In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

Upon hearing this, Hei Lao Liu dared not ask Shen An what kind of bargaining chip Yuwen Bingyu had offered to join forces.

But he believed that since Shen An was so confident, he must be sure of success.

He replied, "My lord, I recently made a few deals with Sun Dafu, a wealthy merchant from Nanling Prefecture. I heard that he will invite Yuwen Bingyu to his family banquet in seven days. If you wish to meet her, you can attend the banquet."

However, for safety's sake, I think it would be better to have someone else talk to Yuwen Bingyu.

"To get them to agree to cooperate with me, we must show them the necessary sincerity. Sending someone else won't be enough," Shen An said, shaking his head. "Whether we can cooperate this time is crucial to the success or failure of our upcoming war with Li Huaiyi and even Yuwen Qin. We must win them over to fight against them together. Therefore, I need to go in person."

"You can now make arrangements for attending the banquet hosted by the wealthy businessman Sun Dafu."

"yes!"

Five days later.

Shen An, accompanied only by Zhao Long and eight other guards, left Qingyang County under the cover of night.

Nanling Prefecture was located in the southwest of Yangnan Prefecture, and Qingyang County directly bordered it.

However, to reach Nanling Prefecture, one needs to cross the Nanling Mountains.

The road was rugged; even riding a fast horse, it would take a day and a night to get there.

But the advantage is that there are no sentries.

It wasn't until Shen An crossed the Nanling Mountains and arrived at the territory of Nanling Prefecture that sentry posts appeared.

Hei Laoliu had made several trips, casually tossing some silver coins at each stop, and the other party would let him pass.

Because the Nanling Mountains blocked the cold air from the north, Qingyang County was covered in snow and ice, but the temperature in Nanling Prefecture rose significantly, reaching at least twelve or thirteen degrees Celsius.

"My lord, Nanling Prefecture is indeed a wonderful place," Black Six exclaimed.

"It is indeed a good place. If it can be managed well, it can become a kingdom on its own and develop independently," Shen An nodded.

"But it is precisely because it is too independent that it cannot communicate with the outside world in real time. Even though Yuwen Bingyu took over this place from her father and worked hard to govern it, she was still unable to ensure that the people here could have enough to eat, which was a waste of this good place," Hei Laoliu added.

Shen An listened and lifted the sedan curtain to look.

The resources here are far better than those in Yangnan Prefecture, but the land is still littered with corpses.

Ultimately, it's because their culture is backward, and they can't exchange good resources for enough food to feed them.

Shen An had already heard about this from others, so it wasn't surprising.

On the contrary, this put my mind at ease.

His bargaining chip in winning over Yuwen Bingyu was to focus on increasing grain production.

Half an hour before Sun Dafu's family banquet was to begin.

Shen An and his group then entered the city of Nanling Prefecture.

The city of Nanling Prefecture was comparable in size to that of Qingyang County, but far smaller than that of Yangnan Prefecture.

After successfully entering the city.

Led by Hei Laoliu, Shen An arrived at the Sun residence and met Sun Dafu.

Hei Laoliu did not tell Sun Dafu Shen An's identity, but instead told him as Shen An had instructed: "Brother Sun, this is Young Master Shen, a wealthy man from Qingyang County. His family has both goods and money."

Sun Dafu recognized Shen An at a glance; this man possessed extraordinary bearing and was no ordinary person.

Even though Hei Lao Liu didn't reveal his name, he still had a big smile on his face and welcomed Shen An and the others into the mansion.

The mansion of Sun Dafu was magnificent and luxurious, almost the most extravagant courtyard Shen An had ever seen since his transmigration.

This also shows that Sun Dafu is quite wealthy.

After taking his seat, Shen An drank his wine and waited for Yuwen Bingyu to appear.

She didn't keep Shen An waiting for long.

When almost all the invited guests had arrived.

Someone then shouted, "Lord Yuwen has arrived!"

The next moment, everyone stood up in unison.

Sun Dafu composed himself and went to greet them with a big smile.

Women were generally more military generals than civil officials.

This Yuwen Bingyu was both literate and martial, and as the legends say, he was handsome and had bright eyes.

She was dressed casually, with a friendly smile on her face.

After she sat down, Sun Dafu had just started to dance when his butler jogged over.

"Master, another group of people has arrived outside! They came uninvited."

"Who is it? Why don't you chase them away!" Sun Dafu complained.

"The other party said they were from the military governor of Yangnan Prefecture."

"Li Huaiyi's men?"

"right!"

Sun Dafu's expression changed. He looked at Yuwen Bingyu, only to find that she was looking at him.

Startled, he quickly explained, "Lord Yuwen, those people came uninvited. I have absolutely no connection with them."

"Sun Dafu, you don't need to be too nervous. If you have any dealings with them, you wouldn't need to choose to meet with them when I come."

"They must have come uninvited," Yuwen Bingyu said, gesturing with his hand.

"Should I kick them out?"

"Don't chase them away. I want to hear what your brother's men want with you! Let them in!" After saying that, Yuwen Bingyu looked around the hall and walked straight to Shen An, smiling, "Your place is rather secluded. Could I sit next to you?"

Shen An was just looking for an opportunity to strike up a conversation with her when she came to him of her own accord.

He was naturally willing and immediately shifted his position.

Yuwen Bingyu did this to prevent Li Huaiyi's men from discovering her presence. Shen An's seat was in the third row at the back, in a secluded spot, making it difficult for him to be seen.

quickly!

A group of more than ten people entered the hall from outside.

They had fierce appearances and a very strong presence.

The leader had a murderous look on his face and was clearly a soldier.

"My name is Yuwen Dong. I've come to see Manager Sun on behalf of the Military Governor. We have a business deal we'd like to discuss!"

"Military governor? Which military governor? Our Nanling Prefecture only has one military governor, and that is Lord Yuwen Bingyu!" Sun Dafu's momentum was not inferior, and his tone was aggressive.

"Hehe, the military governor I'm referring to is none other than Li Huaiyi, the military governor of Yangnan Prefecture!" Yuwen Dong chuckled and said, "Boss Sun, there are too many people here, let's find a place to talk privately?"

"We can talk about it here; there's no need to discuss it separately!"

"Hehe, let's talk about it in public then. You discussed that matter with our military governor before, and our military governor is planning to agree!" Yuwen Dong said with a smile.

Sun Dafu's brows furrowed instantly: "What nonsense are you spouting? When did I ever discuss anything with Li Huaiyi?"

"Oh dear, Manager Sun, you're really not cooperating! You clearly discussed this with my master on your own initiative, why won't you admit it?" Yuwen Dong's expression immediately became exaggerated: "Oh, I see, you don't want others to know that you've been secretly in contact with our master, huh? You should have said so earlier! Very well, I'll take my leave now, and we can discuss this further after the banquet!"

After saying that, they turned and left.

"Stop right there! Stop right there!" Sun Dafu shouted urgently, "I have never discussed anything with Li Huaiyi!"

Yuwen Dong left without looking back.

Sun Dafu's men tried to stop them, but they were forcibly pushed aside.

Sun Dafu, his face flushed with embarrassment, immediately ran to Yuwen Bingyu's side and explained, "My lord, I really haven't had any contact with Li Huaiyi!"

Yuwen Bingyu poured Sun Dafu a cup of tea: "Have some first, to calm your nerves."

"My lord, I..."

"Drink first."

"yes!"

After Sun Dafu finished drinking, Yuwen Bingyu shook his head and said, "A scheme to sow discord! Brother, brother! So many years have passed, and you are still so despicable. You want to create a rift between me and Sun Dafu so that someone else can take over, right?"

That means Sun Dafu's competitor is one of yours!

At this point, Yuwen Bingyu's expression darkened, and she decisively ordered, "Arrest Wang Minghao!"

Shen An's eyes lit up. This woman was indeed amazing; she saw through Li Huaiyi's trick at a glance.

"Thank you, sir, for clearing my name! Thank you, sir!" Sun Dafu said gratefully.

"Let's continue the banquet! Don't spoil the fun!"

"yes!"

The banquet resumed, and Yuwen Bingyu did not leave Shen An's side. Instead, she toasted with the people nearby, appearing to be enjoying herself with the common people.

Taking this opportunity, Shen An said, "Lord Yuwen, I have a way to increase grain production in your Nanling Prefecture by 30%. Would you like to hear it?"