Chen Zhaoci thought of Xu Rao, who was far away in Liaodong, and said sadly, "I miss your dad. It's not easy to go there from such a remote place. You need to have a plane or high-speed rail. I can go there on weekends so we can experience what it's like to be a weekend couple."

Xu Di thought of his parents. When they were young, they were both busy with their own careers. Later, as they got older, they gradually reduced their workload. Who knew that they would both end up in this era where nothing is convenient? Although they are young now, they are often separated by distance for various reasons.

Xu Di asked Chen Zhaoci, "Mom, are you missing Dad?"

Chen Zhaoci nodded and said, "Yes, it's been so long since I've seen him. We've been together for so many years, how can I not miss him? I'm just hoping that after Yuexi gives birth, both mother and child will be safe and sound. Once you can live a good life with your child, I'll hurry to Liaodong. I really want to stay by your father's side."

Xu Di gently patted Chen Zhaoci's shoulder. At this moment, even if she were asked to go to Liaodong, she would not agree. Li Yuexi was carrying the grandson she had longed for for two lifetimes. How could she leave in peace without seeing the child safely come into this world and without personally confirming that the mother and child were safe?

Seeing that Xu Di's face was not good, Chen Zhaoci gently tapped his forehead with her finger and said, "Our family will soon have a new member. This is the most important time for our family. Even if you ask me to leave, I can't leave. Okay, don't think too much about it. We still have a few days to go."

After the founding of the Great Liang Dynasty, Bohai suffered greatly from the Japanese pirates. In order to transport troops and grain to Dengzhou, the road from Linqing to Dengzhou was carefully repaired, and many places were even paved with bluestone slabs. Unfortunately, the cost was too high, and such road sections were very rare.

The group endured wind and rain, sleeping outdoors, and traveled for five whole days before finally reaching Penglai County.

It's a small seaside city, filled with the salty smell of the sea breeze. Because it's close to the sea, the air is more humid than in Beijing, but the sea breeze also makes it feel damp and cold.

The small county town exuded a sense of decay. There was only one narrow street with a few small shops on both sides. Perhaps because it was too cold, there were few pedestrians on the street. When I passed by some shops, I saw the shop assistants inside wearing padded jackets with their sleeves tucked in, leaning against the counter and dozing off.

As Xu Di walked, he looked around. This would be his territory in the future, and he would be the official in charge of the people here. As their official, Xu Di had the responsibility to lead them to resist foreign aggression and to help them live a good life.

No matter how difficult it is, there will always be a solution. Xu Di felt quite calm when he saw this. After all, when his family of four went to Hexi, it wasn't much better than here. Didn't they still rise from the ashes under his father's leadership? He heard that Hexi's tax revenue is now almost catching up with that of some wealthy places in Jiangnan.

Xu Di had already arranged for people to come and prepare the back courtyard in advance. This small three-courtyard house was just a place for the family to stay. They didn't plan to settle down here, so having a place to live was already quite good.

When the group arrived, the people who had come ahead had already repaired and patched up the house. The kang (heated brick bed) in the room was burning brightly, and hot water had been boiled and hot soup and food had been prepared.

After taking a hot bath and eating a hot meal, Chen Zhaoci lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) and refused to move. Xu Di, seeing that Li Yuexi was already lying on the kang, felt relieved and went to the front office. The original magistrate of the county had been captured and taken to the capital, and the county office was now leaderless. Xu Di was prepared that there would be many things waiting for him to do once he arrived.

When they arrived at the county government office, they discovered that although the county magistrate had been arrested, the county assistant and the registrar were still there. The two of them managed to keep things running smoothly. They not only cleaned up the mess caused by the Japanese landing, but also comforted the villagers who had been injured. However, since they were not the magistrate of the county, they could not make decisions on many things. They did not do anything about things like relief and compensation that required money and food.

The county magistrate and the registrar were waiting at the county office. After meeting Xu Di, they introduced themselves to each other. The county magistrate was named Yuan Pei, who was in his forties and from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The registrar was named Tong Yanshu, who, like Yuan Pei, was a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations. He was in his thirties and was said to be a local from Dengzhou.

Yuan Pei didn't talk much; it was mostly Tong Yanshu who did the talking. Tong Yanshu's Mandarin wasn't very standard, and even Xu Di, who claimed to be able to understand dialects from various regions, had to concentrate to understand what Tong Yanshu was saying.

It was nothing more than polite small talk. Since it was the first time meeting, everyone was holding back and only exchanged a few pleasantries.

Xu Di had already thoroughly investigated the situation of these two people. Although the county magistrate and the registrar did not need to be selected from the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Personnel kept records of the basic information of the county magistrate and the registrar of each county. Ever since Xu Di learned that the Marquis of Yongning had secured the position of magistrate of Penglai County for him, he had asked someone to extract information from the Ministry of Personnel not only for Penglai County, but also for the other three counties and Dengzhou Prefecture.

Along the way, Xu Di carefully read through the documents, word by word, and naturally gained a very clear understanding of the backgrounds of these two people.

Yuan Pei was a scion of a long-established family in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. After passing the provincial examination at the age of twenty, he participated in the metropolitan examination several times but failed each time. So he used his family's connections to come here and become a county magistrate, a position he has held for seven or eight years.

As for Tong Yanshu, he was from the neighboring Huang County. He was poor since childhood. After passing the provincial examination, he took the metropolitan examination twice but failed each time. After returning, he came to Penglai County as a registrar. Neither of them were cunning or treacherous, which made Xu Di feel somewhat lucky.

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