Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

Yan Jiu ran out and saw Chao Yang talking to a beautiful woman.

"Mr. Chao, is this your new wife? Hello, sister-in-law, my name is Yan Jiu."

"Sister-in-law... ah, you're my husband's sister, you're so beautiful..."

Chao Yang hurriedly said, "I don't have any younger sister. This is the Princess Consort. You should call her Princess Consort when you see her in the future!"

"Princess? You're making things more and more strange. How could there be a princess in these mountains?"

Yan Jiu chuckled to himself upon hearing this.

It seems that Mr. Chao has been hiding a lot of things in order to marry his sister-in-law.

Hearing the voices, Li You also came out.

"Hello, Madam Chao, welcome to our mountain stronghold."

After meeting Lady Liu, Li You finally understood why Chao Yang couldn't forget her.

She is indeed beautiful, a beauty that comes out of the crowd.

However, the information she heard next turned the beautiful Lady Chao pale, and she needed Chao Yang's support to stand up.

"You...you guys are actually..."

"Madam Chao, don't overthink it. We Huang Chao's army are not bad people. You'll understand after staying a few more days."

Having already attracted quite a few people to the mountain, Li You spoke these words with remarkable fluency.

"Jiu'er, please show Madam Chao around and chat with her, introducing her to the local customs and culture of our mountain village."

"Okay!"

Yan Jiu walked over, smiling, and took Madam Chao from Chao Yang's hands, then led her away.

Chao Yang watched his wife's departing figure with considerable worry.

"Don't worry, everyone experiences some adjustment period when they first arrive at the mountain stronghold. Wasn't Mr. Chao the same way when he first came?"

"You're right, my lord. I'll try to coax her properly later."

"Hmm, what did Madam do before? Perhaps she could do something to ease her anxiety."

"My lord, her family is brewers, and they are considered a wealthy family in Huangzhou."

"Brewing wine? Well then, my Huang Chao army has gained another high-level talent."

"...My lord, her family brews wine, but she doesn't brew it herself; she just sells it."

"Alright, wine has its advantages and disadvantages... Mr. Chao, it's good that you're back. Let's discuss the matter of stealing and printing the family classics with General Yan and the others."

Upon hearing this, Chao Yang's expression turned serious.

After going up the mountain, he actually had some doubts about many of the things that the King of Qi said.

However, ever since movable type printing became a reality and the King of Qi was willing to send troops to steal books from aristocratic families, Chao Yang had no doubt whatsoever about the King of Qi's determination to crack down on aristocratic families.

Now, this operation is about to enter the practical stage.

If successful, the blow to the aristocratic families will be unprecedented, and could even be described as a complete collapse.

Li You, Yin Hongzhi, Yan Hongxin, Yan Hongliang, Zan Junmo, Chao Yang, and Dou Jun gathered together to discuss the matter.

"The Cui family of Qinghe and the Cui family of Boling were actually one family during the Western Han Dynasty," Yin Hongzhi said.

"These two places where the books are kept are certainly heavily guarded. We must investigate them thoroughly before we can proceed. This is a matter of great importance, so I have decided to descend the mountain and personally oversee the book theft."

Upon hearing this, all the generals were invigorated.

Unexpectedly, the King of Qi attached great importance to this matter.

Li You continued, "Qinghe and Boling are more than two hundred li apart. If one is robbed, the other is very likely to be alerted. Therefore, we must act on both sides simultaneously."

Yin Hongzhi said, "My lord, Bozhou is not far from both places. Gao Shen and his men are quite familiar with the area, so we can ask them to send troops to help us."

"That's good. In that case, we can bring fewer troops. Mr. Chao, could you tell everyone about the dozen or so books you mentioned earlier, what are their titles and formats?"

"Alright, my lord, I'll go on this mission as well."

"Alright, everyone who can go this time, go. Hongxin, you stay here to guard the house."

"promise!"

Next, Chao Yang explained to everyone how to write the titles of books such as "The Book of Rites", "Zuo Zhuan", "The Rites of Zhou", and "Selections of Refined Literature", so that they wouldn't be completely clueless and just stuff any book they saw into their pockets, wasting their time in vain.

After Chao Yang explained the situation, Li You gave orders to all the generals to urge the soldiers to prepare their weapons and choose an auspicious day to descend the mountain.

On the other side, Yan Jiu led Madam Chao around the mountain stronghold.

It's easier for women to talk to each other.

While chatting with Yan Jiu, Liu carefully observed the appearance of the people in the mountain stronghold.

Everyone looked peaceful, and the surrounding production was neat and orderly. It really looked like a good place, not a den of thieves.

"Sister Yan Jiu, when were you kidnapped and brought up the mountain?"

"Being kidnapped and brought up the mountain? No, no, no, I came up here voluntarily."

"Voluntary? Your family doesn't want you anymore?"

"Alas, you guessed it right away. I was sold by my family to a broker, and after changing hands several times, I ended up with the monk Yuanjue in Xiangzhou. That fellow wasn't a good person either. Later, Huang Chao's army rescued us. The King of Qi allowed us to return to our hometown, but my sisters and I didn't want to go home, so we followed Huang Chao's army to the mountain stronghold, where we are still here now."

"Oh dear, girl, your life is truly bitter."

"Who can argue with that? Most of those who came up the mountain are like me, rootless and adrift, left to be slaughtered by others in this world. But in Huang Chao's army, we are all like family, and there is no more violence. King Qi even encourages everyone to marry freely, and many of my sisters have found good husbands."

"King Qi, is that the young man from earlier?"

"Yes, he is also my husband."

"Oh, I see," Liu chuckled. "It must be that the King of Qi saw your beauty and tricked you into coming up the mountain, promising you all sorts of benefits, right?"

Yan Jiu glared at Liu Shi: "That's not true at all. I expressed my gratitude to the Prince of Qi myself. He didn't bother me at all!"

"real?"

"Why would I lie to you about something like this? Go ask the other girls and see if it's true!"

"Alright, alright, I was just saying it offhand, Yan Jiu, don't be impatient."

"That's where the weavers weave their cloth. Let me take you inside to have a look."

"Wow, so many people! How many bolts of cloth must they be weaving every day!"

"I've calculated it myself. We can weave 700 bolts a day, which is 20,000 bolts a month. My uncle also brought in a silk reeling master from Luoyang and planted mulberry trees by the mountain stream. Our current silk production is about 6,000 bolts a year."

"Six thousand bolts of silk...that...that must cost a fortune..."

"Hey, this is nothing, just a little money. Our Huang Chao army has a lot of people now, and our expenses are high. Fortunately, we have the Huimin Bank, which provides a net profit of 20,000 guan every month, which makes things a little easier."

"...Was that Huimin Bank in Gwangju also opened by your Huang Chao army?"

"Of course, isn't our Huang Chao army formidable? I heard from our lord that the book printing business that Mr. Chao is involved in is also a highly profitable venture. If it's done well, it can make a lot of money, and it's money earned from scholars."

"I've never seen anything like this before, except for printed books..."

"Come on, I'll take you to the book printing place. That printing thing looks a lot like a seal, except it only has one character on it..."