In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

Liangzhou, a bustling downtown area.

"Your Highness, Lord Wang sent me to tell you that there are indeed people in Liangzhou Prefecture inquiring about Li San's identity, and Lord Wang has done as you instructed."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanchang stopped in his tracks, a confident smile spreading across his face.

"very good."

"Let's just wait here."

"Your Highness, what are you waiting for?" Guo Chao asked suspiciously.

Li Yuanchang smiled knowingly: "Of course, they're from the Lu family."

The voice just fell.

"Young Master Li, Young Master Li!"

Suddenly, Manager Lu's voice rang out on the street. He leaned half his body out of the carriage, shouting and waving.

Upon seeing this, Guo Chao and the other guards were shocked.

Does the word become law?

"Whoa!!"

The carriage stopped by the roadside, and Manager Lu jumped off with great speed, chasing after it with a beaming smile: "Young Master Li, please forgive me, please forgive me."

"The employer just sent a letter saying that it's okay now."

"What can I do?" Li Yuanchang asked, knowing the answer already.

"Of course business is good," Manager Lu said with a smile.

"How come it's suddenly working again?"

Manager Lu chuckled and dodged the question: "Haha, Young Master Li, I can't pry into what the owner is thinking, but it's true that we can talk business now."

Li Yuanchang feigned displeasure: "Hmph! You're going back and forth like this. I'm starting to suspect you're trying to cover your tracks!"

"Your Lu family simply doesn't have that capability."

He turned and left, fully embracing the strategy of feigning indifference.

Manager Lu became serious and quickly blocked his way: "Young master, you are mistaken!"

"We're all prominent figures here; if we really did that, no one would benefit."

Li Yuanchang remained unmoved.

Manager Lu, his eyes gleaming with anxiety, spoke in a low, cryptic voice.

"If you don't believe me, young master, you can come with me now. What you want, I have right now!"

Li Yuanchang's eyes flashed, and he exchanged glances with Guo Chao and the others.

"Oh? It's available now?"

"right!"

"Where?"

"You don't need to worry about this young master. If you want to inspect the goods or make negotiations, just come with me."

"However... young master can only bring a maximum of eight people." Manager Lu said seriously, leaving no room for discussion.

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanchang took a deep breath.

My mind was screaming, "Finally, I've been tricked!"

"lead the way."

"There are only seven of us here."

Shopkeeper Lu immediately beamed with joy and extended a hand: "Young master, please."

Li Yuanchang boarded the carriage directly, acting very decisively.

But the moment he stepped into the carriage, Li Yuanchang suddenly looked at a young man selling liquor by the roadside and nodded slightly to him.

The latter quickly disappeared into the crowd and headed directly towards the Prince of Han's residence.

Immediately afterwards, Manager Lu ordered the carriage to be driven out of Liangzhou City and head towards Lu Family Stone Manor.

This stretch of road is a hundred li long, but thanks to the presence of post stations and fast horses, the travel time was greatly reduced.

At dusk.

"Whoa!"

"Young master, we've arrived!" Manager Lu said with a smile as he looked ahead.

A large village appeared in the afterglow of the setting sun, consisting of several hundred households, stretching for several miles, a cluster of houses nestled against the mountains and beside the water.

At first glance, Li Yuanchang was astonished; none of the houses were thatched huts, but were all built of brick and stone.

This level of living standards would have been almost impossible to achieve in ancient times, and it's no exaggeration to say that the standard of living in Lujia Stone Village was extremely high.

Immediately afterwards, Manager Lu led him into the manor.

Li Yuanchang was increasingly alarmed as he looked around. Every household had surplus grain, meat, and fish, and deep within the village was a huge stone quarry.

A large number of men dragged stones, while women did needlework.

Almost everyone's clothes were intact.

Everyone had their own duties, and even the outer perimeter of Shizhuang was protected by guards, with watchtowers erected.

The roads inside Zhuangzi are also interconnected, like a maze, and the courtyard walls are high. Without someone to guide you, you might get lost once you enter.

Li Yuanchang thought to himself, "Isn't this just the Tang Dynasty version of 'Tazhai'?"

In no time at all.

Li Yuanchang and several others were taken to the stone workshop.

This place covers a huge area, and hundreds of men, shirtless, are pounding stone slabs, making a clanging sound. Such a scale would have been considered very large in ancient times.

"Our distinguished guest has traveled from afar, which is an honor to have our humble abode at Lu's house! Hahaha!"

A thin, short man, about fifty years old, came out to greet them with a group of people. Standing next to him was a burly man with a mustache.

Behind them were some strong young men, presumably their retainers, who were also carrying weapons.

"You two must be the owners of Lu Family Stone Manor, Lu Xiangdong and Lu Congjun, right?" Li Yuanchang asked.

"Young master has a good eye; it is indeed my brother and me."

"Young master has come from afar. My Lu family has nothing to offer in terms of hospitality. Here, my brother and I will toast you, as a gesture of making friends." Lu Xiangdong raised his wine cup with a smile.

Li Yuanchang glanced at the wine in the glass but did not take it.

"Boss, I won't drink. I'm here to discuss business. Where are the goods? Let me see them, and we can talk about the price."

Upon hearing this, the people from Lu Family Stone Village immediately showed displeasure. How dare they speak like that?

Lu Xiangdong spread his arms to stop his men.

Then he chuckled and said, "Good, young master, you're quick-witted and straightforward, I like that!"

"However, for safety's sake, I may have to offend you all."

Someone came out, holding many strips of black cloth, clearly intended to blindfold them.

Li Yuanchang knew that the secret wasn't there; the stones in this stone quarry were all genuine.

"Okay," he said simply.

Guo Chao and the others were wary, but they had no choice but to accept it.

The primary purpose of this trip is to find evidence of the Lu family's crimes. Having come this far, there is no reason to back down.

Soon, Li Yuanchang and everyone else were blindfolded, losing all their sight, and were helped away to walk into an unknown place.

Seeing their obedience, the two Lu brothers were very satisfied and almost felt that a big deal had been finalized.

But they didn't know that Li Yuanchang, who was blindfolded, had already memorized the cardinal directions. His lips moved slightly as he silently counted the number of steps he had taken.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, Li Yuanchang suddenly felt a chill, and the sound of everyone's footsteps began to echo.

He concluded that he had entered a cave.

Then, the sound grew louder and louder, the furnace roared, and the heavy hammers kept striking, like a huge factory.

Wow!!

The blindfold covering Li Yuanchang's eyes was suddenly ripped off, and the intense heat of the furnace made him instinctively cover his eyes, taking a while to adjust.

What he saw shocked him!

This is a huge cave where at least a thousand craftsmen worked, all drenched in sweat and covered in wounds.

Wasn't it said that there were only a little over a thousand people in the entire Shizhuang village?