Li Suifeng took a sip of wine and slowly began to speak.

“A Star-Picking Tower, with the court allocating up to 500,000 taels of silver. Now, let me ask Master Zheng, how much do you think it costs to build the Emperor’s underground palace?”

Zheng Wei’s breathing immediately became rapid.

The Emperor’s mausoleum had been under construction for more than twenty years, and the allocated funds had long exceeded ten million taels of silver.

It was the largest project of the Wei Dynasty.

He could probably just reach out and grab tens of thousands of taels of silver.

He had taken 50,000 taels from the Building Tower, and so far, only the Marquis of Xiangyang knew about it, meaning he had handled it with sufficient secrecy.

“Master Zheng, you’re so clever, but your vision is still too narrow,” Li Suifeng shook his head. “Forget it, I won’t bring this up anymore. Let’s just drink. Look at the new head courtesan, she’s truly beautiful. If you like her, take her home tonight.”

Zheng Wei’s thoughts had already wandered.

The beauty no longer mattered.

What was important was how to get silver from the Emperor’s mausoleum.

Once he had the money, acquiring as many beauties as he wanted would be a mere matter of a word.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up as a new idea came to him.

He took a large gulp of wine and laughed loudly, then reached out and slapped Li Suifeng on the face. “The Marquis of Xiangyang is truly a talent, I’ve made a great friend in you!”

Li Suifeng felt humiliated to the extreme.

He, a marquis, had been slapped on the face by this man, and his dignity was trampled underfoot.

But he still managed to force out a smile. “Then, thank you for the praise, Master Zheng.”

Zheng Wei was eager to get things done, but having drunk too much, he staggered and fell to the ground.

Li Suifeng couldn’t help but feel that he deserved it.

“Li, are you blind!” Zheng Wei shouted angrily. “Didn’t you see me fall? Hurry and help me up! If you make me happy, your Marquis household will have a prosperous future!”

Li Suifeng took a deep breath.

He held back his anger.

He helped Zheng Wei up and sent him into the carriage.

Once the carriage had driven off, he spat in disgust.

Two days later, news spread that the Empress Dowager was going to the Emperor’s mausoleum to pay respects to a royal consort, and she had brought many people along.

“Just wait,” Li Zhiyue smiled and spoke, “Once they make a move, father will write a memorial to report it. This matter will be settled.”

The small profit from the Building Tower didn’t concern the Emperor, but once someone touched the Emperor’s cake and interfered with the construction of the mausoleum, could the Emperor just stand by and do nothing?

Now, they only needed to wait.

Li Zhiyue was free and decided to visit the estate outside the city.

She had looked over the accounts, and the Marquis’s estate owned over a thousand acres of land, but the yield was terrible.

While others could harvest 200 jin of grain per acre, the Marquis’s land barely produced 100 jin per acre, which was extremely low.

Since she had the time, she decided to visit and see if it was the people or the land that was the problem. Whatever needed to be dealt with had to be handled quickly.

With Ji Laizhi driving the carriage, Li Zhiyue brought Mo Yu with her to the outskirts of the capital.

It was already late summer and early autumn, and autumn in the capital arrived early.

Many trees, sensitive to the cold, had started shedding their leaves, and the yellow leaves fluttered around as they passed.

The first estate they visited was the largest, covering over 500 acres.

It was the first piece of land the Li family had acquired after Li’s great-grandfather entered the government, and it was also the oldest ancestral land of the family.

When the carriage stopped, the estate manager hurried up to greet them.

Li Zhiyue casually asked about the harvest.

“Indeed, each acre only yields 80 jin of grain,” the manager sighed. “Old servant has tried many ways to improve the soil’s fertility, but it hasn’t worked. When this land was bought, it was probably a scam. It’s not prime land, just average, and it’s become more and more barren over the years. It used to grow rice, but when the rice stopped growing, we switched to millet. In a few more years, I’m afraid even the millet won’t grow.”

Li Zhiyue walked out to inspect the land.

Indeed, the land was especially barren, and the terrain was poor.

When it didn’t rain, it was dry, and when it rained, it flooded, which explained the lack of harvest.

No wonder the manager was dressed so poorly—there was simply no profit to be made here.

The manager continued, “The other two estates are in similar condition. I have a suggestion: how about planting fruit trees? In three to five years, we could sell the fruit for a good price.”

Three to five years?

By then, who knew what the capital would look like?

Li Zhiyue couldn’t wait that long.

She needed to make money as quickly as possible.

“Let’s proceed with the original plan,” Li Zhiyue said. “If there are any changes later, I will arrange for someone to inform you.”

The manager nodded quickly. “Thank you, miss.”

After leaving the estate, Li Zhiyue sat in the carriage and pondered what to do with the land.

Suddenly, the carriage came to a sharp stop.

Mo Yu quickly steadied Li Zhiyue and lifted the carriage curtain, asking, “Master Ji, what’s happened?”

Ji Laizhi jumped down to check. “It seems there’s a problem with the axle. It’s a small issue, I can fix it in half an hour.”

Feeling idle inside the carriage, Li Zhiyue decided to get out and stretch her legs.

After walking a few steps, she saw a small farmhouse ahead.

The fence outside the yard was filled with all kinds of wildflowers—red, yellow, purple, blue—beautiful and colorful, with morning glories climbing the fence.

The little door was open, and through the gap, she saw a flower swing inside.

A young girl, dressed in a short outfit, was crouching in the yard, weeding.

The girl was Cheng Wanfeng.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up and saw a woman standing at the gate of the yard.

The woman’s beauty immediately stunned her, as if she weren’t of this world.

“May I ask, is there something you need?” Cheng Wanfeng asked, standing up.

Li Zhiyue felt a bit awkward.

She had actually intended to walk closer and enjoy the flowers, but hadn’t expected to end up at someone else’s doorstep.

She was about to apologize when suddenly, she froze.

What did she just see?

The main door of the house was wide open, and on the side wall of the room, there was a painting.

At first glance, it seemed like a rooster, but upon closer inspection, it was clearly a map of the Huaguo Empire.

In her world, maps were common.

But this was an ancient world, a fictional world from a book.

How could there be a map of the Huaguo Empire here?

Moreover, the borders, city names—everything matched perfectly with her world…

“Miss?” Cheng Wan Feng waved her hand in front of Li Zhiyue.

Li Zhi Yue snapped out of her daze. “I was just passing by. May I ask for some water to drink?”

“Of course,” Cheng Wanfeng smiled. “My humble home is simple, but you’re welcome to come in. I’ll fetch you some water.”

While Cheng Wanfeng went to fetch the water, Li Zhiyue quickly stepped forward to examine the map.

Her hand traced over every province and city, and her eyes instantly reddened…

There, was her hometown.

She quickly composed herself, turned around, and looked at Cheng Wanfeng. “May I ask, did you paint this?”

Cheng Wanfeng shook her head. “It was my mother who painted it.”

Li Zhi Yue’s breath quickened. “Your mother? Is she at home?”