The familiar old friend, the green lotus jade pendant appeared in front of Yu Hongdou again.

Yu Hongdou’s first reaction was to go back to the house to check her collection, and then she realized that her second senior brother must have been to the other few Bag Mountains.

“Second Senior Brother has been to Taoyuan Village a long time ago?”

Yu Hongdou instantly connected together the underground device that was found on the mountain before and that was suspected to have been activated, as well as the strange things in her grandfather’s house in Taoyuan Village.

“Not as early as you think, but also earlier than you think.” Xiang Shaoyue couldn’t help teasing her when he saw his junior sister puffing up her cheeks.

“What about the other two?” Yu Hongdou didn’t care when he went there, she just wanted to know what was inside and whether there would be a “hat fairy”.

“There are only three in total. As for the other two peaks, one cannot be mined anymore due to underground water veins, and the other collapsed after being visited by bandits.” Xiang Shaoyue made a “tsk” sound and handed the jade pendant to Yu Hongdou.

Yu Hongdou felt a little disappointed after hearing what Xiang Shaoyue said, but she took the opportunity to ask him about the news about the Hat Fairy.

Xiang Shaoyue shook his head: “I may not know as much as you do.”

Yu Hongdou responded with a look that said, “Do you think I’m a fool?”

Xiang Shaoyue raised his hand and patted the little girl’s furry head, pointing at the jade lotus in her hand: “I really don’t know, I was just brought in not long ago, and the first thing I did was to run errands here.”

“Then what’s underneath this?” Okay, Yu Hongdou believed him for the time being and raised the green jade lotus in her hand. There should be something behind it, right?

“Nothing.” Xiang Shaoyue said, and seeing that his junior sister looked unconvinced, he couldn’t help but smile bitterly: “Really, this should be a casting pool. Apart from some broken molds, there is nothing else found.”

Casting pool? Yu Hongdou was puzzled and couldn’t understand. With the technological level of “Hat Fairy”, why did they need to build a casting pool outside?

She didn’t think about it for long; without seeing it with her own eyes, it would be a waste of time to speculate.

“You didn’t go with the other two?” Yu Hongdou suddenly realized what he meant.

“I didn’t go there in person.” Xiang Shaoyue confirmed his junior sister’s guess and praised her for her cleverness. She was indeed quick to react.

Yu Hongdou nodded and ended the topic. Second Brother didn’t say it clearly, and it was obvious that he was not willing to be honest. No matter how much he asked, he would not get anything out of him.

Anyway, when the enemy comes, the army will fight back, and when the water comes, the earth will cover it. The gains during this period are enough for her to calm down and think slowly.

Yu Hongdou never expected that she would be extremely busy in the following period and had no time to think about these things.

The arrival of foreigners brought countless troubles to Tan Bailu, Yu Sanlang and others, but it cannot be denied that they also brought prosperity.

The foreign merchant caravans, who did not know why, brought many foreign specialties and also purchased a lot of local specialties from the “Heavenly Kingdom”.

The soap market, which had reached a bottleneck, is now shining again. Foreigners like spices and other things. Soap not only has a long-lasting fragrance but also has a strong cleaning power. It is cheaper and easier to carry than bath beans, which almost immediately won over foreigners who have some body odor.

“I heard that many foreigners use soap as ointment. When the smell becomes too weak, they scrape off a layer and the foam is just right for washing.” Qian reported the good news with a beaming smile.

“The Chen family has launched a perfumed ointment that smells like our soap, and the Bai family has launched a scented wax that also imitates the scent of our soap.” After telling the good news, Qian Yi gave some bad news.

“Don’t worry about it. Just keep an eye on the store, prevent fire and theft, and be sure to pay attention to safety.” Yu Hongdou waved her hand. Even if the taste was the same, the products were not in the same category. The most important thing now was to keep an eye on the goods, so as not to be envied and do bad things.

“Miss, don’t worry. We have now started three shifts of patrols. The Taiping vats and water guns are checked every day. The government has also added a number of ladders and water trucks near the four city gates to prepare for emergencies.” Qian Yi bowed, responded to his master’s instructions in a serious manner, and explained the current situation.

Yu Hongdou nodded and asked about checkers and flying chess.

“There are two thousand sets of ball checkers in stock, two thousand sets of hat checkers, and three thousand sets of flying checkers. Now there is only one workshop making these two types.” This time the person who responded was the newly promoted village supervisor Duan Liu.

Duan Liu is one of the children adopted by Zhuangzi. He learns the best from Shangbo. Yu Hongdou plans to bring him to the capital in the future. Now he takes turns to manage various workshops.

“Make 10,000 sets by March next year. I need 30 sets of high-quality checkers and flying chess to give away.”

Yu Hongdou issued an order that checkers and flying chess were easy to imitate and the money could be earned back in one go, and subsequent income would depend entirely on word of mouth and conscience.

Duan Liu replied “yes” and talked about the 3D puzzle again: “A few days ago, a merchant who came to pick up the goods said that he saw a carriage similar to our puzzle around the capital. After asking around, it turned out that it was made by enlarging the puzzle in the same proportion.”

Yu Hongdou was stunned when she heard this, then burst into laughter. She made the model by shrinking the parts of the carriage that had signed in, and she didn’t expect to come back to her original form after so many twists and turns.

“This is a good thing. Think about how to promote it. But please be reminded that the model is for entertainment only. You can use it as a reference, but be sure to pay attention to safety.”

This is indeed a selling point. Yu Hongdou instructed them to figure out how to use it.

Duan Liu and Qian Yi agreed at the same time and went on without saying anything more.

“Miss! Master Shang brought a group of people, saying they are guests from the capital, and are here to congratulate you on your birthday.”

As soon as Duan Liu and Qian Yi left, Qian Simei hurried in with a look of panic on her face. She walked up to Yu Hongdou and whispered, “Master Shang said it was an angel from the capital.”

Angel? Yu Hongdou was stunned for a moment, then realized that this was someone sent by Emperor An He to repay his debt.

She hurriedly stood up and walked forward. As soon as she walked out of the courtyard gate, she saw her brother. Before Yu Hongdou could say anything, Yu Songxian comforted his sister: “Don’t panic, this is not an imperial decree, it’s all right.”

Yu Hongdou wanted to say that she was not panicked. She didn’t know what to do after receiving the order, and she didn’t really want to kneel down to receive it. But in the end she didn’t say anything because her brother seemed a little panicked.

I was pulled by my brother to the reception area, and before I even entered the door, I heard Master Shang chatting and laughing with someone.

After they entered the door, without waiting for them to greet each other, Master Shang pointed at them and introduced them to the people next to him: “This is my useless little disciple. He will go to Beijing in March next year. I may have to pay you a visit then.”

Then he pointed at Yu Hongdou and smiled: “This is Hongdou, the last disciple of my Senior Brother Mo.”

“Xiaosong, Hongdou, this is Lord Qi from Jinzhou, the envoy from the capital. He has come specially for you…” After introducing the brother and sister, Master Shang introduced the identities of the people to them.

Yu Hongdou and Yu Song stepped forward together to pay their respects. As they stood up, they glanced at each other and roughly understood why this Lord Qi Jinzhou had come.

Qi Jinzhou had been observing the young couple since the moment they entered the room. He saw that the young boy was well-mannered and polite, with an upright posture, and was not at all stage-frightened. The little girl had bright and kind eyes, and was lively and not afraid. Qi Jinzhou could not help but smile, stroking his beard.

“I’ve heard of your brother and sister’s names a long time ago. Today I finally meet you in person. Can you guess why I’m here?” Qi Jinzhou happily rested his gaze on Yu Hongdou.

Yu Hongdou felt a chill all over her body. Could it be that this Lord Qi was not sent by Emperor Anhe to deliver the reward? (End of this chapter)