With a lot of questions in his mind, Gu Ting set out on his journey back to Beijing.

This actually diluted the sadness of parting.

He really hated Deng Cunli. He was halfway through his words when his curiosity was aroused and he ran away.

Deng Cunli also learned bad things.

Gu Ting couldn't wait to return to the capital and ask his sister in person what it meant to occupy territory.

He no longer resisted returning to the capital, but instead looked forward to it.

Pei Man is the opposite of him. She doesn't care about occupying territory. She is just worried about the Pei family.

The cement road from the northwest to the capital is smooth all the way.

In previous years, it would take more than a month to travel with a family, but now it only takes about twenty days.

The capital city is in sight, and the prosperity and bustle of the capital area can already be felt.

The closer we get to the capital, the more cars and pedestrians there are on the road.

When passing the last toll station, the carriage was stuck on the road and could not move.

There were many horse-drawn carriages and even more pedestrians passing through the toll booth.

There are neat rows of houses all around, a market in the distance, and it seems that a school has also been built.

"This place is about forty or fifty miles away from the capital, how can it be so prosperous?"

"I heard that a super large horse farm was built nearby, and all the villages around the farm were relocated here."

"The capital has changed so much."

"This place is nothing. Xinmin County is a hundred times more lively than here!"

"Recruiting, hiring!"

The waiter's shouting came from a distance.

"The Imperial College construction site is hiring laborers, apprentices, and stonemasons... The pay is excellent, so if you're interested, sign up now!"

"You can't recruit laborers here. You have to go to the towns below to recruit people."

Someone gave the recruiter some advice.

The recruiter was unmoved. "Is there anyone who has just arrived in Beijing from another province and is looking for work? We provide food and lodging, three meals a day, meat once every three days, and wages are settled every ten days. If you're interested, hurry up!"

"Do you really only eat meat once every three days?"

"Of course it's true. Sihai Construction is honest and fair to everyone, and you can even have a bowl of meat soup every day."

After the guy shouted like this, someone really applied.

Soon, the recruitment point was surrounded by people.

Gu Ting and his companions' carriage only slowly moved forward one parking space.

I don't know how long I have to wait to pass through the toll booth.

"Why is it so slow? Are all the people at the toll booth dead?"

"I heard that people from the imperial court have arrived and are blocking the way ahead."

Sure enough, someone from the court came.

The military officer was ordered to see Pei Meng.

"How many personal guards did you bring with you when you returned to the capital this time?"

"According to the regulations, we can only bring 200 people." Pei Meng sat in the carriage with a gloomy face.

The military official trembled with fear and took note, "Excuse me, sir, where should we place these two hundred people?"

Pei Meng looked down from above, "Of course it will be placed in the Marquis of Lu's mansion."

The military official coughed lightly and said, "It's like this. The court has granted a mansion to Lord Earl. You can live in the Marquis's Mansion or the Earl's Mansion as you wish! However, the two hundred personal soldiers must be placed in the Earl's Mansion, not the Marquis of Lu's Mansion. Please forgive me, Lord Earl."

Pei Meng raised his eyebrows and asked, "Where is the Earl's Mansion located?"

The military official hurriedly said, "It's only across the street from the Marquis of Lu's mansion, very close. Some time ago, the court imprisoned a group of officials, and the Minister of the Imperial Household paid to buy several of the imprisoned officials' houses. The mansion given to you was once the residence of a third-rank civil servant. Don't worry, you, the mansion has been slightly renovated and decorated to suit your status. The wife of the Marquis has already moved in with her family!"

"Master Ben knows! Is there anything else?"

The military official nodded repeatedly, "After returning home, my Lord, please rest first. In three days, please come to the palace to meet the emperor!"

Pei Meng smiled, "When to enter the palace to see the emperor should be informed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Why do you let a doctor from the Ministry of War take on the task of the Ministry of Internal Affairs? Is it because I am not qualified to ask those eunuchs from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to condescend to me?"

"Uncle, you misunderstood!"

"How could there be a misunderstanding? They blocked me at the toll booth and then sent you, a military official, to intervene. Are they humiliating me or humiliating the dignity of the court? Who are your superiors? Who sent you on this trip?"

"The Minister of War has sent me on this mission."

"Who's stuck at the toll booth?"

"Commuting merchants."

"fart!"

"Your Highness, you may not know that there have been large-scale transactions between the Racecourse and Universal Steel recently, with a large number of merchants coming and going. The toll booth here is always congested for a while every day. If your Highness doesn't believe me, you can ask anyone you want."

Pei Meng narrowed his eyes and stared at the military official. "What is Universal Steel?"

"Of course it's where steel and iron are made. Look, sir, over those hills, inside the mountains over there, is Universal Steel."

"Ironmaking, my Lord, I understand, but steelmaking? When did the Shaofu acquire such technology?"

"My Lord, you may not know that Universal Steel is nominally the private property of the Empress and has nothing to do with the Ministry of the Imperial Household."

"oh!"

Pei Meng smiled meaningfully.

"The Minister of War sent you to see me, Master. Do you have any other instructions?"

The military official shook his head repeatedly, "No other instructions."

"Is the court busy lately?"

"Same old!"

"Come here, give me a copy of every newspaper. While I'm stuck here, I need to have some fun."

The personal guard received the order and hurried to the roadside newsstand, buying three copies of each newspaper.

The personal guards were very thoughtful. They wanted one for the Earl, one for General Gu, and one for Mr. Dou.

Pei Meng was pleased that his personal guards had done their job well.

He dismissed the military official and said, "Got it! This Lord will live in the Earl's Mansion!"

The Pei family did not split up, but the imperial court took the initiative to split up the Pei family. It really broke their hearts.

Pei Meng returned to the carriage and, while flipping through the newspaper, chattered with Mr. Dou: "Could it be that Queen Gu's method is to alienate us father and son?"

"With Empress Gu's skills, there's no need to alienate Lord Earl and Lord Marquis! Empress Gu has always been bold and generous in her actions, and quite magnanimous!"

"Mr. Dou really praises Queen Gu!"

"She deserves my respect! Look, the new Imperial College will be moved outside the city once the school building is completed. For this purpose, two roads have been specially built, one leading to Xinmin County, and the other leading to this place. Now the Imperial College has also followed the example of Shanhe Academy, recruiting students every month, and the tuition is free. According to the newspaper, there is a constant stream of applicants. It's just that the Imperial College has limited campus space and can't accommodate so many students, so they have to limit the number of students. Once it moves to the new campus, the Imperial College will be able to open up enrollment like Shanhe Academy."

Pei Meng and his companions in the northwest could also read the newspapers from the capital, but they were only ten days or half a month late.

In the northwest, there were also local gentry and wealthy families who pooled money to publish newspapers.

Unfortunately, they were not run properly and could not make a profit, so they eventually ceased publication.

Everyone still relied on vendors delivering newspapers and periodicals from the capital for entertainment.

"The court officials have nothing better to do than engage in heated arguments with the nerds from Shanhe Academy in the newspapers every other day."

Pei Meng was flipping through the "Imperial College News" with an expression of disgust.

The Imperial College News has become the best place for officials to engage in verbal battles.

Mr. Dou chuckled, "This is a great way to deflect conflict! Uncle should learn from this."

Pei Meng added, "Zhou Shi'an's 'Officialdom' is quite insightful and a good book. However, it also touches upon the interests of many people and steps on the sore spots of civil and military officials. The Empress has pushed Zhou Shi'an out to bear the infamy, so she should at least give him some benefits."

"Zhou Shi'an is famous all over the world, and the Zhou family is once again attracting attention from the world. Is this considered a benefit?"

"This benefit is not enough!" Pei Meng said bluntly.

He searched through the newspapers but couldn't find any latest news about Zhou Shian.

Mr. Dou casually asked, "What kind of benefit do you think would compensate Zhou Shi'an for his sacrifice?"

Pei Meng said expressionlessly, "Zhou Shi'an bears a bad reputation, so it is the Queen's responsibility to clear his name."

"The Shanhe Academy Newspaper is handling this matter! I understand that when officials were criticizing Zhou Shi'an the most fiercely, the Shanhe Academy Newspaper began to be published publicly. As soon as it was published, it confronted the court officials head-on."

As he spoke, Mr. Dou pulled out an article from the Shanhe Academy Newspaper that whitewashed Zhou Shi'an. "Master, take a look at this article. It's quite insightful. Guess who wrote it."

"Anonymous?" Pei Meng raised his eyebrows.

Mr. Dou laughed heartily. "It's Anonymous. Anonymous, who disappeared for several years, has reappeared. He is indeed extraordinary."

"Is that the anonymous author who wrote about the relationship between war and taxation?"

"Exactly! Wenqing Bookstore is blind. Such good articles are unwilling to compile and publish them in a book. This has made it impossible for me to collect them."

Pei Meng laughed. "Interesting! At the critical moment, this anonymous person suddenly appeared and decided the outcome. Mr. Dou, have you guessed who this anonymous person really is?"

Mr. Dou stroked his beard. "I have a few suspects in mind, but I've carefully read their articles in recent years and their writing styles are different."

"Tell me, who are they?"

"Three Yuan Gong Yang Yuanqing, Sun Zhuangyuan, Zhou Shi'an, and those old immortals in the court! They even suspected the Empress."

"Have you never doubted Liu Zhao?"

"Liu Zhao cannot write such an article." Mr. Dou knew Liu Zhao's cultural attainments very well.

Pei Meng stared at the contents of the newspaper, "This uncle guesses the queen's identity."

"My uncle and I have the same opinion. Haha..."

"Have you noticed, sir, that there is not a single piece of news about the Northwest in the newspapers?"

"Yes! In the price section later, it mentions prices in the northwest."

Pei Meng sneered, "In such a vast Northwest, there's not even a single page in the news. Apart from officials bickering, it's all just trivial matters."

Mr. Dou said, “Perhaps the court is not happy for people to understand the northwest.”

"Of course the imperial court doesn't want the people to understand the Northwest. This way, they can freely smear and slander the Northwest, and slander us father and son!"

"Master, calm down!"

"Don't worry, sir. Master Ben is not angry. He is just expressing his feelings."

"Have you thought about what to say when you meet the emperor?"

Pei Meng threw down the newspaper and said, "There's nothing much for me to discuss with Liu Zhao. If I have to talk, I'll talk to the Empress."

"Don't be impatient!" Mr. Dou reminded solemnly.

Pei Meng laughed heartily, "Don't worry, sir. I know my limits and will never do anything rash!"

－－－－－－Digression－－－－－－

Here comes the third update!