The empress disliked my achievements for overshadowing her own, so she turned her attention to the N

Chen Nan noticed this phenomenon, but he didn't make a fuss. Instead, he silently watched the performance on stage.

The young woman displayed her figure with abandon, her red lips parting slightly: "Esteemed guests, the second treasure is one that ordinary people cannot easily know about."

As she explained, a woman slowly walked up from the side, carrying a tray in her hands.

On it lay a parchment scroll, which looked ancient.

The woman continued to explain: "I wonder if you have heard of the former Zhenbei King of the Great Qian Dynasty, now the Zhennan King of the Northern Wei Dynasty."

"The parchment in this tray contains the gold and silver that Chen Nan buried when he was prime minister of the Daqian Dynasty."

"It is said to contain countless gold and silver, as well as a winning formula to defeat the Great Qian Dynasty. There is only one of its kind in the world. Don't miss this opportunity!"

As he finished speaking, Hongming glanced at Chen Nan with a grin: "When did you bury treasures in the Great Qian Dynasty? How come I didn't know?"

She had been at odds with Chen Nan for years and naturally knew that Chen Nan was incorruptible and never coveted the country's money.

That was just a joke.

Chen Nan awkwardly rubbed his nose, gave an embarrassed smile, and didn't say anything at all.

Both of them knew that the parchment on it was completely fake.

However, as the person involved, Chen Nan naturally knew that the items were fake.

Unfortunately, the others were unaware of this and instead began to offer prices wildly.

"I'll offer one hundred taels of gold! Don't any of you try to take it from me!"

"Go to hell! You think you can get Chen Nan's treasure for a hundred taels? I'll offer a thousand taels of gold!"

"I'll pay two thousand taels!"

……

Looking at the group of people around him who were almost frenzied, Hongming teased again: "I didn't realize you were so attractive."

Chen Nan was quite helpless. These people weren't interested in him at all; they were only interested in his reputation and the treasure inside the parchment.

Ultimately, the parchment was sold for 6,780 taels of gold.

Chen Nan couldn't help but laugh out loud at the thought that a fake item could be sold for more than six thousand taels of gold.

The customer who successfully bought the parchment, hearing the laughter, assumed that Chen Nan was jealous of his purchase of the treasure.

He roared, "What the hell are you laughing at? I spent over six thousand gold coins to buy this, do you think it's something for you to laugh at?"

Chen Nan forced a laugh and explained, "Sorry, sorry, I just thought of something really funny!"

The woman did as she was told and gave one of her own clothes to the person picking up the auction item.

……

"Ladies and gentlemen, the next item to be auctioned is the seventh item!"

"This auction item is a treasure that can only be seen, not described!"

"Those who are interested can now place their bids!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the girl lifted the covering next to her.

A garment made of gold thread was then revealed to the crowd.

Hongming froze the moment he saw the clothes.

She saw that the item on the stage was actually a garment made of gold.

Most importantly, a small piece was missing from the bottom right corner of the garment.

Noticing something was wrong, Chen Nan gently nudged him: "What's wrong?"

Then, a voice from the side expressed doubt about the garment.

"This...this can't be a piece of golden nanmu silk, can it?"

"Don't be ridiculous. There's only one golden nanmu robe in the entire Northern Wei Dynasty. Shouldn't that be in the national treasury? How did it end up in the Happy Forest?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Nan finally understood why Hongming had suddenly fallen into a daze.

Something that should have been in the national treasury suddenly ended up in the hands of the people. And that wasn't the worst part; it even ended up at an auction.

Chen Nan frowned and muttered, "Could this golden nanmu robe be real?"

His voice also brought Hongming back to reality.

Although he didn't want to admit it, Hongming knew that the golden nanmu robe in front of him was definitely genuine.

She simply couldn't understand why something that should have been in the national treasury was in this place.

"It's true. Look, isn't there a piece missing from the bottom right corner of that golden nanmu garment?"

"This golden nanmu robe was sewn by the Empress Dowager herself for the late Emperor when he was fighting in the north and south."

"After the late emperor passed away, this golden nanmu robe was put into the national treasury. Over the years, no one has ever seen the true appearance of the golden nanmu robe."

"I only knew that there was a piece missing from the bottom right corner because my grandfather told me himself."

When Hongming spoke, his voice was somewhat low and his expression was slightly dejected.

After saying that, she turned to look at Chen Nan, and could no longer hold back her emotions, two lines of tears streaming down her face.

"Chen Nan, I didn't know that the Northern Wei court, which I have protected with my life from beginning to end, has such a treacherous official."

"I don't know if such a court is still worth my effort."

"Back then, in order to defeat the Great Qian, I trained day and night to strengthen the soldiers of the Northern Wei."

"But when I actually got to the battlefield, I realized that with your Daqian, the Northern Wei was no match at all."

“From that moment on, I vowed not only to defeat the Great Qian, but also to protect the Northern Wei and every minister of the Northern Wei.”

"But now...now..."

As he spoke, Hongming could no longer hold back and covered his eyes with his hands, sobbing.

Chen Nan took a deep breath and hugged Hongming in his arms: "Cry, cry, it'll make you feel better."

He gently comforted her, carefully sensing the vulnerable side of this woman he had revealed.

In an instant, all of Hongming's body fragrance flooded into Chen Nan's nasal cavity.

In that instant, Chen Nan didn't think about anything and just let the other person lean on him.

He also knew that Hongming didn't need comfort right now; all she needed was a strong and reliable shoulder to lean on.

He also knew that Hongming was in a state of collapse of faith at this moment.

He had experienced a similar situation before, when he was expelled by Wu Fengluan.

Fortunately, he first experienced the blessings of working 996 in his previous life, and then he was betrayed by Wu Fengluan.

He doesn't care about any of that now.

Aren't beliefs meant to crumble? And then they can be rebuilt.

Chen Nan put his right arm around Hongming and gently stroked his back with his left hand, comforting him tenderly.

Do you know why I'm so determined to implement reforms?

"What the Northern Wei needed was neither those officials nor any generals."

"What the Northern Wei Dynasty needed most was the support of the people. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. The same principle applies to the imperial court."

"We must pay attention to the interests of ordinary people."

"When any ordinary citizen is willing to give their life for their country, that country will be stronger than ever before."

“Even if Jiang Zhe had led the Daqian soldiers that I trained, we would still have been defeated.”

"Because that group of people have their country etched into their bones, they know that only with a country can there be a home."

"The Northern Wei Dynasty is far from achieving this level now."

With Chen Nan's comforting words, Hongming stopped crying and raised his head again.

However, there was a hint of confusion in those red and swollen eyes.

"Are you saying we should reform the structure of the Northern Wei Dynasty? That the Northern Wei should prioritize the people?"

Chen Nan nodded emphatically: "That's natural."

"I proposed building a heroes' tomb to increase the cohesion of the army and to give them faith in their hearts."

"Once trained, they will charge forward without hesitation whenever the country needs them."

"Is this why the Northern Wei Dynasty didn't capture a single soldier of the Qianlong Emperor?"

Hongming suddenly remembered the time when he and Chen Nan were on opposite sides.

If the wind direction turns against them, the entire Northern Wei army could surrender.

Even if only one person remained in Chen Nan's army, they would charge forward without hesitation.

"Of course, they understand that they are not fighting for the country, they are fighting for themselves."

"If they don't fight this battle, their descendants will!"

Chen Nan explained with deep emotion.

Then, the tone shifted: "You see, whether that golden nanmu robe is real or not is actually not important."

"The important thing is that it was sewn by the Empress Dowager herself for the late Emperor."

"Even if what's on stage is fake, who has the ability to replicate a fake?"

Upon hearing this, Hongming realized what was going on.

Yes, the golden nanmu silk has always been stored in the national treasury. Who would have the audacity to imitate or even steal it?