Cypress Boat Floating

During the morning court session, the emperor sat on the dragon throne, looking at the officials below who were quarreling. They were obviously well-read scholars, but here they were quarreling like in a vegetable market. For the sake of the petty profits in front of them, they were all trying to discredit others.

It’s ridiculous!

Listening to their quarrel, the emperor had a terrible headache. He glanced at Su Zilin, who was serving beside him. Su Zilin quickly stood up, coughed, and shouted to the officials who were still arguing, "My lords, if you have something to say, please report it. If not, please leave the court."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the officials in the hall fell silent, and no one dared to continue speaking.

The emperor felt a little relieved at this time. He looked at Lu Zhixing, who had been silent all day, and thought of the memorial from Lu Ciqiu that he had received this morning. After thinking for a while, he said, "The Crown Prince and the King of Qin, please come to Chengming Hall. Everyone else can leave."

"Yes."

"Retreat!"

The emperor stood up and left, and after he left, the others also left one by one.

Lu Zhixing and the prince also walked towards Chengming Palace.

"The eighth prince wrote to me saying that he wants to dig through the mountains to divert water and completely solve the problem of flooding, but he needs a large amount of gunpowder. What do you think about this?" The emperor sat on the throne, playing with a string of agarwood bracelet in his hand, and asked the two princes casually.

Lu Zhixing had never thought that the emperor would discuss this matter in private instead of in the court, and even ask for their opinions here. He had been thinking about this matter since he received Lu Ciqiu's letter yesterday. Now that the emperor had asked, he decided to stand up and speak for his brother.

As a result, as soon as he took a step forward, the prince standing in front of him spoke first.

"Father, I think that this matter of digging the mountain is of great importance. My eighth brother is not familiar with the geographical environment of South City, nor is he familiar with the amount of gunpowder used. I think this matter should be handled by professional officials."

"Father, my eighth brother is a man who thinks twice before he acts. He proposed to dig a mountain, so he must have thought of how to dig it. It is true that he has just left the palace and lacks the ability, but this is also a good opportunity to exercise. I believe that if Lord Zhao Wenbin from the Ministry of Works helps him, and General Zhang Quansheng, who is more familiar with the terrain of Lingnan, helps him, we can definitely handle this matter well." Lu Zhixing paused for a moment and continued, "Moreover, if we want to dig a mountain, we must discuss it with Nanlin. My eighth brother's going to negotiate as the eighth prince of Da'an can not only express our importance to this matter, but also let Nanlin know our attitude and will not easily perfunctory us. I think this is a good thing."

The prince snorted coldly and retorted, "Second brother, your words are nice. Eighth brother knows nothing. If you ask him to negotiate with Nanlin, wouldn't that be like letting Eighth brother walk into a tiger's mouth? With his qualifications and abilities, what can he negotiate for? He just wants me, Da'an, to make concessions."

Although Lu Zhixing was very dissatisfied with the prince, he always behaved in a friendly and respectful manner as long as there was a third person present. Although the prince was indifferent at this time, Lu Zhixing still said modestly: "Eighth brother has performed very well since he went to Nancheng. He is always good at speaking. I believe that his negotiation with Nanlin will definitely have a good result."

"That may not be the case..."

"Enough." The prince wanted to say something else but was interrupted by the emperor.

He had listened to the officials quarreling in the previous court session, and now that the court session was over he wanted to hear what his two sons thought, but they were still quarreling, which made the emperor annoyed and he didn't even want to listen to them anymore.

"I understand. You can go back." The emperor waved his hand and asked them to leave. He was annoyed to see both of them.

"My son, please retire."

"My son, please retire."

Lu Zhixing and the prince withdrew one after another.

The emperor called them here, on the one hand to tell them about this matter. Of course, he believed that the two of them must have received the news a long time ago. On the other hand, he also wanted to see what their attitudes were.

What the prince said does make sense. Lu Ci Qiu has never been out before and has always stayed in the deep palace. If the negotiations with Nan Lin fail this time, he might make enemies again, which is something the emperor absolutely does not want to see.

But what Lu Zhixing said was not without reason. Now everyone knows that a prince has gone to Nancheng to provide disaster relief. If he has already arrived there and still asks other people to negotiate with Nanlin, it will indeed make Nanlin feel embarrassed and think that Daan is perfunctory. Even if Lu Ci Qiu does not know these things, he must make the decision, otherwise Daan will lose face.

But the emperor still hasn't figured out how to make a decision.

As soon as the prince and Lu Zhixing left, Su Zixing brought up a cup of hot tea. Seeing the emperor looking so worried, he knew that he must be worried about state affairs again. However, he was also worried about the emperor's health, so he had to say, "Your Majesty, this is the soothing tea sent by Concubine Shu. Would you like to take a rest first?"

The emperor sighed deeply. The position below him was not very comfortable to sit in.

Now the south city is facing severe flooding which has not been completely resolved, the north is hit by a locust plague, and the desert is lurking there covetously and has repeatedly tried to invade. What should we do with internal and external troubles?

Su Zilin was worried about the emperor's health. Seeing that he was frowning, he took the initiative to walk behind him and help hold his head.

"Su Zilin, what do you think of the eighth prince?" the emperor suddenly asked.

Su Zilin's heart skipped a beat. This kind of question was the most difficult to answer. As the saying goes, "To be with the emperor is like being with a tiger." If he said something wrong and the emperor remembered it, then the next time the emperor got angry, he would be dead. Moreover, every prince was the emperor's son. If he said something wrong, wouldn't that be a slap in the emperor's face?

Although he felt this way in his heart, Su Zilin was an old man who had been with the emperor for many years. He did not stop his hands at all, nor did he show it on his face. He said softly, "This... I heard from people in the palace that the Eighth Prince is very serious about his studies, and he is also very concerned about the Concubine Shu, and he is also very respectful to the Second Prince."

"Study hard, care about Concubine Shu, respect your brother..." The emperor closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and whispered these words. No one knew what he was thinking.

He felt like a person who was placed in a high position. No one dared to approach him, no one dared to speak a few more words of truth to him, and even the people around him were afraid of him. A feeling of desolation suddenly rose from the bottom of his heart. The emperor, who had never known what loneliness was, suddenly felt a sense of loneliness in his heart.

South City.

Lu Ci Qiu took Zhao Wenbin and a group of people to explore Sannan Mountain early in the morning. He wanted to complete the exploration as soon as possible in the next two days and then give the specific data to the emperor. Only in this way could he gain the control over the mountain excavation and the right to negotiate with Nanlin.

As soon as Lu Ci Qiu left, Ye Jianqing went out to the dungeon to find Arnold.

The two of them arranged everything last night. Lu Ci Qiu and Zhao Wenbin went to Sannan Mountain together to explore and lure the snake out of its hole to see if the venomous snake could come out. Zhang Quansheng also arranged a group of people with strong martial arts skills to go with Lu Ci Qiu.

Ye Jianqing, on the other hand, took Nan Chengyi's portrait to the dungeon to find Arnold. On the one hand, he wanted Arnold to see if Nan Chengyi was his master's friend. On the other hand, he wanted to make arrangements for Arnold in case Nan Chengyi killed people to silence them.

When Ye Jianqing arrived at the dungeon, Arnold was still lying on the wooden board with his eyes closed. Before Ye Jianqing approached him, he knew that Ye Jianqing was coming, so he hurriedly turned over and walked to the door to wait for Ye Jianqing.

Ye Jianqing, who was still at the door, was shocked when he saw his action and hurriedly stopped him: "Slow down, slow down, your injury is not healed yet."

"It's okay, I'm almost well now." Arnold patted his chest.

"Arnold." Ye Jianqing called him and was about to continue speaking when he was interrupted by Arnold.

"elder brother."

"?" Ye Jianqing was puzzled.

"You have to call me brother." Arnold said.

Hearing this, Ye Jianqing laughed out loud. She didn't expect that Arnold had been thinking about this all along. Seeing his serious face, she had to smile and coax him: "Okay, okay, Brother Arnold."

Arnold raised his head in satisfaction and said proudly, "Tell me, what do you want to see me about?"

"Come, I want to ask my brother to see if you recognize this person." Ye Jianqing opened the portrait in his hand and showed it to Arnold.

Arnold looked at the person in the portrait carefully, thought for a while, and then said, "This person seems to be a friend of my master."

"like?"

"Every time he came to see me, he wore a veil, but before when he was talking to Master, I saw him take off the veil. He seemed to look like this."

Ye Jianqing put the portrait away. Now that Arnold has confirmed that Nan Chengyi is his master's friend, it means that the deaths of those people before must be related to Nan Chengyi. However, Nan Chengyi doesn't seem to be a person who knows how to use mechanisms. Then who set up the maze on Sannan Mountain at that time?

Arnold blinked and explained to Ye Jianqing innocently, "It's a maze. My master created it. He taught me how to set it up. I then added the arrow formation to the maze."

If so, it seems that Arnold's master was Nan Chengyi's knife. Later, when his master died, Arnold became the new knife.

"Arnold, have any strange people come to see you these past two days?"

"Call me brother." Arnold corrected her address, and then added: "No one else came except you."

Ye Jianqing didn't understand why Arnold was so persistent about calling him brother. Although he did look a few years younger than Arnold, he shouldn't be so persistent. But seeing his expression, he couldn't refute him, so he had to go along with him.

"I'm sorry, Brother Arnold, let me tell you, you don't have any contact with anyone except me these days. You have to be careful and be careful with the food you eat. I will ask people to pay more attention to your food every day." Ye Jianqing kept reminding Arnold to pay attention to his own safety.

Arnold sat on the ground, with a smile on his face, listening to Ye Jianqing chattering to him and asking him to be careful, and he nodded in response while listening.

"Don't worry too much, he won't do anything to me."

"Why?" Arnold's words made Ye Jianqing confused.

"He wears a veil every time he comes. Maybe he thinks I can't recognize him, and they all think I'm stupid." Arnold smiled at Ye Jianqing with his big white teeth.

Although Arnold said this lightly, Ye Jianqing felt very unhappy when he heard it. What should a person do to be considered a fool in the eyes of others?

"You're not stupid, you're just simple-minded." Ye Jianqing tried to comfort him.

"I'm not stupid at all, I'm very smart." Unexpectedly, Arnold didn't think there was anything wrong with him at all. Instead, he felt that he was very smart and was very proud of himself.

Arnold's reaction always makes Ye Jianqing laugh. When she is with him, Ye Jianqing always feels relaxed. Arnold is like a transparent person in front of her. He shows her all his emotions and feelings, and never plays tricks in front of her.

He was like a simple kid, showing his whole self to Ye Jianqing.

But she couldn't stay here for long, so after giving Arnold a few more instructions, she got up and left.

Just as she was about to leave, Arnold suddenly asked, "Sister, will you come to see me tomorrow?"

Ye Jianqing turned around, smiled and nodded: "Of course, brother." Then he turned and left.

Arnold kept watching her leave from behind her invisible back until she was completely out of his sight, then he looked away.

The day passed in busyness like this, and when it was almost dark, Lu Ci Qiu came back.

As soon as he came back, he went straight to Ye Jianqing's room to find her and told her about today's situation: "Today went smoothly. The venomous snake did not take action. We have already checked more than half of it. At present, it is confirmed that it is feasible to open the mountain with gunpowder. Wait for the next two days to check other places. After confirming it, I can report to my father."

"Is Zhao Wenbin so honest and willing to cooperate with you in the exploration?" Why did Ye Jianqing not believe it?

"He may be testing something. What's wrong with you today? Did Nan Chengyi do anything?" Lu Ci Qiu has always been wary of him, and naturally would not let his guard down just because he didn't take any action for the time being.

Ye Jianqing shook his head: "I went to see Arnold today. There is no problem with him. Everything is fine. I also confirmed that his master's friend is Nan Chengyi, but Nan Chengyi has not made any moves today."

Lu Ci Qiu touched his nose. This was strange. They had been so quiet these days. This was not like their style.

Do they have any other tricks up their sleeve?

While they were still discussing, there was suddenly shouting outside.

"Oh no, oh no, there's a fire!"

The two looked at each other and hurried out. It wasn't the City Lord's Mansion that was on fire. The person shouting that there was a fire was also outside the City Lord's Mansion. The two walked to the door and looked down the street. Not far from the City Lord's Mansion, there was a raging fire burning. It looked like it was getting more and more intense. It seemed that the place on fire was...

County government!

"Someone wants to kill people to silence them." Ye Jianqing's face turned pale. She had just gone to the county government office to talk to Arnold today, and someone set fire to the county government office at night. Was it their intention to make sure they had no evidence?