After deceiving the villain, I was forced to love him.

Wang Qingyan caught up with her and walked alongside her.

Bai Lize deliberately increased the distance between them.

He moved closer and walked backwards.

He tilted his head, peering at her expression through the gap in the draped gauze.

"Okay, okay, don't be angry~"

"You're overthinking it. I'm not angry at all." The person who wasn't angry pulled down the veil and turned their head away.

Wang Qingyan smiled brightly, "If you're not angry, how about we go play in the water together?"

"Are you a little kid? Playing in the water."

"It's not safe for children to play in the water, but it's just right for adults."

She said "I won't go" directly, but in reality, she was already fantasizing about the refreshing coolness of the stream while sweating from the heat.

Wang Qingyan pinched Baili Ce's sleeve between two fingers and shook it from side to side, "Go, go~"

OMG!

He actually acted cute!

This is damn sweet!

I hate myself!

"It's already this late, neither too early nor too late, we won't be able to play in the mountains for long anyway."

"It's not too late, it's not too late. I'll take you the shortcut," he said, taking her sleeve and starting to walk away.

"and many more..."

Wang Qingyan thought she didn't like it and was about to let go when he saw her staring at a stall selling dried fruit and snacks and not moving. "We have to buy something to eat..."

"Okay," Wang Qingyan readily agreed and turned to buy a bunch of food.

Bai Lize's eyes lit up. "I'll take it."

Reach out your hands, wanting to embrace happiness.

Wang Qingyan carried everything behind him, saying, "Don't worry~"

"It's all yours."

"..." Although that's not what she meant.

But, he can bring it up too!

Wang Qingyan carried the things in one hand and held her sleeve with the other, taking a shortcut up the mountain like he was taking children on a spring outing.

In about a quarter of an hour, they arrived at the stream.

"Wow..." Baili Ce couldn't hold back any longer when he saw the crystal-clear stream.

Yay!

He threw down his straw hat.

She pulled her hair up.

He lifted the hem and tucked it into his waistband, then rolled up his trouser legs, rolled up his sleeves, took off his shoes and socks, and stepped down.

"Careful!" Wang Qingyan rushed to help her before he could even put his things away properly.

Fortunately, she only slipped for a moment and regained her balance. "Wow, it's so refreshing!"

Having gotten his shoes wet without helping anyone, Wang Qingyan had no choice but to go back and put the food away, and also put his shoes on a rock to dry.

"Come quick, come quick! There are fish under this rock!"

"Here it comes~"

"Have you caught it?"

"Higher, higher... Hey! Hehe, got it!"

"It's red."

"But it's so small."

"That's how fish in the stream are; they never grow big."

"Hey, hey, there's another one over there!"

"where?"

"There."

"Another one!"

"Let me put it down for a moment."

He turned the straw hat upside down and put it in the shallow water, made a simple net in the middle with a slackline, weighed down the edges with stones, put the fish in, and then quickly went down into the water again. "Hey, I saw another one!"

"It's right under the rock behind you."

"Okay!" Wang Qingyan quickly went to move the stones, one, two...

"Aaaaaah, it's a water snake!"

......

July brings the plum rains, August brings floods.

Before the Li Dafu case was concluded, a host of new problems came to Lu Jian.

First, in Yongchuan in the southwest, after half a month of heavy rain, flash floods broke out, affecting tens of thousands of people.

Lu Jian, however, could not find a suitable person to provide disaster relief.

Secondly, today in the imperial court, some officials actually tried to force him to abolish the new policies.

Although he temporarily suppressed it, the trend of forming factions could no longer be contained.

Those members of the royal family who were suppressed by him at the beginning of the year are showing signs of making a comeback.

Thirdly, based on the clues provided by Bicui, the Baili family, and the Investigation Department, he discovered far too many officials involved in the He family's business, with an extent far exceeding his expectations.

If all of them were dealt with at once, the operation of all departments and units would be paralyzed.

Fourthly...

Zhang Shan

Zhang Shan quickly came in from outside the study, saying, "I'm here."

"How many days has Consort Xuan been away from the palace?"

Zhang Shan bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, Consort Xuan has been away from the palace for nine days."

"The He family just sent someone to say that the old lady may not have much time left, and Your Highness wishes to stay a little longer."

Ha, He Shoufeng really doesn't care about his life. "Granted."

“…Yes,” Zhang Shan paused, quite surprised.

But seeing that Lu Jian had no further instructions, he withdrew.

"and many more"

Zhang Shan turned around. "Yes."

"Summon Xue Fengshi to an audience at Shenshi."

"Yes"

......

At this time, Xue Fengshi was at Baili's residence.

"Lord Xue, please have some tea."

Compared to that day at the Kyoto government office, he was much more amiable today. "Thank you for your help, Steward."

But he picked up the tea, took a few breaths of it, and then did not drink it.

Fengdeng and Fenglan tactfully withdrew.

"Lord Xue, please speak frankly."

Xue Fengshi bowed respectfully and said, "To be honest, I have come here on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor."

Baili Ming pondered for a moment, "Are you referring to the flood in Yongchuan, sir?"

"That's right." Seeing that Baili Ming didn't beat around the bush, Xue Fengshi breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as he was about to elaborate, Baili Ming refused.

"Then please forgive Baili for being unable to help."

"..."

After a long silence, unable to understand any longer, he finally asked, "Why?"

"They're used to being pampered and can't handle the hardships of disaster relief."

"..." It doesn't beat around the bush, but it's sarcastic and unsettling.

Lacking any persuasive skills, Xue Fengshi could only speak his mind directly, "But your sister..."

"That's precisely why we can't go."

The implication is that good people don't get good rewards, and Lu Jian is not human.

"The Baili family has been high-ranking officials for generations, producing many talented individuals. His Majesty's new policies have also added many positions for female officials. Doesn't Miss Baili want to serve the country?"

"Serving the country requires acting within one's capabilities."

"We are completely ignorant about disaster relief, being people who are not good at farming and physically inactive. We dare not accept the task."

Xue Fengshi sighed and said earnestly, "If it weren't for my limited abilities and narrow-mindedness, I would never have bothered you, Miss."

He wanted to reform the bureaucracy.

But he also knew that he was too rigid in his approach to things, inflexible and unwilling to be flexible, and was simply not suited to lead a large group of people to disaster relief.

“But the Baili family is of noble birth. Your father and several uncles served as officials in Xizhou for more than ten years, educating the people, changing customs and habits, and completely eradicating the local floods.”

"Moreover, everyone knows that the Baili family holds power regardless of gender, only based on ability."

"Both Miss Baili and Young Lady Baili have been taught by the old master, how can you say they know nothing?"

“Xizhou has a vast territory; how can it be compared to Yongchuan?” Baili Ming asked solemnly.

"Putting aside other things, Yongchuan is located deep in the southwest, surrounded by mountains on all sides, and the terrain is low."

"The roads were severely damaged after the flood, so if we want to provide disaster relief, we must first dig the roads back up."

"The local area is unusually hot and humid this season, so epidemic prevention is necessary."

"Therefore, from entering the southwest to opening up the road to Yongchuan, to the final disaster relief, money, food and medicine could not be interrupted for a single day."

"We also need to survey the soil and mobilize a large amount of sand, gravel, bricks and tiles to help people rebuild their houses."

“These human and material resources cannot be solved simply by having money.”

Bai Liming spoke gently and politely, yet every word was precious, but her words were full of complaints.

Such a complex problem cannot be simply attributed to the Baili family with the phrase "serving the country."

If things go well, at most I'll get some praise.

If things aren't handled well, losing all our savings is secondary; if Lu Jian takes care of everything, who can we complain to?

"Moreover, the people of the Southwest are known for their fierce and tough nature. Even without corrupt officials embezzling funds, it's hard to say whether these goods could be successfully transported to Yongchuan."