When busy, one can turn oneself into a dog;

When idle, one lies in the sun, too lazy to even flip one's own belly.

This,

is the true portrayal of Zheng Boye.

Actually,

if you look at it openly,

a person,

only lives this one life anyway. Being too comfortable, one fears being remiss in responsibility and failing friends and family. But enduring too much hardship is failing oneself.

Having lived two lives, Zheng Boye's understanding of this point is truly profound.

There was a huge pile of affairs at Zhennanguan, and down below, his own troops, as well as various other troops that hadn't had time to pull up camp and return to their original garrisons, were all gathered there;

But Zheng Boye was just fine with it,

after Jingnan Wang's royal carriage departed for Fengxincheng,

he immediately dropped everything,

only taking two hundred personal guards, plus the Sword Saint and the Savage King, and hurried back to his old lair at a breakneck pace.

He informed the manor in advance,

and the Blind Man understood his master's temperament very well,

so he didn't arrange any "triumphal ceremony."

And thus,

the soldiers and civilians of Xuehaiguan still didn't know that their beloved and great Lord had returned to his loyal Xuehaiguan last night;

He stripped off his clothes,

threw himself into the hot spring,

and tossed the Magic Pill out for him to go play with Tiantian;

He,

after soaking enough,

got up,

returned to his bed,

and slept comfortably.

When he woke up, it was already afternoon.

Opening the door of his room, he saw Xiong Liqing and Liu Ruqing sitting in the small pavilion in the courtyard in front of his bedroom, eating snacks and drinking tea.

The two women must have dressed up specially today,

The Princess was wearing a green jacket, with a phoenix hairpin in her hair, looking playful yet dignified. She was young, she was beautiful, and she was of noble status;

Liu Ruqing was wearing a red dress, and the moment she sat there, her figure naturally flowed out, captivating the heart.

It must be said,

after a good sleep, opening one's eyes and seeing two beautiful women of completely different types is truly a kind of enjoyment;

Moreover,

these two women nominally and substantially both belonged to you.

"Husband has returned from a long expedition, you've worked hard."

"Lord."

Zheng Fan "hehe" smiled, with a gentle expression, walked to the pavilion, Liu Ruqing immediately gave up the stone stool she was originally sitting on.

The sun was good today, although it was winter, there was no wind at the moment, so it wasn't cold. The sun shone on the body, warm and comfortable.

"Order them to prepare a meal for the Lord here."

Xiong Liqing said to Liu Ruqing.

"Yes."

Because there were no maids nearby, Liu Ruqing could only go down to give the order herself.

Xiong Liqing sat down beside Zheng Fan, carefully looking at him.

Zheng Boye returned last night. After returning, he ordered that no outside guests be seen and no affairs be handled, that he needed to rest, so even they were only seeing their triumphant husband now.

"Husband, you've lost weight."

Adding up both lives, Zheng Boye was now in his early thirties;

At this age,

saying he was old was far from the truth, saying he was young was also a stretch, in short, it was a steady and mature age.

Last time when Si Niang helped him trim his beard in the army,

Zheng Boye hesitated for a moment,

and asked Si Niang to leave some of his beard,

not long,

but whether a man has a beard on his face or not, the difference is really big.

It's not to say that having a beard means having dignity and vigor, but that a person in power, with a beard, will have more dignity and vigor.

"Oh, have I lost weight? I thought I'd gained a little weight. You don't know, both under Juyang City and under Sigong Mountain, your brother sent me imperial meals every day, I thought I'd gotten fat."

Xiong Liqing smiled slightly and said, "Imperial Brother is just that kind of person, no matter what's happening outside, one has to take care of one's own face."

"Hey, that's right, it really is like that, several times I was a little dazed, was I here to fight a war, or to escort my brother-in-law?"

"Hehe." Xiong Liqing laughed.

She wasn't the kind of woman who liked the Lin Daiyu style, nor would she be moved to sadness by the autumn moon of a fallen nation;

Otherwise,

she wouldn't have taken the initiative to follow Zheng Boye to the Yan Kingdom.

She was a very clear-headed woman. Zheng Boye had joked with the Blind Man that it was hard to say whether Wu Zetian and Empress Dowager Cixi at Xiong Liqing's age had such scheming and bearing.

It was just that Zheng Boye's harem had Si Niang keeping things in check, so no matter how clever these women were, they couldn't stir up any trouble.

Moreover,

Zheng Boye didn't plan to expand his harem;

With Si Niang, it was revolutionary friendship; with the Princess, it was a political marriage;

And with Liu Ruqing...

Purely because even considering that "Uncle" she called him,

not taking her home felt like being struck by lightning.

"Bei Xiansheng said that there are still many things to be busy with next."

"Let them be busy with it, I have to rest for a while, I estimate that in another month or so, the imperial court's rewards will come down."

"Is Husband going to be enfeoffed as a Marquis?"

"It's almost certain."

With Tian Wujing around, the merits that belonged to him couldn't be erased.

Zheng Fan picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea, and then placed the teacup, lid, and saucer in a triangular shape on the table.

"This, is Xuehaiguan, this, is Zhennanguan, this, is Fengxincheng, in a month, all three of these places will belong to me.

Then,

we'll have to move to Fengxincheng to live, the Earl's manor will have to be rebuilt;

You and Ruqing will definitely have your own small courtyards, go tell San'er in advance what style you like and what furnishings you want."

"Ah, we're moving?" Xiong Liqing's reluctance was genuine, because she really felt that living in the Earl's manor in Xuehaiguan was very pleasant. Although it wasn't as magnificent as the imperial palace, it became more and more flavorful the longer she lived there.

Because magnificent things are easy to get tired of looking at, while simple things are more durable.

"We have to move, I have to establish a government and set up my own banner, continuing to leave the Earl's manor in Xuehaiguan or Zhennanguan would be like complaining that my territory is too big, wouldn't it?

Only by placing it in Fengxincheng,

not to mention the two majestic passes behind me are in my hands,

taking Fengxincheng as the base,

to the west,

even if the imperial court doesn't divide the land there to me,

even if the imperial court arranges local officials there,

even,

even if the imperial court arranges garrison troops there;

but as long as it's close to our new manor,

as long as it's within the coverage of Fengxincheng,

those local officials will have to listen to the orders of our manor;

those local garrison troops will have to listen to the military orders of our manor;

the people in those places will think that they are the people under my Zheng family's rule.

Those great men in the imperial court

aren't fools,

what they want,

is for me to raise enough troops in the smallest territory, to defend against the Savages in the north and block the Chu people in the south;

they can't wait for you to barely support yourself, and still have to rely on their alms to continue.

This is just like doing business,

you can't be polite,

if you're polite,

you're the one who suffers.

Don't forget,

I still have the title of General Who Conquers the Nation hanging over my head, I only occupy a small portion of the former Great Cheng Kingdom's territory, it's already very unworthy of the name."

"Husband is right, what should be ours must be ours, what shouldn't be ours, as long as our hands can reach it, then it's also ours."

"That's right, that's the principle."

Zheng Fan reached out and touched the pocket on his chest, but didn't find it.

Xiong Liqing skillfully took out a simplified iron box from her sleeve, and then took out a cigarette from it and put it to her husband's mouth, then took out a fire starter, sheltered the fire, and helped him light it.

Zheng Boye took a puff,

slowly exhaled,

and sighed;

"As expected, a real princess lights a cigarette, it's indeed different compared to other princesses."

Soon,

Liu Ruqing called for the meals that had been prepared long ago.

There weren't many dishes,

two meat dishes and one vegetable dish, plus a soup;

Zheng Boye's life actually had a bit of petty-bourgeois sentiment. Usually, he was also particular about eating delicately, but to be honest, it really wasn't extravagant.

Those nobles and gentry didn't eat food, they ate pomp and circumstance. Zheng Boye wouldn't do such a foolish thing.

After eating,

the two women accompanied Zheng Boye to the backyard to see Tiantian.

While eating, Xiong Liqing had already told Zheng Fan about what had happened a few days ago. When he thought that his godson had been taken out by Shatuo Queshi for a bloodbath, Zheng Boye's heart really trembled a little.

He had just stabilized things with Old Tian;

If something happened to Tiantian again, then there would really be no way to clean it up.

When Zheng Fan came in, he saw Tiantian holding a small box, taking out some of the snacks he had hidden inside, putting them in front of him, and giving them to the Magic Pill to eat.

Of course, the Magic Pill wouldn't eat it,

But every time Tiantian took out a new snack,

the Magic Pill would "move away" the previously released one,

making Tiantian think he had already eaten it.

This was undoubtedly wasting food,

but

Zheng Boye was a bigwig after all, and Tiantian was the son of Jingnan Wang, so there was no way to say anything about wasting these snacks.

Seeing Zheng Fan coming,

Tiantian also excitedly got up,

and trotted towards Zheng Fan.

Zheng Fan bent down and picked up his godson.

Heavier,

heavier again,

and also fatter.

Zheng Boye couldn't help but kiss Tiantian several times on the face, his beard tickling Tiantian, who laughed.

"Hehe, to think that our King single-handedly stormed the Chu Kingdom's imperial palace, what a heroic figure, who would have thought that his child would be raised to be almost like Fuwa."

Tiantian now looked like a doll in a New Year's picture.

He really wasn't the same style as Old Tian.

"Good, good."

Zheng Boye turned around holding Tiantian, and said:

"Let's go together."

After going down the steps,

Zheng Fan walked into the secret room holding Tiantian.

The coffin in the secret room was still lying there, even when Zheng Fan came in holding the child, there was no movement.

"It's also unlucky, I just came back, and you've fallen asleep again."

Zheng Fan sighed.

Shatuo Queshi had fallen into a deep sleep again.

Xiong Liqing and Liu Ruqing stood far behind, they knew that their man had something to say.

However,

some things,

Zheng Fan didn't plan to avoid others.

To put it bluntly,

he himself took a fancy to Liu Ruqing, and then Fan Zhengwen took the initiative to send her to him in order to curry favor with him;

The princess was also the type he liked, she was straightforward, and she was a bit plump;

It was impossible to put those porcelain bottles that were purely for decoration and needed to be guarded against in front of him, it would lower the quality of life.

Therefore, since everyone present was family, they could talk about their own affairs openly.

"You continue to sleep, when my new official uniform comes down in a while, I'll come and chat with you wearing it, you know, I'm about to be enfeoffed as a Marquis.

A Marquis,

a Marquis of the Yan Kingdom;

It's the same level as the Zhenbei Marquis Manor back then, we'll also be living in a Marquis Manor in the future.

How is it,

that stab you gave to the Sixth Prince back then,

was it worth it?

That stab of yours,

that one help,

has sent me to this position of being enfeoffed as a Marquis."

Zheng Boye said these words with a bit of pride.

Behind him,

Liu Ruqing was fine,

Xiong Liqing knew about Zheng Fan's past, and also knew that her man's rise stemmed from saving the current Sixth Prince outside the Zhenbei Marquis Manor, and later because of this favor, he received the strong support from the Sixth Prince, who was known as the God of Wealth.

Who would have thought,

that everything,

was actually a scheme set up by her own man,

the former Zuo Guli King of the Barbarians was willing to send a gust of wind, a wind that would soar upwards, to her man before he died.

Since Zheng Fan dared to say these secrets,

he wasn't worried that Xiong Liqing and Liu Ruqing would spread them;

And even if they did spread,

so what?

What could they do?

Could it be that

someone would dare to accuse him of colluding with the Barbarians now?

Could it be that

Ji Laoliu would dare to settle accounts with him because he knew about this?

Did he really think that Ji Laoliu was so pure and kind?

Did he really never suspect anything?

Hehe,

maybe the day after he saved him,

he was already suspicious and investigated it.

Even if at the beginning, he thought it was absurd that the Zuo Guli King would help a miscellaneous captain put on a show, but as he rose step by step, it would be a real insult to Ji Laoliu's intelligence if he didn't think back to that "life-saving grace" back then and suspect that there was something fishy about it.

But,

so what?

Working hard,

fighting wars and running things,

and not kneeling down and saying auspicious words in the early stages,

what he was after,

wasn't it so that he could stand up straight and be free and easy in the future?

Now,

even if Zheng Fan personally said to Ji Laoliu's face,

that back then, it was Shatuo Queshi and I who teamed up to put on a show to save you,

Ji Laoliu's first reaction would definitely be that brother, you're drunk, you're drunk, you're talking nonsense, I, Ji Laoliu, will never forget your life-saving grace.

"I also have a lot of Barbarian soldiers here, in the future, I'll find a way to recruit a few more, as long as you wake up, I can take all these Barbarian soldiers to you.

I can even rename that town Shatuo Town.

I'm saying,

I'm just about to build a Marquis Manor here,

it's really not comparable to that century-old Zhenbei Marquis Manor, the foundation is far behind.

You wake up earlier,

and you can help me.

Help me together, prop up this stall, prop it up well.

I'm not that old Barbarian King of your royal court, cowering, with me, we'll just seek pleasure, just seek to be happy."

Zheng Fan held Tiantian in his left arm,

and stroked the coffin lid with his right hand,

"You sleep a little longer, sleep a little longer."

Every time he was promoted, every time he won a battle, Zheng Fan would come over and talk to Shatuo Queshi, sharing his progress.

After all,

he was the first person in this world,

without any ties or additional conditions, who sincerely treated him well.

The first one,

the first one.

"Hoo... Let's go back, let's not disturb his rest."

Zheng Fan led everyone out of the secret room.

At this time, the Blind Man and Gou Moli were already waiting there.

Seeing them,

Zheng Fan couldn't help but smile:

"Didn't I say that I wanted to be quiet these few days, you can make the decisions about the post-war settlement matters, don't come and ask me."

"It's not about the post-war matters, but Fu Shun'er and Kong Yuan, the master and disciple of the Lotus Sect of the Yun Kingdom, and the group of Hunmen people who were captured back from Tianhu Mountain last time, have returned, and next, we need to come up with a new regulation."

The Hunmen people were those guys who had successfully tricked themselves into thinking they were disciples of the Sword Saint in front of the Sword Saint.

They were trying to rescue their master, but after being captured by Zheng Fan, they were packed up with their master plus that Fu Shun'er and thrown back to Xuehaiguan, along with a group of gathered charlatans, and scattered into the snowfield to preach.

Anyway, these guys were either good at trickery or good at fooling people, which was most suitable for those "simple" wild people.

"Regulation?"

Zheng Fan pointed at Gou Moli,

and said:

"Doesn't he know what to do next?"

Gou Moli immediately respectfully said: "This requires you, Lord, to give some guidance."

"Guidance? Okay, have you seen our Xuehaiguan? Have you also seen those forts outside Xuehaiguan? The Jin people built majestic passes here, but in the end, didn't they still fail to stop the Savages from entering the pass?"

Zheng Fan didn't care that the Savage King himself was here, if he didn't have this awareness, it would have been impossible for him to get to the point where he could lead an army alone, so he directly said:

"Build fewer walls and more temples."

Hearing this, the Blind Man smiled slightly.

Gou Moli greatly admired and said: "Lord's method can be said to be drawing firewood from under the pot, this subordinate admires it." (solving a problem at its root)

"We're not avoiding you either, when that day really comes, the Savages actually won't disappear, but the Savages will also become one of the Zhuxia, the historians will be able to find reliable records, and if they can't find them, they can also make them up, after all, that's how they make a living."

"Yes, this subordinate understands."

Then,

Zheng Boye pointed at the Blind Man,

and said;

"Coincidentally, I want to play with the child for a while, you help me draw a picture, take a photo of me and my godson, burying other painters would be too wasteful."

There were painters in the city, and there were actually also some in the army.

Many of Zheng Boye's paintings had already been used as door gods by the soldiers and civilians in Xuehaiguan, it could be imagined that this custom would soon spread throughout the entire Jin East region.

"Okay, Master."

The Blind Man was very busy,

but he wouldn't refuse this kind of thing;

Being busy was for a better life, this couldn't be putting the cart before the horse.

Zheng Boye took Tiantian to his bedroom,

When he returned last night, Zheng Boye found that the carpet in the bedroom had been replaced, replaced with a map, this map was mainly of the Three Jin lands, with some Chu land and some Yan land, and some small countries near Nanguan Pass.

Zhennan, Xuehai, and Fengxin, the three cities, were highlighted.

Needless to say,

this must have been the Blind Man's work.

At this time,

Gou Moli, the Blind Man, Xiong Liqing, and Liu Ruqing were standing in the room;

Zheng Boye put Tiantian on the ground, and pointed to the east.

Tiantian didn't understand the meaning of the map under him, but still followed Zheng Fan's guidance and crawled to the Jin East region.

Zheng Boye stood beside Tiantian,

looking at him with a smile on his face.

The Blind Man took out paper and pen and began to outline the layout.

After a while,

Zheng Boye raised his hand,

and said:

"Blind Man."

"Master, what do you say."

"Shouldn't we add a sentence? Anyway, we won't show this painting to outsiders, you keep it safe, and give it to Si Niang to keep after we get back."

"Of course, Master, you say it, and I'll add it."

"Um."

Zheng Fan cleared his throat,

lowered his head,

and looked at Tiantian, who was lying on the ground again,

Tiantian was now lying in the area of the Jin East region,

looked up,

and looked at his godfather with a naive expression.

The Great Yan's Zheng Boye said:

"Look, this is the empire that I've conquered for you."