Quick Transmigration: Survive to the End

As expected, Li Chengming did not return by the end of the year, but instead sent back a jade stone as big as a millstone.

Before the stone could even be stored, the fortune teller, who had been away for more than half a year, seemed to smell it and strolled in.

"Master!" Li Yinyin didn't stand on ceremony with him. "Please give me some pointers. Where should we start to dismantle this stone?"

"No, no, no, we can't waste it like this," the fortune teller looked at the stone as if she were looking at a peerless beauty. "Yinyin, take the stone to my yard, I'll grind it slowly."

Li Yinyin laughed: "It must be a treasure, that's why you came all this way back."

After saying this, she ordered someone to carry the jade directly to the courtyard where Banxian had lived before, gave him the things he needed, and then left it at that.

When Yu Qiaoyun heard the news, she didn't see the fortune teller and was a little surprised: "Didn't they say your master was back?"

"He did come back, but it was because of the raw stone that his brother brought back. When the stone was moved to his yard, he was like a lost soul, running after it," Li Yinyin said, holding Yu Qiaoyun's hand. "That stone is huge. By the time he finishes cleaning it up, it might be after the New Year."

Hearing her say that, Yu Qiaoyun gave up the idea of ​​greeting Banxian'er and turned her attention to Xiao Liu, who had returned with the items.

Xiao Liu had been by Li Chengming's side for many years, and Yu Qiaoyun and Li Yinyin had seen him countless times, but this time was the most surprising to them.

Xiao Liu underwent a dramatic transformation, almost inside and out. He became more confident and composed, even somewhat resembling the former Li Chengming.

While in the courtyard, Xiao Liu didn't say much, but once inside the house, he immediately knelt down before Yu Qiaoyun and Li Yinyin, saying, "Greetings, Madam and Miss."

Li Yinyin and the other woman were taken aback: "Why are you bowing so deeply all of a sudden? Get up quickly."

Xiao Liu stood up and smiled, "Before leaving, the strategist said that I haven't seen Madam and Miss for a long time, so I should be more solemn."

"The strategist?" Li Yinyin asked curiously. "Why didn't my brother mention him when he wrote back during the Reunion Festival?"

"The strategist only came to the lord's side after the messenger left," Xiao Liu briefly mentioned, all speaking highly of the strategist.

Li Yinyin raised an eyebrow and said with a smile to Yu Qiaoyun, "This strategist is really amazing. He's only been by Big Brother's side for half a year, and he's already got Xiao Liu on his side, saying so many good things about him. When we have time in the future, Sister-in-law, we don't know if we'll meet anyone else, but we definitely have to get to know this one."

Yu Qiaoyun didn't pay much attention to the strategist, but instead asked Li Chengming, "Master, were you injured while you were out on business?"

Xiao Liu quickly shook his head: "How could we dare to let our lord put himself in danger?"

Yu Qiaoyun was skeptical, but Xiao Liu really didn't have any flaws, so she had no choice but to suppress her thoughts and ask a few more questions about his daily life and current situation.

Xiao Liu could explain all of these things: "There are many small countries in the west. They dare to declare themselves kings if they occupy a territory the size of a town, and they dare to establish a country if they have a whole province."

“We have money and manpower, and our lord was able to take over a territory from a poor little royal family without lifting a finger.”

"However, the lord said that the territory was too small, and life there was not as good as in Shangshui Village. So he thought that next year, he would conquer more land so that he could at least settle people down before coming to fetch the lady and the young lady."

Yu Qiaoyun thought she had misheard: "You said that Master has already conquered a small country?"

Xiao Liu nodded: "Don't say that you don't believe me, Madam; I still feel like I'm dreaming."

"The monarch of that small country was obsessed with eating, drinking, and having fun, oppressing his people, and his soldiers were arrogant and disrespectful. The monarch was only temporarily residing in that small country to consider where to start his uprising, but he was tricked by those soldiers. In a fit of anger, the monarch sent them all back."

"Who knew that among these people were the sons of high-ranking officials? After beating the young, the old came, so the lord had no choice but to fight his way to their palace. As a result, in just two or three days, he took over a piece of territory."

"If it weren't for the fact that the lord disliked the place for being too small and shabby and refused to ascend the throne, I would be addressing the lady as Your Majesty the Empress and the young lady as Princess right now."

Li Yinyin stopped fanning herself: "This... even storybooks wouldn't dare to write something like this!"

My brother already has his own territory.

I thought he was going to take things slowly and plan things out gradually!

When did this happen?

“It was quite early,” Xiao Liu said. “It was still summer then. The lord thought the place was poor and shabby, and was too embarrassed to say anything. He just told the people who came back to deliver the supplies that he had found a place to train the troops.”

Yu Qiaoyun didn't know what to say: "Then why can you talk now?"

“This still depends on the grain that Madam sent,” Xiao Liu said, bowing respectfully. “The former ruler of that place only exploited the people. The people went hungry one day and ate the next. Apart from what was growing in the fields, there was basically nothing to eat, and many of the crops grown there were inedible. The royal treasury was full of wealth and jewels, and although there was a lot of grain, it was not enough for the whole country to consume.”

"The lord ordered his men to attack a number of nobles, which finally delayed the harvest until it was almost time. But then the weather turned bad, and the grains failed to ripen, resulting in a near-total crop failure. Fortunately, you sent new grains, and now the whole country knows that following the lord means they can eat their fill. Therefore, regardless of gender, everyone is willing to support the lord and follow him."

Li Yinyin and Yu Qiaoyun exchanged a glance. Yu Qiaoyun suppressed her thoughts and instructed Xiao Liu: "You are always by the master's side. Try to persuade him not to be reckless. Now that he has territory, he should also pay attention to managing it."

Xiao Liu immediately agreed and then said to Li Yinyin, "That small country has planted a lot of white berries. According to the law, these things belong to the king. There's no use for the master keeping them. So he simply ordered them all to be transported back and sent to the embroidery workshop."

Li Yinyin has really learned a lot today.

She thought about how pleased she was with herself for fooling the village chief, and the letter she wrote to her older brother explaining the whole story...

Seeing that her little face was all scrunched up, Yu Qiaoyun couldn't help but ask, "Why are you suddenly unhappy?"

Li Yinyin was on the verge of tears: "Sister-in-law, my brother is so capable, but I, as his sister, am so stupid. I was still trying to get people to go to the Western Regions to trade, and I even wrote letters to my brother."

"Sister-in-law, do you think I might not be my brother's biological sister, but rather someone our parents picked up from outside?"

"Otherwise, if we were born from the same mother, such a huge difference in intelligence would really make me seem exceptionally incompetent!"