Chapter 6

The small room was packed to the brim, not only with over a dozen people but also with various gifts from the villagers placed on the table and on the floor, and even two clucking hens tied outside.

The village doctor, who had the privilege to receive such treatment, had been carried back by Zhu Jie yesterday, barely alive, and today he could already speak... Li Shan thought that in an era without antibiotics, people's constitutions might have been stronger.

Zhu Shi, seated in the main position, smiled and chatted with everyone, often mentioning how she had taught her son from a young age to prioritize righteousness, and that failing to help someone in need was a violation of that principle.

A young man nearby laughed and said, "Big Brother, did you return the bib from yesterday?"

The room erupted in laughter, and even the clan leader, Zhu Wei, was laughing so hard he could barely catch his breath. Li Shan couldn't help but shift the blame, "It was Zhu Ba..."

Zhu Ba, standing by the door, immediately interrupted loudly, "You told me to get it!"

Li Shan was so amused he laughed, and just as he was about to clarify, a small, round, bald head suddenly appeared at the door.

The little monk tugged at Li Shan's clothes and blinked, asking, "Big Brother, Brother Ba said you went to Pingkang Lane yesterday. What for?"

The room fell silent for a moment before bursting into laughter again. Zhu Wei, trying to suppress his laughter, shooed everyone out and said to Zhu Shi, "Big Brother is sixteen now... Given his status, it's hard to find a wife, but perhaps he should take a concubine first?"

Zhu Shi seemed somewhat moved and glanced at Li Shan.

Li Shan shrugged indifferently, "Marry for virtue, take a concubine for beauty."

Zhu Shi decided, "Then we'll pick two maids first."

The little vixen from Pingkang Lane was quite nice, Li Shan thought with a bit of regret, but she belonged to the Music Bureau, and he had no way to get her out.

After some more idle chat, Zhu Wei's face turned serious, "Today I heard that if Dongshan Temple is dissolved, the households that have entrusted their land will have to provide soldiers and pay four years of back taxes..."

"Four years of back taxes?" Zhu Shi laughed in anger, "In just four or five years, has the granary of the Western Capital run out of grain?"

The room fell silent. After a moment, Zhu Shi spoke, "If there's no other way, I'll go..."

"Two hundred and thirty households in Zhujia Gou, how many can he manage?" Zhu Wei shook his head, "If you're unwilling... after the war, we'll return to Lingnan."

Zhu Shi said firmly, "No, we won't return to Lingnan!"

Li Shan, standing by the door, transferred the soybeans from his left hand to his right and back again, his ears perked up. His mother and Zhu Wei wouldn't have talked about these things in front of his previous self.

"Big Brother?"

Li Shan smiled warmly at his mother, "I know I was wrong before. From now on, I'll listen to you."

Zhu Shi smiled in satisfaction. For a woman who had lost her husband, her son was her only support.

However, Li Shan really didn't want to return to Lingnan.

This was Chang'an, the Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty, the Chang'an of poetry and wine, the Chang'an where the imperial palace opened its gates to the world, and the Chang'an where envoys from all nations paid homage to the emperor!

This was the Chang'an before the Zhenguan era, the Chang'an where the Zhenguan era was about to begin, the Chang'an that would soon dominate the world and subdue the four seas.

Only a fool would return to Lingnan!

What was Lingnan like now?

Until the Song Dynasty, Lingnan was still the main destination for exiled officials and criminals, much like Ningguta in the Qing Dynasty.

"Three hundred lychees a day, I wouldn't mind being a Lingnan man."

People in the future thought Su Shi was praising Lingnan...

"Details of the inspection are still unknown, but it's not one of the Ten Virtuous Men. It's said to be a traveling monk from elsewhere, with the dharma name Xuanzang." Zhu Wei said this and then got up and left.

Li Shan grimaced. It was the imperial brother.

...

Mother and son sat facing each other, two bowls of porridge on the table, yellow and orange, looking like millet but actually sorghum, one of the main grains in Guanzhong at the time.

Staying in Chang'an, not entering the Pei family's door.

Since Li Shan made this promise last night, Zhu Shi's face had gradually warmed up. But when Li Shan casually mentioned doing some business to earn money, Zhu Shi's face turned serious again.

"No business!" Zhu Shi said firmly, "Once you go into business, it will be hard to enter the government later!"

Seeing Li Shan's puzzled look, Zhu Shi huffed, "The Pei family of Hedong, with such a great reputation, how can you achieve anything if you don't stand out?"

Li Shan, understanding, smiled and advised, "Mother, let him take his broad road, and we'll take our narrow path. We won't interfere with each other..."

Zhu Shi slammed the table and shouted, "Can you swallow this humiliation?"

His heart seemed to contract, and a wave of hatred surged up. This was the original body's reaction, and Li Shan struggled to suppress it. Without strength, any act of revenge, even the thought of it, was foolish.

In his previous life, Li Shan's best friend once said, drunk, that he had chosen the wrong name, always talking about being kind to others, but in reality, he was a hypocrite.

Zhu Shi was still ranting about the Pei family and Li Dewu, and then mentioned that after the temple was dissolved, they would settle in Zhujia Gou and buy land... This was a good opportunity for the mother and son to settle in Guanzhong.

"Now that Central China is stable, but Hebei is in chaos, and the border is not peaceful, it's a good time to establish oneself."

"Mother, I'm the only son..." Li Shan was a bit restless. The militia system did not select only sons.

In this era, a common cold could be fatal. Send me to the battlefield?

What about all the Tang poems I remember? No place for a hero?

"No problem, we won't serve in the militia." Zhu Shi seemed very confident, "Pei Shimu is old, and his children have no talent. Li Dewu will never reach a high position!"

Li Shan sighed. His mother was determined to humiliate the unfaithful man.

After the meal, Li Shan asked about the temple dissolution again. Zhu Shi, impatient, casually mentioned a few things and then said, "If the temple is dissolved, we need to pay four years of back taxes..."

Zhu Shi was a bit troubled. If they were to settle in Zhujia Gou, they would have to pay four years of back taxes with the villagers, otherwise, it would be hard to get the household registration. But the travel expenses on the way north were almost used up.

As a穿越者 (穿越者 means "time traveler" or "穿越者" in this context), Li Shan had a solution.

"Big Brother Li?"

Zhu Ba's voice came from outside. Li Shan smiled and went out, "All done?"

"Here, all in the bucket."

Li Shan squatted down and sniffed. The soy milk smelled rich, but there was a hint of blood.

No problem, it would be fine after boiling.

"Big Brother, what is this?" The little monk, who had appeared from somewhere, grabbed Li Shan's sleeve.

"Wait, you'll try it later..." Li Shan was a bit worried. This little monk was like a ten-thousand-questions, asking about everything and not caring about the occasion.

Li Shan, born without a mother and losing his father before he was a year old, had only his grandparents. They couldn't survive by farming, so they relied on a tofu shop to get by. He was very familiar with making tofu.

Although he couldn't get the right coagulant, gypsum could work, but he needed to adjust the ratio.

"Uncle Dumb, lower the fire."

Uncle Dumb, the old servant who had saved the hanging Li Shan, pulled out two pieces of firewood. He was a mute, and Zhu Shi had brought five servants to Chang'an, but four had run away with Li Dewu, leaving only Uncle Dumb.

Pouring the prepared gypsum into the pot and stirring it evenly, Li Shan watched the soy milk gradually solidify. He scooped up a spoonful, "Not enough... This is tofu pudding."

Today in Chang'an, Li Shan had gone to the East and West Markets after Pingkang Lane and found out before buying gypsum.

Although tofu was said to have been invented by the Western Han Prince of Huainan, it hadn't spread widely in the Tang Dynasty.

This thing wasn't valuable, but it wasn't hard to make a first pot of gold with it in a short time.

Anyway, Li Shan didn't plan to get rich from tofu.

Looking at the tofu pudding in the pot, Li Shan thought for a moment and decided to try it.

Without soy sauce, he added a bit of sauce. Salt was still quite valuable, so he didn't add it, only a bit of vinegar, and then he took out three small bowls of tofu pudding.

"Eat."

Zhu Shi and Zhu Ba were a bit hesitant, but the little monk slurped down two big mouthfuls, his eyes wide and round, "So smooth!"

A moment later, the three small bowls were empty.

"What is this?"

"Where did you learn this, Big Brother?"

Li Shan tilted his head, thought for a moment, and patted the little monk's bald head, smiling, "This is called Jade Dew."

"If this is sold in the East and West Markets..." Li Shan stroked his chin and said softly.

Zhu Shi, who had been silently watching her seemingly unfamiliar son, suddenly said, "Go invite Uncle Seven, Uncle Five, and Uncle Six."

Sensing the strange atmosphere, Zhu San and the little monk ran off.

"Mother?"

"This can earn some money, but we can't sell it ourselves."

"Zhu Ba can help, and we can call a few more, after all, we need to grind the tofu."

"Mother and I came to Chang'an from the north and encountered trouble. If it weren't for Zhujia Gou, have you thought about what would have happened?"

"Mother's meaning is..."

"Big Brother, what you did yesterday was right. Why are you hesitating today?"

"Living in the world, righteousness comes first!"

As Zhu Shi strode out to talk to Zhu Wei and the others, Li Shan suddenly realized and helplessly stretched out his hand.

Help!