Moreover, the Li family has no sons, but her family does. Her eldest brother, Zhang Yanchu, is the second-place scholar in the imperial examination. If her brother can also win the favor of Lord Li, he will surely rise to prominence in the future.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zifu became even more excited.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Zhang, it's really inconvenient today. Let's do it another day." Li Zhiwei didn't know what Ms. Zhang was thinking.

But this time, she didn't want to deal with her.

“Alright, then I’ll visit Lord Li and Madam Li another day.” Even if Zhang Zifu was stupid, she could tell from Li Zhiwei’s words that he was telling her to leave.

This isn't her first time here; there will definitely be more opportunities for her to shine in the future.

After seeing Zhang Zifu off, Li Zhiwei and Cuiguo both breathed a sigh of relief.

“Miss, Miss Zhang, you can tell she’s up to no good. You don’t know, ever since we moved in, she’s asked the doorman about us several times.” Cuiguo pouted, looking displeased.

"Alright, I understand." Li Zhiwei didn't actually like Zhang Zifu either. Their Li family was special, so it wasn't impossible for Zhang Zifu to have some ulterior motives.

"I'm going to check on my dad. Is he feeling any better?" Li Zhiwei thought to herself, wondering if her father was doing any better.

"Miss, don't worry, Master is fine. I saw him coming out to sunbathe in the courtyard today," Cuiguo said happily.

"My father, he brought this trouble upon himself by arguing with a mere child like Qing Shi." Li Zhiwei thought about the suffering her father had endured this time, realizing he had truly asked for it.

If only Father hadn't fooled around with Qing Shi back then, he probably wouldn't have been kidnapped, and he wouldn't have needed to escape to that mountain.

Meanwhile, on Wangxian Mountain...

Gu Shixing looked at the vast iron ore site and was filled with excitement.

"Lord Gu, look, isn't this the place?" A young guard asked quickly, looking at the minerals on the cliff that came from the same source as the stones they had just seen.

"Yes, yes, all of them!" Gu Shixing said happily.

"Lord Gu, is this really iron ore? Can it be smelted into iron?" A young guard asked expectantly.

“Of course. Don’t underestimate these stones. They can be smelted into iron and then made into extremely sharp weapons. Then, we won’t have to fear the Qinling Kingdom and the Lingxi Kingdom anymore.” Gu Shixing carefully stroked the iron ore and said with utmost seriousness.

These are the hopes of their kingdom of Lanno.

"That's great! We should make the Qinling Kingdom pay tribute to us!"

The young guard said happily.

At this moment, in the imperial palace.

Zhu Jingchen was sitting in the Imperial Study when he happened to see the memorial submitted by Ye Qingyan, the Minister of Rites.

It's time for the Qinling Kingdom to pay tribute again. This time, they want 500,000 taels of silver, 500,000 shi of grain, and some gold and silver jewelry.

"Bang!"

Zhu Jingchen angrily threw the imperial brush in his hand away.

I'm in a really bad mood.

Finally, the national treasury became a little fuller, but it was still not enough to pay the tribute to the Qinling Kingdom.

Five hundred thousand taels of silver, five hundred thousand shi of grain, and gold and silver jewelry!

Those things were given to the Qinling Kingdom, and they still had to endure their frequent invasions of the Lanno Kingdom.

Zhu Jingchen felt extremely frustrated!

He felt even more that he was a very incompetent emperor!

However, this tribute treaty was established by the late emperor's father, who was also his grandfather.

They have been paying tribute to the Qinling Kingdom for nearly a century.

century?

Suddenly, Zhu Jingchen remembered that the promise they made seemed to be for a hundred years.

"Where is the indemnity treaty signed with the Qinling Kingdom back then?" Zhu Jingchen asked.