how much are youdies nning to donate?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Everyone was stunned.


    ¡°Mrs. Li, of course we n to donate,¡± said Mrs. Li. ¡°But shouldn¡¯t the men decide these things?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, what money could we women have?¡±


    ¡°Ha ha, you''re too modest,¡± Li Yao said. ¡°All of you here, which one doesn¡¯te from a wealthy household? Not to mention the dowries you brought when you married. But even your own pocket money over the years is probably enough to match a whole vige. It''s reasonable for the men to take action to help themon people, but have you ever thought that the money they take out stilles from your family coffers? So why should they get all the credit while we remain unknown? Don''t we women also deserve fame and praise?¡±

 Chapter 83: Wild Words

    <h4>Chapter 83</h4>


    Everyone looked at each other, curious about what Li Yao had just said. To be honest, her words seemed to defymon sense and even had a somewhat contradictory meaning. Yet, inexplicably, they found them oddly inspiring.


    While the County Magistrate''s wife was surprised, she realized that Li Yao had said it deliberately. So, she cooperatively asked, "Li Madam, what do you think we should do then?"


    "The donations made by the men belong to them," Li Yao replied, "and the donations made by us belong to us. Let''s keep them separate and not interfere with each other. In the future, the people of Baichuan County will surely remember our contributions."


    "That''s right," the County Magistrate''s wife agreed. "I''ve heard from my husband that a monument will be erected in a prominent ce outside the county office. This time, anyone who donates and helps the people will have their names engraved on the stone monument. If we can also contribute, I believe my husband will personally erect a separate monument for us."


    As soon as these words were spoken, the eyes of the more than tendies lit up.


    Who wouldn''t want a little more fame and fortune?


    "Then, how much should we donate?" someone asked.


    "There''s no need to donate too much," Li Yao said. "But it shouldn''t be too little either, or else we''ll be aughingstock. I suggest starting at 50 taels, and there''s no upper limit. That seems more appropriate."


    Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.


    Starting at 50 taels wasn''t really a lot.


    They had been afraid that Li Yao would suggest starting at 500 taels, which would truly be a burden.


    "I''ll donate 200 taels," Mrs. Lai said.


    Her husband, Mr. Lai, was a well-known figure in Baichuan, and his wealth was unmatched, which was why she took the lead in this endeavor.


    With someone leading the way, the otherdies followed suit, donating 50 taels, 80 taels, 100 taels... Although there was nopetition, no one wanted to appear weak, so they all generously contributed.


    "I can''t match your wealth, so I''ll donate 100 taels," the County Magistrate''s wife smiled and said. "What about you, Li Madam?"


    "I''ll donate 190 taels."


    Upon hearing this, Mrs. Lai''s face immediately lit up.


    She had been afraid that Li Yao would be more generous than her and overshadow her. Now it seemed that this Madam Li was indeed a capable person.


    The matter of thedies'' donations came to a temporary conclusion. There were a total of 15 people, and they donated a total of 1,800 taels of silver.


    The County Magistrate''s wife felt slightly relieved.


    She knew that without Li Yao, it would have been impossible for her to persuade thesedies to open their wallets. Although it wasn''t much, it was still a contribution.


    "Please continue your discussion, I''ll step out for a moment."


    Thedies'' donations were just the appetizer. Li Yao''s bigger target was the men outside.


    Seeing her approach, Song County Magistrate found an excuse and temporarily left.


    With the County Magistrate gone, Zhang Guangsheng couldn''t hold back any longer.


    "Ah, Madam Li, it''s rare to see you dressed so elegantly."


    "Yes," Li Yao replied, "This cotton jacket of mine is made from the finest cotton fabric and cost me three taels of silver."


    Everyone was slightly taken aback by her words and found it a bit amusing.


    She dared to show off a cotton jacket worth three taels of silver in front of everyone?


    Who among them didn''t wear clothes worth more than ten taels!


    Of course, it could also be that Li Yao simply didn''t understand the value of silk fabric and mistakenly believed that high-quality cotton was the best material.


    Thinking about this, everyone couldn''t help but look down on her a little.


    Zhang Guangsheng rarely had the opportunity to tease Li Yao like this, and he said, "I heard that Lady Li''s business has been thriving recently. You must have earned quite a lot of money."


    "Yes," Li Yao replied, "My boutique has already earned me nearly a hundred taels of silver."


    After saying that, Li Yao scanned the crowd and continued, "I believe none of you here has such ability, right?"


    The corners of everyone''s mouths twitched at her words.


    Hasn''t Li Yao''s boutique been open for a long time?


    It took her this long to earn only 100 taels...


    Of course,pared to ordinary families, that''s already very good. But whenpared to the people present, it''s far from enough.


    She truly is an ignorant peasant woman,cking in knowledge.


    She thinks she''s be the richest person with just a few dozen taels of silver.


    At this moment, Zhang Guangsheng''s heart was filled with glee. This was exactly the effect he wanted¡ªto let everyone see that no matter how capable Li Yao was, she was just an uncultured woman with limited insight, incapable of entering high society.


    "You... are quite impressive," Zhang Guangsheng said, "I wonder how much Lady Li is willing to donate today."


    "It won''t be less than yours," Li Yao replied, "Even if you donate more, I''ll still donate 10 taels more than you."


    After saying that, Li Yao looked at the others and continued, "Of course, if any of you donate more than him, I will also donate 10 taels more than you. I want you all to know who the richest person in Baichuanji is."


    This...


    Everyone didn''t know what to say.


    Li Yao had be a bit too arrogant, bordering on insulting.


    We are all men, how could we be surpassed by a rustic woman?


    Besides, how much money does Li Yao really have? Can shepare to the wealth of everyone present?


    "Don''t boast here," Zhang Guangsheng said, "I will definitely donate 50 taels more than you."


    "I don''t believe you," Li Yao shook her head, "You can''t possibly donate more than me."


    "Then wait and see!" Zhang Guangshengughed, "As a grown man, do you think I won''t keep my word when I speak?"


    "Even if you donate more than me, it''s useless," Li Yao looked at the others, "I will definitely donate more than them."


    "Ignorant vige woman."


    Someone chuckled lightly, shaking their head repeatedly.


    "Madam Li," at this moment, Mr. Lai stepped forward and said, "The world is vast, and it''s not just confined to Hewan Vige."


    "What do you mean?" Li Yao asked.


    "It means that there are many people in this world who are wealthier than you. You''re being overly arrogant," Mr. Lai said, "For example, everyone here, whose family fortunes are several times or dozens of times greater than yours? In front of them, your small amount of money is hardly worth mentioning. I believe that when ites to donationster, not a single person will donate less than you."


    These words struck a chord with everyone, and they all had smiles on their faces.


    But Li Yao stubbornly continued, "You''re the ones spouting nonsense. Don''t you know that I, Li Yao, am already the richest person in Baichuanji?"


    "You..." Zhang Guangsheng couldn''t figure out how to respond, "Your words would make anyone burst intoughter!"


    Everyone deeply agreed.


    Looking at Li Yao in this state was like watching a clown.


    "Madam Li," Mr. Lai kindly advised, "It''s important to know oneself and not engage in unnecessary conflicts. It''s best to act within one''s capabilities."


    "I understand."


    At that moment, the Song County Magistrate returned and engaged in some small talk before bringing up the main matter of the evening.


    "If you all are willing to contribute, I, Song, and the people will be deeply grateful. We will alsomemorate your generosity and sing praises of your charitable deeds!"


    "No need for such politeness, Magistrate Song," Mr. Lai said. "Assisting the people is also our responsibility. How about this? Madam Li just mentioned that she would generously contribute. Why don''t we invite her to go first?"


    "Yes, please, Madam Li."


    The crowd echoed in agreement, eager to see how much money Li Yao could donate, so they could have another round ofughter at her expense.

 Chapter 84: This Woman Is Really Evil.

    <h4>Chapter 84</h4>


    "Miss Li, please."


    Li Yao did not act pretentiously either. She had already put on enough of an act, now it was time to see how thick-skinned these gentlemen could be.


    So she strode forward and took out some silver bills from her sleeve.


    "This is 190 taels."


    Ha, haha!


    Zhang Guangsheng really wanted tough out loud.


    190 taels, was that supposed to be money?


    Was this the generosity of "richest person Li Yao"?


    But before he could mock her, he heard Li Yao say: "This is what I promised to donate to thedies over there."


    Everyone looked at each other, what did she mean?


    Could it be that they had to donate again over there after donating here?


    But they weren''t too worried either, after all the women were just fooling around, they couldn''t spend that much money.


    "Miss Li," Mr. Lai asked, "Then how much do you n to donate over here?"


    "Hmm... two..."


    "Two hundred taels?" Zhang Guangsheng couldn''t hold it in and said loudly, "Who was it that said they were the richest person? Only 200 taels is a bit too shabby, isn''t it?"


    "You''re right, 200 taels is indeed very shabby," Li Yao said, "So I will donate 1200 taels."


    After speaking, she generously took out a thick stack of silver bills and ced them on the table in front of the Song County Magistrate.


    Everyone was dumbfounded.


    1200 taels!


    How did this woman have so much money?


    Didn''t she say her shop had only earned her 100 taels recently?


    But the silver bills in front of them were real.


    "Miss Li is very noble!" Song County Magistrate said, "I thank you on behalf of themon people. Assistant, hurry and make a record of this!"


    "Yes!"


    The assistant deftly recorded Li Yao''s name and the 1200 tael donation in arge red book.


    Just a moment ago some still suspected this was a scheme between Li Yao and the County Magistrate where the money would be secretly returned to Li Yao afterwards.


    But now they knew that was impossible.


    The record book would be preserved and eventually submitted with the ounts to Yizhou Prefecture, and also made avable in a limited way for public verification. It was basically impossible to fake it.


    So Li Yao''s 1200 taels were donated for real.


    "Ah, Miss Li is indeed generous, putting me, Mr. Lai, to shame." Mr. Lai said, "But I already stated earlier that I would definitely not donate less than Miss Li. A man''s word is his bond, otherwise he''s not a man! So I will donate 1300 taels!"


    As he reluctantly took out 1300 taels, the others felt like dying.


    But in this situation, Mr. Lai had even said something as vicious as "not a man", who would dare donate less than Li Yao?


    Even if it meant bankruptcy, today they had to donate more than her!


    "I donate 1250 taels."


    "I donate 1300 taels."


    "I donate 1205 taels."


    ...


    Seeing these usually tightfisted rich men actually donating over 1200 taels each, the Song County Magistrate''s eyes were bulging out.


    Just what method did Li Yao use?


    Finally it was Zhang Guangsheng''s turn.


    "Boss Zhang," Mr. Lai said with a smile, "Earlier you looked down on Miss Li the most. Now that she has donated 1200 taels, you should donate at least 2100 taels to be proper."


    Since he had ndered Li Yao the most viciously, now they were all turning on him. Everyone echoed agreement.


    "That''s right Boss Zhang, with your prosperous restaurant you can easily afford 2100 taels."


    "Of course, for Boss Zhang, this amount of money is nothing."


    ...


    Zhang Guangsheng felt extremely bitter inside.


    Now he knew what "when the wall falls everyone pushes" felt like.


    But with so many people present, he was too embarrassed to lose face, and could only force himself to say: "2100 taels doesn''t sound good, I''ll donate 2200 taels!"


    "Haha... Boss Zhang is very generous!"


    "As expected from Boss Zhang, very open-handed."


    Facing the ttering praise, Zhang Guangsheng really wanted to curse.


    Every one of them had suffered a loss, but instead of uniting against the outsider, they med him instead. What kind of logic was this?


    Now he understood, this was Li Yao''s scheme!


    This woman was truly too cunning and sinister.


    In the end the total donated on this side was 18450 taels!


    Plus the 1900 taels from thedies'' side, the grand total was 20350 taels!


    Over twenty thousand taels had been easily raised, nearly three times Li Yao''s estimate of 5400 taels!


    It just showed that rich people really were rich.


    Seeing so much silver, the Song County Magistrate was extremely excited inside.


    With this much money, plus Li Yao''s methods of bor in lieu of relief" and "tax in lieu ofbor costs", themoners of Baichuan Market could make it through the winter safe and sound.


    After suffering a loss in front of Li Yao and the County Magistrate, no one was in the mood to linger. After leaving the silver bills behind they quickly took their leave.


    "Miss Li, I have you to thank this time," the County Magistrate sent Li Yao to the door and said, "I, Song, thank you again on behalf of themon people."


    "It wasn''t just my achievement alone." Li Yao said. "Without Mr. Lai taking the lead, the effect wouldn''t have been so good."


    "Mr. Lai? He..."


    "Yes," Li Yao smiled and said, "I reconciled with Mr. Lai beforehand."


    Watching Li Yao''s departing figure, the County Magistrate''s heart was unable to calm down for a long time.


    The agility of Li Yao''s mind, the meticulousness of her arrangements, exceeded those of thedies skilled in intrigue and pce scheming!


    He had never seen such an outstanding woman!


    It seemed in the future, he would have to visit He Wan Vige more often to consult her on many issues.


    As for Mr. Lai, he was also decent, and could be brought along more in the future, and given some care when necessary.


    ...


    Li Yao hadn''t eaten much at the county office, and was starving with hunger by the time she got home, her chest sticking to her back.


    Fortunately the children were sensible, the meals had been cooked long ago but they had waited for her return before eating, watching longingly.


    "Mother has returned." He Xiaoya was the first to see Li Yao, and came up to greet her, "You must be tired, hurry and eat."


    "Eat, eat."


    Today she had ruthlessly conned the rich men of Baichuan Market, so Li Yao was in a very good mood.


    Although she had invested 1390 taels herself, for her that amount could easily be earned back manifold tomorrow, so she didn''t worry about it too much.


    Moreover, as a transmigrator, doing what she could for themon good was not bad.


    Consider it umting virtue. Hopefully Heaven would let her future life be more peaceful andfortable.


    "Mother,e sit."


    Li Yao sat down and noticed someone was missing.


    "Where is Song Zhe?"


    "He..." Du Xiao Hui hesitated to reply.


    "What is it?"


    "Today he only cut two and a half baskets of grass, not enough," Du Xiao Hui said. "So he said he didn''t deserve to eat and went to sleep in the incubation room himself."


    Not even cutting three full baskets in one day was indeed a bit slow.


    But Li Yao knew Song Zhe had tried his best.


    She wasn''t rigidly stubborn, making Song Zhe participate inbor wasn''t truly to get much work out of him, but to let him experience the process and improve.


    "Go call him toe eat."


    "Alright."


    Soon Song Zhe was called over.


    "Sit and eat."


    "But..."


    "No buts," Li Yao said. "In my home, I make the rules. Today''s grass that wasn''t cut enough can be made up tomorrow. But you only get one chance, understand?"


    "Ok!"


    Song Zhe nodded heavily and quickly sat down.


    Wang Er knew cutting grass was hard work, and that Song Zhe had done his best, so he personally filled arge bowl full of rice for him, and added lots of braised wolf meat into his bowl.


    "Thank you Brother Wang."


    "Brother Song you''re too polite," Wang Er said. "Our home is not like the academy, without so many rules. Eat freely."


    This sentence went straight to Song Zhe''s heart. He immediately picked up his bowl and started eating in big mouthfuls.


    Everyone else was also starving, and began wolfing the food down.


    The meal was eaten in silence, with the bowls, tes, and pot all emptied clean.


    "Auntie Li," Song Zhe said after putting down his empty bowl. "What will I do tomorrow? Don''t worry, I definitely won''t be like today again. I will finish for sure."


    "One basket of grass."


    "Huh?" Song Zhe was surprised.


    Today was three baskets, but tomorrow was only one?


    "That''s what you have to finish in the morning," Li Yao said. "In the afternoon you will study with Wang Er."


    Song Zhe''s face was about to rot.


    He finally didn''t have to go to the academy anymore, but he didn''t expect that at Li Yao''s home, in addition to doing farm work, he still had to read...


    "If Mr. Lv says you''re not diligent, there will be no food for you," said the auntie Li.


    Song Zhe: "I understand."


    Song Zhe secretly stuck out his tongue.


    He thought auntie Li had be more reasonable, but she was still so fierce.

 Chapter 85: The Vision

    <h4>Chapter 85</h4>


    Song Zhe found studying even more difficult than farm work. At the academy, as soon as he heard the teacher lecturing, he would inevitably fall asleep, with his eyelids as heavy as if they were filled with lead. Not even a cane could prop them open.


    But in order to eat, today he had finished cutting grass and after eating lunch, still followed Wang Er to the bamboo shed.


    He had known Wang Er before, only as Li Xian''s student servant who read aloud for him. When Li Xian was listening to lectures, this guy always liked to sneak outside the window to eavesdrop, rather than go somewhere else to y around like other families'' student servants.


    It was precisely because of this that Wang Er was somewhat unpopr at the academy and often bullied.


    He didn''t think Wang Er''s reading was that great, nor that the teacher hired by the Li Yao family would be more brilliant than the masters at the academy. So he intended to take a nap, just when he happened to be tired and hungry these past days.


    But when he arrived at the bamboo shed, he discovered that the book Wang Er was studying was actually one he had never studied before.


    This surprised him a bit, but even more surprising was that this little old man called Lv Xiucai, when he lectured, was not dull at all. After listening for a while, he actually found it a bit interesting.


    Especially when Lv Xiucai taught him alone, he was unusually able to understand immediately.


    And Lv Xiucai''s learning was the most profound of any teacher he had seen!


    This puzzled him quite a bit. How could such a good teacher be cooped up in the small He Wan vige without any fame, not even passing the county exam?


    "Song Zhe," Lv Xiucai saw his distraction and admonished in a deep voice, "Pay attention to the lecture. If your mind wanders again, you''ll get the rod."


    "Oh."


    Song Zhe didn''t doubt at all that Lv Xiucai would dare to whip his butt.


    Now he understood, none of the Li Yao family treated him as the young master of the county magistrate''s family.


    They would beat him if he deserved beating, scold him if he deserved scolding. As long as he did something wrong, even the little girl Du Xiao Hui would severely reprimand him.


    Although this feeling was a bit unpleasant, it also had an indescribable sense of novelty.


    Since he was free with nothing to do, why not listen carefully? Who knows, maybe next time he went home he could make his old man happy?


    ......


    County magistrate Song had been very happy sincest night.


    With over twenty thousand taels of silver in hand, he was busy arranging the purchase of grain while issuing notices in each vige for every household to provide aborer, preparing to start water conservancy construction.


    Hearing that the county government had work providing meals and wages, even if the wages would be deducted from next year''s taxes, the vigers were still very willing.


    Now every household was short of grain. One less mouth to feed at home meant the others could eat a little more.


    In less than half a day, the manpower from each vige was assembled.


    Over two thousand robustborers gathered in great numbers.


    Magistrate Song and his advisors divided these people into several groups, some to repair canals, some to repair roads, some to build bridges. Finally he specially dispatched over two hundred people to expand the road from Baichuan Market to He Wan Vige.


    That road really was too narrow, even carriages couldn''t pass, full of bumps and hollows. It definitely needed fixing up.


    Just as Magistrate Song was vigorously developing infrastructure, He Wan Vige was also bustling with excitement. Almost everyone gathered at the Li Yao residence to help Li Yao move.


    The repaired new house had been ready for some time. Li Yao looked it over and it waspletely dry inside. Today was also an auspicious day on the calendar. No time like the present, so they would move in today.


    She hadn''t expected Du Xiao Hui''s mother to hear the news and immediatelye over to help, then mobilize the whole vige.


    But in Li Yao''s old house, there really wasn''t much to move. Not enough for one item per person. Many came just to watch the liveliness empty-handed.


    "Everyone don''t rush, let Li Yao go first."


    Wang Xueshi naturally had to be there, and moreover had to control the overall situation, directing who carried what ording to her arrangements. Li Yao didn''t stop her. Her mother-inw liked to worry, so let her worry. If not allowed to, she would feel unhappy.


    Li Yao carried a small rice sack and was the first to arrive at the new house entrance.


    Therge iron gate made by the cksmith was already installed, therge lock also bronze, looking very high-quality.


    Taking out the key to open the big door, Wang Xueshi timely eximed, "The big door opens, wealth and prosperity enter!"


    Li Yao led therge group into the new home. At the main room door, Wang Xueshi blocked her again, "Wealth fills all four corners as you enter, silk gauze in the center, descendants forever filling the hall!"


    Li Yao: ...Were the ancients'' wishes really so simple?


    After a lively process, the moving ceremony was finallyplete.


    Although no banquet was prepared, Li Yao still bought lots of roasted beans, melon seeds and other snacks, for He Xiaoya and Du Xiao Hui to distribute to everyone.


    Then she went into her own room to arrange things.


    The room had no bed, but a heated brick bed. It was already covered with severalyers of thick cotton mattresses. On top was a pure white cotton nket. Lying on it was soft andfortable, not at all inferior to modern bed mattresses.


    The quilt was arge cotton one, in without any pattern, but excellent for keeping warm.


    Below the window was a veryrge dresser, with a bronze mirror ced on top, somewhat blurred but the best she could buy.


    Along the wall was a row of upright wardrobes, filled with wooden clothes hangers inside.


    When making these wardrobes originally, the old carpenter was very curious, and even asked Li Yao for the "copyright". Of course she granted it to him without hesitation. She didn''t know how they were spreading now.


    The windows all had curtains installed, the walls unpainted but the brick seams very neatly and smoothly chiseled, giving a veryfortable feeling.


    After arranging her bedroom, Li Yao also made up the beds for Wang San''er and Wang Xiao Si.


    Xiao Si was no longer small and couldn''t continue sleeping with her. But he was afraid alone, so could only let him sleep with Wang San''er first.


    With these things done, He Xiaoya already started preparing lunch, and the vigers who came to watch the bustle prepared to return home.


    "Everyone please wait a moment," said Li Yao. Everyone stopped in their tracks. "I have something, I''ll take this chance to say it now."


    "Young miss Li, whatever you have just tell us. What we can help with, we certainly won''t refuse."


    "It''s not asking for help, I n to open a workshop and need some people."


    Open a workshop?


    This news even stunned vige chief Wang Jiafu.


    She had never mentioned something so big to him before.


    "Li Yao, think it through clearly. Running a workshop requires investing a lot of silver."


    "I know."


    She nned to first use Wang Xiao Si''s room, which wasn''t needed yet, to produce soap and cosmetic soap. Later when the business grew bigger, she would buy wastnd in the vige to build a special factory.


    Based on current sales, the soap workshop would need 10 people, and of those 10, she needed one trustworthy person to control the core techniques.

 Chapter 86: Can’t help But Rejoice

    <h4>Chapter 86</h4>


    Under the supervision of the head of the vige Li Zheng and Madam Wang Xueshi, 9 ordinary female workers were soon selected.


    These 9 women were all rtively reliable women in the vige, half of them from the Wang family and Fang family who had vested interests with Li Yao, so they could be trusted to work diligently.


    Moreover, the remuneration given by Li Yao was quite generous. In theory, they would work 4 hours a day, 8 hours in total, 25 days a month.


    As long as they worked the required hours andpleted the workload, they could earn 900 wen in wages per month.


    At the end of the year, they would also receive 2 months'' wages as bonus.


    900 wen!


    Doing hardbor at the dock, they would thank their lucky stars if they could earn this much in a month!


    But here working so leisurely for Li Yao, they could earn 900 wen!


    At the end of the year, they could get an extra 1,800 wen!


    This made several people unconsciously overjoyed, and made others who didn''t get this opportunity green with envy!


    "Those who didn''t get the opportunity don''t need to be too envious," said Li Yao. "In the future, the workshop will definitely continue to expand. Moreover, I still have many things that need people to do now."


    Hearing her say this, everyone rekindled their hopes again.


    "Now, I also need someone to manage the workshop."


    Managing the workshop meant mastering the technology.


    She had originally wanted He Xiaoya to do it, but He Xiaoya had too many things to do.


    Moreover, it was evident that she was a very traditional girl who preferred staying by Da Zhuang''s side every day to be a virtuous wife.


    Therefore, after consideration, she decided to respect He Xiaoya''s choice. Then who would be in charge of the core technology became the biggest problem.


    The vigers naturally also knew that not just anyone could do this job, so no one jumped at the opportunity.


    "Vige head Li, why don''t you rmend someone to me?"


    "No, no, no, I cannot make this decision."


    Wang Yuanguo repeatedly waved his hand.


    As the vige head, how could he not know the stakes involved?


    Mastering the soap-making technology meant controlling enormous wealth. Who could guarantee that there would be no ulterior motives in the future?


    If the person he rmended secretly sold the technology, wouldn''t he be a criminal?


    "Let me do it," Madam Wang Xueshi took the initiative to stand up at this time. "Da Zhuang''s wife, if you trust me, this olddy can do a good job."


    "Mother," said Wang Yuanguo with augh. "You''re already old, don''t interfere with sister-inw''s good deeds."


    "That''s right, mother," Shen Shi said untimely. "It would be better if I did it instead of you."


    "How am I already old?" Wang Xueshi red and said in a loud voice, "How am I useless? All of you, do you really think I''m only capable of cutting grass and feeding cows?"


    "But sister-inw also has to agree."


    "I agree."


    "See," Shen Shiughed. "I knew sister-inw wouldn''t...wait, sister-inw what did you just say?"


    Everyone was stunned.


    For such an important matter, Li Yao actually let olddy Wang take charge.


    This...could she do it?


    Even Wang Xueshi herself was a little doubtful: "Li Yao, are you sure? I just said it casually earlier..."


    "There''s nothing you can''t do," said Li Yao. "If you don''t know, you can learn. If you''re older, you can learn slowly. I believe nothing is too difficult in this world. As long as you try your best, everyone can do a good job. Moreover, I know you are very capable, so there is nothing to worry about."


    For some reason, Wang Xueshi suddenly felt a surge of inexplicable emotion.


    Although she was usually very authoritative, no one had ever said such things to her.


    Listen, my eldest daughter-inw even said I''m capable!


    "Alright, this olddy will definitely do a good job for you!"


    Shen Shi was unhappy that she didn''t be the supervisor of the soap workshop. But now the supervisor was her mother-inw, so she didn''t dare say much.


    But she couldn''t just give up like this. So she went up and asked: "Sister-inw, I see your braised food business is also very busy, do you need someone''s help? How about letting me help?"


    "That''s just what I was going to talk about."


    Li Yao no longer nned to continue the braised food business.


    Staying up all night was too tiring, and the profit was also very meager, so she nned to transfer it to someone else.


    "Transfer it to me, transfer it to me!" Shen Shi was overjoyed when she heard this was a great money-making opportunity. "Sister-inw, I will definitely do a good job!"


    "You can take over if you want," said Li Yao. "But you have to bid for it like everyone else."


    Shen Shi: ...


    Bidding again?


    Last time she bid but didn''t win!


    "If you can''t even handle bidding, then you''re not suitable to run this business," said Li Yao. "For a small business like this, it relies precisely on every tiny bit of calction, otherwise it''s hard to make money. Even if you can make money now, it won''tst too long."


    Shen Shi became as crestfallen as an eggnt frosted by frost. She gloomily went to write her bid.


    But as Li Yao said, she couldn''t even do calctions, naturally she couldn''t figure out the profits. Giving a random bid, she certainly couldn''t beat others'' meticulous calctions.


    In the end, the one who won the bid for the braised food business was Fang Mingqiang, the future patriarch of the Fang family and Fang Shian''s eldest son. The neighboring county''s braised food business had been run by him all along, so he had a good grasp of the profits.


    Moreover, the Fang family were indeed good at detailed calctions, even Wang Yuanding was outsmarted by one move.


    Obtaining 49% of the shares in the braised food business, plus the power to operate it, the Fang family was ted.


    This was much more profitable than directly taking goods from Li Yao!


    From then on, the entire Fang family relied on this business to be extremely rich.


    "Li Yao, rest assured," said Fang Shian. "Our Fang family will not fail your reputation. We will definitely expand and improve Li''s Braised Food."


    "Thank you, Elder Fang Shian."


    While the Fang family was ted, Wang family''s second branch was a little disheartened.


    However, the optimistic Wang Yuanding couple didn''t get too upset about not getting the business. They could still take goods from the Fang family to continue running their small braised food stall.


    "Sister-inw is simply benefiting outsiders by doing this," Shen Shiined indignantly at the side. "Sister-inw, you''re too honest. This is money for nothing that you''re giving up to others so readily."


    "It''s not that we''re giving it up. We really don''t have Fang family''s business skills."


    "Then at least split it evenly!"


    "Stop talking. We respect Li Yao''s decision," said Zhou. "Aren''t we living well now?"


    "That''s right, we''re already content." Wang Yuanding also chimed in. "Knowing contentment is happiness. Sister-inw, just stop talking. Youngest brother is helping sister-inw purchase goods everywhere, that''s also an important job, and sister-inw''s wages are not low either."


    "You all...hey, who doesn''t want more money!"


    Wang Yuanding couple shook their heads. They didn''t know what to say about this sister-inw.


    Of course more money is good, but you have to have the ability to earn it.


    Just as the two were about to go home, Li Yao suddenly walked over: "Second brother, I have a job I want you to do."


    "Sister-inw, what else can I do?"


    Li Yao smiled. "Be the supervisor."

 Chapter 87: Do What You Want To Do

    <h4>Chapter 87</h4>


    Li Yao, the factory manager, was a name she randomly picked. Her main job was to secretly inspect each branch store to prevent them from damaging the brand reputation through any shady dealings.


    This position came with great power and was a cushy job, so it had to be given to someone she trusted.


    After careful consideration, she felt Wang Yuanding was the most suitable.


    As the second son of the Wang family, he had an honest personality, and his wife Zhou was also a kind person. As long as the pay was good enough, they surely wouldn''t be corrupt in the next few years.


    When Li Yao gave him such an important position, Wang Yuanding almost didn''t dare ept it.


    But thinking that this was very important to Li Yao, and there was no one else in the family capable of taking on the role, he finally agreed.


    "Don''t worry sister-inw, I will do a good job."


    "Okay, I''ll teach you specifically what to doter," said Li Yao. "You can stop making braised food for now. I''ll give you 5 taels of silver per month, plus a 10 tael bonus at the end of the year. This money is enough for your family''s expenses."


    "Tha...thank you sister-inw!"


    Wang Yuanding and his wife didn''t know what to say.


    80 taels a year!


    Wasn''t that more than a county magistrate''s sry?


    "But I have to make this clear first," said Li Yao. "If I find you secretly colluding with shop owners and taking bribes, I will not let you off easily."


    "Sister-inw, don''t worry, I would never do such a thing!"


    No one doubted Li Yao''s methods. Wang Yuanding would also never betray an annual sry of 80 taels.


    After arranging these matters, Li Yao let everyone disperse for the time being.


    She still had many things she wanted to do, but she didn''t have enough money now. She''d have to wait a few days until the branch stores took the goods before making any ns.


    ...


    The children spent the entire afternoon tidying up and arranging their own houses.


    Da Zhuang and He Xiaoya lived alone in one house, and would begin their two-person world from now on. Counting it, He Xiaoya had already been married for over six months, but her belly didn''t seem to show any signs yet. She wondered what was going on.


    Wang Er also lived alone in a house.


    But because Song Zhe was here, he let Song Zhe live with him instead of sleeping in the incubation room anymore.


    This improved Song Zhe''s impression of Wang Er quite a bit. The two felt like ssmates who had known each other for many years.


    Wang San''er and Wang Xiao Si didn''t have much to tidy up. Wang San''er still hugged the piglet and went to the back hill in the afternoon, while also practicing the simple moves Li Yao had taught him. Wang Xiao Si watched over a flock of geese.


    The geese in the family were now as big as chicks. All they did every day was eat. Wang Xiao Si was afraid they would make a mess of the house, so he herded them onto the open space behind the house and fenced them in.


    In the afternoon, Li Yao began teaching Wang Xueshi how to make menthol ointment, soap, and perfumed soap.


    Actually, these techniques were quite simple, and a smart person like Wang Xueshi naturally learned them quickly. The difficult part was keeping ounts.


    After all, when the production volume grew, she couldn''t rely on memory and had to have written records.


    To this end, Li Yao specially taught her Arabic numerals, then drew modern ie and expenditure ledgers. Surprisingly, Wang Xueshi didn''t find this simple ounting method too difficult to learn.


    Before nightfall, she had already grasped the basics.


    "I don''t know where you learned all this," Wang Xueshi marveled. "Our Wang family is truly blessed to have a daughter-inw like you."


    If Li Yao remembered correctly, this was the first time Wang Xueshi had praised her to her face. It felt a little strange.


    That night, to celebrate moving into the new house, Li Yao personally cooked a full table of dishes.


    Salt baked chicken, beef stewed potatoes, cuminmb, sweet and sour pork ribs, nched cabbage, shredded potatoes...


    Song Zhe didn''t even recognize the names of several dishes.


    Especially the salt baked chicken and beef stewed potatoes, he had never eaten anything like it in his life. He felt the taste was even better than the chefs at the big restaurants in the capital!


    Plus, having just moved into the brand new, spacious and clean new house, he suddenly felt this home was more elegant than the county government, or even his family home in the capital.


    He was also gradually getting used to living with Li Yao''s family, and thought less and less about returning to the county office.


    ...


    After dinner, Li Yao went to the bathroom.


    Next to the toilet, she had a coppersmith make a veryrge bucket out of brass. She then directed the stove fumes over to heat it up, allowing her to have hot water.


    After pouring the hot water into arge wooden bathtub, she soaked in a nice,fortable hot bath, theny down on the soft big kang smelling fresh all over.


    She had been in this world for two months now, but it felt like it had been much longer.


    She realized that although life before her eyes was still not perfect, she was adapting more and more to this world.


    The workshop was now open. Relying on selling menthol ointment, soap and perfumed soap, she believed she could earn a lot of money. And this ie was enough for her to do many things she wanted.


    In a few days when the money was in ce, she would start work.


    ...


    Three dayster, the branch stores of Li''s Boutique opened simultaneously in the various county seats of Jinyang Prefecture.


    The limited goods prepared were almost instantly snapped up. They didn''t even need to run any opening promotions.


    The stores also implemented a membership system and recruited arge number of members, which was akin to having a fixed customer base for each store.


    This business model delighted the bosses of each store. They immediately raced back to River Bay Vige, both to report on sales and urge Li Yao to quickly replenish stocks.


    Some flexible-thinking ones had even started thinking of opening branches in other ces.


    But Li Yao did not agree for the time being.


    Expanding too quickly was not a good thing, plus production still couldn''t keep up.


    After three days of training, the soap workshop was also officially in operation.


    Early that morning, Li Yao and Wang Xueshi came to the workshop together.


    Making menthol ointment was simple. Soaking herbs and other small tasks could produce a lot in one day, and it was easy to produce. Wang Xueshi only needed to spend two to three days a month on it.


    Soap and perfumed soap were slightly moreplex.


    Wang Xiao Si''s kitchen was used to brewrd.


    Thisrd was purchased everywhere by Wang Yuanguo, who worked hard from dawn to dusk. Because the price offered was slightly higher,rd from the nearby markets was supplied to him.


    About 100 catties of raw oil could be collected every day, and after rendering, 60 catties ofrd was produced. Thus the daily soap output was fixed at around 800 bars.


    To expand the market, Li Yao set a low sales price for soap, so profit was only 10 copper coins per bar.


    But even so, soap still brought in 8 taels of silver per day.


    50 bars of perfumed soap were produced each day, earning 1 tael per bar, so 50 taels.


    As for menthol ointment, there wasn''t much demand for it this season, so production was stockpiled to sell next spring and summer.


    After deducting various flexible expenditures, daily ie was now steady at 50 taels.


    Even big merchants did not dare look down on such profits.


    And this was just the beginning.


    Once soap and perfumed soap sold throughout the country, the ie would likely be shockingly high.


    Seeing that the production process was problem-free, Wang Xueshi''s bookkeeping was professional, Li Yao confidently handed over full management of the operations to her.


    Next, she could wholeheartedly focus on doing what she wanted.

 Chapter 88: The Dam

    <h4>Chapter 88</h4>


    "All the vigers who were free gathered at Li Yao''s house!"


    "Her family had something to ask people to help with!"


    Early in the morning, the voice of Vige Head Wang Jiafu rang out at He Wan Vige.


    As soon as the vigers heard that Li Yao was asking for help, they immediately put down what they were doing and rushed to Li Yao''s door as fast as they could.


    "Vige Head Wang, what is Li Yao''s family going to do today?"


    "I''m not sure either," Wang Jiafu said, "but it must be something good."


    "Of course, helping Miss Li''s family work is definitely not going to let us down."


    Amidst everyone''s anticipation, Li Yao finally came out.


    "I want to build a dam to make a reservoir in the mountain behind."


    This remark shocked everyone.


    They knew what a reservoir was, it was a big pond that could store a lot of water.


    But something like this was usually led by the county government office, and it took several years and huge amounts of money to aplish. How could Li Yao want to do it herself?


    Besides, why would Li Yao build a reservoir?


    Wang Jiafu felt a little confused and asked, "Li Yao, you''re not joking, are you?"


    "No."


    "Do you know...how much money and time a dam takes?"


    "I''ve roughly calcted it," Li Yao said. "If all the vigerse to help, it should be almost done by the end of the year. As for how much money, I haven''t really calcted it, but my family should have enough."


    The vigers gasped.


    Was Li Yao really that rich?


    Of course, no one thought it was a bad thing that Li Yao was rich. At least half of the families in the vige now were making money because of Li Yao.


    If even someone well off like Li Yao didn''t have money, how could they, who were just getting by, have any money?


    So the richer Li Yao was, the better it was for everyone.


    "Vige Head Wang, let''s go take a look now. You can help me calcte itter. When it''s time to start construction officially, I will still need your help to supervise it."


    "Of course."


    Building a reservoir in the mountains had its advantages and disadvantages.


    The advantage was that once it was built, the stored water would at least ensure irrigation for the entire He Wan Vige. The downside was that if it was not built properly, a failure of the dam due to flooding would be a huge disaster for He Wan Vige.


    So Vige Head Wang led all the vigers, young and old, to the ce Li Yao had chosen.


    This was a ce Li Yao had eyed for a long time. The distance between the two hillsides was not big, no more than 200 meters. If a 15-meter high dam was built, the reservoir behind would be veryrge.


    Also, the surrounding mountains were all purchased by her, so there were no disputes over ownership.


    After the reservoir was built, she would also build special aqueducts and spillways to divert water to the hillside below and to the new house.


    By then, not only would it be able to irrigate the crops on the mountain, she could also build semi-automatic machines like watermills, water wheels, water fans, and mortars, and thoroughly improve the currently backward production methods.


    After listening to her ns, Vige Head Wang frowned in thought for a long time.


    He finally felt it was feasible, but the premise was that they needed to hire experts to guide them.


    "I''ll leave the matter of inviting experts to Vige Head Wang," Li Yao said.


    "Alright, I know several senior hydraulic engineers. I''ll go invite them to take a lookter."


    That afternoon, four senior hydraulic engineers were invited to the mountain.


    Upon hearing that this reservoir was being built privately by Li Yao, they were all shocked and did not know what to say.


    But as hydraulic engineers, they naturally understood the importance of water conservancy projects. Since Li Yao was willing to spend money for the benefit of others, they certainly did not mind contributing.


    After some examination and reconnaissance, they came up with a rough n that night.


    "What do you think, Li Yao?" Wang Jiafu habitually asked.


    After listening to the general n, Li Yao felt there were no major issues overall. After all, the hydraulic engineers were professionals.


    "Just two minor problems," Li Yao said. "I want the side of the dam against the water to be built with specially made rammed earth and stone strips, and the foundation must be dug down another five feet. This will make it more solid and prevent leakage."


    "What is this specially made rammed earth?"


    "It''s something I identally discovered when building houses."


    Li Yao nned to manually produce cement. This was actually quite simple.


    Grind limestone and y into powder, ce them in a high temperature furnace to calcinate, then grind them into powder together with iron g from iron smelting, and the result is primitive cement.


    But the hydraulic engineers had not seen this before, so they could not confirm the effectiveness of this special rammed earth.


    "Let''s do this," Li Yao said, "there''s still plenty of time anyway. I''ll try to make the rammed earth first, and you can take a look and test it before making a decision."


    "Sounds good."


    "What about the other problem?"


    "The other is the outlet gates," Li Yao said as she took out a drawing. "I hope it can be built like this."


    The hydraulic engineers took it and looked. They were shocked.


    The gates were not just one, but six in total. Each was 5 feet wide, 5 zhang (about 15 meters) high, and half a foot thick, cast from iron tes!


    It also used a kind of spiral iron rod to control the raising and lowering of the gates.


    On top of the gates, a 5 zhang high small building would be built specifically for raising and lowering the gates!


    This...


    The hydraulic engineers looked at each other in disbelief.


    In their lifetimes as hydraulic engineers, they had never seen such gates!


    And with so much iron, how much would that cost?


    "Money is not a problem," Li Yao said, "can it be done?"


    After pondering for a moment, the hydraulic engineers nodded at the same time.


    The drawings were already very clear and detailed. They just needed to pay attention to the specific dimensions during construction, and there should be no problems.


    "Good then," Li Yao said. "Gentlemen, the dam and gates are of vital importance, concerning the livelihoods and lives of over a thousand vigers of He Wan Vige. So I ask you to take great care with this matter."


    "Miss Li, don''t worry, we will definitely do a good job on this for you."


    "Then it''s settled," Li Yao said. "Let''s have everyone start working tomorrow. I''ll try making the rammed earth over the next few days."


    ...


    Over the next few days, Li Yao was busy making cement.


    It sounded simple, but was still somewhat difficult to do.


    The main problem was grinding into powder. Without machines, they could only manually grind with stone mortars, which was extremely inefficient.


    Calcining was also troublesome.


    For this purpose, she had the cksmith specially build a small rotary kiln, and boughtrge quantities of coal from afar.


    During this time, Wang Yuanbang, the fourth son of the Wang family, made great contributions. All the dirty and tiring work was done under his leadership. Li Yao did not hide anything, and taught him a lot of knowledge during almost the entire production process.


    After nearly ten days of experiments, they finally worked out the production process, proportions, etc.


    Looking at the final gray powder produced, Li Yao immediately asked Wang Yuanbang to invite Vige Head Wang and the hydraulic engineers.


    When everyone saw that Li Yao''s special rammed earth was just a pan of ashy powder, they curiously asked, "How is this used?"


    "It''s mixed into a slurry with sand like lime."


    Li Yao had Wang Yuanbang demonstrate on site. He mixed up a pile of mortar, then used leftover green bricks from house construction to build a small pool about half a meter high.


    Finally, thick cement was smeared on the bottom of the pool, and thick mortar was smeared on the bricks.


    "Once it driespletely, it will be very solid and watertight."


    Three dayster, Vige Head Wang and the hydraulic engineers came to inspect.


    They felt that such a wall without any weight on it would be easy to demolish. As for waterproofing, they couldn''t confirm yet.


    In front of everyone, Wang Yuanbang filled the small pool with water. The result was self-evident. There was no leakage at all. Even after half a day, the area outside the pool was still dry without even a hint of seepage.


    "The waterproofing effect is indeed good."


    The waterproofing was affirmed. Next they had to test the solidity.


    Li Yao had Wang Yuanbang take a big iron hammer and let the hydraulic engineers hit it freely.


    They thought it would break open after a few hits like an ordinary wall, but to everyone''s surprise, when the hammer struck, the wall of the small pool didn''t even shake.


    There wasn''t even a single crack!


    The five people, the four hydraulic engineers plus the vige head, looked at each other in shock.


    This...was just too solid!

 Chapter 89: Just Believe

    <h4>Chapter 89</h4>


    The five people were drenched in sweat by the time they finally smashed the small pool.


    It was hard to imagine that something so sturdy was actually built with ordinary green bricks and this special kind of concrete.


    Several river engineers instantly thought far ahead.


    "If this was used to build dams and dikes, how much more sturdy it would be?"


    "Madame Li, your invented special concrete is an enormously great contribution!"


    "If this could be used on the big rivers, how many people along the banks would avoid so many disasters! It could also be used to build bridges without worrying about copse."


    Li Yao of course knew the extensive uses of cement.


    But reality was cruel.


    Not to mention therge amount of money she spent to produce a little cement, the main problem was the difficulty in obtaining raw materials.


    Just to buy a little iron g, Wang Yuanguo had to travel very far.


    Moreover, the manufacturing equipment was basically non-existent. Therefore, unless there was high-quality steel in the future, and the court took control of the big picture, it would be virtually impossible to build arge cement nt and mass produce cement.


    Upon hearing it couldn''t be mass produced, the river engineers couldn''t help but sigh again and again.


    That something so great actually couldn''t benefit the world was really a pity.


    "But it doesn''t matter," the vige head said, "I''ve already reported this to the Song county magistrate. If he petitions the court, maybe it will be mass produced in the future. Li Yao, you may also gain greater merit!"


    He also reported it to the Song county magistrate?


    Li Yao didn''t expect that this old vige head was even more enthusiastic than her.


    To tell the truth, she didn''t want any merit at all. She made some cement just so the dam could be safer.


    But it wouldn''t be bad if the court valued this.


    "Masters," the vige head continued, "now that we''ve verified this special concrete works very well, and the dam foundation is also dug, can we start construction now?"


    "We can start officially today!"


    Just as He Wan vige was exerting all its strength to start building the dam for Li Yao¡¯s reservoir, the Song county magistrate was researching the cement Wang Jiafu had sent over in the backyard of the government office.


    ording to Wang Jiafu, this seemingly unimpressive grey stuff could make ordinary brick walls extraordinarily sturdy. He had tested it himself, and it was even sturdier than he imagined.


    Moreover, this stuff was also created by Li Yao.


    He was no longer surprised by Li Yao''s abilities now.


    However, if this special concrete was really as good as described, it would absolutely be an even greater achievement than digging drought-resistant wells and discovering sweet potatoes!


    The bordends had long suffered from the ferocious barbarians!


    The people of the world had long suffered from flooding rivers!


    And Daling Country had long suffered from difficult roads!


    If this concrete could be mass produced and poprized throughout the world, how could Daling not be prosperous and its people at peace?


    Thinking thus, he immediately had people use wooden barrels to hold some, wrapped them in multipleyers of oiled paper to prevent moisture, then personally wrote the usage instructions, and solemnly exined the origin.


    But where to send it needed careful consideration.


    Yizhou Prefecture could no longer be trusted.


    For the merit of a drought-resistant well, Prefect Hu dared to send people to secretly harm Li Yao. For the even greater achievement of cement, who knew what kind of deranged things he would do.


    Therefore, this time, he decided to bypass the prefecture and send it directly to the capital city, and have his father find a way to deliver it into the pce.


    But thinking of his father''s temperament, and prejudices against him, the Song county magistrate also felt vaguely apprehensive.


    He was afraid his father would be unwilling to help him do this in order to curry favor and ingratiate himself, so he also wrote a letter exining the stakes, hoping his father could put aside his prejudices and put the people of the world first.


    After seeing off the messenger, the Song county magistrate called over his wife and Zhang the county captain. He now had to make a trip to He Wan vige.


    ...


    "Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"


    Hundreds of vigers were busily building Li Yao''s dam under the guidance of the river engineers.


    When the Song county magistrate arrived, he found that the people working here were all so hardworking, even the frail elderly women were unwilling to rest more.


    That Li Yao could make everyone so united in effort was truly rare.


    Moreover, this nearly 200 meter long enormous dam surprised him even more.


    If this dam waspleted, even without the drought-resistant wells, He Wan vige wouldn''tck water to irrigate the fields even if heaven didn''t drop a hint of rain.


    If reservoirs like this could be built across the whole country...


    The Song county magistrate shook his head. That would be too wishful thinking.


    Since the county magistrate hade to see her family''s dam, Li Yao naturally could not be negligent. The main reason the Song county magistrate came this time was to discuss the special concrete.


    "The special concrete you invented is very good. I''ve already sent it to the capital city," the Song county magistrate said. "But...the situation in the capital is ratherplicated. I don''t dare make any guarantees to you."


    "It''s fine." Li Yao said. "By the way, I gave it a name, cement."


    "Cement?" The Song county magistrate muttered it a few times, then smiled. "What a great name! This cement will definitely be a pivotal weapon for our Daling in the future!"


    Just as the two were about to continue chatting, a young boy ran over in a fluster.


    "Third brother Fang, hurry back! Sister-inw Liu is giving birth!"


    Fang San was the third son of Fang Shian.


    His wife Liu had already given birth to a daughter two years ago. This was her second child.


    Upon hearing third brother''s wife was giving birth, the Fang family members immediately stopped what they were doing and rushed back.


    This was the first time Li Yao had encountered someone giving birth sinceing to He Wan vige. For some reason, her heart felt a little nervous.


    In ancient times, giving birth for a woman was like a tug-of-war with death. The slightest inattention could lead to both mother and child losing their lives.


    Moreover, Li Yao had seen Liu before. Her belly wasrger than a normal pregnant woman''s, probably because the fetus was too well nourished. After all, it was natural for Fang San as the youngest son to be doted on.


    So although this was Liu''s second child, the level of danger would not decrease.


    This made Li Yao vaguely uneasy.


    Seeing her so anxious, the county magistrate''s wife could only gently persuade her.


    "Li Yao, there''s nothing you can do about this matter," the county magistrate''s wife said. "As women, these are thresholds we must pass. If we can''t pass, then it''s our fate."


    "No, there are still methods."


    "What methods?"


    "Find the cksmith!"


    County magistrate''s wife: ...


    Song county magistrate: ...


    Others: ...


    Unable to give birth to a child, one could find a more capable midwife.


    But for inability to give birth, going to find a cksmith...what kind of logic was this?


    Li Yao didn''t have time to exin. She quickly drew a diagram on paper, then handed it to Wang San: "Hurry to town and have the cksmith make this ording to the diagram. Be quick!"


    What she drew was obstetric forceps, a very simple yet extremely practical obstetric tool.


    "Have Captain Zhang go instead," the Song county magistrate said. "He can get there and back faster on horseback."


    "Then I''ll leave it to you."


    Holding the diagram, Zhang rode his horse directly to the market town.


    He didn''t know what was on the diagram, but he knew that trusting Li Yao was right.


    After he left, Li Yao kept having Du Xiao Hui keep an eye on Liu''s situation, while the Song county magistrate and his wife also remained at her home without leaving.


    They wanted to see if Li Yao could turn the tide this time and save a difficult woman.

 Chapter 90: Listen to Li Yao

    <h4>Chapter 90</h4>


    "Auntie Li, Aunt Liu still can''t make it!"


    "Aunt Liu has already fainted!"


    "The midwife said if she doesn''t give birth in the next moment, there will be no saving her!"


    ...


    Bad news kepting, but County Captain Zhang''s figure was nowhere to be seening back.


    Finally, Li Yao really could not sit still, and went to Fang''s house directly with He Xiaoya and Du Xiao Hui.


    "How is it?"


    Almost all the women in Fang''s family were in the yard, anxious and at a loss, but helpless. Seeing Li Yao ask, they all silently shook their heads.


    The master of the house, Fang Shian, sat at the door with a rtively calm expression.


    He was 50 years old this year. He had experienced things like this too many times, and knew getting anxious was useless. Everything could only be left to fate.


    Just then, the midwife came out from the room. Everyone hurriedly gathered around her. But seeing her sighing repeatedly, they all knew there was probably no way left.


    "Everyone disperse," Fang Shian let out a long sigh and said, "Prepare for the funeral."


    "No. " Li Yao suddenly said, "You can''t give up now."


    "Who are you?" the midwife asked.


    "Who I am is unimportant," Li Yao said, "But let me ask you, does the woman inbor still have a breath?"


    "There''s still a trace..."


    "Then that''s right. As long as there is still a ray of hope, you absolutely can''t give up."


    The midwife couldn''t help but shake her head and said, "I''ve been delivering babies since I was 18 years old, and have gone through things like this countless times. I absolutely won''t misjudge. If there really was a way, it would have to be a living Bodhisattvaing down to earth."


    After the midwife finished speaking, she prepared to leave. Fang''s family alsopletely gave up hope.


    But just at this moment, the sound of galloping hooves came from the distance. County Captain Zhang quickly rode over to Fang''s yard on his horse.


    "Mistress Li, it''s ready."


    Li Yao didn''t have time to thank him. She took the item and went into the delivery room while instructing: "Hurry and prepare hot water, also brew a bowl of thick sugary water, quickly!"


    Everyone was stunned, not knowing what she was going to do with that strange item.


    "Li Yao," Fang Shian said, "I know you have good intentions, but... the midwife has already pronounced..."


    "Listen to me now!" Li Yao really could not stand the old man''s dragging on and loudly said, "In life or death matters, can you be more decisive?"


    Fang Shian was stunned.


    No matter what, he was an elder, yet he was scolded like this by Li Yao in public. He was already displeased.


    But Li Yao''s prestige in the vige had now risen to the utmost point. If he didn''t listen to her, then the pickled vegetable business in his familyter on...


    "Fang Shian!"


    At this time, Li also hurriedly rushed over, followed by a government clerk and a maid of the County Magistrate''s wife.


    "Listen to Li Yao, she''s right."


    "The County Magistrate''s wife said," the maid quickly followed up, "to be sure to let Mistress Li try."


    When Fang Shian heard this, what else could he do?


    Even the County Magistrate''s wife had spoken. He could only listen.


    "Did you not hear me? Hurry and go prepare!"


    Li Yao pulled the midwife along and went into the delivery room together.


    Lying on the bed, Aunt Liu was already barely breathing, while therge baby was only halfway out, its scalp already purple.


    Li Yao sterilized the obstetric forceps by burning it over the fire. After it cooled down, she had the midwife help mp the baby''s head, then slowly dragged it out.


    The whole process took less than two minutes. The birthed baby still had some breath, so the midwife quickly cut the umbilical cord, washed it, and wrapped it in cotton cloth.


    Meanwhile, Li Yao closely watched Aunt Liu''s condition.


    Fortunately she had arrived in time. Although Aunt Liu was weak, after drinking a bowl of hot sugary water, she finally pulled through.


    The few hours made her feel like she had juste back from hell, and she also knew Li Yao had saved her life.


    "Sister-inw Li, you are my savior..."


    "Don''t speak of it. Just focus on recovering now."


    Seeing the baby and the mother were fine, Li Yao''s heart finally settled downpletely.


    The Fang family outside, upon hearing that not only was Aunt Liu fine, but she had also given birth to a boy, were even more overjoyed.


    Especially Fang Shian, who held his little grandson and looked at him again and again.


    Seeing this scene, Li Yao could only shake her head.


    The whole family was fussing around the child, and not a single person went to care about the weak mother.


    Even in modern times, scenes like this happened frequently.


    "Li Yao, I really have to thank you this time. If not for you, my little grandson..."


    "No need to thank me," Li Yao directly interrupted Fang Shian''s words, "Have your son pay more attention to his wife. She''s very weak right now and needs to eat more nutritious foods."


    "Yes, yes, I''ll listen to you on everything."


    Walking out of Fang''s front gate, Li Yao discovered that the County Magistrate''s wife had actually waited nearby. She already knew that Li Yao had saved Aunt Liu and her son, and her heart was extremely shaken.


    Compared to ignorant vigers like Fang Shian, the County Magistrate''s wife was clearer on how manyboring mothers this method Li Yao used could benefit, and how many infants could be spared from death.


    Even describing Li Yao as a living Bodhisattva, she felt was not excessive!


    "Li Yao, you''ve made great contributions again."


    "It''s just doing what little I can for the women of this world. It''s not much of an aplishment."


    "You can''t say that," the County Magistrate''s wife said. "I will definitely have my husband petition the imperial court about this. Just wait for yourmendation."


    Li Yao smiled wryly.


    She had just sent cement over, and now she was sending an obstetric forceps. She also didn''t know if that deeply secluded emperor could even see it.


    Of course, if the obstetric forceps could be widely promoted, she would naturally be very happy.


    She drew another exquisite obstetric forceps again, and added detailed crafting requirements and notes, then handed it over to County Magistrate Song along with this world''s first obstetric forceps.


    On the way back, County Magistrate Song marveled again: "This Mistress Li really continues to surprise. Why would someone like her be willing to live humbly in a remote little mountain vige?"

 Chapter 91: Dumb Rabbit

    <h4>Chapter 91</h4>


    Because she was a woman.


    The county magistrate''s wife really wanted to say that, but in the end did not say it out loud.


    Before meeting Li Yao, as a woman who came from a schrly family, she had always obeyed the conventions of the world, married and raised children, thinking that a woman''s life should be like this.


    But now from Li Yao she saw something different.


    It turns out women are no worse than men, and can also stand on their own to be heroes.


    "She may have her own ideas," thought the county magistrate''s wife.


    ...


    Li Yao assigned the task of making cement to Wang Yuanbang, and under the vigers'' efforts, the dam was progressing quickly.


    The soap workshop run by Wang Xueshi was also managed quite well.


    With people helping to take care of everything, Li Yao''s days became more and more free, so she decided to take this opportunity to explore the deep mountains again.


    Arriving at the Valley of Broken Souls, Li Yao took out her climbing ws from her backpack and climbed up the cliff on the other side of the valley.


    What met her eyes was an even denser forest, with grass and vines growing between the trees. The ground was covered in a thickyer of fallen leaves, which felt like walking on a carpet several feet thick when stepped on.


    Li Yao became more vignt and slowly groped her way forward.


    She hadn''t gone very far when a green nt caught her eye.


    From the shape of the leaves, it was a he shou wu, but the vines were thicker than her arms, and spread over arge area, no one knew how many years old.


    Continuing forward, she soon saw many more high-year herbs.


    It was no wonder no one hade to this ce, the natural resources were even richer than she had imagined. If she dug all this up and sold it, it would be enough for the poorest family to get rich overnight.


    But danger was everywhere.


    As she passed a tall american ginseng, a viper thicker than her arm and the same color as the fallen leaves suddenly darted out from the undergrowth. If she hadn''t dodged in time, the whole vige would probably have had to eat a vegetarian diet.


    This omnipresent danger gave Li Yao a hint of excitement, and made her even more alert as she continued groping her way forward.


    The day quickly passed, and before night fell, she found a safe little cave. She lit arge bonfire at the mouth of the cave.


    The firelight illuminated the entire forest brightly, but still failed to scare away the wild beasts nearby, whose green eyes kept darting around.


    Li Yao now understood why no one hade this deep, for ordinary people this was basically nine deaths out of ten.


    Over the next three days, Li Yao groped her way forward through the dangerous forest. She encountered a python that could swallow a piglet whole, a giant venomous scorpion that could kill with one sting, and fell onto a grassy cushion from a steep cliff face.


    In exchange for daring to risk her life like this, aside from once again experiencing the joy of fighting to survive, she also found many foods that could never be eaten outside this deep forest.


    In a very deep karst cave, she found an underground river. Many unknown silvery fish swam briskly and carefreely in the icy water.


    Li Yao gripped a homemade spear tightly, aimed at a silver fish that swam to the shore, and threw it with force.


    Swish -


    With the sound of the spear entering the water, she dragged a foot-long silver fish onto the shore.


    After washing it clean, Li Yao brushed a thinyer of salt onto the silver fish and grilled it over the coals.


    The grilled silver fish gave off an aromapletely different from ordinary fish, and the garlic-like translucent fish kes melted in the mouth.


    She had never eaten such delicious fish before, and couldn''t help spearing two more to eat her fill before contentedly lying down by the fire.


    Rest well, there was still the huge karst cave to get through tomorrow.


    She guessed that on the other side of the cave might be apletely new world.


    And her guess was proven right.


    After two days of crawling through a narrow rock crevice, what appeared before Li Yao was an immense t in.


    The temperature here was much higher than the outside, with verdant grass and trees. It looked nothing likete autumn, more like warm spring.


    Wisps of faint mist filled the air, obscuring the distant snow mountains, and a winding brook flowed in from afar, pouring into the karst cave at the foot of the mountain.


    It was truly an earthly paradise, and Li Yao instantly fell in love with it.


    Stepping on the lush grass, Li Yao walked through the oxygen-rich forest. Coming to a ce with sparse trees, scattered red caught her eye in an instant.


    Peppers!


    This discovery delighted her.


    In all her time in this world, she had never seen any sign of chili peppers.


    If she wanted spicy food she could add prickly ash or lots of ginger, but the spicy vors were very different from chili peppers and didn''t suit her pte.


    And now she had finally found them!


    There were long red, green, and purple peppers, and many fallen on the ground.


    She carefully bit into a greener pepper. The familiar spicy vor instantly filled her mouth, making her eyes water.


    With peppers, she could make boiled pork slices, fried eggnt with minced pork, hot pot...


    In an instant, countless mouthwatering dishes involving peppers flooded her mind.


    So she decided that this time, she could take nothing else back, but must harvest all of these peppers.


    She didn''t even bother exploring the surroundings, and went into a frenzy picking peppers. The red ones could be sun-dried, and made into dried chilies, chili oil, or seeds for nting. The green ones could be stir-fried, and any extras pickled in salt to eat slowly.


    In the end Li Yao filled tworge bags, probably over a hundred pounds.


    And in this earthly paradise, besides the peppers and medicinal herbs everywhere, Li Yao also found several lemon trees covered in yellow fruit.


    She picked some lemons, and decided toe back again next spring to transnt some saplings.


    Carrying the two heavy bags of peppers, Li Yao hurried back as fast as she could.


    Arriving homete at night a few dayster, without even resting, Li Yao went straight to the kitchen.


    There were no refrigerators in this time, so the kitchen had no fresh meat. This was a problem - did she really have to kill a chicken in the middle of the night to go with these peppers?


    "Who''s there?" The sounds from the kitchen woke up Da Zhuang, who came over with a wooden stick. Seeing it was Li Yao, he rxed, "Mistress, you''re back. I''ll have the maid cook for you."


    "Is there any meat in the house?" Li Yao asked.


    "There''s dried wolf meat, and two wild rabbits that San''er and Song Zhe bought from Hunter Liu yesterday."


    "Is there any fresh ginger left?"


    "Still some."


    Rabbit, fresh ginger, chili peppers... Li Yao decided, she would make rabbit in dumb sauce!

 Chapter 92: Tea Seed

    <h4>Chapter 92</h4>


    Da Zhuang prepared the rabbit meat, He Xiaoya cooked the rice, and Li Yao took the opportunity to take a nice bath and change into clean clothes. She then personally chopped the rabbit meat into pea-sized cubes, put them in a bowl, and tossed them with salt and pepper powder before adding some starch to marinate.


    The side dish was naturally a big te full of fresh green chili peppers.


    He Xiaoya had never seen chili peppers before and found them very novel.


    "Mother, what are these?"


    "These are called chili peppers, they are very tasty. You can try themter."


    Li Yao poured oil into the wok and heated it to 70% hot before frying the rabbit cubes briefly and taking them out to drain.


    She left some oil in the wok and added lots of Sichuan peppercorn, garlic, ginger, and green onion. After the aromas came out, she added the chili peppers and rabbit cubes and stir-fried them over high heat.


    The firewood stove''s me was very strong. Soon the wok was steaming and the familiar, appetizing aroma filled the entire kitchen.


    Once the rabbit was thoroughly cooked, a te of fragrant and spicy Kung Pao rabbit was ready.


    Li Yao couldn''t wait to pick up her chopsticks and put a piece of rabbit in her mouth. The first thing she tasted was a strong vor of freshness.


    The fresh ginger greatly reduced the gaminess of the rabbit meat and made it taste fresher, an effect that other cooking methods could not achieve.


    Next was the tenderness. The oiled rabbit cubes locked in moisture and tasted just like fish.


    Finally came the numbness and spiciness. It was like a fire igniting in her mouth, recklessly stimting her tongue and lips. It felt like all her pores were sted open at once, and tiny beads of sweat instantly appeared. She felt refreshed all over.


    It had been so long since shest ate such spicy chili peppers. Li Yao admitted she couldn''t quite take the heat, but strangely enough, the spicier it was, the more she wanted to eat it. Though the spiciness was already too much to bear, her chopsticks honestly reached for the te again.


    "You should try it too," she said.


    Da Zhuang and He Xiaoya picked up their chopsticks and carefully ate a little. As if on cue, they both cried out at the same time.


    "So spicy!"


    "Ow... too spicy, can''t take it..."


    The two quickly drank several big gulps of water to recover.


    "Mother, this is way too spicy, we can''t eat it at all," He Xiaoya said.


    Li Yao just smiled without replying.


    You think it''s too spicy now, butter you''ll be fighting over it.


    By now, the rice in the pot had also steamed thoroughly. Li Yao scooped out a big bowlful. The tender rabbit cubes and chili peppers perfectlyplemented the rice, an absolute delight.


    Unconsciously, she had polished off the entire te of Kung Pao rabbit, and the rice in the pot was all gone too. Still wanting more, Li Yao used the crispy rice crust to soak up the oily soup, and each bite was fragrant and crispy, as good as Peking duck!


    After eating her fill and drinking a bowl of refreshing lemon honey water, Li Yao suddenly felt her life was perfect.


    The only regret was that there were too few chili peppers.


    Not daring to indulge further, Li Yao pickled the remaining green chili peppers and put them in jars to use for seasoning dishester.


    She divided the red chili peppers into two portions. One portion she made into chili oil, and the other she threaded onto thin strings to hang under the eaves to dry.


    Dried red chilies could be used not only for cooking but also for hot pot. The seeds could be nted next year. Just thinking about hot pot made Li Yao drool again.


    She had been away in the mountains for so long, the dam was already half built. At this rate, it would be fullypleted in a month at most.


    During her absence, the Song County Magistrate had also been busy with infrastructure projects, and inspired by her, he also nned to mobilize vigers to build small reservoirs in each vige.


    But ideals were plentiful while reality was short on funds.


    The Song County Magistrate racked his brains but couldn''t figure out where to get the money. When he heard Li Yao had returned home, he immediately went to visit her with his wife and the county lieutenant.


    Li Yao thought the magistrate''s n was good, but a rough calction showed that even with just 22 small reservoirs built to minimum standards, it would cost at least 70,000 taels of silver.


    Unless they beat up all the local tyrants in Baichuan County, there was no way they could raise so much money in a short time.


    "I know it''s difficult," the Song County Magistrate said, "but if we miss this chance, we''ll have to wait until next winter. There are too many variables if we dy until then. We must seize the moment and act decisively now."


    "There is a way," Li Yao said, "I''m just not sure if the magistrate is willing to do it."


    The Song County Magistrate quickly asked, "What is it?"


    "Sell soap and cosmetics in the capital city."


    The capital had a huge poption with countless wealthy households. As long as they had enough goods, selling wouldn''t be a problem. But the capital''s powers wereplex, so the magistrate would need to help coordinate.


    The Song County Magistrate was hesitant.


    His family came from a schrly background, his father was currently the director of the Imperial Academy, and they inherently looked down on merchants. He would never agree to help. As an official, the magistrate could not leave Baichuan County either.


    "Sir," the magistrate''s wife then said, "why don''t I go instead?"


    "You..."


    "Don''t worry sir, I can handle this small matter," the wife said. "It would also allow me to do something for the people of Baichuan."


    "Very well, I''ll have to trouble you then!"


    With intent aligned, next was implementation.


    First was capital.


    The Song County Magistrate could not contribute much. Li Yao was still building the dam, so her family certainly didn''t have enough either.


    She then thought of Mr. Lai and Zou Boss. If the three families worked together, they should be able to raise the initial investment.


    The Song County Magistrate would be responsible for procuring raw materials, transportation, and sales.


    As for profits, Li Yao felt there was no need to be so petty. They would take 80,000 taels to build reservoirs from the earnings, and she would split the rest with Mr. Lai and Zou Boss.


    The Song County Magistrate was essentially getting a free ride, so he readily agreed.


    Two dayster,rge quantities of materials began flowing into River Bend Vige nonstop, and Li Yao¡¯s side immediately started work.


    Vigers who were not working on the dam became temporary workers. They set up 10rge cauldrons in the yard to continuously boilrd and stir-fry tea seeds.


    On the first day, they boiled 600 jin ofrd to make 8,000 bars of soap.


    They pressed 150 jin of tea seed oil to make 2,000 bars of cosmetic soap.


    After the first batch of goods was produced, the Song County Magistrate immediately dispatched carriages overnight to deliver them to the Yizhou Prefecture docks, to be shipped to the capital city. His wife apanied the shipment back to the capital to handle sales.


    Li Yao took the time to teach her some marketing techniques and negotiation skills. For this venture, they didn¡¯t aim to maximize profits, only to sell the goods as quickly as possible.


    The magistrate''s wife did not disappoint her expectations, sending back news on the fourth day that supply could not meet demand and to produce faster and in higher volumes.


    Upon hearing this, the Song County Magistrate sent more people to procure materials, scouring almost the entire Yizhou Prefecture. Themon folks of Baichuan County had also picked the mountains clean of tea seeds.


    In Li Yao''s yard, there were people working nonstop day and night.


    In this way, they produced 110,000 bars of soap and 30,000 bars of cosmetics in 10 days. The magistrate''s wife was still urging for more supplies...

 Chapter 93: Hot Pot

    <h4>Chapter 93</h4>


    "That''s enough," said Song County Magistrate, calling for a stop.


    As an official, not a merchant, when the money was sufficient, he would naturally stop.


    Also, if he kept participating, it would prevent Li Yao from making much profit.


    With 110,000 bars of soap, selling each bar at 500 wen, the ie would be 55,000 taels.


    The fragrant soap was 2 taels per bar. With 30,000 bars of fragrant soap, the ie would be 60,000 taels.


    And with total ie being 115,000 taels, the total cost was only 5,000 taels.


    With a profit of 110,000 taels, Song County Magistrate took 80,000 taels, leaving 30,000 taels.


    This money belonged to Li Yao, Mr. Lai and Zou Boss. Li Yao felt it would be good to split it evenly, but Mr. Lai and Zou Boss insisted on taking only 2,000 taels each.


    The remaining 16,000 taels all belonged to Li Yao.


    Everyone was clever and knew not to kill the goose thatys the golden eggs, otherwise there would be no next time.


    Li Yao was also polite with them. After pocketing 16,000 taels of silver bills, she started paying wages to the vigers.


    Referring to the ount book Wang Er wrote every day, she paid 50 wen in wages to everyone who came to work, regardless of gender or age, and also distributed 30 catties of pig fat residue to each person.


    For ordinary vigers, pig fat residue was a good thing.


    After the vigers happily took their wages and pig fat residue home, Li Yao started worrying.


    With suddenly over 10,000 more taels of silver, how would she spend it?


    So she went to Vige Head Wang Jiafu, "I want to buy morend."


    "How much?"


    "All the barren hills in our vige."


    Wang Jiafu: "..."


    There weren''t many barren hills left in He Wan Vige, at most 10,000 mu. At 150 wen per mu, it would only cost 1,500 taels of silver.


    However, reiming these barren hills would require a lot of manpower.


    The vigers of He Wan Vige had things to do again. Every day, hundreds of people carried hoes, led by Da Zhuang to reim wastnd, dig tree pits, and nt cabbage, while He Xiaoya led over a dozen people cooking and delivering meals at home.


    Apart from the mandatory exercise, Li Yao would take time to walk around everywhere, watching her domain undergo changes bit by bit, filling her heart with endless satisfaction.


    After receiving 80,000 taels of silver bills, Song County Magistrate immediately began organizing viges to start building reservoirs.


    In order to make the dams more solid, he also nned to use Li Yao''s method. But this way, a lot more cement would be needed, and Wang Yuanbang''s side was already working 16 hours a day and still couldn''t keep up with the supply.


    Watching the earth-shattering changes taking ce in his jurisdiction, Song County Magistrate also felt endless satisfaction welling up in his heart.


    But his day and night hard work caused dissatisfaction among some people.


    In a private room at Zhang''s Restaurant, there were three people at the table.


    Zhang Guangsheng, the owner of the restaurant, Yu Zhiping, the county magistrate of Baichuan County, and another middle-aged man with a haggard face and sinister eyes.


    Zhang Guangsheng said, "This Song Lian is too unaware of the times! Just for a country girl, he actually made Prefect Hu lose face!"


    Regarding the previous matter with the dry well, Prefect Hu wanted to cover it up and im credit for himself.


    Unexpectedly, Song Lian did not coborate with him. With one move of "praying for rain in public", almost everyone knew that reopening the well was Li Yao''s achievement alone.


    Later, when he wanted to get rid of Li Yao, the people he sent never returned.


    Although the current emperor was advanced in age, he was not muddle-headed at all. Left Minister Song An was even more perceptive. After a simple investigation, he figured out the truth.


    Luckily, he was Right Minister Zhu Zilin''s man.


    The Right Minister suppressed the matter single-handedly and did not let the Emperor know, otherwise his hat as an official might not have been kept.


    But even so, he was reprimanded by the Right Minister for dereliction of duty, causing him trouble.


    So he resented Song County Magistrate and Li Yao deeply.


    If he didn''t avenge this grudge, he wouldn''t even be able to sleep.


    Thus he sent the shrewder Zhang Liao to Baichuan County to find a chance to remove Song Lian''s hat as an official. But Song Lian governed cleanly and was increasingly well regarded among the people, so there was simply no dirt to be found on him.


    "There is a way, but it requires the effort of County Magistrate Yu," said Zhang Liao. "Don''t worry, as long as it seeds, Prefect Hu will not forget to reward you."


    Yu Zhiping was overjoyed.


    He hated Song Lian so much. With Song Lian around, he couldn''t skim a penny.


    "Master Zhang, please tell me. As long as Mr. Yu can aplish it, I will certainly not decline."


    "You just need to do this and that," said Zhang Liao.


    After hearing Zhang Liao''s scheme, Yu Zhiping''s eyeballs rolled several times before he steeled himself, "I''ll do it!"


    ...


    "My lord, don''t go today. Rest for a day."


    "No, building reservoirs concerns people''s lives, so I must personally supervise."


    Madam Song sighed lightly in her heart.


    Ever since he started this infrastructure business, Song County Magistrate had lost several circles. How could she not feel heartache?


    "Then I''ll go with you, so I can attend to you."


    After Song County Magistrate left with a group of people, Yu Zhiping came to the county government. Seeing no one around, he sneaked into Song County Magistrate''s study and rummaged around. Finally he took away the official county seal.


    This was Zhang Liao''s n.


    Losing the official seal would surely cost Song Lian his hat as long as it was investigated.


    ...


    Today was the winter solstice.


    Eatingmb on the winter solstice could keep one warm throughout the winter.


    As the richest person in He Wan Vige, Li Yao decided to take today off and treat everyone tomb - all who worked for her family could have some!


    To this end, Wang Yuanguo had bought over a dozen sheep and brought them back three days ago. Now, several skilled sheep butchers in the vige had processed all the sheep.


    The stoves usedst time to renderrd came in handy again, with 10rge pots simmering whitemb soup simultaneously.


    The fragrance ofmb drifted around the yard, and several vigers were vigorously making noodles. Those who were free helped out everywhere, with happiness and satisfaction beaming from their faces.


    "Our Li Yao is just different," said an olddy. "Unlike others, she didn''t forget her roots after making money."


    "It''s a pity she''s a woman, otherwise she would definitely have been vige head instead of Wang Jiafu," someone said disdainfully.


    "What''s vige head worth?" someone else retorted. "If she were a man, she would definitely have be county magistrate!"


    ...


    Li Yao had no thoughts of bing a county magistrate. She was busy in the kitchen at the moment.


    While the vigers ate stewedmb,mb soup andmb noodle soup, she was preparing to have hot pot andmb slices for dipping!


    To eat hot pot, the soup base had to be prepared first.


    Various spices, chili slices, Sichuan peppercorn werebined in proportion, soaked in water for 20 minutes, then drained and air dried. Bake over low heat to drive off moisture and set aside.


    Heat oil in pot, add peanut oil,rd, and beef tallow. When oil is 40% hot, add plenty of ginger slices and green onion whites, fry until browned then remove from oil. Add chili paste and simmer for a moment. Finally add spices and a small amount of water, white sugar, and fermented bean curd. When the aroma of the spices has infused, remove from heat.


    Then let it rest, allowing the various fragrances, spiciness and numbness to slowly develop.


    When eating, just add the soup made from pork bones and beef bones.


    As for ingredients, she had Wang Yuanguo procure quite a lot from the prefectural city.


    Things like pork stomach,mb slices, beef slices, duck intestines, goose intestines, duck blood... she basically got all she could.


    Although it cost a lot, and was quite wasteful in He Xiaoya''s eyes, Li Yao didn''t care.


    She had plenty of savings to begin with, and was earning several dozen taels a day. What was the harm in asionally splurging a bit?

 Chapter 94: Punishment of Crimes

    <h4>Chapter 94</h4>


    Twilight arrived, and the vigers happily carriedmb meat andmb soup back home. Li Yao''s family also sat together around the table.


    Li Yao had a carpenter make a round table with a hole in the middle, and asked a cksmith to make a pot. Now the pot sat on the table above a coal fire. The soup had started boiling, and the familiar smell of hot pot made Li Yao feel like her soul would leave her body.


    "Let''s eat!"


    Li Yao picked up a slice of tripe and put it in the pot, silently counting to 10 seconds, then quickly fished it out.


    She dipped it in the small dish of scallions, garlic paste, and sesame oil, then immediately put it in her mouth.


    The familiar numb, spicy, crispy sensation.


    But she suddenly realized the children and Song Zhe still hadn''t picked up their chopsticks.


    "Why aren''t you eating?"


    "Can we really eat it after just scalding it briefly?" He Xiaoya asked. "Won''t it be raw?"


    Looks like she''d have to eat and teach at the same time.


    "Different foods need to be cooked for different lengths of time. Scald the tripe for 10 counts."


    He Xiaoya followed her instructions, scalding a slice of tripe, then carefully put it in her mouth. Her expression then became rather strange, a bit pained, a bit enjoying it, but mostly surprised.


    "Although it''s spicy and numb, it''s so fragrant and crispy. Makes me want to keep eating it."


    Seeing she wasn''t afraid, the others also followed suit.


    At first they ate carefully, not quite used to the spicy vor, but gradually they got over their fear.


    Just like He Xiaoya said, it made them want to keep eating!


    The table full of ingredients visibly decreased at a rapid pace.


    "Mother, how many counts for themb?"


    "What about the goose intestine?"


    "The duck stomach is cooked, hurry and eat it!"


    ...


    "Mrs. Li! Open the door!"


    Right after finishing the delicious hot pot, a woman''s voice sounded outside the door.


    Dazhuang opened the door to find it was the maid Xiaocui of the county magistrate''s wife.


    "I have an urgent matter to discuss with Mrs. Li."


    Dazhuang led Xiaocui inside, but she refused to speak in front of everyone. Li Yao then called her into the bedroom.


    "Mrs. Li," Xiaocui said anxiously, "the county magistrate has run into trouble!"


    It turned out when the county magistrate returned today, he discovered the official county seal was missing. He knew someone must be trying to frame him, and could guess who was behind it, but unfortunately he absolutely could not make a big fuss about this.


    If the theft of the county seal got out and was verified, not only would he lose his position, but he''d also end up in prison.


    And the thief who stole the seal must also clearly understand this, which is why they dared to act so boldly.


    After thinking hard, the county magistrate still couldn''te up with a good solution, soter under the prompting of his wife, he sent Xiaocui to find Li Yao.


    "The mistress said that Mrs. Li is extremely wise, and certainly coulde up with a good n. Also, in Baichuan County, she''s the only one we can trust," Xiaocui said. "I beg Mrs. Li to please help the master, I kneel before you..."


    "Don''t kneel!" Li Yao quickly helped her up. "It''s not that big of a deal."


    Xiaocui was overjoyed: "So Mrs. Li already has a n?"


    It was just an official seal. As long as she knew the general goal, Li Yao could easily take it back.


    Also, this county magistrate really was a rare good official.


    "Let''s go to the county office now."


    When Li Yao arrived, the county magistrate couple was anxious as ants on a hot pan.


    The county magistrate''s wife had cried so much even her eyes were swollen. The county magistrate also kept sighing: "I really didn''t expect that in order to overthrow me, someone would dare to act so recklessly!"


    "Miss Li," the county magistrate''s wife tightly grasped Li Yao''s hands. "This time whether our family''s master lives or dies all depends on you."


    "It''s no big deal for me, at worst I''d be exiled 3,000 li," the county magistrate said. "But with me gone, I''m afraid those unfinished roads and reservoirs will..." In the end themon people will suffer."


    "Lord County Magistrate," Li Yao said, "don''t be overly worried. I have a n that will not only safely retrieve the official seal..."


    "Truly?"


    "You just need to tell me who is most likely to have stolen the seal."


    The county magistrate couple exchanged a nce, then finally said: "Today every person at the county office went out with me, only the vice magistrate Yu took leave."


    Vice Magistrate Yu?


    In Li Yao''s mind instantly appeared a rat-eyed face.


    The vice magistrate was also an official appointed by the court, chosen from among the local examination graduates and tribute students. But in a remote ce like Baichuan County where almost no one had ever passed the exams, the position was generally filled by prestigious local gentry and external officials.


    Vice Magistrate Yu was a famous wealthy gentry of Baichuan County and had held the position for over 10 years.


    Li Yao described her n. The county magistrate couple was overjoyed to hear it.


    "Mrs. Li, such an ingenious n could only be thought of by you!" the county magistrate said. "But that Yu fellow will surely be on guard. I wonder who Mrs. Li ns to send to retrieve the seal?"


    "You needn''t worry about that. I''ll make arrangements."


    ...


    Li Yao left the county office by a back door, then under the night''s cover went to Vice Magistrate Yu''s residence.


    As a wealthy gentry, Yu''s home was a massive five-section courtyard residence. She climbed over the back wall onto the roof, and found Yu''s study.


    At that time there were several oilmps lit in the study, and voices could be heard talking inside. Li Yao gently lifted a few roof tiles to get a full view of the scene below.


    "Congrattions Vice Magistrate Yu, you''ve achieved great merit this time!" It was Zhang Guangsheng, owner of Zhang''s Restaurant.


    "I''ve already sent someone to swiftly pass on the news, the prefect will know about it tomorrow," Zhang Liao said. "By then the prefect can easily convict him of crimes!"


    "That Song fellow will never get back on his feet again in this life!"


    ...


    Listening to their conversation, Li Yao roughly grasped what was going on. No wonder Yu dared to act so boldly, even stealing the official seal. It turned out he had the covert support of the prefect.


    Li Yao waited on the roof until midnight, then soundlessly sneaked into the study and took the official seal locked in a box. She then swiftly returned to the county office.


    The county magistrate couple had made preparations. Seeing her finally return, they hurriedly asked: "Did you seed?"


    Li Yao handed the seal to the county magistrate. Only then did the huge stone weighing down the couple''s hearts finallynd on the ground.


    "But the prefect secretly orchestrated this matter."


    The county magistrate was shocked to find the prefect was also involved.


    "It''s the same everywhere, I see," the county magistrate sighed lightly. "Although my office is lowly, I cannot allow him to act so improperly. I will petition this to His Majesty right away!"


    "Wait until we obtain evidence," Li Yao said. "Have you found the person you asked for?"


    "He''s been waiting a while."


    Li Yao had the county magistrate find a cksmith. She wanted to make a replica of the official seal to look as real as possible.


    The one found was an old cksmith surnamed Xu. In his youth he had been the most famous artisan in Baichuan County, but now over 60 years old, his strength and skills had long declined. He hadnguished idle at home for several years.


    Old Man Xu didn''t ask many questions. As he melted the brass, he used the real seal to make a mold. Soon a replica seal was produced.


    Next was polishing and artificial aging.


    With abundant experience and consummate skills, he finished it before dawn.


    Li Yao took the two seals, along with a forged letter, and once again went to Vice Magistrate Yu''s residence. She put the fake seal back in its original ce in the study, and hid the real seal and letter in a cab in Yu''s bedroom.


    Afterpleting this, her mission was aplished.


    "Mr. Xu," after returning to the county office, Li Yao said to the old cksmith. "My home happens to need some items made. Pleasee stay with us for a few days."


    Old Man Xu understood she was worried he might let something slip, so without hesitation he followed Li Yao back to Hejiang Vige.


    Meanwhile, the county magistrate''s side busily made arrangements ording to Li Yao''s n.

 Chapter 95: Arson

    <h4>Chapter 95</h4>


    That evening, everyone in the county government office received notice that recently everyone had been working very hard, so County Magistrate Song prepared a banquet to reward everyone.


    The banquet was held within the county government office.


    Although they felt the cooks in the county office couldn''t make anything tasty, since it was County Magistrate Song hosting, everyone naturally had to attend.


    The banquet was decent, and there was plenty of good wine.


    "Today, don''t be restrained. Drink freely!"


    With these words, several clerks who were usually not allowed to drink much happily started drinking heartily.


    County Magistrate Song saw that County Captain Zhang hadn''t drunk much, so he deliberately toasted him several times. County Captain Zhang was overjoyed to be favored in this way, and obediently drank every time, soon bing red-faced.


    Just when everyone was having a great time, a thick smoke suddenly drifted over, and mes shot up from the rooftops of all the county office buildings.


    "This is bad, there''s a fire!"


    "We''re trapped inside, hurry and put out the fire!"


    ...


    Everyone panicked, but the fire spread too quickly, soon trapping the drunk crowd inside the courtyard.


    "The county seal!"


    County Magistrate Song shouted and rushed into the study at top speed, rescuing the box containing the county seal.


    He looked around and went to County Captain Zhang: "County Captain Zhang, take the county seal and hurry out... No, you''ve had too much to drink!"


    County Captain Zhang: ...


    He really wanted to p himself. It was all because he was greedy for wine!


    County Magistrate Song turned and shoved the box into Vice Magistrate Yu''s arms: "Vice Magistrate Yu, right now you''re the only one I can trust. You must protect the county seal! The rest of you,e with me to fight the fire, hurry!"


    With a wave of his hand, County Magistrate Song led the others to join the firefighting efforts, leaving Vice Magistrate Yu alone in the chaos of the mes.


    When he took the box, he had already noticed - this was an empty box!


    But Song had already turned to leave, not giving him a chance to open the box. Everyone saw Song entrust the county seal to him, so if it went missingter, it could only be his fault for losing it.


    Coming to his senses, Vice Magistrate Yu realized he had fallen into a trap.


    Although he was furious, there was nothing he could do. He could only put his personal seal into the box and return it to Magistrate Song afterwards.


    "Surnamed Song, you win this round!"


    ...


    Although County Magistrate Song personally led the efforts, and the entire Baichuan town participated in fighting the ze, because the fire was too big and fierce, they worked until dawn before finally extinguishing all the mes.


    The entire county office had almost been reduced to ruins.


    "Luckily all the documents and seals were rescued, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable!"


    County Magistrate Song sat down outside the county office gate, exhausted. The officials and clerks inside the office were alsopletely worn out.


    After resting a while, County Captain Zhang, his face ck with soot, suddenly realized something strange about the great fire.


    "County Magistrate," he quickly said, "I''m afraid this fire is not so simple."


    "What do you mean?"


    "The fire spread too quickly, and started on all four sides," said County Captain Zhang. "I suspect someone deliberately set the fire!"


    County Magistrate Song greatly appreciated County Captain Zhang''s astuteness.


    He was right - this great fire was deliberately set, just not by someone else but by Song himself.


    But in acting, one naturally had to act convincingly.


    "Now that you mention it, it does seem very suspicious," County Magistrate Song said. "But I haven''t held a grudge with anyone since taking office... County Captain Zhang, do you have any suspects in mind?"


    "Not at the moment, but I will find out!"


    "Then send people to investigate immediately," County Magistrate Song said. "Setting fire to the county office is a serious crime! Once the perpetrator is found, they must be punished severely!"


    "Yes sir!"


    County Captain Zhang took a group of clerks to investigate. Only then did Vice Magistrate Yue forward holding the box.


    By now the box was heavy again, as he had put the county seal back inside.


    "The great fire is extinguished, so I should return the county seal to you."


    "Is it damaged at all?"


    "Perfectly intact."


    "Good, very good," County Magistrate Song said. "Vice Magistrate Yu protected the county sealmendably. The county will reward you."


    "You''re too kind..."


    "No need to decline, you''ve earned it." County Magistrate Song said, "Clerk, hurry and write amendation order, then stamp it with the county seal and post it all over the county, to publicize Vice Magistrate Yu''s merit!"


    "Yes sir!"


    The clerk immediately fetched paper and brush, and a letter ofmendation was ready in no time. County Magistrate Song opened the box and took out the county seal, stamping it heavily onto the letter.


    But the sharp-eyed clerk quickly noticed a problem.


    "Sir, there seems to be something wrong with this seal."


    "What''s wrong with it?"


    "Look," the clerk pointed to the corner of therge seal, "this part seems different from the previous county seal."


    Afterparing them, the seal just stamped did indeed have slight differences from the previous one.


    "What is going on here?" County Magistrate Song eximed in shock. "Could the county seal have been swapped out?"


    "County Magistrate, we used this seal just yesterday afternoon," said the clerk. "If it was swapped out, it could only have happened..."


    As he spoke, the clerk looked towards Vice Magistrate Yu, the implication clear as day.


    By now, Vice Magistrate Yu was dumbfounded.


    After stealthily taking the seal back, he had confirmed it was genuine. Just now he had definitely put the stolen seal into the box, so why had it be fake?


    "Vice Magistrate Yu," County Magistrate Song asked solemnly, "what exnation do you have?"


    "County Magistrate, I don''t know!" Vice Magistrate Yu knelt on the ground with a thud. "However the seal looked when you gave it to me, that''s how I returned it to you..."


    "So you''re saying I faked the county seal?"


    "No, no..."


    "Audacious Yu Yi!" County Magistrate Song angrily roared, "I trusted you so much, entrusting you to protect the county seal in a crisis, yet you took the chance to forge a counterfeit. You are truly shameless! What malicious intent do you harbor?"


    "Your Honor, I''m wrongly used, I didn''t..."


    "No more useless words. County Captain Zhang!"


    "Here sir!"


    "Hurry and gather men to search Vice Magistrate Yu''s residence with me. We must find the real county seal!"


    "Yes sir!"

 Chapter 96: Good Phenomena

    <h4>Chapter 96</h4>


    Led by Song County Magistrate, arge group of people rushed to the home of Yu County Vice Magistrate. Themon people who came to watch the bustlepletely blocked the entrance.


    Zhang County Sheriff brought over a dozen yamen runners and easily found the real official seal and a letter in the closet of Yu County Vice Magistrate''s bedroom.


    Seeing the genuine official seal taken out from his own bedroom, Yu County Vice Magistrate waspletely dumbfounded. When he saw the letter he knew nothing about, he felt like all his bones had been taken out and he copsed limply on the ground.


    "Yu Yi!" In front of everyone, Song County Magistrate asked, "Now that we have obtained both the stolen goods and the culprit, do you have anything else to say?"


    "No...not me..."


    "I know it wasn''t you," Song County Magistrate said. "Even if you had ten times the guts, you wouldn''t dare do something so presumptuous. If you honestly tell me who instructed you to do this, I might spare your life and ensure your family will not be humiliated."


    Yu Yi knew he was finished this time.


    But if he died, his wife and children definitely could not protect their family property and would quickly lose everything.


    Finally he steeled his heart and gritted his teeth. "I''ll tell!"


    ...


    "Why must a king speak only of profit? There is still benevolence and righteousness." The king said, "How can I profit my country?" The minister said, "How can I profit my family..."


    In the bright and spacious room, Tutor L¨¹ was reading passages from Mencius to Wang Er and Song Zhe. Looking in through the window, Li Yao saw that Song Zhe, who used to be naughty and slept during lessons, was now listening attentively.


    This was a good sign.


    However, because he had to work half a day every day, Song Zhe had be as dark as an African and much thinner.


    His parents might not even recognize him when they saw him again.


    Right when she was thinking about him, Song County Magistrate''s carriage stopped outside. After the road was fixed, carriages could now easily enter Huanwan Vige.


    If not for Li Yao this time, not only would Song County Magistrate''s career bepletely ruined, he might even be thrown in jail. So he came specially to thank her.


    "Mrs. Li''s kindness is unforgettable for Song."


    Calling himself "Song" instead of "this official" or "this county" was enough to show his sincerity.


    "Magistrate Song is too polite. These are all small matters not worth mentioning." Li Yao said, "You also haven''t seen Song Zhe for a long time. Why don''t I ask someone to call him back?"


    "There''s no hurry," the magistrate''s wife said. "We came today to thank you, and also have a request."


    The county yamen was burned down by a fire and could not be rebuilt immediately. So the magistrate''s wife wanted to stay with Li Yao for some time, which would also allow her to look after Song Zhe.


    Li Yao readily agreed. Her home had many empty rooms.


    After settling the magistrate''s wife, Song County Magistrate bid farewell and took his carriage to visit the construction sites in various viges.


    After chatting with Li Yao for a while, the magistrate''s wife saw Du Xiao Hui and Song Zhe return from cutting grass in the mountains.


    She had missed her son very much after not seeing him for some time, but upon seeing Song Zhe she almost could not recognize him.


    Her original son was fair and fat, but now dark and sturdy, like a young ox.


    "Mother, why are you just standing there?" Song Zhe said. "Please sit with Aunt Li a while longer. I picked some almond flower buds and will make flower tea for you now."


    The magistrate''s wife began to doubt again, was this really her son?


    When had her son be so sensible and polite?


    And learned how to make tea?


    But even more surprises awaited her.


    After making the flower tea, Song Zhe began helping to feed the goslings, sweep the yard, and asionally went into the kitchen to help He Xiaoya stoke the cooking fire.


    When lunch was ready, he took the initiative to serve the dishes and rice, and finally respectfully came before Li Yao and her: "Aunt Li, Mother, lunch is ready."


    "Oh..."


    The magistrate''s wife looked at Li Yao, very curious how she had educated her previously naughty and mischievous son so well.


    "Actually there''s nothing much to it," Li Yao said. "Going through more hardships naturally makes one more sensible."


    "Right," the magistrate''s wife said. "Last time in the capital when buying soap, many major merchants kept trying to partner with me. I declined them all then. If you''re willing, I can have theme over, to thank you as well."


    Li Yao already had ns for selling soap and simr items nationally, even overseas. With transportation and information so undeveloped in this era, distant branches could not be supervised, so seeking agents was better. The people introduced by the magistrate''s wife were perfect for testing the waters.


    So the magistrate''s wife wrote several letters and urgently sent them to the capital to contact those major merchants.


    ...


    Ten dayster, threevishly dressed merchants arrived in Baichuan County on luxurious carriages.


    Upon seeing the remote rural area, Huang Daoming really did not want to go to Huanwan Vige. He said to Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan who came with him: "Brothers Jia and Liu, after such a long and tiring journey, why don''t we just rest at the inn and have this Li Yaoe see us."


    Hearing this, Jia and Liuughed and agreed.


    After sending someone to Huanwan Vige to summon Li Yao, the three checked into the inn.


    The one sent was Xiao Quanzi. Upon asking for Li Yao''s residence in Huanwan Vige and arriving at her gate, he pounded heavily on the door.


    "Is Mrs. Li home? I''m from the capital! My master said you muste quickly!"


    The magistrate''s wife, who was drinking tea with Li Yao, frowned slightly. Whose servant was this?


    Just as she was about to have a maid ask, Li Yao raised her hand to stop her: "I''ll have someone go deal with it."


    With a look from Li Yao, Wang San''er who was practicing archery in the yard came to the gate.


    "My mother''s not home,e back another day."


    Xiao Quanzi did not dare return withoutpleting his master''s orders. But he was not worried either, given his master''s status.


    "Boy, do you know who my master is?"


    "Who?"


    "Let me tell you," Xiao Quanzi arrogantly said. "My master is the number one merchant in the capital - Master Huang Daoming Huang! His uncle on his father''s side is the current Minister of Rites, Huang the Gentleman of the Interior!"


    "Huang the dead wolf?" Wang San''er frowned. "I have heard of Huang the rat wolf."


    "You...you actually show disrespect to the Gentleman! Don''t you fear your entire family being executed?" Xiao Quanziughed. "Considering a country bumpkin like you has never seen the world, I won''t fuss over it today. Hurry and call your mother back to follow me see my master!"


    "Scram."

 Chapter 97: Annoyed

    <h4>Chapter 97</h4>


    Bang!


    Wang San''er mmed the door shut and couldn''t help butugh.


    Wanting to buy the soap Mother made, and still asking Mother to go see them herself, they really think we are beneath them!


    Keep practicing archery.


    Xiao Quanzi was left outside with the closed door. Revealing his identity only to be ignored by a country bumpkin, he was so angry his teeth itched.


    "Just you wait until the young master teaches you a lesson!"


    Returning to the inn, Xiao Quanzi exaggerated and depicted the Li family as vicious viins.


    "Young master, your servant being cursed at is nothing," Xiao Quanzi said aggrievedly, "But for amoner to be so rude and disrespect an official like you, it is truly an unforgivable crime!"


    Huang Daoqing had thought he could take a nap at the inn andplete this business trip, but an incident urred and he was quite angry.


    So he immediately went to find Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan to discuss what to do next, but was told they went into town to wander about, not knowing when they''d be back.


    Huang Daoqing smacked his forehead, damn it!


    What is there to wander about in destitute Baichuan County?


    These two must have secretly slipped away to He Wan vige to negotiate with Li Yao first.


    "Those treacherous merchants!"


    "Xiao Quanzi, ready the carriage!"


    ...


    Bang bang bang!


    Xiao Quanzi had just stepped out when more people came knocking on the door.


    "Excuse me, is this the Li Yao, Lady of He Wan vige''s home?"


    Hearing the visitor speak politely, Wang San''er opened the door a crack, "Who are you? What business do you have with my mother?"


    "Oh ho, so it''s Young Master Wang," Jia Zhanliangughed amiably, "We are merchants from the capital here to discuss a business cooperation with Lady Li, please introduce us."


    Seeing they spoke politely, Wang San''er opened the door and invited them in.


    Just seeing the sprawling estate of the Li family from outside, they already felt it was extraordinary. Nowing inside, they were even more shocked.


    Theyout of this residence was far grander and more magnificent than any five or seven courtyards mansion, indicating its owner was nomon vige woman, but someone of great ability.


    Meeting Li Yao in person further confirmed their judgment.


    As merchants from the capital, they had met countless people, but never anyone as outstanding as Li Yao. The county magistrate''s wife sitting beside her was like a dispensable essory.


    "Greetings Lady Li, greetings Lady Song."


    "Please sit," Li Yao said. "Xiao Hui, serve tea."


    After Jia and Liu sat down, Du Xiao Hui immediately brought over two bowls of hot tea, then carried over a small table and stools from inside the room for their servants to rest on, and also served them tea.


    This thoughtful gesture made the two men admire Li Yao even more.


    Usually people would just have servants wait by the door. Who would specially prepare tables, chairs and tea for them?


    "Lady Li, we..."


    "I already know why you''re here," Li Yao cut straight to the point, taking out a contract she had prepared in advance. "But to work with me, you''ll have to follow my rules. Take a look, if there''s no issues we can sign today."


    Sign today?


    Jia and Liu looked at each other in surprise.


    Earlier the county magistrate''s wife''s letter said this Lady Li was straightforward in her dealings, but they didn''t expect her to be this bold.


    Yet within this boldness, there seemed to be a hint of despotism.


    So the two quickly read through the contract from start to finish, and became even more certain Li Yao was a tyrant.


    Such as paying exorbitant deposits, cash before delivery, uniform shop fronts, uniform pricing...this was clearly a bunch of tyrannical terms!


    "Lady Li," Jia Zhanliang''s face showed difficulty, "I can ept the rest, but this uniform pricing, may I ask why?"


    "To swiftly capture market share."


    Soap is simr to pancreatin, and not too hard to make. Soon anyone interested could figure it out.


    When that timees, hoarding massive amounts of goods for low price dumping, Li Yao''s expensive soap would lose initiative in the market.


    So earning more money is unimportant, rapidly seizing the national market, deeply carving the "Li Yao Soap of He Wan Vige" brand into people''s minds, this was Li Yao''s main goal.


    "But this price is too low," Liu Yuan said, "100 wen per bar, the difference from before is too great, I''m afraid there would be no profit."


    "How many people are there in the whole world?" Li Yao asked.


    "Over 30 million."


    "Even if each person only used 1 bar of soap per year, and we only made 20 wen profit per bar, how much total profit would that be?"


    Jia and Liu could still calcte this.


    Over 600,000 taels of silver!


    Even for them this was an astronomical sum.


    "But can we really sell that much?"


    "That''s why we need to swiftly capture the market," Li Yao said. "My business is not just one city or prefecture, but the entire world. If you''re willing to join, sign the contract. If you feel it won''t work, I won''t see you out."


    Jia and Liu were left speechless by Li Yao''s momentum.


    How could a woman who had never left the rural countryside of Baichuan County have such vision? She really was an extraordinary person.


    "Signed!"


    The two swiftly signed the contract.


    To celebrate everyone boarding the ship of friendship, Li Yao personally cooked today, ughtering themb Liu Yuan gifted and setting up a temporary stove in the yard to roast a wholemb.


    Then without any distinction between host and guest, everyone gathered around the fire pit, cutting meat with knives while chatting about news from all corners of the world.


    Gradually the two realized Li Yao seemed to know more than they did, and couldn''t help but sigh in admiration internally.


    While theting Huang Daoqing could only eat closed doors, fuming till smoke came out of his seven orifices.


    Li Yao''s agency contract with Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan had already divided the country into north and south regions, bing the two major general agents.


    If he still wanted to do the soap business, he could only be a subordinate agent, eating others'' leftovers.


    Traveling thousands of miles yet gaining nothing, Huang Daoqing was extremely annoyed.


    "Go to Yi Prefecture to find Prefect Hu!"


    "No matter what, we must seize this business!"

 Chapter 98: Dull

    <h4>Chapter 98</h4>


    With the agent, Li Yao''s soap workshop needed to expand production. But achieving nationwide supply was easier said than done.


    Expanding production required considering raw material purchases, transportation costs, etc. In short, it was a systematic undertaking.


    Fortunately, there was no need to build factories elsewhere for now. Rebuilding arge workshop in the vige should meet market demand for the next two years.


    After spending two days designing a rtively advanced workshop, she left construction matters to the Vige Head to oversee. The workers were naturally fellow vigers.


    ording to the Vige Chief''s estimate, it could bepleted before the new year to start production.


    Watching over two hundred people starting to dig the foundations, Li Yao considered how to groom managers.


    Therge workshop was different from the small one, requiring more advanced and efficient management models, otherwise it would be a mess.


    To learn her management style required flexibility and at least basic literacy and math skills.


    So Wang Xueshi was definitely unsuitable, but grooming others posed a big problem.


    After thinking all night, she finally decided that for grooming talent, she had to start from the children.


    So the next day, she halted all activities and had the Vige Chief gather all vigers together.


    "You must have heard that we''re building arge workshop," Li Yao said to the vigers. "Therge workshop means more workers and more money earned."


    Hearing this, the vigers were overjoyed.


    Just as they were eager to sign up, Li Yao added: "But therge workshop also means higher requirements."


    "What kind of requirements just to be a worker, Li Sister-in-Law?"


    "Workers can still be like before, just reliable," Li Yao said. "But to be a foreman or lead foreman, earning 30 or 50 taels a year, you must at least be a xiucai."


    30, 50 taels a year?


    The vigers were stunned.


    What kind of heavenly sry was this, more than even a county magistrate''s?


    But with the requirement of a xiucai, it looked like only others could benefit.


    After all, there wasn''t a single xiucai in He Wan vige. The most educated was a fake xiucai.


    "Isn''t that too difficult, Li Yao?" Even the Vige Chief said, "There are so few educated people in our vige. Where can we find so many xiucai?"


    "That''s why I gathered everyone today," Li Yao said. "Without educated people, we''ll groom them. Without xiucai, we''ll go take the exams. I want to fund building a school and let all school-aged children in the vige study for free. In a few years, our vige will surely produce many xiucai, maybe even a juren."


    All the vige children receiving free education?


    Everyone was a bit dumbfounded.


    It seemed they had never heard of something like this before in their ancestors'' time, right?


    Why not? Because most people couldn''t even afford books, let alone expensive private tutoring.


    "I support Li Yao," Vige Head Wang Jiafu loudly said. "The vige still has some money from thend sale. I''ve decided to contribute half to building the school. We can''t let her shoulder everything alone."


    As another head of a major family, Fang Shian also stepped forward: "Our Fang family is also willing to contribute 300 taels."


    "But I must emphasize," the Vige Chief said, "after the school is built, your brats must alle study for me!"


    "Haha, look at you saying that," Zhu Yougui suddenlyughed. "If they don''te, what can you do, tie them up and drag them there?"


    The Vige Chief was rendered speechless for a moment.


    He was the Vige Chief, but had no authority to order vigers to do anything. He could only persuade.


    But if the school was built and few people attended, wouldn''t it be a wasted effort, squandering Li Yao''s good intentions?


    "Vige Chief, I think we should just forget it," someone took the chance to say. "Let the kids do some work. They can also earn money at the workshop. Studying just eats food from the family for nothing."


    "That''s right. How many families can afford to feed multiple non-working children?"


    "I think sending one per family is still possible."


    ...


    Hearing the lively discussion, Li Yao sighed inwardly.


    These ancients still didn''t grasp the importance of education, only seeing immediate benefits.


    Ignorant.


    But she had already expected this reaction and prepared countermeasures.


    "Since it''s a school I''m funding, I will set some rules," Li Yao said. "In the future, for families with children aged 7-15 who don''t attend school, I won''t hire anyone from that family for any job, nor let them work in my workshops to earn money. The children I refer to includes not just boys, but girls as well."


    Upon hearing this, the scene immediately exploded.


    Since ancient times, what logic was there in girls receiving education too?


    "Li Yao," the Vige Chief said, "isn''t it a bit..."


    Before he finished speaking, Li Yao directly interrupted him. "Why can''t girls study? Let me make this clear. Families whose daughters don''t attend school, including their whole n and rtives, I won''t use any of them in the future. I might as well move my workshop and family to the town, and find people in other viges to hire."


    If she really moved away, the vigers would lose the chance to benefit from her presence. They were very clear on this.


    But letting girls study meant much lessbor and ie for families.


    Many were suddenly conflicted, not knowing how to decide.


    At this time, Wang Xueshi stood up and loudly proimed, "Girls should study! From now on, I''ll send all the girls in my family to school!"


    "Granny Wang, with your four sons all earning money, of course you can do that," someone said. "If we losebor, I''m afraid we won''t be able to put food on the table."


    "Then you''re useless!" Wang Xueshi retorted. "If you were educated and became a xiucai, couldn''t you get a job in Li Yao''s workshop and earn tens of taels a year?"


    "I wish I could, but sadly I''m not..."


    "Then you should let your child study even more," Wang Xueshi said. "Work harder now, and when your child bes a xiucai, your family can enjoy prosperity."


    Hearing this, everyone felt she made sense and started bing convinced.


    Seeing the change, Li Yao continued: "In the future, I''ll open many more workshops and need many people. But I''ll slowly only want educated workers and pay those higher wages, much more than the illiterate."


    "Alright, I''ll send my granddaughter to study too!"


    "Our family as well!"


    ...


    In a short time, most families voiced their stance on the spot. As for those few holdouts, Li Yao didn''t try persuading further.


    She had already presented the opportunity. If they didn''t cherish it, they could only me themselves.


    But she believed that even those who disagreed now would send both boys and girls to school after seeing the benefits of education.

 Chapter 99: Can’t Get in

    <h4>Chapter 99</h4>


    Li Yao was not worried about building the new schoolhouse, as the old vige chief was arranging it. But she wanted to pay attention to the new students who would be recruited. There were many empty houses in her home, so Li Yao cleared out three of them to use as temporary ssrooms.


    Two dayster, the Vige Head brought her a name list. There were 35 children from the vige who had signed up, including 12 girls who had never touched a textbook before.


    "Liu Xichun, Wu Pinggui...the children from these families did note," the Vige Head said. "Should I go persuade them again?"


    "No need to persuade."


    Li Yao meant what she said. She immediately settled the wages for the people from those families who had helped her work. As long as their children did not go to school for a day, she would not hire them for a day.


    Seeing her resoluteness, everyone knew she was serious. A few families hurriedly went to the Vige Head again to add their children''s names to the list.


    On the official "first day of school", 40 children of varying sizes neatly gathered at her door.


    "Since you havee, you must study diligently," Li Yao said. "Whoever dares to make trouble, don''t me me for spanking you!"


    Li Yao''s words frightened the children so much that they shrunk their necks back, knowing better than to provoke her.


    But the benefit of going to school was not having to work, which was the biggest motivation for these children at the moment.


    As for the teaching master, Li Yao had already asked County Magistrate Song to help find one, but it would take some time. So for now, Schr Lv would be the main teacher, with Wang Er and Song Zhe asionally helping out.


    The schoolhouse in He Wan Vige was thus established.


    Hearing the not-so-orderly reading sounds, Li Yao suddenly felt as if she had returned to modern times.


    The county magistrate''s wife had witnessed the whole thing from beginning to end. She admired Li Yao to no end and took out several dozen taels from her limited private money to donate to the construction of the He Wan Vige schoolhouse.


    With the joint efforts of the vigers, the school building was quicklypleted.


    The spacious and bright ssrooms totaled six. There were also three rooms to be used as offices for the teachers. In addition, a row of elegant houses was built to temporarily amodate the teaching masters.


    On the day the school waspleted, almost all the vigers gathered at the school entrance. Song County Magistrate also came with his men and highly praised Li Yao and He Wan Vige for their actions.


    After the lively ribbon-cutting ceremony, Schr Lv led these dozens of students into the new school. Looking at these brand new houses and desks and chairs, he could not help but shed old tears.


    He had spent all his family fortune to study, falling into embarrassment and destitution. How many people knew the bitter hardships?


    But now the children of the vige coulde to school without spending a penny. Li Yao''s merit was enough to make her name live on throughout history.


    After taking care of the school, the soap workshop and the dam for the reservoir were alsopleted one after another.


    Li Yao moved the soap workshop into the new nt and recruited 50 new workers. She assigned work to each one and then officially appointed the management.


    She took on the role of general manager herself, earning 5 taels of sry per month.


    The oil refining process was managed by Wang Sanfang¡¯s daughter-inw Shen Shi, with a monthly sry of 1 tael.


    The soap making process was managed by Wang Xueshi, with a monthly sry of 3 taels.


    This process was the core of soap production. Not only was the manager''s sry high, but the few workers were also carefully selected by Wang Xueshi herself. In her own words, she could definitely handle it well.


    Li Yao was not too concerned about whether she could handle it or not.


    Even if the soap making technique would not leak outter and others could not figure it out through research, she would make everything public eventually.


    Monopolization was not a good thing.


    Besides, a market withoutpetition wouldck vitality and innovation.


    When it came to innovation, she believed no one in this world could surpass her.


    The molding and packaging process was managed by Du Xiao Hui¡¯s mother, with a monthly sry of 1 tael.


    The warehouse was taken care of by Wang Er¡¯s daughter-inw Zhou, with a monthly sry of 1 tael.


    Purchasing was done by Wang Yuanguo, Wang San¡¯s third son, with a monthly sry of 3 taels, plus reimbursement for travel expenses.


    The ountant was the ountant from her cosmetics shop, and the cashier was Du Xiao Hui.


    All the managers had to learn Arabic numerals and modern ounting methods. They had to fill out daily production reports every day, and each process had to strictly abide by work discipline...


    In short, after a series of operations, Li Yao''s soap workshop waspletely upgraded to a modern management model.


    The new employees were also trained. Seeing that the new workshop was about to start operating, Wang Yuanguo, who was in charge of purchasing, hurried back from outside.


    "Sister-inw, I don''t know why, but white alkali has been hard to buy recently," Wang Yuanguo said. "The merchants who used to cooperate with us seem to have run out of stock overnight. I''ve searched the entire Yizhou Prefecture but couldn''t buy even 100 catties."


    Without alkali, they couldn''t produce soap or deliver goods to the two distributors.


    Now there were two options before Li Yao:


    One was to find a way to make alkali herself.


    But although this route was once and for all, it would also take up a lot of time.


    The second option was to find out why white alkali was out of stock.


    In ancient times, white alkali was basically used to steam buns and dumplings, with few other uses. So there was basically no possibility of anyone using arge amount.


    Now that it suddenly went out of stock, in all likelihood someone was hoarding it.


    "Let me deal with this."


    After saying that, Li Yao went out and found Wang Jiafu, the vige head.


    As soon as Wang Jiafu heard that Li Yao wanted the vigers to help make alkali, he readily agreed.


    The dam, nt, and schoolhouse were basicallypleted. Thend remation at Li Yao¡¯s home was also almost done. Many vigers were idle and were wondering what to do.


    Now helping Li Yao make alkali happened to allow them to earn ie again.


    Moreover, this work could be done by men, women, young and old.


    So Wang Jiafu called out and gathered the idle vigers. After exining things clearly, everyone immediately went into the mountains with their straw cutters.


    They cut grass, chopped firewood, then piled it up in an open space and burned it. The ashes of the grass and wood were then collected and taken back.


    The nt ashes were ced on white cloth and continuously poured over with boiling water to obtain alkaline solution.


    More than a dozenrge pots were erected over fire pits in the open ground and kept burning strongly until all the water had evaporatedpletely. The white stuff left at the bottom of the pots was white alkali.


    Testing showed that the purity was much higher than the mineral alkali bought from outside. And there were also several tens of catties produced every day, barely enough for the soap workshop to start operating.


    But Li Yao knew this was absolutely not a long-term solution.


    Although naturally urring alkali was slightly inferior in purity, it had an absolute price advantage. Unless she could make industrial alkali, natural alkali would still be the first choice.


    However, industrial alkali production was easier said than done. She didn''t even have a ss bottle yet.


    "Dazhuang, I''m going out for a few days. Take care of the family. Go find the Vige Head if you can''t resolve something."


    "Yes, Mother."


    After instructing her family, she took a carriage with Wang Yuanguo and went to the market in the neighboring county.


    Although this was her first time here, she still covered her face with a cloth and changed into very in clothes.


    She went to an alkali shop alone and first bought some salt, then asked, "Boss, do you have white alkali?"


    "Sold out."


    "Even white alkali is gone?" Li Yao pretended to be dissatisfied. "How do you run this shop?"


    "Littledy, you don''t know," the old boss said. "Some time ago someone bought up all the white alkali, tens of catties! We can''t even get stock from Yizhou Prefecture now."


    "Which family bought tens of catties of white alkali? That¡¯s enough to steam a lot of buns!"


    "You don''t understand this," the bossughed. "They didn''t buy it to steam buns, but to make soap! Do you know what soap is?"


    "I know. Isn''t it made by Mistress Li from He Wan Vige?" Li Yao said. "This Mistress Li really, she bought up all the alkali. What are we supposed to use to make steamed buns?"


    "You''re wrong again!" The boss shook his head. "It wasn''t Mistress Li who bought it this time, but Boss Zhang from Baichuan Market who had someone buy it. I heard from the people who bought it that he seemed to want to make soap too."


    Boss Zhang? Zhang Guangsheng?

 Chapter 100: Laughable

    <h4>Chapter 100</h4>


    Li Yao immediately returned to Baichuan Market and let Wang Yuanguo go home by himself. She then checked into an inn and stayed there.


    After night fell, she quietly went to Zhang Guangsheng''s house. As soon as she climbed over the wall, she smelled a strong alkaline odor. She followed the smell all the way to a woodshed in the backyard, where she heard Zhang Guangsheng''s voice:


    "I''ve tried dozens of times already. Why isn''t it working yet? Can this be done or not?"


    "Brother, just give me a little more time. I''m sure I can figure it out!"


    "Then hurry up. There''ll be a big reward if you seed, but if you fail, neither of us will get away with it."


    After saying this, Zhang Guangsheng walked out of the woodshed. Li Yao gently lifted up a roof tile and saw that inside was a fat man in his thirties that she recognized - Zhang Guanshan, who used to sell pork pancreas in the market. He must be a rtive of Zhang Guangsheng''s.


    He was busily tinkering with pig fat and alkali, trying to make soap. But judging from the "products" he had discarded to one side, he still hadn''t figured out the method.


    Li Yao watched for a while, then heard Zhang Guangsheng talking with someone in the front yard. She quietly went over to eavesdrop.


    "Mr. Huang, don''t worry. In a few more days I''m sure we''ll have it figured out."


    "No rush, no rush. Take your time," Huang Daoming said. "Anyway, I''ve bought up all the alkali in Yizhou Prefecture, and I''ve also spoken with the suppliers up north to temporarily stop any shipments down here.


    "Mr. Huang really knows how to get things done. But will those suppliers listen to you?"


    "Would they dare not listen?" Huang Daoming said. "This is a major endeavor for Prefect Hu. Anyone who pretends to obey while secretly disobeying won''t be able to do business in Yizhou Prefecture ever again."


    ...


    Hearing this, Li Yao basically understood what was going on.


    Huang Daoming was unable to strike a deal with herst time, so he probably went to Prefect Hu instead. As the nephew of the Minister of Rites, Prefect Hu had to give him some face. Add in the profits from soap, and the two joined forces - Huang Daoming put up the money while Prefect Hu used his connections to temporarily monopolize the alkali supply in the market.


    Without alkali, she couldn''t produce soap, and eventually she''d have to bow to them.


    Humph.


    Li Yao''s expression was unchanged, but her eyes grew cold.


    ...


    The next morning, as soon as Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan received the news, they hurried over anxiously.


    Seeing Li Yao still leisurely sitting inside eating breakfast, both men felt their heads would explode.


    "Mrs. Li, I heard you weren''t able to buy any alkali. How can you still make soap?"


    Li Yao finished thest mouthful of millet porridge in her bowl before slowly answering, "Who said there wasn''t any?"


    "There is?" Jia Zhanliang looked around. "Where is it?"


    "You''ll see when we get to the workshop."


    At that moment, outside the workshop were already gathered several hundred vigers, all holding sickles, axes, and such. Wang Yuangbang''s group of young men were even carrying over a dozen huge iron cauldrons on poles over their shoulders, and lugging buckets of water.


    This stunned Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan. Just what was going on here?


    "Li Yao, everyone''s here," said vige head Wang Jiafu. "As you instructed, 20 cents in wages per person per day. 390 people came today."


    "Then let''s head out."


    Led by Li Yao, the hundreds of people marched mightily toward the hills.


    Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan really couldn''t stand it anymore. Still, they awkwardly followed along at the back of the group.


    At the edge of the woods, without Li Yao needing to direct them, the vigers began chopping grass and branches, piling them up in an open area, and setting them on fire.


    In a sh, over a dozen massive bonfires were raging, with ck smoke billowing straight toward the clouds.


    Meanwhile, under Wang Yuangbang''s lead, others found manyrge rocks to prop up the dozen or so huge iron cauldrons over fires, and started boiling water, while more people continuously lugged buckets of water over from the vige.


    After the bonfires had burned down to embers, Li Yao had them bring over arge wooden tub lined with bamboo strips and white cloth. The ashes from the grass and branches were ced onto the white cloth, and she had them continually pour hot water over it all.


    Seeing this, Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan really couldn''t restrain themselves any longer.


    "Mrs Li, just what are you trying to do here?!"


    "Don''t worry, you''ll understand soon."


    Li Yao poured the liquid from the tub into therge iron cauldrons, then fiercely boiled it over high heat.


    Once all the water in the cauldrons had evaporated, a white substance was actually left stuck to the bottom!


    Liu Yuan scraped some onto a stick and tasted it, his face filled with disbelief: "This... this is alkali?!"


    "What?!"


    Jia Zhanliang didn''t believe it either until he tried it himself, also looking shocked.


    It really was alkali!


    Who knew you could extract alkali from grass and wood ash! This was really eye-opening!


    "Mrs Li, how did youe up with this?"


    "I heard it from Monk Youfang before."


    Monk Youfang?


    Nevermind if it was Monk Youfang or Monk Youfang, as long as they could produce alkali they could make soap.


    "Mrs Li really is full of clever ns," said Jia Zhanliang, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted from his chest. "This way we won''t dy the year-end delivery."


    "That''s right, now we can head back and rest easy."


    "You two can''t rest yet," said Li Yao.


    "What else does Mrs Li need us to do?"


    Alkali extracted from grass and wood ash could only provide an emergency supply. After all, who knew how many thousand pounds of grass and branches had to be burned just to produce one pound of alkali. He Wan vige''s small patch of woods definitely couldn''t sustain this, so they still had to purchase mineral alkali in the end.


    But there definitely wouldn''t be any to buy in Yizhou Prefecture now. They had to go much farther to buy it, but procurement agent Wang Yuanguo wasn''t familiar with those distant ces and had never been so far from home before, so they still needed Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan''s help.


    "Don''t worry Mrs Li, this is for our own good too. We''ll definitely handle this well for you."


    Realizing the gravity of the matter, the two immediately set off, one south and one north, departing Yizhou Prefecture to procure alkali.


    ...


    With the makeshift alkali, the soap workshop could basically operate normally again. Bar after bar of soap and perfumed soap were produced, neatly stacked in the warehouse.


    At dusk, the managers came with their ount books to report to Li Yao.


    "Today we produced 12 pounds of alkali and made 1,200 bars of soap and 200 perfumed soaps."


    With 400 people, they had extracted 12 pounds of alkali.


    Thebor cost 7,800 coins. At 650 coins per pound, it was a bit more expensive than purchasing mineral alkali, but still within an eptable range.


    After the managers left, as Li Yao was pondering what to make for dinner, a carriage squeaked to a stop outside.


    A servant-looking fellow jumped down and Li Yao immediately recognized him as Xia Quanzi, who had been turned away by Wang San''erst time.


    It seemed the person riding in the carriage was most likely Huang Daoqing.


    "Mrs Li, our master hase to pay you a visit. Why haven''t youe out to greet him yet?"


    Li Yao had originally wanted Wang San''er to drive him away, but held back for now.


    She wanted to know why Huang Daoqing hade.


    "Mrs Li," Huang Daoqing called out without getting down from the carriage, only pulling aside the curtain. "I heard you''ve been short on alkalitely. I just happen to have a batch on hand. Would you be interested?"


    "I could be. How much per pound?"


    "2 taels of silver per pound. What do you think?"


    Hearing this, Li Yao thought itughable.

 Chapter 101: Small Belly

    <h4>Chapter 101</h4>


    The normal price of soda ash was 500 wen per catty, but this guy directly asked for 2 taels, he really was asking for an exorbitant price.


    However, Huang Daoqing had stockpiled so much soda ash, and came to her specifically to sell it, which showed that he had not yet found a way to make soap.


    "Too expensive, I don''t want it."


    "Expensive?" Huang Daoqing sneered, "Miss Li, don''t you know what the situation is now? All the soda ash in the entire Yizhou Prefecture is in my hands. If you don''t buy it from me, your soap workshop can only wait to close down. But seeing that you have good faith, I can give it to you for 1 tael and 5 wen per catty. Miss this vige, then miss this shop."


    "I don''t want it."


    Li Yao turned around and left. She didn''t really take him as a fool.


    Huang Daoqing, who was originally full of confidence, was refused rudely at the door, and couldn''t help feeling annoyed.


    "Unappreciative wretch!"


    "Master, don''t worry," Xiao Quanzi said, "With Prefect Hu watching, soda ash from other ces can''te in. Unless her workshop closes down, she can only buy from us. In a few more days, she wille looking for us!"


    Huang Daoqing snorted, by that time he would sell it to her for 3 taels of silver per catty!


    But after a few days, Li Yao still hadn''te to Huang Daoqing.


    He had hoarded all the soda ash in Yizhou Prefecture, which had cost him 4500 taels of silver. Plus greasing Prefect Hu''s palm, the total was 5000 taels!


    So much money invested, but he still didn''t see any return. He couldn''t help feeling a little anxious.


    He sent Xiao Quanzi to investigate He Wan Vige, only to find out that Li Yao''s soap workshop was operating daily, and the output of soap was not small.


    This news made Huang Daoqing break out in a cold sweat: "Where is she getting the soda ash?"


    "Maybe it''s her previous stockpile," Xiao Quanzi didn''t seem to realize the severity of the situation, and casually replied, "When her inventory runs out, she will definitelye looking for us."


    Really?


    Then wait a few more days.


    Another ten days passed, the soap workshop was still operating daily, and the output seemed to have not decreased at all.


    Huang Daoqing could no longer sit still. He took a carriage to He Wan Vige, wanting to find out what was going on.


    "Making soda ash herself?"


    "At least 20 catties a day?"


    Huang Daoqing was suddenly dumbfounded.


    It''s over, it''s over, now it''s really over.


    How could he have thought that Li Yao would have this up her sleeve?


    If Li Yao makes her own soda ash from now on, wouldn''t what he had hoarded be wasted?


    "No, this matter must be dealt with as soon as possible, otherwise I will definitely lose money."


    Realizing this, Huang Daoqing immediately informed Prefect Hu about the matter. Prefect Hu also attached great importance to it. After all, he could also get a lot of silver after the deed was done. So he sent people to Baichuan County.


    ...


    "Mother, Madam magistrate, Magistrate Song is here!"


    Li Yao was having tea and chatting with the magistrate''s wife when three carriages had already passed through the gate and stopped in Li Yao''s yard.


    The magistrate''s wife recognized at a nce that two of the ornately decorated carriages did not belong to the county yamen.


    "Sister Li, some important people seem to have arrived. You need to be careful in how you deal with them."


    Li Yao was not worried at all.


    As a transmigrator, all these big shots looked the same to her.


    Magistrate Song was the first to get off the carriage, followed by a richly dressed man from the second carriage.


    "This is Lord Hong," the magistrate''s wife whispered, "he is the household registration officer of Yizhou Prefecture, in charge of the poption, ancestral worship, agriculture and sericulture."


    Li Yao understood in her heart.


    For a big official from Yizhou Prefecture toe to this remote countryside, he certainly didn''te sightseeing.


    And when Huang Daoqing got out of the third carriage, she was even more certain of this.


    It looked like it was because of the soda ash they had hoarded. She just didn''t know what means Prefect Hu, behind the scenes, would use to deal with her, amoner.


    After getting off the carriage, Lord Hong stood arrogantly, while Huang Daoqing shouted loudly: "Where is the vige woman Li Yao? Hurry and greet Lord Hong from the household department!"


    Li Yao came forward and bowed slightly.


    At the same time, she saw the thick worried look in Magistrate Song''s eyes.


    "This vige woman Li Yao greets my lord."


    "Hmm, so you are Li Yao?" Lord Hong said, "Do you know what crime you havemitted?"


    "I don''t know."


    "How bold, you shrew!" Huang Daoqing scolded, "You ordered the vigers without reason to recklessly fell trees, and pretend not to know? Do you know those woods are the property of Yizhou Prefecture, and cannot be cut down without permission?"


    The forests were the property of Yizhou Prefecture?


    Li Yao was also drunk.


    She had checked Great Ling''sws before, and although ownerlessnd could not be upied for private use, it did not say that timber could not be harvested.


    Moreover, she did not cut down indiscriminately. She only had the vigers cut tree branches, dead trees, and more bushes, vines and weeds.


    "Lord Hong," she replied, "There is nothing in Great Ling''sws that does not allow me to cut down trees, right?"


    "You... you still dare to be stubborn?" Huang Daoqing threatened, "Do you believe I will punish you severely for your crime?"


    "I admit to any crime you convict me of. But before that, my lord, can you tell me which article of Great Ling''sws you are convicting me under?"


    Huang Daoqing was instantly rendered speechless.


    They hade this time just to intimidate Li Yao. He didn''t expect her to not only be unafraid, but also cite Great Ling''sws.


    Seeing this tactic did not work, Lord Hong spoke up: "It is true that Great Ling''sws do not explicitly prohibit cutting down ownerless trees. However, the Prefect issued a decree yesterday, stipting that from now on, all trees on ownerlessnd belong to Yizhou Prefecture. If logging is required, it must first be reported to the local county yamen for approval before use."


    Li Yao sneered.


    For her sake, Prefect Hu had specially issued a decree. She really felt honored.


    "This vige woman understands," Li Yao said. "This vige woman will now call back the vigers and no longer fell trees in the future."


    Having achieved his goal, Lord Hong was unwilling to say more.


    Coming to He Wan Vige this time, he was extremely unhappy.


    He could understand the Prefect wanting to make money, but to make money without giving him a penny, and ordering him to set off in the middle of the nightst night toe to this remote countryside, could he feel happy?


    "Magistrate Song, please monitor things more in the future. I will now take my leave."


    "Farewell, Lord Hong."


    After Lord Hong left, Magistrate Song sighed and shook his head.


    "Miss Li, it all happened too suddenly, I didn''t have a chance to give you advance notice."


    "It''s nothing."


    "s," the magistrate''s wife sighed lightly. "Now that logging is prohibited, how will your soap workshop survive?"


    "Don''t sigh," Huang Daoqing put on a smile and came over. "Miss Li, if you can''t make your own soda ash, you can still buy it from me. I, Huang, am not a petty man. I don''t mind your previous bad attitude towards me, and am still willing to do business with you."


    Li Yao looked at him with a half smile. "Oh? You''re not petty?"


    "Definitely not." Huang Daoqing said. "Businessmen, we value harmony."


    "Then I''m afraid I''ll have to disappoint you," Li Yao replied. "Because I am."

 Chapter 102: Honest Lang

    <h4>Chapter 102</h4>


    Huang Daoqing: ......What do you mean?


    "You don''t want white alkali anymore? Aren''t you afraid your workshop will go bankrupt?"


    "You don''t need to worry about that."


    "Humph, let''s see how long you can still be arrogant!" Huang Daoming sneered, "After today, the price won''t be the same anymore."


    Just then, Wang Xiao Si rushed in like the wind from outside and shouted loudly as soon as he entered the door: "Mom, third uncle is back!"


    Wang Family''s third son Wang Yuanguo was the purchasing agent appointed by Li Yao.


    His return meant that the white alkali was also bought back.


    Sure enough, soon Wang Yuanguo, Jia Zhanliang, and Liu Yuan came to the door, and behind them were more than 20 heavily loaded ox carts.


    ¡°Mistress Li, I have not failed you!¡±


    ¡°This time I went north and bought a total of 8,000 catties of white alkali.¡±


    Liu Yuan also said: "There is not so much white alkali in the south, I only bought 5,000 catties."


    That''s 13,000 catties.


    If all made into soap, it would be about 140,000 pieces.


    It should be enough for now.


    "Mr. Huang," Li Yao said to Huang Daoqing, "I heard that you were hoarding white alkali. I don''t know if you have hoarded enough. If not, I can share some with you here."


    Huang Daoqing: ......


    He waspletely stunned, feeling colder in his heart than falling into an ice cave.


    How could he have imagined that Li Yao would have people buy white alkali from other ces!


    Couldn''t this prefect stop them at the border?


    Now that Li Yao has enough white alkali, she will definitely no longer be constrained. His hoarded white alkali is useless.


    No, he has to get rid of it immediately.


    "Mrs. Li, what are you talking about?" Huang Daoqingughed, "I just want to make some small money too. But I misjudged earlier and did hoard a little too much. Why don''t we do this? I see you use a lot, so I''ll sell you everything at the market price of 500 wen per catty, how about it?"


    "No."


    "400 wen?"


    "No."


    "300 wen!" Huang Daoqing was really anxious, "Then I''ll give it to you for 250 half price!"


    This guy is really shameless.


    But even if it was given for free, Li Yao would not want it. She was not short of money and had no need to be greedy for such a small profit.


    On their way back, Wang Yuanguo and his men had already sent people to various ces to sell alkali to shops. The market waspletely saturated.


    So Huang Daoqing''s white alkali could only rot in his hands.


    He thought it was a raremodity, but didn''t expect to end up riding a tiger that was hard to get off. Huang Daoqing regretted it bitterly.


    "Just wait, I will deal with you sooner orter!"


    He silently cursed in his heart, and Huang Daoqing left crestfallen.


    With enough white alkali, Li Yao immediately arranged for the workers to work at full capacity to try to produce anotherrge batch before the new year to give Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan enough goods.


    They had put in a lot of effort this time, so let them earn more and have a happy new year.


    The soap workshop was running at full capacity, consuming 30 catties of white alkali every day, producing about 3,000 pieces of soap. This was still under the limited supply ofrd.


    Ifrd could be supplied inrge quantities, the output would be even higher.


    In ten days, 30,000 pieces of soap were produced. Added to the previous 10,000 pieces, there was a total of 40,000 pieces of soap.


    There were also 2,000 pieces of fragrant soap.


    Seeing so much goods, Jia and Liu were both excited.


    "Mistress Li, how much are you giving us for these?"


    "I''m giving you 50 wen per piece for the soap, the market price is fixed at 100 wen," Li Yao said, "You can be flexible with how much profit you keep for yourselves."


    The two were overjoyed.


    The 50 wen margin was enough. They could earn a lot.


    And Li Yao earned even more.


    After careful calction, the total cost of a piece of soap was 10 wen. She could earn 40 wen per piece, 40,000 pieces was 1,600 taels of pure profit.


    Of course,pared to soap, Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan were more concerned about the expensive fragrant soap, which was where the big profits lied.


    "I''ll give you 1 tael of silver per piece for the fragrant soap. As for the market price, it will be up to you to decide for the first year."


    Decide for themselves?


    The two were at a loss for words to express their joy.


    Being able to set their own price meant they could specte and earn even more.


    As profit-driven businessmen, who wouldin about too much money?


    The cost of fragrant soap was not much different from ordinary soap, but the 2,000 pieces of fragrant soap brought a profit of 1,980 taels of silver.


    The two shipments together earned a total of 3,580 taels, all in cash on delivery.


    After discussing, Jia and Liu decided to divide the goods evenly between them, and then head south and north separately to sell them.


    With Beijing in the north, and many rich people in the south, the two were not worried about not being able to sell them at good prices.


    After reaching an agreement, the two were led by Li Yao to the workshop''s "finance office".


    To their surprise, such arge transaction, so many silver notes, Li Yao actually let an outsider be in charge of collecting money. It was really unbelievable.


    The cashier collected the money, the ountant kept the books, and then the two could take the receipts to the warehouse to collect the goods.


    The receipts clearly stated the type, quantity, and collector of the goods. All three were required, only then could the shipment be released.


    Jia and Liu once again marveled at Li Yao''s meticulous thoughts, not giving anyone a loophole. How could they not earn money by cooperating with such a meticulous person?


    ......


    The workers in the soap factory were secretly delighted to see the first batch of goods shipped out of the city.


    The more shipments there were, the more Li Yao earned, and the more prosperous the soap factory could be, which meant their wages could be guaranteed andsting. This was a very simple psychology.


    "Let''s work harder before the new year, and try to ship another big batch! When Li Yao is happy, maybe she''ll give us more bonuses."


    At Wang Xueshi''s urging, dozens of workers were full of motivation. They started work early every day, and if it wasn''t for the limited amount ofrd, they would have worked until midnight.


    Of course Li Yao did not shortchange them either, distributing therd residue refined every few days to the workers, so that many families did not need to spend money to buy meat.


    With the soap factory not needing Li Yao''s attention, and the county magistrate not asking her for help recently, Li Yao had a lot of free time.


    In addition to chatting with the county magistrate''s wife every day, she also went to the mountains behind to take a look.


    Da Zhuang was the type who couldn''t sit still. Although it was winter now and there was nothing to do in the fields, he still drove the cows every day, plowing the t ground in the back mountain to prepare for nting sweet potatoes or potatoes next year.


    "Young master is really a model of diligence."


    Every time she saw Da Zhuang working, the county magistrate''s wife couldn''t help praising him a couple of times.


    Li Yao also felt that Da Zhuang was good, just a little too honest. Luckily He Xiaoya was sensible and not as overbearing as her original self, so the two matched well.

 Chapter 103: Three Years of pregnancy

    <h4>Chapter 103</h4>


    Da Zhuang walked over and said, "Mother, Madam County Mayor, you should go back soon. It''s windy outside."


    "It''s fine," Li Yao said. "How many acres can you plow in one day?"


    "About one acre. The mountain soil here is too hard, and the ox is small."


    Li Yao watched for a while and realized it was difficult to plow.


    In fact, the small ox had grown quite big after being raised for so long. It shouldn''t have such a hard time. Being able to plow only one acre a day was too little.


    In her memory, one ox could plow at least two acres of paddy fields while plowing, harrowing, and bundling together. Could her memory be wrong?


    No, that wasn''t it.


    She suddenly realized what was off about the plow Da Zhuang was using.


    She racked her brain trying to remember what plows were like in her past life. Finally she remembered what was different.


    The beam of past life plows was curved, while Da Zhuang''s was straight.


    "Da Zhuang, let''s go back for today. We need to modify the plow a bit."


    "Okay."


    Da Zhuang didn''t think much of it. He packed up and went home. Then as Li Yao instructed, he went into the woods and chopped down a small, curved tree.


    Following her memories, Li Yao had Da Zhuang start working on it. After a morning''s work, a curved-beam plow wasplete.


    "Let''s go try it out again."


    Carrying the new plow head back to the field, Da Zhuang skillfully attached it to the little yellow ox''s back. Then he started plowing.


    "Go on-"


    With his shout, the little yellow ox immediately started walking, pulling the plow.


    Expecting the usual struggling, the ox was surprised that it was so easy to pull this time. It quickened its pace.


    Behind operating the plow, Da Zhuang was even more pleasantly surprised.


    The previous plow took great effort just to hold down. The slightestck of control would make it sway left and right, often resulting in missed patches.


    But this new plow was so easy to operate. Just a little effort allowed easy control of direction and depth. The speed was several times faster than before!


    If plowing just one round, he felt he could plow five acres in a day!


    "Mother, this new plow is too amazing!"


    "It''s great, but remember to rest. People and oxen can''t get worn out." Li Yao instructed.


    "I understand, Mother."


    The County Mayor''s wife had long grown ustomed to Li Yao''s constant innovations.


    "Miss Li, this is something that benefits the country and people. Why don''t I have my husband draw this curved-beam plow and send it to the capital for promotion? That way people everywhere can benefit."


    "Why not?"


    It was just an improved plow. Li Yao wouldn''t go so far as to patent it.


    News of the curved-beam plow quickly spread through the vige. Hearing that Da Zhuang could plow three acres of Sanmu Mountain in an afternoon, many didn''t believe it. The next morning, they came in droves to the back hill to watch him demonstrate.


    Seeing Da Zhuang "striding swiftly" through the field, they couldn''t help themselves.


    "Da Zhuang, let me try it."


    Vige Head Wang Jiafu was the first to rush up and grab the curved-beam plow to start plowing.


    After one round, he was thoroughly convinced of its superiority.


    "Good plow, so good," Wang Jiafu tried it for a while, full of praise. "I''ll have to make one too when I get back."


    That whole morning, the vigers took turnsing to try it out. Da Zhuang didn''t get a chance to touch the plow at all, concerning him somewhat.


    Not muchnd was left. At this rate it would all be plowed by everyone else. What would he do next?


    Li Yao didn''t understand Da Zhuang''s worries. Seeing it was gettingte, she prepared to go home and cook.


    "Mother, what''s for lunch today?"


    Wang San''er and Xiao Si returned from the back hill, the two brothers already starving with their chests sticking to their backs. As soon as they got home, they headed straight for the kitchen.


    "Stir-fried pork with peppers."


    "Great, we can eat peppers again!"


    The two brothers jumped up and down on the spot.


    Under Li Yao''s influence, the whole family had now epted peppers. Moreover, they had reached the point of difort if they didn''t eat them for three days.


    Especially He Xiaoya. After getting used to eating peppers, her appetite greatly increased, with food intake nearly doubling!


    Whenever stir-frying peppers, she would always eat the most.


    Li Yao vaguely felt something was off, but didn''t say anything before confirming.


    "Lunchtime!"


    Two dishes of stir-fried pork with peppers, one bowl of stewed pork, a pot of radish and big bone soup, and a te of stir-fried cabbage. This was the Li family''s lunch.


    The whole family sat together. The children were still very well-behaved, not moving their chopsticks before Li Yao did, especially with the County Mayor''s wife present.


    "Before eating, there''s something," Li Yao said. "Xiaoya doesn''t need to work this afternoon. I''ve sent someone to the market to invite a doctor to examine you."


    "Examine me?" He Xiaoya looked confused. "Mother, I''m fine. Why see a doctor?"


    "I said to see one, so eat."


    The children didn''t dare ask any more after not experiencing Li Yao''s "sternness" for so long.


    The County Mayor''s wife understood. As a mother herself, she naturally knew Li Yao''s intention.


    After lunch, Da Zhuang and his brothers went about their business. Li Yao, Li Zhen, and He Xiaoya stayed home.


    After taking He Xiaoya''s pulse, the doctor happily congratted, "Congrattions Mistress Li, congrattions on your daughter-inw''s pregnancy!"


    "Are you sure you didn''t make a mistake?"


    "Mistress Li jests. I''ve diagnosed hundreds of pregnant women. I''ve never been wrong."


    Li Yao''s mouth twitched. He Xiaoya flushed red, feeling flustered yet excited.


    She had been married to Da Zhuang for eight months and was finally pregnant!


    Mother and Da Zhuang should be very happy right?


    She just wondered if it was a boy or girl.


    It''d be great if a boy, but if a girl, she didn''t know if Mother-In-Law would be unhappy...


    In an instant, He Xiaoya thought of many things.


    "Miss Li, I offer congrattions as well." The County Mayor''s wife said. "I''ll prepare a gift for Xiaoya."


    After seeing the doctor off, Li Yao solemnly called He Xiaoya over, "Now that you''re pregnant, there are things to pay attention to."


    "Mother, I''ll listen to everything you say."


    "From now on, let Xiao Hui do theundry, cooking, and cleaning." Li Yao said. "Don''t do any farm work, avoid cold water, don''t go near the soap workshop, eat plenty of meat and eggs every day..."


    Listening to Li Yao''s constant instructions, He Xiaoya grew dizzy.


    Doing nothing while eating well, wasn''t this bing a young mistress of a wealthy family?


    "Mother, if I do nothing, then what do I do?"


    It''s said pregnancy makes one silly for three years. And she had just conceived, already losing logic when speaking.


    "Take walks, exercise," Li Yao thought for a bit, "If really bored, do some needlework and embroidery. I''ll have Da Zhuang buy you some silk. Fiddle with it however you like."


    "Remember it all?" Li Yao asked finally.


    "I remember."


    He Xiaoya felt she was definitely the most fortunate daughter-inw under heaven.

 Chapter 104: Buy a Horse

    <h4>Chapter 104</h4>


    In other families, the daughter-inw gets pregnant and still has to work in the fields with a big belly. But Xiaoya doesn''t even have a belly yet and Mother is already being so considerate of her.


    "Thank you, Mother."


    "Mmh, as a woman, you must first take good care of your own body."


    "I understand," Xiaoya thought for a moment and said, "Mother, I''ve been married into this family for a while now, but I haven''t gone back to visit my own family. I''d like to..."


    "Go on."


    It''s only natural for a daughter-inw to go back and visit her own family.


    Li Yao had never met her father-inw, including in her previous life.


    From the memories of the original body, she knew that Xiaoya marrying Da Zhuang was just a coincidence.


    Her family lived near Yizhou Prefecture, in the suburbs. They ran a small business buying herbs and groceries.


    Once Xiaoya went with her family to Baichuan County to buy herbs. Da Zhuang was also there selling herbs. For some reason, Xiaoya took a liking to the honest Da Zhuang.


    Of course, Da Zhuang also liked Xiaoya. It was a case of a good match.


    Later, when Xiaoya brought it up with her family, they objected as expected. But the girl was determined to marry only Da Zhuang. Her father had no choice but to ask Li Yao to send a matchmaker and propose officially.


    But on the wedding day, not a single person from Xiaoya''s family came. Two women from the n sent Xiaoya to Li Yao''s doorstep, and that was consideredpleting the marriage formalities.


    Li Yao didn''t know if Xiaoya would regret this had she not transmigrated into this body.


    But in any case, she was very supportive of free love.


    Since it was the new daughter-inw''s first time visiting her maternal home, she definitely could not go alone. Da Zhuang had to go too.


    Considering the long distance and Xiaoya''s pregnancy, Li Yao decided to buy a carriage. It would be stable, safe and could carry gifts for the inws.


    So she called Wang San''er and Xiao Si to go with her to the market.


    The road to the market had been repaired. It was twice as wide now and rtively smooth.


    "Mother," Xiao Si suddenly asked, "Are we going to buy a carriage?"


    "Yes."


    "Great! Our family will have a carriage too!"


    In this era, owning a carriage was a luxury like owning a car in the previous life.


    Wang San''er was not as excited as Xiao Si. He only nervously asked, "Mother, when you''re not using the carriage, can I practice riding the horse?"


    Li Yao looked at him.


    He had grown at least 7-8 cm in the past few months, almost reaching her ear now.


    And his little pig had grown from over 20 jin to over 100 jin now. With that, his strength wasparable to a grown man''s already.


    Plus the training tasks she assigned every day, Wang San''er was now stronger than the average soldier.


    "I''ll buy you a horse too," Li Yao said. "A good one. You can take it with you when you enlist next year."


    "Really?"


    She was buying a horse just for him! And a good one!


    Just thinking about riding a big horse, galloping like a general, Wang San''er was so excited he trembled a little, even his voice cracked.


    "Thank you, Mother! I''ll train even harder from now on!"


    When they reached the market, there weren''t many people left. Li Yao went straight to the shop.


    "Mistress is here!" Zou manager weed her enthusiastically, "What brings you to the market at this hour?"


    "I want to buy a carriage. Do you know anyone reliable?"


    "Yes, Zhang the carpenter in the market specializes in carriages and ox carts. I''ll take you to him."


    They went to Zhang''s ce. There were indeed some carriage and ox cart frames in his yard. The workmanship looked decent and the prices weren''t too high either. Li Yao chose a nicer carriage.


    Next was buying the horses.


    But there were too few horses at the Baichuan market, and the quality was really not good.


    "Mistress Li?" Just as she was hesitating whether to just buy whatever was avable, Zhang County Captain came over with two yamen runners. "You''re buying a horse?"


    "Yes."


    "The horses here are no good," Zhang County Captain said. "The county yamen buys all our horses from Yizhou Prefecture. Especially mine, it''s a one in ten thousand warhorse that can even go into battle."


    Li Yao''s eyes lit up. She had seen Zhang County Captain''s horse before and it was indeed not bad.


    "How about this, County Captain Zhang. Sell me two of your horses and you can buy new ones to rece them."


    Zou manager: ...Isn''t that going too far?


    Unexpectedly, Zhang County Captain not only did not get angry, but immediately agreed: "I''ll go get them right now!"


    Soon, two big horses were brought to Li Yao. One brown, one white.


    The white one belonged to Zhang County Captain.


    Li Yao knew horses. She could tell they were good, especially the white one. It already had the makings of a warhorse.


    So she asked, "How much?"


    "Just 5 taels for both will do."


    Li Yao shook her head. "Such good horses are worth more than 5 taels. How about I give you 30 taels total?"


    "That''s too much..."


    "Time is still needed to buy new ones in Yizhou, right? And horses like these are worth more than 30 taels."


    "Then I''ll thank Mistress Li for your generosity."


    "Here''s another 50 taels," Li Yao called Zhang County Captain aside and whispered. "When you go to Yizhou Prefecture, please help me buy a good young warhorse. Wang San''er will be enlisting next year. I want to prepare one for him early."


    Zhang County Captain took the silver bills, extremely envious.


    How lucky was this kid Wang San''er to have such a wealthy and generous mother?


    When he enlisted, not to mention a warhorse, he didn''t even have an ox. He had to carry everything on his shoulders.


    "Don''t worry, Mistress Li. I''ll pick the very best one."


    It had been a while since shest rode a horse. Li Yao decided to ride back.


    "Be careful," Zhang County Captain said. "This horse has a fiery temper and doesn''t take well to strangers."


    "No problem."


    Li Yao took the reins and stroked the horse''s neck a few times before easily swinging up into the saddle.


    But when she put her right foot into the stirrup, she hit only air and almost lost her bnce. Luckily her reactions were quick. She squeezed the horse''s back and quickly steadied herself.


    Looking down, she realized there was only a stirrup on the left side of the saddle, nothing on the right.


    A single stirrup?


    "Mistress Li, are you alright?" Zou manager asked anxiously, "Or you can take the carriage and get used to the horse first before riding it?"


    "No need."


    Whether it was a single stirrup or no stirrups at all, Li Yao could easily control the horse.


    After adjusting her seat, she lightly flicked the whip. The white horse reared up and galloped swiftly towards River Bend Vige.

 Chapter 105: The Wandering Blacksmith

    <h4>Chapter 105</h4>


    Watching her quickly disappearing figure, several people present looked at each other in nk dismay.


    "I haven''t seen a girl who can ride a horse so well."


    Whereas Wang San''er and Wang Xiaosi were in a bit of a predicament.


    How were they to get back after their mother had abandoned them here?


    "Third young master, fourth young master," Zou the manager said, "I''ll have someone drive a carriage to send you back."


    "No need," Wang San''er waved his hand and said, "I''ll drive the carriage."


    "You?"


    "What, you look down on me?" Wang San''er said, "I can even drive my big brother''s oxcart well."


    Upon hearing this, Zou''s face waspletely dumbfounded.


    There was still a big difference between a carriage and an oxcart after all.


    But Wang Xiaosan and Wang Xiaosi had already jumped onto the carriage, and familiarly pulled the reins. Fortunately, the temperament of this brown horse was quite docile. After Wang Xiaosan drove it around in circles on the spot, he actually managed to get it to pull the carriage onto the road smoothly.


    The scene was not much different from a veteran coachman of many years.


    "Like mother, like son indeed."


    ...


    Li Yao rode her horse galloping all the way, and soon returned to River Bend Vige.


    Seeing her return valiantly on a white horse, the vigers were full of praise, and Da Zhuang and He Xiaoya hurriedly came up to meet her.


    "Mother, is this our family''s horse?"


    "Yes."


    Da Zhuang was overjoyed. Their family finally had a carriage, and going to the market and such would be so much more convenient!


    Initially, he had chosen an ox over a horse because of the needs at the time, but he actually preferred horses.


    A carriage was much faster than an oxcart, and few men could resist that.


    "Mother, where are San''er and Xiaosi?" He Xiaoya asked.


    "Left behind at the market."


    He Xiaoya: ...


    But it was alright. Those two young uncles were grown up, and Wang Xiaosi was cunning enough, so there probably wouldn''t be any issues...right?


    At noon, Wang San''er drove the carriage back, creaking and rattling.


    Before even getting off, Wang San''er eagerly called out, "Big brother, I drove this carriage back myself! Aren''t I awesome?"


    "Awesome, awesome." Da Zhuang indulgently ruffled his clever younger brother''s hair. His own mind wasn''t bright, only able to help his mother with chores, but he was very proud of this clever younger brother, "Keep up the good work, you''ll be even more awesome than big brother soon."


    "Tired? Come drink some water, don''t get thirsty." He Xiaoya also came over to say.


    The corner of Li Yao''s mouth twitched. This loving couple Da Zhuang and Xiaoya really pampered the few younger brothers too much.


    "The wheels are rattling, need to add some oil." Da Zhuang said, "Xiaoya, go get somerd."


    Watching Da Zhuang slowly add oil to the wheel axles, Li Yao was lost in thought.


    In this era, it was too normal for carriage wheels to creak and rattle, it would be abnormal if they didn''t make noise.


    This was because there were no bearings.


    Also, the wheels were made of wood, so they collided hard against the ground. Even with an excellent road surface, the vibration of the carriage was still intense.


    Since she had time now, Li Yao decided to modify it a little.


    "Xiaoya," Li Yao asked, "when do you n to go back?"


    "The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month I guess."


    Only then did Li Yao remember that unknowingly today was already the first day of the twelfth lunar month. The Lunar New Year was approaching soon.


    But there were still a few days until the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. She should be able to modify the carriage by then right?


    To modify the carriage, she needed a cksmith and a carpenter.


    The carpenter was easy. Qiu the carpenter who built the beams for their home had excellent skills. But the cksmith was a bit tricky.


    After all, she wanted to make bearings, it wouldn''t be possible without exquisite skills.


    So she decided to gather all the cksmiths nearby and have them forge something on site. Whoever did the best would be her personal cksmith from then on.


    Being used to her innovative ideas, Vige Head Wang Jiafu directly brought over all the cksmiths within dozens of miles. More than ten stoves were set up in the open space for everyone topete on site.


    A total of 11 cksmiths gathered, all with weathered faces.


    Vigers who came to watch the excitement also crowded around, craning their necks waiting for the good show to start.


    "Same as agreed before," Wang Jiafu said, "whoever wins first ce will be rewarded with 2 taels of silver. The rest will each receive 500 wen, and lunch will be providedter."


    To earn 500 wen in half a day, there probably wouldn''t be an opportunity this good anywhere else.


    The 11 cksmiths were itching to get started, their hammers already impatient.


    "What do you want us to forge?"


    At this time, Li Yao walked out with a wooden bead that Carpenter Qiu had made in her hand.


    She had measured it. Although the precision didn''t reach thread-level, the margin of error was definitely within 0.5 mm.


    "Make an iron bead the same size as this wooden bead," Li Yao said, "No matter what methods or materials you use, make an iron bead the same size as this wooden bead before noon. Whoever''s is the roundest, smoothest, and closest in size to the wooden bead wins."


    They were all experienced cksmiths, and knew this would not be easy.


    But each craftsman had an unyielding spirit, and also for the reward of 2 taels of silver, everyone racked their brains to think of ways.


    Soon everyone got to work. The basic approach was simr, first using the wooden bead as a mold, then pouring molten iron to obtain a rough spherical bead.


    This step was simple. The difficulty was in controlling the size and roundness.


    Relying only on simple tools and methods, these rtively experienced old cksmiths were clearly at a loss. After grinding for about an hour, they were still far from a perfect sphere.


    "What''s so difficult about this?"


    Just then, a voice came from the crowd.


    Looking back, it was an unfamiliar face, with an ugly scar on his face, probably left behind after being scalded.


    "Who are you?"


    "Talking so casually, can you do it?"


    "I really can do it," the stranger said, "just don''t know if the host will give me the opportunity."


    Upon hearing this, Li Yao hurried over and asked, "As long as you can do it, I can give you the same reward as them, and even give you an extra hour."


    "No need for extra time," the stranger said, "but I have a request, I wonder if the host can agree to it."


    Li Yao''s eyebrows rose slightly. "Let''s hear it."


    "I''m also a cksmith, but one who goes door to door in viges and towns, specializing in forging hoes, sickles and the like," the stranger said. "Although I can get by, after a long time, I also want to find a ce to settle down. So I think if I can meet the host''s requirements, I wonder if I could find a ce to live in this vige."


    Li Yao found it a bit strange.


    She knew of wandering doctors and wandering Taoists, but a wandering cksmith...this was the first time she had heard of it.


    Seeing his confident demeanor, he probably did have some skills. But whether this person could be used...


    Hmm, better be more careful.


    "Why do you wander? And why do you want to stay in my River Bend Vige?" she asked.


    "Wandering is to gain experience. As for wanting to settle down now, it''s because my legs can''t take it anymore." The stranger walked out of the crowd with a crutch, revealing half an empty pant leg. Turned out he was a cripple. "Your ce here looks decent, and I know your family business is big, and you like to do some new things. I feel I can help."


    Li Yao kept looking at his eyes. He also didn''t seem to be lying.


    His eyes were very calm, and his breathing steady.


    Just standing there answering, his fingers didn''t fidget at all.


    She didn''t immediately draw a conclusion, deciding to observe him a little longer.

 Chapter 106: Go Home with Your Daughter-in-law

    <h4>Chapter 106</h4>


    "Alright, as long as you can make a perfect sphere that meets my requirements, you can stay," Li Yao said. "Not only can I build you a house to live in and pay you a monthly wage, but I can also set up a fully equipped cksmith workshop for you."


    "Thank you for your kind offer, madam. I''ll get to work right away," Xia Xian replied.


    Limping over to the furnace, Xia Xian began working like the other cksmiths - first making a crude metal ball, cooling it in water, then taking out his tools to start polishing the sphere.


    Time flew by and it was soon noon.


    "Okay everyone, stop working for now!" Li Yao said. She had each person put their finished bead in front of them, then tested them one by one with a perforated wooden board.


    "Not round enough, and too small," she remarked while testing.


    "No good, this one''s too big."


    "Yours won''t work either..."


    Unsurprisingly, the beads made by the first 11 cksmiths failed to meet even the minimum standards.


    Finally she came to Xia Xian''s bead, and her eyes lit up. Although he had started an hourter than everyone else, the bead he produced was the best looking, with a high degree of smoothness on the surface at least.


    Li Yao ced the bead into one of the circr holes on the wooden board, rotating it in dozens of directions, and found it fit perfectly every time.


    Clearly this man had some skill.


    "You win," she dered.


    "Thank you madam!" Xia Xian replied.


    "I''ll have some rooms built for you on the emptynd near the workshop," Li Yao said. "In the meantime, you can stay in my family''s old house, if you don''t mind."


    "Haha, I don''t mind at all. Having a house is way better than sleeping in my ox cart," Xia Xianughed.


    And so Xia Xian came to live there. As long as he didn''t cause any uwful trouble within a year, he could officially be a viger of He Wan.


    That very afternoon, Li Yao eagerly had him start working.


    First was to make 32 steel beads of the same size.


    "This will be tougher than iron beads," Xia Xian remarked after hearing Li Yao''s request. "The size you want is very small, and steel is too hard - it''ll be difficult to polish."


    "Can''t do it?"


    "No no, I''m just saying it''ll be a bit difficult," Xia Xian said. "I''ll have it done in two days."


    Two dayster, Xia Xian presented Li Yao with 32 shiny steel beads.


    After a simple inspection, each one was very spherical, with the size being quite uniform.


    Next was to make the inner and outer rings for the bearings, a task rtively easier in difficulty. Xia Xian was quick to grasp the concepts, and with some brief instructions knew what to do.


    In one day the inner and outer rings werepleted, and in half a day more, he used brass to make the support frames.


    But he still didn''t know what Li Yao intended to use these items for.


    "Watch closely, I''m going to assemble the finished product now," Li Yao said.


    Shebined the steel beads and rings together, then riveted on the support frames, and just like that - four bearings were born.


    Seeing thepleted product, Xia Xian was amazed.


    He now understood what these were going to be used for!


    "Are these going to be used on the wheels of carriages?" he asked.


    "You''re very clever," Li Yao replied. "But bearings aren''t only useful for horse carriages - anywhere that needs spinning can use them."


    After adding pigrd into the bearings, she handed them to the wheelwright.


    These days, the wheelwright had already redesigned the axles and wheels of the carriage ording to Li Yao''s blueprints, and had no trouble installing the bearings at all.


    "Give it a try and see how they work," Li Yao said.


    "I''ll do it," Xia Xian volunteered.


    Grabbing the wheel, he gave it a forceful spin. The wheel turned with incredible smoothness, without any creaking noises, just a faint hissing sound. It easily spun at least thirty revolutions before slowlying to a stop.


    "It can keep spinning for so long!" Xia Xian eximed in wonder.


    In her mind, Li Yao thought that these were still hand-made bearings, far inferior in precision. With modern bearings, spinning 180 revolutions would be no problem.


    "Wheelwright, are the outer rims for the wheels ready?" she asked.


    "Ready, they can be installed now," the wheelwright replied.


    He brought out four outer rims for the wheels, made not of rubber of course, but sturdy ox hide.


    With Xia Xian''s help, the two fitted the outer rims over the wheels.


    Testing it out in the yard, the entire carriage now traveled supremely smooth. The minor vibrations were absorbed by the ox hide, leaving passengers inside feeling utterlyfortable.


    "This is absolutely the mostfortable carriage I''ve ever ridden in!" the County Magistrate''s wife eximed after trying it out. "I''m going to have my husband modify our carriage when I get back too."


    "No rush," Li Yao said. "The ox hide wheel rims won''tst very long, they''re just barely usable. I''ve already sent people south to buy rubber, and once it arrives we can have even better wheels."


    In any case, the carriage Li Yao modified was absolutely the most advanced of this time period.


    He Xiaoya understood that her mother had specially hired cksmiths and wheelwrights, spending endless time and effort just so she could travelfortably when going back home. Her gratitude knew no bounds.


    "Madam, just let me know whatever you want made next," Xia Xian said. Though his name contained the character for "leisure", he seemed unable to sit still for even a moment. "I''ll make anything you ask."


    Li Yao thought for a bit then said, "Let''s make a slide caliper next."


    Under her guidance, Xia Xian began crafting the world''s first slide caliper. With the high precision measurement tool, things made in the future could be even more standardized and urate.


    The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month soon arrived, and Da Zhuang and Xiaoya prepared to go back home and see how things were.


    Riding thefortable carriage, Xiaoya felt extremely uneasy as she watched He Wan vige gradually disappear into the distance.


    She didn''t know how her parents would treat her and Da Zhuang this time when they returned.


    ...


    Outside the gates of the He house, Xiaoya lightly knocked.


    After some time, an elderly man with white hair and beard opened the door. Seeing it was Xiaoya, he didn''t appear too happy.


    "Father," Xiaoya softly called out. Noticing Da Zhuang was still dazed, she tugged his sleeve.


    Only then did Da Zhuang regain his senses, remembering Xiaoya''s instructions to him on the road. He walked up and formally greeted his father-inw: "G-Greetings...f-father..."


    He Shiyou''s face darkened even more.


    He had never liked Da Zhuang, and didn''t even speak a sentence to him before. He didn''t expect the man to be a stutterer.


    But with his youngest daughter back home, he couldn''t leave them standing outside either.


    "Come on in," he grunted.


    "Oh, then let me park the carriage," Da Zhuang obediently replied.


    "The yard is small," He Shiyou snorted. "Just leave the ox cart on the roadside."


    Da Zhuang: ...


    Xiaoya knew her father''s temperament. If someone dared oppose what he said, they''d never get a kind look from him. Not wanting Da Zhuang to anger him, she nced at Da Zhuang and whispered: "Just leave it wherever father says. I can find someone to watch over it."


    It was only because the family was wealthy now that she dared stop such aden carriage outside. Otherwise, Xiaoya would never feel assured leaving it there.


    Apanying his wife back home, Da Zhuang of course had to listen to his wife. He simply nodded: "Alright."

 Chapter 107: A made-up image

    <h4>Chapter 107</h4>


    When entering the courtyard of the He family, it was actually not small at all.


    He Shiyou had two sons and three daughters, and He Xiaoya was the youngest one in the family.


    The three daughters were all married out, and the two sons were naturally also married long ago, but they did not divide up the family and all lived in this quite nice five-entry residence.


    In Baichuan County, such a big residence could be considered a rich family, but in the suburbs of Yizhou Prefecture, it could only be regarded as middle ss.


    Hearing that He Xiaoya hade back, the families of the two elder brothers came out of the rooms all at once.


    "Oh, isn''t this Little Ya?" The elder sister-inw said cheerfully, "You''ve been married out for almost a year, and you finally know toe back and take a look."


    The second sister-inw was even more sarcastic: "What''s the use of taking a look? Coming back empty-handed is even worse than noting at all."


    "You shouldn''t say that either," the elder sister-inw said, "We all know Little Ya married into a family in the mountains, life is hard there, how could she have money to buy things."


    "Poor people should not neglect propriety," the second sister-inw said, "But it''s normal for mountain folk not to understand propriety."


    Da Zhuang''s face turned red all at once.


    Before leaving, his mother did prepare a lot of things, but those were all gifts for his father-inw and mother-inw.


    As for gifts for his two elder uncles, it seemed he really didn''t prepare any.


    Seeing his honest and obedient appearance, not even daring to speak, the two elder brothers looked down on him even more in their hearts. They didn''t know what Little Ya was thinking, insisting on marrying such a mountain man.


    "Just sit in the yard," He Shiyou said, "Second sister-inw, go buy half a catty of meat and make a dish for lunch."


    The second sister-inw left reluctantly.


    However, she didn''t go straight to buy meat, but went around telling everyone that He Xiaoya and her husband hade back, and they came back empty-handed.


    Last year when He Xiaoya got married, many vigers felt sorry for her.


    Several families with young men had intended to marry her as a daughter-inw, but Xiaoya didn''t look upon any of them. Later she was snatched away by a mountain man, and they inevitably felt resentful.


    "Come sit at our house after eating, that husband of Little Ya is quite capable."


    While in the He family''s courtyard, the He Xiaoya family sat down, and they looked at Da Zhuang as if he were a criminal, making him feel that he didn''t even know where to put his hands and feet, his mind aplete mess.


    The words Xiaoya had taught him to say along the way, he couldn''t recall a single one now.


    Fortunately, He Xiaoya kept asking about her parents'' situation, so the atmosphere didn''t be too awkward.


    But when it was time to eat, the awkward thing finally happened.


    "The table is too small, there are too many family members, no room to sit," the elder brother said, "Brother-inw, why don''t you sit at the small table, you don''t mind, right?"


    "I don''t...mind..."


    After being at the He house for an hour, Da Zhuang felt like it had been an endless ten years, and he couldn''t wait to go back home immediately.


    Now hearing that he didn''t have to eat at the same table with them, he naturally was more than willing.


    But in He Xiaoya''s eyes, it was different.


    On the son-inw''s first visit to the wife''s home, he wasn''t even allowed at the main table, this was clearly looking down on Da Zhuang.


    "Forget it," Da Zhuang whispered and pulled Xiaoya''s clothes, "Mother said to keep a low profile and not cause conflicts."


    He Xiaoya sighed inwardly, also not knowing why Mother would say this.


    She herself was clearly very strong-willed, yet asked Da Zhuang topromise everywhere.


    "I''ll sit at the small table with Da Zhuang," she finally said, "We won''t disturb your family meal."


    The young couple sitting at the small side table, the meal was naturally tasteless.


    Of course, He Xiaoya was in a bad mood, feeling the maternal family was too bullying, while Da Zhuang simply felt the dishes were not tasty, iparable to the meals cooked by his mother and Xiaoya, one being heaven and the other underground.


    After lunch, at the "invitation" of the second daughter-inw of the He family, vigers came one after another to the He family courtyard, all wanting to see what kind of person this husband of Xiaoya was.


    With even more people surrounding him and looking at him, Da Zhuang was even more nervous. Coincidentally, He Xiaoya felt tired and went to take a nap indoors, without a single familiar person by his side, leaving his mind aplete mess again.


    Just as he didn''t know what to do, He Shiyou finally spoke to him.


    "Da Zhuang, is your mother well?"


    "Very...very well..."


    "Hmm," He Shiyou continued to ask, "How muchnd does your family farm?"


    "How muchnd?"


    Da Zhuang was a little confused.


    When Mother boughtnd, she just pointed to the hilltops and told him, that mountain, that mountain, that mountain... were all their family''s. He didn''t remember exactly how many acres, although Mother had said it at the time, after a long time he couldn''t recall clearly...


    "About...about..."


    "Haha," the second sister-inwughed, "I''m afraid our brother-inw''s mind is muddled as well."


    The other vigers also nodded.


    Not even knowing how muchnd his own family had, not just muddled, he was probably stupid.


    "I...I know," Da Zhuang said, "but I need to calcte it."


    "Oh, your family has so muchnd that you need to calcte for so long?" the second sister-inw said, "Why don''t I get you an abacus?"


    "I don''t know how to use an abacus."


    Everyoneughed again, this Da Zhuang really was a simpleton.


    She was mocking you, yet you took it seriously.


    Da Zhuang tried hard to remember, the family had boughtnd three times total, once was thend to build the house, and two other times were barren mountains. Not counting thend for building the house, one barren mountain purchase was 5000 mu, the other was 4800 mu, adding up to 9800 mu.


    There was also the original paddy fields to add, 15 mu in total.


    "Still haven''t calcted it out?"


    "I''ve calcted it." Da Zhuang said, "Our family has 15 mu of paddy fields..."


    "Haha, you need to calcte so long even for 15 mu ofnd?"


    "There''s also the barren mountains." Da Zhuang quickly added.


    "Oh, how many mu are the barren mountains?"


    "There''s...there''s...9800 mu."


    "How much?" The second sister-inw''s voice was like a chicken being strangled, "Are you making things up? 9800 mu? Make up something more believable, who are you trying to shock to death?"


    "Haha, definitely bragging, 9800 mu of barren mountain, even the wealthiest wouldn''t have that kind of resources."


    "Pretending capabilities beyond one''s means, this family is not honest!"


    "My mother said, cannot tell lies." Da Zhuang said, "My family really has that many barren mountains, all bought by my mother!"


    "Your family can''t even afford meals, only gave 500 wen of dowry to marry Little Ya, how could you possibly have money to buy that much mountain?"


    "My mother earned it!" Speaking of Li Yao, Da Zhuang''s confidence instantly grew, "My mother is very capable, even the County Magistrate admires her, now the Magistrate''s wife still lives in our home."


    "Haha..."


    The crowdughed again.


    "The Magistrate''s wife doesn''t live in the county government, but your home?"


    "Blowing cowhide to this extent, who would believe it if this got out!"


    "Looks like not just stupid, thick skinned too."


    ...


    Da Zhuang wanted to exin further, but suddenly recalled Li Yao''s words: When going out, do not argue with others.


    Sigh, actually the good rtions between his family and the Magistrate''s wife were no secret, the He family''s attitude of not giving them any regard was probably what Mother called...what was it called again...


    A mantis trying to stop a chariot?


    So he simply didn''t say any more.

 Chapter 108: Bad Taste

    <h4>Chapter 108</h4>


    After joking around for a while, people still felt unsatisfied and said, "Since your family is so rich, why did youe to see your father-inw empty-handed?"


    "I didn''te empty-handed. I brought many things to pay respect to them." Da Zhuang said.


    "Where are they?" the second sister-inw asked with a smile, "I haven''t seen even an egg so far."


    "They are in the carriage outside."


    "You also have a carriage?"


    Hearing this, He Shiyou felt a little wrong.


    It was normal for an out-of-town son-inw to brag a bit in front of vigers, but one couldn''t brag about a carriage because it would be easily exposed as a lie if it couldn''t be taken out.


    "Da Zhuang, where is your carriage?"


    "Outside."


    "Why did you leave it outside? Bring it in."


    Da Zhuang: ...Wasn''t it you who asked me to leave it outside?


    But Da Zhuang obediently went to bring in the carriage, stunning everyone.


    "Yo, it really is a carriage."


    "There are also two sheep behind, could they be gifts for their family?"


    Da Zhuang first untied the sheep and tied them to a tree in the yard, then opened the carriage door and started unloading the gifts prepared for his father-inw one by one.


    "Two pigs'' feet."


    "10 Roast goose."


    "Two bolts of cotton cloth."


    "One bolt of satin."


    "One bolt of silk."


    "50 jin of kapok."


    "200 jin of rice."


    "10 jin of rock sugar."


    "20 jin of brown sugar."


    ...


    "20 bars of soap."


    "Soap?"


    Hearing this, the vigers were shocked.


    Soap was a raremodity. Although it only cost 100 wen per bar now, it was often out of stock and simply unavable to buy!


    "Where did you buy the soap?"


    "Our family makes it ourselves."


    Vigers: ...We thought it was the premium soap from Li''s Store in He Wan, but it turned out to be homemade lye soap.


    "There are also 10 bars of perfumed soap."


    "Wait!" Second sister-inw''s voice sounded like a choked chicken again, "What did you say, perfumed soap? 10 bars?"


    "Yes."


    "Don''t brag about this. Do you know what perfumed soap is?"


    "I know, for washing face."


    "You..." Second sister-inw was about to be angered by him, "Yes, it''s for washing face, but not for ordinary people to wash face with. Only wealthy families can afford it. A single bar costs at least 3 liang of silver! Yet you said you brought 10 bars?"


    "It''s probably homemade lye soap with some fragrance added, fake ones."


    "He absolutely cannot afford the perfumed soap from Li''s Store in He Wan."


    "Even if he could afford it, he absolutely couldn''t buy so many!" Second sister-inw''s voice grew louder, "I''ve already inquired clearly. Li''s Store perfumed soaps are limited. Even if the prefect''s wife goes to buy them, she can only buy two bars at most each time!"


    Da Zhuang didn''t know the perfumed soap his family made was so sought-after.


    "But I did bring 10 bars of perfumed soap."


    "I don''t believe it!" Second sister-inw said firmly. "Take it out and show everyone. It must not be from Li''s Store in He Wan!"


    Helplessly, Da Zhuang had to obediently open the package and take out a bar of perfumed soap, unwrapping it.


    In an instant, the elegant fragrance drifted around the yard.


    "This...this...this..."


    Second sister-inw looked at the perfumed soap in her hand and was stunned speechless.


    The soap felt extremely smooth in her hand, and the fragrance was elegant,pletely different from the "lye soap with fragrance" she had imagined.


    After repeatedly confirming it, she tentatively asked, "Is this really from Li''s Store in He Wan?"


    "Yes."


    "Where did you buy so many?"


    "I didn''t buy them," Da Zhuang said, "Our family makes them."


    Second sister-inw: ...


    Everyone: ...


    No one believed it, not even He Shiyou.


    That was Li''s Store, not Wang''s Store... Wait.


    "What is your mother''s maiden name?"


    Da Zhuang: "My mother''s surname is Li."


    Surname Li?


    He Shiyou was shocked.


    If he remembered correctly, the ce where Da Zhuang''s family lived seemed to be called He Wan vige.


    So Li''s Store in He Wan...


    "Could it be that your mother is the legendary Ms. Li?"


    "Yes," Da Zhuang nodded, "Many people call my mother that."


    My god!


    Everyone gasped.


    Ms. Li from He Wan vige, Da Zhuang''s mother turned out to be Ms. Li from He Wan vige!


    This name had already be legendary in Yizhou Prefecture!


    Unexpectedly, she turned out to be Da Zhuang''s mother!


    "Da...Da Zhuang," He Shiyou waspletely stunned, "Why didn''t you say so earlier?"


    "You didn''t ask."


    He Shiyou: ...


    He Shiyou really wanted to p himself twice.


    If his mother-inw knew that he didn''t even know her surname, how could he ever meet her again?


    "Oh you boy," He Shiyou said with a big smile, "Xiao Ya too, you''ve been home half a day and didn''t even tell me about such a big thing, letting me be so rude. Sister-inw, hurry and tidy up the guest room to let your brother-inw rest well!"


    "Oh, I''ll go right away!"


    "Da Zhuang," He Shiyou said to Da Zhuang again, "Xiao Ya rarelyes back, stay a few more days this time."


    "Probably not," Da Zhuang shook his head, "There are still dozens of mu of mountainnd waiting for me to plow at home. We''ll go backter."


    "Boy, you''re so rich now, why still plownd?"


    ...


    In the end, Da Zhuang was unable to leave that day. It wasn''t that he wanted to stay, but Xiao Ya was really too tired from the trip to return home the same day.


    That night, He Shiyou had people make many dishes with big fish and meatid out on the table. Da Zhuang was also invited to the head seat and sat alongside him.


    Xiao Ya''s two brothers didn''t dare toe to the table anymore and went to eat in the kitchen themselves.


    Seeing her family''s sudden change in attitude towards Da Zhuang, Xiao Ya still couldn''t be happy.


    She felt they were cold towards Da Zhuang when they thought he had no money, not even letting hime to the main table to eat. Now knowing Da Zhuang had money, they started fawning over him.


    Mother was right after all.


    It''s only when you have no money that you can see who truly treats you well.


    So the next morning, Xiao Ya, ignoring her parents'' repeated requests to stay, left with Da Zhuang pulling the carriage to hurry home.


    ...


    In the leisure of winter.


    After Xia Xian made the calipers ording to Li Yao''s request, Li Yao started pestering him again.


    "Didn''t you say you can make anything? Howe when I ask you to make such a small thing you can''t do it?"


    Xia Xian really had no rebuttal.


    He did have superb craftsmanship.


    If it was making props, cookware, farm tools, or even hundred-refined steel des used on the battlefield, he could definitely make them perfectly at the fastest speed.


    But this employer wanted him to make steel wires.


    Not only did they need great sticity, they also needed sufficient strength and had to be as fine as hair...


    What kind of steel could achieve such an effect?


    "Master," Xia Xian said helplessly, "Can I do something else?"


    "Why would I ask you to do other things?" Li Yao put down the spring picture in his hand, "It looks like we''ll have to start from scratch. Let me first tell you what an alloy is."


    In this world, alloys were not rare things. Bronze, brass, etc. were all alloys.


    But in order to smelt special alloys such as stainless steel and spring steel, not only time was needed.

 Chapter 109: Bonus

    <h4>Chapter 109</h4>


    With this in mind, Li Yao built some rooms next to the soap workshop specially for Xia Xian and set up a small high-temperature furnace, specifically for smelting and forging.


    Wang Yuanguo bought all kinds of minerals from other ces, and they were all smelted into metals here.


    Then, ording to Li Yao''s memory, plus Xia Xian''s tireless day and night experiments, it took them a full 10 days to finally forge the world''s first high-strength steel wire.


    The diameter of the steel wire barely met the requirements when measured with calipers. Xia Xian really couldn''t hold back anymore and asked, "Boss, what exactly will you use this steel wire for?"


    "This is a small part of the grand n," Li Yao said. "Stoke up the fire and you''ll find out soon enough."


    Li Yao used tweezers to clip a section of steel wire and turned it red-hot over the glowing coals, then quickly wrapped it around a round iron rod. After it had set to some extent, she quickly dipped it in water to quench it.


    After it hadpletely cooled, Li Yao fished the coiled steel wire out of the water.


    The world''s first professional spring was thus born.


    Testing it with her hands, all the parameters met the requirements, but Xia Xian still didn''t understand.


    "What exactly is this used for?"


    "It''s called a spring," Li Yao said. "It can be used for many, many things."


    "You have to record theposition and process for making this material so that it will be easier next time you make it."


    "Alright, so what do I need to make next?" Li Yao took out a pile of all kinds of drawings.


    Looking at the thick stack of drawings, and the various strange little objects on them, Xia Xian felt like her head would split open.


    It was like asking a strongman to embroider flowers - that feeling of power with nowhere to exert it was really maddening.


    Fortunately, the difficulty of the parts decreased by a lot this time. Gears, chains, iron wheels, big springs, small bearings... these took three days.


    The hardest was something involving threads, but Li Yao also came up with a good solution for him - making a simple manual minithe that slowly ground them out over two days, finally producing the desired threads.


    On Qiu Carpenter''s side, he also made some things ording to the specifications, mostly rtivelyrge frames.


    With all the parts made, Li Yao couldn''t wait to start assembling.


    The wooden frame and handles were fitted with wheels, shock-absorbing springs, chains, pedals...


    In less than half an hour, the world''s first bicycle was sessfully revealed before the two.


    Both Qiu Carpenter and Xia Xian were dumbfounded.


    The two of them had spent half a month, burning hundreds of catties of coal, but the end result was something they couldn''t evenprehend.


    "Boss, what is this used for?"


    "It''s called a bicycle," Li Yao said. "It''s for riding instead of a horse."


    "A carriage with only two wheels?"


    Not only Xia Xian and Qiu Carpenter, even the vigers who came to watch the lively scene bulged their eyes wide open.


    A carriage with only two wheels, one in front and one behind - wouldn''t that fall over?


    Li Yao pushed the bicycle out into the open ground, then nimbly straddled it.


    After fumbling for a bit, she rode more and more smoothly, astonishing the vigers again and again.


    "It really can be ridden!"


    "What exactly is the principle behind this?" Xia Xian was quite worldly-wise, but this time she was also at a loss. "How does it not tip over?"


    Li Yao rode around the open area a few times then stopped.


    The test ride was a sess, but there were still several areas that needed modifications. She left that task to Xia Xian.


    And the time hade to the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month.


    The so-called long work, short work, stop work on the 23rd.


    The soap workshop started its vacation today. After everyone finished cleaning up, they gathered together excitedly, waiting for Li Yao toe distribute their wages.


    Today''s wages were different than usual, there were bonuses!


    Everyone was full of anticipation, and also a bit nervous.


    "I wonder how big the bonuses will be."


    "If we could get an extra 500 wen each, our New Year will be great!"


    "You dream big. There are over seventy of us! 500 wen each would be almost 40 liang of silver!" Someone said, "Even if Boss Li is generous, she can''t give out that much."


    "That''s true, 200 wen each would satisfy us already."


    ...


    Amidst the chatter, Li Yao finally arrived.


    Everyone craned their necks, waiting for her to speak.


    "It''s New Year''s, I''m sure everyone is concerned about the bonus," Li Yao said frankly. "I won''t say much, I''ll have Xiaohui distribute it to everyone now."


    "Come up when I call your name."


    Du Xiaohui held a ledger.


    Ever since bing the ountant for the soap workshop, she had also learned a lot of words from Wang Er, and could now recognize most of the vigers'' names.


    "Sister Liu."


    "Oh,ing,ing!"


    Sister Liu was one of the earliest to help Li Yao make braised goose. After Li Yao gave the braised goose business to the Fang family, she joined the workshop, and could be considered one of Li Yao''s earliest employees.


    "This month''s wages are 900 wen," Du Xiaohui said. "Plus a year-end bonus package."


    "Yo, there''s a year-end bonus too!"


    Wang Yuanguo unloaded a bag from the cart. Sister Liu couldn''t wait to open it and immediately gasped.


    "So much?"


    Two jin of oil, 10 jin of rice, 10 jin of flour, 5 jin of meat, 5 jin of melon seeds, 5 jin of brown sugar.


    To be honest, even ordinary families could not afford to buy so much for New Year''s!


    "There''s also a cash bonus," Du Xiaohui paused before reading, "1 liang of silver!"


    "How much?"


    Sister Liu thought she had misheard.


    1 liang of silver!


    "Li Yao, why are you giving so much," Sister Liu''s hands trembled, she didn''t even dare reach out to take it. "You worked hard to earn money too."


    "Take it, it''s not much," Li Yao said. "Work hard next year, the bonus will at least double."


    "Yo!"


    Sister Liu excitedly epted the silver and New Year''s goods belonging to her. Her eyes inexplicably turned red.


    She had lived over half her life but had never received so much money with her own hands, never received such weighty New Year''s goods... Li Yao was too good to everyone.


    "Liu Xiu, don''t worry. I will work hard for you next year too."


    After the workers'' bonuses and New Year''s packages were distributed, it was the management''s turn.


    Of the overseers, Li Yao gave the most to Granny Wang Xueshi - 5 liang of silver.


    Although this granny was older and couldn''t recognize too many words, she was really responsible. All the misceneous matters in the workshop were also handled by her.


    So 5 liang of bonus wasn''t considered much.


    She was also one of their own, reliable, and would be even more diligent after benefiting.


    The other overseers also each received 2 liang of silver bonuses. The heavy silver ingots reassured everyone, and the weighty New Year''s goods also filled everyone with anticipation for the new year.


    "Xia Xian, Carpenter Qiu, youe get yours too."


    "We have some too?"


    The two people watching the lively scene from the side were surprised.


    Especially Xia Xian, who had only been in He Wan vige for a few days and hadn''t done anything for Li Yao yet. How could she be getting money too?


    What surprised her even more was that Li Yao gave her no small amount.


    2 liang of silver, double portions of New Year''s goods.


    "Boss, you are too polite."


    "You deserved this," Li Yao said. "Have a good new year. We still have a lot to make next year, will need you to work hard."


    "Yo!"


    Although Xia Xian hadn''t helped Li Yao make money, her contributions were undoubtedly the greatest.


    Without her, Li Yao''s bicycle could not have been made so quickly.


    As for Carpenter Qiu, Li Yao also valued his skills highly. She still had many things she wanted to make next year, and would need the help of this skilled worker.


    With the workshop on vacation, Li Yao also had to start preparing for New Year''s.


    The new county office was still under construction, so she had invited Magistrate Song and his family to spend New Year''s at her home. The couple naturally happily agreed.


    This was her first new year in this world, and also the first time she would be spending the new year with so many people, so she wanted it to be lively.


    All kinds of meat were essential, as well as seeds and candy. Hot pot was also a must, they had to enjoy it several times.


    She made lists of all this and asked Da Zhuang and Wang Yuanguo to prepare everything.

 Chapter 110: The Game

    <h4>Chapter 110</h4>


    Time flew by, and soon Song County Magistrate arrived at Li Yao''s house.


    This winter, the policy of "substituting work for relief" had achieved great sess, allowing him to finally put his mind at ease and properly celebrate the new year.


    After noon, the two families busied themselves.


    Braised pork belly, chopped meat for dumpling stuffing, hot pot ingredients...


    All kinds of appetizing aromas mixed with billowing steam filled the entire courtyard, permeating it with the scent of the new year.


    By mid-afternoon, Wang Er brought Wang San''er and Xiao Si to post spring couplets, door gods and window flower decorations. Li Yao also prepared severalrge baskets filled with various cooked meats for Da Zhuang to deliver to the old Wang family mansion.


    "What''s the use of bringing so much meat?" Wang Xueshi had be quite wealthy herself by now, with all three sons working for Li Yao and earning good money. Second and third son''s wages were shockingly high.


    Plus her own wages and what Wang Lao Tou made from ginning cotton, the family had never been so well-off. Naturally they didn''t skimp on new year''s goods.


    Xiao Ya said, "Granny, my mother said what you''ve bought is yours, what we''ve brought is what we should give as filial respect."


    "Well said, well said," Wang Xueshi said with great satisfaction, "Look at this daughter-inw, so filial!"


    Zhou and Shen Shi listened from the side, secretlyughing to themselves. Who was it that used to curse the eldest daughter-inw as less than human everyday?


    "How have you beentely?" Wang Xueshi affectionately took Xiao Ya''s hand and asked, "You''re not showing yet?"


    Xiao Ya''s face flushed as she said, "Not so soon, Granny."


    "No hurry," Wang Xueshi said, quickly pressing a little red bundle into Xiao Ya''s hand, "This is for the great-grandchild''s clothes Granny is making. Take it."


    "Granny, you shouldn''t..."


    "Shouldn''t, what shouldn''t?" Wang Xueshi said sternly, "Hurry back and rest, don''t overexert yourself."


    At her side, Shen Shi suddenly felt a little envious. This mother-inw was being too generous, the child wasn''t even born yet and she was already giving such a big red envelope.


    She looked worriedly at her own belly. Although San Wang Yuen Kwok no longer worked as a dockborer, he made money now, but the young couple spent even less time together than before.


    She must make an effort over the new year.


    After leaving the Wang family mansion, Da Zhuang and his wife delivered gifts to Lv Xiucai and the Vige Head''s family as well.


    By the time they returned home, Li Yao had prepared a table full of sumptuous dishes for the reunion dinner.


    Steamed fish is a must, signifying abundance every year. With drought everywhere, this fish was bought by Wang Yuen Kwok from Yizhou Prefecture.


    There was also a tter of braised pork belly, tter of stewed meats, sweet and sour pork ribs, all kinds of stir-fried dishes.


    To amodate the Northern tastes of the county magistrate''s family, there was also a crispy-skinned duck and dumplings stuffed withmb.


    After tasting Li Yao''s roast duck, the county magistrate heaped praise: "I didn''t expect Mrs. Li to be so skilled, just looking at the color, this duck is better than Quanjufu''s!"


    Li Yao took cooking seriously, so making a good roast duck was no problem.


    "And themb dumplings," Song Zhe added, "are more fragrant than my mother''s!"


    "Now, now," the county magistrate''s wifeughed, "you''ve embarrassed Li Yao with so much praise, hurry and sit down, dinner is starting!"


    Li Yao emerged from the kitchen, originally wanting to invite Xia Xian to join the reunion dinner, but he stubbornly refused toe once he heard the county magistrate''s family was present. So Li Yao had San Wang''er deliver food and dumplings to him.


    She knew spending new year''s alone did not feel good.


    After San Wang''er returned, the two families officially started their reunion dinner.


    Regrettably, this world had no TV or Spring Festival G, otherwise it would be livelier.


    After dinner, the county magistrate''s wife gave each child red packets, naturally not excluding Li Yao. Every child received new year''s money.


    Upon receiving the red packet, Wang San''er did not look very excited, staring straight at the bicycle in the yard instead.


    "Mother, can I ride it?"


    "Do you know how?"


    "No, but I think it looks simple."


    "Then try it."


    Wang San''er tossed his red packet to Xiao Si, eagerly going to learn how to ride the bicycle.


    But controlling the thing proved far more difficult than he imagined, falling over repeatedly at first.


    After some pointers from Li Yao however, he soon managed to coast along.


    "What is this contraption, quite novel!" the county magistrate asked.


    "It''s called a bicycle," the county magistrate''s wife exined. "Li Yao said it''s faster than a horse, and needs no feed. As long as a person has the strength, it can keep going without stopping."


    "Faster than a horse?" The county magistrate was skeptical. "How can manpowerpete with horsepower?"


    "County magistrate," Li Yao smiled, "Why don''t we have a contest?"


    "Excellent, what do you propose?"


    "You select some people to ride horses, I''ll ride the bicycle," Li Yao said. "We start from He Wan Vige, ride to Baichuan Market to collect a token, then race back to see who arrives first."


    "Agreed! The winner will receive 5 taels of bonus from me! But beware, I''ll have Captain Zhang join the race, he just bought an excellent horse."


    "Mother, I want to race too!" Wang San''er was immediately enthused. "Can I ride your white horse? Please?"


    "No."


    Wang San''er''s expression fell, about to go back to the bicycle, when Li Yao added, "But I bought a horse for you."


    "Huh?" Wang San''er was stunned. "For me?"


    "Yes, go take a look in the stables."


    "Thank you Mother!"


    With a horse, who cares about the bicycle? Wang San''er sped off like the wind towards the stables, soon leading out a lively little horse.

 Chapter 111: Yaoyao Leads

    <h4>Chapter 111</h4>


    "Oh, this is quite a warhorse," said the county magistrate''s wife, who was knowledgeable about such things. "It must have cost a pretty penny!"


    "Not too expensive," Li Yao replied.


    "Li Yao, you really do spoil him," the county magistrate''s wife said. "No one pampers their child as much as you."


    "It''s not spoiling him," Li Yao exined. "Wang San''er will have to serve in the military next year."


    "Oh, military service?"


    The county magistrate couple was a bit taken aback.


    ording to thew, males over the age of 14 were indeed required to serve in the military, but not everyone went.


    Generally only one or two from each family went, and families without sons were exempt.


    Besides, wealthy families like Li Yao''s could easily pay someone to serve as a substitute. There was no need for their own sons to suffer through it.


    Yet Li Yao was voluntarily sending Wang San''er to serve.


    "Li Yao," the county magistrate''s wife said, "are you sure?"


    "What''s there to be unsure about?" Li Yao replied. "Anyway, this is his own wish. He wants to be a grand general in the future."


    "Admirable ambition," the county magistrate remarked. "A man ought to have such aspirations!"


    Wang San''er had already bonded with the little horse, riding it around the yard a fewps and totally forgetting about his bicycle.


    "Mother, can you buy me a real bow and arrows?"


    "If you can beat County Captain Zhang in the archery contest on the thirteenth, I won''t just buy you a bow and arrows, but also have a fine sword forged for you."


    "It''s a deal!" Wang San''er jumped down excitedly from the horse''s back. "I''ll definitely win!"


    "I made a saddle for you too. Starting tomorrow, practice more riding."


    The saddle Li Yao had prepared incorporated her own innovations, using double stirrups. It was a simple modification, but revolutionary in impact.


    After chatting a while longer, the county magistrate''s wife noticed thete hour and suggested they all turn in early.


    ...


    On the first day of the new year, Li Yao''s doorway was nearly trampled from all the vigersing to pay respects.


    Li Yao also brought out the melon seeds and candy she had prepared to treat them, and red envelopes for the children.


    That night, the two families enjoyed a hearty hot pot dinner.


    On the second day, it was time to visit the wife''s family.


    Of course Li Yao did not go, and He Xiaoyi had already gone the previous year, so she did not go either. Naturally the county magistrate''s wife could not go back.


    The two families spent the day together again, eating another hot pot.


    On the third day, County Captain Zhang came to Huawan Vige with his yamen runners, over a dozen brawny men, and of course his newly purchased fine horse.


    He was determined to clinch first ce in this horse versus bicycle race!


    "Boy," County Captain Zhang said confidently to Wang San''er, "don''t me me for not going easy on you. I''m taking first ce this time!"


    "Hmph, the one taking first will be me!" Wang San''er refused to back down.


    Although he had only been practicing riding for two days, he was brimming with confidence.


    The onlookersughed and shook their heads, thinking a little boy who had just learned to ride two days ago could not possibly beat the others no matter how good his horse was.


    Of course, no one believed Li Yao''s bicycle could surpass a horse.


    Li Yao''s bicycle had been modified by Xia Xian.


    Besides recing the rubber tires with solid rubber ones for better shock absorption, he had also installed a speed control device to make pedaling uphill easier.


    In the open area at the vige entrance, County Magistrate Song officiated the race beaming with authority.


    The vigers crowded along both sides of the road.


    Although everyone believed in Li Yao''s capabilities, there were still quite a few who thought a bicycle could not beat a horse.


    "She probably can''t win."


    "It doesn''t matter if she can''t win," the vige head said. "Li Yao told us this bicycle will be mass produced. Then we can just buy one at the market when it''s more convenient."


    "That''s right, I heard it can carry very heavy loads."


    "Most important is it doesn''t eat anything."


    ...


    Amidst the vigers'' chatter, over a dozen riders on horseback had gotten into position. Li Yao changed into lightweight clothing and wheeled her modified bicycle to the starting line.


    "Ready¡ªGo!"


    At County Magistrate Song''smand, the horses immediately galloped forth. Li Yao forcefully pedaled the bicycle into rapid motion.


    Fine horses could reach speeds of 60 km/h and sustain running for hours, but for a bicycle to achieve such speeds required a professional cyclist, specialized bicycle, and ideal road conditions.


    So winning this race would not be easy.


    However, Li Yao''s physical fitness was beyond ordinary. Zhang County Captain and the others also did not have the best horses. Pedaling with all her might, Li Yao quickly pulled ahead.


    The men anxiously whipped their horses to go faster, but the horses were already wheezing and still couldn''t catch up.


    After all, they were not true warhorses, with top speeds of only around 40 km/h.


    After a long steep slope, everyone finally lost sight of Li Yao.


    Unable to beat Li Yao, Zhang County Captain conceded, but as a veteran soldier, he was determined to thoroughly defeat the other riders.


    So he regted his breathing and pace, keeping ahead of the rest.


    Nearing Baichuan Market, he had left most of the riders behind by over a li, with only Wang San''er doggedly tailing him.


    "This kid really has some skill."


    On the return trip, the two were clearlypeting intensely.


    Wang San''er closed in, forcing Zhang County Captain to pull out all the stops.


    But by the time they reached Huawan Vige''s outskirts, the two were neck and neck.


    Seeing the finish line ahead, Zhang County Captain fiercely cracked his whip and his horse abruptly elerated.


    "Wang San''er, I''ll be waiting for you in Huawan Vige!"


    "It''s too early to say that now!"


    Wang San''er refused to back down. Bending low, he stood up in sync with the warhorse''s steps, swaying back and forth with its motion.


    His mother had taught him this--it enabled maximum coordination between rider and warhorse to achieve the greatest speed.


    In a sh, Wang San''er overtook Zhang County Captain.


    "How can this be?"


    Zhang County Captain was bbergasted.


    In decades of riding, he had never seen this riding technique.


    "How did he even stand up on it?"


    ...


    "They should be back soon," said the county magistrate''s wife, looking at the nearly burned-out incense at the entrance to Huawan Vige.


    "Mydy," the county magistrate asked with a smile, "do you think Li Yao can win?"


    "Is there any need to ask? When has Li Yao ever exaggerated?"


    "Well, not necessarily," he chuckled.


    Ding ling ling--


    At that moment, a clear ringing sounded as Li Yao came into view riding her bicycle.


    Yet there was not a single horse behind her!


    She was clearly far, far ahead!


    "Look, Li Yao did win after all," said the county magistrate''s wife.


    Watching Li Yao draw nearer and nearer, the county magistrate remained silent.


    A bicycle that could outrace ordinary horses by human power alone--Li Yao''s creation really was formidable.

 Chapter 112: The Bicycle

    <h4>Chapter 112</h4>


    The most important thing was that bicycles did not need to be fed, were not afraid of severe cold or heat, rain or sun exposure, and could also carry heavy objects.


    In the future, if every household had a bicycle, transporting things would be so convenient!


    "It looks like I have to write another booklet to send to the capital."


    Ding ling ling--


    Without any idents, Li Yao was the first to cross the finish line.


    But even she was drenched in sweat after the nearly 30 km round trip at full speed.


    It took a full ten minutes or more before Zhang County Captain and Wang San''er finally came into view.


    "Huh, Zhang County Captain actually fell behind?"


    This result surprised Song County Magistrate even more. He even suspected that Zhang County Captain had deliberately let Wang San''er win.


    "I won!"


    Wang San''er was two horse lengths ahead of Zhang County Captain, and was the first to cross the finish line.


    The iing Zhang County Captain was very annoyed. As soon as he got off his horse, he rushed towards Wang San''er.


    "How on earth did you manage to stand up on the horse''s back?"


    Wang San''er led Zhang County Captain to the other side of the horse, and pped the saddle, "Look at this."


    "There are stirrups on this side too?"


    Zhang County Captain waspletely confused.


    Stirrups are used to step on when mounting the horse. Having them on both sides, could it be for two people to get on at the same time?


    No, no...


    He thought about it carefully, and suddenly felt that this was an ingenious idea.


    "Can I try it?"


    "Go ahead."


    Zhang County Captain got on the horse, and when both his feet were in the stirrups, he became even more certain of his guess.


    In the past when riding a horse, after getting on the horse the stirrups were barely used. To steady oneself on the horse''s back, one had to rely on the strength of one''s legs to grip the saddle tightly, and even use one hand to hold onto the saddle.


    This resulted in scattering most of one''s strength and attention. In battle with the enemy, there was very little strength that could be utilized.


    But with double stirrups it was different.


    Now both feet were as if rooted, easily stabilizing the body which could now perform all kinds of difficult actions on the horse''s back that were unthinkable before, such as full charge, chopping, and shooting arrows more steadily.


    He felt that with these double stirrups, he could definitely defeat more than a dozen local cavalry by himself!


    Seeing that he kept running back and forth on Wang San''er''s horse, Song County Magistrate was very puzzled.


    "Zhang County Captain, what are you doing?" Song County Magistrate said, "You lost, just admit defeat, why hold it against Wang San''er''s horse?"


    Zhang County Captain came back to his senses, quickly dismounted, and truthfully reported the matter of the double stirrups.


    "My lord magistrate, if this method can be promoted in the army, thebat power of our cavalry will surely greatly increase!"


    "Really?"


    "Zhang swears on his life!" Zhang County Captain said seriously, "My lord magistrate, this is a major event. Please report it to the court immediately! Firstly for our soldiers, and secondly to ask for merit on behalf of Miss Li!"


    Song County Magistrate: ...


    Last time when asking for merit on behalf of Li Yao, it was because she had improved the plow, inventing the curved plow. It hadn''t even been two months since then.


    And now asking for merit again, and it was two achievements - the bicycle and the double stirrups.


    And if these double stirrups were really as amazing as Zhang County Captain said, then they would definitely be an even greater achievement than the discovery of sweet potatoes!


    "Old man, what are you staring into space for?" the county magistrate''s wife urged, "Go back and write the post now."


    "I know."


    But Song County Magistrate was worried. He had sent booklets up repeatedly, but Li Yao¡¯s rewards were unseen, not even a verbalmendation.


    This meant that His Majesty probably hadn''t even seen his posts.


    Then no matter how much he wrote, what good would it do?


    No, he had to find a way.


    But who to ask?


    After long deliberation, Song County Magistrate made up his mind.


    "I hope he can handle this impartially as before."


    ...


    Li Yao''s bicycle debut was a great sess. The vigers said they all wanted one, and even Song County Magistrate was preparing to sell the horses raised in the county government and switch to bicycles instead.


    From now on, he would no longer ride in a carriage, but ride a bicycle when going out on official business.


    Not only could it save expenses, but also exercise the body.


    As a result, when tried at Li Yao''s yard, Zhang County Captain and several clerks were able to get the hang of it very quickly, but Song County Magistrate fell over as soon as he got on, as if the bicycle held a grudge against him.


    This made Song County Magistrate very depressed.


    "My lord magistrate," Li Yao said, "Actually, over the new year holidays, I also had Xia Xian build a tricycle."


    "A three-wheeled one?"


    "With three wheels it won''t fall over," Li Yao exined, "But the speed is not as fast as the two-wheeled one."


    "It doesn¡¯t matter, I don¡¯t care about speed." Song County Magistrate said, "Let me try it quickly."


    Xia Xian, who was idle, quickly brought over a pile of parts on a cart, and started assembling.


    In less than a quarter hour, a senior tricycle appeared before everyone.


    Song County Magistrate looked at it with eyes shining, and got on eagerly like a child.


    "It really won''t fall over!"


    Song County Magistrate rode the tricycle around and around in the yard, his face beaming with joy, like a child of forty-something years old.


    "Li Yao, thank you." the county magistrate''s wife said.


    "Madam, why thank me?"


    "My husband has not been this happy since he was demoted," the county magistrate''s wife said. "And now, I seem to see his former self again."


    Li Yao chuckled in her heart, don''t spread dog food in front of me.


    After having his fill, Song County Magistrate said to Li Yao, "Miss Li, may I ask if you can produce these in quantity?"


    "Yes, I can."


    It was just a bicycle, there really wasn''t much technicalplexity. As long as the rubber supply from the south could keep up, mass production was just around the corner.


    "Then when can you start mass production?"


    "I¡¯m already preparing to build a workshop. At most two months, they should be avable for sale in the boutique store." Li Yao replied.


    "Great, wonderful," Song County Magistrate said, "Then I will do some publicity for you these next few days."


    Song County Magistrate''s publicity method was very simple.


    He had Li Yao make several more bicycles and gave them to Zhang County Captain and a group of clerks. Then every day he rode the tricycle himself, taking them around BaiChuan market a couple of times.


    Every other day or so, he would also ride to the countryside.


    Themoners had never seen such high-tech products before, and were amazed. The clerks then took the opportunity to publicize that this was a Li family from River Bay product, with so many benefits.


    In less than half a month, all themoners in BaiChuan county knew about bicycles and tricycles.


    "I know Miss Li makes good stuff," someone said, "but I can''t afford it."


    Something even the county magistrate uses, how could ordinarymoners get to use it?


    Don''t joke around.


    "No, no, it''s not what you think," Zhang County Captain said, "Miss Li said these bicycles won''t be expensive, just 15 taels of silver each. From the long term perspective, it''s definitely worth it."


    "Also, with a bicycle, even from Yichun prefecture, you could go back and forth in a day."


    "If you use it for business, wouldn''t it be much more cost-effective than ox carts and horse carriages?"


    Under Zhang County Captain and the clerks'' hard sell, many people had already started to waver.

 Chapter 113: Big Farmer

    <h4>Chapter 113</h4>


    Although 15 taels of silver was a lot of money, ordinary people certainly could not afford it. But even in the most backward ces, there were still quite a few wealthy people.


    Being able to ride the same model bicycle as the yamen runners, or even the same tricycle as the county magistrate, was an honor no matter how you looked at it.


    After that brand new bicycle was put up for sale at the boutique shop, let''s go and buy one to try it out.


    ...


    Li Yao busily built the factory buildings.


    The bicycle production process was notplicated. The tricky parts were the bearings and springs. Xia Xian racked his brains but could note up with a way to quickly manufacture these twoponents.


    "Boss, why don''t we hire more cksmiths and I''ll be responsible for teaching them?"


    "No."


    Artisan-made bearings not only had low efficiency, but could not guarantee precision. They still had to rely on machines.


    Li Yao had already designed the wire drawing die and semi-automatic punch. But there was no water in the reservoir now, so the n to use hydropower to drive the machines could not be realized for the time being.


    It looked like they had to upgrade the tech tree ahead of schedule.


    "Xia Xian, let''s put this matter aside for now and make something else first."


    "What are we going to make this time?"


    What Li Yao made this time was notplicated: a cast iron vat, plus a cast iron piston, and a few bronze valves, and finally a boiler that looked like a vat.


    After simple assembly, a primitive steam engine emerged.


    "Use steam to drive machines?"


    When he understood the purpose of this machine, Xia Xian''s eyes opened wider than eggs.


    How was this possible!


    No matter how powerful steam was, it could at most push a pot lid.


    "Light the fire."


    Xia Xian added some coal to the furnace, then swung the bellows.


    As the water in the boiler boiled,rge amounts of steam entered the steam engine through the pipes.


    Sizzling sounds could be heard as steam leaked from the gaps, but the piston did not move.


    "Boss, it looks like it''s not working."


    "Don''t worry."


    Li Yao said as she grabbed the flywheel of the steam engine and forcefully cranked it. A miraculous thing happened.


    The previously motionless piston actually started moving back and forth under the push of the steam, and through a unique link mechanism it drove the punch.


    Li Yao stepped on the pedal.


    Bang!


    The punch immediately obeyed and punched, retracted, then stopped at the highest point waiting for the nextmand.


    After trying repeatedly without any issues, Li Yao used a small forceps to clip a fine steel ball nk and ced it in the mold.


    Bang!


    With the huge punching force, the steel ball nk was punched into an almost perfect sphere in an instant. Then only the burrs needed to be removed and it would be a qualified steel ball.


    Seeing Li Yao''s series of operations, Xia Xian even forgot to keep swinging the bellows.


    It took him at least ten minutes to make a qualified steel ball, and he needed full concentration.


    But with this set of equipment, it was almost instantaneous toplete, and probably only needed an hour to match his annual output!


    It was really amazing.


    How did the bosse up with these ideas?


    Was she really just a housewife who had never even left Baichuan County?


    "Keep stoking the fire, let''s test for two hours first."


    Li Yao''s voice brought Xia Xian back to his senses. He pulled the bellows to make the fire burn more vigorously.


    After testing for half a day, Li Yao produced half a basket of steel balls, but she was not very satisfied.


    There were still too many problems.


    The precision was not enough, the seals were not tight with steam leaking everywhere, the transmission mechanism design was not very reasonable and prone to jamming, the mold strength was too low and easy to deform...


    In short, there were still too many areas needing improvement that could not bepleted overnight.


    "These are the issues," Li Yao handed the notes to Xia Xian, "I''ve also written down solutions. Try to improve them ording to the notes first. If that doesn''t work,e to me again and we''ll think of ways together."


    Looking at the densely packed notes on the paper, Xia Xian really wanted to know what Li Yao''s brain was like, how she could understand so many strange things.


    Improving the steam engine, transmission device, punch, wire drawing die, punching mold... had be Xia Xian''s most important work recently.


    With the arrival of spring, Li Yao also started her farming n.


    Nearly 10,000 mu of barren hills could not be nted by Da Zhuang alone, so idle vigers were put to use again.


    ording to Li Yao''s requirements, Wang Yuanguo bought back arge number of various fruit tree seedlings.


    Li Yao nned the entire hillside to the top of the barren hill into orchards, so these saplings could be nted now.


    Since the holes had been pre-dug, nting was very easy. The biggest difficulty was watering.


    In the past few days, everyone had been carrying water buckets up the hill, but found it exhausting, and more than 100 people carrying water still seemed inadequate.


    Seeing many tree saplings nted in the soil but unable to be watered, showing signs of drying up, Da Zhuang grew increasingly anxious. Finally he steeled his heart.


    Mother said, to get rich, build roads first.


    He immediately had everyone stop nting trees and focus their efforts on opening a dirt road along the hillside. At the same time he asked carpenters to make more than a dozenrge buckets, and kept sending water up the hill with ox carts.


    If there were not enough ox carts, then buy some more.


    If there were not enough oxen in the vige, then buy more oxen!


    But he would need to discuss buying oxen with Li Yao.


    "Mother, I want to buy more oxen."


    These days, Li Yao had seen Da Zhuang''s performance and knew that this eldest son had gradually broken out of his inherent mindset. So she asked, "Buying oxen is fine, but you have to calcte clearly how many oxen are appropriate for the family to raise."


    "I''ve calcted it," Da Zhuang said. "With so muchnd, raising 10 oxen should be about right."


    Expecting to get Li Yao''s approval, he did not expect her to shake her head.


    "Too few."


    "Huh?"


    Da Zhuang was a little stunned. 10 oxen was still too few?


    No family in the entire Baichuan County could raise 10 oxen!


    "How much cultivatablend has been opened up on the barren hill?" Li Yao asked.


    "About 3,800 mu."


    "So muchnd can only support 10 oxen?"


    Da Zhuang was a little confused.


    Raising 10 oxen was for farming. Supporting... Did Mother mean raising oxen to sell for profit?


    That''s right!


    Da Zhuang suddenly realized, as if the door to a new world had opened.


    "Then I''ll buy 30!"


    Seeing that he got the point, Li Yao approved and said, "Keep the long term in mind when doing things, don''t just look at present needs. Also, buy more piglets. When the sweet potato vines grow, less than a hundred pigs will not be enough to eat them."


    "Oh!"


    Tens of thousands of mu of barren hills and farnd!


    30 oxen, 100 pigs!


    Da Zhuang felt that before long, he would be able to be thergest nter and breeder in Yizhou Prefecture!

 Chapter 114: Primary school Textbook

    <h4>Chapter 114</h4>


    "Li Yao, the machine has been fixed. When are you going to go take a look?"


    "I''ll go now."


    Li Yao came to Xia Xian''s cksmith workshop and found that this guy hadn''t just fixed it, butpletely remade the steam engine.


    Compared to the previous version 1.0, this new steam engine 1.01 looked much more refined. It didn''t leak steam everywhere when started up, and the transmission mechanism was also much smoother. It was clear he had put a lot of effort into it.


    Seeing the satisfied look on her face, Xia Xian said, "What do you think, boss? Will it work?"


    "It should be good enough for now. Let''s use it to make steel balls and the like. There''s still room for improvement," said Li Yao.


    More improvements?


    Xia Xian felt a little frustrated.


    He hadn''t slept for days, racking his brains toe up with various methods, and finally produced the most precise, best machine in the world. But it was still only barely good enough? He was having a hard time keeping up with the boss''s train of thought.


    Li Yao could see his distress, but there was no helping it. It really was just barely adequate.


    The steam engine was too bulky, the seals still weren''t tight enough, though she knew this was the limit of handcrafting.


    To make a more advanced steam engine, they needed more advanced manufacturing equipment. It wasn''t just craftsmanship, but equipment too.


    Going from agriculture to steam power certainly wasn''t something that would happen just by artisans tinkering away. Indeed, she had been too naive.


    It was time to start makingthes.


    So she took out a stack of very thick blueprints and put them in front of Xia Xian.


    "What...what''s this now?"


    "Don''t ask, just make it ording to the requirements."


    Looking at the densely packed small parts, Xia Xian felt his head would split open.


    He really missed the old days of swinging a big hammer to forge farming tools...


    Back then, he had felt that making these things was meaningless, a waste of his skills and talents.


    Now he only felt that it had been pretty good...


    ...


    "Sister-inw, the first bicycle has been assembled!"


    Wang Yuanbang pushed a brand new bicycle over, bursting with excitement as he arrived at Li Yao''s home.


    He was now the manager of the bicycle workshop.


    "Come take a look, what do you think?"


    Li Yao tried riding it around a fewps, and felt it was decent.


    "Start hiring workers and begin production," she said.


    "Oh!"


    The bicycle workshop needed carpenters and cksmiths, and people specialized in making steel balls and springs. Technically, it demanded much more than the soap workshop.


    So this time when hiring, people with skills and education were given priority in recruitment, and wages twice as high as the soap workshop.


    This reminded the vigers of what Li Yao had said before - that in the future, her workshops would only hire educated people.


    A vague sense of urgency rose in their hearts.


    With the workers in ce, after half a day of training, everyone had basically gotten the hang of it.


    As head manager, Wang Yuanbang was already itching to get started. "Sister-inw, training is done."


    "Let me emphasize again, safety first."


    "Got it."


    Li Yao took out some blueprints and gave them to Wang Yuanbang. "These are the blueprints for tricycles, luxury tricycles, and bicycles. Make 100 of each in two weeks, thenunch them together at the boutique shop."


    "Oh!"


    With workers, orders, and materials, what was there left to wait for?


    "Let''s start work!"


    ...


    The bicycle workshop got busy. Li Yao personally observed for two days.


    Although the production methods for every step could be crude, under the strict rules and systems everyone worked in an orderly fashion.


    Especially for safety - Li Yao had specially hired two people as safety officers, constantly patrolling the workshop and firmly preventing any idents.


    Just after leaving the workshop today, Vige Head immediately came to find her.


    "Li Yao, I want to discuss something with you. The vige school still has two empty rooms right? I want to invite two more teachers toe back and give lectures in the evening to anyone who wants to study," he said.


    What?


    Li Yao looked at him in surprise, momentarily stunned.


    Was he thinking of running a night school for the vigers? Eradicating illiteracy in the whole vige?


    "No good? Then forget it..."


    "No," Li Yao quickly said, "I was just wondering, how many people would be willing to attend night school?"


    "Probably a few dozen, all young people in the vige."


    "That''s too few."


    Since it was about eradicating illiteracy, it would only have meaning if the whole vige participated.


    After hearing Li Yao''s thoughts, Vige Head was a little confused.


    "You mean, everyone under 50 should attend school? That...that would cost a fortune! And there definitely wouldn''t be enough ssrooms."


    "We can use the existing schoolrooms first, and build moreter if needed," said Li Yao. "We don''t need to specially invite teachers, just have Lv Xiucai, Wang Er, and Song Zhe teach part-time. And we don''t need to specially buy books, I''ll get people topile them."


    "Can that work?"


    "We''ll see when we try it."


    Dong dong dong -


    Vige Head rang the big gong again, gathering the vigers together to tell them about the night school.


    Hearing that everyone under 50 could attend for free, the young people in the vige were eager to give it a try.


    Because only being able to read and do arithmetic could get them into Li Yao''s workshop to earn money. Most importantly, with night sses, it wouldn''t interfere with their work.


    But the older folks didn''t have much interest, and none of the young women and daughters-inw volunteered either.


    After all, nothing like this had ever happened before!


    "At our age, what''s the use of studying?"


    "Right, we''re too stupid to learn anything."


    "We''re exhausted from working and taking care of kids every day, where do we have the energy?"


    ...


    "Who says old folks can''t learn?" Hearing this pessimism, Wang Xueshi stood up, "Count me in, I want to study too."


    The crowd: ...


    Shen Shi wished she could dig a hole and crawl into it, this was too embarrassing.


    "Mother, what nonsense are you spewing?"


    "I''m not spewing nonsense, I''m serious," said Wang Xueshi. "After joining Li Yao''s workshop I realized how important being able to read and do sums is."


    "But you''re already so old..."


    "So what? Li Yao said, learn for life," said Wang Xueshi. "Plus I know more characters than you now, and I''m better at arithmetic too. What right do you have to stop me from going?"


    Shen Shi: ...


    Shen Shi truly had no rebuttal, because her mother-inw spoke the truth.


    But she also had apetitive streak. "Fine, I''ll go study too. I won''t believe I can''t beat you!"


    "Don''t boast before you''ve surpassed me."


    ...


    Led by this mother and daughter-inw pair, some of the older women also tentatively signed up.


    In the end, the first batch of students totaled about 300.


    Li Yao was very satisfied with this result.


    Slow and steady.


    With 300 illiterate students, Vige Head was prepared to go out and buy lots of textbooks, but Li Yao felt that wouldn''t work.


    Eradicating illiteracy was different from normal schooling - the goal wasn''t to write essays. Using traditional materials to teach would be too inefficient.


    It would be better to model it after the 9-yearpulsory education system.


    So first she made a pinyin chart, then extracted 2,000mon characters to make tens of thousands of words and phrases for Lv Xiucai to neatly handwrite.


    Math was even simpler - first learn Arabic numerals, then basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.


    A simple elementary textbook was quicklypiled.

 Chapter 115: No Shame

    <h4>Chapter 115</h4>


    Song Zhe thought of a brilliant idea to copy over 300 copies of the book.


    "I told my dad to find schrs from the academy to help."


    Li Yao: ... Asking dad for help whenever there''s something, this is indeed a good idea.


    After the new year, the Song County Magistrate had been busy going around each vige. As soon as he heard Li Yao wanted everyone in the vige to learn to read, he immediately went to He wan vige at the fastest speed.


    Teaching people to read can enlighten the people''s wisdom, this is a good thing, he naturally wanted to strongly support it.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll mobilize people to copy and learn immediately."


    "No need." Li Yao unexpectedly rejected his good intentions, "I already have a way."


    "What way?"


    In the spacious courtyard, more than a dozenrge tables were ced.


    On some tables, they were filled with baskets and baskets of... seals?


    Were they made of y?


    The Song County Magistrate looked at them, and found that these small seals had almost every character.


    And for somemon characters, there were made many of them.


    He picked up a small seal and examined it carefully for a long time, but could not figure out what the seal was for.


    "Are you going to stamp them one by one?"


    "Why stamp them one by one?"


    Li Yao took a small wooden frame, selected the needed characters from the seals, and arranged them in order in the small frame. The ces where characters were not needed were filled with nks.


    After it was arranged, ink was brushed on the seals, then printed on white paper.


    The Song County Magistrate knew about block printing, but he had never seen such a printing method before!


    "This way, these molds can be reused toyout any desired book page," the Song County Magistrate said, "Moreover, they are y, no need to worry about deformation! Wonderful, indeed wonderful!"


    "Sir," the county magistrate''s wife said timely, "With Li Yao''s method, it will be much less troublesome to print whatever book in the future."


    "That''s right!"


    "Isn''t this considered a great achievement?"


    "Absolutely!" the Song County Magistrate said, "I will report to the imperial courtter and ask for credit for Li Yao! But..."


    "But what?"


    The Song County Magistrate did not answer, but picked up the paper just printed and asked, "How do you read this?"


    "From top to bottom, from left to right."


    The Song County Magistrate was startled, even the traditional writing and reading habits had changed.


    "Why is that?"


    "County Magistrate," Li Yao said, "Haven''t you noticed that writing in this order will be more fluent? Also no need to worry about smearing the written words with sleeves."


    The Song County Magistrate nodded, it was indeed so.


    However, these were irrelevant, because he had just been deeply shocked by reading Li Yao''s printed poem from left to right.


    "The sky is high, the wind is urgent, the monkeys cry sorrowfully. The shore is clear, the sand is white, the birds fly back... The wine cup is newly stopped pouring the muddy wine."


    Why had he never heard such an exquisite verse before?


    "Li Yao, where is this poem from? Whose great work is it?"


    Li Yao twitched her mouth, knowing things were not good.


    Just now in order to demonstrate movable type printing, she randomly picked a favorite ancient poem, and didn''t expect the county magistrate to see through it at a nce.


    "This is... I saw it in a tattered ancient book."


    "Is that ancient book still around? Can I take a look at it?"


    "I burned it as waste paper during thest fire."


    Song County Magistrate: ...


    Why burn it?


    How could you burn it?


    Do you know that ancient book was most likely a timeless ssic?!


    Seeing his dad almost beating his chest in frustration, Song Zhe next to him shook his head again and again.


    How could this old man be so muddled?


    Where did Aunt Li look at any ancient books, this was obviously written by her!


    Others might not know about Aunt Li''s talent, but he knew it very clearly.


    When he and Wang Er encountered problems they didn''t understand, and when Teacher Lv was not there, they always asked Aunt Li. No matter how difficult the problem was, Aunt Li could exin it to them clearly.


    Isn''t it very normal for someone so talented to write a poem?


    So after everyone left, he quietly went to his dad and told him what he thought.


    "You said that poem was written by Aunt Li?"


    "Who else could it be?" Song Zhe said, "Aunt Li''s knowledge surpasses those teachers by a lot."


    The Song County Magistrate suddenly realized.


    That''s right!


    How could Li Yao make so many amazing things without knowledge and talent?


    "You must not tell anyone about this in the future, understand?"


    "Why?"


    "Aunt Li doesn''t want others to know, she must have her reasons," the Song County Magistrate said, "You must not make trouble for her."


    "I understand, dad."


    ...


    With movable type printing, textbooks for vigers were avable very quickly.


    Looking at the textbooks emitting the scent of ink, the Song County Magistrate affirmed again that his evaluation of Li Yao was right.


    Being able to invent such phic symbols, andpile such practical textbooks, how could she not be highly learned?


    It seemed that his previous evaluation of Li Yao was too low.


    "County magistrate," Li Yao said, "The students have all arrived, why don''t you say a few words first?"


    "Alright."


    After speaking to more than 300 vigers and encouraging everyone to study hard, the Song County Magistrate felt extremely emotional.


    He couldn''t help but think, if Li Yao''s method could be promoted, and everyone under heaven could learn to read and write, what would the future of Great Ling be like?


    He must also report this to the imperial court and ask for credit for Li Yao!


    ...


    Time flew by, and it was February in the blink of an eye.


    The weather god still hadn''t thundered or rained a drop, even the water level in the drought-relief well had dropped a lot.


    In recent days, the Song County Magistrate had been busy running around between viges.


    Baichuan County had 23 viges under its jurisdiction. Since they all dug drought-relief wells, basic living and farming could be guaranteed. Last year''s food-for-work program also distributed some grain, so people could barely persevere.


    But other ces could not hold on.


    Especially outside Yizhou Prefecture, since drought-relief wells were not promoted there, and the ces that dug wells did not necessarily have sufficient underground water, the localmoners could no longer make ends meet.


    The Song County Magistrate received news that arge number of refugees had poured into Yizhou Prefecture.


    Prefect Hu ordered to block the passes, but how could that stop them.


    Almost overnight, countless refugees appeared in various ces in Yizhou Prefecture.


    Located in a remote area, Baichuan County did not have refugeese yet, but the Song County Magistrate knew it was only a matter of time.


    So the refugee issue had obviously be urgent, but he couldn''t think of any way to deal with it.


    At this time, he naturally thought of Li Yao.


    Why not ask her for advice?


    Once he had this idea, the Song County Magistrate could no longer restrain himself.


    He had asked her for advice before, right?


    So asking her again didn''t seem too embarrassing.


    Thus he immediately summoned Officer Zhang and the yamen runners, got on his trishaw, and ding-a-linged to He Wan vige.

 Chapter 116: It’s All on You

    <h4>Chapter 116</h4>


    Li Yao was at the bicycle workshop.


    After a period of production, there were already several hundred bicycles in the warehouse, and they would be avable in the boutique store soon.


    But looking at the current pre-orders, the number of tricycles was clearly more than bicycles. It seemed that Song County Magistrate had swayed everyone.


    "Auntie Li, Song County Magistrate is looking for you. He''s waiting at your home."


    When Li Yao returned home, Song County Magistrate told her about his worries.


    "The refugee issue is really difficult to handle," said Li Yao, "but there are solutions."


    "What can be done?"


    "It depends on the number," said Li Yao. "Baichuan County can amodate three thousand households at most. More than that won''t work."


    Three thousand households was about twenty thousand people.


    Baichuan County didn''t have much resources to begin with. Being able to handle so many was already a lot.


    "So what''s the specific solution?"


    "The usual, work relief," said Li Yao. "With three thousand refugee households, there must be more than ten thousand able-bodied workers, right? Have these people continue building roads."


    Song County Magistrate was a little confused.


    The roads were just builtst winter. Why build again?


    "The roads builtst year were just the foundation," said Li Yao. "What we need to build this time is at least stone roads."


    "That would cost a lot of money!" As soon as Song County Magistrate heard this, he shook his head. "Even if we only provide food and no wages, twenty thousand people would need at least 200 taels of silver a day!"


    "I can lend money for it," said Li Yao. "I can provide 300 taels of silver per day."


    Song County Magistrate eximed, "Good gracious!"


    300 taels a day, 10,000 taels a month!


    "Can you really take out so much?"


    "It should be possible."


    The soap workshop was now fully on track, producing 3,000 bars every day, earning 40 wen per bar, 120 taels total.


    The perfumed soap could produce 200 bars a day, 990 wen per bar, 198 taels.


    Added together that was 318 taels.


    And bicycles could be sold in a new batch soon. Earning at least 1,000-2,000 taels was sure to happen.


    With the savings on hand, this crisis could definitely be resolved.


    "Even if you can take it out, aren''t you worried I won''t be able to pay it back?" said Song County Magistrate. "You know Baichuan County is poor. There is not much tax revenue every year."


    "It''s poor now, but it won''t be poor in the future."


    Li Yao''s "industrialization" would absolutely not only change He Wan vige. It would soon radiate outwards.


    As long as Song County Magistrate provided a little guidance, developing Baichuan into a major industrial county was not impossible. There would be nock of these tens of thousands of taels then.


    Even if it couldn''t be paid back, it was fine.


    With the magistrate''s contributions, rising up was just around the corner. She would provide more opportunities for Song County Magistrate then. If she wanted afortable retirement, money alone was not enough. She also needed backing from above.


    Song County Magistrate was deeply moved. "Mistress Li, I''ll have to rely on youpletely this time."


    After Song County Magistrate received the first "loan", she immediately had Zhang County Captain bring people to purchase grain and tools. Li Yao also asked the agents Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan to bring in grain from other ces when they came to pick up goods.


    ...


    Three dayster, the first batch of refugees finally arrived at Baichuan County.


    Song County Magistrate was well prepared. She had the gates of Baichuan Market closed, and sent out over a hundred people to form security teams. The refugees were settled in an open area outside the city, and given rice gruel once a day.


    Many of the refugees who came to escape the famine had been starving for days. Getting free rice gruel every day was already pretty good for them.


    News that there was rice gruel at Baichuan Market quickly spread. More and more refugees started flooding in. The open area outside the city could barely hold them all.


    Song County Magistrate knew it was time. She had notices posted that rice gruel relief would no longer be provided from now on.


    "How can you do this?"


    "If you said no rice gruel earlier, we wouldn''t havee here!"


    "What do we do now? There''s nothing to eat anywhere else."


    ...


    Amidst the refugees'' wailing, a second notice was posted.


    Help Baichuan County build roads, three buns and two bowls of rice gruel per person per day.


    Seeing this notice, many people shook their heads.


    "This magistrate really knows how to trick people," someone said. "I bet there still won''t be anything after the work is done."


    "Can''t say for sure. What if there is?"


    "Might as well give it a try. It''s just one day if there isn''t."


    ...


    Amidst the discussions, some able-bodied young men went to register with the yamen runners.


    Under Zhang County Captain''s leadership, these people immediately started working. He divided them into four groups: fetching sand and rocks, transporting sand and rocks, leveling the road surface, and digging drainage ditches on both sides of the road.


    After dividing up the tasks, one yamen runner took two groups to fetch sand and rocks, while Zhang County Captain took the remaining two groups to the road leading to He Wan vige.


    Song County Magistrate and Li Yao were already waiting there.


    Seeing the magistrate personally present, the previously moring refugees instantly shut their mouths.


    "Li Yao, you said you''d use a new method to build roads. Can you exin now?"


    "Wait a moment, they''ll be here soon."


    Not long after, some oxen appeared.


    Coming closer, everyone saw that the oxen were pulling an enormous roller.


    This roller was not made of stone, but cast iron. Lying t on the ground, it was as tall as a person.


    Wherever the iron roller went, the ground was pressed down.


    Song County Magistrate was extremely shocked. How much iron did it take to make such an iron roller?


    "It''s not pure iron. The inside is rammed earth," said Li Yao. "Beforeying the rocks, the roller should go back and forth over it dozens of times. Afterying the rocks, roll over it dozens more times. That way the road surface won''t break down easily and can stay level."


    Li Yao taught the refugees how to roll the road surface,y rocks, and roll again. After busy working for half a day, they finally finished 50 meters of stone road.


    The roadsides were also dug into two-chi deep drainage ditches, with culverts buried at intervals. This way water from higher elevations would not flow across the road surface.


    Walking on the t road surface, Song County Magistrate praised it continuously.


    Other than in the Capital City, she had never seen such a good road.


    "This road is too good. From now on, all of Baichuan County''s roads will be built this way!"


    "No," said Li Yao. "This is still just the foundation. It''s not the final form."


    "This... this is still just the foundation?"


    "When cement production is upter, we can build everything into cement roads."


    Song County Magistrate was stunned.


    She knew what cement was and how sturdy it was.


    But building everything into cement roads, how much would that cost?


    She really didn''t dare imagine.


    "County lord," some refugees called out then, "isn''t it time to eat? We''re starving and have no strength to work."


    "That''s right. We''re starved half to death. How can we keep working?"


    Song County Magistrate nodded at Zhang County Captain, signaling for the meal.


    Soon, an oxcart came over, stacked high with steaming food containers and buckets and basins giving off the aroma of stir-fried dishes. The refugees'' stomachs growled loudly at the smell.

 Chapter 117: Thinking of Change in the Face of Poverty

    <h4>Chapter 117</h4>


    Although not as white as snow, it was big enough, almost as big as the rice bowls they ate from.


    A bowl of rice porridge, not the watery kind where you could barely see the rice, but very thick and creamy.


    What surprised everyone the most was the small bowl of stewed cabbage!


    And in the cabbage, there were even oil droplets!


    The group of refugees could hardly believe their eyes. Oil droplets!


    "Is it to your taste?" the Song County Magistrate came over and asked.


    "Mm-hmm, delicious!" The refugees nodded repeatedly. "This cabbage is so fragrant!"


    "Thank you, sir. We will work hard!"


    "There''s no rush, eat slowly," Song County Magistrate said. "After finishing work tonight, each person will also get a steamed bun, a bowl of porridge and a bowl of vegetables."


    "Sir, do you still need more people?"


    "Yes," Song County Magistrate replied. "Go back and tell your acquaintances toe. As long as they can work, they will have food every day."


    "Thank you, Your Excellency!"


    "Sir, you are the best official we''ve ever seen!"


    ...


    Amidst the chorus of praise, Song County Magistrate looked towards Li Yao.


    None of this was his credit, but Li Yao''s.


    After finishing work that day, a group of refugees returned to the open area outside the city with big steamed buns.


    "I''m telling you, they really gave out steamed buns!"


    "This big, two at lunch and one at dinner, plus a bowl of vegetables!"


    "The vegetables had lots of oil droplets!"


    "Really?" Some were skeptical.


    "May I not be human if I lie to you!"


    "I didn''t lie to you today," a man sitting in the open space suddenly said. "Wait until more people are tricked into working, you think there will still be such good things? And you think you earned money?"


    "Zhang Gu, what do you mean?"


    "Think about it," Zhang Gu said. "Usually the county government would pay at least 10 wen a day, and provide one meal, right? Now you just get a few steamed buns to send you away, you''ve lost at least half!"


    "If we don''t go, we''ll have nothing!"


    "You go if you want," Zhang Gu held a de of grass in his mouth and stood up. "I don''t have the patience to make wedding dresses for others.


    With that, Zhang Gu signalled to several strong men around him, and soon more than a dozen sturdy refugees left with him.


    "Never mind him not going, ungrateful people. "


    "Right, I''m going to sign up anyway."


    "The notice said women can go too, just one less steamed bun per day."


    "That''s still a bargain, let''s all sign up! Or else there''ll be no vacancies left!"


    ...


    With someone taking the lead, and getting real food, the number of refugees signing up to work on road repairs surged, reaching over two thousand the next day.


    Song County Magistrate gathered the vige heads, bringing people to repair roads in their own viges, while food distribution was handled by Zhang County Captain.


    The refugee crisis in Baichuan County was quelled before it even began, leaving magistrates from neighboring counties extremely envious.


    But there was no way around it.


    Driven by Li Yao, Lai the merchant and several other bigndlords in Baichuan County also took out the grain they had stored.


    To others, this seemed utterly foolish, but Lai knew that in future, Baichuan County mayck many things, but never grain.


    He had already gotten news that sweet potatoes would be mass cultivated in Baichuan this year.


    Even with just 10 mu per household, the minimum yield would be over 10,000 catties, so hoarding grain was no longer meaningful, Baichuan would only sell grain outwards.


    He had also hiredborers to reim wastnds on his property, preparing for a big harvest.


    However, not all refugees were willing to work on road repairs for two meals a day. Many idled in the open spaces, waiting for the county government to distribute porridge again.


    But after waiting for days, there was no sign of continued porridge distribution. Some chose to leave, while a tiny minority pursued more extreme measures.


    "Let me tell you," in a small grove outside the city, Zhu Yougui said to a group of refugees. "Don''t underestimate our Baichuan County. We have plenty of rich men."


    "Cut the bullshit," Zhang Gu clearly wasn''t interested in his bragging. "Just say who''s the richest, the best to rob."


    "The richest is of course Li Yao from He Wan Vige," Zhu Yougui said. "But her family has no cash or hoarded grain, and it''s not easy to go to He Wan Vige. So the best target is Lai the merchant''s home in the market town."


    "That''s decided then!" Zhang Gu said. "Take us to scout around. We''ll take action tonight!"


    ...


    Li Yao rode her variable-speed bicycle to Baichuan Market.


    To prevent refugee riots, the city gates in all directions were tightly shut, guarded by two attendants leading temporarily conscripted patrolmen.


    Seeing her from afar, the lead attendant opened the gate early.


    "Mistress Li is here!"


    "I''ll go take a look at the shop," Li Yao said. "You''ve worked hard."


    "It''s no hardship," the attendant said. "We owe it to Mistress Li this time. If not for you, we wouldn''t know what to do with so many refugees. I heard that in the county next door, the magistrate''s front door was smashed in by the refugees."


    After some small talk with the attendants, Li Yao went to the specialty shop.


    With the city gates locked, there were naturally few people in the market town, and the specialty shop was only half-open.


    ns tounch new bikes and tricycles also had to be postponed.


    These past few days, Boss Zou was scared to death. The shop was stocked with many clubs, so that if refugees rushed in to loot, he could lead the shop assistants to resist.


    "When will this chaos end?"


    "It won''t settle until it rains."


    "Right, did you buy all the stuff I asked you to?"


    "Got a lot, drying in the backyard. But I don''t understand, why did you ask me to stockpile so many herbs?"


    "To prevent epidemics."


    It was springtime, a severe drought, with tens of thousands of refugees gathered outside the city.


    These refugees had no homes, ate and relieved themselves casually. If an epidemic broke out, the consequences would be unthinkable.


    Unable to solve these problems, Li Yao could only prepare some medicinal herbs as precaution.


    "With little business these days, let the shop assistants all go home."


    "We''d rather not go back," the shop boys declined her kindness. "Nothing to do at home, might as well stay and watch the shop."


    Li Yao could only ede to their wishes.


    After checking on the herbs, all that she needed, she prepared to head home. From afar, she saw Zhu Yougui lead two others sneaking suspiciously into a small alley.


    What was he up to?


    She was very wary of Zhu Yougui.


    Thanks to working for her, most vigers from He Wan had earned rewards and gotten through this difficult period. But Zhu Yougui waszy and aimless, probably couldn''t even afford to cook at home now.


    When in poverty, think of change.


    But changes in some people didn''t necessarily head in a good direction.

 Chapter 118: Fall for the Trap

    <h4>Chapter 118</h4>


    And so she followed them from afar, twisting and turning through seven alleys and eightnes, eventually discovering that they had been loitering outside Lai Yuan''s house for some time before Zhu Yougui finally led them out of the city.


    Watching the two people who had left with him enter the shantytown, Li Yao had an inkling of what this group was nning.


    The reason the refugees were difficult to deal with was because they could turn into bandits anytime, but even more terrifying was that they might collude with the locals.


    Judging from Zhu Yougui''s actions today, were they nning on robbing Lai Yuan''s house?


    She couldn''t be certain, but she had to be vignt.


    So she went to the county office, and when Magistrate Song heard about this, he took it very seriously.


    Harsh punishments in chaotic times.


    This matter had to be made an example of, otherwise if someone sessfullymitted robbery, it would lead to other refugees imitating them, and Baichuan County would fall into chaos.


    Magistrate Song immediately recalled Captain Zhang and had people lying in ambush around Lai Yuan''s house. He personally oversaw the operation, waiting for Zhu Yougui and the others to walk into his trap.


    In the dead of night, the entire Baichuan settlement was quiet and tranquil. Over a dozen ck silhouettes leapt over the wall and swiftly gathered outside Lai Yuan''s house.


    But before they could even scale the wall, several dozen torches suddenly lit up around them. Captain Zhang charged out with his runners, and in an instant, pinned over a dozen people to the ground.


    After tearing off the cloths covering their faces, Captain Zhang frowned deeply: "What''s going on here? Howe Zhu Yougui isn''t among them?"


    "What?"


    Magistrate Song was shocked. He suddenly realized something was wrong.


    "Hurry, hurry to He Wan vige!"


    ...


    He Wan vige. Over a dozen pitch-ck silhouettes stealthily lurked near Li Yao''s home.


    "Boss Zhang, you really are amazing. This scheme of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west is truly ingenious," Zhu Yougui said in a low voice. "All those dogs from the county office must have been tied up at the Lai estate, so we can carry out our n with ease."


    Zhang Gu ignored Zhu Yougui''s ttery.


    From beginning to end, his target had been Li Yao.


    Over ten days ago, when refugees had started flooding into Yizhou Prefecture, he had received this mission from Prefect Hu - to infiltrate Baichuan County by posing as a refugee, and be sure to take Li Yao''s life.


    He didn''t know why Prefect Hu was so fixated on amon woman, but that didn''t stop him from doing his utmost toplete the task. So he had secretly gathered a bunch of bold refugees, and found Zhu Yougui from He Wan vige.


    Now that all the men from the county office were tied up over at Lai Yuan''s ce, he could of course easily have his way in a small vige like He Wan.


    "It''s about time," said Zhang Gu. "Remember to be quickter - leave no one alive."


    "Roger!"


    The dozen or so refugees following him were also desperados. Gripping their long sabers tightly, they swiftly leapt over the wall around Li Yao''s home.


    The yard was deathly still, not a single light on, which made them want tough.


    To think that such a wealthy household didn''t even keep a dog - they were just asking to be robbed.


    Zhang Gu brought his men to the main house''s door, and just as he was about to force the door bar open, a loud shout came from behind: "Grab them, quick!"


    The crowd was shocked and hurriedly looked back to see silhouettes emerge from the other houses.


    Torches were swiftly lit, illuminating the yard as bright as day.


    In the bright firelight, Zhang Gu discovered there were actually over a hundred vigers, each one holding sickles, carrying poles, and wielding hoes!


    It was a trap!


    The dozen or so men who hade with Zhang Gu were scared witless, momentarily at a loss for what to do.


    "Follow me and break out!" Zhang Gu bellowed. Wielding the steel saber in his hand, he charged at the crowd like a ravenous wolf.


    He was a battle-hardened veteran with dozens of lives under his de. He didn''t take these vigers seriously at all.


    Where his de went, none could stop him.


    But the vigers weren''t fools either. They didn''t give him a chance to get near, instead throwing stones at him from afar.


    Two fists were no match for four hands. Although Zhang Gu did his utmost to dodge, he was still struck several times.


    He nced back at Li Yao''s room. He knew tonight''s n was aplete failure.


    They had to retreat.


    Zhang Gu shouted loudly to force back the vigers in front of him, then swiftly fled over the wall.


    But the otherscked his capabilities. Beaten bloody by the stones flung at them, they were quickly pinned down and tied up.


    After leaping out of thepound, Zhang Gu ran straight for the hills.


    But he didn''t get far before a silhouette blocked his path.


    "Stop right there!"


    Zhang Gu looked up to see it was just a brat, no older than thirteen or fourteen. He let out a cold snort and swung his saber down.


    Seeing Zhang Gu''s descending de, Wang San''er''s heart pounded wildly.


    Although he had been beaten every time he sparred with Mother, he knew his life was never actually in danger.


    But this time was different. This time, it was a life or death struggle!


    What''s more, his opponent was a vicious desperado.


    With the de almost upon him, Wang San''er had no time to think. He raised the iron rod in his hand to block.


    ng!


    Zhang Gu stumbled back, his heart shocked.


    He had expected his blow to be unblockable, but unexpectedly, this brat who looked no older than thirteen or fourteen had easily deflected it with raw strength.


    No, it wasn''t raw strength, but because he was using an iron rod!


    Zhang Gu felt a little disgruntled. Which family''s kid was this, to be running around with such a thick iron rod in the dead of night?


    But now that he knew, he had countermeasures.


    He immediately disyed extremely swift footwork, preparing to rely on his agility to face his opponent.


    Seeing his foe suddenly elerate, Wang San''er also pushed off forcefully with his feet, using the evasive moves Mother had taught him to dodge Zhang Gu''s attacks while looking for chances to counterattack.


    The clear ringing of metal on metal rang out as the two exchanged over a dozen moves in an instant.


    By now, Zhang Gu was drenched in cold sweat.


    He had once been a captain, invincible with his steel saber and nimble footwork. But today, he was actually evenly matched with a little brat.


    Just then, a voice sounded from the side: "You''re fighting too conservatively."


    Zhang Gu stumbled back in fright, looking in horror at the shadowy figure. His heart shuddered with shock.


    When had this person arrived?


    And based on the voice, it seemed to be a woman!


    "Mother, let me try a little longer," said Wang San''er. "I feel one more move and I can take him down."


    Zhang Gu: ...Take me down in one move?


    How arrogant!


    Does this kid really think I''m so easy to subdue?


    "Ha!"


    Zhang Gu roared and charged down the mountain like a fierce tiger, his saber viciously hacking down at Wang San''er.


    "Perfect!"


    Wang San''er didn''t retreat or dodge in the slightest. He raised his iron rod to block the saber, then spun his body, swinging the rod in a circle before mming it at Zhang Gu with full force.


    "I''m done for."


    Zhang Gu hadn''t expected the rod''s speed to be so fast. He had no time to evade, taking the blow head-on.


    Bang!


    The iron rod squarely struck Zhang Gu''s waist. Several ribs instantly shattered, and his entire body was whipped back violently.


    The agony made Zhang Gu''s mind go nk, but he could still make out the voices speaking.

 Chapter 119: Assassination

    <h4>Chapter 119</h4>


    "Mother, I won!"


    "Don''t becent," Li Yao said, "This man was too weak, and is no match for our barbarian enemies. If you want to go to the battlefield, you still have to train diligently."


    "I understand, mother!"


    Zhang Gu did not know how to describe his mood.


    The 32 barbarians who died under his knife, were they really that weak?


    What kind of monsters are these two women?


    p!


    A basin of cold water was sshed on him, waking Zhang Gu from his fainting spell.


    As the bright candlelight came into focus, it revealed a delicate and beautiful face.


    "Who are you?"


    "You wanted to kill me, yet you don''t know who I am?"


    "Li Yao?"


    Zhang Gu recognized the voice as the monster mother he had encountered earlier.


    And standing next to her was the little monster who had knocked him out with an iron rod.


    "I didn''t expect to be defeated by a child."


    "You got lucky with me," Wang San''er said, "If you fought my mother, you would have been finished with one look."


    Zhang Gu: ......


    "Tell me," Li Yao said, "Who sent you?"


    "No one sent me. I''m just a refugee, nearly starved to death, and wanted to steal some food..."


    "You don''t have to say," Li Yao said, "I''ll take you to the Yizhou government office right now and hang you at the gate. Let''s see what Prefect Hu will do with you and your family."


    "You..." Zhang Gu sighed inwardly, "Since you already know, why bother asking?"


    It must have been Prefect Hu.


    Li Yao really didn''t know what she had done to offend him.


    Luckily this Prefect Hu didn''t daree openly, he could only covertly act against her. And she was confident that few could match her in these dark arts.


    "Hand him over to Magistrate Song for punishment."


    ......


    When Magistrate Song arrived at He Wan Vige, the sky was still dark.


    Seeing that Li Yao had already organized the vigers and captured all the refugees who hade to cause trouble, he finally felt relieved.


    "I shouldn''t have worried," Magistrate Song thought to himself, "With Li Yao''s intelligence, of course nothing would happen."


    After sunrise, all the vigers of He Wan Vige gathered in the open space.


    The dozen or so bandits were tied up, including Zhu Yougui.


    Magistrate Song announced their sentence in front of everyone - all were to be exiled 3,000 li!


    "Ah..."


    A miserable cry suddenly rang out from the crowd.


    It was Zhu Yougui''s old mother. Upon hearing her son was to be exiled 3,000 li, she nearly fainted on the spot.


    "Your honor, you can''t exile my son!"


    "I beg you sir, spare him just this once!"


    Seeing Zhu Yougui''s mother''s miserable state, Magistrate Song was unmoved.


    He had seen far too many people like this.


    If she had not raised Zhu Yougui poorly, how could he have ended up in this situation?


    "Take them away."


    In the midst of miserable wailing, Zhu Yougui and his group were loaded onto prison carts and quickly disappeared from sight.


    And Zhu Yougui''s old mother seemed to have lost her soul, staggering after the prison carts.


    No one tried to stop her or followed her.


    Because everyone knew, no matter who tried to persuade her, it would be useless. It was best to just let her leave this way.


    ......


    "Cough, cough..."


    Returning to the county office, Magistrate Song immediately heard his wife coughing and hurried into the room.


    "Is it an infection? Have you called for a doctor?"


    "The doctor came and prescribed medicine that is being decocted."


    Seeing his wife''s frail state, Magistrate Song was distressed. But with the pressing official business at hand, he consoled her for a bit before heading out again.


    But when he arrived at the road work site, he discovered that overnight, many of the refugees seemed to have caught chills, with many coughing and some even having fevers.


    This alerted him that something was wrong.


    These were the signs of an epidemic!


    "Quick, have them all go back, don''t let them wander everywhere!"


    "Notify all vige heads - it''s best if everyone stays home and doesn''t go out!"


    But it was toote.


    On the way back to the county office, Zhang County Captain and a group of yamen runners also showed signs of fever and coughing.


    At the refugee camp in Baichuan Market, there was coughing everywhere, with hundreds already having high fevers, and some even unconscious.


    "Magistrate," Zhang County Captain suppressed his difort toe report, "Headmen from several viges just came saying many vigers have started coughing and running fevers."


    Magistrate Song felt as if he had fallen into an ice cer.


    The refugee issue was not yet fully resolved, and now an epidemic had broken out.


    Heaven, will you not give themon people a way to live?


    "Immediately gather all doctors, requisition medicine from pharmacies, and prioritize treatment for critically ill refugees!"


    "Yes sir!"


    For now, this was all they could do.


    But Magistrate Song knew, in the face of the surging epidemic, this was but a drop in the bucket.


    ......


    Since that night''s events, Vige Head Wang Jiafu had gathered 30 strong young men from the vige to form a patrol team for He Wan Vige.


    Now no matter who wanted to enter He Wan Vige, they had to be checked.


    And Wang San''er led a few boys his age patrolling around the vige outskirts, preventing anyone from entering from the back hill.


    Added to He Wan Vige''s remote location, with refugees unlikely toe this way, no vigers had been infected yet.


    Due to the refugee incident, the two workshops couldn''t ship products out or bring materials in. So Li Yao gave the workshops time off while she herself nned to take a couple days to rest and develop some new products.


    "Mother, what are you making now?"


    Seeing Li Yao messing with herbs again, and even using very concentrated rice wine, He Xiaoya couldn''t help but be curious.


    "Flower water."


    Summer was almost here, flower water would definitely sell well.


    She was also nning to nt some watermelon and mint, and make products like watermelon cream lozenges.


    But before the flower water was done, Zhou rushed over anxiously.


    "Trouble, sister-inw. Old Four has fainted."


    Old Four?


    Li Yao quickly remembered that she meant the fourth son of the Wang family, Wang Yuanbang.


    "What happened to him?"


    "That night he got a bit injured, and didn''t think much of it at the time, didn''t even mention it," Zhou said. "It wasn''t untilst night we discovered the wound was infected and festering, he had a fever, and just now fainted."


    Li Yao was speechless.


    With the extremely poor sanitary conditions of this era, an infected wound leading to fever and unconsciousness was no small matter!


    If not treated properly, it could easily be fatal!


    Rushing anxiously to the Wang family mansion, Wang Xueshi and Wang Jia Gui were already anxious as ants on a hot pan.


    "Li Yao, what should we do now?"


    "Have you called for a doctor?"


    "We did," said Wang Xueshi. "But now the city gates won''t open, won''t let anyone in, said there''s some kind of gue."


    gue?


    Li Yao''s heart lurched, and hurriedly asked: "Who went?"


    "Me," said Wang Jia Gui.

 Chapter 120: The First Bitch

    <h4>Chapter 120</h4>


    Li Yao frowned, and said sternly, "Then you should iste yourself immediately."


    What? Iste what?


    "That is, you stay alone in a room and don''t have contact with others," she added.


    "No need," said Wang Jia Gui, "I didn''t go to the refugee camp."


    "Just in case." Li Yao turned her head and instructed her son, "Third son, go find Vige Head right away. The school will be closed these days. Tell everyone not to go out."


    Wang Jia Gui was isted alone. Li Yao let everyone wash their hands with soap, then began to check on Wang Yuanbang¡¯s condition.


    High fever, at least forty degrees.


    Rapid breathing, flushed face.


    The wound was on his right arm, now inmed and suppurating, apparently a severe infection.


    Li Yao had Wang Xueshi lower his temperature first physically, then grabbed a prescription of herbs for Shen Shi to decoct.


    But Wang Yuanbang''s condition was severe. He recovered slowly with medicine. They had to find a way to reduce inmmation quickly.


    But now it was impossible to produce penicillin in time. That would require a long time of experimentation and extraction, and also require manpower and equipment.


    "Use white medicine first," she said.


    Li Yao went home to find the necessary medicines. After grinding them into powder ording to the ratio, it was almost the same as authentic white medicine, and through her many years of use, the effect was even better than white medicine.


    After cleaning Wang Yuanbang¡¯s wound, she applied ayer of medicinal powder.


    Before long, Wang Yuanbang''s condition improved somewhat, and he no longer looked so agonized.


    "Change the medicine every hour," Li Yao instructed. "Squeeze out the pus each time, disinfect with liquor, and apply more medicine powder at the end."


    "Got it."


    With careful nursing, Wang Yuanbang soon regained consciousness, and the family breathed a long sigh of relief.


    Thanks to Li Yao this time, otherwise Wang Yuanbang might have gone to see King Yama early.


    But misfortunes nevere singly. Wang Jia Gui, who was isted, soon began to cough and had a persistent high fever. After examining his symptoms wearing a mask, Li Yao diagnosed it as a kind of flu.


    Fortunately, he was the only one in the vige who caught it. Thanks to the timely istion, there was no cross infection or viral mutation.


    Although the symptoms were severe, he could recover quickly by taking medicine on time and paying attention to hygiene.


    When Vige Head Wang Jiafu learned of this, he strengthened patrols in the vige and urged everyone to wash their hands with soap ording to Li Yao''s instructions.


    The vigers admired Li Yao tremendously, so they naturally obeyed very much. Plus, no one came in from outside, and surprisingly no one was infected with the flu.


    But Li Yao knew that while He Wan Vige was safe, other viges in Baichuan County might not be so lucky.


    The herbs she had stockpiled before coulde in handy now.


    So she called up a few able-bodied young men, put on thick masks, and transported a batch of soap to Baichuan Market in an oxcart.


    ...


    "Sir, there really are no more medicines!"


    In the county government courtyard, the gathered doctors were all in a terrible mess.


    After two days of treatment, all the medicines in the drugstores had been used up, but the refugees and vigers outside kept getting infected with the gue.


    Some of the weaker ones could barely hold on. She heard that several had already died.


    "Sir," Zhang County Captain came back from outside, his expression also very solemn, "I checked the neighboring counties, their situation is worse than ours. They don''t care about the refugees at all, just letting them live or die." I heard that hundreds of people had already died."


    County Magistrate Song''s brows furrowed tightly, his eyes full of anxiety.


    Could it be that there really was no way out?


    "Sir, Mistress Li is here!"


    Li Yao?


    For some reason, when Song County Magistrate heard that Li Yao had arrived, it was as if he saw a ray of light in the endless darkness.


    "Pleasee in quickly!"


    Seeing Li Yao wearing a mask, Song County Magistrate and his group were a little puzzled.


    They wondered why she had to cover her mouth and nose with cloth when it was already spring and the temperature had warmed up.


    "This is called a mask and can effectively prevent infection."


    "Huh?"


    The doctors were taken aback. A piece of cloth could prevent gue infection?


    This was probably the biggest joke they had ever heard.


    "Mistress Li," a doctor named Ma shook his head, "Although you are very capable, I think we know a little more about the gue."


    The other doctors nodded.


    For seeing patients, they should still trust professionals.


    Li Yao ignored him and went straight to Song County Magistrate: "Sir, I happened to collect some herbs before. I wonder if they could be used?"


    "There are herbs? That''s great, where are they?"


    "In the shop at the market."


    Before long, Zou Boss and the shop assistants pulled several carts full of herbs over. Song County Magistrate was so excited he almost bowed to Li Yao.


    "This is only 10%. The rest can be taken at any time."


    "Good, great!"


    Song County Magistrate was excited, hisplexion flushed.


    This Mistress Li really was a savior!


    "Doctors, now that there are medicines, please hurry and make prescriptions."


    "No need," said Li Yao. "I''ve already written the form, just have people decoct it directly."


    Dr. Ma sneered when he heard this: "I didn''t expect that Mistress Li would actually understand medical theory. Then why did the county magistrate need us toe?"


    Song County Magistrate was at a loss for a moment.


    In principle, he should listen to the doctor in this situation.


    But experience also told her that when there was a problem, listening to Li Yao was absolutely right.


    "County Magistrate, the situation is urgent now, so don''t dy," Li Yao said. "In addition to giving medicine to everyone, severely ill patients must also be isted for treatment. I also brought 100,000 bars of soap. County Magistrate can have people cut them into small pieces for distribution. Everyone must wash their hands with soap every day to prevent infection."


    Soap can also prevent infection?


    Dr. Maughed when he heard it.


    "Mistress Li, you wouldn''t be trying to take advantage of the national crisis for profit, would you?"


    Li Yao didn''t want to pay attention to this person. But since he kept making sarcastic remarks, she wouldn''t be polite.


    "Do you think I''m a sick cat just because I haven''t lost my temper for a long time?" Li Yao''s face sank, her manner overbearing. "If you keep thering in front of me, watch out or I''ll hit you until your own mother can''t recognize you."


    Dr. Ma had never seen such a fierce woman before, and was so frightened he didn''t dare continue speaking.


    That''s right, Li Yao used to be the number one shrew in Baichuan County.


    "Cough cough," Song County Magistrate gently coughed. "Do as Mistress Li said."


    Li Yao had the clerks and shopkeepers wear masks and start boiling medicine outside the city. She had everyone drink it. Each person also received a small piece of soap and was urged to wash their hands at all times.


    She also requisitioned all the cotton cloth from the cotton shops to make several hundred thousand simple masks for distribution.


    The refugees naturally didn''t want to catch the gue and die, so they all obediently washed their hands, wore masks, and lined up to receive food every day ording to the rules.


    Those who began to develop fevers were all transferred to another empty field, strictly guarded, and examined one by one by the doctors from the market, who then prescribed medicine for treatment.


    Song County Magistrate also sent some herbs to each vige, and strictly implemented the measures formted by Li Yao.

 Chapter 121: Return Home

    <h4>Chapter 121</h4>


    Three dayster, the number of new infections had dropped to double digits per day, and the critically ill patients had also started to recover. Some of the more physically fit were even able to get out of bed and walk around.


    The unceasing good news made Song County Magistrate feel extremely grateful.


    In the past, whenever a gue urred, which time was not filled with grief and sorrow?


    This time was no exception either. The neighboring few counties were already nearly overwhelmed, and there were even refugee riots urring.


    But in his governed Bai Chuan County, just because of Li Yao, they were able to get through it so easily. Only a few people who were too weak physically had died, and the vast majority of people were now healthy and energetic.


    This Li Yao really was a godsend!


    "County Magistrate," Zhang County Captain said, "Should we block the roads to prevent refugees from other ces froming in?"


    "This..."


    Song County Magistrate was somewhat hesitant, and finally looked to Li Yao.


    "No need," Li Yao said. "Most of the people in our county have already been infected. It''s just because they drank the medicine early and had enough food, the symptoms were very mild, or they didn''t even feel any symptoms. So even if there are outsiders, as long as everyone pays attention to hygiene, they won''t be easily infected."


    There was actually something like this?


    Song County Magistrate and Zhang County Captain were convinced. These obscure facts were things they had never even heard of before.


    "Since that''s the case, then hurry up and start working on repairing the roads," Song County Magistrate said.


    Bai Chuan County''s stockpiled grains were limited. They could not keep distributing them for free indefinitely. If they wanted to obtain food, the refugees would still need to contributebor.


    However, it seemed that this time, he would be able tomend Li Yao again for her merits.


    ...


    As more and more people signed up, Bai Chuan County''s gravel roads progressed at a rate of three to four li per day.


    In just half a month, all the roads leading to the various viges werepleted.


    Time also came to March.


    Boom boom-


    The long-absent thunder rumbled throughout thend, and the clouds gathered in the sky made everyone excitedly spread the news.


    "It''s going to rain, it''s finally going to rain!"


    After experiencing two full years of drought, the entire Daling Nation was waiting for this rain.


    The heavenly god did not fail everyone''s expectations either, and soon a spring rain came down.


    Tens of thousands of refugees also began returning home.


    With the refugees leaving, Song County Magistrate did not properly rest for a few days before bringing people to H¨¦ W¨¡n Vige.


    He remembered Li Yao said that now was the time for nting sweet potato seedlings.


    Li Yao naturally did not let the heavenly god''s grace go to waste, and began nting sweet potatoes with her family.


    "Tie the ropes tight."


    Standing at opposite ends of the levelednd, Li Yao and Wang Xiao Si pulled on a long thin rope.


    And in the field, Da Zhuang led Wang Er, Wang San, and the enthusiastically volunteered Song Zhe, plus more than a dozen vigers who came to help, used hoes to build ridges.


    Surrounding the fields, there were more than a hundred vigers watching and learning.


    After building a straight ridge, they took a sweet potato, used a small shovel to dig a small hole in the ridge, added a little fertilizer, and buried the sweet potato in.


    "So nting sweet potatoes is this simple?"


    "But with this nting method, how many would you need per mu ofnd?"


    "I guess at least a few hundred catties right?"


    "This is just for raising seedlings," Li Yao said. "After the vines grow out, each vine can be cut into several sections, and each section can be nted."


    "So it''s cuttage propagation," Song County Magistrate understood. "I thought only garden balsam and willow trees could do that, I didn''t know sweet potatoes could too."


    "That''s right," Li Yao said. "One mu ofnd is enough to raise cuttage seedlings for 10 mu."


    The vigers were a little worried when they heard this.


    Most families had kept enough sweet potatoes for nting, but they didn''t have so muchnd to nt them all, so keeping so many sweet potatoes was pointless.


    "Everyone, don''t worry," Song County Magistrate said loudly. "You all just go ahead and nt. I will have people from other vigese and buy the raised seedlings for nting."


    "That''s great, hurry back home and start tilling the fields!"


    In an instant, all the vigers in H¨¦ W¨¡n Vige began raising sweet potato seedlings.


    Li Yao nted all the leftover sweet potatoes at home, a full two hundred mu.


    This was a huge project that she definitely couldn''tplete alone, so in the end she still hired a lot ofbor.


    After the sweet potato seedlings were nted, Li Yao had Da Zhuang transport the potatoes back.


    "nting potatoes is different from sweet potatoes, you only nt them once."


    Li Yao cut each potato into several sections, making sure each section had two to three buds, then threw them into a pile of grass ash beside her.


    "Mother, why coat them with ash?" He Xiaoya asked.


    "The grass ash is fertilizer, and can also prevent pest damage," Li Yao said.


    nting potatoes didn''t require ridging. You just directly buried them in holes.


    The over three thousand catties of potatoes were nted in just 10 mu ofnd.


    Although not much, this couldn''t be helped. They could only slowly expand itter.


    Thend for sweet potatoes and potatoes was all budgeted. There was still over one thousand mu left, so Li Yao had Da Zhuang nt it all with alfalfa, cabbage, and rapeseed. In the gaps between the fruit trees on the mountain, she also scattered alfalfa and rapeseed seeds.


    Alfalfa could be used to feed cows, while cabbage and rapeseed could feed pigs.


    The family now had 31 cows and 100 half-grown piglets that needed to eat a lot of fodder every day.


    Just this thousand or so mu, Li Yao estimated would still fall short of the supply needed.


    But it was fine. After the sweet potato seedlings grew, they could cut some to feed the pigs as needed.


    Additionally, the chili pepper seedlings had also sprouted, nted in a full 5 mu ofnd!


    Just wait another four months, and there would be more chilies than they could eat. Li Yao looked forward to it very much.


    ...


    In the blink of an eye, it was already April. The weather grew hotter by the day.


    The sweet potato seedlings in the fields had already grown over two chi long, covering the entire ground in lush greenery that was very pleasing to the eye.


    Li Yao pinched some tender sweet potato sprouts and brought them home to wash clean. She waited for the oil in the wok to heat up and fried the smashed garlic until fragrant before throwing the sweet potato sprouts in to stir fry.


    In just a short while, a te of tender stir-fried sweet potato sprouts came out of the wok.


    What a pity the seedlings were for cuttage propagation and couldn''t be eaten daily.


    Boom boom-


    After a few spring rains, the sweet potato seedlings visibly grew by leaps and bounds, soon reaching lengths of over two meters.


    "They can be transnted now."


    Wearing straw hats and rain capes, Li Yao brought her family to the fields to cut the seedlings.


    Each sweet potato vine could be cut into four or five sections, about fifty centimeters each.


    The cut seedlings were brought to the prepared holes dug in the fields, buried halfway down, and that was considered nted. After that, just apply fertilizer and water, and they could grow very well.


    For the few hundred mu of seedlings, Li Yao only demonstrated. She had other people hired to do the rest.


    Her family had raised enough seedlings for 300 mu ofnd, but they would use at most 100 mu themselves. The rest was prepared to sell to vigers from other viges.


    Song County Magistrate attached great importance to this matter, and came to H¨¦ W¨¡n Vige almost every day these past few days.


    After the vigers nted their own family''s fields, he had people from each vigee and purchase the surplus.


    However, he really did not know how to set the price for this.

 Chapter 122: The Matchmaker

    <h4>Chapter 122</h4>


    Finally, Li Yao set a price.


    "Let''s do 3 coins per catty," she said.


    One mu ofnd needed 3,000 seedlings, about 300 catties, which was 900 coins.


    It seemed expensive, but if one mu ofnd could produce 2,000 catties of sweet potatoes, it would sell for at least 10,000 coins. It was a guaranteed profit.


    The vigers provided thebor and could earn money. Everyone would not lose out.


    "Okay, let''s go with this price," said Song County Magistrate, finalizing the task. The other 22 viges had to buy all of He Wan vige''s sweet potato seedlings and nt them strictly ording to Li Yao''s methods.


    He knew the vige chiefs would resent this, but he had to do it.


    Onlyrge-scale farming, allowing more people to reap the benefits, could quickly promote this crop.


    In just a few days, all of He Wan vige''s sweet potato seedlings were sold out.


    Song County Magistrate estimated that the sold seedlings were enough to nt over 12,000 mu, about 550 mu per vige on average.


    If the yield was as high as Li Yao said, Baichuan County could produce 28 million catties this season alone...


    But was it really possible?


    Song County Magistrate didn''t know, but he knew that if the yield was that high, Great Ling would no longerck food in the future.


    Just wait for the autumn harvest.


    ...


    After nting the sweet potatoes and potatoes, every household began preparing to nt rice.


    Li Yao''s family had over 10 mu of paddy fields. She didn''t n to manage it and left it all to Da Zhuang.


    Still, she taught some advanced farming knowledge, like raising seedlings first before transnting. When transnting, use ropes to nt in straight lines and make the space between rows face east to benefit photosynthesis.


    Da Zhuang followed her words diligently, spending every day in the paddy fields.


    He Xiaoya''s belly was very noticeable now. Li Yao didn''t let her go out now. She took walks in the yard every day and cooked by herself.


    After the farming was done, the two workshops resumed full production. Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan, who had been gone for months, each brought long convoys to He Wan vige.


    Producing soap required huge amounts ofrd. Now, Wang Yuanguo had bought up almost all therd in Yizhou Prefecture, but it still couldn''t meet production needs.


    To get more goods, the two simply purchasedrd directly, continuously transporting it to He Wan vige.


    The cost was higher, but better than no goods.


    "This time I''ve brought 3,000 catties," said Jia Zhanliang. "I''ll have about this much every month from now on."


    "I''ve brought 2,000 catties."


    5,000 catties from outside plus about 3,000 catties purchased locally per month was enough to produce 120,000 bars of soap.


    But even so, they both still felt it wasn''t enough.


    "I don''t know who said it, but frequently washing hands with soap can not only prevent minor illnesses but also prevent gues," said Jia Zhanliang. "So soap is in shortage everywhere now."


    "Yes, I don''t know if it''s true or false."


    "Of course it''s true," said Li Yao. "And I''m the one who said it."


    "Ah?"


    Jia Zhanliang really didn''t expect soap to have such benefits.


    "Then... since it''s so good, why not sell it at a higher price?"


    Li Yao shook her head. She never intended to raise prices. She was even considering lowering them at the right time to allow more people to use it.


    She understood better than anyone that high prices and monopolies seemed profitable short-term but couldn''t dominate the market. Once others manufactured soap, they would flood the market and take over.


    Lowering prices then would be like losing people''s hearts. Defeat would be certain.


    "Oh, that reminds me," Li Yao didn''t want to continue discussing this and changed the subject, "there are new products this time."


    "Really? That''s great, what are they?"


    "Cologne and white ointment."


    Producing cologne required bezoar, a precious medicine material with limited output. Li Yao positioned it like fragrant soap, a luxury item.


    But white ointment had low costs and easily obtained ingredients, so she priced it low.


    Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan didn''t care about high or low prices. Li Yao would leave them enough profit margins. More product varieties brought more ie.


    The two agents couldn''t wait to take the goods, already nning clever marketing tactics.


    After sending off the agents, Li Yao put all the bicycles and tricycles in stock onto the shelves at Yizhou Prefecture''s stores.


    Customers who had waited long eagerly came with silver to pick up their goods, then started showing off all over town.


    For a time, the sound of bicycle bells could be heard everywhere in Yizhou Prefecture''s markets.


    Especially in Baichuan Market, many people''s thinking had be active under Li Yao''s influence. Many borrowed money to buy a bicycle, then rode to other counties or even Yizhou Prefecture to do small business.


    So when Li Yao went into town again, she saw people riding bicycles and tricycles constantly, making her feel like she had returned to modern society.


    "Mistress, bicycles and tricycles sell too well!" eximed Zou Boss. One bicycle earned several taels of silver. His face was about to bloom with joy these days. "There are still dozens of people waiting, urging early delivery."


    "They can pick up in three days max."


    "Good, I''ll have someone notify them," said Zou Boss. "Mistress, we have stores in every county now, but not Yizhou Prefecture."


    In his view, a store in Yizhou Prefecture would definitely boom.


    But Li Yao didn''t open a store there because of Magistrate Hu.


    A store opened there would inevitably face all kinds of trouble and oppression from him. It was better not to open at all.


    If people in Yizhou Prefecture wanted to buy things, they could go to the counties or find agents. Having to spend more money wasn''t her problem.


    "It''s fine not to open one. Oh, Granny Liu came looking for you at the store earlier."


    "Granny Liu? What does she do?"


    "You don''t know Granny Liu?" Zou Bossughed. "She''s the most famous matchmaker in Baichuan County. She''s arranged marriages for many wealthy families. If she''s looking for you, she probably wants to find a match for Young Master Er."


    In the time Li Yao had been in this world, she hadn''t encountered a matchmaker yet.


    Speak of the devil.


    A gaudily dressed old woman came to the boutique store entrance.

 Chapter 123: Talk about Marriage

    <h4>Chapter 123</h4>


    ¡°Yo, Ms. Li, you really are a busy woman,¡± Granny Liu said with a smile, walking over very familiarly, ¡°I went to your house but you were at the market again.¡±


    ¡°Is there something?¡±


    ¡°There''s no big deal,¡± Granny Liu said, ¡°I just heard that your second son Wang Er still hasn¡¯t found a wife. Old Master Wu''s young daughter just came of age this year. Old Master Wu''s daughter was born very bright and beautiful...¡±


    Hearing Granny Liu''s nonstop chatter, Li Yao quickly made an excuse to slip away.


    But she didn''t expect that Granny Liu was very persistent and soon chased her back home.


    To avoid her, Li Yao got He Xiaoya to speak with her.


    He Xiaoya was Wang Er''s sister-inw. As a sister-inw was like a mother, she naturally should be concerned about Wang Er''s marriage. And because she was shy by nature and didn''t know how to turn down Granny Liu, she listened for a whole afternoon.


    It wasn''t until nearly dusk that Granny Liu finally left leisurely, allowing He Xiaoya to breathe a sigh of relief.


    "Mother," He Xiaoya went to Li Yao and asked, "Wang Er really isn''t that young anymore."


    Li Yao shook her head as soon as she heard it.


    What do you mean he''s not that young? He''s not even an adult yet!


    Of course, this was just her own opinion.


    But in the conventions of this world, Wang Er was indeed already of marriageable age.


    "Let Wang Er handle this himself, it has to be someone he likes."


    "Ah?"


    He Xiaoya was stunned and didn''t respond for a long time.


    This mother was really too strange!


    Wang Er''s marriage, how could it be left for him to decide instead of obeying his parents¡¯ wishes?


    But she knew that whatever mother said would not change, so she as the sister-inw had to be the one to worry about it.


    After dinner that night, He Xiaoya brought up the matter.


    As soon as Wang Er heard they wanted to find him a wife, his face immediately turned red.


    "Brother Wang, can you be a little manlier?" Song Zhe next to him said with extreme contempt, "It''s just an arranged marriage, what''s the big deal? Right, sister-inw, who is the girl?"


    "It''s Old Master Wu''s young daughter."


    "I don''t know her. But I¡¯ll ask my mother to find out moreter,¡± Song Zhe said. ¡°Alright, stop being so nosy. The county exam ising up soon. We need to hurry up and review."


    "Oh."


    For some reason, Song Zhe didn¡¯t have any temper in front of Wang Er. Maybe this was how poorer students should act in front of smarter ones.


    After Wang Er left, Du Xiao Hui silently cleaned up the dishes.


    But for some reason today, she was a little distracted and identally broke a bowl on the ground.


    "May it shatter safely!" He Xiaoya quickly said, "Xiao Hui, have you been too tiredtely?"


    "I''m fine."


    Du Xiao Hui quickly cleaned up and didn''t chat with He Xiaoya like usual. She went straight home, leaving He Xiaoya confused.


    "You still haven''t figured it out yet?" Li Yao rarely gossiped, "This girl likes Wang Er."


    "Ah?"


    He Xiaoya realized she was really dense. Du Xiao Hui had liked Wang Er for two to three years, but she had never noticed at all.


    "I thought since they grew up together from childhood, that''s why they were close."


    Li Yao: ...... And yet you and Da Zhuang had a free love marriage.


    "What should we do?" He Xiaoya asked, "Or should I tell Granny Liu tomorrow that Wang Er is already engaged?"


    "We still need to see what Wang Er himself thinks," Li Yao said. "But I think Xiao Hui is a good girl, otherwise I wouldn''t have let her be the cashier at the soap factory."


    He Xiaoya instantly understood.


    So mother had already decided on Du Xiao Hui as a daughter-inw long ago!


    Oh Wang Er, you have to understand mother¡¯s hard work and not fail Xiao Hui¡¯s feelings!


    ...


    Early the next morning, Du Xiao Hui stopped Wang Er on his way to school.


    "Brother Wang Er, I...I have something to ask you."


    "What''s the matter, just say it."


    "Yesterday I heard that Aunt Li wants to arrange a marriage for you," Du Xiao Hui said tugging at her clothes, her voice as small as a mosquito, "I wonder what you think about it."


    "What can I think? For big matters like marriage, of course it''s up to my mother. It''s gettingte, I have to hurry to school or I''ll be punished."


    Watching Wang Er leave in a hurry, Du Xiao Hui stood despondently at the roadside.


    Soon after, Song Zhe happened to pass by and saw her. He didn''t want to meddle initially, but couldn''t help saying in the end: "Little sister Xiao Hui, why are you so timid?"


    "Where was I timid?"


    "If you like Wang Er, just boldly tell him," Song Zhe said, "Or have your mother find a matchmaker. Otherwise, once Wang Er gets engaged, you''ll only be able to cry."


    "Brother Song, what are you saying, so embarrassing!"


    Song Zhe: ...... I was just telling the truth!


    The absolute truth!


    Oh well, the county exam ising up in a few days.


    After getting past this hurdle, he would try to y matchmaker for these two.


    ...


    Ding ling ling...


    Following the crisp sound of bells, several rickshaws sped towards Bai Chuan market facing the sun.


    Today was the first day of the county exam. There were two students from He Wan vige participating, Wang Er and Teacher L¨¹.


    That''s right, although Teacher L¨¹ was Wang Er''s teacher, he was still a student. So he was still eligible to take the county exam to pursue honors.


    Of course at his level, it wasn¡¯t to actually be an official, but more to prove himself.


    Cases like a teacher and student taking the exam together had never happened in Bai Chuan before, and became a hot gossip topic for a time.


    The exam site was at the Bai Chuan Academy. The chief examiner was the dean from an academy 500 li away. He was nearly seventy years old this year with slightly deaf ears and poor vision, so he basically served no function.


    And the Bai Chuan dean had gone to another county to be the chief examiner there, as per custom. So the remaining teachers at the academy were like the chief examiners for this exam.


    Especially Teacher Liu, who had the most prestige at the academy, so he was basically in charge of arranging this exam.


    There were 56 students participating in the county exam this time, but only 3 spots to be a xiucai schr, sopetition was fierce.


    "All examinees, enter the exam hall in order!"


    The examiners were already in position outside the academy gates, announcing for students to enter.


    Wang Er tidied himself up and said, "Mother, I''m going in."


    "Go on, just do your best without too much pressure. I''ll take you out for something tasty at noon."


    Wang Er sighed inwardly.


    Other parents urged their kids to do their best in the exam, but his mother didn''t seem to care at all about his exam, even wanting to take him out for something tasty.


    He really didn''t know what she was thinking.


    At this time, Li Xian walked over.


    Seeing Wang Er participating in the exam this year, his face revealed a hint of a smile.


    "Nephew, it seems you''re unlucky this year," Li Xian said, neither smiling nor otherwise, "There are only three spots total, you probably won''t get any."


    Then looking at Teacher L¨¹: "As for you, an eternal student, there''s no need to get your hopes up."


    "What are you saying?" Song Zhe retorted unhappily, "My brother Wang will definitely not fail the exam, that would be a huge joke."


    "Then we''ll just wait and see."


    Li Xian didn''t linger after speaking, directly entering the academy.

 Chapter 124: Published Results

    <h4>Chapter 124</h4>


    "Let''s go, let''s go, don''t mind him," Lv Xiucai said. As an old candidate, he naturally wouldn''t care about such heckling, and led Wang Er and Song Zhe into the exam hall.


    The provincial exams were held in two parts. The first part was called the draft, where candidates only wrote their seat numbers instead of names. The second part was the formal essay and poetry, with an exam time of one hour.


    Since there were only 3 slots for Xiucai, only 6 candidates could advance to the second part from the first part where there were 48 candidates in total. The rest would be eliminated.


    As the actual proctor of this exam, Teacher Liu took the ce of the elderly chief examiner to issuemands.


    Seeing that all candidates were seated, it was time. Just as he was about to announce the start of the exam, he suddenly heard someone say, "The county magistrate is here!"


    Teacher Liu was shocked, but he quickly went to greet him.


    "Greetings to you, sir."


    "No need for courtesy," said County Magistrate Song. "I''m just here to take a look."


    It was nothing for the county magistrate to observe a county exam, but what troubled Teacher Liu was that he not only came to watch, but also brought a group of yamen runners.


    But he must be leaving soon, Teacher Liu thought.


    Without thinking too much, he promptly announced the start of the exam.


    With old candidate Lv Xiucai around, Wang Er had done his homework well. He wrote his essay smoothly and effortlessly, and the final poetry piece was also a poem he had prepared long ago.


    Although not as great as his mother''s work, he believed it should catch the examiner''s discerning eye.


    As time flew by swiftly, under the zing sun, both candidates and examiners were drenched in sweat.


    Teacher Liu kept invigting while looking at County Magistrate Song, hoping he would leave soon.


    But to his surprise, County Magistrate Song didn''t show any sign of leaving at all, and the yamen runners also stood still around the exam hall, staring intently at every candidate.


    "Time''s up, stop writing!"


    At Teacher Liu''smand, all candidates stood up and left the hall. The examiners collected the answer sheets.


    "County Magistrate Song," Teacher Liu said, "we''re going to start grading now."


    "Just grade them here, I''d like to observe as well."


    Teacher Liu''s mouth twitched, but since the magistrate wanted to watch, he had no choice but to grade the papers on site.


    The learning levels of the candidates varied greatly, and soon arge portion was eliminated, leaving a dozen or so rtively outstanding ones. The examiners had to pick 6 top candidates from them to advance.


    "I think this one''s good," Teacher Liu took out one answer sheet - it was Li Xian''s.


    As Li Xian''s mentor, he was extremely familiar with his handwriting, and picked out his paper first. Combined with Li Xian''s decent learning, it was natural for him to pass the first round.


    Soon the remaining 5 candidates were selected.


    Chief Examiner He Shanzhang took a quick look and had the seat numbers announced.


    Outside the academy gate, a teacher held up a slip of paper and started reading out loud.


    "Seat A4!"


    Li Xian responded, "It''s me."


    "Congrattions Brother Li, congrattions!"


    "Seat B9!"


    "Seat A7!"


    "Seat D11!"


    "I actually passed?" Hearing his own seat number, Song Zhe was baffled. "No way, I really passed?"


    Wang Er just shook his head seeing his reaction.


    Although Song Zhe liked to fool around, he had been very diligent in his studies sinceing to their family, thanks to Lv Xiucai''s effective teaching. It was no wonder he could pass the first round.


    "Seat B6!"


    "Seat B6 is me!"


    Hearing his own seat number, Wang Er heaved a long sigh of relief in his heart.


    After all it was his first such exam, he was inevitably nervous.


    "Thest one is Seat D1!"


    "Congrattions Teacher!"


    Seat D1 belonged to none other than old candidate Lv Xiucai.


    But Lv Xiucai was clearly unruffled by this result.


    He had participated in dozens of provincial exams, passing the first round every time but failing at the second.


    "Nothing to congratte, we''ll see at the next part."


    "Congrattions Teacher, congrattions Brother Wang," Song Zhe was already satisfied to pass the first round. "Let''s go, lunch is on me today!"


    ...


    The provincial exam second round tested essay writing.


    The essay topics were prepared in advance by the Education Commissioner of Yizhou Prefecture, ced randomly in envelopes and distributed to each county.


    Only right before the exam could the chief examiner open the envelope and announce the topic.


    The topic for Baichuan County this time was: Governance.


    Judging from the topic, candidates were required to write an essay on state governance, which was already quite difficult for Xiucai candidates.


    But Wang Er already had a sense of what to expect for this topic.


    His mother had taught him many times about how to govern when he became an official. He just needed to summarize and quote some ssics and he couldplete it.


    Lv Xiucai even more so, he started writing as soon as he picked up the brush.


    Li Xian also wrote very fluently.


    Only Song Zhe was a bit stuck, scratching his ears and cheeks, but still managed to write quite a lotpared to the other two clueless candidates.


    After two hours, the 6 candidates put down their brushes, wrote their names at the top of the papers, and left the hall.


    The answer sheets could not be graded immediately after collection. They had to be transcribed first to prevent handwriting identification of candidates.


    After transcription, the names were covered with slips before handed to the examiners for grading.


    "It''s gettingte, let''s be quick."


    The examiners graded separately, discussed the papers, and finally picked the top 3 answer sheets.


    The results came out quickly.


    Li Xian was the best - a Bing Sheng who would receive a stipend along with the title.


    Second was Zhang Zhan, a Zeng Sheng.


    Third was Hu Ling, a Fu Sheng.


    Thetter two were also Xiucai, but without qualification for a government stipend.


    "County Magistrate," Teacher Liu came before Song. "The results are out, would you like to review them?"


    "No need for me to see them."


    Grading was not part of his duties, and Song had no authority over it either.


    The reason Teacher Liu still asked was clearly to show off.


    But he knew something was fishy about the results. There were too many doubts.


    It was no wonder that Li Xian from the academy ranked first, but Zhang Zhan and Hu Ling were just mediocre talents that Captain Zhang already inquired about for Song. So the likelihood of their cheating was very high.


    However, without solid evidence, he could do nothing for now.


    Of course, there were still ways.


    As long as someone reported cheating at the exam, he could conduct a thorough investigation.


    Li Yao, would she report it?


    Seeing that Song had no opinion, Teacher Liu was secretly gleeful.


    Even the county magistrate was powerless in this matter, still at his mercy, wasn''t he?


    "Then let''s seal the papers and announce in the morning."


    "No," Song said, "announce it now."


    "Isn''t that against convention?"


    "The results are already out and won''t change," Song said. "Announcing early will let the candidates know sooner, what''s wrong with that?"


    Teacher Liu thought: you said that.

 Chapter 125: Cheating

    <h4>Chapter 125</h4>


    Liu Teacher said, "Okay, I''ll have someone go and notify them now."


    Liu Teacher then had the exam papers well sealed and went down to rest with several examiners, waiting for the students to arrive.


    The Song County Magistrate also went to the academy entrance, waiting to announce the results.


    After everyone had left, an agile figure dropped down from the roof, and silently came to the room, going straight for the exam papers.


    Li Yao flipped through the six exam papers, quickly browsed through them, and soon saw something wrong.


    These people are so shameless.


    Not only did they cheat, but they did so unscrupulously. It looks like I''ll have to make a scene today.


    After making some changes to the exam papers, Li Yao quickly left.


    Not long after she left, another furtive figure also entered the room, copied out the six exam papers quickly, and then silently slipped away.


    ...


    The sky was almost dark now. At the academy gate, more than ten bright torches were lit.


    The six students taking the re-examination had all arrived, and many onlookers had alsoe.


    There were few xiucai in Baichuan County, not because there were few schrs, but because there were too few spots, only one every two years.


    No one knew why, but the education intendant of Yizhou Prefecture had exceptionally given three spots this year, probably because he had heard that there were many talented students this year.


    In any case, this was a good thing, and among the crowd of onlookers were those looking for good husbands for their daughters.


    Old Master Wu was one of them.


    His young daughter was of marriageable age. He had originally wanted to marry her to Li Yao from Hewan Vige, but unexpectedly had received no response, which made him very angry.


    The Wu family was one of the top five rich families in Baichuan County. Many wanted to marry his young daughter, yet this Li Yao did not appreciate the honor at all.


    So he came today to see who could get admitted as a xiucai.


    If it was not Wang Er, then he would betroth his daughter to him, and let Li Yao know that the Wu family also had good taste.


    "Everyone has arrived," Liu Teacher very naturally took over the role of the chief examiner and announced loudly, "I will now announce the results. The xiucai admitted in this exam are three people: Li Xian!"


    Hearing this news, Li Xian was not surprised at all. He stepped forward and bowed.


    Some good friends among his fellow students hurriedly came up to congratte him.


    Li Xian had the hope of bing a juren, so how could they not curry favor with him now?


    In the crowd, Old Master Wu''s eyes also lit up. He quickly sent his steward forward.


    "Congrattions Master Li, congrattions!" The steward said with a smile, "Master Li, your admission as xiucai is well-deserved!"


    "You are... "


    "I am the steward of Old Master Wu''s family."


    "Oh, so you are from the Wu family. Pardon my rudeness."


    "Master Li," the steward said, "May I ask if you are betrothed yet?"


    "Well..." Li Xian replied somewhat shyly, "I am not betrothed yet."


    "Haha...that''s great," Old Master Wu said in person as soon as he heard this, "My young daughter is of marriageable age. What do you think of bing my son-inw, Master Li?"


    Li Xian was extremely delighted.


    He knew very well how rich this Wu family was.


    If he could really marry Old Master Wu''s daughter, he would have endless money and never have to worry about not having money to study again.


    In the future, when he became a juren and then a jinshi and an official, he would still need a lot of money for support.


    It could be said that he and the Wu family were a perfect match.


    "I''m honored by Old Master Wu''s favor," Li Xian quickly replied, "As for marriage, I''ll discuss it with my parents when I get home, ande to propose on an auspicious day."


    "Haha...great, great! I''ll await your good news."


    With such a windfall out of the blue, Li Xian''s whole demeanor changed. Standing in the torchlight, his whole person seemed to shine.


    With a gentle smile, he nced at Wang Er and Li Yao, but quickly looked away again.


    From now on, he, Li Xian, had already entered the schr-official ss. He was destined to be very rich and noble, no longer the old Li Xian.


    So what if his elder sister Li Yao had money?


    In the future when he became an official, even if Sister was still rich, she would have to kneel and bow her head when seeing him.


    "Haha, Li Xian," Liu Teacher also smiled, "To have you as my student is my good fortune in three lifetimes."


    "It''s all thanks to Master''s teaching, that''s why Li Xian has achieved what he has today."


    "Mm," Liu Teacher was extremely gratified, "Go rest for now."


    Next, Liu Teacher announced the names of the feng sheng candidates who passed.


    Zhang Zhan and Hu Ling seemed to have known this result already, and calmly stepped forward to thank him, while also epting congrattions from fellow students and envious looks from the crowd.


    As for Wang Er who did not pass, he felt like he had fallen into an ice cer.


    Was it really because he had studied for too short a time?


    "It''s alright Wang brother," Song Zhe patted his shoulder, "What does it matter not passing once? Didn''t I not pass either? We''ll try again in two years!"


    Two years?


    Wang Er shook his head.


    He deeply understood the saying of losing momentum if one doesn''t aplish something in one go.


    "My boy," Lv Xiucai said at this time, "Even I''m not discouraged, why are you discouraged? We''ll try again in two years and will definitely pass!"


    "Haha..."


    Lv Xiucai''s words immediately provoked loudughter.


    "A xiucai for life, yet you dare say that?"


    "It must be because you are his teacher that Wang Er didn''t pass!"


    "A student of a forever xiucai can only be a forever xiucai."


    "Wang Er, I advise you to find another teacher, or you''ll miss your chance for life!"


    "Stop it, all of you!" Wang Er suddenly shouted loudly, "How can you know the erudition and talent of my teacher?"


    "Then why is he still a xiucai after so many years?"


    Wang Er was rendered speechless for a moment.


    Facts speak louder than words. It was an undeniable fact that Lv Xiucai had taken the exam dozens of times but never passed.


    Just as he didn''t know how to respond, a voice suddenly said, "That''s because someone cheated in the exam."


    These words shocked everyone.


    Especially Liu Teacher, whose brows were locked in a frown as he looked over to see Li Yao had stepped out from the crowd.


    "Mother, you..."


    "No need to say more," Li Yao said. "If there is no justice in this world, Mother will uphold justice today! County Magistrate, I, themoner Li Yao, report that there was cheating in this exam! And the examiners colluded with the examinees to cheat!"


    "Audacious shrew!" Liu Teacher was furious and shouted loudly, "You are spouting nonsense without any proof, ndering the examiners! Do you believe I''ll ask the County Magistrate to punish you for this crime!"


    But Li Yaopletely ignored him and went straight to the Song County Magistrate.


    "Sir, will you deal with this or not?"

 Chapter 126: Fake

    <h4>Chapter 126</h4>


    Song County Magistrate how could not manage, he waited for this moment, waited till the flowers were about to wither.


    "County Magistrate," Liu Teacher also quickly came forward and said, "Don''t believe this shrew''s nonsense!"


    "That''s right, sir," the other examiners also came forward one after another, "This woman must be deliberately confusing the matter because her son did not pass the exam. I hope Your Excellency sees through this clearly."


    "This..."


    Song County Magistrate pretended to be in a dilemma, and finally looked at Manager He who was in a daze.


    "Manager He, I wonder what you think?"


    "What did you say?" Manager He turned his head and put his hand to his ear, asking loudly, "County Magistrate, speak up, I can''t hear you!"


    Seeing this, Zhang County Captain went to his ear and yelled, "The County Magistrate asked if you want to investigate the cheating!"


    "Why are you yelling so loud?" Manager He frowned and turned his head away, "You''ve deafened me!"


    Zhang County Captain: ...


    Everyone: ...


    "But you said someone privately made weapons?" Manager He went on to say, "That''s a serious crime! How could the County Magistrate not do something about it?"


    Everyone: ...


    "Good," without waiting for everyone to react, Song County Magistrate yelled, "Since Manager He agrees, then investigate!"


    Liu Teacher: ...


    Liu Teacher cursed inwardly, this blind and deaf Manager He, how could he drop the ball at the critical moment?


    Now Song County Magistrate was covering up his mistake, wanting to investigate cheating, which undoubtedly created considerable trouble for him.


    But it didn''t matter.


    The exam papers of Li Xian and the other three were indeed reced by him secretly, but he also secretly copied the reced exam papers and told them to memorize them.


    And the names on the students'' original exam papers were also changed.


    So if it was really thoroughly investigated, the cheaters would be Wang Er and the other two who did not pass.


    As for how they exchanged the exam papers, who knows?


    With this safeguard, Liu Teacher put his heart back in ce: "Since that''s the case, then investigate. I just don''t know what the County Magistrate wants to investigate?"


    "This is simple, take out the students'' two exam papers andpare them..."


    "No need!"


    Before Song County Magistrate could finish speaking, Li Yao interrupted him.


    She saw through Liu Teacher''s meticulous arrangements, knowing that using conventional methods to investigate would not only be useless, but would y right into his hands.


    "Mrs. Li, what do you mean by no need?" Song County Magistrate asked, "How can it be determined whether there is cheating or not withoutparing the two exam papers?"


    "Exam papers can be faked."


    "Absurd!" Liu Teacher snorted coldly, "ording to what you said, there is no way to investigate this matter?"


    "Of course there is a way," Li Yao said, "Exam papers can be faked, but people cannot be faked. You just need to have the students copy out the exam papers they answered again from memory, thenpare them with the originals. Whoever writes inconsistently cheated."


    Song County Magistrate pondered for a moment, and looked at Manager He again: "Manager He, what do you think?"


    "Huh?" Manager He was confused again, "If the County Magistrate wants to reconcile, then reconcile. Harmony is valued everywhere in the world."


    Everyone: ...


    "Good, then do as Mrs. Li suggested."


    Soon someone brought in tables and chairs, pens and paper, and had the six students copy out from memory the essays they wrote during the exam.


    Li Xian did not expect this foolproof thing to sprout branches again. He nced coldly at Li Yao, then sat down. But he had already received Liu Teacher''s signal, so he knew what to do. After sitting down, he quickly wrote out the essay from memory.


    After everyone finished writing, Song County Magistrate had people collect the exam papers, and everyone was stunned.


    The six exam papers were supposed to be different, but after collecting them, they found that Li Xian and Wang Er''s, Zhang Zhan and Lv Xiucai''s, and Song Zhe and Hu Ling''s were exactly the same!


    The six people only wrote out three exam papers. Who would believe there was no cheating!


    "Humph," Song County Magistrate snorted coldly, "Come, seal up all the exam papers! Today we must get to the bottom of this!"


    "Yes!"


    Zhang County Captain immediately took a group of yamen runners to collect all the exam papers.


    And Liu Teacher sneered inwardly.


    Go ahead and investigate. Hurry up and investigate.


    Soon Wang Er, Lv Xiucai, and Song Zhe will be proven to be the cheaters!


    Let''s see how you end this then!


    "Your Excellency," Zhang County Captain said, "All exam papers have been collected."


    "Compare them immediately!" Song County Magistrate thought for a moment and said, "Let''s start with Li Xian and Wang Er first."


    Zhang County Captain took out the two students'' exam papers, as well as what they just copied, andpared them together.


    But soon, he frowned.


    "County Magistrate, this..."


    "What are the results?"


    "Afterparison," Zhang County Captain nced back at Li Yao, saw her nod to him, then reluctantly said, "Li Xian''s original exam paper is exactly the same as what he copied. Wang Er''s original exam paper is different from what he copied. So the evidence shows that Wang Er...has the most suspicion of cheating."


    "How can this be?"


    Everyone was stunned.


    No one expected that Li Yao''s son, who made the biggest fuss, turned out to be the cheater!


    What was going on here?


    Liu Teacher watched coldly, sneering inwardly the whole time.


    They were still too inexperienced topete with him!


    And this was just the beginning, the good show was still toe!


    "Continueparing the other exam papers!"


    "Yes."


    Zhang County Captain and otherspared the remaining exam papers, and their faces were even uglier.


    Because for Zhang Zhan and Lv Xiucai, it was Lv Xiucai whose didn''t match.


    And for Song Zhe and Hu Ling, it was Song Zhe whose didn''t match.


    This result made everyone dare not say a word, because Song Zhe was Song County Magistrate''s only son. Being caught cheating red-handed by his own father, this matter would really blow up!


    "County Magistrate," Liu Teacher said, holding back hisughter, "why don''t we just let this matter go. After all, these three cheaters didn''t pass either, it doesn''t affect the results."


    He felt that if he gave Song County Magistrate a way out, he would naturally take it.


    After all, his son cheating was not an honorable thing.


    But unexpectedly, Song County Magistrate''s face was ck as he coldly ordered, "Why let it go? Those who dare to cheat must be punished! Come, arrest these three for me!"


    "Wait!"


    Just as Wang Er and the other two didn''t know what was happening, Li Yao stood up again.


    "How dare you make trouble again, you shrew?" Liu Teacher scolded loudly, "Or do you dare to question the County Magistrate''s verdict?"


    "County Magistrate, examiners," Li Yao yelled, "are you sure you looked through all the exam papers carefully?"


    "What do you mean?"


    "Just now from a distance I saw the essays Li Xian and Wang Er copied, and found they wrote different things."


    "What?" The examiners were stunned, "Where are they different?"


    "What Li Xian wrote was missing a sentencepared to Wang Er''s," Li Yao said. "See for yourselves if you don''t believe me."


    The examiners hurriedly checked and indeed found a missing sentence at the end.


    "So what if that''s the case?" Liu Teacher said, "What Li Xian copied matches the transcribed and original exam papers. It''s Wang Er who added a sentence, that''s making something out of nothing!"

 Chapter 127: Debunking

    <h4>Chapter 127</h4>


    "Is that so?" Li Yao said, "Could it be that none of you noticed that the original scroll and the transcribed exam paper weren''t actually missing that sentence, but rather it was obscured by a piece of paper stuck over it?"


    What?


    The examiners hurriedly took a look, and discovered that at the end of both exam papers, there really was ayer of thin white paper stuck on.


    The white paper was extremely thin, and the pasting was done very skillfully. Combined with the dim lighting, it was hard to notice if you didn''t examine closely.


    "Gentlemen, why not peel it back and take a look?"


    Cold sweat was already streaming down Liu Teacher''s face.


    "You... How did you know paper was stuck over it? Could it be you were the one who tampered with it?"


    "Teacher Liu jests," Li Yao said, "The exam papers have been sealed in the academy the whole time, under the strict supervision of you gentlemen. I am but amon woman who can''t even get through the front gate of the academy, how could I possibly tamper with them right under your watchful eyes? It must be that one of the exam proctors knew about the cheating, and not wanting to beplicit in the wrongdoing, purposely did this. As for how I knew paper was stuck over it, I can only say my eyes are sharp, and I see more clearly than most."


    Teacher Liu had no rebuttal.


    If he insisted that Li Yao had tampered with it, it would mean he had been negligent in safeguarding the exam papers, providing an opportunity.


    But if it wasn''t Li Yao''s handiwork, then peeling off this paper...


    "What are we waiting for?" Magistrate Song yelled, "Hurry up and peel it off!"


    At this point Teacher Liu was already weak in the knees. Seeing this, the other exam proctors knew something fishy was going on. To avoid taking responsibility forx invigtion, they hurried to own up to their crimes.


    "Your Excellency, there really is one more sentence at the end! It''s there on both the original and the transcribed."


    Li Xian gulped nervously, his body already drenched in cold sweat.


    It was over, over! What could he do now?


    The knot in Magistrate Song''s heart finally loosened a little. "Li Xian, what say you?"


    "This is...," Li Xian''s mind raced, "Reporting to Your Excellency, it was because the student was nervous earlier and forgot to write thest sentence."


    "Is that so?" Li Yao said coldly, "Can you remember it now then?"


    Li Xian hadn''t even nced at thest sentence, how could he possibly remember it?


    "I remember it."


    Knowing it was time for his entrance, Wang Er strode forward: "Thest sentence of my essay was: ce the worries of the world before your own worries, and the joys of the world before your own joys! This was a teaching my mother always imparted to me, meaning that when I be an official, I must always keep themon people in my heart, and do more for them. Not..."


    Wang Er looked back at Li Xian, before continuing: "Not be self-interested and opportunistic."


    "Well said, well said!" Magistrate Song eximed, "It seems the cheating was done by Li Xian, not Wang Er."


    Bang-


    Magistrate Song mmed the table, yelling angrily: "Li Xian, confess everything honestly! Just who did you collude with to cheat?"


    Thud-


    Li Xian''s legs went weak and he knelt down on the ground: "County Magistrate, spare me! I will tell everything!" It was Teacher Liu who promised to swap my exam paper for me."


    Thud-


    Teacher Liu''s legs also went weak, and he almost copsed on the ground.


    "Li Xian," Magistrate Song asked, "You have decent learning yourself, why did you do this?"


    "It was all Teacher Liu''s idea," Li Xian said. "He said he would ensure I passed as the top schr, as that would reflect well on him."


    "Scoundrel!"


    Magistrate Song was so angry even his whiskers were sticking up.


    Li Xian was certainly capable of passing as a xiucai, but in order to take first ce, he had swapped Wang Er''s paper. Not only that, he made sure Wang Er failed!


    This was an extremely malicious deed!


    "Zhang Zhan, Hu Ling!" Magistrate Song said, "Do either of you have anything to say?"


    Thud-


    The two paled, hurriedly kneeling to beg for mercy: "County Magistrate is wise, this was all Teacher Liu''s idea! He said that for 50 taels, he would ensure we passed."


    Now the truth hade to light.


    Just as Deputy Magistrate Zhang was about to have people take away the four offenders, Magistrate Song suddenly said: "Teacher Liu, do you still have all the previous years'' exam papers?"


    Already distraught, this question made Teacher Liu even more frightened out of his wits.


    He didn''t say anything, but someone would speak up. Manager He directly said: "ording to regtions, exam papers from previous years must all be kept sealed, so I assume Baichuan County should still have them."


    "Bring them all out."


    Everyone was puzzled, but the exam proctors still turned over cabs to dig out and bring out the exam papers from thest decade or so.


    Magistrate Song had people find Lv Xiucai''s exam papers from previous years. After looking through them, he was so angry he mmed the table repeatedly.


    "Why don''t the handwriting on Xiucai Lv''s exam papers match his own?" Magistrate Song demanded sharply. "Teacher Liu, you were deputy proctor every year, and did the sealing and transcribing. How do you exin this?"


    Teacher Liu knew he was finished. There was no hiding it this time.


    Indeed, he had abused his position all these years, swapping Lv Xiucai''s papers with others, and had secretly profited greatly.


    He thought that since Lv Xiucai''s family was powerless, and he had basically monopolized control over the county exams, it would nevere to light.


    Yet who could have expected that this year woulde a new county magistrate, as well as this Li Yao, plus that He Shanzhang who seemed either truly deaf or deliberately blind. Now everything was exposed.


    "County magistrate...I confess..."


    "Take him away! Report to the provincial capital for sentencing!"


    As Teacher Liu was taken away, Li Xian and the other two naturally could not escape punishment either. Banned from taking the exams for the next three sessions, they would have no eligibility for eight years.


    The imperial exams only happened once every two years.


    That was to say, if they wanted to retake and be a xiucai, they would have to wait another eight years.


    How many eight year periods are there in a lifetime?


    Li Xian, who could have passed relying on his own talents, now regretted it to his very guts.


    With the three candidates who had passed being taken away, it was time to discuss how to deal with the aftermath.


    "Manager He?" Magistrate Song asked. "What do you think, should we gather all the candidates and redo the whole exam?"


    "What logic is there in redoing it?" For some reason, Manager He''s deafness suddenly cured itself. "Cancel Li Xian, Zhang Zhan and Hu Ling''s results, and let the others move up in ranking to fill the spots. Wang Er is the top schr, Lv Xiucai second, and Song Zhe third, let''s do it this way."


    "This is..." Magistrate Song hesitated slightly, "Not too good right?"


    After all, this would mean his own son Song Zhe became a xiucai.


    He knew exactly what kind of character his own son had. How could someone like him pass?


    "County Magistrate," the other exam proctors who had escaped implication were now hugely relieved, and hurried to ingratiate themselves with Manager He''s words. "Since Manager He has spoken, let''s follow his decision."


    "We know you want to avoid nepotism, but Young Master Song''s essay was truly not bad. If not for the cheating, he would have passed as a third-rank xiucai."


    Magistrate Song was a bit stunned. My son is so capable now?

 Chapter 128: Heavy Rain

    <h4>Chapter 128</h4>


    "Alright, let''s do it that way."


    He Shan trembled as he stood up and announced: "For this county exam, Wang Er passes as a regr student, Lv Xiucai passes as an additional student, and Song Zhe passes as an attached student."


    Lv Xiucai and Song Zhe looked at each other in disbelief, not daring to believe this result at all.


    "Teacher, so you mean we both passed?"


    "Congrattions to teacher, congrattions to Brother Song," said Wang Er, congratting the two of them, "Teacher, you have finally be a real private tutor."


    "Haha, I passed!" Lv Xiucaiughed repeatedly and ran out like he was possessed, "I passed! I passed... From today on, I''m really a private tutor now! Haha..."


    Wang Er: ...


    Song Zhe: ...


    Has this teacher gone crazy?


    With things settled, the onlookers also dispersed.


    No one expected such an uproar in this county exam, especially Ms. Li. She actually exposed Teacher Liu''s cheating all by herself, and dug up an old case from many years ago... She really needed to gossip about this!


    And Old Master Wu, who was just set on having Li Xian as his son-inw, was so angry that his face turned ashen. He cursed Li Xian for being worthless, for not only failing to get him a powerful son-inw, but now he was also too embarrassed to pursue a marriage alliance with Wang Er.


    ...


    The news that both Wang Er and Lv Xiucai had be private tutors spread back to He Wan vige faster than the wind.


    As Li Yao and the others reached the vige entrance, they saw the vigers had all gathered together waiting.


    Da Zhuang was the first to rush up to greet them: "That''s great, second brother, I knew you could do it!"


    "Of course," Wang Xueshi''s voice was like a loud speaker, "Wang Er has our old Wang family blood in him, he will surely be a high official in the future."


    ...


    Amidst everyone''s continuous congrattions, Lv Xiucai lightly coughed twice.


    "You all seem to have forgotten that our vige has produced another passer."


    "Haha, Lv Xiucai, you''ve finally be a private tutor."


    "No longer an eternal student."


    "It''s just that you''re too old, I guess you don''t have much of a chance left to be the top schr huh."


    ...


    Lv Xiucai''s face was burning.


    Howe the treatment was so different when they were both private tutors?


    But he had long seen through this.


    Whether he passed or not was not a big deal. He had no ns to take the provincial exam or be a sessful candidate. From now on he would just be an old vige tutor in He Wan vige, much morefortable than being an official.


    While He Wan vige was celebrating, the newly built county yamen was also lit up brightly.


    In the spacious hall, Song County Magistrate and his wife sat upright, while Song Zhe obediently stood in front of the two.


    "You..." After pondering for a long time, Song County Magistrate finally spoke, "How could you pass the exam as a private tutor?"


    Song Zhe was very speechless.


    This was obviously something to be happy about, yet when it got to the old man it seemed like he had made a mistake.


    "Father," Song Zhe said, "This is all thanks to Teacher Lv, Wang Er, and Aunt Li. Without them, your child really could not have passed."


    Song County Magistrate and his wife exchanged a nce.


    For so long, Song Zhe had been left to live in Li Yao''s home. They had only hoped for him to experience life and not cause trouble everywhere, and they would burn incense and worship Buddha.


    They didn''t expect that with Song Zhe''s exposure, he had actually be a private tutor.


    This Li Yao really was their lucky star!


    "Prepare generous gifts tomorrow to properly thank your teacher and Aunt Li."


    "Yes!"


    ...


    Ding-- Ding--


    On a t open space behind the mountain, two figures were engaged in a fast exchange, with the nging of metal ringing endlessly.


    Li Yao was using a slender iron sword, while Wang San''er''s weapon was a heavy iron staff.


    At first nce, Wang San''er''s weapon seemed to have a huge advantage, but only he himself knew clearly that Mother was just letting him win.


    Mother''s iron sword was very light, moving like a spiritual snake. If she got serious, he wouldn''t be able tost three moves.


    Of course, he also had to diligently practice archery, and even more so his agility, otherwise he would just be a live target.


    By now Wang San''er''s staff work had taken shape, and his agility had also improved quickly. In another half month, he would go fulfill his military service, so Li Yao prepared to teach him some more things.


    "Go lead your horse over."


    "What do you need the horse for?"


    "Starting today, I''ll teach youbat on horseback."


    When Wang San''er heard this, he immediately threw down his staff and went to lead two horses over from the stable. He had been waiting for this day!


    In his heart, only cavalrymen on warhorses were the most valiant!


    Li Yao first taught him some horsemanship, and let him practice well. In a few days she would teach himbat skills on horseback.


    But after practicing for a bit, sudden low rumbles of thunder came from the gloomy sky overhead.


    Li Yao looked up to see the surrounding skies covered in thick clouds, the air was also hot and humid, it looked like heavy rain wasing.


    Sure enough, as she had expected, it wasn''t long before cool mountain winds started blowing, and a downpour arrived swiftly.


    Boom boom--


    The pitch-ck skies shed and rumbled with thunder, as if the heavens were copsing.


    It was as if two years worth of rainwater was all poured down at once.


    The heavy rain poured nonstop for a full day and night, and showed no signs of letting up at all. The previously ted vigers suddenly realized something was wrong.


    The floods, mixed withrge amounts of silt, rushed down from the mountains. The river in front of He Wan vige had risen to its highest point, almost flooding the farnd.


    Wang Jiafu, wearing rain gear and a conical hat, led a group of vigers busy on the riverbank.


    "If it rises any more, all the rice will be destroyed!"


    "Yeah, this weather is too much, either no rain at all or massive flooding, it''s giving us no way to live."


    "It''s not so bad," someone said, "If the rice is gone, don''t we still have sweet potatoes?"


    Everyone thought about it and agreed.


    The sweet potato fields were on the hillsides, the floodwaters couldn''t reach them.


    But they still felt bad if the rice was washed away.


    "Sister-inw is here."


    Wang Yuanbang''s sharp eyes spotted Li Yao''s figure from afar.


    "Li Yao," said Wang Jiafu, "With such heavy rain, why did you run to the riverside?"


    "I''m free and have nothing to do," said Li Yao, "I wanted to see if I can catch some fish to raise in the reservoir."


    "Catch... fish?"


    Everyone didn''t know what to say.


    With such massive flooding, the rice fields were about to be submerged, and you came to the river to catch fish?

 Chapter 129: The Life I Want

    <h4>Chapter 129</h4>


    Fishing, Li Yao was serious.


    Last night, she had Da Zhuang make more than tenrge bamboo baskets, and now all of them were carried over. As long as they could find a ce to settle them properly, they might be able to catch some fish.


    Seeing her doing this, everyone was convinced.


    "Li Yao, do you think the water will rise again?"


    "No."


    The heavy rain hadsted for a day and a night. If it was going to rise, it would have risen already.


    "Well, will a mountain floode?"


    "That''s even less likely," Li Yao said. "My reservoir has only umted twenty percent of its capacity. To fill it up, it will take at least two more days and nights. I don''t think this downpour canst that long."


    Oh right, how could they forget about the reservoir?


    Mountain floods came from the mountains, and in the past when the water rose greatly, they would inevitably rush down from the mountains and flow into the big river.


    Now the mountain floods were blocked by the reservoir, so they couldn''te down at all.


    As long as the heavy rain stopped within two days, they didn''t need to worry about mountain floods either.


    No wonder Li Yao still had the leisure to catch fish. Turned out she had it all nned out already.


    "Sister-inw, then let us help you catch fish."


    With their worries settled, everyone naturally became more carefree. At Wang Yuanbang''s suggestion, they went back home to fetch bamboo baskets and started helping Li Yao catch fish everywhere.


    Sure enough, the results were not bad. Within half a day, they had caught several dozen catties.


    There were crucian carp, carp, grass carp, silver carp, bighead carp...all kinds, but they were all very small, only big enough to raise as fish fry.


    Carrying several dozen catties of small fish fry, Li Yao once again came to the dam of the reservoir.


    The water in the reservoir had already umted half its capacity. Although it was still early from being full, she didn''t dare let her guard down and nned to stay here tonight just in case.


    After releasing the fish fry into the water, she went into the house on the floodgate and lit a fire on the ground to dry her damp clothes.


    Boom boom--


    Outside, the thunder still rumbled as the downpour continued.


    The asional lightning that tore through the sky illuminated the outline of the continuous mountain forest, looking extremely unreal.


    Counting the time, she had already been in this world for eight months.


    Many things had happened in the past half year, and Li Yao had also thoroughly integrated into this world, transforming from a stupid and reckless peasant woman into a respectedndowner.


    Although there weren''t too many fish in the reservoir yet, no lotus leaves and flowers covering its surface, the trees and flowers on the mountain hadn''t grown up yet either, just the current achievements still gave her a great sense of satisfaction.


    She was certain this was the life she wanted after retirement.


    Next, she just needed to invent some gadgets to make her life more convenient, then she couldpletely rx.


    Thinking of this, she couldn''t help smiling. She took out a marinated chicken leg from her backpack and slowly smoked it over the fire, while also burying several sweet potatoes in the ashes to slowly roast them with the high heat.


    The heavy rain continued through the night, gradually easing by dawn.


    The reservoir had already umted half its capacity. Although it was still far from full, because of this rain, the umted water on the mountain would continue flowing down, so filling it was only a matter of time.


    With the passing of the storm, as the river receded, the vigers of He Wan vige returned to their previous state.


    Those who were supposed to work continued working, those who were supposed to study continued studying, and those who were supposed to go to their jobs continued going.


    Li Yao also took time to teach Wang San''er horsemanship. Before they knew it, the day came for Wang San''er to serve in the military.


    For those like Wang San''er who were serving for the first time, they wouldn''t immediately be sent to the bordends or battlefield, but had to first train for two years in the Prefecture Army camp near their hometown.


    The new soldier training was by the Yizhou Prefecture, which wasn''t too far from home, but they were only allowed to return home once every three months.


    Wang San''er had already packed up and got on his beloved warhorse, with a cart full of supplies behind him.


    Of course, the cart also held his weapon--an iron cudgel.


    This was forged by the cksmith Xia Xian per his mother''s request. It looked ordinary, with a rough, uneven surface, but Wang San''er knew how powerful this iron cudgel was.


    The rough surface was to aid grip, and its material was extremely hard. Even Prefect Zhang''s sword couldn''t leave a shallow mark on it.


    The bow and arrows behind him were also carefully designed by his mother.


    The bow body and bowstring were made of high-grade steel. Ordinary people couldn''t even draw it, and with his own strength presently he could only draw half the bow.


    But even so, the power of this bow was frightfully great.


    Additionally, he had a full set of armor, all made of hundreds-folded refined steel, imprable.


    It could be said that Li Yao had equipped him with the best and most luxurious gear. Among the new recruits entering the army, he was probably the first.


    "Remember what I told you," Li Yao said. "Don''t rely too much on weapons. Your own strength is the greatest reliance."


    "Mother, I''ll remember."


    "Then go quickly," Li Yao waved her hand very casually. "If you want toe back thene back for a visit. If you don''t want toe back, have someone bring me a letter and I''ll send stuff to you."


    "Yes mother."


    Wang San''er still wanted to say something, but realized Li Yao had already turned and left. He couldn''t help a bitter smile.


    How could his cheap mother not be reluctant to part with him at all?


    He was going off to serve in the army!


    Only allowed toe back once every three months!


    Oh well, Wang San''er knew his mother wasn''t the fussy sort. Not chasing him out with a broom was good enough.


    "Hyah!"


    Riding his warhorse, Wang San''er left He Wan vige, heading towards Yizhou Prefecture.


    Watching his gradually distant figure, Li Yao''s heart was as calm as still water.


    Going to war and fighting was indeed very dangerous. He might get injured or even die at any time.


    But this was the path Wang San''er chose himself. She wouldn''t interfere too much, and she had taught him many things already. His future path depended on him now.


    As for her, his cheap mother, she should hurry and go see if Xia Xian had finished modifying the steam engine.


    ...


    Time arrived at July.


    The zing sun shone down, turning the world into a scorching furnace.


    In Xia Xian''s small workshop, a small piece of deep ck iron was on the crimson furnace.


    For this tiny piece, he had already tried 232 times. This was the 233rd try.


    And each time it failed was because it wasn''t hard enough.


    The harder something was, the more brittle it became. This wasmon knowledge for every cksmith. Li Yao asking him to abandon all toughness and stubbornly pursue hardness was clearly unreasonable.


    But he was just a craftsman. He could only desperately do as the employer wanted.


    Hiss--


    The iron piece was quenched in water, taken out after cooling, and scraped against an ordinary iron sheet a few times.


    Although the corners broke off, it left a deep mark on the iron sheet.


    "Should be good enough this time right?"


    Xia Xian took the result of the 233rd experiment to find Li Yao.


    At this time, Li Yao was directing over a dozen vigers to erect a huge waterwheel in the yard.


    Ever since the reservoir had water, she had dug a water channel to divert water from the reservoir to the back of several mountains, and also to her own yard.


    She did this in order to drive thisrge waterwheel.


    "Be careful, make the left side a bit higher, don''t set it crooked!"


    With a muffled sound, the ten-meter tall waterwheel finally stood firmly on the sturdy steel frame. Li Yao climbed onto the frame, spread plenty ofrd in the bearings, covered them with the bearing caps, and tightened the screws.


    "Open the sluice gate!"

 Chapter 130: The Capital

    <h4>Chapter 130</h4>


    Ssh--


    The 1-meter wide, 2-meter deep canal was immediately filled with clear flowing water, constantly washing therge water wheel in the pool.


    Driven by the flowing water, the huge water wheel soon started to turn, eventually maintaining an extremely fast rotating speed.


    "It can actually spin so fast?"


    Xia Xian had just arrived and had seen many water wheels before, but it was the first time seeing one spin so fast. He knew it was all thanks to a tiny little thing--the bearing.


    In Li Yao''s words, the bearing could reduce friction, though he didn''t understand what friction was. Anyway it was something that made the wheel very smooth and effortless.


    "Close the gate!"


    The sluice gate dropped down. The water flowing down from the mountains passed through the overflow pool and into the canal next to it, then flowed down the mountain.


    Li Yao was very satisfied with thisrge water wheel. It was worth the nearly 3,000 taels of silver spent and over a month of work to build this big guy.


    With thisrge water wheel, she could do a lot of things.


    First of all, she would make an automatic fan.


    She had people bring over a speed control device and connect it to the central shaft of the water wheel, then connect it to a huge fan.


    Whether they could enjoy automatic cool breeze depended on this fan.


    "Open the gate!"


    Water flowed back into the wheel pool. But this time the water wheel started up very slowly.


    Li Yao watched the fan des, wishing she could lend them some strength.


    But with the transmission of force, the des eventually began to turn, faster and faster, until the naked eye could no longer discern their movement clearly.


    Buzz buzz buzz--


    With the high-speed rotation of the des, a strong wind was blown, blowing her hair flying and clothes pping loudly.


    "Such a strong wind!"


    "Yes, I wonder how these des can spin so fast," someone curiously asked, "At least 10 times faster than the water wheel!"


    To be precise, 13.2 times faster!


    As for the reason, it was naturally because of a speed control device assembled with gears. This was not any advanced knowledge for modern people, but akin to magic for these ancient people.


    "Feels so cool!"


    Hearing that the fan was sessful, He Xiaoya walked out with her bulging belly to enjoy the cool breeze together.


    "Don''t overdo it, or you''ll catch a cold."


    "Oh."


    Although she wanted to keep enjoying the wind, He Xiaoya soon returned indoors. But Li Yao had her leave the windows open to let in a bit of cool air.


    "Xiao Si."


    "Here I am!" Wang Xiao Si nimbly scurried to Li Yao.


    "I''m not calling you, I''m calling your uncle Si."


    Wang Xiao Si pouted.


    Since the other three had gone off to be soldiers, there was no one left at home to y with him, leaving him very bored.


    Wang Yuanbang walked over from the crowd. "Sister-inw, what is it?"


    "I will have two smaller versions of this fan made. Have them installed in the bicycle workshop. Go take a look at where would be good to install them, and prepare the foundations in advance."


    "Oh!"


    It was already midsummer, and the weather would soon hit peak heat. The bicycle workshop was especially unbearably hot, with asional heatstrokes happening.


    Havingrge fans installed would surely delight the workers.


    "Master," Xia Xian saw that Li Yao was done with things, so he took out the iron block and presented it before her. "Take a look at how it turned out this time."


    Together with Xia Xian, Li Yao went to the cksmith workshop. Xia Xian added coal to a boiler and worked the bellows. The steam quickly powered a steam engine to drive a grindstone to spin rapidly.


    This was a very crude grindstone made of granite. It was barely better than nothing.


    Scrape scrape--


    Li Yao ground the elongated iron block into a ne iron.


    It felt like it might work this time?


    With the simplethe ready, Li Yao mped the ne iron and tried turning a casting iron block.


    With the sounds of sanding, iron scraps scattered everywhere until the casting iron was machined into a smooth cylinder. The ne iron remained intact.


    "Sess."


    Xia Xian was overjoyed, almost moved to tears.


    He really didn''t want to keep doing things he had the skills for but couldn''t fully utilize. He desperately wanted to swing a huge hammer and forge some steel des, or even kitchen knives if nothing else...


    But he knew that was impossible.


    The master''s mind contained countless fantastic ideas, and these concepts required many odd and delicate small parts to form.


    He reckoned he would never have a chance to forge kitchen knives again in his life.


    "Master, what''s next?"


    "What you''ve done before," Li Yao said. "Now with thethe and ne iron, the inner and outer rings of bearings can be machined more finely to achieve higher precision."


    Improve the bearings?


    That was simple, but Xia Xian didn''t think it would be so simple.


    "Then what?"


    "Then rece all thethe bearings with high precision ones, and continue producing even higher precision bearings."


    Xia Xian: ...


    "When thethe precision reaches its limit, it can be used to produce parts like cylinders, pistons, seals, screws etc. of even higher precision," Li Yao said, "then make lighter steam engines."


    Xia Xian knew the tasks Li Yao arranged for him would be tedious and tasteless.


    "If you find it troublesome, take on some apprentices," Li Yao said. "There are many young people in our vige who attended night school and are decent at math. Teach them and you can rx more."


    Wouldn''t that be "teaching them to starve the master to death"?


    "Don''t worry about someone recing you," Li Yao said. "When the steam engine is improved to a certain degree, you''ll be responsible for researching all kinds of alloys. That will be a long and tedious job, so be mentally prepared."


    Xia Xian: ...


    ...


    Capital city.


    Emperor Liu Ling of the Daling Dynasty had grown old, and his health deteriorated day by day. Naturally he would spend this hot summer at the royal summer resort.


    Today was Liu Ling''s birthday. Despite the sweltering heat, court officials still came to the resort to celebrate his birthday.


    Crown Prince Liu Chen was worried his father''s health couldn''t take it, so after a few key officials presented their birthday gifts, he dismissed everyone.


    "Wait."


    Liu Ling was in good spirits today with decent health, so he wanted to keep a few officials to discuss state affairs.


    "Father, let''s do it tomorrow instead," the crown prince persuaded. "Today is Father''s birthday. Discussing politics would spoil the mood."


    "Let''s do it now. I''m going to the hot springs tomorrow."


    At Liu Ling''s insistence, the left and right chancellors, grandmandant and other key officials came to an elegant garden.


    Several towering trees with lush branches and leaves blocked most of the sunlight. Together with the cool mountain breeze, one could not feel the summer heat at all.


    "Please sit."


    "Thank you, Your Majesty, for granting us seats."


    "Tell me," Liu Ling said, "what major events have been happening in my realm recently?"


    Right Chancellor Zhu Zilin spoke first. "Your Majesty, the drought has passed and thend is blessed with good weather for harvests. Local governments are governing effectively. There are really no major issues."


    "So the country is prosperous and people living in peace?"


    "All thanks to Your Majesty''s blessings." Zhu Zilin said, "Also, the northern tribes'' aggression has rtively weakened this year, allowing my border troops some respite."

 Chapter 131: Song An

    <h4>Chapter 131</h4>


    Xu Zhan, the Imperial Commander-in-chief, quickly said, "The Chancellor is right. Last year we crushed the barbarians thoroughly, so they have been much tamer this year. If Your Majesty grants me more troops again, I guarantee I will ughter them without leaving a single armor by next autumn!"


    "You only know how to fight and kill," Liu Ling shook his head. "You want Me to provide more troops, and I also want to give you more. But tell Me, how much food does an army of 100,000 consume every day? The drought has just ended, and the crops in the fields have not been harvested yet. Where can I get food to feed this army?"


    "This..." Xu Zhan lowered his head in embarrassment. "Your Majesty''s words make perfect sense."


    "Let''s recuperate for two years," Liu Ling said. "Fighting every year is tiring. It''s time to rest."


    Hearing his intention to prepare for a ceasefire, although dissatisfied, Xu Zhan did not dare to say more.


    "Do you have anything else to say?"


    It seemed there was nothing more to discuss.


    Just as the Chancellor and the Imperial Commander were about to take their leave, the Left Chancellor Song An suddenly said, "Your Majesty, I have a minor matter to report."


    "Let''s hear it."


    "It''s like this," Song An said. "Some days ago, an ingenious contraption was sent from Yizhou Prefecture. I found it quite interesting and wanted to show Your Majesty."


    Liu Ling''s face clouded with displeasure.


    Although old, he still wanted to govern diligently and did not indulge much in pleasures.


    And Song An had always been dedicated to state affairs, never trying to curry favor. Why was he going against his nature today, wanting to show some ingenious toy?


    The changes in Liu Ling''s expression did not escape the keen eyes of the Right Chancellor Zhu Zilin.


    Although he was the Right Chancellor, with higher status than Song An, Zhu Zilin knew that Liu Ling''s most trusted person was probably still Song An.


    He and the Crown Prince had covertly set traps for Song An many times, but the Emperor had gently helped Song An ovee them each time.


    Even when his nephew Song Feng was clearly guilty of embezzling official silver, just to amodate Song An''s affections, he had only demoted Song Feng to the county magistrate of Yizhou, without stripping his official rank.


    Such favor was enough to make Zhu Zilin envious and jealous.


    So today, catching Song An''s pigtail, how could he not take the chance to provoke him?


    "Chancellor Song, this is where you''ve done wrong," Zhu Zilin said. "Don''t you know that His Majesty has never cared for such things?"


    "The Right Chancellor is right," the Crown Prince Liu Chen chimed in. "And Father is frail and needs rest and recuperation. How can he be bothered with useless trifles? Let''s forget about this matter and dismiss the court."


    Hearing their words, Liu Ling''s gloomy expression suddenly cleared up again.


    "Don''t be hasty," Liu Ling said. "Song, bring what you mentioned for Me to see."


    "Yes, Your Majesty."


    Zhu Zilin and the Crown Prince exchanged nces, full of resentment.


    To amodate Song An, the old Emperor had openly rejected their advice in front of everyone, not giving them any face at all.


    Soon, some eunuchs brought in a tricycle and a bicycle to the garden.


    Never having seen them before, everyone looked on curiously.


    "Song, what are these?"


    "This is called a bicycle," Song An exined. "Powered by manpower, its speed can surpass an average warhorse."


    "This thing can outrun a horse?" Xu Zhanughed upon hearing this. "Chancellor Song, you must have been tricked. Also, one of them only has two wheels. I reckon it can''t even stand steadily, let alone run."


    "That''s the ingenuity of the bicycle," Song An said. "Not only does it not fall over with two wheels, it can run even faster than the three-wheeled one."


    "Hahaha..." Xu Zhanughed loudly, his face turning red. "Let someone try it now. I want to see today how one rides this bicycle."


    Song An signaled, and a eunuch immediately brought out the bicycle, pedaled twice, and leapt on.


    To prepare for today''s "performance", Song An had already trained him for months, so the eunuch rode with great familiarity.


    Not only could he elerate over short distances, when he reached the wall, he could perform a beautiful emergency stop with one foot on the ground, turning the bicycle around in the blink of an eye.


    Seeing the eunuch''s wonderful disy, Xu Zhan''s eyes opened wide in astonishment.


    "It really doesn''t fall over? What principle is this?"


    "Haha, Commander Xu," Song Anughed. "The bicycle not only does not fall, it is also very nimble. And it costs very little, at most a dozen or so taels of silver. More importantly, it requires no fodder."


    The others immediately realized the implications.


    Requiring no fodder meant huge annual savings in expenditure.


    "But it still cannot rece warhorses," Xu Zhan said. "One cannot possibly fight battles riding this."


    "I didn''t say you should use it for fighting," Song An said. "But what about using it to transport troops and provisions? The two-wheeled bicycle doesn''t carry much, but the three-wheeler can bear heavy loads, easily 300-400 catties per cart.


    Xu Zhan listened more convincingly. This would indeed help logistics.


    But eventually he shook his head: "It''s useless in the rain."


    "You''re right, that''s also a shoring of bicycles," Song An said. "While unsuitable for military use, they can still be used by civilians. Now countless small merchants and peddlers in Yizhou are already using bicycles for business."


    Everyone understood the importance ofmerce.


    The more active the merchants, the faster money circtes, and the more taxes collected, strengthening the nation.


    Hearing this, Liu Ling nodded slightly. "Which ingenious artisan made this?"


    "Replying to Your Majesty, this was invented by the vige woman Li Yao from He Wan vige, Baichuan County, Yizhou."


    At the mention of Li Yao''s name, the Right Chancellor''s expression shifted subtly.


    He finally understood Song An''s abnormal behavior today.


    The memorials from Yizhou, especially those concerning Li Yao, had all been suppressed by him on the excuse of "too trivial to bother His Majesty".


    It seemed Song An today wanted to expose this matter.


    "You said amoner woman?"


    "Has Your Majesty not heard of the name Li Yao?" Song An asked.


    "What is the Chancellor implying?" the Crown Prince Liu Chen said. "His Majesty cares for all under heaven. How would he know amoner''s name?"


    "You''re right, I overthought," Song An said. "I merely heard that the county magistrate Song Feng had submitted several memorials, trying to reward themoner woman Li Yao for her achievements. I assumed His Majesty would have some impression after reading them."


    Liu Ling frowned. "Reward for what achievements?"


    "This..." ncing at Zhu Zilin, Song An hesitated. "Your Majesty, this is not within my responsibilities. Perhaps the Right Chancellor should exin."


    Zhu Zilin resented inwardly that Song An had pushed the matter to him.


    But feigning ignorance would be dereliction of duty.


    So he reported: "Your Majesty, Song Feng did send some memorials, but I deemed them trivial matters, so as not to disturb You. However, I have instructed the Prefect of Yizhou tomend Li Yao."

 Chapter 132: Point a Deer to a Horse

    <h4>Chapter 132</h4>


    "Hehe," Song An chuckled and said, "The Chancellor is truly the Chancellor, your vision is unparalleled."


    "What do you mean, Song An?"


    "I meant no offense," Song An said. "I heard that amoner woman named Li Yao found a crop in the mountains called sweet potatoes. If properly cultivated, just one mu could yield 2000 jin!"


    He turned to face Liu Ling and bowed with hands sped, "Your Majesty, how muchnd does our Daling Country have? Let''s not even say 2000 jin per mu, even half of that could feed ten times more people than now! By then, how could our Daling Country not prosper? How could we not support an army of one hundred thousand?"


    "Song An, is this true?" Liu Ling was also intrigued and asked, "Can these sweet potatoes be harvested this year?"


    "Not yet, we''ll have to wait until autumn."


    Zhu Zilin said, "Taking credit for things not yet aplished, Prime Minister Song, aren''t you a little impatient?"


    "Indeed I am impatient," Song An said. "But besides the sweet potatoes, this Li Yao also invented a new well that allowed the people of Yizhou Prefecture to ovee the droughtst winter."


    "She remodeled the seed drill, increasing farnd productivity several times over."


    "The medicinal cream, soap, fragrant soap, cologne, and golden sore medicine she made are now sold all over Daling."


    "Last winter, countless refugees flooded into Baichuan County, causing an epidemic outbreak. It was her foresight to stock up on herbs beforehand and guide people to wash their hands with soap that extinguished the epidemic in days."


    "Using her own money, she allowed the magistrate of Baichuan County to provide work for relief. Justst winter, she built over twentyrge reservoirs and thousands of li of gravel roads!"


    "The cement she invented can make city walls as hard as bedrock!"


    "Most importantly, she also redesigned the stirrups."


    Song An turned to the Grand Marshal and asked, "Grand Marshal Xu must be very interested in this."


    "What can stirrups be changed into?"


    "I''m just a schr, I can''t exin clearly," Song An said. "Why don''t you take a look yourself, Grand Marshal?"


    As he spoke, Song An had someone lead over a warhorse equipped with a saddle with a pair of stirrups.


    Everyone took one look and shook their heads.


    "It just has an extra one," said the Crown Prince Liu Chen. "What''s the use? You can only mount from one side, how is that different from being able to mount from both left and right sides?"


    But Grand Marshal Xu''s eyes lit up.


    Having spent his life on horseback, he immediately saw the advantage of this pair of stirrups with one nce.


    "Your Majesty, please allow me to try riding it."


    "Go ahead."


    Xu took off his official robe, went to the warhorse, calmed it briefly, then nimbly mounted the horse and put both feet in the stirrups.


    "Marvelous! Hiya!"


    Xu highly praised and spurred the warhorse into a gallop, simultaneously performing various battle maneuvers on its back.


    Still not satisfied, he rode the warhorse out of the garden, fetched a sword and bow and arrow, and demonstrated in the field before returning sweaty and exhrated.


    "Your Majesty!" Xu charged in excitedly. "This Li Yao deserves a reward! A grand reward!"


    "Oh?" Liu Zhan was also surprised and asked, "Just an extra stirrup makes you praise her so?"


    "Your Majesty is unaware," Xu said, "Previously in mountedbat, we had to grip the saddle tightly with our legs to avoid falling off. But with two stirrups, the feet gain purchase and mobility on horseback is as flexible as on level ground! If the whole army uses this, thebat power of our Daling cavalry will at least double, one can beat ten!"


    Everyone looked at each other in dismay.


    Just an extra stirrup could achieve a tenfold increase in power?


    If anyone else had said this, no one would believe it, but since it came from the Grand Marshal who had spent his life with horses and nowmanded all the armies, even if there was exaggeration it couldn''t be too much.


    "Congrattions, Your Majesty," Zhu Zilin, seeing the situation was not in his favor, immediately followed suit, "With this, our Daling will have a huge advantage against the barbarians. Thismoner woman Li Yao indeed deserves a grand reward."


    "Not so fast," Liu Zhan said. "Chancellor Zhu, first bring all of Baichuan County''s records of Li Yao''s achievements for me to review."


    "Yes, Your Majesty."


    It wasn''t that Liu Zhan didn''t trust Song An or Song Feng.


    But this matter was too important, important enough to impact the entire world, so he had to be prudent.


    After reviewing the records, Liu Zhan contemted for a long while, then called several ministers together.


    "Li Yao''s deeds deserve reward," Liu Zhan said. "But We think there should still be a thorough investigation. Let''s do this - We will send someone to Baichuan County and, with the autumn harvest imminent, also check if the sweet potato yield can really exceed a thousand jin per mu. If so, We will reward her ordingly."


    "Your Majesty is wise!"


    "But who should We send?" Liu Zhan asked. "Esteemed ministers, do you have any suitable candidates in mind?"


    "Your Majesty," Chancellor Zhu Zilin said, "Your subject believes that for agricultural matters, someone should naturally be dispatched from the Ministry of Revenue."


    "Father, your son concurs."


    Song An''s brows slightly furrowed. He naturally knew the Ministry of Revenue were all Zhu Zilin and the Crown Prince''s people.


    If they were really sent, things would be difficult. Withst year''s huge scandal in Yizhou Prefecture, all suppressed by the Chancellor, who''s to say they wouldn''t misappropriate Li Yao''s achievements this time, with the emperor far away?


    "Your Majesty, your subject believes...an important minister should be sent."


    "That''s unnecessary," Liu Zhan said. "Agricultural affairs are the Ministry of Revenue''s responsibility. Let the Minister of Agriculture personally go investigate."


    The Minister of Agriculture was one of the Nine Ministers, in charge of taxes and money of the realm, with lofty status and power.


    Although sending him was a case of overqualification, he could be fully trusted to represent their interests. The Crown Prince and Chancellor Zhu Zilin were naturally delighted.


    "Your Majesty," Grand Marshal Xu spoke up at this time, "This subordinate also wishes to go take a look."


    "Foolishness, what business do you have going?"


    "With no battles at the border, this subordinate is bored to death," Xu said. "The new recruits in Yizhou Prefecture thesest few years are no good. This subordinate might as well go see what the problem is?"


    Liu Zhan was about to reject him, but Chancellor Zhu Zilin was overjoyed and quickly spoke in support: "Your Majesty, the Nanzhao Kingdom nearby has been restless thest two years, with decreasing tributes year after year, and it seems Yizhou Prefecture is unable to contain them. It would be perfect to have Grand Marshal Xu personally go supervise."


    The Crown Prince also chimed in, "Your son concurs."


    The displeasure in Liu Zhan''s eyes flickered and disappeared. After pondering for a bit, he said, "We grant this request."


    Seeing the emperor had nodded, Song An had an ominous feeling.


    Sending the Minister of Agriculture to investigate Li Yao''s deeds gave him some worry that he might make trouble and steal her credit. Now the Grand Marshal was going too, the Minister naturally wouldn''t dare be too overt.

 Chapter 133: Outside the Customs

    <h4>Chapter 133</h4>


    After the Grand Commandant went far away to Yizhou Prefecture, it also meant that in this capital city, other than him, there was no one else who could restrain the Crown Prince and the Right Chancellor Zhu Zilin.


    These two were ambitious, as everyone on the street knew. This time they would probablypletely override His Majesty!


    No one knew what His Majesty was thinking.


    "Alright, I''m a little tired too. All of you withdraw."


    After several court officials left, Liu Zhan did not rest.


    Although he was advanced in age, he was not muddled at all.


    The Crown Prince had been in office for over twenty years, and the patience he should have had long worn out.


    In recent years he had colluded with the important court officials, suppressing all other imperial brothers who might have the chance to seize his position. To Liu Zhan he was even more perfidious, secretly controlling the court.


    By the time Liu Zhan realized it, the Crown Prince had already gained momentum. As long as he did not make a big mistake, Liu Zhan could not depose him even if he wanted to.


    ording to the information he obtained, this rascal had also secretly raised a private army, hiding them on farms near the capital, with over three thousand people.


    Do not look down on these three thousand people.


    As long as the city guards and imperial guards stood by, with the momentum of thunder they could charge into the imperial pce to seize power. That would be a piece of cake.


    It was precisely because he knew about these things that he used the excuse of food shortage, not allowing the border armies to start a war, leaving the veteran military minister Xu stationed in the capital.


    But this could only make the Crown Prince temporarily abandon the idea of seizing the throne.


    In the fall, the Crown Prince and the Right Chancellor would probably suggest sending more troops to the borders, making Xu leave the capital.


    By then, wouldn''t the capital be under the Crown Prince''s control?


    Looking at the stars in the sky, Liu Zhan sighed lightly.


    Time and tide wait for no man.


    If he were a few years younger, a little healthier, the Crown Prince would not have dared to be so overt.


    "Send Yun''er to see me."


    "Yes."


    Not long after, Liu Yun arrived.


    He was Liu Zhan''s youngest son, only 16 years old this year.


    Although he had been naughty and mischievous since childhood, Liu Zhan knew his inherent nature was kind, so he was very fond of him.


    But it was precisely this fondness that made the Crown Prince extremely wary, trying in every possible way to eliminate him.


    Liu Zhan did not know how much longer he could live, but he knew that if he died, Liu Yun would certainly not live much longer either.


    "Father, why have you summoned me sote?"


    "I know you feel bored in the capital, so this time I''m sending you somewhere to do something for me."


    "Really?" Upon hearing he could go out and have fun, with his father''s permission at that, Liu Yun could not hold back his excitement. "Where to?"


    "Baichuan County, Yizhou Prefecture."


    ...


    After bumping along in the slow carriage for half a month, Liu Yun felt his bones were about to fall apart.


    Added to the humid and hot climate, he wished he could grow wings and fly directly to Yizhou Prefecture.


    "Your Highness," a handsome young attendant said through the curtain of the carriage. "We have entered the territory of Yizhou Prefecture. We should reach Yizhou city by nightfall. I''ve sent someone ahead to book an inn."


    "No need, no need, no need," Liu Yun said impatiently as he flipped open the curtain. "I''m here on a confidential mission this time. What business do I have going to Yizhou city? Are you worried Prefect Hu won''t recognize me?"


    "Then...where are we going?"


    "Bai Song, how can you be so stupid?" Liu Yun said. "Of course we''re going straight to Baichuan County."


    "Yes, Your Highness."


    Seeing Bai Song''s wooden expression, Liu Yun sighed lightly.


    How boring!


    Just then the convoy suddenly stopped.


    "Why have we stopped?"


    "Young master," Bai Song said. "The convoy ahead is blocking the road. It looks like they are...changing carts?"


    Bai Song wasn''t sure if they were changing carts, because those carts looked a bit strange.


    Unable to move forward for so long made Liu Yun very impatient. He slid out of the carriage, and his eyes were drawn to a row of three-wheeled carts.


    "It''s a three-wheeled cart, I''ve seen them before!"


    Though the three-wheeled cart he had seen was a more "advanced" passenger tricycle, not therge cargo tricycle like the ones before his eyes.


    Seeing a group of porters loading sack after sack of coal onto the three-wheeled carts recklessly, he became curious.


    Seeing a man in green sitting by the roadside resting, he went up and asked: "Brother, can this three-wheeled cart really carry so much?"


    This person was Jia Zhanliang, Li Yao''s agent merchant. He was here to pick up goods, and also to deliver several dozen carts of coal for Li Yao.


    Seeing the other dressedvishly and quite young, he guessed it was some young master out gaining experience.


    Befriending such a person would not hurt.


    "This is barely anything. It can hold at least this much more."


    "Can one person pull it?"


    "Of course," Jia Zhanliang said. "This three-wheeled cart is a treasure. One person can pull as much cargo as an ox cart. So merchants from out of town all switch to three-wheelers once they reach Yizhou''s territory."


    "Why is that?"


    "Naturally to save money," Jia Zhanliang said. "How much grass does an ox eat every day? Switching to three-wheelers eliminates that cost."


    "What about going up hills?"


    "A few people can push it up together," Jia Zhanliang said. "After this stretch is the Yizhou in, the terrain is very t, so speed will be even faster."


    Liu Yun had not expected three-wheeled carts to be so widely used in Yizhou Prefecture already. He clicked his tongue in wonder.


    If this cart really was invented by that Li Yao, it would be a great contribution indeed.


    "Brother, where are you headed?"


    "Baichuan County, He Wan vige."


    Liu Yun''s eyes lit up. "What a coincidence, I''m heading to Baichuan County as well. May I join you?"


    "You''re also going to Baichuan County?" Jia Zhanliang asked. "What business?"


    "I''m going to buy soap and detergent, to resell in the border regions."


    The border regions? Jia Zhanliang thought, that wouldn''t conflict with his territory.


    He was the agent for the north, though the border regions were also in the north, he didn''t dare go to thosewlessnds. Without connections and powerful backing, one could easily lose his life there.


    It was good timing to bring a big customer to Mistress Li. She would surely be very happy.


    "Then you''ve found the right person. I''m also headed to He Wan vige to pick up goods."


    The two sat in the shade of a roadside tree, chatting merrily. Later, under Jia Zhanliang''s suggestion, Liu Yun also hired a fleet of three-wheelers to transport the goods he had brought.


    With the two convoys joined together, they swiftly headed for Baichuan County.


    Just as Jia Zhanliang said, after a stretch the terrain ttened. The men riding the three-wheelers, each pulled nearly a thousand catties of goods, yet rode with ease.

 Chapter 134: Unknown to the World

    <h4>Chapter 134</h4>


    Moreover, the speed was several times faster than an ox cart!


    With two people riding in turns, they could maintain high speed. When they encountered a steep slope, everyone helped each other, making the efficiency much higher than an ox cart.


    "I originally thought Yizhou Prefecture was in a remote location and rtively backward. I didn''t expect it to open my eyes," said Liu Yun.


    "Haha, little brother," Jia Zhanliang said, "This is nothing yet. When we arrive at Baichuan County tomorrow, you will know what it means to be in awe."


    Liu Yun chuckled to himself.


    He was a prince. What things had he not seen before?


    But when they arrived at Baichuan Market the next day, he was truly a little dumbfounded.


    Let''s not talk about the streets and houses, which were very old and backward. But the prosperity on the streets far exceeded his imagination.


    "Selling stewed food ah, 15 wen a bowl!"


    The first thing that made Liu Yun feel was this magical aroma, which seemed several times more fragrant than the imperial kitchen''s cooking.


    Then there were shops all over the street.


    It seemed to have all the goods he had ever seen.


    But this was just a remote mountain county town!


    What surprised him the most was the full street of bicycles and tricycles.


    Some people rode fast on two-wheeled bicycles, some people rode leisurely on tricycles to buy groceries, and some carried all kinds of goods on the street to sell.


    There were even people riding beautifully decorated tricycles, who came up to them: "Young master, where are you going? Do you want to rent a car? Absolutely fast, and the price is absolutely fair!"


    This...this is also possible?


    Liu Yun was a little dumbfounded.


    He had thought he was worldly wise, while a remote small city like Baichuan County had nothing worth looking at.


    It turned out now that he was the real country bumpkin.


    Seeing his never-seen-the-world look, Jia Zhanliang gleefully took him upstairs at He''s Restaurant.


    "Boss Jia is here, please go upstairs and sit!"


    He was a regr customer of He''s Restaurant. Every time he came to Baichuan County for business, he would choose to eat here.


    After all, only here could he eat the most authentic roasted goose by Ms. Li from He River bay.


    Those imitation roasted geese, no matter how well they were made, were still not as good as Ms. Li¡¯s.


    It was Liu Yun''s first time eating roasted goose. Although he was very restrained, he still ate ravenously.


    "I haven''t eaten such delicious goose even in the capital," he said.


    "The capital?" Jia Zhanliangughed. "I am also from the capital, but I have to say, when ites to food, no family can reallypare to this Baichuan Market."


    "Brother Liu, isn''t this an exaggeration?"


    "Not at all," Jia Zhanliang said. "Let me give a simple example. Have you eaten hot pot before?"


    Liu Yun was stunned: "What is hot pot?"


    "Haha... You see, you don''t even know the name," Jia Zhanliangughed. "Hot pot was invented by Ms. Li. I also only had the fortune to eat it once, but I will never forget that taste in my life. Not only hot pot, any dish Ms. Li makes can beat those chefs in the capital by miles."


    Hearing him say that, Liu Yun was eager to meet this Ms. Li.


    After the meal, Liu Yun called a tricycle to give it a try. He had to experience it.


    "To He Wan vige."


    "Alright!" The driver released the handbrake. "Young master, please buckle your seatbelt!"


    Seatbelt...what''s that?


    With the help of the driver, Liu Yun tied a wide cotton belt diagonally across his body, making him feel like a country bumpkin again.


    Ding ling ling--


    "The passenger is seated, let''s go!"


    The driver pushed hard, and the tricycle immediately raced on the t road.


    When they got out of the city gate, Liu Yun was already prepared for bumps, but found that the road outside the city was paved with gravel, and very t.


    The tricycle drove on it without any bumpy feeling at all!


    This road...was even more t and better than the road outside the capital!


    And very wide, at least allowing four carriages to travel side by side.


    This was just a road to a remote mountain vige!


    "Brother Jia," Liu Yun asked, "Why can this road be built so wide?"


    "You don''t even know this," Jia Zhanliang said. "This is the road that Ms. Li and the county magistrate Song builtst year for disaster relief and to provide work for refugees. It''s like this for every vige."


    "Every vige?"


    "There''s nothing unusual about this. Ms. Li said this is just the roadbed," Jia Zhanliang said. "In the future, when the cement output is up, they will all be repaired with cement roads, smoother than marble floors, andsting hundreds of years without decay."


    Liu Yun: ......


    A hundred-year indestructible road...Is this Ms. Li an immortal?


    He suddenly had a feeling that this Baichuan County and He Wan Vige seemed not to be in the same world as him.


    Here was more like...a paradise beyond the world?


    Nonsense--


    What was he thinking?


    How could there really be immortals in this world?


    ...


    Today was a big day in He Wan vige.


    All the vigers gathered at the entrance of the vige to listen to Wang Jiafu from the Li family speak.


    "I''m sure you''ve all heard," Wang Jiafu said in a prolonged voice, "Ms. Li said she wants to build a big hotel on this vacant lot at the vige entrance."


    "Master Li, what is a big hotel?"


    "You don''t even know this?" A viger said, "A hotel is naturally a store that sells wine, so a big hotel is a veryrge store that sells wine!"


    "Master Li, is Ms. Li going to brew wine?"


    Wang Jiafu wiped his forehead.


    "I told you to study hard, but you just want to bezy. Listen up, a big hotel is not for selling wine, but a kind of high-end inn."


    "Inn? There aren''t many visitors to our vige, so what''s the use of building an inn?"


    "There may not be many now, but can there be none in the future?"


    Wang Jiafu was deeply convinced of this.


    Ms. Li had already nned to build variousrge workshops in addition to turning He Wan Vige into a tourist area. As for what tourism was, his understanding was to have those rich peoplee and have fun.


    "Let''s not talk about this. The main point is that the nature of this hotel is collective!"


    "What is collective?"


    "It means this hotel does not belong to Ms. Li''s family, nor my family, nor any one family," Wang Jiafu said. "It belongs to all the vigers of He Wan Vige! Experts will be hired to manage itter, and specialized ountants. The profits earned each month will be distributed per capita!"


    "Do we need to pay?"


    "What do you want money for?" Wang Jiafu said confidently with a smile. "Our vige still has some money. It''s enough to build a few rows ofrge houses."


    "I don''t feel assured without paying." A vigerughed. "Why don''t we all pay a little, so that when dividends are distributed in the future, we will have the confidence to take it, right?"


    This proposal immediately gained everyone''s approval, and they mored to pay.


    Even though Wang Jiafu said repeatedly that the vige had enough money, everyone was still very dissatisfied.


    In the end, Wang Jiafu had no choice but to look at Ms. Li next to him.

 Chapter 135: Fake Business for Personal Gain

    <h4>Chapter 135</h4>


    "Li Yao, take a look, I told them but they wouldn''t listen. Why don''t youe and talk to them?"


    Li Yao was also drunk. The vige chief here really had no credibility at all.


    Building a hotel and a scenic spot was her idea, of course not to attract tourists and make some pocket money for the vigers. She just felt that there must be these things here to match her aesthetic standards.


    She was just "embezzling under the guise of public good".


    As for why she insisted on adopting a collective system, it was just that she didn''t want her own family to be too prominent, which would make people jealous.


    "Let''s just do as the vige chief said."


    "Now that Li Yao has said so, then we''ll listen to you."


    "Right, listening to Aunt Li must be right."


    "Then we won''t contribute money."


    ...


    With just a word from Li Yao, all the vigers changed their minds. This made Wang Jiafu very depressed, feeling that he was just a figurehead.


    Whereas Liu Yun, who had just arrived, was surprised many times in his heart.


    He had never even heard of a collective system.


    And this Li Yao was also beyond his expectations. She was not the "vige woman" he had imagined, but was instead well-dressed, with a smile like a flower, and an easy and carefree temperament.


    In all his life, he had never seen such a graceful woman.


    He felt that even the Empress and Imperial Consorts would be inferior to her in some respects.


    After the vigers'' meeting was over, Li Yao was about to go back when Jia Zhanliang came over with several people.


    "Mrs. Li, I''vee again to get goods."


    After some small talk, Li Yao had Jia Zhanliang''s coal carried away to unload it.


    There was no coal in Yizhou Prefecture, so it had to be transported from other ces, at frighteningly high costs. Fortunately, every time Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan came to get goods, they would help bring some coal, charging only a minimum freight fee, which saved her a lot of trouble.


    If only there was a train...


    Li Yao was determined to build trains, but the technology was not yet mature.


    "Mrs. Li, let me introduce you," Jia Zhanliang made way for Liu Yun, "This is the young master Liu Pan, a big merchant in the capital city. He came this time wanting to get goods from you to sell to thends beyond the pass."


    Li Yao frowned. She looked Liu Yun up and down.


    He was dressed luxuriously like a rich young master, just a little too young.


    If he wanted to get goods to sell to Nan Zhao, Goryeo, or even Japan, she might have agreed.


    But thends beyond the pass were not a ce ordinary people could go!


    "A little brat wants to learn to do business?" So she bluntly refused, "Go back and have the elders in your familye."


    Having said that, Li Yao turned and left, not intending to say another word to him.


    Liu Yun, who was all smiles just now, was stunned in an instant.


    Wasn''t Li Yao too fierce?


    Was this how to treat guests?


    "Little Brother Liu," Jia Zhanliang said, "Mrs. Li is just temperamental like this, don''t take it to heart."


    "Brother Jia, is she... always like this?"


    "I forgot to tell you, this Mrs. Li used to be a fierce woman who shook things up for miles around," Jia Zhanliang said with augh, "She''s much better now. As long as you don''t provoke her, she usually won''t lose her temper."


    Liu Yun: ...This is not what he imagined at all!


    But now that he hade all this way, Liu Yun certainly would not be dismissed with just a word. So he quickly caught up.


    "Mrs. Li, please wait."


    Seeing him shamelessly chasing after her, Li Yao frowned, "Call me auntie."


    Bai Song, who was attending Liu Yun, subconsciously reached for the hilt of his sword when he saw Li Yao being disrespectful to Liu Yun repeatedly.


    Seeing this, Li Yao smiled and asked, "What, just because I asked your young master to call me auntie, you want to stab me a couple times? Do you believe that before your sword leaves its sheath, I will beat you until your own mother can''t recognize you?"


    Bai Song: ...


    Whether or not Li Yao was exaggerating, this momentum made him feelpletely suppressed.


    His hand reaching for the sword hilt unconsciously withdrew.


    Liu Yun didn''t even know what to say seeing this.


    Damn, have you forgotten who you are?


    You''re the top martial artist in the imperial pce, yet just because of a remark, you chickened out?


    Of course, he didn''t intend to bully people with power, so he very obediently changed his words: "Auntie Li, please give me a chance."


    Although she didn''t know Liu Yun''s exact identity, Li Yao guessed a thing or two.


    Someone who could bring a bodyguard like Bai Song and do business beyond the pass must be one of those royal princes or high ministers, maybe even rted to the imperial family.


    Never mind that General Ling was fighting the barbarians.


    Fighting was one thing, business another. They were basically two unrted things.


    But how could a greenhorn like him have any control over the business beyond the pass?


    "I''ll say it onest time, I won''t do business with you," Li Yao said. "Go back and have your family''s elderse."


    Liu Yun thought to himself that his family''s elders did want toe, but couldn''t.


    But it was just as well. After all, his main purpose was not to do business. Doing business was just an excuse. So he would take this opportunity to stay here for a while and secretly investigate whether those things really were done by Li Yao.


    "Alright, alright, I''ll send someone to call my dad over," Liu Yun said. "But I''vee all this way, I can''t just go back like this. Why don''t I stay here and wait."


    "That''s up to you."


    "Auntie Li, don''t go!" Liu Yun shamelessly followed her, "You see I didn''t bring much travel money. I can''t afford to stay at an inn every day. I wonder if I could stay at your house for a few days?"


    He had heard from Jia Zhanliang that even a casual meal cooked by Li Yao tasted dozens of times better than those made by the best chefs in the capital.


    Li Yao thought to herself that this kid was quite thick-skinned.


    A rich man''s son, huh. Toofortable andzy, huh. She would let him know that the daily life of themon people at the bottom was not so easy.


    "You can stay at my house, but there is a rule." Li Yao said, "I won''t take your money. I''ll provide meals every day, but you have to help out with the work around my house. If you can''t do that, even if your dades, don''t expect to buy anything from me."


    Liu Yun felt his face rotting away.


    He was the Ninth Prince!


    Pampered since childhood, with food delivered to his mouth and clothes to his hands. And now that he hade here, he had to work to earn his meals?


    But thinking of the mission Emperor Father had given him, he hardened his heart.


    "Deal!"


    Li Yao hadn''t expected that he would actually agree, and felt that she had underestimated him.


    "Thene with me."


    After bringing Liu Yun and Bai Song back home, she had them stay in Wang San''er''s house.


    Before even settling in, Liu Yun was attracted by the various strange gadgets in the yard.


    High-speed fans, flour mills, shelling machines... He hadn''t seen these things even in his dreams, and they were all water powered!


    "Auntie Li, did you make all these?"


    "These are nothing," Wang Xiao Si yed the host since they had guests at home. "To my mom, these are child''s y. She has also built manyrge machines, all coal powered, at the workshop over there. Come, I''ll take you to see!"

 Chapter 136: Eyes Open

    <h4>Chapter 136</h4>


    Wang Xiao Si took Liu Yun to the bicycle workshop, where Liu Yun saw for the first time how bicycles were made.


    What attracted him most was the heavy and huge punching machine.


    Bang bang - with just one stroke, even the ground was shaking, and at the same time the metal ball nk was punched into a perfect sphere.


    What kind of brain could havee up with this?


    When they arrived at the cksmith''s shop, Liu Yun''s horizons were further broadened.


    What a variety there was - windows, drills, grinders, milling machines, steam engines...so many different things that Liu Yun''s eyes were dazzled.


    "Young Master Si, it''s dangerous here, go y somewhere else."


    Xia Xian now had five apprentices, all clever young men selected from the vigers of He Wan vige. After learning for a month they could get the hang of things, which made life a lot easier for Xia Xian.


    Right now he was taking a few of them to a newly builtrge workshop nearby, to help test an "automated" production line.


    Of course, they were only responsible for the work itself, the specifics of the testing were handled by the owner.


    Soon Li Yao came over, and since Liu Yun was here, she took him along to watch and help out.


    The main product of this new workshop was ceramic tiles.


    But don''t think ceramic tiles are easy to make, justpress some mud, apply some ze, and fire - that''s far from the truth.


    The production process for ceramic tiles was quiteplex, and making it semi-automated was even moreplicated. Li Yao had already spent over a month soaking in this workshop to debug the production line.


    First were the raw materials.


    The main ingredients for ceramic tiles were potter''s y, kaolin, and loess.


    Near Guihua Vige in Baichuan County there was arge deposit of kaolin, also known as Guanyin y, which was very convenient for Li Yao. She had already reached an agreement with Guihua Vige for them to organize the mining of kaolin, which would be transported directly to her in the future.


    In addition, quartz and feldspar were needed.


    These three main raw materials were mixed together in proportion and ground into an extremely fine powder, which required the first row ofrge machines in the workshop - ball mills.


    The principle of ball mills was simple: an array of steel balls were ced inside a horizontal cylindrical chamber. The raw materials and water were added, the door closed, and the chamber was rotated at a constant speed by a water wheel.


    After a period of time, the raw materials and water would be ground into a mud thinner than a strand of hair.


    The mud was poured out and passed through a maic separator to remove any iron fragments, then pumped into a 10-meter tall iron tank and dried with hot air sts to obtain the basic powdered raw material.


    Just this one process took up half the workshop.


    Looking at these hulking steel contraptions, Liu Yun was at a loss for words to describe his shock, and could only exim "What amazing gadgets!"


    What Li Yao came to debug today was a hydraulic press, the machine responsible forpressing the powdered materials into nk ceramic tiles.


    A row of thick steel molds were installed on a conveyor belt, which would be filled with the fine ceramic powder after passing through a hopper.


    When it reached the press, Li Yao stepped on the first switch.


    Hiss - as the valve opened, steam entered the pipes, driving the transmission mechanism to deliver a steel mold directly under the press.


    After ensuring the mechanical motions were smooth and the positioning urate, Li Yao stepped on the second switch.


    Whirr whirr whirr - the heavy press slowly descended,pressing the steel mold andpacting the powder into a square ceramic nk.


    But this was not enough.


    This motion needed to be repeated three times, each time with increasing pressure, in order to thoroughly remove any air pockets from the nk.


    The problem was with the thirdpression, the pressure was insufficient.


    Li Yao picked up a wrench and adjusted the air pressure several times, until the nk finally reached satisfactory standards.


    Next the greenware nks just needed to be thoroughly dried, zed, and fired in a kiln. Once removed from the kiln and lightly polished, the entire production line would beplete.


    As for zing and firing, she had spent a lot of money poaching several masters from the official kilns to oversee the process.


    For now the ceramic tiles were just in white without any patterns - she would have people research decorative techniques once all the preliminary steps were stable.


    "Be careful, the kiln is opening!"


    Following a worker''s shout, the massive door of the kiln at the end of the workshop slowly swung open, and two workers used long poles to haul out a cart full of ceramic tiles.


    After cooling slightly, Li Yao went up with several masters to inspect them.


    The tiles arrayed neatly on the shelves looked very t, but as soon as Li Yao ced a square steel ruler on them, it was apparent the surfaces were uneven in height, with variance of at least 1 mm.


    "No good, the warping is still quite severe!" said one of the ceramic masters. "Also, the ze color is slightly yellowish - it seems the ze form still needs adjusting."


    "I''ve already adjusted thepression at the earlier stages, so warping shouldn''t be as bad in the next batch," said Li Yao. "As for the color, I''ll have to trouble you masters to focus on it."


    "Of course, of course!"


    "You there," Li Yao turned to Liu Yun. "I''ve got a job for you - go find a small cart and haul these ceramic tiles to my home. Even though they''re rejects, we can''t afford to waste them - take them back to pave the pigsties."


    Liu Yun: ......


    Just a moment ago when he saw these tiles, he thought they were even more exquisite and smooth than the marble in the imperial pce. He was marveling at the ingenuity, but it turned out they were rejects!


    And they were to be taken back to pave the pigsties!


    Heck, the pigs in Li Yao''s home were treated better than royalty!


    "Auntie Li," said Liu Yun, "I just wanted to ask, what are these used for?"


    "You don''t even know that?" said Wang Xiao Si in Li Yao''s ce. "These are used to pave floors. Onceid down the floors will be very clean. They can also be installed in kitchens, bathrooms etc, and can simply be washed with water and wiped clean!"


    So much effort and expense, so many machines, just for cleanliness and easy washing?


    "Come, I''ll show you something so you understand."


    Wang Xiao Si took Liu Yun to the washroom behind the workshop.


    The floors and sinks here were all paved with ceramic tiles.


    Although they were rejects, they still looked veryfortable, and really were spotless.


    "Look at this." Wang Xiao Si opened a wooden door. "Do you know what this is?"


    Liu Yun went closer to take a look. It was a ceramic object shaped like a seat, but hollow in the middle. He truly had no idea what it was.


    "This is a toilet, for pooping and peeing."


    Liu Yun: ...... You took a prince to see a toilet? Do you want to be convicted of grave disrespect towards royalty?


    "How do you use it?"


    "Very simple, let me pee in it first."


    Liu Yun really wanted to bash him to death.


    "Watch closely now!"


    Wang Xiao Si said, then pressed the flush valve. With a swoosh, a huge amount of water rushed in and washed the toiletpletely clean.


    "See how clean it is? Isn''t it amazing?"


    Although Liu Yun felt it was beneath his princely dignity to inspect a toilet, he had to admit this toilet was pretty good, at least it wouldn''t stink.


    He was already silently nning to take a few back, to install them in his father the Emperor''s bedchamber and his mother the Empress''s residence.

 Chapter 137: The Sky is high and the Emperor is Far Away

    <h4>Chapter 137</h4>


    A few dayster, thanks to Li Yao and a group of master craftsmen''s efforts, the first batch of qualified tiles was finally fired sessfully.


    Looking at the tiles piled up in the yard, Li Yao could not wait any longer. "Hurry up, finish tiling by the end of today."


    More than twenty masons immediately started working, beginning to tile the floors of Li Yao''s main residence, using the methods taught by Li Yao, and they were quite adept at it.


    After the floor tiles wereid, the whole house gave apletely different feeling.


    It was clean, bright, and pleasing to the eye.


    When Liu Yun stepped on the tiled floor for the first time, he decided that he must bring backrge quantities of tiles when he returned, to tile the main hall, bedroom, and empress''s quarters of his father the Emperor.


    This was sofortable!


    This Mrs. Li was simply better at enjoying life than the imperial family.


    And her enjoyment was created bit by bit through her own efforts.


    These days when working in the workshop, he had already found out that everything the Song Chancellor had said was true, without any falsity.


    He was prepared to have the imperial edict from his father read out loud by someone when the Grand Minister of Agriculture arrived, to properly reward Li Yao.


    "Mother," He Xiaoya said, struggling to squat down and stroking the smooth floor, "Isn''t it too wasteful toy such nice things on the ground?"


    "What waste," Li Yao said. "This stuff is called floor tiles, it''s inherently meant to beid on the floor. Oh yes, have someone tidy up, the floor of your room will be tiled tomorrow too."


    "Oh!" He Xiaoya rubbed her belly and said, "After my son is born, he''ll be able to crawl on the clean floor, he''ll definitely like it a lot."


    "How do you know it''s a son?"


    He Xiaoya was startled for a moment, then said, "I don''t know, but isn''t having a son better?"


    "Don''t keep listening to those old women''s nagging all day, letting them lead you astray," Li Yao said. "In our family, sons and daughters are the same. Even if you give birth to all daughters, I definitely won''t me you for it."


    He Xiaoya felt a surge of warmth in her heart.


    Her mother-inw was definitely the best mother-inw in the whole world.


    But she still wanted to have a son. Not every daughter was as fortunate as her to encounter such a good inw family.


    If her daughter married badly in the future, she didn''t know how heartbroken she would be.


    "Mother, can we have stir-fried pork with chili peppers for dinner tonight?"


    Li Yao: "Didn''t we just eat that yesterday?"


    "But I want to eat it again."


    "Let''s eat it, I happen to want to eat it too, go pick some chili peppers."


    As Li Yao spoke, she picked up a basket. Just then, Song County Magistrate''s carriage stopped at the door.


    "County Magistrate, is there an urgent matter at this time?"


    "It is quite urgent indeed." Song County Magistrate said.


    "Thene in and sit down to talk slowly about it," Li Yao looked at the basket in her hand, turned around and called out, "Xiao Si, Liu Yun, stop fiddling with that waterwheel machine for now, let Master Xiae and fix itter. You two go pick chili peppers now."


    "Coming!"


    Wang Xiao Si ran out like the wind, with Liu Yun and Bai Song behind him. The three of them were trying to fix a waterwheel machine, and were all dirty and grimy, with ck smudges all over their faces.


    Especially Bai Song, who was smeared all over like ck Face General.


    The moment he saw Liu Yun, Song County Magistrate froze as if electrified.


    This... this... isn''t this the Ninth Prince?


    Although he didn''t dare believe it, this really was the Ninth Prince!


    How could the Ninth Prince be at Li Yao''s home, and be made to look like this, and be ordered by Li Yao to go pick chili peppers... pick chili peppers...


    "County Magistrate Song, what''s the matter?"


    "Oh, nothing."


    Song County Magistrate quickly regained hisposure.


    He had already figured out that since His Majesty had sent the Grand Minister of Agriculture here, the Ninth Prince being here was nothing unusual.


    After all, he knew this Ninth Prince quite well, he was naturally yful by nature.


    "Today I received an official letter from Prefect Hu," Song County Magistrate said, "Saying that His Majesty has sent the Grand Minister of Agriculture to Bai Chuan County, to investigate all your achievements and merits, in order to reward you. "


    Li Yao waspletely indifferent. "I didn''t do these things for merits or rewards, but for my ownfort."


    "I know this, but after all he''s one of the Nine Ministers, you can''t simply refuse to meet him."


    "I really don''t want to meet him. Or I could go live in the mountains for a couple months?"


    Song County Magistrate: ...He had never seen such a person before!


    His Majesty finally found out about her matters and wants to reward her, yet she was reluctant to ept it.


    There was probably no one else like this in the whole world.


    "Actually you don''t need to meet the Grand Minister of Agriculture," Song County Magistrate said. "To tell you the truth, that Liu Yun is the Ninth Prince, he has more say than the Grand Minister."


    "I know."


    "You know?"


    "The two of them whisper to each other, thinking I can''t hear them?" Li Yaoughed. "But I don''t let him know that I know, and he pretends to be muddle-headed every day, so I''m happy to have someone to order around. As they say, don''t waste whates free."


    Song County Magistrate''s eyes were about to pop out. Don''t waste whates free, she says.


    She''s really incredibly bold!


    But the Ninth Prince looked quite happy just now, he must be enjoying it too.


    No no, that''s not right.


    The Ninth Prince recognized him, and since he was traveling incognito, naturally he could not reveal his identity.


    "Mrs. Li, that''s how things are. The Grand Minister and Prefect Hu will arrive tomorrow, so County Magistrate Song will take his leave now."


    After saying this, Song County Magistrate didn''t linger and hurriedly got on his carriage and left.


    ...


    The nights in He Wan vige were not quiet at all.


    It was full of insect chirping everywhere, and asional wolf howls could probably be heard from the mountain forests behind too.


    Compared to the absolute silence of the imperial pce, this noisy environment made Liu Yun feel extremelyfortable. Plus the cool tiled floor, and the starry sky, made Liu Yun feel this was the true human world.


    "Your Highness," Bai Song suddenly said, "the Grand Minister ising tomorrow, we''ll have to return to the capital soon too."


    "Yes," Liu Yun lightly sighed, "but I don''t want to go back."


    During this time in He Wan vige, although he was ordered around by Li Yao every day and always got himself dirty, these were the happiest days of Liu Yun''s life.


    So many novel things made him addicted.


    The vigers were also very nice. They didn''t fawn over him for being a nobleman, and would even joke with him often, with several old women trying to matchmake him.


    Which vigers in the world would dare to act like this?


    And all of this originated from Li Yao.


    A boldmoner woman, who brought out equally bold vigers, and somehow Liu Yun felt this was great, extremely carefree.


    If the whole country could be as prosperous and harmonious as He Wan vige, wouldn''t that be wonderful?


    But he knew this would be very very difficult.


    The Crown Prince was not as friendly tomon people as him. That guy''s mind was narrower than a needle hole.


    "Bai Song," Liu Yun said, "or we could stay a while longer?"


    "Your Highness, would that be proper?" Bai Song said. "His Majesty didn''t mean it that way."


    "The army has some freedom when away from court," Liu Yun argued. "If Father wanted me to return, he would send someone directly. If no onees, it means he tacitly approves me ying for a few more days. Don''t you think so?"


    Bai Song sighed inwardly. His Highness was good in every way, he just loved to y too much.


    But his argument did make sense, and this was probably for the better too.


    On the surface the capital seemed tranquil, but undercurrents were flowing. The Crown Prince was ambitious, who knew if he would stir up trouble.


    It was safest for the Ninth Prince to stay here, far from the Emperor''s eyes. As long as he guarded him diligently, nothing should happen.


    "Then y for half a month more."


    "Hehe, I knew you''d agree."

 Chapter 138: It Wasn’t Like This Before

    <h4>Chapter 138</h4>


    Along the road to Baichuan County, a long convoy moved slowly.


    After entering the territory of Baichuan County, the bumpy road surface suddenly became exceptionally smooth.


    Looking at this wide gravel road, Grand Marshal Zhou Bo''s face was slightly displeased.


    Even the road to the Emperor''s summer resort was a dirt road, yet this small Baichuan County dared to build such a nice road.


    Noticing his displeasure, Prefect Hu who was in the same car hurriedly said, "Sir Zhou, this road was built on the urging of themoner woman Li Yao and Song Feng. I have already investigated clearly. Last year, under the pretext of using work to provide disaster relief, they made those disaster victims and migrants work to build roads and reservoirs. In the end, they only gave two bowls of thin congee a day, but didn''t pay any wages at all. It was really evil."


    "This magistrate Song Feng has reached the end of his term. "


    Hearing this, Hu prefect was secretly delighted. He had wanted to drive Song Feng away for a long time.


    The things this guy did in Baichuan County were even more conspicuous than his own as prefect. He simply stole the show and was disobedient, impervious to bribes.


    After driving Song Feng away and transferring an obedient magistrate over, he would be able to profit in Baichuan County.


    "Right," Zhou Bo asked, "Did you investigate everything clearly about thatmoner woman Li Yao?"


    "Investigated everything clearly," Hu prefect said. "Themoner woman Li Yao is ambitious like a wolf. She privately forged refined iron. This alone is enough to imprison her. In addition, I found from the merchant convoy that left He Wan vige 300 handles of refined steel des. This is illegally manufacturing weapons, which is a major crime among major crimes!"


    "Still not enough," Zhou Bo said. "The Prime Minister''s intention is very clear. This Li Yao cannot be kept. The crimes you mentioned can at most exile her, not take her life."


    "This..." Hu prefect rolled his eyes and said, "I also found out that she privately set up public halls in the vige to secretly train private troops, and colluded with the Nanzhao Kingdom under the guise of trade, plotting wrongdoing. This way, she can be nailed down, and all of her family''s property confiscated."


    "Hmm, that''s about right." Zhou Bo nodded in satisfaction and said, "Discovering the traitor Li Yao this time, Prefect Hu did the first meritorious deed. When I return to the capital, I will truthfully report to His Majesty."


    "Thank you, Sir Zhou."


    "How much longer until we reach Baichuan County?"


    "Soon, we must arrive before nightfall," Hu prefect said. "I have already sent people there in advance to arrange it. We can go to He Wan vige tomorrow."


    "No rush, no rush." Zhou Bo said. "Since His Majesty asked me to investigate, I must naturally let people investigate thoroughly for two days before going to He Wan vige. It won''t be toote. Could thatmoner woman have escaped?"


    "If she escapes, that would be evading guilt."


    The two looked at each other and smiled tacitly.


    ...


    Yizhou Prefecture military barracks.


    Grand Marshal Xu strode into the barracks with several guards following him.


    But the scene before him greatly angered him.


    The huge barracks were empty, without even training soldiers in sight.


    After waiting at the barracks gate for a long time, a captain with crooked eyebrows and nted eyes slowly walked over and asked arrogantly, "Who are you? Don''t you know you can''t trespass into the provincial army barracks?"


    His arrogant attitude made Xu Zhan want to p him into the sky.


    "Bold!" A guard sternly shouted, "The Grand Marshal is here, why don''t you salute?"


    What, the Grand Marshal?


    The captain''s legs went weak with fright.


    Oh my god, didn''t they say the Grand Marshal went to patrol the southern border of Nanzhao? How did he suddenlye to the barracks?


    And the sir is not wearing armor, just in clothes. Who could recognize him?


    But judging by the situation, it didn''t seem fake. So very simply, he knelt on the ground, "Grand Marshal, spare me. I didn''t know it was you..."


    "Get up!"


    Xu Zhan yelled, scaring the captain into scrambling up from the ground.


    "Who taught you to kneel and salute?" Xu Zhan said, "My Great Ling soldiers, as long as they have armor on, need no grand ceremony. You are a captain, don''t you even know this?"


    "I...I was wrong..."


    "Useless stuff, you don''t even have backbone!"


    Xu Zhan didn''t want to blow up too much on a low-ranking officer, and at the same time reminded himself not to get angry, as it was not good for his health.


    "Take me around the barracks."


    "Yes."


    "Just lead the way, don''t reveal my identity."


    "Yes!"


    Led by the captain, Xu Zhan came to a camp area.


    He saw the provincial soldiers, each still lying in bed snoring away. A few who did get up werezy and yawning as they walked.


    Keep calm, keep calm!


    Soon the group arrived at the granary, but didn''t see any guards.


    "Where are the people here?"


    "This..." The captain cursed those family members guarding the granary in his heart. They must have slipped away to gamble again. "I will go find them right away."


    "No need for you to go, I''ll go!"


    Xu Zhan walked into the granary and soon in a hidden corner, saw several soldiers crowded together.


    "Buying and selling, I''m opening!"


    Seeing the captaine over, someoneughed and asked, "Old Zhang, want to y a round?"


    The captain wanted to strangle the guy.


    "Who are these guys, I''ve never seen them before?" A soldier said, "Buddy, y a few rounds?"


    Xu Zhan walked away with a ck face.


    Can''t get angry, can''t get angry, getting angry is bad for health.


    But to say he''s not angry would be a lie.


    This was a prestigious provincial army barracks, yet discipline was even more chaotic than the marketce!


    With this kind of military discipline, how could one expect them to fight?


    "Tell me," Xu Zhan asked, "Why is it like this? Does Prefect Hu just let you do as you please like this?"


    "Sir, actually it''s not usually this bad," the captain replied in fright. "It''s just that yesterday Prefect Hu took away two thousand provincial troops to Baichuan County. The officers all went with him. With no one to manage things, everyone becamex."


    Grand Marshal Xu''s brows furrowed slightly. He knew Hu prefect went to Baichuan County, certainly apanying the Grand Marshal.


    But they were only going to investigate Li Yao''s matter. Why did they need to mobilize two thousand provincial troops?


    That was half the provincial army''s forces!


    "Even with the officers gone, you can''t be sozy andx."


    "Subordinate knows his wrongs," the captain paused, then mustered his courage to say, "Grand Marshal, actually...actually our Yizhou Provincial Army wasn''t like this before."

 Chapter 139: I wish it were all Cavalry.

    <h4>Chapter 139</h4>


    ¡°Hmm? Why is it like this now?¡±


    ¡°Sir, I won''t hide it from you,¡± the captain said, ¡°Three years ago, after the previous Prefecture Army captain Hu was transferred, the current Captain Hu came, who is the nephew of Magistrate Hu. Since he came, not only has he promoted his cronies, but he has also embezzled military pay every month, sold army rations privately, and even secretly sold weapons to the Nanzhao Kingdom. But for training matters, he basically just lets it slide, and over time, the Prefecture Army has be chaotic internally.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Xu Zhan red, ¡°He dared to sell weapons to foreign enemies? Do you know what crime that is? If you falsely use your superior officer recklessly, you can be beheaded for disturbing military discipline!¡±


    ¡°I dare not speak recklessly!¡± The captain had long since steeled his heart to expose this matter, ¡°If Your Excellency does not believe me, just ask anyone in the barracks, and you will know that everything I said is true.¡±


    Xu Zhan felt his heart turn ice-cold.


    No wonder the new soldiers from Yizhou Prefecture in recent years have been so weak and useless, turns out the Prefecture Army internally has already been hollowed out by corrupt officials!


    This matter must be thoroughly investigated!


    But he also knew that a strong dragon cannot suppress local snakes.


    Although he was the Commander-in-Chief, in charge of all the armed forces of the realm, without any troops or soldiers by his side, if he wanted to overthrow the deeply entrenched and powerful Captain Hu, that would be suicidal.


    ¡°What is your name?¡±


    ¡°Your subordinate is Ren Qiang.¡±


    ¡°Now in the military orders, how many people can you mobilize?¡±


    ¡°Replying to Your Excellency, there are over a thousand people left in the barracks, all soldiers who dislike Captain Hu,¡± Ren Qiang said, ¡°If summoned in Your Excellency''s name, they will surely pledge their lives!¡±


    Still too few people.


    ¡°That''s right, there are also two thousand new recruits.¡± Ren Qiang added, ¡°Although the new recruit barracks are not here, and Captain Hu''s hands have not reached the new recruits yet.¡±


    ¡°Good, take me to the new recruit barracks!¡±


    ...


    On the drill grounds, two nimble figures with bows and arrows on their backs sprinted at extremely high speeds towards the targets ahead.


    ¡°Wang San''er, you''re definitely going to lose this time!¡± The taller recruit reached the boundary line first, already taking the bow and arrow off his back, ¡°Within fifty paces, I never miss!¡±


    ¡°That remains to be seen!¡±


    Wang San¡¯er followed closely behind, tumbling over to the boundary line, and actually drew his bow at the same time as the tall guy.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Almost simultaneously, two long arrows shot out, both urately hitting the red bullseyes of the targets ahead.


    ¡°Both hit the red center simultaneously!¡±


    ¡°You''re not bad,¡± the tall guy put away his bow and arrow and immediately dashed off again, ¡°But in the next cavalry battle, you''re no match for me!¡±


    How could Wang San''er concede defeat, swift as an arrow leaving its bow, he actually jumped onto his warhorse first.


    Putting both feet into the stirrups, he simultaneously drew out therge iron rod from the horse''s back.


    ¡°Big guy, let me show you the might of my iron rod!¡±


    The heavy iron rod whirled with a whizzing sound, its momentum overwhelming, immediately drawing cheers from the audience.


    The big guy was not to be outdone, drawing out the steel saber from his horse''s back to fight back.


    In an instant there was the shing of metal on metal, and the two fought intensely as if on fire, reaching such an exciting point that it drew another round of cheers from the audience.


    Watching this scene, Xu Zhan could not help but feel greatly gratified.


    This was how the Yizhou Army should be!


    It was a pity that if these new soldierds continued to be led by Captain Hu, in the end they would still be dispirited and without any fighting spirit.


    ng!


    Amidst the clear ringing sound, the big guy''s raised steel saber broke with a snap.


    ¡°Stop fighting, stop fighting!¡± He quickly pulled his horse back to retreat, avoiding Wang San''er''s attack, ¡°Where did you get this iron rod, it''s simply unreasonable!¡±


    His was a hundred-times refined steel saber, the best saber in the barracks.


    Yet it hadn''t left so much as a shallow mark on Wang San''er''s iron rod, and instead the steel saber was broken. Who could he argue reason with?


    Wang San''er did not give chase either, it was just routine training, not a life-and-death battlefield after all.


    But by winning this match, he could be the sergeant of the new recruits.


    He had to thank his mother for all this. If not for his mother''s training, how could he attain his present achievements?


    Amidst the crowd''s acim, Wang San''er happily prepared to return to the barracks to rest, when he suddenly saw a few tall figures approaching him.


    From the gait of the neers, he knew these were veteran soldiers.


    ¡°What is your name? Where are you from?¡± Xu Zhan asked.


    ¡°Replying to Your Excellency, your subordinate is Wang San''er, from Baichuan County, Hewan Vige.¡±


    Baichuan County, Hewan Vige?


    Wasn''t that Li Yao''s vige?


    At this time he noticed that hanging from Wang San''er''s saddle were two stirrups.


    Although he was quite fond of the double stirrups, they were first being promoted and tested in the border armies, to be generalized only after verification.


    How did this kid get them already?


    ¡°What is Li Yao to you?¡± Xu Zhan asked again.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Wang San''er was puzzled, ¡°She''s my mother!¡±


    ¡°Hahaha... So you''re Li Yao''s son, no wonder.¡± Xu Zhanughed, ¡°Lad, you''re not bad. This iron rod of yours must also have been forged by your mother, right?¡±


    ¡°That''s right, how did you know?¡±


    Xu Zhan just smiled without replying.


    He had seen the earlier battle between Wang San''er and the other. Although still young, he was brave and decisive, with astonishing strength.


    With that iron rod weighing at least seventy to eighty pounds, it was like a toy in his hands.


    If properly nurtured, he would surely be a fierce general in the future!


    ¡°Wang San''er, are you willing toe with me?¡±


    ¡°Go where?¡± Wang San''er was utterly confused, ¡°Also, who exactly are you?¡±


    ¡°Wang San''er!¡± The captain knew Xu Zhan wanted to recruit Wang San''er as a personal guard, and quickly reminded, ¡°This is His Excellency Xu, the present Commander-in-Chief. Why don''t you pay your respects?¡±


    Wang San''er was even more confused: ¡°What does a Commander-in-Chief do? How big an official is he?¡±


    Xu the Commander-in-Chief: ¡°...¡±


    Everyone: ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Ahem, the Commander-in-Chief is not that big an official, he justmands all the armed forces of the realm.¡±


    Xu the Commander-in-Chief pretended to be modest.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Wang San''er quickly let go of the reins and came forward to salute with sped hands, ¡°Greetings to Commander-in-Chief!¡±


    ¡°So what do you think, are you willing to be my personal guard?¡±


    ¡°This is... I have to go back and ask my mother first.¡±


    ¡°You...¡±


    Xu the Commander-in-Chief felt both amused and exasperated, but did not actually get angry.


    This little guy, foolish and simple-minded, reminded him too much of his past self!


    ¡°Thene back with me now to ask your mother!¡±


    Huh?


    Wang San''er was puzzled again, was the Commander-in-Chief''s authority so great that he could let him go back before provincial leave time?


    Of course he soon realized he had underestimated the Commander-in-Chief, because not only him, this Xu had actually taken away the people of the entire new recruit barracks, plus over a thousand more Prefecture Army soldiers.


    The procession of over three thousand people was magnificent, making Wang San''er eager and thrilled.


    It was just that the marching speed was a bit slow.


    ¡°It would be great if everyone was cavalry.¡±

 Chapter 140: Guilty

    <h4>Chapter 140</h4>


    "Without war horses, bicycles will do just fine; they are not much slower than war horses. Grand Administrator Xu, I think we should buy more bicycles for the army."


    Xu Zhan: ... You really are your mother''s true son!


    ...


    In He Wan vige, Liu Yun waited for two days without seeing the Grand Minister of Agriculture show up, feeling something strange was going on. Just as he was about to ask Bai Song to go check it out, the Grand Minister of Agriculture and Prefect Hu showed up.


    "Auntie Li, something bad happened!" Du Xiao Hui rushed into the yard in a panic and said, "Two high-ranking officials havee to the vige entrance with lots of government troops. They said they''re here to arrest rebels and have detained all the vige patrol guards!"


    "What?"


    Li Yao knew Prefect Hu and the others wereing and that they would not let her easily take credit for this. But she did not expect they would even send troops toe straight into the vige and arrest people.


    Judging by this posture, they were clearly trying to pin some false charges on her and beat her to death with a single strike.


    She looked towards Liu Yun, wanting to ask what exactly was going on.


    Does your royal family really have to act so shamefully?


    Seeing her look at him, Liu Yun hurriedly said, "Don''t look at me, I don''t know anything about this either."


    That made sense too.


    As a ninth prince, he would not know about the Grand Minister''s actions in He Wan vige. So this matter naturally had nothing to do with him.


    "Mother," He Xiaoya came out from the room, "What''s going on?"


    Li Yao sighed inwardly.


    Normally, no matter what happened, she would have taken her whole family into the mountains by now to avoid trouble.


    But with He Xiaoya so heavily pregnant, how could she dare take her on the mountain paths?


    With He Xiaoya unable to travel, she could not leave her here alone to face the troops either. After all, the Grand Minister and Prefect Hu were here for her.


    Just then, Wang Er and Song Zhe ran back from the schoolhouse, while Da Zhuang also returned from the hills at the back after getting the news.


    "Sister-inw!" Wang Yuanbang rushed in anxiously, "Those government troops are all headed for your home! What on earth is happening?"


    Seeing everyone looking nervous, Song Zhe thumped his chest and said, "Don''t worry, I''ll go find my dad!"


    "Don''t go," Li Yao said. Since Prefect Hu was using such methods, he must have already detained County Magistrate Song and the yamen runners so they could not leak any news.


    "Listen to me, all of you," Li Yao continued, "No matter what happens to meter, you must not act rashly, understand?"


    "Mother, why are they..."


    "Did you hear me?" Li Yao suddenly raised her voice, "Nothing will happen as long as you don''t cause trouble."


    Seeing her re up, everyone nodded hurriedly.


    Li Yao sighed lightly inwardly. This was the only way when there was no other option.


    As long as her family was not arrested, she would let Prefect Hu take her away and escape again that night.


    They could decide how to handle things after that.


    The world was a big ce, there must still be a ce for her family. It was just a pity they would have to abandon everything they built up in He Wan vige.


    "Don''t move, all of you!"


    Just as she was speaking, arge group of fully armed soldiers rushed into the yard and surrounded everyone.


    Only when no one resisted did the Grand Minister and Prefect Hu slowly walk in.


    Both had triumphant smiles on their faces as they went right up to the crowd. "Where is Li Yao?"


    Li Yao took a step forward. "I am Li Yao."


    "Audacious shrew!" Prefect Hu bellowed, "Still not kneeling before Grand Minister Zhou?"


    Li Yaoughed coldly inwardly but did not move.


    "I kneel to Heaven, I kneel to Earth, I kneel to my ancestors, but I will never kneel to someone like Grand Minister Zhou."


    "You..."


    Just as Prefect Hu was about to order his men to force her to kneel, Zhou Bo suddenly waved his hand. "It is just as my people reported, this brazen peasant woman does have a traitorous heart!"


    Understanding his intent, Prefect Hu hurriedly added, "Li Yao, I have already investigated and found that you have illegally forged steel and weapons, selling them to Nanzhao Kingdom for your own profit! This is high treason!"


    "Oh? Where is the evidence?" Li Yao replied calmly. "A prefect cannot simply make baseless usations, no?"


    "Evidence, you say?" Prefect Hu sneered coldly. "Fine, I''ll give you evidence! Bring in the witness!"


    Soon, the badly beaten and unconscious Liu Yuan was dragged into the yard by two soldiers.


    Li Yao''s brows twitched slightly as anger simmered within her.


    "His name is Liu Yuan. You should recognize him, yes?" Prefect Hu said smugly. "He was supposedly transporting your soap south, but we caught him red-handed with 300 steel des hidden inside to smuggle to Nanzhao!"


    What a clever frame-up. Too bad Liu Yuan was implicated through his dealings with her.


    "Well, Li Yao? Anything else to say?"


    Seeing their determination to take her down, Li Yao knew further argument was futile. Better to let them take her away as soon as possible, rather than drag in more people.


    "Seize this traitor!"


    Just as several soldiers moved to apprehend her, a shadow suddenly dropped down from the roof. It was Bai Song, sword in hand, standing staunchly before Li Yao.


    "Who dares touch her?"


    Li Yao''s mouth twitched. This boy''s brain must have malfunctioned, disrupting her n like this.


    Just as everyone was still puzzled, Liu Yun stepped out from the crowd.


    "Zhou Bo! Hu Shi! Quite the impressive might you''re disying here."


    While Prefect Hu was still wondering who this young man was, the Grand Minister''s expression drastically changed.


    "The... the Ninth Prince! What brings you here, Your Highness?"


    What? Liu Yun is the Ninth Prince?


    Everyone present was stunned.


    Especially the vigers who hade to watch. They would never have imagined Liu Yun to be a prince!


    Those old women who had tried matchmaking them were frightened pale.


    Would trying to match the prince incur decapitation?


    Seeing their reactions, Liu Yun was quite satisfied inside. He had been waiting for this moment.


    "Whether I''m here or not is none of your concern," Liu Yun said coldly.


    "Your servant dares not question!"


    "Then let me ask you," Liu Yun continued. "Just what are you doing here?"


    "Replying to Your Highness," Zhou Bo said, "I was tasked with investigating Li Yao''s achievements here in He Wan vige. But unexpectedly, I discovered her hoarding grain, training private soldiers and illegally producing weapons to sell to Nanzhao. All these crimes have evidence."


    "Oh? But what I''ve witnessed seems quite different," Liu Yun countered. "The so-called private army you speak of are just the vige patrol guards protecting He Wan. And while here, I''ve seen no illegally forged weapons whatsoever, much less any sales to Nanzhao."


    The Grand Minister knew if he did not persuade the Ninth Prince today, he would likely fail badly.


    Once Li Yao''s innocence was confirmed, the Emperor would certainly ask him to ount for making such a huge mor and even mobilizing the provincial troops.


    Ultimately, he was now riding a tiger and could not dismount.


    Since it hade to this, he could only insist on Li Yao''s guilt.


    "Your Highness, but we did find weapons in Liu Yuan''s cargo, and he confessed they were given by Li Yao to transport."


    "Hmph. With you having beaten him unconscious, naturally he would admit to anything you imed," Liu Yun retorted. "And who''s to say this isn''t just a frame-up?"


    The Grand Minister''s brows knitted together. This Ninth Prince really was impossible to persuade. Was he dead set on protecting this peasant woman today?


    He stole a quick nce at Prefect Hu and saw his slight nod, reassured.

 Chapter 141: Dead Men Tell no Tales

    <h4>Chapter 141</h4>


    Is this the capital city?


    It is not a vital ce in the capital, nor a military stronghold. This is just a small vige located in a remote ce.


    With the prefect Hu present, what is there to fear from a prince?


    "Your Highness," the Minister of Finance Zhou Bo plucked up his courage and said, "Please move aside and do not obstruct this official and Prefect Hu from handling the case."


    "You..." Liu Yun trembled with anger. "Dare you disobey the words of this prince?"


    "This official does not dare," Zhou Bo said. "But this official is acting under orders to handle the case, and everything is done ording to thews of Daling Country. This official has done nothing wrong. If Your Highness insists on obstructing, this official can only temporarily inconvenience Your Highness."


    "You dare!"


    "Even if it costs this official his life, justice must be upheld throughout Daling Country!"


    Liu Yun was exasperated.


    This Zhou Bo ndering Li Yao, yet portraying himself as so righteous, was simply shameless!


    "Very well, you''ve done well," Liu Yun said. "Today I will see how you take Li Yao away! Bai Song, bring the imperial decree!"


    "Yes!"


    Bai Song put away his sword and took out an imperial decree from his robe.


    Zhou Bo and Prefect Hu exchanged a nce, thinking things had taken a bad turn.


    Who could have thought this Ninth Prince would have such a thing on him?


    "Proim!"


    "Yes!"


    Bai Song held the decree with both hands, bowed north, and proimed loudly: "Li Yao of He Wan vige, Baichuan county, Yizhou prefecture, receive the decree!"


    Swish swish -


    As soon as the imperial decree appeared, even Zhou Bo and Hu had to obediently kneel down, not daring to lift their heads.


    The soldiers and vigers behind them also knelt down in swishes, not daring to look up.


    Seeing everyone else kneeling, Li Yao was annoyed that she, Liu Yun and Bai Song were the only ones still standing.


    Were they forcing her to kneel?


    "Cough cough," at this time Liu Yun lightly coughed twice and said, "Thedy Li Yao is unwell and shall be excused from kneeling."


    Li Yao felt relieved and performed a quick bow, giving the emperor some face.


    "His Majesty the Emperor decrees: Li Yao of He Wan vige has dug a deep well to solve the vigers'' water shortage, and also dug drought-relief wells, allowing the people of Yizhou prefecture to nt spring wheat. Her contributions are invaluable. Li Yao is hereby granted the title of Ninth Rank Lady, and rewarded with 100 taels of silver!"


    Ninth Rank Lady?


    Li Yao blinked. Was this an official title?


    It was indeed rare for an ordinary vige woman to be granted a title.


    All the titleddies she knew had gained their titles through their husband''s status.


    "Li Yao,e receive the decree."


    "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your abundant grace."


    Li Yao performed a bow and received the decree.


    Seeing the decree had been proimed, everyone stood up.


    "Very well," Zhou Bo said. "Now that the decree has been read, this official shall proceed as usual. Prefect Hu, have your men take thismoner... take thedy Li away."


    "You still want to take her away?" Liu Yun said. "She''s a Ninth Rankdy now."


    "Your Highness, no matter whether it''s a Ninth Rankdy or not, anyone who breaks thew of Daling Country must be punished ording to thew," Zhou Bo said. "But after this official returns to the capital, I will memorialize His Majesty."


    "It seems you still don''t submit, do you?"


    "It''s not about submitting or not," Zhou Bo righteously proimed. "This official and Prefect Hu merely act impartially."


    "Yes, yes, just as you say you act impartially." Liu Yun said. "Bai Song, the decree!"


    What?


    Everyone looked at each other in surprise. Wasn''t the decree just read? Why was it being proimed again?


    They saw Bai Song take out another decree from his robe.


    "Li Yao of He Wan vige, receive the decree!"


    Swish swish -


    Another round of kneeling.


    This time Li Yao didn''t need Liu Yun to prompt her, and performed a quick bow.


    "His Majesty the Emperor decrees: Lady Li Yao of He Wan vige donated silver to help Prefect Song Feng of Baichuan county provide disaster relief and develop water conservancy, making great contributions. Li Yao is hereby granted the title of Eighth Rank Lady, and rewarded with 100 taels of silver, a carved jade hairpin, and a pair of white jade bracelets!"


    Li Yao guessed she was probably promoted faster than anyone in history, jumping from Ninth Rank to Eighth Rank in a blink.


    But it wasn''t over yet.


    Just as everyone had stood up, Bai Song took out another decree from his robe.


    "Li Yao of He Wan vige, receive the decree!"


    Li Yao: ......


    Everyone: ......


    Would this ever end?


    "His Majesty the Emperor decrees: Lady Li Yao of He Wan vige improved the curved plough, making great contributions. Li Yao is hereby granted the title of Seventh Rank Lady, and rewarded with 100 taels of silver..."


    Seventh Rank!


    Promoted three ranks in one go didn''t seem excessive...right?


    But what no one expected was that Bai Song''s hand reached into his robe again.


    There''s more?


    The Minister Zhou''s heart thundered as his face turned green.


    In all dynasties, when had there been a promotion like this?


    For amoner to jump to Seventh Rank in one day was already outrageous. This crazy emperor actually wanted to promote her to the top in one breath, straight to First Rank Lady?


    He couldn''t let this continue. Something had to be done to stop it.


    Otherwise if Li Yao reached Fifth Rank, it would be much harder to convict her of crimes.


    If he returned unsessful, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister would surely criticize him for ipetence, possibly even demoting him.


    "Your Highness!" At this time, Prefect Hu beside him suddenly spoke up. "You must not be deceived."


    "What? Deceived by whom?" Liu Yun found this very amusing.


    "Naturally it''s him!" Hu pointed at Bai Song and shouted, "Never in history has amoner been promoted to Third Rank in one day! His Majesty would never be so muddled. Since it''s not His Majesty''s intention, it must be this man arrogantly forging the imperial decree!"


    What Prefect Hu was doing now was far more audacious than the Minister.


    Mobilizing 2,000 provincial troops without proper justification would cost him dearly if he couldn''t provide a convincing exnation. He''d be lucky to just lose his ck gauze hat; he might even lose his head.


    So now he had no choice but to brazen it out. First he would use Bai Song of forging decrees to provide justification for detaining the Ninth Prince to protect him. Then he would pin the crimes on Li Yao.


    By the time news reached the capital and the emperor sent investigators, it would be at least a monthter.


    By then Li Yao would long be reduced to a pile of bones.


    With the person gone, what was there to investigate?


    "How dare you make such an usation?" Liu Yun said angrily. "He is my personal attendant. How could he possibly forge imperial decrees?"


    "Your Highness, you can know a person''s face but not their heart," Hu said.


    "Yes, Your Highness," Zhou Bo secretly apuded Prefect Hu''s shrewdness. Those with real power had devious minds. "Please allow us to investigate the truth!"


    "Men, protect the Ninth Prince! Arrest that viin!"


    The provincial troops brought by Hu were all Captain Hu''s trusted men, so they naturally obeyed Prefect Hu''s order.


    Several brawny soldiers immediately came forward, intending to kill Bai Song on the spot to eliminate any contrary testimony.

 Chapter 142: Kill at Random

    <h4>Chapter 142</h4>


    Bai Song did not expect these people to be so bold. Knowing that he was outnumbered no matter how powerful he was, he shouted, "Your Highness, run quickly. I will cover your retreat!"


    He drew out his long sword and fought with a group of soldiers.


    Liu Yun also did not expect that his identity as a prince would be useless here. Anxious butpletely helpless, he was at a loss.


    Hu Shi saw that the soldiers were unable to take down Bai Song after a long time, but he was not worried at all.


    Could he not handle a group ofmoners if he could not hit the prince?


    "Come on, take Li Yao down for me!"


    Swish!


    Another group of soldiers rushed up.


    Seeing this, Da Zhuang stepped forward with a carrying pole in his hand, standing in front of everyone. Wang Er, Wang Xiao Si and Song Zhe also stood on his left and right.


    "I won''t let you take my mother!"


    "How bold!" Hu Shi shouted angrily, "Take them all down! Kill whoever resists without mercy!"


    Facing the burly and fierce soldiers, Da Zhuang and the others'' faces turned pale and their bodies trembled slightly.


    But even so, not one person backed away half a step.


    Seeing the soldiers rushing up with their icy cold shining des right before their eyes, Li Yao let out a long sigh.


    The tree desires stillness but the wind does not cease!


    She just wanted to live a quiet life in this little mountain vige, so why was it so difficult?


    Oh well.


    For the affection these children had for protecting their mother, she could not stand idly by either.


    If worsees to worst, she would find another ce and start over.


    Having made up her mind, she leapt forward and crashed into a soldier''s arms, seizing the steel de in his hand at the same time.


    ng ng ng!


    With a big de in hand, Li Yao fought bravely and forcefully, beating back several soldiers again and again.


    Liu Yun could not believe his eyes. "She...she is so powerful?"


    Da Zhuang and the others were also dumbfounded, while the vigers were even more shocked.


    Seeing Li Yao about to break through and kill them, Hu Shi suddenlyughed. This would definitely confirm Li Yao''s charge of rebellion.


    As for her martial arts skills andbat ability, they were not even in his consideration.


    So what if she was an invincible general?


    Against arge army, she would die all the same!


    And the over two thousand garrison troops were the source of his confidence.


    "Prepare to..."


    Swish!


    In the distance, the soldiers had already drawn their bows and arrows, aiming straight at Li Yao.


    They only awaited an order to turn her into a porcupine.


    But how could Li Yao give him a chance to give the order? She threw her long de and it pierced directly through Hu Shi''s throat.


    Everyone watched in silence as Hu Shi''s eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground.


    Hu Shi was an imperial official appointed by the court, a prominent figure of the region!


    Yet Li Yao had killed him with one strike, right before their eyes!


    Her decisiveness was even more swift and clean than ughtering a chicken!


    Even Bai Song and the Ninth Prince felt they must be dreaming. There was no way Li Yao would dare to act so recklessly.


    But the facts were right before their eyes, so they had no choice but to believe it.


    The Minister of Agriculture waspletely stunned. Coming to his senses, he quickly retreated backwards, stumbling and falling to the ground. But he did not stop, crawling directly behind a group of soldiers.


    Hu Can, Hu Shi''s nephew and also Commander of the Yi Prefecture Garrison, was now furious beyond control!


    This shrew had actually dared to kill his uncle right in front of him. She was simply asking for death!


    "Release arrows!"


    "Whoever dares touch my mother, I''ll kill them!"


    Just as the soldiers were about to release their arrows, a loud shout suddenly rang out as a warhorse charged into the yard.


    The man on horseback wore armor and wielded an iron staff, majestic and awe-inspiring, just like the invincible Great General!


    Before the soldiers could react, he had smashed them down left and right.


    "It''s Wang San''er!"


    Everyone was overjoyed.


    They had not expected Wang San''er to rush back at this critical moment.


    After smashing down a group of soldiers, Wang San''er maneuvered his warhorse to stand in front of Li Yao. "Where is Hu Can, Commander of the Yi Prefecture Garrison?"


    "I''m right here!" Backed by over two thousand garrison troops, Hu Can was fearless at all. "Who are you? Do you also wish to rebel?"


    "Yi Prefecture Garrison, listen to mymand!" Wang San''er took out a bright token and shouted loudly, "By order of the current Grand Marshal, Hu Can, Commander of the Yi Prefecture Garrison, has no military discipline. Colluding with officials and arbitrarily deploying garrison troops to do evil. He is now stripped of his rank of Captain and will be escorted to the capital to await sentencing!"


    An order from the Grand Marshal?


    Seeing the token in Wang San''er''s hand, Hu Can panicked a little.


    Wasn''t the Grand Marshal away at the border? How could he have the Grand Marshal''s order?


    "Troops, why aren''t you arresting him?"


    The soldiers in the yard looked at each other, none of them moving.


    They were Hu Shi''s trusted confidants. If Hu Shi fell, what good days awaited them?


    Seeing this, Hu Shiughed loudly, "Boy, do you even know where you are? This is Yi Prefecture, my turf! Whatever Grand Marshal''s order, get lost! Here, I call the shots!"


    Wang San''er frowned. It seemed Hu Shi was determined to put up a desperate fight.


    Sure enough, Hu Shi grinned sinisterly, "The vigers of River Bend have formed private armies, trafficked weapons, impersonated a prince and plotted rebellion. They deserve death!"


    What?


    The Minister of Agriculture trembled upon hearing this. This man actually intended to kill all the vigers of River Bend?


    "Hu Can, you''re insane! How dare you do this?"


    "Hahaha..." Hu Canughed loudly, "Why wouldn''t I dare? As long as all the vigers of River Bend die, who would know what happened today? Order all troops, spare no one!"


    Ah!


    Facing the ruthless soldiers, the vigers of River Bend cried out in terror and fled in all directions.


    The soldiers in the yard reloaded their bows and arrows, ready to execute Li Yao and the others on the spot.


    But just then, heavy war drums sounded in the distance. The thunder of galloping horses shook the earth, as if thousands of troops charged into River Bend Vige.


    Grand Marshal Xu wore battle armor, a huge fluttering war banner erected behind him.


    He led five hundred cavalry, like a surging tidal wave that instantly scattered the garrison troops blocking the vige entrance.


    Behind the cavalry, over two thousand soldiers closely followed, shouting in unison, "Lay down your weapons and you may live! Resist to the end and no mercy will be shown!"


    The voice was loud, resounding through heaven and earth.


    Seeing this, the garrison troops Hu Can had brought dared not show the slightest resistance, throwing down their weapons and squatting on the ground.


    Before Hu Can could react,rge numbers of cavalry had already reached Li Yao''s yard and instantly took control of the situation.


    Hu Can knew he was thoroughly finished this time, but he refused to ept his fate. Grabbing the Minister of Agriculture beside him, he put his de against the man''s neck.


    "No onee any closer, or I''ll kill him!"


    "All of you get out of the way!"


    Grand Marshal Xu''s eyebrows twitched slightly and he signaled the soldiers to clear a path.


    Using the trembling Minister of Agriculture as a human shield, Hu Can slowly backed towards the entrance, intending to take him hostage and escape.


    But how could Li Yao let him seed? Picking up a de from the ground, she instantly appeared before the two.


    "What are you doing?" Hu Can had not expected Li Yao to disregard the Minister''s life and death. "Don''te over, or I''ll kill him!"


    "Go ahead and kill him," Li Yao said with a smile. "I don''t even know him, kill whoever you want."

 Chapter 143: Concubine

    <h4>Chapter 143</h4>


    Hu Can: ... You''re being unreasonable!


    In his momentary daze, Li Yao suddenly kicked Minister of Finance in the stomach.


    Minister of Finance bent over in pain, and just as Hu Can appeared behind him, Li Yao''s steel knife grazed his ear and pierced Hu Can''s throat.


    Hu Can stared at Li Yao with wide eyes, unable to believe that he, a seasoned veteran of the battlefield with a shield in front of him, was easily killed by amon woman.


    Who exactly was this woman?


    "You cause trouble in my house and think you can leave? Who gave you the confidence?"


    Li Yao pped her hands and turned to walk towards her family.


    "Grand Marshal?" a soldier quietly reminded Grand Marshal Xu, who seemed distracted. "Grand Marshal, we have control of the state troops."


    "Oh, I see." Grand Marshal Xu finally snapped out of it and withdrew his gaze from Li Yao. "Ahem, well, then, have someone take them away."


    "What about you?"


    "As for me... Of course, I have to stay behind to protect Prince Jiuhuang. I might have to return a few dayster."


    The young soldier twitched his mouth, feeling that something was off with the Grand Marshal today.


    ...


    A whole day passed, and the vigers of Hewan Vige were still in shock, while Li Yao''s house was bustling with activity.


    To publicly kill a prefect and even an army captain, that was already a serious incident.


    But Grand Marshal Xu''s actions allowed her to fully witness what it meant to distort the truth and deceive others.


    Prefect Hu Shi of Yizhou privately mobilized the state troops with the intention of assassinating the esteemed hero Li Yao and seizing credit for himself. This was a great crime. Li Yao killed him on the spot, which was a deserved punishment.


    Hu Can was even more miserable. Grand Marshal Xu directly used him of colluding with foreign enemies and plotting treason.


    As for Li Yao, a seventh-rank female official, she naturally gained credit for killing the enemy and became the biggest hero in this incident. After reporting to the emperor, she would probably be promoted by three ranks.


    Li Yao didn''t really care about any rewards; instead, she was quite annoyed.


    Prince Liu Yun''s identity was now public, so she couldn''t boss him around anymore. She even had to keep her voice down in front of the children, and He Xiaoya could only hide in her bedroom and dare note out.


    The prince was fine. After all, they had gotten used to it over these days, and Liu Yun didn''t put on airs.


    But dealing with this Grand Marshal Xu was a bit difficult.


    The Grand Marshal controlled the military forces of the entire realm, equivalent to the Minister of Defense in the previous life, and he was practically the pir of the empire.


    But who would have thought that such a high-ranking and influential figure would look at her with the eyes of an infatuated fan, constantly asking random questions.


    He even subtly hinted that if Li Yao was willing, he could make an exception and let her help train his soldiers.


    Li Yao chuckled.


    Train them for what? She had already retired!


    And even after dinner was over, none of them mentioned going back to their own homes.


    "Aunt Li," Liu Yun still used the address he had given her before, "it''s gettingte today, and we''re afraid we''ll have to disturb you for another night."


    "Suit yourselves."


    Li Yao couldn''t be bothered to respond and went back to her room to wash up and sleep.


    She had thought they would leave the next day, but Li Yao realized she had underestimated their shamelessness.


    Liu Yun said that Hewan Vige had a good school, with highly aplished teachers who were much better than his so-called tutor. So he decided to stay at the school in Hewan Vige to continue his studies.


    However, Lv Xiucai was just an aspiring schr, and his social status was far from sufficient.


    Therefore, the Ninth Prince quickly sent someone back to the capital to request an imperial decree to appoint Lv Xiucai as a junior teacher.


    This left Lv Xiucai pleasantly surprised and overwhelmed by the favor he received.


    In the blink of an eye, he went from being a perennial schr to a seventh-rank official as a junior teacher, receiving a sry from the court. It was like ascending to heaven in a single step!


    The ancestral grave of the Lv family seemed to emit a thick smoke of joy!


    Of course, Li Yao knew that this was just an excuse for the Ninth Prince to spend more time outside the pce.


    She could understand the prince''s capriciousness. After all, he was pampered and ignorant in his youth. Since he would not be an emperor in the future and had no need to strive, it was no problem for him to indulge himself for a lifetime.


    However, she couldn''t understand Grand Marshal Xu. He had gone to find Xia Xian early in the morning, wanting to discuss how Wang Saner had trained his iron rod.


    This left Li Yao speechless.


    Who was Xia Xian?


    He was her personal cksmith, busy with many tasks every day. How could she have time to greet him?


    Well, she didn''t want to bother about it anymore.


    The current He Wan Vige was far from what she had envisioned.


    If it weren''t for He Xiaoya about to give birth soon, as a mother-inw, she couldn''t leave far. She would have packed her bags and gone traveling long ago.


    While the Ninth Prince and Grand Marshal Xu kept themselves busy, Li Yao stayed inside the house every day, apanying He Xiaoya and teaching her some exercises for prenatal care.


    Everyone in the family was fine, and He Xiaoya hadpletely set her mind at ease to focus on nurturing the baby. When she was with Li Yao, she never asked about other matters.


    More than a month passed like this.


    On that day, Li Yao had just bought several ewes that had recently given birth, intending to get some sheep''s milk for He Xiaoya. Grand Marshal Xu, dressed in casual clothes, arrived in the yard.


    "Madam Li, Grand Marshal Xu has to bid farewell."


    Is he finally leaving?


    Although she felt relieved in her heart, Li Yao politely asked, "I notice that the esteemed Grand Marshal seems to really like it here. Why not stay a few more days?"


    "Ah, I do want to," Grand Marshal Xu said with hesitation, "but I received an urgent message early this morning. The northern barbarians are mobilizing their troops at this time, perhaps intending to start a war. I have to return to the capital."


    Li Yao also found it strange. It was still not early summer, and the grasnds were abundant with water and grass. Logically speaking, the barbarians should be taking advantage of this time to graze their livestock.


    But national affairs were not something she could worry about, nor did she want to.


    "The affairs of the nation are of utmost importance. I won''t detain the esteemed Grand Marshal any longer."


    "Hmm..." Grand Marshal Xu hesitated for a moment before saying, "Madam Li, may I have a word with you privately?"


    "Well, let''s go to the back hill."


    The two of them arrived at the top of the hill, which offered a panoramic view of He Wan Vige.


    After instructing his subordinates to withdraw, Grand Marshal Xu spoke to Li Yao, "Madam Li, I have an unconventional request. Please don''t me me for being forward."


    "Please speak candidly, Grand Marshal."


    "I..." Unexpectedly, the esteemed Grand Marshal blushed suddenly, despite his age. "Ah, let me just say it. I am willing to take you as a concubine. I don''t know if you...you...are willing?"


    Li Yao remained calm.


    A concubine was still a concubine. In the eyes of others, it might be considered an honor and an elevation for a woman to be taken as a concubine by an esteemed Grand Marshal.


    But this matter was not so simple.


    Grand Marshal Xu had been in the vige of Hewan for over a month, just enough time for him to send someone back to the capital to report and seek approval, and then return with the emperor''s decree.


    So, his proposal for marriage was most likely the emperor''s intention.


    Why, you may ask? Naturally, it was because of her inventions and industries.


    Cement was a crucial national asset, and refined steel could produce high-quality weapons, enhancing the military strength of both nations.


    If she were a man, the story wouldn''t have unfolded like this. These things would have likely been confiscated directly.


    But she was a woman, and no one believed she had the ability to raise an army and rebel. However, they couldn''t just leave her unattended either. So, they decided to arrange a marriage. As long as she became the Grand Marshal''s concubine, then her possessions would all belong to the Grand Marshal. They would all belong to the royal family.


    It''s quite disgusting to think about, but that''s how it is in this world and era.

 Chapter 144: Kiss Rejection

    <h4>Chapter 144</h4>


    "Your Excellency Grand Marshal, I am both honored and surprised," Li Yao spoke confidently, "but I made a vow at my child''s father''s grave that I would never remarry in this lifetime. So, I''m afraid I must decline your kind intentions."


    Upon hearing her words, Grand Marshal Xu''s expression rxed as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.


    However, for some reason, there was a profound sense of loss hidden in his heart.


    Ever since he witnessed Li Yao personally y Hu Can, her valiant and elegant figure had been indelibly etched in his mind.


    But s, a brute desires while a beauty remains indifferent.


    "I have been presumptuous," Grand Marshal Xu''s gaze turned deste as he sped his hands, "then I shall return to the capital."


    "Wait a moment."


    Grand Marshal Xu halted his steps, his heart involuntarily racing.


    "Grand Marshal Xu," Li Yao said, "if you visit my He Wan vige, we may not have another chance to meet. So, allow me to present you with a small gift."


    As she spoke, Li Yao produced a little booklet.


    Grand Marshal Xu epted it and found that it contained detailed methods for refining various types of high-quality steel, along with illustrations of the smelting furnaces.


    "Madam Li, what is this...?"


    "I am but amon woman and cannot assist with affairs of the state," Li Yao replied, "but since I am a citizen of Daling Country, there are some matters within my capabilities that I will not refuse. This is aption of refined steelmaking techniques, which can provide our Daling soldiers with superior weapons and armor. I hope that with these resources, Grand Marshal Xu can lead our troops to pacify the border and bring a few days of peace to the people of Daling."


    Grand Marshal Xu''s emotions became so stirred that he could hardly speak.


    He had stayed in He Wan vige for so long, and wasn''t this one of his primary objectives?


    He had thought it unattainable, yet it came so easily at the final moment.


    "Madam Li''s concern for the nation is truly a blessing for our Daling Country! After I return to the capital, I will report to His Majesty and propose to reward and honor Madam Li."


    "There''s no need," Li Yao smiled, "By the way, I wonder if the military has any interest in purchasing the bicycles and tricycles produced in our vige?"


    "Buy? We must buy!"


    Grand Marshal Xu felt delighted.


    These items were more efficient than cattle and horses for logistics transportation. Since he had epted Li Yao''s gift, it was only natural to reciprocate her kindness.


    He immediately ced an order for three thousand vehicles on the spot.


    With this order, the vigers of He Wan would be busy for at least half a year.


    Upon learning of this situation, the vigers expressed their gratitude to Grand Marshal Xu and spontaneously gathered arge number of fruits and vegetables from their fields, filling an entire carriage.


    Wang San''er also felt reluctant to part ways, but as a soldier, he had to protect his home and defend his country, destined to face the conflict between loyalty and filial piety.


    This time, he had also made contributions and gained the admiration of Grand Marshal Xu, who epted him as a personal guard.


    Li Yao still had some concerns about this. Although she had been teaching him martial arts all along, Wang San''er was young and had only studied for a short time, in her view, he possessed only rudimentary skills.


    As they were about to embark on a campaign to the northern border with Grand Marshal Xu, she had Xia Xian make him a set of armor several days in advance. It was made from the finest materials, and she also modified the thick iron rod into a Tang sword, more suitable for cleaving.


    It must be said that when Wang San''er donned the armor, he had a somewhat imposing appearance.


    Unfortunately, she couldn''t remember much about "The Art of War" or "The Thirty-Six Stratagems." Otherwise, she could have tranted them into vernacr Chinese for him to study, which might have been useful.


    "Mother, let''s set off now."


    "Make sure you study the military strategies I gave you and practice every morning and evening without fail."


    "I understand, Mother!"


    "Lady Li, rest assured," Grand Marshal Xu said, "I will take good care of Wang San and ensure that he doesn''t get into any dangerous situations."


    "Marshal, you''re mistaken," Li Yao said. "As a soldier, Wang San should naturally go into battle and kill the enemy. If he hides under your protection, how can he grow?"


    Grand Marshal Xu was stunned by Li Yao''s understanding of the matter.


    That''s great! As long as Li Yao can let go, Wang San is destined to be a brave general.


    Grand Marshal Xu left, and the vigers of He Wan vige began to get busy, but Li Yao still couldn''t find peace.


    After all, the Ninth Prince was still here. How could she find peace?


    Li Yao had now be a seventh-rank noblewoman.


    Having an official status was like an additionalyer of restraint, and Li Yao didn''t like this kind of restriction.


    The Ninth Prince was fine. She had gotten used to ordering him around like a son.


    On the other hand, the County Magistrate, Song, seemed a bit restrained.


    Unfortunately, County Magistrate Song now liked toe to the vige to discuss matters, or make excuses to see his son, Song Zhe, and woulde to the vige every few days.


    If it weren''t for the County Magistrate''s wife apanying him each time, Li Yao would have suspected that he had other intentions.


    "Mother, we''re done with school!"


    As evening approached, Wang Er, the Ninth Prince, and Song Zhe returned home under the setting sun.


    Now the three boys went to school and came back together every day. They were very diligent in their studies, and with the addition of a few knowledgeable teachers sent by the Emperor from the capital city, their progress was remarkable. They might even take the Autumn Examination this year.


    Of course, the Ninth Prince didn''t need to take the exam, and Song Zhe definitely wouldn''t pass. Only Wang Er had the possibility of trying.


    He was looking forward to it and worked hard, staying upte every night to read.


    Mosquitoes were bing more numerous this season, but luckily, Du Xiao Hui tirelessly helped drive them away.


    Li Yao didn''t n to interfere with the rtionship between Wang Er and Du Xiao Hui. It all depended on Wang Er''s wishes. If he thought Du Xiao Hui was good, they would consider marriage in the future.


    As for the disparity in social status, Li Yao didn''t think it was important at all.


    What mattered was mutual affection and growing old together.


    ...


    In the blink of an eye, early summer arrived, and each day became hotter than thest.


    After more than a month of recuperation, Liu Yuan had almost recovered his health.


    During this period, he entrusted his business to his family members to take care of, but he couldn''t rest assured. So today, he decided to personally handle it.


    "Lady Li, thanks to your care during this time, I have been able to recover so quickly."


    "You''re wee. You suffered unjustly this time, and it was all because of me. It''s only right that I have someone take care of you for a while."


    Hearing her words, Liu Yuan felt delighted.


    He had indeed suffered a lot, with his whole body covered in wounds. But because of that, he had gained Li Yao''s trust even more.


    Li Yao has now be a seventh-grade concubine and is destined for further promotion in the future, which will undoubtedly bring even greater prosperity to his business.


    So, what does it matter if he encounters a little trouble?


    "Oh, by the way," Li Yao asked, "next time youe, could you help me purchase some saltpeter? The weather is getting hotter, and I happen to be someone who dislikes heat. I want to make some ice."


    "Sure, how much do you need?"


    "Buy a little more, it wille in handyter. And remember, the purity must be the highest."

 Chapter 145: Pickled Peppers

    <h4>Chapter 145</h4>


    Saltpeter can make ice, but it can also make gunpowder.


    Li Yao didn''t n to produce this stuff now, but thinking about the strange movements of the barbarians this year, she felt uneasy and thought she should make some preparations in advance.


    "Also, please put more effort into acquiring rubber."


    "This..." Liu Yuan hesitated for a moment and said, "It''s not rubber harvesting season yet. Severalrge stockades on the Nanzhao Kingdom border seem to be deliberately hoarding too, so...so the prices are already sky high."


    "Is there any way to trade directly with merchants inside the Nanzhao Kingdom?"


    When Liu Yuan heard this, he shook his head directly.


    Rtions between Great Ling and the Nanzhao Kingdom were tense now, and small-scale friction often urred over border issues, so even a big merchant like him didn''t dare go too deep into the Nanzhao Kingdom.


    The Nanzhao Kingdom''s merchants were even more unwilling toe and trade easily.


    Trade between the two countries was almost at a standstill.


    So the only way to get rubber was to buy it in the stockades on the border.


    "Go take a look at the situation first and let someone send a letter back after you figure it out clearly, and I''lle up with a countermeasure."


    "Yes."


    After Liu Yuan left, Li Yao was idle again. Every day she just went to check on the situation in the workshops, and then went to the back hill to look at the thriving sweet potatoes and various vegetable seedlings.


    Under Da Zhuang''s careful care, the crops in the back hill were growing well, and the chickens, ducks, geese, pigs and cattle raised were also gradually growing up.


    Especially that group of wild chickens. Because the feed was sufficient, the biggest ones were already three catties. Seeing them made Li Yao''s index finger move.


    How long had it been since she had eaten chicken stir-fried with chili peppers?


    But the chili seedlings in the fields were blooming now. She had to wait at least a month before she could eat them, and Li Yao didn''t want to wait that long.


    "Xiaoya, how much pickled chili do we have left at home?"


    "Not much left," He Xiaoya thought about it and said, "If we eat sparingly, there''s probably enough for two more meals."


    "Then let''s eat it all today." She added, "Just the two of us eating."


    "Mother, that''s not good, is it?"


    After all, Ninth Prince Liu Yun ate at home every day now. Making something delicious and hiding it from him, how would he feel if he knew?


    "Don''t care about him, is there anyck of exotic delicacies for him to eat?"


    Saying to do, Li Yao nimbly caught one of the biggest roosters and walked home.


    The kitchen at home was now almost entirely upied by several chefs who hade specifically to cook for Ninth Prince Liu Yun. Li Yao had originally wanted to object, because having so many more people in the house was very inconvenient.


    But now everyone was busy, and Xiaoya''s belly was big too, no longer suitable for climbing onto the stove, so she left it to them.


    It was just nice that the family could eat some ready-made food with Liu Yun.


    "Greetings to Lady Li." When she walked into the kitchen, Chef Wang, the head chef, smiled and came forward to bow, "I wonder why Lady Li hase to the kitchen. Would you like me to prepare some dishes?"


    "No dishes today. I''ming to cook a dish myself."


    "So Lady Li''s skills are itching to be used," Chef Wang said. "I wonder if you would allow us to observe nearby?"


    "Watch if you want."


    Li Yao briskly ughtered the rooster.


    Bleeding, scalding, disemboweling, chopping...


    Watching her skilled movements, the chefs were full of admiration: "Lady Li''s knife skills are superior by more than twenty years of experiencepared to us! We are ashamed."


    Li Yao thought, when I was ying with knives, you were probably still herding cattle in the mountains. How could wepare?


    The chopped chicken was cut into small pieces, oil was heated in the wok, and the chopped chicken was added to stir fry until both sides were slightly charred and the oil in the chicken skin was rendered out. Only then were a handful of Sichuan peppercorns, garlic, ginger, and chili paste added.


    After stir-frying over low heat briefly, red oil came out. Then she poured in thest bowl of pickled chilies, and the familiar fragrance wafted up.


    Chef Wang and the others had observed the whole process. In their opinion, the stir-frying technique was quite normal, something everyone could do. But the only thing they didn''t understand was why the oil turned out red and shiny after stir-frying.


    What were the ingredients addedter?


    The smell was a little pungent, but there was also an unfamiliar fragrance they had never seen before.


    As a chef from the imperial pce, Chef Wang suddenly felt that with his learned skills, he could not even identify this.


    "May I ask Lady Li, what dish is this?"


    "Chili peppers."


    They looked at each other, none of them knowing what chili peppers were.


    "It''s gathered from the mountains. We also grow it at home," Li Yao said. "But if you want to eat it, you''ll have to wait another month."


    I''m done, you can slowly cook.


    Watching Li Yao take away arge te of chicken stir-fried with chili peppers, Chef Wang couldn''t help swallowing.


    He thought to himself that he had tasted exotic delicacies everywhere, yet he was drooling over a te of ordinary chicken. This really was strange.


    When Lady Li''s chili peppers were ripe, he must try them carefully.


    Li Yao brought the te of chicken stir-fried with chili peppers to the bedroom, where she and He Xiaoya ate heartily with two bowls of rice and arge te of freshly pickled vegetables.


    He Xiaoya didn''t like hawthorn, but had always liked chili peppers. She barely touched the chicken in the te, while the chili peppers were almost finished by the two.


    But as they were eating, He Xiaoya suddenly stopped her chopsticks.


    "Too spicy?"


    "No."


    He Xiaoya shook her head, put two slices of pickles in her bowl, and started shovelling rice with the pickles.


    With one nce, Li Yao could see she had something on her mind, so she put down her chopsticks and asked, "What''s the matter?"


    "I..." He Xiaoya hemmed and hawed, and said, "Mother, yesterday I heard Aunt Zhang say that craving sour meant a boy and craving spicy meant a girl. Since I like spicy food so much, there must be a girl in my belly..."


    "Just because of this?"


    Li Yao didn''t know what to say either.


    "I told you long ago, boys and girls are the same. Why are you still worried about this?"


    "But I just want to have a son, so people won''t gossip about our family."


    "What do you care what people say?" Li Yao put all the remaining chili peppers from the te into her bowl, and added a pile of tender chicken legs, "Don''t overthink this and that, it''s not good for your health."


    "Okay, I know."


    Seeing He Xiaoya cheer up again, Li Yao sighed inwardly. The moods of pregnant women were indeed unstable. Da Zhuang was also busy and didn''t have much time to apany her.


    It seemed that she had to find someone with experience to keep Xiaoyapany and chat with her every day, so that she wouldn''t have random thoughts.


    But finding someone was really a dilemma.


    The vigers were definitely out. The younger ones didn''t understand, while the older ones with old ideas would keep instilling the idea of son preference, which was even more unbearable.


    "Something smells so good!"


    Wang Er and the others had returned outside the room. Before even entering, Liu Yun had started shouting.


    "Wang Shangshan, hurry and serve the dishes!"


    "Yes!"


    Six or seven exquisitely prepared dishes were brought up quickly.


    It seemed Liu Yun was starving today. He picked up his chopsticks and started eating.


    But after sampling each dish, he frowned. Chef Wang observed his expression and realized something was wrong. He quickly came over and asked, "Your Highness, are the dishes today not to your taste?"


    "That''s not it," Liu Yun thought for a moment and said, "Just now when I entered the room, I smelled a fragrance, but I didn''t taste it in any of these dishes."

 Chapter 146: Nanzhao

    <h4>Chapter 146</h4>


    "This..." Imperial Chef Wang said, "Your Highness, the fragrant smell you noticed could be the spicy chicken stir-fry that Li Yao personally made."


    "Auntie Li made it herself? Where is it? Why not serve it to us to have a taste too?"


    "This..."


    Imperial Chef Wang instantly broke into a sweat on his forehead. He certainly could not say that Li Yao had made the dishes, but ended up taking them into the room to eat by herself.


    Inside the room, Li Yao heard this and decided not to hide anymore, since she had basically finished the spicy chicken already. The remaining chicken chunks, she and the little maid could not finish anyway.


    So she brought out the leftover chicken and came out with the little maid.


    "It''s here."


    "Good Auntie Li, you made such a fragrant dish yet did not let us have a taste."


    "This is for pregnant women to eat. Are you going to fight for it too?"


    "I dare not, I dare not," Liu Yun smiled and swallowed his saliva, "but eating a little less shouldn''t be a problem, right?"


    Seeing him keep swallowing his saliva, Li Yao was truly speechless.


    What kind of imperial prince was this guy? Where was his princely image?


    "Go ahead and eat up. We''ve had our fill anyway."


    "Thank you Auntie Li!"


    Liu Yun picked up his chopsticks and grabbed a piece of chicken to put in his mouth. In his haste, the shiny oil smeared all over his chin, but he did not mind at all. As soon as he finished one piece he grabbed another.


    "It''s so delicious, justcking in chili peppers." As he spoke, he picked up the few remaining chili peppers and shared them with Wang Er and Song Zhe, "Good brothers should share the blessings."


    Imperial Chef Wang watched dumbfounded from the side.


    He thought, His Highness is an imperial prince, yet he eats other people''s leftovers so ungracefully, calling Wang Er and Song Zhe his brothers...


    If any of these things got reported back to the capital, the entire pce would surely be shocked and mystified.


    Li Yao brought out the unfinished meal and sat at the table as well.


    "Liu Yun, I need your help with something."


    "Go ahead Auntie Li."


    "I want to find someone to apany little maid," said Li Yao. "Someone knowledgeable, who knows how to speak properly. Preferably not too old either."


    Liu Yun thought for a moment and said, "That''s easy. Don''t worry Auntie, I''ll have Bai Song rush back to the capital and bring a couple of pce maids here."


    "Would it take too long?"


    "It won''t. With fast horses, changing mounts but not people, a round trip will not exceed ten days."


    Pce maids should be qualified enough. This matter could be considered settled.


    After the meal, just as Li Yao was about to go rest for a while, Liu Yuan came back from Nanzhao. He said there was an urgent matter to report immediately.


    It turned out that when Liu Yuan rushed to Nanzhao, he was still stopped at the border, unable to enter at all. So he found several stockades near the border to discuss purchasing rubber.


    But after letting Liu Yuan''s men into the stockade, they locked them up and demanded 3,000 taels of silver to ransom them. Otherwise, they would behead Liu Yuan''s group in half a month.


    "Auntie Li, our old master told me to tell you - do not agree to give them any money no matter what. These people are totally untrustworthy and insatiable. He is afraid that after giving them money, they will demand more."


    "I understand," Li Yao asked, "What is your name?"


    "Reporting to Madam, my full name is Huang Zhang, nickname Shi Tou."


    "Go rest for now. We''ll set off tonight."


    ...


    If it was just a failure to purchase rubber, Li Yao would certainly not bother making a trip herself. But now that Liu Yuan''s men were detained, she had to go take a look.


    When Liu Yun heard she was going to the border, he also said he would tag along.


    Liu Xiu did not want to bring this drag, but thinking he might need the border troops, she agreed to let hime along.


    "But I have a condition," said Li Yao. "You must listen to me."


    "Don''t worry Auntie Li, I promise not to make trouble."


    Li Yao felt that given Liu Yun''s temperament, not making trouble was probably impossible.


    But she could let him stay behindter, he probably wouldn''t stir up too much trouble.


    In the afternoon, after briefing her family, Li Yao set off lightly towards Nanzhao with the others. To avoid worrying everyone, she only said she was going to discuss a big deal over there.


    They were used to her taking long trips already, so no one thought much of it.


    Bai Song was sent to the capital. Liu Yun did not have any trustworthy men by his side either, so they prepared to travel without guards.


    But Li Yao was worried, so she went to the county office and borrowed Zhang County Captain and another clerk from Song County Magistrate, responsible specifically for Liu Yun''s safety.


    After a brief farewell, the party of five rushed towards Nanzhao overnight on fast horses.


    Not long after leaving Yizhou Prefecture territory, the surrounding mountains grew increasingly tall and the roads dangerously winding. Fortunately the journey was not too far. After rushing and pacing for three days, the border came into view in the distance.


    Nanzhao had a hot climate, and it was not yet rainy season, so the sun was exceptionally scorching.


    Without much exposure, Liu Yun''s face and arms already started peeling.


    "Why is the sun here so fiercely hot?"


    "Your Highness might not know," exined the apanying Zhang County Captain, "Nanzhao only has three seasons a year - spring, summer, and autumn. It particrlycks winter. And summer is quite long. Right now it is dry heat. When rainy seasones it will be humid heat. At that time, whether it is farnd or forests, miasma is easily bred. If people inadvertently inhale it, it bes deadly."


    His words frightened Liu Yun somewhat. Li Yao wanted tough seeing it.


    With underdeveloped medicine and science in ancient times, illnesses like mria, dysentery, typhoid fever, hemorrhagic fever, etc. were all attributed to miasma.


    Mria in particr was easily spread through parasites or mosquito bites. Symptoms included chills and fever, also known as intermittent fever.


    With inadequate medical technology, severe cases were basically incurable.


    However, locals had many methods to deal with mria. They applied herbal juices to their skin to prevent mosquito bites, only drank water they brought from home, etc.


    From the history Li Yao knew, there were also experts in mria prevention, like Zhuge Liang.


    When he made seven captures and seven releases of Meng Huo, he prepared preventive measures beforehand, so few in the army fell ill.


    Of course, Li Yao would not use ancient methods. She had better ones.


    Green ointment was definitely an amulet against mosquito bites. As long as she maintained good hygiene habits, avoided heat stroke, what miasma would dare approach?


    "The border garrison is just ahead," said Shi Tou. "Auntie Li, do you want to find a ce to stay there first?"


    "Can people stay at will in the border garrison?" Liu Yun could not help asking.


    "The interior is off limits," Shi Tou replied. "But because many merchants came and went in the past, the garrison set up an inn to provide simple lodging and food, as well as fodder for horses."


    It seemed the garrison here was quite business-savvy.


    "Let''s go take a look then. We''ll need a ce to stay."

 Chapter 147: Endure the hard work

    <h4>Chapter 147</h4>


    A few people followed Shi Tou to a row of low wooden sheds. Several bare-chested soldiers were sleeping on long benches. Seeing peopleing, theyzily crawled up.


    "General," Shi Tou walked up with a smile, "we''d like to rent a few rooms and stay for two nights."


    "What do you do?" asked the head soldier.


    "We are merchants on the way to Nanzhao Kingdom."


    "Do you have travel documents?"


    "Yes, yes."


    Shi Tou took out the documents from his clothes and respectfully handed them over. After the soldier checked without any issues, he said, "It''s 500 coins per room per day, food, fodder and clear water are charged separately. How many rooms do you need?"


    "So expensive?" Before Shi Tou could answer, Liu Yun couldn''t help but cry out, "These are just wood sheds, I see there are not even beds inside, yet you charge 500 coins?"


    The head soldier looked at him disdainfully and said, "You don''t have to stay."


    Liu Yun wanted to say more but was pulled by the sleeve by Zhang County Captain.


    In a ce like this, let alone 500 coins, even if they asked for one or two silvers a day, they would have to obediently take it out.


    Otherwise they could only sleep in the woods.


    But of course the woods were not a good ce to sleep. Just mosquitoes, ants and other insects could make it unbearable, and there was a high possibility of encountering wild beasts. Ordinary merchants would rather spend more money than joke around with their own lives.


    "General, we need four rooms," said Shi Tou.


    "Oh, five people want four rooms?" The head soldier was suddenly delighted, "You guys are quite generous. I''ll waive the fees for clear water and fodder for you."


    "Thank you, General."


    Zhang County Captain handed over two taels of silver, and they were led to the front of the wood sheds.


    "Here are the four rooms. If you need anything, just call out and someone wille," said the soldier leader before leaving.


    After the military leader left, they started assigning rooms. Li Yao, Liu Yun and Shi Tou each got a separate room, while Zhang County Captain would share one room with the other person.


    Li Yao walked into her shed and found that apart from a simple bed made of wooden sticks, there was nothing else inside.


    Moreover, there was only some hay on the bed, no bedding or straw mats at all. The floor was also messy, giving off a strange smell.


    She didn''t really mind though, having stayed in all kinds of harsh environments before, but Liu Yun couldn''t take it.


    "How can people live in this kind of ce? And charge 500 coins, this is simply profiteering!"


    Although heined, after traveling continuously for three days, he was already exhausted. Lying on the messy hay, he fell asleep before long.


    Li Yao also rested for a while. At dusk, Shi Tou bought some food and Zhang County Captain fetched a few buckets of clear water.


    Without a proper table, they ced the food on a rock and ate around it.


    ording to Shi Tou, the stockade where Liu Yuan was trapped was still more than twenty li away, and there was no good road, only essible on foot.


    "How many people are there in the stockade?"


    "At least a thousand I guess. It''s a big one," said Shi Tou. "The stockade is built in a valley, surrounded by steep cliffs everywhere, no way to get in."


    "No way in?" Liu Yun was puzzled. "Then how do they get in and out?"


    "Cableways," Shi Tou replied. "There are two cableways at the stockade gate connecting to the hillside across."


    "That''s too inconvenient, isn''t it?"


    "But it''s safe," said Zhang County Captain. "Unlike Great Ling, each stockade here in Nanzhao is like a small country, with the chief as its ruler. Conflicts and even wars between stockades aremon."


    "Doesn''t the King of Nanzhao govern them then?"


    "How to govern?" Zhang County Captain said. "You''ve seen how high the mountains are and how difficult the roads are. No matter howrge an army is sent, it''s useless. They can only let them be."


    Liu Yun understood now.


    No wonder those senior officials always said Nanzhao was an uncivilized ce. Indeed it wasn''t groundless.


    With this kind of governance, how could it grow stronger?


    "There are a total of 5 mountain stockades along the border here," said Shi Tou, drawing a simple map on the ground with a stick. Pointing to the nearest circle, he said, "Our master is imprisoned there, called Hong Shan Stockade."


    "It seems we must ask the border army for help if we want to rescue them," said Liu Yun after looking for a while. "Otherwise there is no chance at all."


    "That''s what I thought too," said Shi Tou. "But to ask the border army, it will cost a lot of money."


    "As long as we can rescue them, what does some money matter? It''s better than giving money to that Hong Shan Stockade."


    "We can go ask, but we can''t reveal our identities," said Li Yao.


    "Why not?" They looked at her puzzled. Wasn''t thatmon sense?


    Although all under heaven is the king''snd, military orders must be followed when stationed outside.


    Moreover, this was the Nanzhao border, sparsely popted and inessible. Without even a guard team, revealing the prince''s identity as soon as they arrived, if the bordermander had any ulterior motives, they might not even know how they died.


    Li Yao was toozy to exin too much to him, simply saying, "No reason, just better to be careful."


    Liu Yun was unwilling at first, thinking the prince''s identity was quite useful, no need to worry about the border army disobeying. But he had promised to listen to Li Yao before departing, so he could only say, "Alright, we''ll go as ordinary merchants then."


    Through the soldiers guarding the courier station, Li Yao and Liu Yun finally got to see the garrisonmander General Wu after several referrals.


    Following the two guides in, they saw almost all bare-chested soldiers everywhere. Some sprawled on straw mats sleeping, some gathered in groups of three or five sitting at tent entrances throwing dice and gambling, some were even shamelessly flirting with red faces.


    Seeing Li Yao''s good looks, some even dared to whistle at her and yell obscenities.


    In short, none of them were proper.


    Rather than soldiers guarding the borders, they were more like a bunch of rogues and hooligans on the streets.


    Liu Yun''s face turned blue from anger.


    As soldiers guarding this critical border area, how could they be so undisciplined? How to defend Great Ling''s territory?


    Enduring the anger, Liu Yun finally entered the General''s residence with Li Yao.


    It was another scene here, over a dozen girls in thin gauze dresses were desperately flirting and seducing. Their appearances were as enchanting as can be, making even Liu Yun blush.


    Sitting in the main seat was a fat man with a bulging belly wearing silk summer clothes,zily lying on a long couch. His head rested on the slender legs of a delicate beauty. On both sides were two other beauties, one fanning him gently, the other lightly feeding him fruit slices.


    Liu Yun recognized him at once. This was the General guarding the critical Great Ling-Nanzhao border¡ªWu Ling!


    If it were somewhere else, he would have revealed his identity on the spot and arrested this man for questioning.


    But even enduring great difort now, he still had to endure.


    At this moment, he understood why Aunt Li did not let him reveal his identity. If Wu Ling knew his identity, he would likely kill him to keep it secret.

 Chapter 148: The Meat needs to be cut.

    <h4>Chapter 148</h4>


    "You two stand here and wait for a while."


    After the leading soldier finished speaking, he left, leaving Li Yao and Liu Yuan standing there for a full quarter hour. When the dancing girls on the field got tired and went to rest, Wu Ling then beckoned to the two of them.


    Li Yao stepped forward to exin her purpose, naturally using the identity of Liu Yuan''s cousin.


    "General Wu, I earnestly ask you to help rescue my cousin Liu Yuan."


    "This is not easy to do," Wu Ling said. "The man was captured by the people of Hong Shan Stockade, and that stockade is within the borders of the Nanzhao Kingdom. If I rashly sent troops, it would surely upset the Nanzhao Kingdom. Then the two countries would see armed conflict first, and there would surely be casualties among the soldiers, which would further undermine the fundamentals of my stationed troops."


    Li Yao knew that this was Wu Ling deliberately equivocating, just to raise the price.


    "General, please be amodating. My cousin is also amoner of Great Ling. Your sending troops to rescue him would be for the country and the people," Li Yao said. "Of course, the mobilization of the main army will inevitably require the expenditure of grain and fodder. I am willing to bear the burden."


    "Hehe, since you¡¯ve said so, this general really can¡¯t refuse." After thinking about it, General Wu said, "To go to Hong Shan Stockade and demand hostages, it would take at least a thousand people, and the time would be at least three to five days. The expenditure for this... Let''s just say five thousand taels of silver."


    When Liu Yun heard this, he became even more furious.


    Five thousand taels of silver was enough to feed the entire stationed army for more than a year. This guy really dared to ask for it!


    He really wanted to immediately return to the Yizhou Prefecture to mobilize the stationed troops and take him down immediately.


    "Thank you, General. The banknotes will be delivered afterwards."


    "Well, you can go back first. After the banknotes are delivered, this general will naturally arrange it tomorrow."


    After Li Yao and the others left, Wu Ling waved away his concubines and called over a man dressed as a master.


    "Was that Li Yao just now?"


    "Yes, General."


    "It seems that what you said is true. She does have money," Wu Lingughed. "For a businessman who helped her sell goods, she readily took out five thousand taels without changing expression."


    "ording to this humble one¡¯s knowledge, this Li Yao is quite wealthy, and five thousand taels to her is but a drop in the bucket," the master said. "General, five thousand taels is still too little."


    "What''s the hurry? Wine must be drunk one sip at a time, and meat must be cut one slice at a time." The generalughed. "After taking her money, the troops will definitely be sent, but whether the person can be rescued or not is up to me to decide."


    "The general is brilliant."


    ...


    After leaving the general¡¯s residence, Liu Yun''s face was very ugly.


    When they reached a ce with no one around, he couldn''t help but ask, "Auntie, should I go back to Yizhou Prefecture to mobilize troops now?"


    "What, aren''t the frontier battles exciting enough for you, so you want to provoke Wu Ling to rebel, and then cause internal strife in Great Ling?"


    "I..."


    Okay, Liu Yun admitted that he was too impulsive.


    With the military power Wu Ling currently wielded, as well as the special geographical location here, if he rebelled, the rear of Great Ling would really be in turmoil.


    "Then we can only give him money, and then let him send troops to rescue people."


    "The money will be given," Li Yao said, "but the person definitely won''t be rescued."


    "Why?"


    Li Yao thought to herself that this Ninth Prince was still too young, he couldn''t even see through this little trick.


    Fortunately, he was not the Crown Prince, and would not seed to the throne in the future, otherwise Great Ling would be in danger.


    "Auntie," Seeing that Liu Yao didn''t speak, Liu Yun hurriedly asked, "I know that I''m dull-witted, and I usually don''t study or train in martial arts, but for such an important matter, please enlighten me, auntie."


    "I don''t understand any imperial power tactics, but I do know how to observe human nature," Li Yao said. "Wu Ling is insatiably greedy, swaggering everywhere he goes. This can be seen from the little soldiers under him. A person like this will never miss any opportunity to make money."


    "Does auntie mean that after taking the money, he will find an excuse not to send troops, and then make us give him more money?"


    "No, that would put him at a disadvantage. The troops will definitely be sent, but the person definitely won''t be rescued."


    Liu Yun understood, but was increasingly disgusted with this Wu Ling.


    "What should we do now?"


    "Send the money over first, then see the situation and talk about itter."


    As the two spoke, they had already returned to the thatched shed.


    By this time, the sky had already darkened, and night had arrived. Several soldiers riding warhorses were leading over a hundred infantry soldiersing from the distance.


    After inquiring, Captain Zhang found out that they were new soldiers transferred from Yizhou Prefecture.


    Perhaps because of the long journey, the more than one hundred people all looked listless, and walked without any vigor.


    Only the young man leading them looked fine. He was tall and sturdy, withplete armor, and carried a huge steel saber on his back. His eyes were bright and he walked with his back straight.


    Li Yao''s gaze fell on his long saber.


    This was no ordinary war knife. The material used could now only be forged in He Wan vige.


    She remembered Wang San''er telling her that he had met a decent fellow while in the army. If not for his weapons being inferior to Wang San''er''s iron club, the two could havepeted quite evenly.


    And before leaving, Wang San''er had asked Xia Xian to help him forge a long war saber, saying he would give it to him.


    It should be this man before her eyes.


    "That is thepany captain. He looks no older than eighteen," Captain Zhang said. "At such a young age he can serve aspany captain. He is indeed quite good. Unfortunately he was assigned to this ce, destined to have no great achievements."


    After the new troops passed by, everyone began to rest and wait for the next day.


    But Li Yao couldn''t sleep, constantly thinking of countermeasures. In the middle of the night she suddenly heard Captain Zhang give a low shout, followed by the sound of rapid chasing footsteps.


    She got out of bed, confirmed Liu Yun was fine, then quickly followed along.


    Below a small earthen knoll, Captain Zhang had already pressed a man firmly to the ground.


    "Sir, spare my life! Sir, spare my life! I won''t dare again!"


    In the bright moonlight, Li Yao discovered that the one being subdued was actually a soldier.


    Was this person a deserter?


    After an interrogation, this person was called Zhang Quan, and was indeed one of the new soldiers who had just arrived today.


    "Why did you desert?"


    "I didn''t desert," Zhang Quan anxiously exined. "I just went back to see my mother!"


    It turned out that when they were about to leave Yizhou Prefecture, Zhang Quan received a letter from home saying his mother was critically ill and on the verge of death.


    But the main army was about to march, and was not allowed to return home.


    Taking advantage of the chaos as the new soldiers had just arrived that night and were heading to their assigned barracks, he made an excuse of going to thetrine and slipped away, intending to escape back home to take a look.


    "Do you know that deserters are decapitated?"


    "This humble one knows," Zhang Quan said. "If I am to be decapitated, I ask sir to show mercy and let me go back to see my mother first. My three elder brothers all died on the battlefield. Now I am the only son left in my family. If I don''t go back, and something unfortunate happens to my mother, there won''t even be anyone left to bury her and observe filial mourning."


    "You may stand up."


    Li Yao was not part of the stationed army, so of course she would not punish him ording to militaryw.


    She also thought of a good idea.

 Chapter 149: Capture Wu Ling

    <h4>Chapter 149</h4>


    Zhang Quan Zhang was also surnamed Zhang, and Zhang County Captain was also surnamed Zhang. Although the two were separated by more than ten years in age, their height and build were not too different.


    So she asked one by one about the situation inside the barracks, and learned that the over one hundred neers would all be broken up and assigned, so letting Zhang County Captain pretend to be Zhang Quan for a while should not be too big of an issue.


    "Zhang Quan, thinking of your filial piety, I will let you go home today," Li Yao said, "But you muste back after one month."


    "Thank you sir, I will definitelye back on time!"


    After Zhang Quan left, Zhang County Captain became Zhang Quan.


    He did not sneak around, and directly walked out the barrack gates.


    The garrison troops originally had loose discipline, and he was just a new recruit who got lost looking for thetrine, and was able to say the password, so the guards did not ask much before letting him back in.


    Zhang County Captain had been a soldier before, and could be considered an old hand, and with the intelligence provided by Zhang Quan, and the packet of loose silver provided by Li Yao, he quickly integrated with the veteran soldiers of the same barracks.


    After intentionally losing some silver gambling with the soldiers of the same barracks, the veterans even more so treated him like treasure.


    "Let''s stop here for today," one veteran said, "Still have work to do tomorrow, don''t sleep toote or won''t be able to get up."


    ...


    The next day at sunrise, thepanymander roared and drove the people out of the barracks.


    Everyonezily ate breakfast, sluggishly put on armor, formed a ragged line, and started marching towards Hong Shan Stockade.


    The mountain path was difficult to traverse, so the marching speed was very slow.


    After marching for a full two hours, they had not gone three li.


    Thepanymander at the lead took a look at the surrounding terrain, and loudly ordered, "Pass down the order, make camp here!"


    "Can finally rest," the veterans immediately scattered, rushing into the woods at the roadside, looking for shaded ces to make camp.


    Simple tents were quickly erected, the cooking squad also started preparing food, while others gathered together joking andughing, or lying on the grass sleeping.


    This was not on the march, it was simply an outing!


    But Zhang County Captain did not forget his mission, calling over some veterans to gamble.


    "Brother Huang," after gambling for a while, Zhang County Captain started probing, "What are we going to do?"


    "Just taking a walk."


    "Is it routine training?"


    "Haha..."


    The few veteransughed heartily, they especially liked new recruit eggheads who didn''t know anything.


    "No training, we''re going to Hong Shan Stockade for a rescue," one veteran said, "But Hong Shan Stockade terrain is treacherous, we don''t have enough men for a rescue. So when we get there, stay on the mountain across for one night, then go back."


    It seemed Li Yao''s predictions were right on target.


    Talking about rescuing people, it was just for show.


    "Isn''t Hong Shan Stockade part of our Great Ling?"


    "No, it''s Nanzhao''s."


    "Then..." Zhang County Captain pretended to hesitate, and asked, "If they are the enemy, with us sox, won''t they take the chance to raid our camp?"


    The few veterans smiled at each other.


    Some things were not too convenient to tell new recruits, afraid they would spread the word.


    But it seemed Zhang County Captain was a smartd, sending them silver as soon as he arrived, he must be sensible.


    "Let me tell you straight," one veteran lowered his voice, "This Hong Shan Stockade, can be considered one family with us."


    "How''s that?"


    "We let Great Ling merchants go over, they capture them, then demand ransom. " the veteran said, "If given, they take half of what we get. If not given, we can dispatch troops to rescue, and they take a cut of what we get. Same logic, if Nanzhao merchantse over, we capture them, and Hong Shan Stockade can also demand ransom from their families under pretext of rescue."


    Zhang County Captain felt he had broadened his horizons.


    He did not know who came up with this money making idea, but it was rather ingenious.


    Just that if this went on for too long, merchants would definitely not dare toe here anymore, and trade between the two nations would bepletely cut off.


    This was killing the goose thatys the golden egg.


    Just as he was about topliment whoever came up with such a great idea, suddenly a voice sounded from the side: "Humph! As a Great Ling soldier, how can you collude with outsiders and engage in such shady dealings?"


    Zhang County Captain turned to look, and saw it was the young centurion from yesterday.


    Aftering here though, he was a centurion in name only, without a single soldier under him, aside from slightly higher pay, no different from amon soldier.


    Hearing him speak, the expressions of the veterans immediately changed.


    They were rather worried about these young hot-blooded new recruits, exchanged nces, seemingly intending to deal with him.


    After all this was Nanzhao''s forest, wanting to quietly kill someone was easy.


    Zhang County Captain sensed something amiss, and said: "It''s fine brother Huang, I knew him from Luizhou, I''ll have a word with him, guarantee he won''t speak out of line."


    "Best it be so."


    Zhang County Captain went before the tall man, winked at him: "Brother, let''s talk over there?"


    The tall man sized him up first, and feeling his temperament differed from the greasy veterans, got up to follow.


    When nobody was around, Zhang County Captain asked: "I''m Zhang Quan, how may I address you brother?"


    "Liu Hu."


    "Do you know Wang San''er?"


    "Wang San''er?" Liu Hu was slightly surprised, "I know him, what are you to him?"


    "I''m also acquainted," Zhang County Captain said, "But, Wang San''er''s mother is also here."


    Liu Hu was even more shocked.


    He had heard Wang San''er say countless times how fierce his mother was, able to knock Wang San''er down with one hand.


    "Auntie is here?"


    "Right behind you."


    Liu Hu swiftly turned around, and saw a woman had appeared unknowingly behind the tree.


    So this was Wang San''er''s mother?


    He had imagined such a fierce person would have the build of a strapping shrew, but never expected her to be so refined and beautiful.


    "Greetings auntie."


    "No need to be so courteous," Li Yao stepped forward, "I''ve heard Wang San''er mention you, he said you were his strongest opponent, he was not exaggerating."


    "Auntie tters me, I just know some tricks." Liu Hu asked, "Auntie, what are you doing here?"


    After simply exining the circumstances to Liu Hu, his expression became solemn after hearing it.


    "I can gather all the new recruits here, and go with you to Hong Shan Stockade for the rescue."


    "I don''t need your help with the rescue, I have a more important task for you."


    "What is it?"


    "Find out clearly which of the garrison troops, especially the generals and centurions, are Wu Ling''s confidants, and which can be swayed to our side." Li Yao said, "Also secretly rally the new recruits, when the time is right, help the Ninth Prince capture Wu Ling."

 Chapter 150: Stealth

    <h4>Chapter 150</h4>


    "The Ninth Prince hase too?"


    Li Yao nodded: "This matter must be kept secret. I will give you the Ninth Prince''s tokenter."


    As soon as he heard he was doing something for the prince, and especially something as important as rectifying military discipline, Liu Hu immediately pped his chest and guaranteed he would do it wlessly.


    After arranging Liu Hu''s matter, Li Yao slipped back into the woods again.


    This time Wu Ling had brought 1,000 troops, and after pitching camp they showed no intention of moving on. It wasn''t until the next morning that they slowly marched a few more miles.


    It wasn''t until noon on the fourth day that they finally came to the woods across from Hong Shan Stockade.


    Li Yao climbed the tallest tree and looked out over the gorge separating them.


    The geography of Hong Shan Stockade really was easy to defend but difficult to attack. Right in front was a 100-meter deep gorge, and the cliff on the other side was also very steep, making it hard to climb up from the bottom of the valley.


    Two thick cables, one high and one low, with one end connected to the mountainside here and the other end connected to the stockade''s main gate.


    There were guards on both sides, so that in an emergency they only needed to cut the cables to sever the only route into the stockade.


    But the stockade was inside the mountain across the gorge, and nothing could be seen of the inside from here. Li Yao decided to sneak over and scout around after nightfall.


    Waiting in the bushes until dusk, Li Yao ate some of the rations she carried, and took the grappling hooks she had prepared. She was just about to head down to the bottom of the gorge when several Wu Ling troops came to the higher cable, escorting a well-dressed man.


    He looked Han Chinese, but the men guarding the cable were very polite to him, scrambling to get him settled into the sling and slowly lowering him to the stockade gate.


    Li Yao deduced this man must be the liaison between Wu Ling and Hong Shan Stockade, and that he hade to the stockade to discuss something.


    So she swiftly descended to the valley floor, then used her grappling hook to climb the mountainside behind the stockade, looking down on the whole ce from above.


    This was a long, narrow valley halfway up the mountain, at least 5 or 6 li deep.


    The front section was very narrow, and heavily guarded.


    The middle section was living quarters, with many wooden houses; the poption seemed substantial, at least a thousand or more.


    The back of the stockade was more open, withnd cleared for farming. And from the tall mountain at the very back, a stream flowed down continuously.


    A ce like this was a natural fortress, able to produce its own food, so that even under siege it could hold out for a long time.


    Tying her rope to arge tree, Li Yao used the cover of night to slowly descend to the middle section of the stockade. Avoiding the passersby, she climbed onto the roof of thergest wooden building.


    Inside, the room was brightly lit, and a man sat in the seat of honor - this must be the Chief of Hong Shan Stockade.


    He looked rather angry, and said in awkward Mandarin: "Master Tang, what is the meaning of this? You promised to help me wipe out Xiao Wa Vige and Qing Song Vige, but it''s been half a year with no action at all! What do you have to say? Can I count on your word or not?"


    "You can count on it! Why wouldn''t you be able to?" The Han Chinese man, Master Tang, replied. "Chief Qiu, don''t be impatient. General Wu said, as soon as we finish this business and make enough money from the grain and fodder, he will immediately send troops to attack Xiao Wa Vige and Qing Song Vige. He absolutely will not go back on his word!"


    "Hmph, I''ve heard that line several times already!"


    "Chief, don''t be angry. This time it''s for certain!" Master Tang said. "Our General has already sent people to nt fire oil all around Xiao Wa Vige and Qing Song Vige. So before the rainy season, he will certainlyunch an attack. Otherwise that fire oil will have gone to waste."


    Chief Qiu gave a cold snort. "It had better be so."


    "Right," Master Tang asked, "How are the hostages doing?"


    "All shut up in the cave, they won''t die."


    "Best not to have any mishaps. The longer they live, the more money we can get for them."


    ...


    After listening from the rooftop for a while and hearing nothing more useful, Li Yao quietly left. Going around the stockade, she finally found a guarded cave under a rocky outcrop.


    The cave wasn''t very deep. Inside were confined many people, important members of Liu Yuan''s merchantpany.


    They all looked weak and listless, but at least they were unharmed.


    If it was just Liu Yuan alone, Li Yao was confident she could sneak him out, but getting over a dozen people out would be tricky. She could only take Hong Shan Stockade first.


    She wondered whether the stockade had an escape route.


    Generally in ces like this, the Chief would ensure he had a back way out in case of emergency, like a hidden tunnel.


    Thinking of this, Li Yao went to the fields at the back and searched around the mountain until midnight, finally spotting a faint light near a very secluded mountain spring.


    Approaching silently, she found it was actually a hidden sentry post. The men on duty had probably hung up a piece of mosquito coil on a nearby branch to keep the swarms of night mosquitoes away.


    To investigate further, Li Yao threw a rock in the opposite direction.


    "Who''s there?" came an immediate voice from behind the tree at the spring.


    Li Yao threw several more rocks, and soon two figures rushed out to pursue them.


    But she didn''t reveal herself immediately. If this really was the Chief''s escape route, there would certainly be more than two men guarding it.


    Sure enough, after the two who had run out returned, two more emerged from behind the tree: "What''s going on?"


    "Nothing, probably just a rabbit."


    Now that she knew the number of men at the hidden post, it would be easy to deal with them. Li Yao waited another half an hour, then made more noises to draw two of them out to investigate.


    Once those two had gone, she made sounds from another direction, prompting the remaining two to also run out and check.


    Although they didn''t go far, just ten-odd meters away, Li Yao''s agile movements and the cover of night allowed her to slip through like the wind.


    Behind that big tree was a small opening, hidden in thick undergrowth.


    Li Yao shed inside. Once in, she saw oilmps lit at intervals along the cave walls.


    It seemed her guess was right. This cave likely led outside.


    Proceeding cautiously along the deep cave, after about 15 minutes Li Yao felt a slight breeze. The exit must be near.


    There were probably guards outside as well.


    Sure enough, lurking near the mouth of the cave she soon heard voices.


    But security here was clearly not as tight as inside. There were only two men, and as the night wore on their voices died down, reced by soft snores before long.


    Like a nimble cat, Li Yao silently left the cave.


    Outside was still continuous dense forest, but based on the stars overhead she got her bearings - this was directly behind Hong Shan Stockade.


    With this route, the stockade would no longer be an impregnable fortress.

 Chapter 151: Where’s My Hair

    <h4>Chapter 151</h4>


    At dawn, Li Yao finally returned to the garrison camp of the prefecture chief of Zhang County.


    The army had slept here overnight,pleting its mission. Today it would be preparing to return.


    However, ording to custom, it would take three days to return, otherwise it would not demonstrate the hardship of the march.


    Li Yao took this opportunity to do something during these three days.


    After greeting the prefecture chief of Zhang County, Li Yao took some rations and water from the military tent and headed alone towards Xiao Wa Vige.


    Around noon, she arrived near Xiao Wa Vige.


    Compared to Hong Shan Stockade, Xiao Wa Vige was just an ordinary vige. Over a hundred wooden houses were scattered amidst the dense mountain forest. There was not even a solid surrounding wall, only simple roadblocks at important crossroads.


    There were not many guards, and few of them carried weapons.


    Vigers came and went, seeming to be in good spirits, chatting andughing.


    Li Yao revealed herself and walked right in.


    "Halt, what business do you have here?"


    "I am a merchant of Daling Country," Li Yao said loudly. "I wish to see your vige chief."


    The few guards who were on duty looked at each other, and asked again: "Don''t try to fool us! It''s impossible for merchants from Daling Country toe here anymore!"


    "I really am a merchant."


    "Then why are you alone? Where is your trading party?"


    "My party was intercepted by the officials at the Daling border. I slipped through alone. But I want to do business with you, so I need to discuss with your vige chief."


    After discussing in their dialect for a moment, someone entered the vige. Soon an elderly man with graying hair and beard emerged, surrounded by dozens of people - he must be the vige chief of Xiao Wa Vige.


    Li Yao introduced herself, using her real name this time.


    Upon learning she was the owner of the Li Family of River Bend, the old vige chief immediately weed her into the vige.


    In the past, no matter which party came to Nanzhao Kingdom from Daling, they would always choose to trade with the border viges first. Nanzhao merchants would also transport goods to the viges to sell directly to Daling merchants.


    This way it was faster, safer, and more convenient for both sides.


    Over time, Xiao Wa Vige and Qing Song Vige near the Daling garrison had be famous trading hubs.


    But two months ago, Daling merchants did not daree anymore, because Hong Shan Stockade would seize any merchant, and rob their goods.


    Merchants on the Nanzhao side who wanted to go to Daling would also be inspected by the border army. On any slight pretext they would be used of false charges.


    With no trade, Xiao Wa Vige and Qing Song Vige lost their former prosperity and liveliness. The vigers could only go back to farming thend.


    "Old vige chief," Li Yao said, "to tell the truth, this time my entire party was also captured by Hong Shan Stockade. And I discovered this matter does not solely involve Hong Shan Stockade''s meddling, but their collusion with Wu Ling, the Daling garrisonmander, to seize the goods and money of merchant parties."


    "Is this...true?"


    "I have already investigated the facts," said Li Yao. "Last night when I infiltrated Hong Shan Stockade, I also heard shocking news. Wu Ling promised the vige chief of Hong Shan Stockade that before the rainy season arrives, he will send troops to attack Xiao Wa Vige and Qing Song Vige."


    "What did you say?" The old vige chief was so frightened he stood up, his face pale. "Miss Li, you must not jest about this!"


    "This matter is absolutely true." Li Yao said. "I heard Wu Ling has already secretly arranged a lot ofbustiblemp oil around your two viges."


    "Quick, go take a look!"


    In less than a moment, several young men came back carrying barrels ofmp oil.


    Now with solid evidence, the old vige chief was even more weak and copsed into his chair.


    "If the Daling garrison troopse to attack our Xiao Wa Vige, then...then we have no power to fight back at all!" the old vige chief said tremblingly. "Should we...just move the whole vige away?"


    "Old vige chief, don''t panic." Li Yao said. "This time I did note alone, but together with the Ninth Prince of Daling."


    As she spoke, Li Yao presented the Ninth Prince''s personal token. Although the old vige chief had never seen it before, the token was made extremely exquisitely of solid gold. An ordinary person could not have faked it.


    "Right now the Ninth Prince is secretly mustering troops. Soon he will take down Wu Ling, and trade between Daling and Nanzhao will be restored to how it was before."


    The old vige chief shook his head. "Miss Li, you don''t know that as long as Hong Shan Stockade still exists, trade cannot flow freely."


    "That''s precisely why I''vee to find you," Li Yao said. "I want to ask Xiao Wa Vige and Qing Song Vige to coborate with the Ninth Prince''s side, and take down Wu Ling and Hong Shan Stockade together."


    "This...is impossible," the old vige chief sighed deeply. "Hong Shan Stockade is an impregnable fortress. Even arge army would find it very difficult to attack."


    "I have my own methods for this."


    "What methods?"


    Li Yao did not mention the secret passage, since she could not be certain there were no spies from Hong Shan Stockade mixed in Xiao Wa Vige.


    "I can''t reveal it for now, but please trust me."


    The old vige chief had a solemn expression.


    There had been deep conflicts with Hong Shan Stockade for a long time. He dearly wanted to resolve it, but if they could notpletely take it down in one strike, it would surely bring endless retaliation from Hong Shan Stockade.


    "Miss Li, please rest in my vige. I need to discuss this with the vige chief of Qing Song Vige."


    ...


    The vige chief of Qing Song Vige, Lv Qingsong, had a sturdy build and looked to be in his forties. Judging by his face, he did not seem to be good-tempered.


    After being alerted and findingrge quantities ofmp oil around Qing Song Vige as well, Lv Qingsong was furious. He wished he could take the young men of the vige and immediately go to Hong Shan Stockade to settle ounts.


    But after calming down, Lv Qingsong began to be suspicious.


    "What if this is Wu Ling deliberately provoking us, nning to turn our three viges against each other, then take us all down in one move?"


    "That...seems rather unlikely, doesn''t it?"


    "The schemes of these Han people have no limit to their cunning," Lv Qingsong said. "Think about it. So muchmp oil was hidden in the woods, yet none of us noticed it until this Li Yao came along and discovered it right away. Vige Chief Ma, we should be cautious about this matter."


    Vige Chief Ma contemted for a moment, seeming to feel he had a point.


    "Then we''ll meet the unexpected with constant purpose."


    ...


    Although Li Yao did not know what the two vige chiefs discussed, judging by the wariness in the eyes of the people apanying her, the result was surely not good.


    This was also within her expectations.


    Just relying on her word alone to make the two viges obedient would be a bit improbable. So before this, she had already thought of countermeasures.


    Vige Chief Ma arranged for her to stay in a separate wooden house, but not far away over a dozen people kept covert watch over her. Li Yao ate when it was time to eat, drank when it was time to drink, then found a chair to sit and rest. At night she went to bed to sleep.


    She waited until midnight before opening her eyes. Moving softly and stealthily she went to the window to check the situation outside.


    There were still people standing guard, but they were much more rxedpared to the daytime.


    Li Yao did not take this little security force seriously. Like a ck mountain cat she slipped out with ease, then went to the bedrooms of Vige Chief Ma and Vige Chief Lv. After trimming their beards and hair to leave only stubble, she soundlessly returned to her room.


    The next morning at first light, a shout came from Vige Chief Ma''s room: "My beard! My hair! Where are they?"

 Chapter 152: This is not a Place to Stay.

    <h4>Chapter 152</h4>


    Ma Vige Chief¡¯s beard wasn¡¯t very long, but he had a head of thick, ck hair. Who knows how, he went to sleep with a full head and woke up with just stubble left!


    He wasn¡¯t worried about losing his hair and beard, but he was scared that someone could cut his hair and beard without him even knowing.


    If this person wanted his life...


    Just thinking about it sent chills down Ma Vige Chief''s spine.


    But at least he still had his life. He felt this whole thing was too bizarre, he couldn''t stay here any longer!


    So he quickly gathered the men who hade with him, nning to slip away quietly. But who would''ve thought, as soon as they left the wooden house, they were blocked by dozens of the brawny men from Xiao Wa Vige.


    "What''s the meaning of this?"


    Seeing his hair and beard, all these men were stunned.


    "Ma Vige Chief, what happened to your hair and beard?"


    "Humph," Ma Vige Chief let out a cold humph, "I should be asking you! I came all this way to your little Xiao Wa Vige, yet you pull these kinds of tricks, cutting off my hair and beard in the middle of the night while I''m unaware! Tell me, just what are you trying to do?"


    The group of men looked at each other speechlessly. Finally someone stepped forward and said, "Ma Vige Chief, don''t be angry. Actually, we''re blocking your way for a reason."


    "What reason?"


    "Because...because our vige chief''s hair and beard are gone too."


    "What?"


    Overnight, both vige chiefs had their hair and beards cut off by someone, and they still didn''t know who did it. This was truly a disgrace!


    Ma Vige Chief went to Lv Vige Chief''s residence, and sure enough, he discovered that his hair and beard were also reduced to stubble, just like his own.


    The two looked at each other, feeling more and more uneasy.


    "If I find out who did this, I''ll make them pay!"


    Ma Vige Chief let out a vicious threat, but everyone knew it was useless. They all started to suspect Li Yao, but also felt that a woman wouldn''t have the capability to do this.


    Just as they were at a loss, someone said that Li Yao had arrived.


    "Invite her in."


    Li Yao strode into the room from outside. Seeing that she didn''t have a hint of surprise on her face, the two vige chiefs'' hearts thumped wildly.


    "Mistress Li, what brings you here?"


    "I''vee to return something to you."


    As she spoke, Li Yao took out a cloth bundle and ced it on the table. Lv Vige Chief opened it and his hands shook in shock.


    Inside the bundle was piles of long and short strands of hair and beards.


    "Li Yao, was this your doing?" Ma Vige Chief suddenly erupted in rage. "You''ve got some nerve! Cutting off our hair and beards, and you still dare show your face here? Do you believe I''ll take you down right now?"


    "Mistress Li," Lv Vige Chief wasn''t as impulsive, but he too felt a spark of anger. "Why did you do this?"


    "I just wanted to tell you, if I wanted to destroy your Xiao Wa Vige and Qing Song Vige, it would be easy as pie."


    "Arrogant!" Lv Vige Chief mmed the table and whipped out his curved de. "I''ll see just how capable you really are!"


    Faced with his provocation, Li Yao didn''t even bat an eysh.


    Instead, she continued speaking to Lv Vige Chief, "What do you think, Lv Vige Chief?"


    "Me?" Lv Vige Chief pondered briefly. "I''m just a little confused. If you have such capabilities, why not take down Hong Shan Stockade directly, rather thaning to us?"


    "Because I don''t just want to uproot Hong Shan Stockade, I also want to openly and honorably take down Wu Ling, without causing a war between the two countries," Li Yao said. "Also, doing it this way benefits your two viges as well. After seeding, you''ll have made huge contributions, and in the future will be able to conduct business with Da Ling on equal footing."


    Lv Vige Chief probed her intentions and was surprised that a woman like Li Yao could have such foresight.


    He had really underestimated her before.


    This time, he didn''t hesitate any longer and immediately agreed, "Mistress Li, don''t worry. Our two viges will follow your arrangements."


    "What about you, Ma Vige Chief?" Li Yao asked with a smile.


    That smile made Ma Vige Chief feel a chill down his neck, but he absolutely could not lose face: "Humph, I''ll need to think about it some more."


    "Then I''ll await good news from Ma Vige Chief," Li Yao said. "Please, both vige chiefs start preparations today. We''ll make our move in a few days when Ie again."


    After Li Yao left, Ma Vige Chief copsed down in exhaustion, staring at the hair on the table, unable to calm his heart for a long time.


    Looks like from now on, he''d have to jolt awake in fear whenever he slept...


    ...


    The troops Wu Ling had sent to "clean up" Hong Shan Stockade had just returned to their station when Zhang County Captain found an excuse to slip away and briefly reported the situation to Liu Yun.


    Although he knew Wu Ling was just putting on a show, when he found out those thousand plus troops had just gone to stomp around without doing anything, Liu Yun was still so angry his nose went crooked.


    "I''m going back to see him again!"


    The two returned to the general''s mansion. Today, Wu Ling was in a good mood, enjoying opera in the garden.


    Over a dozen performers were singing on a stage while Wu Ling lounged sideways on a bamboo bed, getting his shoulders and legs massaged by two beauties, looking utterly content.


    At his side, Private advisor Tang was also listening to the opera while sipping fine wine from small cups.


    "General, the young man who came with Li Yao requests an audience."


    "Li Yao didn''te herself?"


    "No."


    Wu Ling sat up and asked Private advisor Tang next to him, "I heard that Ninth Prince was previously in Riverbend Vige. I think this young one looks fair-skinned and tender, could he be Ninth Prince?"


    "Oh General, the emperor is far away over the mountains, we don''t even heed His Majesty''s decrees here, what do we have to fear from a powerless little prince?"


    "It''s not that I fear him," Wu Ling said. "But he is royalty after all. As long as we don''t tear off the masks, we should give him some thin face. If he really is Ninth Prince, it won''t look good to ask him for money.


    Private advisor Tang thought for a moment. "That''s easy to deal with. Since his identity as a prince is inconvenient, we''ll just deny his identity. How could a real prince run here on his own without any guards? He must be an imposter! It''s the same with that Li woman, as long as she doesn''t reveal her identity, we''ll pretend to be unaware and do as we wish."


    Wu Ling nodded repeatedly after hearing this.


    This advisor really was the smartest one he had ever met, not only able to turn problems into nothing, but also help him earn big money.


    Prior to Private advisor Tang''s arrival, his biggest source of ie was collecting "service fees" from passing merchant groups, and skimming a bit off the military provisions. Nothingpared to now, where he could get tens of thousands of taels in one go.


    In the future, once he had full control over the trade routes after destroying Xiao Wa Vige and Qing Song Vige, he could expect daily influxes of gold.


    "Then I''ll listen to the advisor," Wu Ling said. "We should put on a show when hees, let him fall into our trap."


    "The general is wise."


    Soon, Liu Yun was brought in.


    Seeing Wu Ling indulging in pleasure again, Liu Yun felt a ze of anger re up inside him.


    "General Wu, you really do live afortable life."


    "Who do you think you are?" Private advisor Tang scoffed. "How is it any business of yours how the general spends his days?"


    Hearing this, Liu Yun, who already had a bellyful of anger, became even more incensed.

 Chapter 153: You can’t trap a Wolf.

    <h4>Chapter 153</h4>


    He gritted his teeth and said, "I heard that the thousand troops General Wu sent out set up camp at the entrance of Hong Shan Stockade and then came back without even trying to rescue people. General, we''ve already paid for the army''s provisions. We can''t just throw that money into the water, can we?"


    "How dare you!"


    Private advisor Tang mmed the table and stood up furiously.


    "You think rescuing people is as easy as you imagine?" Private advisor Tang said. "Besides, the General has his own ns. How dare you arbitrarily question and frame the General for colluding with Hong Shan Stockade? What are you plotting?"


    "I..."


    Liu Yun didn''t expect this guy to be so shameless as to pin such charges on him just because he asked a question.


    As expected of the Private advisor, impressive, impressive.


    "Am I not even allowed to ask questions?"


    "You still dare to talk back?" Private advisor Tang sneered. "Guards, lock him up in the dungeon!"


    "You dare!"


    "Why wouldn''t I dare?" Private advisor Tang said. "You''re just amoner. Not kneeling when you see the General and boldly speaking recklessly, locking you up for half a year would be reasonable andwful! Take him away!"


    Liu Yun was so angry he thought his head would explode.


    He had never imagined that ordinarymoners were likembs to be ughtered in front of Wu Ling without any say.


    What should he do now?


    If he didn''t reveal his identity, he would be locked up.


    In the end, he suppressed his anger and allowed two guards to take him away.


    "Humph, this brat is quite good at enduring. I wonder what he''ll do after revealing his identity."


    "What else can he do?" Private advisor Tangughed. "It''s not our problem that he didn''t identify himself. As forter, we''ll just let him out. But by then, everything will be settled, how could a prince like him turn the tides?"


    "Private advisor, you are so scheming."


    "Mrs. Li, you''re finally back."


    Seeing Li Yao, Shi Tou felt as if he saw his lifesaver.


    Seeing his anxious look, Li Yao knew something must have happened while she was away.


    "You said the Ninth Prince was locked up?"


    "Yes!" Shi Tou was drenched in sweat and said, "We didn''t expect Wu Ling to be so bold as to imprison the prince! What do we do now?"


    After thinking for a moment, Li Yao understood what had happened.


    It must be that Liu Yun didn''t identify himself, so Wu Ling found some excuse to lock him up. This way he wouldn''t get in the way, and Liu Yun could only swallow this silent grievance.


    She recalled that Private advisor Tang must havee up with the idea. This guy really was a sly old fox, catching them as soon as there was a slight w.


    "Locking up the prince is no trivial matter," Captain Zhang said. "Should we send someone to summon the Prefecture Army from Yizhou?"


    "No need."


    What good would summoning the Prefecture Army do?


    At most, Wu Ling would just apologize and make amends to Liu Yun. That wouldn''t punish him at all.


    So they still had to follow the original n and set a trap to make Wu Ling jump in himself.


    But with a sly old fox like Private advisor Tang, it wouldn''t be easy to trick him.


    It looked like they had to up the ante.


    So she had Captain Zhang help her find paper and brush to write.


    Watching the nk pages turn into Silver Bills under Li Yao''s brush, Captain Zhang''s eyes nearly popped out.


    Forging Silver Bills was...was a grave crime!


    "Mrs. Li, what do you n to do with these Silver Bills?"


    "Give them to Wu Ling."


    "But...forget that it''s illegal, Wu Ling will definitely be able to tell they''re fake."


    "It doesn''t matter. I''m just going to show them to him from afar, not actually give them to him. After it''s done, I''ll burn them up and there won''t be any evidence."


    After making a thick stack of Silver Bills, Li Yao went to the General''s residence.


    Unlike Liu Yun''s outburst, she just calmly took out the stack of Silver Bills and disyed them in front of Wu Ling and Private advisor Tang.


    "General Wu, it''s my fault the troops came back empty-handed this time."


    "Oh? How is it your fault?"


    "First, five thousand taels of silver was too little. It wasn''t nearly enough for the army''s provisions," Li Yao said. "Second, there were too few troops, not enough to attack Hong Shan Stockade and rescue people. So this youngdy is willing to pay 100,000 taels of silver. Please ask General Wu to dispatch troops again to rescue my cousin Liu Yuan."


    100,000 taels?


    Even as a General, Wu Ling was inwardly shocked at this time.


    This Mrs. Li really was wealthy to casually take out 100,000 taels without blinking.


    Just as he was about tough and ept it, Li Yao took the Silver Bills back: "But I have one condition."


    "Speak."


    "I won''t hand over these Silver Bills until after my cousin Liu Yuan is rescued. And this time, I hope the General can personally lead the troops into battle to inspire morale," Li Yao said. "It''s not that I distrust the General, but since this is my entire worth, I have to be prudent. I can sign a contract with the General so he doesn''t think I''ll go back on my word."


    Seeing the pile of silver slipping away, Wu Ling''s heart itched like a rabbit''s paw. He quickly nced at Private advisor Tang to ask his opinion.


    As expected of the sly old fox, Private advisor Tang''s eyes turned and he had an idea: "There''s no such saying. The army is about to march and needs to eat right away, the horses need to be fed. You can''t expect the troops to eat grass roots, right?"


    "I can pay 5,000 taels first as a deposit."


    As long as there were tangible benefits, Private advisor Tang had no objections. Even if Li Yao didn''t pay afterwards, at least he''d have 5,000 taels on hand and certainly wouldn''t lose out.


    As for having Wu Ling personally lead the troops, it was just a few dozen miles. He could just take it as going out for a stroll.


    Seeing Private advisor Tang nod, Wu Ling said, "Alright, we''ll do as you say."


    Li Yao took out 5,000 taels of real silver bills. Added to the previous amount, she had taken out 10,000 taels, almost all her cash on hand.


    But she wasn''t too reluctant. After all, she could get this money back sooner orter.


    One had to spend money to set a trap for the wolves.


    ...


    The next morning, Wu Ling put on light armor. Surrounded by personal guards, he came to the parade grounds and personally reviewed the troops.


    There were a total of 6,000 troops stationed here. Aside from the 1,000 left behind for logistics and defense, the remaining 5,000 were arrayed into square formations, along with several oxen pulling contraptions like catapults. They set off for Hong Shan Stockade with great fanfare.


    If one didn''t know better, they''d really think a fierce battle was about to take ce.


    But Captain Zhang in their midst knew those catapults didn''t even have fire oil ammunition loaded. They were just for show.


    However, since he knew, Captain Zhang certainly wouldn''t just let things be. His mission this time was to really stir up trouble between the garrison and Hong Shan Stockade.


    He and Liu Hu hid some fire oil ammunition in grain transport carts and had some new recruits transport them.


    With someone else doing the hardbor, the veterans were naturally happy to rx.


    Captain Zhang chatted and joked with them as they went to deliberately distract them.


    "Hey, this is a great job. Just going for a walk but getting paid 1 tael of silver. Our General must have made a fortune recently."


    "You bet," Captain Zhang lowered his voice and said. "I heard the family of the person they captured gave our General 500,000 taels of silver."


    "How much?"

 Chapter 154: A Mountain of Sickness

    <h4>Chapter 154</h4>


    "500,000 taels? Are you kidding?"


    "For just a few lives, could they be worth 500,000 taels? Does a merchant have so much money?"


    "This is what my brother saw with his own eyes. He was there at the time," Zhang County Captain said. "Also, money can be borrowed if there is none, and people can earn more money when they return. But if people are gone, everything is gone."


    "That does make some sense."


    But the veteran soldiers traveling with them felt a little unhappy about this in their hearts.


    The general gets 500,000 taels, and they only get 1 tael.


    It''s uneven distribution that upsets people, no matter how they think about it.


    Under Zhang County Captain''s lead, the rumor spread like it had grown wings. In less than an hour, the whole army knew about it. The previously lively and chatty troops quieted down.


    Everyone stopped joking around and spoke in hushed voices, almost entirely about their dissatisfaction with Wu Ling.


    Several die-hard centurions loyal to Wu Ling also noticed this situation, but thought it was because the weather was too hot and everyone had lost their cheerfulness, so they didn''t think much of it.


    This was good too. Everyone marched vigorously toplete the mission faster and return sooner to collect their money.


    As the troops advanced, Li Yao once again went to the Little Wa stockade.


    Following her instructions, the two stockades selected 200 able-bodied and fierce warriors, led by the younger Wa Vige Chief, tounch a surprise attack through the secret passage with her.


    The remainingbat-capable men led by the old Vige Chief took some heavy supplies and secretly hid in the woods near Redwoods Vige.


    Wu Ling could not stand long marches through the woods, so this time he did not dawdle likest time. By dusk that day, the army had arrived across from Redwoods Vige.


    Because they had given advance notice, Redwoods Vige across the valley had long shut its gates with not a soul in sight, posing a staunch defensive stance.


    Seeing they were doing well, Wu Ling rxed. He ordered the troops to quickly cook dinner and prepare to attack Redwoods Vige overnight.


    After all, the sooner begun, the sooner done.


    The soldiers all knew it was just for show, so they did not feel like a great battle was imminent. They sat in groups of threes and fives waiting for dinner.


    "Big Brother Hong, let me help. Everyone is hungry. The sooner we finish cooking, the sooner we can eat."


    At Liu Hu''s cue, over 100 new recruits joined cooking. When no one was looking, they secretly added the toxic beans powder Zhang County Captain had distributed into the pots.


    Soon, the food was aromatic. The soldiers who had marched all day picked up their bowls and heartily wolfed it down.


    Zhang County Captain also sat with his bowl among several veterans.


    But after a few bites, he suddenly stopped.


    "Brothers, something feels wrong."


    "What''s wrong?"


    "My stomach," Zhang County Captain said. "You guys keep eating. I need to go to the woods for a bit."


    The veterans looked at him in disgust, but soon they also felt something very wrong and hurriedly threw down their bowls and chopsticks to run towards the woods.


    Like a chain reaction, all 5,000+ soldiers in the army did the same.


    In no time, squatting figures could be seen everywhere in the woods on the hillside. It was a magnificent scene.


    "No no, it must be a problem with the food!"


    The officers leading the soldiers, who also had rumbling stomachs, realized the severity of the matter between trips in and out. They finally squeezed their legs together to report to Wu Ling.


    "You''re saying there''s a problem with the food?"


    "Yes, general. Most likely because the hot weather spoiled the supplies we brought," one centurion reported. "Now all the officers and soldiers are afflicted. General, what should we do?"


    Wu Ling had been a top general for over ten years yet never encountered such an issue before. He was immediately furious.


    "Arrest whoever was responsible for cooking! Such dereliction of duty will be punished by militaryw!"


    "No rush, general," Master Tang said instead. "This may not be a bad thing."


    "Master Tang, please exin," Wu Ling said.


    "The spoiled food made the soldiers sick with upset stomachs, leaving them too weak to fight. They must return to base to recover," Master Tang said. "General, Heaven itself is helping us!"


    Wu Ling realized it made sense after hearing this.


    This way, they did not even need to feign an attack and could directly march back.


    "I''m just afraid that Li Yao won''t let us off easy and refuse to pay the remaining silver."


    "Hehe, no matter," Master Tang said. "At worst, we''ll have her pay 5,000 taels more for provisions. In a few days after the soldiers have recovered, we''lle again."


    "Good idea. We''ll do just that," Wu Ling said. "Pass down the order for the army doctors to quickly brew medicine to treat the soldiers. We''ll head back tomorrow morning."


    The illness came like a mountain copse.


    Before the army doctors even finished brewing their soups, the soldiers were already so drained from running back and forth they nearly fainted.


    And the illness departed like pulling out silk. After downing a bowl of the soup medicine, not only was there no improvement, but it inexplicably increased the soldiers'' trips to the woods.


    Every wore a pained expression on their face as they kept at it untilte into the night when they were too tired to stay awake. They could only force themselves to sleep despite the stifling stench.


    After most had fallen asleep, Liu Hu followed Li Yao''s instructions himself to search the distant woods for Lv Vige Chief.


    "It''s time."


    "Tell everyone to get up," Lv Vige Chief ordered. "Split into two routes to attack after fifteen minutes."


    "Lv Vige Chief, you can''t truly harm anyone."


    "Don''t worry, young captain. We''re not those kinds of people and don''t want you to retaliate against us in the future," Lv Vige Chief had someone bring out a bundle of arrows. "Look, these arrow shafts have no heads, just cloth bundles wrapped on the tips soaked in a bit of burning oil."


    Liu Hu looked closely and indeed there were no arrowheads.


    And this small amount of burning oil wouldn''t aplish much in the lush green woods, at most burning some tents down.


    "Alright, hurry and retreat once it gets chaotic over there."


    Liu Hu returned to camp and gathered all 100+ of his new recruits.


    The camp would surely descend into chaos soon, and that would be their chance.


    The deep midnight forest was tranquil when a ball of yellow me traced across the pitch-ck night sky with a whooshing sound, suddenly dropping into the camp.


    Then hundreds of fire arrows pelted down like a meteor shower.


    "Ambush¡ª"


    A panicked shout shattered the stillness of the camp.


    "Not good! Redwoods Vige is attacking!"


    "Get up, get up! Redwoods Vige is raiding the camp!"


    Liu Hu''s recruits immediately bellowed loudly, rousing everyone.


    The slumbering soldiers were jolted awake. Opening their eyes to mes everywhere, some tents even catching fire, they instantly dissolved into chaos.


    Seeing the situation deteriorate, a few centurions tried to regain control of their troops.


    "Don''t run around!"


    "What''s the panic? The next one to run will face military...!"


    Wham¡ª


    Before he could finish speaking, a muffled club flew out of the darkness, knocking the centurion out cold where he stood.


    With no leader left, the army descended into even greater chaos.

 Chapter 155: Messing with the Wrong People

    <h4>Chapter 155</h4>


    Many soldiers didn''t even wear armor and fled directly towards the barracks.


    By the time Wu Ling was woken up by the noise, more than half of the people had already disappeared without a trace, and those who remained could barely stand from drinking too much.


    "What''s going on?" Wu Ling was furious and yelled at Private advisor Tang, "What did you tell Qiu Vige Chief? Why did he suddenly attack us?"


    "Well..." Private advisor Tang was scared into a cold sweat, "He probably wanted to make the act look more realistic..."


    "You call this an act?"


    Wu Ling wished he could kick Private advisor Tang off the cliff.


    Many tents were already on fire, not a single captain of hundred could be seen, the soldiers were like headless flies, and more than half had deserted at the first sign of battle...


    This was no longer an army, just a horde of refugees!


    When had his troops be so fragile?


    "Get everyone together here! Any deserters will be executed without question!"


    "Scout the situation immediately and find out what exactly happened!"


    The general''s momentum sobered up the surrounding soldiers.


    They slowly started gathering the troops, hunching their backs, while some went to the outskirts to see what was going on.


    Zhang County Captain pretended to clutch his stomach, looking extremely angry.


    "Those damn Hong Shan Stockade dogs set up a trap for us, trying to wipe out my whole army! Brothers, let''s fight back against them!"


    Although usuallyzy, they were after all hot-blooded young soldiers, stirred up by his words.


    "What are you trying to do?"


    "Don''t act rashly, we haven''t received any orders yet."


    "Orders?" Zhang County Captain sneered, "The camp has been burned down, where are those captains of hundred, captains of thousand? Not even a shadow, they probably fled long ago!"


    The few looked at each other, unwilling to believe it but it did seem to be the truth.


    Zhang County Captain righteously proimed, "We are Wu Ling''s soldiers, how can we let others take advantage of us? Brothers, we''re Wu Ling''s men, follow me and counterattack!"


    Although usually ck, they were after all young hot-blooded soldiers, stirred up by his words to respond.


    "How do you n to counterattack then?"


    "The enemy only set fires but didn''t seem toe over, so their men must still be on the other side," Zhang County Captain said, "So we''ll repay them in kind, an eye for an eye. Don''t we have catapults? Let''s use them against them!"


    "We do have catapults, but nothing to fling..."


    "I know where to find ammo," Zhang County Captain said, "I saw many fire oil bombs in the supply wagons."


    Without their captains of hundred, the soldiers were like troops withoutmanders.


    When encountering an emergency, they could judge the situation and respond ordingly.


    Zhang County Captain led hispany''s soldiers, hunching over and pushing a dozen wagons of fire oil bombs to the already prepared catapults. Then, ignoring his still leaking stomach, he clumsily loaded the fire oil bombs and lit them up.


    "Smash them good for me!"


    Whoosh¡ª


    A huge fireball, like a zing sun rising through the air, flew across the valley and smashed towards Hong Shan Stockade on the other side.


    Boom¡ª


    The first fire oil bomb directly hit the stockade gate, exploding and setting the entire gate aze.


    Whoosh whoosh whoosh¡ª


    One after another, the fire oil bombs streaked across the night sky,nding inside Hong Shan Stockade.


    Wu Ling, who was still gathering troops in front of the tents, waspletely dumbfounded.


    "Who gave the order to attack? Stop it! Stop immediately!"


    But Zhang County Captain''s side moved extremely quickly. By the time people Wu Ling sent to stop them arrived, nearly all the fire oil bombs had been flung already.


    Meanwhile inside Hong Shan Stockade, a huge ze was rising, with many of the houses in the front half of the valley set alight by the fire oil.


    Although there was little real damage, it was still infuriating.


    "What is Wu Ling trying to do?" Qiu Vige Chief watched the small fires gradually put out, but the fire in his heart grew bigger, "This is not how you act!"


    "Vige Chief, could that Wu fellow be using the act as cover to truly attack us?"


    Hearing this, Qiu Vige Chief''s expression changed. That was not impossible.


    Hong Shan Stockade and Wu Ling''s rtionship was based purely on mutual benefit, extremely unstable. Now the other side was openly attacking the stockade, it was very likely they were using the act as a cover for real action.


    Just then, someone rushed over in panic, "Vige Chief! The other side is using fire signals trying to send someone over, it should be Private advisor Tang."


    Qiu Vige Chief''s brows furrowed. After thinking for a moment, he said heavily, "Let hime, I want to see what exnation he can give me!"


    Private advisor Tang soon slid over on the cable line. Before his feet even touched the ground, he angrily said, "Qiu Vige Chief, what is the meaning of this?"


    "What do you mean what is the meaning of this?"


    "You had people shoot arrows and set fires at our barracks in the dead of night, nearly burning down all our tents, what exactly are you trying to do?"


    "What am I trying to do?" Qiu Vige Chief angrily said, "You used catapults to fling fireballs and burned down so many of our buildings, I want to ask what you all are trying to do!"


    "That''s... that''s because you made the first move!"


    "Who knows if you did it yourself as an excuse to attack me?"


    Unable to use the other side of wrongdoing, Private advisor Tang''s eyes shifted as he realized something fishy was going on. He said, "How could we possibly attack you? There must be some deceit going on, we have to investigate this together."


    But just then, screams suddenly rang out from deep inside the stockade. Someone ran over in a panic.


    "What happened?" Qiu Vige Chief cried out in shock.


    "Vige Chief, suddenly many people appeared in the back, from Xiao Wa Vige and Qing Song Vige! They surrounded the vigers and are demanding our unconditional surrender!"


    Qiu Vige Chief felt a buzzing in his head.


    All their able-bodied men were gathered at the front, leaving only the old and weak behind, along with their families, now all held hostage. Who would dare resist now?


    A few hundred people suddenly appearing inside the stockade, the secret passage must have been exposed. But only a limited few knew of that passage, how could it have leaked?


    Private advisor Tang''s calves turned to jelly in shock.


    He knew Hong Shan Stockade was finished, but he absolutely could not go down with it!


    So he turned and ran towards the cable line, jumping into the sliding basket to escape.


    Qiu Vige Chief wouldn''t let him get away. He drew the long de from his waist and severed the cable line in one swing.


    "Ahhhhh¡ª"


    Private advisor Tang''s shriek rang out, followed shortly by a loud thud, then silence.


    "Qiu Vige Chief," a group approached from the back now, led by Ma Vige Chief, "long time no see."


    "So it really was you?" Qiu Vige Chief sneered, "Master Ma, you''ve won this round. But I just want to know, how did you find out about the secret passage into my Hong Shan Stockade?"


    "That? Someone naturally told me about it."


    "Who?"

 Chapter 156: Pardon Your SINS

    <h4>Chapter 156</h4>


    "She seems to be called Ms. Li," Ma Vige Chief said, "The people you captured this time are merchants under her. Qiu Vige Chief, you''ve provoked someone you shouldn''t have this time."


    Who else if not Yao Li would be bad to provoke?


    She''s someone who could shave a man bald in the middle of the night!


    "How do you n to deal with us?"


    "Originally, your Hong Shan Stockade was at odds with our Qing Song Vige and Xiao Wa Vige," Ma Vige Chief said, "But we''ve promised Ms. Li that as long as you''re willing to give up Hong Shan Stockade and rebuild a stockade nearby, and no longermit crimes, but rather do business properly with Great Ling''s merchants, then we''ll spare you."


    Spare us that easily?


    Qiu Vige Chief thought he had misheard, eximing that it was impossible.


    "Can she call the shots?" Qiu Vige Chief asked, "Where is she? I want to ask her in person."


    "Don''t worry, you''ll be able to see her soon," Ma Vige Chief looked at the firelight on the mountain across, saying, "And Wu Ling wille soon too, I guess."


    ...


    At this time, Wu Ling was very nervous.


    Even with dozens of loyal guards protecting him, as long as the army was still in chaos, he felt extremely uneasy.


    He knew that in this expedition, he had vited at least several major military taboos, any one of which could lead to defeat, even death.


    He was a little confused about when exactly he had be so incautious. He only hoped that Master Tang at Hong Shan Stockade could figure things out and end this sudden turmoil as soon as possible.


    Some people brought over the knocked out regimentalmander.


    Seeing his most loyal subordinates beaten like this, Wu Ling''s heart grew heavy.


    Someone was making trouble in secret!


    But who exactly?


    Wu Ling instantly thought of the Ninth Prince.


    Could it be that the Emperor already had suspicions about him and had the Ninth Prince Liu Yune secretly to set a trap for him?


    Thinking of this, Wu Ling broke out in cold sweat, but then felt confused again when he considered that the Ninth Prince may have reallye but without any troops.


    In short, Wu Ling''s mind was inplete disarray at this point.


    Just then, shouting and killing sounds suddenly came from the nearby woods, scaring Wu Ling out of his wits.


    "What''s going on?"


    "Reporting to General, there seem to be many people in the east and north woods! They are Nanzhao Kingdom''s men!"


    "What?"


    To the south here was Hong Shan Stockade, and to the west were endless towering mountains,pletely impassable.


    Now there were enemies to the east and north, so weren''t they surrounded?


    The worst case scenario had finally happened.


    "Take up your weapons and engage the enemy! Go engage them quickly!"


    The soldiers had been shitting themselves all night, and were already nearly spent. To engage the enemy in this state, they were afraid they would only be ughtered.


    "Why are you still dallying?" Seeing that even his personal guards wouldn''t budge, Wu Ling''s anger rose as he shouted loudly, "Anyone who dares not go, will face militaryw!"


    They looked at each other, just about to reluctantly go into battle, when Liu Hu came over leading more than a hundred new soldiers, marching vigorously.


    Seeing them fully armored and energetic, without any sign of exhaustion, Wu Ling was overjoyed.


    "Who are you?"


    "I''m the new centurion, Liu Hu! Leading my old troops to protect the General!" Liu Hu saluted with sped hands, "We''ve already scouted that the attacking enemies are from Xiao Wa Vige and Qing Song Vige, numbering around two thousand."


    "Very good, very good," as long as it wasn''t Hong Shan Stockade, then everything could be talked through, Wu Ling said, "Liu Hu, I now appoint you regimentalmander, lead the army to engage the enemy!"


    "Yes!" Liu Hu acknowledged, "But General, the enemy has great numbers, I''m afraid amidst the chaos the General may be identally injured. Please find a safe ce for the General."


    Wu Ling felt this young man was quite sensible, and wasforted in his heart.


    He really should find a safe ce.


    Now that it was confirmed not to be Hong Shan Stockade causing trouble, then the stockade across would be safe.


    "Alright, I''ll take twenty personal guards and temporarily go to Hong Shan Stockade."


    "Hong Shan Stockade?" Liu Hu feigned puzzlement, "General, Hong Shan Stockade belongs to the Nanzhao Kingdom, if you go there, aren''t you afraid they might have..."


    "No need, I''m on good terms with the Chief of Hong Shan Stockade."


    As soon as the words left his mouth, Wu Ling suddenly felt the situation was bad.


    How could he have casually spoken of this?


    And what chilled his heart was that Liu Hu''s face already revealed a hint of a smile.


    He turned and said loudly to the surrounding troops: "Everyone heard that! Wu Ling is themanding general of the garrison, yet he is colluding with Hong Shan Stockade, this is the crime of treason! Someonee, arrest him!"


    "You dare!" Wu Ling panicked and bellowed, "I''m the general, I hold the military talisman, you all must obey mymands! This Liu Hu is trying to rebel amidst the chaos, you all must arrest him for me!"


    The troops looked at each other, at a loss for what to do for the moment.


    Wu Ling''s collusion with Hong Shan Stockade was something they all knew perfectly well.


    By principle, they had benefited from it too, Wu Ling had only cheated some money from the merchants, and had not cost any lives or endangered Great Ling thus far, so they had just quietly taken the money.


    But now that someone had exposed this, the nature of it became different.


    "Why are you dallying,e at me!" Wu Ling yelled at his personal guards, "How have I treated you all this whole time? And now you actually dare disobey my orders? I''m telling you, if I fall, you lot won''t have any good oue either!"


    Hearing this, the guards suddenly came to their senses.


    That''s right, they and Wu Ling were grasshoppers on the same rope.


    Shing shing shing¡ª


    Gleaming military sabers were unsheathed, dozens of personal guards lined upyer byyer in front of Wu Ling, confronting Liu Hu''s men.


    And those ordinary soldiers, seeing this situation, also gathered around, surrounding both sides.


    Just as swords were drawn and crossbows cocked, a tall, thin figure parted the crowd and strode over swiftly. It was none other than the Ninth Prince Liu Yun.


    "Wu Ling!" Liu Hu said, "The Ninth Prince is here, why don''t you kneel and pay respects?"


    Wu Ling knew things had gone badly.


    Wasn''t this Ninth Prince locked up in prison? How could he have suddenly appeared here?


    "Humph, just because you say he''s the Prince, that makes him the Prince?" Wu Ling forced himself to stay calm, saying, "Daring to impersonate the Prince is punishable by execution of nine generations of your n!"


    Liu Yun had been locked up for a day and a night, and the anger in his heart had built up as high as a mountain.


    But for some reason, at this moment he did not have as much rage as he had imagined, instead feeling exceptionally calm in his heart.


    "Wu Ling, look what this is?"


    Liu Yun took out his personal token and disyed it in front of Wu Ling and everyone.


    Ordinary people wouldn''t recognize this token, but Wu Ling did, and his face instantly turned ashen. Seeing his reaction, the others knew this token was no fake.


    Swish swish swish¡ª


    No one knew who took the lead, but the surrounding soldiers all put away their weapons and bowed to Liu Yun.


    "You have allmitted offenses against militaryw, and by principle ought to face military justice," Liu Yun said loudly to Wu Ling''s personal guards, "But given that you are all good sons of my Great Ling, only misled by Wu Ling, as long as you are willing to repent and renew yourselves, and in the future dutifully protect Great Ling''s territory, this throne will pardon your crimes!"

 Chapter 157: Go Home and lie Flat

    <h4>Chapter 157</h4>


    Can he really be innocent?


    Wu Ling''s personal guards immediately began to waver.


    "Lay down your weapons and surrender," Liu Hu shouted loudly, "Otherwise, I''ll kill without mercy!"


    With both kindness and might, Wu Ling''s guards surrendered instantly.


    Seeing that the situation was lost, even if Wu Ling survived, he would definitely not have good days in Great Ling anymore.


    So he made a decisive decision, turned around and ran towards the nearby cableway.


    He wanted to go to Hong Shan Stockade, and then to Nanzhao Kingdom.


    As long as he still had his freedom, relying on the wealth he had umted over the years, he could still live veryfortably.


    Fortunately, the cable car basket on the cableway was still on this side. Without any hesitation, Wu Ling jumped into the cable car basket, and whisked over to the other side.


    When hended, he saw the Qiu Vige Chief at first nce.


    "Qiu Vige Chief, I''m Wu Ling!"


    The expression on the Qiu Vige Chief''s face was quite interesting.


    "Qiu Vige Chief, what''s wrong with you?" Wu Ling asked, "Where is Private advisor Tang?"


    He had already be a ghost under the cliff.


    The Qiu Vige Chief shook his head. Ma Vige Chief came out from the dark and had Wu Ling tied up.


    "Ms. Li really has amazing foresight," Ma Vige Chiefughed. "This little guy really came, haha......"


    Ms. Li, Liu Yun, as well as Xiao Wa Vige and Qing Song Vige...


    Suddenly, Wu Ling understood everything.


    There was no real battle at all!


    All this was a trap set up to overthrow him!


    But who exactly has such great ability to even unite Xiao Wa Vige and Qing Song Vige?


    He immediately thought of Li Yao. Could it be this woman?


    ...


    The General''s Mansion.


    Liu Yun had already removed Wu Ling''s lounge chair and put up a decent wooden chair.


    At this time, all the major figures had already gathered in the hall of the General''s Mansion.


    Liu Yun sat upright in the main seat, Captain Liu Hu wore armor and sat in the left front seat, next to him were L¨¹ Vige Chief of Xiao Wa Vige, and Ma Vige Chief of Qing Song Vige.


    On the other side were Liu Yuan, as well as Shi Tou and Zhang County Captain who had made great contributions this time.


    The dishes on the table were rtively simple, with some seasonal fruits, and no fine wine. But everyone was clear that what was eaten at this banquet was unimportant. What was important was who they ate with.


    Liu Yun held this banquet, of course, not to treat everyone to eat something, but to stabilize the border between Great Ling and Nanzhao Kingdom and resume normal trade.


    Xiao Wa Vige and Qing Song Vige would naturally be the biggest beneficiaries.


    The two viges had expressed their willingness to move their stockades out and settle near the main roads for the convenience of trade between the two countries'' businessmen.


    There were also enough people. The people of Hong Shan Stockade were divided between the two viges. In fact, many were ordinarymoners who would serve their sentences by doing hardbor for a few years.


    As for the Qiu Vige Chief, he was sent to the Nanzhao Kingdom''s ind, where the Nanzhao King would personally punish him. Of course, this was none of Liu Yun''s business.


    Wu Ling was thrown into prison, and the captains who followed him were stripped of their official positions.


    Fortunately, the money they had embezzled was all recorded, and the remainder that wasn¡¯t squandered by Wu Ling would be returned proportionally to the merchants who had been deceived.


    The most congrattory thing was Liu Hu.


    This guy had just arrived a few days ago. Without even being a captain of a hundred men, he directly became a captain of a thousand men. After the merits were counted, he might be promoted another rank to be a deputy general.


    Of course, everyone present knew that the greatest credit belonged to Li Yao.


    Without her strategies and abilities, it would have been absolutely impossible to resolve this matter so smoothly without harming a single soldier.


    No, the only sacrifice was Private advisor Tang.


    This old cunning character in the end still died under his own greed.


    After the banquet ended, everyone went to do their things. Li Yao and Zhang County Captain also prepared to return to Baichuan County.


    But Liu Yun could not return.


    Such a big thing had happened, a general had been arrested and imprisoned, he had to return to the capital to report this matter to the old man, for him to send another general toe over.


    "Auntie Li," on the way to send Li Yao back, Liu Yun couldn''t help but ask, "Why exactly?"


    He was asking why Li Yao had made such great contributions, yet firmly refused to let him mention anything about her in this matter.


    "If you let me petition achievements for you, with such great merit, you could at least be a fifth-rank nobledy."


    "What''s the use?" Li Yao retorted, "Can it help me grow some crops, or help me make some floor tiles?"


    "But..."


    "I know what you want to say, but I really don''t need it," Li Yao was going to properly retire when she returned this time, "Give the credit to you, and you can use it to do more things."


    Use the credit to do more things?


    But what exactly should be done?


    Or rather, what should be done?


    Liu Yun had always known that he could never inherit the throne and be the ruler of a country to govern the world. He didn''t want to care about those things either.


    Previously, he only wanted to live afortable life this lifetime, to live as he pleased. But now it seemed like he had another goal.


    He wanted to protect Li Yao,


    to protect Li Yao, he had to protect He Wan vige, he had to protect Baichuan County well.


    To protect a county, he had to at least be a magistrate.


    But he was a prince, he couldn''t be a magistrate. The only way was...to be a prince?


    Then benefit the entire Yizhou Prefecture, and build a prosperous and stable backyard for Great Ling!


    In an instant, it was as if Liu Yun suddenly understood everything.


    As expected of Auntie Li, with such insight, he couldn''t catch up to her even on horseback!


    "Auntie Li, I understand now!" Liu Yun said, "I will definitely not fail to live up to your expectations."


    Li Yao asked in confusion: "What do you understand?"


    "Auntie, don''t worry, I will work hard to do it." Liu Yun said, "Auntie, have a safe trip, I won''t see you off any further!"


    Watching Liu Yun wave goodbye to her, Li Yao was even more confused.


    So what exactly did this guy understand?


    Returning to the familiar He Wan vige, Li Yao was ready to liepletely t this time.


    Now there were endlessnds to farm at home, chickens, ducks, pigs and cattle were all in groups, all kinds of vegetables were grown patch by patch, and the rice in the paddy fields was also growing well.


    The hot pot business was now run by Du Xiao Hui''s mother again, the production of soap, lye soap and herbal paste was stable, bicycle factory orders kepting, and the tile factory was also gradually getting on track. The concrete made with lime also produced a little bit every day.


    These industries brought her at least a few hundred taels of silver in ie every day.


    Although there were still many things that could be done, being able to enter the top 500 nationwide was enough for Li Yao.


    It was just right like this. Any more would bring more troubles to her door, and she didn''t want to work hard and contend with important people like this time.


    This was not the life she wanted.


    Ding ling ling...


    The bell rang, Li Yao rode her custom-made speed changer bicycle, raced towards Baichuan Town at lightning speed, overtaking many trishaw riders along the way.

 Chapter 158: The Retired Man

    <h4>Chapter 158</h4>


    When Li Yao arrived at the market, she headed straight for the stalls and bought a few jin of fresh pork belly.


    Although the chili peppers in the fields were still small, she could make do with a tter if she picked carefully, so today she wanted to make stir-fried pork with chili peppers.


    Hanging the few jin of meat on her bike''s handlebars, Li Yao saw Liu Hunter from the next vige over leading two fawns for sale, so she bought them on the spot.


    The family was already raising plenty of animals, so raising two more fawns wouldn''t be an issue.


    With all her shoppingplete, Li Yao rode her bike home, leading the two fawns behind her, ambling leisurely along.


    The whole way the road was smooth, with idyllic farnd on either side. With no worries about food or money and no need to work herself, this ideal retired life had been Li Yao''s for almost half a month now.


    Blissful.


    When she got back home, before even entering the kitchen, Li Yao smelled the aroma of cooked rice.


    The cook Song Zhe had brought was gone, could it be that He Xiaoya was ignoring her instructions and cooking again?


    Entering the kitchen, Li Yao was slightly surprised.


    Bustling busily in front of the stove was none other than Da Zhuang, while He Xiaoya sat behind the stove, helping him tend the fire.


    "Mother, you''re back," Da Zhuang had on a flowery apron and was washing a wind-dried wild chicken, "Today I''m going to cook this chicken."


    "Since when do you know how to cook?"


    "I don''t know how, but I can learn," Da Zhuang said with a silly smile, "Just happened that there wasn''t much to do in the fields today, so I figured I shouldn''t make you cook every day."


    Li Yao thought to herself that cooking was one of her daily joys, and now he was trying to deprive her of it?


    But still, a grown man like Da Zhuang willing to put on a flowery apron and cook for her did feel nice.


    "I bought meat today, let''s stir fry spicy pork bellyter," said Li Yao, putting the meat in a basin, "Have Xiaoya teach you."


    "Okay!"


    With nothing more for her to do in the kitchen, Li Yao led the two fawns to chop some bamboo to make them an enclosure.


    Animals like fawns are easily startled, and getting overly frightened can make them sick, so she had to find them a quiet spot.


    "Mother, what are you doing?"


    While chopping bamboo, Wang Xiao Si somehow popped out from who knows where, drenched in sweat, with mud smeared all over his face.


    "Chopping bamboo to build an enclosure."


    "Then let me help you!"


    Wang Xiao Si had grown several centimeters taller in the past half year, and gotten noticeably stronger. Most importantly, the little guy was getting more and more sensible, and was learning everything quite proficiently.


    Li Yao nned to send him to school after this summer.


    She gripped the cleaver and hacked through a bamboo shoot with a crack, and Wang Xiao Si dragged it out with all his might.


    Mother and son coordinated pretty well, and quickly chopped a big pile.


    But when trimming the bamboo branches, Li Yao wasn''t careful and nicked her finger on the tip.


    "Mother, you''re hurt?"


    Wang Xiao Si hastily threw down the bamboo shoot and ran over, grabbing Li Yao''s hand to take a look. Then he put her finger right in his mouth and sucked hard, like he was nursing, forcefully drawing out the blood.


    "Who taught you to do that?"


    "Big brother taught me," said Wang Xiao Si, "He said if you get hurt, you have to suck the blood from the wound, otherwise it will get infected and you''ll get sick. Wait here, I''ll go grab some cloth."


    Wang Xiao Si dashed back from the house with clean cotton cloth and a small bottle of medicinal wine. He carefully washed Li Yao''s wound, then wrapped it thickly in cotton, tying it gently with a thin thread.


    Looking at her finger wrapped up like a mummy, Li Yao didn''t know whether tough or cry.


    Such a tiny cut would heal up in no time if she just slowed her movements!


    "Mother, you just rest, let big brother finish thister," said Wang Xiao Si, pressing down on Li Yao''s shoulders, "You''re tired, let me massage you a bit."


    His small hands adeptly kneaded her shoulders. While not professionally done, this was still the first massage service Li Yao had enjoyed sinceing to this world.


    "Mother, I noticed you''re even more beautifultely."


    Li Yao: ......


    "Who taught you to say things like that?"


    "No one taught me," said Wang Xiao Si, "But everyone in the vige is saying it. They say you look best in official robes, but I think you''re prettiest in regr clothes, mother."


    "Oh? Why''s that?" asked Li Yao. Those official robes were quite well-made after all.


    "When you wear official robes, it just feels like you''re a big official, not like mother."


    Li Yao couldn''t helpughing. A child''s heart really was just that simple and direct.


    She didn''t actually like wearing official garb either. She was just a retiree! Wearing soft,fy cotton at home would be so much nicer. If not for this world still being so feudal, she''d love to lounge around the house in pajamas and slippers all day.


    "Mother."


    "Hm?"


    "I miss third brother."


    As he said this, Li Yao recalled that third brother had gone with Grand Marshal Xu to the northern bordends, and it seemed like almost two months now.


    "Do you think third brother is in danger, going to the border to fight?"


    "Your third brother is pretty capable," said Li Yao. "He should be fine under normal circumstances."


    "So there is still danger?" Wang Xiao Si scurried around to face Li Yao. "Then mother, will you teach us martial arts too? Once we learn it, we can all go help third brother fight!"


    It wasn''t that Li Yao looked down on her three sons, but they really weren''t suited for practicing martial arts.


    Da Zhuang had the strength, but was too old, his body no longer flexible enough. Second brother Wang Er even less so, clearly a bookish type. As for Wang Xiao Si, his physical ability was decent, but aside from math he was hopeless at everything else.


    But thinking it over, martial arts wasn''t just for fighting battles. It was good for strengthening the body too.


    She could also teach them each some targeted self-defense skills ording to their individual traits. That way if they ran into minor incidents in the future, they wouldn''t be totally helpless to retaliate.


    "Alright, mother will teach you."


    "Yay! I''m telling big brothers right now!"


    Wang Xiao Si sped off like the wind, but halfway there dashed right back. "Mother, it''s too hot outside, let''s rest inside. Yesterday I helped sister-inw brew sour plum soup, it''s chilling in the ice cer. I''ll bring it out for you to drink."


    Dragged back home by Wang Xiao Si, when Wang Er returned from school and saw the cotton wrapped around her finger, he immediately tossed aside what he was doing.


    "Mother, how did you get hurt?"


    "What, auntie is hurt?" Song Zhe had been sneaking snacks in the kitchen, and upon hearing rushed right over. "Oh no, it''s that badly injured? I''m going to town right now to fetch the medic."


    Then he ran towards the bike in the yard.


    "Come back!"


    Li Yao unwrapped the cotton from her finger and showed them the cut.


    "It''s already healed."


    Wang Er: ......


    Song Zhe: ......


    With a wound that small wrapped up so thickly, this could only be Wang Xiao Si''s doing.


    Seeing everyone''s strange looks directed his way, Wang Xiao Si stood there holding a basin of ice-cold sour plum soup,pletely baffled.


    Brothers, what did I do wrong?

 Chapter 159: Practice Gong

    <h4>Chapter 159</h4>


    Under Xiaoya''s guidance, the stir-fried pork cooked by Da Zhuang was quite salty and vorful, though the meat was cut a little too thick.


    "Mother, eat more chili peppers," Xiao Si put a big handful of chili peppers in Li Yao''s bowl, and also gave some to He Xiaoya, "Sister-inw, you eat more too."


    He Xiaoya really liked eating chili peppers, but Chun Ning had said that she could not eat anything too spicy, otherwise it would be bad for the child in her belly.


    Chun Ning was a maid Liu Yun had called from the Capital City. Although she was only seventeen, she knew a lot of things. She had been apanying He Xiaoya these days, and the two were now like close sisters.


    But these chili peppers weren''t that spicy. Eating a little should be fine, right?


    "Chun Ning, can I eat this much?"


    "Eat half," Chun Ning said. "I''ll take the other half."


    "Okay."


    With the chili peppers, the meal tasted much more fragrant.


    "Mother," Da Zhuang asked, "We still have a lot of leftover chili peppers. Should we keep them to stir-fry more, or should I pickle them?"


    "You know how to pickle vegetables?"


    "I don''t, but I can learn," Da Zhuang said. "For household chores like this, I can''t always let Mother do them."


    "Then I''ll teach you when I have time."


    Li Yao felt that Da Zhuang was like a different person these past few days.


    Previously, he would be busy working in the fields every day, leaving before dawn and noting back until dark.


    But now he had started learning to do housework. Could it be that since he was about to be a father, he was paying special attention to these things?


    "Right," Li Yao said, "Starting tonight, you boys can train with me."


    "Great!" Song Zhe''s eyes immediately lit up, "Auntie, I''ve wanted to learn some moves from you for a long time, but didn''t dare ask because I was afraid you wouldn''t teach me."


    "Do I need to train too?" Wang Er asked.


    "Of course."


    "But...I still want to study more at night."


    Wang Er wanted to participate in the county exam this autumn.


    Although it was a bit rushed, if he missed this opportunity, he would have to wait another two years.


    He didn''t really want to wait, so ever since passing as an academically-talented person, he had studied even more diligently. Plus, the tutor Liu Yun had called from the Capital City was quite capable, so he still had a decent chance.


    "Studying is indeed important," Li Yao said, "But schrs must also focus on exercising their bodies. Only then will your mind...I mean, your wits be more nimble."


    Everyone present was stunned. They had never heard of such an idea!


    Even Chun Ning, who had grown up in the Capital City and was quite worldly, had never heard this before.


    She only knew that the schrs in the Capital City would either study desperately day and night, or rxpletely for a few days. She had never seen anyone exercise their body.


    This mistress of the household really seemed a bit different from the norm.


    "Alright, I''ll listen to Mother on this."


    After settling the matter, Li Yao began making some preparations.


    Including Song Zhe, there were four boys total, and each had different physiques and strengths, so she would need to teach them individually.


    That afternoon, she made a simple n.


    After dinner, the four boys were called to the spacious yard. The revolving watermill fan blew away the heat from their bodies.


    "Mother, how should we train?" Da Zhuang asked.


    "Go lead that bull from the pen over."


    A bull?


    The brothers were puzzled.


    Weren''t they supposed to be training martial arts? Why did they need to lead a bull over, was Mother going to teach them how to plow fields?


    Da Zhuang quickly led over a sturdy adult bull. It was the calf they had bought previously, and had grown quite big, but had not yet done any serious plowing.


    "Da Zhuang, your task is simple," Li Yao said. "Find a way to wrestle it to the ground."


    The brothers: "..."


    "Wrestling bulls, what kind of martial arts is that for practicing?"


    "It''s not any kind of martial arts, just wrestling," Li Yao said. "Don''t underestimate it. If practiced to mastery, even a dozen ordinary people would not be a match."


    As soon as Da Zhuang heard this, he became excited.


    He recalled how he had always been bullied by his uncle when he was little, and could never fight back. It had be almost aplex for him.


    "Mother, I will practice diligently."


    Da Zhuang herded the bull to the open ground nearby, then grabbed its horns and tried to push it down.


    But of course the bull would not obediently listen. It twisted its head and almost flung him away. Da Zhuang tried over a dozen times but could not seed. Only then did he realize it was not so simple.


    So he tried hugging its legs, hugging its neck, but the bull''s strength was too great. It easily defused his attacks each time. Da Zhuang was drenched in sweat, but had not even managed to bend one of the bull''s legs.


    "Just practice like this for the first few days," Li Yao said. "Try to find the bull''s weaknesses, and pay attention to using clever force. If you can wrestle it down once, I''ll teach you more techniques."


    "I understand, Mother," Da Zhuang became even more enthusiastic. "I will definitely wrestle it down."


    After seeing Da Zhuang''s training methods, Song Zhe was a bit deterred.


    Wrestling with bulls, he did not have that kind of skill!


    Seeing Li Yao look over at him, Song Zhe quickly said, "Auntie, I don''t have much strength."


    "I know, I won''t make you wrestle bulls." Li Yao smiled.


    "Then what will you teach me?"


    "Is your head hard?"


    "Very hard!" Song Zhe said. "I''ve always won at butting heads since I was little. I''ve never lost to anyone at butting contests with bulls!"


    So-called butting bulls referred to two people pressing their heads together and seeing who could endure longer.


    "Then I''ll teach you the Iron Head skill."


    Song Zhe''s heart thumped rapidly. This name alone sounded very powerful. It was proper martial arts!


    "Auntie, how do I practice it?"


    Li Yao led Song Zhe under the eaves and pointed to the hanging sandbag. "Besides basic training morning and night, use your head to hit it one hundred times. When you feel you can adapt to it, increase the amount."


    "I can do this!"


    Song Zhe was very confident.


    If it was using his head to hit a wall, he might be a little apprehensive.


    But hitting a sandbag... heh heh, this was too easy!


    After all, sandbags were soft. He could punch a dent into one with a fist.


    So he grabbed the sandbag with both hands and mmed his head into it.


    But somehow, the sandbag that had felt rather soft when punching it with fists, now felt no different from hitting a wall when using his head. The vibration made his head buzz.


    "You can go lighter at the beginning, it''s fine if you can''t persist to one hundred hits. Don''t injure yourself."


    "I... understand... understand..."


    Song Zhe was dizzy, but still persisted in hitting his head. After only twenty some hits, he copsed straight away.


    It turned out this Iron Head skill was not so easy to practice either!


    Wang Xiao Si watched merrily on the side, "Mother, it''s Er Ge''s turn now."


    "No hurry, you first."


    "What will I practice?"


    "Running."


    Wang Xiao Si blinked. What was there to practice about running?


    He ran all over the vige every day!


    Li Yao took two small leg bindings, one weighing only half a pound, and tied them to Wang Xiao Si''s ankles.


    "Run one hundredps around the yard at night."


    "Okay, I can definitely finish them!"


    Wang Xiao Si ran off swiftly, leaving only Wang Er.


    Seeing his elder and younger brothers training so arduously, Wang Er felt quite uneasy. After all, he had been reading since childhood and hadn''t done any physical work, so he had no strength at all.


    Even just running, he could not beat Wang Xiao Si.


    "Xiao Hui, bring out the things I told you to prepare."


    Du Xiao Hui quickly brought out two mats from the room, and spread many thick cotton quilts over them.


    Li Yao had Wang Er take off his shoes and the two of them stood on the soft cotton quilts.

 Chapter 160: More difficult than the Four Books

    <h4>Chapter 160</h4>


    ¡°This is called Judo. It sounds like a fighting technique specially prepared for those with weak bodies, but if practiced to perfection, it is not weak at all. It requires two people to practice, so I¡¯ll be your opponent,¡± Li Yao said. ¡°What you need to do is try every means possible to throw me to the ground.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡±


    Wang Er was dumbfounded.


    To make him throw his mother to the ground... this was not a matter of whether he dared or not, but whether he could or not.


    His mother could fell a captain with one sh!


    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, the ground is soft.¡±


    ¡°Then... then son will try.¡±


    Wang Er had never wrestled anyone before, but he had seen it done. He reached out to grab Li Yao''s shoulders, but before he could even touch her, Li Yao seized his hand and suddenly exerted force, flipping him over her shoulder and throwing him on the ground.


    Fortunately there were cotton quilts below, otherwise he might not have been able to get back up after that throw.


    ¡°Again.¡±


    Wang Er shook his body and this time he didn¡¯t grab her shoulders. Instead he tried to hug her waist, but was pulled by Li Yao again. He tripped over his own feet and fell face down in the mud.


    ¡°Again.¡±


    Wang Er tried various methods, but each time before he could even touch the person, he was already sprawled on the ground.


    He seemed to understand a little.


    His mother was not actually teaching him martial arts, because he simply could not learn it. His mother was teaching him how to take a beating!


    ¡°After taking a beating many times, you be unafraid of taking beatings! Mother, is that right?¡±


    Li Yao: ...


    But practicing Judo did seem to be like this - after repeated falls, you gradually learned.


    ¡°You need to feel how I threw you down,¡± Li Yao said. ¡°Then try to figure out how to counter it. Then use the same methods I used to in turn throw me down.¡±


    Wang Er was a little confused by this. It sounded even harder than the Four Books!


    ¡°Auntie, why don¡¯t I practice with him instead?¡± Du Xiao Hui took off her shoes at this time and stepped onto the cotton quilt. ¡°Just now when I was watching for a while, I feel like I learned a little.¡±


    ¡°Then you practice with him.¡±


    Facing Du Xiao Hui, Wang Er was even more hesitant to make a move. After all, men and women were different. He didn¡¯t even know where to grab her.


    But Du Xiao Hui didn''t care about such things. Since Wang Er didn''t make a move, she took the initiative. Grabbing Wang Er''s arm, she pushed and pulled, easily flipping him over her shoulder.


    Of course her strength was smaller, unable to throw Wang Er t on the ground like Li Yao. She even caught Wang Er at thest moment, only letting his feet touch the ground while his body was still suspended in midair.


    ¡°This time throw me like I did to you.¡±


    Having been thrown by a girl, Wang Er still felt a little unwilling. Remembering the method from before, he also wanted to flip Du Xiao Hui over his shoulder.


    But Du Xiao Hui had obviously learned faster than him. Bracing herself, she then countered and threw him. Not steady on his feet, the two tumbled together on the ground.


    Both blushed deep red, hurriedly separating and climbing up from the ground.


    ¡°Cough cough, Brother Wang Er, don''t hold back against me. Use your full strength!¡± Du Xiao Hui said. ¡°Of course I won''t go easy on you either.¡±


    And so the two continued, repeatedly falling down to the ground.


    Seeing Wang Er lose more than he won, Li Yao sighed incessantly in her heart.


    If these two got married in the future, I''m afraid Wang Er''s days would not be easy!


    ...


    And so, the whole family''s martial arts practice began this way.


    At the beginning, the first few days were very difficult and no one felt good.


    Da Zhuang was exhausted every day. Wang Er and Du Xiao Hui threw each other around until they were battered and bruised. Wang Xiao Si was no longer like the wind, even feeling his legs were filled with lead when he walked.


    The most miserable was Song Zhe. After a few days, he was dizzy and muddleheaded almost all the time, feeling like his head would split open.


    But under Li Yao''s supervision, after half a month, everyone gradually adapted. If they went one day without practice, their whole body would feel off.


    As each person''s progress improved, Li Yao continued teaching more techniques. By now Wang Er and Du Xiao Hui had a little bit of a foundation in Judo, and Wang Xiao Si could run around swiftly like the wind again.


    And Da Zhuang''s muscr body was even more bulging, able to pass off as a wrestler with just a cloth wrapped around his forehead.


    Li Yao didn''t make them practice too intensely either. Having them gang up on three or five opponents was good enough.


    Time flew by and soon it was July, right before the Qiqiao Festival.


    In this world, there were no legends of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl, so there was no such festival.


    But recently Li Yao had nothing much to do, so she was prepared to mobilize everyone to celebrate it together.


    Celebrating festivals like this was meaningless if it was just their family. Only when great crowds of people celebrated together was it lively enough.


    Just as she was thinking about how to spread the story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl in the vige, so that everyone could join in celebrating the festival together, the Song County Magistrate couple came in tandem.


    Recently there had been some rain, and the Song County Magistrate was worried some farnd might be washed away by floods, so he had been patrolling each vige almost every day, urging them to promptly deal with any problems that arose.


    After a period of busy work, the originally somewhat fair-skinned Song County Magistrate was now tanned like a piece of charcoal.


    This was Li Yao¡¯s first time seeing him working diligently as an official, and she respected him very much in her heart.


    ¡°Lady Li,¡± the Song County Magistrate said, ¡°today we came first to see how our son is doing, and second because we have an important matter we wish to ask your opinion on.¡±


    Matters like this were already not the first time.


    Whenever he encountered something he couldn¡¯t resolve himself or felt confused about, the Song County Magistrate would choose toe ask Li Yao for advice.


    ¡°County Magistrate Song is too polite. Please go ahead.¡±


    Sincest winter when Baichuan County repaired the roads and built reservoirs and waterways, this year the benefits were already huge. Baichuan County¡¯s economy was getting better and better, and manymoners had earned money.


    But infrastructure construction was still far from idealpared to Li Yao¡¯s proposals of ¡°every household connected by cement roads and running water¡±. There was still a difference of tens of thousands of li, so construction needed to continue.


    But a problem had urred.


    Last winter the county government spent all the money until the coffers were empty. Now with no disasters or cmities, it was also not good to ask the wealthy locals to donate again. Thus infrastructure construction had almostpletely halted.


    So he wanted to ask if there were any good ways for the county government to gain some ie.


    ¡°County Magistrate Song, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°I''ve thought it over and over, and can only think to increase the head tax,¡± the Song County Magistrate said. ¡°But I also know this method is inappropriate. Manymoner households are still very poor, so it would be unfair to them.¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡±


    ¡°Lady Li, I know you must have a clever solution. Please don''t hesitate to enlighten me.¡±


    Wanting to earn money, and wanting liveliness and the taste of mortal life, Li Yao instantly thought of a good method.


    She suggested the Song County Magistrate promote the legend of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl, promote this Qiqiao Festival, and then hold a grand festival in the county city.


    That would take care of having excitement and liveliness, and money could surely be earned too.


    After hearing the story of Cowherd and Weaver Girl, the Song County Magistrate was slightly moved. He considered himself well-read, yet had never heard such a story before.


    Moreover, the meaning behind this story was very appealing tomoners¡¯ tastes.


    ¡°Let¡¯s first find some storytellers and have them spread this story around the outskirts. Then announce that on the seventh day of the seventh month, Baichuan County will hold a grand three-day festival. At that time, not only will all kinds of good things be avable for purchase, but at night, people can appreciate thentern disys and a spectacr fireworks show.¡±


    The Song County Magistrate knew ofntern disys, but fireworks were something unfamiliar.


    ¡°Uh... it¡¯s a little novelty I recently created,¡± Li Yao said. ¡°But it looks best at night, so why don¡¯t County Magistrate Song and his wife stay here tonight to see.¡±

 Chapter 161: Beggars Festival

    <h4>Chapter 161</h4>


    To see the fireworks, not only did Song County Magistrate and his wife stay, but several yamen runners also stayed as well.


    After the previous incident, Zhang County Captain was even more respectful of Li Yao, and got to know her better.


    After dinner, seeing several children practicing martial arts in the yard, Zhang County Captain felt it was quite interesting, especially watching Da Zhuang wrestling with a bull, which made everyoneugh happily.


    "Da Zhuang, you can''t do it like this," Zhang County Captainughed, "You can''t even wrestle down a small calf, you need more practice."


    In fact, Da Zhuang had already wrestled the bull down before, but the bull was also clever, and learned its lesson after one loss. After several times, it became wary. Using the same method to wrestle it down again became very difficult. So in practicing wrestling, both human and bull were making progress.


    Da Zhuang chuckled foolishly, "Brother Zhang, why don''t you try it?"


    "Let''s try it then."


    Zhang County Captain took off his official uniform and went directly in front of the bull.


    Seeing it was a stranger, the little bull became even more vignt. Before Zhang County Captain could make a move, it took the initiative to attack, ramming Zhang County Captain in the belly with its head.


    Caught off guard, Zhang County Captain was knocked off his feet by the blow, almost falling over on the spot. He could only grab the bull''s horns tightly with both hands.


    But the little bull was still unresigned, twisting its head and directly flinging him out, throwing Zhang County Captain sprawling on the ground.


    "Hahaha..."


    The yamen runners burst intoughter: "Boss, you seem even worse at this!"


    Zhang County Captain''s face flushed red with embarrassment: "Hey, you little calf is quite fierce, see how I deal with you today."


    But after several more bouts, Zhang County Captain was battered miserably.


    The bull didn''t get wrestled down once, while he himself was wrestled plenty.


    "There''s something wrong with your family''s bull!"


    Da Zhuang thought to himself, this bull gets taught by me and mom every day, how could anything be wrong with it?


    "Uncle Zhang," Wang Xiao Si blinked and said, "Actually, you can wrestle with my second brother, he also learned a bit recently."


    "Forget it, forget it," Zhang County Captain waved his hands again and again, "I can''t bully people."


    "Are you afraid?"


    "I..."


    Zhang County Captain was speechless with anger.


    How could Wang Er not know? A delicate pretty boy who he could knock down with one hand, yet he was talking about wrestling with him?


    Li Yao also wanted to test Wang Er''s actualbat skills, so she said, "County Captain Zhang, just think of it as ying with Wang Er."


    When Zhang County Captain heard this, he knew something was wrong. Since Mrs. Li said this, Wang Er must have learned some skills.


    What if Wang Er was quite good?


    Just now he was battered by a bull, he couldn''t be the only one losing face, could he?


    So he said to a yamen runner, "Ma Zhao,e over."


    "Coming!"


    Ma Zhao was the smallest of the yamen runners, but still twice the size of Wang Er. No matter how you looked at it, Wang Er would not be his match.


    After exining the rules simply, the two stood facing each other.


    Ma Zhao didn''t take Wang Er seriously either. As soon as it started, he reached to grab Wang Er''s shoulder. But before he could even see Wang Er''s movement clearly, he felt the world spin around him, and was thrown onto the ground.


    "How is this possible..."


    Song County Magistrate and Zhang County Captain were dumbfounded.


    This was still Wang Er?


    In the blink of an eye, he had thrown a strong and sturdy yamen runner to the ground?


    "Wang Er, you rascal, you''ve got skills," Zhang County Captain went up and asked, "How do you have so much strength?"


    "It''s not all about strength," Wang Er exined, "Actually I''m not that strong, it''s about technique."


    "What technique is it? Tell me about it."


    "Actually there''s nothing much to it, just pay attention to the opponent''s movements and exertion of force."


    ...


    The two discussed to the side, while Wang Xiao Si could no longer hold back, feeling his feet itching topete in a race with someone.


    "That''s enough, let''s start setting off fireworks."


    "Good good, let me see them too."


    Under the great expectations of Song County Magistrate and his wife, over a dozenrge firework bundles tied together were carried out from the room.


    Li Yao picked up a piece of charcoal from the stove and lit the fuse.


    Sizzling, the fuse sparked small shes of light, very eye-catching in the darkness.


    "Mmm," Song County Magistrate nodded, "These fireworks do look very good."


    "Yes, sparkling," Zhang County Captain said, "It''s just a bit small. If they could be made as big as a fist, they would definitely look even better."


    Li Yao: ...That''s the fuse!


    Soon the fuse burned into the paper cylinder. Just when everyone thought the first firework had finished, there was suddenly a muffled bang.


    Boom -


    A firework with a small tail shot straight into the night sky, and everyone looked up together. They saw the firework ball that looked like a meteor keep rising higher and higher.


    Bang -


    With a huge boom, the firework exploded, scattering arge cluster of colorful fireworks blossoming open, like a gigantic ming flower blooming in the pitch-ck night sky.


    Previously when Li Yao experimented, she always went alone to the mountains.


    So this was the first time fireworks were shown before the public, giving everyone a deep shock.


    It really was shocking. The gigantic sparks seemed to cover the entire sky, making people feel the vastness of the fields and their own insignificance.


    Song County Magistrate looked up and stared, stunned stiff like a wooden carving.


    He knew that with these fireworks, Baichuan County''s Qiqiao Festival was guaranteed to be a sess!


    The first fireworks show in Hewan Vigested for half a shichen, allowing everyone in the vige to witness this spectacr fireworks disy.


    After finding out this was something newly created by Li Yao, almost all the vigers came over.


    "Sister-inw, how is this made?"


    "Sister-inw, will we be making this from now on?" Wang Dingguo asked, "I feel if we can make more of this, we will definitely earn big money!"


    "The main issue is we can''t make too much of it." Li Yao smiled.


    It wasn''t that fireworks were hard to make, she just didn''t want the gunpowder technology to spread too early.


    Of course, they could still profit from it. Wait until the reputation spreads, then sell exclusively to those wealthy people, or royal nobles, even the imperial pce.


    Anyway these people have money easily, selling each one for 2 taels of silver should not be unreasonable.


    As formon folk, they were still at the stage of seeking food and clothing. Wait until everyone was wealthy, then increase production and let everyone enjoy the beauty of fireworks.


    "Miss Li, these fireworks are too amazing!" It was a long time before Song County Magistrate finally regained his senses, "I just don''t know, how much would it cost to make them? And for Qiqiao Festival, how many can be produced?"


    "They really are expensive to make," Li Yao said, "But this time I will provide the fireworks for Qiqiao Festival for free, for 7 days. Half a shichen each day, and more on the final night, which can be considered my contribution to Baichuan County."


    The reason it was 7 days was naturally because transportation andmunication in this world was too undeveloped. For people further away toe to Baichuan County for the festival, the duration had to be extended.


    "Miss Li is most generous!"


    Song County Magistrate would not be petty over this tiny favor. When the time came, he would naturally give the greatest conveniences to this biggest sponsor.


    But in order to organize arge-scale 7-day festival, the wealthy people of Baichuan County still needed to chip in together, to make it the best possible.


    So the next morning, Song County Magistrate invited the influentialndowners, lower officials, and shop owners of Baichuan County, several dozen people gathered together to discuss this big matter.


    When they heard Baichuan County wanted to organize arge-scale festival, many people started shaking their heads.


    Led by Zhang Guangsheng of Zhangji Restaurant, many did not look favorably on this festival.


    "County Magistrate Song," Zhang Guangsheng said, "Our Baichuan County is too remote, themoners are very poor too. Who wille for such a big festival?"


    "That''s right, the location is too remote, and time is tight, the news might not even spread out."


    "Also, what is this Qiqiao Festival? Never heard of it before!"


    "I just took a look at it," Zhang Guangshengughed, "It said it was about a fairy who insisted on marrying a penniless bachelor who couldn''t even afford a pot. Haha, not even storybooks dare write such a tale!"


    Song County Magistrate had already expected there would be people saying this, so he said, "Everyone, this Qiqiao Festival was jointly discussed and decided by this official and Miss Li. "

 Chapter 162: The Celebration

    <h4>Chapter 162</h4>


    As soon as they heard that it was Li Yao''s idea, some people found it reliable.


    After all, in the present Baichuan County, Li Yao is synonymous with reliability. Whatever business she undertakes, she always makes a big profit.


    "We are willing to believe in the County Magistrate and Lady Li," said Liu Yuanwai. "But we don''t know what the Magistrate wants us to do."


    "Since it''s a celebration, it naturally requires the sale of goods, as well as restaurants and inns. You all need to make some preparations in advance, or else when people arrive, they won''t be able to eat or find a ce to stay. Lady Li and I have made detailed ns, which you can review. Those who need to rent stalls can register with the Shiyemen."


    Zhang Guangsheng took the n and looked at it. He discovered that the center of the celebration was actually an empty space outside the city, where even the neck would be strained.


    "Who woulde to such a ce to buy things in this hot weather?"


    "And," Zhang Guangsheng continued, "the best locations have already been upied by the county government and Lady Li. We can only take some corner spots. Isn''t that unreasonable?"


    "Lady Li has provided a lot of financial support and ideas for the celebration," said Song County Magistrate. "If any of you want those stalls, just contribute the same amount as Lady Li."


    Compete with Li Yao in terms of wealth?


    Forget it, everyone knows Li Yao has so much money these days that there''s no ce to put it.


    After careful consideration, everyone quickly rented the remaining stalls, and the various shops on the street promised to be well prepared.


    Only two people stood aside without moving.


    "What about you two?" asked Song County Magistrate. "This is a good opportunity to make money."


    "Haha, let''s leave this good opportunity to you," Zhang Guangshengughed. "My Zhangji Restaurant has been neglected for years, and I''m nning to renovate it. I''m afraid I won''t be able to catch up with this good fortune."


    "What about Old Master Wu?"


    Old Master Wu, who had previously intended to marry his daughter to Li Xian, was not happy with Li Yao because of that incident.


    So this time, he naturally couldn''t follow behind Li Yao. It was a matter of pride as a local gentleman in Baichuan County.


    "Magistrate, I''m getting old, and my sons at home are all useless. I''m afraid I can''t participate this time."


    It''s fine if two people are missing. After reminding everyone again, Song County Magistrate let everyone disperse.


    But when they reached the gate of the county government, Zhang Guangsheng turned to the others and said, "You all fell for it!"


    "Oh, what do you mean?"


    "Haven''t you figured it out?" Zhang Guangsheng said. "Why do you think the Magistrate organized this celebration?"


    "Naturally, it''s for the benefit of Baichuan County."


    "Perhaps it''s for his own benefit," Zhang Guangsheng said. "The fees for the stalls just now amounted to two thousand taels of silver! So no matter how this celebration turns out, those two thousand taels have already gone into his pocket."


    "But we should be able to earn it back, right?"


    "Yes, when divided among everyone, it''s not much," Zhang Guangsheng said. "But what if no onees to the celebration? Then not only will you lose the stall fees, but all the prepared goods will go to waste."


    "Zhang Boss," He Jiajing couldn''t bear to listen anymore, "If you''re not participating, then don''t spread misleading words here."


    "Am I deceiving the public with my false words?" Zhang Guangsheng sneered, "If you want to be fooled, I won''t stop you. But this time at Zhangji Restaurant, I will not prepare an extra pound of ingredients. In the end, we''ll see who will cry and who willugh!"


    After saying that, Zhang Guangsheng flicked his sleeve and left gracefully.


    His words made everyone feel uneasy.


    "Don''t listen to his nonsense," said He Jiajing, "We should trust Li Yao''s judgment."


    "Yes, yes, let''s do what we need to do!"


    "The celebration is only a few days away, and we don''t have much time left."


    ...


    While others were making preparations, the Song County Magistrate instructed people to notify the viges.


    The celebration had allocated some stalls to each vige, and they were mostly free, so that themon people could sell some things. This would not only provide them with additional ie but also add to the festivities.


    The county government also had some stalls, thanks to Li Yao''s suggestion.


    They mainly sold goods that were not easily avable, such as products from the capital or Jiangnan.


    The Song County Magistrate did not want to profit alone, so he allowed the county officials to pool their resources and share the profits ording to their contributions.


    As for the two thousand taels of stall fees collected, they would be used to purchase celebration supplies.


    They made papernterns, invited opera troupes and acrobats, and following Li Yao''s suggestion, they prepared many temporary tents for the amodation of those who traveled from afar.


    He also nned to organize a poetry gathering with the schrs of Baichuan County, so they had to build a temporary bamboo pavilion that would be fitting for the schrs'' atmosphere.


    All of these required money, and a lot of it.


    After reading the story of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid, the magistrate''s wife was deeply moved and wanted to create arge-scalentern depicting the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid. However, she couldn''te up with a good enough idea, so she sought Li Yao''s advice again.


    "Why not make antern that can fly in the sky?" Li Yao suggested. "Let''s have a real meeting of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid in the sky."


    "Antern that can fly in the sky?" asked the magistrate''s wife. "How can it fly?"


    "It''s simple."


    Antern that flies in the sky is actually made up of many Kongmingnterns connected by slender bamboo strips. As for how they meet, it is naturally done by people on the ground pulling them with long strings.


    In theory, it is feasible, but it depends on the weather.


    Everyone was busy, and Li Yao couldn''t fall behind.


    The Song County Magistrate allocated thergest area to Hewan Vige, with hundreds of stalls. Li Yao made a rough n and allocated half of the stalls to the vigers, leaving the other half for the Wang family.


    As for what to sell, besides the authentic delicacies of Hewan Vige, there would be various amusement activities.


    Games such as archery, hoop throwing, beanbag tossing, duck catching, and wild chicken grabbing, all of these highly profitable game options were copied from Li Yao''s ideas.


    "Mother, I have decided what food to sell," He Xiaoya said, holding a piece of paper in front of Li Yao. "Take a look and see if anything is missing?"


    Stewed snacks, deep-fried meatballs, grilled skewers, breaded tofu, and iron te grilled meat were on the list prepared by He Xiaoya.


    Li Yao felt that there were still many missing items, such as iron te squid, stinky tofu, grilled sausages, and oden. There was also ack of cold noodles, cold rice noodles, and egg fried rice, which made her feel that it wasn''t quite like a night market.


    Forget about stinky tofu and iron te squid, but grilled sausages, oden, as well as cold noodles and cold rice noodles can still be made.


    Since there were more and more chili peppers, Li Yao decided to chop them up and make some green pepper sauce to mix with the cold noodles and cold rice noodles. It would definitely be well received.


    "The potatoes in the field are already as big as quail eggs," Li Yao said. "Dig some out and make some grilled potato skewers."


    "Mom, please teach us!"


    Under Li Yao''s guidance, the family began to learn how to make grilled sausages and oden. Although they werecking some ingredients, Li Yao believed that as long as these things appeared, they would quickly develop and be better.


    It wouldn''t be long before she could enjoy authentic grilled sausages and oden on the street.


    "Madam Li," Chun Ning also found Li Yao and said, "Actually, I can also make some snacks."


    "What can you make?"


    "I can make roujiamo, liangpi, hulu head," Chun Ning thought for a moment and said, "and I can also make biangbiang noodles."


    Biangbiang noodles were a traditional delicacy from western Sichuan. In her previous life, Li Yao had only heard of it but never had the chance to try it.


    "I''ll assign 10 people to you, and you can teach them how to make it."


    "Thank you, Madam! Chun Ning will definitely do a good job and not disgrace Madam''s reputation."

 Chapter 163: Shocked

    <h4>Chapter 163</h4>


    July 1st.


    Before dawn, the vigers of He Wan vige had already formed a long line, some driving ox carts, some riding tricycles and bicycles, pulling their own prepared goods and boards for setting up stalls, and set off mightily towards Baichuan County.


    When they reached the nned location, they busily started setting up stalls, erecting tables, chairs and benches, and waited for peopleing from other ces to patronize.


    Soon arge area was filled with small stalls, and all around beautiful flowernterns were also set up. Opera troupes and acrobatic troupes were also established.


    In the streets of Baichuan County, every store was decorated withnterns and colored ribbons, feeling even more bustling than New Year.


    But what made Song County Magistrate feel a little uneasy was that it was almost noon, but the number of peopleing to Baichuan County for sightseeing was pitifully small.


    Most were vigers of this county, and people from neighboring counties were even more scarce.


    By afternoon, there were only a few hundred people patronizing, not bustling at all as imagined, more like a bleak ghost market.


    Zhang Guangsheng sat high up in the restaurant, looking at the scene on the street, but had a beaming smile on his face.


    And Old Master Wu sitting next to him was even more gleeful.


    "Look, look," Zhang Guangsheng gently waved his fan, looking like he was enjoying a good show, "Did they really think they could make otherse and spend money just by inviting some storytellers? With so few people, they''re bound to suffer huge losses!"


    "Boss Zhang is really wise," Old Master Wu said, "Luckily I didn''t believe them blindly, otherwise I would have suffered losses this time too."


    "They''re all praising Li Yao to be so capable, but it turns out just so-so," Zhang Guangsheng said, "This time, she''s going to fall t on her face!"


    At this time in the county government office, besides the worried-looking Song County Magistrate, Baichuan County''s Old Master Liu, Old Master Zhang and others had all arrived.


    At Song County Magistrate''s invitation, Li Yao also came to the government office to discuss together.


    "Sir, a whole day has passed, but few people havee!"


    "If this continues, I''m afraid we''ll suffer terrible losses."


    "Yes, I''ve invested several hundred taels of silver this time!"


    ......


    Song County Magistrate was also headache-stricken.


    In order to earn some money for the county government, he had taken out his private money this time.


    Not only that, all the teachers, masters, clerks, and even the cooks and cleaning maids of the county government had also invested money.


    If they lost money this time, how could he exin to everyone?


    "Everyone, don''t panic," Song County Magistrate said, "We have to trust Miss Li."


    "We do trust her, but the facts are right before our eyes."


    "That''s right, Miss Li," Old Master Liu said, "Do you have any remedies?"


    "Remedies for what?" Li Yao said, "The Qiqiao Festival celebrationsts for seven days, and it''s just beginning now."


    "Just beginning?"


    "A whole day has passed, and you say it''s just beginning?"


    "Yes," Li Yao said, "What''s our theme this time? Lanterns and fireworks, these two things can only be seen at night. So I say today is just the beginning, no problem right?"


    "But there are no people!"


    "There are fewer people today," Li Yao said, "But we still have to light thenterns and set off the fireworks. Naturally there will be more people tomorrow."


    Hearing her logical words, Song County Magistrate, disregarding that the sky was not yetpletely dark, ordered Zhang County Captain to light up all thenterns.


    At once, the entire Baichuan marketce, as well as the vast venue, were filled with all kinds of beautifulnterns.


    Those who had not left all felt fortunate to have stayed, otherwise how could they see such a beautiful scene.


    Dang - dang - dang -


    With loud gong sounds, Zhang County Captain led several government clerks, riding horses and propagating in the streets.


    "Everyone please note, the fireworks show will begin in a quarter hour, everyone can go to the open space outside the market to watch."


    "What are fireworks?"


    Everyone felt curious, but since they hade, they naturally wanted to go see.


    So everyone went to the open space outside, and waited quietly.


    "Where are the fireworks?"


    "It''s said to be in the sky."


    "But there are only stars in the sky, where could there be any fireworks?"


    ......


    Just as everyone was discussing spiritedly, suddenly the sky lit up, followed closely by a deafening boom.


    Bang -


    Enormous fireworks blossomed in the night sky, scaring everyone''s legs soft.


    "Ah-"


    "Oh no, the sky is splitting!"


    "It''s raining fire! Fire rain is here, everyone quickly hide!"


    Frightened cries were heard everywhere, some timid ones immediately hid somewhere.


    But after discovering that the colorful mes quickly extinguished in the sky, and nothing fell down, everyone cautiously came back out.


    "Everyone don''t be afraid! These fireworks won''t hurt people, just watch at ease!"


    With Zhang County Captain''s assurance, everyone''s courage grew again.


    Seeing that everyone was no longer afraid, Zhang County Captain signaled the government clerks to ignite the formal fireworks.


    Bang - bang - bang -


    One blossom after another of gorgeous fireworks appeared in the night sky. This time no one hid under tables, but watched this magnificent and bizarre scene in shock and awe, their hearts trembling.


    The first fireworks show of the Qiqiao Festivalsted less than a quarter hour.


    After all there were too few people today, it wasn''t worth setting off too many, but it allowed everyone present to feel the charm of fireworks, standing in ce long after unable to leave.


    "Everyone, today''s fireworks show is over," Zhang County Captain propagated among the crowd again, "But there will be more and even more beautiful fireworks tomorrow and the day after tomorrow evenings. You must bring your families, rtives and friends to watch together!"


    "We''ll definitelye!"


    "Such beautiful fireworks, even if I go blind from watching once, I still have toe!"


    ......


    Everyone was excited, all feeling it was totally worth it.


    Some enthusiastic ones hurried home, wanting to tell their families and rtives and friends about the shocking and stirring fireworks show.


    Thosendlords and old masters who had been suspicious now understood in their hearts.


    They now knew that these fireworks were Li Yao''s trump card!


    To be honest, even if they lived in Yizhou Prefecture, they would make the effort toe admire such shocking fireworks.


    So everyone discussed and decided to spend money to send people to set off immediately to more distant county towns, even Yizhou Prefecture, to vigorously promote Baichuan County''s Qiqiao Festival.


    Zhang Guangsheng stood on the restaurant a little lost.


    He was indeed also shocked.


    "Boss," the restaurant manager asked, "Should we prepare more ingredients tomorrow too?"


    "Prepare my ass!"


    Zhang Guangsheng was a little annoyed with shame. If he now obediently went to prepare ingredients, wouldn''t those peopleugh their teeth off?


    And he still firmly believed no one woulde to Baichuan County. Even if some came, at most just the poor localmoners, who had money to buy things and dine in the restaurant?


    "Hmph, it''s still too early to say who''ll be crying and who''ll beughing!"

 Chapter 164: Fireworks Show

    <h4>Chapter 164</h4>


    On the way home in the evening, the ox cart moved along a pitch-ck road.


    Today, after a tiring day outside, although they didn''t sell much, the vigers of He Wan vige had a very positive outlook.


    There wasughter and chatter all the way, with discussions about how much merchandise to prepare for tomorrow.


    However, Wang Er was still somewhat worried.


    "Mother," Wang Er walked up to Li Yao and said, "What if nobodyes in the following days? What should we do?"


    In fact, everyone had this question in their minds.


    But no one dared to ask because asking would be like questioning Li Yao.


    So when Wang Er asked, everyone listened intently.


    "If nobodyes, then the celebration will be a failure," Li Yao said, "But there won''t be such a ''what if'' scenario."


    "How can you be so sure, Mother?"


    Because I understand human nature!


    People are social creatures, naturally inclined to enjoy festivities.


    Li Yao had heard from the olddy who had adopted her that when she was young, she heard that the neighboring county was going to show a movie. The whole vige would finish dinner early, then walk more than ten kilometers in groups to watch the movie, and then return with torches.


    In this ce, in this era, entertainment activities were even scarcer than when she was young. It could be said that Baichuan County had such a big event, and anyone with a bit of free time would definitelye.


    But it was not easy to exin this matter to everyone, so she simply said, "Just trust me."


    Wang Er still wanted to ask, but he didn''t know how to continue.


    "I know, you are worried that if the celebration fails, not only will we not make any money, but many people will also lose money, right?"


    Wang Er pondered for a moment and nodded emphatically.


    "The fact that you can think like this shows that you are already looking at the problem from a higher perspective, and that''s a good thing," Li Yao said, "When you be an official in the future, you should do the same."


    "Understood, Mother," Wang Er said, "But I feel that even if I be a high-ranking official in the future and encounter problems I can''t solve, I will still seek your advice."


    "You should learn to think for yourself and not rely on me for everything," Li Yao thought to herself, "I''m just a retired olddy, and I really don''t want to worry about unnecessary matters. By the way, on thest day of the celebration, the Song County Magistrate will organize a poetry gathering. Did you receive the invitation?"


    "I received it," Wang Er said, "Teacher Lv and several other teachers from the school will also attend. They said yesterday that the newly appointed prefect, Hu, has been invited, but we don''t know if he wille."


    Prefect Hu had been beheaded, and the new prefect of Yizhou Prefecture had already taken office. The entire Yizhou Prefecture had long been informed of this through public notices.


    Li Yao didn''t know who this new prefect was, nor did she want to pay too much attention. But she knew for certain that the new prefect would definitelye.


    "Tomorrow, you and Xiao Hui don''t need to set up a stall," Li Yao said, "Stay at home and study, and also prepare for the poetry gathering."


    ...


    On the second day of July, the vigers of He Wan vige set off before dawn with full confidence and headed to the celebration.


    But as soon as they were ready, many vigers from nearby viges arrived.


    Most of the vigers are from Baichuan County. Yesterday, some people from the vige went back and talked about the fireworks. They also knew that this wonderful event was organized by Li Yao, without asking anyone for money. Many people were deeply moved.


    The people of Baichuan County have received many benefits from Li Yao. Even the good growth of sweet potatoes in their fields has filled many people with great expectations for the autumn harvest.


    So everyone came to the market consciously. Even if they didn''t have money in their pockets to buy things, they could still enjoy the lively atmosphere.


    Arge crowd gathered in front of the stage and the performing troupe, finally giving the celebration a bit of liveliness.


    People from farther away also rushed over around noon.


    These people now had the ability to spend money. After traveling for half a morning, everyone was hungry. When they saw so much delicious food at the celebration, who could resist?


    After eating and drinking their fill, they discovered more fun activities. Some people with a little extra money couldn''t help but try their hand at archery and ring tossing. There were asional winners, and cheers filled the air.


    The county magistrate, during his tenure, came to see it several times and found that the celebration had taken on the proper appearance. He also put his mind at ease.


    As evening fell, everyone had dinner at the stalls and looked forward to the fireworks tonight.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    With earth-shattering explosions, huge fireworks burst open, making both those who had seen fireworks before and those who hadn''t feel an incredible sense of awe once again.


    After the fireworks, many people checked into inns, ready to enjoy another day of sightseeing.


    After all, the time was too short, and many delicious foods remained untasted, and they hadn''t yed all the fun games. Most importantly, they wanted to see the fireworks again.


    The shops on the streets also weed wave after wave of customers. The restaurants were busier than usual, and the inns were fully booked.


    Seeing the effect after the second day, everyone was delighted and held Li Yao in high regard.


    "Boss," the manager of Zhang''s Restaurant asked, "Are we really not buying ingredients?"


    Zhang Guangsheng red at him fiercely, feeling annoyed. "No, we''re not buying!"


    This time, he had to stick to his decision! At most, he wouldn''t make money, but he didn''tck the money. But he absolutely couldn''t lose face!


    In the following days, more and more people came to Baichuan County.


    The inns were already full, so Li Yao made use of the tents prepared by the county magistrate and set up arge area in a small grove next to the celebration square.


    It was summer now, so everyone could manage.


    Some families in the market were more flexible and tidied up their empty houses, allowing people to temporarily stay.


    In short, after a few days, Baichuan Market was like a blocked dam, with surging crowds inside.


    Many vendors ran out of ingredients and goods to sell and had already sent people to purchase more in a hurry.


    On the sixth day, arge number of luxurious carriages appeared, at least several hundred. These were all wealthy people from Yizhou Prefecture.


    After receiving the news, they didn''t rush over immediately. Instead, they sent people to inquire and found out that the celebration in Baichuan County was truly well-organized and the fireworks were indeed beautiful. So, without prior arrangement, they all came today.


    Fortunately, the roads in Baichuan County are well-maintained and rtively spacious, otherwise there would have been a few miles of traffic congestion.


    These people are the main force behind the celebration''s expenses.


    As soon as they arrive, they bring along their whole family, as well as maidservants and attendants. They are also generous spenders. When they see something delicious, they buy a bunch of it, and when they see something fun, they must enjoy it to the fullest. Those who enjoy listening to opera even throw money generously onto the stage.


    In short, they are seeking nothing but joy.


    Since the people from Yizhou Prefecture havee specifically to watch the fireworks, it is only natural that they will stay here for the night.


    Fortunately, Li Yao had already mentioned to the Song County Magistrate at noon to make arrangements for the inn to find more rooms, and the prominent families in the county also did their best to amodate the guests. The Song County Magistrate even vacated some rooms in the county yamen to properly settle these honored guests.


    On that evening, Li Yao intentionally set off more fireworks to bring great joy to these distinguished guests from Yizhou Prefecture.


    After watching the fireworks, many people inquired about where these things came from. When they learned that it was difficult to produce fireworks and they were not yet avable for sale, many people could only express their regret.


    However, in order to console these guests, the Song County Magistrate announced that tomorrow would be the official Qiqiao Festival, and the fireworks tomorrow night would be ten times more spectacr than tonight''s, which helped to ease everyone''s disappointment.

 Chapter 165: The second brother was Bullied

    <h4>Chapter 165</h4>


    On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, during the Qiqiao Festival, the final and most grand day of the celebration took ce.


    On this day, people from all over gather like rivers converging. If viewed from above, one would only see a dense crowd, bustling and lively, rivaling the atmosphere of the capital city.


    Outside the eastern city gate, Captain Zhang and his retinue stood in their dark official attire, adorned with weapons, exuding an imposing presence, nking the gate.


    As the gong sounded, the city gate slowly opened, with the retinue leading the way, followed by the Song County Magistrate and his wife walking side by side.


    The Song County Magistrate was dressed in impably pressed official attire. Already possessing a tall and upright figure, he looked even more dignified now.


    His wife, the Madam of the county, was also elegantly dressed, exuding grace and nobility without any ostentation.


    Upon reaching the spacious venue, the retinue formed two rows, and the Song County Magistrate and his wife stepped forward, preparing to deliver their speech for the Qiqiao Festival celebration.


    Li Yao, who was always averse to the pomp and bureaucracy, only caught the general essence of what was being said. It was about the achievements of Baichuan County this year, the sess of the Qiqiao Festival celebration, which was credited to all the people of Baichuan County and considered everyone''s good fortune. Finally, they expressed gratitude to the heavens for their blessings and the food on their tables.


    She used to dislike this kind of formalities, considering it too bureaucratic. But now, observing the reactions of themon people, she thought it wasn''t so bad after all.


    Only when the Magistrate had enough prestige would people listen to him and follow his lead to make their lives better.


    Of course, the premise was to have a magistrate like the Song County Magistrate.


    "May I present Madam Li!" Captain Zhang''s voice rang out, and a few children behind him looked excited.


    "Mother, it''s your turn!"


    Li Yao sighed inwardly.


    As a seventh-rank Madam, she was on par with the county magistrates in general. ording to the rules, she was supposed to make a public appearance in suchrge-scale official celebrations.


    Originally, she had refused, but the Song County Magistrate insisted repeatedly, and considering it was her idea for this celebration, she reluctantly agreed.


    She put on the official attire that she had rarely worn before. Early in the morning, she had her hair styled, and her maidservant helped her select a beautiful jade hairpin and an extravagant silver ne.


    On her feet were embroidered cloth shoes with small golden ornaments, and she also wore a pair of golden bracelets on her wrists.


    If she had been willing to pierce her ears, they would surely have been adorned with more essories.


    This was what they called "dressing in gold and silver." It didn''t seem all that enjoyable, and she wondered why so many people liked these things.


    Couldn''t the money be spent buyingnd or enjoying good food?


    "Mother," Wang Er whispered, reminding her, "you should go now, so the Song County Magistrate won''t have to wait too long."


    "I know, I know."


    Li Yao slowly walked forward.


    She was ustomed to walking in the darkness as an assassin. Now, being watched by so many people simultaneously, and being scrutinized, made her feel as if she were covered in thorns, ufortable all over.


    "This Madam Li is so beautiful!"


    "Yes, who would have thought such a remote ce as Baichuan County could produce such a beauty?"


    "Even in the capital city, it''s hard to find someone with such natural grace and beauty."


    ...


    Listening to thements of these outsiders, the people of Baichuan County couldn''t help but smile in amusement.


    You may only see Li Yao''s beauty, but you will never know that she used to be the most unruly woman in Baichuan County!


    She even personally beheaded a captain!


    Of course, nobody would say such things because Li Yao is now the face of Baichuan County.


    "Li Yao!" Song County Magistrate stepped forward with a smile, "Please proceed."


    Li Yao is not good at giving speeches. Yesterday, Wang Er helped her write one, but she didn''t think it was good.


    It was not just in ssical Chinese, but also too official and too propagandistic, praising the Great Ling Imperial Family.


    To be honest, Baichuan County has nothing to do with the Great Ling Imperial Family!


    So she couldn''t bring herself to read the script prepared by Wang Er.


    Then she decided not to read it and go with her own style.


    So she took two steps forward, facing the crowd.


    "Hello, everyone! Have you all had breakfast?"


    Everyone: ...


    "It''s quite hot today. While enjoying yourselves, please take care of your health and avoid heatstroke. There are many ces in the market where you can get sour plum soup. It''s made with well water from Jingquan Town. You can have a taste."


    Everyone: ...


    "Alright, I won''t say anything unnecessary," Li Yao said, "Today is thest day of the Qiqiao Festival, and it''s also the most lively day. During the day, everyone can have fun and go shopping. In the evening, there will be a grandntern show and fireworks disy. I wish you all a great time! That''s it, you may disperse!"


    Everyone: ...


    Those who didn''t know Li Yao werepletely baffled.


    How could a seventh-rankeddy speak so poorly?


    Only the people of Baichuan County knew that this was the style of Lady Li from He Wan Vige!


    "Haha, our Lady Li from Baichuan County is so straightforward!"


    Wow, the unruly woman has be a heroine.


    Song County Magistrate was also sweating. He regretted not personally writing a script for Li Yao.


    Let''s disperse quickly.


    But at that moment, a gong sounded from a distance, and a long convoy slowly approached.


    Those with sharp eyes from Yizhou Prefecture immediately recognized, "It''s Prefect Li who has arrived!"


    Although the prefect was newly appointed, he was still a prefect, a high-ranking official entrusted by the emperor to govern a region!


    It''s unclear who started it, but everyone on the scene, whether dressed in luxury or poormoners, all kneeled down, and even Li Yao''s eyebrows furrowed into a character for "river."


    Kneeling when officials arrive, this is not good at all.


    Song County Magistrate had no choice but to lead his people forward to greet them.


    Arriving in front of arge carriage, they respectfully stood and waited.


    The curtain of the carriage was lifted, and officials with short stature and slightly plump figures, all smiling, stepped out of the carriage.


    "Brother Song, we meet again!"


    "Respectful wee, Prefect Li!"


    "Ah, Brother Song, no need to be so polite," Prefect Li warmly held Song County Magistrate''s hand and said, "We used to be peers, and even though we now have a superior-subordinate rtionship, our taste remains the same. There''s no need for such formalities."


    "Thank you for your kindness, Prefect Li."


    "Ah," Prefect Li looked at Song County Magistrate and sighed, "It''s been a year since west met, Brother Song, and you''ve lost weight."


    These two officials, one tall and one short, walked towards the county yamen under the escort of the ceremonial guards while chatting.


    As they reached the city gate, Prefect Li couldn''t help but nce at Li Yao.


    Normally, Li Yao should have gone forward to pay her respects, but she didn''t want to. Fortunately, after just a brief nce, Prefect Li seemed not to mind much and continued walking with County Magistrate Song.


    Li Yao breathed a sigh of relief; this was what she feared the most.


    "You all go ahead, I''ll go back and change clothes."


    After leaving a few children behind, Li Yao hopped on her bicycle and headed home.


    She took off her official attire and changed intofortable cropped pants and a t-shirt. She slipped into slippers and let her hair down.


    Then she washed her face with water from the well.


    Phew¡ª


    Finally, she feltfortable.


    Sitting on the reclining chair under the eaves, looking at the almost deserted vige, Li Yao decided that she absolutely would not go to the market again before setting off fireworks tonight.


    Mainly because she didn''t want to see that Prefect Li person.


    But before she could fully wake up from her nap, Wang Xiaosi rode his bicycle and rushed into the yard like the wind.


    "Mother, something bad happened! Second Brother was bullied!"

 Chapter 166: Literary People are Light to each Other

    <h4>Chapter 166</h4>


    The newly appointed Song County Magistrate had to receive the esteemed visit of Li Prefect, who came to inspect the work. Fortunately, Li Prefect had given prior notice, and Song County Magistrate had made ample preparations in advance. Moreover, the two were old acquaintances from their time in the capital, where they had even worked together for a while, so there were no major hups.


    However, it seemed that Li Prefect wasn''t particrly interested in Baichuan County''s Qiqiao Festival or the peculiar things on the streets. Perhaps it was because it was too hot outside, as he had been staying in the county office, drinking tea all the time.


    In the afternoon, as the poetry gathering was about to begin, Song County Magistrate got up to exin the situation.


    "Song, you are still so refined," Li Prefect said. "Coincidentally, I heard that several talented individuals from Yizhou Prefecture havee to observe the Qiqiao Festival. How about letting them join us?"


    "Why not?"


    "That would be great," Li Prefect smiled. "Let''s go and appreciate the talents of Baichuan County together."


    "Please, Your Excellency."


    Song County Magistrate had a smiling face but in his heart, he thought, "What the hell."


    At noon, Zhang County Lieutenant had already informed him that there were more than ten talented individuals from Yizhou Prefecture, reveling in a restaurant, making a lot of noise, and constantly belittling Baichuan County.


    It seemed that these people were most likely intentionally summoned by Li Prefect.


    There were many factions in the court, and each faction would strive to promote its own people. This was not umon. In the capital, Li Prefect belonged to the Prime Minister Faction, while Song County Magistrate''s father belonged to the Academy Faction. In recent years, the ideologies of the two factions had gradually be ipatible, so it was inevitable that there would be hidden struggles.


    The reason why Song County Magistrate was demoted to Baichuan County to be the magistrate was the result of factional struggles. Ultimately, the Prime Minister Faction was still much stronger than the Academy Faction.


    However, Song County Magistrate had achieved remarkable political achievements in Baichuan County, and this had long been conveyed back to the capital. He had even received verbal praise from the Emperor. So, in another year or two, it was highly possible that he would be transferred back to a key position in the capital. Moreover, with the protection of the Ninth Prince, it was not impossible for him to soar to great heights.


    Faced with such a strongpetitor, Li Prefect naturally had some tricks up his sleeve.


    On the one hand, he needed to show goodwill, but at the same time, he also needed to suppress Song County Magistrate a little, to let everyone know who was the top dog in Yizhou Prefecture.


    Of course, even without this factional dispute, schrs tend to look down on each other. The schrs from Yizhou Prefecture, living in such a prosperous ce, naturally looked down on a small county like Baichuan.


    Li Prefect was well aware of this and probably wanted to use this opportunity to slightly suppress Song County Magistrate, who was currently in the limelight.


    The two of them arrived at the newly built bamboo pavilion.


    Song County Magistrate had invited dozens of artisans who had worked day and night to build the pavilion, which was justpleted yesterday.


    The bamboo pavilion was built at the foot of a mountain.


    Behind it was a verdant forest, and in front was a winding river. The surroundings were filled with lush trees, creating an elegant environment.


    They stepped into the building, where food and tea had already been arranged, and the schrs began to arrive.


    Li Prefect and Song County Magistrate naturally sat at the main seat, with many small tables and cushions ced on both sides for the schrs to sit on.


    The local schrs of Baichuan County, led by Wang Er, as the localndlord, sat in the seats to the east, while facing them were the talented individuals from Yizhou Prefecture.


    There are various ways to enjoy a poetry gathering, with the mostmon being exchanging couplets andposing poems on the spot while everyone providesments and selects the best ones.


    Originally, this was an elegant affair, but it took on a different vor with the arrival of the talented schrs from Yizhou Prefecture.


    A schr dressed in white stood up first and proposed, "I suggest we start with exchanging couplets. We''ll take turns challenging each other, and if someone fails to respond or their responsecks elegance, they will be punished."


    "How will they be punished? With money or alcohol?"


    "As schrs, we shouldn''t indulge in such trivial matters, and it wouldn''t be appropriate to drink in front of the two esteemed gentlemen," the schr in white replied. "Why don''t we agree that the losing party will have a streak of ink drawn on their face? What do you all think?"


    "Excellent idea! Let''s do it!"


    The proposal from the schr in white immediately received unanimous approval from the group.


    He then turned to Li Prefect and Song County Magistrate, cupped his hands, and asked, "What do the two esteemed gentlemen think?"


    The idea of having ink drawn on their faces as a punishment was something Song County Magistrate had experienced when he was young, but he was concerned that the students from Baichuan County might not be as skilled. He was about to object when Li Prefect spoke first, saying, "Very well, young people should have some fun."


    And so, it was decided that drawing ink on the face would be the punishment.


    "I forgot to introduce everyone," Li Prefect said. "This gentleman here is Xu Youcai, a schr from Yizhou Prefecture. Among the many students, he is quite outstanding and has a good chance of passing the provincial examination this year."


    "Thank you for your praise, Prefect."


    "By the way," Li Prefect asked, "I heard that Baichuan County produced a fourteen-year-old schr this year. Who might that be?"


    Song County Magistrate pointed to Wang Er and said, "It''s him."


    Wang Er respectfully walked out from behind the desk and approached, bowing. "I am Wang Er. I greet you, Prefect."


    "Wang Er?" Li Prefect asked. "Don''t you have a more formal name?"


    "Well..." Wang Er blushed and replied, "I haven''t chosen one yet."


    Xu Youcai and the other Yizhou Prefecture students couldn''t help but sneer. How could a schr not even have a proper name? Truly a backward ce.


    "I heard he only managed to pass the examination by cheating. He was given a spot in the ranking," someone whispered. "Otherwise, how could he have made it?"


    Xu Youcai suddenly realized the situation and looked down on Wang Er even more.


    "Let''s get started then," Li Prefect said. "Xu Youcai, since you all came from afar, you may go first."


    "Yes."


    Xu Youcai confidently stepped forward.


    Exchanging couplets couldn''t be premeditated; it had to be rted to the surroundings. Xu Youcai took a look around and noticed several paintings hung in the bamboo pavilion, one of which depicted lotus flowers. An idea struck him.


    He picked up the pen from the desk and quickly wrote down his upper couplet: "The painting depicts a lotus-drawing monk."


    After finishing, he took a satisfied look before setting the pen down.


    "I havee up with my upper couplet. Please respond," he said.


    Someone immediately stepped forward and loudly recited the upper couplet.


    At first, it didn''t sound particrly remarkable, but after a moment, Li Prefect''s eyes lit up.


    "Haha, not bad at all!"


    Song County Magistrate also recognized the brilliance of the upper couplet but felt somewhat worried inside.


    This seemingly ordinary first line is actually a palindrome, meaning that even when read backward, it sounds the same as when read forward.


    Upon reading it, the students of Baichuan County fell silent, their heads bowed as they pondered and struggled, seemingly unable toe up with an answer in the short term.


    The Song County Magistrate looked at Wang Er, hoping that he could provide an answer. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing to fail right from the start.


    Wang Er was also anxious at this moment. He could appreciate the brilliance of this first line, but he was at a loss for a good second line.


    Xu Youcai, sitting across from them, leisurely waited for a while before saying, "Brother Wang Er, it has been quite some time. Have you figured it out?"


    Wang Er shook his head.


    Seeing that he couldn''te up with an answer, the Song County Magistrate sighed lightly.


    With the first attempt ending in failure, it seemed that the students of Baichuan County would be losing face today.


    "Well then, please draw a line of ink on your own faces," he said.


    Wang Er picked up a brush and calmly drew a line on his face.


    But others didn''t handle it as smoothly as he did. Each of their expressions turned sour, feeling that the line of ink on their faces was caused by Wang Er.


    "Aren''t you the top schr of Baichuan County? How can''t you evene up with a matching couplet?" someone muttered quietly.


    "A perennial prodigy, what kind of students can he produce?"


    "He''s only impressive in Baichuan County. In front of the talented schrs in Yizhou Prefecture, he''s not even worthy of being their shoe."


    ...

 Chapter 167: I Really Can’t

    <h4>Chapter 167</h4>


    These words were very soft, but Wang Er heard them very clearly. However, he was also not angry.


    As Mother would say, getting beaten means standing at attention.


    If you can''te up with a proper response, then you just can''t. Getting angry out of embarrassment will only make you look worse.


    It was the turn of the students from Baichuan County toe up with the first line, and Wang Er used the surrounding mountain scenery toe up with a couplet. The other side quickly responded with a neat couplet.


    In the next few rounds, the talented schrs from Yizhou Prefecture, led by Xu Youcai, came up with wonderful lines again and again, while Wang Er was unable toe up with a single response, and had several ink marks drawn on his face, which made the talented schrs from the other side burst into loudughter.


    Li Prefect saw this and was happy inside, while Song County Magistrate wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.


    Because when he tried toe up with responses to those first lines in his head, he also couldn''te up with a single one.


    Are the talented schrs these days all so amazing?


    "Brother Wang Er," Xu Youcai was in high spirits after scoring big today, "Do you still want to continue?"


    "Yes."


    "Your courage is admirable," Xu Youcai said with a hint of ridicule, "If you lose again, there will be no more space on your face for ink."


    "I still want to continue," Wang Er really didn''t want to admit defeat. He didn''t believe he couldn''te up with a single response. "Brother Xu, please give the first line."


    "Humph, fine, today I''ll fulfill your wish," Xu Youcai pointed to a few birds flying in the nearby woods, "This time my theme will be birds."


    After saying that, he swiftly wrote a big character: Western birds fly east, phoenixes find it hard to stand their ground everywhere.


    As soon as this first line was read out, the faces of the students from Baichuan County grew even uglier, one after another.


    This was no longer just a simple first line, it was very clearly an insult!


    Baichuan County was west of Yizhou Prefecture.


    The "western birds" in the line naturally referred to these students from Baichuan County, while the "phoenixes" metaphorically referred to the talented schrs from Yizhou Prefecture.


    Which was lowly and which was noble required no further exnation.


    Wang Er stared fixedly at Xu Youcai.


    He had originally thought today''s poetry gathering was just a friendly contest between talented schrs, and never expected Xu Youcai to so openly insult them.


    "Prefect Li," the face of County Magistrate Song was also not very good, "Isn''t this going a bit too far?"


    "Not at all, not at all," Li Prefectughed, "Young people are hot-blooded. You and I did even more outrageous things in our day. Today I naturally can''t stop them."


    Song County Magistrate was left speechless. He had indeed done such things when he was young, and had often won. So today he naturally could not object to stopping them.


    He looked towards Wang Er.


    Judging purely from the parallel couplet, this first line was not actually difficult to respond to. The difficultyy in the momentum.


    If the momentum of the second line could not match the first, it would be seen as a loss even if the couplet structure was neat.


    "Wang Er," the county magistrate asked, "Do you have a good second line?"


    "I..." Wang Er hesitated for a moment, then shook his head, "My lord, I... can''t think of one."


    "Hahaha..."


    At this, Xu Youcai and his group directly burst into undisguisedughter.


    "It seems there really is no talent in this impoverished ce Baichuan County!"


    Xu Youcai sneered at Wang Er, "Brother Wang, hurry up and draw on your face."


    Wang Er picked up the brush, but still did not draw on his face.


    In fact, he had already thought of a response to this couplet, but the second line was so overbearing that he absolutely didn''t dare say it out loud. Because once he said it, not only would it anger the talented schrs of Yizhou Prefecture and change the nature of the poetry gathering, it might even anger Prefect Li.


    So when the county magistrate had asked just now, he could only falsely im that he couldn''t think of a response.


    "Useless," a student from Baichuan County behind him couldn''t hold back any longer either, "Still called the top talent in Baichuan County, yet can''te up with a single response. Really losing face for our county!"


    "What are you saying?" Song Zhe next to him said loudly, "If you can do it, why don''t you respond?"


    "If I could respond, would he still be number one?"


    "Alright, stop arguing," the county magistrate said, "Let''s continue."


    When the county magistrate had spoken, everyone closed their mouths.


    Just as Wang Er was about to draw thest stroke of ink on his face, he suddenly heard Zhang County Captain''s voice, "Lady Li has arrived."


    "Oh?" Li Prefect was a little surprised andughed, "I''ve long heard that Lady Li is pure, virtuous and wise. Quickly invite her in!"


    Li Yao briskly walked into the pavilion. Seeing the faces of Wang Er''s group covered in ink while the talented schrs from Yizhou Prefecture had spotless faces, she knew what had happened.


    They had lost quite badly it seemed.


    But on second thought, that wasn''t right either. It was just matching couplets. In the past, Song Zhe and Wang Er would often match couplets at home, and she would sometimes join them for fun and purposely make up lines that were extremely difficult, leaving Wang Er racking his brains over how to respond.


    Even if they couldn''t match the other side, Wang Er could have used some of the lines she had given him before. The other side should not have been able to respond either.


    After paying her respects to the prefect and county magistrate, Zhang County Captain arranged a seat for her.


    "Lady Li, don''t tell me you also have an interest in poetry and literary arts?"


    "My lord, I was just a vige woman before, how could I know anything about poetry and literary arts?"


    "Lady Li is too modest," Li Prefect said. "When your son was taking the imperial exams, he wrote ''Be the first to bear the worries of the world, and thest to enjoy its pleasures''. I heard from someone that this is something you often taught him. One who cane up with such lofty lines can hardly be just a vige woman. Lady Li, you shouldn''t hide your talents. Let this official witness your literary skills."


    "I really don''t know how."


    In this area, Li Yao really had no interest.


    She was originally just a vige woman. Coming up with some small inventions could still be exined as a stroke of genius, but suddenly being skilled inposing poetry and couplets would inevitably raise suspicions.


    The only reason she had rushed over was to see how Wang Er would deal with facing powerful opponents, and to cheer him on.


    At this time, she saw the pile of first lines ced on the table. She asked Wang Er to pass them all to her to take a look.


    After reading two or three, her brows knitted slightly.


    These first lines were all very difficult to respond to.


    Especially the first one, with its extremely clever palindrome structure.


    Could these still young schrs reallypose something like this on the spot?


    When she saw thest couplet, her expression became even uglier.


    This was outright insulting people!


    Just as she was looking, Xu Youcai walked over, "Greetings to Lady Li."


    "Mm."


    "This morning at the city gate, I heard the Lady''s speech. It was like thunder piercing my ears, utterly shocking!"


    The talented schrs from Yizhou Prefecture had endured this with great difficulty.


    This morning, they had of course also heard Li Yao''s speech.


    Now Xu Youcai was saying this right in front of her. His intentions were clearly not topliment her.


    To make things worse, Li Prefect was also present, so Li Yao could not lose her temper at him.


    Wang Er''s two fists were already clenched tightly.


    This guy actually dared to publicly humiliate Mother?


    If not for the presence of the prefect and county magistrate, he would have to let him taste the power of judo!


    Theplexion of County Magistrate Song changed slightly, and he was just about to rebuke them, but Li Yao justughed and said, "I''m busy with many matters, so I didn''t have time to prepare properly. Unlike you, who seem to have a lot of free time and prepared some things quite thoroughly."


    After saying this, she tossed the sheets of paper in her hand onto the table. Her meaning was also very clear.


    Those first lines were not thought up on the spot, but prepared in advance, perhaps even copied from somewhere.


    Xu Youcai felt guilty, let out an awkwardugh, then quickly retreated. If they were really exposed, these people wouldpletely lose face.

 Chapter 168: A False name

    <h4>Chapter 168</h4>


    Li Yao couldn''t be bothered with these matters either. She looked at Wang Er and asked softly, "Why aren''t you presenting the usual couplets?"


    "Mother, those weren''t made up by me, so of course I can''t present them."


    The boy was honest - he resolutely refused to use things that weren''t his own.


    "So you can''te up with any of these couplets?"


    "These first lines are all very ingenious, I really can''t match them."


    "Not even thest one?"


    "This..."


    Facing Li Yao''s gaze, Wang Er felt a little nervous inside and stammered, not knowing what to do.


    "Is it that you can''t match it, or you dare not match it?" Li Yao asked.


    "It''s...I dare not."


    Hearing that it wasn''t that he couldn''t match it but rather didn''t dare to, Song County Magistrate suddenly became spirited.


    Having lost so badly today, it would be good if he could regain some ground.


    "Wang Er," Song County Magistrate said, "If you can match it, go ahead and do so. Prefect Li and I will not me you for it."


    "That''s right, young people should be more daring." Li Prefect also said.


    "Alright, then I''ll match it!"


    Wang Er stepped forward, his expression solemn.


    Insulting him was fine.


    Insulting the schrs of Baichuan County was fine.


    But insulting his mother Li Yao was absolutely uneptable!


    "Your first line is: Western birds fly east, phoenixes find it hard to stand anywhere on the ground."


    "Correct," said Xu Youcai. "What''s your matching line?"


    Wang Er stepped forward two paces and said in a deep voice, "My matching line is: Southern unicorns go north, all the beasts on the mountains bow their heads low."


    Putting aside whether it matched neatly or not, just his momentum alreadypletely overwhelmed the first line.


    If youpare me to amon bird, then I''llpare you to a beast!


    At this point even Li Prefect''s expression became extremely ugly.


    Because he was sitting directly north - wasn''t he being called a beast as well?


    "Wang Er, you''re so audacious!" Xu Youcai yelled loudly. "How dare you insult Prefect Li like this? Kneel down and apologize immediately!"


    "Who are you to speak here?" Li Yao let out a cold snort.


    Indeed, having an official rank of 7th pin here was still quite useful in front of these schrs.


    Although displeased, Xu Youcai didn''t dare offend her, and could only stand silently at the side swallowing his anger.


    But keeping Xu Youcai down was one thing, there was still Li Prefect to deal with.


    Now it depended on Song County Magistrate.


    "Hahaha, well matched! Such youthful vigor, you''re as fiery as I was back in the day." Song County Magistrate said, "As for insulting others, as long as you don''t explicitly refer to anyone, it doesn''t count. Isn''t that right, Prefect Li?"


    With his own words used against him, Li Prefect also found it hard to vent his anger.


    He waved his hand and said, "The matching is decent, though it''s easy to offend people."


    "Prefect Li," said Wang Er, "If not for others'' provocation first, I would certainly never have responded this way. Also, this couplet can be altered."


    "How so?"


    "Change it to: Southern unicorns go north, all the beasts on the mountains also bow their heads."


    Li Prefect pondered - with this change, there really was no more insultingnguage.


    The momentum was still strong, continuing to overwhelm the first line.


    If Li Prefect insisted on defending Xu Youcai, his bias would be too obvious.


    He hadn''t expected this Wang Er to actually have some literary talent, not just empty fame.


    "Now it''s time for the Baichuan schrs to present the final first line."


    Having barely managed to match the previous line, although the Baichuan schrs were greatly encouraged, not one of them dared continue presenting first lines. They all looked towards Wang Er.


    Seeing Wang Er''s face covered in ink, Li Yao felt amused, and also thought hecked some flexibility. She called him to the side.


    "Do you know that the first lines they presented weren''t actually thought up by them?"


    "Huh?" Wang Er waspletely bewildered. "But...the first lines are based on objects here, how could they have prepared them in advance?"


    "Zhang County Captain," Li Yao asked, "Who arranged the decorations here?"


    "We did," replied Zhang County Captain, "Though Li Prefect also sent people who made some requests. Like those paintings hanging around, they were the Prefect''s preferences."


    "How many ces in total were arranged?"


    "Nine."


    Wang Er understood.


    So the first nine lines were arranged beforehand. Then the final insult was topletely wipe out the face of the Baichuan schrs!


    How could this be considered a proper poetry gathering!


    It was simply insulting to literature!


    "Mother, what should I do then?"


    "The simplest method is to repay them in kind with their own methods," said Li Yao. "As for the couplets and poems I taught you, as long as you''ve integrated andprehended them, they be your own knowledge. Use them when appropriate, don''t let them rot in your brain."


    "Mother, I understand!"


    Wang Er clenched his fists tightly. Today Xu Youcai had insulted his mother, so he would use what his mother taught him to pay it back double!


    Returning to the pavilion, Wang Er no longer hesitated and directly wrote out a first line:


    Strolling West Lake, carrying a tin pot, the tin pot falls into West Lake, what a pity for the tin pot.


    As soon as this couplet appeared, Xu Youcai and the others were all stunned.


    It was an extremely clever homonym couplet.


    And it didn''t break any rules - the tin container in front of Li Prefect for holding tea leaves was precisely a tin pot.


    They racked their brains for a long time, almost digging their brains out, yet not one coulde up with even a barely passable second line.


    "Brother Xu," said Wang Er solemnly in a deep voice, "admire the ink."


    Xu Youcai gritted his teeth tightly, but since he couldn''t match it, he could only take the lead in painting a stroke of ink on his face.


    Seeing Wang Er finally counterattacking, Song Zheughed heartily at the side, "Should have done this long ago!"

 Chapter 169: Quatsu

    <h4>Chapter 169</h4>


    Xu Youcai drew a line of ink on his face, cupped his hands and said, "Honorable sirs, I think we have matched enough couplets. Shall we startposing poems now?"


    "No hurry, no hurry," Song County Magistrate said quickly, "There is still time. Let''s match a few more couplets."


    "I also think we can match a few more," Li Yao chimed in. "I camete and missed all the wonderful couplets earlier."


    Since both of them said so, Li Prefect naturally could not object.


    Xu Youcai felt a little cold in his heart, but he was not afraid either. Although all the prepared couplets were used up, the next contest would show true talents. As the number one schr in Yizhou Prefecture, he was not undeservedly famous.


    So after a brief pondering, he came up with a decent upper line himself.


    Seeing the opponent was no longer ying tricks butparing real talents, Wang Er was not intimidated at all. With a quick thought, he wrote a lower line on the paper.


    Li Prefect and Song County Magistrate looked them over and both said the antithesis was well-matched and exquisite.


    "It''s my turn. This time my theme is mountain."


    Wang Er continued to swiftly write another timeless line: No mountainpares to the sublime Mt. Wu.


    It was another homophonic antithesis, making Xu Youcai and the others frown in distress. No matter how hard they racked their brains, they couldn''te up with a fitting lower line, so they had to draw another stroke on their faces.


    In the next nine couplets, although Xu Youcai squeezed out seemingly ingenious upper lines with all his wits, Wang Er matched them out one by one.


    But for Wang Er''s upper lines, he couldn''t match a single one.


    How was this situation any different from when he had used prepared upper lines to overwhelm Wang Er earlier?


    As Wang Er frequently came up with wonderful lines and the situation was reversed, even Li Prefect repeatedly eximed in surprise.


    He couldn''t understand at all, since Wang Er had such good upper lines, why didn''t he use them earlier and waited until Li Yao came to use them?


    Could it be that Li Yao usually didn''t allow Wang Er to show his talents, lest he provoked envy?


    After twenty rounds, it finally ended.


    There were 11 strokes of ink on the faces of Xu Youcai and the others, while there were 9 strokes on each face on Wang Er''s side.


    Although there was only a difference of two strokes, the distinction was clear.


    "Brother Xu," Wang Er said, "Those ten upper lines just nowpletelycked your previous elegance. Could it be that Brother Xu was not well prepared enough and was caught off guard?"


    Xu Youcai really wanted to retort, but he didn''t dare to.


    He had really cheated. If he was questioned, his reputation would be ruined!


    "Brother Wang, we still have topose poemster," Xu Youcai said. "We''ll naturally see the difference then."


    Wang Er just smiled without replying.


    He had roughly grasped Xu Youcai''s level, so he was not worried at all.


    As long as he didn''t cheat, the number one schr in Yizhou Prefecture was no more than this.


    Seeing the schrs with faces covered in ink strokes, Li Prefect and Song County Magistrate were in good moods, as if seeing their young selves.


    "Alright, go wash your faces clean. We''llpose poems next," Li Prefect said.


    Xu Youcai and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts.


    If they continued matching couplets, there would be no space left on their faces to draw.


    After a short rest, the schrs washed the ink off their faces and returned to the bamboo pavilion.


    Composing poem was much more difficult than matching couplets, so today they would only write one poem each. Li Prefect, Song County Magistrate and Li Yao would each propose a theme, and the schrs could choose one topose a poem about.


    Li Prefect casually gave the character "bamboo", and Song County Magistrate followed with "pine".


    Since the participants were all young schrs, they didn''t need overly demanding themes.


    When it was Li Yao''s turn, she naturally had to pave the way for Wang Er, so she pointed at the wine cup on the table and said, "I''ll just give the theme ''wine cup''."


    With the three themes given out, everyone immediately started racking their brains.


    In less than half a teacup of time, Song Zhe put down his brush, "I''m done!"


    "Haha, like father like son," Li Prefectughed. "Let me see."


    Song Zhe happily handed over his poem, and Li Prefect''s face was filled with awkwardness after reading it. Song County Magistrate''s eyebrows wrinkled into the shape of the character "chuan", his whole face darkened.


    Seeing their amusing expressions, Li Yao also couldn''t help but take a look, and her face almost fell off.


    "A grove of bamboo on the hill, Bringing mosquitoes and bugs indoors in summer. Come autumn and winter, Made into baskets to carry everything."


    It was smooth to read, but this was just a doggerel poem! It wasparable to "The universe in one cage, A ck pit on the ground".


    This kid really wasn''t imperial examination material.


    He should go back and diligently practice his martial arts.


    "Not bad, not bad," Li Yao smiled. "Don''t write next time."


    Song Zhe: ...


    But he knew his own level, so he didn''t mind too much.


    Anyway, Wang Er would surely stand outter and give honor to the Baichuan County schrs.


    As time passed, more and more schrs finished their poems. Li Prefect and Song County Magistrate looked through them and put the ones they considered fairly good to the side to select the bestter.


    "I''m done too."


    Xu Youcai strode forward and handed in his masterpiece.


    After reading it, Li Prefect stroked his beard with one hand, looking very satisfied.


    The number one schr in Yizhou Prefecture really wasn''t undeservedly famous, he did have some real talents. Although this poem couldn''t be called a masterpiece, it could already be considered outstanding among the young schrs.


    After everyone finished writing, Wang Er finallypleted his poem.


    "I wrote about pine. Please review it, sir."


    Wang Er''s poem was also astonishingly amazing. But Li Prefect was biased towards Xu Youcai, so he directly announced Xu Youcai as first ce.


    Although Song County Magistrate argued reasonably, Li Prefect''s rank was higher so he didn''t have much leverage.


    "Or how about joint first ce?"


    "That won''t do."


    As soon as Song County Magistrate suggested joint first, the Yizhou Prefecture schrs became dissatisfied.


    "Even if the two poems are equally good, Brother Xu spent less time," someone said, "So the students believe the first ce should be Brother Xu."


    "That''s right, Brother Xu has quicker literary thinking, so he naturally should get first ce!"


    "How could the number one schr in Yizhou Prefecture lose to a country bumpkin?"


    "Who are you calling a country bumpkin?" Song Zhe jumped out from behind the desk. "Say that again and see if I don''t beat you until your own mother can''t recognize you!"


    "A country bumpkin is a country bumpkin, why can''t I say it?"


    "You''re asking for it!"


    "Song Zhe, stop at once!" Song County Magistrate shouted. "Brawling like this, how undignified!"


    Song Zhe was grinding his teeth. But with the prefect here, he couldn''t really start a fight, so he could only obediently back down.


    "Brother Wang," Xu Youcai saw that the matter was settled, and smiled as he approached Wang Er, "Brother Wang, your literary thinking is agile and you have extensive knowledge. You have my utmost admiration."


    "You tter me."


    "However," Xu Youcai continued, "There is a saying that one should read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles. Brother Wang today didn''t lose in learning, but in experience. In the future, you should still travel more."


    Although there wasn''t the term "country bumpkin" explicitly stated, it was equivalent to saying: You are an inexperienced country bumpkin!


    Seeing his smug look, Wang Er''s gaze turned cold.


    He had originally wanted to take first ce and humiliate Xu Youcai again, ending today''s matter.


    But he didn''t expect his opponent to have the prefect''s bias, and was now even more arrogant.


    Then don''t me him for being impolite.

 Chapter 170: Town Clothes

    <h4>Chapter 170</h4>


    "Brother Xu," Wang Er said, "Do you really think you''ve won?"


    "Why wouldn''t I?" Xu Youcaiughed and said, "Could it be you think that the verdict of Prefect Li is wrong?"


    "Yes, but it''s not over yet." Wang Er slowly took out two pieces of paper from under the table and said, "I''ve also written two more poems."


    Xu Youcai was shocked.


    In just the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, writing one poem was already extremely difficult for him. As a result, this Wang Er actually wrote three poems?


    How is this possible?


    But on second thought, his academic aplishments were not much different from Wang Er''s. It was just that he had Prefect Li''s protection, so there was no need to panic.


    "Writing more doesn''t mean writing well."


    Wang Er coldly replied: "Whether it is good or bad is not for you to say."


    Xu Youcai alsoughed coldly: "Then take them up and let Prefect Li take a look. Today I want to see what kind of extraordinary poems you cane up with."


    When County Magistrate Song heard that Wang Er had two more poems, he hurriedly had someone bring them over.


    "Hmm, this one is about bamboo," County Magistrate Song took one look and immediately had a smile on his face. "It¡¯s no weaker than the previous one about pine at all."


    Prefect Li took it over and looked at it. Although he was also appreciative in his heart, his face remained expressionless.


    "In my opinion,pared to the one Xu Youcai wrote, it still falls slightly short."


    County Magistrate Song couldn''t hold back anymore. Wasn''t this deliberately lying with eyes wide open?


    Just to favor Xu Youcai, he didn''t even care about losing face?


    "It seems useless." Xu Youcai said, "Brother Wang Er, listen to my advice. Aplishment in academia depends on quality, not quantity."


    "Is that so?" Wang Er said coldly, "Then does Brother Xu think that my third poem will still lose to you?"


    "I can''t say for sure, but I think it''s probably about the same."


    "I don''t think so," Wang Er said, "I have high hopes for this third poem. I feel it must surpass Brother Xu''s."


    Xu Youcai sneered and said, "Why don''t we make a bet? Whoever loses has to lie on the ground and bark three times like a dog. What do you think?"


    In his opinion, Wang Er had already lost for sure.


    With full confidence, Wang Er readily agreed. Because this third poem was written by Mother in the past!


    Not to mention a small Xu Youcai, even if the most talented chancellor of the current dynasty came, he would still have to bow down.


    "But I don''t need you to bark like a dog," Wang Er said. "If you lose, you must apologize to my mother!"


    "Why not?"


    The two made a bet and County Magistrate Song immediately picked up the third poem.


    After reading only one line, he suddenly sat up straight.


    After reading the whole poem, his eyes could no longer leave the paper. He didn''t know how to evaluate it, only that he read it over and over again.


    Seeing his loss ofposure, Prefect Li took the paper and looked at it, but was also stunned.


    After a long time, Prefect Li and County Magistrate Song came back to their senses.


    For the poem Wang Er wrote, they could no longer evaluate it, let alone dare to evaluate it.


    Because among all the poems they had seen, not a single one couldpare with this poem!


    Seeing that Prefect Li was not speaking, Xu Youcai became a little anxious. He cupped his fists and said, "How do you two gentlemen evaluate Brother Wang''s poem?"


    Prefect Li shook his head with a sigh.


    Even if he wanted to favor Xu Youcai, it was impossible this time.


    "Here," Prefect Li said, "you read it out loud for everyone to hear."


    Xu Youcai came up to take it and began to recite: "The Peng bird flies shoulder to shoulder with the wind for ny thousand miles. If the wind rests, it can still fan and stir the ocean."


    The magnificent aura in the poem was like a towering mountain pressing down on him, causing Xu Youcai to barely utter the words, already almost losing the courage to continue reading.


    He swallowed, steadied his mind, and continued reciting: "People see me always so exceptional, hearing my boastful words all sneer coldly. My father still fears the younger generation, a hero cannot take youth lightly."


    After reciting the whole poem, Xu Youcai was already drenched in cold sweat.


    He had beenpletely subdued by the poetic realm, and now didn''t even have the courage to lift his head.


    At the same time, all the schrs present were also speechless.


    Those who had previously looked down on Wang Er were even more awed by his poetic talent, and respected him with utmost admiration.


    "Brother Xu," Wang Er said, "What do you think of this poem of mine?"


    "I..."


    Xu Youcai''s face was red with embarrassment. With his knowledge, he couldn''t pick out even the slightest fault with this poem.


    He also deeply realized that even if he studied bitterly for another ten years, he was afraid he still could not produce a poem of the same level.


    "I lost."


    "A bet''s a bet. Brother Xu, hurry and apologize to my mother."


    The bet made in front of so many people, if Xu Youcai wanted to go back on his word, he would be scorned.


    Gritting his teeth, he came in front of Li Yao and bowed: "I was wrong, I shouldn''t have mocked thedy. I hope thedy will be magnanimous."


    Li Yao sneered to herself. She had everything except magnanimity.


    Moreover, from his tone, although he admitted defeat verbally, in his heart he hadn''t submitted at all.


    But that wasn''t her business, it was Wang Er''s business, and he had to resolve it himself.


    Besides, it was a good thing for Wang Er to have a worthy opponent.


    "In autumn, you''ll be taking the county exam, right?"


    "Yes."


    "Well, Wang Er will also be taking the county exam. At that time, you can have another goodpetition." Li Yao paused, then added, "A fairpetition."


    This sentence ''fair'' instantly made Xu Youcai''s face flush red to his neck.


    He knew Li Yao had seen through his cheating, but didn''t expose it on the spot. Why?


    "You''re dismissed. There are still fireworks tonight, enjoy them properly."


    "Thank you, mydy."


    Although the poetry gathering had ended like this, the excitement of the gathering had just begun spreading among themon people.


    The nobles who hade from Yizhou Prefecture, when they heard that a county schr from Baichuan County had actually defeated Yizhou''s top schr Xu Youcai, none of them quite believed it.


    "How is this possible?"


    "There must be some mistake. A county schr from Baichuan could win against Xu Youcai?"


    "This must be a mystifying trick by Baichuan!"


    ...


    But County Magistrate Song soon posted notices announcing the results of the poetry gathering, pping their faces till they stung.


    Xu Youcai had really lost, to a no-name country bumpkin.


    The nobles who hade from Yizhou all felt they had lost face.


    But themoners of Baichuan County were happy.


    "Have you heard? Our county''s schr won!"


    "Of course, who do you think it is? It''s the son of our county''s Lady Li!"


    "No wonder. Lady Li is so smart, her son must be extraordinary too."


    "I heard he''s going to take the county exam this autumn. He''ll definitely pass as a Juren."


    ...


    Hearing everyone''s discussions, Wang Er''s expression was calm, with no ripples in his heart.


    He was very clear that in poetry writing, he was only slightly better than Xu Youcai. But the county exam was not about writing poetry, so the oue of the autumn exam was still unknown.


    While there was still time, he had to be more diligent.


    When it came time for the county exam, he must attain first ce in Yizhou Prefecture, and not disappoint Mother''s expectations!

 Chapter 171: We’re Having a Baby

    <h4>Chapter 171</h4>


    On the evening of the Qixi Festival, the sky was clear and full of stars.


    In the afternoon, Zhang County Captain had announced that at the fourth quarter past the hour of X¨±, there would berge floatingnterns rising into the sky, followed by an evenrger fireworks show.


    Everyone had eaten and drank their fill early, and then looked for the mostfortable spot to crane their necks in anticipation.


    Da Zhuang supported pregnant He Xiaoya, and brought along Wang Er, Du Xiao Hui, Wang Xiao Si, Song Zhe, and Chun Ning to the third floor of He''s Restaurant.


    Although it was a bit far away, it was safer here.


    "Where''s Mother?" He Xiaoya asked.


    "Mother went to supervise the fireworks," Wang Er said, "That stuff can still be a bit dangerous, so Mother is worried."


    In fact, Li Yao had not gone to supervise the fireworks at all. Even children could handle things like that, so Zhang County Captain could easily take care of it himself.


    She had just gone off alone from the vige, to afortable spot by the riverbank, and was currently lying on the soft grass.


    This Qixi Festival was a holiday she had created sinceing to this world, and it had been very sessful. She believed that in the future, the entire Great Ling would celebrate this festival, and the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl would be widely known.


    Bringing beautiful things to this world was quite fulfilling.


    But tonight, she just wanted to spend a Qixi Festival of her own.


    Looking up at the full sky of stars, she said to herself in her heart: "I''m 32 now, happy birthday to me, happy single me."


    ...


    At the fourth quarter past the hour of X¨±, the entire Baichuan Market fell silent, with everyone raising their heads to look up at the sky, waiting for that legendary giantntern.


    At that time, some lights slowly rose from the east, and then more and morenterns followed them up into the sky, forming a simple pattern.


    It was the silhouette of a person, who appeared to be a man. He drifted left and right in the sky, as if searching for something.


    Not long after, the western sky also floated uprge numbers ofnterns, forming the image of a woman in the air.


    Seeing the woman appear, the man in the east drifted towards the west, and the woman also floated over, but between them seemed to be a huge Milky Way blocking their path, leaving them only able to gaze at each other from afar.


    "Is this the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl?"


    "Where are the magpies? Isn''t there supposed to be a bridge of magpies?"


    "Don''t worry, the magpies areing soon, look over there!"


    Arge group of chaotic skynterns rose up from the north and south, slowly gathering together in the middle. This process took about a quarter of an hour, leaving everyone anxiously holding their breath.


    The dense skynterns finally converged into a heavenly bridge, allowing the Cowherd and Weaver Girl to meet by walking across it.


    When their hands touched, thunderous cheers erupted from below.


    "They finally got together!"


    "Wonderful, wonderful!"


    ...


    The people cheered and celebrated, even more excited than if they themselves had married their heart''s desire.


    The Cowherd and Weaver Girl danced slowly in the sky, as if narrating their bitter longing, and soon after, the magpie bridge gradually dispersed, and the two were forcibly separated.


    Thenterns extinguished one by one as they fell, leaving only silent regret and sorrow for the people below.


    "Mother, why can''t the Cowherd and Weaver Girl live together?"


    "Because a high official wouldn''t allow it. But they can still meet in the sky every year on this day."


    "Can wee watch again next year?"


    "Of course, I will definitely bring you."


    Just then, three firework balls with ming tails shot into the sky.


    Boom boom boom¡ª


    Three huge explosions, and three enormous dazzling fireworks blossomed in the sky, almost covering the entire sky.


    "Wow, so beautiful!"


    Tonight, Li Yao had spent a fortune, bringing all the fireworks from her inventory here, and setting them off from three different locations at the same time.


    For a time, it was as if the entire sky was filled with massive, gorgeous blooming flowers.


    Prefect Li had definitely seen the world, but even he was stunned speechless by the magnificent sight.


    And all the people who hade to participate in the celebrations were immersed in an inexplicable feeling of bliss.


    "Not even the Emperor has seen fireworks like these!"


    Just this one thing alone was enough for themon folk of Baichuan County to brag about for a lifetime.


    "That''s right, fortunately Ms. Li is one of our people from Baichuan County, otherwise how could we have such good fortune?"


    "Ms. Li is really a lucky star for usmon folk of Baichuan County. I bet I can dig up thousands of catties of sweet potatoes from my field this year!"


    ...


    Upstairs at He''s Restaurant, Da Zhuang held He Xiaoya''s hand tightly.


    He was a simple man, with countless words in his heart that he wanted to say, but he just didn''t know how to express them, so he could only grip He Xiaoya''s hand tighter and tighter.


    Meanwhile, next to them, Wang Er also quietly reached out and touched Du Xiao Hui''s fingers.


    Du Xiao Hui jerked away as if shocked, but soon put her hand back, blushing as she lowered her head, letting Wang Er grip her hand tightly.


    "Brother Zhe," Wang Xiao Si whispered to Song Zhe, "Why is my second brother holding Sister Hui''s hand?"


    Hearing this, Song Zhe hurriedly covered his eyes: "Don''t look."


    "Why can''t I look?"


    "Looking will give you needle eyes."


    "Oh."


    Wang Xiao Si pouted. His second brother knew this would give people needle eyes, yet still wanted to hold Sister Hui''s hand. He would have to tell Mother to properly scold himter.


    "Da... Da Zhuang," He Xiaoya suddenly called out as she watched the dazzling fireworks.


    "Hmm, what''s the matter? Are you tired from standing?"


    "No," He Xiaoya shook her head. "My stomach seems to hurt... It hurts a lot... Did the baby get scared by the fireworks? Ah... It hurts so much..."


    What?


    Da Zhuang panicked and hurriedly gripped He Xiaoya''s shoulders firmly: "Then let''s go back quickly..."


    "We can''t leave, we can''t leave," Although Chun Ning was young, she had learned a lot in the capital city, and instantly knew the reason. "Sister Xiaoya is going intobor!"


    Huh?


    Xiaoya was going intobor, but they were outside right now. What... What... What should they do?


    The clueless brothers all froze up in shock.


    "What are you standing around for?" With Li Yao not around, Chun Ning calmly began to take charge of the situation. "Brother Da Zhuang,e help me support Sister Xiaoya downstairs. Brother Zhe, go to the county office for a carriage. Brother Er, go home first and prepare lots of hot water."


    "Got it!"


    "Also, Wang Xiao Si, hurry and go find Ms. Li!"


    "Understood!"


    The family immediately split up to handle their own tasks. After Da Zhuang slowly helped He Xiaoya downstairs, Song Zhe had already brought over a carriage to the door of the restaurant, then quickly took He Xiaoya home.


    Wang Xiao Si raced like the wind to the fireworksunching spot, but didn''t see Li Yao anywhere, anxiously breaking out in a cold sweat as he grabbed Zhang County Captain.


    "Xiao Si? Don''t run around here, it''s dangerous."


    "Where''s my mother?"


    "Ms. Li isn''t here. What''s the matter?"


    "My sister-inw has gone intobor!"


    Upon hearing this was no small matter, but there were at least tens of thousands of people at Baichuan Market right now, and it waste at night, with the loud sounds of the fireworks, how could anyone possibly find someone?


    "Come with me to find Prefect Song."


    Hearing that Li Yao''s eldest daughter-inw was about to give birth, but Li Yao was nowhere to be found, Prefect Song and his wife also knitted their brows in worry.


    But Prefect Song quickly came up with a good idea, and told Zhang County Captain to carry it out immediately.


    Zhang County Captain went to a crowded area and exined the situation to the people around, who also expressed their willingness to help.


    Boom boom boom¡ª


    Three more fireworks blossomed, and although Li Yao had seen more and better fireworks, she felt these were the most beautiful she had ever seen in her life.


    Because she had made them!


    Just as she was infinitely self-indulgent, from the direction of Baichuan Market came faint shouts.


    "Ms. Li, your daughter-inw is inbor, hurry home!"


    "Ms. Li, your daughter-inw is inbor, hurry home!"


    ...


    The voices grew louder and louder, until it seemed like tens of thousands of people were shouting in unison, even drowning out the explosions of the fireworks.


    Li Yao flipped up from the grass like a carp, and couldn''t help but shake her head.


    Whose silly idea was this, worried that people wouldn''t know she was bing a grandmother?

 Chapter 172: Who says I can’t get it

    <h4>Chapter 172</h4>


    When Li Yao got home, the entire Wang family hade, at least several dozen people. The first little baby of the Wang family''s fourth generation was being born, plus it was Li Yao''s family, this was a top priority big event.


    Old Mr. Wang was about to be a great grandfather, he was so happy his mouth couldn''t even close, Wang Xueshi was even more in control of everything, organizing things in an orderly fashion.


    The water in the pot was already boiling, two midwives had also been invited, the forceps had been boiled in hot water and ced on a clean towel for use.


    Seeing Li Yaoe back, Wang Xueshi opened a cloth bag and took out several sets of small clothes and little shoes.


    "I know you don''t normally have time to make these, so I had them prepared in advance," Wang Xueshi said. "The clothes were made by my second daughter-inw and I, the shoes were made by my third daughter-inw. There are also small nkets that my fourth son bought back from Yizhou Prefecture."


    Li Yao really hadn''t thought about preparing these things. After all, she didn''t have much experience herself and certainly didn''t know how to make them. She had only prepared money and silver, nning to have them buy whatever wascking.


    Now that her mother-inw had arranged everything, she naturally felt more rxed.


    "How''s the situation?"


    "It''s going okay, the midwife says it should be a smooth delivery," Wang Xueshi said. "But your invented forceps, the midwives all have one, so even if the baby is in the wrong position or something, there won''t be big problems."


    The forceps really were a great invention. Before there were these, giving birth was like going through ghost gate.


    Li Yao walked into the room and saw Chun Ning and Du Xiao Hui guarding the door of the little maid, while Da Zhuang was pacing back and forth like an ant on a hot pot.


    It seemed like there was nothing more for her to do.


    Not long after, the county magistrate''s wife also arrived in a carriage.


    "Madam, why did youe too?"


    "I was worried, so I came to see."


    "Thene sit in my room, you must be tired today too."


    The two went back to Li Yao''s room and chatted for a while. Soon shouts came from outside.


    "She gave birth!"


    Li Yao hurried out to see the midwife holding a bundled up little baby, having alreadye out.


    "Congrattions, Mistress Li."


    Li Yao did not reach out to take the child.


    Even without relevant experience, she knew that a newborn baby was extremely fragile and it was best not to pass them around being held by different people.


    "Quickly take her to get washed."


    "Oh, okay."


    The midwife gently sighed. She hadn''t even said it was a girl yet, so why was Mistress Li so unhappy that she didn''t even hold her own granddaughter for a moment.


    The eldest daughter-inw of this Wang family will probably have difficult days ahead...


    After standing at the door for a while, waiting for Chun Ning to help He Xiaoya wash the baby, Li Yao only then went into the room.


    Other than being a little weak, He Xiaoya was fine. The forceps didn''t even need to be used, this was pretty good news.


    After properlyforting her for a bit, the midwife had alreadye back in carrying the washed baby.


    Li Yao took her and saw that the little bundle was pink and tender, having inherited her mother''s good features. Her eyes were big like Da Zhuang''s, looking very cute.


    She took out a prepared small gold sp and put it on the baby''s leg, feeling a bitplicated.


    She was only in her early 30s, yet was already a grandmother... Her seniority was getting higher and higher.


    Seeing her slightly frown, everyone''s hearts thumped.


    Especially He Xiaoya, her heart sank to the bottom of the valley.


    Mother had always said boys and girls were the same before, but in the end still didn''t like a granddaughter, and said such a cute baby was ugly.


    Da Zhuang took his daughter from her and only knew to foolishly smile,pletely oblivious to Li Yao''s expression.


    The midwife read their expressions and quickly took the child back, gently cing her next to He Xiaoya, "When she cries, you can try feeding her."


    "Alright, Chun Ning stay here, everyone else out. Don''t disturb Xiaoya resting."


    Everyone obediently left. The midwife cleaned up and prepared to take her leave. If it had been a big fat baby boy, tonight''s reward would definitely have been bigger.


    But having birthed a girl, she could only say her luck wasn''t good.


    "Mistress Li, I''ll take my leave then."


    "Okay."


    Li Yao signaled to Du Xiao Hui, who immediately handed over a red envelope.


    The midwife took it in her hands. Feeling it didn''t have much weight, she was even more disappointed. But opening it, she saw it didn''t contain coins, but several broken silver pieces. She was stunned on the spot.


    This was at least two taels!


    "Mistress Li, this...this much?"


    "It''ste and you worked hard, you deserve this."


    "Thank you, Mistress Li."


    After the midwife left, except for Da Zhuang and Chun Ning staying to care for He Xiaoya, Li Yao sent everyone else to go sleep.


    As long as the mother and child were safe, naming and celebrating couldpletely wait until tomorrow.


    Da Zhuang was too tired from the day to stay up all night, and soon went to sleep as well. The only ones left in the room were He Xiaoya and Chun Ning, plus the now sleeping baby.


    "Chun Ning," He Xiaoya couldn''t sleep at all, "Mother really doesn''t like girls after all."


    Chun Ning sighed. She didn''t respond.


    What elders didn''t like grandsons over granddaughters?


    She had also seen those who would pay lip service, saying granddaughters were just as liked. But ultimately it was just talk.


    When a girl really came out, many would show their disappointment on the spot. Mistress Li was still good inparison.


    "It''s all because I''m not good enough," He Xiaoya said through tears. "Mother treats me so well, yet I couldn''t give her a first grandson."


    "Sister Xiaoya, don''t be like this," Chun Ning consoled. "Mistress Li treats you very well too. A month ago she had dozens of wild chickens caught and raised, saying it was to nourish you."


    He Xiaoya lightly sighed. The more Chun Ning said this, the worse she felt, her nose turning sour, her chest tight with distress.


    ...


    The next day Li Yao exercised outside and came back. Da Zhuang and Chun Ning were already making breakfast in the kitchen.


    Da Zhuang had to work during the day, so he needed to eat his fill in the morning, making steamed buns and rice porridge. Chun Ning was simmering chicken soup on a small stove.


    Li Yao lifted the lid to look, seeing the soup was light and clear. She asked, "Did you not stir fry it before stewing?"


    "Mistress Li, one can''t eat too oily during the postpartum month, so I didn''t stir fry."


    "Chicken soup that isn''t stir fried isn''t fragrant. Remember to add more oil and stir fry next time," Li Yao said. "As for not eating oily foods postpartum, don''t worry about that. As long as Xiaoya likes eating it, let her eat it."


    "Understood."


    "Don''t just eat chicken either," Li Yao thought and said, "I''ve heard carp soup is good for milk production, and ckfish is good for healing wounds. I''ll go catch some in the reservoir this morning, youe help meter."


    Chun Ning was stunned. "Mistress Li is going to the reservoir herself to catch fish?"


    "Why, is that not allowed?"


    "No, but...but..."


    "You think I can''t catch them huh?" Li Yao smiled. "Don''t worry, as long as it''s good for Xiaoya''s health, there''s no fish I can''t catch."


    Once breakfast was cooked and the chicken soup simmered, she couldn''te out to eat while confinement, so Da Zhuang served it to He Xiaoya''s room.


    The county magistrate''s wife also hadn''t gone backst night, so ate breakfast with Li Yao''s family this morning.


    Li Yao had eaten most of a steamed bun before realizing that this morning''s breakfast table was especially quiet. Even the usually chatty Song Zhe only kept his head down eating.


    "What''s with you all?" Li Yao asked. "Why is no one talking?"


    Everyone was stunned. They thought, we want to talk but don''t dare!


    Big sister-inw gave birth to a girl, everyone knows you elders aren''t happy. Who dares to touch on this taboo?


    Seeing there was still no response, Li Yao asked again, "Oh right, did Xiaoya give birth to a son or daughter?"


    Everyone present was shocked.


    After all this, she still didn''t even know?


    Whether it was a son or daughter was a world of difference. Which family didn''t confirm that first thing?

 Chapter 173: Let’s Take a Name Together

    <h4>Chapter 173</h4>


    Li Yao innocently asked, "Why do I need to know?" Facing everyone''s puzzled looks, "The midwife didn''t say anything when she came out."


    "Ahem, youngdy Li," the county magistrate''s wife was also drunk and said, "Under normal circumstances, if the midwife doesn''t say anything, then it''s a girl. This is called announcing good news without announcing bad news."


    Hmm...


    Li Yao really didn''t know about this saying.


    "So it''s a girl?"


    Everyone silently nodded their heads, then looked at Li Yao nervously.


    "Is there a name yet?"


    Everyone: ...


    Who would dare give a name without the mistress speaking?


    "Da Zhuang, you should be more attentive," Li Yao said. "You don''t even care about your own daughter''s name yet."


    "Mother," Da Zhuang said with a wry smile, "You should be the one to give her a name."


    "I should give her a name?"


    You''re the father, yet you''re giving up the right to name your own daughter?


    But choosing a name did seem quite fun. Li Yao thought for a moment and said, "How about this - none of you four brothers have decent names anyway, so I''ll give you all new names today."


    Wang Er''s face lit up. He had wanted to bring this up for a while.


    The county exam wasing up soon, and he still didn''t have a proper name. He kept getting called Wang Er here and there. Just yesterday, Xu Yucai and the others made fun of him at the poetry gathering.


    Li Yao put down her chopsticks. "Let''s start from the youngest."


    "That would be me, right?" Wang Xiao Siughed happily, but suddenly remembered that he was no longer the youngest in the family now that he was an uncle. "No, we should start with the baby girl."


    As soon as Da Zhuang heard they were going to name his daughter now, he became a little nervous.


    His cute little daughter must have a nice sounding name!


    "The baby was bornst night," Li Yao thought for a moment and said, "Last night was the Qi Xi festival, and there were lots of fireworks, so let''s call her Wang Yanran, how about that?"


    "Uh..." Wang Er hesitated and asked, "Is that her given name or her nickname?"


    "No more nicknames," Li Yao said. "Wang Yanran will be the baby''s name for life."


    "What about her generational name..."


    But Wang Er didn''t continue.


    After all, generational names weren''t that important for girls.


    Many girls went through life without proper names, like his sister-inw, who was still called He Xiaoya even after bing a mother.


    "Good, what a nice name," the county magistrate''s wife said with a smile. "This little one will definitely have great fortune in the future."


    The baby''s name was decided.


    Next were the four brothers.


    "That''s right," Li Yao asked again, "What''s the generational order for the Wang family names?"


    Everyone: ...


    The county magistrate''s wife was also amazed.


    As the mistress of the house, how could she not even know this?


    It was fortunate no outsiders were present, otherwise this would surely lead to unsavory gossip.


    Wang Er quickly said, "It goes: Zhonghou Chuanjia Yuan, Shishu Jishi Zhang. For our generation, it should be poetry words."


    Poetry words... didn''t seem like good choices for boys'' names.


    Li Yao quickly gave Wang Xiao Si a name: "Xiao Si, you run fast, so from now on your name will be Wang Rufeng."


    Wang Xiao Si: ???


    Everyone: ...


    "Mother," Wang Er couldn''t help but remind her, "There''s no poetry word in the name."


    "If there isn''t one, then there isn''t," Li Yao said. "From now on, our family will take names more casually. Use generational names if you want, if not then don''t. Wang Xiao Si, do you like this name?"


    "I like it!" Wang Rufeng stood up in excitement. "As long as it''s from Mother, I''ll like it!"


    "Next is the third son." Li Yao thought for a moment and said, "The third son wants to be a general, so let''s call him Wang Jian."


    "Why is he called Wang Jian?" Song Zhe asked. "It doesn''t sound very domineering."


    Li Yao sneered inwardly.


    Wang Jian conquered the six kingdoms and helped Emperor Ying Zheng unify the realm. How was that not domineering?


    "Wang Er," Li Yao said, "You''re well read, so I''ll allow you to choose your own name."


    Everyone: ...


    They had seen nonsense before, but never something this nonsensical!


    In this world, elders gave names, or respected schrs were asked to provide names, some would even find fortune tellers.


    But they had never heard of a mother still living yet allowing her son to freely choose his own name!


    Wang Er felt a little wronged. Third brother and fourth brother went unnamed, and even the newborn Yanran had a name from Mother, yet he did not.


    So he sincerely said, "Please bestow upon me a name, Mother."


    "You really don''t want to choose yourself?"


    Wang Er shook his head.


    "Alright, then I''ll give you a name," Li Yao casually said, "You want to be an official, and a good one at that, so let''s call you Wang Aimin, how about that?"


    Wang Er''s face turned pale. "Thank..."


    "What are you thanking for," Li Yao said, "Did you really believe I would joke about something so important as naming?"


    If not for Wang Er being used to this by now, he probably would have cried.


    How could something as significant as naming be casually joked about?


    "Let''s call you Wang Shouren. Shou for ''guarding'', ren for ''benevolence''," Li Yao said. "Mother hopes that even when you reach the highest ranks, you will not forget your original aspirations and always think of themon people."


    Shouren?


    Wang Er suddenly felt the weight on his shoulders grow heavier.


    "Mother''s words, Shouren will engrave in his heart." Wang Er said. "What about my courtesy name and art name then?"


    "Your courtesy name is Boyan, and your art name is Yangming."


    Wang Er solemnlymitted the name, courtesy name, and art name to memory, and vowed not to disappoint Mother''s high hopes.


    Finally it was Da Zhuang''s turn.


    "Da Zhuang, from now on your name will be Wang Anshi," Li Yao said. "It signifies that as long as you are home, all will be well and stable as a rock."


    "Thank you, Mother."


    Da Zhuang was very satisfied with his name.


    As the eldest son, he naturally hoped that no matter which of his younger brothers went on to be officials or generals, he could support them from behind, allowing Mother to enjoy prosperity for life.


    With the naming settled, they just had to inform the vige chief to change the names in the registry, then report to the county government office.


    From now on, the Wang children all had their proper names.


    Just then, the county magistrate''s wife''s maid arrived pushing a three-wheeled cart. She whispered something to the county magistrate''s wife, then took out an exquisite little purse.


    "Youngdy Li," the county magistrate''s wife said, "I came in a rushst night and didn''t prepare gifts, fortunately my husband had people prepare this early on."


    She shoved the purse into Li Yao''s hands.


    Li Yao held the heavy purse and pulled open the drawstring, pouring out a pair of shiny gold bangles.


    "This is too valuable."


    "It''s nothing," the county magistrate''s wife said. "Zhe''er has been staying at your home for so long, must have caused you much trouble."


    Song Zhe?


    He had been quite troublesome initially, but became very well behavedter.


    Since the county magistrate''s wife had gifted Yanran, she as the grandmother should reciprocate.


    She went into the bedroom and took out the longevity lock, little bell, and amulet she had prepared long ago, all crafted from gold.


    These were brought by Jia Zhanliang from the capital city,missioned from famous jewelers.


    There was also an exquisite jade pendant brought back from the Nanzhao Kingdom by Liu Yuan.


    "Da Zhuang," Li Yao handed everything to Da Zhuang, "Later pass all of these to the baby and have her keep them safe. She can wear them when she''s older."


    "Mother, so much?"


    "These are for my precious granddaughter, what''s wrong with giving her more?"


    "Oh."


    Seeing that Li Yao not only wasn''t unhappy upon learning Yanran was a girl, but even gifted so many valuable things, everyone finally believed what she had said before - boys and girls were the same to her.


    The weight in their hearts finally lifted.

 Chapter 174: The Concubine

    <h4>Chapter 174</h4>


    Da Zhuang''s good fortune of gaining a thousand pieces of gold had spread around the vigest night.


    Just after breakfast, Wang Xueshi brought over more than ten old mother hens and several hundred eggs with her two daughters-inw.


    Upon learning that Li Yao didn''t mind at all that it was a granddaughter, Wang Xueshi also felt relieved.


    She used to like boys. If Li Yao hadn''t given birth to four clever grandsons for her, with Li Yao''s original temperament, she certainly wouldn''t have been so tolerant, knowing that she took everything back to her maternal home, and even secretly gave her some food to eat.


    But ever since Li Yao started doing business and opened a workshop, Wang Xueshi''s views seemed to have changed a little.


    Who said girls were no good? In the entire He Wan vige, even in Baichuan County, were there any more capable men than Li Yao?


    Speaking of those nearby, Du Xiao Hui, who was in charge of ounting at the soap workshop, was also stronger than most men in the vige.


    There were also those children in the school. She had privately asked the teacher, and many of the girls studied very hard.


    So in the end, she was worried that Li Yao would give He Xiaoya a hard time because she had a granddaughter.


    "Don''t you know how your mother has treated you?" Wang Xueshi said, holding He Xiaoya''s hand by her bed, "Just put your heart at ease. If she doesn''t treat you well, I''ll skin her!"


    He Xiaoya thought to herself that you couldn''t defeat my mother before, let alone now!


    But she was relieved now that her mother didn''t treat her badly for giving birth to a girl.


    She heard that she even went to the reservoir to catch fish and make soup for her.


    To have such a mother-inw and a loyal and considerate husband, He Xiaoya felt she was the luckiest person in the world.


    "By the way, have you sent word to your parents?"


    "I already had someone go tell them this morning."


    "Good, that''s good," Wang Xueshi said, "We can''t let your maternal family think the old Wang family has no manners."


    ...


    In the fields behind the mountains, Da Zhuang was with some vigers turning over sweet potato vines.


    He really wanted to spend more time with Little Ya, but with thousands of acres ofnd in the family, and having been busy with preparations for the Qiqiao Festival these past days, too much work in the fields had been dyed.


    "Da Zhuang."


    Amidst the chatting andughter, an unfamiliar voice came from the edge of the field.


    Da Zhuang looked up and saw that it was a middle-aged woman he didn''t recognize.


    "Oh, isn''t this Matchmaker Zhang?" Aunt Liu from the vige recognized her at a nce, "What wind blew you to our He Wan vige?"


    "Now that your He Wan vige is so prosperous, of course I''d love toe every day," the matchmaker''s mouth was naturally very glib.


    "What business do you have with Da Zhuang?"


    "No big deal," Matchmaker Zhangughed as she walked into the field, "Da Zhuang, is all thisnd your family''s?"


    "Yes."


    "Oh my, that''s tremendous," Matchmaker Zhang said enviously, "You''re now the biggestndlord in Baichuan County."


    Da Zhuang didn''t like this Matchmaker Zhang.


    His mother had said before that officiousness stems from nothing good.


    This old woman came ttering right off the bat, so there must be nothing good behind it.


    "Just say directly what you''re here for. I''m quite busy here."


    "Alright, I won''t beat around the bush then," Matchmaker Zhang said, "You see, the big family heads in our Baichuan County, in addition to their primary wives, they all have taken concubines..."


    "No need," Da Zhuang said coldly. "You may leave. I will not take a concubine."


    "Da Zhuang, don''t reject it so outright," Matchmaker Zhang ran into a wall, but still didn''t give up, "Do you know which family asked me toe?"


    "I don''t want any family''s!"


    "You..."


    Matchmaker Zhang was instantly irritated. She had never seen a rich man who didn''t want to take concubines!


    "Matchmaker Zhang," Aunt Liu asked curiously, "Which family is it?"


    "It''s Old Master Liu the clerk''s young daughter!"


    "What?"


    Everyone was stunned. They didn''t actually know about this daughter of Liu the clerk, but during thest imperial examination, Liu tried to arrange a marriage below the rankings and marry his daughter to Li Yao''s younger brother Li Xian.


    Later it was discovered that Li Xian had cheated, and his ranking was revoked, so the marriage was dropped.


    Liu also became a bigughingstock, and his daughter couldn''t be married off to that family anymore.


    But even so, it was Old Master Liu''s family, very wealthy!


    Although not his only daughter, she was born to the primary wife, a proper youngdy of a thousand gold!


    No one could have imagined she''d be willing to marry Da Zhuang as a concubine!


    Seeing everyone was shocked, Matchmaker Zhang regained her confidence.


    "Da Zhuang," the matchmaker said, "The Liu family is no ordinary family. If your two families be inws, then..."


    "I already said I will not take a concubine, no matter whose family she is from," Da Zhuang said. "Please leave quickly and stop interrupting our work."


    Matchmaker Zhang was dumbfounded.


    From the information she received earlier, Da Zhuang''s wife had given birth to a daughter, and then Old Master Liu''s wife came asking her to arrange this marriage.


    The Liu family also had some self-awareness, knowing their daughter couldn''t match Wang Er, so they settled for second best, wanting to marry her to Da Zhuang as a concubine.


    After the marriage, with the Liu family''s wealth and power, they only needed to maneuver behind the scenes, and could possibly promote her to primary wife, squeezing out He Xiaoya.


    Matchmaker Zhang even thought this scheme was perfect.


    But she heard that Li Yao was hard to get along with, so she went directly to Da Zhuang.


    She assumed that revealing the girl''s background would make Da Zhuang seriously consider it, but she didn''t expect thisd to be so straightforward, not leaving any room for discussion.


    But a true hero is not daunted by a persistent woman, she Matchmaker Zhang certainly wouldn''t give up so easily!


    "Da Zhuang," after Matchmaker Zhang left, someone jokingly asked, "You really don''t want to take a concubine?"


    "I don''t want to."


    "Why not?"


    "Because my mother said that men and women are equal," Da Zhuang said. "So a man can only have one wife. Also, I don''t want Little Ya to feel bad."


    "You really listen to your mother''s words."


    Da Zhuang thought to himself, if I don''t listen to my mother, should I listen to you instead?


    ...


    Just as Matchmaker Zhang was proposing a concubine to Da Zhuang, Li Yao had brought Chun Ning to the reservoir behind the mountain.


    Not havinge for a while, the lotus seeds thrown by the reservoir had sprouted some round leaves floating over arge area on the clear water surface.


    The lotus seeds nted just this year probably wouldn''t bloom.


    Chun Ning was still worried and said, "Miss Li, shouldn''t we call someone toe do it?"


    "For such a small thing, I can handle it myself."


    Li Yao dragged the small wooden boat from the water gate into the water, and took a casting off the wall.


    She had woven this herself, and hadn''t used it after finishing it, so she wanted to see how it worked today.


    The two rowed the small boat to the middle of the reservoir. Li Yao stood firmly and used all her strength to cast the fishing, then quickly pulled the rope.


    As the mouth of the closed, several plump and lively carp were caught in the, the smallest also three or four ounces, just right for fish soup.


    Chun Ning hurried to help catch the fish: "You really caught some!"


    "Thought I was joking around?" Li Yao said. "But these are all carp, I still need to catch some ck fish."


    "What are ck fish?"


    Chun Ning was from the north and hadn''t seen ck fish before.


    "You''ll know when they''re pulled up."


    After casting over ten mores, she finally caught two big ck fish.


    nted in the spring when they weighed less than a pound, after just half a year they had already grown to nearly three pounds, showing how good the food was for them in the reservoir.


    "Now it''s time you repaid me."


    Looking at the two ugly big ck fish, Chun Ning didn''t even dare reach out to grab them.


    "Miss Li, can these fish really be eaten?"


    "Why wouldn''t they be edible? They''re even tastier than regr fish. I''ll make poached fish slices for lunch."


    Carrying the fish basket back home, when they were halfway there, they ran into some people going to work in the fields. The news about someone proposing a concubine to Da Zhuang had already spread in the vige, and naturally also reached Li Yao''s ears.


    Hearing that Da Zhuang firmly rejected it, Li Yao felt quite happy inside. Although she wasn''t the birth mother of these children, she had at least influenced them with her thinking.


    All this nonsense about men having three wives and four concubines, go take a hike from her sight!


    Back home, Li Yao first killed two carp, pan-fried them golden brown on both sides in pig oil, then boiled them into a rich, white fish soup.


    After the fish soup cooled, Chun Ning hurriedly brought arge bowl to He Xiaoya, and also told her about someone proposing a concubine to Da Zhuang.


    "Sister Xiaoya, Brother Da Zhuang is so good to you."


    He Xiaoya''s face was full of happiness, but she still felt a little disappointed. Those who proposed to Da Zhuang must have dared to do so only because she had given birth to a daughter.


    That night, after the child fell asleep, He Xiaoya said to Da Zhuang, "Actually, now that we have money at home, it doesn''t seem to matter if you take a concubine."


    "What are you talking about?" Da Zhuang said, "Rest assured, I will never do such a thing in my life. You must never mention this again, or my mother will definitely scold you if she hears it."


    He Xiaoya nodded and gently nestled against Da Zhuang.


    She thought back to the past days. She would never have dreamed that one day the family would be so wealthy, and that her mother-inw and husband would treat her so well.


    Except for her mother-inw, she felt that she was the happiest woman in the world.

 Chapter 175: The Maiden Family

    <h4>Chapter 175</h4>


    Inside the bedroom, Wang Yanran who was sleeping in the crib had already been rocked to sleep.


    He Xiaoyay back in bed. She didn''t expect that sitting the month would be so tiring.


    On scorching hot days, she still had to be covered with a quilt and wear a thick hat. What''s more, she couldn''t even use an electric fan, let alone open the window to ventte.


    But what made her most ufortable was that it had been several days, yet there was still no news from her maternal side at all.


    Although she didn''t want to have too much contact with her maternal side because her parents had looked down upon Da Zhuang and treated Da Zhuang badly before, after all, they were her own father, mother and elder brother, and blood is thicker than water.


    Now that she had given birth, she also sent someone to deliver a letter at the very first moment, but her parents still hadn''te to see her, and didn''t even send a word back.


    "Xiaoya, why do you look unhappy?"


    "Chun Ning," He Xiaoya said, "I feel a little stuffy. Can you open the window to ventte?"


    "Well... just for a little while," Chun Ning said, "You''ll get a headache after being exposed to the wind. "


    Chun Ning opened the window to let in fresh air.


    The sun was still strong today, and it was also scorching hot outside, but Li Yao had set up a big waterwheel in the yard to drive the big fan to blow water mist into the yard, which was much cooler than other ces.


    "Xiaoya, what''s on your mind?"


    "It''s about my family."


    After getting along for a long time, it was as if they were sisters. He Xiaoya didn''t hide it either, and told Chun Ning about her family.


    "People say that a married daughter is like water sshed out. This may not sound nice, but that''s how it is. Many people rely on their husband''s family to stick with their maternal family after getting married, but how did their maternal family treat them in the end?"


    He Xiaoya thought of her mother-inw.


    When she first married Da Zhuang, her mother-inw was just like that, taking whatever little things they had at home to her maternal family, even borrowing the only hen to her maternal home toy eggs, resulting in not even being able to cook at home and only eating wild vegetables every day.


    In the end, when Wang Er''s engagement was called off, her mother-inw''s maternal family didn''t even show up. Later they even took money from the family to support Li Xian''s schooling.


    Recalling those days, she shuddered at the memory.


    So on the matter of her maternal family, she had always been very careful. Apart from going back with Da Zhuang to visit her maternal family during the New Year and taking some things, she didn''t even mention it usually.


    Maybe that''s why her parents might think she was estranging herself.


    "But isn''t it still necessary to give it a try?"


    "Don''t worry, Xiaoya. They shoulde in the next few days."


    Chun Ning thought that now Li Yao was so rich, her maternal family must take this opportunity toe as long as they weren''t stupid.


    As Chun Ning expected, after a few days, He Xiaoya''s father dide.


    ...


    Li Yao was holding a basket of chili peppers, wondering what to eat for lunch, when Du Xiao Hui pushed open the door and walked up to her quickly.


    "Li young mistress..."


    "I''ve said not to call me that," Li Yao said, "Just call me sister-inw."


    "Sister-inw," Xiao Hui said with a smile, "I just saw Xiaoya''s father waiting outside the gate."


    Xiaoya''s father was Li Yao''s father-inw.


    Xiaoya and Da Zhuang had been married for more than a year, and this was the first time they met.


    So she went to the gate and saw a middle-aged man in his forties, pacing back and forth outside the gate, looking a little awkward.


    "Are you He''s father?"


    He Shiyou didn''t dare to reply at once.


    Because in his opinion, even if Da Zhuang''s mother had be a young mistress, she was not young. But the woman in front of him was so young and beautiful.


    Even if she said she was Da Zhuang''s younger sister, he would believe it.


    "You are... Li young mistress?"


    "No need for such formality between family," Li Yao said, "I''m Li Yao."


    "Oh my, I really didn''t recognize Mount Tai!" He Shiyou said as he bowed, "Xiao He pays his respects to Li young mistress."


    "We''re all family, no need to be so polite. Pleasee in, father-inw."


    "Alright."


    Following Li Yao, He Shiyou was shocked when he saw the huge waterwheel. Seeing that the waterwheel was also driving the fan to blow out cool breeze, he was even more surprised.


    As expected of a young mistress, this family was different from others.


    After sitting down in the hall, Li Yao asked Chun Ning to help pour tea, then asked Xiaoya toe out and chat with her father.


    "You father and daughter can chat. I''ll go with Chun Ning to prepare lunch."


    "Thank you, daughter-inw."


    After Li Yao and Chun Ning left, He Shiyou looked at his daughter whom he hadn''t seen for a long time, but his face didn''t look good.


    "You gave birth to a daughter?"


    He Xiaoya nodded.


    "Oh, what''s the matter with you?" He Shiyou said, "How could your belly be so useless? Giving birth to a daughter, you''ll surely be looked down upon by your mother-inw!"


    He Xiaoya really wanted to tell him that her mother didn''t look down on her for giving birth to a daughter.


    But she swallowed the words back when they reached her mouth.


    Her father was like other men, looking down on girlspletely. He must also disdain her.


    What was the point of saying more to such a person?


    "Forget it," seeing her not answering, He Shiyou lowered his voice and said, "Strive harder next time. You must leave a descendant for the Wang family, otherwise you''ll surely be squeezed out of the position as the principal wife."


    Wang Xiaoya''s mouth twitched. Were these words a father should say?


    Moreover, he had been here for so long but showed no intention of seeing his granddaughter.


    If he wasn''t her own father, He Xiaoya would have just walked away.


    "I came this time for two things," He Shiyou picked up the teacup and took a sip, "Firstly to see you, and secondly to ask you to find some work in your family for your two brothers."


    He Xiaoya really couldn''t stand it anymore: "I''m afraid seeing me was incidental. Finding work for my brothers was the main purpose, right?"


    "How can you say that?" He Shiyou frowned.


    He Xiaoya didn''t want to make things too stiff either, so she said, "I don''t manage affairs at home. If you want to find work for my brothers, just go and talk to my mother-inw yourself. Didn''t you say it yourself, I can''t even give birth to a son, so I''ll be squeezed out of the position as the principal wife soon. Naturally I have no say in this family."


    "You..."


    He Shiyou was so angry that he wanted to p her a few times.


    This girl had never listened since she was little, and had to oppose him in everything, including getting married.


    Of course she was lucky that her mother-inw was now rich and honored, and had even be a young mistress.


    "You must remember, only your two brothers are your true family, with whom you share the same roots!" He Shiyou said, "And you''re not even willing to help talk to them for me! Your brothers and I have really wasted our care on you!"


    Wasted their care on me?


    Was it the kind of care that gave all the good food to my brothers, all the nice clothes to my brothers, all the easy chores to my brothers, and no matter who was wrong, my brothers were always right...?


    What great care indeed.


    He Xiaoya didn''t expect that after wishing upon a star to see her father again, he finally came to see her.


    But there wasn''t a single word of concern or greetings, and he didn''t even ask about his granddaughter. He only knew to use this family rtionship to ask her for favors, and said she was wrong when she didn''t agree.


    He Xiaoya stood up and said, "I can''t be exposed to the wind. I''m going back to my room."


    "You..." He Shiyou said, "No matter what, you must get this done for me! Thetest by tomorrow!"


    He Xiaoya didn''t even look back and went straight to her bedroom.


    Howe her own father and her mother-inw were so different when they were both parents?

 Chapter 176: Play with Him

    <h4>Chapter 176</h4>


    Although a bit unfamiliar, they were still family after all. Li Yao treated He Shiyou very well, letting Da Zhuang arrange a guest room for him, meaning he should stay for a few days since it was rare for him toe.


    Seeing Li Yao was quite easy to talk to, He Shiyou naturally did not stand on ceremony and settled down to stay, waiting for He Xiaoya to talk to Li Yao about her two elder brothers.


    But after waiting for two days without any movement, He Shiyou was very unhappy.


    That day, after Li Yao went out, he called He Xiaoya from the room.


    "Did you talk about what I told you to?"


    "No."


    "You didn''t say it?" He Shiyou''s face instantly became very ugly. "You''re my daughter, now you don''t even listen to me anymore?"


    "I already said, if you want it said, say it yourself." He Xiaoya said.


    "You... you''re deliberately trying to anger me to death, aren''t you?" He Shiyou suddenly raised his voice and said loudly, "I raised you with great difficulty, feeding you, clothing you, taking care of you. Now that you''ve married well, you don''t even look at me as your father anymore, right?"


    "That''s right, you raised me up," He Xiaoya said, "But ever since I married into the Wang family, have you still treated me as your daughter? At my wedding, it was the vige aunties who sent me over. You must have felt that I married into this ravine and brought you shame!"


    "On the day Da Zhuang and I returned home after the wedding... you had closed the gates tightly, making us wait outside until after noon before opening the door."


    "Not a bite of food, not a drop of water, not even a stool to sit on. You made Da Zhuang and I sit on the rocks in the yard..."


    "Luckily Da Zhuang is a kind fool. After getting money, he still hauled a cart of gifts to give you."


    "Yet you''ve been here three days, and haven''t even nced at your granddaughter once!"


    "Is this how you act as a father?"


    He Xiaoya was uneducated and ineloquent, she just honestly poured out the words that had been pent up in her heart.


    But He Shiyou just coldlyughed and said, "Don''t forget, you''ve only given birth to a daughter for the Wang family!"


    "So what of it?"


    "What do you mean so what? The Wangs are so wealthy now, who knows if they''ll divorce you one day to find a new wife who can bear sons! When that timees, don''te crying back to us, begging us to support you!"


    He Xiaoya almost wanted tough.


    Why did every father and mother feel that a married out daughter must rely on her natal family for support, otherwise she''d be bullied terribly by her inws? That she couldn''t get by otherwise?


    That might be true for others, but certainly not He Xiaoya.


    Her mother-inw, Da Zhuang, and several younger brothers all treated her very well, even better than her own birth parents and siblings.


    "I don''t need anyone to support me." He Xiaoya said. "Even if I did, it would be my mother-inw and Da Zhuang supporting me. Don''t trouble yourself over it."


    As soon as He Shiyou heard this, he was so angry that his whiskers shot up. "I... I really raised you for nothing!"


    "How could you have raised me for nothing?" He Xiaoya said. "During the new year and festivals, Da Zhuang and I still give you gifts and pay our respects, and we give more than anyone else too."


    If you feel you raised me for nothing, it''s because you''re too greedy.


    He Xiaoya didn''t say thisst sentence, because saying it would sever their father-daughter rtionship.


    He Shiyou had nothing left to say. He red fiercely at He Xiaoya, his expression extremely ugly.


    This wench who married into the Wang family, he couldn''t control her anymore after she left!


    "What''s going on with you two?" Just then Li Yao came in from outside and asked, "Glowering at each other, what happened?"


    In fact she had been listening outside the entire time, and heard their conversation very clearly.


    In her heart she also felt He Xiaoya''s approach was right.


    Giving out was mutual, even as parents one had to remember this point.


    Not even putting in superficial effort yet wanting to freeload, there was no such good thing in the world.


    "Oh, nothing," He Shiyou quickly put on a smile and said ingratiatingly, "Just now Xiaoya was telling me she felt her two elder brothers were just farming at home every year, not earning much money at all, and suggested theye work at your family''s workshops. I felt this would be troubling for my rtive, so I didn''t agree. She''s still upset with me over it."


    Both Li Yao and He Xiaoya twitched their mouths at the same time. He Xiaoya wished she could dig a hole and burrow inside - how could her father be so shameless?


    "This is wonderful news!" Li Yao saw through it but didn''t point it out, instead saying with augh, "As it happens, the workshops are still short on people. They cane over starting tomorrow."


    He Xiaoya hurriedly said, "Mother, you can''t!"


    "Why not? Didn''t you suggest it?" Li Yao asked. "Besides, they''re your own elder brothers. We definitely should take care of them a little. You''re doing the right thing."


    "I didn''t..."


    "Ahem!"


    He Shiyou coughed twice, cutting He Xiaoya off.


    How could he let He Xiaoya ruin such a good opportunity?


    "Since my rtive has said so, I will humbly ept." He said. "I just don''t know what work they''ll do."


    "Tending the furnaces," Li Yao said. "Very simple, just responsible every day for continuously adding coal to severalrge furnaces. The pay is 1000 wen a month."


    Tending furnaces?


    Only 1000 wen a month?


    He Shiyou felt his face go numb.


    Over thest couple days he had discreetly looked into this - those craftsmen in the workshops made at least 20-30 taels a month!


    Even just managing things a little earned 30-50 taels.


    If he could make one of his sons the general manager of a workshop, it''d be at least 50 taels to start!


    He had thought that with this family connection, he could at least get his sons a managerial position.


    Who knew he''d be told to tend furnaces?


    That job meant dealing with ck coal everyday from dawn to dusk. Coming out, at least half a pound of ck ash had to be washed off!


    "Rtive, are there any other ces short on people?"


    "Well, there is one other," Li Yao said. "The soap workshop''s current general manager is my mother-inw, but she''s getting on in years and unable to handle many matters anymore. I was preparing to let her retire home to peacefully enjoy her remaining years."


    Hearing there was an opening for general manager, He Shiyou''s eyes lit up.


    Wasn''t this exactly what he wanted?


    Although there was only one opening, it was still better than tending furnaces!


    "Then rtive, what do you think of letting Xiaoya''s eldest brother take that position?"


    "That''s good," Li Yao said. "What''s eldest nephew''s name?"


    "Oh, his name is He Liang."


    "Has he passed the county exams as a schr?"


    Huh?


    He Shiyou thought he must have misheard.


    It was just a managerial role, why was there a need to pass the county exams?


    "My rtive doesn''t know," Li Yao said, "But the managers of all our family workshops must be educated. Even if the first appointments didn''t have education, now they''re also studying under my husband at night. In future, the general managers must be schrs."


    He Shiyou: ......


    "Mother," Here He Xiaoya had already understood Li Yao''s intent, and added, "My two elder brothers never went to school."


    "Oh, that''s a bit difficult then." Li Yao said. "The rules were only set at end ofst year, they definitely can''t be broken. Rtive, how about letting your two worthy nephews tend the furnaces instead?"


    He Shiyou: ......


    He understood now too.


    This whole time his rtive had just been leading him around by the nose for fun!

 Chapter 177: The Locust

    <h4>Chapter 177</h4>


    He had never intended to agree to this matter, yet he couldn¡¯t find the right words to say!


    "That won''t be necessary then," He Shiyou said, "By the way, father-inw, I''ve been bothering you for several days now, it''s time I should head back."


    "Alright, then I''ll have someone escort you, father-inw," Li Yao said with a smile, "Come by often to see your granddaughter, the little girl is so cute and beautiful, if she wasn''t still so young, I''d hate not being able to hold her in my arms every day."


    He Shiyou had been there for several days without even ncing at his granddaughter once, he knew Li Yao was mocking him, and he couldn''t help but blush with embarrassment, quickly bidding his farewell.


    After he left, He Xiaoya wanted to exin what had just happened: "Mother, I..."


    "I know everything," Li Yao interrupted her, "but don''t speak so directly in the future, after all he is your father."


    "Yes, I understand, mother."


    "Also," Li Yao continued, "you''re a mother now, and the elder daughter-inw of this household. I¡¯mzy by nature. So after your postpartum recovery, take care of all the big and small matters of this household. "


    "Huh?"


    He Xiaoya looked at Li Yao in disbelief, was mother-inw asking her to take over as thedy of the house?


    "Mother, I can''t do it, I don''t know how."


    "If you don''t know then learn," Li Yao said. "Once you''ve learned, I''ll be able to retire in peace."


    "What does it mean to retire?"


    "It means... not having to take care of anything, not having to do any work, not having to worry about anything. Just doing whatever I want every day. If I want to go somewhere, I can just up and go..."


    Listening to Li Yao''s exnation, He Xiaoya couldn''t help but yearn for it.


    Mother, I want to retire too!


    During the hottest time of the year, the rice paddies outside the vige had started to turn yellow.


    These past few days, Li Yao hadn''t gone out. She would just chat with He Xiaoya at home every day, teaching her how to manage the household.


    As they chatted, their conversation naturally turned to food as they discussed what to have for lunch.


    That was human nature for you. When you have no money, even a meat soup tastes heavenly, but when you be wealthy, you fret over what to eat.


    "Why don''t we have something light today," Li Yao suggested, "We can cook some salted cowpea beans and dig up some small sweet potatoes to steam."


    "Is it already time to eat sweet potatoes?"


    "Eating them now they''ll still be a bit small, not very cost effective," Li Yao said. "But asionally having some is fine."


    After all, they had nted so many sweet potato vines, they could afford to eat a few.


    "Alright then," He Xiaoya said, "I''ll make a meat dish too. It''s so hot outside, everyone is working hard, they should have some meat."


    "Then make pepper chicken, tell Chunxing to kill two chickens first, I''ll teach you how to make it when she gets back."


    "Okay!"


    Wearing a straw hat, Li Yao went to the hillside fields carrying a basket, braving the scorching sun.


    The cowpeas were nted a bit higher up, so she had to pass through the sweet potato patch below. As soon as she entered, a swarm of tiny insects flew up from the leaves. She quickly grabbed one and saw it was a plump ck locust nymph.


    This suddenly gave Li Yao a bad premonition.


    With so many locusts, could this be the onset of a locust gue?


    There was still one month until the rice harvest, and the sweet potatoes were at a crucial growing period. If arge scale locust gue erupted now, this year''s crops would be doomed.


    But she had never experienced a locust gue before, she would need to consult experts.


    So she found Dazhuang who was working in the fields, strung up a few dozen locusts with some foxtail grass, and brought them to the county government, asking County Magistrate Song to have someone take a look.


    ...


    Based on Li Yao¡¯s suggestion at thest Mid-Autumn festival, County Magistrate Song had collected arge amount of revenue for the county. He was nning to build irrigation canals after the autumn harvest.


    Seeing Dazhuang arrive suddenly, he felt a bit puzzled.


    "Dazhuang, what''s the matter?"


    "My mother sent me. She found a lot of locusts in the fields and worries there may be a locust gueing."


    County Magistrate Song''s expression changed instantly upon hearing this.


    Droughts and floods could still be dealt with, but a locust gue had proven unsolvable since ancient times. He had witnessed a locust gue before, the endless swarms blotting out the sun, leaving barrennd in their wake.


    But it wasmon to see locusts everywhere this season, he couldn''t dere a gue based on a few specimens alone. He would need to inspect the area before making a judgment.


    So County Magistrate Song promptly headed out, abandoning the tricycle this time and riding directly out with several clerks on horseback. They began surveying the viges to assess the situation before nightfall, and indeed found suspiciouslyrge numbers of locusts in half of Baichuan County''s viges.


    "Captain Zhang, ride overnight to Yizhou Prefecture and report the locust situation to Prefect Li."


    "Yes sir."


    After Captain Zhang rushed off, County Magistrate Song remained uneasy, skipping dinner altogether as he went straight to He Wan vige.


    Li Yao and Chunxing were making cold noodles. Seeing the magistrate arrive in a hurry, Li Yao knew the situation was likely not optimistic.


    "County Magistrate Song, do you have a good solution for the locust gue?"


    County Magistrate Song smiled wryly to himself, thinking if I had a solution, why would Ie looking for you?


    "Miss Li, you don''t know this, but once a locust gue begins, there is absolutely no saving the situation. Even mobilizing all themoners to catch them would be futile. We catch wave after wave but countless more emerge, we can only watch helplessly as the crops are devouredpletely."


    No solutions?


    Li Yao racked her brains trying to recall how locust gues were handled in her previous life, and could only remember pesticides being sprayed.


    But pesticides werepletely foreign to her here.


    Must the fruits of herbor in nting sweet potatoes and grains be fed to these insects this year?


    "For now, we can only mobilize the masses to catch as many as possible. Every one caught counts."


    The news of an impending locust gue made every viger''s face turn pale.


    Grain was the foundation of themon people''s livelihood. Even with tens of thousands in wealth, they would be nothing without food.


    Li Yao decided to halt all workshop operations, preparing for an all-out war against the locusts.


    Vige head Wang Jiafu in particr took on the responsibility of organizing the entire vige: "At times like these, we can''t just fend for ourselves. Everyone must unite and cooperate, following my directives."


    After everything they had gone through, the vigers were no longer prone to fighting over trivial matters as before.


    With some money now lining their pockets, they were naturally less nitpicky and calcting.


    Following Li Yao''s example, everyone made a fabric catching. Vige head Wang Jiafu divided the thousand plus vigers into teams to spreadrges in the fields and begin carpet searches to catch locusts.

 Chapter 178: Summer insects cannot be spoken of ice

    <h4>Chapter 178</h4>


    There were more locusts in the paddy fields than on the mountains. Sometimes a single sweep of the could catch several of them. In half an hour, each team had caught half a basket.


    But the locusts in the fields seemed endless, still flying around everywhere. Everyone had to turn around and catch them again.


    On such a hot day, the dense leaves of the rice paddies were like small knives, constantly cutting everyone''s hands and feet.


    When the insects went down, some nearly ripe rice stalks were also disturbed, which pained everyone.


    Butpared to beingpletely consumed by the locusts, everyone could only endure the hardship.


    "Mother," He Xiaoya asked when she saw Li Yao return from the field, "How is it?"


    "Not great. There are too many, we can''t catch them all," Li Yao shook her head.


    "What should we do then?"


    He Xiaoya was more anxious than anyone else.


    This year had been a good harvest, with plentiful grains grown after much hard work. Da Zhuang started working from before dawn until after dark every day.


    It would be such a pity if it was all eaten by the locusts.


    "Don''t worry," Li Yao said. "I''ll try my best to figure something out."


    But Li Yao really didn''t know how to deal with the locusts. She could onlye up with feasible solutions based on the fragmented knowledge in her mind.


    "We shouldn''t idle at home either," Li Yao added. "It''s very hot outside and they don''t have time to cook. We''ll take care of the meals these days."


    "Okay."


    Even in her postpartum confinement period, He Xiaoya was willing to help out.


    So she asked Chun Ning to find the Vige Head and called back several older vige women to help cook cooling mung bean soup, pickled plums, and prepare meals.


    Feeding over a thousand people required five hundred jin of rice per meal.


    Fortunately, they had experience from preparing a wedding banquet during the move. With He Xiaoya about to be the new mistress of the family, she considered things from a different perspective and organized everything orderly.


    After the food was prepared, they used carts to deliver it to the school, where there was ample space for everyone to eat in the shade.


    Although the food was fragrant with plenty of meat, the mood remained despondent, and the meals tasted nd.


    Seeing everyone, Wang Er was also extremely anxious.


    He imagined if he were the Vige Head, how would he face this disaster?


    Before everyone finished lunch, Magistrate Song''s carriage arrived.


    Seeing that He Wan Vige had already started disaster relief efforts organized so properly, Magistrate Song felt a rush of gratification. He knew this was certainly Li Yao¡¯s contribution.


    "Ms. Li," Magistrate Song brought a middle-aged man in a long robe. "I reported the situation to the Yizhou Prefecture overnightst night. Today, Prefect Li sent Private advisor Huang, who has experience dealing with locust gues."


    "Is that so?" Li Yao was overjoyed to hear an expert had arrived. "Pleasee inside."


    "Greetings Ms. Li," he bowed.


    "No need to stand on ceremony, Master Huang," Li Yao replied. "Please join us for a simple meal first, then we can discuss how to deal with the locust gue together."


    Master Huang looked at the food on the table. They were not exquisite dishes, so he did not have much appetite.


    After all, he was the private advisor to the prefect''s family and hade from the capital. How could he eat from the same pot as these country bumpkins?


    "No need to trouble yourself, Ms. Li. I''m only here to assess the situation and still need to visit other viges," Master Huang said. "I''ll pass on the food."


    Hearing this, it put Magistrate Song in an awkward spot.


    He had intended to eat with the vigers first then urgently discuss pest control measures. But now that Master Huang refused to eat, he could only apany him on an empty stomach.


    "Then let''s go take a look at the fields."


    Led by Wang Jiafu, the group went to the paddy fields.


    With his experience dealing with locust gues, Master Huang sized up the situation and immediately had an answer.


    "It''s no bother."


    Wang Jiafu was puzzled and quickly asked, "Master Huang, there are already so many locusts, yet it''s no bother?"


    "That''s right," Master Huang smiled. "A true locust gue will have locusts of all sizes emerging together. But as you can see here, there are only small ones in this field. Why is that?"


    "Because..." Wang Jiafu racked his brains to think, then replied, "The big ones have already died of old age?"


    "Haha, you seem to understand a little." Master Huang said, "The old locusts are dead, so they cannot produce more young locusts. By the time these small ones grow big enough to reproduce, the rice would have already been harvested and the weather cooled. Nature will take care of them. As for these tiny bugs now, they can''t eat much. If you''re worried, just let your chickens and ducks out, they''ll be eaten clean in three days. "


    Everyone looked at each other, surprised that all the hurried work amounted to a false rm.


    Wang Jiafu finally felt relieved, like a weight had been lifted: "Since Master Huang says so, we can rest assured."


    Just as everyone was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Wang Er looked towards Li Yao, seeming to have something to add.


    Li Yao nodded imperceptibly, signaling him to speak up.


    "Magistrate Song, Master Huang," Wang Er stepped forward with a bow. "I have a different view."


    Seeing it was Wang Er, Magistrate Song smiled and asked, "Aren''t you a schr? How would you know about farm work?"


    "Having grown up in a farming family, I picked up a thing or two over the years."


    "What is your view then?"


    "While theck of old locusts means they may have died," Wang Er said, "the old locusts would haveid eggs in the soil, able to survive the winter. When I was little, I dug up many locust eggs while ying in the fields with my eldest brother. So I think it''s very likely there are stillrge amounts of locust eggs unhatched."


    Seeing a country schr daring to contradict him, Master Huang''s face soured.


    He coldly said, "Even if they hatch now, by the time they grow big enough to eat leaves, it would already be fall!"


    "No, locusts only need five days after hatching to molt, and cany eggs in less than a month," Wang Er continued. "If there are stillrge amounts of eggs hatching, or about to hatch, there will certainly be a locust gue within half a month."


    "What basis do you have for saying this?"


    "It''s what myte father taught me."


    "And who was your father?"


    "A lifelong He Wan viger."


    "I thought he was some impressive figure." Master Huang sneered, "As I said, I, Huang, have personally experienced three major locust gues. I''ve seen more locusts than you''ve eaten bowls of rice. So I stand by my earlier statement - don''t speak of ice to summer bugs. You can choose to believe me or figure it out yourselves."


    Everyone groaned inwardly, the Master seemed offended.

 Chapter 179: Locust Annihilation

    <h4>Chapter 179</h4>


    <Song County Magistrate> saw that this person had such a bad temper, and he was also a little unhappy in his heart. But the other person was sent by the prefect after all, and it was quite tiring toe on such a hot day, so at least the courtesy on the surface should be done.


    "Since


    has said so, you can rest assured," <Song County Magistrate> gave <Wang Er> a wink and continued, "I and


    still have to go to other viges to take a look. <Wang Jiafu>, you can discuss it again with <Li Yao>."


    "Oh, good."


    Seeing <Song County Magistrate> and his groupe and go in a hurry, the whole vige was a little confused.


    One said there would definitely be a locust gue, and it would be very serious.


    Another said there was no big deal, just keep your heart in your stomach.


    So, which one should they listen to?


    <Wang Jiafu> also lost his mind, and could only seek help from <Li Yao>, as if <Li Yao> was the backbone of the whole vige.


    Although she had never seen a locust gue, <Li Yao> noticed that what <Wang Er> said was right. Especially about the growth cycle of locusts, it seemed to be really short.


    "I think we still have to prepare for potential dangers,"


    "But how to do it specifically?"


    "This..." <Li Yao> thought for a while and said, "Let''s do this. Everyone take a break for a while, continue catching insects in the afternoon, and I need to think carefully about other methods when I go back."


    This was the first time <Li Yao> felt a little insecure aftering to this world.


    So after dinner, she convened a family meeting to brainstorm and see if she could get some inspiration.


    The night sky was clear, and the bright moon hung in the sky.


    A small table was ced in the yard with some snacks on it, as well as sour plum soup cooled with well water. The whole family sat around the table, but they didn''t have the leisurely feeling of enjoying the cool air like before.


    At this moment, there was the sound of horse hooves outside, and <Song County Magistrate> and <Zhang County Captain> came.


    "Where is that


    ?"


    "


    probably didn''t like my poor hospitality," <Song County Magistrate> said self-deprecatingly. "After visiting two more ces in the afternoon, he still said there was no problem, then hurried back to <Yizhou Prefecture>."


    <Li Yao> was surprised.


    It seemed that no matter ancient or modern times, this expert had a bad temper and could not tolerate the slightest doubt from others.


    "So what does <Song County Magistrate> n to do?"


    "Of course we can''t let our guard down," <Song County Magistrate> said. "Even if it is really as


    said, we must make every effort to prevent and treat it. If there really is a locust gue, it will be toote to act when it happens."


    "That''s right." <Li Yao> said. "It just so happens that we are also discussing how to deal with locusts. Why don''t <Song County Magistrate> sit down and discuss it together."


    "That''s exactly what I had in mind."


    <Song County Magistrate> stepped aside, and <Zhang County Captain> came over from behind carrying several watermelons.


    "I bought these yesterday when I went to <Yizhou Prefecture>," <Zhang County Captain> said. "It seems that in our <Baichuan County>, we rarely have watermelons."


    <Li Yao''s> eyes lit up. This kind of weather, watermelon is a good thing!


    She was not polite and told <Da Zhuang> to take two to the well to chill them in the ice so they would be good to eatter.


    No matter how many more they had, she wouldn''t get tired of them. She must nt tens of acres ofnd with them next year.


    Among the people present, <Da Zhuang> had the most experience in dealing with locusts.


    After all, he had been following his dad farming since he was a child, so he knew a little more about locusts.


    For example, he knew that locustsy eggs in the ground, and they are basically deposited in patches. Locusts are also afraid of smoke. If there happens to be a kind of grass called horse tail in the fire, the smoke can kill the locusts.


    "Horse tail?" <Li Yao> asked, "What does this kind of grass look like?"


    "There used to be some in the back mountain before, now you may have to go deeper into the mountains to cut it," <Da Zhuang> said. "But there are still a lot in the mountains, usually no use for it."


    "Then let''s call some vigers tomorrow to cut more back." <Li Yao> thought for a while and said, "Also, tell the vige children not to catch locusts anymore. Go to the surrounding woods and mountains to find ces where locusts denselyy eggs, dig them all up when found, and burn the dug up ces with fire."


    Two coping methods were quickly discussed, and <Song County Magistrate> felt a little relieved.


    But he knew this was definitely far from enough, because if there really was a locust gue, it would surely blot out the sky and the sun. Even if they would be smoked to death, before dying they would surely ravage the crops inrge numbers.


    <Li Yao> ate a slice of chilled watermelon and was about to go to the toilet when several moths suddenly flew into her face from thentern hanging under the eaves.


    This suddenly gave her inspiration.


    Moths, mosquitoes, they all like the light at night, what about locusts?


    She immediately had <Da Zhuang> carry some firewood to the back of the mountain by the sweet potato field and light a bonfire.


    Before long, the fire attracted many moths and unknown insects, and some small locusts began to slowly gather around the bonfire.


    However, locusts were not as silly as moths to plunge straight into the fire, but kept hopping around in the surrounding grass.


    But this was enough. As long as the locusts could be gathered, it was absolutely better than going to the fields withs to catch them!


    What if some horse tail was added to the grass?


    "<Li Yao>, this is definitely a good way!"


    <Song County Magistrate> was ted.


    He knew that going to <Li Yao> when encountering problems would definitely not go wrong.


    "Hurry up and call <Wang Jiafu>!" <Song County Magistrate> couldn''t wait and said, "Let''s not sleep tonight, immediately have people cut horse tail grass, prepare firewood, light bonfires around the vige, and kill the locusts early!"


    Hearing that there was a simple way to kill locusts, <Wang Jiafu> put on his pants and ran over immediately, then began calling from household to household. In a short time, the vige was full of torches, people cutting grass and carrying firewood.


    In less than an hour, more than two hundred bonfires were prepared.


    "Everyone pay attention, the smoke is toxic, don''t inhale too much!" <Wang Jiafu> shouted loudly everywhere, "If you feel nauseous, get away from the smoky area immediately! Okay, light the fires!"


    Following <Wang Jiafu''s> loud voice, more than two hundred bonfires were immediately lit, and fresh horse tail grass was ced on them. The damp grass suppressed the fire and produced thick smoke that did not disperse easily.


    After the bonfires were lit, the vige was illuminated everywhere, and the locusts roosting on the rice and grass leaves were attracted and kept hopping towards the firelight.


    There were several people guarding each bonfire. When the locusts came, they didn''t need anys. They used prepared wooden nks and brooms to beat them dead on the ground.


    "This is much easier than during the day, and it seems to be catching faster too!"


    "I guess after a few nights, all the locusts will be beaten to death by us."


    "Haha, the big goose in Aunt Li''s family will be fortunate, so many insects that can eat its fill every day!"


    ...


    The vigers'' voices echoed around the vige. Compared to theck of energy during the day, they now all seemed energetic.

 Chapter 180: High-end Locust Control

    <h4>Chapter 180</h4>


    After working hard through most of the night, the whole vige had killed over ten baskets of locusts, more than double what they killed during the daytime!


    "Everyone go back to sleep," Wang Jiafu''s heart could finally rx back into his stomach, "Tomorrow, have the children in the families go find locust eggs, have the older folks go cut grass in the mountains to prepare firewood. The young and able-bodied, continue to light fires and eliminate locusts tomorrow night!"


    Seeing the good results, Magistrate Song had the clerks work through the night to spread word to each vige, and wrote several letters by hand to magistrates of neighboring counties to introduce these locust elimination methods.


    He still wrote a letter to Prefect Li''s side.


    After all, themon people in other ces were alsomoners.


    And in eliminating locusts, if only Baichuan County was doing it without other areas participating, it was highly likely the locust swarms could still fly over from elsewhere.


    As a county magistrate, this was about all he could do.


    ...


    Upon receiving Magistrate Song''s letter, Prefect Li called Private advisor Huang into his study and showed him the letter.


    "Master Huang, can you truly confirm there will not be arge-scale locust gue this time?"


    "Prefect, I am quite certain."


    Yesterday in Baichuan County, he had been questioned by a country schr, and Master Huang still felt indignant over it. Early this morning he had returned to Prefect Li, iming it was merely ordinary locusts and there was no possibility of a locust gue, andined about the situation.


    Now with Prefect Li asking again, he could only stick to his stance to the end, insisting there would be no locust gue.


    Prefect Li naturally had deep faith in someone he had made a Master, plus Master Huang had experience eliminating locust gues three times in the past. So Prefect Li did not inquire further.


    "If Baichuan County is busy working, let them work," Prefect Li finally said, "But as prefect here, I can''t react to every wind as rain, needlessly makingmoners work for nothing and harming and taxing them."


    "Prefect is absolutely right," Master Huang saw the circumstance and said, "That county magistrate is probably too eager for political achievement."


    "What use is more achievement? With the mistakes he has made, he won''t get promoted in this lifetime, and has no chance of returning to the capital city, only to live out his days in some poor rural backwater."


    ...


    Li Yao''s chickens, ducks and geese were truly living the good life these past few days, with several baskets of locusts every day.


    Locusts themselves can actually be eaten by people. Selecting thervae, cleaning them thoroughly, frying them in oil, coating them with aromatic oil and seasoning, they are quite tasty.


    The most sophisticated locust elimination methods require the most basic cooking techniques.


    In China, any edible creature can have its crisis resolved by eating all of them.


    However, apart from Li Yao, when others looked at the te of fried golden locusts, they did not dare pick them up with chopsticks.


    They had also caught and roasted locusts from the fields when they were hungry children, but those were hard and crispy, scraping the throat when swallowed, with no discernible taste.


    How could theypare to now, taking half a pot of oil to fry and eat them with so many ingredients?


    "Why aren''t you eating?" Li Yao asked.


    "Mother," Wang Xiao Si said, "These bugs look so creepy, let''s not eat them."


    "Try one," Li Yao said, "If you feel you can''t swallow it, then don''t eat them."


    In the end, Da Zhuang was the bravest, closing his eyes as he popped one into his mouth and crunched it to pieces.


    Everyone watched him for his reaction.


    "Big brother," Wang Xiao Si''s mouth was already watering from the smell, "How is it?"


    Da Zhuang had a pleasant surprise, "Delicious, listening to Mother is always right."


    Hearing this, Wang Xiao Si hurriedly grabbed one and put it in his mouth, impatiently grabbing a second before he had even swallowed the first.


    Seeing this, everyone else tried them too, and found it hard to stop after one.


    For a time, crunching sounds filled the table, even the usually chatty Song Zhe ate quickly.


    The te of fried locusts was swiftly cleaned out, while Li Yao barely touched her chopsticks.


    "These locusts are good, free of charge, we should catch and collect more in future. What the geese can''t finish, we can eat, and what we can''t finish we can sell for money."


    Da Zhuangughed, "You''re still so young, don''t always think about making money, you should be attending school."


    "That''s right, Xiao Si," Wang Er also said, "After the locusts are eliminated, you should start primary school, I''ll have Teacher Lv personally teach you."


    Wang Xiao Si secretly pouted, not daring to retort.


    Being the youngest in the family, what could he do?


    He hoped Little Yanran would hurry up and grow, so he could order around Little Yanran.


    Under Magistrate Song''s call, even viges that did not yet haverge numbers of locusts were actively working to prevent a gue, in the entire Baichuan County.


    Several neighboring counties also took it very seriously. After all, if they could not handle such a minor matter, they did not deserve to be officials.


    That day, after Li Yao inspected the fields up the mountain, she discovered the locust numbers had already greatly decreased, and the sweet potato leaves were all intact.


    "Granny Li! Granny Li!"


    Just as she was about to head home, a tender voice called out from the mountain.


    Initially, Li Yao was wary, but after walking a few steps she suddenly realized - they were calling for her!


    The one calling her was the little grandson of the Fang family, two years younger even than Xiao Si. Currently he wore a sun hat woven from thin branches on his head, his bare feet pattering as he ran over.


    "Niu Dan, slow down, what''s the matter?"


    "Big brother Xiao Si found the locust nest! He told me to hurry back and get people!"


    Li Yao immediately forgot the heat when she heard, asking for directions before rushing over herself.


    This was a t area beneath a mountain gorge, with almost no trees, onlyrge patches of wild grass.


    At this time Wang Xiaoshi and several vige children were using sickles to cut the grass.


    "Mother,e look!"


    Wang Xiao Si pointed to the cleared ground, which was densely covered in small holes. Li Yao dug out some mud with a sickle - inside were huge clumps of locust eggs.


    "This whole area!" Wang Xiao Si said, "There''s a lot on the open ground over there too."


    Li Yao inspected all around, it really was as Wang Xiao Si said. Thisrge area of several acres had been upied by locusts, producing huge numbers of eggs.


    She didn''t know the exact amount, but if they all hatched, it would certainly be a sky-blocking swarm.


    Soon, Wang Jiafu also led vigers over. Seeing so many locust eggs gave everyone lingering fears.


    "Quick, go grab hoes - no - lead oxen from home over, plow this whole area up directly, then spread straw to burn it all down!"


    This was the most effective method to deal with locustrvae. Over a dozen oxen working together, in less than two hours the entire open space was turned over, then burned down along with the unhatched eggs.


    But looking at the vast forests behind, Li Yao was still very worried, fearing there were countless other such locust bases hidden in the big mountain.

 Chapter 181: A Hard Fight

    <h4>Chapter 181</h4>


    "Li Yao, the Song County Magistrate has arrived," Chun Ning ran in from outside, "Along with him are magistrates from several neighboring counties."


    Li Yao returned home to find Wang Er already hosting several county magistrates in the living room and serving them tea.


    Seeing Li Yaoe in from outside, they all stood up immediately.


    "Madame Li, we have long admired you!"


    "Greetings to you all, please sit down."


    Feeling a bit uneasy with such formalities, fortunately aside from the Song County Magistrate, the other magistrates were all seventh-rank officials, so she didn''t need to use overly formal etiquette.


    Once everyone was seated, the Song County Magistrate exined why they were there.


    It turned out they hade to show gratitude because Li Yao''s locust prevention methods were very effective. They had also brought some small gifts, probably after getting advance notice from the Song County Magistrate, so none of the gifts were particrly valuable. Li Yao epted them.


    Of course, Li Yao knew their purpose foring was not so simple, but that there was a more important matter at hand.


    As neighboring counties of Baichuan, they were all actively working to prevent locusts, while the surrounding counties remained indifferent.


    "We''ve already spoken to the neighboring counties," the Zheng County Magistrate said in annoyance, "But no one listened. They said after inquiring with Li the Prefect, there won''t be a major locust gue this year, so they aren''t doing anything."


    "They won''t listen even if I talk to them," Li Yao said. "I can say it but they won''t hear me."


    "We didn''t intend to ask Madame Li to go speak with them," the Zheng County Magistrate continued. "We just hope Madame Li can take the lead and send official notices from our counties directly to all the counties in Yizhou Prefecture, bypassing the Yizhou government. If they still refuse to act, at least we will have done our duty when locusts eventuallye."


    Of course, doing their duty was not out of sincerity, but prudent self-preservation, even adding some credit for themselves.


    By pulling her in, these county magistrates hoped to make use of her reputation and rtionship with the Ninth Prince. They also wanted to share any credit that mighte from this.


    Spreading risk and sharing credit, that was officialdom.


    Li Yao didn''t want to get involved in these kinds of politics, but that didn''t mean she waspletely oblivious.


    "That''s fine," Li Yao considered and said, "then let the Song County Magistrate take the lead."


    As the highest ranked, it was reasonable for the Song County Magistrate to lead. So they drafted the notice on the spot with everyone stamping it, then had clerks hurriedly deliver it to each county.


    A few dayster, word came back that only about half of the counties took the official notice seriously and began locust prevention using Li Yao''s methods.


    The farther countiespletely ignored it.


    Li Yao merely listened to the report then moved on, without taking it to heart. She was just a retired olddy, not someone who could handle matters of the state.


    At noon that day, the Song County Magistrate was inspecting viges under the zing sun. He arrived at He Wan Vige right on time to freeload lunch at Li Yao''s home.


    The clerks naturally did not stand on ceremony either. After associating for so long, they were all very familiar and no longer needed to be so formal.


    Today Li Yao fried up several tes of fried locusts to treat the Song County Magistrate. The clerks ate with great relish, while the magistrate likely felt squeamish and only tasted one or two.


    Still, he marveled, "To think the dreaded locusts that people loathe could be such a delicious dish. This world is truly bizarre."


    Li Yao thought to herself that if they were more plentiful and easier to catch, themon people would have already eaten them to extinction.


    "Auntie Li, trouble!"


    Just as they were eating, Niu Dan from the Fang family came running over again.


    "Locusts are here! So many locusts!"


    "What?"


    Everyone was shocked. After all their prevention efforts, the locusts still couldn''t be contained?


    "Where?"


    "Coming from the mountainside!" Niu Dan eximed. "My grandfather and Uncle Li already went over!"


    "Let''s go take a look!"


    Forgetting that their meal wasn''t yet finished, Li Yao and the county magistrate rushed over to the back mountain.


    When they reached the reservoir, they saw the mountainside ahead was densely nketed with locusts. Many wild grasses in the woods had been gnawed down to bare stalks.


    Crunch crunch...


    The relentless crunching was like light rain falling in the dead of night, listening to it made one''s scalp tingle.


    Wang Xiao Si picked up a rock and threw it towards the woods, but the locusts were fearless. They continued munching and hopping towards the vige.


    Plop¡ª


    Locusts flew straight at them, smacking onto Li Yao''s clothes. More locusts swarmed towards them, as dense as raindrops in a downpour.


    Li Yao guessed she could grab four or five bugs in one handful!


    This was no longer just a minor nuisance, it was a real locust gue!


    Wang Jiafu and Fang Shian had already turned pale with fright, stunned and at a loss what to do.


    "Hurry back to the vige!" At the critical moment, Li Yao was calmer than anyone. "Have people lightrge bonfires with pyrethrum powder in the gully at the base of our mountain to block the locusts. Get everyone in the vige to brings, sheets, nkets, anything to stop the locusts!"


    Wang Jiafu and Fang Shian jogged back while Li Yao told the county magistrate, "Your Excellency, please notify other viges and neighboring counties urgently. I estimate this will be a pitched battle."


    "Quick, hurry to the back mountain, we must block the locust swarm!"


    Led by Wang Jiafu, over a thousand vigers surged out from the vige. Some carrieds, most held sheets or nkets.


    Fortunately the vige was prepared. They had stockpiledrge piles of firewood along all the fields, and prepared pyrethrum powder ahead of time. Strong young men spread out the firewood over a stretch of more than a hundred meters in the gully to create a barrier.


    Those behind them stood guard, ready to catch locusts at any time. Chickens, ducks and geese were all herded over to join the locust extermination effort. During the day, they were also quite an army.


    "Here theye."


    As everyone stood in wait, apanied by the crunching sound of locusts devouring leaves, locust silhouettes began appearing over the hillside ahead.


    First just a few dozen, then a few hundred, a few thousand... Eventually a dense ck-yellow tide surged down the slope.


    All the vigers gasped. So this was a real locust gue?


    Most had only heard of them. Seeing it now with their own eyes, they couldn''t help but shiver inside.


    "Light the fire! Hurry and light it!"


    The firewood instantly ignited and pyrethrum powder was thrown on. Thick smoke immediately billowed up as the locust army reached the barrier.


    Patter patter...


    Countless hopping bugs pelted people''s bodies and faces, stinging painfully.

 Chapter 182: It’s Too Late

    <h4>Chapter 182</h4>


    No one could care about so much. Holding things, they just rushed up.


    Thes, no matter how many were caught, were put under feet to trample to death, and then continue fishing.


    Those holding sheets and bedsheets worked in pairs. They stretched them out and covered the ground to stomp on, and then stomped around wildly.


    More and more locusts swooped in. Some were blocked by the people, some jumped into the bonfires and burned to death, and many more riding the terrain wanting to fly directly over the col tried to avoid the smoke and dropped to the ground, only to be eaten by the excited chickens and ducks.


    No one remembered how many locusts were killed today, no one remembered how much firewood was moved, and no one remembered how much toxic smoke they inhaled.


    Everyone only knew that if these locusts were not blocked here, the crops of the whole vige would be doomed.


    He Xiaoya directed several women to carryrge buckets of homemade sour plum soup up the mountain. Later, when the sour plum soup was gone, they started delivering cool well water.


    Everyone''s clothes had been soaked with sweat at least dozens of times, and sweat beads kept dripping down their hair like rain.


    Even the cksmith Xia Xian came over to help, propping himself up with a cane, incessantly pping at the locusts with arge wooden board.


    But no oneined of hardship or fatigue. Everyone repeated the same actions. Wherever the locusts came from, everyone went together to stop them there.


    Looking at the still endless stream of locusts flying from the mountains, Song County Magistrate felt both afraid and somewhat relieved.


    Fortunately, the locusts came from the big mountain behind He Wan vige, and He Wan vige had a Li Yao. Otherwise, themoners of the entire Baichuan County would probably only be able to flee this year.


    It was almost dark, and everyone was exhausted and bitterly tired. Their clothes were covered with dozens ofyers of white frost, but the locusts were stilling wave after wave, and had sessfully climbed halfway up the mountain from the col.


    Li Yao''s more than 100 mu of sweet potato fields were also gued, and had long been trampled beyond recognition. But now there was no time to feel heartache about this. This amount of damage waspletely bearable.


    "Is there any more firewood?"


    "People have gone to get it!" Wang Jiafu was so tired he was about to copse, but his lean body still persisted. "It will arrive soon!"


    "I went back there to take a look," Li Yao said. "This should be thest wave. Take advantage of the darkness to make the fire ze and lure all the locusts here."


    More than a dozen carts of dry branches were transported over and piled into more than a dozen huge bonfires in Li Yao''s sweet potato field.


    The mes rushed to the sky, illuminating arge area of ??the sky red. The surrounding locusts were attracted by the firelight and all flew towards this side.


    "Everyone hold on, this is thest wave!"


    Wang Jiafu''s voice was inspiring. They started to catch around the bonfires, but even so, they were busy until midnight before the surrounding locusts were reduced to sporadic numbers.


    Li Yao tidied his hair, which had been soaked countless times, and sat down in the sweet potato field.


    Song County Magistrate followed suit, and regardless of dirtying his official uniform, sat down directly.


    The more than a thousand vigers, young and old, even more exhausted,y down directly on the spot.


    "Li nobleman," Song County Magistrate said, "Your He Wan vige is really amazing. This is the first time I''ve seen peoplepletely conquer a locust gue."


    "To win this time requires the right time, location, people and harmony," Li Yao said. "If it hadn''t rained today, if the locusts hadn''te from the mountains, if the route hadn''t been this mountain col, if the vigers hadn''t been so united, we might have lost."


    "Yes, it seems that the heavenly god is blessing He Wan Vige."


    This time even Li Yao felt very surprised. The vigers of He Wan Vige were unprecedentedly united and worked together to ovee this locust gue.


    In fact, everyone had a little money now. Even if the crops in the fields were eaten up, they wouldn''t starve.


    But everyone still desperately protected the crops and resisted the locusts. This was probably the peasants'' obsession with crops.


    "Let''s have a few people stay here with me on guard," Vige Chief Wang Jiafu said. "The rest hurry to the schoolhouse to eat. Li nobleman has prepared a lot of delicious food for everyone today."


    Before even entering the yard of the schoolhouse, all kinds of meat and vegetable aromas could be smelled.


    He Xiaoya had led several women to be busy at home all afternoon, cooking enough food and dishes for over a thousand people.


    Li Yao was so hungry his chest was stuck to his back. He filled up a whole bowl and didn''t want to go find a stool. He squatted in the corner and started eating. Seeing this, Song County Magistrate shook his head. This was a 7th rank nobleman. If others saw him like this, who knows what they would say.


    But in He Wan Vige, there were no outsiders.


    So he also carried his food and mimicked Li Yao by squatting in the corner.


    Just as everyone was silently eating, news from other viges also came back one after another.


    The other viges had also appearedrge numbers of locusts, but the scale was far smaller than He Wan Vige. They had all beenpletely eradicated.


    Several neighboring counties were the same. Fortunately everyone had made preparations early on, and had not suffered huge losses, preserving at least 90% of the grain.


    Hearing this news, everyone was very happy. The people under heaven are one family. As long as people in other ces don''t go hungry, there will be peace under heaven, and the people of He Wan Vige will be able to live truly peaceful days.


    And all of this was brought to everyone by Li Yao.


    Without Li Yao, everyone in He Wan Vige would definitely have had to flee famine in a few years.


    "I think we can erect a virtue stele for Li nobleman now."


    "Right, right,ter we''ll talk to the Vige Chief about this. We must erect a stele for Auntie Li!"


    Li Yao: ...I''m still alive and well, what stele needs erecting?


    "Prefect sir, Song County Magistrate has sent someone again."


    Li Prefect, who was eating breakfast, couldn''t help but frown slightly.


    This Song County Magistrate really had a lot going on,ing to bother him every other day. He had just taken office not long ago, and had already sent people over several times, and sent several handwritten letters.


    "Go ask what it''s about."


    "He said," the servant replied, "that arge-scale locust gue urred in Baichuan County yesterday."


    "What?" Li Prefect dropped his chopsticks on the ground. "What''s the situation?"


    "No major issues. All the locusts have been eradicated."


    Eradicating all the locusts from a locust gue?


    Li Prefect was actually relieved. Since people could eradicate a locust gue, it must not have beenrge-scale. Song County Magistrate was probably exaggerating things to curry favor.


    But before he had even finished breakfast, several other counties also sent people to report that they had experienced locust gues of varying degrees.


    Now Li Prefect could no longer sit still.


    He knew these counties had carried out prevention and control measures together with Baichuan County in advance, but the problem was that several other counties had not taken any action at all.


    If those counties had also experienced locust gues, the consequences would be...


    "Come, hurry and send people to order all counties to actively prevent locust gues!"


    But now that the order went out, it was already toote.

 Chapter 183: Autumn Harvest Time

    <h4>Chapter 183</h4>


    When the dispatched people were not even halfway there, news of the disaster had alreadye from several counties. Since there was no prevention done beforehand, it led to 80% or more of the crops being destroyed.


    The harvest was just around the corner, and those rice stalks that had started to turn yellow were now all wasted in the fields.


    After everything was tallied up, across the entire Yizhou Prefecture, at least 30% of the rice was lost, along with one third of the poption that would face hunger this year.


    Li Prefect was so angry that the veins on his forehead bulged as he had Private advisor Huang severely beaten and thrown into a roadside sewer.


    Luckily, most of the counties did decently, preserving at least 70% of the grain.


    But this achievement didn¡¯t seem to be his own, rather it was the work of Song County Magistrate, Li Yao, Zheng County Magistrate and the others.


    Li Prefect knew he had made a mistake this time, and quickly petitioned the capital, pleading guilty in advance. And he had his family pull strings everywhere, hoping to keep his recently obtained hat with crow feathers.


    ...


    He Wan vige.


    After defeating the locust gue, the vigers rested for a day at home, before busying themselves again.


    For thesemon people, even if it was a disastrous cmity, as long as they survived, they still had to keep living day to day.


    The School also officially resumed sses, the workshops reopened, and Li Yao continued herfortable retirement.


    The day quickly ended, and as Li Yao was wondering what new thing to have for dinner, Du Xiao Hui walked into the yard from outside.


    ¡°Auntie Li, I have something to discuss with you.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t keep working at the workshop,¡± Du Xiao Hui said, ¡°You should find someone else to take over.¡±


    Li Yao was a bit surprised.


    Du Xiao Hui was now the head cashier of several workshops, handling huge sums of money, and it wasn¡¯t tiring work either, nor was the pay low. Why didn¡¯t she want to do it anymore?


    ¡°Did something happen?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Du Xiao Hui said, ¡°It¡¯s just that the more I keep doing it, the more I feel that I know too little, so I want to attend School to learn more things.¡±


    Seeing her sincere expression, Li Yao was actually quite impressed with thisss.


    She remembered that when Du Xiao Hui first arrivedst year, she was still a country girl who only knew how to dig for wild vegetables and cut pig grass every day, and even picked wild fruits from the mountain to give to Wang Er.


    Yet in less than a year, she knew the importance of studying and self-improvement.


    ¡°Your thinking is good, I fully approve.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Auntie.¡±


    ¡°But learning is learning, you still have to handle the workshop affairs,¡± Li Yao said, ¡°Actually there isn¡¯t much to do at the workshop every day, you can even bring books there to read.¡±


    ¡°But...but I''m worried that way, I''ll learn very slowly.¡±


    ¡°You''re still young, you have plenty of time, why do you need to learn so quickly?¡±


    ¡°I...¡±


    Du Xiao Hui suddenly blushed, lowering her head, mumbling incoherently for a long time.


    This was very strange, Li Yao didn¡¯t remember her being like this before.


    ¡°Just say whatever you want, don''t feel shy in front of me.¡±


    ¡°Um, I''m afraid that after Wang Er passes the imperial examination and bes a schr, I...I won''t be a match for him...¡±


    Li Yao: ...So it turns out everything is for love?


    No wonder she was in such a hurry. After the autumn harvest, Wang Er would be participating in the county exam. The schrs from the capital at the School had said, seven or eight out of ten could be a sessful candidate.


    A sessful candidate could continue taking exams, or work in the government, which was considered eating the emperor''s food, and was almost like being a semi-official lord.


    Whereas Du Xiao Hui was just a country girl, she was probably worried that after Wang Er seeded and became famous, the gap between them would be too great.


    Li Yao had always avoided prying too much into young people''s love affairs.


    But since Du Xiao Hui was willing to work so hard for Wang Er''s sake, and wanted to improve herself, Li Yao decided to give her some pointers.


    ¡°I believe Wang Er is not the fickle sort.¡±


    ¡°I know that, but I can''t drag him down either.¡± Du Xiao Hui said with a red face, ¡°At least I want to be knowledgeable and worldly like the wife of the Song County Magistrate.¡±


    ¡°You won''t be able to learn to be like her.¡±


    The wife of the Song County Magistrate also came from a schrly family, that temperament was cultivated from birth, it wasn''t something you could pick up in a short period.


    ¡°Then what should I do?¡±


    ¡°Let me tell you a path, whether you want to take it or not is up to you.¡±


    ¡°Please tell me, Auntie.¡±


    ¡°Go manage the School,¡± Li Yao said. ¡°Our vige School is currently run by the Vige Head, but he hasn''t studied much either, and is too busy. You go take over managing the School, where you can study close by every day.¡±


    ¡°Manage the School? I''ll do it!¡±


    Du Xiao Hui''s eyes lit up when she heard she could help Wang Er.


    ¡°Don''t rush, hear me out first,¡± Li Yao continued. ¡°It looks simple on the surface, but will actually be very troublesome. You''ll have to deal with all kinds of students, all kinds of teachers, and all kinds of parents. Also, the goal I''ve set for you is far more than just our vige''s School.¡±


    ¡°In the future when Wang Er goes to be an official somewhere, you''ll need to establish more schools in his jurisdiction, and strive to allow more people the chance to study.¡±


    ¡°If you can do a good job, your achievements and reputation will far surpass a local bigwig. By then you won''t need to worry about dragging Wang Er down, instead he''ll benefit because of you.¡±


    Could she help Wang Er?


    Du Xiao Hui''s eyes shone brighter when she heard this, and quickly said, ¡°I''m willing to go!¡±


    ¡°It''ll be very tough and tiring, there will be many vexing affairs, you may even be envied and obstructed by many rich people and officials. Are you still willing despite all this?¡±


    ¡°I''m willing!¡± Du Xiao Hui said resolutely, ¡°As long as it can help Wang Er, I''m willing to do anything!¡±


    ¡°Good, once I''ve found someone new, hand over the workshop matters. Then all the affairs of our vige School will be handed over to you,¡± Li Yao said. ¡°Don''t worry, I trust that you''ll work hard to do a good job.¡±


    ¡°Don''t rush, go back and think it over for a few more days. If you don''t want to do it, that''s fine too. You can keep helping me manage a portion of the family assets at the workshop.¡±


    Du Xiao Hui''s face turned even redder. She knew Auntie Li was tacitly approving of her being with Wang Er.


    And precisely because of this, Du Xiao Hui was even more determined to work hard at managing the School properly.


    Ten dayster, Du Xiao Hui officially handed over the important ounting duties at the workshop to Shen Shi, Wang San''s daughter-inw.


    Then she formally took over the School''s affairs, bing the School Head.


    Although the schrs who came from the capital felt it was extremely inappropriate for an illiterate girl to be School Head.


    But Li Yao said that Du Xiao Hui was only managing the ounting and daily trivial matters. The actual teaching and educating was still up to the schrs themselves.


    Hearing this, the schrs could not object further.


    Another ten days passed in the blink of an eye. The rice grains in the fields had be heavy and plump, nketing the entire fields in gold.


    The autumn harvest time was finally imminent for He Wan vige.


    Early in the morning before sunrise, Li Yao went to the cksmith workshop.


    Although no new things had been researchedtely, the cksmith Xia Xian was still very busy every day, because the tasks Li Yao had previously given him still weren''tpleted.


    It wasn''t that no progress was made, just thatpared to Li Yao''s requirements, there was still a littlecking.

 Chapter 184: Thresher

    <h4>Chapter 184</h4>


    "Li Yao,e take a look at what I''ve just made."


    What was ced in the empty yard of the cksmith''s workshop was a two-meter-square lump of iron,posed of various shaped parts, looking very industrial.


    This was made by Xia Xian, and could be considered the sixth generation of steam engine, having made huge progresspared to the beginning.


    It''s just still a little too big.


    With this big lump, over a dozends simply couldn''t lift it without leverage.


    "Let''s try firing it up."


    "Okay."


    At Xia Xian''s direction, two apprentices quickly brought some lit coal and ced it into the furnace of the steam engine, then closed the iron door.


    "It''s about to start, pay attention everyone!"


    With Xia Xian''smand, the first to open was the air valve of the blower, blowingrge amounts of air through the pipes into the furnace, making the fire inside roar.


    After the coal in the furnace was burning strongly, another valve opened.


    This was specially for sending fuel into the furnace. Under Li Yao''s guidance, Xia Xian had already got people to grind the coal into powder and mix it with water into a paste, so that the coal powder wouldn''t be directly blown into the flue, and the amount going in could be better controlled.


    Now it seemed this method had already been quite sessful, the two valves made by Xia Xian had initially achieved the effect of regtion.


    As the fire in the furnace grew stronger and stronger, the water in the container boiled, and the high temperature steam through the pipes blew the des inside the machine into rapid spins, which also spun the protruding shaft at high speeds.


    "Not bad, it''s already got some shape."


    Having obtained Li Yao''s approval, Xia Xian''s heart finally rxed a little. For this machine, he had racked his brains until he didn''t know why it had to be so small.


    "You''ll know whyter, but today I came to make something else."


    Li Yao took out some blueprints. After looking through them, Xia Xian found them to be much simpler than he imagined.


    "What''s this one for?"


    "Grain threshing machine."


    Xia Xian: ???


    "For threshing rice."


    ...


    "Attention everyone, the rice is ripe, hurry to start harvesting!"


    Early in the morning, Wang Jiafu''s voice resounded through the entire He Wan vige. As the vige chief, he had the duty to remind and supervise the vigers to actively work the fields.


    In fact there was no need for him to remind them, everyone had been waiting for this day.


    Wang Jiafu also gathered his whole family, taking their sickles, carrying square wooden buckets, and headed towards the fields.


    But when they arrived, they discovered that not a single person was harvesting the rice, but were all gathered together.


    "Not working, what are you looking at?"


    Wang Jiafu made his way through the crowd, and found everyone was looking at a machine with a strange appearance ced at the edge of the sky.


    Needless to say, he also knew this belonged to the Li family.


    But like everyone else, he was puzzled about what this thing was used for.


    Soon Li Yao also brought her whole family over.


    "Li Yao, what are you doing?"


    Li Yao didn''t like people calling her Miss, so the senior vigers still directly called her by name.


    Li Yao exined the use of the threshing machine, as she had wanted everyone to use it, so she didn''t keep it a secret.


    "You''re saying this thing can thresh rice four to five times faster than before?"


    "Yes."


    The crowd looked at each other, but were not very convinced in their hearts.


    Harvesting rice was not so simple. They had to first cut and gather them bundle by bundle, then beat them on a wooden tub until all the grains were threshed clean.


    At least twenty-some strikes were needed per bundle.


    For one acre of paddy field, just cutting and beating would take at least a whole day for four to five people.


    If it could really be four to five times faster, wouldn''t that mean five to six acres could be finished in one day?


    Impossible, absolutely impossible.


    "No need to hurry your harvesting," said Li Yao, "get more people toe help cut my family''s field, then you can see the effect. If you find it useful, Xia the cksmith can make three more machines today, which can be distributed for everyone to use tomorrow."


    "Alright, then let''s wait and see first."


    Thus over ten nimble fellows came, and worked with the Zhuang brothers to start harvesting Li Yao''s fields. In less than half a hour, they harvested about one acre.


    Seeing it was about enough, Li Yao had Da Zhuang and Wang Yuanbang start pedaling the machine.


    "Pay attention when pedaling, don''t use force when it hits the bottom, follow the pedal and lift your feet, so the threshing machine can keep turning continuously."


    After practicing for a while, Da Zhuangpletely mastered the technique.


    Some women started bringing over the piled rice from the field, while Da Zhuang and Wang Yuanbang pedaled the machine, cing the rice panicles on top of the thresher at the same time.


    With a swish swish sound, the grains on the panicles were threshed clean in the blink of an eye.


    "It''s really that fast?"


    Seeing the two continuously taking rice without stopping, finishing them clean in a few strokes, Wang Jiafu was truly shocked.


    At this speed, as long as there were enough people harvesting, five to six acres a day was truly easy!


    Most importantly, it wasn''t as tiring!


    If every family had one of these machines, the rice of the whole vige could be finished harvesting in three days max!


    No longer needing to worry that untimely rain would make the unharvested ricey soaked on the ground like before.


    "Li Yao, can this machine thresh wheat too?"


    "Of course," said Li Yao, "wheat, barley, oats, it can thresh them all."


    "How much does one cost?"


    "Not expensive," said Li Yao, "for vigers buying it''d just be one or two taels of silver."


    One or two taels of silver, able to save huge amounts of manpower, allow the whole family to rx for a season, or even two seasons. Most importantly, it was made of iron, buy it once and it can be used for a lifetime!


    "I want to buy one for my family!"


    "I want one too!"


    ...


    Hearing the vigers eagerly wanting to buy the threshing machines, Li Yao said that actually one machine per family was unnecessary, it was enough for a few families to share one if they didn''t have many people.


    Hearing this reasoning, everyone thus looked for people to purchase together with.


    In the end, just by this field, five threshing machines were sold.


    With the threshing machines, no one hurried to harvest their own rice today either, each family sent out one person, and in one daypletely finished harvesting Li Yao''s dozen-some acres, even bringing it back home for her.


    However, the yield of rice wasn''t high. Even though Li Yao had used very scientific methods when nting, without fertilizer and improved seeds, after all it wascking.


    After calcting, each acre could harvest about 600 catties of unhusked rice.


    Converted to milled rice, it was a bit over 400 catties.


    Their family had 16 acres of paddy fields total, nearly 7000 catties of rice.


    Although this yield was only one thirdpared to modern times, it was still enough to astonish the vigers.


    For other families'' fields, 300 catties of milled rice per acre was considered burning incense to the gods.


    It was a pity that when Li Yao''s family was transnting seedlings, no one believed nting that way would have high yields, so no one learned from them. Now everyone''s guts were green with regret.


    But next year, they must nt like her family did.

 Chapter 185: All Hell is Breaking Loose

    <h4>Chapter 185</h4>


    Xiaxian brought several apprentices and worked overnight, finally managing to make five threshing machines before dawn. Adding to the one at Li Yao''s home, there were a total of six machines.


    Using these six machines, the whole vige only took three days to bring all the rice back home.


    When Song County Magistrate came to inspect He Wan vige, he found that therge area of golden rice had suddenly disappeared.


    "Wang Jiafu, where is your vige''s rice?"


    "All brought back home."


    Wang Jiafu said with augh. Song County Magistrate thought he was joking. He knew about harvesting rice, which takes at least ten days to half a month every year.


    But it had only been four days since hest came to He Wan vige, and they had finished harvesting already?


    "County Magistrate Song," Wang Jiafu said with a smile, "Li Yao made another machine for harvesting rice."


    Hearing it was Li Yao''s doing, Song County Magistrate was not surprised.


    He should have known that for big events like this, it would be strange if Li Yao didn''t have any good ideas.


    "Show me the machine quickly."


    "You can see it, but there''s no rice to demonstrate with."


    Song County Magistrate thought for a moment and said, "That''s fine, we can try it in other viges."


    After seeing the threshing machine, Song County Magistrate had Wang Jiafu take some tricycles from the vige and bring the six threshing machines to the neighboring Baiyun Vige.


    Under Wang Jiafu''s guidance, the vigers of Baiyun Vige used these machines to harvest a third of the rice in one day, greatly impressing Song County Magistrate.


    "Such a good machine must be reported to the imperial court. Li, the talented woman, must be rewarded!"


    In addition, Song County Magistrate rented the six machines in the name of the government office and sent them to various viges for the vigers to take a look.


    After tasting the benefits of the threshing machine, many vigers immediately ran to He Wan vige and said they wanted to buy one themselves.


    Seeing the endless stream of orders, Xiaxian was very d he had prepared sufficient materials and parts in advance, managing to make several machines every day.


    The extra threshing machines were sold at the Li''s Finest Goods Shop in He Wan vige.


    With Baichuan Market always having traveling merchantsing and going, when they saw He Wan Li''s hadunched a new product, they bought one first before asking anything.


    Also because the rice harvesting time was so short, otherwise based on one season, the threshing machine would probably have spread throughout the entire Daling already.


    But there was no need to worry about no one buying them. Those merchants were shrewd. If they couldn''t use it this year, could they not use it next year? Better buy it and keep it home first. It wouldn''t be this price next year!


    ...


    After the rice was dried, Dazhuang cleared out a room to stockpile it.


    Although the family was not short of money now, looking at the room full of rice, they felt an unprecedented sense of abundance, with smiles on their faces every day.


    After harvesting the rice, they would have to wait a period before nting wheat and rapeseed, and sweet potatoes had to wait some time before digging as well.


    But the whole family did not idle around. The county exam was approaching, so Wang Erxiang studied diligently every day. Wang Xiaosi was also sent to school for enlightenment education under a teacher''s guidance.


    As for Li Yao, she was making a menu to prepare for Xiaorun''s one month celebration.


    The custom on this side of He Wan vige was to hold the one month celebration when the baby turned 40 days old. Of course, this was usually only held for boys. For a family like Li Yao''s to hold such a grand one month celebration for a girl, they were definitely the first.


    "Mother," He Xiaoya looked at the densely filled menu and said, "I feel like this is a bit too much."


    "Too much?"


    "Yes," He Xiaoya said. "Look, chicken, duck, fish, shrimp, braised, longan, stuffed meat wraps, covered bowls, that''s already eight hearty main dishes. Plus another four stir-fried dishes, four cold dishes, and one meat and one vegetable soup. With eight people per table, how can they eat so much?"


    Li Yao didn''t actually want to prepare so many dishes. But she knew that while the vigers had earned some money working at the workshops, most families still did not live very well, only basically meeting the needs for food and clothing.


    Plus, during the recent locust gue, the whole vige worked together to protect nearly 10,000 mu ofnd. Back then they only had a simple meal and didn''t properly thank everyone.


    So this time she wanted to take the opportunity of holding the one month celebration for Xiaorun to prepare more dishes. Any leftovers could be packed for people to bring home and eat slowly.


    This was also her way of showing care for the vigers.


    After all, she nned to live out her old age here, so she wanted to livefortably and not have people gossiping behind her back everyday.


    Besides, with so much money earned, how could she not spend some of it?


    "In that case, let''s add more," Li Yao said. "Prepare a small return gift package for everyone, with candy, peanuts and such, for them to bring home."


    He Xiaoya: ...


    She realized that her mother had no intention of saving money at all.


    But seeing her hold such a grand one month celebration for Xiaorun, He Xiaoya felt warm inside.


    Looking at the sleeping Xiaorun in the baby carriage, she felt she was probably the happiest little girl in the world.


    Time flew by quickly, and the day of Wang Xiaoya''s one month celebration arrived.


    The old Wang family, young and old, came over early to help out. They ughtered five fat pigs, and bought several carts of meat and vegetables from the market.


    He Jijing, the owner of He''s Restaurant, directly sent over several chefs from the restaurant to specially cook for Li Yao''s family.


    That morning, vigers who didn''t have much work all came over dressed in clean and neat clothes.


    ording to local customs, each family would give a red packet.


    But Li Yao had said in advance that while red packets for auspicious asions were fine, they absolutely could not give too much.


    Everyone knew she was notcking money, so they happily agreed. After discussing among themselves, each family gave 100 wen, meaning longevity to the age of 100.


    Of course this was for vigers without close rtions. For those with business ties or rtives of the Wang family, they did not adhere to this.


    Everyone had earned so much money following Li Yao, so these red packets had to be packed thick.


    Especially Jia Zhanliang and Liu Yuan, who gave 300 taels of silver each, plus various local specialties from other ces and some exotic curiosities.


    Song County Magistrate was not so vulgar. He personally painted a picture, while the County Magistrate''s wife prepared a small jade hairpin for little Run to wear when she grew to five or six years old.


    When county magistrates from nearby counties heard the news, though they did note in person, they also sent gifts, giving them much face.


    Seeing the venue filled with guests, Li Yao felt that asionally having such a lively time seemed nice as well.


    As noon approached, the kitchen said they could start serving.


    Large tables and chairs filled the big courtyard, and just as dish after aromatic dish was brought out, a voice that had not been heard in a long time came from outside.


    "Auntie, such a big celebration yet you didn''t even let me know!"


    Everyone turned to look and saw that it was the long absent Ninth Prince.


    In principle, with the prince''s arrival, everyone should kneel to greet him and not even raise their heads. But Liu Yun was trulycking in status in He Wan vige, mainly because Li Yao did not indulge him.


    So instead of greeting him formally, everyone happily chatted with him.


    If this happened anywhere else, with just one fit of anger from Liu Yun, over a thousand heads would fall that day!


    But Liu Yun had gotten used to it.


    On the contrary, he felt this kind of feeling was veryfortable, much more carefree than in the imperial pce.


    "Your Highness..."


    Song County Magistrate had just opened his mouth when Liu Yun directly interrupted him, "Don''t call me that anymore."


    "Why not?"


    "Because I''m no longer Ninth Prince Your Highness. I''m now Prince of Yizhou."


    Prince of Yizhou?


    Liu Yun had actually been conferred the title of prince?


    Song County Magistrate was shocked. For the officials andmoners of Yizhou Prefecture, this was a huge deal!


    For over a hundred years, Daling had stopped conferring the title of prince, instead dispatching officials to govern various ces.


    This was to facilitate the imperial court''s management, avoid separatism by princes, and also increase the court''s revenue.


    Yet today, over a hundred yearster, another Prince of Yizhou had emerged, and he was the emperor''s most beloved Ninth Prince.


    As a former insider in the center of power in Daling, Song County Magistrate knew very well that this matter was absolutely not as simple on the surface.


    Could this world really be thrown into turmoil?

 Chapter 186: A King

    <h4>Chapter 186</h4>


    Li Yao was surprised to find that after Liu Yun returned to the capital for a short visit, he was actually bestowed the title of prince.


    Bing a prince meant he would have his own fief, and the entire Yizhou Prefecture would be Liu Yun''s personal territory. All the taxes collected each year would belong to him personally, and he would only need to pay a small portion to the imperial court.


    Anyone with a bit ofmon sense knew this was weakening the power of the imperial court. It was evident the old emperor doted heavily on this son of his, to the point of excess.


    But looking at it positively, with the imperial court''s restraints gone, if Liu Yun could manage Yizhou well, themon people there would have a better life in the future.


    ording to convention, the county magistrates like Song County Magistrate could choose to return to the capital and await reassignment. They could also choose to stay and continue helping Liu Yun administer their counties.


    But the prefect would have to be removed.


    "Li Prefect left for the capital yesterday after being recalled," Liu Yun said. "But even without this, he still would have been removed from office and investigated for his poor locust control efforts this time. In the future, he will probably only be able to take on some insignificant idle position in the capital."


    Hearing that Li Prefect, whom he had known for many years, had ended up in this situation, Song County Magistrate also felt very resigned. If Li Prefect had listened to him and made some effort to organize the people to fight the locusts, he definitely could have received a promotion after returning to the capital this time.


    "County Magistrate Song," Liu Yun asked, "what are your intentions?"


    In his heart, Song County Magistrate wanted to go back.


    After all, that was where his family and friends were, back in the capital.


    Also, in the past year plus, he had achieved quite a bit in Baichuan County. Returning now, he could probably bnce out his merits and demerits and resume his former position.


    But for some reason, when it came time to speak, he swallowed the words back down.


    He had already developed a strong bond with themon people of Baichuan County, who now dearly loved him.


    Plus there was He Wan vige, and Li Yao who seemed to have countless good ideas in her mind.


    If he left just like this, how could he immediately know what fresh thing Li Yao hade up with next?


    He was a bit conflicted.


    Seeing him silent, Liu Yun did not rush him to dere his intentions now. Instead, he said, "This prince will gather all the county magistrates in Yizhou Prefecture in three days. You can all dere your intentions then."


    "Thank you, Prince Yizhou."


    Liu Yun gave a faint smile. "Actually, I hope you can stay."


    He left the second half of that sentence unsaid, but Song County Magistrate could guess what it was.


    This Prince Yizhou would definitely heavily rely on him in the future.


    "Alright," Liu Yun said, "today is my sister Chunyan''s one month celebration, let''s not talk about this. I haven''t eaten auntie''s cooking in a long time. Today I must eat more."


    Liu Yun sat down at the table with Li Yao, just as casually as before, and chat with everyone just as casually while filling his te.


    Hearing Song County Magistrate describe the locust fighting efforts in He Wan vige, Liu Yun regretted missing it even more.


    "If I had known, I would have gone backter and not missed such a thing! Auntie Li, do you still have any locusts at home I could try frying and eating?"


    "There aren''t any left. If you want to eat them, go catch them yourself in the fields and I''ll fry them for you," Li Yao said.


    "Alright," Liu Yun turned to his guard Bai Song, "have Xiao Si Wang take you to catch some this afternoon."


    Bai Song: ???


    He felt like the Ninth Prince... no, like Prince Yizhou had be a different person aftering here.


    After the drinking and feasting, Li Yao had the vigers pack up all the unfinished dishes to take home and eat slowly. Everyone understood her intentions and did not feel ashamed.


    After packing up, they all helped clean up the tables, chairs, bowls and chopsticks.


    "Auntie Li," Liu Yun said while patting his bulging belly, "I heard from Chunying just now that you also know how to fish?"


    "Mm."


    "Could you take me to catch some fish?" Liu Yun asked.


    "Let''s go."


    Having just filled her belly, Li Yao also wanted to take a stroll, so she took Liu Yun and Bai Song to the reservoir.


    "Bai Song," Liu Yun said, "the boat is a bit small. You don''t need toe. Auntie and I can go ourselves."


    Bai Song''s brows furrowed slightly. Liu Yun couldn''t swim. And while Li Yao looked harmless, her martial arts skills were exceptional. If she wanted to harm Liu Yun on the water...


    Thinking of this, Liu Yun shook his head and smiled self-deprecatingly.


    If Li Yao wanted to harm Liu Yun, she must have had countless opportunities to do so stealthily.


    The two stepped onto the small boat. It was Liu Yun''s first time rowing a boat on such arge reservoir, and doing it himself. He found it very fun. But because he was unfamiliar with it, the small wooden boat kept spinning in circles on the water and didn''t travel very far even after rowing for a long time.


    Li Yao was toozy to care and just let him mess around as he pleased.


    She knew Liu Yun hadn''t trulye here to row a boat and catch fish.


    After ying around for a while, Liu Yun was drenched in sweat. He finally rowed the small boat to the middle of the reservoir.


    "I''m tired, I''m tired," Liu Yun put down the oars. "Let''s rest a bit."


    "No one can hear us talk here now," Li Yao said. "So if you have divine matters, you can speak inly now."


    "Auntie really is too smart for anything to get past you."


    Liu Yun leaned to the side and scooped up some water to wash his face before slowly saying, "Auntie, I want to invite you to Yizhou Pce to be my martial arts master."


    Li Yao: ...This young man doesn''t think before he speaks.


    I''m a woman, what kind of martial arts master would I be?


    If anything, it should be martial arts mistress!


    But that doesn''t seem right either.


    In any case, she understood Liu Yun''s meaning. He wanted her to be his chief strategist.


    But she had already decided to retire. She had wanted to retire since herst life, and truly did not want to get involved in such matters now.


    "I''m just a vige woman farmer, what kind of martial arts master could I be?"


    "Auntie, please don''t say that," Liu Yun said. "Auntie, you have exceptional talent. If you can help me, Yizhou can definitely be governed even better."


    "Let''s forget about it. I''m azy person by nature." Li Yao said. "If you really encounter an unsolvable problem, you cane find me anytime and I will be happy to help."


    Liu Yun''s face clearly showed his regret.


    Of course, most of it was an act, because he had already guessed Li Yao would answer this way.


    But he still made the offer, to first express his sincerity, and provide good footing for the more important conversation toe.


    Just that the words toe had a high chance of dissatisfying Auntie Li, and Liu Yun felt a little apprehensive, unsure of how to broach the subject.


    Li Yao was clever beyond measure.


    From the moment she heard Liu Yun was bestowed a prince title, she guessed what the old emperor was scheming.


    The things in her hands were simply too many.


    Not just the pickled vegetable business and bicycles, but also the high quality steel, cement, and steam engines with power exceeding a hundred men. Who wouldn''t be envious or wary if they were emperor?


    It was only the current emperor who was still rtively benevolent, who hadn''t outright framed her for some crime to seize her assets, instead adopting a more gentle strategy - cooperation.


    And Liu Yun was the emperor''s spokesman.


    The emperor had extended an olive branch. If Li Yao didn''t want to abandon everything she had now and flee with her family, she would have to ept it.


    She wouldn''t refuse for now, of course.


    She had developed these technologies with the goal of proliferation.


    But she would also leave herself an out, just in case.

 Chapter 187: Where does the Money Come from

    <h4>Chapter 187</h4>


    Liu Yun seemed to finally muster up the courage to speak about the matter at hand.


    "Auntie, I..."


    "You don''t need to say it," Li Yao interjected. "Let me speak."


    "Huh?" Liu Yun was taken aback. "You know what I''m about to say?"


    "I know," Li Yao replied.


    She picked up the fishing rod on the boat and baited it with a piece of earthworm before casting it into the water.


    Only then did she say jokingly, "You''ve got your eyes on my meager assets, haven''t you?"


    Liu Yun''s face flushed red.


    It appeared this Auntie Li did indeed know his intentions.


    To be honest, this was not something he actually wanted to do, but Daling Country had been gued by raids from the northern barbarians. This year, it had gotten even worse. Since spring, they had been invading Daling''s borders.


    Meanwhile, Daling''s troopscked quality warhorses and good weaponry and armor. Coupled with insufficient rations, they had been retreating at every step.


    The northern borders had already been invaded by over a hundred miles.


    "Auntie, I had no other choice," Liu Yun said. "But I promise I will never shortchange you."


    "There''s no shortchanging to speak of," Li Yao said. "I''m a subject of Daling Country, so of course I should think of Daling first."


    "Auntie is virtuous."


    "But I have two conditions," Li Yao said.


    "Please go ahead, Auntie," Liu Yun replied.


    "First, while you can''t control other ces, now that you''re the Prince of Yi Prefecture, you must treat themoners of Yi Prefecture better in the future," Li Yao said. "If you can promise to do that, I''ll be happy to provide what little I have to you."


    "Of course. I, Liu Yun, swear to the heavens that I will never exploit themoners of Yi Prefecture," Liu Yun vowed solemnly. "Also, you don''t need to give it to me. My father the Emperor intends for us to jointly run a business with your shares."


    Li Yao raised her eyebrows slightly. "Your father the Emperor really said that? You''re not making it up now?"


    "Auntie," Liu Yun said with a wry smile, "Why would I lie to you about something like this? My father the Emperor really wanted to visit Yi Prefecture himself, but he''s getting on in years and has some troublesome matters in the capital."


    Li Yao had no interest in or ability to manage the capital''s affairs.


    However, the old emperor did seem to be a wise ruler, still trying to govern the world well despitecking strength.


    "My second condition is that you must listen to what I have to say," Li Yao continued. "Especially regarding how to develop Yizhou Prefecture - I hope you will give me your full support, even if it goes against your father the Emperor''s wishes. Do you have the resolve for that?"


    "I was already nning to take you as my master, so of course I will listen to you," Liu Yun nodded firmly. "Besides, I''m now the Prince of Yi Prefecture, and it''s my fief. I can do as I see fit without my father the Emperor interfering too much."


    "I hope you remember what you said today."


    "Liu Yun will definitely not let you down, Auntie."


    "Then let''s get down to business," Li Yao said. "Last time, I gave Prefect Xu the method for producing high-quality steel."


    "He''s already passed it on to my father the Emperor. Now it''s in my hands," Liu Yun said. "My father the Emperor wants me to find a ce to produce this high-quality steel and provide it specifically for the imperial army''s use."


    "Yizhou Prefecture has iron ore, but it''s not great and there''s no coal," Li Yao said. "So production costs will be too high."


    "The Nanzhao Kingdom has abundant iron ore, and transportation here wouldn''t be difficult," Liu Yun said. "As for coal, transporting it from the north will be a bit expensive, but still eptable. The iron g can also be used to produce cement."


    "Where are you nning to build the steel workshop?"


    "Probably south of Yizhou Prefecture," Liu Yun said. "It''s closer to the Nanzhao Kingdom that way."


    "That works."


    "So Auntie Li," Liu Yun continued, "for these steel and cement workshops, you just need to provide the techniques and take a 20% stake. How''s that?"


    This was practically getting 20% in technology shares for free. His sincerity was quite sufficient.


    Of course, Liu Yun wouldn''t lose out either, becausepared to what Li Yao gave Prefect Xu, there was still much room for improvement and more techniques to be addedter.


    It was the same for cement.


    The current traditional cement production method was far too inefficient.


    If she didn''t get shares, Li Yao certainly wouldn''t provide these techniques again.


    "What about other businesses?" Li Yao asked. "Like potted foods, herbal ointments, floor tiles, and ox carts - do you want to partner with me on those too?"


    Liu Yun smiled awkwardly, "Let''s forget those. We don''t want people saying the imperial family is too greedy."


    "What about fireworks?"


    "Fireworks?"


    Liu Yun looked slightly surprised. He didn''t understand why Auntie Li singled out fireworks.


    Although he hadn''t seen fireworks with his own eyes, he had heard of them. Weren''t they just things that shot colorful lights into the sky?


    Wealthy officials, nobles, and merchants might enjoy them, but at most, the imperial family would only see them as a decent toy.


    "Let''s pass on the fireworks too."


    Li Yao nodded. It seemed the imperial family still didn''t realize just how incredible fireworks could be.


    If they didn''t know, she wouldn''t bring it up either.


    This thing was far too ahead of its time.


    "Anything else?" Li Yao asked.


    Liu Yun hesitated before finally saying, "Nothing for now."


    "Really nothing?"


    "If I must say something, I still want to ask Auntie for advice on how to properly govern Yi Prefecture," Liu Yun said.


    "What do you think qualifies as proper governance?"


    "Hmm..." Liu Yun thought for a moment. "Themoners living in prosperity, with every household able to live at least as well as the vigers of River Bend Vige. Also, themoners abiding byws and getting along harmoniously with their neighbors. That''s about all I can think of right now."


    Li Yao tossed the small carp back into the water and rebaited her hook with another piece of earthworm to continue fishing.


    "Actually, it alles down to one thing - money. If themoners be prosperous, vitions of thew will naturally decrease, and they won''t argue endlessly over trivial matters. So in summary, two words: get rich."


    "Then how can we make themoners rich?"


    "That''s difficult," Li Yao said. "But I can teach you a saying for getting rich."


    "Please go ahead, Auntie!"


    "If you want to get rich, build roads first," Li Yao stated.


    "Build roads?"


    Liu Yun contemted the two words carefully before having an epiphany.


    Indeed, wasn''t Baichuan County right in front of him the best example?


    Last year, Baichuan County had refugees work in exchange for disaster relief and built many roads. It was precisely because of this that it became extremely convenient for vigers of all viges to travel, and they could immediately take anything to market to sell for money.


    Moreover, this was originally Auntie Li''s idea, so it was definitely correct.


    "But building roads requires huge amounts of silver," Liu Yun said self-deprecatingly. "Don''t think that just because I''m the Prince of Yi Prefecture now means I can actually take out that much."


    "Who said you need to take out money?"


    "My father the Emperor won''t give me any either," Liu Yun continued. "Besides, the national treasury is also stretched thin now."


    "You don''t need your father the Emperor''s money either. Roads are built for themoners, so the money shoulde from them."


    "That won''t do," Liu Yun immediately shook his head. "If I just came and arbitrarily collected money from themoners, they would surely be discontent. I, the Prince of Yi Prefecture, would be reviled in the future."


    "You wouldn''t collect it, you''d borrow it," Li Yao said. "Borrow money from themoners of Yi Prefecture to build roads, promise them interest, and repay the principal plus interest within three years. That''s how you''ll get the money, no?"


    "But where will I get the money to repay it three yearster?"


    "Once the roads are built,merce will naturally flourish, and tax revenues of all kinds will increase," Li Yao exined. "Add in the high profits you''ll get from controlling salt, iron, and tea, how could you not have the money by then?"


    "You''re right, why didn''t anyone think of this method before?" Liu Yun asked again. "But where will themoners get the money to buy things in the first ce?"

 Chapter 188: School Hall

    <h4>Chapter 188</h4>


    "First is the output from the fields," Li Yao said. "I have new methods for nting wheat, rapeseed, rice that can greatly increase yields. At home there are also two to three thousand acres of sweet potatoes, which can yield at least 500,000 to 600,000 catties. Next spring, if all these sweet potato seedlings are nted, it can also yield over 100,000 acres, how much can be harvested next fall?


    "With grain, poultry and livestock can be raised, or wine can be brewed, all of these can be sold for money."


    "Tea trees can also be encouraged to grow, or mulberry trees nted to raise silkworms, women can be encouraged to spin yarn, weave cloth, embroider flowers. Yi Prefecture¡¯s silk embroidery is very famous throughout Daling."


    "In short, there are many ways to make money," Li Yao finally said, "The only thing needed is that what is produced can be sold in a timely manner. So now, do you think repairing the roads is the most urgent big thing?"


    Liu Yun''s eyes grew brighter as he listened.


    Previously, he had also heard many teachers, and even the current Prime Minister, talk about governing the country.


    But he felt that those were all too abstract.


    It was like an empty castle in the sky. After a long speech that sounded reasonable, when you thought about it carefully, it seemed nothing was actually said.


    But what Aunt Li said today were practical methods. Compared to those lofty talks, it was many times more useful!


    "It''s just..." Liu Yun thought for a moment, and finally said, "If it''s like this, wouldn''t all themon people want to be businessmen and earn more money?"


    "What''s wrong with that?"


    "I don''t know if it''s good or bad," Liu Yun said, "But since ancient times, agriculture has been valued overmerce. If everyone wants to go into business, who will farm thend? If no one is willing to farm, where will grain, poultry and livestocke from?"


    Being able to think of this point demonstrated that Liu Yun was not ignorant. At least he understood the general principles.


    "So I''ll give you another piece of advice: Put merchants in a cage."


    Liu Yun: ???


    "It is true there is nomerce without deceit. But for Daling to be rich and powerful, merchants also y an irreceable role. So what you need to do is closely supervise the merchants. Making money is fine, but one person absolutely cannot make money while others cannot make money. There definitely cannot be collusion between officials and merchants that would shake Daling''s foundations. Of course, there is a lot of reasoning and methods behind this that cannot be fully exined in a short while. When you encounter it in the future, you cane ask me."


    "Auntie, hearing you speak for a while is better than reading books for ten years!" Liu Yun said, "With your great talent, you are qualified to be the Minister of Agriculture of our dynasty! No no no, you are qualified to be Prime Minister!"


    "Let''s forget about that. I''m just a retiree, passing time in the vige raising chickens and ducks, fishing, quitefortable."


    As Li Yao spoke, she tugged the fishing rod, and another small carp was pulled out of the water.


    "But my skills are not that great, I can''t catch big fish, so you probably won''t get to enjoy any today."


    "No problem, I''ll have Bai Song go catch locustster," Liu Yunughed and said, "Daring to nibble on my people''s crops, I will also eat their meat!"


    ...


    That night, Liu Yun got his wish and ate fried locusts.


    "I didn''t expect these little bugs to be so delicious."


    "Does the Prince of Yi Prefecture like them too?" Wang Er asked.


    "Don''t call me that when it''s just us," Liu Yun said.


    "Then what should I call you?"


    Liu Yun thought about it. Previously everyone called him Ninth Prince, even the old vige women called him that.


    But now he was a prince, Ninth Prince didn''t seem appropriate. Having everyone address him directly by name, they probably wouldn''t dare.


    "How about we address each other as brothers?" Liu Yun suddenly had this idea and said, "You call me Brother Liu, I''ll call you Brother Wang."


    "Cough cough," Li Yao frowned when she heard this. "Let''s not be too casual."


    "Auntie, it''s fine," Liu Yun said. "If not for the hindrance of my prince status, I''d want to recognize you as godmother. What''s the big deal about me and Brother Wang addressing each other as brothers?"


    In this era, recognizing a godmother was not as casual as in Li Yao''s previous life.


    Once recognized, it was truly motherhood.


    "Then do as you wish."


    Seeing Li Yao agree, Liu Yun was overjoyed in his heart.


    Although he was young, he also deeply understood one thing.


    If it was just a business partnership with Aunt Li, it was not enough to firmly tie the two of them together. So there must be something more.


    Like recognizing a godmother, or marriage alliance.


    Recognizing a godmother was not good. Even if the Emperor nodded in agreement, all the civil and military officials of the court would have to collectively kneel in the hall to object.


    After all it was too undignified.


    But a marriage alliance...he felt it was worth trying.


    "Brother Wang," Liu Yun asked, "When are you setting off for Yizhou Prefecture?"


    Wang Er looked to Li Yao. He couldn''t decide this himself.


    Li Yao calcted that there were still ten days until the county exam, but since none of them had been to Yizhou Prefecture before, she wanted to take everyone to visit early, to broaden their horizons.


    "Let''s prepare tomorrow and set off the day after."


    "That''s great," Liu Yun said, "I''ll go back tomorrow and wait for you all in Yizhou Prefecture. I''ll y host then!"


    "Then thanks in advance Brother Liu."


    "Don''t stand on ceremony," Liu Yun said. "It''s a pity that after bing a prince, if Father Emperor does not summon me, I cannot return to the capital. Otherwise after your exam, I really want to take you all to the capital for fun."


    The capital?


    Wang Er had heard of the capital countless times since he was little.


    It was said the capital was where the Emperor lived, the most prosperous ce under heaven. The imperial pce was iid everywhere with gold, even the streets and alleys were paved with marble...


    Sooner orter, he would go to the capital.


    ...


    The next day, the whole family was busy.


    Li Yao meant for everyone to go, including little Yanran who just turned one month old, and He Xiaoya who had just finished confinement.


    Da Zhuang worried about thend at home, and all those chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, cows, sheep, so he didn''t want to go.


    "Da Zhuang, just go," Wang Xueshi said. "Don''t worry about things at home. Mother will have your dad help watch over things well. Guaranteed not a single chicken will be missing, not a single sweet potato will be missing."


    "Then thanks for your trouble, Mother."


    "It''s no trouble for me," Wang Xueshiughed. "It''s trouble for your dad."


    Wang Jia Gui: ...


    When the family was poor, the Wang family men didn''t seem to have much status.


    Now the family was well-off, living good days, the Wang family men seemed to have even less status.


    "When we return from Yizhou Prefecture, we''ll buy lots of tasty things for Dad and Mother!" Little Wang Xiao Si considered and said. "And a big flower hat for Mother!"


    "Hehe...I''m an old woman already, what do I need a flower hat for?"


    In any case, with Mother''s care, Da Zhuang felt reassured and decided to leave his wife and daughter Little Yanran to go to Yizhou Prefecture together.


    "Xiaoya, do you want to stop by and see your parents on the way?"


    Mention of her maternal home dampened He Xiaoya''s mood.


    When they held Little Yanran''s one month celebration, not only did no one from her maternal sidee, they didn''t even send word through someone else.


    "I won''t go."


    "Alright, as you say."


    The whole family was packing up, big bags and small bags.


    But the busiest was still Du Xiao Hui.


    She would also be going along to Yizhou Prefecture this time, firstly to apany Wang Er, and secondly because she had more important matters to handle.


    After this period of time, she fully understood how the school operated, so this time she decided to try starting a small school in Yizhou Prefecture.

 Chapter 189: A Rich Man’s World

    <h4>Chapter 189</h4>


    The sky had just brightened when Li Yao brought arge group of people and rode in threerge carriages on the way to Yizhou Prefecture.


    Baichuan County was more than two hundred li from Yizhou Prefecture. It would take half a day by carriage.


    After leaving the borders of Baichuan County, the roads became bumpy.


    Although the carriages of Li Yao''s family were different, with rubber tires on the wheels, they still felt very jolting. Those carriages using wooden wheels must have been even worse.


    Everyone felt a bit carsick, with the possible exception of Little Yanran.


    She was happy as a little pig, eating and sleeping all along the way.


    Song Zhe and the wife of the county magistrate were also traveling together.


    Although Song Zhe was uncertain about passing the provincial examination, missing it this year meant he would have to wait until next year to try again, so he still wanted to attempt it.


    As dusk approached, the two families finally arrived at Yizhou Prefecture.


    In contrast to Baichuan County, the city walls of Yizhou Prefecture were built with stone blocks, about three or four meters high.


    The thick city gates were like a portal to a different world.


    Outside the gates, dozens of well-armed city guards stared closely at the flow of peopleing and going. If they saw anything suspicious, they would send someone to question them.


    "It''s the afternoon now, so there aren''t as many people going in and out of the city," Song Zhe volunteered as a tour guide, exining to everyone. "If it''s morning going into the city, everyone has to be checked, and goods being transported into the city are taxed."


    Collecting taxes at the city gates was indeed the style of this world.


    Doing so would maximize tax leakage, but without strict control of the city guards, it was also prone to corruption.


    "Wang Er, take note of this and mention it to the Prince of Yizhouter."


    "Yes, Mother."


    Song Zhe exined their identity and purpose to the guard captain. Upon hearing that the Li family hade from Baichuan County, the guards immediately showed great respect.


    Because of the fireworks show, Li Yao already had some reputation in Yizhou Prefecture. In addition, there were rumors that the newly titled Prince of Yizhou was on very good private terms with the Li family, so without even asking, they were let through directly.


    "Mother," said Wang Xiao Si, opening the carriage curtain and looking curiously at everything on the street. "Are we going to find Liu Yun or stay at an inn?"


    "Stay at an inn."


    "If we stay at an inn, I know which one is the best!"


    Song Zhe eagerly led the convoy to thergest and best inn in Yizhou Prefecture¡ªTianran Residence.


    Seeing this name, Li Yao had to sigh. Indeed, these two characters tian ran (which means natural or heaven-made) were still good to use anywhere.


    However, unlike inns in her hometown, there was no poetic couplet at the entrance here for guests to respond to.


    A young waiter smiled and came to greet them as soon as they walked in the door. "Where have the honored guestse from? Would you like dinner or lodging?"


    "Lodging."


    "Our inn has upper, middle and lower grade rooms. Which kind would you like? How many rooms?"


    "How much is an upper room per day?"


    "An upper room is 800 wen per day."


    "Then we need six upper rooms."


    Wanting six upper rooms all at once, the waiter knew these were wealthy guests. The owner behind the counter hurried over to personally lead Li Yao''s group to the third floor.


    As expected of the best inn in Yizhou Prefecture, the decor was very exquisite. The walls and pirs were very smooth, painted with freshcquer, and the furnishings in the rooms were veryplete.


    But having lived in houses with green bricks and wooden floors at home, they didn''t find it to be anything special.


    And the prices really were expensive. Six rooms cost nearly five taels of silver per day. Staying for several days would be enough to buy a decent small house in Baichuan County.


    After a tiring day of travel, everyone was tired and didn''t have the heart to go out and find food. So they ordered a table of dishes to eat at the inn.


    Chatting while eating dinner, they unknowingly started talking about houses in Yizhou Prefecture.


    "Houses here are also quite expensive," said the county magistrate''s wife. "Even the cheapest five-section house in a good location costs over two thousand taels of silver, and I heard the most expensive ones cost several tens of thousands of taels¡ªnot much different from those in the capital."


    Li Yao actually felt the prices were quite fair.


    After all, as the provincial capital, it was the administrative center of the entire Yizhou province. To use modern terms, it was a first-tier city.


    "Mother," said Wang Er, "Xiao Hui and I n to open a private school, so we need a location."


    "Alright, we''ll go take a look tomorrow," said Li Yao. "And let''s buy a house for ourselves too."


    "Buy a house here?" asked the county magistrate''s wife, quite surprised.


    "That''s right," said Li Yao. "Wang Er is taking the provincial exam, which will take at least half a month before he can go back when all is said and done. If we keep staying at the inn and paying for meals every day, plus other expenses, it will cost at least 150 taels. That''s not worth it. We might as well buy a ce of our own. It gives us a foothold when taking care of things in Yizhou Prefecture, and if we don''t want itter we can sell it."


    The county magistrate''s wife sincerely admired this as the lifestyle of wealthy people¡ªbringing the whole family to the exam city and even buying a house, just for one exam.


    "Mother," asked Wang Xiao Si, "can I go y with Zhe after dinner?"


    "Go ahead, you can all go," said Li Yao, knowing they must be curiousing to a new ce for the first time. "Just be careful and don''t get lost."


    "Don''t worry, Auntie, I''m quite familiar with Yizhou Prefecture."


    So after dinner, everyone went back to their rooms to change into clean clothes, then left the inn in groups of three or two.


    The streets of Yizhou Prefecture were very t, with the main roads paved with blue stone bs. On both sides were all kinds of shops, still brightly lit even at night.


    There were also quite a few pedestrians, many of them wearing gold and silver, looking much better off than Baichuan County.


    Song Zhe took Wang Xiao Si to y, while Da Zhuang and his family went to browse fabric and rouge shops. Wang Er and Du Xiao Hui walked into a store selling the four treasures of the study, one after the other.


    Li Yao and the county magistrate¡¯s wife were left behind by the children and could only stroll slowly along the t streets to aid digestion.


    ...


    Wang Er made some inquiries about the prices of the four treasures of the study. As expected, the same quality items cost at least double the price of those in Baichuan County!


    Books were even more expensive.


    For hand-copied books of the same version,


    "Wang Er," said Du Xiao Hui, "actually we could just buy one copy of each book and then have someone make copies. That would be much cheaper."


    "You''re right, but I''ll need books to study these days, so I''ll have to trouble you."


    "No trouble at all."


    Du Xiao Hui smiled sweetly. Just thinking that she could open a private school and do something meaningful together with Wang Er made her feel inexplicably happy.


    "Then let''s pick out books first."


    Wang Er bought one copy of almost every book in the store and was waiting for the owner to tally the cost when a familiar voice came over. "Isn''t this Brother Wang Er?"


    Wang Er looked up to see Xu Shiyou, with whom he hadpeted vigorously in poetry at theirst meeting.


    "Brother Xu, long time no see."

 Chapter 190: Curfew

    <h4>Chapter 190</h4>


    Wang Er and Xu Shiyou had only met and shed once, but already viewed one another as arch-rivals.


    Xu Shiyou was the top schr in Yizhou Prefecture, but after being crushed by Wang Er at a poetry gathering, their superficial smiles now concealed provocative undertones when they met again.


    "Brother Wang Er, I thought you wouldn''t arrive for several more days."


    "No affairs at home, so I came early."


    "Did you get your admission ticket?"


    "What admission ticket?"


    "So Brother Wang Er doesn''t know," said Xu Shiyou. "This year, the Prince of Yizhou issued new rules for the county exam. All candidates must first obtain admission tickets from Yizhou Academy. I also heard the exam format itself will change. Oh right, does Brother Wang Er know the Prince of Yizhou?"


    Wang Er thought to himself, I was calling that Prince of Yizhou brother just two days ago.


    "I know of him."


    "Heh heh, I thought with Baichuan County being so remote, Brother Wang Er wouldn''t know yet." Xu Shiyou said, "But anyway, no matter how it changes, the basics remain the same. I''m confident Brother Wang Er and I will both earn high marks this year."


    "I appreciate your blessing."


    Just then the shopkeeper finished calcting.


    "The total is four hundred and twenty-five taels," he cheerfully said. "May I ask which noble house''s young master you might be? So I can have someone deliver the goods."


    "Heh heh, Shopkeeper Hong, this is Brother Wang Er from Baichuan County."


    "Ah?"


    The shopkeeper was stunned. Seeing Wang Er spend money so freely, buying four hundred taels'' worth no less, he assumed this was some wealthy Yizhou noble''s son!


    Turns out he''s just some country bumpkin?


    "Then should I have someone send this to your inn?"


    "No need. Leave it here for today," said Wang Er. "We''re buying an estate tomorrow. I''ll collect it then."


    "Oh, very well."


    "I''ll pay you now."


    Du Xiao Hui spoke while taking some banknotes from her purse.


    Shopkeeper Hong examined them. Real money! He was even more shocked. This youngss didn''t seem like nobility, yet carried so much cash?


    Could she be from the Li family in Baichuan County?


    "Excuse me, you wouldn''t happen to be Master Li''s second son?"


    "That''s right."


    "Oh heavens, forgive these blind eyes for failing to recognize you!" The shopkeeper''s face lit up with smiles as he loudly proimed, "Master Wang Er, you''re quite famous here in Yizhou Prefecture!"


    Wang Er wondered, I''ve never even been to Yizhou before, how could I be famous?


    "You tter me, shopkeeper."


    "No no, it''s true!" he insisted. "Every schr in Yizhou knows how you bested our prefecture''s top schr at Baichuan County''s Tanabata poetry gathering!"


    As the victim in that incident, Xu Shiyou seethed with humiliation and desperately wanted to stuff several smelly socks down that loudmouth shopkeeper''s throat.


    But Shopkeeper Hong only knew Wang Er by reputation and didn''t recognize Xu in person. Nor did he notice his changing expression as he continued boasting loudly, "That poem was sublime! Soaring aloft with the Great Peng, ten thousand li in a single day! Just the first line alone was peerless in history!"


    Having someone praise him to his face like that made Wang Er feel rather embarrassed, especially since his mother actually wrote that poem. So this was even more awkward.


    He could only force an ufortable smile and turn to Xu Shiyou, "Brother Xu, we''ll see each other again at the county exam in several days."


    "Yes yes, don''t forget to collect your admission ticket, Brother Wang Er."


    After Wang Er''s group left, Xu Shiyou''s formerly smiling face darkened considerably.


    "Sorry for the neglect, young master. May I get you anything else?" the shopkeeper asked.


    "No!"


    Xu Shiyou flung his sleeve and stormed out the door, leaving the confused shopkeeper behind.


    "Why the sudden temper? Was it because I didn''t praise him too?"


    ...


    On the way back, Du Xiao Hui whispered, "Brother Wang Er, I feel that man doesn''t like you."


    Wang Er could only wryly smile at that.


    After an incident like before, most people probably wouldn''t like him.


    This Brother Xu was already not bad, at least behaving politely on the surface. If it were someone with a worse temper, they might have openly made things difficult.


    "Brother Wang Er, do you think he''ll try to secretly harm you?" Du Xiao Hui asked in a low voice.


    "Probably not right?" Wang Er said. "It''smon for schrs to feud or even have loud fights, but they''d never resort to underhanded methods."


    "I hope that''s the case..."


    As they walked the bustling streets, Du Xiao Hui said, "Let''s not talk about it anymore. Take this chance while you have some free time to look around."


    "Alright, pick out some things you like as gifts for your parents and granny."


    "Okay!"


    ...


    Li Yao and the county magistrate''s wife wandered the lively alley, filled with all kinds of snacks not just native to Yizhou, but also specialties from the capital and Jiangnan region.


    Along the street were many peddlers with carts or tricycles, selling various goods.


    The scene reminded Li Yao of a night fair street. She didn''t expect to see something like this in this world too.


    "Only Yizhou and Jiangnan have ces like this," said the county mistress. "Being rtively prosperous and stable, people''s lives here tend to be more colorful."


    "There''s no night fair in the capital?"


    "As an important strategic location, the entire capital enforces curfew after the fourth night watch. Commoners cannot wander without reason."


    So people had to go home to sleep by 8 PM?


    Who knows what the emperor was so afraid of? If only he knew themon folk were busy all day and just wanted some leisure time at night, which also stimted the economy.


    With an 8 PM curfew, what joy could life hold?


    Li Yao looked all around before finally buying some osmanthus glutinous rice balls and magnolia cakes since she was still full. She also got a bowl of stinky tofu to eat right there.


    The county mistress couldn''t bring herself to eat something with such a peculiar smell for a long time, but seeing Li Yao eat it with more relish than meat, she finally mustered some courage to try a piece.


    It was very stinky, but the taste was actually quite delicious, even more so the more she chewed. She wondered how this dish was made to end up like this.


    Just as the two were happily eating, Da Zhuang and his group arrived. He Xiao Yi immediately ordered a bowl of stinky tofu and started munching away, ignoring Da Zhuang''s objections.


    "Oh, it''s the madame and herpany."


    Eventually Wang Er and Du Xiao Hui also came by. They too bought many things, little gifts Du Xiao Hui nned to bring back for her mother.


    "Hurry it up if you don''t wanna get beaten!"


    A extremely nasty voice called out from behind them. Li Yao looked back to see a boy of around ten alongside two girls of seven or eight, each carrying arge basket on their backs.


    She didn''t know what was inside, but it looked very heavy. Both girls'' legs trembled as they walked.


    The one yelling at them was a man in his twenties, tall and slender with beady eyes and a thin mustache that made him look rather vicious.


    At his shout, the three children hurriedly moved faster, but one little girl likelycked the strength and stumbled.


    The other quickly put down her basket to help her up.


    Seeing the spilled contents, the mustached man''s face darkened further. He viciously kicked the boy''s belly.


    "Useless mutts! I feed you so I can exploit yourbor!"


    He cursed while wildly swinging a thin branch, continuously striking the three children who dared not even whimper and could only huddle together to shield their heads, though they clearly suffered.


    "What are you doing?" Du Xiao Hui finally couldn''t stand it anymore and shouted, "You''re a grown man beating little kids so violently! How can you?!"


    The mustached man red. "What''s it to you?"

 Chapter 191: The Main theme is a foreign trend

    <h4>Chapter 191</h4>


    Little Fox was not familiar with the idea of drawing a sword to help the distressed. But she really could not bear to see the three scrawny little kids being whipped with tree branches.


    On those dark skinny arms, red welts were already visibly appearing, just looking at them made one wince in pain.


    "Who are you to them?" Little Fox sternly asked, "I suspect you are a human trafficker!"


    The man with the mustache coldlyughed. "Miss, don''t let my ugly looks deceive you. I''m an honest businessman."


    Er Wang stepped forward and stood in front of Little Fox. He asked in a deep voice, "What business are you in?"


    "Human trade."


    Li Yao frowned. The so-called human traders made a living by trafficking people. Of course their "goods" came through official channels - they had paid the families and obtained signed contracts.


    After purchasing people, they would usually resell them at the human markets.


    If they failed to sell them or did not get the expected price, they would keep them to work for themselves.


    This mustache man was clearly thetter kind.


    "Since you im to be a human trader, and these kids were purchased by you, surely you have their contracts?"


    "Who are you?" the mustache man said coldly. "If you''re not an official, I advise you not to meddle into other''s business!"


    Er Wang''s brows furrowed. He was indeed not an official.


    But if he turned a blind eye to things like this, how could he serve themon people when he became an official in the future?


    So he sorted his thoughts, stepped forward and said, "I''m not an official, but I suspect you of child trafficking. I have the right to stop it and report it. I''ll send someone to report this now. You''ll have to wait until the officers get here and verify they were legally purchased before you can leave."


    Perhaps realizing Er Wang was educated and reasonable - likely a schr who could be an official in the future - the mustache man became a little nervous.


    Because in most people''s eyes, schrs were weaklings without power. But they could be officials! Many of them also had powerful friends and families.


    It was not worth provoking someone like this for a small human trader like himself.


    "I don''t have time to wait," the mustache man said, taking out three contracts from his pocket. "See for yourself."


    Er Wang took them and saw they were indeed human trade contracts, with the household steward''s seal on them, proving they were real.


    Now it was a bit tricky.


    "Brother Er Wang," Little Fox whispered at this time, "Since he legally purchased them and has the contracts, he must be nning to resell them."


    As soon as Er Wang heard this, he understood her implication - she wanted to purchase the three kids as well.


    He considered - extra hands would be needed if he opened a school. These three children were old enough to help with most matters.


    But making such decision on purchasing people was not his ce, so he went to Li Yao: "Mother, what do you think?"


    Li Yao had been watching coldly. She had noticed some oddities.


    This was the night fair, very far from the human market. And it was at night. Why would this human trader appear here at this hour?


    When beating the kids earlier, the man''s strikes with the tree branch were mostly aimed at the two girls, and very heavy handed at that. This was also strange.


    All knew those who purchased young girls preferred fair and tender skins. Injuries would lower the selling price.


    Why did he not hit the boy as hard and as frequently? Even when he did, it was not with full force.


    There were many such inconsistencies that made her suspicious of the man''s motives, that perhaps this was deliberately done to arouse sympathy, so he could sell the three children more easilyter.


    "Mother..."


    "Decide for yourself," Li Yao said. "But let me remind you - have no evil intentions, but doubt everyone. Observe matters not just by the surface, but their essence."


    Er Wang thought for a while, then said: "I understand, Mother. But I''ve decided to purchase them. Extra hands would be needed if I''m opening a school."


    Li Yao nodded without furtherment.


    Some matters could only be understood through personal experience.


    Er Wang turned to the human trader: "How much do you want for the three kids?"


    "You want to buy them?"


    "Yes."


    "Why didn''t you say so earlier!" The man immediately smiled ingratiatingly. "If you buy all three, I''ll give you a discount. How about ten taels of silver in total?"


    "Five taels!" Little Fox immediately countered.


    "Impossible! Nine taels minimum!"


    "Only five taels. If not, then forget it."


    The man gnashed his teeth, as if his fortune was lost: "Fine, fine! Five taels for five taels! If they weren''t stuck with me for so long that I lost a fortune on food, I wouldn''t have sold them! The things in my back basket are also yours!"


    Money traded hands, as did humans.


    The man left immediately without turning his head after taking the silver.


    Little Fox went to check the children''s injuries first. Other than some red swellings, they were fine. Only then did she gently ask: "Don''t be afraid. From now on, you''ll follow us."


    The three children nodded timidly.


    Little Fox brought them food from a nearby shop, letting them eat their fill. Then she went to the fabric shop and bought two sets of new clothes for each, before bringing them back to the inn.


    The full stomachs, new clothes and high-ss lodging greatly rxed the three kids. No one was scolding or beating them.


    Little Fox then asked about their backgrounds.


    They were from counties worst hit by the recent locust gue, on top of poor harvestsst year. Their families were already struggling to feed them. With this year''s crops ruined by locusts, they were sold without choice.


    The boy was named Wu Tong. Ten years old, over a year older than Little Four. He was the most sensible of the three.


    "Wu Tong, have you studied before?" Little Fox asked.


    "Never," Wu Tong shook his head. "We were very poor. I worked the fields soon as I could walk. Hardbor since young."


    "Oh? Tough life huh," Little Fox looked at his hands and smiled. "You''ll be a big help with chores for sure."


    "Mm," Wu Tong nodded. "Sis, I''ll work hard, since you spent money to buy me."


    "Good then."


    Little Fox smiled satisfiedly and asked the two girls.


    Both were eight years old. One named Hong Yan, the other Xiang Nan - nicknames given by the human trader. Those sold off weren''t allowed to keep their original names and family names.


    "What awful names," Li Yao said upon hearing them. "They need to change."


    "Mother, please give them new ones then."


    Li Yao thought for awhile and said: "The one on the left is Anna, the right one Elsa."


    Little Fox: ......


    Everyone: ......


    What weird names. They sounded odd.


    Seeing the confused looks, Li Yao decided not to exin. She rather liked her creativity.


    The maidservants should have some exotic re after all.


    Unlike Wu Tong, Anna and Elsa were very quiet, answering softly in one or two words. Many questions they couldn''t even respond clearly to.


    "Alright, Anna and Elsa, you two room with me tonight," Little Fox finally said. "Wu Tong, you take the floor in the boys'' room. Little Two, get him a mat and nket."


    "Thank you, sis."

 Chapter 192: Haunted

    <h4>Chapter 192</h4>


    The next day, everyone got up and went about their business.


    Wang Er and Song Zhe stayed at the inn to study.


    Today, Song County Magistrate also needed to go to Yizhou Prefecture to meet with other county magistrates and Liu Yun to discuss whether to stay or leave, so the county magistrate''s wife was going along too.


    Li Yao took the others to look for a house to buy.


    Not familiar with life in Yizhou Prefecture, and not wanting to bother Liu Yun, Li Yao found a property agent.


    Hearing that she wanted to buy a three-section house, the property agent''s clerk was as enthusiastic as the hot sun in the sky. The shopkeeper brought two clerks and called two trishaws directly to take the family to the house for sale.


    "Madam, may I ask your surname?"


    "Li."


    "So it''s Madam Li. My surname is Zhang," Zhang the shopkeeper said. "This house is currently the best we have. Let me take you in for a look."


    After opening the heavy front door, there was a fake mountain screen. After turning past it, there was a spacious front yard with blue brick flooring. Although the side rooms on the left and right were for servants, they were still very spacious.


    The side rooms had windows installed, and the beds, tables and chairs inside were quiteplete.


    After passing through the second door was an even more spacious yard without side rooms, only the main house.


    In the middle was arge guest hall. On either side were two bedrooms, which could also be used as studies.


    Thest section was even more elegant. There was a flower garden in the yard, and the main house had five sections. Next to the corner of the yard, there were also two big trees, one date and one jujube.


    The furniture in the main house was top grade, basically move-in ready.


    What made it even more attractive was that this house also had a veryrge backyard, almost as big as the previous three yardsbined. The backyard had a kitchen,trine, and a small pond, probably for keeping fish.


    "Madam Li, are you satisfied?"


    If talking about satisfaction, Li Yao was not actually satisfied.


    The houses were all made of wood, and the windows were too small, with poor lighting and venttion.


    But considering other houses were probably like this too, she didn''t nitpick.


    At worst, she could always renovate itter ording to her own ideas, or even demolish it and rebuild. In this world, there was no need to apply for permission to build a house.


    After buying it, it would be hers to do as she wished.


    "How much?"


    "Hehe, the price is a bit higher," shopkeeper Zhang said, holding up three fingers, "If Madam Li wants to buy it, I can give you 90% off."


    30,000 taels. 90% off would be 27,000 taels.


    Although Li Yao had money now, she wasn''t foolish enough to spend it loosely.


    While the house was nice, it certainly wasn''t worth that price.


    "10,000 taels. If you agree, we have a deal now."


    "Madam Li, that price is too low, too low..."


    "Then we''ll look elsewhere."


    Li Yao turned to leave decisively, without any hesitation.


    Seeing her determination to leave, shopkeeper Zhang''s ns to haggle were thoroughly foiled.


    "Fine! 10,000 it is! I''m taking a loss this time!"


    Li Yao: ???


    Something was not right!


    She had intended to start negotiations from at least 20,000 taels.


    Asking 10,000 taels was just testing the waters, she didn''t expect he''d actually sell it for that little?


    She couldn''t help feeling there must be some catch for such a windfall deal tond in herp.


    But on second thoughts, even just thend itself would be worth 10,000 taels, so she decided not to overthink it.


    Shopkeeper Zhang asked his clerks to bring the property deed, then they went together to the former magistrate''s yamen in Yizhou Prefecture to register the transfer. After a flurry of work, the three-section house belonged to Li Yao.


    Seeing her willingness to spend so freely without flinching at 10,000 taels, the three children she bought yesterday were stunned speechless.


    They had clearly run into a noble patron.


    The three kids knew what they should do next. Anna took a broom and started cleaning, Alice drew clear water from the well and started wiping the furniture, while Wu Tong squatted in the garden and cleared the weeds.


    Seeing them all so sensible, Du Xiao Hui was gratified, feeling that she had not wasted money buying them.


    Li Yao took Wang Xiao Si along to buy other necessities they stillcked - pots and pans, bedding, oil, salt, sauces and spices, rice, flour, meat...


    When they returned, it was with two oxcarts.


    In the evening, Li Yao asked Wang Xiao Si to bring Song Zhe and Wang Er over too. She personally cooked a sumptuous dinner for the whole family.


    ¡°From now on, we also have a home in Yizhou Prefecture!" Wang Xiao Si happily said while eating, "Mother, should we consider ourselves as He Wan Vige people or Yizhou Prefecture people?¡±


    ¡°Whatever you like.¡±


    ¡°Then...¡± Wang Xiao Si thought for a while and said, ¡°I¡¯d still rather be a He Wan Vige person.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Song Zhe asked. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with being a Yizhou Prefecture person?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good, but it¡¯s too quiet here.¡±


    With that one line, Li Yao was jolted alert.


    He was right, it really was too quiet here.


    The location was very good, practically central city zone, only ten minutes walk from the current Yi Zhou Royal Pce. Logically it should be bustling with activity, but she hadn''t seen even one neighbour all day.


    "Seems like the houses next door are also empty,¡± He Xiaoya said. ¡°Mother, could the fengshui here be bad, so no one wants to live around this area? Is that why the price was so cheap?¡±


    "Then... could it be haunted?" Wang Xiao Si blurted out.


    "What fengshui or ghosts?" Li Yao said. "We already bought it, so just stay and live here peacefully. It''s better when it''s quieter, so Wang Er can focus on his studies without disturbances."


    Although she said that, Wang Xiao Si''s words made everyone feel vaguely ufortable.


    "Wah-"


    Just then, little Yan Ran in He Xiaoya''s arms suddenly burst into loud wails. He Xiaoya hurried to coax her.


    That made everyone even more spooked, only Li Yao continued eating calmly, not bothered at all.


    After dinner, Li Yao heated water and took a bath in the room. Lacking a bathroom really was inconvenient, they''d need to build proper sanitation facilities and a kitchen tomorrow.


    Thinking this, she gradually fell asleep, unaware how long had passed before she was woken by the sound of roof tiles ttering overhead.


    Could it be thieves on their very first night?


    She didn''t get up immediately, listening intently to judge if it was petty burrs or just a stray cat passing by.


    Soon, a faint, floating voice drifted down eerily from the roof.


    "I died wronged...I died so terribly..."


    The voice sounded sinister and full of resentment, unavoidably making one think of a vengeful ghost that died unjustly.


    "Wah-"


    A loud wail of little Yan Ran suddenly erupted from Da Zhuang and He Xiaoya''s room.


    Soon, the upants of every room were shocked awake, and chaotic footsteps echoed through the yard.


    "Mother, trouble!" Wang Xiao Si anxiously knocked on Li Yao''s door. "Our house really is haunted!"

 Chapter 193: Buying a House

    <h4>Chapter 193</h4>


    Ghosts?


    On the very first night, something like this happened. It was quite interesting.


    As a modern person, Li Yao was very curious what ghosts looked like.


    But with the panicked family before her, it was not appropriate for her to go upstairs now. Even if she did, the mischief-maker on the roof would surely have already slipped away.


    "What''s there to panic about? Everyone quiet!"


    When Li Yao spoke, everyone shut their mouths.


    But on everyone''s faces was clearly written shock and fright.


    Especially Da Zhuang and He Xiaoya, who clung tightly to Little Yanran, afraid she would be snatched away by ghosts.


    "Mother," even Wang Xiao Si was scared to tears, "What exactly is going on? Should we just give up this house and go home?"


    "You''re a boy, don''t be scared!"


    Wang Xiao Si thought: I''m a boy, but still a child!


    Aren''t children supposed to be afraid of ghosts?


    "Mother," said Wang Er, "This matter is indeed a bit strange."


    "What do you think?"


    "Can''t say for sure yet," Wang Er said, "We''ll have to go out and ask around tomorrow before making a conclusion."


    "You still need to study tomorrow, don''t go," Li Yao looked at the shivering Anna and Alice, "You two go instead."


    "Y-yes..."


    "Mother, then what about tonight?" Da Zhuang asked worriedly, "Should we go stay at an inn?"


    "No need, go back and sleep at ease. I''m here." Seeing everyone still shaken, Li Yao added: "If you''re scared, some of you can squeeze together in one room. He Xiaoya and Little Yanrane sleep in my room. Anna and Alice can alsoy mattresses in my room."


    "Yes mother."


    He Xiaoya herself wasn''t too afraid, but she was worried about Little Yanran, so she went to sleep in Li Yao''s room.


    The two servant girls didn''t, and squeezed into a room with Chun Ning instead.


    Even so, no one could fall asleep until exhaustion overtook them, and they managed a short rest.


    The next morning when everyone got up, they almost all had panda eyes, without an ounce of spirit.


    To allow Wang Er to study at ease, Li Yao still had him and Song Zhe go out to find a ce, while Anna and Alice also went out to ask around the situation.


    It was peaceful when left unasked, but became serious once asked.


    It turned out this area was really haunted.


    "They said, in total five houses around here, many years ago a group of viins killed over a hundred people!"


    "And and," Alice chimed in, "Many people have bought these houses before, but all moved away shortly after, because they were haunted!"


    Hearing the information the two found out, Li Yao sank into thought.


    "Mother," Da Zhuang said, "Should we ask the property agent to rescind the purchase?"


    "Alright, let''s go now."


    Hearing she was willing to rescind the purchase, everyone heaved a sigh of relief.


    How could they dare live in a haunted house!


    But unexpectedly, the passionate property agent from yesterday seemed to have be a different person today.


    "Mistress Li, ck and white written clear, the contract is signed. How can you rescind just like that?"


    "But you didn''t tell us the house was haunted either!" Du Xiao Hui said, "If you told us, we wouldn''t have bought it."


    "What ghosts? Young miss, don''t speak nonsense."


    "I''m not speaking nonsense!" Du Xiao Hui said, "Last night, we clearly heard ghost voices. So frightening!"


    The property agentughed and shook his head. "That''s just your one-sided im. Do you have any evidence? Even if you sue to the county court, it is impossible to rescind the purchase of this house."


    Du Xiao Hui''s face was red, but she was unable to refute.


    And this wasn''t He Wan vige. Mother''s words didn''t hold much sway here either.


    "Mother, what should we do?"


    "Can we really not rescind it?" Li Yao asked.


    "Can''t rescind," the property agent said. "But if you want to sell it, I can help find a buyer."


    "How much can we sell for?"


    "Well," the property agent smiled, "eight thousand taels."


    "How much?"


    Everyone was furious.


    Just overnight, and it dropped two thousand taels?


    "You''re simply scamming people!"


    "Esteemed guests, you can''t say that," the property agent said. "Actually, you shouldn''t have gone around asking everywhere. If you didn''t bring it up, no one would''ve known. Then it would''ve been easy to sell the house. But now you''ve asked everywhere, many people think this house is haunted. So naturally it''s hard to sell now!"


    Everyone looked to Li Yao again, waiting for her decision.


    Actually, Li Yao already knew this would be the result. Her intention ining here to rescind was precisely to make the property agent think she was really afraid.


    This property agent actually had quite a few sinister ideas in his mind. No telling how many people he had scammed using this method.


    Since it was so, Li Yao felt no need to be polite with him.


    And the best way to deal with viins was to repay them in kind.


    "I''ll think it over some more."


    "Go ahead," the property agent said. "Let me know once decided."


    Li Yao brought her family and left the agency.


    "Da Zhuang, bring everyone to find an inn to stay first."


    "Mother, what about you?"


    "Don''t worry about me, just go do what you need to do," Li Yao said. "Don''t go back to the house if you don''t want to. The stuff inside isn''t worth anything either."


    After Da Zhuang brought everyone away, Li Yao went straight to the biggest marketce.


    After some asking around, she located Wang Yuanguo, who purchased pigrd here.


    "Sister-inw, I was just thinking of going over to find you."


    "Let''s find a quiet ce. I need you to help me with something."


    Wang Yuanguo nodded and brought Li Yao to a small house. He had rented this house in order to conveniently purchase materials. Several people lived here to help him work.


    After chasing those people out, Wang Yuanguo asked: "What is it, sister-inw?"


    "I need you to help me buy a few houses."


    ...


    "Boss," the two assistants at the property agency fawned tteringly at their boss, "Who knows where that woman is from. She''s truly a silly rich person!"


    "Hmph, where she''s from isn''t important," the property agent said coldly. "Clearly not someone important, probably suddenly came into some money, and wanted to buy property at Yizhou. As if this Yizhou is some ce average people cane!"


    "Of course." One assistant said, "Thanks to her, we''re making a fortune again!"


    "Work hard!" the property agent said. "If they don''t sell today, scare them again tonight until they do! We''ll still get a good share of the money!"


    "Thanks boss!"


    At this time, a tall man with two others walked in.


    "Boss," Wang Yuanguo was speaking in coarse Mandarin. "I want to buy houses. Do you have any good ones?"


    Hearing the foreign ent, the three of them were delighted again.


    Luck has arrived today. Even walls aren''t enough to stop it!


    "Of course. Esteemed guest, what kind are you looking for?"


    "Best is a three-courtyard house. My household is big, one house can''t fit. Will need to buy at least four." Four? Buy four houses in one go? The shopkeeper hadn''t ever seen something like this even after doing business for so many years. Must be immensely wealthy!


    Because he was splurging so unrestrained, he must have a strong background. The shopkeeper still felt it prudent to find out clearly: "May I ask where the esteemed guests are from?"


    "From Beijing over there."


    "A noble from Beijing!" the shopkeeper ttered. "Then sir must be a high official from the capital!"


    "No no, just a businessman." Wang Yuanguo said. "Why do you ask so much? Do you have good houses or not? I don''t like noise, so you must pick a quiet ce for me."


    "Yes! As luck would have it, there are four very fine, quiet houses. Let me bring you to take a look!"

 Chapter 194: The Real Ghost

    <h4>Chapter 194</h4>


    Zhang shopkeeper brought Wang Yuanguo to the mansion next to the one Li Yao had bought.


    When they arrived, they found that the gate to Li Yao''s home was closed tight, and there wasn''t a person inside. Zhang rxed at this sight. As long as that Mrs. Li didn''te out to cause trouble, this big business today would likely go through.


    Zhang ingratiated himself all the way, leading Wang Yuanguo on a tour of the properties everywhere.


    "Honored sir, what do you think?"


    "The properties are not bad, I just don''t know about the price."


    "If you want all four ces, the total is this number." Zhang held up eight fingers.


    Today he didn''t intentionally ask too high a price, afraid that he would scare away this fat sheep.


    "Too expensive, too expensive," Wang Yuanguo naturally wanted to bargain the price down to the lowest point. "In the capital city, ces like these don''t even reach 10,000 taels each. You dare ask me for 20,000 taels each for this little Yizhou prefecture? You really take advantage of me for being an outsider!"


    "Oh no, how could the honored guest say such a thing? These are all fair prices," Zhang said with a smile. "However, since you¡¯re buying so many at one time, I can give you an appropriate discount. How about this: the total is 60,000 taels and I can¡¯t go any lower."


    "60,000? The total is 30,000 and I can''t go any higher."


    ...


    After haggling fiercely for a full two hours, Wang Yuanguo still stubbornly held to 30,000 and refused to budge.


    Of course, this price was definitely not enough to buy four mansions. Even two would be difficult. But big sister had told him that as long as he held firm to one price, this shopkeeper would definitely sell.


    Wang Yuanguo didn''t know why this was so, but since big sister had said it, he would just do as she instructed.


    Seeing that he absolutely refused to add one more penny, Zhang the shopkeeper felt a little hesitant inside.


    If I sell to him, what if I can''t collect the money back? Then I¡¯d be losing big time.


    Losing 2,500 taels per property, four properties would be 10,000 taels loss.


    But if I don¡¯t sell, then I¡¯d miss this opportunity to earn a windfall profit.


    If all four properties sold for 30,000 taels, even with a 30% profit I could still earn 8,000 taels!


    Or with a 20% profit, it would be 16,000 taels!


    A deal this big hasn¡¯te in many years.


    "You don''t want to sell then?" Wang Yuanguo said. "Then I''ll go look somewhere else."


    "Wait!" In the end, Zhang the shopkeeper couldn''t resist the temptation of 16,000 taels profit. "Alright, deal!"


    Before nightfall, Wang Yuanguo had gotten deeds to four mansions for 30,000 taels of silver.


    The moment he received the title deeds, he himself couldn''t believe this was real. ording to his understanding, location and mansions like these would go for at least 10,000 taels each.


    Yet here he had gotten four mansions for 30,000 taels total.


    Could big sister really use some kind of magic?


    With such doubts, Wang Yuanguo delivered the title deeds to the inn where Li Yao was staying.


    The next day, following Li Yao''s guidance, he also spent money to hire a number of people to clean up the mansions, and had people spend the night there that evening.


    Li Yao naturally also brought Da Zhuang and the rest back from the inn to the mansion.


    The clerk who had been assigned to keep watch nearby immediately went and told Zhang the shopkeeper when he saw this.


    "Boss, are you going over tonight?"


    "Of course I''m going!" Zhang said. "But two people won''t be enough this time. We need to find a few more people, smarter ones too, got it?"


    "Got it."


    ...


    Everyone was puzzled why Li Yao had moved back.


    After dinner, everyone was scared and didn''t dare go back to their rooms to sleep.


    "If you don''t want to sleep then don''t sleep. Everyonee to my room, but no lightingmps and no talking."


    Li Yao knew they were afraid in their hearts, so she didn''t force them.


    In fact, after securing deeds to the other four mansions, this matter could be considered finished. But thinking that even if there were no more "ghosts" in the future, everyone would still not dare to live here, she decided it would be best to let everyone see the truth for themselves.


    Incidentally, she could also give that Zhang shopkeeper who specialized in swindling people a beating, to vent the anger of all those people he had conned in the past.


    ...


    In the middle of the night, everyone forcibly kept their eyes open and silently sat together in one room, not even daring to breathe loudly.


    Only little Chunran slept soundly without a care,pletely unaware there was anything frightening around her.


    Tonight there were clouds in the sky, no moon could be seen. Only a faint, hazy moonlight filtered through the clouds.


    The two clerks from the tooth shop brought six or seven people dressed in ck. They silently made their way nearby.


    "Listen up everyone," one clerk said with final instructions. "Later when you scream, scream miserably. Once you''ve scared the people inside witless, hurry up and withdraw!"


    "Brother Wu, don''t you trust us to get things done?"


    "Yes. If you do this well,ter I''ll treat you to three days and three nights of drinking." Let''s go!"


    At the order, everyone nimbly climbed over the wall. Some set updders and went straight onto the roof.


    The one called Brother Wu still went to the front of the house.


    These people really had something wrong in their brains. Clearly scared witlessst time, they actually dared move back in after just one night!


    Fine then. This time they would let this family know what real evil spirits were!


    Brother Wu climbed onto the roof, carefully and quietly not making any sound. When he reached above the room fromst time, he silently crouched down.


    Then he cleared his throat and prepared to let out the most tragic ghost wail in history when he suddenly felt someone pat his shoulder.


    Brother Wu knitted his brows. Wasn''t it said he alone was enough for this house? How did someone else follow him up?


    "Who told you toe up?" Brother Wu whispered. "Hurry to the other side."


    But the person behind didn''t leave. Instead they patted his shoulder again.


    Irritated, he turned back to look, and his guts nearly fell apart.


    He saw a disheveled woman with a bloody face, two sinister eyes opened wide staring right at him. "I died so awfully..."


    "Ahhhhh!"


    Brother Wu screamed loudly, scared out of his wits. Panicking, he wanted to run without thinking where he was going.


    But here was the roof. Loose tiles caused him to slip. In a sh he tumbled down the roof drain andnded with a heavy thud in the courtyard.


    The people inside had just heard another ghost wail and their hearts thumped wildly from fright when they suddenly heard something crash down. They were even more terrified and didn''t even dare breathe.


    "Big...big brother...there really is a ghost!"


    "Don''t talk nonsense," with mother not here, Da Zhuang was the head of household. At this time he absolutely could not show fear. "Mother said there are no ghosts in this world!"


    Eeeek¡ª


    Just then the door was pushed open.


    A disheveled figure appeared at the entrance.


    "Ahhhhh!"


    Little Si screamed loudly and buried himself into Da Zhuang''s arms.


    "Why are you screaming?"


    Right when everyone was panicking, hearing Li Yao''s voice, they were stunned for a moment.


    "Mother?"


    "Is it you, mother?"


    "Who else could it be?" Li Yao walked into the room. "You can light themps now."


    Da Zhuang quickly lit the oilmp. Seeing Li Yao''s appearance he couldn''t help asking, "Mother, what were you doing?"


    "Catching ghosts."


    "Catching ghosts?"


    "That''s right. And I caught one. It''s in the yard," Li Yao said. "Bring themps and I''ll take you to see."


    Da Zhuang took the oilmp and led the uneasy crowd following Li Yao out to the yard.


    But there was no ghost outside, only a person lying on the ground groaning.


    "Isn''t this a clerk from the tooth shop?" Wang Er quickly recognized him. "How did he get here? Could it be the so-called ghosts were what they were faking at the tooth shop to scare people?"


    "Now do you understand?" Li Yao said. "There are absolutely no ghosts in this world. The real ghosts exist in people''s hearts."


    "Sister-inw, open the door!"


    Just then Wang Yuanguo''s voice came from outside. Da Zhuang went to open the main gate. Wang Yuanguo had brought a group of people forcing in several others.


    These people were luckier for not running into Li Yao''s fake ghosts, so they only got beaten up at the scene instead of being scared out of their wits like Brother Wu, or breaking their legs falling off the roof.


    With things now clear, everyone understood.


    Turns out there were never any ghosts here to begin with. It was the shopkeeper of the tooth shop putting on an act to fake supernatural events!


    "Sister-inw, what should we do with these people?"


    "Take them to the authorities tomorrow," Li Yao thought for a moment. "Wang Er, go tell Prefect Liu Yun about this first thing in the morning. It must be handled impartially."


    A small tooth shop actually dared to swindle people like this. There must be someone backing them.


    But this time, their wishful thinking would likelye to naught.

 Chapter 195: Pretending to be a Ghost

    <h4>Chapter 195</h4>


    The next morning, Wang Yuanguo brought people to take those who had deliberately pretended to be ghosts the previous night to the government office.


    Wang Er also went to the Yi Zhou Royal Pce to find out that someone had actually dared to trick Li Yao. Liu Yun''s anger rose in his heart.


    The day before, he had summoned all the county magistrates and major officials of Yi Prefecture in his capacity as the Prince of Yi Zhou, in order to get everyone to stay.


    But unexpectedly, most of the people insisted on leaving Yi Prefecture.


    If they wanted everyone to stay, they would have to increase their sries substantially.


    There is a saying that a country cannot be without a ruler even for a day, but also cannot be without officials for a day.


    Yi Prefecture needs many officials to manage it.


    Without the assistance of officials, he, the Prince of Yi Prefecture, would just be an empty figurehead. It would be impossible to find so many people to reappoint as officials in a short period of time.


    As for increasing sries, that was even more unlikely.


    It wasn''t that he couldn''t afford the money, but rather that once he set this precedent, the officials below him would stick together to force him topromise whenever anything happened in the future, which was equivalent to sidelining him.


    He had barely slept all night because of this matter. When he got up in the morning and heard about this kind of nonsense, his mood became even worse.


    Prefect Li had left, so the daily affairs of Yizhou Prefecture were temporarily handled by three Vice Prefects and an additional Magistrate.


    Cases like these were generally handled by the Magistrate.


    So he sent Bai Song to the prefectural office to inquire. But Bai Song came back and told him that Prefectural Judge He had already closed the case. Each of the people who were sent there was fined a few hundred coins, and then released.


    Right after they walked out of the front gate of the prefectural office, the one whose leg was broken was carried back into the prefectural office by people again. He then used the Li Family of breaking his leg.


    The rest also unanimously used Wang Yuanguo of assaulting them, resulting in varying degrees of injury.


    Now the staff of the prefectural office had sent runners to arrest people.


    Liu Yun could hardly believe his ears.


    These people had colluded to defraud money, but instead of investigating to the bottom of it, this Prefectural Judge had just fined them some money and considered it done?


    It was simply child''s y!


    What was even more ridiculous was that these people actually dared to invert ck and white!


    "Bring Prefectural Judge He to me!"


    "Brother Liu," Wang Er next to him hurriedly said, "don''t get angry first."


    "How can I not be angry? Such a big incident has happened, and I, the Prince of Yi Prefecture, must naturally get justice for you."


    "There is no hurry for this," Wang Er said. "My mother had already anticipated that this would be the result, so she asked me to pass on a few words to you."


    After listening to Wang Er''s message, Liu Yun felt that he was still too young and impulsive.


    "Alright, let''s do it ording to Auntie''s teachings. Let''s go to the prefectural office now."


    ......


    Yizhou Prefecture was several times more majestic than the Baichuan County government office. In front of the vermilion gate stood two stone lions over two meters tall, and a huge sounding drum hung under the eaves of a building next door.


    At this time, the main gate of the prefectural office was wide open. Two rows of servants in official uniforms held ckcquered staffs in their hands, looking extremely majestic.


    Sitting high above the tribunal was an official with a long beard¡ªPrefectural Judge He of the Yizhou Prefectural Office.


    In principle, a Prefectural Judge did not have the qualifications to sit in this position, but now there was no Prefect in the prefectural office. None of the three Vice Prefects were willing to stick their necks out either, so he had taken advantage of the opportunity to pretend to be the Prefect.


    At this time, in the main hall, Brother Wu and his group of intiffs were waiting. Standing in front of them was Zhang the Shopkeeper.


    When the people he had sentst night were caught red-handed, Zhang the Shopkeeper was greatly shocked.


    If the ghost stories about those residences were exposed, then the people buying the residences would surely back out of the deal.


    If they backed out, not only would he not make any money, he would lose several thousand taels!


    So he immediately went to find the bosses of several pawnshops in the city at night. One of them was none other than Prefectural Judge He, who now sat high above the hall.


    After thinking it over, Prefectural Judge He told him toe today and make a counterim. This would not only allow him to get the Wuchu Residence back, but the profits would not be reduced either.


    With Prefectural Judge He handling this matter, Zhang the Shopkeeper knew it was not a difficult matter at all. A huge weight was lifted from his heart.


    Just then, an attendant came into the hall and announced: ¡°Prefectural Judge He, the offenders have arrived!"


    "Bring them to the hall."


    Soon, Wang Yuanguo walked into the main hall.


    Because the residence that Li Yao bought was under Da Zhuang''s name, it was Da Zhuang who followed behind him.


    Meanwhile, He Xiaoyi and her family were stopped outside the front gate. They could only watch from afar, along with manymon people who hade to join in the fun.


    After paying their respects, Prefectural Judge He asked in a deep voice, "Zhang Shopkeeper, are these two the ones you want to use?"


    "Exactly!"


    "What do you want to use them of?"


    "Your Honor," Zhang Shopkeeper said ording to what was agreed uponst night, "these two relied on force to intimidate people and forced me to sell the Wuchu Residence to them at a low price. I am a timid person and was afraid, thinking I should just take the loss. So I reluctantly sold it to them. But my buddies were indignant about this. Last night they went to reason with them, but they were unexpectedly beaten badly by them. One buddy even had his leg broken. I am an upstanding businessman in Yizhou Prefecture who has always conducted business in good conscience. I usually don''t mind taking a small loss. But these two were vicious in their actions, and actually inflicted such serious harm on my innocent buddies. I plead with Your Honor to uphold justice on behalf of themon people. Make them return my residence to me and treat my buddy''s injuries!"


    "Nonsense!" As soon as Da Zhuang heard this, he could no longer restrain himself and shouted loudly, "We clearly bought that residence from you fairly!"


    "Bought fairly?" Zhang Shopkeeper gave a coldugh. "Let me ask you, how much silver did you spend buying those residences from me?"


    "Ten thousand for mine."


    "I bought four residences for a total of thirty thousand taels. That''s less than seven thousand five hundred per residence on average," said Wang Yuanguo.


    "That''s right!" said Zhang Shopkeeper. "Go ask any pawn shop in Yizhou Prefecture and see if you can buy that kind of residence at such a price! Your Honor, they were clearly seizing things by force. I plead with Your Honor to discern this clearly!"


    Da Zhuang and Wang Yuanguo''s eyebrows wrinkled slightly. Indeed, the price they paid for the residences was very low. They hadn''t expected this to be part of a plot.


    "Hmm," said Prefectural Judge He. "ording to what this official knows, the price of residences in that area should not be lower than fifteen thousand taels of silver."


    "But Your Honor, he clearly sold them to us voluntarily!"


    "Do you have any witnesses?"


    "We do!" said Da Zhuang. "Our whole family was there at the time."


    "One¡¯s own family will naturally speak for them, so they cannot serve as witnesses,¡± said Prefectural Judge He. ¡°Is there anyone else?"


    "Well...no."


    "If there are no other witnesses, then that cannot prove it was a fair transaction on your part,¡± said Prefectural Judge He. ¡°Combined with your group¡¯s beating of the shop assistants, which is also a fact, this official thinks the possibility of you two forcing the purchase is very great."


    "Your Honor, they came pretending to be ghosts in our house in the middle of the night...¡±


    "Do you have any witnesses?¡±


    Da Zhuang: ......


    "Without witnesses, how can you expect this official to believe your one-sided im?"


    When he spoke to this point, a faint smile appeared involuntarily on Zhang Shopkeeper¡¯s face. With Prefectural Judge He here, these two outsiders would surely have to obediently give in.


    "However, this official does not arbitrarily decide right and wrong,¡± Prefectural Judge He went on. ¡°Since each of you stick to your own ims and neither side has witnesses, then this official also cannot determine who is right or wrong. So this official will rule that you two return the residences. However, because you wildly spread rumors that the residences were haunted, which will surely impact future sales, you will have to providepensation¡ª500 taels per residence. Also, for your group beating the shop assistants, you should rightly be imprisoned for that. But considering that you have just arrived from other ces and are not familiar with the customs here in Yizhou Prefecture, this official will not severely punish you. Compensating a total of 500 taels, so as to serve as a warning, will suffice.¡±


    Wang Yuanguo and Da Zhuang looked at each other, dumbfounded. How could the case be judged like this?


    "If there are no objections, hand over the deeds and sale contracts,¡± Prefectural Judge He went on. ¡°Zhang Shopkeeper, also prepare the silver bills so you can return the money to themter.¡±


    "Yes, Your Honor. I will have someone fetch the banknotes right away.¡±


    "Alright, this case is now closed," said Prefectural Judge He as he picked up the sounding block on the bench and mmed it down heavily. "Dismissed."


    "Wait!"


    Just as he was about to turn around to leave, a slender figure hurriedly walked into the main hall.

 Chapter 196: Avoid Suspicion

    <h4>Chapter 196</h4>


    Prefectural Judge He turned his face and saw that the personing was actually a guard from Prince Yizhou''s side. He wondered in his heart what this was about. This was just a very small case. How could it rm the prince''s guards?


    Could the two people under the hall have some connection with Prince Yizhou?


    "So it''s Guard Bai," Prefectural Judge He said. "May I ask if Prince Yizhou is looking for me?"


    "Yes," Bai Song replied.


    "Then pleasee to the back courtyard. It''s not convenient to talk here in the main hall."


    "No need," Bai Song said. "What Prince Yizhou asked me to say concerns the case you''re judging."


    Prefectural Judge He''s heart thudded. As he had guessed, the two people below did have a rtionship with Prince Yizhou.


    "Prefectural Judge He, please slow down in dismissing the court," Bai Song said. "Prince Yizhou is on his way here already, along with all the important officials of the Yizhou government."


    What? Prince Yizhou ising personally, with all the officials too?


    Prefectural Judge He was extremely nervous, but he also thought that as long as all these officials firmly stick together, what could Prince Yizhou do even if he came? After all, they were still Daling Country¡¯s officials, not Prince Yizhou¡¯s officials. Strictly speaking, they were under the court¡¯s jurisdiction.


    Thinking this way, Prefectural Judge He put his heart back in his stomach.


    Soon, the various officials led by the three Assistant Prefects arrived one after another, including the county magistrates from all the counties under Yizhou Prefecture.


    After everyone was seated, Liu Yun also arrived.


    "Prince Yizhou," Seeing everyone present, Prefectural Judge He asked, "May I ask why you have summoned us?"


    "No rush, one more person has yet to arrive."


    The crowd looked at each other, wondering who he was talking about.


    "Prince Yizhou, everyone is here," Assistant Prefect Liu offered. "I wonder who else Prince Yizhou is waiting for?"


    "There is still a seventh-rank official in my Yizhou government."


    Hearing this, everyone understood.


    Li Yao, the female official from Baichuan County, Li the Maiden.


    Although her rank was a bit low and she was a female official with no real power, she was still an official conferred by His Majesty the Emperor. It was just that Miss Li seemed to put on too many airs, actually making so many people wait for her alone.


    Everyone thought that when Li Yao arrived, they must teach her a good lesson.


    Ding ling ling¨C


    With a clear bell ring, Li Yao rode in on a bicycle and stopped outside the gate.


    "Madam," Wang Er went up to take her bike and said, "Everyone is waiting for you."


    "I said I wasn''ting," Li Yao said. "That Liu Yun insisted Ie, how annoying."


    Everyone: ...... What is she saying?


    Being personally summoned by Prince Yizhou was a great honor. Yet she did not seem satisfied.


    Li Yao walked straight into the hall. Assistant Prefect Liu was about to question her for being sote, but Liu Yun suddenly walked out from his seat and went to wee Li Yao with a smile.


    "Auntie, please sit here."


    Seeing Liu Yun ushering Li Yao and arranging for her to sit next to him, everyone present was dumbfounded.


    Was this how a seventh-rank female official should be treated?


    But now Liu Yun had made his attitude clear. Assistant Prefect Liu could not question her further, as that would be directly offending Liu Yun.


    Seeing Li Yao, Shopkeeper Zhang and the helpers suddenly became nervous.


    They had thought the one buying the mansion was an outsider. They didn''t expect it to be Li Yao!


    And Prince Yizhou treated her with such respect and courtesy!


    If they had known earlier, who would still dare scheme against her!


    But now it was toote to say anything. They could only hope Prefectural Judge He could salvage the situation.


    "Now that everyone is here," Liu Yun announced, "this morning I heard that the government had received a case that was very difficult to judge right or wrong. So I asked everyone toe and listen to your opinions."


    "Dare I ask Prince Yizhou, what case are you referring to?"


    "The very one you''re judging," Liu Yun replied.


    Prefectural Judge He''s heart thudded. He quickly said, "Replying to Prince Yizhou, this case has already been adjudicated."


    "Are the intiff and defendant marked?"


    "Well...not yet."


    "Then the case is not closed yet," said Liu Yun. "Prefectural Judge He, tell everyone about the specifics of the situation and let them all listen."


    Prefectural Judge He broke into a cold sweat on his forehead.


    He didn''t know why Liu Yun hade to meddle in such a trivial matter. But since he was the Prince of Yizhou, he could only tell the truth.


    After he finished, no one spoke up.


    Liu Yun said, "The most difficult part of this case is that neither side has valid credentials."


    "That''s right," said Assistant Prefect Liu. "So Prefectural Judge He''s verdict is reasonable."


    "What do the rest of you think?" Liu Yun asked. "Assistant Prefect Chen and Luo, Assistant Prefect Liu has spoken. Now it''s your turn."


    The two Assistant Prefects exchanged a look, and they knew each other¡¯s thoughts.


    Assistant Prefect Chen said, "I also think Prefectural Judge He''s verdict contains no error."


    "I share the same view," said the other.


    "Is that so?" Liu Yun smiled. "It seems that as fellow Assistant Prefects, you three can understand each other without words. Your thoughts are the same."


    Assistant Prefect Liu''s expression changed. "Prince Yizhou, we are only discussing the case itself. We have no private intentions."


    "I didn''t say you have private intentions," Liu Yun said. "Please continue."


    Next, the various officials serving in the government, such as rmendation officials, administrative officials, and administrators, all expressed their own views. The result made Liu Yun very unhappy, because everyone had the same opinion as Assistant Prefect Liu.


    After the government officials spoke, it was the county magistrates'' turn.


    Compared to the government officials, the county magistrates often adjudicated cases, so they had more of their own opinions.


    Arge proportion felt that the verdict in this case was a bit hasty.


    County Magistrate Song and several other county magistrates even cited various methods to investigate the case more clearly.


    When everyone had finished speaking, Liu Yun gave an imperceptible sigh.


    It seemed that as Auntie Li had said, these officials, in order to protect their own interests, clung tightly together. It looked like even if the government was left without officials, he would still have to thoroughly investigate and remove these people.


    Otherwise, how could the future Yizhou government be well governed?


    "Maiden Li," Liu Yun said, "please give us the benefit of your insights."


    "I don''t have any great insights," Li Yao waved her hand and said. "Besides, I''m not suitable to express opinions either."


    "Why?"


    "Because he is my uncle," Li Yao pointed at Wang Yuanguo, then pointed at Da Zhuang, "And he is my son. As their rtive, I should recuse myself."

 Chapter 197: Dividing up the Place

    <h4>Chapter 197</h4>


    Wang Yuanguo is Li Yao''s uncle?


    Wang Dazuang is Li Yao''s son?


    This information made several colleagues and He Tongpan suddenly feel that things were very bad.


    The business they did privately involved a lot of frauds. Usually they could easily resolve issues relying on the power in their hands.


    But there were also unwritten rules. Generally they would not provoke other officials to avoid future conflicts.


    Unexpectedly, this damned Zhang Shopkeeper didn¡¯t recognize Li Yao?


    Several knife-like gazes almost poked several holes in Zhang Shopkeeper''s forehead.


    "Auntie, can you give some suggestions?¡± Liu Yun said.


    "Okay," Li Yao said, "my suggestion is that everyone here should retry this case."


    "I agree!" Without waiting for others to speak, Liu Yun said in a loud voice, "But ording to the rules, the affairs in the prefectural government are not something I can intervene at this point. So I want to hear everyone''s opinion again. Those who agree to retrial, and those who disagree?¡±


    Everyone looked at each other silently conveying signals.


    In a short instant, they reached a consensus.


    This retrial would surely give rise to many problems and reveal many unknown things. It might even cause them to suffer losses in interests.


    So they absolutely could not retry.


    Then everyone spoke out against it. Only a few county magistrates headed by Song County Magistrate firmly stood by Li Yao¡¯s side.


    In the end, out of the 30 officials present except Liu Yun and Li Yao, 23 were against and only 7 were in favor.


    Seeing this result, Liu Yun was suddenly at a loss for words.


    "Prince of Yizhou," Assistant Prefect Liu and others secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Why don''t we end this case like this?"


    End it?


    Liu Yun suddenlyughed.


    Did they really think that holding together tightly, I would have no way to deal with them?


    Did they really think that with them leaving, Yizhou Prefecture would have no officials and no one to govern?


    He looked at Li Yao and got her approval. Then he said loudly: "Everyone, let''s put this case aside for now and continue discussing what we talked about yesterday."


    Everyone was stunned again, what¡¯s the next act?


    "Yesterday, I asked everyone to choose to stay or leave," Liu Yun said in a deep voice, "but now you don''t need to choose anymore, I have made up my mind. Those who disagreed to retrial just now, from now on, you are no longer officials of my Yizhou Prefecture. Go back and report to the imperial court to wait for reassignment of positions.¡±


    Assistant Prefect Liu and others were stunned, as if they had suddenly turned into wood carvings.


    How dare this Prince of Yizhou do this?


    Was he not afraid that Yizhou Prefecture would be in chaos without officials and governance?


    "Song County Magistrate," Liu Yun continued to ask, "are you few willing to continue serving in the Yizhou government?"


    "Willing!"


    "Good, not bad," Liu Yun said, "Song County Magistrate, I appoint you as the prefect of Yizhou Prefecture."


    "I obey the order!"


    "Zheng County Magistrate, I appoint you as the Secretary to assist Prefect Song.¡±


    "I obey the order!"


    ...


    In a blink of an eye, the vacant positions in the prefectural government were divided up by several county magistrates.


    As for the vacant county magistrate positions, Liu Yun could only temporarily appoint a county magistrate to concurrently manage two counties.


    After everyone was appointed, Assistant Prefect Liu and the others suddenly realized.


    The Prince of Yizhou didn¡¯t ask them toe to try cases today. He was using this to test them and remove those officials who didn¡¯t listen to him.


    Judging from his appointments, this was not a temporary intention, but a premeditated n.


    It was said that this Ninth Prince had always been ignorant. How did he suddenly be so capable?


    But now things had already happened, their n to coerce Liu Yun by sticking together hadpletely failed.


    "Prince of Yizhou, then we will hand over today and return to the capital tomorrow."


    "No hurry, no hurry," With things as they were, Liu Yun finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, "You can go after Prefect Song has investigated this case clearly. It won''t be toote."


    Everyone''s heart shuddered. This move was too ruthless.


    The money they had privately earned in Yizhou Prefecture over the years had a lot to do with Zhang Shopkeeper''s tooth store. If thoroughly investigated, even if they could not be convicted, they would have to spit out a lot of the money they earned!


    This Liu Yun was so fierce!


    "Everyone," Prefect Song said, "please wait in the prefecture before I get to the bottom of this case."


    Everyone sighed in their hearts.


    This Prefect Song was originally an official from Beijing. His family was quite powerful in the capital city. And now his rank had been raised to third grade official, higher than everyone present. He was not to be offended either.


    They could only resign themselves to fate and think about how to spit out less money and make Zhang Shopkeeper take this ck pot.


    ...


    With the new prefect taking office, Prefect Song only took half a day to turn Zhang Shopkeeper''s tooth store inside out.


    His buddies had no integrity at all, confessing everything Zhang did clearly.


    But Zhang Shopkeeper remained tough, insisting that everything was his own idea and had nothing to do with several investors. He stubbornly took all the responsibilities.


    In the end, Prefect Song could only sentence him to return all fraud money and exile him to the northern border to transport grain and forage for the Daleng Army.


    As for the five properties Li Yao bought, of course she didn¡¯t need to return them.


    With five more sets of houses in one breath, Li Yao made a killing this time. However, she didn''t intend to sell the other four sets. Just right to give to Wang Er and Du Xiao Hui to open a school.


    The next evening, Prefect Song finished his official business and visited with his wife.


    Li Yao was supervising the construction of toilet and kitchen renovation. Seeing the couplee, she smiled and said, "Congrattions to Mr. Song on his promotion to prefect!"


    "Thank you, thank you," Prefect Song didn''t look so happy, "Actually, there''s nothing to congratte."


    If this was heard by Liu Yun, he would probably feel a little ufortable in his heart. But it was true words.


    By staying in Yizhou and serving as Prince Liu Yun''s prefect, it meant he had almost no hope of returning to Beijing for a position. So this was the highest office he could get.


    However, if he returned to the capital city, in theory he could be appointed prime minister, with only one person above and ten thousand people below him.


    The prefect of a prefecture versus the prime minister of a country, the status was tens of thousands of miles apart.


    "I heard that today Prince Yizhou took over the local troops," Prefect Song said, "It didn¡¯t seem to go too smoothly either, many generals were unwilling to stay."


    Military officers were different from civil servants.


    Civil servants could find someone simr as a substitute, but military officers could not. Casually choosing someone would fail to convince the troops. Then the soldiers would not listen to orders, or just be perfunctory andzy. That would be very dangerous.


    "Unfortunately Wang San is not here," the prefect¡¯s wife said. "Otherwise he could at least serve as a toon leader."


    Wang San was in the northern border, wonder how he¡¯s been.


    Although this kid had learned decent martial arts, he neglected literary cultivation. Up to now, he had only written one letter home, which was also ghostwritten by someone else.


    "If I guess right, Prince Yizhou must have a way to solve it."


    "That''s true," Prefect Song said. "He transferred Liu Hu and his former subordinates from the border army stationed at the Nanzhou border toe back, and also borrowed Zhang County Captain from me."


    "Zhang County Captain?"


    "Yes," Prefect Song smiled. "He is still very capable, serving as a toon leader should be effortless for him."


    Unexpectedly, Zhang County Captain also got a promotion because of this. It was indeed gratifying. Must let someone go congratte himter.


    With Liu Hu and Zhang County Captain, the local troops should stabilize for the time being.


    It felt like it would be eternal peace after just a few days.


    Next, just waiting for Wang Er to take the county exam.

 Chapter 198: Yangming Academy

    <h4>Chapter 198</h4>


    "Tear Down These Walls!"


    Early in the morning, Li Yao was directing arge group of people at work.


    She intended to keep only the first house she had bought to live in, out of the five houses she owned. The remaining four would all be connected to open up the Yangming Academy.


    These houses were now under Wang Er''s name, which could also be considered as some private property Li Yao had secured for Wang Er.


    Wang Er was a schr. He aspired to be an official and thus could not possibly stay in River Bend Vige forever.


    After three full days of hustle and bustle, the Yangming Academy was finally tidied up.


    Although theyout was not fully satisfactory, with nearly two hundred rooms in total, it was absolutely sufficient for an academy that had just opened.


    There was also a nearly fifty-mu huge backyard. Li Yao was having people dig fish ponds and build corridors and pavilions. She also had trees and flowers transnted to create a scenic garden of striking beauty.


    Schrs always liked such an elegant environment after all.


    When everything was done, the whole family came to the entrance of the Yangming Academy.


    "Mother," Wang Er said, "please name the academy."


    "You and Little Hui started this. You should name it yourselves."


    Wang Er and Du Xiao Hui looked at each other. Finally Wang Er said, "We still ask that mother name it. I admit Ick profound knowledge and surely cannote up with a better name than mother."


    "Let''s just use your name," Li Yao was quite casual about names. "Call it the Yangming Academy. It sounds bright and promising, perfectly suiting the youth."


    "Alright, Yangming Academy it is. I''ll ask the master to make the signboard today." Wang Er said, "But our Yangming Academy has four main gates. How should we ce the signboard?"


    "Right," Wang Yuanguo said. "Putting it over any specific gate would seem partial."


    Li Yao looked at this uncle. She did not expect a dock worker to know what "partiality" meant now.


    "Why are you looking at me like that, sister-inw?" Wang Yuanguo felt somewhat terrified under her gaze.


    "There are four gates. Let''s make four signboards. That solves the partiality issue."


    Wang Yuanguo pped his forehead andughed. "As expected, sister-inw has the solutions."


    "And the east gate shall be Yangming Academy Gate One, so on and so forth," Li Yao said. "With four gates opening alternately, we can decorate each gate differently too. That would be a distinctive feature."


    Du Xiao Hui made sure to remember this point firmly.


    As the Chief of Yangming Academy, she would be in charge of managing the entire academy in the future.


    "Have the teachers arrived?"


    "Sent people to bring them over already," Wang Er said. "Marquis Wang from Yizhou said those tutors from River Bend Vige coulde to temporarily teach at our academy for now."


    Those old tutors hade from the capital city originally to teach Liu Yun. Now that Liu Yun was no longer in River Bend Vige, naturally they could not keep staying there.


    Of course there would be no problem with theming over for a few months.


    The housing was ready and so were the teachers. The books Wang Er and Du Xiao Hui had purchased were also being transcribed inrge quantities. It would not take too long for everything to be delivered.


    It seemed like everything was prepared. Next would be student recruitment.


    Following Li Yao''s instructions, Du Xiao Hui took Wu Tong, Alice and Anna to post recruitment notices all over Yizhou City.


    Wang Yuanguo also hired arge group to post notices in other counties too.


    In almost no time, nearly the entire Yizhou region knew about the Yangming Academy.


    "What does the notice say?"


    Illiterate people were asking learned men dressed in green next to them.


    "The notice says Yangming Academy in Yizhou City is recruiting three hundred students aged between six and fifteen, regardless of background. Even vige kids can attend. But only candidates of outstanding moral character and academicpetence can get in, through two screening tests."


    "Can girls attend too?"


    Undoubtedly, such news was shocking enough to astound everyone.


    Never in history had anyone imagined that girls could also enter academies to study!


    Even if some girls did get to study, it would be the daughters of high officials and rich merchants, secretly tutored at home rather than allowed into any academy.


    Yet this newly opened Yangming Academy was thoroughly smashing such rules!


    "That''s what the notice says." The young man in green affirmed.


    "Then how much are they charging per month?"


    "Hang on. Let me read everything in order." He continued, "Once admitted as a student of Yangming Academy, one gets to live on campus. The academy provides quilts, clothes and footwear uniformly. It also issues books, writing brushes, ink sticks, etc. And three meals will be served daily too."


    "So at the academy, you basically don''t need your family to provide anything?"


    "That''s correct."


    "For giving so much stuff, it must charge a hefty fee of at least a few taels of silver per month right?" Someonemented. "Otherwise it would be suffering huge losses!"


    "It says here, the annual tuition fee is... three taels of silver?"


    "What? Just three taels a year? You''re joking right?"


    The young man in green rubbed his eyes and confirmed he read it right. "I''m not joking. It''s clearly printed there in ck and white."


    "Impossible. It cannot be true!" Someone retorted. "They must be tricking people in first before supplying them shabby stuffter and shoddy food. With barely qualified teachers too. Going to an academy like this would be utterly wasteful."


    "No no no," the young man waved his hand. "Yangming Academy currently has four famed tutors transferred from the capital responsible for teaching students. Two of them used to teach the princes!"


    Those who taught the princes were the creme de creme of teachers!


    Any other academy with such outstanding faculty would charge at least five taels per month!


    Yet this Yangming Academy only collected three taels for the entire year!


    "There''s more."


    "What else? Speak up!"


    "Students from extremely impoverished households can apply for reduced tuition fees, even... totally waived!"


    Everyone was collectively stunned.


    Could Yangming Academy be opened by a Bodhisattva?


    "Then how does one get into this academy?"


    "In three days, the academy will send people to our county for tests. Children wishing to enter need to show up in front of the county government office in advance to take the exams. Those who pass get to attend."


    ...


    The news about Yangming Academy''s recruitment astounded not just themoners. All the major academies in Yizhou City, as well as wealthy merchants were also shocked.


    Especially with Qianshan Academy taking the lead, they were extremely furious about Yangming Academy''s approach.


    It was outrageous enough that Yangming offered such great facilities. Its famous teachers made things worse. And charging so little for tuition was destroying their rice bowls!


    What''s more, the Chief of Yangming Academy was actually a woman!


    The prestigious academies tracing back hundreds of years had never allowed women to rise to prominent positions, let alone as the Chief of an academy!


    It was utterly disgraceful and scandalous!


    Thus Chief Jiang of Qianshan Academy went together with over ten other Chiefs to bring this up to Magistrate Song who had just taken office not long ago.


    "It''s their prerogative to decide how much to charge for tuition right?" Magistrate Song said. "There are no Dalingws stipting standardized rates."


    With one statement, Magistrate Song dismissed them.


    Chief Jiang and the others did not expect a fellow schr like Magistrate Song to not take their side.


    "Humph. If he won''t handle this, we can''t just let such things happen right under our noses," Chief Jiang said. "Let us rally some wealthy merchants and officials, forcing Yangming Academy to increase their tuition at the minimum."


    "That''s right, they must raise it!"


    "And change that female Chief too!"

 Chapter 199: Come Prepared

    <h4>Chapter 199</h4>


    Yangming Academy''s enrollment was exceptionally hot. Not only the students from Yizhou City, but students from all counties were actively applying. For this matter, Du Xiao Hui and several teachers were also busy organizing written tests and interviews to select excellent students.


    But Yizhou was too big, and the 300 quota was simply not enough, especially those students who failed to be admitted and whose family conditions were not good, all stood at the door and refused to leave.


    "Don''t worry," Du Xiao Hui said to the students who were not admitted at the academy gate, "In the future, our academy will open more branches, and there will also be branches in various counties. At that time, there will be more quotas."


    "When will they open?"


    "It is estimated to be next spring," Du Xiao Hui said, "So please go back and study hard, and strive to enter our academy next year."


    "I will be 16 years old next spring!"


    "Those who are older don''t have to worry," Du Xiao Hui said, "We will not only open academies, but also open libraries. The books in the library will be veryplete, and we will also provide the simplest amodation and meals, only 10 coins per day. Although there are no teachers to teach, we can also provide a rtivelyfortable ce for everyone to study."


    "Really?"


    "When will the library open?¡±


    "It will open next month. We are currently negotiating with the families next to the academy to buy the nearby houses first."


    After hearing this promise, everyone left.


    Many people came to Yangming Academy to try their luck because their families had no money. If there was a library, it would be different.


    Only 10 coins a day, you can live there, and you can borrow books to read for free! Even the simplest coarse tea and light meals, this little money outside, you can''t buy anything.


    A bowl of wonton on the side of the street costs 12 coins!


    It has to be said that the headmaster of this Yangming Academy is really a fairy descending to earth, otherwise how could she have such a kind and benevolent heart?


    "Okay, we''lle back next month."


    After three full days of busy work, the 300 new students of Yangming Academy had all arrived.


    Li Yao looked at the roster. Among them, 100 were students from Yizhou City, and the remaining 200 quotas were evenly divided among the counties, about 5 people per county.


    Among these 300 people, there were only seven little girls.


    She asked several teachers, it was not because the girls did poorly on the exams and interviews, but because very few girls wanted to study. Some counties didn''t even have one.


    The seven girls here were all from Yizhou City.


    "It''s okay, it will gradually improve," Li Yao said to Du Xiao Hui, "In a few years, the number of girls will increase."


    "Well, I understand, auntie."


    Du Xiao Hui nodded heavily.


    After this enrollment, she was more keenly aware that this world was so unfriendly to girls.


    But she would not ck off and would definitely work with Second Brother Wang in the future to allow all children who wanted to study, whether boys or girls, to sit in the academy and study.


    This was Du Xiao Hui''s goal in this life, and she would definitely aplish it!


    "Tomorrow is the first day of school," Li Yao asked, "Are the things I asked you to prepare ready?"


    "Don''t worry, auntie, everything is ready."


    A student only paid three or two silvers a year for academy fees, which averaged less than 8 coins per day. Amodation, living expenses and study materials were also covered. For some students from poor families, the fees would even be reduced or exempted, and the teachers had to be paid as well. It was a loss no matter how you calcted it.


    So Li Yao came up with an idea to increase the academy''s ie.


    That was - charity fundraising.


    There were plenty of rich people in Yizhou City. People of her level would be no less than twenty.


    If they leaked a little money from their fingers, it would be enough for the expenses of these 300 children for a whole year.


    "But auntie," Du Xiao Hui said, "I heard people say that other academies don''t seem to like us very much. They have also contacted those merchants and maye to make trouble tomorrow."


    "I know," Li Yao said, "That''s why I want them toe. If they don''te, it will be difficult for me to do things."


    Du Xiao Hui knew she had already nned it out, so she put her worried heart back into her stomach.


    And prayed that the opening day would go smoothly tomorrow, so Second Brother Wang could take the exam with peace of mind.


    ...


    Today was Yangming Academy''s official opening day, and the news had spread throughout Yizhou City.


    Therefore, early in the morning, people who came to celebrate or watch the excitement surrounded the four main gates tightly.


    As the headmaster of Yangming Academy, Du Xiao Hui wore a white cheongsam today, looking ethereal.


    The 300 students also changed into green academy uniforms and lined up neatly in the spacious front yard ording to height.


    After some gentle preaching, Du Xiao Hui introduced the academy¡¯s teachers to everyone and was about to announce the official start of school when there was amotioning from outside the gate.


    "Make way, make way!"


    Led by Mountain Chief Jiang, a group of people squeezed through the onlookers and walked in angrily.


    Behind them were more than 50rge carriages parked on the roadside. Many wealthy-looking people in luxurious clothing came down, obviously the famous and powerful merchants in Yizhou City.


    Seeing this battle array, everyone knew that there must be a good show to watch today.


    "What are these people here for?"


    "Seeing this situation, they must not be here to congratte."


    "Congratte?" Someoneughed and said, "They are here to make trouble."


    "Why are they here to make trouble when it¡¯s the academy¡¯s opening day?"


    "You don''t even understand this?" Someone said, "First of all, for these academy chiefs, each student in their academy pays them several silvers a month in fees, right? Now that Yangming Academy charges so little, isn''t it smashing their rice bowl?"


    "That makes sense, but what about those wealthy people?"


    "They are even more unhappy. Think about it, they must have children studying too. Naturally, they would like fewer students studying in the world, so that their children will have a greater chance of sess in the imperial examinations. Now Yangming Academy recruits all these outstanding students regardless of family background. In the future, they will bepeting with their children."


    "I see."


    "Also, the headmaster of Yangming Academy is a woman, and they must not be able to stand that."


    ...


    In the crowd¡¯s discussion, Mountain Chief Jiang led a group of people straight into Yangming Academy.


    Du Xiao Hui took a deep breath and greeted them with a smile.


    "May I ask why everyone hase to our Yangming Academy today?"


    "Why?" Mountain Chief Jiang sneered coldly, "We are here today to teach you the rules!"


    "What rules?"


    "The rules are that you cannot charge so little in fees!" Mountain Chief Jiang said, "Also, women cannot be the headmasters of academies!"


    Du Xiao Hui thought it was funny, but still asked, "Dare I ask which senior set these rules? Are they written intow? If so, what do thews say?"


    Mountain Chief Jiang was stunned immediately. He did not expect that this little girl would be so sharp-tongued, bringing up thew right away.


    Indeed, there was no suchw in Daling Country.


    But it was fine. He hade prepared today.


    "There may not bews, but these are customary practices," Mountain Chief Jiang said, "If you don''t believe me, all the famous families and influential people in Yizhou City havee today. You can go and ask them."


    Du Xiao Hui thought only a fool would go asking.

 Chapter 200: Bye or No Bye

    <h4>Chapter 200</h4>


    "Elder Sir," said Du Xiao Hui, "I do not know of any conventions or rules. As a citizen of Daling, I only recognize thews of Daling. As the saying goes, ''Nothing is forbidden unless explicitly prohibited.'' How Yangming Academy recruits students and tutors, and who serves as the Mountain Chief, these are all our own affairs, and need not trouble the elder over there."


    "Simply preposterous!" Jiang Mountain Chief angrily rebuked at the top of his voice, "A woman who brazenly makes a scene, how atrocious! Without a shred of literary knowledge, unable to recognize even a basketful of characters, what qualifications have you to serve as Mountain Chief?"


    "That is my business," Du Xiao Hui''s face darkened as she replied, "Furthermore, my Yangming Academy has hired several talented and well-learned gentlemen of high moral repute to teach sses, among them two are even honored as Imperial Tutors. I dare ask, elder sir, how do your literary talentspare?"


    "I..."


    Jiang Mountain Chief was instantly rendered speechless.


    How could a mountain chief of a county academy possiblypare with imperial tutors?


    Even if his literary knowledge could match theirs, his fame and status would still be vastly inferior!


    "Very well, it is evident that I cannot reason with you," said Jiang Mountain Chief, "so let the prestigious families of Yizhou City speak some justice."


    Du Xiao Hui had won the first skirmish, but she did not feel relieved in the slightest. Rather, she felt even more nervous.


    For Auntie Li had said that schr-officials'' thinking was quite simple and easy to handle.


    It was these wealthy businessmen who were truly difficult to deal with.


    Since they controlled so much wealth and practically dominated all industries in Yizhou City, if they united against Yangming Academy, the academy probably could not even buy oil, sauce, vinegar, rice and vegetables within the city afterwards.


    As Jiang Mountain Chief spoke, over a dozen wealthy businessmen walked over with grim expressions.


    An elder with white hair and beard, apanied by two young maidservants, stood at the very front.


    He was a famed figure of Yizhou City named Yang Chang, possessed the greatest wealth and highest status among all merchants and prestigious ns, with thriving businesses mainly in tea leaves and medicinal herbs.


    "Ahem, with everyone''s high regards, I have been nominated to serve as mediator today. So let me say a few words," he remarked politely before approaching Du Xiao Hui. His wrinkled face carried an ambiguous smile, "I have long heard that the Mountain Chief of Yangming Academy is an extraordinary talent among women. Seeing you today, it is true that the reputation does not disappoint."


    "Elder exaggerates too much."


    "However," Yang Chang continued, "As a resident of Yizhou City, I have humbly earned the favor of past magistrates, and have some reputation in this city. Naturally I ought to speak some justice for Yizhou City. Mountain Chief Du, your academy ismendable, but the tutoring fees are too low, wouldn''t you agree there is some harm to others'' livelihoods? As businessmen, I advise Mountain Chief Du to reconsider carefully before proceeding. I am not saying you should match other academies, but the fees also should not be too low."


    "These are the rules set by my academy," Du Xiao Hui replied evenly, "As for harming others'' livelihoods, I believe elder worries too much. Among the tens and hundreds of thousands of students in Yizhou Prefecture, I have merely admitted three hundred. How can that be considered damaging others'' livelihoods?"


    With one retort, she had silenced Yang Chang.


    What Yang Chang was more worried about was that in future examinations, his family''s scions would encounter even fiercerpetition from these students, causing them to fail the civil service examinations.


    Of course, he could not utter this openly.


    "Mountain Chief Du," seeing the soft approach had failed, Yang Chang prepared to turn hard, "do you know what the consequences would be if we collectively worked together?"


    "I am all ears."


    "The result would be, Yangming Academy would not be able to purchase a single grain of rice or drop of oil in Yizhou City," said Yang Chang, "Furthermore, filth and stench would permeate right outside the academy gates every day. Let me ask, under such circumstances, how could the students concentrate on studying?"


    Du Xiao Hui nearlyughed out loud.


    Auntie Li was indeed correct. Compared to schr-officials, these businessmen were truly harder to handle.


    Unlike the former, thetter thought nothing of integrity or dignity and conducted themselves unscrupulously.


    Yet they could also mobilize many others to act under them, taking the fall when exposed, leaving ordinary people rather helpless against them.


    Fortunately Yangming Academy was no ordinary academy.


    If not for Auntie Li''s ingenious schemes, she would have flipped her lid on the spot at the elder, challenging him to use everything in his power while proiming Yangming Academy did not fear him.


    "Elder, academies are ces of purity and serenity. I request that you mind your speech."


    "Ha... indeed, academies are ces of purity and serenity," Yang Changughed, "but unfortunately I am no schr!"


    "Youngdy," Yang Chang paused before discarding his sardonic facade and speaking gravely, "I shall offer you one final word of advice. Do not think about opposing the entirety of Yizhou City. Otherwise... even with Madam Li''s support, you would still not remain here."


    The threat had bepletely barefaced.


    An ordinary person would likely have retreated at this point for self-preservation.


    Yet Du Xiao Hui suddenly smiled vibrantly, "Then why don''t you say that to Madam Li''s face?"


    Yang Chang knew Li Yao would definitely show up today, but he remained utterly fearless.


    As awful businessman, there was nothing to dread so long as no evidence of illegal activities could be pinned on him. Even if the prefect or prince arrived, some concession would have to be given to them businessmen to save face.


    Li Yao had watched the situation unfold silently from within.


    Among today''s visitors, this Yang Chang seemed tomand everyone''s deference. If he could be subdued, the rest would likely disperse as frightened birds and beasts.


    It would be easy as pie for Liu Yun to bring down a mere businessman. Just find an excuse to ruin him for life.


    But she did not approve of such underhanded methods.


    The importance of businessmen was self-evident. For a long period, Yizhou''s entire economy would still rely on them.


    So she would make an example out of one to deter the rest.


    Consider it a small gift from her to the newly appointed Song Prefect and Prince of Yizhou.


    Thus she stepped out from the building.


    Unusually, she had worn an official uniform today with finely done up hair and valuable ornaments.


    Gone was her normally brash and bold stride, reced with a graceful gait brimming with dignity, yet between her brow there still shone an indescribable heroic spirit.


    Many had heard of the arrival in Yizhou City of Madam Li from Baichuan County but never had the fortune to catch a glimpse until today. Everyone simultaneously marveled inwardly upon the sight.


    Indeed, Madam Li was as striking as rumors told.


    Li Yao arrived before the crowd. Yang Chang arrogantly held up his neck in refusal to bow as befitting his age, and the rest followed suit in feigned oblivion at her presence.


    "Elders and everyone," Du Xiao Hui announced, "before you stands the Rank 7 Madam appointed by His Majesty¡ªMadam Li."


    Seeing the group maintain its deafening indifference, Du Xiao Hui continued, "What is this, do you find the rank 7 position too lowly to warrant your notice or greetings?"


    These words instantly soured everyone''s mood.


    They were men in their prime, schrs of poetry with bellies full of wisdom, tycoons with tens of thousands in their pockets!


    Yet now they had to bow down to a woman; it was truly damaging to their dignity!


    But failure to greet would be taken as great disrespect, for which Madam Li had the authority to penalize.


    The mountain chiefs could still get by since they held office. But most businessmen weremoners who by etiquette had to kneel and perform the grand obeisance.


    To bow or not to bow? What a quandary!

 Chapter 201: Wall of Merit

    <h4>Chapter 201</h4>


    When Li Yao was standing there without any intention of exempting everyone from bowing, the group of mountain chiefs could not stand it.


    They were schrs and did not want to offend the housekeeper over such a trivial matter.


    It was just a bow, so they might as well get it over with.


    Thus, the mountain chiefs went forward together and cupped their fists towards Li Yao, "We pay our respects to Miss Li."


    "Gentlemen, please stand aside for now," Li Yao said.


    "Thank you, Miss Li," the mountain chiefs replied.


    After the mountain chiefs had bowed, it was the merchants'' turn.


    All eyes turned to Yang Chang to see how he would handle this today.


    Yang Chang was quite crafty and knew that Li Yao was trying to intimidate them. But as merchants, they were naturally nonchnt about fame and fortune.


    It was just a bow, not costing them any meat or silver.


    Thus, he went forward and properly knelt on the ground to perform the big bow ording to etiquette.


    "We pay our respects to Miss Li."


    "You are too kind," Li Yao said.


    With Yang Chang taking the lead, the pressure was less intense for the others.


    But just as the other merchants were about to step forward to bow, Li Yao waved her hand and said, "Gentlemen, you must be tired from standing so long. Let''s exempt the bow for now."


    Yang Chang''s heart thumped. What was the meaning of this?


    She exempted neither early norte, but right after he had bowed.


    The old eyes of Yang Chang immediately lit up. This Miss Li was clearly targeting him.


    Fine, he would deal with this young miss to see what abilities she actually had.


    "Miss Li," Yang Chang suppressed his anger and said, "Today we came because..."


    "I don''t care why you came," Li Yao interrupted him directly without any courtesy. "The academy still has an important ceremony to host, and the Prince of Yizhou and the Prefect will arrive soon. Please stand to the side and wait."


    Li Yao knew that for people like Yang Chang, they should not be given any chance to speak.


    Otherwise, he would always think of various reasons to say that the practices of Yangming Academy were inappropriate. Then after rallying the other people to stand with him, even if Liu Yun came, it would be hard to handle.


    In the end, they would have topromise more or less.


    But Li Yao would not concede an inch, so she had to shut his mouth first.


    "The Prefect arrives!"


    Following the loud announcement from outside, over a dozen carriages slowly stopped at the entrance.


    Song Prefect brought along his wife and a group of yamen officials and walked in from outside.


    This was beyond what the mountain chiefs and merchants had expected.


    They knew that when Song Prefect was in Baichuan County, he had close ties with Miss Li. But for the entire group of yamen officials toe as well, the face he was giving her was too great.


    "No need to bow," Song Prefect said loudly after getting off the carriage, stopping themoners who were about to kneel.


    Song Prefect strode into the academy with his wife. After someone offered congrattory gifts, he congratted everyone, making it clear to them.


    The newly appointed Prefect supported Yangming Academy.


    "The Prince of Yizhou arrives¡ª"


    Several luxurious carriages drove up, while Liu Yun was dressed very casually today, looking like a carefree young master.


    "Exempted from bowing," Liu Yun said.


    Themoners had just wanted to kneel when the bow was exempted again.


    They felt that both the Prefect and the Prince seemed not bad and had an approachable air.


    In the end, among the hundreds of people present, only a group of mountain chiefs and Yang Chang had bowed.


    Yang Chang discreetly nced at Li Yao. He knew these arrangements must have been made by her.


    Otherwise, how would a Prefect and a Prince exempt people from bowing for no reason?


    This woman was quite capable.


    Seeing everyone had arrived, Du Xiao Hui loudly said ording to the pre-arranged process, "Next, our Yangming Academy will hold a very important ceremony."


    Dong¡ª


    A sonorous bell rang, invigorating everyone.


    Led by Du Xiao Hui, Liu Yun, Song Prefect, and Li Yao moved together to the front yard in the far east.


    The screen walls that were originally blocked by the gates and front yard were now covered by huge red silk, concealing something underneath.


    Du Xiao Hui came to Liu Yun and said, "Your Highness and Lord Prefect, please unveil the red silk with Miss Li."


    "Very well, I shall start first," Liu Yun stepped forward and grabbed a corner of the red silk while Song Prefect and Li Yao held the other two corners. They gave a gentle pull and the smooth red silk slipped down.


    What appeared before everyone was actually a huge screen wall carved from blue stone.


    Carved atop the wall were a few big characters: Merit Wall.


    Everyone was puzzled. Could it be that Yangming Academy was actually a monastery? Why else set up something like a Merit Wall?


    "To allow students everywhere to afford an education, our Yangming Academy only collects a small tuition fee," Du Xiao Hui said loudly. "But the academy also needs operating funds and to hire teachers, so the tuition collected is far from enough. Therefore, we hope everyone can lend a helping hand and donate some silver to help students everywhere. All donors will have their names recorded in the academy''s registry of merit. Furthermore, those who donate over 500 taels will have their names carved onto this Merit Wall. Our students can see it every day and will surely remember your kindness."


    "Oh? I thought Yangming Academy should be a purend," Yang Chang said upon seeing a chance. "Didn''t expect you to eventually covet the silver in our pockets."


    "Right, our money will bring you fame. What do we get out of it?"


    "Gentlemen, you have misunderstood if you think this way," Liu Yun said. "Yangming Academy only epts the best students from thousands of miles away. Many will surely pass the imperial exams in the future to serve the court. And they will remember everyone''s help today to be your connections. I believe everyone understands this better than I do."


    With one sentence, Liu Yun touched their itch.


    Indeed, this was a good way to build future connections.


    "The Prince''s words make sense," Yang Chang said. "But that is still many yearster."


    The implied meaning was clear. It was still unknown whether they would remember your past kindness in the future.


    "Of course, it is up to everyone''s willingness," Liu Yun turned and said to Du Xiao Hui. "I shall take the lead and donate 20,000 taels."


    Wow¡ª


    The crowd outside let out a soft cheer.


    The Prince was quite generous to donate 20,000 taels in one go! But thinking that he was the emperor''s most beloved son, they felt it reasonable.


    With Liu Yun taking the lead, it was Song Prefect''s turn next.


    "I have a modest ie and shall donate 1,000 taels."


    Then Li Yao said at the right time, "I...cough cough... shall donate 18,000 taels."


    What? Even the wealthiest merchants present likely could not casually hand over 18,000 taels!


    Was this Miss Li even richer than them?


    No wonder the Prince and Prefect wanted good ties with her!


    After the three of them donated, the academy''s teachers recorded it in the donation registry.


    Then another elder with gray robes, Liu Yun''s first tutor, came before the Merit Wall. People set up some long benches for him to steadily climb up.


    He then took up a writing brush and wrote Liu Yun and the others'' names and donated amounts in smooth, natural strokes that were very pleasing to the eye.


    "After the ink dries, we will hire stonemasons to carve the words into the wall," Du Xiao Hui said. "Even after enduring wind and rain for thousands of years, it will remain clear."


    This was the same as leaving an eternal legacy.


    At this time, many people''s hearts stirred.


    Merchants had ample money but sorelycked reputation.


    Thus, many would donate to charity in exchange for fame, which was not empty prestige but could earn them even more money.


    But without Yang Chang speaking, the others could only silently wait and see his stance.

 Chapter 202: Rejection

    <h4>Chapter 202</h4>


    "Mr. Yang," Li Yao stepped forward and said, "I have heard that you are quite wealthy. Might you be willing to show some goodwill and make a donation to Yangming Academy?"


    "Ha ha, I was thinking of donating more," Mr. Yang said with augh. "But s, as the saying goes, the hen crows and the woman rules the house. My wife holds the purse strings, so I myself am quite tight on cash."


    He didn''t refuse outright, but effectively turned them down all the same.


    This old guy chose his words carefully to avoidmitment.


    But Li Yao wanted him to refuse, so his response yed right into her ns. She simply smiled without pressing him further.


    "That''s fine, donations are meant to be voluntary," Liu Yun knew it was his turn to step in. "Speaking of which, I was thinking of inviting you all to the Prince''s Mansion in a few days to discuss investing in a cement nt. No time like the present, and everyone happens to be here today, so let me bring it up now."


    Build a cement nt?


    The crowd exchanged puzzled nces, wondering why he was raising this now.


    As Yi Prefecture''s major businessmen, they naturally knew about and understood the uses of cement. If mass production became feasible, it would be wildly profitable, even more so than selling tea or medicinal ingredients.


    So unsurprisingly, someone couldn''t resist asking:


    "Prince of Yizhou, will this cement really be mass produced?"


    "Anything can be mass produced if we have the will," Liu Yun replied.


    "Then...what does this have to do with us?"


    "Well, it doesn''t rte much to you all," said Liu Yun. "But as you know, I have only just arrived in Yi Prefecture, so tax revenues haven''te in yet. However, the cement nt is too important to dy. Therefore, I n to sell off some shares and let you all subscribe to them."


    The businessmen''s eyes lit up at the prospect of money dropping into theirps.


    "Prince of Yizhou, what requirements must be met to subscribe?"


    "That''s what I wanted to exin," said Liu Yun. "Frankly, I don''t have much spare cash on hand, so not just anyone can subscribe. I hope to find some upright and benevolent businessmen willing to fund poor schrs or build bridges and roads for themon people."


    His meaning was now clear to them.


    So much for integrity and benevolence - that was just talk. The key issue was whether they would support Yangming Academy!


    Those who did would get shares. Those who didn''t would be excluded.


    And it was very likely that the shares allotted would corrte to the donations made today.


    "I, Qin Geng, will donate 8,000 taels of silver to Yangming Academy!"


    "I, Xu Chengming, will donate 10,000 taels!"


    "I''ll donate 12,000 taels!"


    ...


    Watching these men who had just been deferring to him now falling over themselves to donate more and more money, Mr. Yang''s face darkened to an extreme degree.


    What a bunch of unscrupulous snobs!


    What happened to unity and working together?


    What happened to presenting a united front?


    With just a hint of potential benefit, they had forgotten why they even came!


    Where was their integrity?


    Soon, every businessman of even modest means had opened his coffers.


    Du Xiao Hui did a quick mental estimate - in just this short time Yangming Academy had received about 200,000 taels in donations!


    That was 200,000 taels! She had thought raising even tens of thousands would be impressive.


    "Quick, engrave all their names on the Donor Wall."


    "Also, you students," Liu Yun added, turning to the 300 schrs. "Remember that you are able to study and eat here not only due to Schoolmaster Du''s efforts, but because of the generosity of these uncles as well. When you achieve sess in the future, do not forget where you came from."


    Seeing this, Du Xiao Hui quickly instructed, "Bow and thank the uncles!"


    The 300 young students, still with a hint of childishness about them, bowed to the businessmen in imitation of adults.


    "Thank you uncles!"


    "Ha ha! I can''t believe that I, Qin Geng, would have a day like this," Qin Geng said, stroking his long beard and feeling extremely gratified. "Hundreds of schrs bowing to me - I''ll boast about this for the rest of my life!"


    They had spent some money, but it would quickly be earned back dozens or hundreds of times over. Plus they could enjoy this moment of vanity. For donations like these, the businessmen felt it was money well spent.


    "Let''s end the donation ceremony here," said Liu Yun. "Gentlemen, shall we head to my manor for a chat?"


    "Splendid idea, Prince of Yizhou, please lead the way!"


    ...


    Liu Yun led the businessmen away in an impressive procession.


    Left behind were about ten academy heads and the ashen-faced Mr. Yang.


    He knew that he had beenpletely excluded by Liu Yun and those spineless businessmen. No matter how profitable a business opportunity arose in Yi Prefecture City in the future, there would be no chance for him to get a piece.


    That wouldn''t do. Watching others reap enormous profits while he earned nothing - how could he stand it?


    But he felt there was still a thread of hope.


    So he hurried forward and walked up to Li Yao. "Miss Li, may I have a word?"


    "Speak here if you have something to say, Elder," she replied.


    "Well...alright," said Mr. Yang. "Actually I''m not unwilling to donate to the academy. I was just afraid of my tigress at home. But I do have some private savings I''ve tucked away. Please don''t take offense at the meager amount, Miss Li."


    "No need to be coy, Elder," said Li Yao. "Whether you donate or not has nothing to do with me."


    Having said her piece, she turned and walked into the house without waiting for his reply.


    Mr. Yang knew thisst thread of hope was now severed!


    "Just you wait!" he angrily muttered under his breath as he left with the others.


    Naturally, the other heads who hade to make trouble also realized they couldn''t make any more of a fuss.


    If they kept causing trouble, they would be opposing all the rich businessmen in Yi Prefecture City - and those men held the key to their livelihoods.


    "Actually, I''m starting to think Schoolmaster Du has a point," some began looking for a way to back down gracefully. "There are countless students in our prefecture, while Yangming Academy only admitted 300. Its impact on the rest of us is negligible."


    "Right. And Schoolmaster Du is obviously eloquent and wise, fully qualified to serve as headmaster. "


    "Well, if that''s the case, let''s head back and stop disturbing the students."


    In a sh, the other academy heads had dispersed as well, and calm was restored at Yangming Academy, leaving Du Xiao Hui with mixed emotions.


    She knew everything that happened today - fending off those men and raising so much money for the academy - was due to Auntie Li''s ingenious schemes.


    Without her tactics and her invented cement, Yangming Academy would have truly struggled to gain a foothold in this city.


    Could Du Xiao Hui ever hope to be someone like Auntie Li...


    "What''s wrong?" Wang Er asked gently. "You should be happy."


    "It''s nothing," Du Xiao Hui replied. "What are you doing out here?"


    "This is our academy," said Wang Er. "Even if I can''t help for the moment, I want toe take a look."


    "If you''ve seen enough, go review for the county exam tomorrow."


    "Alright, I''ll go study," Wang Er said. "Mother said she has a message for you."


    ...


    Du Xiao Hui went inside. Li Yao was looking over the books lined up on the shelves.


    These were all hand-copied, still emitting the smell of ink.


    "Why not use movable type printing?" asked Li Yao.


    "We didn''t consider it when we set this up," replied Du Xiao Hui. "And now it''s toote, plus we have nowhere to do it."


    Li Yao looked at her and said, "That''s because your nning was inadequate."

 Chapter 203: Thinking about Students

    <h4>Chapter 203</h4>


    Du Xiao Hui''s heart thumped. She really hadn''t nned this well. Auntie Li had a set of movable type printing at home. If she had brought it, not only could she have printed hundreds of books in these past few days, but even tens of thousands.


    "I''m sorry, Auntie..."


    "I''m not ming you," Li Yao said. "I just want to remind you that with anything, you need to n for the long term, not just take it step by step. After all, what you''re doing now isn''t a small thing, but a big one, big enough that all of Daling will change because of you in the future."


    Du Xiao Hui was startled. "It''s just running an academy. Is it really that impressive?"


    "Don''t underestimate yourself, and don''t look down on the power of reading," Li Yao said. "Knowledge can change destinies, it can change the whole world, it can even create new history."


    Du Xiao Hui didn''t really understand, but she listened carefully. "Mm."


    "Oh right," Li Yao smiled and asked, "You received so many silver coin donations today. How do you n to spend it all?"


    "This... of course it will all be spent on the essentials, on running the Yangming Academy well, and opening many more branches."


    "You''re not keeping any for yourself?"


    "That money belongs to the academy. How could I take it for myself?"


    "If you do the work, you should get paid for it," Li Yao said. "Pay yourself a wage too. Not too much, but not too little either."


    Du Xiao Hui cautiously replied, "I understand, Auntie."


    "From now on, hand over everything about the academy to you and Wang Er. If there''s anything you don''t understand, you can ask me."


    ...


    The academy matter could be considered settled for the time being.


    It was also an industry given to Wang Er and Du Xiao Hui.


    As for how the academy would develop in the future, whether it would always take this path, or expand into some aristocratic schools or something, that would be a matter for the future.


    There would be chances to slowly explore, the most important thing was to have ambition.


    And the most urgent thing right now was the county exam that Wang Er would soon face.


    That evening, the whole family gathered together, including the Song family couple.


    The table was filled with dishes cooked by He Xiaoya, the aroma was mouthwatering, and showed she had gained seventy to eighty percent of Li Yao''s skills.


    But no one had started eating yet, because Prefect Song kept encouraging Wang Er and Song Zhe. Of course for Wang Er it was pure encouragement, but for Song Zhe there was more scolding.


    He felt that this son really had no talent, and would definitely not pass the examination.


    A father''s expectation for his son to be a dragon, only for his son to be a worm instead ¡ª how agonizing this feeling of resenting iron not bing steel was, only fathers who had been through this would fully understand.


    "Sir, you really should stop with the lecturing, this is Miss Li''s home."


    "Cough cough, I overstepped," Prefect Song said. "Then I''ll stop. You two, go rest early tonight, do your best tomorrow."


    After being lectured for so long, Song Zhe had even lost his appetite. He ate a few careless bites, then returned to his room.


    Wang Er was also worried eating too much would prevent him from sleeping, so he didn''t eat much either.


    After dinner, the Song couple returned to the government building. Li Yao, strangely enough, didn''t feel sleepy at all.


    Could it be because she hadn''t exercised these past few days?


    She really hadn''t exercised sinceing to Yizhou City, both because there was no ce, and also because she was busy.


    Then she should take advantage of this alluring night to go for a run or something in the backyard, and burn off some energy.


    So she changed into workout clothes, climbed over the wall, and came to the huge backyard of the academy. She started jogging slowly along the newly repaired stone road.


    She ran steadily for half a shichen before she started sweating a little.


    It seemed the constitution of this body was getting better and better. Compared to her past life, this growth speed was simply astounding.


    She wondered whether it was because the original owner of this body already had good health, or if people in this world were just like this.


    In any case it was a good thing. Maybe one day she could even practice effortless leaps and internal energy ¡ª that would be even more fun.


    Just as she was thinking this, there was suddenly a cracking sound in the darkness, like someone stepping on and breaking a dry branch.


    "Who''s there?"


    Li Yao quickly caught up, and found in the darkness that it was unexpectedly Song Zhe.


    She saw him with a bundle on his back, flustered and startled, as if he was about to... run away from home?


    "Where are you going?"


    Having been caught red-handed by Li Yao, Song Zhe could only hang his head down, not daring to make a sound.


    "I''m asking you a question."


    "I... I don''t know..."


    Li Yao understood.


    This boy was definitely afraid of failing the exam, so he wanted to escape.


    Although he wasn''t her son, over this half year or so, Song Zhe had followed her almost everywhere, and she had witnessed all kinds of changes and growth from him.


    Overall it was not bad, at the very least he was hardworking and diligent.


    "Come on, let''s sit by the pond and talk."


    The two of them came to the pond side, and found tworge clean boulders to sit on.


    "Tell Auntie anything that''s on your mind." Li Yao paused, then added, "I won''t scold you tonight, that''s a promise."


    "You really won''t scold me?"


    "I promise."


    Only then did Song Zhe let out a breath in relief. He wasn''t afraid of his dad, even less afraid of his mom.


    But he was afraid of Li Yao.


    This might have been rted to how if he didn''t listen to her, Li Yao would starve him. It could also have been rted to Li Yao killing several wild wolves right in front of him, and dragging his soul back from the gates of hell.


    "Auntie, I don''t want to take the county exam."


    "Mm, tell me why not?"


    "Because I know I won''t pass," Song Zhe said. "I''ll disappoint all of you."


    "If you run away, we won''t be disappointed?" Li Yaoughed. "We might be more disappointed than if you didn''t pass."


    "I know. So I wanted to run far away, somewhere you couldn''t see me. When I aplish something on my own, then I''lle back to see you."


    "There are millions of paths in this world, and you chose the most difficult one."


    Song Zhe lowered his head. "I know, but I want to give it a try."


    It seemed this boy had stubbornly made up his mind.


    For these types of situations, Li Yao had plenty of experience.


    When she was as old as him, she had even more stubborn, twisted thoughts ¡ª not even nine bulls could drag her back. This was probably the so called rebellious phase.


    "Then let me ask you, have you thought about what you n to do after leaving?"


    "I''ve thought it through, I''ll do business," Song Zhe said. "I''ve also learned some things following you, I believe I can definitely seed."


    "If you want to do business, you can just work with me. Why do you need to leave and go into business for yourself?"


    "But if I do business relying on you, Auntie, you would definitely take care of me at every step. Where''s the meaning in that?" Song Zhe said. "I want to seed through my own efforts, so that my dad and mom will have nothing bad to say."


    "So what you mean is, you feel your studies arecking, and you want to prove yourself through another method," Li Yao cut right to the crux. "How about this, let''s make a bet?"


    "What do you want to bet on?"


    "Tomorrow, go conscientiously take the exam. It would be best if you passed," Li Yao said, "Then you can keep studying as you have been. If you don''t pass, you cane with me and go into business." Then she added, "But depending on your score, I''ll decide what kind of business you can do. The higher you ce, the bigger the business I''ll give you."


    "Really?"


    "When has Auntie lied before?"


    "Then... what if I pass and be a sessful candidate?" Song Zhe asked. "But I don''t want to keep studying. Can I still work with you then?"


    "If you be a sessful candidate, you should go assist your father."


    "I don''t want to."


    The thought of going to work at his father''s government building, under his father''s nose every day, made Song Zhe lose all interest.


    "As long as your father agrees, you cane with me as well," Li Yao said. "Auntie still has many ns, and I also need capable helpers like you."


    "Alright, it''s decided then!" Song Zhe said. "I will definitely be a sessful candidate and earn Auntie lots of money!"


    Li Yao smiled and nodded. "Go back to your room and sleep early."


    "Mm."


    After Song Zhe returned to his room, Li Yao did not go back. She called towards the more distant corner of the wall, "You two cane out now."


    Knowing they couldn''t hide any longer, Prefect Song and his wife both walked out.

 Chapter 204: The Wicked

    <h4>Chapter 204</h4>


    The old saying goes that no one understands a child better than their father.


    Tonight, Song Prefect sensed that something was off with Song Zhe. Originally, he should have brought Song Zhe back to the government office to keep an eye on him, but his wife disagreed. She believed that going with the flow was better than trying to restrain things in situations like these.


    In her opinion, the only person who could help Song Zhe was Li Yao.


    "Miss Li, thank you for helping to guide my foolish son."


    "I just wonder if my arrangements are satisfactory to Prefect Song."


    "Why wouldn''t we be satisfied?" Song Prefect said. "We know better than anyone the extent of Song Zhe''s capabilities. If he can get guidance and teaching from Miss Li, we would be endlessly grateful."


    "Let''s see how he does on the exam," Li Yao said. "If he really manages to pass and be a sessful candidate, then of course he should continue his studies."


    Song Prefect gave a bitterugh. The chances of Song Zhe passing the county exam were even lower than a freak snowstorm hitting them this early autumn.


    But the two had made arrangements for Song Zhe''s future, so at least Prefect Song could worry a little less and devote more energy to government affairs.


    "Miss Li," Song Prefect said, "Regarding collecting silver from themoners to extensively repair roads, reservoirs, rivers and so on, when do you think we should start?"


    Li Yao was slightly surprised. This idea was one she had given to Liu Yun, so Liu Yun must have told Prefect Song to carry it out. But she didn''t expect that he would turn around and put it back on her head.


    Just who was the Prefect here?


    "It should be done as soon as possible," Li Yao said. "Why not after the county exam results are posted? Once we''ve collected the silver, the rainy season will be over too, so it''ll be a good time to start work."


    "That''s what I was thinking too," Song Prefect said with a smile. "But for such a big undertaking, I''d feel uneasy not asking your opinion first."


    Was he developing a dependence?


    Li Yao felt it would be best to return to Riverbend Vige sooner rather thanter. Otherwise, if Liu Yun kepting to see her, and then Prefect Song came too, would she ever get to enjoy her retirement?


    ...


    The next day, before dawn had broken, Wang Er and Song Zhe were already up and spirited.


    The family had been busy for a while now, preparing all the supplies they would need for the exam.


    Writing brushes, ink sticks, ink stones, thin nkets, three days'' worth of drinking water and rations, and chamber pots to use.


    During the three days of the county exam, each examinee would be shut inside an individual small room. They had to eat, drink, defecate and sleep all within, and were not allowed to go out during the exam period.


    In the past, family members had been allowed to bring meals and leave them outside the door for the guard staff to deliver inside. But that led to many people trying to sneak in cheating aids within the food.


    So this year, that was strictly forbidden.


    "Eat your fill at breakfast to give you energy during the exam. But don''t eat too much or you''ll get sleepy."


    Du Xiao Hui ced a te of boiled eggs on the table, along with a te of steaming hot meat buns.


    "Sister Xiao Hui," Song Zhe said with augh, "so should we eat our fill or not?"


    "About seventy to eighty percent full." Du Xiao Hui was a bundle of nerves. "Oh right, I also simmered soup with seafood. Anna, quicklydle out the soup!"


    "Coming!"


    By now, Anna and Alice werepletely used to the household routine, following Du Xiao Hui in all the chores every day like two little ducklings.


    As for the boy Wu Tong, since he was a little older and smarter, he had practically be Wang Er''s pageboy.


    Of course all this was temporary. After Li Yao returned, the three of them would resume their duties at the Yangming Academy instead of being maids in Li Yao''s home.


    Anna''s slender arms held up a steaming hot bowl of soup and ced it on the table.


    "What''s in here?" Song Zhe asked curiously. "This smells familiar but I can''t quite remember."


    "It''s chicken stewed with seaweed and dried cuttlefish," Du Xiao Hui said. "I heard that eating more seafood is good for the minds of schrs."


    "Haha, Sister Xiao Hui, you actually believe that?"


    "Why wouldn''t I?"


    "If what you said is true, shouldn''t every schr living by the sea be able to top the imperial exam?"


    "Well... anyway, it''s still good to eat more." Du Xiao Hui said as she picked up adle. "Let me serve you both."


    The freshly scooped soup was scalding hot. She carefully stirred it with a small spoon to help it cool faster.


    But as she stirred, she sensed something off.


    "Why does this soup smell a bit strange?" Du Xiao Hui''s brows furrowed slightly as she asked Anna, who had simmered the soup, "Did you add anything else?"


    "No, I didn''t add anything," Anna said nervously.


    But Du Xiao Hui still felt uneasy. She tasted a tiny spoonful but quickly spit it back out.


    "This taste really isn''t right."


    But she also wasn''tpletely certain, since she rarely ate seafood herself.


    Now was a critical time, and with the soup smelling suspicious, they had to err on the side of caution. They absolutely could not take any risks!


    She thought for a moment, then brought the soup to Li Yao.


    "Auntie, you''re worldly and experienced. Can you take a look and see if this soup has gone bad?"


    Li Yao had eaten some seafood early in the morning, though it was just seaweed and dried cuttlefish, which helped curb her appetite a little.


    But with just one sniff, she determined there was definitely something wrong with the soup. It had subtle bitter and sour notes.


    If she wasn''t mistaken, someone had added croton bean powder.


    "Who simmered this soup?"


    "It was me," Anna stepped forward nervously. "This morning after Sis Xiao Hui added the ingredients to the pot, I just kept it simmering over low heat."


    "You simmered it very well, made it nice and fragrant too." Li Yao smiled. "But the chicken wasn''t picked well, too fatty. It''s best if Wang Er and Song Zhe don''t eat anything too oily today."


    "Then... should we let the maids drink it?"


    "Xiaoya needs to nurse, she can''t eat cuttlefish." Li Yao randomly fabricated. "Just leave it all for me, I''ll drink it at lunch."


    Although Li Yao loved tasty food, hogging it all to herself did seem to be a thing of the distant past.


    But Du Xiao Hui understood that there must be an issue with the soup, and her mistress didn''t want to point it out directly right now.


    So she covered up the pot and personally brought it into the kitchen to set aside.


    Li Yao also felt uneasy about the water and rations the two had packed. She asked Xiaoya to go into town right then to buy recements. Even the drinking water was freshly drawn well water from the academy that had been boiled.


    Her precautions made the two maids feel an inexplicable fear. After all, they were the ones who had helped prepare those items earlier.


    Now that everything was being reced, it showed thedy of the house had already grown suspicious of them. Once the two young masters left for their exam, they might be punished upon returning.


    Just imagining it made them both want to cry.


    Li Yao saw the expressions on their faces but didn''t say much for the moment.


    There was definitely someone sabotaging things in the household, but it was too early to jump to conclusions on exactly who.


    After breakfast, the family took a carriage to the government officeplex where the county exam was held every year. Arge open space had already been cordoned off with tall wooden fences. Every dozen or so meters along the perimeter, a fully armed guard stood watch. Several more patrols continuously circled the area, and random passersby were strictly forbidden from approaching.


    Sheds were erected within the enclosure for the exam proctors to rest.


    There were also individual small sheds inside that looked like dove cages, each containing a desk and a thick stack of nk papers for the examinees.

 Chapter 205: A Thousand Days against Thieves

    <h4>Chapter 205</h4>


    This year''s county exam had two thousand candidates, the most of any year. Just lining up to enter the exam hall took half a day.


    The exam hall gates haven''t opened yet. Outside, candidates of all stripes are waiting, some alone with huge bundles on their backs, already giving off a strong sour smell.


    These are the more ordinary candidates. Many only arrived yesterday and don''t even have money to stay at an inn, instead sleeping on straw mats and nkets outside the exam hall.


    Some are dressedvishly, with several attendants in tow, and even maidservants.


    And some are even lining up in carriages.


    There are also families seeing them off, helpers carrying belongings, and peddlers selling water and dry rations... In short, it''s chaotic, even livelier than a marketce.


    Li Yao couldn''t stand the mixed smells, so she had Wang Er and Song Zhe line up while she took Little Yanran and the maid to rest in the shade of a roadside tree.


    Wang Er and Song Zhe were adults, so this little thing didn''t need saying. They took their belongings and squeezed through the crowd to line up.


    "Brother Wang Er."


    They had just lined up when Xu Youcai and several candidates walked over.


    "Brother Xu."


    "Brother Wang Er," today Xu Youcai was exceedingly courteous, "do you remember what I reminded you aboutst time?"


    He was referring to the entry permit.


    Wang Er certainly hadn''t forgotten something so important. He smiled, "Thanks for your concern, Brother Xu. I got it long ago."


    "Good, good," Xu Youcai said, "Otherwise if you couldn''t get in, you''d miss your chance this year."


    Having said this, Xu Youcai didn''t linger. He walked straight ahead toward the front with some candidates from his hometown.


    "Howe they don''t have to line up?" Song Zhe asked.


    "It''s not that they don''t line up," Du Xiao Hui exined next to them. "They paid people to line up for them. They probably camest night and got the best spots up front."


    "You can even do that?"


    Song Zhe felt that he and Wang Er were too honest. Why didn''t he think of this good trick? Having to stand here and suffer for so long!


    "Have patience," Wang Erughed. "If an exam candidate can''t even line up themselves, what kind of candidate are they?"


    "You have a point." Song Zhe didn''tin anymore. He said to Wu Tong who was following them carrying things, "Kid, I''ll pay you to go buy us a few bowls of cold water to drink."


    "Sure, I''ll go right now!"


    "Wait--" Before Song Zhe could take out money, Du Xiao Hui said, "Don''t casually eat things from outside. What if you get sick?"


    "It can''t be that dangerous, right?"


    "Yeah, Sister Xiao Hui," Wu Tong said. "I know the guy selling the water over there. He''s very clean."


    Du Xiao Hui furrowed her brows. "I said no means no. If you want water then drink what you brought."


    Song Zhe secretly stuck out his tongue. He whispered in Wang Er''s ear, "Bro, your future wife''s going to have you on a tight leash."


    Du Xiao Hui overheard clearly and shot him an annoyed nce.


    Actually she wasn''t usually like this. But for some reason today she felt exceptionally irritable, so her tone was worse than usual. Maybe it was because of the chicken soup withxatives that morning.


    Just thinking about someone trying to sabotage Wang Er''s exam made her tense as a drawn bow.


    "Right," Du Xiao Hui said, "check your belongings again for anything missing."


    "We already checked a few times..."


    "Then check again!"


    Du Xiao Hui opened Wang Er''s bundle and started carefully examining every item.


    Rations, water, nket, brush, ink, inkstone... it seemedplete.


    Just as she was about to breathe easy, her heart skipped a beat.


    "Where''s the entry permit?"


    Wang Er was also surprised. "It was definitely in the bundle before. It''s not there?"


    "It''s not!"


    Du Xiao Hui panicked. She checked everything again but still nothing!


    Wang Er hastily searched his clothes, but they were empty!


    Song Zhe also hurriedly checked his bundle, but oddly his permit was neatly inside.


    "Crap!" Du Xiao Hui was extremely anxious, beads of sweat pouring down her head, but she still struggled to stay calm. "Don''t panic. Let''s think carefully about thest time we saw the permit."


    "I think when we got off the carriage."


    "Stay in line here. I''ll go check the carriage!"


    Du Xiao Hui rushed back in a panic. Obviously she didn''t find it there either.


    Without the permit they couldn''t enter the exam. What to do?


    Du Xiao Hui was so anxious she nearly cried. She ran to where Li Yao was resting in the shade.


    "Auntie, trouble! Wang Er''s exam permit is missing!"


    Li Yao, who was ying with Little Yanran, couldn''t help but twitch her mouth.


    This was like studying bitterly for twelve years then losing your college entrance exam ticket right when you were about to take the test. Speechless!


    Of all things, why lose this?


    "Where did he lose it?"


    "It was there when he got off the carriage. Just now when we lined up, it was gone."


    "Just a hundred paces distance," Li Yao said. "Did you already search the whole way?"


    "Searched already. It''s not there."


    "Along the way, did you bump into anyone?" Li Yao asked. "Bumping chests, that kind of contact?"


    Du Xiao Hui racked her brain. She and Wang Er had squeezed through the crowd for a long time. But the only physical contact she remembered was with someone who had arge ck mole above his left mouth corner, so she still recalled him.


    "Also, after we lined up," Du Xiao Hui said, "Xu Youcai came to exchange a few words with Brother Wang Er. A lot of people were with him, surrounding Brother Wang Er at the time. I didn''t see clearly. But Xu Youcai specifically asked about the entry permit. I suspect even if he didn''t steal it himself, it''s rted to him!"


    Using this method to defeat your strongestpetitor?


    Although her impression of Xu Youcai wasn''t great, Li Yao felt it wasn''t necessarily him.


    Young people, especially those called the top schr in Yizhou City, definitely had some arrogance.


    But now wasn''t the time to consider this.


    It takes a thousand days to be a thief but only one to be a victim.


    Someone putxatives in the soup this morning, and now someone stole the permit. Clearly someone didn''t want Wang Er taking the exam.


    If they didn''t find this person, there would probably be more troubleter.


    So she pulled Du Xiao Hui aside and took something out of her sleeve, pressing it into her hand.


    "This is..."


    "Shhh--don''t say it out loud," Li Yao said. "I swapped it when getting off the carriage. Take it to Wang Er, but keep it quiet."


    "Mm."


    Du Xiao Hui nodded heavily. She was amazed that Auntie was so capable, realizing someone was deliberately targeting Wang Er and swapping out the permit early!


    The stolen one was fake!

 Chapter 206: It’s Really Him

    <h4>Chapter 206</h4>


    After Du Xiao Hui left, Li Yao knew it was time for her to move around.


    She had gotten a lot of fragrance powder on that fake document. However, it would still be quite difficult to discern it amidst the dense crowd here, as there were too many smells here.


    After circling around the nearby crowd yet detecting no scent of fragrance powder, Li Yao expanded her search perimeter to the nearby streets.


    In a small alley not far from the exam site, a slender man with a mole above the corner of his mouth asionally popped his head out of the alley, seemingly anxiously waiting for someone.


    When he saw Li Yao''s figure quickly approaching, he turned and ran away.


    Li Yao noticed his abnormal behavior and smelled the fragrance powder at the same time. She immediately chased after him at top speed. That man was clearly very familiar with the surrounding terrain and kept squeezing intoplicated alleys, darting about like a frenzied fleeing mouse.


    But with Li Yao¡¯s physique far surpassing ordinary people achieved through years of training, and her well-honed tracking skills, she had him cornered in a dead-end alley in less than a minute.


    "I...I didn''t mean it! Someone made me do it!"


    "Who?"


    "It was Xu Youcai!" the man with the big mole said panicly. "He was afraid of Wang Er from your family. So he wanted to steal his exam permit to stop him from taking the exam. That way, he could easily rank first!"


    "Where is the permit?"


    "I''ve already destroyed it..."


    If the permit really was stolen and destroyed, Wang Er would truly be barred from taking the exam this time.


    There were no rules for recing permits now. Even if Prince of Yizhou and Prefect Song tried to intervene, it wouldn¡¯t work.


    "What''s your name?"


    "I''m called Xu Gouzi. I usually steal things to make a living," Xu Gouzi said. "Yesterday, Xu Youcai found me and gave me five taels of silver to help him with this."


    But Li Yao didn¡¯t believe him.


    A seasoned thief wouldn¡¯t have kept the goods on himself after stealing them.


    Moreover, although this man looked quite flustered, his eyes were too calm and he spoke very coherently without much fear.


    One should know that she was an official now, and all themoners of Yizhou City knew about her good rtionships with the Prefect and the Prince.


    How could he not be afraid of severe punishment like two thousand cane hits or exile?


    "Dare you use Xu Youcai face to face?"


    "As long as you promise to spare me, I''ll testify against him with you!"


    "Fine,e with me."


    Li Yao took Xu Gouzi directly to the exam site entrance and asked someone to call Prefect Song from inside the exam hall.


    Upon hearing that someone had dared to steal Wang Er¡¯s permit, Prefect Song immediately came out with people.


    "It''s him who stole it," Li Yao said. "But he imed to be following orders from someone else."


    "Who is it?"


    "Xu Youcai."


    "What? It''s him?" Prefect Song didn¡¯t expect Xu Youcai to be capable of doing such a thing. He thought he was the most prestigious young talent in Yizhou City. "Men, bring Xu Youcai here!"


    Xu Youcai was at the very front of the line. He was quickly brought over by two yamen runners.


    But in the face of Xu Gouzi¡¯s usation, Xu Youcai was clearly dumbstruck.


    ¡°My Lord Prefect, you have wrongly used me. I don¡¯t even know him, let alone order him to do this!¡±


    ¡°Xu Youcai, you scoundrel!¡± Xu Gouzi shouted angrily. ¡°You clearly told me to steal Wang Er¡¯s permit in exchange for five taels of silver. And now you¡¯re denying what you did!¡±


    Xu Youcai was also anxious to the point of a flushed face. ¡°Who the hell are you? I''ve never seen you before!¡±


    "You''ve never seen me before?" Xu Gouzi said. "We met at Thousand Cloud Residencest night when you were drinking with some people. Ask the waiter there. He saw everything!"


    "I..." Xu Youcai was about to cry.


    Indeed he was drinking at Thousand Cloud Residencest night, but he really didn''t do it!


    "Enough!" Prefect Song said coldly. "This matter must be thoroughly investigated! Take these two to the yamen and interrogate them strictlyter!"


    "My Lord Prefect, I''m innocent... It wasn''t me..."


    "My Lord Prefect!" Xu Gouzi shouted loudly. "I already told the young miss earlier that if I testify, she promised to spare me!"


    Prefect Song looked at Li Yao. She nodded and said, "I did say that."


    "Then spare you for now," Prefect Song said. "But in theing days, you are not to leave Yizhou City and must be avable to be summoned at any time."


    "Don''t worry, My Lord Prefect. I live in West City. Anyone can easily find me if you ask around."


    After Prefect Song released Xu Gouzi, Xu Youcai was taken away by the yamen runners. The onlooking crowd also buzzed with discussion.


    "I didn''t expect Xu Youcai to be that kind of person."


    "Bah! So much for being the top young talent of Yizhou. What a disgrace for schrs!"


    "Now it looks like neither Xu Youcai nor Wang Er can take the exam. I wonder who''ll benefit from this."


    ...


    With something like this happening right under his nose, Prefect Song was also furious.


    However, the situation was a little different from previous years.


    Yizhou was now Liu Yun''s fief. He was Liu Yun¡¯s prefect, drawing his sry from Liu Yun, not officially appointed by the imperial court anymore in the strict sense.


    But the county examination was the imperial court¡¯s business. The chief examiner, examiners and supervising officials were all dispatched by the court.


    As the prefect, his role was only to assist on the side at most. The specific exam arrangements were still up to the chief examiner to decide.


    To put it bluntly, if the chief examiner refused to give him face and barred him from entering the exam site, he couldn¡¯t say anything.


    "Miss Li, why did you let Xu Gouzi go?" Prefect Song asked.


    "Xu Youcai was not the mastermind. Let him goter, and don''t affect his exam," Li Yao whispered.


    "Then who is it?"


    "We''ll know very soon," Li Yao said. "If Prefect Song wants to enjoy the show, you''re wee toe with me."


    Of course Prefect Song was willing. Staying at this exam site, he couldn¡¯t do anything. Going to catch the culprit would be better.


    Since all the yamen runners were helping out at the exam site, he ordered the garrison troops to bring dozens of men over with Zhang Shun leading them.


    After resigning from the county magistrate position of Bailu County, Zhang Shun now served as a captain in the garrison troops, equivalent to a seventh-rank military officer,manding a thousand veterans. With his capability, he had long brought them under his full control.


    Seeing a familiar face, the feeling was naturally different.


    And Zhang Shun, who had been bored stiff in the barracks, was happy toe out for some air.


    ¡°Long time no see, Miss Li.¡±


    ¡°Congrattions, Captain Zhang. I¡¯ll have to trouble you this time.¡±


    ¡°No need to stand on ceremony with me, Miss Li,¡± Zhang Shun said. ¡°Where¡¯s our target? Let¡¯s hurry up and arrest them!¡±


    ¡°Did you bring the dogs?¡±


    ¡°Brought them.¡±


    Zhang Shun had his men bring over two ferocious hunting dogs. Li Yao let the dogs sniff the fragrance powder before letting them follow the scent.


    Soon, the group arrived at the gates of a tall house with a big courtyard.


    ¡°I was right. This was Yang Changgan¡¯s doing after all,¡± Li Yao said.

 Chapter 207: The Mole

    <h4>Chapter 207</h4>


    Zhang Shun looked at the tightly closed front gate and asked, "Should we just go in and catch people directly now?"


    "No, if we just rush in like this, Xu Gouzi would have already run away," Li Yao said. "You guys stay around and stand guard. I''ll go in alone first."


    At this time, Yang Chang was in the study receiving Xu Gouzi.


    He was very satisfied with what Xu Gouzi did this time and happily gave him ten taels of silver as a reward.


    Eating a loss at the Yangming Academy yesterday caused him to lose money he could have earned. He knew it was all Li Yao''s idea, so of course he had to think of a way to get back at her.


    By coincidence, his eldest grandson Yang Huai was also participating in this county exam. Yang Huai happened to be familiar with Xu Youcai and knew about the embarrassing thing that happened to Xu Youcai in Baichuan County.


    So Yang Chang came up with a n to kill two birds with one stone.


    No, it should be killing three birds with one stone.


    It turned out ginger was really spicy when it aged.


    Now Li Yao''s son Wang Er had lost his exam admission ticket, and Xu Youcai had been taken to the government office, so neither of them could participate in the county exam anymore.


    Then his eldest grandson would have two fewer strong opponents, and might even be the county first.


    Li Yao probably couldn''t even imagine in her dreams that he would secretly plot to harm others and shift the me.


    Thinking of this, Yang Chang felt extremely proud of himself, constantly thanking his ancestors for their blessings, and at the same time feeling fortunate for his own wit.


    After doing business for a lifetime, he still had some tricks up his sleeves.


    "I''ve given you the silver," Yang Chang said to Xu Gouzi. "You know what to do next, right?"


    "I know, I know," Xu Gouzi put the heavy silver into his clothes. "I''ll go hide out somewhere else right away ande back after a year or two."


    "Mm, good as long as you know."


    "Then Master Yang, I''ll get going first."


    "You don''t need to leave now."


    At this moment, the study door suddenly opened, and Li Yao appeared before the two.


    Yang Chang was shocked. Although he was a businessman, he had no shortage of strong family guards that guarded the whole house tightly.


    How did Li Yao get in?


    "Guards!"


    Yang Chang shouted loudly, but the family guards who were usually quick to respond did not react at all this time.


    "No need to shout," Li Yao said. "The dogs you raised have all fallen asleep already."


    "Li Yao, what are you trying to do?" Yang Chang''s face turned pale, and he retreated a few steps. "Do you believe I will sue you for trespassing a private residence!"


    "The county magistrate Song is right outside. Shall I invite him in for you?"


    Yang Chang panicked a little.


    If the matter of him getting someone to steal Wang Er''s exam ticket was exposed, it would be terrible!


    What''s more important was that with Li Yao catching him red-handed now, he couldn''t find anyone to take the fall for him!


    "Xu Gouzi, why are you still standing there stunned? Hurry up and run!"


    Xu Gouzi finally reacted and relied on his agile limbs to flip out the study window and disappeared without a trace.


    Seeing Xu Gouzi escape, Yang Chang finally let out a breath of relief.


    Without Xu Gouzi, there would be no corroborating witness!


    Even if Li Yao sued him in court, he wouldn''t have to admit anything!


    But before he could feel happy, there was a muffled grunt from outside, followed by a series of miserable screams.


    Several agile guards quickly brought Xu Gouzi back.


    It was all over.


    Yang Chang only felt his heart sink to the bottom of a valley. There was no way he could argue his way out of this now!


    "Yang Chang, do you have anything else left to say?"


    "Li Yao, Li Yao!" Yang Chang suddenlyughed. "No doubt, I have fallen by your hands this time, but so what? Instigating Xu Gouzi to steal stuff isn''t a serious crime. Yet your son will now be unable to participate in the county exam. Hahaha...if you think about it, I''m still the one who benefits more here!"


    "Is that so?" Li Yao said. "Ask Xu Gouzi and see if what he tore up was really the admission ticket?"


    Yang Chang''s expression changed. He red at Xu Gouzi and asked, "Tell me, are you sure you destroyed the admission ticket?"


    "I..." Xu Gouzi said timidly. "I tore it up, but I don''t know characters and didn''t know if it was real or not..."


    "You..."


    Yang Chang was so angry he almost spat blood.


    He had painstakinglye up with such an ingenious n, and now he might even end up behind bars. Yet in the end, all he had stolen was a fake?


    "Right," Li Yao said again. "County Prefect Song just released Xu Youcai. He''s about to take the exam right now."


    Yang Chang''s whole body went limp and he slumped directly on the ground.


    This time it was truly a case of not aplishing anything and ruining everything. After this, he probably wouldn''t have good days left in Yizhou city.


    "Young Madam Li," Yang Chang finally said. "I don''t think I have any injustice or enmity with you. Why must you oppose me like this?"


    "What? You did wrong yourself but want to me it on others?" Li Yao said. "You didn''t want to donate to the Yangming Academy and I didn''t force you. You made your own choice and have to bear the consequences. I would have let it go if you just stopped there, but you even used some shady means to try and harm me. I won''t hide it from you. In Baichuan County, I, Li Yao, am famously short-tempered. The fact that I didn''t publicly scold you until your nose and eyes bleed already gave you a lot of face."


    Seeing that he had nothing more to say, Zhang Shun said, "Master Yang,e with us to the government office."


    ...


    Outside the examination hall.


    One candidate after another came forward. After epting the search from the government clerk, they entered the solemn and serious examination hall.


    "Go on in," Song Prefect brought Xu Youcai to the entrance. "Your things are over there."


    "Thank you, sir."


    The earlier false rm still left Xu Youcai in a panic.


    But Song Prefect had already exined the situation to him. It turned out that everything was Yang Chang making trouble in secret. To think he had always been on good terms with Yang Chang''s grandson Yang Huai. Who knew the other party would scheme against him like this!


    Truly a case of befriending the wrong person!


    Now that he thought about it carefully, Wang Er who did everything openly and uprightly was still good. His conduct was truly gentlemanly.


    So he didn''t rush into the exam hall but waited until Wang Er arrived.


    "Brother Wang Er, I must apologize to you," Xu Youcai said.


    "What crime has Brother Xumitted?"


    "It was all because of me that got you into this disaster for no reason," Xu Youcai said. "Luckily yourdy mother had foresight, otherwise if Brother Wang couldn''t participate in the county exam because of this, I would feel endlessly guilty."


    "Yes, I also have to thank my mother. It''s not early anymore. Let''s hurry in," Wang Er said.


    "After you, Brother Wang."


    Watching Wang Er and the other two sessfully enter the exam hall, Li Yao knew she had no more business left.


    How well they scored would depend entirely on Wang Er and Song Zhe themselves.


    "Let''s go home and wait," she said.


    "Mother," Wang Xiaosi said. "Why don''t I stay here and wait? Just in case big brother needs anything, I can help."


    "With your Uncle Song and your brother Wang from Yizhou here, do they still need you to worry?" Li Yao rubbed Wang Xiaosi''s head. "You''re just trying to find an excuse to not go study right?"


    "No! I love studying the most!" Wang Xiaosi hurriedly said. "Sister Xiao Hui, let''s hurry back to the academy! Mother should also go back early to rest."


    After saying this, he dove into the carriage without even turning his head.


    This kid was bing more and more adept at reading subtle expressions and even knew how to tter people now.


    Li Yao also got on the carriage. There was still an inside spy at home that hadn''t been caught yet.

 Chapter 208: It’s no Small Deal

    <h4>Chapter 208</h4>


    Li Yao went to the street with He Xiaoya to buy some vegetables and also bought a few new sets of clothes for Little Yanran. By the time they got home, it was noon.


    As soon as they entered the front door, they saw Anna and Alice, the two maids, kneeling upright in the yard.


    Seeing Li Yaoe back, the two rushed over and knocked their heads to the ground.


    "Madam Li, we didn''t do it. Please don''t fire us!"


    "Get up," Li Yao said.


    The two maids didn''t dare move.


    Li Yao said, "I''ve said it many times, we don''t kneel in our home. If you don''t follow this rule, then you can go work in another family."


    The two maids looked at each other and quickly got up from the ground.


    They were about to say something more, but Li Yao handed them the vegetables she was holding, "Hurry up and wash these and prepare lunch."


    "Madam Li, you''re not ming us?"


    "Why would I me you?"


    "Because... because there was something wrong with the chicken soup I cooked," Anna said.


    "The provisions and water I prepared for Second Young Master and Young Master Song Zhe were also problematic," said Alice.


    "Who told you to do that?" Li Yao asked. "If there really was a problem, could I have kept you here until now?"


    The two maids were puzzled. There was no problem?


    Then why were the things they prepared all reced?


    "You two stop standing there," He Xiaoya said, "Hurry and wash the vegetables. It''s gettingte."


    "Thank you, Madam," the two maids said as they went to wash vegetables and cook.


    Li Yao and He Xiaoya changed clothes and went to the kitchen to prepare dishes.


    Everything felt the same as usual. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.


    Soon several dishes were set on the table. Li Yao also heated up the chicken soup from the morning and brought everything out.


    She didn''t like ss differences, so whenever there were no guests, Wu Tong and the three children would eat together at the same table.


    Today there were fewer people at home, so there was no need to set up separate tables.


    "Everyone sit down," Li Yao said, picking up argedle. "The chicken soup tastes quite good. Everyone should drink more. Wu Tong, bring your bowl over and I''ll serve you."


    "I..." Wu Tong was slightly surprised. "Madam, such good soup should be left for you to drink. I won''t have any."


    "It''s just a bowl of chicken soup, what''s so good or bad about it? Hurry and bring your bowl over."


    Seeing that he couldn''t refuse, Wu Tong reluctantly brought his bowl over.


    Li Yao scooped up a full spoonful of chicken and soup and put it in his bowl. She also served a bowl to Anna and Alice, "Hurry up and eat while it''s hot."


    "Thank you, Madam," Anna and Alice said. With the good soup served to them, the tension they felt finally settled into their stomachs.


    The two picked up their bowls and took a small sip.


    "Is it tasty?"


    "Yes, tasty."


    "Then stop drinking."


    Anna and Alice: ???


    Li Yao didn''t bother with their puzzled looks. She turned to Wu Tong, "Wu Tong, you do the most work every day, so you should drink more. Give him your bowls of soup, you two."


    "Ah? I... Madam, isn''t that improper?"


    "What, are you unwilling to drink it?" Li Yao paused, her smiling expression disappearing as her voice became low and solemn. "Or are you afraid to drink it?"


    Wu Tong''s face changed dramatically. He put down his bowl with a thud and knelt on the ground.


    "Please spare me, Madam! Please spare me!"


    Anna and Alice were dumbfounded. Wu Tong was perfectly fine just now. Why did he suddenly start begging for his life?


    "Tell me, who put you up to this?"


    "It was the human trafficker!" Wu Tong cried. "That day, he deliberately made the three of us walk in front of you so that you would buy us. He also told me to putxatives in this morning''s chicken soup."


    Li Yao''s eyebrows furrowed slightly. She had no enmity with that human trafficker. He certainly wasn''t the mastermind behind this.


    And there was no way this Wu Tong would know who it actually was.


    "Where does that human trafficker live?"


    "Right next to the West City Market. I''ll take you there!"


    "No need," Li Yao said to Da Zhuang. "Da Zhuang, go find your Third Uncle and go take a look with him."


    "Yes, Mother."


    After Da Zhuang left, Wu Tong still knelt there, not daring to lift his head.


    Li Yao was still unsure about how to deal with this boy.


    Obviously she couldn''t keep him here. Trying such wicked deeds at his young age, who knows what other cruel things he might do when older.


    "Take his contract and send him to the prefect office. Let Song Prefect decide his punishment," she said.


    When she couldn''t resolve a troublesome matter, handing it over to Song Prefect was a truly good idea in Li Yao''s opinion.


    "I was the one who wanted to buy him, so I''ll take him over," said Du Xiao Hui.


    After Du Xiao Hui left, only He Xiaoya, Wang Xiao Si, Anna and Alice remained at the table.


    Having seen Wu Tong sent straight to the prefect office, the two maids didn''t even dare to breathe loudly.


    "What are you two afraid of?" Li Yaoughed. "As long as you haven''t done anything wrong, I won''t do anything to you. Things will continue as they were."


    "Yes, Madam," the two replied.


    They felt extremely fortunate to have ended up in service to Madam Li''s family after their misfortune, where they could live such good lives. From now on, they would definitely not harbor any malice like Wu Tong. They would serve Madam Li and Elder Sister Du Xiao Hui well.


    Soon, Da Zhuang returned.


    As Li Yao expected, there was no trace left of the human trafficker.


    Da Zhuang had asked the neighbors about him. They said the man had left in a hurry this morning, only bringing simple luggage. He left everything in his house including the house itself to his neighbors.


    It seemed he also knew things were exposed, so he fled quickly.


    "Third Uncle and I also searched his house but didn''t find anything useful, only this on the floor," Da Zhuang took out a crumpled piece of paper with nothing written on it. It was just a piece of not very white paper. "I noticed this paper was different from what Wang Er normally used. And that man wasn''t educated, so it was suspicious for him to have paper at home. So I brought it back."


    Though Da Zhuang usually seemed silly, he was quite clever at critical moments.


    Li Yao took the paper and looked at it. It was indeed whiter and more delicate than ordinary paper, much better than even the best paper in Yizhou City.


    Not just anyone could afford paper like this.


    It seemed the hidden schemer behind this had quite an elevated status and background.


    "It''s fine now. Everyone be more careful in the future," she said.


    The following three days were very peaceful.


    At the exam site, although Liu Yun was not the chief examiner and had no authority over the exams, this was an imperial power society. The emperormanded ultimate power, so imperial princes also had very useful status.


    After hearing about the plot to putxatives in Wang Er''s soup, Liu Yun directly used his status. In the name of maintaining order at the exam site, he had Liu Hu lead a thousand provincial troops into the exams.


    Nearly every two or three candidates was watched by a soldier.


    The chief examiner and other examiners also had bodyguards assigned to them.


    The entire process of collecting test papers, marking them with anonymous IDs, transcribing them, and even the uing grading all had fully armed soldiers overseeing everything.


    This greatly dissatisfied the examiners, but there was nothing they could do. Those with ulterior motives could only give up in the end.

 Chapter 209: Watch the List

    <h4>Chapter 209</h4>


    Three dayster, the exam ended.


    Wang Er dragged his weary body back home, where Li Yao naturally prepared a table full of delicious food.


    But due to Li Yao''s advance notice, everyone avoided mentioning the exam. The exam pressure was already high enough, so now that it was over, they couldn''t add more pressure on the exam takers.


    These next few days were for Wang Er to properly rx.


    The results would be posted in three days.


    Wang Er and Song Zhe made ns to go see the rankings together. The rest of the family also wanted to go, but Li Yao stopped them all.


    Doing well on the exams would certainly be fortunate, but if the results were poor, having family there would only make Wang Er feel ashamed.


    "Mother, we''re going now."


    "Come back soon."


    Wang Er steadied his mood then headed out with Song Zhe to see the rankings.


    Outside the high wall in front of the government building, over two thousand exam takers and countless rtives and friends of the test takers crowded together in a vast expanse.


    At the end of the morning and the beginning of the afternoon, under the supervision of several exam officials, several enormous ranking lists were posted on the wall.


    In that instant, everyone stretched their necks to push their way in, as if they would be squeezed farther back on the list if they werete.


    Seeing the enormous crowd, Song Zhe felt a thrill: "Why don''t we try to push our way in too?"


    "Alright, let''s go wild today."


    The two exchanged smiles then used all their strength to push their way into the crowd with everyone else.


    It took immense effort before they made it to the front of the lists, moments before being crushed.


    With one nce, Wang Er saw his name at the very top.


    Top scorer, Wang Shouren.


    Second ce, Xu Youcai.


    ......


    "I knew you could do it," seeing Wang Er hade in first, Song Zhe couldn''t help but feel happy for him. "Congrattions Wang Er! You''re the first person from He Wan vige to be a sessful candidate!"


    "Thank you, hurry and see where you ced."


    "I must be way at the back, so no need to check the top."


    Out of the two thousand people who took the test, eighty made it onto the lists.


    So Song Zhe started from 30th ce, but after reaching over 60 and nearing the end of the list, he still hadn''t seen his name.


    This left his heart sinking.


    He knew his own literary skills were poor, but he still hoped he could make it onto the list and be a sessful candidate.


    Because only then would Aunt Li agree to let him conduct big business deals.


    "Don''t worry, there''s still more at the back."


    Song Zhe steadied himself to keep looking, but there was nothing until thest name.


    "Looks like I''m really not suited for studying or business deals!" Song Zhe said self-deprecatingly while shaking his head. "If I can''t even be a sessful candidate, how could I do business?"


    "The top thirty haven''t been checked yet."


    "How could I possibly make the top thirty? If I did, my dad wouldugh himself awake from his dreams." Song Zhe said.


    "How do you know you''re not on there if you don''t check?" Wang Erughed. "Let me go see for you."


    So he returned to the 30th spot and continued forward.


    When he reached 22nd ce, his eyes suddenly lit up. "There you are! Brother Song, you''re number 22."


    "Enough joking around Brother Wang. If I were really number 22, my ancestors would be so shocked they''d make my family grave emit green smoke..."


    "I''m serious, go see for yourself if you don''t believe me."


    Song Zhe was skeptical but also didn''t quite dare to go over, afraid Wang Er was just messing with him to get his hopes up over nothing. But he also knew Wang Er wasn''t the kind of person to make reckless jokes.


    Could it be...could it really be true?


    And a pretty good ranking at that?


    Song Zhe''s heart couldn''t help but throb as he moistened his dry lips and worked up the courage to squeeze over.


    Sure enough, the list had the words: 22nd ce, Song Zhe.


    "It''s r-really true?"


    "It''s true."


    Seeing Song Zhe, Wang Er also felt happy for him.


    "Yiya, heavens, I did it!" Song Zhe suddenly shouted excitedly, "Aunt Li, I made it! I got 22nd ce! Now I can conduct big business deals with you!"


    As Song Zhe yelled, he squeezed his way out of the crowd and madly ran back home, leaving the surrounding candidates staring after him.


    They all felt he must have been too extremely delighted over his sess and lost his mind a bit. Otherwise, how could a 22nd-ce sessful candidate be talking about doing business deals?


    Wang Er helplessly shook his head and was about to chase after him when Xu Youcai squeezed over through the crowd.


    "Ah!"


    After Xu Youcai nced at the rankings, he couldn''t help but cry out in surprise.


    "Congrattions Wang Er foring in first ce!"


    "Congrattions to you as well Brother Xu foring in second."


    "It seems I still fall shortpared to you," Xu Youcaiughed. "But I have you and Madam Ling to thank this time. Without your help, I wouldn''t have even qualified to take the test, let alonee in second ce."


    "You''re too kind, Brother Xu."


    "Hurry back and share the good news, Brother Wang!"


    Wang Er nodded. Just as he was leaving under the extremely envious gazes of the crowd, a group of colorful, gaudily dressed old women suddenly swarmed over and surrounded him.


    Wang Er had never experienced anything like this before and was instantly terrified. "What are you doing?"


    "Congrattions Sir! We wish you happiness!"


    "W-What Sir?" Wang Er stammered. "Don''t go around calling me that in public! I''m not anyone''s Sir!"


    "You''re not one now but you''re about to be one!"


    "That''s right Sir! The biggest merchant in Yizhou City, Master Zhao, wants you as his son-inw!"


    "The carriage has been arranged and the wedding feast prepared. All that''s left is for you toe pay your respects at the ancestral hall to get married!"


    What?


    Wang Er gaped at the extremely aggressive old women, having never heard of something so preposterous!


    "You''ve got the wrong person, I won''t be marrying anyone..."


    "Now don''t go saying that, Sir," one old womanughed. "Miss Li is the number one female schr in Yizhou Prefecture. Master Zhao is number one merchant in Yizhou City. It''s a perfect match between two outstanding families!"


    "If you marry Master Zhao''s young daughter, that would be an ideal couple with a heroic schr and beautifuldy! A perfect union!"


    "It''s almost the auspicious time. Hurry and get in the carriage Sir!"


    "You all...stop pulling me...I really can''t..."


    But how could Wang Er resist when he was outnumbered by these extremely aggressive old women, even with his martial arts skills?


    Some pulled at his hands, some yanked his arms, some led the way, and they shoved him right into the wedding carriage.


    Meanwhile, the onlooking crowd didn''t even try to step in to help stop this. Rather, they gazed on enviously.


    "So this is the legendary bottom-of-list bridegroom snatching!"


    "That''s right. Marrying Master Zhao''s daughter? Tsk tsk...that dowry has got to be worth over ten carriage loads!"


    "It really makes people green with envy!"


    ......


    On his mad dash back home, Song Zhe was already two li away when he suddenly realized Wang Er hadn''t caught up.


    So he immediately turned back, only to spot Wang Er being dragged off in the distance.


    "Crap!"


    Song Zhe pped his leg then raced back toward the Li family home.

 Chapter 210: How to Obtain a Son-in-law

    <h4>Chapter 210</h4>


    Today everyone stayed at home, quietly waiting for Wang Er and Song Zhe to bring back good news.


    Song Prefect also postponed all government affairs today and went to Li Yao''s house with his wife. The prefect''s wife was very anxious and absent-minded even when chatting.


    Song Prefect on the other hand appeared very calm, but Li Yao could still easily see his eagerness from his eyes.


    After all, how many parents in this world do not care about their children?


    Although Li Yao had never experienced any parental love, after living with these children for so long, she could also feel the mood of the Song couple to some extent.


    "Auntie Li!"


    Song Zhe''s voice suddenly came from outside the gate.


    "He''s back, he''s back!"


    The Song couple stood up nervously, while Da Zhuang and He Xiaoya also hurriedly carried Xia Yanran out of the room. Du Xiao Hui walked out directly to stop Song Zhe who had rushed into the yard.


    "Song Zhe, why did youe back alone?"


    "Sister Xiao Hui, this is bad!" Song Zhe was panting and said, "Brother Wang was caught by someone!"


    "What?" Du Xiao Hui was hit by a bolt from the blue. She started to stutter, "He... How could he be caught... No, who caught him?"


    Hearing this, the others in the house also came out one after another.


    Song Prefect also had no time to ask if Song Zhe had passed the exam. He asked in a deep voice: "What on earth happened?"


    Song Zhe told the truth about what had happened. Everyone was at a loss for words after listening.


    "This is... catching a son-inw off the examination roster?" said the prefect¡¯s wife. "I didn''t expect such customs even in Yizhou City."


    Li Yao''s face turned red. What the hell did she mean by customs? It was clearly some rich people''s nasty trick to find themselves a good son-inw!


    However, as long as he wasn''t caught by bad guys, it shouldn''t be a big problem.


    "Li Yao, don''t worry. This can also be considered a good thing," Song County Magistrate also let down his guard. "Song Zhe, let me ask you, which family did Wang Er get taken to?"


    "Ah? I... " Song Zhe scratched his head. "I... I hurried back to report the news and didn''t ask."


    "You..."


    Song Prefect was so angry that his nose was crooked. This son still acted so carelessly when doing things.


    "But I saw a pattern on their carriage that looked like this."


    Du Xiao Hui quickly took paper and pen for him to draw the pattern. Song Prefect recognized it at a nce, "It''s the Zhao family."


    "Which Zhao family?" Li Yao asked.


    "The Zhao family is a big merchant in Yizhou City,parable with the Yang Chang family. They also have a sister who is a noble consort, so they can be considered royal rtives," Song Prefect said. "But unlike others, this Zhao family is very low-key in their actions. It''s normal that you don''t know them, Li Yao."


    A noble consort?


    Li Yao mulled it over. Since it involved royal rtives, things became moreplicated.


    However, now that they knew who had taken Wang Er away, it would be easy to find them and ask clearly.


    Li Yao asked Da Zhuang to hurry and find a carriage to go to the Zhao residence, preparing to take Wang Er back.


    In her mind, marriage concerned one¡¯s happiness for a whole lifetime. It certainly could not be made light of like a game. What¡¯s more, Wang Er already had Du Xiao Hui. How could he be forced to marry Chen Shi Mei?


    Worried that Li Yao would escte matters, Song Prefect also took a carriage to follow her, and asked someone to hurry and inform Liu Yun.


    The Zhao family was indeed very rich. Their residence in the east of the city upied arge area.


    However, the surrounding walls and gates were very simple, exuding a faint ssical charm, unlike the pretentiousness of other mansions, giving a pretty decent feeling.


    But at this moment, the Zhao family mansion¡¯s gates were tightly shut with no gatekeeper at the door. It was also deathly still inside,pletelycking the festive atmosphere of preparing for a wedding.


    Du Xiao Hui impatiently knocked on the door, but no one responded even after waiting for a long time, as if there was not a soul inside.


    This was very strange. Could they have found the wrong house?


    "Song Zhe, are you sure you didn''t remember the carriage pattern wrong?¡±


    "Absolutely not," Song Zhe said. "That pattern was very special."


    A group of people were stopped outside the closed gate. Song Prefect was desperately thinking of a solution when Li Yao had already walked to the edge of the wall.


    "Li Yao, what are you..."


    "I''ll know what''s going on once I get inside and take a look."


    Not caring about everyone¡¯s dumbstruck looks, with a leap she grabbed the top of the wall and flipped right into the yard.


    Da Zhuang and the others were used to this already. When their mother was teaching them martial arts, she did even more amazing stuff. But for the Song couple, this was the first time seeing such a scene. They were so shocked their jaws nearly dropped to the ground.


    ...


    In fact there were people inside the Zhao mansion, but the gates were deliberately shut tight. They didn¡¯t want anyoneing to spoil their ns.


    At this time, the current head of the Zhao family Zhao Yan was leading all the men, women and children of the household gathered in the main hall.


    There was not a hint of sound outside, but the inside of the hall was festooned withnterns and decorations, bursting with joy.


    Surrounded by a group of women servants, Wang Er had already been delivered before Zhao Yan.


    "Elder sir..."


    "Hey, don''t call me that," Zhao Yan had a benevolent smile that made him look like a harmless, kind-hearted old man. "From now on, you should call me father-inw."


    Wang Er: ...


    "Elder sir," Wang Er said with a bitter face, "It''s not that I''m unwilling to be your son-inw, but I already have a marriage agreement."


    At this point, this was the only justification Wang Er could think of.


    Although he and Du Xiao Hui did not have a formal marriage agreement, their feelings for each other had long been clear, with both sides¡¯ parents tacitly approving.


    "A marriage agreement is just an agreement. It can be cancelled before the actual marriage," Zhao Yan said. "You don''t need to worry about this. I¡¯ll provide however many taels of silver is needed for calling off the engagement. If you feel you¡¯d lose face, I¡¯ll go and talk to them myself."


    Wang Er was so anxious that his forehead was sweating. "But... marriage is an important ritual that has always been decided by the parents. My mother doesn''t even know about this now..."


    "Now you''re lying to me," Zhao Yan said. "As far as I know, Li Yao has always been open-minded about these things, leaving marriage decisions entirely up to you all. So as long as you agree, Li Yao¡¯s side will naturally not be a problem."


    Wang Er had never experienced such a situation before, and was reluctant to turn hostile on the spot making things awkward. He was desperately trying to think of how to continue to refuse the Zhao family''s kindness, when Zhao Yan had already signaled to the people beside him.


    "The auspicious time is here!"


    "Please wee the bride!"


    "No, no!"


    Wang Er was so anxious that his hands iled around, but it was useless to try and stop everyone.


    Soon, dressed in bridal gown and led by an old woman, the bride took tiny steps as she came onto the stage of the great hall.


    Looking at the appearance of the bride, Wang Er waspletely dumbfounded.


    This bride was way too...small! Though her face was obscured by the traditional red veil, her height didn¡¯t even reach his chest. Her exposed little hands seemed to be only about the size of a seven or eight year old child¡¯s.


    Was Elder Zhao''s daughter just a child?


    "Elder Zhao, dare I ask your daughter¡¯s age?"


    "Hmm, she is already seven and a half years old, and she''ll turn eight by the end of year.¡±


    Wang Er: ...


    "Cough, I know her age is a little young," Zhao Yan said. "However, you just passed the provincial exam to be a promoted schr. In future, you''ll still need to go to the capital to attain the top schr title. So it is just right. By then when you be the top schr, my little girl would havee of age."


    Wang Er: ...


    He had heard of lots of bizarre things, but this waspletely unheard of!


    This was absolutely impossible! Even without a marriage agreement and a sweetheart, he would never be able to marry a child bride and bring her home!


    "Elder Zhao, this is absolutely uneptable." Wang Er said seriously, "If you still insist on forcing me today, then... then I would rather dash my head dead on that pir there!"


    Hearing him speak such ruthless words, Zhao Yan was momentarily at a loss for what to do.


    At this time, the bride in front of Wang Er suddenly tore off her own veil herself, revealing a delicate and fair little face, but her big round eyes red wildly.


    ¡°Wang Shouren, you don¡¯t appreciate kindness at all! I, this princess, am willing to take you as my husband, you should be drowning in tears of gratitude!¡±


    Wang Er had his mouth agape,pletely stunned in ce.


    This little girl actually just called herself a princess?


    A princess, an address that could only be used for the emperor¡¯s daughter, how dare she just casually call herself that?


    "Hmph, seeing how uncultured you are," the girl said, "Uncle Zhao, just tell him directly who I am."


    Zhao Yan was helpless and could only say: "Wang Shouren, the youngdy in front of you is actually not my daughter, but my niece. However, she is the current The Sixteenth Princess, that is, the sister of the Prince of Yizhou!"

 Chapter 211: Get Married

    <h4>Chapter 211</h4>


    When these words came out, not only did Wang Er stand there in shock, but even Li Yao, who had just rushed to the door, couldn''t help but tense up.


    Liu Yun''s own younger sister was indeed a legitimate imperial princess.


    How could such a young girl dare to ask Zhao Yan to help her elope?


    Impossible.


    Even though she grew up in the imperial pce and was waited on every day, no matter how wilful her temperament was, or how much she had seen, she absolutely could not havee up with this idea.


    Moreover, if she really wanted to secretly marry Wang Er, why would she use a carriage with her own family''s emblem to kidnap him?


    Zhao Yan was a cunning old fox of a businessman. There''s no way he wouldn''t have thought of this.


    So there must be someone behind this, directing things.


    It went without saying that it was undoubtedly Liu Yun.


    No wonder Liu Yun hadn''te home today. He had a guilty conscience and didn''t dare show his face. But Li Yao now understood clearly what the boy was scheming.


    It was nothing more than a fallback ploy.


    Having figured out the key points, Li Yao knocked on the door out of courtesy, pretending she had just arrived.


    "Mother," Wang Er saw Li Yao and suddenly grew a backbone. "You''ve finallye."


    "I''m here."


    Zhao Yan also hurriedly came forward and bowed to Li Yao, "Greetings Lady Li."


    "You''re too kind, father-inw."


    "Huh?"


    Zhao Yan waspletely baffled by this form of address.


    In his expectations and ns, Li Yao should have tly refused this marriage. But at their very first meeting, she had addressed him as father-inw.


    Li Yao didn''t pay his bewilderment any mind. She came before the little princess, "Greetings, Sixteenth Princess."


    "Mm. Lady Li, please dispense with the courtesies."


    Although she was an imperial princess, Liu Yao felt somewhat nervous for some reason upon seeing Li Yao.


    "I''m deeply honored that the Princess has consented to take my son as her husband. This is a glorious asion for me, Li Yao," Li Yao continued. Then she turned to Zhao Yan, "Elder Zhao, this is where you''ve done wrong. The Princess holds an exalted status, and marriage is an enormously important affair. How could you have handled it in such a covert, shabby way?"


    Zhao Yan: ...... What if I told you I hadn''t actually nned on going through with the marriage today? Would you believe me?


    "Let''s do this," said Li Yao. "Since the wood has been crafted into a boat, as his mother I certainly can''t shortchange my son, much less slight the Sixteenth Princess. We''ll make preparations right away and invite all of our rtives and friends to hold a grand wedding for them. And of course, we must make a general announcement for all themoners in Yizhou City to celebrate together."


    Zhao Yan: ......


    Liu Yao: ......


    Wang Er: "Mother....."


    "Don''t say anything," Li Yao interjected. "Marriage is ultimately the parents'' decision."


    This time Zhao Yan was truly confused.


    In his n, Li Yao should have adamantly prevented this marriage. Then Liu Yun would havee forward, said imperial marriages were no joking matter, but conceded to appease Wang Er''s existing engagement by formally arranging Liu Yao and Wang Xiaosi''s marriage, and then everything would have wrapped up nicely.


    But this Lady Li was not following the script at all!


    What now?


    If the marriage went through...that was absolutely impossible.


    How could a princess be married off just like that?


    "Waaa...." Standing to the side, Liu Yao suddenly burst into tears. "Uncle, I don''t want to get married. I don''t want to...waa... You said we were just ying. I don''t want to y anymore...waa...."


    Well, now they could stop pretending.


    Dejected, Zhao Yan said, "Lady Li, actually...this...this was just the Princess suddenly getting an idea to y at rogue marriage...just a childish game..."


    "You think it was her idea to y?" Li Yaoughed. "Prince of Yizhou, how much longer are you going to keep hiding behind that screen?"


    Liu Yun''s heart thudded. He knew he hadn''t managed to fool Auntie Li in the end. He hurried out from behind the screen.


    "Auntie, how did you see through this?"


    "These little tricks were things I taught you. How could I not see through them?" Li Yao frowned. "Have you learned so little that you''re trying to plot against me? What do you call this?"


    "I was...out of my depth."


    At least he had some self-awareness.


    "Don''t me the boy, Auntie," said Liu Yun. "I was actually hoping to bring our two families closer. But I was afraid you wouldn''t agree, so I thought up this backup n."


    "Do you really think a political marriage can ensure the two sides won''t betray each other?" Li Yao said heavily. "If that''s how you think, I''m afraid you won''t remain Prince of Yizhou for long. Having grown up in the imperial pce, don''t tell me you don''t even know that sworn brothers and fathers and sons can turn against each other over sufficient interests."


    "I know that very clearly," Liu Yun replied. "But I don''t like it that way. So I thought...if there''s not even a shred of affection, then what''s the difference between us and walking corpses?"


    I really want us to be family.


    But as an imperial prince, those were words Liu Yun could never utter.


    Yet Li Yao understood.


    In the end, he was still just a boy in his early teens, who needed his parents'' love, longed for the profound bonds of kinship, and still clung to beautiful illusions about the world.


    "But that doesn''t mean you should have used such methods," said Li Yao.


    "I know I was wrong," Liu Yun admitted.


    Seeing that he was quite sincere, Li Yao said, "We''ll be returning to He Wan vige tomorrow. I expect you''re very busy now and have no time to look after the little princess. Why don''t you let here y in He Wan vige for a few days?"


    "Really?"


    "Why not? Weren''t you having great fun ying in He Wan vige yourself?" said Li Yao. "And with Xiaosi keeping herpany, I''m sure the princess will enjoy herself too."


    "Thank you, Auntie!" Liu Yun was overjoyed.


    Although it went unspoken, he knew that Auntie was acknowledging his desire for them to be family. Maybe in a few years, Wang Xiaosi and Liu Yao really could be married!


    No, they definitely would be.


    And so the farce came to an end.


    After hearing what had transpired, the Song prefect gave Liu Yun a meaningful look.


    "What a shame," the Song prefect said to his wife. "Why didn''t we have a daughter?"


    "Or how about we have Song Zhe recognize Li Yao as godmother?"


    "That''s a terrific idea!" The Song prefect''s spirits lifted. After thinking for a bit, he added, "You should propose it right away. She can''t y favorites."


    "Is that okay? Won''t it make us seem too calcting?" asked the prefect''s wife.


    "There''s nothing calcting when no interests are involved," the Song prefectughed. "In any case, that godson Song Zhe is settled for her."


    Li Yao: ......Could you two quiet down? I''m getting smacked in the face by the sound of your abacus beads.


    The prefect''s wife smiled radiantly as she came before Li Yao. But before she could get a word out, Li Yao already assented.


    "Have Song Zhe bring gifts and hurry over to my ce."


    The more in debt, the less worry; the more children, the less aging.


    Just as the Song prefect had said, having already agreed to let the little princess visit He Wan vige, how could she not agree to take Song Zhe as godson?


    Even retired elders needed some liveliness at times.

 Chapter 212: There will Never be a Shortage of Food Again.

    <h4>Chapter 212</h4>


    Crackle bang......


    In the front yard, Li Yao let Da Zhuang light some firecrackers.


    These were the first firecrackers in this world, which she had made a few days ago when she was bored.


    Firstly to celebrate Wang Er passing the imperial examination as a juren, or even higher ranked jieyuan. Secondly to celebrate Song Zhe also passing the imperial examination as a juren.


    Of course it was also to celebrate her taking in a godson.


    ording to Yi Prefecture customs, Song Zhe paid his respects to Li Yao, and gave gifts to acknowledge her as godmother. Li Yao returned the courtesy, and they became family.


    Song the prefect stroked his short beard, feeling greatlyforted, and kept ncing proudly at Liu Yun.


    Liu Yun was focused on observing Wang Xiao Si and Liu Yao.


    His little sister was too young and ignorant. The few lines she had said at Zhao Yan''s home today were taught to her after much effort on his part.


    The happiest person at home today was none other than Wang Xiao Si.


    He had always been the youngest, but with the arrival of his niece Little Yanran, he was no longer the youngest. But Little Yanran still would not obey him.


    Now things were good. He finally had a little sister.


    "Listen up," Wang Xiao Si assumed the air of a big brother, and said very seriously, "In our family, my mother has the final say on everything."


    "Mm."


    "If my mother is not around, then I have the final say!" said Wang Xiao Si. "In the future if you want to y with me, you must obey me."


    "Mm!" Liu Yao nodded heavily.


    In the pce, there were rules upon rules every day that did not allow her to go out and y, and no children her age to y with.


    Now that she hade to Yi Prefecture, although it did not seem as nice as the pce, at least there was this older brother!


    "Big brother Xiao Si, can you bring me to catch cicadas?"


    "As long as you obey me, I won''t only bring you to catch cicadas, but also to catch butterflies, locusts, crickets, fish, loaches!"


    "Wonderful!" Liu Yao''s eyes shone with excitement. "When can we go?"


    "Now...we''ll have to wait till we get home," said Wang Xiao Si. "None of these things can be found in the city of Yi Prefecture."


    "Home? Isn''t this your home?"


    "Yes," said Wang Xiao Si proudly. "But we have another home in He Wan vige that is even better and bigger. You''ll definitely like it when we get there."


    "Okay, I''ll ask big sister Chun Ning to pack my things!"


    Chun Ning was originally supposed to return to the capital after Little Yanran''s one month celebration. But with Liu Yao''s arrival, Liu Yun asked her to stay on. Chun Ning felt very fortunate that this was morefortable than being in the capital with the young miss.


    "Princess, your things have long been packed."


    "Then let''s go now!" Liu Yao pulled at Wang Xiao Si''s sleeve impatiently. "Big brother Xiao Si, hurry hurry, I can''t wait any longer!"


    "Not today. We can only go back when my mother decides. Don''t be so impatient. I''ll bring you to y hide and seek today."


    "Okay, let''s y now!"


    Seeing the two get along so quickly put Liu Yun''s concerned heart at ease.


    Now he just hoped time would pass quickly so he could see the two children grow up soon.


    ...


    With matters in the city of Yi Prefecture basically settled,


    Wang Er and Du Xiaohui would remain here. Wang Er had to continue studying, while Xiaohui had to run the academy. The house purchased by Li Yao would be for them to live in.


    Anna and Alice also stayed to help Xiaohui. There was no need fordy''s maids back in He Wan vige.


    After being away for so long, Da Zhuang also started missing his fields back home.


    Naturally, Song the prefect and Liu Yun would follow Li Yao back to He Wan vige.


    Not for anything else, but because after returning they could dig up sweet potatoes.


    From the day the sweet potato seedlings were nted, Song the prefect had been thinking of nothing else, and could finally verify just how high the yield of these sweet potatoes were.


    And Liu Yun as the lord of Yi Prefecture was even more concerned, because this directly impacted whether all themoners in the prefecture would have food.


    A few carriages set off from the city gates, heading towards Baichuan County. After half a day of bumpy ride, they finally entered Baichuan County, instantly feeling the difference.


    Not only was the carriage ride smooth, but the speed was more than double that of before. Compared to the jolting earlier, this was iparablyfortable.


    This caused Liu Yun to firmly decide to immediately start raising funds to build roads upon returning.


    These roads had to be built as soon as possible.


    After being away for more than ten days, they finally returned to familiar ground.


    Under the meticulous care of Wang Xueshi, the home remained exactly like when they left it. The only difference was the groups of chickens, ducks, and geese seemed to have grown much bigger.


    Naturally, Da Zhuang was happiest.


    He had barely entered the door and sat down before rushing out to the hills at the back to dig up a huge load of sweet potatoes.


    Looking at the sweet potatoes bigger than a fist, Liu Yun and Song the prefect also cheered up and gathered around the potatoes, scrutinizing them.


    "Da Zhuang, so many sweet potatoes, how big was the plot you dug them from?"


    "Ten nts."


    "What? Just ten nts managed to produce so much?" Song the prefect was distrustful. "Are you saying just ten nts yielded so many potatoes?"


    Da Zhuang nodded, his face full of blissful smile.


    He had not realized that after careful cultivation, fertilization, vine turning, that the sweet potatoes nted in the field would yield several times more than wild sweet potatoes in the mountains!


    It seemed his mother''s im of yielding thousands of catties per mu was not impossible.


    "If ten nts can yield so much, how much would your family''s total yield be this year?"


    Li Yao did not want to calcte. She had returned this time to dig up sweet potatoes. They would know once it was weighed.


    Early next morning, Li Yao stopped all workshop operations for the time being and hired every viger to help dig up sweet potatoes.


    Song the prefect couple and Liu Yun also arrived at the field early, feeling even more nervous than Da Zhuang because they would soon witness the yield of these sweet potatoes.


    Li Yao picked a medium sized plot for them to measure out one mu. Tens of vigers swarmed in.


    More than ten women in front wielded sickles to cut down the somewhat yellowing vines, bundling them neatly. These vines could be used as pig feed. Even if there was excess for the time being, they could be dried and stored.


    The small machine for slicing sweet potato vines and therge concrete pools for storage had long been fabricated by the cksmith Xia Xian per her instructions.


    More than twenty brawny men swung hoes, preparing to dig.


    Da Zhuang spat in his palms and rubbed them before forcefully digging down. A huge pile of sweet potatoes along with mud was overturned.


    This clump had six to seven potatoes. The three to fourrgest were as big as a fist, while the smallest were still fist sized. At minimum each was ten catties.


    The rest could not wait and began digging as well. The overturned sweet potatoes were piled at the side as more than ten women and children sorted through them basket by basket to the field''s edge.


    After half a shichen, the entire mu was finally dug up. Looking at the huge pile of promising sweet potatoes, everyone felt wonderful inside.


    Because everyone knew no one would starve this year, not in the future either.


    "Quick," Liu Yun was already too anxious to wait, "bring the scales and weigh them."


    Da Zhuang and Wang Yuen brought over beam scales. Basket by basket was weighed as Wang Xiao Si led Liu Yao to record with brush and paper at the side.


    After tallying at the end, this single mu had yielded over three thousand and five hundred catties!


    If they had not witnessed it themselves, Liu Yun and Song the prefect would never have believed it possible, because it was too enormous, shockingly enormous!


    For mountainousnd like this, yielding one hundred catties per mu of wheat would be considered very good.


    Yet for sweet potatoes, the yield was dozens of times more!


    Song the prefect sighed deeply. Daling, there would never be grain shortage again!

 Chapter 213: War in Northern Xinjiang

    <h4>Chapter 213</h4>


    Li Yao regarded a yield of 3,500 jin of sweet potatoes per mu as basically satisfactory.


    After all, there was no chemical fertilizer, and even the amount of organic fertilizer was not substantial.


    Having a slightly lower yield was eptable. Increasing grain production is not something that can be achieved overnight.


    As the sweet potato production increases in the future, more pigs and cattle can be raised by the vigers, resulting in more fertilizer production and the cultivation of more grains... This year-after-year positive cycle is the best approach.


    "Mother," Da Zhuang began to worry and asked, "With so muchnd in our family, I''m afraid we won''t finish digging until the Lunar New Year. Will the sweet potatoes in the ground spoil?"


    "They won''t spoil, but they won''tst that long."


    After showing the yield to Liu Yun and the others, Li Yao couldn''t possibly have everyone dig by hand. Instead, she had Da Zhuang bring the oxen, and after cutting off the sweet potato vines, they plowed the field directly along the ridges. Then they just needed to pick the sweet potatoes.


    However, although the speed was increased by more than ten times, many sweet potatoes were damaged by plowing.


    But it was fine even if they were damaged. They were directly used to feed the pigs and feed the chickens and ducks. Therger ones were sliced using the slicer made by Xia Xian, and then they were sun-dried to make dried sweet potato slices.


    Li Yao also had Wang Xiao Si select some, carefully cut them into small strips after washing, steamed them in a steamer, and dried them for a few days, turning them into a delicious snack.


    A basket of orange-red dried sweet potatoes was carried to the side by He Xiaoya, emitting a tempting, sweet fragrance. Just by looking at them, it was hard to resist salivating.


    "Everyone,e and try. If you think it''s delicious, you can make it yourself when you go back. You can eat it yourself or even sell it for money."


    When the vigers heard that it could be sold for money, they came over one after another, each taking a piece to try.


    "Mmm, it''s so sweet," Liu Auntie said first, "It''s chewy and fragrant. I''m sure it can fetch a good price!"


    The processing of sweet potatoes naturally included making noodles.


    However, if they made noodles now, it would be a bit wasteful, so Li Yao only made some for herself and didn''t teach everyone the method.


    When sweet potatoes were abundant everywhere in a couple of years, more than they could consume, she would teach everyone how to make them.


    After seeing the dried sweet potatoes, Liu Yun immediately found Li Yao and proposed to purchase half of her sweet potatoes and turn them into dried sweet potatoes.


    He also wanted to purchase half of the sweet potatoes nted by the vigers in He Wan vige and surrounding viges to make this type of dried sweet potatoes.


    "This is not a small task."


    Just Li Yao''s family alone nted 3,600 mu of sweet potatoes, with a minimum of over five million jin.


    When added with the other households, there were at least ten million jin of sweet potatoes.


    How long would it take to process them all?


    "I can hire people to do it!" Liu Yun said, "As long as we can make dried sweet potatoes, we can send them to the northern border. This kind of food that can be eaten as soon as it''s taken out can save a lot of trouble."


    "Since you care so much about the soldiers in the northern border, then I''ll let people do it."


    "But... the money for buying the sweet potatoes..."


    "Let''s put it on credit," Li Yao understood Liu Yun''s financial constraints, "But we must pay the vigers for the processing fees."


    "That''s for sure."


    Under the initiative of Li Yao, the elderly, women, and even young children in He Wan vige joined the team to steam dried sweet potato.


    On the empty space next to the cksmith workshop, a dense array of fiftyrge pots was set up, with each pot holding at least tenyers of steaming baskets.


    The elderly and women were responsible for peeling, slicing, and cleaning, then putting them into the steaming baskets. The children took care of the fire, each managing several makeshift stoves.


    For a while, the entire He Wan vige was filled with the sweet aroma of steamed sweet potatoes.


    After steaming, the sweet potatoes needed to be air-dried, which was the most troublesome part. All the drying mats in the vige were used up, but it was still far from enough.


    Later, it was Vige Head Wang Jiafu who mobilized the vige''s skilled bamboo weavers overnight to make bamboo baskets.


    When there was no ce left to dry, they dried them on the rooftops and on the roads, with children guarding them to prevent birds from stealing.


    After a busy day, fifty thousand catties of fresh sweet potatoes were steamed into soft strips.


    However, the efficiency was still too low, with the bottleneck being the peeling and slicing process.


    These two steps were exhausting, and by the end of the day, both hands were covered in blisters.


    Based on the experience of the first day, Liu Yun knew how many more people to hire. He recruited five hundred more people from other viges and increased the number ofrge pots by fifty. They made more bamboo baskets, aiming to steam at least three hundred thousand catties of fresh sweet potatoes every day, striving to finish the tens of millions of catties of sweet potatoes within a month.


    Some of these grains would be sent to the northern regions depending on the situation, while others could be transported elsewhere for sale.


    Li Yao could tell that Liu Yun was anxious and didn''t look good every day, with a hint of worry in his eyes.


    After dinner, Li Yao found Liu Yun.


    After inquiring, she learned that yesterday he received news of the intense situation in the northern regions.


    Although it was still early autumn in Yi Prefecture, the temperature in the northern regions had already dropped significantly, and the winds had started to blow.


    "What is most worrying is that the barbarians have been acting unusually this year," Liu Yun said. "They startedunching attacks in the spring and haven''t shown signs of fatigue. On the contrary, they are bing bolder. They excel in hit-and-run tactics, often having small groups of horsemen bypass our stationed areas to harass our provisions. So far, they have intercepted and burned a considerable amount of provisions. The food supply for our frontline soldiers is bing a problem."


    Originally, Li Yao thought that the situation in the northern regions was not so urgent.


    Because half a month ago, Wang San had entrusted someone to send back a letter, saying that everything was fine, asking Li Yao not to worry.


    But now it seemed that this kid only reported the good news and kept the worries to himself, to the point where they couldn''t even have a decent meal.


    "So, I want to make dried sweet potatoes as quickly as possible andbine them with this year''s good harvest of other grains to gather arge amount of provisions," Liu Yun said. "If we can deliver these provisions to the northern regions before the snowfall, we won''t have to worry about the barbarians'' attacks this winter."


    "An army marches on its stomach" is an eternal truth. Liu Yun, as the ruler of Yi Prefecture, was considerate of the soldiers in the northern regions.


    But Li Yao''s worry was not about the situation in the northern regions, but about Wang San.


    Wang San was only thirteen years old. Even though children in this world matured early and he appeared to have the physique of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old, he was still a little young.


    "The provisions should be ready," Li Yao said, "but have you considered how we can transport them over a thousand miles to the Northern Frontier? And once they arrive, how can we ensure the safety of the provisions?"


    "Well... I haven''t really thought about it yet, and I don''t know how to," Liu Yun replied. "We''ll have to take it step by step. Let''s prepare the provisions first. However, I have already sent a letter to my father, asking him to send troops to receive and transport the provisions. If that''s not possible, we''ll have to draw manpower from the local army."


    Li Yao could only hope for the best.


    Since it was for the soldiers in the Northern Frontier, Li Yao spared no effort and mobilized the vigers toe up with every possible solution, even steaming dried sweet potatoes overnight.


    While everyone was busy, she locked herself in a small room and started arranging some utensils.


    No one knew what she was doing, but nobody asked because they all knew that when Lady Li devoted herself to something, it was definitely a remarkable undertaking.


    Ten dayster, the first batch of dried sweet potatoes had been sun-dried. They filled up around two hundred carts, which was roughly a tenth of the total quantity, about four hundred thousand catties.


    These dried sweet potatoes alone would be enough to serve as the main grain supply for fifty thousand soldiers in the border region for ten days.


    Liu Yun returned to Yi Prefecture and instructed all the counties to consolidate the tax revenues they had received this year, waiting for the imperial court to send someone to collect and transport them to the Northern Frontier.


    "Mother, we can go, you can rest at home," Da Zhuang said when he saw that Li Yao also intended to apany the cart convoy to Yi Prefecture. "The journey is too tiring."


    "I need to go. There are some things that need to be taught," Li Yao said. "You stay at home and follow my instructions, teach everyone how to make dried sweet potato vines into feed, and store the remaining sweet potatoes for nting. Remember, make sure no one eats too much, and don''t sell the good sweet potatoes. Keep the rest for nting so that Yi Prefecture can yield more next year."


    "I understand, Mother. I will take care of it."


    "Actually, I''ll only be gone for a few days," Li Yao smiled. "After delivering the provisions in Yi Prefecture, I''lle back."


    In addition to the carts carrying the dried sweet potatoes, Li Yao also prepared a separate cart with its contents tightly wrapped in ck cloth. Only she knew what was inside.


    The supply convoy arrived quickly in Yi Prefecture. Liu Yun had made adequate preparations on his side as well. The first batch consisted of two thousand carts of premium rice and one thousand carts of hay, to be used as horse feed.


    However, when Li Yao saw Liu Yun, there was no trace of happiness on his face. Instead, it was filled with deep concern.


    "The Emperor said that it''s temporarily impossible to mobilize manpower to transport the provisions," Liu Yun said. "Even if we get people, it will take over a month."

 Chapter 214: Descent North

    <h4>Chapter 214</h4>


    Give Li Yao a sentence to make things right.


    In the vast Daling Country, can¡¯t even a few hundred people be pulled out?


    ¡°This is definitely not my father''s intention,¡± Liu Yun continued, ¡°What my father worries most about is the food supply issue. In order to give the soldiers on the frontier a little more food, the imperial pce has been economizing on food and clothing.¡±


    ¡°Then who is preventing the transport of food?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know,¡± Liu Yun said, ¡°But there are only two people, the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister.¡±


    Li Yao was even more confused.


    The Crown Prince is the future emperor, and in the future the whole of Daling will be his. The Prime Minister is also second only to one person above tens of thousands of people. Why do they specifically want to be at odds with the generals on the front line?


    As expected, the affairs of the imperial family are the most iprehensible.


    But now was not the time to think about this. Since the emperor did not send anyone to receive the food, Liu Yun meant to send someone to the capital city.


    "What if when it arrives in the capital city, still no one receives it, or after receiving it they simply don''t send it to the northern border?" Li Yao asked.


    "This..." Liu Yun clenched his fists, revealing a resolute look in his eyes, "I will go with them! If ites down to it, I''ll take it to the northern border myself!"


    "No."


    The prince could not leave his fiefdom without reason, let alone take an army to the capital city.


    Liu Yun had just taken one step out of Yi Prefecture on one side, and on the other side there would be arge number of troops waiting to hold him down directly.


    "But I don''t feel at ease about others going."


    "Let me go," Li Yao decided to take a trip to the vast northern grasnds.


    Liu Yun naturally disagreed, because the trip still had some danger: ¡°ording to the news received in the past few days, small groups of barbarians are bing more and more rampant behind our great army.¡±


    What am I still afraid of a few small barbarians?


    Li Yao said: "I have to go for a reason. My son Wang San¡¯er is still there. As his mother I have to go see him. And I n to bypass the capital city and head directly to the northern border."


    In order to ensure Li Yao and the food''s safety, Liu Yun dispatched two thousand local troops, posing as cart drivers.


    These two thousand people were led by Zhang Shun and Liu Hu respectively, and they were all old acquaintances with Li Yao. The soldiers under them were also selected from among the original local troops.


    On Zhang Shun¡¯s side were experienced veterans, while the ones led by Liu Hu were rising stars, young and daring.


    With these two thousand people around, Li Yao believed that even if they encountered small groups of barbarians, they would be beaten to the point of retreating in defeat.


    After two days of careful preparation, the long grain convoy left Yi Prefecture and set off for the distant northern border.


    Since they used ox carts, the speed was not very fast. But after leaving Yi Prefecture, most of the terrain was t, and Zhang Shun let the convoy take turns resting while travelling most of the time each day.


    Twenty dayster, the convoy arrived near a frontier fortress.


    Beyond the high earthen walls was the vast grasnd. At this time, it was already early winter, and the cold wind cut people''s faces so they couldn''t open their eyes.


    Standing on the tattered earthen wall and looking at the boundless sea of withered yellow grass, Li Yao seemed to return to her previous life again, wanting to ride a fast horse and gallop freely.


    ¡°Miss Li,¡± Zhang Shun came up behind her and said, "We encountered some trouble getting out of the pass."


    ¡°Don¡¯t they even let us go out?¡±


    "It''s not that they don''t let us, they said to wait for a while," Zhang Shun said, "The excuse is that they are afraid we will collude with foreigners and deliver food to the barbarians. So we must be questioned clearly, and let the deputy general in charge make the decision."


    ¡°Even Liu Yun¡¯s letters don¡¯t work?¡±


    ¡°If there were no letters, I''m afraid this food would have been confiscated,¡± Zhang Shun said. ¡°The other party just wants to dy us for a while. It will take at least ten days.¡±


    It was about to snow soon.


    These generals hiding behind the walls were quitefortable,pletely ignoring whether the soldiers fighting outside were dead or alive. And they still had to stop at this time.


    "Miss Li, why don''t I go alone and let General Xu send someone back to meet us," Liu Hu said. ¡°It would only take a few days to go back and forth.¡±


    ¡°How could you know where the main troops are in such a vast grasnd?¡±


    ¡°Well...I don''t know.¡±


    "I''ll go," Li Yao tightened her clothes and said.


    ¡°Miss Li, you can''t!¡± Liu Hu said, ¡°How could we let you take this risk alone? If someone is going, I will go with you.¡±


    ¡°Then do your best to get ten fast horses for less than ten people at most.¡±


    On the grasnd without any cover, the more people there were, the easier it was to expose the target.


    Liu Hu moved very quickly. With Li Yao''s silver bills paving the way, ten fast horses and rations for a few days were prepared before nightfall. Taking advantage of the night, ten people entered the vast grasnd.


    Although it was already dark, the moonlight prated the thin cloudyer, making the entire grasnd a vast expanse.


    Apart from the sound of hoofbeats, there was only the whistling wind.


    At this time of year, the temperature on the grasnd at night had already dropped to around zero degrees. The cold wind shed at everyone''s faces like knives.


    Liu Hu was indeed the best among the Yi Prefecture army. The people he chose were also strong and good at fighting. The team of ten people was like a small arrow, inserted into the grasnd at an extremely fast speed.


    Li Yao was naturally at the forefront. With her superb hearing, she distinguished the faint movements around her from the hoofbeats and wind sounds.


    After galloping for more than two hours, a faint but very urgent hoofbeat sound came from the right front.


    Li Yao decisively ordered a halt, then concentrated and held her breath: "Thirty-plus people ahead to the right, less than two li away."


    ¡°Are they barbarians?¡±


    ¡°Most likely.¡±


    They hadn''t gone very far from the pass yet, and they had already encountered barbarians. It could only be said that the rear of the Daling army had been infiltrated like a sieve.


    Judging from the direction they were rushing straight towards, Li Yao felt that their whereabouts were very likely leaked out in advance.


    ¡°Miss Li, you should go back,¡± Liu Hu said. ¡°I¡¯ll stay behind with my brothers!¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    Although Liu Hu and his men were brave, unfortunately they didn''t have much actualbat experience. Facing a small group of elite barbarians with an absolute disadvantage in numbers, they would only bepletely wiped out.


    ¡°Then let''s go back together!¡±


    ¡°Our horses are tired and can¡¯t outrun them,¡± Now that things hade to this, Li Yao said decisively, ¡°Liu Hu, listen, I will lure them away. You take your men back quickly and be sure to tell Zhang Shun that there may be spies within the pass. No matter what, he must protect the food. Especially my carriage, the things inside are extremely important and must be protected.¡±


    ¡°But...¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an order!¡± Li Yao shouted, ¡°Leave another horse for me. With two horses I can lure them away. When I find the main camp, I will naturally send someone back to escort the food.¡±


    Liu Hu gave his warhorse to Li Yao: ¡°Miss Li, you must take good care of yourself, otherwise I won¡¯t be able to exin to the Prince of Yi Prefecture and Wang San¡¯er.¡±


    Having said that, he also turned around without hesitation and led his men away.


    After they had run two hundred meters, Li Yao drove her horse forward towards the left front.


    In a moment, the barbarian squad ahead noticed something wrong. A barbarian leader stopped his mount and carefully distinguished the direction of the two teams.


    Finally he also decisively turned his horse and chased after Li Yao.


    ¡°There are only two or maybe one of them. We must intercept them!"

 Chapter 215: In Depth

    <h4>Chapter 215</h4>


    Boom boom¡ª¡ª


    The sound of hoofbeats grew closer and closer, the barbarian squad had already chased to within 300 meters behind.


    Li Yao looked back on horseback, she could already vaguely see the figures of the barbarians. This was still her first time seeing the barbarians in this world. Although from afar, she could still make out that they were very tall and strong, theirbat ability was certainly not weak.


    She had no intention of taking on over thirty people alone, especially battling on horseback, which was not her specialty to begin with, so it was tantamount to suicide.


    As an assassin, the most important thing was to hide herself, and then make full use of timing, geography, people and harmony to kill the enemies one by one.


    When the war horse galloped into a patch of grass up to the knees, she instantly flipped off the horse, slid a dagger out of her sleeve, and stabbed it heavily into the butt of one of the horses.


    The horse neighed in pain and frantically galloped forward. Li Yao hid herself in the thick grass.


    Boom boom¡ª¡ª


    The dense sound of hoofbeats passed by less than ten meters outside of her hiding ce, chasing after the two riderless horses.


    But this did not mean safety.


    The barbarians would quickly catch up to those two horses. Upon discovering no one was riding them, they would immediately double back.


    So before that happened, she had to prepare everything as best she could.


    From her backpack, Li Yao took out some gadgets she had prepared in advance over this period of time. They were a perfectbination of her own designs and Xia Xian¡¯s craftsmanship. After setting up some traps, Li Yao took out a small folding shovel and quickly dug a hole in the thick grass, making a patch of turf about the same size.


    Although not perfect, on a night like this, it could barely serve as a hiding ce.


    At this moment, the sound of hoofbeats approached from the front again. It seemed this squad of barbarians was rather elite, with quick reactions and mobility.


    But however elite they were, they never expected that Li Yao, just one person, would dare make a move against over thirty of them.


    "He must be hiding in this thick grass, find him!"


    At the leader''smand, over thirty people immediately fanned out to search the not-sorge area of thick grass.


    But just then, with a swoosh, a metal arrow urately pierced through the throat of a barbarian soldier.


    Li Yao scored a hit and immediately escaped far away.


    By the time the surrounding barbarian soldiers reacted, she had already hidden quite far.


    Seeing this, the barbarian sub-leader immediately responded: "Don''t spread out too much, three men per team!"


    But even so, Liu Xiu still had countermeasures.


    A team of three men approached the trap she had set. Their horses triggered the mechanism.


    Swoosh swoosh swoosh ¡ª¡ª


    Several arrows shot out, directly piercing two men''s bodies.


    These arrows were coated with a powerful paralytic poison. Although not fatal immediately, they would quickly paralyze the victim and incapacitate them.


    The one not hit by the arrows turned his horse around to retreat, but how could Li Yao give him that chance? Her exquisite crossbow arrow lifted and shot, cutting him down directly, before she again quickly escaped far away.


    Having lost four men in the blink of an eye, the barbarian sub-leader was a little angry. He gathered everyone together in a horizontal formation over 20 meters wide.


    But Li Yao had set several traps. Soon, poison arrows struck ten more men.


    "Set fire to it!"


    The barbarian sub-leader was furious. No longer caring whether to keep them alive, he brought his men to the upwind side and lit the dried thick grass.


    Fanned by the wind, the mes quickly burned away all the thick grass cleanly.


    But when they stepped through the ashes to search for corpses, they found nothing.


    At this time, Li Yao had already hidden far away in the dug pit from earlier, covered beneath the thick grass turf. If they didn''t look closely, it was basically impossible to notice.


    What she had to be thankful for was that the barbarians did not keep dogs. Otherwise, just one moderately trained hunting hound could easily sniff her out in the blink of an eye.


    Not having found even a shadow, and having lost half their men, the barbarian sub-leader could only curse his bad luck.


    "He must have set traps and left early," heforted himself in the end. "Take the wounded and horses, we''re going back."


    The sound of hoofbeats grew further and further, but Li Yao still did not budge an inch in her pit.


    Her acute hearing noticed that the barbarians had not all left. At least five remained hidden nearby in the grass.


    Despite the cold night wind, these barbarians were impervious to cold by nature. They kept watch the whole night.


    Not until the sky lightened slightly did their sub-leader return to retrieve them.


    Only when she could no longer hear any hoofbeats did Li Yao emerge from her dugout.


    No wonder even Daling¡¯s main forces struggled against the barbarians. These were no mere reckless cavaliers.


    Watching the sun slowly rise, Li Yao stretched and ate some rations and clean water.


    Now she had lost her horse. The road ahead would be more arduous and dangerous. But this long lost feeling filled her whole body with fighting spirit.


    After getting her bearings, Li Yao started quickly running across the grasnds.


    The next two days, relying on her keen hearing and sense of danger, she perfectly avoided several barbarian squads.


    But there were still no signs of Daling''s camp across the vast grasnds.


    The rations and water she carried had run out.


    Although with her skills she wouldn¡¯t starve in the grasnds, this was a ce she could encounter barbarians anytime, leaving her unable to safely search for food and water.


    It seemed she would have to think of something.


    Li Yaoy amidst the thick grass, concealing herself, and began nning her next steps.


    She decided to properly rest during the day. Then at night, she would try to encounter a barbarian squad, seize some horses and rations if she got the chance.


    ......


    Night fell again on the grasnds. Based on experience from the previous two days, the deeper she went into the grasnds, the more likely she was to encounter barbarian squads, with almost 100 percent probability.


    They treated the rear of Daling¡¯s army like their own backyard,ing as they pleased.


    She just didn''t know how many tonight¡¯s group would have.


    Lying amidst the grass, Li Yao waited untilte into the night. Sure enough, she faintly heard the muffled sound of hoofbeats from underground.


    After carefully discerning, her heart lept with joy. It was only a squad of over a dozen men.


    If she could ambush them, she could potentially wipe them all out under cover of this thick grass.


    So she took out thest things in her package and quickly startedying traps. To lure them in, she deliberately lit a small campfire.


    "There''s someone over there!¡±


    Like hunting dogs spotting a rabbit, the barbarian squad frantically rode over.


    But up close, they only saw an extinguished campfire.


    "He can''t have gone far," said the leader. "Search the thick grass! Be careful, I heard this guy is very good atying traps. Use those wooden sticks!"


    Over ten men stopped their horses outside the thick grass. Holding their weapons and wooden sticks, they started searching in a dra formation.


    Whatforted them was halfway through, they still hadn''t encountered any traps or ambushes, much less a scent of humans.


    The sub-leader sitting tall on his horse outside the thick grass oversaw it all in the moonlight: "He must be in the grass, keep searching!"


    But the moment his words fell, a ck shadow rapidly approached from behind. To reduce weight, the barbarians wore armor made of thick ox hides rather than steel. This gave Li Yao the perfect chance to strike as she silently pierced the back of the sub-leader''s neck with an arrow. The sub-leader only had time for a muffled grunt before falling off his horse.


    Having assassinated the leader, she''d aplished half her goal. Next, Li Yao took out a firesteel and began setting fires from upwind.

 Chapter 216: Fire Wave

    <h4>Chapter 216</h4>


    Along the edge of the tall grass, Li Yao had spread a lot of sulfur powder beforehand, so it burst into raging mes.


    Whoosh whoosh whoosh!


    Taking advantage of the wind, the fire spread rapidly, almost instantly forming a surge of fiery waves.


    The Barbarian soldiers who were still searching in the grass saw the huge fire rush towards them. One by one, they hastily fled forward, but of course they could not outrun the raging fire and were soon swallowed up by the fiery red mes.


    Even those who were smart enough to run in the opposite direction with their heads down to cross the firewall were still burned all over, losing their hair and beards. And they were choked by the smoke, unable to open their eyes.


    By the time they came to their senses, almost everyone was injured, and two unlucky ones were burned directly to death.


    What made them even more desperate was that their leader was lying lifeless on the ground, and all their warhorses had disappeared without a trace.


    "Quick, pull out the grass around and light bonfires!"


    "There are many of our people nearby. We must not let her get away this time!"


    ....


    One had to admit, the warhorses raised by the Barbarians were simply ferocious, with sturdy physique and tremendous strength when galloping.


    It was just a pity they only had single saddles, which was a bit tiring to ride.


    Li Yao found a lot of jerky and clear water, and ate her fill on horseback.


    She knew even greater dangersy ahead.


    The big fire just now would surely attract more people to chase her. It was likely she had already been heavily surrounded.


    If that was the case, tonight would undoubtedly be a fierce battle.


    Or it could be said, a thrilling escape, while her opponents were the Barbarians extremely familiar with the grasnds.


    Riding northwest, Li Yao galloped at full speed for about an hour before hearing horse hoofs in the distance.


    So she immediately split up half of the warhorses and drove them west, while she led the other half to continue forward.


    Luckily the nearby Barbarian squad all chased after the horses that went west.


    But the peace did notst long before more sounds of horse hoofs approached from all around.


    ....


    Inside the tents of the Daling Frontier Army, the soldiers had already entered to escape the piercing cold wind.


    The officers in charge of the forward camp patrolled while stomping their feet to prevent them from getting stiff from the freezing cold.


    Inside the main general''s tent, Grand Marshal Xu was still holding a meeting with a group of deputy generals to discuss food supplies.


    Currently there were only three days worth of rations left in the whole camp, and even less fodder for the horses, enough for just two more days. If no additional food supplies arrived, the whole army would have no choice but to retreat.


    However, retreating was easier said than done.


    The Barbarians had gathered arge number of troops up ahead, and there were also small elite squads constantly harassing the rear. Once they retreated, the main Barbarian army would surely attack them from both front and back.


    Even if they managed to protect the main force, the territories they barely managed to defend would have to be handed back with both hands.


    For the generals and soldiers who had been fighting in the northern bordends for many years, every inch of territory was exchanged with their own blood and lives, as well as their fallenrades.


    To force them to give up like this was even harder to ept than simply killing them.


    "Hasn''t the imperial court sent anyone yet?"


    "No messengers came thesest few days," a deputy general replied. "Grand Marshal, I say they''re deliberately not giving us supplies!"


    "Don''t spout nonsense!" Xu scolded him. "If the imperial court doesn''t have supplies to send, there must be difficulties beyond their control."


    "It''s already early winter, all taxes and levies for the year have long been collected. How can they not have food and fodder?"


    Of course Xu knew as well, but he could not rashly doubt and disturb troop morale.


    It''s just that the dilemmas before him were truly difficult to resolve.


    Could retreating be the only option left?


    "Grand Marshal!"


    Just then, a sentry rushed into the tent and said, "Scouts just reported seeing huge firelight to the southeast, with at least ten or so squads of Barbarian elite converging towards that direction."


    The group of generals looked at each other.


    Why were the Barbarians acting so crazy in the middle of the night?


    "Could it be supplies have arrived, and they want to intercept and destroy them midway?"


    "It''s impossible for supplies," Xu said. "If relief supplies were reallying, they would certainly have sent word early and asked us to wee them."


    "Then what are they up to?"


    "Who cares, send a cavalry unit of three hundred to go see what it is."


    "We can''t be rash," Xu said. "This is likely an enemy trap."


    With winter''s arrival and dwindling supplies, the movements of the Daling army werepressed to an extremely limited range.


    So it was very likely the Barbarians had already dispatched arge cavalry force to circle around to their rear.


    If they recklessly attacked now and the frontal enemy troops seized the chance to attack at the same time, the Daling army would face attacks from both front and back.


    Just then, another soldier came to report. "A deputy general named Liu Hu from the Yizhou Army charged in camp, saying he''sing to deliver supplies. He wants to see Grand Marshal!"


    Wang Sanger, who stood beside Xu, was shocked.


    Liu Hu of the Yizhou Army was no less an iron-d brother to him, but Liu Hu was more fortunate to be Xu''s personal guard and had now been promoted to captain.


    As for Wang Sanger himself, he was sent to the border of South Shaoguo, so how could Liu Hu possibly be here?


    "Bring him in."


    With one nce at Liu Hu''s face, Wang Sanger immediately recognized him.


    "Liu Hu, it really is you?" Wang stepped forward to support the weary Liu Hu. "Why are you here?"


    Upon seeing Wang, Liu Hu eagerly asked, "Has your mother arrived yet?"


    "Huh?" Wang Sanger was shocked. "My mother came as well? Liu Hu, what exactly is going on?"


    With a few words, Liu Hu recounted what happened with the supply delivery. Hearing that his mother was wandering the grasnds alone fending off Barbarians, Wang Sanger was extremely anxious.


    "Grand Marshal, the Barbarians are making such a big move tonight most likely to surround and intercept my mother. Please let me take my troops to rescue her!"


    Xu was also surprised the beautiful Lidy from Riverside Vige dared venture deep alone into the grasnds and tangle with the Barbarians.


    But ording to Liu Hu, three whole days and nights had passed. For a woman to survive under the eyes of the Barbarians for that long, even he himself could not aplish that, not to mention the generals in the tent.


    "Wang Sanger, things may not be as you imagine."


    "Grand Marshal, I know your concerns," Wang Sanger said. "But my mother is very capable. It''s highly possible she is still alive, so no matter what I must go see."


    Xu pondered briefly, then said, "Then you may only take your deputy generals."


    That meant only a hundred cavalry soldiers.


    "It''s enough!" Wang Sanger was fully confident.


    Through over a dozen skirmishes with the Barbarians over the past months, relying on the crossbows, steel sabres, and battle tactics Mother taught him, he had already distinguished himself in battle many times. If not for his brief military service and young age, Xu would not stop him from going out so frequently. At the very least he would be a cavalry captain by now.


    As for the hundred cavalry under hismand, they were also elites he had meticulously trained, valiant and unstoppable. Even facing several Barbarian squads, he believed his men could easily best them.


    "Then go," Xu said. "Remember, withdraw immediately if anything seems off!"


    "Yes, sir!"

 Chapter 217: Breakout

    <h4>Chapter 217</h4>


    Boom boom¡ª¡ª


    The sound of hoofbeats thundered like lightning all around Li Yao.


    She knew she waspletely surrounded.


    She was a little puzzled though - logically, she should still be behind the Daling Army''s front line. How could there be so many barbarian troops here?


    Could she have made a mistake in her calctions and, after rushing along these past two days, unwittingly arrived in barbarian territory after missing the Daling Army?


    That seemed unlikely.


    Now was not the time to ponder such things.


    Being surrounded was a foregone conclusion, so how she could break free was the key.


    In an instant, at least three methods of escape shed through Li Yao''s mind. But just as she was deciding which one to use, fires lit up in the far distance.


    This was followed by the faint sound of hoofbeats. Although still distant, they sounded considerable in number.


    Moreover, they were concentrated together, not dispersed like these small barbarian elite squads surrounding her.


    Could she have run into the Daling Army?


    Li Yao felt it was very possible - after all, this was still the Daling Army''s rear. If the Daling Army did not respond at all to the barbarians brazenly rampaging around tonight, that would reflect badly on them.


    In that case, she would stop hiding.


    She decided to break through the barbarian encirclement and directly link up with the Daling Army.


    So she took a leather armor from her horse and put it on, then oriented herself and prepared to break out at top speed.


    The barbarian squads clearly also noticed the Daling Army''s movements. They immediately split into five small teams, adopting an encirclement posture to intercept, while the rest continued to surround Li Yao.


    The thunderous hoofbeats grew nearer and nearer. At a distance of two hundred meters, the tall figures of the barbarians could already be seen.


    Li Yao held her breath, crossbow and arrow poised and ready.


    The barbarians'' crossbows had an effective range of about thirty meters, while hers, custom-made by Xia Xian, had an effective range of almost fifty meters.


    Do not underestimate those extra twenty meters - it was enough to give her the upper hand.


    In the blink of an eye, the hundred-plus meter gap closed. Li Yao raised her crossbow and shot, directly hitting the barbarian at the forefront.


    Whoosh whoosh whoosh¡ª¡ª


    What followed was the barbarians'' powerful retaliation.


    Dense volleys of arrows shot past her like a swarm of locusts, some even snapping off a few strands of her hair.


    It had to be said, these barbarians'' arrows packed quite a punch, and their aim was not bad either.


    After this arrow storm came close-quartersbat.


    Li Yao drew her long knife from her back. Her feet were lodged tightly in the stirrups.


    The barbarians used single-stirrup saddles, but she had modified hers into a double-stirrup saddle so she could better leverage her advantage on horseback.


    Whoosh¡ª¡ª


    The two warhorses brushed past each other. As Li Yao dodged the barbarian''s curved knife, her own knife smoothly sliced through the leather armor under his armpit.


    The sharp de sliced right through his chest cavity. He tumbled off the horse.


    Scoring a hit, Li Yao did not linger but spurred her horse onwards.


    By the time the barbarian had reined his horse around to pursue, Li Yao was already a hundred-plus meters away.


    "Shoot arrows, shoot her dead for me!"


    It was just one woman, and yet she had taken out more than ten elite barbarian warriors these past couple days. And now, surrounded and outnumbered, she could still injure two with a single pass.


    How could the barbarian sub-chief swallow this insult?


    Atop her galloping horse, Li Yao was also pumped at this direct confrontation. She had never had this kind of frontlinebat experience before. Trying it out asionally felt pretty good.


    At least, relying on her own agility and control over every detail, retreating safely still felt effortless.


    But Wang San''er was in a somewhat passive position.


    Being surrounded and attacked by five elite enemy squads with inferior numbers - this really did not feel good.


    When fighting the Daling Army, the barbarians would almost never sh head-on. Like paring meat with a small knife, they would nibble away bit by bit at the Daling forces.


    If truly outmatched, they would scatter and flee helter-skelter, impossible for their pursuers to catch up.


    Whoosh whoosh¡ª¡ª


    Arrows whistled into the army''s midst, injuring two men. But the enemies did not tarry, shooting a volley then immediately circling to the side in preparation for their next attack.


    Wang San''er knew now was not the time to grapple with the enemies. He looked into the distance - fighting seemed to have broken out over there.


    This strengthened his conviction that Mother must still be alive, and heading this way.


    "Form ranks!"


    "Charge formation, charge towards the front!"


    One hundred men immediately assumed a triangr formation, charging straight for Li Yao under Wang San''er''s lead.


    Arge-scale cavalry charge was extremely fearsome, so the scattered barbarians had to avoid its momentum for the time being.


    But such a headlong charge also had a huge downside - if it failed to hit the enemy main force, the enemy could swiftly regroup and counter-charge while their horses were spent but the enemy raring to go. With strength on one side and weakness on the other, it would be easy to get scattered.


    But Wang San''er could think of nothing else now. His sole thought was: Rescue Mother!


    Boom boom boom¡ª¡ª


    The horses trampled the earth, shaking it.


    Wang San brought his officers, charging at top speed towards Li Yao.


    But the distance was too great. By the time their charge approached its end, they still had not caught sight of Li Yao.


    Meanwhile, the barbarian squads had fully regrouped. Assuming charge formation, they now prepared to counter-attack.


    Forming a defensive formation was the only effective approach now.


    Charging them now would only get them scattered by the enemies. Only holding formation could allow them to hold out a bit longer.


    But everyone knew the cavalry charge was no easy thing to defend against. There would likely be heavy casualties. Many brothers would remain here tonight.


    "My brothers, your brother Wang San has wronged you!"


    "What is this nonsense, Third Brother?" A soldier retorted. "What of dying while fighting barbarians?"


    "Those f*cking barbarians are too arrogant. We''ll teach them a lesson tonight!"


    "Third Brother, let''s not keep defending. Let''s just charge these motherf*ckers to the death!"


    "Right, let''s show them the might of us Daling cavalry!"


    Hot blood rushed through the hundred men''s chests.


    Battle lust surged in their hearts!


    "Good brothers!" Wang San''er roused them with a cry, arm raised. "My mother once said, better to devote this life to serving the nation than to live on safely back in Yuhan Pass!"


    "Brothers, follow me - we''ll ughter these barbarians squeaky clean!"


    "Kill¡ª¡ª"


    "Form ranks!"


    "Charge¡ª¡ª"


    Boom boom boom¡ª¡ª


    The deafening din made the heavens and earth quake.


    The two cavalry forces charged towards each other with peerless valor.


    Meanwhile, several hundred meters away, Li Yao observed both sides'' situations clearly. She could not help but inwardly remark that the Dalingmander was far too rash.


    Having justunched a charge, to immediately charge again - how could the horses take it?


    shing now would surely end messily.


    As always, it came down to her again, after all.


    So she immediately mounted a nearby warhorse, and set alight the hay she had prepared atop it earlier.


    In a sh, several warhorses became fiery steeds, maddened as they charged towards the barbarian army.


    Caught unawares, the barbarian troops watched the sudden ming horses crash into their ranks. Terrified by the mes, their war mounts immediately grew chaotic, colliding incessantly. Even the skilled barbarian horsemen could not restrain them for the moment.


    And amidst their disarray, Wang San had already arrived leading his men.


    "Kill¡ª¡ª"

 Chapter 218: Cast a net to Catch Fish

    <h4>Chapter 218</h4>


    Wang San brandished his long battle sword with unmatched bravery as he charged into the enemy''s formation, unleashing a frenzy of ughter.


    The soldiers behind him followed closely, and for a moment, the sounds of killing echoed through the air, scattering the enemy''s formation in disarray.


    Seeing the unfavorable situation, the barbarians abandoned theirrades and turned to flee.


    Wang San''s heart filled with joy. He had already prepared himself for a fierce and bloody battle, but he didn''t expect a sudden stroke of divine assistance. With the enemy now in chaotic retreat, devoid of any fighting spirit, it was the perfect opportunity for a decisive victory.


    "Chase them!"


    "What''s the point of chasing them?"


    Just as Wang San was about to pursue the fleeing enemies, a familiar voice rang out.


    "Mother?" Wang San''s heart swelled with delight as he pulled his horse''s reins and rushed forward. "Is it really you, Mother?"


    Li Yao hadn''t expected that Wang San would be leading the charge on this side.


    Months had passed since theyst saw each other, and this young man seemed to have grown taller and stronger. His face was as dark as coal.


    d in armor stained with blood, he had the air of a seasoned warrior.


    Seeing Wang San''s unscathed mother assisting everyone by setting the enemy on fire, the soldiers flocked around.


    They had heard Wang San boast countless times about how formidable his mother was, and while they were initially skeptical, now they could see that it wasn''t just empty words.


    Just asughter began to erupt from the crowd, Li Yao shouted, "Wang San, are you an idiot?"


    Wang San: ...


    Onlookers: ... What''s going on?


    "You''re tired and your horse is weary, yet you dare to charge headlong against the enemy who''s well-rested?" Li Yao''s voice turned cold. "Did you throw away everything I taught you? Did you treat yourrades'' lives so lightly?"


    Wang San didn''t dare utter a word of protest.


    Indeed, he hadmitted a grave mistake tonight.


    If it weren''t for his mother''s assistance, many of hisrades might have perished tonight.


    "Go back and report to General Xu for your punishment."


    "Understood, Mother." Wang San asked with concern, "Are you alright, Mother?"


    "What could happen to me?" Li Yao replied. "What are you all doing here?"


    "Liu Hu said that you had been in the grasnds for several days, and tonight we discovered signs of the barbarians'' movement. I was worried they were trying to encircle you, so I volunteered toe to the camp... to wee you."


    Originally, he had wanted to say "rescue," but the reality made it impossible to utter.


    They had just witnessed who had saved whom.


    "Let''s go. The barbarians areing again."


    After joining forces with Wang San, Li Yao finally felt a sense of relief. At least she didn''t have to wander the vast grasnds searching for people anymore.


    Even before they reached the central tent, someone had already informed Grand Marshal Xu of the news.


    Grand Marshal Xu had imagined many scenes of meeting Li Yao, but he never expected that it would happen in this distantnd, under these circumstances.


    "Li Ru, are you... well?"


    "I''m fine."


    "Haha, true to form, Li Ru." Grand Marshal Xuughed. "Please have a seat in the camp."


    The central tent was spacious but devoid of any warmth. It was icy cold, a testament to the dire shortage of supplies in the Daling Army.


    After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Wang San took the initiative to confess his mistake.


    Although only a few of hisrades were injured this time, with no fatalities, he had indeed acted impulsively.


    "In consideration of your single-minded desire to rescue your mother, I will let it slide this time," Grand Marshal Xu, also being generous, said, "Immediately arrange a tent for Li Ru to rest."


    "Not in a hurry."


    Li Yao didn''te here to rest.


    For the past three days, she had been pondering why a small elite force of the barbarians could be so audacious in the rear of the army, preventing Daling''s supplies from being transported.


    On this topic, Grand Marshal Xu wore a helpless expression.


    "We have always been short of provisions, causing the soldiers and horses to often go hungry," Grand Marshal Xu thought for a moment and continued, "Andtely, it has been a long time since any supplies have arrived. At most, the army can hold on... for three days."


    Originally, such matters should not be disclosed to Li Yao.


    However, for some reason, Grand Marshal Xu felt that if he told her, Li Yao might have a good solution.


    "Prince Yizhou sent me some provisions from Yizhou, enough for the army for over twenty days."


    "Really?"


    "Didn''t Liu Hu tell you?"


    "Liu Hu? Are you referring to the young general in the Yizhou army?" Grand Marshal Xu asked. "After he arrived, he only had time to mention your matter before he copsed from exhaustion. He still hasn''t woken up."


    "But the provisions are stuck at the Yuhan Pass, and themanding officer there refuses to let them through."


    "Is that so?" Grand Marshal Xu couldn''t help but feel angry. The soldiers here were starving, and now the delivered provisions were being blocked. "Have these people be so audacious as to openly obstruct us like this?"


    "In fact, the provisions have already been transported here. We just need to send someone to fetch them," Li Yao said. "My concern is that they might be ambushed by the barbarians along the way."


    "Ah, this has been troubling us for a long time," Grand Marshal Xu asked, "I wonder if Lady Li has any good ideas?"


    "I''m just a woman, I don''t understand these matters," Li Yao nced at the people around her¡ªseven or eight generals and a few individuals dressed in long robes, likely civilian personnel in the military. "It''ste today, everyone should rest. Let''s discuss the matter of the provisions tomorrow."


    "Alright, Wang San, take Lady Li to the camp to rest."


    ...


    Although it was a simple tent without even a bed, only some straw and basic bedding, it was rtivelyfortable on this bitterly cold night.


    After chatting with Wang San for a while, Li Yao entered the tent alone.


    But she didn''t sleep. Instead, she took out the paper and pen that Wang San had found for her and began to write and draw.


    Just now, while observing the reactions of the people in the main tent, she noticed that when they heard that arge amount of provisions was being transported, two individuals'' eyes flickered. She strongly suspected that these two were spies.


    Otherwise, even if the barbarians were formidable, they couldn''t urately know the route of the provisions every time.


    If the spy wasn''t exposed in advance, no matter how much food was delivered, it would likely be destroyed by the barbarians halfway.


    And what she was writing were some small strategies for Grand Marshal Xu.


    After finishing, she would ask Wang San to find an opportunity to give them to Grand Marshal Xu alone.


    Early the next morning, as usual, Grand Marshal Xu summoned the generals to the tent. Liu Hu, who had awakened, was also called over, and he exined the situation of the provisions being blocked at the Yuhan Pass.


    "Sir Grand Marshal," Liu Hu said, "I suggest sending two thousand soldiers and horses to go and intercept them."


    "It''s useless," Grand Marshal Xu replied. "You don''t understand the situation here. No matter how many people we send to intercept the provisions, they will be attacked by the enemy''s cavalry. They won''t engage us directly; they just need to shoot their arrows from a distance, and most of the provisions will be burned."


    Whether it''s carriages, carts, or tricycles, traveling on the grasnd without roads is too slow.


    As for sending more people to transport provisions, the enemy''s main force will be mobilized, leading to a major battle where the oue is uncertain, and the provisions will undoubtedly be burnedpletely.


    Therefore, the best approach is secrecy, making sure the enemy doesn''t know the route of the provisions or when they will be delivered, leaving them helpless.


    "I have pondered all night ande up with a n of deploying decoy convoys," said Grand Marshal Xu. "We will prepare several fake routes, with only two of them being real. What do you all think?"


    The generals and officials immediately expressed their opinions, some finding it troublesome while others considering it feasible.


    Among the civilian officials, there were both supporters and opponents.


    In the end, Grand Marshal Xu grew exasperated and said, "We''ll proceed as I suggested! However, we need to carefully consider which route is the real one. Go back and think about it."


    This was the strategy devised by Li Yao to assist him.


    There were a total of ten people, including the generals and senior officials.


    Later, Grand Marshal Xu would call each person one by one and determine the actual delivery route.


    Of course, he would tell each of them something different.


    In this way, by identifying which route or routes were targeted by the barbarians'' attacks, they could expose the traitor.


    One critical aspect of this n required informing Zhang Shun, stationed at Yuhan Pass, and coordinating with him. Wang San volunteered for the task and departedst night.


    The messengers sent out today were merely for show.


    The had been cast; now it was a matter of catching which fish.

 Chapter 219: The Prince

    <h4>Chapter 219</h4>


    Zhang Shun led a convoy of grain transporting vehicles slowly crossing the deste grasnd.


    The piercing cold wind blew so hard that one could barely open their eyes, but Zhang Shun didn''t dare let down his guard for even a second, attentively keeping an eye on every rustle of the grass around them.


    He didn''t know if he would be that unlucky one to encounter an ambush by the barbarians, but as a veteran who had spilled blood on this very grasnd before, he understood perfectly well the ferocity and horrors of the barbarians.


    "Chief, it''s getting dark. Should we set up camp?"


    Zhang Shun looked up at the darkening sky and was about to nod in agreement when the ground beneath them began to rumble.


    He immediately drew out his sword and stabbed it into the mud, then pressed his ear against the de. Sure enough, he could hear the thunder of hooves getting closer.


    "The barbarians are here!"


    The two hundred Yi Prefecture soldiers that were traveling with him immediately formed a circle around Zhang Shun.


    "How unlucky we are to run into them!"


    "Chief, you haven''t washed your face these days, have you? That''s why we have such terrible luck!"


    "You still have the mood to joke around?" Zhang Shun was quite impressed by his seasoned veterans to remain so carefree in this situation. "When the barbarians catch up to us, you won''t even have time to cry!"


    "Then what should we do now, chief?"


    "What else can we do? Run!"


    "The chief said to run! Let''s get out of here!"


    "Unhitch the oxen, leave the carts!"


    "Hurry up, or the barbarians will invite you to a barbecue!"


    ...


    Joking aside, when it came to fleeing for their lives, these veterans moved faster than anyone.


    The ones on foot ran, the ones riding oxen rode, and in a sh everyone had cleared out cleanly.


    Zhang Shun and the rear guard not only set fire to every cart, but had loaded them with useless hay instead of grain. It was a pity to lose the carts he had spent a fortune on.


    By the time the barbarian troops arrived, Zhang Shun and his men had already fled far away. The barbarians had intended to burn the grain but found that it had already been reduced to ashes.


    "Humph! Those damned Han people," the barbarian chief looked at the hundred burning carts, feeling it a great waste. "At least they were smart enough to burn everything instead of leaving us any."


    "What does it matter?" A barbarian vice chief said. "With no grain, their main forces will retreat in days. We can ambush them then and catch them unprepared."


    The barbarian chief gazed toward Yuhan Pass, a smirk on his lips. "Then we''ll kill our way into Yuhan Pass!"


    ...


    Grand Marshal Xu was chatting with Li Yao in his tent when Wang San hurried inside.


    Seeing there was no one else present, he whispered, "The fish has taken the bait."


    "Oh?" Grand Marshal Xu asked. "Which route was it?"


    "The one with Wei Commander."


    Grand Marshal Xu frowned, finding it rather strange.


    The Commander monitored the army on behalf of the emperor, basically a spy for the throne to ensure the generals do not rebel ormit treason.


    Why would someone as loyal to the emperor as a Commander turn traitor instead?


    Regardless of whether it made sense, the facts wereid bare before him. Grand Marshal Xu said, "Take him into custody."


    "You must not do that," Li Yao rushed to stop him.


    "Why can''t we arrest him?" Grand Marshal Xu asked, puzzled. "Though he is a Commander, I don''t have the authority to dispose of him. But he has colluded with foreign parties, so I can escort him back to the capital for His Majesty to pass judgement."


    "That would be letting him off too easily," Li Yao said. "He''s not getting away anyway. Keep him for now so we can make better use of him."


    "Does Madam Li have any wise suggestions?"


    "The real grain transport hasn''t arrived yet," said Li Yao. "Let''s use the same trick, split them into two teams. One with the real grain, one with fake grain. Give Wei Commander the route for the fake grain to tell the barbarians to raid, so the real grain can arrive safely."


    "You''re right, why didn''t I think of that? We''ll do just that!"


    It was merely the simplest tactic of suspicion and division.


    Li Yao even wondered how someone like Grand Marshal Xu made it to Grand Marshal at all, though it was also possible he was just pretending to be dumb.


    In any case, the n worked perfectly. Hearing there was even more grain this time, guarded by elite soldiers at that, the barbarians concentrated almost all their forces infiltrated behind the Han army tounch a strike.


    Yet when they arrived, they found only burning carts with nothing left, again.


    To make the barbarians believe it was real grain, Zhang Shun deliberately left a few carts unburned, filled with actual food.


    The barbarians thought they had achieved another tremendous victory, burning several hundred carts of Daling grain. Little did they know the real grain had already circumvented them and arrived safely at the Han army''s station.


    With so much grain now, Grand Marshal Xu was greatly relieved.


    As for Zhang Shun and Liu Hu''s two thousand Yi Prefecture soldiers, though theycked horses, they were incorporated into the main forces for logistic duties and garrisoning the camps, more than sufficient.


    When the grain arrived, Grand Marshal Xu had already arrested Wei Commander.


    The old eunuch didn''t even know how he was exposed. He stubbornly denied the allegations and clung to his status, refusing to yield. Finally Grand Marshal Xuid out the entire scheme to make Wei Commander fall to his knees in despair.


    "Grand Marshal, I had no choice! I was coerced!"


    "Colluding with foreign parties, and you still im you had no choice?" Grand Marshal Xu sneered. "Could the barbarians even reach your family within the capital to threaten them?"


    "It wasn''t the barbarians, it was...it was..."


    "It was who?" Grand Marshal Xu demanded. "If you confess the whole truth, I may petition His Majesty to pardon your crimes and let you live out your remaining years in peace. But if not, consider your legs broken!"


    After brief hesitation, Wei Commander caved and talked.


    "It was on the orders of Right Chancellor Zhu Zilin that I acted."


    "What did you say?" Grand Marshal Xu bolted up in rage. "Wei Commander, how dare you wantonly smear and nder? Do you really want me to break your legs right now?"


    "I wouldn''t dare lie! It really was the Right Chancellor''smand! If not, even if I were bolder than the heavens I still wouldn''t dare collude with the barbarians!"


    Now Grand Marshal Xu was confused again.


    Why would someone as powerful as the Right Chancellor, second only to the emperor himself, join forces with the barbarians?


    Unable to make sense of it, Grand Marshal Xu decided to ask Li Yao.


    Li Yao shook her head. "I doubt the Chancellor ns to rebel. He probably just wants to use the barbarians to bog Daling''s army down here."


    "How does that benefit him?"


    "I presume some even higher power made the arrangements," Li Yao smiled. "Though who exactly, I do not have the contacts to know. Grand Marshal, you would be more familiar in that area."


    The only ones higher than the Right Chancellor were the present emperor.


    The emperor working with barbarians? That possibility could be dismissed without thinking.


    No, wait!


    A figure suddenly surfaced in Grand Marshal Xu''s mind.


    Higher than the Right Chancellor, aside from the present emperor, there was another¡ª¡ªthe future emperor¡ª¡ªthe Crown Prince!

 Chapter 220: The Making of a City

    <h4>Chapter 220</h4>


    Grand Marshal Xu did not dare to think further down that path. To suspect the Crown Prince without evidence was something that could cost him his head. For now, he had to think about how to best utilize the Wei Commander to win this battle beautifully.


    After a night of strategizing, Grand Marshal Xu decided to take the initiative and attack the Barbarians by surprise. He had the Wei Commander send the Barbarians false information iming that the Daling army was preparing to retreat 100 li due tock of provisions.


    He expected that the Barbarian forces would surely not let this opportunity pass and would take advantage tounch an assault. In the meantime, the Daling side had prepared its forces in advance, ready to carry out an ambush.


    Forrge-scale battles like this, Li Yao could not interfere, so she did not inquire further. Her carriage had arrived with many gadgets that still needed some assembly, so she had remained in her camp tent.


    With battle imminent, the entire army was armed and on standby.


    Even in the smoothest battle, there would still be men who would remain on these grasnds forever, so the atmosphere before departure was exceptionally solemn.


    After bidding Li Yao farewell, Wang San''er led his men and set off under the vast night sky.


    Although she had only given him a simple reminder, Li Yao still could not help feeling vaguely worried in her heart.


    Strictly speaking, she was not even a stepmother to him, yet she still felt such concern. If it had been his own parents seeing their child fighting for his life on the battlefield, how much more anxious would they feel?


    The fathers and mothers who lost their children this way must be utterly heartbroken.


    After the troops had departed, Grand Marshal Xu also stayed up all night in the main tent waiting for any news.


    It was not until the second half of the night before messages starteding in one by one. Some were good news, some were bad.


    The situation on the battlefield changed constantly like one''s shifting expressions, with the fighting intensely deadlocked.


    Li Yao had originally fallen asleep when she was woken up again by the constant mor outside. Going out for a look, she saw arge number of wounded soldiers being sent back and assisted by two thousand Yi Prefecture troops.


    Most had suffered arrow wounds. A small portion had been shed by the Barbarians¡¯ curved des, with flesh split open and bloody scenes that made one¡¯s scalp tingle. The smell of blood permeated the air, practically shrouding the entire camp.


    The army doctors were even busier, rushing around ceaselessly. They were likely already numb to these sights.


    With the army¡¯s limited medical capabilities and medicinal resources, they could only perform the most basic wound treatment, hardly any sterilization at all, simply using white cloth to wrap wounds to stanch bleeding.


    Whether these injured soldiers lived or died would be up to fate now.


    ¡°What you¡¯re doing is no good,¡± Li Yao finally could not stand to keep watching. Most of these wounded were just over ten years old, still having a long bright future ahead. To die from infected wounds would be too great a pity.


    ¡°Lady Li,¡± one army doctor said, ¡°We have little herbal medicine in the army and can only make do.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if there¡¯s no herbal medicine. But the wounds must be sterilized first, along with the dressing cloth,¡± Li Yao said.


    ¡°Sterilize? What¡¯s that?¡±


    Seeing this, Li Yao could only demonstrate personally.


    She boiled the instruments in hot water before starting to clean the wounds: ¡°Tools cannot be shared. They must be reboiled after cleaning each patient¡¯s wounds.¡±


    After clearing out necrotic flesh and clotted blood from the wounds, Li Yao took out a jar of high-proof liquor and a jar of white powder from the camp tent.


    She soaked cotton wadding in liquor to disinfect the wounds and surrounding skin.


    The searing pain as liquor met their wounds made the injured soldiers grit their teeth violently to keep from passing out. But they knew Li Yao was trying to save their lives, so not one of them cried out.


    After disinfecting, Li Yao also sprinkled a little of the white medicinal powder onto the wounds. This was a powder medicine she had personally formted.


    Finally, she carefully wrapped up the wounds with sterilized cotton wadding and dressing.


    ¡°All wounds should undergo this treatment,¡± Li Yao said. ¡°For prative wounds affecting internal organs, the flesh must be cut open first to treat the internal injuries before suturing the flesh closed.¡±


    The army doctors with them were shocked speechless.


    For those with wounds prating internal organs, even if they made it back by some fluke, these doctors had always been helpless, only able leave it up to fate for them to wait for death.


    Yet now this Lady Li said she would cut open their flesh to treat internal injuries?


    Li Yao did not me these doctors for being stuck in their limited understanding andcking knowledge of surgery, given the constraints of the times.


    So she had several tents prepared specifically for the severely injured. She demonstrated personally, letting some younger army doctors follow her lead and learn. These doctors had been mentally prepared, but how could they have ever witnessed disemboweling a living person before? The moment they saw the bloody viscera, they could not help rushing out of the tent to retch violently outside.


    Fortunately such grievous cases were not many. Li Yao worked busily with them for a day, basically handling all the hurt soldiers.


    Those doctors who followed her also basically grasped the concept of surgery, learning the simplest emergency response methods.


    Before they realized, the deadlocked fighting had persisted into its third day. The situation was not as ideal as Grand Marshal Xu had nned. After the initial ambush, the Barbarians quickly dispersed into smaller teams, leveraging what they did best - cavalry skirmishing tactics to harass the Daling forces over the grasnds.


    There was no going back now. Grand Marshal Xu decisively ordered the Daling army to likewise split up and engage the Barbarians in guerri warfare on the ins.


    His n was to hold out until the first snowfall. Once heavy snow nketed thend the Barbarian horses would have no grass forage left and be forced to retreat to the Royal Court Camp on their own.


    ¡°Lady Li, bad news,¡± a young army doctor hurried to Li Yao¡¯s tent. ¡°Patient #3 in Tent A has developed a fever sincest night and is now delirious.¡±


    Li Yao rushed over to see the patient burning with high fever, frighteningly hot to the touch.


    The wound had be severely inmed and purulent - clear signs of infection.


    Li Yao distributed some prepared herbal medicines. She also called over an army doctor to advise them on cleaning wound dressings properly and using disinfectants. Afterwards, she let the doctors handle it on their own.


    As time passed, the weather grew colder but there was still no sign of the snow Grand Marshal Xu had hoped for.


    After carefully reassessing multiple times, he decided they had to pull out. Continuing to fight was meaningless when provisions were already over halfway depleted. They had to regroup and resupply.


    Yet the Barbarians did not retreat. Even after the full Daling army had withdrawn back to base, Barbarian contingents of a few hundred continued loitering nearby. They still carried out nighttime tent raids, sending harassment attacks from afar before escaping. Their mastery of guerri tactics remained peerless.


    ¡°Curse these damned Barbarians!¡±


    Inside Li Yao¡¯s tent, Wang San''er was ready to crush his own fists. He had personally sustained only superficial wounds this time leading troops into battle, but over ten brothers would never return. Over thirty more had suffered varying degrees of injury.


    ¡°Mother, it seems your military treatises have no counter to this situation?¡± Wang San''er said.


    ¡°And why wouldn¡¯t they?¡± Li Yao said. ¡°When facing endless harassment from the enemy, we can respond to their myriad changes with constancy. They will tire eventually and retreat on their own.¡±


    ¡°But we are not so easy to defend,¡± Wang San¡¯er said. ¡°With open grasnds around and not a city or fortress for shelter.¡±


    ¡°Then we build one if none exists.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Wang San¡¯er was confused.

 Chapter 221: Invincible

    <h4>Chapter 221</h4>


    "Build a city here?"


    The idea is good, but what can we use to build it?


    Besides, we don''t have enough manpower, and the court is unlikely to provide us with enough materials.


    "Just because we can''t build it now doesn''t mean we won''t be able to in the future," said Li Yao. "Yesterday, I received a letter from the Prince of Yizhou. The cement workshop has already started production, and your fourth uncle and his team are working tirelessly. We will soon have arge supply. Once the cement arrives, it won''t be difficult to build a city, right?"


    "But what about before that?" Wang San''er asked. "I don''t know why, but the barbarians are acting like they''ve gone mad this time. I suspect that even if the Great Snow seals the ins, they won''t retreat. So, Mother, please help use up with a solution."


    "Is this your idea or Grand Marshal Xu''s idea?"


    "Well..." Wang San''er blushed and said, "Actually, I volunteered for it."


    Li Yao smiled and shook her head, but she didn''t me Wang San''er.


    So she went to the central military tent to find Grand Marshal Xu.


    "Li Ru, do you have a solution to the barbarian attacks?"


    "Yes."


    "Please tell me!"


    "It''s actually quite simple," Li Yao said. "The reason we can''t deal with the barbarians now is that we can''t track their movements. We don''t know where they are or when they willunch their attacks."


    Elusiveness is the essence of guerri warfare.


    "But even if we send out scouts, it''s difficult to ascertain their whereabouts."


    "Grand Marshal Xu, have you ever heard the saying ''to see far, stand high''?"


    "Li Ru means that we should build a tall tower?"


    Li Yao shook her head. "The tower is too short. We need to go higher."


    Grand Marshal Xu: ...


    The officers and soldiers: ...


    If someone can reach the sky, they wouldn''t be human but a deity.


    Even Grand Marshal Xu, who has always trusted Li Yao, couldn''t help but have some doubts this time.


    Only Wang San''er continued to support her as always. "If Mother says we can reach the sky, then we definitely can!"


    "But before that, I need arge quantity of sheepskin, cowhide, and enough strong and long ropes and cords."


    "Alright, I''ll arrange for it."


    Obtaining sheepskin and cowhide on the grasnds is rtively simple. Grand Marshal Xu didn''t request them from the court but instead sent a team with money to Yuhan Pass to purchase them from local herders.


    A few dayster, severalrge carts of sheepskin, cowhide, and ropes were brought back.


    With the current technology, Li Yao couldn''t build an airne, so she could only make a hot air balloon.


    While the balloon was being sewn, a structure over twenty meters high was erected to facilitate the intion of the balloon.


    When the enormous hot air balloon waspleted, Li Yao brought out two sealed wooden barrels from her tent. They contained raw rubber, which could be used to temporarily seal the gaps between the sheepskin.


    Then dozens of people hung the massive hot air balloon on the structure and attached ropes above with a basket below.


    Looking at this enormous and peculiar contraption, people couldn''t help but wonder, can this thing really fly to the sky?


    "I thought it would be a pair of giant wings, but it turned out to be a giant ball."


    "I thought it was going to be a paper kite, no, a leather paper kite."


    "Li Ru," Grand Marshal Xu watched with confusion, "how is this thing supposed to fly?"


    "It still needs one more thing."


    Li Yao moved a small gasifier out of the tent. It was crafted by Xia Xian and used coal as fuel. There was also a hand-operated blower installed below.


    After adding coal to the gasifier and igniting it, Wang San''er began vigorously shaking the blower. Arge amount of air blew into the coal, causing it to burn vigorously, and the resulting hot air quickly entered the hot air balloon.


    After two quarters of an hour, the originally deted hot air balloon swelled up in front of everyone''s eyes and began to float upward, pulling the connecting ropes straight towards the ground.


    "It''s almost ready to fly," Li Yao said. "Grand Marshal Xu, would you like to give it a try first?"


    To be honest, Grand Marshal Xu felt a bit apprehensive.


    This contraption did look like it could actually fly, but what if it flew too high and couldn''te down, or if it suddenly broke at a high altitude...


    "Cough, cough, I''ll stay down here and oversee the situation."


    "Then I''ll go by myself."


    Li Yao boarded the hot air balloon. However, it was her first time riding in such a rudimentary one. Nevertheless, she believed that there wouldn''t be any problems. Even if the hot air balloon leaked air, it wouldn''t descend directly but rather slowly.


    With enough coal loaded in the basket, Li Yao and Wang San''er were ready to ascend.


    "Liu Hu, you must pay attention to the ropes," Wang San''er reminded. "Otherwise, we might be blown far away by the wind."


    "Understood!"


    Liu Hu and Zhang Shun, along with a dozen other people, slowly released the ropes below. As the heat increased, the hot air balloon swiftly ascended into the sky.


    But in the blink of an eye, it reached an altitude of several dozen meters.


    "Wow, isn''t this high enough?" Wang San''er couldn''t help but ask, looking at the height above the ground.


    "It''s still early," Li Yao replied. "If we really want to fly, we can go dozens of times higher than this."


    "How high?"


    The typical altitude for manned hot air balloons is around one kilometer, and Li Yao had prepared ropes of that length. However, in reality, they couldn''t fly that high because the winds in the sky were too strong. The hot air balloon ascended at an angle, which increased the danger, so a few hundred meters would be sufficient.


    When the balloon reached a considerable height, the pressure on the ropes increased. At this height, even the bold Wang San''er hesitated to look down.


    Li Yao looked into the distance. The weather today was clear, with high visibility extending for more than ten li (a Chinese unit of distance). She then waved a small g a few times.


    This was the agreement she made with Grand Marshal Xu. When he saw the waving g, he would send out a small cavalry unit, heading towards Yuhan Pass. She wanted to test how far she could see from the hot air balloon.


    The cavalry unit quickly ran quite far. When their figures became gradually indistinct and difficult to see, Wang San''er estimated, "Probably less than thirty li. That distance should be enough!"


    "Not enough."


    Thirty li was at most a small advantage on the battlefield, far from the level of overwhelming dominance.


    Li Yao took out a long cylinder from her small backpack. She had selected a few pieces of ss with the highest transparency from the ssware Xia Xian crafted and made several simple telescopes.


    After slightly adjusting the focus, the cavalry unit appeared in the telescope.


    After conducting final tests, it was found that bybining a hot air balloon with a telescope, one could see a cavalry squad at a distance of fifty li, which is approximately twenty-five kilometers.


    However,pared to the theoretical distance of one hundred kilometers, it falls short by arge margin.


    The key issue lies in theck of transparency in the telescope lens, causing blurriness at greater distances.


    Nevertheless, at a normal pace, it would take the cavalry about an hour to cover the fifty li.


    By knowing the enemy''s movements one hour in advance, even being able to monitor their every action and respond ordingly, the Daling Army would be virtually invincible, as long as the difference in strength isn''t too vast.

 Chapter 222: A Reward for the Army

    <h4>Chapter 222</h4>


    The sessfulunch of the hot air balloon greatly boosted the morale of Grand Marshal Xu and his soldiers.


    After personally experiencing the feeling of flying and the magic of the telescope, Grand Marshal Xu immediately gathered his generals and worked with Li Yao to figure out a long distancemunication method.


    He picked some clever and agile soldiers from the army, taught them to use gs to convey different signals, and Li Yao gave them a name called signalmen.


    The signalmen would be arranged on hot air balloons, while more would follow the cavalry going into battle.


    The signalmen on the hot air balloons would use g signals to convey what they saw on the ground to below, and then pass Grand Marshal Xu''s orders to the apanying signalmen using g signals.


    This way, as long as they were within fifty li, Grand Marshal Xu could freely maneuver his troops and easily surround and annihte the enemy.


    After a few days of running in, Grand Marshal Xu decided to give it a try.


    Things quickly got out of hand after the first try.


    Two barbarian squads thirty li away had just heard the faint sound of hooves and were preparing to flee, when they suddenly found themselvespletely surrounded by several cavalry troops, and not a single one managed to escape.


    They didn''t know how their whereabouts were leaked until the moment before their deaths.


    Having tasted sweet sess, Grand Marshal Xu kept maneuvering his troops, clearing out all the barbarians within fifty li.


    Especially those cavalry squads harassing grain transports in the rear of the garrison, they were all wiped out, securing the safety of grain transports.


    Grand Marshal Xu felt greatly gratified and prepared to hold a banquet to reward the army and boost morale.


    The soldiers hadn''t enjoyed such a refreshing fight for a long time, and they no longer needed to worry about barbarians suddenly ambushing them. They could enjoy a good meal of meat today, so everyone was in high spirits.


    As the biggest contributor, Li Yao was given the seat of honor next to Grand Marshal Xu.


    Previously when they heard Wang San''er say how amazing his mother was, no one believed it. But after spending a month with her, everyone knew that Madam Li was truly extraordinary.


    Not only could she heal the sick and save lives, she could also make things that could fly into the sky. And the most amazing thing was still the telescope. Even from the ground, she could see people clearly from miles away.


    Most importantly, she was beautiful and didn''t look anything like Wang San''er''s mother, more like his sister.


    "Madam Li, it''s inappropriate to drink alcohol in the military," said Grand Marshal Xu. "Let me drink tea instead of wine to you, to show my gratitude. If Madam Li had note, I''m afraid the army would have retreated back to Yuhan Pass long ago, let alone win so many battles!"


    "You''re too kind, Grand Marshal Xu. Those were just trivial things, not even worth mentioning."


    "Madam Li is too modest," said Grand Marshal Xu after taking a sip of the fragrantmb milk tea. "But there are still things weck if we want to attack the barbarians'' main force. Does Madam Li have any good ideas?"


    "I''m useless in that aspect," Li Yao said with augh. "Strategizing is still up to you, Grand Marshal."


    It wasn''t that she didn''t have any ideas, but she felt what they had now was sufficient.


    "I was being greedy," Grand Marshal Xu said self-deprecatingly. "But looking at the weather, it will probably start snowing heavily in the next few days."


    Once it snowed on the prairie, basically nothing could be done. Everyone could only stay cooped up in tents every day.


    Even without doing anything, such days would still be very harsh and wear down people''s will.


    After the snow, the barbarians would also withdraw, and the Daling Army would retreat to rest at Yuhan Pass. When spring arrived next year, they would fight the barbarians in an all out battle on the prairie again.


    So Grand Marshal Xu would often ask himself this question - what was the meaning of fighting like this year after year?


    Whenever he thought of the countless soldiers lost each year, the endless expenditure of money and supplies, Grand Marshal Xu would feel somewhat depressed andmentful.


    "If there was a way to get rid of the barbarians once and for all, I, Xu, would be willing to die twenty years early."


    "I do have a way," said Li Yao, "though it can''t get rid of the barbarians for good, it can at least make them not dare to casually invade again."


    "Oh?" Grand Marshal Xu''s spirits were greatly roused. He quickly asked, "Please tell me the details, Madam Li, I''m all ears!"


    "Build cities," said Li Yao. "A cityrge enough to station an army, which the barbarians can''t breach. Add in using hot air balloons to scout the enemy, and there will be no need to worry about the barbarians for at least twenty years."


    Grand Marshal Xu let out a bitterugh. Of course he knew that rationale.


    But building cities on the prairie was far from easy.


    All the materials would have to be transported from very far away, requiring massive manpower.


    And the time - building a city would take at least several years, maybe even over ten years toplete properly?


    "We don''t need to build it so well yet," said Li Yao. "Just build the city walls first, we can worry about the buildings insideter."


    "The walls are the hardest part," said Grand Marshal Xu. "So much stone, having to be shipped for thousands of li, just this one thing alone would probably exhaust the national treasury."


    "Grand Marshal Xu, have you heard of concrete before?"


    Grand Marshal Xu: ???


    ...


    Two days after the celebratory banquet, small snow finally drifted down from the sky.


    After being decimated, the subdued barbarians no longer appeared casually within fifty li of the Daling Army''s garrison - the safe distance they had figured out.


    During those two days, Grand Marshal Xu had been going over maps with Li Yao, and they nned locations for five cities.


    Strictly speaking, they couldn''t be called cities, they were more likerge garrisons. Except the garrisons would no longer be simple tents, but have high and sturdy walls.


    Each location was carefully chosen, positioned at strategic locations with water sources nearby. The distances between the five garrisons would not exceed fifty li, to allow real-timemunication via hot air balloons.


    One of the garrisons would be where the Daling Army was currently stationed.


    This would be constructed first, and had to bepleted within a month, otherwise it would be too cold for concrete work.


    Grand Marshal Xu had already decided on a name for the first garrison - Xiu City.


    Li Yao''s objections were futile, she could only ept it in the end.


    Xiu City would be two li long and two li wide. The walls would be three zhang high, about the height of a three-story building. For such a massive project, even if it was in the interior, it would probably take several years toplete.


    Just obtaining the stones would be extremelybor intensive.


    But with concrete, things would be so much more convenient and faster.


    Three dayster, a long convoy arrived from the direction of Yuhan Pass. This was not supplies sent by the court, but arge convoy that had travelled all the way from Yi Prefecture.


    Apart from a small portion of grain and fodder, most of it was steel, cement, timber, coal...and the "express delivery" from Xia Xian to Li Yao.


    Escorting this batch of supplies was the Yizhou Army, and a certain figure who had not shown his face the entire journey.


    In the swirling snow, Liu Yun jumped down from a carriage, wrapped in a thick robe.


    "Grand Marshal Xu, Madam Li, long time no see!"

 Chapter 223: Click a Click

    <h4>Chapter 223</h4>


    When Grand Marshal Xu first saw Liu Yun, his expression was quite interesting.


    Li Yao''s mischief of running to the frontier was bad enough.


    But Liu Yun was the Prince of Yizhou!


    Princes were not allowed to leave their fiefs without an imperial edict, vition of which would be deemed an act of rebellion.


    This kid really had guts,ing here himself and even bringing thousands of troops, using the excuse of transporting grain!


    "Prince of Yizhou, why do you have to go through all this trouble?" said Grand Marshal Xu. "If His Majesty finds out, it would be...difficult to handle!"


    "What''s the issue?" Liu Yunughed. "I''ve donated so many things from Yizhou to you guys. Can''t I evene take a look?"


    His words left Grand Marshal Xu speechless.


    During this time, the entire army had been eating Yizhou''s grain. The construction materials for the city walls were also all transported here from the Yizhou government, without asking for a single penny.


    Even if asked, no one would give any.


    So it was reasonable that he came to take a look.


    "Alright, it''s best for the Prince of Yizhou to stay in camp. Don''t wander around," said Grand Marshal Xu. "It''s best to leave after a few days and hurry back."


    Liu Yun looked up at the hot air balloon floating in the sky and said enthusiastically, "I actually want to go up and take a look."


    "It''s cold up there."


    "I''m not afraid of cold!"


    Liu Yun finally got his wish and went up in the hot air balloon, flying over 800 meters high. He then froze like a dog.


    When he came back down, his hands and feet were all stiff.


    But he was still very excited, because this was way more thrilling than mountain climbing and gazing afar.


    Most importantly, this could effectively prevent raids from the barbarians.


    "If I wasn''t barred from returning to the capital, I would have to find His Majesty and plead merit for Li Yao."


    Regarding pleading merit for Li Yao, both Liu Yun and Grand Marshal Xu were very adamant.


    But Li Yao didn''t care at all. She had already startedmanding people to install the small steam engines brought by Xia Xian, along with the matching stirrer drums.


    It took a day to install and debug twenty of the most primitive stirrer machines.


    After testing, the efficiency was off the charts.


    The only downside was the need to manually pour in the materials, but it was still dozens of times faster than mixing on the ground.


    When sand, rocks and water sources were transported in, Grand Marshal Xu had already gotten people to dig the foundations for the city walls. They firstid down a thickyer of concrete andpacted it with thick wooden boards instead of vibrators.


    After the foundation dried, more materials were transported from nearby and Yizhou. Thousands of soldiers turned into steelworkers and carpenters, starting to make steel bars and formwork.


    With thousands working simultaneously, even Li Yao had never seen such a scene before. Fortunately these tasks weren''t difficult, and the soldiers quickly got the hang of it.


    After clipping on oneyer of formwork, they could pour in the concrete.


    In just three days, the first three-meter-high wallyer was poured all around. Next was the second and thirdyers.


    Half a monthter, the city walls were capped.


    Looking at the city walls that were built so swiftly all around, Grand Marshal Xu and Liu Yun were shocked every day.


    If not for Li Yao, who else in the world could havee up with such methods?


    It was cold in winter, so the concrete dried slower. To be safe, they waited a full twenty days before Li Yao allowed the wooden boards to be removed.


    Stepping atop the tall city walls, standing on the brand new concrete ground, Li Yao suddenly felt as if she had returned to her past life.


    But she knew this was no cement road, but a fortress to defend against foreign invasion.


    As for Grand Marshal Xu and Liu Yun''s feelings, there were no words to describe them. Such tall and sturdy city walls could probably withstand three days and nights of barbarian ramming even with giant trees, without even a crack appearing.


    Especially the four huge steel gates. When they arrived, they were still half-zhang square iron tes. But with something Li Yao called screws, she connected them to the massive steel frames, turning them into indestructible steel gates.


    Such ingenious skills, other than Li Yao, who else could aplish this?


    With Xiu City''s walls built, the soldiers poured into the city in high spirits.


    Although there were no houses yet, only tents pitched within the city, the tall city walls could block the cold winds. They also didn''t have to be on tenterhooks every night, worried about barbarian raids.


    When free, everyone could casually sit in open spaces, bask in the sun, and even y cuju or have riding and archerypetitions.


    This was unimaginable in the past.


    With the other four small cities built next year, this northern frontier would be impregnable!


    In a blink, two months had passed since leaving home. In another month, it would be New Year''s, and it was the coldest time of the year in the north.


    Overnight, more than a chi of snow covered the ground. Everything in the fields seemed to be frozen, and even the barbarians had retreated hundreds of li, hiding in the big mountains to hibernate.


    The Xiu City troops also used the leftover construction materials to build some houses and warehouses. The grain for wintering over was stored inside the city walls, well protected.


    Every day within the massive walls, there were sounds ofughter. Fragrant meals drifted around.


    It was as if the whirling snow outside had nothing to do with them.


    Liu Yun had already returned some days ago, taking all the Yizhou troops with him.


    Xiu City could be built so quickly, Liu Yun and the Yizhou troops deserved the most credit.


    Of course, he couldn''t request merits himself, since he had illegally traveled outside his domain, without even reporting the grain to the court.


    Li Yao really liked such icy weather, but couldn''t stay for long either.


    But just as she was preparing to return to Yizhou, several luxurious carriages with striking banners slowly arrived at Xiu City despite the snowstorm.


    The carriages stopped outside the east gate. An elderly eunuch alighted, looked up at the tall city walls and gates, as well as the powerful "Xiu City" characters above the gates. The wrinkles on his originally crinkled brow seemed to deepen further.


    Since no one came to greet them, an attendant guard called loudly at the top of the walls, "Hurry and notify Grand Marshal Xu, the imperial edict is here!"


    Upon hearing of the imperial edict''s arrival, Grand Marshal Xu put down what he was doing and hurriedly came to the city gates.


    "So it''s Master Liu! Coming to deliver the decree despite such heavy snow, it must have been tiring."


    "Serving His Majesty, how could it be tiring?" Seeing Grand Marshal Xu, Master Liu finally squeezed out a smile. "Grand Marshal Xu, hurry and receive the decree."


    Everyone immediately knelt in the snow. Master Liu took out and read the imperial edict.


    "His Majesty the Emperor decrees: Grand Marshal Xu has merit in resisting the barbarians, but he did not report to this throne before building cities in the north. This has greatly angered the dragon countenance! Grand Marshal Xu is hereby ordered to immediately return to the capital and await punishment by His Majesty! Obey this decree!"


    Upon hearing this, Grand Marshal Xu''s heart turned icy cold, even colder than the swirling snow.


    He had worked hard fighting in the bordends, and worked hard building a city, yet just because he didn''t report it in advance, he would be punished?


    But the decree was right before his eyes. Even if he was dissatisfied, he could not openly defy it.


    "Your servantplies with the decree."


    Master Liu folded up the edict and had someone pass it to Xu Zhan. "Grand Marshal Xu, hurry and tidy up to return with us."


    "I''ll have people prepare right away."


    "Mm," seeing his agreeable attitude, Master Liu added, "Additionally, His Majesty has heard that a youngdy Li from Hundred Streams County''s Hewan Vige in Yizhou is also at the military camp. Is this true or false?"


    What else could Grand Marshal Xu say?


    Since it was already known, there was no use hiding it.


    But he wasn''t worried. Li Yao only had merits, no wrongs, so there should be no issues.


    "She''s here."


    "His Majesty has decreed that youngdy Li should also return with us. His Majesty wishes to see her."


    The Emperor wants to see me?


    Li Yao, hiding in the crowd, felt her heart skip a beat.


    If only she had left with Liu Yun earlier. Now there was big trouble!

 Chapter 224: In the Bag

    <h4>Chapter 224</h4>


    ¡°Li Yao,¡± inside the central military tent, Grand Marshal Xu had a worried look on his face, ¡°His Majesty probably won¡¯t do anything to you when we go to the capital this time, but Xu wants to remind you that the situation in the capital is veryplicated now. Zhu Zilin the Chancellor is very close with the Crown Prince. If they want to harm you...¡±


    ¡°Why would they want to harm me?¡±


    ¡°Because you get along well with the Prince of Yizhou.¡± Grand Marshal Xu said, ¡°Now the Prince of Yizhou controls his own territory, which is a big threat to the Crown Prince.¡±


    Li Yao understood, but also did not understand.


    The Crown Prince, the future emperor, you just have to obediently wait for the old emperor to die, and then naturally seed to the throne.


    Why do you have to make trouble here and there every day?


    He even colluded with the barbarians, unclear.


    ording to a certainw, any crown prince who likes to mess around east and west will eventually not end well.


    It looks like I need to prepare more backup ns and protection for myself.


    Li Yao thought for a while and asked, ¡°Grand Marshal Xu, when do we set off?¡±


    ¡°In three days.¡±


    ¡°Can it be dyed for a few more days?¡± Li Yao asked, ¡°I want to teach some more techniques to treat injuries to those doctors.¡±


    ¡°That''s easy to say,¡± Grand Marshal Xu said, ¡°Although Imperial Secretary is the Crown Prince''s man, he''s just bluffing. I guess he wouldn''t dare to boss me around.¡±


    ¡°Then thank you for that.¡±


    ¡°Li Yao,¡± Grand Marshal Xu knew that Li Yao must not be wanting to teach more techniques, ¡°Be very careful.¡±


    Seeing his concerned eyes, Li Yao just nodded and hurried away.


    After it got dark, she took two fast horses and a more than three meters long sleigh from Wang San.


    ¡°Mother, why don''t I go with you?¡±


    ¡°You''ll just add to my troubles if you go,¡± Li Yao bluntly said, ¡°You have to help cover for me these days, I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±


    The hooves of the war horses were wrapped with cotton cloth and thin rubber sleeves to prevent frostbitten hooves. The two horses pulling one sleigh made it extremely easy and the speed was not slow at all.


    Li Yao oriented herself and headed northwest all the way.


    She was going to find the barbarian king¡¯s court, which was said to be in the mountains, but didn¡¯t know exactly where.


    Up until now in Daling, few people had gone to the barbarian royal court. Even the envoys sent there were almost always received in the big tents on the grasnds.


    So whether this trip would be sessful depended on Li Yao''s own skills.


    Luckily she was good at tracking, although there was more than a foot of snow, the traces under the snow were still preserved because they were frozen.


    Li Yao tracked the barbarian army''s movements all the way, spending two days and two nights, and finally arrived at the foot of a huge mountain range.


    She didn¡¯t know what the mountain was called, but she was sure the barbarian royal court was in this big mountain.


    The two horses and sleigh could not enter the mountains. Li Yao found a sheltered ce to tie the horses, took arge amount of forage from the sleigh, and put thick cotton quilts on them.


    These two horses could have no mishaps, otherwise how could she get back?


    After resting for half a day, Li Yao regained her strength and spirit, and set off into the mountains with her backpack.


    After only walking for half a day, she had already discovered signs of human activity, which gave her more confidence in her judgment.


    Taking advantage of the night, Li Yao in white clothes kept going deeper, and finally before dawn, arrived at a huge valley.


    It could no longer be called a valley, but a space ten miles wide between two mountains, with tens of thousands of tents set up in this space.


    This was where the barbarians spent the winter, and also the location of the barbarian royal court.


    Possibly because they felt no one could find this ce, or even if found, no one could do anything to them, so there was almost no professional vignce around.


    Of course every barbarian was a warrior, so you could say there were alerts everywhere.


    A Han Chinese walking in would be identified in less than three seconds.


    Li Yao hid in the snow for a whole day until it was pitch dark before slowly approaching.


    Luckily no one kept dogs. All around the tents wererge numbers of cattle and sheep. Their strong smells and noisy sounds perfectly concealed Li Yao''s tracks.


    It took half the night before Li Yao finally reached the center area. The security here was stricter. In the middle of the night there were still dozens of fully armed barbarian soldiers patrolling around.


    Trying to enter thergest and most luxurious tent did pose some difficulty.


    But only a little bit.


    Li Yao calcted the routes and timing of the soldiers¡¯ patrols. Using a gap she quickly went behind the big tent and lightly cut a long slit with her knife, then slipped inside.


    The temperature inside the tent was significantly higher, with a huge brazier in the middle, and the air was full of alcohol and roasted meat smells.


    A brawny man in his forties was sleeping on arge bed, snoring like thunder.


    Was this the barbarian chieftain?


    If she were an assassin, Li Yao would probably be excited to death, because with a gentle stab she could easily end this guy¡¯s life.


    But regrettably she was retired now.


    And killing a chieftain, the barbarians would still elect a new chieftain, so it was meaningless and would only expose herself.


    She took out a piece of incense from her bag and lit it on the brazier.


    This kind of incense was beneficial for sleep. Usually after smelling a little, one would sleep for a whole day and night, unless there was thunder by one¡¯s ear or one was sshed with cold water, otherwise it was hard to wake up.


    Putting the incense by the barbarian chieftain¡¯s pillow, Li Yao waited a few minutes then started rummaging around noiselessly.


    Opening a big chest, it was actually full of gold.


    Opening another, it was still gold.


    Looking further, finally it was not gold, but pearls, agate and various gold and silver ornaments...


    For a chieftain to be wealthy was normal.


    Li Yao did not stand on ceremony with him and picked five most valuable treasures and put them in her bag.


    Finally in an inconspicuous chest Li Yao found what she was looking for: arge pile of letters.


    After quickly skimming through, half were written by the current Chancellor Zhu Zilin, plus several influential officials in the capital, while the one carrying the most weight was naturally from the Crown Prince.


    She quickly read it. The time it was written was before spring this year. The gist was that if the barbarian army could keep harassing Daling¡¯s northern border this year, tying down Grand Marshal Xu and his troops on the grasnds, then after the Crown Prince seeded to the throne at the end of this year, he would give all the territory outside of Yuhan Pass to the barbarians as their fief.


    The barbarians taking the unusual action ofunching an offensive this spring must have been because of this letter.


    The Daling troops also had not received supplies because of this.


    What confused Li Yao was why the Crown Prince was so certain he would seed to the throne by the end of the year?


    Very informative.


    Keeping all the letters, Li Yao put the chest back and returned the same way.


    But sinceing had taken too much time, by the time she walked out of the barbarians¡¯ dwelling, the sky was already bright.

 Chapter 225: Walk with Something.

    <h4>Chapter 225</h4>


    After daybreak, the barbarians woulde out of their tents to check on their cattle and sheep.


    The Daling Army would also start intensive patrolling.


    Outside the tents was barrennd with wide open views, making it difficult to act covertly, so Li Yao had made preparations from the start to find a good horse for a quick getaway.


    Using the tents as cover, she dodged two early-rising barbarians and silently arrived at a high fence.


    This was thergest horse pen in the camp, and every horse inside was exceptionally robust, carefully chosen for breeding.


    Li Yao''s eyes narrowed with satisfaction.


    She knew the best steed was here.


    In this era, gold, silver and jewels still held value, but top-quality horses were rare treasures. The Barbarian King''s famous wild horse was well known.


    A major reason the Daling Army''s cavalry was weaker than the barbarians'' was their poorer horses. Bringing back some excellent breeding stock would be a great aplishment.


    Without further thought, Li Yao jumped over the fence and began cutting the tethers of the horses one by one.


    Finally she reached the tallest horse, which was clearly not yet fully tamed, or deliberately left untamed to preserve its wild bloodline and temperament.


    "Be good now, little one, and let me ride you," Li Yao said, reaching to pat its head. But the chestnut stallion had a truly nasty temper, and greeted her with a loud snort before swinging its head tosh its long tail at her.


    "Oh, so you want to be difficult with me?" Li Yao wasn''t about to back down either. She grabbed the horse''s mane and swung up onto its back.


    The huge stallion had never been ridden like this before, and immediately began bucking and kicking. But Li Yao clung on like glue.


    After more than a dozen attempts to throw her off failed, the horse grew more and more irritated, and started crashing wildly around the pen.


    Li Yao held tightly to its mane while squeezing the horse''s belly with her legs to avoid falling off.


    Though not extremely strong, she was incredibly agile, and had studied horseback riding extensively in her past life. After several passes around the pen, the stallion begrudgingly submitted and stood still, though it continued snorting heavily.


    "There we go. Big sister will take you out for a run," Li Yao said, throwing open the pen gate and riding out on the stallion''s back. Seeing this, the other horses followed them out one after another.


    In no time, dozens of the barbarians'' finest breeding stock were galloping around the camp.


    The flying snow stirred up by their hooves swirled like mist.


    The thunder of hooves woke the barbarians, but by the time they rushed from their tents, they saw only the horses'' rear ends disappearing into the distance.


    Realizing something was wrong, some jumped on their own horses to give chase, but their mounts were no match for the prime breeding stock unburdened by riders. The barbarians couldn''t bear to shoot them dead, so there was no way for them to catch up. They could only watch helplessly as the horses vanished into the snowy ins.


    Seeing no pursuit, or at least none that had caught up, Li Yao returned to where she had hidden her things and headed straight for Xiu City with the stallion.


    This time, not only had she obtained arge quantity of letters, but more importantly she had figured out the location of the barbarians''ir. That barbarian leader who was still unconscious was unlikely to sleep well in the future.


    Two dayster, Xiu City''s towering walls appeared in the distance, and she could make out Wang San''er''s figure standing atop them.


    "Mother, you''re back," Wang San''er called, opening the city gates.


    "Mm," Li Yao replied.


    "Where did these horsese from?"


    "I brought them back from the Barbarian Royal Court. They''re all excellent breeding stock, so I''m giving them all to you," said Li Yao.


    As Li Yao''s son, Wang San''er was extremely impressed by this mom of his.


    She''d gone out and not only found the Barbarian Royal Court, but brought back dozens of their best horses?


    He could tell these were exceptionally prime stock, just what the Daling cavalry needed most!


    "You can ride this one," Li Yao gave Wang San''er the best horse. "Be careful, it has a fierce temperament."


    "The fiercer the better for me!"


    ...


    "Grand Marshal Xu," said the eunuch Imperial Secretary in the main military tent, "it''s been five days already. What''s taking you so long to get ready?"


    "Almost done, almost done," Xu Zhan said. "Just two more days."


    Seeing he still refused to leave, Imperial Secretary said coldly, "Grand Marshal Xu, could you be defying the decree?"


    "Oh no, Sir Secretary, how could you say that?" Xu Zhan replied. "My loyalty to His Majesty is clear as day, how could I defy a decree? It''s just that we brought back so much stuff, and the order to return was so sudden, I''ve been caught t-footed trying to get it all packed up."


    "Hmph. I don''t care," Imperial Secretary said. "You''re heading back to the capital tomorrow morning!"


    Xu Zhan wanted to stall further, but just then a soldier came in and whispered that Li Yao had returned.


    Hearing this, Xu Zhan felt relieved. With a smile, he said to Imperial Secretary, "No need to wait until tomorrow, we''ll leave tonight! Nonstop, without rest! We won''t stop until we reach the capital!"


    Imperial Secretary: ???


    Travel nonstop through the night?


    Without any rest?


    Was he trying to torture these old bones to death?


    Inwardly, Imperial Secretary cursed Xu Zhan ten thousand times over!


    "What''s wrong, Sir Secretary? Weren''t you in a hurry to report back?" Xu Zhan said with a smile. "Could it be you were just paying lip service?"


    "This is..." What could Imperial Secretary say?


    "Fine, let''s go. I''m no delicate flower."


    ...


    On the journey back to the capital, Li Yao stayed hidden in her carriage the whole time.


    She also didn''t hand over the letters to Xu Zhan. Those were her protective talismans, safer kept by herself.


    Just as Xu Zhan said, they rushed day and night without stopping, only changing horses at ry stations. In this way they reached the capital in ten days.


    The capital had always been a prosperous ce.


    But in Li Yao''s eyes, today''s capital was just a little bigger than Yizhou City, and actually less prosperous.


    Of course, the imperial pce and buildings around it were quite majestic and dignified.


    But sadly, the streets were empty andcked liveliness.


    After Li Yao and Grand Marshal Xu returned to the capital, Xu Zhan went to report to the pce while Li Yao, having no residence in the capital, was put up in an inn. A few guards were also assigned to her, supposedly for her safety.


    She had thought about what to say when meeting the Emperor, but after waiting two days, no one came to summon her. The guards knew nothing when asked.


    "You think His Majesty has that much free time to see anyone who asks?" said the captain disdainfully. "Wait patiently. When it''s time, someone will naturallye to bring you to the pce."


    Li Yao waited patiently another three days before losing patience.


    She didn''t know what this Emperor was thinking, saying he wanted to see her but then leaving her out to dry after she arrived.


    Even more irritatingly, she had to sit in this inn every day and wasn''t even allowed to go out, because what if the Emperor summoned her and she couldn''t be found?


    With ten thousand grass mud horses galloping through her mind, Li Yao decided she couldn''t just sit around waiting. She had to take a look around the capital and try the local delicacies, at least once.


    Barricading her room door, she slipped out the window and lightly dropped to the street below.


    Never having visited the capital before, and without a map, Li Yao could only seek out Jia Zhanliang.


    After partnering with her in business, Jia Zhanliang had be one of the hottest merchant princes in the capital. It didn''t take much asking to find his manor.


    Seeing Li Yao, Jia Zhanliang was so shocked he couldn''t believe his eyes.


    "Mistress Li, didn''t you go to the northern border? How did you end up back in the capital?"


    "It''s a long story. Get me some good food first," Li Yao said, then added, "Has to be local specialties."


    "Of course."


    Jia Zhanliang quickly had a wide assortment of regional delicacies prepared. Li Yao''s eye immediately fell on DONKEY MEAT HOT POT.


    It was said that the best meat in heaven was dragon, and on earth was donkey. The braised meat was both crispy and tender, with rich, savory vor. Eaten together with the hot pot, it was so aromatic and chewy.


    After happily stuffing herself, Li Yao recounted being given the cold shoulder aftering to see the Emperor.


    "Old Jia," she said, "you''re a capital local, so you must understand these things well. Help me analyze what exactly is going on here? Why am I being strung along instead of received? At this rate I won''t even make it home for New Year''s."


    "This is..."


    Jia Zhanliang wanted to say, we don''t know about the things in the imperial pce either!


    Just then, an unexpected guest came to visit.


    The visitor turned out to be an attendant of Right Minister Zhu Zilin. He said a few brief words to Jia Zhanliang before turning to leave.


    Seeing Jia Zhanliang walking back with a worried frown on his face, Li Yao couldn''t help but ask, "Has something happened?"


    "It''s not me who''s in trouble," Jia Zhanliang said, "it''s you, madam."


    "Me?"


    "Yes," Jia Zhanliang said, "Right Minister Zhu Zilin wants to see you."

 Chapter 226: To Come but not to Go, not to be polite.

    <h4>Chapter 226</h4>


    Li Yao waited for five whole days without being summoned by the Emperor. Instead of seeing the Emperor, she was asked to meet with the Prime Minister.


    It turned out the Imperial Secretary''s message about the Emperor wanting to see her waspletely false. The one who really wanted to meet her was the Prime Minister Zhu Zilin instead, or perhaps the Crown Prince.


    Li Yao didn''t know what virtues or talents she possessed that made the current Crown Prince and Prime Minister take notice of her.


    "Then I can just go back," Li Yao said. "Since it''s not the Emperor seeing me, the Prime Minister can''t use me of defying an imperial order."


    "Li Yao," Jia Zhanliang said, "things are not that simple. The messenger said just now that if you don''t meet the Prime Minister, we won''t be able to do any more business in the capital."


    A Prime Minister putting on such airs?


    Not only making her wait for days, but even daring to threaten her?


    "I know what to do. Don''t worry, you won''t have trouble in the capital," Li Yao said.


    Li Yao returned to the inn with a big package of food and slept until midnight before sneaking out the window again.


    The Prime Minister''s estate was easy to find, standing out conspicuously among the expansive buildings.


    As the current Prime Minister, security at Zhu Zilin''s estate was tight, but the short walls and buildings were no match for Li Yao. She leapt over them effortlessly.


    Based on theyout of the buildings, Li Yao located where Zhu Zilin lived. Security here was even morex since it was deep inside. She easily slipped into Zhu Zilin''s bedroom.


    She quietly went to his bedside, lit incense to aid sleep, and after a while, Li Yao took out a small pair of scissors.


    Snip snip snip--


    Zhu Zilin''s long beard and hair were quickly shorn bald, leaving only stubble.


    Li Yao had used this trick in the Nanzhao Kingdom forts before, but she didn''t mind using it again. She casually trimmed Zhu Zilin''s wife''s hair as well.


    Having done this, Li Yao put away the incense and returned to the inn.


    ...


    The next day, the servants at the Prime Minister''s estate found things very strange.


    Although it wasn''t an important court day, the Prime Minister usually rose at dawn.


    But today it was already mid-morning and not only had the Prime Minister not woken up, it seemed like the Prime Minister''s wife was also sleeping very soundly.


    Several maidservants holding wash basins of water had been standing at the steps waiting until their feet tingled, changing the water over and over. But as lowly maidservants, they didn''t dare knock on the door.


    It wasn''t until the head steward heard the news and rushed over in a panic with guards.


    "Prime Minister Zhu?"


    The head steward called out several times at the door but didn''t hear a response. His heart sank.


    "Quick, break down the door!"


    Two guards clumsily removed the door panel while the pale-faced maidservants rushed inside.


    Seeing the Prime Minister and his wife lying perfectly fine in bed, it was like a boulder lifted from their hearts.


    "But Prime Minister Zhu''s beard and hair...they''re gone?"


    "And the Prime Minister''s wife''s hair is gone too!"


    "What?"


    The head steward turned deathly pale. Forgetting all propriety, he charged inside with the others.


    This wasn''t just an exaggeration?


    The head steward''s calves trembled in fear. As head steward of the estate, the guards were under his responsibility. Now the Prime Minister''s beard and hair had been shorn by someone, and they were still sleeping unaware while no one knew what had happened...


    This was a grave dereliction of duty. When the Prime Minister awoke, would he take his head?


    Although worried for his own life, the head steward could only summon the imperial physician. Fortunately the Prime Minister and his wife were unharmed, and soon awoke.


    Upon finding out his and his wife''s hair and beards had been trimmed without their knowing, Zhu Zilin immediately thought of one person.


    Li Yao.


    "I''ve heard this woman is audaciously bold, daring to go to the northern border alone. It seems the rumors are true," Zhu Zilin said sternly. "It appears she has no intention ofing to meet me."


    "Sir," the head steward suggested, hoping to redeem himself, "for a meremoner girl to be so insolent, why don''t I take some men and get rid of her directly!"


    "Get rid of her?" Zhu Zilin shook his head. "She''s someone the Crown Prince explicitly wanted to recruit. Here''s what we''ll do - since she refuses toe see me, I''ll go see her."


    ...


    Bang bang bang--


    Li Yao was eating candied haws in her room when someone knocked violently on her door.


    "Li Yao, the Prime Minister is here. Come out and greet him properly!"


    It wasn''t even noon yet and Zhu Zilin had lost patience and taken the initiative toe find her? So much for having the patience and wisdom of a prime minister.


    Li Yao opened the door, still holding the unfinished candied haws, and followed two guards downstairs.


    In a spacious private room, she saw the current Prime Minister, Zhu Zilin.


    "You''re still eating?" A guard couldn''t stand it and shouted, "No greeting for the Prime Minister and you''re eating? You-- "


    "Let her eat," Zhu Zilin was unexpectedly not angry at all, even smiling. "Let Li Yao finish eating first, then we can talk slowly, it''s not urgent."


    Li Yao recognized his smile didn''t reach his eyes. Zhu Zilin had ying fake sincerity down to an art.


    Li Yao finished thest two haws hastily and mumbled unclearly, "Okay, you can talk now."


    "All of you, leave us."


    Zhu Zilin had the guards exit before smiling and saying, "I''ve heard of Li Yao''s exceptional beauty and seeing you today, the rumors are true..."


    "Prime Minister Zhu," Li Yao didn''t have time for pleasantries. "You made me wait five, six days. It can''t just be to praise me."


    "Haha, naturally there are important matters."


    "Then speak directly. I still want to go home for the new year."


    "Then I won''t beat around the bush," Zhu Zilin said. "Li Yao, have you considered moving your family to the capital? By coincidence, there is an estate near my residence, left behind by a duke. The Crown Prince''s intention is to bestow it to you as a gift."


    "That ce isn''t one a meremoner like me can live in."


    "No matter," Zhu Zilin said. "With Li Yao''s contributions at Daling, bing a first-rankdy within two years isn''t out of the question. By then, your status would suffice, no?"


    I see, he wants to buy me over with fame and status?


    Unfortunately, Li Yao wasn''t moved by such things at all. A mansion in the capital or bing a first-rankdy held no appealpared to her carefree retirement in Riverbend Vige.


    "I appreciate the Crown Prince and Prime Minister''s kind intentions," Li Yao said. "But I have many chickens, ducks, cows and sheep I''d be reluctant to leave behind."


    "You...think carefully about this. Once you miss this opportunity, it won''te again."


    "I''ve thought it through clearly," Li Yao said. "If the Prime Minister has no other matters, I''ll be on my way home for the new year."


    Zhu Zilin looked at Li Yao for a while. Seeing her attitude was firm and she could not be persuaded, a sh of killing intent appeared in his eyes.


    But it quickly disappeared.


    He knew that even with a dozen guards, it was very possible Li Yao could escape. If she got away, she would surely retaliate. Just thinking about Li Yao shaving his beard and hair without his knowing made Zhu Zilin''s neck feel cold.


    "Li Yao, you choose your own path!"


    That sounded like a veiled threat, albeit a refined one as expected from a schr.


    As Zhu Zilin prepared to leave, he heard Li Yao say behind him, "Prime Minister Zhu, you also choose your own path."


    Tit for tat.

 Chapter 227: I’m here to save You.

    <h4>Chapter 227</h4>


    Zhu Zilin left, and the guards who were staying at the inn also left with him.


    Li Yao felt that she could go home now.


    From the Capital City to Yi Prefecture, if she rode two fast horses back and forth, it would only take four days to get there.


    So she went to the horse market, intending to pick two horses, but Jia Zhanliang brought several people and hurriedly found her.


    "Did someone make things difficult for your business?"


    "That''s not the case," Jia Zhanliang said, "It''s irrelevant to us, but it''s a big deal. Grand Marshal Xu has been removed from office and put in prison by His Majesty!"


    To remove and investigate a Grand Marshal, and one who has just made great military achievements on the borders?


    This seemed unreasonable no matter how you looked at it.


    But Li Yao didn''t want to care about these things. Grand Marshal Xu''s military exploits were illustrious, and his status was lofty, so he probably wouldn''t be easily executed, at most he would have his family assets confiscated and be exiled.


    "Miss Li, actually this matter is also closely rted to us," Jia Zhanliang said mysteriously, "This morning I heard rumors in the alleys that His Majesty..."


    "What happened?" Seeing him hesitating, Li Yao asked, "Just say it directly."


    "Alright, His Majesty''s health is failing, and he may not live much longer..."


    Jia Zhanliang didn''t dare utter thest few words, but Li Yao naturally knew what he wanted to say.


    The Emperor was going to kick the bucket.


    How coincidental.


    In the letter to the barbarian chieftain, the Crown Prince said that he would ascend the throne by the end of the year, but that letter was written before the beginning of spring, how could he have calcted when the old Emperor would die?


    If the old Emperor really was going to die, then there was only one possibility.


    He was secretly killed by the Crown Prince.


    If the Crown Prince ascended the throne and became the Emperor, he would definitely be detrimental to Prince Liu Yun of Yi Prefecture, and might even revoke his princedom and take Yi Prefecture back under his control.


    Then, it would be easy for an Emperor to deal with her.


    It seemed it was time to release what was in her hands.


    "You take your family and leave the Capital City first, and stay somewhere else for a while," Li Yao said to Jia Zhanliang, "The Capital City might get chaotic."


    "What about you?" Jia Zhanliang said, "I happen to have a manor in the outskirts of the capital, why don''t youe with me to avoid the storm for a while?"


    "No need." Li Yao thought for a moment and said, "Pick some more reliable people and help me deliver some letters as fast as possible."


    "I''ll do as you say!"


    Li Yao didn''t buy a horse either, and found another inn to stay in.


    In the middle of the night, she brought the letters with her, and stealthily approached the imperial pce under the cover of darkness.


    Sneaking into the barbarian king''s pce at night, sneaking into the Right Minister''s mansion at night, these were nothing difficult for her.


    But this imperial pce was the most heavily guarded ce in the world, and now she was going to break in, she had to say, she was quite excited and it was very challenging.


    Those guards patrolling every three steps and five steps were not vegetarians.


    After warming up, Li Yao, dressed in ck, quickly climbed over the high wall of the imperial city like a nimble ck cat, using grappling hooks.


    Liu Yun had mentioned someyouts of the imperial pce intentionally or unintentionally to Li Yao before, and she had taken note of them. Now they indeed came in handy.


    Slipping into the garden, avoiding the patrolling guards over and over again by using trees, rockeries and the like, Li Yao finally reached the vicinity of the bedroom pce.


    But the Emperor''s bedroom pce seemed a little different tonight.


    The bedroom was brightly lit, with at least hundreds of guards outside the pce gates, and all those pce maids, eunuchs and the like were forced to kneel in a row in the open space.


    There were also several anxious imperial physicians standing uneasily outside, waiting.


    It looked like the Emperor really was seriously ill?


    But on second thought, it was impossible. If the Emperor was seriously ill, why would the pce maids and eunuchs not be by his side to serve him, and instead be forced to kneel outside?


    Li Yao climbed onto the roof at the rtively weakly guarded back of the bedroom pce, and gently lifted some of the roof tiles.


    Fortunately, although the imperial pce was luxuriously built, it had no ceiling, allowing her to see the situation below clearly.


    At this time, the Emperor was wearing casual clothes, his face haggard and weak, lying limply on the wide dragon bed.


    Next to the bed stood a middle-aged man in his fifties, wearing a yellow robe. If she was not mistaken, this should be the current Crown Prince.


    "Father," the Crown Prince said coldly, "Why are you still so stubborn? You''ve controlled this world for too long. Now that your health is failing and your eyes are blurred with age, why must you still cling to it and not let go?"


    "Humph, you''re just impatient," the old Emperor sneered, "As long as I don''t die for one day, don''t expect to get your wish. If I hand this world over to you, I''m afraid it will soon be in chaos. As the Emperor of Daling, how could I just stand by and watch this happen?"


    "I am impatient," the Crown Prince said. "I was named Crown Prince at the age of fourteen, and now I''m fifty-eight! Forty-four years! I''ve waited forty-four years! Let me ask, who else in this world can wait forty-four years for one thing?"


    The old Emperor turned his face away, not even looking at the Crown Prince.


    The meaning was very clear, no matter what, he would not voluntarily abdicate.


    Seeing that he was still so stubborn, the Crown Prince seemed a little angry and said, "Three days. I''lle again in three days. If Father still doesn''t agree to abdicate by then, don''t me...your unfilial son!"


    After leaving this vicious remark, the Crown Prince turned and left.


    The old Emperor on the bed closed his eyes, but there were tears glittering at the corners.


    This was the imperial family, for the sake of a throne, the son would even kill his father.


    The Crown Prince walked out of the bedroom quickly. Seeing that he was not in a good mood, everyone lowered their heads in fear.


    "Deploy more men to guard His Majesty''s bedroom well! I don''t want a single fly to get in!"


    "Yes!"


    "Your Highness," the captain of the guards asked, "What should we do with these pce maids?"


    "His Majesty is ufortable and is disturbed by people making noise, so pce maids and eunuchs are useless now."


    Hearing this, the group of pce maids and eunuchs quickly kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Crown Prince, spare our lives..."


    But the guards behind them had already drawn their swords and executed them all. They acted decisively and swiftly, without even blinking an eye.


    "Esteemed imperial physicians."


    "Your Highness, your orders?"


    "You will be busy these few days, be sure to give His Majesty the best medicine," the Crown Prince said. "Within three days, I want you to cure His Majesty!"


    "Yes!"


    After the Crown Prince left, the captain brought hundreds more men to surround the entire bedroom pce tightly.


    Seeing this formation, Li Yao couldn''t help sighing inwardly, the guards were really strong, worthy of being imperial guards.


    But she had no intention of leaving immediately either. After waiting on the roof for a while, she lifted some more tiles and slid down into the bedroom pce with grappling hooks and ropes.


    The old Emperor, who had his eyes closed, suddenly opened them when he heard footsteps next to him.


    When he saw Li Yao''s outfit, a wry smile appeared on his face: "You, did the Crown Prince send you to kill me?"


    "No."


    No?


    The old Emperor was a little surprised.


    At this time, sneaking into the imperial pce, wearing night clothes, with her face covered, and holding a shiny dagger in her hand, you actually didn''te to kill?


    "I don''t believe you."


    "Whether you believe it or not, I didn''te to kill you, but to save you."


    The old Emperor felt this was absolutely the most absurd thing he had ever heard.


    Who else in this world could save him?

 Chapter 228: Offering Suggestions

    <h4>Chapter 228</h4>


    Facing the Old Emperor''s questioning, Li Yao was toozy to exin much, and directly put the letter on his bed.


    After reading all the letters, the Old Emperor did not have the expected anger, but was calmer.


    "In fact, We have long known about the crown prince''s wolfish ambition, and he has won over arge number of ministers up and down the court," the Old Emperor said lightly, "It''s just that We didn''t expect that he would actually dare to collude with the barbarians and foolishly weaken Our Daling army."


    "Grand Marshal Xu has also been imprisoned."


    "Haha, this kid is still thinking things through very well." The Old Emperorughed and said, "Indeed, if you want to usurp the throne, you must first control General Xu, otherwise he will call out with a shake of his arm, and the army will go straight to the capital."


    "Since you understand, why don''t you take precautions early?"


    "What precautions? Precautions against your own son? Precautions against your own ministers?" The Old Emperor said, "If you guard against everything, how can you govern this world?"


    Li Yao: ...You make it sound very reasonable.


    "But We also took precautions and sent Liu Yun to Yi Prefecture, hoping to preserve his life there." The Old Emperor sighed lightly, as if suddenly remembering something, turned his face and asked, "By the way, who are you?"


    Li Yao didn''t expect him to be a silly old emperor.


    So she took off the ck cloth from her face and revealed her true face: "I am Li Yao."


    The Old Emperor looked at Li Yao for a long time before he came back to his senses: "So you are the Li Yao. I have heard Yun''er mention you many times. It turns out he wasn''t just trying to make me happy. But your courage alone is enough to make most men in the world lose their color."


    "Your Majesty praises me too much."


    "You said you came to save me?"


    "Yes."


    "Haha, I appreciate your kindness," the Old Emperor said, "I can''t leave the pce. If I take a step out, the Crown Prince will be able to logically ascend the throne. What''s the difference between that and killing me directly?"


    It does seem like there is no difference.


    "So you go, don''t bother with things in the capital anymore. The Crown Prince is now overbearing in power. No one can stop him from usurping the throne and ascending to it," said the Old Emperor. "Go back to Yi Prefecture and tell Yun''er on my behalf not to think about avenging me, but to live well in Yi Prefecture."


    "Okay, then I''ll go."


    Having delivered the letter, Li Yao''s purpose has been achieved.


    As for how the emperor makes use of these letters, it is none of her concern.


    Back at the rope, Li Yao nimbly climbed up, but just halfway up, she heard the Old Emperor say: "You''re really leaving just like that?"


    Li Yao was puzzled. Weren''t you the one who told me to leave?


    "Does Your Majesty have anything else?"


    "We..." The Old Emperor suddenly didn''t know what to say, and finally said, "We don''t have much time left. Why don''t you stay and chat with me a little more?"


    What an old man on the verge of death probably looks forward to the most is to have his children by his side.


    But this old man''s son happened to be an ambitious viin, and Liu Yun was far away in Yi Prefecture.


    Oh well, it''s still early anyway, so I might as well umte some virtue.


    Li Yao slid back down the rope and pulled up a chair next to the Old Emperor and sat down: "What would Your Majesty like to hear?"


    "Just tell me about things in Yi Prefecture. I heard you did a lot of interesting things there."


    "It''s not that interesting, just some gadgets."


    ......


    "Hmm, I just want to know, why don''t those two-wheeled carriages fall over?"


    ......


    "And those sweet potatoes, can they really produce thousands of catties per mu?"


    ......


    "And and and, how does a bowl of charcoal send people up into the sky?"


    ......


    The Old Emperor tonight was just like a curious baby.


    Perhaps because he had no imperial airs, Li Yao didn''t dislike him either. In fact, having such an ordinary chat with the current emperor was likely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.


    Such an experience was rare and precious. Unnoticed, time passed until early morning the next day.


    "Your Majesty, I must go now."


    "s, go on," the Old Emperor said. "Thank you for chatting with me for so long. You must take good care of yourself from now on."


    Li Yao climbed onto the roof along the rope and had just pulled the rope back when the pce gate was pushed open. Several imperial doctors walked in carrying a bowl of steaming hot medicine to the Old Emperor''s bed.


    "Your Majesty, time to take your medicine."


    The Old Emperor looked at the pitch-ck medicine bowl and finally took it and drank it all in one gulp.


    But from beginning to end, he didn''t say a word.


    He knew that these imperial doctors had long been bought by the Crown Prince, and this bowl of medicine was most likely poison meant to end his life.


    Li Yao guessed as much.


    So after the doctors left, she lowered the rope again and slid back down.


    "Why did youe back again?"


    "There may have been a problem with the medicine you just drank."


    "Of course I know that," said the Old Emperor. "But so what? If I don''t drink it, they''ll still force it into me. I might as well just drink it myself and be morefortable."


    "But you can spit it out."


    "Ah? How?"


    Li Yao stretched out two fingers and said, "With your hands, stick them down your throat."


    Old Emperor: ......


    After being emperor for decades, he could never have imagined that one day someone would teach him to stick his fingers down his throat!


    "But what''s the use?" said the Old Emperor. "If they can''t kill me with medicine, they still have ways. "


    "Buy time."


    "How much time can be bought? The Crown Prince is too impatient already."


    "If you can buy ten or so days, then Your Majesty may really be saved," Li Yao said. "I''ve already sent word to Yi Prefecture today to summon troops, and I also sent word to the northern border. If it''s fast, the troops from Yi Prefecture and northern border will arrive in the capital in half a month."


    "Will they...believe you?"


    "They should," Li Yao said. "Yi Prefecture Prince definitely won''t stand idly by, and as for the northern border troops, although Grand Marshal Xu isn''t there, my son is a captain who also has the deep trust of the generals."


    As long as there is still a glimmer of hope, no one wants to die.


    The Old Emperor was naturally no exception.


    At this moment, the fire of new hope suddenly reignited in his heart that had already died out.


    "But can it really be dyed that long?"


    "If Your Majesty cooperates, of course it can," Li Yao said. "The Crown Prince has given you three days. So on the third day, act like your end is near. He won''t make another attempt but will wait for Your Majesty to perish naturally. As forter, I will use some tricks to make Your Majesty gradually fall into aa but not truly die. When the troops from Yi Prefecture and the north arrive in the capital, Your Majesty can counterattack."


    "Good, we''ll do as you said!"

 Chapter 229: Give it Your Best Shot

    <h4>Chapter 229</h4>


    Having settled the Old Emperorfortably, Li Yao really left this time.


    She could not stay in the imperial pce indefinitely, firstly there was no point, and secondly she needed to buy some things.


    The Crown Prince had a ruthless heart. Not only did he feed the Old Emperor poison, he did not even give him any food.


    Therefore, Li Yao bought some herbs and boiled them into medicinal liquids, and also brought the old man some food.


    That night, Li Yao sneaked into the pce again. When the Old Emperor saw a greasy roast chicken, the corners of his mouth turned up into a grin.


    "I don''t know how many years it''s been, I''ve always wanted to eat Huang Ji''s roast chicken again, but the imperial chef just won''t buy it for me."


    Even the diet of an emperor was not so free.


    The imperial chef would make anything he wanted, but would never buy ready-made food from small roadside stalls.


    So the roast chicken Li Yao brought him allowed him to taste the vors of his youth.


    After the Old Emperor finished the roast chicken, Li Yao gave him some medicine to help regte his body, with the goal of getting the Old Emperor in the best shape possible before he lost consciousness.


    By the third day, the deadline given by the Crown Prince had arrived.


    This time Li Yao did not lie on the roof, but hid inside the bedchamber.


    The Crown Prince still came in alone. Seeing the Old Emperor''s face as pale as paper, a hideous smile emerged on his face.


    "Father Emperor, have you considered it?" said the Crown Prince. "If you abdicate now, I can still allow you to live out your remaining years infort."


    "If... if I... don''t abdicate?"


    "Don''t abdicate? Then tonight will be the time Your Majesty leaves this world."


    "You... have such a cruel heart... cough cough..."


    The Old Emperor pretended to tremble all over in anger as Li Yao had taught him, and then coughed violently, even coughing up quite a bit of "blood".


    Then he gasped for breath, unable to catch it, and passed out with his eyes closed.


    "Imperial physicians, hurry ande take a look!"


    A few imperial physicians came over with their heads lowered, took the emperor''s pulse, and said, "Your Highness, His Majesty''s pulse is chaotic and weak, I''m afraid he is..."


    "How much longer does he have?"


    "At most two or three days."


    "Humph, it seems your medicine is not very effective," said the Crown Prince. "Just two or three days, I can wait. These next few days, continue to take good care of His Majesty."


    After a pause, the Crown Prince said coldly, "The medicine he should take, he still has to take."


    "Yes."


    The Crown Prince and imperial physicians left. The Old Emperor opened his eyes.


    Just now, he had just taken a trip to the gates of death. To be honest, it still frightened him.


    But fortunately Li Yao had nned for every contingency, knowing that the Crown Prince, seeing he did not have long to live, was unwilling to dirty his own hands. Instead he chose to wait a few more days.


    But thinking about having to lie in bed pretending to be unconscious, or even really being knocked unconscious by Li Yao, did not feel good.


    In the next few days, Li Yao still came every night to bring the Old Emperor food and medicine.


    The Crown Prince asked after the Old Emperor''s health almost every day. Every day the imperial physicians said it would be soon, soon, but the Old Emperor still did not die. This made the Crown Prince very angry.


    He suspected the imperial physicians were ying tricks, so he went to check on the Old Emperor personally. But he discovered the Old Emperor really was lying motionless in bed, breathing weakly, as if his next breath might be hisst.


    How could this old thing have such a long life?


    But the Crown Prince''s patience was limited. He decided to wait no more than five more days.


    In five days it would be New Year''s Eve. He could not possibly wait until next year to seed to the throne.


    By then, if the Old Emperor still had not died, he would not mind lending a hand.


    ...


    After leaving the pce that day, Li Yao did not immediately return to the inn.


    Tomorrow was New Year''s Eve. The Crown Prince would make his move tomorrow night. She and the Right Chancellor had made preparations in advance. They had sealed off the city gates thest couple days, so that no news from outside coulde in, and no news inside could go out.


    Although it was simple for her to leave the city, the Yi Prefecture army and the border army, even if they arrived, would not be able to camp right outside the city gates. They would have to be at least ten or even dozens of miles away.


    But if no news could get out, they would not know when to act.


    So Li Yao had to find someone to get the message out.


    But who?


    In the entire capital city, there were only a handful of people she knew - the Jia family had already left the city, and Grand Marshal Xu was still locked up in the dungeons.


    Finally she decided to look for someone from the Song family.


    Left Chancellor Song An was Song Prefect''s uncle, and had always been at odds with the Right Chancellor, and had not been involved in the Crown Prince''s usurpation.


    As long as he was willing to help, it should not be difficult to send some messages out of the city.


    So she went to the Left Chancellor''s estate. Compared to the Right Chancellor''s estate, although the Left Chancellor''s estate was also veryrge, it was far less luxurious.


    "Who goes there?" A guard shouted when he noticed Li Yao.


    "Please announce me, I have important business to discuss with the Left Chancellor."


    The guard said, "It''s the middle of the night, the Left Chancellor is long asleep. If you want to meet with him,e back tomorrow!"


    "It has to be now."


    "Who exactly are you?" the guard asked.


    "I''m a friend of Song Prefect of Yi Prefecture."


    Hearing she was a friend of Song Prefect, the guard''s attitude became somewhat better, but he was still very wary. They had heardtely that there would be turmoil in the capital city, so they guards had to be extra alert at night.


    "Wait here, I''ll ask the steward."


    Li Yao stood in the street and waited over ten minutes. Fortunately the guard came back and said the Left Chancellor was willing to see her.


    She followed the guard to the study. Song An was already waiting.


    At first nce, Song An asked in surprise, "You are Li Yao?"


    "How does the Left Chancellor recognize me?"


    "Originally I didn''t recognize you. But a month ago, Song Feng sent back a portrait of you, saying that if you came to the capital city, I should do my best to assist you."


    Was this Song Prefect a fortune teller? A month ago she was still in the northern bordends, how did he know she woulde to the capital city?


    Never mind, now was not the time to worry about that.


    Since Song An recognized her, that just saved some trouble.


    "Miss Li, why have youe?"


    "The Crown Prince wants to kill His Majesty and usurp the throne. He''s already making preparations."


    "Cough cough..."


    Song An, who was drinking water, choked and couldn''t catch his breath.


    This Miss Li spoke too directly, too directly.


    One must know, such words cannot be spoken carelessly. If His Majesty or the Crown Prince heard them, it would be an immediate beheading!


    "I know it''s a bit far-fetched," Li Yao continued without regard for Song An''s astonishment. "But that is the truth. Thesest few nights I''ve been in the pce helping His Majesty cling to life. But the Crown Prince cannot wait any longer. He ns to make his move tomorrow night."


    Song An stared at Li Yao tongue-tied, momentarily at a loss for how to respond. Because every sentence was so far-fetched.


    "Then what use is there ining to me? I''m just a civil official. My power is still under the Right Chancellor''s. I have no factions at court..."


    "The Yi Prefecture army and border armies should arrive soon, but the city gates are sealed shut now, so no messages can be sent out," Li Yao said directly. "If the Left Chancellor can contact them, perhaps there is still a chance to turn things around."


    The Yi Prefecture army and border armies havee to the outskirts of the capital?


    This news was even more astonishing to Song An than the Crown Prince''s usurpation.


    The arrival of the Yi Prefecture army at the capital without a sound was tantamount to rebellion!


    But he was more willing to believe Li Yao''s words. After all, the Crown Prince''s usurpation was something everyone had already known in their hearts for some time.


    "Alright, I''ll do my best to try."

 Chapter 230: After Tonight

    <h4>Chapter 230</h4>


    The next day, as the sky began to brighten, several carriages arrived at the East City Gate.


    Upon seeing the carriages belonging to the Zhou family, the guards stationed at the gate hurriedly approached.


    "You cannot leave the city now; you should return," the guard informed them.


    "Why can''t we leave the city?" asked one of the carriage drivers. "We are headed to a manor outside the city."


    "Leaving is not permitted anywhere. It is the order of the Prime Minister. We cannot disobey," replied the guard.


    "Nonsense!" Suddenly, a stern voice came from inside one of the carriages. "When did the Prime Minister ever mention closing the city? I, as the Prime Minister, have never heard of such a thing."


    The Prime Minister?


    The guard felt a chill run down his spine. He hadn''t expected the Prime Minister to be inside the carriage. He had assumed it was merely a rtive of the Zhou family.


    What should he do now?


    "Lord Zhou," the guard mustered up his courage and said, "it is indeed the Prime Minister''s order. I cannot defy it..."


    "So, you can defy his order, but not mine?"


    In order to leave the city, Song An didn''t mind putting on a show of authority in front of a low-ranking soldier.


    Sure enough, the guard broke out in a cold sweat upon being confronted like this. Gathering his resolve, he quickly ordered his subordinates to open the city gate.


    As for any responsibility that might ariseter, he would let the Prime Minister deal with it himself. After all, he was just a low-ranking soldier, and nobody dared to provoke or offend him.


    Once outside the city gate, Song An immediately instructed his apanying guards to search for the Yizhou Army and the frontier troops.


    He, on the other hand, sat inside the carriage, gazing out the window at the gloomy sky.


    Is the capital really about to descend into chaos?


    ...


    While Song An waited for news outside the city, Li Yao had already disguised herself as a young maidservant. She carried a food box filled with meals and arrived at the heavily guarded prison where Xu Zhan was being held.


    "Soldier, I''vee to deliver food to our master," Li Yao said.


    "Who is your master?" the soldier asked, looking around. He seemed unfamiliar with her.


    "He is... Mister Xu," Li Yao replied, catching herself just in time.


    After matching the names, the soldier no longer suspected her and opened the prison gate, allowing Li Yao to enter.


    Xu Zhan was confined deep within the prison, shackled with handcuffs and with disheveled hair. Compared to his previous heroic image, he lookedpletely different.


    However, he didn''t seem to have suffered any physical harm, though he had lost a considerable amount of weight.


    After the soldier opened the cell door, Li Yao ced the basket in front of Xu Zhan. "Master, please eat," she said.


    "You..."


    Although she had disguised herself, Xu Zhan could vaguely recognize Li Yao.


    "Eat while it''s still hot. The taste changes once it gets cold," Li Yao winked at him, signaling him not to reveal anything. Xu Zhan understood and uncovered the lid of the basket, picking up arge chicken leg and taking a bite.


    Li Yao then turned around and approached the soldier on duty, taking out a bag of heavy silver coins from her sleeve. "Soldier, ourdy has a few things she wishes to convey to Master. I kindly ask for your temporary absence," she said.


    As long as there was silver, such a small matter could naturally be handled, especially since Li Yao was generous and handed over quite a few coins.


    The soldier tucked the silver coins into his pocket and instructed, "No more than fifteen minutes."


    Once the soldier left, Xu Zhan whispered, "Li Ru, why have youe?"


    "I''vee to rescue you," Li Yao replied.


    "Save me?" Xu Zhan eximed, "How can we get out of here?"


    "I have a way, just stay still," Li Yao assured him.


    With that, Li Yao retrieved a pile of cosmetics from under the basket and quickly transformed Xu Zhan to look like the guard from earlier, fixing his hair as well.


    Xu Zhan remained puzzled because his hands and feet were still bound.


    However, these primitive and crude locks were no match for Li Yao. With a thin steel wire, she effortlessly opened all the locks in a few moments.


    "But there are still many guards outside."


    "You lie down on the bed and pretend to sleep. I''ll handle it," Li Yao instructed.


    Before long, the previous guard returned, and Li Yao pretended to tidy up the dishes. When he wasn''t paying attention, she easily took him down.


    "Quick, change into his clothes," she urged Xu Zhan.


    Without hesitation, Xu Zhan swiftly stripped the soldier''s clothes off. Their bodies were simr, and the clothes fit well. Finally, they both wore waist knives and transformed into prison guards.


    "If we encounter someone, you just speak, but don''t make any sound," Li Yao exined.


    Xu Zhan didn''t understand the meaning behind her words, but he knew that he could trust Li Yao.


    They ced the unconscious soldier on the bed, making it seem like he was sleeping. Then, side by side, they walked towards the exit of the prison.


    There were guards stationed at the entrance of the cell, but the lighting was dim, and their faces were not clearly visible.


    However, when they reached the outside of the cell, Xu Zhan became a bit worried.


    The lighting was better outside, and if they encountered familiar people, they might recognize him.


    But he underestimated Li Yao''s makeup skills. As a top-tier assassin, as long as she had the materials, she could perfectly replicate another face.


    So, Xu Zhan walked all the way without arousing any suspicion, and no one even spared him a second nce.


    When they reached the main gate, one of the guards from Xu Zhan''s shift startedining, "Why did it take you so long?"


    "Uh..." Xu Zhan was about to respond but suddenly remembered Li Yao''s instructions. He decisively remained silent, only moving his mouth.


    Miraculously, the guard''s voice actually came from behind him.


    "I went to thetrine."


    It was Li Yao speaking, imitating the voice of the soldier from earlier.


    "You must have cked off, huh? Well, I also need to go to thetrine. You guard for a while," the other guard said and left.


    Even now, Xu Zhan couldn''t believe it. He had escaped so easily and simply from the most heavily guarded prison in the realm!


    It felt surreal.


    He opened the gate, allowing Li Yao to go out first, and after making sure that no one noticed, he quickly followed suit.


    Li Yao had prepared a carriage in a nearby alley, and the two of them swiftly left the area.


    ...


    Back at the inn, Xu Zhan had many questions to ask, but he ultimately remained silent.


    Now was not the time to ask those questions.


    "Even if I''ve escaped, I''m still a fugitive," Xu Zhan said, "Li Yao, you took too much risk."


    "No, you''re not a fugitive," Li Yao replied, "You are General Xu."


    As she spoke, Li Yao presented the General''s insignia and handed it to Xu Zhan.


    "Where did you get this?"


    "The Emperor told me where it was kept, and I retrieved it."


    "The pce? Have you seen the Emperor? How is he now?"


    Not only have I seen him, but Li Yao also delivers meals and medicine to him every day, which is quite exhausting.


    "The Emperor is doing well now," Li Yao said. "But after tonight, it''s uncertain."


    "Why?"


    "Because the Crown Prince is nning to usurp the throne tonight."


    Upon hearing this, Xu Zhan was not surprised but rather indignant. He said, "I''ve long known about the Crown Prince''s ambitious nature. It seems he can''t hold back any longer! Li Yao, help me enter the pce and rescue the Emperor!"


    "No, it wouldn''t make any sense for you to go alone."


    "What should we do then? We can''t just stand by and watch the Crown Prince plot against the Emperor!"


    "What I mean is, you can take thirty thousand troops with you."

 Chapter 231: Night Break into the Palace

    <h4>Chapter 231</h4>


    The capital area was strategically important.


    If arge army wanted to enter the Capital City, just the troops alone would not be enough. There would also need to be a convincing marshal to lead them.


    Otherwise even if the army reached the city walls, they would be stopped outside the gates and would only be able to choose to attack by force.


    But the Capital City walls were exceptionally high, and the defenses were not to be underestimated either. Even using force, it would take a very long time and likely spill rivers of blood.


    But it would be different with Marshal Xu Zhan leading the troops. As the current Minister of War, and with the seal of office in hand, it would be very easy for him to effortlessly open the city gates.


    Hearing that Li Yao had already sent word to the troops in Yizhou and those guarding the borders, Xu Zhan was immensely impressed.


    ¡°Miss Li, you have worked hard this time.¡±


    Li Yao thought to herself that for the sake of all this mess, she had even missed going home for the New Year celebrations, so she really had worked hard.


    She hoped it would all be over soon.


    When night was falling, the two of them went their separate ways.


    Marshal Xu went to the south gate to wait for the army, while Li Yao snuck into the Imperial Pce.


    Before the army reached the pce, she had to make sure the old emperor was still alive, otherwise all their efforts would have been wasted.


    Over the past period she had already been in and out of the pce more than ten times, so she was very familiar with it. Although tonight the crown prince wanted to make trouble and security in the pce had been increased, she was still easily able to sneak past the guards.


    Arriving at the old emperor¡¯s bedchamber, she held some camphor under his nose and he soon drowsily awoke.


    ¡°What¡¯s the situation?¡±


    ¡°The army will arrive soon.¡±


    ¡°Good, once they arrive then all will be well.¡±


    After enduring silently for so many days, the old emperor no longer had the dispiritedness he had previously shown. On the contrary, he wanted to stay alive now more than ever before, otherwise all the grievances he had suffered would have been for nothing.


    But just then, the noisy sound of many people and horses arriving could be heard from outside the pce. It seemed the crown prince would soon arrive as well.


    ¡°It looks like Heaven still won¡¯t give me a chance,¡± said the old emperor.


    ¡°Things aren¡¯t that bad yet,¡± Li Yao thought for a moment and said, ¡°We can hide for a while.¡±


    ¡°Hide where?¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty is more familiar with the pce than I am, where do you think would be the best ce to hide?¡±


    The old emperor pondered: ¡°Let¡¯s hide in the Imperial Kitchen. But how will we get out of here?¡±


    Li Yao pointed to a rope hanging down from the ceiling, making the old emperor shudder.


    He was just skin and bones, yet they wanted him to climb onto the roof?


    But things had already reached this point, so he had no choice but to risk it.


    Li Yao quickly climbed onto the roof, then had the old emperor tie the rope around his waist so she could pull him up.


    Having lived in the pce his whole life, it was the old emperor''s first time on the roof. With Li Yao''s support, the two of them carefully crawled to the edge of the roof and crouched down to hide.


    Soon after, the gloomy-faced crown prince arrived. But when he entered the bedchamber and discovered the old emperor had disappeared without a trace, he flew into a violent rage.


    "Where has His Majesty gone?"


    The guards who had been keeping watch all turned ashen-faced with fear, kneeling on the ground and not daring to speak.


    "Useless good-for-nothings! Seal off the entire pce immediately! Send more people to search!"


    The surrounding soldiers quickly dispersed, some going to seal off the various gates while others took men to search each hall for any trace of the old emperor.


    Seeing it was time, Li Yao lowered the rope and slid down to the ground. The old emperor steeled his nerves and awkwardly slid down as well. Then, while evading the guards everywhere, they hurried towards the Imperial Kitchen.


    Compared to the other halls, the kitchen clearly was not regarded as important.


    Everyone shared amon misconception that His Majesty would most likely be hiding in one of the imperial consorts¡¯ pces. No one would ever think to look for him in the kitchen.


    The head chef and sous chefs were all frightened by themotion in the pce. They gathered nervously at the door, whispering among themselves.


    Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Yao and the emperor easily slipped into the kitchen.


    But by an unfortunate coincidence, Chef Wang had juste out of the kitchen at that moment. He came face to face with the two of them.


    A dagger had already slid into Li Yao¡¯s hand. Finding the chef looked familiar, she eximed: ¡°Chef Wang?¡±


    "Miss Li?" Chef Wang had once been assigned to Li Yao''s household to cook for Liu Yun. He had even learned some culinary skills from Li Yao, so he immediately recognized her.


    But no matter how hard he wracked his brains, he could not fathom why Li Yao would show up in the Imperial Kitchen.


    Moreover, she was supporting a frail, trembling old man!


    He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, wondering if he was dreaming.


    "Who is this...?" he began.


    "This is His Majesty," Li Yao stated bluntly.


    Chef Wang: ......


    This was all too bizarre!


    Li Yao, who should have been thousands of miles away, had not only shown up in the kitchen but had brought His Majesty the Emperor along with her!


    "There''s no time to exin. Help us find somewhere to hide."


    "Alright, follow me!" Chef Wang reacted swiftly, immediately leading them to the room where he took his breaks while on duty.


    "Your Majesty, I''m afraid the amodations here are quite poor," he said apologetically.


    "At a time like this," the old emperor said with self-mockery, "just having a ce to hide is more than enough."


    "Chef Wang, you should leave quickly," Li Yao urged. "And remember, no matter who asks, don''t let anything slip."


    "Don''t worry." Chef Wang felt like his ancestral graves were about to spew out green smoke.


    As long as they made it through this night, the glory and wealth that would await him in the future would be limitless!


    Of course, he was not doing this for glory or wealth, but for Great Ling''s world!


    ...


    After failing to locate the old emperor in any of the pces, the pce guards soon turned their attention to where the pce maids and eunuchs resided, as well as theundry rooms and kitchen.


    Just as Chef Wang was on tenterhooks, several dozen guards charged menacingly into the kitchen and began recklessly rummaging through everything.


    Chef Wang had never been so terrified. The guards were about to reach his quarters and he broke out in a cold sweat, his legs shaking uncontrobly.


    Bang! A guard kicked open the door to his room. Chef Wang''s eyes squeezed shut as he thought to himself - this is the end.


    He expected to hear someone shout "Found them!" But after waiting for a bit, there was no such cry. The guard who had searched his room quickly left and continued on to the next one.


    What was going on here?


    Could Li Yao and His Majesty have already escaped? Amidst all his doubts and suspicions, the guards soon finishedbing through the entire kitchen.


    "They''re not here, let''s go!"


    Seeing the guards were all gone, the chefs once again began whispering among themselves.


    "Who were they looking for anyway?"


    "It must have been assassins."


    "You''ve been reading too many street operas. What kind of fearless assassin would dare sneak into the imperial pce at night?"


    ...


    Meanwhile, Chef Wang noticed two unfamiliar faces that had mysteriously appeared amidst the familiar crowd. He hurried over to them and brought both into his room.


    It turned out that while the guards had been away, Li Yao had disguised both herself and the emperor in makeup and borrowed some of the chefs'' clothes for them to wear. Then they had quietly blended into the crowd.


    It had been an extremely risky maneuver but also remarkably safe when carefully considered.


    In the pitch dark, everyone was milling about casually. Who would have noticed two extra people?


    With Chef Wang running interference, it had been a brilliantly executed sleight of hand.


    Having evaded the guards¡¯ search, the old emperor could finally breathe easy.


    Now all that was left was to wait for Marshal Xu to lead the army here.

 Chapter 232: Officially Retired

    <h4>Chapter 232</h4>


    "Why hasn''t he been found yet?"


    In the East Pce, the Crown Prince was almost going crazy with anger.


    He didn''t know the imperial pce was so small that these guards had searched for two hours but still couldn''t find an old man who could hardly walk!


    "Your Highness, please calm your anger," Zhu Zilin, the Minister of the Right, led a group of court officials and had been waiting at the side.


    "Since His Majesty is missing, the country cannot be without a monarch for a day," Zhu Zilin said. "It''s just the right time for Your Highness to legally ascend to the throne."


    "That''s right, Your Highness. Wouldn''t that be even better?"


    The court officials all echoed in agreement.


    Although they spoke like this, the Crown Prince still had a lump in his heart. Without seeing the old emperor close his eyes with his own eyes, even if he ascended to the throne, he would still feel uneasy.


    "Your Highness can''t wait any longer," Zhu Zilin persuaded again. "If we wait longer, I''m afraid there will be turmoil."


    "Alright, ascend the throne, ascend immediately!" The Crown Prince finally steeled his heart. "Announce to the whole world right now that His Majesty has passed away!"


    "Yes!"


    Just as Zhu Zilin was about to take out pen and paper to personally write the edict, a flustered guard rushed in.


    "Your Highness, this is terrible!"


    "What''s the matter?"


    "Xu Zhan is leading tens of thousands of troops and has arrived at the gate of the imperial pce!"


    "What did you say?"


    The Crown Prince''s face turned ghastly pale in an instant.


    Just yesterday morning, he had specifically sent someone to check that Xu Zhan was still securely imprisoned in Tiao Prison.


    And there were also tens of thousands more troops, where did theye from?


    "The troops are from the Yi Province army and the northern border army."


    "How...how is this possible?"


    The Yi Province army, Liu Yun!


    How dare he send troops to the capital?


    And the border troops, without any military order, how dare they return to the capital?


    "Minister Zhu, what exactly is going on here?" The Crown Prince asked in a cold voice, "Didn''t you say everything was arranged properly to guarantee foolproofness?"


    Zhu Zilin''s face was also ashen, but his mind kept thinking about a way out.


    The Crown Prince was definitely finished this time, but he may not be, because he had never appeared in front of the old emperor, and everything was done by the Crown Prince.


    As long as the Crown Prince did not expose him, he still had a ray of hope to live.


    "Old fellow," the Crown Prince sighed. "He is indeed more cunning than us after all."


    "It''s not that I am cunning," said a familiar voice, floating into everyone''s ears. Supported by Li Yao, the old emperor walked in tremblingly.


    And behind him was Xu Zhan, along with numerous soldiers.


    The moment they saw Xu Zhan''s troops, the guards of the imperial city originally wanted to defend it with their lives. But the old emperor suddenly appeared behind them.


    With the emperor present in person, the guard captains did not dare say anything and obediently opened the gate of the imperial pce. Xu Zhan then led two thousand soldiers to take over the entire imperial pce.


    The old emperor came to the Crown Prince and looked at him coldly, but did not say a word in the end.


    He had long been utterly disappointed in this undutiful son.


    On the other hand, the old emperor still said a few more words to Zhu Zilin: "Minister Zhu, you were also confused."


    "Your Majesty," Zhu Zilin knelt on the ground and said, "Your servant does not know what Your Majesty is talking about. If Your Majesty is referring to your servant secretly entering the East Pce, then I willingly ept the punishment."


    "At this point, do you really think you can still get away with your crimes?"


    Xu the Commander-in-chief sternly shouted, throwing a pile of letters in front of Zhu Zilin: "These are the irond proofs of you and some of the ministers colluding with the barbarians!"


    Upon seeing these letters, Zhu Zilin knew he waspletely finished.


    His body went limp and he copsed straight to the ground.


    "Guards, take them all away and lock them in Tiao Prison to await trial."


    All the officials present were taken away, the pce maids and eunuchs were also detained. Finally, only the old emperor, the Crown Prince and Li Yao, who supported the old emperor, were left in the vast East Pce.


    The Crown Prince looked at Li Yao and finally understood.


    "It was you who ruined my good deeds, wasn''t it?"


    "That''s right."


    "Who are you?"


    "I''m Li Yao."


    "Hahaha..." The Crown Prince suddenly burst outughing. "So you are Li Yao! Hahaha... I, the Crown Prince, was actually defeated by a woman! Hahaha..."


    ...


    Li Yao didn''t want to know one bit about how the old emperor would deal with his family affairs and punish the Crown Prince, this undutiful son.


    After making sure the imperial pce was secure, she left the pce and returned to the inn where she had stayed before.


    Today was New Year''s Eve!


    Unfortunately, because of the mess in the emperor''s family, the capital became colder than ever.


    Not to mention streets full of colorfulnterns and mouthwatering aromas everywhere, there wasn''t even a shadow on the streets.


    The innkeeper and the waiter were missing, and the inn waspletely empty.


    And Li Yao was still hungry.


    Just as she was thinking of going to the kitchen to see if there was anything edible, Wang San''er''s voice came from outside. "Mother, are you in the inn?"


    Li Yao walked out of the inn and saw Wang San''er riding the big horse she had given him, with more than a dozen tall warhorses behind him, carrying some packages on their backs.


    "Where are you going?"


    "Going home," Wang San''er said. "Commander Xu said he would properly arrange things in the capital and told us to go home reassured to celebrate the New Year. Mother, if we set off now, we can get home by early morning on the third day of the new year."


    "Did you bring dry rations?"


    "I did."


    "Good, then let''s go!"


    Without any hesitation, Li Yao jumped onto a big horse, and the mother and son sped towards Yi Province like the wind.


    ...


    The Spring Festival in H¨¦w¨¡n Vige this year was livelier than any other year.


    Liu Yun, the Prince of Yi Province, came with all his family members, and the prefect of Song also came with his wife.


    With unlimited food, meat every day, this was the kind of life that the vigers of H¨¦w¨¡n Vige had only dreamed about.


    The whole Spring Festival, H¨¦w¨¡n Vige was bustling every day.


    Li Yao''s father-inw and brother-inw Wang Jiafu were filled with childlike excitement. They made a lion dance team and went from door to door every day, banging gongs and drums though not very skillfully, but still spreading a festive atmosphere.


    Li Yao also took out some firecrackers and let people set them off three times a day, scaring the chickens, ducks, pigs and cattle to death.


    After more than ten lively days, the Lantern Festival came.


    After this day, everyone would start working, so everyone yed especially crazily today.


    After lunch, Li Yao was having people move fireworks from the warehouse, nning to set off a grand show at night. Suddenly, a team of ostentatious carriages slowly drove into H¨¦w¨¡n Vige.


    A little eunuch ran ahead to Li Yao''s house to announce the imperial edict for her to ept.


    Li Yao had long known this day woulde, she just didn''t know what title the old emperor would confer on her.


    "His Imperial Majesty decrees: Li Yao, 7th rank femalemoner of H¨¦w¨¡n Vige, for meritorious service in protecting His Majesty, resisting the barbarians, and exposing the treason of Zhu Zilin and others, is hereby conferred: First Rank Lady! Awarded with one thousand gold taels, ten thousand silver taels, ten thousand acres of fertile farnd..."


    ...


    Boom boom boom¡ª¡ª


    Fireworks exploded in the sky above H¨¦w¨¡n Vige on the Lantern Festival night.


    Everyone was intoxicated by the gorgeous scenery.


    A figure with a backpack on back quietly slipped away during the dazzling lights.


    After crossing two hills, Li Yao looked back at the still splendidly lit H¨¦w¨¡n Vige, and resolutely walked into the dense woods.


    From now on, she would enjoy her retirement life alone.


    Onwards!

 Chapter 233: The End of the chapter

    <h4>Chapter 233</h4>


    It was the Mid-Autumn Festival once again, a time of celebration and romance.


    In He Wan vige, Baichuan County, Yizhou Prefecture, all the vigers gathered at the vige entrance, craning their necks with eager anticipation as they looked down the solid cement road.


    Da Zhuang held the hand of his four-year-old daughter, Little Yanran, while He Xiaoya stood beside him, holding a baby in her arms. Judging by their attire, it was another little girl.


    Feeling a bit tired from waiting, Little Yanran tugged at Da Zhuang''s sleeve and asked, "Dad, when will Second Uncle, Third Uncle, and Youngest Uncle arrive?"


    "Don''t worry, Yanran. They''ll be here soon."


    Just then, a sharp-eyed viger called out, "They''re here!"


    Da Zhuang quickly looked in the direction indicated and saw several horses appearing in the distance. The leader was adorned in magnificent armor, with a powerful and imposing presence.


    "It''s Third Son!"


    Da Zhuang''s heart stirred with excitement.


    Since the day they parted ways, Third Son had been fighting in the northern frontier. With several fortified cities under their control, the Daling Frontier Army had established a solid foundation. Over the past few years, they had gradually pushed back the barbarian tribes, forcing them to send envoys to the Da Ling capital city seeking peace, offering annual tributes in exchange for a ce to survive.


    This was the first time the barbarians had submitted since the founding of the Da Ling kingdom, and the emperor was pleased. He rewarded the soldiers stationed in the northern frontier generously.


    As for Wang San''er, he had earned glorious achievements and was now the Grand General of Zhenyuan.


    Thundering hooves echoed through the air, as if shaking the entire earth. Wang San''er''s heart raced like an arrow, and he urged his horse forward, breaking away from the formation and charging ahead alone.


    "Big Brother! Big Sister-inw!"


    Even while still on his horse, Wang San''er excitedly called out and then lunged into Da Zhuang''s arms.


    "Haha, you little rascal, you''re as tall as your big brother now!"


    Looking at Wang San''er, who had grown into an adult, Da Zhuang couldn''t help but feel emotional.


    He still remembered when Wang San was a child, always ying with the bow and arrows his mother made for him, riding a branch like a horse, and boldly dering that he would go to the northern frontier to fight the barbarians and be a Grand General.


    At that time, everyone thought he was just a child who didn''t know any better. But who could have imagined that a few yearster, Wang San''er would truly be a Grand General?


    It all seemed like a dream.


    "And is this Little Yanran?" Wang San''er let go of Da Zhuang and smiled at Little Yanran. "Call me Third Uncle!"


    "Third Uncle," Little Yanran timidly called out and quickly hid behind Da Zhuang, revealing only her cute little head.


    "Don''t be afraid, Third Uncle is not a bad person."


    Wang San''erughed and patted his own body. He realized that he had been so eager toe home that he forgot to bring a gift for his niece, and he felt a bit regretful for his absentmindedness.


    Finally, he took a sheathed dagger from his waist and handed it to Little Yanran. "Here, this is the personal dagger of the barbarian king. Third Uncle is giving it to you."


    "But this is not appropriate!"


    Da Zhuang quickly intervened.


    Aside from the fact that Little Yanran was only four years old and might not be suitable for such a dangerous item, the significance of this dagger, obtained by Wang San''er from the barbarian king, was not to be taken lightly.


    How could they give such a precious item to a child?


    "It''s fine," Wang San''er ced a dagger in Little Yanran''s hand. "Hold it!"


    The dagger felt cool in her hand, and Little Yanran liked it.


    "Thank you, Third Uncle."


    "Good girl, I''ll teach you how to use the daggerter."


    "Yes."


    As he watched Little Yanran tightly gripping the dagger, her eyes shining, Da Zhuang couldn''t help but feel a headacheing on.


    Don''t be fooled by Little Yanran''s timid appearance and think she''s a scaredy-cat.


    Wrong!


    And it''s a big mistake!


    Ever since Little Yanran learned to walk, He Wan vige has never had a moment of peace!


    Every day she climbs trees, catches birds, climbs onto roofs, teases other people''s dogs, plucks feathers from the family''s big goose... There''s never a day without some trouble, and the sun never sets on her mischief!


    Da Zhuang helplessly nced at He Xiaoya and said, "I wonder who she takes after."


    "Of course, she takes after her mother!" Wang San''er said with augh. "Hahaha... It''s no wonder her mother dotes on her so much."


    Da Zhuang:...


    "Oh, by the way, I saw arge caravan on the road just now. It seems to be from the Prince of Yizhou."


    "How far away is it?"


    "Not far, we should be close."


    As they spoke, a brightly adorned caravan was approaching.


    To show respect for Liu Yun, Da Zhuang led the vigers to advance one hundred steps to wee them.


    Liu Yun was the first to jump off the carriage, followed closely by Song Prefect and his wife, Wang Er and Du Xiao Hui, as well as the spirited Wang Xiao Si and the nearly equally tall Liu Yao.


    "No need to be so polite, everyone," Liu Yun got off the carriage and smiled at everyone. "I''m not a stranger, don''t Ie here every month?"


    The vigers allughed along.


    Of course, why would they? The Prince of Yizhou almost treated He Wan vige as his own home, and he was very kind to the vigers, without any airs of being a prince.


    Those old women who had proposed marriage to him in the past still had the audacity to propose to him now.


    Of course, it was all in jest. With Liu Yun''s current reputation and status, there was no girl in Baichuan County who could match him.


    Song Prefect and his wife also smiled and dispensed with formalities.


    "Second Brother!"


    After greeting the Prince of Yizhou and the prefect, Wang San''er rushed forward and gave Wang Er a bear hug.


    Among the schrs, Wang Er was already considered strong and robust, with considerable strength.


    But in front of Wang San''er, he was like a little child. He almost had the breath squeezed out of him.


    "And Xiao Si!"


    Wang Xiao Si hurriedly backed away. "Third Brother, don''te near me! I can''t handle it..."


    "Haha, you can''t escape!"


    Held tightly by Wang San''er, Wang Xiao Si expressed his helplessness, while Liu Yao, who was standing aside,ughed so hard she couldn''t straighten her back.


    At Yangming Academy, Wang Xiao Si was quite arrogant, even Wang Er and Xiao Hui couldn''t quite control him.


    Who would have thought there were people he was afraid of!


    After the greetings, led by Liu Yun, everyone returned to the vige.


    Wang San''er hadn''t been back for several years, and the changes in the vige were drastic. Except for the houses in his own family, everything else felt unfamiliar.


    Fortunately, therge waterwheel his mother made was still in the courtyard, making him nostalgic for his childhood.


    "Has Mother... nevere back?"


    When they heard this question, everyone fell silent.


    Da Zhuang shook his head and said, "He shoulde back this year."


    He had been saying this for three years now.


    In these three years, there have been significant changes in the entire Daling region.


    And his brothers at home have undergone even greater changes.


    Da Zhuang is now the head of the family, with nearly 20,000 mu of fertilend and fields, with 10,000 mu purchased by his mother and another 10,000 mu bestowed by the emperor three years ago.


    In these three years, he has also purchased tens of thousands of acres of mountains and forests, all of which have been developed to cultivate arge number of fruit trees. Some of them will bear fruit next year.


    He ns to buy more mountains and forests when winteres.


    Because his mother once said, "Green waters and lush mountains are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver."


    And his mother loves mountains and forests, so he must buy more. What if his mother returns and sees so many mountains and forests? She might not want to leave again.


    Wang Er achieved great academic sess in this year''s imperial examination and became the top schr.


    With the arrangements made by the old emperor, he was allowed to stay in the capital and enter the Hanlin Academy. After one year of experience, he would be appointed to a position in the Ministry of Household, and after three to five years, he could be transferred out of the capital as a prefect of a province.


    Once he had achievements in politics, he would naturally be a Shangshu, or even a prime minister.


    Du Xiao Hui''s efforts have made Yangming Academy flourish in Yizhou Prefecture. Almost all children of reading age in Yizhou can attend Yangming Academy for free if they are willing to go.


    This act of kindness has earned Wang Er unparalleled fame and praise from the people all over the world.


    As for Third Son, he has be a general after these years of fighting. He is only waiting for Grand Marshal Xu to grow older, and he might directly take over the position of Grand Marshal.


    As for Wang Xiao Si, he is still studying diligently. The teacher said he will probably pass the Tong Sheng examination next year.


    But what is most impressive is not this, but his understanding of mathematics.


    Even Wang Er cannotpare to him in this aspect.


    This kid thoroughly studied the books on mathematics left by his mother and became proficient in it on his own. When he ran out of books, he would spend all day pondering on his own and even wrote a book on mathematics that was unheard of by everyone.


    And Xiaoya, she gave birth to a daughter before the new year.


    Everyone knows that her mother loves granddaughters, so she must be very happy.


    Unfortunately, her mother has been gone for three years and hasn''t been able to see everyone''s growth and changes with her own eyes.


    "All right, whether Lady Lies back or not, we should still enjoy this Mid-Autumn Festival," Liu Yun said, breaking the silence. "What delicious dishes have been prepared for dinner? My stomach has been growling for a while."


    "Then let''s eat," said Da Zhuang, the head of the family. "Set up the tables and chairs in the courtyard and enjoy the moon while eating."


    The fragrant dishes were quickly brought to the table, but they were not extravagant delicacies, just simple homemade dishes.


    Braised goose, stir-fried pork with peppers, chicken stir-fried with green peppers, braised pork...


    Looking at these dishes, everyone knew what Xiaoya had in mind.


    These were all her mother''s favorite dishes.


    And beside Liu Yun, there was an empty seat left.


    However, as the sky gradually darkened, and the full and round moon rose in the east, Li Yao''s figure did not appear.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    How could such a festive asion be without fireworks?


    As He Wan vige was illuminated by the splendid fireworks in the sky, a graceful figure emerged from the depths of the dense forest.


    "Oh my, you''re finally back."


    Li Yao tidied her unkempt hair and looked at the fireworks above the vige, smiling with delight.


    Three years had passed, yet she showed no signs of aging. On the contrary, she appeared even younger.


    Her clear eyes sparkled with a touch of liveliness.


    She hurried back home at the fastest speed, neglecting to greet her family, and rushed into the kitchen.


    Although they were leftovers, they were dishes she enjoyed. The rice in the pot was still warm, so she didn''t hesitate to help herself, scooping arge bowl of rice and pouring the vegetables from the te into it.


    Mmm, the home-cooked meal truly had a more delicious vor than any barbecue.


    And this rice soup, after taking a sip, she felt rejuvenated.


    As she was enjoying her meal, a small figure suddenly ran into the kitchen, startled to find someone stealing food.


    Li Yao looked up and saw a three or four-year-old little girl with watery eyes that twinkled, carrying a delicate dagger at her waist.


    "Who are you?" Little Yanran showed no fear. "And why are you in my kitchen?"


    Li Yao instantly realized that this was Little Yanran.


    She had grown so much already?


    "Are you Little Yanran?"


    "I am."


    Li Yao smiled, setting down her bowl and chopsticks. She gently patted Little Yanran''s head and said softly, "Good girl, call me Grandma."


    Little Yanran''s eyes brightened. "Are you Grandma?"


    "Yes."


    "Grandma, you''re finally back!"


    "Yes, I''m back." Holding Little Yanran''s small hand, Li Yao walked out of the kitchen with long strides. "Come, let''s find your father."


    Outside, a group of people were gazing at the fireworks,pletely unaware of the chilling aura approaching from behind.


    "Father, Grandma is back!"


    Everyone was startled and turned around.


    In the alternating light and darkness, who could it be if not Li Yao, the person they had longed for day and night?


    "Mother!"


    "Aunt Li!"


    "Lady Li!"


    Looking at those familiar faces, Li Yao''s smile was warm, but her voice was colder than autumn dew. "Who was the little brat that gave Little Yanran a dagger? Step forward, and I promise I won''t kill him!"


    Everyone''s hearts jolted, and after exchanging nces, they burst intoughter together.


    This mother, she hadn''t changed one bit!


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    The End


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