Immediately after the army returned to camp, Li Guang did not go directly to the farm. After making arrangements for Lord Yao and the accompanying officials, he went to Zhao Xian's old residence.

He knew Zhao Xian hadn't returned yet, and he was going to visit Zhao's mother, Li Chun'e.

As soon as he entered, he ran into Zhao Lingling, who immediately became happy to see Li Guang.

"Brother Li Guang, you're back."

Zhao Lingling is twelve years old this year. She is no longer the little girl she used to be, but has grown into a graceful young lady.

"Lingling, is your mother home?"

"In the inner room, he and his sister-in-law were making clothes for the baby."

Upon hearing this, Li Guang was thrilled. The baby was still a few months away from being born, and he was already preparing new clothes for the baby.

"Mom said that two babies are going to be born this time, so we need to make a lot of clothes."

Zhao Lingling's words startled Li Guang. Two babies were about to be born. Could it be that Meng Yaoyao was carrying twins?

He soon realized he was wrong. His conversation with Lingling had alerted Li Chun'e and Yang Ruotong in the room, and the two of them came out.

Yang Ruotong and Meng Yaoyao were about the same age, their bellies were also protruding, so they were probably around the same month pregnant.

“Li Guang is back. Ruotong is not feeling well, so I’m a little worried about her. I’m staying home to look after her and haven’t gone to the village entrance.”

"How are my mother and sister-in-law doing these days? I didn't expect that there would be so many changes at home while Zhao and I were away for more than three months."

"Yes, Ruotong and Yaoyao are both more than five months pregnant. In a few more months, the two babies will be born."

Li Chun'e was overjoyed. In a few months, she would become a grandmother. How could she not be happy?

"Brother Zhao probably won't be back for another month, so please leave anything to me, Mother." Ever since Li Guang came to Shuixian Village, he had called Li Chun'e "Mother."

“Okay, Mother, everything is fine here. It’s good that you’re back. Yao Yao hasn’t been feeling well lately, so I’ve had Shi Yu and Ying Ying take turns keeping her company.”

"Thank you, Mother."

Just then, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from outside, clearly the sound of a warhorse.

Li Guang hurriedly went outside to investigate.

At this moment, the warhorse had arrived at the door. A general dismounted and, seeing Li Guang come out of the house, quickly stepped forward and bowed in respect.

It turned out that this man was one of his generals, named He Ying. When Li Guang returned to the capital, he left 5,000 men in Lishui, and He Ying was one of the generals who stayed behind.

Seeing that He Ying had returned ahead of schedule, he knew that Zhao Xian had sent him back to deliver a message, which meant that Zhao Xian had already begun his return.

"General He, has Lord Shaoqing already returned?" Li Guang asked.

"Reporting to General Li, the Junior Minister set off for his return twenty days ago. He estimated that General Li had already returned to the village, so he sent me back ahead of time to inform you and tell you not to worry."

"That's good. How did the Princess and the Junior Minister's trip to the Golden Kingdom go?"

"Reporting to General Li, the princess and the young minister did indeed find General Li Ru when they went to Jindian Kingdom."

Not only that, General Li Ru also became the son-in-law of the King of Jindian and brought back the King of Jindian's princess.

"Is this really true?" Li Guang was overjoyed.

"Many strange things happened on this trip to Jindian Kingdom to visit General Li Ru. I have a letter written by the Junior Minister here. General Li will understand as soon as he sees it."

"Bring the letter here quickly!" Li Guang asked anxiously.

He Ying lifted a corner of his armor, took out a letter from his clothes, and handed it to Li Guang.

Li Guang took the letter and said to He Ying, "General He, you must be tired from your journey. Please return to camp and rest."

"Yes, ma'am."

After answering, He Ying leaped onto her horse and headed straight for the military camp.

Li Guang immediately returned indoors, opened the letter, and read it carefully.

Li Chun'e and Yang Ruotong sat beside him, unaware of the contents of the letter. Judging from Li Guang's excited expression, it must be good news.

Li Guang quickly finished reading the letter and couldn't help but laugh. Seeing Li Chun'e and Yang Ruotong looking at him, he said:

“Mother and sister-in-law, this time the princess not only found my brother, but also brought back a sister-in-law. She is the princess of the Golden Kingdom. I will read Brother Zhao’s letter to you.”

After Li Guang finished speaking, he began to read the contents of the letter aloud. They had never expected that this trip to the southwestern border would lead them to the Kingdom of Jindian to find Li Ru.

Many bizarre things happened after they went to the Golden Kingdom.

As the saying goes, those who survive a great calamity are destined for good fortune. General Li Ru mistakenly entered the Kingdom of Jindian, experienced nine deaths and one life, and finally, after the storm passed, he married the princess of Jindian.

Li Guang told Li Chun'e that Li Xue would take Li Ru back to the capital to see the emperor and the fourth prince.

This time they facilitated trade between the two countries, and the emperor will send envoys to the Kingdom of Jindian to finalize the specific details of the trade between the two countries.

This is great news; it seems Brother Zhao's business is about to expand again.

In the following period, Li Guang began to work on agriculture. After several months of harvesting, there were not many cotton bolls left. It would not be long before all the cotton was harvested.

The villagers sold all the cotton they grew, except for a portion kept for their own household use, to textile workshops. Master Qin organized people to purchase the cotton from the village.

Judging from the situation, all the cotton planted this year is not enough for the textile workshops.

To encourage villagers to plant cotton next year, Master Qin raised the cotton purchase price to the maximum extent possible, making farmers realize that planting cotton could be profitable.

Lord Yao greatly appreciated Master Qin's approach, believing that promoting cotton planting was indeed necessary to increase farmers' enthusiasm for growing cotton.

Lord Yao was most concerned about cotton seeds. Thanks to Li Guang's meticulous arrangements, all the cotton seeds produced during the cotton-making process at Shen Jianfeng's workshop were collected, and virtually not a single seed was wasted.

The collected cotton seeds were dried and stored, filling an entire warehouse. Lord Yao inspected the seeds and found that they were plump, highly active, and perfectly suitable for use as seed.

Next, Yao plans to distribute these seeds to various regions and officially promote cotton planting next year.

At this moment, Lord Yao recalled that a few months ago, when he came to Shuixian Village, he saw a large area of ​​water chestnuts planted in the lake, and he wanted to go and take a look.

Li Guang and Zhao Xiaosheng immediately led Lord Yao to the lakeside. By this time, the water chestnuts were already ripe. Zhao Xiaosheng rowed a small boat and took Lord Yao to the lake to check on the growth of the water chestnuts.

Li Guang picked some tender water chestnuts from the water, peeled off the skin, and handed the water chestnut kernels to Lord Yao.

While tasting the water chestnuts, Lord Yao listened to Zhao Xiaosheng explain the growth and seed preservation of the water chestnuts.

Zhao Xiaosheng told Lord Yao that water chestnut seeds are usually saved after the second harvest. At this time, it is important to select mature water chestnuts with good appearance, dark color and fullness as seeds.

There are also some things to keep in mind when storing water chestnut seeds. They should not be stored dry; they must be stored in a humid place, preferably in water, to ensure a higher germination rate the following year.