Chapter 46 Qin Sheng is puzzled
Chapter 46
Lu Desheng's study is divided into two floors. The outer study is for his family to read, and the inner study is where he handles official business, similar to a private office.
Lu Songli felt that they should be able to stay there for as long as it took for the two mothers to finish discussing things.
When the two arrived at the study, they found Lu Desheng and Qin Heng playing chess.
This study room is 40 square meters in size. There are low couches by the windows on both the east and west sides, which are suitable for reading. As long as people reading in these two places do not talk loudly, they will hardly disturb each other.
They greeted each other and went to the other end of the study. Lu Songli picked up a book and sat down to read.
Qin Sheng discovered that the Lu family actually had a map of Dali. At this moment, the map was open and placed on a wooden shelf, and this shelf happened to be next to Lu Songli. Looking at Lu Songli's relaxed appearance, it was obvious that she had been to her father's study frequently.
Qin Sheng walked closer and took a closer look, and the more he looked, the more surprised he became. He was very familiar with maps.
This map of the Lu family was no less impressive than the one collected by the Qin family; it was even very close to the one they had surveyed. Such a clear and detailed map was currently unavailable anywhere except the Emperor's. It was likely that the Lu family's map was a gift from the Emperor.
Only then did Qin Sheng have a clearer understanding of the favor of his future father-in-law.
Although Lu Songli was reading a book, she also noticed his actions and thought that he was worthy of being the young general who fought in battles in the original novel. The first time he came to the outer study, he noticed the map she opened.
That's right, she got this map from her father. These days, she has been busy thinking about what kind of compensation to ask from the Xie family. The compensation must be measured well. If it's too little, she will not be happy, and if it's too much, the Xie family will not be willing. This map is for her to use when thinking. After all, the compensation that the Xie family can give is nothing more than gold, silver, land, and rare treasures. Of course, they also have intangible wealth such as connections in officialdom. But the Lu family has no use for this. Her father has already expressed his loyalty to the emperor, so there is no need to rise any higher. Even if her father hadn't been there, they would not dare to use the Xie family's connections.
Lu Songli had no intention of refusing compensation and letting the Xie family owe her a favor for the future. Firstly, the Xie family would definitely not want to do that. Secondly, a favor is like power; it can be invalidated after it expires.
The original owner's life-saving grace is always there, but will the favor of the Xie family always be valuable? Not necessarily.
The purpose of her hard work during this period is to realize the cash as soon as possible and maximize the cash.
When Lu Songli thought of this, she felt a little depressed.
The Empress Dowager's decree granting the marriage had been a waste of her efforts. It was a shame that she had planned for so long, only to let things unfold and escalate. As she had anticipated, the Zhao family had implicated the greater referee—the Empress Dowager. She had thought she could leverage their power to rip off the Xie family, but now all her efforts were gone. Her parents would visit the Xie family later. While they were willing to offer some compensation, it would undoubtedly be far less than what she had planned.
Forget it, a loss in one place brings a gain in another. No matter how much the Xie family compensates her, it certainly won't be as good as a golden medal of immunity from death. Besides, she already has a plan for what kind of compensation she will ask the Xie family for. Thinking of this, Lu Songli felt relieved.
When Lu Songli came to her senses, she found Qin Sheng sitting in front of the map in a daze. She ignored him, leaned back comfortably in the chair, and opened another page of the book.
"Is your family's map just like this?" Qin Sheng asked softly.
"What else?" Lu Songli replied casually. She never thought that the map that could be seen everywhere in later generations could be considered a military secret here.
Qin Sheng mentioned to her the importance of maps.
Lu Songli asked him with a smile, "Do you think outsiders can come in here casually?" Although she did not put the map away, the study was a sensitive area and ordinary people could not enter.
Despite Lü Songli's corrections, he could still sense her indifference to the map. Qin Sheng pursed his lips, a bit unhappy. After all, the Qin Army had paid a huge price to survey and refine this map, especially the part near the border.
"Also, this map is so ugly. I've never seen such an ugly map." Lu Songli muttered, and her voice became almost inaudible at the end.
This map depicted the territory of Dali. Accustomed to national maps depicting roosters, she felt quite uncomfortable the first time she saw this map. Compared to the rooster, Dali's territory had shrunk by one-third, resembling a lion's head with two long ears.
Spicy eyes? What does that mean? She probably hadn't touched the peppercorns or garlic with her hands just now, right? How could it have irritated her eyes? And what did she say? She said the map was ugly? Hearing this, Qin Sheng's expression was indescribable.
"The map was drawn based on the current actual territory of Dali. We can't deviate from reality just to make it look good, right?"
"Of course I know what you said, but wouldn't it look much better if the Qianghu, Xianbei, Goguryeo, the Three Han and other places were all included in the painting?" Lu Songli said righteously.
Qin Sheng was speechless. "No, that's someone else's territory. You can't just take it for aesthetic reasons." However, his eyes kept falling on the map, and a picture unconsciously emerged in his mind. According to her instructions, if the territories of these foreign tribes were embedded in the edge of the map one by one, it would really look much better.
"Wait, do you know that outside our country's territory are Qiang Hu, Xianbei, Goguryeo, and the Three Han?" Qin Sheng suddenly realized this and added in his mind, as if he also knew the location and size of their territories.
Lü Songli secretly rolled her eyes. What was the big deal? She knew the global distribution of the seven continents and five oceans perfectly. Although she was a transmigrator, and Dali didn't appear in official history, she speculated based on the size of the country and its customs and folkways that Dali was equivalent to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties period in official history. Furthermore, with relevant documentation to support this, was there anything wrong with knowing that there were other tribes besides Dali, such as the Qiang, Hu, Xianbei, Goguryeo, and the Three Han, as well as the approximate size of their territories?
Thinking of this, Qin Sheng looked her up and down.
He probably knew what women were like at that time. Some girls, from birth to death, never left the prefecture where they were born. Most women lived within a ten-mile radius between their parents and their husband's home, unless they encountered natural disasters or man-made calamities and needed to flee famine. He had only a vague understanding of the ethnic groups outside of Dali.
The women in the capital were better than them, but at most they would occasionally know the names of one or two foreign tribes through fighting, and could not tell where these foreign tribes were located outside of Dali. Unlike her, she could point out each one of them and know them like the back of her hand.
Lu Songli remained motionless, letting him take his own actions, it was just a matter of looking at her.
Lu Songli had no intention of hiding her knowledge, talent, and vision. Firstly, the Qin family was facing imminent disaster, and she needed a say. Secondly, she didn't want her life completely dictated by others, without even the right to observe and participate.
Finally, Qin Sheng stood before the map, scratching his head. He vaguely realized that the wife he was about to marry was somewhat extraordinary. Suddenly, he found himself unable to understand Xie Zhan. How could he allow the Zhao family to interfere with his previously perfect marriage? As a man, he truly couldn't understand. Was Zhao Yutan better than Lu Songli?
But at the moment, that's not necessarily the case. It's clear that Lu Songli is superior to Zhao Yutan. Specifically, I'm referring to her brain. In terms of appearance, the two are both as beautiful as spring orchids and autumn chrysanthemums, each with their own unique characteristics, so it's hard to compare them. Qin Sheng felt that he might never understand Xie Zhan's thoughts in his lifetime.
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