northernbook Chapter 368
Chapter 368
"Miss Zhang, is it? Please, have a seat." A polite smile graced Li Zhiwei's lips.She then instructed the maid beside her to serve tea to this Miss Zhang.
"I saw that new neighbors had moved in here a while ago and always wanted to visit, but I was afraid of being too abrupt," Zhang Zifu said with a smile.
She thought to herself, this Li family is truly wealthy; even their pillars look much more exquisite than her own home's. If she could build a good relationship with Miss Li...
In the future, there would definitely be indispensable benefits for her.
At this thought, Zhang Zifu's expression toward Li Zhiwei grew even more enthusiastic.
Li Zhiwei was somewhat puzzled. She hadn't said anything special, had she?
Why did her attitude suddenly change?
"You are too polite, Miss Zhang. By rights, we should have been the ones to pay a visit. However, we have been quite busy lately, which is why we haven't called upon our neighbors yet," Li Zhiwei said, choosing the most reasonable explanation after a moment of thought.
"It is no problem at all. Haven't I come uninvited anyway?" Zhang Zifu said, waving her hands repeatedly.
Beside them, Cuiguo rolled her eyes inwardly. She knew this Miss Zhang was just the daughter of the modest household to their right.
Rushing over so eagerly, she probably had ulterior motives.
Otherwise, why hadn't the wealthy family on their left come over?
Besides, young ladies from prominent families knew the rules. If they really wanted to visit, they would send a visiting card first.
They wouldn't act like this, showing up unannounced several times.
It was only because her own young lady was kind-hearted that she even bothered to entertain her.
"Miss, you have been busy these past few days, so you might not know, but Miss Zhang has actually come by several times," Cuiguo said from the side with a hint of sarcasm.
"I did not know when Sister Li would be at home, so I came a bit more frequently," Zhang Zifu said, seemingly oblivious to the sarcasm in Cuiguo's words, and instead smiled very happily.
"When you moved in, I saw you and thought that since we are of similar age and neighbors, we could definitely become best friends who can talk about anything," Zhang Zifu continued, talking to herself.
Cuiguo rolled her eyes inwardly again.
More likely, she had noticed the Li family's wealth and splendor, right?
"Is that so? That is quite a coincidence," Li Zhiwei said, still maintaining her politeness.
"Exactly! I feel like we are quite destined to meet," Zhang Zifu continued smiling like a foolish older sister.
Cuiguo, standing to the side, blatantly rolled her eyes.
"Miss, the master is still waiting for you to go over," Cuiguo said, noticing that her young lady did not want to deal with the Miss Zhang in front of them.
She quickly found an excuse for her mistress.
"Does Sister Li have business to attend to?" Hearing this, Zhang Zifu stood up joyfully, looking as if she wanted to tag along.
Li Zhiwei frowned slightly, thinking to herself that this Miss Zhang was truly too familiar.
However, she had always been a slow-to-warm-up kind of person.
Toward this seemingly passionate Miss Zhang in front of her, she actually felt a sense of aversion.
"Miss Zhang, how about you go back for now? My lady still has matters to attend to," Cuiguo said to Zhang Zifu without any politeness.
"How can I do that? I have not yet paid my respects to Lord Li and Madam Li," Zhang Zifu said somewhat anxiously.
She had heard that the Li family only had this one child, Miss Li.
As long as she acted obediently, she might be able to win the favor of Lord Li or Madam Li. They might even recognize her as their goddaughter; it was entirely possible.
With the Li family's wealth and Lord Li's current official position, if she could become their goddaughter, they might even add a generous dowry for her when she got married in the future.
Moreover, this would become her most powerful backing.
Furthermore, the Li family had no sons, but her family did. Her eldest brother, Zhang Yanchu, was the second-place winner in the imperial examinations. If her brother could also gain Lord Li's favor, he would surely experience a meteoric rise in his career.
Thinking of this, Zhang Zifu grew even more excited.
"I am sorry, Miss Zhang, but today is really not convenient. Let us do it another day," Li Zhiwei said, not knowing what this Miss Zhang was thinking.
But right now, she did not want to deal with her anymore.
"Alright, then I will come back another day to pay my respects to Lord Li and Madam Li." No matter how foolish Zhang Zifu was, she could hear the order to leave in Li Zhiwei's words.
She wouldn't just come this one time; there would definitely be opportunities for her to perform in the future.
After sending Zhang Zifu away, both Li Zhiwei and Cuiguo breathed a sigh of relief.
"Miss, this Miss Zhang clearly harbors no good intentions. You don't know this, but ever since we moved in, she has asked the young porter about us several times," Cuiguo pouted, speaking with a displeased look.
"Alright, I know." Li Zhiwei actually did not like Zhang Zifu either. Their Li family was special to begin with, so it wasn't impossible that Zhang Zifu had some ulterior motives.
"I will go check on my father and see if he is feeling any better." Li Zhiwei thought about her father, wondering if his condition had improved.
"Miss, you can rest assured, the master is fine. Today, your servant even saw the master come out into the courtyard to bask in the sun," Cuiguo said happily.
"My father brought this suffering upon himself, insisting on fooling around with a child like Qingshi." Li Zhiwei thought about the ordeal her father had suffered this time; he truly asked for it.
If her father hadn't fooled around with Qingshi in the first place, he probably wouldn't have been abducted, let alone needed to flee to that mountain.
Meanwhile, on Wangxian Mountain.
Gu Shixing looked at the location of this massive iron mine, his heart filled with endless excitement.
"Lord Gu, look, is this it over here?" A young guard asked hurriedly, looking at the ores on the cliff that originated from the same source as the stones they had just seen.
"Yes, yes, they all are, they all are!" Gu Shixing said happily.
"Lord Gu, are these really iron ores? Can they be smelted into iron?" The young guard beside him asked with some anticipation.
"That is naturally so. Do not underestimate these stones. They can be smelted into iron and then forged into incredibly sharp weapons. By then, we will no longer have to fear invasions from the Qinling Country and the Lingxi Country," Gu Shixing said with utmost seriousness, carefully stroking the iron ores.
These were the hope of their Lannuo Country.
"That is wonderful! When the time comes, we must make the Qinling Country pay tribute to us as well!"
The young guard said happily.
At this moment, in the imperial palace.
Zhu Jingchen sat in the imperial study and happened to see the memorial submitted by Ye Qingyan, the Minister of Rites.
It was once again time to pay tribute to the Qinling Country. This time, they demanded five hundred thousand taels of silver, five hundred thousand piculs of grain, and various gold, silver, and jewels.
"Bang!"
Zhu Jingchen furiously threw the imperial brush in his hand out.
He was in a very bad mood.
With great difficulty, the national treasury had finally become a bit more abundant, but as a result, it still wasn't enough to cover the tribute for the Qinling Country.
Five hundred thousand taels of silver, five hundred thousand piculs of grain, and gold, silver, and jewels!
Giving those things to the Qinling Country, they still had to endure their periodic invasions into the Lannuo Country.
Zhu Jingchen only felt that this made him incredibly frustrated!
He felt even more that his reign as emperor was utterly useless and cowardly!
However, this tribute treaty was established by the late emperor's father, who was his grandfather.
They had been consecutively paying tribute to the Qinling Country for nearly a hundred years.
A hundred years?
Suddenly, Zhu Jingchen remembered that the original agreement seemed to be for exactly one hundred years.
"Where is the reparations treaty that was signed with the Qinling Kingdom back then?" Zhu Jingchen asked.