Drive to the Tang Dynasty, where supplies are refreshed daily!

Chapter 64 Merit Money!
Each time, Xiao Ran would send some gifts, which were very precious to the princesses.

So this time, Li Lizhi prepared a lot of pastries.

It was given to Third Aunt in the name of the two little princesses, just like Third Aunt gave the two little princesses tomatoes and corn before.

It's important to reciprocate courtesy.

After having breakfast, Princess Li Lizhi, along with her two younger sisters, boarded the carriage.

Thinking about the photos, Li Lizhi was still looking forward to it.

The two little princesses also loved to play with Third Sister and Little Black, and they especially loved the food Xiao Ran cooked.

Last night, Xiao Ran prepared all the photos, keeping a copy for himself as a memento, just like before.

There will definitely be other people's photos too, such as photos of Li Lizhi, Princess Yuzhang, Zhang Jinhe, Zhang Erya, and Cheng Tiehuan. We need to prepare several more of those.

You can keep a copy of the photo of anyone in it.

Seeing Xiao Ran arrive, Third Sister ran over excitedly, "Young Master! Little Black!"

"Hmm, Third Sister, can you write hundreds now?" Xiao Ran had just seen the little girl writing numbers on the ground.

"I can write up to three hundred!" Third Sister was very excited, slowly understanding Arabic numerals and slowly writing upwards.

"Hmm, that's really good!"

Xiao Ran gave Zhang Erya and San Niang a photo first.

Zhang Erya was happy to see herself and her sister in the photo, but sadly, Zhang Dalang was not in it.

"We'll talk about Dalang later; there will be plenty of opportunities." Xiao Ran understood Zhang Erya's thoughts.

"it is good!"

"Second Aunt, cook some porridge, use rice," Xiao Ran instructed, not wanting to drink millet porridge anymore.

"Okay! I'll go right away!"

Xiao Ran sat down on the steps by the door and picked up a wooden stick to teach Third Sister simple addition and subtraction.

These should be useful.

Nowadays, the people who want to work don't come to Zhang Erya's house anymore; they all go directly to the pond.

There are just too many people; there's no point in squeezing in here.

Breakfast was a little late today. Xiao Ran taught Zhang Erya how to steam egg custard and make milkshakes.

Adding a little soy sauce and sesame oil to steamed eggs makes them great, and milkshakes are perfect with milk and a little sugar.

Neither of them are difficult; you can change things up in the morning.

Zhang Jinhe also likes to come over for meals now, so there's no need to worry about Zhang Mingde being alone.

Zhang Mingde gets up late anyway, and they don't usually eat together.

"Jinniang, these are your photos." There's a photo of everyone Zhang Jinhe was involved in.

"Thank you, young master!" Zhang Jinhe accepted the gifts, knowing they were priceless and that it wouldn't be appropriate to give them money.

Knowing that Xiao Ran wouldn't accept money, giving him money now would be too formal.

The only help I can get is from other places.

The group was just about to eat when they heard a noise outside.

Li Lizhi and her companions' carriages also arrived outside the courtyard.

"Aha~" Before they even arrived, the little princess couldn't wait to peek out.

"Sizi!" Third Sister quickly got up.

Xiao Ran and the others went out to greet them.

Li Wu and Cheng Tiehuan carried a lot of things.

"No, why are you carrying so much stuff?" Xiao Ran knew these were all pastries.

Fortunately, these things can be kept for a few more days.

“This is from Sizi Fanyin to Third Sister,” Li Lizhi said with a smile.

The three little ones held hands and entered the courtyard.

Even though she had already eaten, it didn't stop the little princess from wanting to eat some more breakfast.

Especially steamed egg custard and milkshakes.

"Wow~" The little princess looked very satisfied; the milkshake was so sweet it warmed her heart.

Li Lizhi and Princess Yuzhang were both amused and exasperated.

"Sizi, didn't you already eat? Why are you eating Third Sister's breakfast again!" Princess Yuzhang smiled helplessly.

"Hehe~ Good duckling~"

Although it looked delicious, Li Lizhi and Princess Yuzhang were too embarrassed to eat it. After breakfast, they took out the remaining persimmon cakes and prepared to scrape off the persimmon frost.

Xiao Ran also took out the photos, "Fifth Sister and Sixth Sister, these are yours."

"Fifth Uncle, you have a few too."

"Thank you, young man!" Li Wu accepted it.

Cheng Tiehuan and Yu Shu also have them.

The group looked at the photos with great pleasure.

The three little girls finished eating and ran off to play by themselves on the other side.

Several aunties who helped prepare breakfast also came into the yard.

Zhang Jinhe also got busy, going wherever he was needed.

The courtyard was filled with laughter and conversation, and the atmosphere was harmonious until the sound of horses' hooves broke the peace.

Upon hearing the sound of hooves, Li Wu immediately became alert; anyone who could ride a horse was no ordinary person.

There is not a single horse in Kaolao Village.

Even the worst horse is worth at least 20 or 30 strings of cash, while a good horse is worth at least 50 strings of cash.

A lot of them came all at once.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound of horses' hooves.

The leaders were several bald men, some of whom were wearing monks' robes.

"Monks?" Xiao Ran was puzzled as to why these people had come here.

Xiao Ran looked at Zhang Erya, who also looked confused and didn't know what was going on.

The group stopped at the entrance of the courtyard and dismounted.

They were all fat and big-eared, lacking any of the kind and benevolent appearance of monks; they looked more like village bullies and thugs.

"This must be the home of benefactor Zhang Huaiyou!" The fat monk Huikong, who was at the head of the group, looked at Xiao Ran and the others.

Noticing that the carriage next to them was unusual, and that Li Lizhi and her companions were dressed in manners that were not ordinary either.

They then toned it down a bit.

Xiao Ran had never heard of this name before, and subconsciously looked at Zhang Erya and Zhang Jinhe.

"Yes, may I ask what brings you gentlemen here?" Zhang Jinhe inquired.

Zhang Erya felt intimidated when she saw that the monk looked fierce.

Wang Gui stepped forward and said, "This is Master Huikong from the Merit Hall of Daxingshan Temple. He's here to ask Zhang Huaiyou for his merit money and blessings?"

Xiao Ran didn't react immediately. Merit money? Good fortune?
Li Lizhi and Princess Yuzhang understood, and couldn't help but frown.

Zhang Jinhe immediately sensed that something was very wrong, and Zhang Erya's reaction was clearly abnormal when she heard Zhang Huaiyou's name.

Thinking about all this, Xiao Ran guessed that Zhang Huaiyou must be the 'cheap father' who was accidentally killed by Zhang Dalang.

“Father is gone!” Zhang Erya whispered.

"Even if he's gone, the debt still has to be repaid. A son must pay his father's debts. Zhang Huai left a written agreement; you have to repay this money."

Huikong glared at Wang Gui, who quickly changed his tune: "You have to repay the money for the good deeds and the blessings you've received!"

Xiao Ran understood; they owed money.

"How much do you owe?" Xiao Ran took two steps forward and asked Wang Gui.

"The total is one hundred and twenty-three strings and four hundred and fifteen coins."

This number surprised everyone.

A few strings of cash would be a huge sum for the Zhang siblings, and more than a hundred strings would be an astronomical figure.

Zhang Jinhe was also startled and turned to look at Xiao Ran.

Zhang Erya's face was pale; it was truly terrifying.

She already felt indebted to Xiao Ran, and hearing this made her feel very conflicted.

"Let me see! How did you owe it!"

“Zhang Huai borrowed it from Daxingshan Temple, this is the written agreement!” Wang Gui showed it to Xiao Ran, but didn’t intend to give it to him.

“I borrowed 3 strings of cash for merit. Now I need to repay 123 strings and 415 cash.” Xiao Ran looked at Wang Gui and several monks with fierce faces. “Oh, fellow monks!”

"What do you mean by this? Are you also a monk?" Wang Gui asked Xiao Ran.

"No, I was robbing people on the street!"

(End of this chapter)