The emperor is biased and wants to kill me, but you chickened out when the army is at the city gates

The news that the Jurchen Kingdom had dispatched its Grand Preceptor, Gulna, to Shanhaiguan quickly spread throughout the world.

Subsequently, the Khanate, Goryeo, Khitan, and Liaodong also sent their respective envoys.

“These barbarian barbarians are incredibly audacious. They dare to trespass into the territory of our Great Qi without presenting a letter of credence to the imperial court.”

Inside the Great Qi Imperial Palace, Qin Tian was furious, his expression as if he wanted to devour someone.

Several ministers stood below, trembling with fear, but none of them dared to speak.

The Shanhaiguan area is nominally under the jurisdiction of the Daqi Empire, but in the past ten years or so, the Daqi Empire's national strength has declined, its army has withdrawn to Beining City, and there are no officials in charge, so it has naturally become a no-man's-land.

"Your Majesty, these barbarian tribes from beyond the borders are ignorant of etiquette. Why should our great nation bother with them?"

The Minister of Revenue stepped forward at the opportune moment: "The Confucian sage's choice of Mount Kongsheng this time has actually shown the world that Shanhaiguan is the land of our Great Qi. Please calm your anger, Your Majesty."

“You are right, but this time they have gotten off easy.”

Qin Tian snorted coldly and stopped talking about it, after all, he knew that Shanhaiguan was no longer under the control of the Great Qi.

Inside Beining City.

Ever since Qiu Xingzhi agreed to deliver the message for Qin Xuan, Qin Xuan has once again devoted himself wholeheartedly to the craftsmen's workshop.

Soaps with the delicate fragrance of osmanthus and chrysanthemum have begun mass production, but Qin Xuan is still not entirely satisfied with the process of purifying the flower juice.

He had many ingenious and practical ideas in his mind, but as he developed them one by one, Qin Xuan suddenly realized that although Beining City's current craftsman system was far ahead of the world, the development of any industry required a complete basic system.

Moreover, the more fundamental the system, the more indispensable it is.

For example, after the crossbow was developed, although it was already in mass production, it could not be developed into a repeating crossbow.

For example, when smallpox struck, the craftsmen had tried everything they could to make the scalpel thin enough, but the blade and the thinness of the scalpel still couldn't meet Qin Xuan's requirements.

Both of these cases are actually due to limitations in smelting technology.

As for other things, such as fragrance purification, which is the extraction of flower juice, the efficiency is low because the containers cannot be completely sealed.

If a glass container could be made right now, the problem of sealing would be solved.

"Your Highness, you should go and rest. If you keep going like this, I'm really going to get angry."

Zhao Luoying, who had come to Qin Xuan's private research workshop for what seemed like the umpteenth time, said angrily.

Qin Xuan stared at the dark circles under her eyes and grinned, "My dear Luo Ying, please let me study her a little longer!"

"No way! Look at yourself, unshaven, with bloodshot eyes, where is the dignity of a prince?"

Zhao Luoying darted forward and snatched a half-finished piece of glass from Qin Xuan's hand, saying, "If you don't rest today, then you can forget about... forget about ever getting into my bed again!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Xuan was immediately taken aback.

He never expected that Zhao Luoying, who had always been extremely shy in this regard, would one day use matters of the bedroom to blackmail him.

However, it seems this girl is genuinely worried; if I don't know my place, she might resort to violence.

"Okay, okay, I'll go back with you now."

Qin Xuan shook his head with a chuckle, but before leaving, he still pulled Gao Xiong aside and instructed him, "The boiler temperature is still not high enough, so the glass produced is not pure enough. Try to increase the boiler temperature. You can try to modify it to make a larger bellows."

"Still not leaving?"

Seeing Qin Xuan start giving endless instructions again, Zhao Luoying immediately snorted coldly.

Qin Xuan laughed heartily, then ran to Zhao Luoying's side in a flash, grabbed her delicate hand, and said, "Come on, wherever my Luoying says we're going, we'll go."

"Hmph, you stink! Go back and take a shower right now."

Zhao Luoying deliberately kept a straight face, but Qin Xuan didn't seem to care. As they walked, he whispered in her ear, "Want to shower together? Speaking of which, Luoying, it seems like we've never showered together before, have we?"

"Oh dear, you're getting more and more indecent! It's so embarrassing!"

Zhao Luoying blushed immediately and angrily punched Qin Xuan on the shoulder.

"What's wrong with that? Every couple does it!"

Qin Xuan didn't take it seriously. He was thinking like a modern person, but in this ancient time, it was an extremely absurd act.

Zhao Luoying couldn't argue with him, but she was also feeling a little itchy inside, so she could only coax him, "You wash it yourself this time, and I'll help you next time, okay?"

"Really?"

Qin Xuan was immediately excited; it was not easy for Zhao Luoying to say these words!

"Oh dear, you should go now. If you ask again, I'll regret it."

Zhao Luoying dared not answer "really," her ears turning red with embarrassment.

"Go, go, I'm going right now, hahaha."

Qin Xuan burst into laughter.

Half an hour later, Qin Xuan, looking refreshed, finally arrived at the council hall of the Prince's mansion.

After dealing with some official business, Hu Xu entered with an unexpected person – Hua Mingyue, the daughter of the head of the Lieyang Chamber of Commerce.

"Why did you come alone? Where is your father?"

Qin Xuan was slightly surprised.

Hua Mingyue is Hua Jiutian's only daughter and is considered the vice president of the Lieyang Chamber of Commerce.

Although this woman is only in her early twenties, she is extremely talented in business and had already shown signs of surpassing her father a couple of years ago.

Moreover, Hua Mingyue was extremely beautiful, with long black hair, eyes like stars, a delicate nose and white teeth, like a celestial being.

Standing next to Zhao Luoying, she embodied the epitome of heroic beauty, while the other was the most perfect embodiment of beauty that could shame the moon and flowers.

Qin Xuan and Hua Mingyue weren't very close, but seeing her come alone and looking somewhat disheveled, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

“My father contracted smallpox on his way to Beining City and ultimately did not survive to reach Beining City…”

When her father was mentioned, Hua Mingyue's beautiful face immediately turned sorrowful, and tears kept falling.

Hu Xu sighed and explained, "Your Highness, most of the Lieyang Chamber of Commerce's assets are in the capital, so when they left, Brother Hua was the last to leave."

"But when he arrived in Beining City, he happened to run into refugees who had escaped from the four cities of Danxia."

"Brother Hua was kind-hearted and helped many people, but he didn't know that the plague was smallpox. He was infected by accident and eventually died in Tianshan City."

"Tianshan City?"

Qin Xuan murmured something. That place was only a step away from Beining City, but in the end, it was a place where they were separated forever.

"Luo Ying, take Mingyue downstairs to rest. The dead cannot be brought back to life. I believe that Hua Huishou in heaven would not want to see his daughter crying all day long."

Qin Xuan sighed, and Zhao Luoying nodded slightly before leading Hua Mingyue to the backyard.

As soon as the two women left, Hu Xu couldn't help but lean forward and whisper, "Your Highness, Hua Mingyue is all alone now. Would you consider taking her in?"

"..."

Qin Xuan was taken aback for a moment, then said irritably, "It's fine if you say this to me in private, but if you dare let Luo Ying hear it, I'll skin you alive."

"How could that be!" Hu Xu chuckled. "Your Highness, you are a powerful ruler, it's quite normal for you to have three wives and four concubines, isn't it?"

"Furthermore, if you were to ascend the throne in the future, even if you didn't want to, the princess would have to arrange for you to have concubines, otherwise wouldn't you become a laughing stock in the world?"

In this era, women are mostly just accessories.

Even if it were Zhao Luoying, if she hadn't followed Qin Xuan through thick and thin from the very beginning, this group of Shence Army soldiers and Hu Xu wouldn't have respected her so much.

Qin Xuan glared at Hu Xu, both amused and exasperated: "I have no plans to take a concubine for the time being. But you, why did you suddenly come back? Did something happen to the Chamber of Commerce?"

"Something did happen, but it's not a big deal."

Hu Xu chuckled dryly, then hesitated before speaking.