CHAPTER 226: CHAPTER 123 GAINING KNOWLEDGE

Xie Liangchen left Zhaozhou with the people of Chen Family Village.

Song Xian stood at the city gate watching a few carriages gradually disappearing, and Cheng Yanzhao, who had just returned from the Baimaling Camp, saw this scene and had the urge to make a few witty remarks. However, he remembered the pants he had worn through because of riding in the past few days, and saying more might just end the Cheng Family lineage.

Is liking someone so troublesome? Cheng Yanzhao wondered to himself, you can’t show too much enthusiasm, can’t directly ask Baoshan to propose, you have to approach little by little until you win her over?

If it’s like that, he’d rather not get married, enjoying freedom without restrictions.

Cheng Yanzhao cleared his throat, didn’t dare mention Miss Xie, but he had to ask about Song Xian’s plans.

Cheng Yanzhao said, "Are you really planning to take over a few states in the Northwest?"

Without hesitation, Song Xian replied, "The court has always had such considerations, otherwise they wouldn’t have sent Princess Jiahui to the North for disaster relief."

With those words, Cheng Yanzhao commented, "Those states are promising, but taking them over won’t be easy. If mishandled, you might lose everything."

Song Xian said, "Cai Rong is already impatient and won’t give us time to slowly amass power. Right now, the Emperor praises me frequently, and they must be worried that the Emperor will assign me the task of eradicating remnants from the previous regime."

Cheng Yanzhao hesitated and said, "Because of Song Min’s case, the Emperor has suspicions about Cai Rong. Besides him, the only ones familiar with the Northwest are your Song Family."

Song Xian said, "There’s also Du Zhuo from Sui State in the Northwest."

The remnants of the previous regime are located west of Sui State and east of Zhenzhou. Naturally, the Military Governor of Sui State, Du Zhuo, is also very familiar with them.

Moreover, those remnants occupy the territory of eight states. By himself, he couldn’t eliminate them entirely; in the past life, he only managed to occupy half.

Song Xian said, "The fabric crafted painstakingly by Lin Xu’s daughter overshadowed Chen Family Village. She used wool sourced from Sui State, and the person behind the Shi Family Trading Team is Du Zhuo’s younger brother, Du Yi."

Cheng Yanzhao couldn’t help but say, "Is Princess Jiahui trying to make you become adversaries with the Du Family? What are your thoughts? Will you continue to sell wool products for Chen Family Village?"

Song Xian said, "Why not sell? Whether in business or warfare, it’s all about skill. If I were to retreat just because of this, there’s no need to ask the court for this task; I might as well remain in Zhenzhou as a Commander. Moreover, if I have guessed correctly, Princess Jiahui is not trying to help Du Zhuo; she merely wants to stir the waters so her people can seize those states."

In the past life, the Wang Family father and son took over the other four states in place of Du Zhuo.

That General Wang also has a good nephew named Ji Yuan, who is currently in Quanzhou.

In the past life when he rose to seize those four states, he discovered the Wang Family father and son had long secretly pledged loyalty to Prince Lu. Princess Jiahui was Prince Lu’s ally and involved with Prince Qi, who later captured the Capital City. Whether she’s involved now is unknown, but he won’t allow events from the past life to repeat; otherwise, his journey would be in vain.

...

Xie Liangchen and Chen Zigeng rode ahead on horseback.

The journey home was quicker than before, partly due to the longing for the grandmother at home, and partly due to successfully creating the new spinning wheel, finally allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief.

Feeling relaxed, Xie Liangchen even had the leisure to enjoy the scenery along the way.

Chen Zigeng noticed the smile occasionally appearing on Sister’s face and couldn’t help but chuckle. He wondered if Sister had thought about the General.

Does Sister actually like Brother? He couldn’t tell, and could only silently fret, hoping the General would use his prowess in battle to move to Chen Family Village soon.

The brother and sister each had their thoughts; neither noticed what the other was pondering. As they approached home, Xie Liangchen saw the smile on Brother’s face and recalled various events over the past days, from the mattress wetting pest becoming a little drunkard. She couldn’t resist reminding Brother, "Today, you can meet Mr. Dongli. Did you finish the books given by him? Remember everything?"

Chen Zigeng’s smile instantly faded, having focused only on playing and not properly completing his schoolwork. Upon returning, he was sure to face reprimands from the teacher.

Half an hour later, Xie Liangchen and Chen Zigeng reached the village entrance.

After several days away, Chen Family Village underwent some changes. The old, low earthen walls were replaced with newly built walls, and the paths at the village entrance were paved with stone, thus preventing muddy water when it rained.

Chen Yongsheng was leading people to clear the ditch beside the village so that rainwater wouldn’t flood the village.

Chen Zigeng jumped off the horseback and curiously observed the stone-paved road.

Chen Yongsheng greeted them, "We’ve repaired the entrance first; we’ll slowly work through the village."

Then Chen Yongsheng looked at Xie Liangchen, "Was everything smooth?"

Xie Liangchen said, "We brought them back."

Chen Yongsheng’s eyes lit up, "All done?"

Xie Liangchen led Chen Yongsheng to view the carriage, "There are some differences from what I anticipated. The spinning wheel is too large to be foot-operated, so we used a webbing for ease underneath the spindle."

Chen Yongsheng didn’t quite understand, but listened intently.

Xie Liangchen continued, "Fourth Uncle stayed in Zhaozhou; for the next few days, he will collaborate with military craftsmen to create a few more spinning wheels."

Chen Yongsheng said, "Since the road at the entrance is repaired, drive the carriage into the village to unload, so no one sees."

Old Mrs. Chen and others heard Xie Liangchen returned and hurried out to greet her.

Madam Zheng and others eagerly awaited the large spinning wheel. Upon seeing Xie Liangchen and wanting to lend a hand, Madam Zheng pulled her aside, "You’ve been weary from the journey, rest up; we’ll handle the moving, nothing will go wrong."

Xie Liangchen entered the weaving room, where space had been cleared to place the newly made spinning wheel.

Nanny Miao saw the immense spinning wheel and couldn’t help but marvel, "I’ve been spinning and weaving since I was twelve, and this is the first time I’ve seen such a spinning wheel."

Old Mrs. Chen chuckled without showing her teeth, "When Miss Chen made the wind box, I would go to see it every day. Having seen a lot, it’s no longer that novel."

Madam Zheng quietly remarked internally, "You’re bragging again, no one waits for Miss Chen’s return as eagerly as you, worried she might not succeed yearned so much you instructed everyone secretly and openly not to be disheartened even if the attempt fails."

The spinning wheel was installed, and Hei Dan and others stood nearby watching the adults start to operate it.

As the giant spinning wheel began to spin, the spindle slowly climbed onto the ingot, with numerous eyes fixated on the spinning yarn.

Nanny Miao took a long breath before saying, "So many ingots spinning together."

Madam Zheng quietly asked, "Do you think it’s working?"

Nanny Miao squinted her eyes into a line, "Of course it works. With this spinning wheel, the wool will soon be spun into yarn.

The yarn is crucial, it’s warm on the body and can be traded for food."

Nanny Miao spoke while laughing, "Should we let them see the yarn made by us at Chen Family Village?"

Xie Liangchen added, "We’ll let them see how fast we spin our yarn."

Madam Zheng joined in the laughter, "Let’s show them."

Retrieve all that was lost last time.