They rode hard on their way back.

Normally, they would have stopped for the night in a town along the way.

But both Lu Yuan and Song Meiqin were eager to get home.

So they didn’t stop, pushing on through the night.

They didn’t even stop for dinner.

Everyone, from the Zhao Family’s men to Lu Yuan and Song Meiqin, just bought some food from a roadside stall and ate on the move.

Speaking of which, the official roads were getting more and more crowded these days.

And the number of small stalls like these was also on the rise.

Just as Lu Yuan had predicted, ever since the tricycles were introduced, many of those who bought them started using them for deliveries.

The official roads were now packed with people.

With more speculators coming and going to deliver goods, the number of roadside stalls naturally increased as well.

And what’s more...

Previously, almost no one went out at night.

After all, there were evil spirits to worry about.

People were afraid of running into something malevolent if they went out after dark.

But now, with so many people around, they weren’t so scared of evil spirits anymore.

At night, you could see clusters of light dotting the official roads.

They were lanterns mounted on the tricycles.

On some of the official roads near county towns, there were even occasional traffic jams.

The truth was, you could just make too much money hauling goods on a tricycle.

Lu Yuan asked around and found that some speculators could earn a profit of two to three maces of silver just by hauling a tricycle-load of goods from Taiping City to the Provincial City.

To put that in perspective...

Even a month’s work at Lu Yuan’s QiaoYan Factory only paid three maces of silver.

If the market was good, a single trip of a few days could earn as much as someone else made in a whole month.

Of course, that was when the market was good; you usually couldn’t make that much.

But even under normal circumstances, a single trip still brought in about one mace.

Either way, it was far more than a regular factory worker or a farmer could earn.

According to Song Meiqin, a used tricycle now sold for more than a new one on the open market.

Even though the factory had expanded to three thousand workers...

...production capacity still couldn’t keep up with demand at all.

The tricycles were just that popular.

’This is a good thing, but I have to be wary of something else.’

’If everyone becomes a speculator, who’s going to grow the crops?’

’What will we do when there isn’t enough food?’

’But on second thought, it’s probably not a huge issue.’

’After all, you need capital to become a speculator. You have to buy a tricycle first.’

’You also have to be familiar with commodity prices in the surrounding county towns.’

’The average commoner might go their whole life without ever leaving their own town.’

’Another thing is that speculators are making a killing right now...’

’...but that’s only because there aren’t many of them yet.’

’Once their numbers grow, it won’t be so easy to make a huge profit anymore.’

’Still, I have to be on guard.’

’If this becomes a craze...’

’...and no one wants to farm anymore because they’re all dreaming of becoming speculators...’

’...if they all run off during the spring planting season, there won’t be a harvest that year.’

’Then again, you can try to control the heavens and the earth, but can you control when people take a shit or fart?’

’There’s money to be made in this right now, so of course everyone wants a piece of the action.’

’It’s just like when Old Zhu imposed the sea ban.’

’Old Zhu’s sea ban wasn’t the same as the Qing Dynasty’s isolationist policy.’

’Old Zhu imposed the sea ban because you couldn’t make money from farming back then.’

’The people on the Southeast Coast stopped farming; they all ran off to make their fortunes at sea, leaving the land to waste.’

’It wasn’t lifted until the Empire stabilized and there was enough grain during the reign of Emperor Yongle.’

’When you get down to it, it’s all about the food supply.’

’My *Shennong* is about to come in very handy.’

Lu Yuan thought to himself...

’You see, these people don’t want to farm...’

’...and the land is just sitting there, fallow.’

’Even if I become the County Magistrate, I can’t just stop people from becoming speculators.’

’Especially since it’s not just happening in Taiping City.’

’It’s the same in all the other surrounding county towns.’

So Lu Yuan mused...

’Since everyone thinks farming isn’t profitable and doesn’t want to do it anymore...’

’...then why don’t I...’

’...buy it all up?’

’To be precise, not buy it.’

’It’s more like taking it.’

’Or borrowing it.’

’Definitely not seizing it.’

’After all, these farming households own the land. If they don’t plant it, they still have to pay taxes on it every year.’

’If they can’t pay with grain, they have to pay with money.’

’I’ll just come in, wave my hand, and say, "Let me use your land, and you won’t have to pay taxes anymore."’

’Wouldn’t they be lining up to hand their land over to me?’

’Then I can consolidate all the land, and then...’

’Mechanized production!’

’Tractors, combines, threshers.’

’Just thinking about it... that’s where the big money is!’

...

"Yuan’Er~ I want to go check on the factory."

Around three or four in the morning, just as they were about to reach Taiping County Town, Song Meiqin, who was beside Lu Yuan, suddenly spoke.

"Hm?"

Hearing her, Lu Yuan turned to look at Song Meiqin curiously.

"Why go to the factory?"

Song Meiqin tilted her head, looking at Lu Yuan with a cute expression, and said in a sweet voice:

"We’ve been gone for days, and I haven’t been to the factory. I’m worried."

"I want to take a walk through the workshop, see if anyone’s hiding in a corner sleeping on the job and getting paid for nothing."

Seeing this mature, elegant beauty acting so cute...

...made Lu Yuan burst out laughing.

But then Lu Yuan pulled Song Meiqin into his arms, put on a fierce look, and said sternly:

"No way. We’re going home to sleep."

Of course, Song Meiqin knew her young man was just worried about her.

Held tightly in his embrace, feeling her young man’s possessiveness, Song Meiqin felt incredibly sweet inside as she wheedled:

"But it’s almost dawn~"

But Lu Yuan just raised an eyebrow and said:

"Even if it’s dawn, you’re going to sleep. Go home and get a full day’s rest."

"Because tonight~"

"You’re going to be in for a rough time~"

Song Meiqin froze for a second, then instantly understood what Lu Yuan meant.

Her gorgeous, noble face couldn’t help but blush. Then, her eyes shimmering with emotion, she looked at Lu Yuan and purred:

"You villain~"

"I guess it’s finally my turn~"

...

A little after four in the morning, the Zhao Family home was silent.

Lu Yuan hadn’t sent anyone ahead to announce their arrival.

If he had, his two women wouldn’t have gotten any sleep; they probably would have waited up all night for him.

Lu Yuan and Song Meiqin held hands as they returned to the central courtyard, pushed open the door, and went inside.

As soon as they looked, they saw Aunt Zhao and Su Liyan asleep in the same bed, cuddling.

They had intended to quietly undress and get into the other bed so as not to disturb them.

But Su Liyan was a light sleeper.

Or maybe she just hadn’t been sleeping soundly these past few days while Lu Yuan was away.

The moment they entered the room and made the slightest sound, Su Liyan stirred.

When Su Liyan moved, Aunt Zhao woke up as well.

They turned on the light, and upon seeing Lu Yuan’s smiling face, both women scrambled out of bed with joyous surprise and rushed over to him.

Although Lu Yuan and Song Meiqin’s trip to the Provincial City hadn’t been for anything dangerous...

...they were just taking some people to give their account of what happened.

...the two women had been unable to rest easy these past few days.

They couldn’t sleep well or eat properly.

Without a man in the house, things just didn’t feel right.

The moment they saw Lu Yuan, their hearts finally settled.

Zhao Qiao’er squinted slightly, grumbling affectionately:

"From now on, I don’t care what you say. Wherever you go, I’m going with you."

"I can’t rest easy otherwise!"

Su Liyan, already in Lu Yuan’s embrace, nodded repeatedly. She lifted her peerlessly beautiful face and cooed:

"Brother~"

"I missed you so much I couldn’t sleep~"

Looking at these two women, Lu Yuan sighed with emotion.

Tsk.

’To have women like these in this lifetime, what more could a man ask for?’

Lu Yuan immediately wrapped his arms around both of them and said with a laugh:

"What?"

"What was there to worry about? It’s not like I was going off to war. I just went, said a few words, and that was that."

"Song Chi’s father-in-law was presiding over the case. I didn’t have to do a thing."

Seeing the exhaustion on Lu Yuan’s face, Su Liyan and Zhao Qiao’er didn’t say any more.

They quickly helped Lu Yuan out of his clothes, urging him to get to bed early.

Lu Yuan decided not to mention becoming the County Magistrate. He really was a bit tired.

He’d tell them after he woke up.

Just as Lu Yuan finished undressing and was about to get into bed, he noticed Aunt Zhao putting on her outer robe.

Lu Yuan looked at Aunt Zhao, puzzled.

"It’s not even light out. Where are you going?"

But Aunt Zhao just rolled her eyes and said sweetly:

"To wait on you, you little rascal~"

"You traveled through the night. You probably didn’t eat much on the way, did you?"

"I’ll have the small kitchen start stewing something for you, so it’ll be ready for you to eat when you wake up~"

Hearing Aunt Zhao’s words, Lu Yuan just gave a wicked laugh and pulled her to a stop.

"No need for that. We can worry about it when I wake up. For now, get in bed and sleep with me."

As he spoke, his hand drifted downward and gave a firm squeeze.

It drew a soft moan from Zhao Qiao’er, who then glared at Lu Yuan, her face flushing with bashfulness as she chided him:

"Getting handsy the moment you get back, are we?~"

"Not sleepy anymore?"

But Lu Yuan just grinned wickedly.

"I’ve been dreaming about your big, plump ass for days~"

"Enough talk. Get on the bed and let me give it a good squeeze~"

Lu Yuan’s words made Zhao Qiao’er incredibly shy, especially with Su Liyan and Song Meiqin watching from the side.

Even with her personality, she couldn’t help but feel flustered and embarrassed.

But perhaps because it had been so many days, Zhao Qiao’er truly did miss her sweetheart dearly.

For a moment, she cast aside all her reservations, gazing at Lu Yuan with a bewitching look as she purred:

"You can squeeze it~"

"I’ll even let you ride me~"

"And I’ll even let you squirt a little something inside~"