We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

"What is Yue'er looking at?"

Li Che looked at his daughter and asked gently.

Li Yue turned her head when she heard the voice, her big eyes sparkling and very cute.

She pointed to a stall not far downstairs with her little hand and said in a soft voice, "Daddy, candy... flowers, they look beautiful!"

Li Che looked in the direction she pointed and saw an old craftsman making sugar painting.

The old man's wrists flicked skillfully, and the boiling hot syrup turned into lifelike birds, beasts, flowers, birds, fish and insects, attracting a group of children to gather around and exclaim in amazement.

"Oh? Yue'er likes sugar painting?" Li Che's face showed an unconcealable smile.

Li Yue nodded vigorously and pointed at his brother Li Hao: "Brother, sugar, eat it all."

Li Hao seemed to have heard his sister complaining. He raised his head from the malt sugar in confusion, with shiny sugar stains still on the corners of his mouth. He blinked his big eyes innocently at Li Che, then at his sister, completely unaware of what was going on.

Li Che couldn't help but burst out laughing.

The eldest son is lively, the eldest daughter is quiet...but the youngest son is a pure foodie.

"Qubing, stop looking at the big ship." Li Che called to his eldest son, "There's someone making sugar paintings downstairs. Daddy will take you down to have a look and pick out a nice one for Yue'er, okay?"

"Sugar painting?"

Li Cheng's attention was finally drawn back from the big ship. When he heard that there was something fun to do, he immediately jumped down from the windowsill, his little face full of excitement:

"Okay, okay! Daddy, I want a sugar painting of Brother Xiaosong, like the one on the bow of a boat!"

"Hao'er wants more candy!"

When Li Hao heard that there was food to eat, he immediately raised his chubby little hands covered in candy and responded positively.

"Okay, let's go." Li Che stood up, and the majesty on his face had long been replaced by the gentleness of a kind father.

The group left the teahouse and stood in various corners. Qiu Bai and several Jinyiwei, who had also changed into casual clothes, hurriedly followed.

Li Che held the eager Li Cheng with one hand, and held Li Yue with the other hand, who was a little shy because there were so many people and buried her little face in his shoulder. Qiu Bai held Li Hao, who was still trying to lick his fingers.

Everyone soon arrived at the sugar painting stall.

The old craftsman has superb skills and many people gathered in front of his stall.

Li Cheng was small and was so anxious that he kept jumping up and down: "Daddy, I can't see Xiaosong!"

Li Che bent down, picked up Li Cheng, and let him sit on his broad shoulders.

His vision suddenly widened, and Li Cheng shouted excitedly, "I see it! I see it! Daddy is so tall! Grandpa is painting a big dragon! How amazing!"

Li Yue was held by Li Che, and he also curiously poked his head out, watching the old artist quickly outline a winding, lifelike dragon with golden syrup, his little mouth opened slightly in surprise.

"Old man, please draw a few for me." Li Che said gently to the old artist.

"Okay, please wait a moment!"

The old artist saw that Li Che had an extraordinary demeanor. Although he was dressed in ordinary clothes, the people following him had sharp eyes. Naturally, he did not dare to be negligent and moved his hands faster.

"What does Yue'er want?" Li Che lowered his head and asked his daughter.

Li Yue's eyes swept over the various sugar painting samples on the stall. Finally, she pointed at a butterfly that was about to take flight and said softly, "Butterfly, Huahua."

"Okay, I'll draw the most beautiful butterfly for this young lady." The old artist responded with a smile, scooped up a spoonful of syrup, and moved his wrists smoothly.

"I want a big tiger!"

Li Cheng, who was riding on Li Che's neck, was unwilling to fall behind and even imitated a childish tiger roar.

Having grown up with two tigers, he imitated the tiger's roar perfectly, which made the people around him smile.

"I want...tangtang! Sweet!" Li Hao was in Qiu Bai's arms, his goal clear.

Soon, a crystal clear sugar painting of a butterfly, a majestic sugar painting of a tiger, and a cute sugar painting of a fat baby were handed to the children.

Li Yue held up her butterfly sugar painting carefully, her big eyes full of cherishment, as if she was holding a rare treasure. She was reluctant to lick it, but just leaned in to smell the sweet aroma.

Li Chengze held his tiger, looked at it from left to right, and couldn't let it go. He imitated the tiger and made a "wooo" sound at his brother, which made Li Hao laugh.

Li Hao smiled brightly as soon as he got the fat doll candy painting. He bit off the fat doll's head in one bite. It was so sweet that his eyes narrowed into slits.

The three children held up their sugar paintings contentedly, while Li Che looked at the bustling street with a hint of thought in his eyes.

He waved and looked at Qiu Bai beside him: "Where are Prince Yan and the others?"

"We're still at the inn. His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan hasn't recovered from his seasickness yet. Old Qu has gone to get a doctor."

Li Che's mouth twitched.

This fourth guy is exactly like that. He is obviously a landlubber but he still insists on going south with me to join the fun. He is a typical green hand who loves to play.

"Let's not wait for them. Let's go outside the city and take a look."

Qiu Bai nodded and winked at the guard beside him, who turned and left.

Although Li Che was on a secret visit, he still maintained basic vigilance and brought a sufficient number of night watchmen with him.

The group temporarily left the bustling dock area and walked out of the city along the quieter road along the Minjiang River.

Li Che went to Fuzhou incognito. In addition to showing the children the world, his more important purpose was to observe the actual operation of Fuzhou Port and water transportation.

Over the past three years, the Fengguo Fleet used Fuzhou as a transit station and opened up routes to Luzon, Izuo, Champa and even further afield, bringing huge business opportunities and wealth.

Li Che has high hopes for this route and plans to build it into something like the 'Maritime Silk Road'.

To this end, Feng State invested huge sums of money to assist Fuzhou in expanding the dock, dredging the waterway, and adding storage facilities.

In Li Che's expectation, this was a win-win deal.

Fengguo stabilized the shipping routes, and Fuzhou, relying on such a busy port, was able to create a large number of job opportunities and make people's lives more prosperous.

However, the further he walked out of the city, the tighter Li Che's brows furrowed.

The roadsides were no longer lined with shops and bustling crowds, but were replaced by low, dilapidated huts, and the air was filled with the damp, moldy, and fishy smells.

The few pedestrians we met on the road were mostly dressed like fishermen, with ragged clothes and patches on them.

They walked unsteadily, carrying an empty fish basket or dragging a half-repaired old fishing net.

It seems that the port has not brought any convenience to people's lives, but has made them worse.

Li Cheng also noticed the difference between these people and the people in the city. He stopped waving his sugar painting and asked softly, "Dad, why are those people so thin? Don't they eat?"

He grew up in Fengguo, and the prosperous people's livelihood in Fengguo was already normal in his cognition. He had never seen such a shocking scene.

Li Che's heart sank little by little. The stable life in the past three years had made him lower his guard and forget the truth that seeing is believing.

Why did the port he invested heavily in building and the huge business opportunities brought by the Fengguo fleet fail to benefit these people at the bottom of society?

He took a deep breath, suppressed his boiling anger, and put Li Cheng down from his shoulder.

He squatted down and tried to soften his voice: "Qubing, Yue'er, Hao'er, you and Commander Qiu wait here for Daddy for a while. Daddy will go ask for directions."

Qiu Bai understood and immediately took several guards to form a protective circle, protecting the three children in the middle.

Li Che straightened his clothes, restrained his arrogance, and walked towards the old man who was mending a torn fishing net on the side of the road.

The old man's hair and beard were all white, his face was full of wrinkles, and he was so thin that only skin and bones were left. His hands were like dry branches, and he was twisting the hemp rope with trembling hands.

"Excuse me, old man." Li Che tried his best to make his voice sound calm. "I'm just passing by here. There are some things I don't understand. Could you explain them to me?"

Hearing this, the old man raised his cloudy eyes and looked at Li Che warily.

Although Li Che's clothes were not gorgeous, the material was fine and his temperament was calm, obviously he was not an ordinary person.

A trace of fear flashed in the old man's eyes. He subconsciously shrank his neck, lowered his head and continued to fiddle with his broken fishing net. An unclear "hmm...hmm..." sound came out of his throat, and he was obviously unwilling to talk more.

Li Che understood and waved his hand, and the guard beside him handed him a bag.

He took out a few cakes he had bought in the city and handed them to the old man.

"Old man, we are thirsty and would like to ask for a bowl of water. This snack is not a token of respect."

Seeing the exquisite pastries emitting an enticing aroma, the old man's withered face was visibly moved, and his throat rolled violently.

He hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't resist the temptation of food. He reached out his hand tremblingly and took a piece carefully.

But he didn't eat it immediately. Instead, he held it tightly in his palm as if he was holding some rare treasure.

"My Lord, what do you want to ask?"

Li Che said softly, "Old man, I see that the Fuzhou dock is so busy, with so many large ships coming and going. Logically, the fishermen who make a living by the river should have an easier time."

Upon hearing this, the old man's eyes instantly filled with grief and anger. "My lord, you don't understand! No matter how busy the docks are, or how many large ships there are from Feng State... none of the benefits will fall on us poor fishermen."

"Oh?" Li Che frowned, "Why is that?"

"Japanese pirates! It's the Japanese pirates!"

When the old man mentioned these two words, his voice trembled and his hands holding the pastry shook even more violently.

"Those damned Japanese pirates are so elusive. They don't dare touch official ships, let alone the fleet of the Feng Kingdom flying the Feng Wang flag! They specifically target our small fishing boats and those small merchant ships with little cargo and poor security!"

Li Che's pupils shrank slightly.

Japanese pirates?

What a courage!

Fengguo had taken too big a step before. In the past three years, Li Che has been consolidating the foundation and stabilizing people's livelihood, so he was not in a hurry to cause trouble for Japan.

The Japanese were also quite honest, paying tribute to the imperial court every year and appearing loyal.

However, I didn't expect that these disgusting things have already spread to the coastal areas.

But why has he never received any news about the Japanese pirates, and why is there no corresponding rumor in the court?