On the second day at dawn, amid the earnest exhortations and reluctant farewells of the Yang and Wu families, Yang Chengning, Wu Lishan, and Qi Ying, carrying backpacks designed by Yang Mengchen, rode spirited horses and followed Qing Qing to the distant border.

Not until their figures had disappeared did Yang Mengchen, arm in arm with Liu Xiuyun, quietly comfort her as they walked towards the inner courtyard.

Mo Yun spoke in a hushed voice, "Prince, the seven individuals following the Second Young Master Yang are no ordinary people."

"They must be from Youming Palace," Mo Lei speculated. After all, Weichi Kong was very fond of Ms. Yang, so it was only normal for him to send people to protect the Second Young Master Yang.

Long Xuanmo said nothing, his eyes half-closed and his expression cold, inscrutable to those trying to guess his thoughts.

After seeing off the several families, Yang Mengchen and Xiao Hongtao visited Wazi village and several other villages, where the villagers displayed great enthusiasm for their arrival.

Yang Mengchen signed contracts with the villagers and then guided them on how to cultivate the soil as required. She also sent craftsmen to build orchards and assigned technicians to regularly supervise and instruct; of course, she provided the saplings.

The various fruits and vegetables in the greenhouses had been successfully nurtured, but the seedlings were few. Yang Mengchen chose Yangliu Village and three other villages belonging to her maternal grandparents for planting. This task was entrusted to Yang Chengrong.

According to Nangong Lingfei, the best sericulture and weaving technology in Dong Chu was in Hengzhou. Yang Mengchen arranged for ten Female Elite Guards and twenty Death Contract Servants to go learn the technology. Thanks to Nangong Lingfei's connections, the group of thirty managed to enter the well-known Chu family's textile workshop.

After a busy period, Yang Mengchen started working with Yang Chengyu on the printing machine. They had already made some progress before the new year, and after another half month, the siblings finally successfully developed the first printing machine. Not only was it easy to operate, saving time and effort, but it could also produce large quantities of uniformly patterned cloth.

Yang Mengchen encouraged the workers in the embroidery factory to design patterns, promising bonuses for adopted designs, which spurred great enthusiasm among the workers.

The technology for manufacturing the printing machine was sold to Long Xuanmo, and not long after, printed cloth appeared on the market.

Of course, Qinghe Prefecture remained under the ownership of the Yang family. Yang Chenghong subsequently opened textile shops in the towns under Qinghe Prefecture's jurisdiction. With varying designs and fabric quality, prices were naturally divided into several levels, generally not conflicting with the Imperial Court.

In the blink of an eye, it was the nineteenth of February, and Xiao Wanxue's fifteenth birthday arrived. The Yang family hosted a lively and joyous hairpin ceremony for her. Old Lady Luo, a woman of both virtues and blessings, served as the guest of honor. After a series of ceremonies, the final act was Yang Chengrong personally placing a hoof and lotus blood jade hairpin on his wife's head.

Wang Erzhu from the village patrol suddenly hurried over, "Jiujiu, some people from the Xiao family in the capital have arrived. Each one is so arrogant. Brother Yong (patrol team leader Liu Yong) has stopped them at the entrance of the village and sent me to inform you right away."

"Thank you for your hard work." Yang Mengchen glanced at Mu Jin (who was in charge of Yang Mengchen's finances); Mu Jin immediately handed a red envelope to Wang Erzhu.

Wang Erzhu scratched his head in embarrassment but accepted it nonetheless.

Originally, they had volunteered to form the patrol team, but Jiujiu insisted that they worked hard patrolling every day and persisted in paying them a monthly wage and bonuses. At the end of last year, they even received a year-end bonus. The brothers of the patrol team were moved to tears and naturally became even more diligent in safeguarding the village's security.

Yang Chaoyi came over and asked, "Jiujiu, what's going on?"

Wang Erzhu purposefully lowered his voice, and except for Yang Mengchen and Long Xuanmo as well as Sister Jin and others, no one else heard.

"There's a little trouble with the patrol team. I'll go take a look and be back soon," Yang Mengchen smiled in response. "Today is sister-in-law's big day—let's not make a fuss, Dad, to avoid worrying her."

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