Chapter Fifty: Li Ru Visits

  However, in Xianyang, the new city has taken shape under the hard work of hundreds of thousands of slaves. The mansion where Gongsun Ce and others are located is in the northern suburbs, covering a vast area.

  Gongsun Ce was promoted to You Shu Zhang, with a residence area of 76 houses. One house has an area of 1,713 square meters, which means that Gongsun Ce's mansion at this time reached an area of 130,000 square meters. Can you imagine how big a flat land is, 200 meters wide and 650 meters long? Gongsun Ce's mansion was just that big!

  Gongsun Zan had over 3,000 family members who moved to Xianyang, which was far beyond what his salary could support. Li Si saw that these 3,000 people were idle and a waste, and also difficult to manage, prone to causing trouble. So they were all conscripted to work with the 300,000 slaves in Xianyang to build a new city.

  At least the food for these people is temporarily taken care of by Da Qin, and the distribution of food is based on the type of work and height. The diet for high-energy-consuming workers is higher, and the taller ones do more work, so they naturally get more food. Pregnant women participate in labor, doing light work, and their food is still divided according to the type of work, but it's double portions.

  It's not that Qin is generous, but because slaves who can't eat enough will affect work efficiency. The Qin people value efficiency the most and hate waste the most. To maximize the value of each unit is the greatest responsibility of every grassroots official in Qin.

  As it was still early, the people working outside the city had not returned yet, and the mansion was very quiet at this time. Xue Ling sat on the kang, knitting a sweater, with a group of classmates sitting beside her, all doing the same work as her. Guo Liang returned to Xianyang three days ago, bringing the first-hand news of Gong Sun Ce, which made her sleepless for the whole night.

  Today's weather is a bit cold, thinking of Gong Sun Ce going to the Great Northwest, what kind of winter it is there, she knows in her heart. Thinking and thinking, I don't know what to do, seeing Liu Jie, who is also Miao Miao's mother, weaving a winter sweater for Miao Miao, so Xue Ling becomes an apprentice to Liu Jie and learns the technique of knitting sweaters.

  Guo Liang was left in Xianyang by Li Si to take care of official business, and she didn't know when he would leave, so her time was very tight. She wanted to finish weaving a woolen coat for Gongsun Ce before Guo Liang left, and had long since handed over all the affairs of the mansion to Li Qingxuan.

  She suspected that Li Qingxuan was not just a simple teacher, because more than 3,000 people were managed by Li Qingxuan in an orderly manner, without any chaos. Not only was the management method superb, but also knew how to use people well, selecting personnel from Gong Sun's subordinates and letting them manage themselves, while supervising each other.

  These means made Xue Ling sigh in dismay, and even Li Si was surprised by Li Qingxuan's ability. However, she knew that no matter how strong Li Qingxuan was, during the time when Gong Sun Ce was not around, she was the largest in this independent small kingdom, and no one could surpass her, especially after Guo Liang arrived.

  Guo Liang's handsome appearance made Snow Ling tongue-tied. Adding to that, the baptism of the battlefield's killing aura made every move Guo Liang made have a mysterious charm. Although Snow Ling could avoid it, her classmates seemed to have seen catnip, and they were all extremely infatuated. They couldn't help but want to swallow Guo Liang whole, without even spitting out his bones.

  What made Snow Ling even more curious was Li Qingxuan. She had a deep impression of Li Qingxuan's infatuation. However, after the appearance of Guo Liang, who was even more handsome than Gong Sun Ce, Li Qingxuan was calm and collected, as if he didn't care. This made Snow Ling suspect that on that night, Li Qingxuan had pretended to be infatuated in order to get close to Gong Sun Ce.

  "Madam, there is a visitor outside the mansion." The thick and heavy voice of Yang Yi, the captain of the mansion's guards, sounded after a series of knocks on the door.

  Gongsun Zhi's mansion expanded day by day, naturally becoming a place of attention for others. To know that the successors who had joined the Great Qin camp with Gongsun Zhi at the beginning had already lost more than half, and later new successors joined one after another. However, few people can match Gongsun Zhi's promotion speed.

  So many families who stayed behind started playing the role of "diplomatic wives", often visiting Gong Sun's residence to socialize with Xue Ling. Usually, Li Qingxuan could handle such matters by accepting gifts from visitors and returning some in exchange, thus completing the task.

  Li Qingxuan pushed open the door and entered, dispelling Xuelin's doubts. Her tall and slender figure was clad in a delicate black brocade dress, which despite being layered three times, still couldn't conceal the allure emanating from her mature physique. Even Xueling, gazing at Li Qingxuan with her thick-framed glasses removed, her hair styled up with golden pins, and her long neck, couldn't help but feel a flutter in her heart.

  Xue Ling put down her sweater, very surprised: "Li Ru? The bad guy from the Three Kingdoms? And Dong Zhuo? They're all resurrected? And they've joined the Qin army camp?"

  "That's right, Dong Zhuo is now two ranks higher than Gongsun Zan in military rank. He was appointed as the General of the Western Pacification and will soon rush to the northwest." Li Qingyun was also worried, Lü Bu had killed Dong Zhuo, now it's Gongsun Zan's turn to face the resurrected Dong Zhuo.

  "What did Li Ru come for?" Xue Ling got down from the kang, and with the help of her maid, she put on a fox fur coat.

  "Presenting gifts, this is the gift list and invitation card." Li Qingxuan handed over the things in her hand to Xuelin, feeling a little lost inside. After Gong Sunce left, people kept pouring in here, which was not something that an unmarried university girl could handle. If it weren't for her, this place would have been chaotic long ago.

  She toils until midnight every day, but no one takes her seriously. Both inside and outside the mansion, everyone only recognizes Xue Ling alone. Especially after Guo Liang arrived, this situation became even more severe. She has made so many sacrifices for Gong Sun Ce, yet she doesn't even have the qualifications to handle Li Ru's visiting card.

  At the entrance of Gong Sun's mansion, Guo Liang dismounted his horse and handed the reins to the heavenly soldier at the gate. He looked at Li Ru with confusion, and then saw twenty heavily armored heavenly soldiers behind Li Ru carrying gift boxes. He bowed his fist to Li Ru, who was wearing a green robe, and said: "I am Guo Liang, now serving under Brother Gong Sun. May I ask who you are, sir?"

  The gate creaked open, and Snow Ling had just come out when he saw this scene. It also saved Li Ru from speaking, and with a bow, he introduced himself to Snow Ling and Guo Liang: "I am Li Ru, my master Dong Zhuo has just been appointed as the General of the West, and I have been sent to visit you two neighbors."

  Guo Liang glanced around and immediately spotted Dong Zhuo's mansion. After all, only two mansions on this street had heavenly soldiers guarding the entrance, while other mansions were as vulnerable as a nest of birds. Seeing that Dong Zhuo's mansion actually had ten heavily armored halberd-wielding guards standing at attention, his pupils involuntarily constricted.

  "Sister, please invite Mr. Li Ru to enter the mansion for a detailed discussion. I have some private matters to discuss with Mr. Li Ru." Guo Liang's eyebrows furrowed slightly, Dong Zhuo was a headache-inducing person. With Gongsun Zan not around, Xue Ling could only handle household chores. He was well aware of her relationship with Gongsun Zan, and the matter between Dong Zhuo and Gongsun Zan was definitely a big deal, one that only he had the authority to handle.

  Li Ru was somewhat perplexed, he just came to send a gift and get familiar with the face. According to the normal procedure, after the Gong Sun family accepted the gift, they would choose a date to return the visit. If they really wanted to discuss something, it would also be after this process was completed.

  Fei Xiong Tianbing handed the gift box to Zhen Zhen Tianbing and returned to Dong Zhuo's mansion. Li Ru followed Guo Guang and others into the mansion, and after arriving at the main hall, Xue Ling and other women left, leaving only Guo Guang and Li Ru brewing tea, sitting face to face.

  "I won't hide it from you either, sir. You and General Dong will find out about this matter sooner or later." Guo Liang said after a moment of contemplation, until the tea water boiled.

  As he spoke, he poured tea for the two of them. Li Ru's air of calm was quite good; after entering, his face wore a natural smile, as if he hadn't noticed the earlier awkwardness at all.

  "My elder brother's surname is Gong Sun, and his name is Ce. He is from the Shannan County of Liangzhou Prefecture. I suppose you already know that my brother isn't a reincarnated general from past dynasties, but rather someone who has obtained the legacy of a military family." Guo Liang's words made Li Ru's eyes light up again and again.

  Li Ru really didn't expect that the master of this mansion would be so powerful. With just inherited power, he was able to build such a large family business in just half a month.

  "It's a coincidence, your elder brother and my master have a common hometown connection." Li Ru said with a faint smile. Seeing that Guo Liang didn't understand, he continued to explain: "My master is also from Shanren County, this is the modern way of dividing it. If we put it in the late Han Dynasty, your elder brother would be from Longxi Lintao."

  Kuo Liang heard that and could only sigh, saying: "The change of place names, I understand. What I want to say is, the heritage my elder brother obtained."

  Li Ru was clever and wise, seeing Guo Liang's appearance, seemed to have guessed something, but shook his head and said: "You are overthinking, those were things from the previous life, why bother? I just didn't expect that the descendants of Gong Sun Bo Gui would move from northwest to northwest."

  Li Ru mistakenly implicated Gongsun Zan and Gongsun Yue, Guo Si realized he was misunderstood. The relationship between Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo is not that simple, the father-son bond because of Diao Chan became a triangle, which can be said to be incompatible with water and fire. Lü Bu stabbed Dong Zhuo at his most glorious moment, causing Dong Zhuo's death and extinction of his clan, this is truly a deep blood feud!

  Guo Liang's face was even more bitter, and he directly said the words in his heart: "My elder brother and Gongsun Zan have little connection. He obtained Lu Bu's legacy."

  Li Ru was taken aback, and Guo Liang shook his head secretly.

  Li Ru suddenly stood up, looked up at the sky and burst out laughing: "Haha! What did I think it was? It's all just past events, fleeting clouds. Back then, I was killed by Feng Xian, but now I look at it very lightly. Besides, Feng Xian is Feng Xian, General Gong Sun is General Gong Sun, how can the two be mentioned in the same breath?"

  Kuang Liang was taken aback, and upon seeing his appearance, Li Ru sat down stroking his beard saying: "This young fellow has a good face but his words are not well-organized."

  Guo Liang's face turned red, and Li Ru's tone changed again: "However, you're still young and can think ahead, which is rare. You don't have to worry too much about this matter, it's all ancient history. Besides, according to modern thinking, shouldn't we always look forward?"

  Guo Liang and Li Ru drank a pot of tea together, chatting happily until nightfall.

  Guo Liang escorted Li Ru to the front of Dong Zhuo's mansion and said, "Today, I had a conversation with you, sir, and many doubts in my mind have been cleared up. Tomorrow, I will definitely come to visit you again, and I hope you won't decline."

  "You're a good kid, true to your words. I like you very much, and I think my master will too. If possible, I'll grant you a life of great wealth and honor!" In the Three Kingdoms era where Li Ru lived, it was an age where people judged others by their appearance. They believed that one's heart determined their looks, so if they had a good heart, they would have a good face.

  At that time, Tao Qian in his youth and the county's young men rode bamboo horses and played together. Because of his good looks, he was favored by Gan Gong, a fellow townsman who was the governor, despite his wife's opposition, and married his daughter to him. Also because of Tao Qian's good looks, when leading troops, he repeatedly clashed with Zhang Wen, one of the three dukes, but was forgiven by Zhang Wen.

  As for Pang Tong and Zhang Song, they were just sacrifices of that era. Sun Ce was also similar, due to his disfigurement, he suffered a psychological breakdown, and when he became emotionally excited, his arrow wound burst open, and he died. He left behind Da Qiao and his son Sun Shao, an orphaned child and widowed mother, who were repeatedly bullied by Sun Quan.

  Although it has been two thousand years, Li Ru's ideas have been impacted by modern thinking and his views have changed a bit. However, this change is not significant. Moreover, seeing Guo Lian's kind heart makes me like him even more.

  Guo Liang returned to the mansion with doubts and discussed with Xue Ling about visiting Dong Zhuo the next day.