Liu Zhiheng asked, "What do you plan to do? Do you have a plan?"

“Yes,” Mr. Wen took a deep breath, his eyes no longer filled with pain, but with coldness. “There were plans originally, but because my family showed goodwill, I thought they had changed their minds. I didn’t expect them to still have to take this step. Let’s just consider it as giving them one last chance!”

He gestured for everyone to come closer, and began to speak in a low voice. Finally, he stood up and bowed deeply to everyone, saying, "Whether this method can be successfully implemented depends entirely on the help of the three of you."

Everyone quickly reached out to help him up. Once he was seated again, Li Lao Er said, "I'll go to the dock. Lao Si and Da Yong are here. They haven't been back for a while, so I'll bring them some food and drink."

Li Zhensheng nodded, "Then leave it to me to figure out how to handle things in Xindu, especially the local affairs."

Liu Zhiheng sighed, "Leave the bribing of the yamen to me. There are too many people who like to kick someone when they're down, and I can't let them really do something underhanded."

After the four of them had reached an agreement and exchanged a few more casual words, they dispersed.

Mr. Wen walked at the back and then pulled Li Zhensheng aside.

He took out a handkerchief from his pocket, unfolded it, and revealed a pair of silver bracelets inside. He had personally gone to the jewelry store to choose them, and they cost him ten taels of silver.

His salary was not high. After dealing with the social obligations of the government, he was left with only enough for daily expenses. Fortunately, the Li family lent him a small courtyard to live in; otherwise, he would have been homeless.

He had borrowed these ten taels of silver from Li Zhensheng a few days ago...

He shoved the bracelet directly into Li Zhensheng's hand and said with a wry smile, "I used the ten taels of silver I borrowed to buy this. If I try to sell it now, I'm afraid I won't be able to get ten taels back. I'll return it to you first, and I'll make up the difference when I have more silver later."

Not wanting to embarrass him, Li Zhensheng accepted the gift directly, saying, "I've been busy lately and haven't had time to buy anything nice for Fu Niu'er. I'll give this to her to play with when we get home tonight."

Mr. Wen suddenly felt a pang of sadness and said softly, "Do you know what I envy most? It's your family. Your mother is sensible, your brothers are kind and respectful, your sisters-in-law are harmonious, and even your children are sensible and intelligent..."

Li Zhensheng patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him, "Don't be envious. Once you get through this hurdle and start a family, you'll have all these things!"

A glint appeared in Mr. Wen's eyes, and he slowly nodded...

Grandma Li said she had handed over the remaining matters to the men, and she truly did so, no longer worrying about it at all.

Even when Li Lao Er went home and said he was going to the dock overnight, she didn't ask any questions. She just asked Shui Ling to go find Hui Niang to see if she should bring some food and supplies for Li Yong.

Tao Hongying also missed her husband and prepared a lot of food and supplies for him.

Jiayin busied herself with the task, secretly picking two baskets of fruit and two baskets of vegetables from her spatial storage, which she then asked her second uncle to take to her father and godfather.

After Hui Niang delivered the gifts, Li Lao Er jumped into the carriage and set off with Zheng He and Zheng Feng.

Ye Tong was kept behind this time. He was familiar with the situation of various families in Kyoto, so that if the Wen family came to cause trouble again, he might be able to help his family...

The dockside barracks are now more vibrant with the arrival of spring.

The soldiers intensified their training every day, eager to cross the river as soon as possible and meet their "old friends" from the barbarians they hadn't seen all winter.

Lord Hou, accompanied by Jiang Cheng, Li Yong, and several lieutenants, stood below the arena in the middle of the training ground, watching Li Laosi wrestle with the soldiers on the arena.

The soldier was very strong, but he couldn't last three moves against Li Laosi before being lifted up and thrown down.

Fortunately, Li Laosi didn't use much force, and the soldier got up after a short while. When he saw the Marquis and the others in front of him, he blushed.

The Marquis did not scold him, but instead encouraged him, "Eat more in the future and train your strength. Although you may not be able to beat Commander Li, defeating the barbarians will definitely not be difficult."

"Yes, Lord Marquis!" The soldier knelt on one knee and saluted, then ran off. Surrounded by familiar soldiers, he couldn't help but boast, "The Lord Marquis praised me!"

Li Laosi jumped off the stage, grabbed the clothes from Li Yong's hand, wiped the sweat from his face haphazardly, and laughed, "These kids took turns fighting me, but it's been a long time since I've had such a good fight! I wonder when we'll go to Jiangbei to kill the barbarians, everyone's swords are getting rusty."

The Marquis smiled and said, "In a few days, I will return to Xindu to discuss it with the Emperor. If nothing unexpected happens, we will set off within half a month."

Everyone was delighted to hear this, just then a guard rushed over to report, "My lord, Earl Li of Zhongshan is requesting an audience outside the camp."

Lord Zhongshan, Lord Li?

Everyone was stunned for a moment before they realized what was happening.

Li Laosi turned and ran, shouting, "It's my second brother! I'll go meet him!"

Li Yong followed closely behind, shouting loudly, "Wait a minute, I'm going too!"

They haven't been back to Suijintan for a while, and they miss home.

Now, when I hear that someone is coming to my house, I want to see them as soon as possible.

Soon, the Li family's carriage was brought to the entrance of the main tent, and the Marquis and others also returned.

Li Lao Er stepped forward with a smile and bowed, "My lord, you haven't been back for a long time. Your family is worried about you. I also had some small matters to attend to, so I came to visit and bring some food and supplies."

The Marquis helped him up and asked, "How is Auntie's health? How's Fu Niu'er? Has she been naughty lately?"

Li Lao Er couldn't help but burst into laughter when he thought of a certain vat, leaving everyone completely bewildered.

He coughed twice and quickly said, "We'll talk about that later. Let's get down to business first."

The Marquis nodded, and everyone entered the main tent, leaving Jiang Cheng with his personal guards to help Zheng He and Zheng Feng unload things from the carriage.

Li Lao Er arrived in a hurry, and the family didn't have time to prepare much, but the Li family has a large population, so they will never lack food.

Therefore, the carriage was not only filled with fruit and vegetables, but also with three jars of braised meat, a jar of meat sauce, a hundred handfuls of dried noodles, a basket of fried meatballs, and a basket of baked red bean paste cakes that Tao Hongying had previously stored away.

Seeing his personal guards drooling with envy, Jiang Cheng laughed and scolded, "Don't make such a strange face. When has the Marquis ever gotten anything good and left you out?! Let me ask the Marquis how he's going to deal with it. You guys wipe your drool first."

After saying this, he went into the tent. Sure enough, after listening to a few words, the Marquis ordered: "Keep one jar of meat, half of the meat sauce and dried noodles, one basket of fruit, and send over lunch. Distribute the rest."

"Yes, Lord Marquis." Jiang Cheng was thoughtful and quickly sent over a small basin of washed fruit.

The fruit was very fresh, as if it had just been picked from the tree, and definitely not the shriveled fruit that had been stored in a cellar all winter.

The Marquis guessed that it must have been brought to him by the chubby girl, and a smile appeared on his face. He then asked the chubby girl what she had eaten and played at home.

Seeing this, Li Lao Er decided to put aside the important matter for now and then whisper about his niece's embarrassing incident.

Thanks to the kindness of the village chief and several old men, the matter became known throughout the village, but it was successfully contained within the village and did not spread further.

Therefore, Lord Hou and Li Laosi and the others really didn't know.

Just then, we heard that their laughter almost lifted the tent off its feet.