Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Chapter 323: Is a Stepfather More Appealing Than a Real Father?

"Good, good, good."

Li Ji, with a warm smile, helped the adorable A'dou up. Then, he reached into his sleeve, took out a large handful of gold beans, and without even looking, stuffed them into A'dou's hands, saying.

"I have just returned from Yingzhou and have nothing of great value to give to the young master. I only have some Yingzhou specialties to offer as gifts. I hope the young master will not dislike them."

A'dou looked at the large handful of gold beans in his hands, almost unable to hold them steady. The golden light almost made him squint.

Although A'dou was young, he wasn't so ignorant as to not know what gold was.

It was just that Liu Bei had never given A'dou even a single copper coin as pocket money, leaving A'dou embarrassed whenever he went to the streets, unable to afford the various snacks he craved.

Looking at this large handful of gold beans, A'dou felt as if countless snacks were rushing towards him, about to drown him.

Instantly, A'dou's image of Li Ji, the "stepfather" whom Liu Bei often mentioned, became incredibly glorious and magnificent in his heart, even moving him to tears.

Is a stepfather more appealing than a real father?

However, before A'dou could imagine enjoying endless snacks with the gold beans, Liu Bei swept his hand across A'dou's hands, taking all the gold beans away in an instant. Then, he stuffed them into Li Ji's arms, saying.

"Zikun, you mustn't, you mustn't! Not to mention A'dou is very young and has no use for so many gold beans, besides, how precious is this large handful of gold beans?"

"A few gold beans are nothing..."

Li Ji paused, blocking Liu Bei's hand as he tried to return them. He leaned slightly towards Liu Bei's ear and whispered.

"The ballast of every returning warship is full of gold and silver mined in Yingzhou in the past one or two years. What's the harm in using these few gold beans as toys for A'dou?"

Liu Bei's eyes widened, his pupils shrank, and he looked at Li Ji, who was so close, in disbelief. He thought he had misheard and confirmed.

"What Zikun said, is that only for one warship?"

Li Ji chuckled and repeated.

"My lord, it is for every warship."

At this moment, Liu Bei suddenly felt that Li Ji's light words were so deafening that Liu Bei felt his head buzzing.

In the past, in order to develop Wu County and Kuaiji County, Liu Bei had to be frugal. Except for splurging on Li Ji's wedding day, even great events such as marrying Lady Gan and A'dou's birth were kept as simple as possible.

Even though Li Ji had repeatedly claimed that Yingzhou was full of gold and silver, Liu Bei had never had any illusions. He had never expected Li Ji to bring back ships full of gold and silver upon his return.

Suddenly, Liu Bei realized something and slapped the carriage forcefully, shouting.

"Stop! Return to the port immediately..."

Just now, only the soldiers had disembarked, but the warships were still docked in the port.

Now that he knew that those warships were still full of gold and silver, how could Liu Bei feel at ease? He immediately wanted to return to Wu County and move the gold and silver down first.

However, Li Ji stopped Liu Bei, saying.

"My lord, don't be anxious. There are many people with mixed intentions in the port, and there may be many spies or people with ulterior motives. If we openly transport gold and silver, we will definitely not escape the eyes of those who are interested."

"Therefore, I have secretly ordered Zhao Yun to lead the White Horse Cavalry to temporarily garrison in the port. After nightfall, Jiang Qin will lead the fleet directly to the shipyard, under the guise of repairing damage to the warships. Your Lordship can then send trusted generals to move the gold and silver down in the shipyard and send it to the treasury."

Hearing this, Liu Bei finally recovered from the shock just now and took a long breath, saying.

"Zikun is still the most thoughtful. I was momentarily out of control."

"Besides, this is only the amount mined in the past year. In the future, the amount of gold and silver that can be mined from Yingzhou every year will only increase, so Your Lordship will not have to worry about insufficient finances in the future..."

Li Ji paused, looked at Liu Bei's gradually stiffening expression, and continued. "At least, Your Lordship can freely repair the government office and the mansion..."

After speaking, Li Ji did not forget to look at A'dou, revealing a gentle expression, saying. "And get A'dou a better set of clothes, without worrying about affecting the development of people's livelihood because of it."

At least, judging from the clothes of Li Xiang and A'dou, Li Xiang's clothes were obviously three points better than A'dou's, and A'dou was even wearing a pair of straw sandals.

Hearing this, how could Liu Bei not be moved? Even A'dou's eyes seemed to be shining when he looked at Li Ji.

"Zikun..."

Liu Bei couldn't help but pat Li Ji's shoulder, his voice choked with emotion. After a long while, he continued.

"Without you, how could I have what I have today?"

"Without Your Lordship, there would be no me today either," Li Ji replied.

At this moment, Liu Bei didn't say anything more. Everything was self-evident. It was undoubtedly a blessing in life for the monarch and his subject to understand each other.

"Knock knock!"

At this moment, Xiahou Bo knocked lightly, confirming. "My Lord, did you just say you wanted to return to the port?"

Liu Bei quickly calmed himself down, his voice returning to its usual calm and gentle state, saying.

"No need, continue back to Wu County."

"Yes, My Lord."

Xiahou Bo responded, and then the carriage continued to move forward smoothly.

Li Ji also took the opportunity to lift a corner of the curtain and looked at the scene outside the carriage. What he saw was countless fertile fields.

In addition, the official road that the carriage was now traveling on was obviously much smoother and wider than before.

From this, one could see that Liu Bei had indeed been controlling Wu County to develop in the direction of the various development plans that Li Ji had formulated before leaving Wu County.

At least, in this era, which often ignored the importance of transportation efficiency, the importance of official roads was too easily overlooked.

If Liu Bei hadn't strongly advocated it, Wu County would never have spent so much effort repairing the official roads. The cost of this would have been money, food, and labor.

After Li Ji put down the curtain, Liu Bei gradually cleared his mind completely and understood that Li Ji's harvest in Yingzhou was probably even greater than he had imagined.

From now on, he probably wouldn't have to worry about finances at all!

Thinking of this, Liu Bei no longer insisted on returning the large handful of gold beans to Li Ji, and then happily accepted them, saying.

"Since that's the case, then I will accept these gold beans on behalf of A'dou."

Liu Bei paused and scolded A'dou. "A'dou, quickly thank your stepfather for the meeting gift."

A'dou looked at his empty hands and then at Liu Bei's sleeve where the gold beans had been placed. A hint of resentment appeared in his clear eyes, but he could only respectfully thank Li Ji.

"Young Master doesn't need to be like this."

Li Ji quickly stepped forward to help A'dou up.

Suddenly, A'dou felt that there seemed to be some round, hard objects in his palm. This made him slightly stunned. For a moment, he didn't react and subconsciously looked up, just in time to meet Li Ji's gaze.

Li Ji gently winked at A'dou, and A'dou suddenly felt enlightened, realizing how similar the feeling in his hand was to gold beans.

This is the love of a stepfather!

At this moment, A'dou was so moved that his eyes were filled with tears. He couldn't help but want to look up and sigh: Why didn't stepfather return to Wu County earlier?

Immediately, A'dou quickly stuffed the gold beans in his hand into his sleeve, fearing that Liu Bei would see them, feeling very happy in his heart.

What A'dou didn't know was that all of this was actually seen by Liu Bei, but out of respect for Li Ji, he didn't plan to expose it on the spot. He planned to send A'dou back to the mansion and then find an excuse to confiscate them.

Next, Liu Bei didn't talk about official business anymore. Instead, he talked about some trivial family matters with Li Ji all the way, heading to the grand banquet that had been prepared early in the city, as a celebration banquet for Li Ji leading the generals to resist the Wuhuan and manage Yingzhou.

The banquet was naturally full of celebration.

Especially the generals who had followed Li Ji on the overseas expedition for more than two years were very nostalgic for the Han's fine wine and delicacies. This time, everyone was undoubtedly enjoying themselves to the fullest.

This banquet lasted until the moon and stars were sparse, and most of the people were drunk before it ended.

When Liu Bei personally escorted Li Ji and Li Xiang back to the front of their house, he did not forget to remind Li Ji to rest well at home for a few days to relieve the fatigue of the journey.

However, after Li Ji took Li Xiang out of the carriage and bid farewell to Liu Bei, he looked at the plaque "Marquis of Zhaoting Residence" hanging on his mansion and couldn't react for a moment.

"When was this plaque changed?" Li Ji asked.

Just when Li Ji thought that no one would answer him, Li Xiang, who had been almost always following him, looking quite calm and taciturn, replied in a childish voice, logically.

"Previously, Father helped You Province defeat the Wuhuan, and the imperial edict came to Wu County to confer Father as the Prefect of Liaoxi County and the Marquis of Zhaoting. Although Father was not in Wu County to receive the edict at that time, Uncle ordered the craftsmen to replace the plaque."

Hearing this, Li Ji turned his head to look at Li Xiang, who was standing with his hands clasped at his side. Li Xiang also looked up at Li Ji.

After a few breaths, Li Ji asked. "Who taught Xiang'er these words?"

Li Xiang respectfully replied. "Mother taught me."

Hearing these words, Li Ji's eyes couldn't help but soften a bit, and then he reached out and flicked Li Xiang's forehead, saying.

"Xiang'er doesn't need to be like this. Father has been away from home for these years and feels indebted to you and your mother. I can only slowly compensate you..."

"Moreover, Xiang'er was able to say such a thing, so you must have suffered a lot in private, right? Actually, there is no need to be like this. Father is confident that he can still support you and your mother. Xiang'er only needs to be innocent and romantic at a young age."

With that, Li Ji squatted down, gently stroking Li Xiang's head while carefully examining the boy before him.

It had to be said that Li Xiang, as the son of Li Ji and Cai Zhaoji, was naturally blessed with handsome features, and his eyes were full of lively brilliance, as if he were contemplating Li Ji's words.