The moment Song Chi finished speaking, Song Meiqin slapped her brother hard and glared at him.

This time, however, Song Chi just winced, not even glancing at his sister as he kept his eyes fixed on Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan looked at Song Chi’s antics and couldn’t help but purse his lips.

"I’m really not interested, so don’t ask again.

I’m already more than content with the three wives I have in this life.

I don’t want to go anywhere else. I’m a homebody who doesn’t do well with new places. I just want to live a comfortable life here in Taiping City!"

When Song Meiqin, who was standing beside him, heard Lu Yuan say "three wives," she realized it was the first time he had ever called her his wife as well.

Her heart swelled with a joy she couldn’t possibly describe.

She couldn’t help but lean her entire body against Lu Yuan, her arm linked through his, looking as sweet as could be.

As for Song Chi, he simply nodded after hearing Lu Yuan’s words and said no more.

Then, Lu Yuan suddenly asked:

"Where are you headed to suppress these bandits?

And when will you be back?"

This sort of information was a military secret and naturally couldn’t be shared with just anyone.

Song Chi was a very disciplined man who followed the rules. But this was Lu Yuan, his own sister’s husband.

So, Song Chi immediately started to say:

"We’re going to the North—"

But before Song Chi could finish, Lu Yuan’s eyes widened and he cut him off.

"Is that something you should be telling me?

What if I get drunk one day and start running my mouth? If the Northern bandits find out and flee ahead of time, then what?"

Song Chi froze, momentarily stunned as he stared at his brother-in-law, a man who was several years his junior—practically still a youth.

Lu Yuan, however, patted Song Chi’s shoulder and said seriously,

"If you really do make it into the Six Ministries one day, I hope you’ll be cautious with your words and actions.

Never form factions for personal gain just to climb to a higher position!

Also, in any dynasty, people can only leap across social classes during times of war.

Otherwise, it’s nearly impossible for anyone to have a meteoric rise during times of peace.

Don’t stand out too much, and don’t be too greedy."

That was all Lu Yuan could say. Whether or not Song Chi understood was up to him.

Even if Song Chi ended up getting his head chopped off later, Lu Yuan wouldn’t regret not having had this conversation today.

Song Chi stared blankly at Lu Yuan, who was so much younger than him.

These were the kinds of words an elder would say to guide a junior.

Yet here they were, coming from someone so much younger than him.

It was truly a bit strange.

But for some inexplicable reason, Song Chi didn’t find it out of place at all. He was thoroughly convinced by Lu Yuan’s words.

Song Chi paused, stunned. Then he straightened up and gave Lu Yuan a deep, formal bow.

"Thank you for your guidance, Brother-in-law.

I will be sure to remember it!"

In the end, Song Chi left on horseback, leading his men and taking the three hundred mortars Lu Yuan had given him.

After Lu Yuan and Song Meiqin watched Song Chi depart, the two of them boarded the carriage.

Inside, Song Meiqin kept her arms around Lu Yuan.

But after Lu Yuan’s speech, she had grown a little worried.

Once in the carriage, seeing Song Meiqin’s distracted expression, Lu Yuan pulled her closer and comforted her with a smile,

"Don’t overthink it. I was just speaking off the cuff."

Hearing his words, Song Meiqin seemed to snap out of it. She snuggled deeper into his embrace and nodded.

"Mhm~"

... ...

The next few days were rather uneventful—for Lu Yuan, at least.

Aunt Song was busy with the factory, and Aunt Zhao was busy with the Spirit Stone Mine.

Even his own wife was now spending her time with the two aunts.

Ever since Lu Yuan mentioned that it was better for pregnant women to move around a bit, and that constantly lying or sitting down was actually bad for them, both Aunt Song and Aunt Zhao wanted to have Su Liyan accompany them.

The two aunts were incredibly fond of Su Liyan.

Aunt Song wanted to take Su Liyan with her to the factory.

while Aunt Zhao wanted to have Su Liyan spend time with her at home.

His wife was nearly literate by now, and she could also learn a great deal just by being with the two aunts.

Especially Aunt Song.

Aunt Song was a true lady of high society, and not just an ordinary one.

Her mastery of the zither, Go, calligraphy, and painting went without saying.

She was well-versed in even more sophisticated matters.

Su Liyan often went with Aunt Song to the factory, keeping her company.

This made Aunt Zhao quite jealous, complaining that Liyan only wanted to be with Song Meiqin and didn’t care for her.

Upon hearing this, Su Liyan would hurry back to spend a few days with Aunt Zhao.

In any case, she managed to keep both aunts happy and content every day.

’Then again, who wouldn’t love a girl like my wife—so diligent, capable, and considerate?’

And so, all three women had something to keep them busy.

Which left Lu Yuan with nothing to do.

Not that Lu Yuan just lazed around in bed all day.

He’d been reading *Shennong* recently and had gleaned some new insights, which made his hands start to itch again.

The main reason was that ever since he’d transmigrated, Lu Yuan had never been quite satisfied with the food.

To put it simply, he just couldn’t get used to it!

As Lu Yuan had said before, as someone from modern Earth, if you didn’t make something special, he wouldn’t even want to eat plain flour.

And here in the North, there were basically no vegetables in the winter.

Seriously, no vegetables at all!

Forget about this place; even on modern Earth, things had only gotten better in recent years.

Go back just ten years or so.

What did people in the north eat during the winter holidays?

It was basically just three things.

Cabbage, potatoes, and pickled beans.

Just those three. You’d be hard-pressed to find anything else.

As soon as winter hit, you’d see all the men and women in the North start hauling hundreds of pounds of napa cabbage back home.

And they’d eat it all winter long.

It was pure torture.

Come winter, it was either cabbage stewed with potatoes, or potatoes stewed with cabbage.