Traveling to Daliang Kingdom starts from falling into the water

Chapter 1039 is this number
That's the number, no doubt about it. The fact that you can quickly and accurately give me that number means you've been thinking about me day and night!

very good!

Keep it up!

Gu Wenxuan gave her an approving look and nodded slowly. "In a letter, I specifically mentioned the junior uncle I met at the Wen residence. That's pretty much what I wanted to tell you."

sweat!
You've misunderstood!

Zhou Banxia chuckled and shook her head, "I mistakenly thought you were reminding me that Junior Uncle not only has a good relationship with Uncle Wen, but is also a close friend of Lord Wen."

Then you wrote again saying that you and my father took the Wen family's passenger ship to the prefectural city. I was wondering if you were reminding me to be careful with the Wen family.

"If you hadn't mentioned in your letter that Junior Uncle had given the child some gifts ahead of time, I would have thought you were going to use the Wen family's property to buy a manor near the Dingzhou Prefecture dock."

Hearing her say that, Gu Wenxuan couldn't help but chuckle. To be honest, he had indeed had that thought when he learned that Third Master Gao and Lord Wen were brothers-in-law.

It wasn't that we didn't pay attention to waterways before, but we always had the Shunyi Escort Agency escorting our goods, and we could also take advantage of the convenience of the Gao, Zhao, and Qian families, so we didn't pay much attention to waterway transportation.

Furthermore, the transit station in Zhoujia Village was not far from the Dingzhou Prefecture Wharf, and no one dared to cause trouble; it would only require more manpower.

Therefore, rather than taking advantage of the master's influence and incurring favors by acquiring estates around the dock, he felt it was not worth the loss and didn't take it to heart.

But now that the opportunity has come, we owe others favors, so we have to weigh the gains and losses first. But who is Wen Shibo? Considering the relationship between Wen Shibo and Mr. [Name]...

If they didn't owe this person a favor, and if Uncle Wen came to them with something, could they really hide and not see him? So, he did have this plan before going to Dingzhou Prefecture.

If given the opportunity, they would naturally want to use the Wen family mansion, which is more like the head of Dingzhou Prefecture than Zhoujia Village, to purchase a manor they like, since it's not like they won't be given money.

"...However, before I even had a chance to make a move against the Wen family, my junior uncle had already paved the way for us."

Even the fact that a dock could be built behind the estate that Old Madam Gao gave us was something my junior uncle reminded me of,”

As expected of the intelligence chief, he has only been back in the capital for a short time, yet he has already provided timely assistance. Zhou Banxia winked meaningfully at Gu Wenxuan.

Gu Wenxuan smiled knowingly. If he wasn't mistaken, Qingshan Academy, which produced many civil officials, was more like the Imperial Academy established by the emperor to control the literati circle in Jiangnan.

Like Master Shi, who gained great fame for teaching Master Qian and Uncle Qian, how could the academy in Jiangnan have become the best without the support of the current emperor?

It is an undeniable fact that the Jiangnan region has been known for its abundance of talented individuals since ancient times. To this day, the Jiangnan region remains a place where many outstanding talents have emerged.

Like the late Grand Secretary Wen and the current Grand Secretary Song, which one of them didn't rise to prominence in the Jiangnan Academy, and none of them were students of Qingshan Academy?

The fact that Qingshan Academy is now able to surpass surrounding academies may well be because the current monarch had already deployed his own forces there before ascending the throne.

Many things now seem to have originated from the fact that the gentleman had acted as a go-between, introducing Master Qian, Junior Master Qi, and others to the current monarch.
It is likely that the current monarch harbored ambitions to seize the throne long before the former crown prince's position as heir apparent was secure, and that he had been secretly cultivating his own power base.

Zhou Banxia agreed with this statement. A prince who could seize the throne from a group of princes without being the eldest son or the legitimate heir was no ordinary person.

Leaving aside him, how simple could Junior Uncle be? By the way, "There are some things that are not easy to explain in a letter. I will give Junior Uncle a return gift in two steps."

First, I quickly sent someone to deliver local specialties to my junior uncle's residence in the capital. Then, I asked my aunt to help us find some presentable items for my junior uncle and his children in the capital.

The main issue is that if Gu Dahua gives his junior uncle a generous gift when he arrives in Jiangnan, what about the return gifts Gu Dahua will bring for his grandmaster and senior uncle Qian? What if they compare the gift lists later, and the return gifts are of different values? While his junior uncle and senior uncle might not mind, their wives and children might not be so happy.”

That's how it is. Just like the third-day celebration for a child by a senior martial uncle or master. Princess Yongning, the wife of Master Qian, only had one ceremony on the surface, but there was another ceremony behind the scenes.

Princess Yongning said that she was still the child's great-aunt, so she specially separated her status to give a gift. If she gave the same gift as she would to other teachers' wives, wouldn't that be considered a lack of social etiquette?

Gu Wenxuan always had concerns about whoever would handle these social interactions, fearing that the other party might overlook something. But with Zhou Banxia making the arrangements, Gu Wenxuan felt completely at ease.

But as the conversation progressed, he couldn't help but ask, "After having your aunt help you find a return gift in the capital, are you financially comfortable now?"
“That’s definitely generous. Not counting the workshop’s working capital, you left me some silver notes before you left. Take them to my aunt. I still have five thousand taels here.”

Just as his wife understood him, he knew without asking that since she had asked his teacher's wife to find something presentable, she would definitely have someone deliver the silver notes to her.

Similarly, upon hearing Zhou Banxia's words, Gu Wenxuan had already anticipated that the amount of silver notes she would send to his master's wife would be roughly the same, and that he would prepare something of higher value than the estate and shops given to him by his junior uncle.

This is the way of the world. No matter how the master's wife arranges the money, once it reaches the junior uncle's ears, how could he not think highly of his wife?

His wife is so cunning; she manages to grab all the benefits in one go, which makes her husband praise my Xia'er for all the good things!
"What are you laughing at?"

"Can't I smile the moment I see you?"

They even started singing?

fool!

"There's one more thing, honey, it's about building the dock—"

"Small idea!"

Rich guy!

Gu Wenxuan gave a thumbs up, "I'm getting more and more into this gigolo business. It wouldn't be right if I didn't bring back a top scholar title."

"Back to business."

"Alright, let's get back to business. Before I came back..."

After recounting the events that had transpired during their separation and reading the numerous letters that had recently arrived, Gu Wenxuan wasn't in a hurry to reply. He wanted to hug his son first.

Compared to his wife's increasingly slim figure after giving birth, his son lived up to expectations, not wasting any money, and has clearly grown a size bigger.

They're much heavier than before, plump and healthy, with strong little arms and legs. They're so small, how can they possibly stand up?

When he smiles, his eyebrows open up, and look at those bright, dark eyes. He even knows to look for his mother. He's full of intelligence and is definitely a hundred times smarter than the average child!
No wonder he's Gu Wenxuan's son!

He had never seen an infant who was barely a month old seem to understand what he was saying, gesturing wildly and even responding with their little mouth.

She was truly precocious!
"You shouldn't praise children."

"It's alright. Since it's just the three of us here, I'll speak the truth. To be honest, even though Xiao Suocheng is older than our son, he's really not as good as our son."