The princess only wants to survive, and the cold-faced king of hell begs for mercy

"Zhao Qiyan nearly died in Tongshan this time. With his vengeful nature, he will surely launch a ferocious counterattack after surviving this disaster, showing absolutely no mercy. Therefore, for the next few days, we must have all our people keep a low profile and hide away. We must not reveal our identities and let him detect us."

Qin Yao nodded slightly in agreement. "Well, I've already given instructions and asked someone to make the arrangements. Our personnel are evacuating the pedestrian street in an orderly manner. It's just that..."

At this point, she couldn't help but frown slightly, a trace of melancholy on her face. "That Princess Qi, I don't know why, but every time I see her, a strange feeling wells up in my heart. I always suspect that she is actually a time traveler, but no matter how hard I try, I can't find any solid evidence."

Qin Yao sighed softly and continued, "Not only that, she seems wary of me. I've tried to invite her out several times, hoping to get closer to her and find out some information about Zhao Qiyan's whereabouts."

"However, every time, she either cleverly avoided my question, or she showed up as promised but remained completely tight-lipped and clueless. No matter how I tried to pry, I couldn't get any useful information out of her."

"And that Lin Zhiyi? It took a lot of effort to finally get her into Prince Qi's mansion. I originally thought I could use her as a pawn to obtain some important intelligence or influence Zhao Qiyan's decision. But who knew that so far, she has played no role at all in Prince Qi's mansion. She is simply useless!"

"The King of Qi doesn't like her, he even hates her. That idiot offended the Princess of Qi the moment she entered the palace. Now she's been temporarily confined, and she's lost all chances to even approach the King of Qi. She's truly useless."

The man sitting next to her raised his lips slightly, revealing a sneer filled with disdain and mockery. He then said coldly, "Hmph, it doesn't matter! After all, Lin Zhiyi is just a chess piece we've planted next to King Qi, and her role is nothing more than to disgust King Qi. To be honest, she's like a dead chess piece destined to be useless. As for whether she can actually take action, it's actually not that important."

He paused, then continued his analysis with a serious expression, "Right now, how to respond to the King of Qi isn't the most pressing issue. The truly crucial issue is what to do with the large number of guns and artillery transferred from Tongshan."

At this point, he couldn't help but frown, appearing worried. "Without Tongshan as our support, we've suddenly lost a stable and reliable iron ore supply base! Consequently, the manufacturing process of our guns and weapons will inevitably be severely impacted, and may even be significantly delayed."

"Therefore, our top priority is to find a new source of iron ore and quickly identify a suitable weapons manufacturing site. Otherwise, our subsequent plans and actions will likely face significant difficulties and obstacles."

King Cheng narrowed his eyes slightly, remained silent for a moment, and finally slowly opened his lips and said, "Now that we have lost the mine in Tongshan, I still have a private mine in the southwest mountains. Although it is slightly smaller, its location is extremely secret and difficult to detect. Mr. Jiu, what do you think, why don't we simply move the manufacturing site there?"

The man called Mr. Jiu was the one with the stern face.

He nodded slightly in agreement, "That's excellent. Actually, I've already sent people to survey the terrain of the southwestern mountainous area. They've reported that there's likely more than one mineral vein in that area. Perhaps, if we diligently explore, we can find new mineral sources nearby!"

-

In Prince Qi's Mansion, it was still dark when Zhao Qiyan woke up slowly. After rubbing his eyes, he immediately got out of bed and prepared to go to the new Chuanguansi government office.

The affairs managed by the time traveler had just been handed over from King Cheng, and a large pile of complicated documents and thick lists were waiting for him to review and process personally.

At this moment, Yun Shang on the bed slowly sat up and looked at Zhao Qiyan who was getting dressed with gentle eyes.

Zhao Qiyan quickly put on the new official uniform, and he looked even more heroic and majestic.

When he realized Yun Shang had woken up, he couldn't help but smile and turned around, then leaned over and gently kissed Yun Shang's delicate cheek, and said softly: "Shang'er, you worked hard last night, sleep a little longer, I have to go to the government office quickly."

Yun Shang tilted her head slightly, gazing lovingly at the man before her who had captivated her, and softly asked, "Why did you go to the pedestrian street to arrest someone today? And why did you have to interrogate him overnight after catching him?"

Zhao Qiyan adjusted his sleeves as he patiently explained, "I'm going to apprehend all the time travelers in the pedestrian street. But don't worry, anyone found innocent after investigation will be released. However, if anyone is found to be connected to Qin Yao or the Xingchen Pavilion, they will be temporarily detained for further interrogation and investigation."

Hearing this, Yun Shang's heart suddenly tightened, and the doctor Liang who had helped them involuntarily emerged in her mind.

So she quickly asked, "Are all the travelers in the pedestrian street going to be captured?"

Zhao Qiyan nodded in affirmation, "That's right, we can't let any of them go. Time is running out. If we're late, I'm afraid those evildoers will take the opportunity to escape. So I have to set off now!"

After saying this, he looked at Yun Shang affectionately again and reminded her, "You don't have to wait for me for lunch or dinner. Take good care of yourself."

Yun Shang hurriedly got up from the bed and said, "Your Majesty, can I go with you?"

"I want to meet them. If I get in touch with them a few more times, maybe I can find out where those people came from. Then, I'll know what they want to do."

Zhao Qiyan thought for a moment, "But, apart from me, Yu Ruyi, and a few close confidants like Qi Chuan, no one else knows your identity, not even Qing Huan."

"If I take you there, I'm afraid your identity will be exposed."

"Besides, there's no good reason to take you there."

Yun Shang's fighting spirit, which had just ignited, was instantly extinguished. She slumped her shoulders and sighed, "Alright then. I'll wait for the prince to come back and tell me."

Seeing Yun Shang looking lost, Zhao Qiyan sat down on the bed and took Yun Shang's delicate hand. "Are you feeling bored staying in the mansion? Do you want to go out and find something to do and have some fun?"