After watching the group completely disappear, Xie Zhaozhao finally told Yuan Yuan to close the door.

Back on the island in the middle of the lake, she brought over the small box that Yin Jin'an had left behind.

The box wasn't heavy; it probably contained a letter.

She carefully opened it and found that there were quite a few things inside.

At the top was a letter, below which were the house deed, land deed, banknotes, and two small boxes.

Feeling uneasy, she quickly opened the letter.

The handwriting isn't great, but it's still neat.

#Living Guanyin:

The Wei family has been in power for three generations, with a large and well-trained army, abundant supplies, and spies everywhere. It is bound to be a fierce battle.

I will definitely try my best to come back alive, but there's always a chance of something going wrong. If I don't come back, the Xiaoyao Marquis's mansion will definitely be doomed.

These are the land deeds and house deeds, including my shops and my residence. This is all my savings, and I'm handing it all over to you. I used to be a slacker, and it was only by following you that I accumulated this little bit of wealth.

If I come back alive, please keep these things for me for a few months.

If I'm gone, all of this is for you.

Remember, this is my property. I can give it to whomever I want, and you must respect my decision. Not a single penny is allowed to be given to anyone in the Duke of Xun's mansion.

Besides these, there are Wang Fen and Chu Zhongtian. Please take them in for me. They chose to follow me, and I just want them to have a good future.

Even if the old man wins this battle and returns to court, he is too old to offer Wang Fen and the others a better future, and Yin Jinzhuo certainly won't either.

Therefore, you must take in Wang Fen and Chu Zhongtian!

I've prepared a gift for your and Grand Secretary Gu's children, one for a boy and one for a girl. You'll surely have more than one child in your lifetime. Ideally, you'd have both a son and a daughter, making a perfect family.

Yes, you must be well, live a good life, have a good man, have good children, and have a fulfilling life.

Alright, that's about all I can write... #

Xie Zhaozhao's face was already blurred with tears.

I'll let life take its course, whether it's windy, rainy, or sunny.

It was as if she could see that dashing young man, dressed in fine clothes and riding a spirited horse, striding through the streets, arrogantly reining in his horse and standing before her.

"You are Xie Zhaozhao?"

"Let me tell you, we can't read books, and we can't do anything else. We're just a bunch of useless mud."

"Stop making empty promises and saying nice things, just get to the task."

...

"Yin Jin'an, you must come back alive, don't let me regret dragging you into this!" Wiping away her tears, she carefully put the letter down.

Looking at the contents of the boxes, one of the smaller boxes contained a jade pendant for boys, a jade auspicious beast pattern butterfly-shaped pendant, made of top-grade mutton fat white jade, with several chi dragons symbolizing beauty, good fortune, and wealth carved around it.

In the other box was a white jade longevity lock, carved with a lotus in relief. It was perfectly shaped, with a simple design and smooth curves, resembling a lock, a gold ingot, or a ruyi (a type of scepter), with a rounded surface.

I don't know when he started preparing.

Xie Zhaozhao gathered all the things in his box and closed the lid.

Yin Jin'an, we're waiting for you to come back.

I will temporarily hold your property in my custody.

Give the gift to your child yourself.

In the imperial court.

The army is about to set off, and the imperial court is making final preparations.

After discussing political affairs, His Majesty summoned Gu Shaoyu, Xie Yu, Duke Xun, and others to the Imperial Study to make further arrangements before the expedition.

In fact, in such battles, the combat capabilities of generals and soldiers are basically fixed, and the biggest variable is food and supplies.

Ultimately, the current war boils down to a battle over supplies.

With an army of 350,000, if each soldier receives one jin (500 grams) of grain per day, that's 350,000 jin.

This battle, it's unknown how long it will last.

Last year, we suffered a devastating earthquake, followed by floods, and then an extreme cold winter. The imperial court was either providing disaster relief or on its way to provide disaster relief.

His Majesty was determined to win this battle, after all, the Wei family had been a major concern for two generations of emperors.

The grain supplies were entrusted to Xie Yu for supervision. As the Vice Minister of Revenue, he was in charge of the national treasury and the money bag, so His Majesty directly entrusted him with the supervision of the grain supplies this time.

However, no matter how capable Xie Yu was, the fact remained that the national treasury was short of food and money.

Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice. Xie Yu could guarantee a timely supply of grain and fodder without embezzling a single penny, but he couldn't conjure up grain out of thin air.

Gu Shaoyu handed a list to His Majesty.

Emperor Hui looked at it, and it listed the following:

Ye Jiancheng Lin Haohao had 1,000 warhorses, 300,000 shi of grain, and about 500,000 guan of silver.

Pan Renmei of Liangquan County had 2,000 warhorses, 400,000 shi of grain, and about one million guan/liang of silver.

Liang Shicheng of Jishan County had 2,000 warhorses, 400,000 shi of grain, and approximately one million guan of silver.

...

When Emperor Hui saw the people on this list, they all seemed to be quite famous, such as Cai Jing, who was a master of calligraphy.

But what about the warhorses, food, and money?

"Jing Chen, what does this mean?"

Gu Shaoyu said, "Your Majesty, this is the list of Princess Yu Rong's attendants and personal maids that I captured and interrogated when I was in Zizhou."

These were Princess Yu Rong's male favorites and granaries in various places.

Gu Shaoyu told Emperor Hui everything from beginning to end.

Of course, he was careful and told His Majesty that Shen Su had not originally confessed (in fact, Shen Su had already confessed in Zizhou). He thought of Shen Su's ten years of hard study and gave him a chance to choose to be loyal to His Majesty.

Now that Shen Su has returned and expressed her willingness to pledge allegiance to His Majesty, he has obtained this list.

People were sent to investigate and it was confirmed that the powerful local figures were all the princess's people before the report was submitted to Emperor Hui.

Upon hearing that the money belonged to Princess Yurong, Emperor Hui immediately guessed the truth and said with a grim face, "She's keeping a man and hoarding so much grain and money! Is she keeping a man or preparing for a rebellion?"

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