The princess has super powers and space, so what's wrong with being a little arrogant?

Mu Xiyue was engrossed in reading a book when she suddenly heard a voice. She looked up and saw Xiao Yibai standing in front of her. She folded a corner of the book inward and closed it.

"Now that you're back, I'll show you something good."

Seeing that he was completely ignored, Qi Heng had no choice but to speak up to make his presence felt. "Miss Mu, nice to meet you again. I wonder what good stuff it is. Can I take a look at it with you?"

Mu Xiyue then noticed Qi Heng approaching. She smiled and said, "Hello, Mr. Qi. Since you are a good friend of the prince, it's fine. But you have to keep it a secret after you see it."

The three of them walked into the kitchen, and Mu Xiyue pointed at the copper basin and showed it to them.

"This is the ice I just made this morning. Are you surprised?"

Mu Xiyue came over to check a quarter of an hour ago, and found that the water in the copper basin had frozen.

Qi Heng squatted down in disbelief and touched it with his hand, "It's really ice. Miss Mu said you made it yourself?"

Mu Xiyue chuckled, "Hmm!"

Xiao Yibai was also surprised. He had asked the housekeeper to send her ice to cool her down two days ago. Although the temperature was not yet high enough to use ice, he was afraid that Mu Xiyue would get too hot. Anyway, there was enough ice in the mansion. He was also thinking about storing more ice for next year, as he should have married her next year.

Xiao Yibai thought Mu Xiyue was made of ice like a bare-handed ice needle. "It's indeed a surprise, but there is enough ice in the mansion. Yueyue, don't exert too much energy. I will feel bad if you get tired."

Mu Xiyue knew he had misunderstood. "You can find anyone to make this ice, as long as you have enough materials. June will be a scorching summer. Do you think anyone would want to sell our ice?"

When Xiao Yibai heard her say that it could be made with enough materials, he immediately thought of the saltpeter that the housekeeper brought back two days ago, saying that it was what Miss Mu wanted. Could it be made with saltpeter?

"Of course there are people who want it. Not many families have ice cellars. Excluding the various royal palaces in Shangjing City, there are no more than ten. If the cost of making ice is low, I think it will be profitable."

Mu Xiyue thought that all wealthy families would have ice cellars, but she didn't expect that so few families had ice cellars. So this business could be done.

"Xiao Yibai, Uncle Fu has seen how ice is made today. You can handle this business in the palace and give me 10% of the profit. How about that? I estimate that this business can only last for two years at most. The method is simple and the materials are not difficult to obtain. It is definitely impossible to keep it a secret."

Xiao Yibai nodded, "Okay, I'll ask Uncle Fu to take care of this, so you don't have to worry too much. As for the profits, we'll split them 50-50. In the end, it's all yours. After you marry in, you'll have the final say on everything in the palace. Everything in the palace will be yours."

Qi Heng's teeth grimaced when he heard this. "Tsk tsk tsk, Jin Zhi, I'm still here. Say these sweet words in private!"

Mu Xiyue wasn't embarrassed by this kind of teasing. She smiled and said, "Shouldn't the correct reaction from Master Qi be to quietly withdraw and leave the space for the two of us?"

Qi Heng laughed heartily, "Miss Mu is indeed different from other young ladies. Jin Zhi has good taste."

Just then, Uncle Fu came over and said that it was time to eat, and the three of them went to the dining hall chatting and laughing.

After lunch, the two men still had things to discuss. Mu Xiyue wanted to go back, but Xiao Yibai said she didn't need to avoid him. Mu Xiyue didn't hesitate and followed him to the study.

Mu Xiyue was the first to discover this matter, and Xiao Yibai wasn't worried about her knowing more. He mainly wanted her to stay by his side. Worried that she might be confused, Xiao Yibai told her everything he had found out in the past few days.

The secret guards sent by Xiao Yibai and the emperor's shadow guards have gone to the valley near the Beast Prison Mountain to investigate. It will take at least six or seven days to go back and forth, but people are still investigating. The shadow guards' carrier pigeon message has been delivered to the emperor. There are indeed mines and private soldiers in the Beast Prison Mountain, and the number of people is no less than 10,000. The details are still under investigation.

Those who frequently traveled from Shangjing City to Yun'an County had found out about General Zhenyuan's home. General Zhenyuan He Yan's second son opened four shops in Yun'an County, so he often went back and forth to Yun'an County in the name of checking the shops.

Many wealthy families had originally opened shops in towns near the Imperial City, but they usually located them in more prosperous cities, like Mu Fengnian, who had four shops in Luofeng City. After all, the Imperial City was vast, and the wealthy families were countless. Every wealthy family had a few shops, and it was impossible for all families to open shops in the Imperial City. That way, how could they make money?

However, it is rare to see a shop like General Zhenyuan's in a small place like Yun'an County. Compared with Luofeng City and Yunyou City, which are close to Shangjing City, the people in Yun'an County have much lower spending power.

General Zhenyuan had injured his arm on the battlefield. After he recovered, he could no longer lift the sword. The emperor then asked him to stay in Shangjing City and left his eldest son to take over and guard the western border. Therefore, General Zhenyuan's family had military power and experience in training troops.

The information found by the Divine Shadow Guard has a very low error rate. There is definitely something wrong with this General Zhenyuan. It is just not known whether General Zhenyuan is ambitious and wants to rebel, or whether he has a master behind him who he shouldn't be.

Now that he knew that there was something wrong with General Zhenyuan, the emperor handed the task of secretly investigating General Zhenyuan to Qi Heng and Xiao Yibai.

The two men made all the arrangements. The Imperial Guard totaled over 20,000 men, and the Emperor ordered Qi Heng to dispatch 10,000 to Prison Beast Mountain. However, the sheer volume of 10,000 troops moving simultaneously would undoubtedly draw the attention of those who maintained private armies. If they were diverted, there would be potential trouble down the road. Therefore, Xiao Yibai instructed Qi Heng to dispatch the Imperial Guard in batches starting tomorrow. No one from the Imperial Guard camp was allowed to contact the outside world until the situation was resolved.

Mu Xiyue sat next to Xiao Yibai, listening to them discuss and arrange things one by one. She didn't understand much of it and almost fell asleep while listening.

Seeing that Mu Xiyue was bored, Xiao Yibai pulled her hand over and placed it in his palm, squeezing it gently.

"Bored? Then Yueyue, help us figure out how to deal with these private soldiers with the least casualties."

Mu Xiyue pulled her hand back, there were outsiders around.

"I don't understand these things. Are you asking the wrong person?"

Xiao Yibai and Qi Heng had almost made the arrangements, and now that he was free, he just asked casually. Maybe Mu Xiyue might have a useful solution.

Xiao Yibai smiled and said, "Just say whatever you want."

Mu Xiyue spread her hands and said, "What good ideas can a weak woman like me have? Since you want to hear it, I'll just tell you casually."

Mu Xiyue thought back to the terrain she had seen across the valley and said, "If we want to minimize casualties, I think recruiting them is the best option. It's impossible that so many people are willing to be shady private soldiers, just to make money. Compared to death, life is naturally more important."

Qi Heng said, "It would be best if we could recruit them. I heard that eight or nine years ago, Prince Wenxuan raised five thousand private soldiers. The court wanted to recruit them, but they refused and fought with the soldiers sent by the court. Both sides suffered heavy losses, and more than three thousand soldiers died. It was a tragic event."