Chapter 65 My lady, that's a total of five hundred taels!
Before Lu Zhaoruo could reply.
He quickly added, "Madam Lu, you're too modest..."
His voice suddenly deepened, and he pointed to the scroll, "This map is even more detailed than the 'Linhai Waterway Map' currently used by the navy. Especially these silver waterways..."
His eyes darkened. "This is the secret path that I only discovered last month, and I haven't had time to send anyone to investigate it yet."
Lu Zhaoruo lowered her eyes, thinking to herself: Even if she didn't offer the map, with his abilities, it was only a matter of time before he discovered those three nests.
"As for the three places that Madam Lu marked..."
Xiao Yeming's knuckles struck the cinnabar mark heavily, causing the candlelight on the table to flicker slightly.
He stared at the detailed markings on the map and said in a deep voice, "This is precisely the throat of these secret passages."
He suddenly raised his eyes, his gaze sharp as a blade: "Three days from now, I will personally go to investigate."
He paused, then added, "If it is indeed as my wife predicts..."
He closed the scroll, the wax seal making a crisp cracking sound: "Then deploy troops to wipe out these three Japanese pirates and bring peace to the people of Linhai."
Lu Zhaoruo bowed gracefully and said, "General, please take good care of yourself."
She added, "I await the general's triumphant return."
After saying this, she bid farewell, saying, "I should go back now."
Xiao Yeming escorted her off the boat.
Just then, Ban Ling rushed over, his armor askew and his face bearing pillow marks: "Madam Lu, have you come looking for me?"
His loud voice startled several night gulls, whose suspicious gazes shifted between the two men.
Seeing the awkward silence, he took a few steps closer to Lu Zhaoruo: "I've caught a cold these past few days, and just now..."
"Step back."
Xiao Yeming interrupted coldly, "Don't let the illness spread."
In short, Ban Ling sheepishly retreated three zhang away.
Lu Zhaoruo covered her mouth and chuckled: "I did have a request, but Commander Xiao has already agreed."
"Why doesn't the commander summon his men!"
Ban Ling wrung his hands anxiously, "Madam Lu's matter is the matter of the commander... what are you doing..."
"Go back and lie down."
Xiao Yeming cut him off immediately.
Lu Zhaoruo's eyes flickered slightly; just now she had said that Banling had gone on a sea patrol.
Could it be that he's cold on the outside but warm on the inside? And has actually been trying to help me all along?
The lingering sound of the closing drum could be heard in the distance.
Lu Zhaoruo adjusted her cloak: "Commander Xiao, Deputy Commander Ban, it's already past midnight, I should go back."
Ban Ling patted his chest, his armor plates rattling: "In this pitch black, I, Ban, will escort Lady Lu home."
"No."
Lu Zhaoruo and Xiao Yeming spoke at the same time, their voices overlapping, startling Ban Ling so much that his eyes widened.
Xiao Yeming quickly coughed.
Lu Zhaoruo lowered her eyes and explained, "This time I came out secretly. If General Ban had seen me off, it would have attracted attention."
Ban Ling: "Madam Lu, please don't refuse! In the past few months, every time you came home late at night, that shameless scoundrel..."
He spat fiercely, “They followed us furtively, and I later sent two of my personal guards to protect them. But the shameless scoundrels chickened out. But on New Year’s Eve, you took pity on them and forced them to leave.”
He kept calling them shameless scoundrels.
Xiao Yeming really didn't like listening to it.
"Won't!"
Xiao Yeming spoke.
Ban Ling looked bewildered: "Why?"
Xiao Yeming awkwardly explained, "Because..."
He paused, then added stiffly, "I suppose it's because he's intimidated by your... bravery and might."
Ban Ling immediately straightened his back.
This is the first time the commander has ever praised him!
When Lu Zhaoruo returned, Xiao Yeming silently followed behind her, at a distance of more than ten feet.
He had to be wary of potential villains who might jump out from the shadows, but he was even more afraid that his presence would startle her.
This delicate balance is even more difficult to achieve than controlling the reins when I first learned to ride and shoot.
Only when that beautiful figure disappeared inside the Shen family's gate did his tense shoulders and back relax slightly.
Recalling Lu Zhaoruo's words, "General, please take good care of yourself."
He couldn't help but laugh, his eyes slightly upturned, the chill in his body dissipated, revealing a bright, youthful spirit.
I recalled his words, "I await the general's triumphant return."
He whispered to the closed side gate, "I will return victorious and tell you in person."
He had actually become suspicious when she explained the origin of the nautical chart.
Regardless of whether she received the information in a dream or had some other extraordinary encounter, the fact that she could draw such detailed nautical charts and knew how to use wax sealing to prevent moisture damage makes her the most intelligent woman in the world.
The next day.
The house was swept and cleaned, and decorated in a festive manner.
Zhang also bought several servants, who were kneeling tremblingly in the courtyard, listening to Zhang's instructions.
Zhenjingzhai.
It remained quiet and still.
Lu Zhaoruo held the copy of the marriage certificate and looked at it. Her fingertips traced the red seal that read "Two families united in harmony" on the certificate, and she suddenly found it extremely glaring.
Memories of his past with Shen Rongzhi kept flashing through his mind.
Upon closer reflection, one can discover that his deep love for him was merely superficial. In fact, whenever he intervened in his studies under the guise of supervision, using his vast knowledge and unique insights to surpass him, a barely perceptible sense of alienation and resistance would occasionally flash in his eyes.
In truth, besides hatred, there was also resentment in my heart.
She even looked forward to meeting Lin Yingyu. In her previous life, she had only met her once before she died, and she didn't know much about her at all.
The next day.
As dawn broke through, the night dew still clung to the eaves.
Dongrou gently placed a stack of sales contracts and a black lacquer mother-of-pearl inlaid box on the table.
Lu Zhaoruo ran her fingertips over the vermilion official seal on the edge of the contract. Fortunately, these two shops could at least be taken out of the Shen family.
Dongrou lifted the lid of the box. In the left compartment, scattered silver coins were piled up like snow, with silver coins of different sizes forming a small mountain. In the right compartment, there were twenty strings of coins, the hemp rope worn rough at the edges. In the middle compartment, there were two new banknotes that smelled of ink.
Dongrou exclaimed with delight, “My lady, it’s a total of five hundred taels!”
Suddenly remembering Geng Qionghua's brocade pouch, he quickly took it out and said, "Here are twenty ingots of snowflake silver and a pair of filigree inlaid gold bracelets, which add up to five hundred and eighty taels."
Lu Zhaoruo simply smiled slightly.
Dongrou said, "When we leave the Shen family, we won't leave them a single copper coin. Let them starve to death."
After saying that, laughter could be faintly heard from the main courtyard. He said, "What a pity, we were able to enjoy a few more good days... and even invited the whole maternal family to a feast."
Lu Zhaoruo carefully folded the sales contract and said calmly, "Let them spend it, the more they enjoy it..."
She suddenly raised her eyes, her gaze sharp as a blade, "It would be much more interesting to return the 1,500 strings of copper coins and the 500 taels of silver bestowed upon Gu Xian as a chastity arch in the future."
She read until evening.
Dongrou rushed in and said, "Madam, the old lady is bringing the medicinal soup this way!"
Lu Zhaoruo went back to bed and lay down. Dong Rou pulled down the bed curtains.
"Cough...cough...cough..."
The intermittent coughing sounded just as Zhang stepped onto the stone steps.
Zhang originally intended to push open the door and personally feed Lu Zhaoruo the 'medicinal soup'.
As a result, Dongrou suddenly flung open the door, knelt down with a thud, and grabbed her horse-face skirt: "Please, Madam, save the eldest daughter!"
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