Water is the source of life, and Liu Yulian understands its importance. Ancient people often spoke of the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants, and artisans, demonstrating the importance of agriculture. Even in later generations, people maintained their cropland and built irrigation canals.

In later generations, not everyone can mechanize agriculture. Some fields in the mountains still need to rely on people.

Liu Yulian didn't know what the land of the Daliang Dynasty in this time and space was like. She just reminded the emperor that with cement and other materials, they could almost start projects such as the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.

Of course, the emperor would inevitably err on the side of caution, and the court couldn't possibly start so many projects all at once. Designing canals in impoverished and arid areas was no simple matter.

"Let the Water Conservancy Bureau do it." The emperor originally thought that Liu Yulian had some good ideas and a plan. After he learned that Liu Yulian had no plan, he was not surprised.

Liu Yulian hadn't seen many canals before, and building one wasn't like preparing a culture medium. It required extensive walking, understanding the terrain, considering all sorts of aspects, and requiring professional design.

However, Liu Yulian had no knowledge of the relevant professional knowledge at all, and her full-level life skills did not include the ability to design canals.

Of course, Liu Yulian couldn't possibly design a canal. A canal isn't just a matter of drawing a few lines. If there's a problem with the elevation of a certain section of the canal, the water might not flow through.

Without professional knowledge, Liu Yulian would not be able to design the canal. She just talked about it but did not do it.

As for whether the palace can have running water, theoretically it is possible, but it depends on how they do it.

The water in Zhuangzi comes from the mountains, and it itself utilizes the impact potential energy of the water flow.

"Yes." Liu Yulian responded.

Liu Yulian rarely visited the palace, perhaps only once or twice a month, to report on the research institute's progress to the emperor. Many studies could not be completed in a month or two; some took several years.

Therefore, it was impossible for those research teams to report to the emperor every day. A report once a month was already very good.

There are dedicated people to manage it within the institute, so that's it.

After Liu Yulian left the palace, the third prince came before the emperor.

The Third Prince had asked Concubine Cen to take care of Old Master Cen and his wife, and he was always worried that something might go wrong. When he came to the palace, he told the Emperor that he had asked Concubine Cen to take care of Old Master Cen.

"He is your grandfather after all, so there is nothing wrong with what you did." The emperor did not say anything wrong about the third prince.

After suffering a stroke, Mr. Cen could only lie in bed and could not move. Although he was still conscious, he knew that his family members had been beheaded or exiled, so he must have felt very bad.

Even if the Third Prince asked Concubine Cen to take care of Old Master Cen and his wife, and even if the Third Prince gave them some money, it would be like Old Master Cen and his wife waiting for money from the Third Prince, and being dependent on him. Old Master Cen and his wife would not be able to live as well as before.

"Father." The third prince was a little afraid of the emperor.

"Your grandfather is so old." The emperor picked up the teacup. "You can do whatever you want."

The emperor didn't say anything else. He could have asked the Third Prince to leave Old Master Cen and his wife alone. But he didn't say it. He knew that if he asked the Third Prince to help, the other old ministers would say that he was a kind emperor, and Old Master Cen and his wife might not feel any better.

Isn't this good?

The emperor could not allow Mr. Cen's stroke to affect the hearts of other old ministers, so he let Mr. Cen stay in the capital.

"Yes." The third prince responded.

The emperor looked at the Third Prince with a faint smile. He couldn't possibly let him help with the canal repairs. The Third Prince's brain wasn't working well, so the emperor thought it would be best for him to stay in the capital. At least the Third Prince was his son, so he wouldn't be short of food and clothing.

The Qin family wasn't particularly upset that the emperor hadn't exiled Old Master Cen and his wife. They had anticipated this outcome, believing the Cen family wouldn't rise again. Even if they did, it would be many years away.

The former Queen Qin had a miscarriage, but no biological son was still alive.

It is impossible for the Qin family to simply withdraw a man and say that he is the son of the late queen. That is unrealistic. The Qin family did not think about having any great achievements, nor did they think about becoming a powerful relative.

The Crown Prince is not the biological son of the late Queen Qin, so it is impossible for the Crown Prince to attach so much importance to the Qin family.

Master Qin thought that this might not be a bad thing. Since their family did not have that much power, they would not be easily misled.

But the second master Qin had other ideas. He wanted his daughter to marry the prince. He also told the first master Qin about this matter. The second master Qin thought that if the Qin family could not produce another queen, they could always produce another concubine.

"No need." Master Qin said directly, "Do you want to become the second Cen family?"

"Our family is not as powerful as the Cen family, and it is impossible for us to force the Queen..." Mr. Qin thought that he could take this opportunity to send his daughter to the prince, which could be regarded as their support for the prince.

"The Crown Prince's position is secure, and he doesn't need to rely on in-laws," said Master Qin. "If you let your daughter marry him, can you guarantee she won't have other thoughts? The palace is a place where people are eaten alive without leaving any bones. No matter how good the men in the family are, they should be allowed to work hard on their own. There's no need to sacrifice the women in the family."

Master Qin had never thought of taking this opportunity to push his daughter to the Crown Prince's side. The Crown Prince was not a fool. If they did that, the Crown Prince would definitely understand that they wanted the Qin family to be more powerful.

"This..." Mr. Qin still felt that it would be better to let the girl in his family go to the prince's side. "There will be a talent show in the future."

"Not everyone has to participate in the draft." Master Qin said, "This dynasty doesn't force you to let your daughter participate in the draft."

This was an order issued by Empress □□, which allowed women to marry on their own without participating in the selection. The women who participated in the selection were basically the daughters of officials, both high-ranking and low-ranking.

Not all families want their daughters to participate in a talent show. Some families want their daughters to marry into an ordinary family and live a warm and ordinary life.

The palace is not where people want to go.

"Yes." Mr. Qin knew this, of course, but he still had some thoughts.

"Think about what happened to Cen," said Master Qin. "Think about what happened to the late queen."

Cen came from a prominent family. Although she didn't become the empress, she held great power in the harem. However, wasn't she eventually banished to the cold palace and demoted to a commoner? This was certainly her own fault, but she wasn't like this when she first entered the palace. It was only after she entered that she gradually became like this.

The former Queen Qin was a dignified and virtuous person in the harem. She did not harm the concubines in the harem, but Queen Qin was suffocated by Cen.

Master Qin thought that there was no need for their family to send their daughter to the palace. The prince would become the emperor in the future, and even if their daughter did not become the prince's woman, they could still rely on their own abilities.

"Things are different now." Mr. Qin was unwilling to accept it.

"If you want to give it to me, then give it to me. But I can't do anything about my niece's future." Master Qin said the ugly words directly in advance. He could not support his niece.

The Cen family once embarrassed Queen Qin, and the Qin family cannot embarrass the Crown Princess.

The Qin family is indeed not as powerful as the Cen family, but that doesn't mean there are no other things.

After Qin Erye left Qin Da Laoye, he went to look for his wife and daughter. He still wanted his daughter to go to the prince. Qin Si was Qin Erye's legitimate daughter. Qin Si was also a young and beautiful girl.

"Father." Miss Qin Si saluted Mr. Qin Er.

"Pack up and go to the prince after a while." said Mr. Qin.

Master Qin had not given up on the idea of ​​having his daughter marry the Crown Prince. When they had previously met the Emperor, he had sensed that the Emperor wanted the Qin daughter to be with the Crown Prince. Empress Qin had died young, and the Emperor inevitably felt some regret, so he wanted the Crown Prince to be with his in-laws' daughter.

But he couldn't let his daughter go so easily, he had to find a way to get the emperor to grant her a marriage. Qin Erye wanted his daughter to be the prince's concubine, so that her starting point would be higher.

"Yes." Miss Qin Si had no objection.

Miss Qin Si had once seen the prince from afar. The prince was handsome and elegant, and she was willing to marry him.

Miss Qin San was the daughter of Master Qin, and she had never thought of marrying the prince. When she learned that Miss Qin Si was planning to follow the prince, she was shocked. She had a good relationship with Miss Qin Si, so why was Miss Qin Si so silly?

"What's so good about the Eastern Palace?" Miss Qin San asked Miss Qin Si when they were sitting alone together, "With our status, we can become someone's wife."

Miss Qin San didn't think the East Palace was that good. The prince would become emperor sooner or later. No one knew how many women would be around the prince. If a man had too many women around him, he would not be able to pamper more than one woman.

As an emperor, he must treat everyone equally. The concubines in the harem are concubines, but their family backgrounds are not low.

Miss Qin San believed that being a concubine of the royal family was a very difficult job.

"The prince is very good." Miss Qin Si did not give in. "Besides, I dare not disobey my parents' orders."

Miss Qin Si still liked the prince very much, and the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to marry him.

Miss Qin San saw Miss Qin Si's shy expression and knew that Miss Qin Si was just thinking about marrying the prince. But Miss Qin Si wasn't her biological sister, just a cousin. Miss Qin San thought she should stop making such a fuss.

"It's up to you." Miss Qin San had no objection.

"Yeah." Miss Qin Si nodded slightly.

Two days later, the emperor indeed issued an imperial decree, which was to marry Miss Qin Si to the prince as a concubine.

The people in the capital didn't keep a close eye on Liu Yulian. After being appointed a first-rank official at the research institute, she hadn't made any major moves. Instead, they were more focused on the fourth daughter of the Qin family. They weren't surprised that the emperor wanted a daughter of the Qin family to marry the crown prince.

The Qin family originally had a queen. If the former queen had not been forced to death, and if the former queen had given birth to a legitimate son, then the position of crown prince would definitely not have gone to Prince Su.

In the palace, the imperial concubine remained noncommittal about the Qin family girl's marriage to the crown prince, stating that it was merely a concubine's position. The emperor's health was not so good, and he had recently asked the crown prince to review more memorials.

The prince absolutely cannot make the emperor unhappy at this time. The emperor lets the Qin family girl marry the prince just to make up for the regrets of him and the late queen.

The Imperial Concubine thought it was ridiculous. How could this be considered a way to make up for a regret? The Qin family girl could have married someone else as the principal wife, but she chose to marry the prince. Tsk tsk. The Imperial Concubine did not think the Qin family girl was that good, and she would not stand on the Qin family girl's side when the time came.

"Even if she enters the Eastern Palace, she can't surpass you." It is impossible for the imperial concubine to pay more attention to the girl of the Qin family.

"My daughter-in-law isn't worried about that," the Crown Princess said. "Earlier, my father had my daughter-in-law and Princess Zhaoyang go to the research institute together, mainly to do some things other than research."

"How is it?" asked the imperial concubine.

"There are not many people staying at the institute. Many of them are out working," the Crown Princess said. "This is a very normal thing at the institute. There are people responsible for purchasing there. Every account is clearly written down. There's no point in my daughter-in-law going there."

"Why is it useless?" The imperial concubine disagreed. "The research institute was established not long ago, and they don't have any real power. They are just doing research. If you go there occasionally, it can serve as a reassurance and put their minds at ease."

"Yes." The Crown Princess responded.

The Crown Princess did not say much about the Qin girl in front of the Imperial Concubine. It was impossible for her to stop the Qin girl from marrying the Crown Prince.

At the Ouyang family, Mrs. Huo was thinking about how to get Liu Qingyun and Liu Jia to come to her. Mrs. Huo wanted the second daughter of Ouyang to accompany her to the Marquis of Jingning's mansion, but the second daughter of Ouyang was unwilling to go. Mrs. Huo thought about it for a long time and still felt that she had to go find the two children.

She may not look for her step-sons and step-daughters, but she can look for her biological children.

Others would not think that she wanted to harm her own children. Mrs. Huo just wanted to take advantage of her children.

"Bring the little lady out." Mrs. Huo was thinking of taking her little daughter to find Liu Qingyun and Liu Jia, so that they could see their little sister.

Mrs. Huo asked the wet nurse to bring out her little daughter, and the group boarded the carriage. She had been waiting for a long time. Liu Qingyun was very young and Liu Jia had never come to see her. She couldn't wait any longer. If she waited any longer and they didn't come, what would she do?

Even though Mrs. Huo had attended some banquets recently, she said at the banquet that she missed her two children in the Jingning Marquis Mansion, but no one was willing to respond.

Those people are not fools. Their status is not that high. Why should they get involved in this matter?

The fact that Da Huo divorced Liu Yanjing when the Liu family was in crisis was known to everyone in the capital. It was difficult for Da Huo to suppress the Jingning Marquisate through public opinion. If the mountain doesn't come to her, she will go.

When Liu Yulian got off the carriage, she happened to see Da Huo and his men standing there.

Liu Yulian hadn't expected to see Mrs. Huo at her doorstep. She didn't like Mrs. Huo that much. No one would like someone who abandoned their brother in a critical moment. Her understanding was one thing, and her dislike was another.

"Liu Yulian." Mrs. Huo called Liu Yulian by her name.

Liu Yulian originally wanted to go directly into the Marquis' Mansion, but when she heard the voice of Mrs. Huo, she stopped.

"I wonder if Madam Ouyang has any advice for me?" Liu Yulian asked.

"Not Da..." Da Huo realized before she finished her words that this was wrong. She was no longer Liu Yulian's sister-in-law. "I am the biological mother of your nephew and niece after all. I want to see them. Should I ask them to come out or should I go in?"

"You have to ask them if they are willing to see you." Liu Yulian did not make the decision for her nephew and niece. She saw the child held by the person behind Mrs. Huo.

Liu Yulian heard that Da Huo's youngest daughter was weak, and she was surprised that Da Huo had taken such a sickly child out without permission. Liu Yulian really didn't understand what Da Huo was thinking. Da Huo didn't miss Liu Qingyun and Liu Jia that much, did she?

If Mrs. Huo really wanted these two children so much, then she wouldn't have asked people from the Huo family or the Ouyang family to come. Mrs. Huo had never come in person before, and now, more than a month had passed, she finally came.

"It's Mid-Autumn Festival." Mrs. Huo said, "They celebrated it with you last year, so this year they should celebrate it with me."

Mrs. Huo found another excuse. She didn't want to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with her children at all. She just wanted them to stop liking Princess Zhaoyang and Liu Yulian so much. However, it was useless for her to speak ill of Liu Yulian in front of her children. She had tried that in her previous life.

So how can we make the two children not like Princess Zhaoyang so much?

Mrs. Huo thought that Liu Qingyun and Liu Jia were her own children. It was fine for her own children to like their aunt, but why should they like their stepmother?

"We spent that time in the northwest." Liu Yulian thought that Da Huo was ridiculous. Da Huo didn't send anything to Liu Qingyun and Liu Jia at all.

After Liu Qingyun and Liu Jia returned to the capital, Mrs. Huo didn't show much concern for them. She didn't send gifts to her children, nor did she say many words of concern. She just forced the Jingning Marquisate to send Liu Qingyun and Liu Jia to her.

"It must have been tough in the northwest," said Mrs. Huo. "But you all should have lived well back then. You were already a marquis, so how could you possibly be doing poorly?"

Mrs. Huo was filled with hatred when she thought of this. She and Liu Yanjing divorced, but how come Liu's father regained his title and Liu Yulian became even more powerful?

"..." Liu Yulian was too lazy to talk to Mrs. Huo, so she turned around and went into the Marquis' Mansion.

When Mrs. Huo followed Liu Yulian and tried to go in, she was stopped by someone.

"Why are you stopping me?" Mrs. Huo frowned.

Those people didn't care whether Mrs. Huo was satisfied or not, they were just responsible for stopping people. The guards still didn't move out of the way, they didn't let Mrs. Huo enter the mansion directly.

"Get out of the way." said Mrs. Huo.

There was no way those people would listen to Da Huo, and Princess Rongning didn't say to let Da Huo in.

After Liu Yulian entered the house, she went to see Princess Zhaoyang. She did not go directly to see Liu Qingyun and Liu Jia. It would be better to let Princess Zhaoyang handle this matter. Princess Zhaoyang is the stepmother of her nephew and niece. Liu Yulian did not want to go through Princess Zhaoyang to handle this matter.

"Madam Ouyang is here," Liu Yulian said, "She's the Madam Ouyang who divorced my eldest brother."

Liu Yulian looked at Princess Zhaoyang. She didn't want Princess Zhaoyang to be unhappy because of Da Huo.