Dahasu ultimately chose status over women.

People are always instinctively inclined to seek advantage and avoid harm, and will always make choices that are beneficial to themselves. Although Dahasu doted on Concubine Yuan, he was well aware of the consequences if he lost his status and was disliked by the emperor.

Dahasu was unable to bear the consequences, so he sent Aunt Yuan back to Yuan Hong. If Aunt Yuan could survive this "calamity," Dahasu would not mind treating her better in the future, but if she could not, he would only feel regret.

Yinzhen observed from the shadows and remained noncommittal about Dahasu's decision.

Since he had already made his decision, Yinzhen would not implicate him for no reason. Besides, if it weren't for Dahasu's intervention, Yuan Hong would not have been involved in this trip. In any case, Yinzhen disapproved of Dahasu's favoritism towards his concubine over his wife.

Two or three days later, the people Yinzhen sent to observe Yuan Hong's concubines in the harem made a new discovery.

"Your Majesty, I have noticed that Lord Yuan's concubine has been behaving strangely lately. She seems to be packing up money, as if she is planning to run away."

Yinzhen had always felt that something was amiss. After all, Yuan Hong, as an official of the court, naturally knew the rules. The emperor's whereabouts were confidential, and Yuan Hong would not have revealed them unless he was deliberately trying to find out.

Although the information was obtained from the assassin through a concubine or maid, a maid would not know such a thing without her master's orders.

Yinzhen guessed that the maid was probably already dead, since only the dead could keep secrets.

"Let her run away, but have someone keep a close eye on her. Also, check if that maid who leaked my whereabouts is still alive."

Upon hearing this, the people below realized that the Emperor had guessed that since they couldn't find the maid, she might have been silenced. They hadn't been investigating in that direction, but now that they had a direction, things naturally became much easier.

"yes"

"Okay, go check it out."

"This servant takes his leave."

Yunrong's voice came from behind the screen: "You suspect that the maid is dead."

Yunrong came over to bring Yinzhen some food. She was worried that if Yinzhen got busy, no one would be able to keep an eye on him, so she came in person to put her mind at ease. After she arrived, she heard someone reading a letter, so Yunrong went behind the screen.

Yinzhen nodded: "Yes, the people I sent investigated everywhere they could think of, but they didn't find a single clue. If they weren't already dead, it's impossible that there wouldn't be any trace left."

"So, what do you plan to do with Yuan Hong?" Yinzhen didn't have much affection for this man. He saw a woman rise to power, and if she had the ability to be worthy of his position, he could be considered someone of importance. But in reality, he was incompetent. Otherwise, he wouldn't have so easily revealed information that he shouldn't have.

"I don't intend to let him go, but it's not the right time yet. Let's wait until his concubine runs away." Yinzhen was still waiting to see if he could catch the person behind the scenes by tracking down the concubine's whereabouts!

When Yunrong heard that Yinzhen had a plan, she stopped asking about it and asked again, "Are you still busy with the river project?"

“Well, Jing’e’s idea is good, but he is relatively inexperienced. Now that I’m here, I’ll do my best to finalize the plan for building the river, so that he can avoid some detours.”

Yunrong smiled and said, "You're quite fond of Jing'e."

Yinzhen: "Since he has the ability, I will naturally not bury his talent. Besides, promoting him so quickly at such a young age is also to tell the world that my court will not bury those who are not talented. It is also to remind those who rely on their seniority to behave themselves. The Qing Dynasty can still function without them, and it can function even better."

Yunrong thought of the popular saying, "The earth will keep turning no matter who leaves," and wondered if Yinzhen was being "trendy" for once. Then she burst out laughing.

Yinzhen was puzzled; why did he suddenly burst out laughing?

"What's wrong? What's so funny?"

Yunrong shook her head: "No, I just suddenly felt like laughing."

Seeing that Yunrong didn't want to talk about it, Yinzhen stopped asking and started looking at the geomantic map.

Yunrong noticed that Yinzhen didn't seem particularly happy looking at the picture.

"What problem did you encounter? Can you tell me?"

Yinzhen didn't mind telling Yunrong about the difficulties he encountered. He knew that Yunrong had different views from him and sometimes came up with many ingenious ideas. Yinzhen had used these ingenious ideas to accomplish many things.

“Jing’e’s idea is good, but Jing’e went to see it in person yesterday. The location of the two newly excavated river channels cannot be determined. If construction is to begin, it will inevitably involve the relocation of villages. However, clan consciousness is very strong nowadays, and no one is willing to move. They all feel that the place where they were born is their root. This is not easy to handle. It is not impossible to force the relocation of villages, but it will involve the interests of the villagers from top to bottom. We don’t know how much of the allocated money will actually reach the people.”

Yunrong: "So what are you planning to do?"

Yinzhen: "Let's see if there's a way to determine the location of these two rivers without relocating the villages."

Yunrong walked to Yinzhen's side, looked at the geomantic map in Yinzhen's hand, and spoke the truth.

Yunrong took a look and then had an idea.

Yunrong pointed out several places and asked, "Are these places uninhabited and uncultivated?"

Yinzhen knew a great deal about this geomantic map. As soon as Yunrong pointed it out, he knew what kind of terrain it was. Those places were somewhat remote, and the soil was unsuitable for growing crops: "Yes."

Yunrong: "Reservoirs can be dug in these locations."

Yinzhen: "Dig a reservoir?"

Yunrong: "Yes, it's about digging a reservoir. I looked at this geomantic map and found that there are basically no people living upstream, and only a few people live in the middle reaches. We can dig a reservoir to store water, so the river can be narrowed when it passes through the villages, so the villagers don't have to be relocated. Moreover, the reservoir has a wide range of uses, such as drought prevention."

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