I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 147 Returning a Favor
"Mother, don't get angry, be careful not to hurt yourself," Master Meng stepped forward to help Madam Meng calm down.

"Listen to her! Does she even care about the Meng family anymore? If it weren't for the Meng family, how could she have become a princess?" Old Madam Meng complained. "Now, all she's asked for is a little something in return, and she won't even agree!"

It's true what they say, a married daughter is like water spilled from a cup; she's devoted to her husband's family!

"You heard it too, the Xuan Prince's Mansion intends to take Shu'er as a concubine on behalf of the Xuan Prince. What do you think?"

Master Meng remained silent. Unlike Madam Meng, he never expected Meng Shu'er to marry into the Xuan Prince's Mansion. He only wanted to use this matter to put the Xuan Prince's Mansion in a dilemma, and then use the power of the Xuan Prince's Mansion to find a spouse for his eldest son.

Master Meng had thought things through. In recent years, the Meng family had declined, and its relationship with the Xuan Prince's Mansion was not as close as before. If the Xuan Prince's Mansion were to be asked to find a wife's family for their eldest son, their third sister would definitely refuse, given her personality.

It would be better to take a roundabout approach. First, he could pretend to force the Prince Xuan's mansion to marry Shu'er. When the Prince Xuan's mansion is in complete chaos, he could take the initiative to come to the mansion's rescue and make a request as compensation. At that time, the Prince Xuan's mansion would certainly not refuse.

As the commander of the Northwest Army, none of the generals under King Xuan's command could or dared to refuse any marriage proposal he made.

In this way, his eldest son had the support of a powerful in-law family, making his future career path smoother, while the Meng family had a strong in-law and some breathing room.

To everyone's surprise, the Prince Xuan's residence actually agreed!

If you've agreed, then you've agreed, but why King Xuan? What about the second young master who lost his wife?

Seeing her eldest son's splitting headache, Old Madam Meng felt sorry for him. "It's all because the second son was blinded by greed. He insisted on protecting the Prefect of Huangshan, and was implicated and demoted from the capital. As a result, business in the capital has also become difficult."

If the Meng family hadn't suffered both power and financial losses in such a short time, Old Madam Meng wouldn't have been so desperate as to come up with such a terrible idea.

"Son will go to Prince Xuan's residence to apologize to him right away," Master Meng said through gritted teeth. With Meng Shu'er's character and temperament, marrying her would only make Prince Xuan more annoyed. If it affected his eldest son's career, then he would regret it!

As Madam Meng watched her eldest son leave in a disheveled state with the invitation from the Prince's Mansion, she felt a pang of sadness. Back when the old master was alive, how prestigious the Meng family was! How could it have become like this in just a few years?

At the Xuanwang Mansion's villa, Master Meng drank three pots of tea in the front hall before finally meeting the Xuanwang to explain his purpose at dusk.

King Xuan's face darkened. "You, the Meng family, dare to play tricks on me?"

"Your Highness, please calm down! My mother is old and only did this foolish thing because she was worried about her grandchildren. Please forgive the Meng family this time, for the sake of the Princess and my late father!"

King Xuan swallowed his anger when Lord Meng mentioned Old Master Meng. "This is the last time. If there is a next time, don't blame me for not showing any mercy!"

King Xuan snatched the invitation from Lord Meng's hand and ruthlessly drove him away.

Master Meng was practically driven out of the Prince's mansion by the servants.

As soon as Meng Shu'er returned to the manor, she was summoned by her maid to Old Madam Meng's place and informed that the marriage with the Prince's manor was canceled.

"Cancelled? Why is it being cancelled?"

Master Meng finally had a chance to vent his anger, "Not cancel? Do you really want to marry Prince Xuan?"

“Prince Xuan?” Meng Shu’er looked bewildered. She had clearly married Gu Ci, so what did it have to do with Prince Xuan?
Enraged by Meng Shu'er's foolishness, Master Meng smashed his teacup. "Guards, take the young lady back to her room. She is not to leave the house without my permission!"

"Father, Grandmother!" Meng Shu'er cried out as she was being pushed down.

The next day, Gu Ci spoke with Tang Zhao about the Meng family's decision to annul the engagement.

"People, when they've had a comfortable life for too long, they just have to find something to make themselves uncomfortable," Tang Zhao concluded. "They tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead, serves them right!"

“If the Meng family is smart, things will calm down for a while after this,” Gu Ci said, reaching out to clear the crowd of people from Tang Zhao. “If they insist on courting death, Father will not tolerate it any longer.”

Tang Zhao felt that King Xuan was still too sentimental. If she were King Xuan, then forget it, it wouldn't be interesting.

Tang Zhao and Gu Ci chatted as they bypassed the crowds at the west gate and climbed the city wall.

This was Tang Zhao's first time climbing the Wuwei city wall. The sturdy stone wall was damaged in many places after decades of wind and rain and war.

Tang Zhao touched the scratches on the city wall, which strengthened his resolve.

"What are you doing here?" "To give you a gift!"

Why would someone need to deliver a gift here? Gu Ci glanced around but found nothing unusual.

"Here, here we come."

In the distance, a man on horseback galloped up, dismounted at the city gate, and after verifying his identity, quickly climbed the city wall. "Your subordinate greets you, young lady!" He untied the cloth bag he carried and presented it with both hands. "Your subordinate has not failed in his mission. Please take a look!"

At Tang Zhao's prompting, Gu Ci took the cloth bag, opened it, and found a tattered cloth inside.

Tang Zhao:.
This bag you're carrying is really unnecessary.

Tang Zhao looked at Wu Shier, who scratched his head and said, "I was in a hurry to see you, so I just grabbed a piece of cloth."

Tang Zhao maintained his smile, "True treasures don't care about their outer packaging."

Gu Ci nodded, pulled back the tattered cloth, and a beautifully crafted bronze cylinder appeared before him.

Gu Ci fiddled with the bronze cylinder, which was inlaid with glass at both ends and could extend and retract. "What is this?"

"telescope."

Following Tang Zhao's instructions, Gu Ci stretched the copper tube to its longest length, then held it up to his eyes and stared at it intently. Immediately, he froze on the spot.

He could clearly see every single line on the leaf.

Gu Ci put down the copper tube. Ten miles away, the leaves of the tall ginkgo tree trembled slightly in the breeze. Even if Gu Ci looked closely, he could not see the veins of the leaves with the naked eye.

Gu Ci was overjoyed, "A telescope? It truly lives up to its name."

"Like it?"

Wu Shier thought to himself, "Who wouldn't like such a treasure? Especially those in the military, they'd be absolutely ecstatic!"

Sure enough, Gu Ci answered without hesitation, "I like it!"

"This telescope can only see about ten miles away for now. Just make do with it for now. I'll replace it for you when the craftsmen develop one that can see further."

Gu Ci sincerely said, "Thank you."

"I've only made one so far, so be careful. If it gets stolen, I won't have another one."

Upon hearing this, Gu Ci silently gripped the bronze tube even tighter and listed King Xuan as the most dangerous person.

"Once the telescope manufacturing process is perfected, I will equip each of the Northwest Army scouts with one."

Wu Shier stared longingly at him.

Tang Zhao generously replied, "You have some too!"

Wu Shier was satisfied and stopped bothering the young lady and her fiancé. He rode back to Liulifang.

Without Wu Shier around, Gu Ci was like a child who had just received a new toy, looking at himself from left to right with the bronze mirror, having a great time.

Tang Zhao accompanied him with great interest.

The atmosphere here is warm and cozy, but the villa of the Marquis of Zhongyong is as still as a stagnant pool.

"What did you say? Say it again?"

Author's Note: Yesterday's question resonated with some readers who felt that both Zhao Zhao and the system worked for Gu Ci. While the system does work for Gu Ci, Zhao Zhao doesn't. Zhao Zhao's actions may seem beneficial to Gu Ci, but her ultimate goal is to gain life points to escape the system. Imagine Zhao Zhao as the worker, the system as money, and Gu Ci as the boss. Our goal as workers is to earn money and achieve financial freedom as soon as possible, not to please the boss.