One quarter of the morning.

The royal palace of Laifeng Kingdom, Lanyue Palace.

"how?"

An Zihao, exhausted after a night of favor, lay lazily on the spacious pearwood bed, even his voice sounding a bit nonchalant.

His cheeks were slightly flushed, his silky black hair casually spread across the pillow. Beneath the brocade quilt, his delicate collarbone was slightly exposed, the red and purple mottled kiss marks clearly visible.

"My lord, the entire army has been wiped out!"

A masked man in black knelt on one knee in the center of the bedroom, with his brows lowered, waiting for his master's decision.

"completely annihilated?"

Upon hearing this, An Zihao, ignoring the cold, leaped up from his bed. His wide, cross-necked collar was slightly open, revealing a dense, mottled pattern of red and purple kiss marks across his chest. Those were the marks of Nalan Yunzhi's painstaking lovemaking last night.

"An Ning, those were my carefully trained assassins, and you actually lost six of them in one go!" An Zihao glared at the man kneeling on the ground in anger.

An Ning was An Zihao's servant, and he was also a skilled martial artist. This time, An Ning led six assassins to ambush the princess, but unexpectedly, the princess's Situ Consort was so powerful that he single-handedly killed all six assassins.

If he had not fled immediately when he saw the situation was not good, he would probably have become an assassin's corpse displayed in the Fengcheng government office.

"Master, please forgive me. It was indeed An Ning who underestimated the enemy this time!" An Ning said respectfully to An Zihao who was lying on the bed.

"She's lucky!"

"Have you found out the identity of the man in the General's Mansion?"

An Zihao's eyes suddenly turned cold, and he glanced at An Ning who was kneeling on the ground again.

"My lord, the General's Mansion is heavily guarded. Even the food vendors can only deliver to the back door. The maids and servants in the mansion have to be thoroughly checked for generations before they can be employed. Our people can't get any information."

"Hmph! You useless piece of shit! If you can't get in, you won't wait for him to come out? I just don't believe he can hide in this mansion forever?" An Zihao shouted angrily.

Regardless of whether that person is Feng Lingyan or not, just because he can take away the emperor's heart, he cannot be kept!

"By the way, my lord, the carriage from the General's Mansion goes back and forth to the Imperial College every day at noon. It seems that the General has ordered his husband to deliver food to his daughter Feng Qiyan." An Ning reported the information she had obtained truthfully.

An Zihao narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing this. After a brief moment of thought, he suddenly widened his eyes and muttered to himself, "Feng Qiyan is just an eight-year-old kid whose hair hasn't even grown yet. What kind of education is she going to study at the Imperial College?"

"Master, isn't it said that the Imperial College has a 'genius class' that specifically accepts those children who are particularly talented?" An Ning felt that his master was making a big deal out of nothing.

"No, no..."

An Zihao shook his head slightly.

"He didn't go to school earlier, nor did he go to school later, but when the princess returned to the palace and enrolled in the Imperial College..."

"Master, perhaps the general wants to curry favor with the princess by using my daughter's name..." An Ning expressed his thoughts.

"idiot!"

"The Feng Mansion prides itself on being a family of loyalty and righteousness, and Feng Cailan is certainly not one to curry favor with powerful men. She must have had other ulterior motives behind her husband's actions. Perhaps it wasn't for her own sake, but... to create an opportunity for the man in the mansion to meet the princess..."

After figuring it out, An Zihao immediately ordered, "Closely monitor the movements of the carriages from the Feng Mansion to the Imperial College. Find a way to find out if there are any men other than Yu Jingyang on board."

An Zihao's eyes, once filled with tender affection as he looked at Nalan Yunzhi, now shone with a sinister gleam. "If anyone is spotted in the carriage with a man who resembles the princess, regardless of whether he's Feng Lingyan or not, I will kill him without mercy!"

"Yes, Master!"

After receiving the order, An Ning quickly left An Zihao's bedroom.

At the same time, the court of Laifeng Kingdom was still holding its morning court session.

"Minister of Works, what do you think?"

Sitting on the golden throne, Nalan Yunzhi glanced disdainfully at the court officials below and leisurely mentioned the name of Qin Huaiyu, the Minister of Works.

"Your Majesty, I believe this method of using a kang is feasible. It is indeed a great help for the people to keep warm in winter, and it is convenient and practical. While cooking every day, you can also keep the kang warm, which is really killing two birds with one stone!"

Qin Huaiyu, the Minister of Works, immediately understood the mystery of the kang after seeing its structural drawing and expressed his sincere admiration.

"But... Your Majesty, if the imperial court were to fund the construction of kangs for the common people, I'm afraid it would be another huge financial expense..."

Ye Qingyi, holding a tablet, stepped out from the ranks of civil officials and offered her advice to Nalan Yunzhi, who was standing above her. After all, the end of the year was when the treasury was most strained, and what she feared most was the Emperor asking her for money again...

"Lord Ye, don't worry. The materials used to make the kang are merely inexpensive and won't cost much. Furthermore, the court will only cover half of the cost, leaving the people to pay the other half. Furthermore, the court's funding will come in the form of exemptions from corvée labor or tax deductions, not direct funding, so it won't put pressure on the treasury."

Nalan Yunzhi's lips curled slightly. In his heart, he gave a big thumbs up to the princess's suggestion.

"Mother, I am willing to share your worries and help you implement the matter of the kang. I hope that all the people in the north can use this kang within a month." The eldest princess Nalan Junxue (the virtuous king) bowed to Nalan Yunzhi who was sitting on the golden throne.

"Okay! Let the wise king handle this matter. He must complete the kang construction before mid-winter." Nalan Yunzhi waved his sleeves and agreed to the eldest princess's request.

"Your Highness the Virtuous Prince is truly filial and righteous, loyal to the emperor, patriotic, and compassionate to the people. On the other hand, Your Highness the Crown Princess..." General Ouyang Yiqin pretended to be hesitant to speak.

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