Luo Ningxin Comes to the Door

By the time Fang Zheng rode all the way to the textile factory, he was surprised to find Li Yuanzhao fiddling with a loom.

A female worker stood by, clearly displaced from her position.

Fang Zheng looked at Li Yuanzhao, who was having the time of his life, with a black line over his head.

No, no, no!

He's getting more and more out of control. I should really have His Majesty send him back to the palace.

His curiosity is too strong. He wants to tinker with everything.

If others found out about this, wouldn't I be blamed again?

Fang Zheng walked over to the loom with a dark face and placed a hand on Li Yuanzhao's shoulder.

Li Yuanzhao immediately stopped what he was doing and turned around.

Seeing it was Fang Zheng, he exclaimed happily, "Old Fang, what brings you here?"

"Look at the fabric I've woven! I'll have someone make you a set of clothes!"

Fang Zheng had originally wanted to scold him a bit, but the words caught in his throat.

The Prince was weaving fabric to make clothes for him. What more could he say?

"Ahem, Your Highness, you're sitting in someone else's spot. The female workers in our factory all compete with each other."

"Look, you've taken up her time, delaying her earnings."

Li Yuanzhao blinked, looking at the female worker.

He said blankly, "Is that so? Oh... sorry, you go ahead."

With that, he got up and stood beside Fang Zheng.

The female worker gave Fang Zheng a grateful look, then sat down and continued working.

"Old Fang, what are you doing here?" The two walked side by side to an open space outside the factory.

At this time, there were still many children running around outside, with people following unhurriedly behind them. Seeing Fang Zheng and the Crown Prince, they bowed respectfully.

The factory's school and nursery facilities had been prioritized and were already in progress.

Things seemed to be going well.

Looking at the children playing in the distance, Fang Zheng sighed, "Nothing special. I came to bid farewell to Your Highness."

"His Majesty has assigned me elsewhere. I probably won't be back for about a year."

Li Yuanzhao's eyes widened. "Where? I want to go too."

"You can't go. His Majesty specifically instructed that Your Highness should stay in the capital. There are many places that need Your Highness's attention while I'm away."

"Look at the textile factory, the newspaper... oh, and His Majesty has given me a piece of land in the eastern suburbs for building greenhouses."

"Besides the greenhouses, there's....... I've thought about it. With such a large area, we can do many things. I'll entrust all these matters to Your Highness, and I'll send people to help you."

"Banshan District has changed a lot, and the surrounding areas have been influenced as well. The lives of the common people have improved, but we still have much to do. Your Highness's responsibility is even greater, not just for one place or one city, but for the entire realm. Personally understanding the common people and how things are produced is very important."

The products made in workshops, from raw materials to finished goods, operate in a systematic way.

Understanding each step from beginning to end can teach one a lot and help build systematic thinking.

At the very least, it prevents ideas from becoming baseless.

Born into nobility, they were accustomed to having everything handed to them, easily developing a "why don't they eat meat" mentality.

Of course, Li Yuanzhao was good, but in Fang Zheng's view, he still had much to learn.

Li Yuanzhao's expression visibly fell, and he forced a smile. "I understand. Don't worry."

He didn't ask further, simply acknowledging it.

Communication between men was often this straightforward.

Fang Zheng said nothing, only patting the Crown Prince's shoulder as they both fell silent, looking at the scenery.

After a while, Fang Zheng said, "Your Highness, your subject will take his leave now. I'll return to the county to prepare and depart as soon as possible."

"Will you return to the palace, go to the newspaper office, or stay here to watch a while longer?"

"I'll stay and watch a bit more. You go ahead with your business."

Fang Zheng nodded and left directly.

He hadn't gone far when Li Yuanzhao suddenly shouted, "Come back soon!"

"Ah, I know!"

......

In Taoyuan County.

Fang Zheng returned with his entire household.

After all, with him not in the capital, no one wanted to stay there.

Nowhere was as comfortable as Taoyuan County, where they had everything they needed.

Upon arriving at the county office, Ao Chen immediately came to greet him.

Without wasting words, he got straight to the point. "Xie Xian might be in some trouble over there. I need to go personally."

"Prepare a hundred good men for me, fully equipped."

Ao Chen said, "I'll send someone to do it right away! Master, with such a large force, is the situation over there very serious?"

Fang Zheng smiled casually. "It shouldn't be that serious. It's just a local tyrant. I'm bringing more people as a precaution. We probably won't need them."

He wasn't too concerned about the salt merchants. How serious could it be? But necessary preparations still needed to be made!

Xie Xian's letter only mentioned that the Lu Family had great power and was colluding with local officials, but how formidable could they be?

If things got really bad, he would resort to a massacre, just eliminating the leaders.

A direct decapitation operation! The rest could be bought with money. He was already well-versed in this approach.

"Get everything ready. I'll depart tomorrow!"

Ao Chen acknowledged and turned to make arrangements.

After giving simple instructions, Fang Zheng also hurried home. At this time, Xiao Tao and Zhang Biao were still unpacking the luggage they had brought from the capital.

Fang Zheng said, "Zhang Biao, you stay at home. We're traveling by water this time, and you can't sit on a boat."

Zhang Biao was carrying a box and said blankly, "There won't be any danger, will there?"

"No, and Zhou Tie and the brothers under you will be there."

"Oh." Zhang Biao continued carrying the box.

By evening, the family gathered around one table for dinner.

Shui Yibai had also arrived, having rushed over as soon as she heard Fang Zheng had returned to the county.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was somewhat somber, as Fang Zheng would be gone for a year or more.

With the pillar of the household gone, they all felt empty.

Xiao Tao was particularly dejected. Whenever Fang Zheng went out, he almost never took her along.

This time was no exception, and since saying anything would be futile, she simply remained silent, eating with her head down.

Luo Ningxin looked from left to right, seeing that no one was speaking up. After several attempts to speak, she finally gave up.

Everyone was eating methodically, except for Zhang Biao.

His chopsticks moved like a whirlwind, sweeping across the entire table.

After dinner, Fang Zheng washed up and returned to his room to rest.

He took out Xie Xian's letter and began studying it carefully again, checking if he had missed any information.

After all, the more thorough the preparation, the better.

As he was reading the letter under the lamp, the door suddenly opened.

Luo Ningxin carefully closed the door, stepped lightly to Fang Zheng's side, and softly said, "Young Master."

"Hmm? Ningxin, do you need something?"

Fang Zheng looked up, and seeing it was Luo Ningxin, he smiled.

Although Luo Ningxin was a woman sent by King Wu, she had always behaved well in the household, without any abnormalities.

She also got along well with King Wu's side, nothing unusual.

The private sending of women by wealthy nobles was a routine operation with nothing special about it, and gradually Fang Zheng had lowered his guard.

"Young Master, could you take me with you on this trip?"