Li Chuo was stunned for a moment, then suddenly shuddered and looked fearful. "Old Qin, Fifth Brother... he's only fifteen..."

  "Don't forget, Fifth Brother is now with whom. This is exactly why I made this trip, to have a face-to-face conversation with you, Li Zuo Si. This is the most important thing." Mr. Qin stood up, found the tea warmer, poured two cups of tea and handed one to Li Zuo Si.

  "Think about it, Cao Si. By the king's side is Jin Shizi, and behind Jin Shizi stands the Jin family and the Golden Minister." Mr. Qin sat down, sipped his tea, "There's also Gu Jia Liu Shaoye, Jinshan Yinhai, and General Lu, with a sharp blade. Whoever wants people will have people, whoever wants money will have money." Mr. Qin's words sounded ordinary, but the slow tone was full of profound meaning.

  "What does 'Mingtao Mountain Villa' actually mean?" Li Chuo was stunned for a long time and suddenly became extremely annoyed.

  "What do you mean, how did I think of it? However, the longer I stay in Hangzhou, the more I feel that Mingtao Mountain Villa is awe-inspiring. As for what Fourth Brother said, I think it's absolutely right - timing is all about being accurate, not early."

  Mr. Qin looked straight at Li Cao, "Cao, the Emperor is only in his thirties this year, in the prime of life, and new people are brought into the palace every year. The future is still very long, and there are too many variables."

  "Regarding the matter of Yokoyama County, if we're going to frame the Third Master for it, isn't it obvious that this is aimed at the Water Control Office? Why bother setting him up now and making him a target for others? This kind of prevention, even if you prevent for ten or twenty or thirty years, how can you guard against everything? With just one careless move, before you know it, he'll be the first to become mincemeat."

  Li Cuosi's face turned pale, and after a while, he said in a low voice: "These days, I've been thinking about this matter, I know now, sir, rest assured."

  ………………

  The next day after Li Wenshan left, the illness of County Magistrate Li was cured. Wu Xianwei withdrew his accusation. County Magistrate Li looked at Wen Shu for half a day, stunned for half a day, and sighed for half a day. His mood was heavy, without any joy.

  Looking again at the signed house, looking at the county government office, looking at the public hall, everything is still the same thing, but it's like being covered with a layer of dust, losing its original luster.

  Magistrate Li's depression didn't seem to affect Mrs. Xu's mood much.

  This Spring Festival is the most pleasant and happiest one Mrs. Xu has spent since she married Mr. Li, vaguely, she even feels that this is her first time truly celebrating the Spring Festival in her own home.

  With a good mood and ample silver, for the first time, Mrs. Xu made new clothes for all the servants in the house, two new sets of clothes for each of the four children, but after weighing it over and over again, she couldn't bear to part with it, so she only added a new official uniform for County Magistrate Li and a new skirt for herself.

  As the lunar month arrived, the small county of Hengshan also became busy. This year, Hangzhou City is going to hold a grand lantern festival, releasing river lanterns and fireworks. The counties under the jurisdiction of Hangzhou, of course, will also join in the excitement. Firstly, they need to send several dragon and lion dance teams, as well as dry-land boat performances, to Hangzhou City to congratulate the Empress Dowager on the new year. Secondly, the small county town also needs to have flower lanterns and make a big fuss for half a month...

  Trivial matters piled up one after another, and Wu County Wei was removed from his post. For the time being, Li County Magistrate had to take on the responsibilities himself. In just a couple of days, Li County Magistrate became so busy that he didn't have time to indulge in melancholy or sentimentality.

  On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, Li Wenshan returned home for the Laba Festival holiday, and classes were suspended for both Li Wenlan and Li Xia.

  Mrs. Xu took Li Dong, busy arranging the flowers and decorations at home, a lively and festive atmosphere, on New Year's Eve, although there were only six people in the family, they still arranged a big table with more than 20 dishes, plus one for the servants, this was the most lively and festive New Year's celebration ever.

  On the night of the second day of the lunar month, a sedan chair sent by Jiangning Prefecture arrived at the Hengshan County government office to pick up Mrs. Xu and Li Wenshan.

  Mrs. Xü took Li Wénshān and his three siblings, along with the gifts they had prepared ahead of time, and with a heart full of anxiety, got on the carriage, and before dawn broke, set off towards Jiangning Prefecture.

  She and her elder sister-in-law haven't seen each other for 14 or 15 years. In the past, she thought they would never see each other again. Now...

  Mrs. Xu thought of Zhong Baozhu, and was stunned for a moment. Since she knew that Zhong Baozhu had drowned in the river, her resentment towards her had gradually decreased. As Hong Niang said, this was also her and Master's fate, they were both people without good fortune, their good fortune all lay with their several children...

  Mrs. Xu looked down at her little son who had fallen asleep in her arms, stroking him gently and carefully laying him down to sleep well, then shifted a bit and lay down beside her son, also falling asleep.

  She stayed up all night on New Year's Eve, was busy all day on New Year's Day, and got up again in the middle of the night today, she is exhausted.

  The carriage didn't go very fast, until the time was fixed, Zhao Da reported outside the car, in front of it, like Fourth Master Li Wensong brought people to receive them. Mrs. Xu hurriedly lifted the curtain, "Arrived at Jiangning City? Why is it so dark?"

  "There's still over ten miles to go." Zhao Da laughed and said.

  Mrs. Xu was stunned for a moment, and her nose was slightly sour as she received more than ten li...

  "Where's Shan Ge? Hurry..."

  "Here is the fourth brother, I saw him, I'll go and welcome him." Li Wenshan had already jumped down from the carriage, taken the reins from the groom's hand, mounted his horse and galloped to meet him.

  In a moment, a team of lanterns merged into the carriage queue. Li Wenshan brought Li Wensong over, and Li Wensong bowed his head on horseback and said with a smile: "From the moment the sky turned dark, Mother began to mutter and worry excessively, so I brought some soup and snacks to welcome you. How was your journey here, Third Aunt? Oh, Sixth Brother, I brought your favorite lotus seed paste pastry."

  Li Wensong said halfway, looking at Li Wenlan who came out of the exploration head, busy smiling and greeting him. Li Wenlan looked at Li Wensong with a smile, affectionately calling him "fourth brother" and nodding repeatedly, "Thank you, fourth brother, Ah Xia also loves to eat, and there's also osmanthus cake."

  "I know, I've brought them." Li Wensong couldn't help but smile. "First, pick the ones A Xia likes to eat the most and bring them along. No one dares to forget A Xia."

  "Good job!" Mrs. Xu also smiled, "You're all spoiling Ah Xia, she's getting more and more mischievous now."

  Li Wensong had been back and forth to Hengshan County several times, and he was originally very easy-going and close to the Xiaosanfang family.

  Li Wensong and Li Wenshan rode horses alongside Mrs. Xu's carriage, chatting idly, and before long they arrived at their destination after a dozen or so miles.

  The prosperity of Jiangning Prefecture is no less than that of Hangzhou City before the Taizu Emperor's conquest, and Taiyuan Prefecture cannot be compared to it, let alone a small county like Hengshan.

  In the next carriage, Li Dong, who had come to Jiangning Prefecture for the first time and was seeing a prosperous city's New Year's Eve scene for the first time, lifted up the curtain and gazed out at the dazzling sight, his eyes wide with wonder.

  Li Xia sat close to her sister and looked out from under her arm.

  She also saw the Jiangning Mansion at night for the first time. She remembered that the Imperial Observatory had said before that the Jiangning Mansion was a place where several ancient capitals were located, with an air of royalty, although it had declined, but it still had a sense of antiquity. As for the scenery, he thought it was the best.

  At this moment, the brightly lit Jiangning Mansion, in the vast night sky, seemed to be flowing with a silver river. She couldn't see the decline, only saw prosperity and vitality.

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