"I didn't!" Xie Chang'an denied it outright.

“I’m not free! I just happened to see you having dinner with Ye Jingming and Zhang Zhe a few times,” he added.

"You scared me to death! I thought you were so bored that you were personally monitoring me!" Ye Jingchen said, taking a big gulp of tea to calm his nerves.

"I wasn't spying on you!" Xie Chang'an said in a deep voice, sounding somewhat displeased.

"I didn't send anyone to monitor you!"

"I don't have that much free time!"

"Okay, okay, if there's no surveillance, there's no surveillance. It's no big deal. I believe you!" Ye Jingchen said nonchalantly.

Xie Chang'an: ......

"Zhang Zhe cannot be completely trusted," he emphasized again.

Ye Jingchen waved his hand, "I know, I'm not so naive as to open my heart to someone I've only known for a short time, but he does have some talent, so why not make use of it?"

"You are not allowed to tell anyone my secret!" Xie Chang'an's expression softened slightly, but he brought up the matter again.

"Neither the little madman nor your personal bodyguard can tell!"

Ye Jingchen's lips twitched. This paranoia was truly terrifying; he was completely convinced!

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone! Only you, me, and heaven and earth know! I swear to heaven!"

"No need, I believe you!" Xie Chang'an reached out and pressed down Ye Jingchen's hand, which had been raised again.

"You believe that?!" Ye Jingchen thought to himself, rolling his eyes.

Aren't you tired?!

"You've been waiting for me here for a while now? If I hadn't skipped work today, wouldn't you have been waiting for nothing?" Ye Jingchen couldn't help but tease him, seeing that most of his gloomy mood had dissipated.

"I came here to drink tea and listen to storytelling, not specifically to wait for you," Xie Chang'an denied.

"If I hadn't skipped work to come see you today, would you have assumed I was plotting against you? What would you have done?" Ye Jingchen asked him bluntly.

"You've arrived," Xie Chang'an replied with only three words.

Ye Jingchen almost laughed out of anger at his answer.

He should find a way to send Xie Chang'an to the northern frontier as soon as possible!

Although the northern frontier could be on the battlefield at any time, it's still better than this guy spending all his time in the capital indulging in paranoia.

"Young Master Xie, please stay here and enjoy your tea and listen to the story. I have to go back now; it wouldn't be good if someone found out I skipped work!" Ye Jingchen said, getting up to leave.

"Someone will bring up the matter of military preparations in the northern frontier at tomorrow's morning court session," Xie Chang'an said while sipping his tea.

"Then I'll take stock of the Armory's military supplies and equipment inventory today. If it's not enough, I'll urge them to expedite the forging." After saying this, Ye Jingchen left the private room.

A short while later, Xie Chang'an saw Ye Jingchen's departing figure through the window of the private room.

Although he had an ordinary and unfamiliar face today, and his clothes looked very ordinary, his eyes were very special and shone brightly.

Besides his eyes, Ye Jingchen also has a very special temperament.

It was a temperament completely different from everyone else's, like a gentle breeze in the world, which could not be described as carefree and unrestrained.

A gentle breeze can make everyone feel its tenderness, but it will not stop for anyone.

He seems to care about everything, but in reality, he doesn't care about anything.

He disdains the coveted status of the Crown Prince, the imperial power, and even the surveillance of others.

How can one hold onto a gentle breeze?

Ye Jingchen walked down the street, pondering the possibility of sending Xie Chang'an to the northern frontier without arousing his father's suspicion.

Although it's difficult, it's at least simpler than sending Xie Shaoling to the northern frontier, and much simpler!

When Ye Jingchen strolled to the vicinity of the government office, he realized it was almost lunchtime.

The security at the government office was not on the same level as that at the palace, and Chenxi easily brought him in.

In the office, the two eunuchs were so excited to see him finally return that they almost cried.

After he left, Marquis Zhongyong and Zhang Zhe came to see him, but were turned away by two eunuchs through the door.

It's almost lunchtime, so it's not realistic to go find those two people now.

Ye Jingchen restored his original face, changed his clothes back, and tidied himself up. Just then, Ye Jingming came to find him for dinner.

After lunch, Ye Jingchen returned to his office and took a nap before going to find Yun Yi.

He had previously given Yun Yi a portion of the dossier backups that he felt had issues, which Yun Yi needed to verify.

Although he was the crown prince, his status was too prestigious, making it inconvenient for him to do anything in the Ministry of War, as he could easily alert the enemy. That's why he handed over those files to Yun Yi.

Yun Yi has served as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War for over a decade. He has his own manpower and information channels, making it much easier for him to investigate matters than for Yun Yi.

Yun Yi came to him to show him some things he had found out, all of which involved Zheng Mingxuan, the Minister of War.

“Zheng Mingxuan has powerful families backing him up. These pieces of evidence are not enough to bring him down. To continue the investigation, we need evidence that will enrage my father, the Emperor, and that the powerful families would not dare to protect him,” Ye Jingchen said to Yun Yi.

After meeting Yun Yi, he went to see Zhang Zhe.

As luck would have it, today was the monthly inventory day for military equipment and supplies at the Armory, and Zhang Zhe had come to him precisely to invite him to go to the Armory together.

Ye Jingchen readily agreed.

The warehouses storing military equipment and supplies were not located within the government offices, but rather on North Street of the Imperial City. The arsenal that manufactured military equipment was also located on North Street.

The armory and arsenal were heavily guarded. Zhang Zhelai brought all the assistant directors and clerks under the Armory Department to take inventory of the war supplies so that they could do it themselves.

Prior to this, Ye Jingchen had never been exposed to the weaponry of this era.

In the era of cold weapons, sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal were only used to make fireworks and not for military purposes. Ye Jingchen had no intention of inventing guns and ammunition in this era.

Certainly, if Da Yuan were to possess firearms and ammunition, the Northern Barbarians would no longer pose a threat.

But humans can't live in peace; even without external enemies, there will be internal strife!

The five-thousand-year history of the Chinese nation, marked by periods of division and reunification, confirms this point.

Even without the Northern Barbarians, there would be other threats.

As long as there are conflicts of interest, war will never stop.

Therefore, even with guns and ammunition, it is impossible to solve the problem once and for all; it will only make war more brutal!

Moreover, he was a liberal arts student in his previous life, and his understanding of gunpowder was limited to the fact that it was made by mixing sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal, while he only knew the shape and the most basic principles of firearms.

With his limited knowledge of trivial matters, it wouldn't have been easy for him to invent gunpowder and firearms.

Difficult doesn't mean impossible.

He believed that human wisdom was limitless.

However, once firearms are invented, they will be rapidly promoted and popularized, and humanity will quickly evolve from the era of cold weapons to the era of firearms. At that time, ordinary people will have even less control over their own destiny.

Even though Ye Jingchen transmigrated into the body of the Crown Prince of Dayuan, his soul was still just that of an ordinary person, and he cared more about the fate of ordinary people!