In the evening, Feng Qing's condition improved. The illness he had suffered for many years could not be cured overnight, nor would it kill him in an instant.
As soon as she regained her energy, Feng Qing returned to her old ways and started to act like crazy. She had to drive the old doctor out because she felt sick to her stomach after looking at his face.
After hearing the report from his subordinates, Yun Qi said, "I have to say, this kind of person really deserves a beating."
In another room, Lu Taotao clutched her round belly and collapsed into a ball like a dehydrated dead fish. She squinted her eyes and howled: "I don't want to see round things in my life!"
Lu Anran dried the ink on the book in her hand, and the sound of chanting sutras filled her left ear. Qiu Chan lit the oil lamp on the table for her. Seeing her frowning, she explained: "Master Xunqing and Ma are doing evening classes. If the lady doesn't mind the noise, , I will close the west window."
Lu Anran glanced at the window and shook his head. It was not very noisy, but he was not used to it being too lively in the yard.
Qiu Chan misunderstood her meaning, "Yes, the room will be stuffy when the windows are closed. I'd better go to the side courtyard and clean another room, so that Master Xunqing and Master Ma will have their morning and evening classes there, so there won't be any noise." Miss."
Lu Anran couldn't hold Qiu Chan back, she had already jumped out of the door.
A figure stopped by the window, looking at the jade-handled black-bottomed fan, and knocked on the window next to her, "As a liar, it is true that Ma Zhangshuai is so dedicated, I admire him endlessly."
Lu Anran was a little funny. Yun Qi knew that Master Ma had randomly chosen the name to fool people, but Yun Qi liked to talk about Ma Zhangshuai, which was a very bad taste.
She thought for a while and said: "Before you lie to others, you must first lie to yourself."
"Huh?" Yun Qi crossed his arms and rested his elbows on the window sill. He leaned forward slightly, with a hint of joking on his face, "It makes so much sense. One word can wake up the dreamer."
The ink on the paper had dried. Lu Anran closed the book and looked up into Yun Qi's smiling eyes, "Your Majesty, are you really not going to stop tomorrow's hunt?"
I don’t know how Nangong Zhi communicated with Princess Ding’an, but they finally decided that the hunt would go on as normal and the date was set for tomorrow.
Yun Qi smiled nonchalantly, "Master Dongyue personally divines and predicts the time, do you need my prince's advice?"
Lu Anran looked at the silhouette of mountains in the distance. The sky was getting dark, as if it were sticking to the horizon, thick and mysterious, with infinite unknowns and adventures.
"The prince also set out with his troops at this time."
Yun Qi lazily let out a "hmm" from his nose, and said with an uninhibited smile with peach blossom eyes: "Apart from other things, it is true that the emperor dotes on Princess Ding'an, and he can make Master Dongyue personally do it for a small hunt. Daning was the only one who took the initiative to predict the time for her. In comparison, the prince bought it half-sold and half-delivered like buying vegetables with spring onions."
Lu Anran was speechless, fearing that only Yun Qi would be so bold as to say that the prince was a green onion.
Yun Qi poked her forehead, "You don't have to go tomorrow. Look after the people lying in the autopsy room for me."
"My riding skills are pretty good." Lu Anran stood up as he spoke, with a serious look on his face. "The yaksha eats people, and the beasts attack. I have a hunch that all the secrets are in the mountains and deep forests. Since Princess Ding'an has called After this hunting, we took advantage of the large number of people to investigate further."
Yun Qi raised an eyebrow, "Are you aware that you are holding back?"
Lu Anran lowered his eyes, the light flickered, and he couldn't see clearly the expression between her brows.
Yun Qi clicked his tongue inwardly, reflecting on whether his tone was too strong. Just as he was about to say something else, Lu Anran raised his head and said, "Your Majesty, there is no need to worry about me. With so many people leaving together, Princess Ding'an will not be stupid enough to do something on the spot."
There was only surprise in Yun Qi's eyes, and his smile widened under her clear black eyes, "You know again?"
"I'm not sure about other things," Lu Anran frowned slightly, "but I can still distinguish between good intentions and bad intentions from others."
Although Princess Ding'an seemed to have calmed down after making Lu Taotao stir up trouble in the royal capital, the glare on her back did not diminish at all along the way, and it even became more obvious after arriving at Diqiu.
In the deep mountains and old forests, anything can happen. It would be completely understandable if someone had an accident. What's more, Princess Ding'an is so grand this time, she almost has her uneasiness and good intentions written on her face.
"And hiding is never the best solution to a problem."
Yun Qi shook his head and sighed: "Has anyone taught you how to act weak as a woman?"
In the past, Lu Anran probably would not have thought that this sentence was necessary. Tonight, he was uncharacteristically retorted: "The prince treats me as a woman? I thought I was just a tool for autopsy in the hands of the prince."
Yun Qi raised his eyelids and their eyes met. Before Lu Anran couldn't bear the impact of looking at each other and wanted to look away, he suddenly raised his lips and chuckled. The smile was scorching, as if there was a rain of flowers under Lu Anran's eyes. .
The wide sleeves of the silver robe came to her face, and the silk fabric brushed against Lu Anran's face, making her feel slightly itchy. His slender fingers pressed against her forehead, and the breeze brought a faint fragrance, and her ears were filled with his breath, " If you want to sing about your grievances with me, I’m reluctant to do so, so there’s no harm in listening.”
Lu Anran's heart trembled violently, and the book in his hand hit the table, making a moderate sound.
The two were so close that they could almost hear each other's heartbeats.
Lu Anran's keen sense of smell was at its best, and the smell that belonged to Yunqi penetrated her nose desperately, as if it had penetrated all the way to her heart, forming a feather inside that kept tickling, causing goosebumps all over her body. .
Yunqi's finger that poked her forehead slowly bent, tracing down the finger bones little by little. It was warm and gentle, and the skin trembled wherever his finger moved.
"I..." Lu Anran opened his mouth, looked into Yun Qi's eyes, and lost his voice after what he said.
Yunqi's eyes were dark and deep, and there was a danger that Lu Anran had never seen before. It seemed that if he was not careful, he would fall into it and be sucked into the depths of the whirlpool, and he would never be able to escape safely.
"What do you want to say? I'm listening." Yun Qi spoke, his voice lowered and a little hoarse.
Before Lu Anran opened his mouth to speak, a voice from behind interrupted, "Your Majesty, the mine has been found."
After seeing the scene in front of him clearly, Mo Yan cursed in his heart, shrank his neck and said: "It's not in a hurry, how about you continue?"
Yun Qi's upper eyelids dropped, then raised again, a careless smile returned to his face, he stood up straight, and waved back: "Come here."
As soon as the evening breeze blew, all the fragrance disappeared. Lu Anran's breathing that seemed to have been stagnant instantly resumed. He turned his head and took two hard breaths without leaving any trace. He was empty in front of him. He didn't know whether he was relieved or more disappointed.
Mo Yan stepped forward and said, "I received news that the mine where the Zhou family and Xue Tai cooperated has been found."
The mine was located near Qitian Ridge and was originally under the jurisdiction of the government. Somehow, it was discovered that copper was produced in it. Xue Tai sold this information to the Zhou family, and the two parties bought the mountain from the government without telling it. Fruit trees should be planted there.
Private mining is a serious crime in itself, not to mention that the county office has been tricked, so they are very cautious when actually mining. Even the people working on the periphery do not know the inside story. They are just wondering why they are moving rocks every day when planting fruit trees should not open up land. .
As for the workers who went deep inside, the Zhou family specially went to other counties further away to recruit them. The two places have different dialects and there are difficulties in communication with the locals, so the two parties hardly communicate.
"The Zhou family is indeed cautious in their actions." Yun Qi asked, "You asked people to explore the mine. Did any news leak out?" The Zhou family was wiped out, but Xue Taike was still alive.
Mo Yan waved his hand, "The mine has been abandoned a long time ago, there is no one at all."
This was beyond Yunqi's expectation. When he saw Xue Tai being so interested, he originally thought it was due to conflicts of interests and internal strife, but now it seems that it is not the case?
"Our people were able to find the copper mine thanks to the clues provided by the prefect. However, after tracing it, my subordinates found that no one had been there for a long time, but there were indeed traces of mining."
Mo Yan is usually very carefree, but being with Yun Qi is not that unreliable. He even went to the county town to find a master who knew this industry to have a look, "It turns out that the copper produced by that copper mountain is of high quality. No, and it’s not found in the entire mountain. The copper content is very low. Even if it’s mined, it won’t be enough to cover the mining costs.”
Yun Qi waved his folding fan, his peach-blossom eyes turning slightly, "Then it's even more impossible that there was a lack of cooperation, and that the enemy took advantage of the enemy."
Mo Yan scratched his head: "It doesn't look like it. It took less than a month to dig, and now the barren hills are covered with weeds." If he had taken advantage of others, he wouldn't have waited until now.
"What about the Zhou family's other businesses?"
"The abduction and trafficking of women and children that the prefect said is difficult to investigate. The Zhou family wiped the traces too clean. As for the interest grant, it is true. Many people have written documents issued by the Zhou family." Mo Yan took out a piece of paper and said, He handed it to Yun Qi and said, "But the seal on it is not from the Zhou family, but from Hengtong Bank."
Since Mo Yan could take it out, he naturally checked the bank, so he continued: "The name of the Zhou family is not on the face of the bank, but after twists and turns, it is indeed the Zhou family behind it. "
Yun Qi didn't care how many twists and turns there were, as long as it was the Zhou family. "If you can hide the criminal business so well, wouldn't the Zhou family alone be enough?"
Mo Yan rolled his eyes and said, "Squat down for Xue Tai?"
Yun Qi waved his hand: "Go ahead and ask Fang Jing if you encounter any difficulties."
Looking back, Lu Anran looked at him with cold eyes, "Master Yu must be very touched that the prince cares about you."
Yun Qi smiled and said: "The old fox wants to put himself aside and think of beauty."
—
As the sun rose in the east, a large group of people gathered in front of the county office. Different from the solemn soldiers with guns around them, the students were all excited and gearing up, and their eyes were full of eagerness to try.
Each person held a horse in front of them. They took off their wide-sleeved and elegant student robes and put on a pair of smart clothes. They looked quite handsome. The morning glow printed and dyed the young faces, which illuminated them particularly brightly.
Lu Anran glanced at them roughly. Most of them were male students, but a few women stood out in the middle. Among them were Princess Ding'an and Du Man and Yang Xue'er whom she could name. Another woman smiled implicitly at her. Laughing, she thought about it and it seemed that she was from Zuo Shilang's family, named Xie Yun.
After getting ready to go, someone suddenly said: "What's going on with this carriage? You don't think we are not going hunting, but touring the mountains and rivers, right?"
