The royal autumn hunt was in three days, and Chu Luoxun paced back and forth anxiously.

Although he was skilled in martial arts, he was not very good at hunting. However, the emperor personally taught him, and he learned the true skills of hunting and became a very good hunter.

Since returning to the capital, he has remained unfavored by the emperor, while Prince Cheng is favored by his father. He is superior to him in martial arts, scholarship, and military strategy. He has military merits and a powerful background in the Ministry of Personnel, while his mother is still in the cold palace. The Bai family lives in the distant city of Yuzhou, and the former prime minister has been demoted to Luoshui County.

Compared to King Cheng, he was nothing.

If he cannot gain the emperor's special favor at the autumn hunt, he fears his position as crown prince will be in jeopardy.

A moment later, Lu Yanzhao arrived.

Just as he was about to bow, Chu Luoxun interrupted him: "No need for formalities, please sit down."

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Lu Yanzhao remained respectful, not becoming complacent despite Chu Luoxun's courteous treatment.

Chu Luoxun was quite satisfied with Lu Yanzhao's performance and felt relieved. She got straight to the point: "Yanzhao, the reason I called you here today is because there is something that is troubling me. In three days, there will be an autumn hunting banquet, and the person with the most game will receive a reward from the emperor. In previous years, Prince Cheng has always won first place, but I am not good at these things, and I am not favored by the emperor. If Prince Cheng wins first place again at this hunting banquet, Minister Zhou will probably rise to power again. At that time, I'm afraid..."

What does Your Highness think?

"I will not hide it from you. Prince Cheng's mother is favored by the Emperor and has the support of Minister Zhou. He himself is proficient in both literature and martial arts. Now that the Emperor's mind is unclear, I am uneasy. I want to reveal his background at the Autumn Hunting Banquet. What do you think, Yanzhao?"

Lu Yanzhao narrowed his eyes. If Chu Luoxun wanted to expose the Prince Cheng's background, wouldn't Gu Nanjiao's background also be revealed? He was currently just a low-ranking official of the sixth rank. If Chu Luoxun exposed this matter, Gu Nanjiao and her father would definitely be in danger. He felt that he couldn't take the risk.

Lu Yanzhao smiled and said, "Your Highness, this matter is of great importance and requires careful consideration." He paused, then continued, "Throughout history, those who have risen to power through bloodshed have been most averse to fratricide and infighting. In my opinion, what Your Majesty lacks most is a filial son who cherishes his brothers. Your Highness might as well follow Your Majesty's wishes."

Chu Luoxun was stunned; how come he hadn't thought of that?

No wonder Father Emperor is so wary of him, fearing he might have ulterior motives. He recently gave Minister Zhou a severe reprimand. Whether it's Prince Cheng or him, if either of them covets the throne, Father Emperor, being naturally suspicious, will probably be the first to strike.

Thinking of this, Chu Luoxun broke out in a cold sweat. He had indeed been a little anxious, but thankfully Lu Yanzhao reminded him.

"I understand."

Lu Yanzhao's eyes flickered: "I do have some ideas for this autumn hunt, but it remains to be seen whether Your Highness dares to make a move?"

Chu Luoxun raised his chin, signaling him to continue.

"What the emperor has in abundance is sons, especially those who are exceptionally talented, skilled in both literature and military affairs, and have powerful backgrounds. If Your Highness were to risk your life to save His Majesty during the autumn hunt..."

Chu Luoxun was overjoyed upon hearing this: "You mean..."

Lu Yanzhao nodded and whispered the plan into Chu Luoxun's ear.

Chu Luoxun was somewhat alarmed after hearing this: "What if this kind of thing gets found out?"

"Your Highness, have your men clean things up properly, and then shift the blame elsewhere!"

Finally, Chu Luoxun smiled, her gaze towards Lu Yanzhao filled with admiration: "You are bold enough, and ruthless enough. But I like it very much."

Lu Yanzhao smiled faintly and remained silent. Chu Luoxun continued, "It's getting late. Why don't we have Shiyi go to Xianglou to order some delicacies, and Yanzhao can eat before leaving?"

"I still have some matters to attend to, so I will not go."

"Indeed. Now that you have just entered the Hanlin Academy and your house has been destroyed by fire, I wonder if you can rent a house now? If this matter is successful, I will ask His Majesty to bestow a mansion upon you."

"Your Highness is very grateful for your kindness. Your Highness has always been considerate of me, and I am deeply grateful. I hope that Your Highness can ascend to the grand ceremony soon and will promote me in the future."

Chu Luoxun was very satisfied with Lu Yanzhao's sensibility. This man was not only smarter than Zheng Shanzhang, but more importantly, he was not eager for quick success and his expression of loyalty was extremely sincere.

It was worth all the homework he did.

After Lu Yanzhao turned and left, a hint of mockery appeared in his lowered eyes.

What Chu Luoxun didn't know was that Lu Yanzhao secretly threw the letter he had prepared into the study of the Prince Cheng's mansion that very night.

...

Gu Nanjiao was busy buying a courtyard house. In the capital, even a dilapidated courtyard house is worth its weight in gold.

Gu Nanjiao and Lü Siniang paid a large sum of money in compensation for the small courtyard that had been burned down and the neighboring houses that were affected. After all, those people had also been implicated by their actions, and they had to be compensated no matter what.

After running around with the matchmaker all day, Gu Nanjiao still hadn't found a room she liked. She returned to her former residence, Jiaoniang Pavilion.

Coincidentally, I saw Bai Su at Jiao Niang Pavilion.

He was standing in front of Huang Qingqing, babbling on and on. Huang Qingqing, however, was carving a hairpin in her hand, without even lifting her eyelids.

"Brother Bai Su, what brings you here? It's been a long time!" Gu Nan greeted him with a smile. With Bai Su here, Bai Luochen must be nearby.

Upon seeing Gu Nanjiao, Bai Su immediately stepped forward and said, "My young master has returned and invites you to Tianxiang Restaurant for a chat."

Gu Nanjiao and Bai Su entered Tianxiang Restaurant. Upon seeing Bai Luochen, she went straight to the point: "It's been a long time since I've seen Young Master Bai. I still owe you a meal. Let me treat you to this meal at Tianxiang Restaurant today."

Bai Luochen had lost a lot of weight, and the moon-white robe looked somewhat loose on him. He put away the jade fan in his hand and smiled, "Then I shall respectfully accept your offer."

After the two ate for a while, Bai Luochen took out a copper token from his sleeve: "This is the profit share from the kudzu root powder and the ice-making workshop, totaling ten thousand taels. Keep it safe."

Gu Nanjiao stood up excitedly and took the bronze medal with both hands: "So many?"

"There will only be more in the future."

After a while, Bai Luochen frowned and asked, "You made ice from saltpeter, so could you make gunpowder from saltpeter?"

During this time, he had been busy with the saltpeter mine business. Although saltpeter was used to make gunpowder, its power was very weak. He remembered that Gu Nanjiao had once used saltpeter to make ice and explained a lot of principles that he didn't understand. He wondered if Gu Nanjiao could make ice, could she perhaps develop powerful gunpowder?

Gu Nanjiao paused in her eating: "Gunpowder? You're giving me too much credit!"

She's already at her limit when she can make ice, let alone gunpowder. Does she really think she's a goddess reincarnated?

Bai Luochen said calmly, "I remember you explained the principles of gunpowder making to me before. Although I didn't understand it, I thought it made a lot of sense. You can definitely make it."

Gu Nanjiao simply threw down her chopsticks and refused to eat: "That was just theoretical talk."

That's ridiculous. She had only heard her mentor talk about the gunpowder-making process, and even her mentor had only learned it from books and had never experimented with it himself.

It's enough to know what's in the book. But if you ask her to actually do it, she'll be completely clueless and know nothing.

Bai Luochen sighed and said, "Then could you write down what you read in the book for me?"

"no problem!"

Bai Luochen scratched his head in frustration as he looked at the letters that resembled scribbles and the incomprehensible terms.

He pointed at KNo3 and asked, "What kind of nonsense is this?" Then he asked, "What is an oxidizing agent?"