…

Wang Shouzhe’s face was almost black. This big girl must not have been studying and practicing enough in her daily life, otherwise she wouldn’t be so afraid and guilty. How dare she say that she reads and practices every day in front of him?

“Shouzhe, don’t scare the big girl. Look, she’s already crying.” Seeing her like this, Xu Zhirou, who has a gentle personality, hugged her and said with a smile, “Don’t be afraid, big girl. Your Fourth Uncle is just teasing you. Think about it, if he really wants to test your academic performance, why would he only call you alone?”

So that’s how it is.

Wang Lici patted her chest and immediately relaxed. She was really scared just now. She quickly ate a piece of preserved fruit to calm down.

Seeing this, Wang Shouzhe’s face became even darker. This girl’s transformation from a survivor to a foodie was too fast. She was too carefree.

With her like this, what’s the point of testing her academic performance?

He originally wanted to find two female members of the clan from home to accompany Long Yan Ancestor on his journey and take care of his daily life. One should be a bit older and more mature, while the other should be younger and more energetic.

Wang Shouzhe was quite satisfied with Xu Shi, his fourth aunt, but as for Wang Lici…

It gave him a headache!

Among the younger female members of the clan, there were his own sister Wang Luoyi, his fourth younger sister Wang Luotong, and his eldest niece Wang Lici. However, since this trip would pass through Donggang, and his sister Wang Luoyi already had a marriage engagement with the young master of the Chen Clan in Donggang, it was not appropriate to bring her along.

As for Wang Luotong, she was busy with the last transportation line of the grain, and after she completed her task, Wang Shouzhe also wanted her to follow Madam Gongsun Hui to handle the follow-up affairs and exercise more.

Therefore, he did not want to disrupt Wang Luotong’s original arrangement plan.

After much thought, the only suitable candidate who was idle and had nothing to do was Wang Lici. Looking at her silly appearance, he felt like replacing her with a smart and clever maid.

But this idea only flashed by. Since this girl refused to study hard, it was better to take her with him and teach her a lesson, and give her a good “tightening spell”.

Moreover, nowadays, it was a common trend for girls in the family not to study hard. Wang Luotong, Wang Luojing, and other girls were also like this. Presumably, other young girls were not much better. Boys would be better to some extent, as they faced more pressure from their elders.

Such a bad family tradition must be rectified.

With this in mind, Wang Shouzhe temporarily returned to the main topic and said, “Fourth Aunt, we need you to go on a long journey this time, which will take about ten days. You can go back and prepare first. We will set off the day after tomorrow. Do you have any problems, Fourth Aunt?”

Although Xu Zhirou had some doubts, she still stood up and nodded, “No problem, it’s all up to your arrangements, Shouzhe.”Wang Lici’s small head was full of confusion and curiosity, as well as excitement. Was Fourth Uncle taking her to Changning Wei to play? In her mind, Changning Wei was already far enough, and she had only been there twice in her life.

Time passed quickly, and two days had passed.

Early in the morning, when the sky was just beginning to brighten.

A four or five zhang long black canopy boat sailed into Zhuxi Lake from the dock behind Wang’s Clan’s main house, and then headed towards Fenggu Farm.

This was Wang Shouzhe’s arranged route. When Long Yan Ancestor traveled, he naturally had to act secretly. If he took a carriage to the Dingpu Ferry and then took a boat, it would definitely be too ostentatious.

It was better to follow the grain transportation route and take a large boat through the Fenggu sluice gate. After all, it was their own territory.

There were not many people accompanying Long Yan Ancestor on this trip. Wang Shouzhe brought two family generals, Wang Zhong and Wang Yong, as well as Fourth Aunt Xu Zhirou and the eldest girl Wang Lici, for a total of six people including the Ancestor.

Wang Zhong and Wang Yong were responsible for driving the boat outside. Although they were not professional, it was very easy for them to control this medium-sized black canopy boat with the means of the Xuanwu. The speed was quite fast when they paddled and rowed together.

Inside the black canopy boat.

Wang Lici widened her eyes, held her bundle tightly, and dared not even breathe deeply. Fourth Uncle didn’t mention in advance that they were accompanying Long Yan Ancestor on this trip.

That was the ancestor of the family, an existence even more terrifying than Fourth Uncle.

The surprise that Fourth Uncle gave her was too much to digest.

“Shouzhe, this is the itinerary and arrangement. Fourth Aunt and Lici are responsible for taking care of your daily life.” Wang Shouzhe respectfully introduced Long Yan Ancestor to the various arrangements for this trip.

“Shouzhe does things well, I trust him.” Long Yan Ancestor was quite satisfied with Wang Shouzhe’s thoughtful arrangements. Then he said to Xu Zhirou, “Zhirou, this trip will be hard on you.”

Xu Zhirou humbly said, “Serving the Ancestor is Zhirou’s duty and honor.”

After that, Long Yan Ancestor looked at Wang Lici, and there was a rare hint of tenderness in his eyes. “You, child, haven’t seen you in two years. You’ve grown into a young lady. How’s your recent studies?”

Long Yan Ancestor was usually quite amiable towards the younger generation of the family. Especially since Long Yan Ancestor was the third-generation granddaughter of Zhou Xuan Ancestor, and Wang Lici was already the eighth-generation bloodline of the family.

“What?” Wang Lici was stunned, and he was asking about her studies?

Fortunately, she was prepared with the example of Fourth Uncle’s scrutiny of her studies.

Wang Lici’s eyes turned, and she quickly said, “I’ve been studying hard recently. I memorized some articles to recite to the Ancestor…” As she spoke, she eagerly recited an article called “Observing the Sky at Night on the Tianlan Mountain”, written by a senior scholar and strong person in the Heavenly Realm a thousand years ago. The article was magnificent and grand, and was deeply loved by later generations.Literature is an important layer in any civilization, with the role of cultivating sentiment and increasing cultural knowledge. If humans only know how to fight and kill, without cultivating themselves and their character, and spend their entire lives pursuing power and slaughter, then what is the difference between them and savage beasts?

Wang Shouzhe listened to her recitation fluently, with some emotional expressions, feeling helpless and amused. You recently worked hard, but does that mean you only crammed for the past two days? You probably can only fluently recite this one piece, right?

But he didn’t expose her, and the Ancestor seemed quite pleased, praising and encouraging her a few times.

The black hooded boat meandered towards Fenggu Farm, but didn’t stop there. They crossed the gate and arrived at Fenggu Lock, where a medium-sized river boat was waiting.

This river boat was a medium-sized sailboat that could remain stable even with a carriage on board. Wang Dinghai didn’t know where he borrowed it from.

“Wang Shouzhe, as you ordered.” Sixth Uncle Wang Dinghai greeted them. “The cabin has been slightly modified, and a temporary rest area has been set up. You’re being so secretive, are you preparing for… huh?”

Wang Dinghai suddenly noticed the Ancestor Long Yan behind Wang Shouzhe, and his eyes almost popped out. Is this a joke? The Ancestor actually went on a trip…

He was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat and was about to bow when Wang Shouzhe stopped him. “Uncle, stop. You drive towards Donggang.”

“Yes, I will steer well.” Wang Dinghai’s face turned pale, and he quickly invited Wang Shouzhe and the others into the temporary rest area in the cabin before leaving.

If the Ancestor went on a trip, it must be a big deal.

But nothing was more important than the safety of the Ancestor Long Yan. Therefore, under his control and command, the ship slowly left the deep water area outside Fenggu Lock and steadily sailed to the center of An River.

As they reached the center of the river, the wind and waves gradually increased. The sails were opened in an orderly manner, and the dense canvas caught the wind, gradually increasing the speed of the ship.

On Earth, the speed of a ship is calculated in knots.

However, in the Great Qian of this world, it is still calculated by how many li per hour. Today, the wind was blowing from the southeast, and the water was flowing eastward and turbulent. The speed of the ship unknowingly reached about fifty or sixty li per hour.

It sounds fast, but it is only equivalent to a speed of ten or so kilometers per hour, which is two or three times faster than the normal walking speed of a person.

Sixth Uncle Wang Dinghai was indeed a master who made a living on An River all year round, and he steered the boat smoothly like flowing clouds and water. Wang Shouzhe and the others in the cabin felt less discomfort from the swaying.

However, Wang Shouzhe was young and strong, and it was boring to stay in the cabin. He apologized to the Ancestor and went to the deck to enjoy the scenery. He saw Wang Dinghai at the helm and went to check it out.”Sixth Uncle, this ship looks good. It seems to be a merchant ship. Where did you borrow it from?” Wang Shouzhe looked at the ship, and the sailors on board were obviously not from the Wang family’s fishing fleet.

Wang Dinghai steered the ship and said, “You sent someone to tell me to find a better ship, so I borrowed one from a friend of Jiaolong Commercial Bank’s Changning Branch. That old guy owes me a favor. Last time, the fleet he was in charge of had an accident on our territory, and Sixth Uncle risked his life to save him.”

Jiaolong Commercial Bank?

Of course, Wang Shouzhe had heard of this bank. They did business by following the entire An River, from the westernmost Dahuang Commandery to Longzuo Commandery, spanning several commanderies. As long as there were cities along the river, they had branches.

This was a bank whose overall strength was not inferior to that of Qian Clan’s Commercial Bank, but they only did business on waterways along the river. They did not conflict with the local forces in each commandery on the surface, and they did not interfere with each other.

“Shouzhe, don’t even think about doing business on the waterway,” Wang Dinghai reminded him solemnly. “Jiaolong Commercial Bank is not easy to mess with. You should know that they used to be called Jiaolong Gang, a gang supported by several powerful clans in secret. In recent decades, their business has grown bigger and bigger, so they changed their name to Commercial Bank. They have signed non-infringement agreements with local clans in various places.”

Got it! So it turned out to be a commercial bank that whitewashed a black and evil force. No wonder they had the strength to occupy this important waterway of An River.

However, Wang Shouzhe didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. When he read Xuanhuan novels on Earth, Jiaolong Gang and Nulong Society were all insignificant forces, places where the protagonist could gain experience in the early stages.

But how did it become a behemoth that was not easy to mess with when it came to him?

…