Chapter 671: The Humble Princess

Along this journey.

The exchanges between Liu Zheng and Tiemucheng were very pleasant.

This arrogant Grassland overlord had been humbly seeking instruction the entire time.

On one hand, Liu Zheng was filled with admiration.

On the other hand, he also felt deep wariness in his heart.

Tiemucheng used all sorts of indirect inquiries to probe into every policy Liu Zheng used to govern Liangzhou. This included the popularization of schools, the Imperial Examination, the Academy, the Military Academy, as well as land laws and the judicial system. Down to the smallest detail, Tiemucheng, this overlord, recorded them one by one.

Fortunately.

Recently, Liu Zheng's "brainwashing work" had been going well.

Tiemucheng's gaze, following Liu Zheng's brainwashing, was already directed toward the sea!

The Wa nation!

If the land of Liaodong were to become a jointly managed territory for the two of them, the first to bear the brunt would be the Li Dynasty and the Wa nation!

That's right.

This time, traveling along with this large group were also people from the Li Dynasty.

After all, it was the same route.

Moreover, the Longyan Emperor had already agreed to help mediate the matter of the Wa nation invading the Li Dynasty; how could Li Xuanya not cling to Liu Zheng's leg?

The large group finally arrived within the borders of Jinzhou.

"They're here, they're here, they're here again!"

Liu Zheng was chatting with the Prince of Wei, the Prince of Yong, and Tiemucheng, and the three of them laughed almost simultaneously, making teasing sounds.

Sure enough.

Li Xuanya, dressed in her finery, was here again carrying tea.

Liu Zheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry and patted his forehead.

"Vice Minister Liu, please have some tea..."

Li Xuanya had kept a very low profile throughout the journey. Ever since she offered herself to the Longyan Dynasty at the Offering Ceremony, she had completely forgotten her status as a Princess. As a dowry attendant for the Longyang Princess... to put it bluntly, she was willing to be a maid for the Longyan Imperial Son-in-law for the sake of her own country!

How could she not be humble?

This naturally gave Liu Zheng a massive headache. Ever since he transmigrated, he had never had maids around him. Thinking back, he couldn't even comb his hair or put on his clothes, and he had once caused many jokes. Even when Liu Dahao had no money back then, he wanted to buy him a maid to look after his daily life. But Liu Zheng had rejected them all. He truly wasn't used to those things.

However, now...

This Li Xuanya was not only a maid, but such a stunningly beautiful maid. How could anyone stand this?

Liu Zheng hurriedly stood up and said with a wry smile, "Why must the Princess do this? Just let the servants do it."

Li Xuanya lowered her head and said softly, "Servants are always clumsy; it would be bad if they ruined the refined mood of you gentlemen."

It must be said, Li Xuanya was indeed quite skilled at brewing tea.

It was evident that she had received all kinds of higher education since childhood, including tea art, flower arrangement, Zither Chess Calligraphy and Painting, and so on.

"Alright, alright, thank you, thank you! Princess, please step back now?"

Liu Zheng had a bit of a headache.

Upon hearing this, Li Xuanya was so aggrieved that tears almost came out, and she could only nod in response.

After getting off the Horse Carriage, Li Zheng, who was waiting below, was already full of anger: "Princess, why go this far! You are a person of noble birth, and he, he, he..."

Li Xuanya glared at him and bit her lip, saying, "Shut up!"

Then she hurried back to her own Horse Carriage with quick steps; Li Zheng was helpless and could only follow behind.

Back inside the carriage, Li Xuanya took a deep breath, her closed eyes trembling slightly.

Humble!

Yes.

She had never been so humble before!

But...

That Vice Minister Liu, whom she was not familiar with at all, was very likely to be the Imperial Son-in-law of Longyan! Which meant she would marry him together with the Longyang Princess!

But...

Why did he never look at her directly?

Was she not beautiful enough?

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but let clear tears fall.

As for love.

She had once longed for it too.

However, what right did someone whose country was about to perish have to love? If she, a Princess, could save her motherland from fire and water because of her humility, then she was willing, and duty-bound!

Where was she not doing enough?

Was she not beautiful enough...

Or was she not humble enough?

She had to think of a Method...

Yes!

She had to provide this man with enough stimulation between nobility and humility!

"Hahahaha!"

"Why is Vice Minister Liu so unromantic?"

Once Li Xuanya left, the people in the Horse Carriage burst into laughter.

Liu Zheng gave a bitter smile and said, "Everyone, please stop teasing me. As for matters of the heart, Liu Zheng has never cared for them. Women only slow down the speed at which I draw my sword!"

Once these words were spoken, the crowd laughed again.

Tiemu Cheng laughed even more wildly: "Men of the Grassland grab both power and women! Look at that fellow Zhebie; he already has over twenty women!"

Liu Zheng hurriedly begged for mercy, and the four of them began to drink tea.

Arriving in Jinzhou, the scenery here was different once again.

In his past life, Liu Zheng was from Jinzhou. He was quite familiar with this place. In his past life, Jinzhou was a major coal-producing province. But this did not make life any better for the people of Jinzhou. On the contrary, during the early period of the nation's founding, when the whole country was developing rapidly, Jinzhou's coal was hauled away by the trainload to all parts of the country, while the cities that later began to rise left behind nothing but stacks of IOUs. In the end, the entire Jinzhou region was left devastated, and it was even mocked by others, called poor and backward.

Yet the Jinzhou in Liu Zheng's eyes now was full of green hills and clear waters, with an environment not a whit inferior to those lands of fish and rice in Jiangnan.

"The Prince of Jin is already waiting for us in Jinyang..."

The Prince of Yong chuckled.

Liu Zheng nodded: "Jinyang is the place where Longyan rose to power. I have heard that this family of the Prince of Jin has existed since the early days of Longyan's founding. To be able to maintain family prosperity in an environment like Longyan, this Jinyang Xie Clan certainly has some substance."

The Prince of Wei also smiled from the side: "The Xie Family of the Prince of Jin can be considered the oldest Noble class in Longyan. Arrogant and conceited; to be honest, I don't even know how this fat man managed to get in touch with them."

The Prince of Yong laughed heartily: "In this day and age, who doesn't want to make money? For any such ancient family, the problem that never goes away is having too many branches and redundant members. The entire Jinyang Princely Mansion has far too many people to support. However, there is one thing I must remind Vice Minister Liu: precisely because of this, the Prince of Jin's family has many rules. They hold themselves in high regard, so when you get there, Vice Minister Liu, you must be careful. I fear that if you are the slightest bit careless, they will bite the bullet and cancel this cooperation."

"Oh?"

Liu Zheng chuckled.

He was determined to take Jinzhou.

In his plan, the era of the Steam Engine was fast approaching. The demand for coal would be quite immense.

Therefore.

No matter what kind of dragon's den or tiger's lair this Jinyang was, he had to go and brave it.

Smash!

Smash it with money!

Whatever ancient family, whatever complicated and redundant etiquette.

Smash!

Smash them to death with money!

It was just that Liu Zheng did not yet realize that the complexity of Jinyang was completely beyond his imagination.