Before them stood a small grave, with the inscription "Franco Robert" on the stone tablet.

The stone tablet faces the distant sea and is backed by a small mountain, making it a good place to rest.

The three men, uncle and nephew, kowtowed and carefully protected the brazier. They burned a lot of paper. The mischievous sea breeze kept trying to blow out the fire, but the three men blocked it completely.

Not far away stood a junior steward and a caravan of about a hundred people. Some of them squinted from the sea breeze and stepped forward to ask the junior steward in a low voice, "Steward Chen, should we go and urge them to set off?"

Manager Chen waved his hand. Although he was young, he had stood out among so many people under his master, which meant he must have some extraordinary qualities.

For example, at this moment, he replied in a low voice, "It won't make a difference if it's just a little longer. Let's wait a bit longer. Considering that Master Li is usually very thoughtful in his actions, he wouldn't be unaware that we are waiting. It should be ready soon."

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, Li Zhensheng and his two nephews got up, bowed again, patted their clothes clean, and then came towards them.

"Thank you for your trouble, Steward Chen and all the brothers. Let's go and get back to Kyoto as soon as possible so everyone can rest easy. I'm sorry to trouble you all on the journey, but once we get home safely, I'll host a feast to thank you properly!" Li Zhensheng cupped his hands and bowed to everyone with a smile.

The crowd quickly made way, laughing and saying, "Master Li, you're too kind. We were just following orders."

Manager Chen quickly said, "Let's set off. If everything goes smoothly, we'll be home in a month."

Everyone responded and sprang into action, some mounting their horses, others driving their carriages.

The entire convoy consisted of thirty horse-drawn carriages, all of which were heavily loaded flatbed carts, reinforced with sideboards and secured with ropes.

The advantage of this is that it is not easy for the item to come loose or fall off during transportation.

The downside is that if the wheels get stuck in a ditch or the carriage breaks down and needs repair, unloading the cargo takes more effort.

However, with Jia Yi, the Hercules, accompanying the car, there's no need to worry about this at all.

If a carriage got stuck in a sand pit, before the horses could even pull it out, he would run over in a few steps, lift the wheels with both hands, and the wheels would easily go out.

Everyone in the convoy witnessed this and couldn't help but be surprised, even delighted.

They were all private soldiers of the Marquis's mansion. Some were secret guards who had made mistakes and were spared by the Marquis, some were soldiers who did not want to continue fighting on the battlefield, and some were retired martial arts practitioners.

They are usually scattered in various places, waiting for the Marquis's orders to gather information or do small errands.

Having received the news earlier, I rushed here, thinking it was something serious, but it turned out to be escorting the three Li family members, uncle and nephew, and some other items back to the capital.

It's nothing to worry about; we'll just have to endure some hardship on the way.

Most of them knew the Li family's background. They were the family that the Marquis valued most, and it was said that they had saved the Marquis's life. The youngest daughter of the Li family was also the Marquis's adopted daughter.

They initially thought the Li family was just lucky, and that the Marquis was grateful for their kindness. But now it seems the Li family might actually have some extraordinary qualities...

Li Zhensheng sat on the carriage shaft, unaware of the many thoughts on everyone's minds. He was going over the whole process of the incident again and again.

The three of them, uncle and nephew, joined the royal caravan in the city that day and then headed south.

Everyone in the caravan knew that the three of them had entered through the Xintinghou Pass, and no one had bullied them along the way.

The caravan manager, whom they had met several times before, was quite familiar with them and took good care of them.

When they arrived in Quanzhou, the caravan went to buy goods, while the three uncles and nephews wandered around, looking at all the new and interesting things.

Then, by chance, he "saved" an old foreign monk who was about to die.

The three of them, uncle and nephew, took care of the old monk's food and medicine, chatted with him, and learned a few foreign phrases.

The old monk was different from the monks of Tianwu. They could eat meat and even drink alcohol. Although they couldn't understand each other's language, they could still understand each other by speaking and gesturing.

Through him, the three of them learned about a wider world, what people in those worlds liked, and what their customs and traditions were like.

When the royal caravan was about to return, the old monk's condition did not improve, so they stayed behind for his sake.

The caravan members couldn't persuade them to stay, so they left first.

Then they used the token to contact Manager Chen and saw the seeds that had been delivered early.

Manager Chen then organized trusted personnel to purchase carriages and horses and assemble a caravan.

The people who brought the seeds from Kyoto and the people who transported them back were not the same group and did not know each other.

In this way, they can successfully pin the origin of these seeds on the foreign monk.

Furthermore, the group that brought back the seeds even witnessed the sunken ship that was said to have carried the old monk.

They firmly believed that the items in the convoy were gifts from an elderly foreign monk to express his gratitude for Li Zhensheng's rescue.

Although the old monk ultimately did not survive, these things were rightfully the Li family's.

In this way, even if someone bribes these people in the future, they will never know that these seeds came from Kyoto, only went through Quanzhou, and then returned to Kyoto.

The entire process was seamless, meticulous, and clear; Li Zhensheng was certain that he had not made any oversights.

The only thing that made him feel a little guilty was that foreign old monk.

I don't know how Steward Chen found the old monk and persuaded him.

Even at the end of his life, the old monk was still willing to act alongside him, chatting and laughing, treating him like a true friend.

If there were a way, he would even be willing to risk exposure to bring the old monk home.

Unfortunately, the old monk is getting on in years, and his body is truly in the state of a lamp burning out...

At this moment, Grandma Li was also holding her granddaughter, standing on the pile of stones, gazing in the direction of the official road.

"I wonder where your uncle and the others are? We're already taking off our padded jackets here, I wonder if your uncle's face is already oily from the sun!"

A mother worries when her son travels a thousand miles. These past few days, the old lady has been thinking about her eldest son, then her youngest son, and occasionally she'll mention her grandson. She seems to have a thousand thoughts running through her mind.

Jiayin didn't want her grandmother to be like that, so she looked around, trying to change the subject. Instead, she pointed to the path and happily called out, "Auntie, Auntie!"

Old Mrs. Li turned her head and saw that, sure enough, Madam Cui was helping Sister-in-law Qiong walk this way.

She quickly climbed down from the pile of stones and called out, "Jinrou, when did you get here? Why didn't you wait at home? The road is difficult to walk on!"

Madam Cui smiled and said, "It's been a long time since I've visited my aunt and Fu Niu. Since there's no spring planting at the estate, I've come to stay for a few days."

As she spoke, she hugged Jiayin, kissed her, and asked, "Auntie, this place is a bit remote. Why did you build a pigsty here?"

This place is an open space behind Dongshan Mountain, not far from the small river outside the village.

The village chief and others were delighted to hear that many more white pigs were to be delivered.

But with the addition of a few pigsties in the backyard of the Li family, there was hardly any space left to grow vegetables.