The work of clearing silt from the river and reinforcing the dam continued until March of the following year.

Knowing it was over, Ye Yunniang breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Contracting the Minjiang River embankment repair not only requires paying the workers for their labor but also purchasing the materials needed for the repair, which costs a lot of money.

Since the government couldn't come up with the necessary funds, Bao Min set his sights on the wealthy households and large landowners of Jiangcheng.

They've already raised funds three times; if they're exploited any further, they'll rebel.

Bao Min then set his sights on Ye Yunniang.

Based on Bao Min's understanding of Jiang Mingzhe, he would definitely not let his woman and son live a hard life.

This is also evidenced by Ye Yunniang's daily life.

Ye Yunniang refused Bao Min's request for a loan outright.

"Madam Ye, I can write an IOU."

"Does my mother know you're asking me to borrow money?"

Bao Min dared not let Cai Damei know.

Ye Yunniang understood, and without telling Cai Damei, she came to borrow money from her.

"Master Bao, I don't know about his treasure. You should ask someone else." The treasure in the courtyard belongs to Jiang Mingzhe; she has no right to make decisions for him.

"Madam Ye, this is a great thing that benefits the country and its people. I will go to the imperial court to plead for Jiang Mingzhe. Don't you want father and son to be reunited?"

"Master Bao, you should go find Jiang Mingzhe."

“Madam Ye, the drought crisis in Jiangcheng will be difficult to resolve without money. It will be hard for you and your children to maintain this stable life.” Bao Min paused, then continued, “Madam Ye, for the sake of your children, please consider this carefully.”

Ye Yunniang understood what Bao Min was saying. But it was Jiang Mingzhe's business, and she couldn't make that decision.

Bao Min got up and left, worried about where to find money.

"Master Bao," Ye Yunniang said, holding two rolls of silver notes in her hand, "this is all I have."

“Madam Ye, on behalf of the people of Jiangcheng, I thank you.” Bao Min bowed solemnly.

"No need. I'm only doing this for Shushu and Mother's sake," Ye Yunniang said, closing the door behind her.

The 20,000 taels of silver notes were used up in less than half a month. Bao Min came to find Ye Yunniang again, but was stopped by Li Pan and the other two.

"Brother Bao, need some money?"

"You think you're rich?"

“I don’t have it. But I know where to find it.”

Where can I find it?

Li An didn't speak, but looked at Bao Min and said, "Brother Bao, my information isn't given for nothing."

"What benefits do you want?" Bao Min asked eagerly.

Ang Lee held up one finger.

"You want 10%?"

"No, I want half, fifty percent."

“That’s too greedy,” Bao Min disagreed.

"As a descendant of the Jiang family, it's not unreasonable for me to take half of what belongs to the Jiang family." Li An felt that even half was too little.

"If you take it, the three of you can't hold onto it."

"Whether we can hold on or not is our business." What is rightfully his, Ang Lee will not let go.

"Tell me first, how much treasure is there?"

"Let's agree on how to divide it first, then we can discuss the specific details of the treasure."

"You're just like your second uncle, you never suffer a loss."

"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Bao." Ang Lee felt it was a compliment when he was told he resembled Jiang Mingzhe.

"One and a half percent."

"50%"

"Twenty percent."

"50%"

"25%."

"make a deal."

Li Pan handed him a piece of paper and a calligraphy brush.

Bao Min took the paper, which clearly stated the treasure-sharing agreement. It was already written on it, with 25% already agreed upon and signed.

He had been outmaneuvered by those three brats.

"Master Bao, please sign."

Bao Min accepted the document and signed his name.

Ang Lee took the document, confirmed the name, and nodded in satisfaction. He then handed it to Li Pan for safekeeping.

“We originally didn’t plan to have it. But shouldn’t you have set your sights on Mother? And you even took the pocket money that Father gave to Mother.”

After giving the silver notes to Bao Min, Ye Yunniang spoke privately with the three of them. She also explained that she had more than 10,000 silver notes on hand, which was enough for her needs, which was why she gave them the money.

This made the three little ones very angry, especially since Bao Min used the three of them as a reason to persuade Ye Yunniang.

Bao Min suddenly had the feeling that he had shot himself in the foot. Sure enough, anything related to Jiang Mingzhe was never a good thing.

"Now you can tell me, where is the treasure?"

"Old Man Jiang."

After hearing this, Bao Min wanted to punch himself. How could he have forgotten about Grandpa Jiang?

Where is the treasure located?

"I don't know, I'll tell you tomorrow."

When Li An answered that he didn't know, he looked at Li Ping.

Are you sure?

"It's confirmed, we'll dig for treasure tomorrow," Li Ping said with absolute certainty.

"Okay, I'll pick you up tomorrow." After agreeing on the time, Bao Min left.

"Little brother, how did you know?" Li Pan couldn't help but ask curiously.

“Yeah, who told you that?” Ang Lee also looked puzzled.

"You told me."

"When did we say that?" Li Pan asked, puzzled. Li An also wondered when he had found out.

"You two were punished by your mother and weren't allowed to eat dinner." Li Ping mentioned it, and the two remembered.

"Will Mother tell?" Ye Yunniang didn't answer the last time she asked.

“If the three of us ask together, Mother will tell us.” Li Ping walked confidently towards the front yard and into the side room.

"Is Mother inside?"

"Yes, come in." Ye Yunniang was sewing shoe soles. "Why did you close the door?"

“Mother, I have something I want to ask you.” Li Ping sat down on the stool next to Ye Yunniang’s feet.

"What's the matter?" Why are you being so serious?

"Mother, put down what you're doing and listen to me." Li Ping took Ye Yunniang's hand.

Li Pan and Li An also moved stools and sat down next to her.

Ye Yunniang put down what she was doing and sat up straight.

"Speak, what is it?"

"Raising a father,"

"He is your father."

"It's the same whether you're a father or a foster father." Li Ping didn't care; whether they were blood relatives or not, they would all have to spend money to support him.

"Mother, let's not talk about adoptive father or biological father. I want to know where Old Man Jiang's third treasure is?" Li Pan asked anxiously.

Ye Yunniang paused, then looked the three of them over. "Why are you asking this?"

"Curious," Ang Lee replied.

"Want to know what's inside?" Li Pan really wanted to see what the treasure looked like.

"Really?" Ye Yunniang clearly didn't believe it.

“Really.” Li Pan nodded vigorously.

Li Ping and Li Anqi covered their heads; this sounded fake.

"To be honest, why do you want to know about the treasure?" Thinking of Bao Min's matter, "Yes, Master Bao bribed you to ask."

"No/Yes." The three gave different answers.

"Yes or no?"

"Yes or no."

“Pan’er, speak,” Ye Yunniang said, blocking Li An and Li Ping and letting Li Pan speak.

Li Pan dared not hide anything from Ye Yunniang and told her the whole story.

"You three are really bold." Ye Yunniang didn't expect that the three of them would dare to negotiate with Bao Min and ask for a share of the profits.

"Whose idea was this?" Ye Yunniang looked at Li An and Li Ping.

“It was my idea,” Ang Lee readily admitted.

“It wasn’t Second Brother, it was me,” Li Ping then said. “Yes, it was my idea.”

"No, it was my idea. I wanted the money."