Perhaps it was because of what Guard Qi said, or perhaps it was because he remembered that Manager Wen had wanted to leave unilaterally before.

Gu Yuzhi had nightmares that night.

He dreamt that a few years later, Xinliang was completed. Before he could even be happy, Mr. Huo took Guard Qi, Guard Zhang, and the others to the Northern Desert Army. At the same time, Chief Secretary Xie and Attendant Chen also took their leave.

With tears in his eyes, he grabbed Xie Changshi's hand and cried out, "Xie Changshi, Qin Yuanjian, please don't go! I don't want you to leave!"

They've been through so much together, so why did Xie Changshi and the others leave him without hesitation?

But in the dream, Chief Secretary Xie's eyes were cold, and he pushed his hand away: "Your Highness, you really have too much to do."

“Our families should not have come to the northern desert to suffer, but because of your willful actions, they have been dragged into this.”

Qin, the Imperial Physician, looked exceptionally dark, even more serious and unpleasant than when he first gave him the medicine: "We were originally planning to return to the capital, so we never intended to bring our families here."

"But because of Your Highness's meddling, our families will not only suffer on the road, but also have to stay in such a desolate place for several years. When they return to the capital, they will be looked down upon by the people there, as if they came from such a rural place as Xinliang."

Gu Senyu stared at them for a while before pouting and saying, "But you were all very happy when they came over."

Chief Secretary Xie coldly replied, "What else can I do? You've already taken him away; how can I possibly refuse?"

"If I had refused then, wouldn't you have guessed that we ultimately didn't intend to stay in Xinliang?"

Gu Yuzhi could no longer hold back and burst into tears: "You all lied to me, you all lied to me..."

Qin, the Imperial Physician, looked down at him and said, "What have I lied to you about? Did I ever say that I would serve you for life? That I would stay in Xinliang for life?"

Gu Yuzhi was dumbfounded, his mind a complete blank. He never expected that Judge Qin would say such things.

Judge Qin smiled slightly, but his expression was extremely cold: "None of us said those things, did we?"

Seeing this, Chief Secretary Xie continued, "Your Highness knew from the beginning that we are all His Majesty's men. Is it not more promising for us to serve as officials in the capital under His Majesty than to serve under Your Highness in Xinliang?"

"Besides, even if we don't care about these things, we still have to think about the children, don't we?"

Gu Yuzhi covered his ears, squatted on the ground, and shook his head vigorously: "Stop talking, please stop talking."

He knew that Xinliang couldn't compare to the capital, and he also knew that there was a huge gap between him and his brother, the Emperor. However, he believed that Xie Changshi and the others had worked with him to build up Xinliang bit by bit, and that they also had a lot of affection for Xinliang.

Who knew that as soon as Xinliang was completed, Xie Changshi and his men couldn't wait to leave.

Gu Yuzhi started by wailing and crying, but later he cried until his voice was hoarse.

Even so, Xie Changshi and the others left without looking back, not even glancing at him.

As Gu Yuzhi watched their receding figures, he was heartbroken and fainted from crying.

When he woke up, he noticed that the expressions of Manager Wen and Teacher Shu looking at him had changed slightly.

Shopkeeper Wen turned his head away from him, while Teacher Shu stepped forward, hugged him, and patted his head, saying, "Young Prince, with the successful construction of Xinliang, Shopkeeper Wen's and my agricultural and commercial system are no longer of any use to you, so we're leaving now!"

"Don't go!"

Gu Yuzhi felt like crying again.

Xie Changshi and the others left just yesterday, and he doesn't have any familiar faces around him anymore. Now, Teacher Shu and Manager Wen are also leaving.

After that, he really didn't have a single close friend or relative left in Xinliang.

He held onto Teacher Shu's hand tightly, shaking his head repeatedly, saying, "Teacher Shu, please don't go, please don't go."

At least don't leave now.

Manager Wen shook his head and said, "Your Highness, you should know that I have wanted to leave for a long time."

Shu Xiaohan also sighed: "Although I don't have that idea, you know that we system users are not in control of our own lives. Moreover, only if I complete enough tasks and achieve excellent results can I be resurrected and return to my family."

"Young Prince, we've known each other for so many years, you know how much I miss my parents and my two children, right? You can't stop me from going back just because you don't have any close relatives around you."

"Yes." Manager Wen shook his fan. "I was a royal merchant in the previous dynasty. In the business world, my word was law. Not to mention the business world, many civil and military officials treated me with utmost respect."

He closed his fan and gestured around the pitch-black surroundings: "But now we're trapped in this place, forced to rely on your words to achieve your dreams. You won't let us leave, and you want to keep us trapped here?"

"Your Highness, one cannot be so selfish!"

As soon as Manager Wen finished speaking, Gu Yuzhi slowly released Shu Xiaohan's hand.

He lowered his head, his eyes red-rimmed and almost bleeding, and murmured, "Am I selfish?"

Manager Wen said, "Aren't you selfish?"

"It's obvious that Xie Changshi and the others are doing better in the capital, but you want them to stay in Xinliang, this remote little city, because of your own selfish interests."

Shopkeeper Wen pointed back at himself and Shu Xiaohan: "We both want to be resurrected and become real people, instead of being trapped here as a system, only able to see the world through your eyes."

Gu Yuzhi never knew that they would have so many complaints about being by his side.

He bit his lower lip hard, clenched his little fists tightly, and blinked repeatedly, as if that would stop him from crying.

When he looked up again, Manager Wen and Teacher Shu had disappeared, and the dark place that had existed in his mind had also vanished.

At that moment, Gu Yuzhi knew that Teacher Shu and Manager Wen would really never come back.

Gu Yuzhi felt as if the whole world had abandoned him, and he could only go to Xu Mama crying. Unexpectedly, Xu Mama was also packing her luggage. She turned around and kowtowed to him, saying, "Your Highness, this old servant is getting old and it is time for me to go home and show my filial piety."

Gu Yuzhi knew that if she were still in the palace, it would indeed be time for Xu Mama to be sent out to work, but he did not expect that Xu Mama would leave after coming to Mobei with him.

He really wanted to ask Granny Xu why even she had to leave him.

But Gu Yuzhi swallowed the words back before he could say them.

He dared not ask, for fear that Granny Xu would say he was selfish again.

With red eyes, Gu Yuzhi watched as Granny Xu left happily with her bag on her back. In just one day, the entire Prince's mansion was empty except for him.

In Xinliang, he was left all alone and desolate...