Because of the landmine incident, the opposite bank of the river in Da Yan was unusually quiet. Xu Di stood on the cliff and looked at the somewhat eerie scene on the other side of the river. He gritted his teeth and cursed, "Damn a bunch of bastards."

Xu Di felt like he had a fire burning inside him, but he couldn't vent it. He could only keep it bottled up and not let anyone find out. He also had to manage his emotions carefully.

Xu Di had figured out the whole story, starting with the former Crown Prince, then Aunt Zhu, and even that Su advisor in Hexi. He had even figured out the unseen and intangible hand behind it all. It was because he knew everything that Xu Di was so angry.

Ordinary people have a hard time making a living. They finally have a stable environment, but some people always think about restoration, always think about those who have become history, and want to restore the glory of the past. But such restoration requires people who know nothing, who only know how to honestly farm and feed the people of this huge country to pay the bill. Why should they?

Xu Di would never agree to such selfishness.

History does not stop because some people leave, nor does it restart because some people fail. It only keeps moving forward. Many years later, perhaps in some corner of the history books, there will be a few words about a certain dynasty, about a close friend of a murdered crown prince who, out of indignation at his friend's fate, went to great lengths to seek justice for the crown prince. Or some people will marvel at the wisdom of this close friend of the crown prince. After all, it is not an easy thing to manipulate the entire court for the sake of a friend, but he did it.

Xu Di once thought that if he were someone reading history books, he might be moved by this pure and unyielding friendship. But now? As someone involved, Xu Di did not want to become a victim of their so-called friendship, much less a victim of a grain of sand in the torrent of history.

Xu Di quietly looked at the opposite bank of the river. The sun was shining brightly today, and he could vaguely see the tops of the tents below the riverbank. There might still be people inside these tents, but Xu Di felt nothing to be afraid of. So what if it's war? Then bring it on. He had so many simple and honest people standing behind him. What was there to be afraid of?

Xu Di carefully considered the events from Hexi all the way to the Great Yan's planned sneak attack, and then, adding his own various speculations, wrote a letter and sent it to the Marquis of Yongning's residence.

This involves Consort Zhu, and even the late Crown Prince. The Marquis knows both of them, and Xu Di even speculates that this Military Advisor An might be an old friend of the Marquis.

Xu Zhi has been extremely busy these past few days. The bamboo paper workshop is finished. Following the blueprints provided by Xu Di, she built a very large first courtyard. Water drawn from the boundary river flows under the courtyard wall and collects in a pool behind the courtyard. The entire pool is intended to be used for fermenting raw materials. It is very large, with the bottom and sides paved with bluestone.

The village head and Zhou Erzhu stood in front of the pool, which was more than a person tall, and looked at the full pool. They exclaimed in surprise, "This pool is so big, how many bamboos must it hold?"

Xu Zhi came over from the front, looked at the pool, and said to Zhou Erzhu, "It's too dangerous to leave the pool like this. Find someone to go up the mountain and cut some bamboo to fence it off. Otherwise, with such a big pool of water, it's no joke if someone falls in."

Zhou Erzhu hurriedly went to find someone to cut bamboo. Xu Zhi said to the village head, "Uncle Village Head, our place is already built. Some people from the village came here to learn for two days, but they complained that they were only learning to read and write here, so many of them left. I'll have to trouble you to talk to those people. Once they leave, they can't come back. My place is going to produce famous bamboo paper that will be known throughout Daliang. It's not a place where people can come and go as they please."

The village headman quickly nodded in agreement. It was all because the villagers were ignorant and short-sighted. They saw that working on the road construction site meant a full meal and a dozen or so copper coins a day. But here, not only was there no lunch, but because production hadn't started yet, they only received five copper coins a day. The young men were studying and learning to read and write with a teacher in the workshop. This made some people look down on them, feeling that it wasn't as enjoyable as earning a few copper coins a day.

Zhou Erzhu and his wife both came. Zhou Erzhu had been busy building the house and digging the pond. His wife, who was illiterate before, learned a few characters after getting married by following Zhou Erzhu's lead. She heard that a teacher would be hired to teach her to read and write, and later a master would be hired to teach her skills. Naturally, Zhou Erzhu's wife worked here every day without fail. Zhou Erzhu was now using her as a manager, and Xu Zhi gave her twenty copper coins every day. Zhou Erzhu's wife didn't mind receiving five copper coins.

Some people from the village came and then left. The village head told them that they would not be needed again if they left. They didn't dare to argue with the village head or talk to Xu Zhi, so they started to dislike Zhou Erzhu and his wife.

Zhou Erzhu's mother was instigated by them to come and scold him, but Zhou Erzhu and his wife didn't take it to heart. They felt that Xu Zhi wanted to do great things, and working with such a person, how could she worry about not having a future? Even if she didn't do well in making bamboo paper in the future, she would gain experience under such a master and have confidence when she did other things. As ordinary people who farmed in the fields all day long, Zhou Erzhu and his wife believed that there would never be another opportunity for them to broaden their horizons and gain knowledge.

Zhou Erzhu's parents had both come and told them to go work on the road construction site, saying they could earn more money there. Zhou Erzhu and his wife stubbornly refused, insisting on staying in this place where they didn't even know if they could make money in the future. Because of this, Zhou Erzhu's mother, instigated and ostracized by some people in the village, stood at Zhou Erzhu's front door and cursed Zhou Erzhu's wife all morning, insisting that she had corrupted her son.

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