Wine brewed at home never intoxicates.

Sure enough, this letter found its way through various hands to the Prince of Lu's Mansion, and was stuffed back into the bamboo tube only after being thoroughly permeated with the scent of medicinal herbs.

"Send it wherever he asked it to be sent."

Zhao Yi learned only today that this minor county magistrate was actually a student of Wang Mingfeng.

Wang Zhiqiu!

A trace of unbearable pity flashed in the depths of his eyes. That was a minister who had stood firmly by his side from the very beginning; he wondered if they would ever meet again in this lifetime.

The Princess of Lu, You Hualang, meticulously applied powder to her husband's face, trying to craft the most convincing look of illness in advance. This was already her fourth attempt, but she still felt something was missing.

"My Lord, what shall we do when the imperial physicians arrive in a few days?"

The local physicians in the prefecture naturally obeyed them, but the imperial doctors dispatched from the capital might not be so accommodating.

No matter how well done, makeup was prone to being seen through. Surely they couldn't make the Prince genuinely fall ill, could they?

"We shall cross that bridge when we come to it. Delay them by a day whenever possible. Once they step into the Prince of Lu's Mansion, they are not leaving. Not a single word is to be sent back, other than the fact that I am truly gravely ill."

Zhao Yi rubbed the crack on his jade thumb ring, feeling somewhat flustered and restless.

He was not yet fully prepared, yet his good nephew's blade was already so eager.

What a fine heir chosen by the late Emperor!

"My Lord."

You Hualang grasped her husband's hand, her soft tone revealing unyielding resolve.

"Tomorrow, I shall personally go to the Wang family to propose marriage for Yun'er. I hear that General Wang's daughter has grown into a most poised and graceful young lady, and her age is a very suitable match for Yun'er."

Wang You served as the Piaoqi General and the Regional Commander of Shandong, having previously held posts as the Assistant Regional Commissioner at the Jining Garrison in Shandong, the Assistant Regional Commissioner at the Shandong Regional Military Commission of the Zhenwei Camp, and the Garrison Commander of Tongzhou.

Before the imperial court's physicians arrived, she needed to firmly anchor everyone in their camp.

You Hualang continued in a gentle voice, "Your concubine will simply say that Your Highness is failing fast and wishes to see his son settle down as soon as possible. I am certain things will go smoothly."

Though everyone knew this illness was feigned, upon hearing this, the Prince of Lu could still not help coughing awkwardly, yet he said with great solemnity,

"As I am on my deathbed and unable to accompany you, I must trouble the Princess."

In the eyes of outsiders, his illness was contagious, which made You Hualang's tone grow even gentler.

"General Wang's younger sister has reconciled and returned to her natal home, and General Zhang's daughter is unwed at twenty. Your Highness had better recover swiftly so that you may welcome these two younger sister-consorts into the mansion."

Given the ages of those two, only her husband could graciously accept them.

The forces the Prince of Lu's Mansion could directly control at present amounted to only around twenty thousand troops.

Shandong boasted of having two hundred thousand troops guarding it, but they knew that even if they gathered the entire military strength of Shandong into their hands, combined with the coastal defense forces, the total would barely scrape seventy thousand.

Without these seventy thousand troops, needless to say, anything else was entirely out of the question.

Therefore, their son definitely had to take a wife, and her husband simply had to take concubines.

A suspicious blush crossed the Prince of Lu's cheeks. "The Princess is the virtuous wife chosen for me by the Father Emperor. You may make your own decisions regarding such trivial matters..."

He and the Princess had been childhood sweethearts and shared a deeply affectionate marriage. For all these years, he had never quite had the nerve to say he wanted to take a concubine, but now that the Princess herself had brought it up, well... it would be discourteous not to comply.

As for that clever little county magistrate, Zhao Yi's gaze darkened.

"Tell Yang Gao to go all out and raise a ruckus..."

Since he was a man of Prime Minister Wang, wasn't he naturally a man of the Prince of Lu's Mansion?

Outside the Fushan Iron Mine.

Li Yu had mats laid out on the ground, accompanied by wine and food, and even had Yunban play the flute for his entertainment. The latter finished a tune with a face full of grievance and complained,

"County Magistrate, who uses a maid as a singing girl?"

At most, others used them to... warm the bed. Yet her county magistrate made her learn accounting, taught her massage techniques, and now expected her to be proficient in singing and dancing as well.

"I am doing this for your own good, you know." Li Yu tore off a roasted duck leg and took a satisfied bite. "Learning an extra skill when you are young is a craft, and you will never lose out no matter what."

Yunban was no complete fool; while the words sounded reasonable, they were actually sheer bullying.

"So since your maid has learned so many skills, when is the County Magistrate going to raise my monthly stipend?"

Initially, she thought she would just be pouring tea and serving water. Later, she found out she had to keep accounts and handle miscellaneous yamen chores, and now she was expected to cook, do laundry, give massages, play the flute, and sing.

Not even a donkey was worked this hard!

"Oh, come off it. You still want a raise?" Tieyi snatched the flute from Yunban's hand and pointed toward Xiaolu, who was practicing martial arts in the distance. "Brother Xiaolu only gets a few coins a month!"

Xiaolu received only five hundred wen a month, so a young girl getting fifteen hundred wen was already quite generous. He, who could fight and kill, only received ten guan a month.

Yunban pouted and said, "How can that be the same? Brother Lu needs seven or eight guan just for throat medicine every month, plus his martial arts training. Last month, the County Magistrate bought Brother Lu a horse, and that alone cost a full thirty guan."

Thirty guan! Add another twenty guan, and you could buy half of her.

Was this any way to treat a household servant? How was this any different from raising a sworn brother?

"Alright, alright. I'll add another five hundred wen to your pay." Li Yu wasn't short of that little money, and he said with a grin, "If you go learn to play the pipa as well, I'll bump it up to three guan a month."

"Really?"

Upon hearing this, Yunban's eyes first lit up, and then she stamped her feet in exasperation.

"Sister Yuanyang at the Ziqin Pavilion just plucks the pipa, and she still earns over ten guan a month! Why is it only three guan when it comes to your maid?"

Still, being a maid to the County Magistrate meant it would be easier to find a good husband later on.

"Hey, then why don't you become the County Magistrate's concubine?" Tieyi observed his master's expression and tentatively probed, "As long as you become a concubine, the County Magistrate and his wife would gladly give you twenty guan a month."

He wondered if either of these two had that intention in mind.

"Nonsense! Where would this magistrate get enough salary to support a concubine?"

Li Yu pointed at Tieyi with a laugh and a scold, then glanced at Xiaolu not far away.

"Yunban, what do you think of your Brother Lu?"

Yunban was a pretty and lovely girl; truthfully, matching her with a mute was somewhat of a pity.

But what if the girl actually fancied him?

Even though the young girl had heard things she should and shouldn't have heard while keeping watch at night, when the topic turned so bluntly to marriage, she still blushed, stamped her feet, and walked away.

"County Magistrate, you're hateful! Brother Tieyi is hateful too! I'm not talking to you anymore."

This coy display brought a smile to Li Yu's face. No wonder scoundrels loved teasing young girls; how could anyone not adore such a delicate, blushing demeanor?

Unlike trying to tease a married woman, who would only outtalk you by a mile.

As for who would eventually run away blushing, there was no telling.

"Damn it all."

Seeing that someone was still lingering deep into the night, even drinking wine and listening to music, Yang Gao could not help cursing under his breath. He put his hands on his hips and marched aggressively toward Li Yu.

He originally intended to question why the fellow was loitering here, but to his surprise, the other party flashed him an exceptionally warm smile and even invited him to sit down and join the meal.

"General Yang, are you hungry? Care to eat and drink a little with me?"

The wine was fine wine, and the dishes were choice delicacies. As the saying goes, one does not strike a smiling face.

Half of Yang Gao's anger instantly evaporated. After hesitating for a brief moment, he plopped down onto a seat and looked somewhat awkwardly at the wine cup before him.

"Well... I'll just have some food, but I won't drink."

Drinking during official duties easily led to mistakes, but since this minor county magistrate couldn't possibly pull off anything major, he figured there probably wasn't, maybe, roughly speaking, any sinister plot afoot.

Besides, he should at least taste a few dishes rather than meeting a smiling face with a cold shoulder, lest the fellow went around telling people that military generals were unapproachable.

Noticing the contradiction between his refusal and his actual posture, Li Yu quietly filled his cup.

"My own home-brewed wine is not intoxicating. The General can just take a few sips to wash away the fatigue."