Chapter 135: Chapter 96: So, Brother-in-law, Are Three Wives Enough for You?

A dark look clouded Lu Yuan’s face as he smoked in the main house.

That morning, Song Chi had brought his several wives and some of his children to pay a New Year’s visit to their aunt, Song Meiqin.

The New Year’s greetings didn’t last long, though.

Song Chi had suddenly pulled Lu Yuan outside, saying he wanted to talk business.

And what was this "business"?

The business was about suppressing the bandits on Liangshan, for which Song Chi had received great merit.

After all, he had accomplished it with astonishing speed.

He’d only been gone for a few days, and the Liangshan bandit problem was already solved.

The bandit menace on Liangshan had plagued them for years, with no solution in sight.

Yet Song Chi had led his men and finished the job in a matter of days.

Of course, the Court didn’t know that the victory had little to do with Song Chi himself.

It was Lu Yuan who had taken sixty men and handled it.

But in the eyes of the Court, Song Chi was now a master of bandit suppression.

Now, the Divine Ling Empire’s next move was to clear out all the bandits within its borders. How could they let such an expert sit idle?

And so, Song Chi was next tasked with leading men to sweep away the bandits in the Empire’s Northern regions.

But Song Chi knew in his heart...

’This bandit-suppressing business has nothing to do with me!’

’The Liangshan affair was all thanks to my dear brother-in-law!’

’If I go this time and my results are no different from anyone else’s...’

’...won’t I be exposed?’

Of course, Song Chi hadn’t come to ask Lu Yuan to go suppress bandits with him.

This time, Song Chi had come because he’d been thinking about what his sister had mentioned—those small, homemade cannons and Firearms.

It was just like Sun Wukong running to the Celestial Court for reinforcements.

He had come running here to ask for guns and cannons.

Especially the cannons.

’If they’re really like what my sister described, then they’re practically made for suppressing bandits!’

As mentioned before, most bandits hid out on rugged, inaccessible mountaintops.

The mountain paths were treacherous.

The thousand-plus-pound Red Coat Cannons couldn’t be transported up there at all.

And even if you got one up, it would be useless.

Their maximum elevation angle couldn’t reach the bandits’ mountain gates.

But those small homemade cannons... no...

Not homemade cannons, what were they called again... Mortars, that’s what his sister had called them.

’That thing is small and light, and more importantly, it’s specifically designed to hit targets behind cover!’

’It fires high, it’s small... just set up a few of those Mortars and bombard them in turns for a day.’

’No bandit could withstand that!’

’With these things, taking a mountain stronghold in a day? Would that even be a challenge?’

’Could you even call that a challenge?’

’It’d be a cakewalk!’

However, Lu Yuan wasn’t too keen on lending him the Mortars.

This made Song Chi so anxious he was one step away from kneeling to Lu Yuan.

’Anyway, the door to the main house is closed, and no one else is around. What’s wrong with a little brother-in-law kowtowing to his big brother-in-law for the New Year!’

Lu Yuan looked at Song Chi’s antics, speechless.

’If I don’t agree, he’ll probably pester me here all day.’

Lu Yuan thought it over, and finally, he curled his lip and said:

"Fine, fine, fine. Stop acting like that. I’ll give them to you after lunch."

The moment Lu Yuan said this, an ecstatic Song Chi literally jumped for joy, looking like he wanted to rush over and plant a kiss on him.

Seeing things were about to get weird, Lu Yuan quickly stood up and went out the door.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw the three women of the house huddled at the entrance, eavesdropping.

Song Chi’s three wives were in the courtyard, playing with their children.

But they too had been keeping a close eye on the main house.

When they saw the door open and Lu Yuan emerge, followed by the sight of their husband giddy with delight inside...

...Song Chi’s three wives understood what had happened.

They immediately led their children over, looked at Lu Yuan, and said respectfully:

"Thank you, Big Brother-in-law."

Lu Yuan: "..."

The youngest of Song Chi’s three wives was already twenty-five this year.

They were all older than Lu Yuan.

This made Lu Yuan a little uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, Song Meiqin blushed and said shyly:

"Oh, what are you all saying? You’re so annoying. Hurry back inside and get ready for lunch."

After speaking, Song Meiqin, her face still red, pulled Zhao Qiao’Er next to her and headed into the house.

Song Chi followed behind them in high spirits, gloating cheerfully:

"Aiya, Sis, what’s with the act? It’s going to happen sooner or later~"

However, when Song Meiqin turned back to glare at him, Song Chi didn’t dare say anything more.

At noon, everyone sat at two tables in the East Wing. Lu Yuan’s large family and Song Chi sat at one table.

Song Chi’s three wives led the children to the other table.

Song Chi’s children were very well-behaved during the meal. They weren’t loud or disruptive, a testament to their good upbringing.

"What’s the word from the Provincial City?"

Lu Yuan asked while eating from his seat at the head of the table.

He had wanted to ask about the Provincial City earlier, but Song Chi had started pestering him about firearms and cannons the moment he arrived this morning.

He just hadn’t had the chance.

However, the fact that Song Chi was so focused on the weapons indirectly revealed one thing.

There was no major trouble in the Provincial City.

If there had been a serious issue, Song Chi would have certainly brought it up right away.

As expected, after Lu Yuan asked, Song Chi waved his hand dismissively while eating and said:

"It’s fine, don’t worry, Brother-in-law.

Sis, from now on, just live a good life here.

After that man of yours died so young, you were supposed to come home to live as a widow, but our parents wouldn’t let you.

This time, after I got back from the Liangshan business, I went right over, slammed the table, and told them how it was going to be.

I said, ’This is how it is. If you’ve got the guts, come find us.’

They didn’t dare say a word after that."

What he said was true. Generally, a widow would return to her maiden family to live out her widowhood; it was rare to remain with the husband’s family.

Speaking of which, wasn’t that the case for Wu Zetian on Earth back in the day?

After he finished speaking, Song Chi raised his cup of wine, looked at Lu Yuan, and said seriously: