vstars Chapter 660: Zhenhai returns!
Chapter 660: Zhenhai returns!
"Sir, are you saying that Fifth Brother's actions are not right?"
Something's not just wrong; it's downright blatant ulterior motives!
"It seems the Fifth Prince is still eyeing the position of the legitimate heir, and he must be quite active in private. Don't forget, he also has a treasure-hunting team out there."
Although they certainly won't find the treasure, since Jiang Xiaoqi had already used the gold and silver there as start-up capital for various businesses.
"Yes, the fifth brother also frequently visits the Ouyang family, supposedly to discuss poetry and philosophy, but who knows?"
Even if the main branch of the family doesn't like to get close to the prince, there are always some short-sighted collateral branches in a large family, aren't there?
This refers to Ouyang Jue. Ouyang Yan's father's branch is the main branch, while Ouyang Jue's family is a branch of a collateral branch.
"However, the treasure map was originally obtained by Ouyang Jue as a prize. I don't know what the Fifth Prince promised, but Ouyang Jue was able to give the treasure map away for free and even personally lead the team to search for the treasure."
"Heh, do you think we can make him the clan leader?"
"Well, maybe..."
Unless they form a separate clan and leave the main branch...
Hmm? Could that be what those two were thinking? That seems possible~
It's true what they say, fish find fish, shrimp find shrimp, turtles find tortoises; these two hit it off immediately and got along well.
"Alright, sir, whatever the fifth prince does is under the Emperor's watchful eye, so it's controllable."
The uncontrollable thing is still the situation in the south. To be honest, ever since I learned about the strange things happening in the south, I've become increasingly convinced that there might still be private army camps there.
The disappearances of craftsmen and able-bodied men meant they could be trained into private armies. Craftsmen could also forge weapons and build camps.
Jiang Xiaoqi looked at the Second Prince in surprise, with a sense of relief that "my son has grown up."
"Haha, Your Highness's guess is not unreasonable. I had thought about this direction before, but I still lacked concrete evidence."
"If there are private armies in the south, we need to find their exact locations and hiding places. However, progress is slow and not going smoothly at the moment."
"Sir, you thought of me first. Sigh~ If someone wants to hide, they can naturally dig a hole and hide themselves."
"The enemy is in the shadows while we are in the open; this is indeed a difficult situation. Moreover, we are in the capital, and many things are beyond our reach."
The Second Prince did not ask Jiang Xiaoqi how or who conducted the investigation; the master had his own methods.
Moreover, asking more questions won't help, and rashly getting involved might disrupt the gentleman's plans.
The second prince deeply felt that when he couldn't help, not causing trouble was also a form of help.
Jiang Xiaoqi nodded slightly, "That's true. It seems we'll have to invest more money."
Jiang Xiaoqi wanted to mobilize more spies to the south, at least those in the nearby prefectures, so that they could all be gathered in the areas where the most suspicion was found.
They could even disguise themselves as skilled craftsmen, infiltrate enemy camps, and have someone lead them directly to the places they were desperately searching for.
Jiang Xiaoqi had this idea before, but she didn't want to rashly put her subordinates at risk.
But today, after hearing the Second Prince say that His Majesty intends to establish an heir ahead of schedule, Jiang Xiaoqi felt a sense of urgency.
We can't wait any longer, we really can't wait any longer. We need to eliminate the hidden dangers before establishing a successor.
Sigh~ If anything happens to one of them, I'll just give them ten thousand taels of silver as compensation!
Seeing that Jiang Xiaoqi was lost in thought, the Second Prince did not disturb him. He simply spread out his brush and ink and began to write a reply to Qiu Cheng. This time, it was truly his own handwriting, no deception.
By the time Jiang Xiaoqi came to her senses, the Second Prince had already finished writing the letter and was just waiting for it to dry before putting it into the envelope.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness, my old problem has flared up again."
It refers to Jiang Xiaoqi's habit of smuggling things when he has nothing to do. He tried hard to change it, but he couldn't.
This is a problem left over from a past life, and it remains unresolved and unovercome in this life.
"It's nothing. I know you're thinking about something important. It just so happens that I've finished writing the letter to Lord Qiu, and I'll have to trouble you to deliver it to him."
"Yes, I will go to the Tongzhou County Government to visit my old father in a few days!"
"Hahahaha~"
Ten days later, it was another day off.
Jiang Xiaoqi never expected that his mission to deliver a message to Tongzhou would lead to the return of the Zhenhai ship.
Because the county government office was empty, with only Aunt Pan, who was practically the mistress, remaining.
"Auntie, where did my father go?"
"Young Master is here to see Master? Why didn't you send someone to let us know beforehand? You're not letting Master go out."
"Dad went fishing again? At the dock or by the river?"
Jiang Xiaoqi subconsciously assumed that Jiang Wenqing had gone fishing, which shows how deeply ingrained Jiang Wenqing's identity as a fisherman was in people's minds.
"Oh! This time it really wasn't. It was people from the docks who called the master and his two advisors, Master Qian and Master Xing, away."
Oh, by the way, the person who came was Lord Dong's advisor. His arrival and summons evacuation from the county office instantly.
"Oh? It seems they've all gone to the docks. Is something big happening there? Never mind, I'll go and see for myself."
He was originally going to the dock to deliver the message, but now that he's been caught in this smokescreen at the county government office, doesn't that give him even more reason to go to the dock? How perfectly reasonable!
"Hey, young master, let's have lunch before we go. The docks are a mess, full of roughnecks. We can't just eat communal meals with them."
"No need, Auntie. I'm in a hurry. I'll just buy a couple of flatbreads on the way and make do."
Aunt Qin was speechless. Wasn't that even worse than the communal meals at the docks? At least the communal meals at the docks had two dishes and a soup!
However, this is not his own son, and given his status, he shouldn't interfere too much; besides, saying anything would be going too far.
"Alright then, is there any water left in the water pouch? Have the servants add some."
"Oh, okay, there really aren't many left."
Jiang Xiaoqi took the water bag off his horse and handed it to Aunt Qin. He then left the county government office and waited outside the gate.
He was already sixteen, so he should at least avoid any appearance of impropriety. Since his aunt was the only person in the county government office, he decided not to go in.
Aunt Qin naturally thought of that too, and carrying the water bag, she walked inside quickly.
It would be good to give the young master some time, so that riding a horse too fast on the road would not be unsafe.
When Jiang Xiaoqi arrived at the dock while munching on a flatbread, he saw red firecracker debris scattered all over the ground.
This is?
We're back at port!
The Zhenhai is back!
Jiang Xiaoqi dismounted gracefully and stuffed the remaining half of the flatbread into his beloved horse's mouth.
The horse hesitated for a moment, then swallowed it whole.
At this moment, Jiang Xiaoqi only wanted to know if everyone was safe and sound.
I never expected that the Zhenhai, which I was talking about just ten days ago, would be docked at the shore now. It hasn't suffered any hardships in the two months since it left the ship, and the hull is still very new.
"Master Lin! Brother Xiao!"
The two men, who were unloading cargo from the ship, turned around at the same time, revealing their exceptionally white teeth.