CHAPTER 414: CHAPTER 411 TEMPORARY DEPARTURE

Xie Liangchen had only been in Dai State for a few days, yet she had become the backbone of several villages.

As soon as dawn broke, the villagers would greet each other with a question.

"Has the Commandery Princess arrived?"

Initially, everyone called Xie Liangchen "Commandery Princess," but she asked them to revert to calling her "Sister." However, the people of the eight states were adamant. They didn’t care about outsiders, but within the boundaries of the eight states, she must be called "Commandery Princess" because it was believed that this was her true home, and calling her so was only right and proper.

Even after the Commandery Princess marries the Military Governor, they would still call her this.

As Xie Liangchen walked through the village, the atmosphere changed distinctly now that spinning wheels were working and wool had been brought back. Previously, everyone stayed indoors as much as possible.

Now there was work to be done, and early in the morning, some people were already lighting fires and cooking meals in the kitchen. The Commandery Princess said that food wasn’t saved, and if this continued, come spring plowing, no one would have the strength to work the fields. If they missed the spring plowing, they’d have no grain in autumn and would starve.

So now, whatever happens, they must eat well and not think of saving food for later—focus on the present first.

If there were no spinning wheels to make thread tassels, even if the Commandery Princess persuaded them, few would dare do this. Now it’s different; there is work in the village, and everyone remembers clearly how much they do each day. When merchants take away goods, silver coins will be distributed accordingly, and what can’t be bought with silver coins?

The weight of these measures, once laid out, is clear to everyone, especially since this path had already been taken by the Chen Family Village in Zhenzhou. Although Dai State is far from what Zhenzhou once was, they are now directly taking the path Zhenzhou had successfully walked.

The adults in the village were busy, and children like Hu Zi were also helping to deliver messages and fetch items, running until their cheeks flushed red.

"Commandery Princess," Hu Zi joined the villagers in changing the address, "even the third granny has gone to the weaving room. Before, everyone thought she wouldn’t make it through this month, but after eating some food with the medicine the Commandery Princess gave, she’s doing better."

Xie Liangchen wiped the sweat from Hu Zi’s forehead with a handkerchief: "The third granny’s illness still needs time to heal. These days, you must watch her take her medicine and not let her overwork, okay?"

Hu Zi nodded: "I want the third granny to get better." When he was starving, it was the third granny who stuffed food into his mouth, and he remembered all of it. What he disliked most were her instructions to the villagers, talking about sending her away with a grass mat if she died since there was no one else in her family to handle it, burdening everyone.

Now, the third granny doesn’t need to die, nor does she need to burden others.

"Is the Commandery Princess returning to Zhenzhou tomorrow?" Hu Zi asked.

Xie Liangchen replied, "I’m leaving tomorrow, but there are people here to look after things, and by the time I return, your thread tassels should have already been sold to the Southern regions."

Though Hu Zi was reluctant to bid farewell to Xie Liangchen, he was nonetheless delighted for her impending marriage in Zhenzhou.

"Commandery Princess," Hu Zi said quietly, "the villagers say the Military Governor Song is good."

Xie Liangchen nodded.

Hu Zi continued, "Just looks a bit scary. The ones who came with the Military Governor Song have the same demeanor, standing there as if they can’t smile."

Xie Liangchen thought of the brothers Chang An and Chang Yue, and then of Chen Zigeng being carried by Song Xian to the restroom.

Hu Zi, being a child, couldn’t hide his worry: "The Military Governor will treat the Commandery Princess well, won’t he?"

Xie Liangchen patted Hu Zi’s head: "He will. You’ll come to know Song Xian’s true character in time." He is genuinely a soft-hearted person.

Song Xian, with his soft heart, was currently standing on the city wall. After seeing Liangchen upon returning to Dai State, he had gone back to the Dai State Pass.

The Third Prince Ge Kun, having heard that Song Xian had been continuously training troops, was afraid of any errors and hardly slept a wink all night. This time, if there was another mistake, he would have no face to meet the Empress Dowager and the Emperor again.

He thought that after transporting the goods, the borders would return to peace, but Song Xian’s side remained unusually active.

If it were anyone else, Ge Kun wouldn’t worry, but with Song Xian’s cunning, he had to be cautious, causing him to stay up all night with dark circles under his eyes.

"Why hasn’t he left yet?" Ge Kun asked, "Isn’t he supposed to be getting married? He should be returning to Zhenzhou, shouldn’t he?"

A trusted aide replied, "Who knows where he’ll get married? I heard they even built a courtyard in Xinzhou, so it’s possible the people from Zhenzhou might come to handle the wedding."

"The information from there is fuzzy. What we gather may not be accurate."

Even if the information they had gathered was accurate, there was no guarantee that it wasn’t something Song Xian deliberately let them hear.

"We must not act recklessly." Ultimately, Ge Kun concluded that he needed to devote at least half of his attention to the Song Family Army from now on.

Until he understood Song Xian and the Song Family Army, he couldn’t focus on anything else.

After standing guard at the pass for another night, at early morning, Song Xian took Chang An to Wang Family Village.

At dawn, the villagers from Wang Family Village saw Xie Liangchen off. Though Dai State was very poor at the moment, the villagers still crafted a handmade needle and thread as a gift.

Xie Liangchen mounted her horse, and locking eyes with Song Xian, she spurred her horse forward, headed towards Zhenzhou.

The villagers stayed there until they could no longer see the receding figures.

Hu Zi squatted by the roadside: "Will the Commandery Princess return after she gets married? Will she be back by February 27?"

The villagers laughed, knowing that Hu Zi was just a child. Although they didn’t know when the Military Governor and the Commandery Princess would return to the eight states, they were sure to be back before spring plowing.

Xie Liangchen and Song Xian rode tirelessly until they reached Zhenzhou, where they could see Old Mrs. Chen and Old Mrs. Song waiting at the village entrance with others.

Seeing Song Xian and Xie Liangchen, Old Mrs. Chen finally relaxed: "It’s good that you’re back. For the next ten days, you can’t go anywhere unless there’s something tremendously important. Otherwise, set everything aside and focus on the wedding."

Song Xian and Xie Liangchen responded in agreement.

Old Mrs. Song looked at her grandson and said, "Put your heart into it, and if you don’t do well, you won’t be let off."

After saying this, Old Mrs. Song smiled at Xie Liangchen: "Liangchen, you don’t have to do anything else. You’ve been too tired these days, just take a good rest."

Xie Liangchen stepped forward to hold both Old Mrs. Chen and Old Mrs. Song’s arms and walked together back to the village.

Song Xian instructed Chang An: "Cheng Er has returned. If there are any matters at the government office, find him." From now on, he would start preparing everything at the residence.

...

Li Tao jumped down from the ship. This small island was far from Daqi, and it was where Prince Lu had amassed his possessions. Li Tao had been helping Prince Lu out at sea, gathering personnel and settling them on this island, including refugees, bought slaves, and people originally living on the island—all now working for Prince Lu.

His trusted steward whispered to Li Tao a report: "There’s been no news from Dai State, nor have we obtained the new spinning wheel designs from Zhenzhou."

"Whether from Zhenzhou or Dai State, they are highly vigilant, and it’s been a long time since the spies from the eight states have sent any news."

Li Tao frowned, as it seemed Prince Lu was right about Song Xian and Xie Liangchen being difficult to deal with. Otherwise, if they could get the spinning wheels made and bring the wool here, it would be so much more convenient for the islanders to make those thread tassels and wool felts.

It seems haste would not do—it had to be approached slowly.

Li Tao asked, "What about the other matter? Were all the people I sent out before disposed of?"

"They were disposed of," the steward said, "but... there was one person who also went to Daqi at that time, not on the same day, but the next day... It was to clean up in case of any residual problems."

Upon hearing the words "clean up," Li Tao asked, "Was it Zheng?"

The steward confirmed.

Zheng had been helping him manage the women on this island, not like an ordinary subordinate who could be killed offhandedly.

Li Tao instructed, "Investigate Zheng secretly. If she doesn’t know anything else, keep her around for now."