A Farm Girl: Three Acres of Fertile Land Can Be Exchanged for a Country

He rushed to the side hall and burst in, asking, "Did you find it?"

The guards looked troubled and shook their heads.

"Useless! How come you can't even keep an eye on one person!"

Nanxing was furious. That bastard came out from behind the screen, recognized him, and meowed at his feet.

Frustrated, he kicked it far away and, without even looking at it, told the guards, "Seal off the entire palace and search every corner thoroughly. We must find her!"

"Yes."

The guards filed out, leaving behind an angry Nanxing and a cat that dared not approach him again.

Night fell quickly, but the palace was as bright as day, with all the lamps lit.

The guards, carrying torches, moved through the crowd in the palace, searching room by room, not even letting go of the beds.

Nanxing was also looking for clothes, not even bothering to put on another layer, her lips turning bluish-purple from the cold night wind.

But a night passed, and she was nowhere to be seen.

Wutong took nothing with her, left no words, and vanished without a trace.

As dawn broke, the guards were still searching. Nanxing sat alone on the steps in front of the side hall, still wearing the same thin robe, her eyes bloodshot, the whites of her eyes filled with red veins, staring ahead as if she had lost her soul.

"Your Majesty, breakfast is getting cold. Would you like to..."

"roll!"

The palace maid was so frightened that she ran away without looking back, while Nanxing sat motionless in the same spot, as if frozen in place.

"Your Majesty, do you really think it's right for someone to become like this for the sake of a woman?"

Lu Yisheng emerged from behind the tree, carrying a bronze hand warmer.

Nanxing neither looked at him nor answered, treating him as if he were nothing.

Lu Yisheng didn't care and said to himself, "She keeps running away, not because she's good at fighting or cunning, but because her heart isn't with you. Women are all driven by emotions. If she doesn't like you, even if you risk your life for her, she won't give you a second glance."

Nanxing scoffed, "You've been a bachelor all your life, yet you seem to know a lot about women."

Lu Yisheng laughed and said, "I haven't gotten married, not because I can't find women, but because I don't need them nagging in my ear."

"No wonder you were the only one who supported me when all the other ministers were advising me to choose an empress."

"They are too foolish. They choose an empress for the sake of offspring, but is choosing an empress the only way to obtain offspring? What we need is the result, not the process. Women are not suitable to rule the world and should not be given power at all. In my opinion, when offspring are needed, we only need to lock up young and beautiful women in one place and favor them for ten or fifteen days. Surely one of them will become pregnant. After the child is born, we can banish them from the palace and focus on raising offspring. We will definitely be able to raise an excellent successor."

As Nanxing listened to his words, she recalled her own miserable childhood, and her eyes gradually turned cold.

However, the vast majority of the credit for his ascension to the throne came from the old man before him, and he couldn't simply turn his back on him.

“Mr. Lu,” Nanxing said, “it’s freezing cold, and you’re getting on in years. You should hurry home.”

Lu Yisheng said, "With His Majesty so anxious, how can I, as the Prime Minister, stay at home?"

Nanxing, no longer bothering with formalities, asked expressionlessly, "To be honest, what exactly do you want?"

"The ministers are all in the Golden Palace, waiting for you to attend the morning court session," Lu Yisheng explained his purpose.

Nanxing said, "I'm not going today. It's the same things every day anyway, so just handle it yourself."

“Your Majesty…” Lu Yisheng said, “She’s already gone, and it’s no use regretting it now. It would have been better to build a prison and lock her up back then, and throw the key into the well. Only in this way could she not escape.”

Nanxing's anger, which had finally subsided somewhat, was reignited. He roared and slammed his fist into the wall, causing several cracks to appear in the solid marble.

Looking at the bright red blood on the back of his hand, Lu Yisheng suddenly asked, "Searching like a headless fly won't work. Did she mention to you where she wanted to go?"

Nanxing, reminded by him, thought of two words and jumped up.

"Haoshan!"

Wutong has always wanted to go to Haoshan!

Lu Yisheng said, "Since I reminded you, why don't you go to the morning court first, and then go to Haoshan to find her?"

Nanxing glanced at him; he smiled kindly, as if he were just a gentle old man.

After the morning court session ended, Nanxing eagerly led his men to Haoshan.

Lu Yisheng did not go home as usual, but instead headed in a completely different direction.

The courtyard is secluded and the trees are lush and green.

Lu Yisheng took out a key from his sleeve and unlocked the lock hanging on the door.

Wenxin was meditating in her room when she heard a noise and came out. When she saw it was him, a hint of disappointment flashed in her eyes, but she still mustered her spirits and asked, "Is there something you need?"

Lu Yisheng walked into the Buddhist hall to check what he was guarding. After confirming that everything was in order, he came out and asked, "Have the people who were sent away returned?"

He shook his head.

I didn't see them.

"If they come back, have someone notify me immediately."

"What exactly did they go to do? And what is the purpose of this machine?" Wenxin couldn't figure out these two questions.

Lu Yisheng said, "This is our business, it has nothing to do with you."

"You've entrusted me with guarding this thing, so you have to let me know its purpose. Otherwise, what if something goes wrong and you blame me for it?"

Since they brought her down the mountain, Wenxin has only seen that thing once. At the time, she thought she saw a monster, but the monster was not made of flesh and blood, but was forged from steel.

Lu Yisheng sneered.

"I think you've been in the mortal world for too long, even knowing this... But I advise you to ask fewer questions. I know about your relationship with Wutong. With her current abilities, she can no longer protect you."

Wenxin stared at him in astonishment, opened her mouth, but ultimately chose to swallow her words.

It's normal for them to know, after all, they can find even a place like the Immovable Peak, so investigating his experiences in the martial arts world is a piece of cake.

Seeing that he was silent, Lu Yisheng instructed, "Since you have accepted this task, do your best to fulfill your responsibilities. That way, everyone will be better off."

He looked at the Buddhist hall and said solemnly, "This is something I've spent half my life working on. If there's even the slightest loss, you'll have to pay with your life."

Wenxin coldly replied, "Don't worry about that. Since I've agreed, I will absolutely not go back on my word."

Lu Yisheng then stopped, took out a bottle from a hidden pocket in his sleeve, opened the cap and said, "Here, have the antidote."

Wenxin handed over the paper packet containing the medicine. He gently shook the bottle, and three pills rolled out. He then handed the bottle back to Wenxin.

"This is your antidote for the next few days. I will come back when the time is up. Remember, no one is allowed to know the secret of this place, and no one is allowed to get close to that thing."