I was spotted by the heroines while doing the quick-travel mission.

"Ah ha ha…"

Yang Liu smiled stiffly, looked away and didn't dare to look at Yang Zhao again. Then, under Yang Zhao's repeated urging, she went back to her room.

The next morning, everyone in the Yang Mansion was busy preparing a welcoming banquet for Yang Zhao. Some small families who wanted to establish a relationship with Yang Zhao also came one after another with gifts. In the morning, Yang Liu politely rejected many useless people who had been screened by the system on Yang Zhao's behalf.

When Yang Zhao finished practicing with his spear and came to the front yard, he saw Yang Liu sitting by the door, holding a wolf-hair brush and writing down names and gifts one by one in the gift book. Those who stayed were considered to be interested in making friends with him. If they had nothing to do, they would be invited into the hall for a meal. This would help Yang Zhao lay the foundation and expand his network.

Yang Zhao stood aside and watched for a long time. When Yang Liu put down her pen and stretched her sore shoulders, he stood behind her, stretched out his hand to pinch her shoulders to help her relieve her fatigue, and asked, "Why are you writing these? They are all small families, why do you want to befriend them?"

Yang Liu looked up at his brother who was still a little green after returning from the battlefield for several years, patted the chair beside him and motioned for him to sit down, and then said.

"If you want to be an official in the court, you must make friends with merchants and officials, whether inside or outside the court. It will always be beneficial to you."

Yang Zhao pondered after hearing what she said, and nodded after a while. He might have been a little confused about what kind of path people take, but he never thought of the worst. If she insisted on doing so, he would just let her do what she wanted.

"It's all up to you."

Seeing that Yang Zhao did not resist, Yang Liu was relieved. She turned to look at Yang Zhao's new outfit, which was much more pleasing to the eye than the iron armor and red clothes he wore last night. He looked like a well-read young man from an aristocratic family. The blue robe made Yang Zhao look more elegant and easy-going. Yang Liu propped up her head to look at her brother's handsome face, and did not forget to ask about Huangfu Ling's situation.

"What time did you and Ling'er agree to come yesterday?"

Yang Liu asked. Yang Zhao pondered for a while, raised his head to look at the sun, and replied, "Soon."

Speak of the devil, and here he comes. Even though Huangfu Ling's voice had changed a little, it was still very easy to distinguish and could be heard by Yang Liu from afar.

Yang Liu supported herself on the table and stood up. She smiled and raised her head, but her expression changed in an instant. She was happy to see Huangfu Ling, but she felt that the thing behind him was a bit unlucky.

"Ling'er!" Yang Liu rolled her eyes in her heart, then turned around and put on a kind smile. She hugged Huangfu Ling in her arms with a look of surprise, completely ignoring the man behind Huangfu Ling's somewhat stiff smile and jealous expression.

"Ling'er, come and show your brother. Is there no delicious tea and snacks on the battlefield? You have lost a lot of weight. It's really unfair to our Ling'er."

Yang Liu's eyes were full of heartache. She turned Huangfu Ling around, lifted her arms and shoulders, and looked her up and down. Seeing that she was not missing any limbs, she pinched her calloused hand and stroked it with heartache. She said a lot in a rambling manner, and her actions were so intimate that the people behind Huangfu Ling felt jealous. But before Yang Liu could say another word, Huangfu Ling interrupted her. She was still as lively and cute as when they first parted, completely different from the cold and indifferent little general who rode across the street yesterday.

"That's right. I really want the snacks made by Brother Yuzhou. I'm so greedy. Is there any on the table today?"

Huangfu Ling was swinging Yang Liu's shoulders. Yang Liu was about to answer when Huangfu Ling continued, "Oh, by the way! Let me introduce someone to you, Lin Fan! Lieutenant General Lin's son. I met him when I was young. You should probably remember him! I was shocked when I met him on the battlefield! What a fate!"

Huangfu Ling enthusiastically pulled Lin Fan over and pushed him in front of Yang Liu to show her. Lin Fan's face was full of doting eyes and he was almost sticking to Huangfu Ling. Yang Liu looked at Huangfu Ling with spring in her eyes behind Lin Fan. The innocent and lively girl was a little shy and awkward at the moment.

"Ah... Haha, sorry Ling'er, I don't have a very deep impression, I don't remember it very well... Hello, I'm Yang Yuzhou. My Yang family and Ling'er's family are old friends. We have been friends since we were young. If you have anything you want to ask, Mr. Lin, you can ask me." Even though Yang Liu complained a thousand times in her heart, she did not confront Lin Fan. Instead, she revealed her identity naturally and created a good personality in the process, earning Huangfu Ling's favor again.

Yang Liu's eyes were curved and she looked harmless. Lin Fan couldn't get angry, so he could only continue according to Huangfu Ling's words.

"My name is Lin Fan. Brother Yang must be the descendant of General Yang. My father was once a subordinate of your father."

Yang Liu thought for a while and just smiled, his tone was calm and a little distant. "Really? When my father passed away, I was still young and didn't know much about his military affairs. If that's true, it's really fate."

Yang Liu knew the whole story, and she laughed and spoke in official language. The girl, who was deeply in love, could not hear any clues. Yang Zhao turned his head and cast a puzzled look at Yang Liu, but when he saw that Yang Liu looked normal, he turned his gaze away. Yang Liu exchanged a few more pleasantries with Huangfu Ling and then urged her to go inside.

"Well, I'm sorry for not treating you well. Please come in. Ling'er will take the guest to a seat."

Huangfu Ling understood, stuffed the rare little thing he brought for Yang Liu into her arms, and walked in with Lin Fan. Yang Liu watched them disappear before sighing, and Yang Zhao asked.

"You don't seem to like Lin Fan."

Yang Liu was a little surprised. She looked up at the person but did not refute.

"Is it obvious?"

Yang Zhao shook his head.

"No, it's just that I understand you." Yang Zhao said.

Yang Liu was a little stunned, and asked, "What kind of person do you think Lin Fan is?"

Yang Zhao thought about it and found that he didn't really know him very well. On the battlefield, Lin Fan was undoubtedly very good. He was never afraid of killing the enemy and was both wise and brave. On ordinary days, he seemed to be kind to the people around him, unlike those dandies who relied on their connections and looked down on others.

"He seems like a good guy, but we haven't made close friends."

Yang Liu was silent for a moment after listening to this. Lin Fan’s character in the early part of the novel was indeed very likable, but the plot in the later part started off high and ended up low, with Lin Fan becoming a greedy bastard and a stud, which was particularly unpleasant.

"Don't get close to him."

Yang Liu rarely looked serious, and raised her head to look at Yang Zhao. Yang Zhao was already much taller than Yang Liu. When he saw Yang Liu looking up, he subconsciously leaned closer to Yang Liu to listen to her. He was silent for a long time after hearing her words, and rarely did he agree directly. "Why?"

Yang Liu didn't know how to explain it and remained silent for a moment. The two looked at each other for a long time.

While they were concentrating, Mo Lanzhi appeared quietly and shouted beside them. Yang Liu jumped up on the spot and fell back into the chair. His legs were in excruciating pain from the intense movement and his face turned pale for a moment. The sudden fright also frightened Yang Zhao, who was too focused, and his hair stood on end.

"Lanzhi! You scared me to death!" Yang Liu blamed Mo Lanzhi for being so elusive.

Mo Lanzhi stuck out her tongue, feeling a little embarrassed, and quickly reached out to help Yang Liu calm down, letting Yang Zhao grab Yang Liu's folding fan and lift Mo Lanzhi's wrist to open it.

"There is a difference between men and women."

Mo Lanzhi looked at Yang Zhao in confusion. She tilted her head to look at Yang Liu, then at Yang Zhao, who was protecting his child. She thought for a moment with a look of shock on her face, pursed her lips and didn't say anything.

"Alright, alright, Lanzhi is always like this, you two should stop doing this."

The peacemaker spoke and successfully stopped a fight. Molanzhi hid behind Yang Liu. Yang Zhao also restrained his cold and stern expression and poured a cup of tea and handed it to Yang Liu.

"Don't jump so hard. Your legs aren't much better anyway."

Yang Zhao knelt on one knee beside Yang Liu and rubbed her legs. Yang Liu grimaced in pain and for a moment she forgot what she had just discussed with Yang Zhao. She just kept asking Yang Zhao to be gentler. Yang Zhao wanted to teach Yang Liu a lesson, so he deliberately pressed hard a few times before easing up. He used all the massage techniques he learned on the battlefield on Yang Liu. He really liked this sister who he had picked up for free and couldn't bear to see her suffer from her leg injury.

Yang Liu did not refuse. After all, this would cause considerable damage to her legs which had finally recovered. However, it did hurt when Yang Zhao pressed on her legs, and Yang Liu could not help but grimace.

"Be gentle, be gentle, it hurts, it hurts..."

Yang Zhao rubbed her patiently for a long time, and only let go and stood up when Yang Liu's howling became quieter.

"I know it hurts, so I'll remember it next time."

Yang Liu slumped in the chair, looking lost. Mo Lanzhi felt guilty, so she brought her tea and water, and finally brought Yang Liu back to her senses. Yang Liu expressed her deep dissatisfaction with Yang Zhao's revengeful leg rubbing, but Yang Zhao turned his head away and ignored her, turning a deaf ear to Yang Liu's words.

Yang Liu said she was tired, so she took over as Yang Zhao wrote the gift book while she sat aside drinking tea, eating snacks and chatting with Mo Lanzhi about family matters.

After Lingzhi finished dealing with the things in the backyard, he came to the front yard to call Yang Liu and others to the table. Yang Liu calculated that the time had passed, and looked outside the door. After a long time, he did not see Liu Ruying. He was ready to send someone to call her, but the servant had not walked out of the door. Liu Ruying came in dejectedly. When Yang Liu saw that Liu Ruying was worried and looked a little unhappy, he immediately realized that he had hit a wall, and hurriedly raised his hand to call her.

"Cousin! What's wrong? Who is so blind as to make our cousin so angry?"

Liu Ruying dragged her steps and forgot about etiquette. She walked slowly to Yang Liu and sat down. She sighed heavily and greeted Yang Zhao before telling the story.

"Someone stole my books and sold them at nearly half the price of mine. Many of them that were hard to tell whether they were genuine or not went to him. My income has dropped a lot in the past few days."

"Then make anti-counterfeiting labels."

"Anti-counterfeiting...what?"

Yang Liu speaks quickly, and Liu Ruying questioned the unfamiliar words that came out of Yang Liu's mouth.

"It means printing some special words or patterns in the book, preferably ones that cannot be copied by others, to distinguish them."

Liu Ruying listened thoughtfully, then clapped her hands in sudden enlightenment.

"Thank you, cousin. I knew you would come up with a good idea. I see! When are we having the banquet?"

Liu Ruying solved her biggest worry and smiled, her eyes and eyebrows curved like a spring breeze.

"That's good. It's almost time. Let's go to the backyard. Today we have to listen carefully to our General Xiao Yang's heroic deeds on the battlefield!"