He couldn’t forget what had happened that day and swore there must be someone among them who had followed Qiao Yan into the state office!

However, they ran really fast.

In just a moment, they disappeared without giving him a chance to confront them.

Thinking about the people he vaguely remembered from Leping, the one who fit the child’s description was probably Yang Xiu, the grandson of Yang Gong.

He wondered what could have happened to make him act so hurriedly.

If it was indeed something bad for Leping, he could have found some comfort before leaving Zhenzhou.

Unfortunately, his vision was probably unrealistic.

Yang Xiu’s previous decision to stay in Leping did not mean that the Yang family of Hongnong was supporting Qiao Yan from behind as a powerful family.

At most, Qiao Yan had some expectations for Yang Xiu’s cleverness.

Now he had to temporarily leave because his grandfather was seriously ill.

Although there were regrets, the loss to Leping was not great.

This loss might even be temporary.

Before leaving Leping, Yang Xiu left a letter to be delivered to Qiao Yan.

In the letter, he mentioned that although he didn’t want to think about the worst case scenario, things often don’t go as planned.

If his grandfather was beyond help, he had to return to Hongnong as the eldest grandson, to mourn and take care of his grandfather, and might not return for three years.

After spending a year in Leping, he knew that his provocation in Luoyang last year was ridiculous, and the gap between him and Qiao Yan was not just a difference in experience and vision.

So after compiling that literacy poem with Cai Yong, there was no other place he could help temporarily, so he would focus on learning for several years.

Now he was no longer as impetuous and sharp as he had been in Luoyang.

He could concentrate on studying and managing household affairs, and return when he had learned enough.

He only hoped that by then, Leping would be full of talent and still have a place for him.

After thinking it over, Yang Xiu really felt he had to worry about this.

Although it seemed that most of those who voluntarily joined Qiao Yan’s hand were military men, such as Zhao Yun

Chu Yan and Zhang Yang, among others, even without considering Xi Zhicai and Cheng Li, could each hold up their own end.

With only one county to govern, there was really no need for more power struggles.

Otherwise, disagreements might lead to chaos.

But thinking about this was still far off.

Closer to home was his grandfather’s illness.

Yang Xiu wasn’t aware that he had just ridden past a former Governor harmed by Qiao Yan, only thinking—

In his more than a year in Leping, he brewed wine himself, farmed his own land, witnessed bandits rising for a living, and saw the people celebrating a bountiful harvest in autumn.

Even his horsemanship had been learned during this year.

He had mentioned all of this in his letter to his grandfather, but seeing his grandson’s progress in person would surely bring him even greater joy.

For an elderly man nearing the end of his life, this was truly a great comfort.

Thinking of this, he set aside his reluctance to leave Leping temporarily and turned his heart towards returning to Luoyang.

Thus, he became a speeding dust cloud on the Zhuge Pass road.

With these guards of considerable martial prowess by his side, his safety on the journey back to Luoyang was beyond doubt.

Qiao Yan thought so too and naturally didn’t worry much about this future subordinate’s journey.

Instead, she shifted her thoughts back to the present.

At this moment, she considered herself half-guilty.

Although Cui Lie hadn’t insisted on immediate house arrest, she had acted decisively when needed.

This made Liu Hong feel that she had achieved her goal of being a loyal minister to justice.

The most appropriate course of action now was to take a step back.

Therefore, since Zhang Yi had already left Zhenzhou and she had gained some understanding of Cui Lie’s style, it was only natural for her to return to Leping and strictly enforce the house arrest order.

As she entered the courtyard, intending to resign to Cui Lie, she suddenly noticed a bamboo and paper kite hanging on the wall of the state office.

Seeing faint patterns on the kite, she had Dian Wei climb up and retrieve it.

Initially, she had simply thought that kite-flying near the state office was uncommon.

If she could find some clues from its markings, perhaps she could return it to its owner.

However, when the kite was in her hand and she read what was written on it, she couldn’t help but fall into silence.

On this kite made of bamboo frame and Cai Hou paper, someone had carefully written thank you notes.

Except for a few neatly written words, the rest seemed more like imitations of others’ handwriting. ( It’s a kid )

The kites with loose structure and strokes out of order were simply abound.

But just like the day Qiao Yan heard the fluctuating voice “The lord is back,”

Just as she felt her eyes prickle with tears and wanted to meet the Jinxiang county residents who had thought of this grateful idea, she was interrupted in her emotional moment by Cui Lie’s words about wanting to go to Leping together.

“Why does the Lord need to go to Leping in person?” Qiao Yan asked after handing the kite over to Dian Wei. “Since the Emperor has ordered my confinement, and now Zhenzhou is no longer plagued by locusts, I naturally will not do anything like fleeing without authorization…”

There was no need for a provincial governor to personally “escort” her.

Considering that Cui Lie had just arrived and needed to understand the situation of various officials in Zhenzhou.

However, perhaps because he had already shown a somewhat indulgent trait in conversation, yesterday after telling Qiao Yan about Yang Ci’s serious illness, he had discussed provincial governance issues with her based on the documents piled up in the study.

This behavior of laying bare his own background from the start made Qiao Yan understand why he couldn’t sit long in a position of high authority.

But she could clearly benefit from it and didn’t need to correct his behavior.

For example, Zhang Liao had taken up the position of martial commander due to his merits in eradicating the bandits in Yunzhong during the previous Governor’s arrival in Zhenzhou.

Zhang Yi’s removal would certainly affect him.

However, since Cui Lie apparently had no thoughts about placing his own people in this position, following Qiao Yan’s seemingly casual suggestion, Zhang Liao was allowed to continue participating in small-scale operations around Yanmen Pass.

And then there was the policy of the Assistant Protector of the Xihuo Commandery to exchange liquor for livestock with the Southern Xiongnu, which could still be implemented despite Cui Lie’s lack of interest in intervening.

Furthermore…

Anyway, this kind of official who seemed to “govern by doing nothing, letting others do as they please” could indeed take more breaks for himself.

So it was quite reasonable for him to want to take a trip to Leping.

But Cui Lie felt he had an even more legitimate reason—

He wanted to visit Cai Yong.

However, upon his arrival in Leping, his gaze first fixed on the dragon bone overturning cart in the mountains.

The overturned cart lay dormant amidst the similarly dark mountains, looking less like a salvation for irrigation and more like an ugly scar stretching vertically.

In this state, it was hard for people to understand how this thing could save labor and even prevent locust plagues.

Cui Lie then shifted his gaze to the scattered and labyrinthine fields in the mountainside.

Before this new Governor arrived in Zhenzhou, the people of Leping had already harvested all the sweet potatoes planted in the fields.

The result was a landscape dotted with countless pits.

Not knowing what had been planted here before…

These mountain fields looked like they had just been haphazardly raked over.

And amidst these fields, soybeans were also being harvested, just beginning to be picked one by one.

As he looked around, Cui Lie saw laborers in ill-fitting clothes, carrying baskets and harvesting these crops.

Little did Cui Lie know, these ill-fitting clothes were simply because most women in the Black Mountain Army had been entrusted with important tasks by Qiao Yan, leaving them no time to mend clothes for the men, who had to make do with what they had.

It was at this moment that Cui Lie uttered a heartfelt sigh, which Qiao Yan could tell came straight from his heart:

“Leping faces so many challenges…”