Sun Jian shrugged helplessly.

Li Ganrou also found it very strange and frowned. "Father is so strange. The new grain varieties are not being planted on a large scale, and such powerful military weapons and equipment are not being mentioned or inquired about..."

Sun Jian stroked his chin and continued, "Yes, I'll have to think about this carefully later."

"Alright, let's not think about these things for now. Shall I keep you company and continue practicing your swordsmanship?"

"good!"

Li Ganrou smiled gently, picked up the black gold composite bow given to him by Sun Jian, and began practicing against the target.

The two flirted and teased each other during practice. Sun Jian, the old fox, deliberately created opportunities to escalate their relationship. He originally wanted to raise Li Ganrou's 17 points of favorability by 3 points, and ideally, trigger a rare lottery draw.

But to everyone's surprise, an hour later, the system didn't send any more reminders.

As dusk fell, the hour of Xu (7-9 PM) had passed.

Sun Jian looked up at the darkening sky and his heart tightened: "Damn it, this is bad."

"Broken? What's broken?"

Li Ganrou twisted her shoulders, looking surprised.

Sun Jian was somewhat amused and exasperated, explaining, "Wang De said he would come to pick me up from the palace at 7 PM, but he didn't know that we had come from the Imperial Garden to the Martial Arts Ground."

Li Ganrou thought it was something serious and said softly, "It's nothing. I'll have a maid go and tell Wang De later."

Sun Jian pursed his lips and looked up at the sky.

"Judging from the current time, the hour of Xu (7-9 PM) has already passed."

"Your Highness, I should return now. I have a lot of things to take care of at home, and I also need to report to the Tiger Warriors tomorrow."

Hearing that Sun Jian was leaving, Li Ganrou felt a little reluctant, but it was getting dark and she had no reason or excuse to keep him.

"Well... okay then."

Sun Jian was well aware that the young girl was a little reluctant to part. He smiled slightly and said in a doting tone, "Then I will take my leave now. I will play with you again next time I have time."

After speaking, Sun Jian bowed respectfully to Li Ganrou, then turned and strode away.

Watching Sun Jian's departing figure, Li Ganrou felt a void in her heart, as if she had lost something and was very anxious.

She bit her red lips tightly, her slender fingers clenched into fists.

Just as Sun Jian's figure was about to disappear around the corner of the martial arts arena gate, Li Ganrou finally couldn't help but shout at him, "Hey!"

Sun Jian stopped in his tracks, paused for a moment, and turned to look.

A blush rose to Li Ganrou's face: "You mean next time? When is next time?"

Sun Jian shook his head and smiled wryly. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Wait until I return from the Tiger Warriors!"

After saying this, Sun Jian turned and left again, not forgetting to wave goodbye to Li Ganrou with his back turned.

...

By the time I got home, it was already quite dark.

Unexpectedly, not only were the three women worried and unable to sleep, but even Lao Jiang, Lao Cao, Gou Sheng, and Gu Hu did not get any rest.

Everyone was waiting in the front hall, very worried about Sun Jian's safety.

After leaving the Yao residence, Gu Hu returned to the Sun residence. He did not tell everyone about the locust plague, but only told them that Sun Jian had urgent business with the Crown Prince and Governor Yao and was going to the palace to meet the Emperor.

At first, no one was in a hurry, but as they waited and waited, and Sun Jian still hadn't returned by nightfall, they started to panic.

Sun Jian is the pillar of the family; he absolutely cannot be allowed to die.

Starting at the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), everyone panicked and gathered in the front hall to discuss what to do. Even Gu Hu wanted to go see Governor Yao that very night to find out what had happened...

Fortunately, at the last moment, Sun Jian appeared at the main entrance of the front hall.

"What's going on? Aren't you all sleeping?"

Sun Jian saw that everyone was gathered in the front hall and understood the general situation, but he still joked.

"My husband!"

"gentlemen!"

"My benefactor!"

...

Seeing Sun Jian return safely, everyone was overjoyed, especially Gu Zijian, Chu Qingcheng, and Zhou Wan'er, who rushed into Sun Jian's arms. Their longing and worry turned into tears that streamed down their faces.

He was held tightly by the three women, and the three different fragrances wafted into Sun Jian's nostrils. Coupled with the soft and boneless feeling of their bodies, Sun Jian felt refreshed and happy.

"Oh dear, why are you crying? Your husband is back."

Sun Jian stroked Chu Qingcheng's head with one hand, then gently pinched Zhou Wan'er's nose, while his other hand pinched Gu Zijian's cheek.

Upon hearing Sun Jian's words, the three women hugged each other even tighter.

Fortunately, Sun Jian's body had been strengthened by the system; otherwise, being held like that would have really suffocated him.

"Okay, okay, I'm back now."

Sun Jian patted the three women's heads again, gently comforting them.

If you've only been apart for half a day and you're already thinking like this, what will you do if I go to the Tiger Legion tomorrow and can't see them for a whole week?

The three women hugged each other for a while before reluctantly breaking free from Sun Jian's embrace.

"Don't cry, or you'll turn into a big tabby cat."

Sun Jian gently comforted them and wiped away the tears from the corners of each of the three women's eyes.

When he brushed against Zhou Wan'er, who would have thought that the girl would once again hug Sun Jian's neck with both hands.

Her breasts pressed firmly against Sun's chest, the softness of which was indescribable.

"Cough cough... Wan'er, I dare not hug you anymore. Look, your sister Zijian and sister Qingcheng don't hug you anymore either."

"Look, everyone's watching."

Zhou Wan'er then realized that there were four other men in the hall watching her expectantly. Her pretty face flushed red, and she slowly released Sun Jian's neck.

"It's alright, it's alright, hehe..."

Old Cao chuckled foolishly and scratched his head.

Sun Jian rolled his eyes at him helplessly, then sat down in the head seat of the hall surrounded by the three women.

It was already too late, and Sun Jian did not intend to chat with everyone in detail, nor did he mention the locust plague.

He simply mentioned that the reason he returned home late was because His Majesty had been seeking him out to discuss matters, which caused the delay, without mentioning that he had spent two hours with Li Ganrou.

After learning a little about the workshop's operations and income, Sun Jian arranged the next steps and work, and then dismissed everyone.

Judging from today's situation, the time is ripe for me to sleep with the three women.

Considering that he would have to get up before dawn the next day to rush to the Tiger Warriors' camp, and that he wouldn't have many hours left to rest, Sun Jian simply gave up the idea and went to sleep in his study.

After a long day of work, Chu Qingcheng helped Sun Jian wash up, and Sun Jian fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed, which made the three women feel a little sorry for him.

Their husbands worked so hard, and they couldn't share even a little of the burden, which made Chu Qingcheng, Zhou Wan'er, and Gu Zijian feel a little uneasy.

...

Sun Jian slept soundly through the night without any dreams.

If it weren't for Gu Hu's shouts, Sun Jian probably would have slept until noon the next day.

"My benefactor, the horses are ready, shall we set off now?"

Gu Hu, being a veteran of the army, always timed things perfectly. By the time it was already the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), he had already prepared the horses to wake Sun Jian.