Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 295 The Khitans' Internal Strife Begins! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

While his brothers were all present, Wang Feng simply divided up the family property at the Chang'an County government office. From then on, the brothers would go their separate ways and have no further contact with each other.

The magistrate of Chang'an County, who was enjoying the gossip, suddenly realized that he, a county magistrate with a rank equivalent to a thousand bushels of grain, was actually going to divide up his family property among a group of high-ranking officials with rank equivalent to two thousand bushels of grain. He immediately lost his interest in enjoying the gossip.

If something goes wrong, he'll be in deep trouble no matter who causes it.

Fortunately, Liu Xiang and Gu Yong came to watch the drama unfold, and the magistrate immediately dragged the two over, begging them to act as guarantors so that if the Wang brothers caused trouble, someone could step in to ease tensions.

Gu Yong never expected that watching a play would lead him to the stage, but he readily agreed.

Liu Xiang looked at Wang Tan and asked:

“I will report to His Majesty everything regarding your insults against the Liu clan.”

Wang Tan was about to say something when Liu Ao walked in with a smile... He had been doing nothing all day recently, and now that he could suddenly participate in a family dispute, he was unusually excited.

As soon as he entered, he handed a string of jade pendants to Wang Mang:
"This was given to you by your mother at the request of your father. If you suffer any injustice, just take it out. The royal family will support you."

Wang Tan originally wanted to go to the palace to plead his case after this matter was settled, but judging from the current situation, it was unlikely to be fruitless.

The Wang family consists of twelve siblings: four women and eight men. Wang Feng is the eldest. Apart from the second eldest, Wang Man, who has passed away, the remaining members of the Wang clan usually live in the Wang family mansion.

Now that the brothers were about to break up, Wang Feng was in charge of dividing the property. While dividing it, he simply gave up the big house and chose a small three-courtyard house in the south of the city. He didn't ask for much money, grain, or farmland, and let them divide the rest among themselves.

Before long, all the property was divided. Gu Yong and Liu Xiang signed the documents, each of the brothers kept a copy, and the Chang'an County government kept a copy. The matter was then considered closed.

Leaving the county government office, Liu Ao put his arm around Liu Xin's neck and said:
"I heard you were a force to be reckoned with, leaving the Wang clan speechless in your arguments?"

Liu Xin was momentarily confused about the Crown Prince's stance:

"I was scolding your uncle, why are you so happy?"

Liu Ao raised his head and puffed out his chest, and said loudly:
"The imperial relatives, powerful ministers, and eunuch factions are the three mountains weighing down on the Han Dynasty. My master said he would help me remove all three mountains to prevent the imperial power from falling into the wrong hands... Of course I'm happy that you helped me weaken the imperial relatives."

Liu Xin was at a loss for words. However, being cold-hearted and ungrateful was not a bad thing for an emperor; on the contrary, it was an essential quality of a qualified ruler.

Emperor Wu of Han in history was a typical example of someone who was cold-hearted and ungrateful, yet he made the Chinese people take the Han ethnicity as their own, allowing the Han people to still live with dignity and uprightness more than two thousand years later.

The group returned to the Left General's residence, where Wang Mang handed over all the land deeds for the farmland and houses to Chen Tang's wife, Zhang.

"I am too dull to manage this, so please accept it, godmother."

Zhang refused to accept it.

"Keep it for your mother. Your godfather's salary is high enough for them to live on."

Wang Mang had no intention of living in the courtyard allocated to him by the Wang family. As for the farmland, he would leave it to the Left General's office to handle later; he didn't need to get involved himself.

He plans to focus on his studies and stay home from going out.

This would both prevent retaliation from Wang's descendants and allow them to make up for the time lost recently.

There's so much knowledge waiting to be learned, I can't let it slip away.

Liu Ao held two-year-old Chen Feng in his arms and said to Wang Mang:
"Go take a shower and change your clothes. It would be unacceptable to come home all dirty... Master, is the new solar water heater working well? I haven't used it to take a shower yet."

The solar panels were installed by Chen Tang. For convenience and practicality, he specially built a bathroom in the yard, which has a shower and other facilities. A solar water heater is installed on the roof, and there is a water storage tank for replenishing water next to it.

Every morning, when the solar panels start generating electricity, the people in the mansion use water pumps to fill the water storage tanks, so that there will be hot water available in critical moments.

Meanwhile, Wang Feng went home to pack his valuables, then led his wives, concubines, and children away from the Wang family mansion and moved to a small house in the south of the city.

No sooner had he left than Zhai Fangjin came to visit Wang Tan, Wang Chong, and others, and was warmly received by the Wang brothers.

Especially when they heard that they were going to target Chen Tang, the brothers got even more excited... The house was in complete chaos, all thanks to that Chen Tang, so they took the opportunity to get revenge.

And so, the Wang brothers, who had just broken free from Wang Feng's protection, were led down a path of no return.

Outside Xiaoguan Pass, Chen Tang took a bite of a juicy roasted lamb leg, then picked up a purple onion and took a big bite like he was eating an apple.

"Lamb and onions are a fucking perfect match, Zhongqing, would you like some?"

"Thank you for your kindness, General, but I am not hungry."

Wang Zhang sat cross-legged on a sand dune not far away, earnestly summarizing the battle, recording all the foreign bandits he had killed, captured, or buried alive in the past few days.

After recording the data, he saw that the drone was almost fully charged, so he launched it and began to check the battle situation of the nearby Imperial Guard squad.

All the prisoners were taken to Xiaoguan, where the Xiaoguan garrison commander led the troops to build the road from Xiaoguan to Chang'an. Basically, it involved clearing away the rocks in the Jinghe River valley and filling in any uneven areas with stones. The task wasn't too difficult, but it was quite arduous and required someone to guard the area the whole time.

Xiao Guanwei longed to leave this godforsaken place and find a promising position. Chen Tang's proposal to build roads gave him hope.

The construction of the road was overseen by the Grand Master of Works. Xiao Guanwei thought that if he repaired the road well, he might be transferred to work under the Grand Master of Works, so he put extra effort into the road construction. In his view, this was not road construction, but rather the preparation of his own job application.

The road is six zhang wide, with stone slabs buried on both sides and stone slabs laid in the middle. This not only makes the road smooth but also prevents wheels from creating deep ruts.

This method of road construction is quite laborious, but fortunately the workers are foreign prisoners of war, not Han Chinese, so there's no need to feel sorry for them.

After finishing his roasted lamb leg, Chen Tang led his army north, intending to go to the Yellow River to inspect the locations of several ferry crossings and choose a suitable place to build a bridge.

"By this time next year, the Yellow River, which was once a formidable barrier, may become a thoroughfare, and we will no longer have to worry about crossing it."

As Chen Tang walked, he told Wang Zhang about the bridge-building plan they had discussed at Hunyuan Palace. Wang Zhang was full of praise, never imagining that a bridge could be built across the Yellow River.

As darkness fell, they set up camp in a sheltered spot and launched drones to use the campfire to determine if there were any foreign bandit groups nearby.

Inside the Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi and Wu Meiniang changed into casual clothes. After sunset, it was noticeably chilly in the mountains, and the two of them put on their newly bought coats without prior arrangement.

Considering the possibility of drinking, Zhou Yi didn't drive. Instead, he rode Wu Meiniang's electric scooter down the mountain to Zhao Wei's house for a meal. On the way back, the Empress could ride back with him, so there would be no issue of drunk driving.

The mutton was delivered this afternoon. Zhao Wei just sent me a photo of it being grilled over charcoal. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to cook the fish and mutton properly and that it would end up being fishy and gamey, so he cooked the mutton and fish separately.

The lamb leg and radish are stewed into soup, the lamb ribs are stewed first and then grilled over charcoal, plus that huge bluefish, it's definitely enough to eat.

On the mountain path, Wu Meiniang, with her arm around Zhou Yi's waist, asked with a smile:

"Did the Immortal Master often drink with them in the past?"

"No, I don't have any alcohol addiction. I usually only have a couple of drinks when the atmosphere is right."

When they arrived at Zhao Wei's house, almost everyone was there. Big Head Yang, Wang Ge, Wang Shuangqing, Li Yongkang, and a few others were indispensable. Zhao Dengke used to participate as well, but recently the pickle factory has been too busy for him to attend such gatherings.

Liu Lei, who runs a gas station, brought over a case of Jiannanchun liquor and actively participated in the villagers' get-together in Yunwu Town.

Upon seeing Zhou Yi, he rolled up his sleeves and showed off the bracelet on his arm:

"I got the money back for the walnuts. At first, he tried to fool me, but I had Liu Peng drive over. Before we even stopped, that bastard handed over all the money to me."

Liu Peng is a police officer at the local police station, a profession that con artists fear most.

"As soon as I got the money, I went and bought this string of Bodhi seeds. It was only a little over five thousand. See? It's real this time, isn't it?"

Zhouyi: "..."

You've just escaped one danger only to fall into another!
He examined the quality of the bracelet and said:

"If you can return it, you should. If you really want to wear it, I'll get you a blessed one. Don't wear it randomly, it's bad for your fate."

Big-Headed Yang chimed in:

"Yeah, if you want some skewers, just ask Xiao Yi to get them for you. Instead of spending money on scammers, they won't praise you; they'll call you a swindler."

Liu Lei couldn't sit still any longer, so he immediately took out his phone and called Liu Peng, asking him to accompany him somewhere again tomorrow.

After hanging up the phone, he asked Zhou Yi:
"Xiao Yi, what kind of bracelet do you think would suit me best?"

Looking at his face and noting his tendency to attract petty people, Zhou Yi recommended a lightning-struck wooden bead. He suggested that after offering it to the statue of the Thunder God for three days, he could wear it around and show it off.

Liu Lei was a generous man, and immediately transferred 6,666 yuan to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi felt that his fortune had improved significantly since he started building the Temple of the God of Wealth, as he could even make money by going down the mountain to freeload a meal.

After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, Zhou Yi put on his coat, straddled the back of the electric scooter, and put his arm around Wu Meiniang's slender waist as they returned to the mountain.

At the same time, the world after Zhou.

The city gates of Yuhe County quietly opened, and squads of cavalry rushed out, heading straight for Youzhou.

Upon arriving outside Youzhou City, they were met by a group of people who rushed in. Soon, shouts of battle erupted within the city... The Yelü royal family had made their move against the Bali clan, to which Xiao Siwen belonged!

The commotion here was clearly seen by the scouts of the Later Zhou camp through drones.

Guo Rong immediately issued a military order, dispatching a cavalry force led by a general who understood the Khitan language to head straight for Yuhe County. They lied that they had not entered Youzhou, ordered the city gates to be opened, and then stormed in, taking over the garrison city without anyone noticing.

As for Youzhou, a strong force will be dispatched from the south of the city to provide support. If Xiao Siwen flees south, they will try to rescue him, but not too many people.

When selecting personnel, Zhao Kuangyin recommended a general who would go down in history:

"Your Majesty, General Pan Mei is a steady and reliable man, capable of shouldering the great responsibility of supporting Xiao Siwen!"

(End of this chapter)