Chapter 299: Chapter 201
After playing a few games of chess with He Lianfang in the afternoon, Zhao Yao left.
Before leaving, He Lianfang told Zhao Yao that his people had already gone ahead to Wusun to gather information. When Liang Run and the others arrive in Wusun, his people will actively seek them out and meet up with them.
Hearing this, Zhao Yao was stunned. He didn’t expect He Lianfang to move so quickly. He just mentioned it to him yesterday, and he had already sent people to Wusun.
It seems that after he left yesterday, his uncle immediately informed his men.
He Lianfang also told Zhao Yao that he had asked his people to find some good candidates to work as spies for Zhao Yao, and that they would train these candidates well. Once they are trained, they will bring them to him for review.
Zhao Yao was dumbfounded: he never thought that in just one night, He Lianfang would have arranged everything for him.
Having an impressive uncle is truly wonderful.
He really helped him a lot!
Zhao Yao is a good elder brother; he taught his four younger brothers the military strategies he learned from He Lianfang without reservation.
Currently, the content taught by He Lianfang to Zhao Yao is not difficult. Chu Huan and the others can understand it, but they are not as insightful in grasping the deeper meaning like Zhao Yao, nor are they as adept at drawing inferences.
Song Jicai and the other four, worthy of being the sons of the Four Great Generals, have a natural talent for leading troops into battle. They learn especially fast and can apply the knowledge flexibly.
Ding Yuan, Ding Shan, Tong An, and the others stood by, astonished, watching Zhao Yao and Song Jicai conduct battles on the sandbox.
Even though it was just a sandbox battle, Tong An and the others seemed to envision them facing off on a real battlefield.
The dinner was personally cooked by Liang Run. He has excellent culinary skills, and the delicious dishes he made were very much liked by Zhao Yao and his four younger brothers.
The delightful meal was thoroughly enjoyed.
After dinner, Liang Run took Zhao Yao and the others to the bathhouse to bathe.
Tong An and Tong Xi did not join them for bathing, as they had physical impairments.
While bathing together, Zhao Yao noticed a distinct birthmark on Ding Yuan’s lower back, a deep red mark resembling a flower.
Zhao Yao asked Ding Yuan if the mark on his back was there from birth or if it was accidentally created later.
Ding Yuan said he didn’t know. He was previously unaware of the mark on his lower back; by the time he noticed it, it was already there. Whether it was congenital or accidentally caused, he didn’t remember.
Zhao Yao was merely curious and didn’t dwell on it.
They lovingly scrubbed each other’s backs, deepening the bond between them.
After bathing, Song Jicai and the others reluctantly left. They wanted to stay overnight, but their families did not allow it.
Chu Huan and the others invited Zhao Yao to stay over at their house, but Zhao Yao declined.
It’s not that Zhao Yao didn’t want to visit the homes of Song Jicai and the others, but his status made it inconvenient. Moreover, visiting would only trouble their families.
Meanwhile, in Liang Run’s room, Zhao Yao was inspecting the lard soap that Liang Run had spent a day making.
Although the ingredients for making lard soap are simple and the process isn’t complex, it wasn’t easy to succeed.
Liang Run spent an entire day, failing countless times, and finally managed to make two bars of lard soap along with a pile of soap fragments.
Due to the warm weather, the lard soap hadn’t solidified well and was still a bit soft. By leaving it overnight, it should solidify well by the next morning.
Zhao Yao used the soap fragments from the failures to wash his hands, discovering that it not only cleaned his hands thoroughly but left a faint floral scent.
"Yao Yao, this lard soap is really something." Despite spending an entire day to successfully make just two bars of soap, Liang Run felt a great sense of accomplishment. "If we sell it, it could definitely earn us a fortune."
Zhao Yao boasted, "Could anything I think of be anything less?"
Liang Run was amused by Zhao Yao’s smug expression: "Yao Yao, how did you come up with such a brilliant idea?" he asked, picking up a bar of soap and sniffing it. "Adding flower extract gives the whole bar a floral fragrance. This is truly a treasure."
"Of course it’s a treasure, better than soapberry." Zhao Yao replied with a grin, "It can be used for washing hair, face, and body, and even for laundry."
Liang Run looked at it with delight, exclaiming, "This is indeed a rare treasure."