At midnight, the Xingyuan Marquis Mansion gradually returned to calm amid everyone's worries, but outside the city, the Linjiang Prince Mansion on Taohua Mountain was filled with a solemn atmosphere, as if a storm was about to come.
The atmosphere in the main hall of Bishuiyunju was solemn. Li Longjing was flipping through the secret report in his hand. A group of people were kneeling in the yard, including some spies who were whipped on the spot for their poor performance.
Their figures looked particularly miserable in the dim candlelight, and the air was filled with the smell of pain and fear.
"Twenty thousand horses are gone just like that?" Li Longjing held a secret report tightly, his tone revealing disappointment and anger that was difficult to conceal.
The people below were silent, fearing that they would anger the King of Linjiang. Only Yan Boxi, sitting aside, spoke calmly, "Your Highness, there is no need to blame them for their incompetence in this matter. The situation at the Western Rong Royal Court is complex and changing rapidly.
The Queen Mother Ninghu and the Regent were just playing around, but who would have thought that she would now throw herself into the arms of Prince Zuo Xian.
As a result, the Regent naturally lost his say in horse trading."
"How shameless!" Although Li Longjing was ambitious, he was born in a country of etiquette after all, so he still disdained and sneered at such fickle behavior.
Yan Boxi smiled slightly, unfolded the folding fan in his hand, and said soothingly: "Don't worry too much about the horses for now. If you want to achieve great things, you must plan for the long term. Being too eager for quick success and instant benefits will only lead to bad things.
"Those war horses kept outside the Great Wall will inevitably suffer from accidents over time. The most urgent task is to arrange the forging of weapons as soon as possible!"
After hearing this, Li Longjing pondered for a moment and felt that what Yan Boxi said made a lot of sense. After all, the Western Rong people were not of the same race as us, and their hearts must be different. If they changed their minds and took back the horses, wouldn't it be all in vain?
Now that this deal has fallen through, it might actually be a blessing in disguise.
Yan Boxi saw that his words resonated with Li Longjing. While the other party was lost in thought, he gently waved the folding fan in his hand, pointed at the spies kneeling below, and signaled them to retreat quickly.
These secret agents were all carefully trained death squads by King Linjiang since childhood. Their lives and property were completely in the hands of King Linjiang. Even if they were to die on the spot, they would execute orders without hesitation.
At first, some of these spies had doubts about the sudden appearance of Mr. Yan, and were dissatisfied with the fact that he was treated as a guest of honor and received preferential treatment by King Linjiang.
However, after all these days, they gradually discovered that whenever they encountered difficulties or were punished, Mr. Yan would always cleverly resolve the crisis for them and save them from greater blame.
Therefore, my respect and gratitude for Yan Boxi grew deeper and deeper.
"Sir, you've thought it through," Li Longjing nodded in approval, his thoughts shifting to another direction. "However, the iron ore produced by the private mines in Ganzhou is of poor quality. If used to forge weapons or horse harnesses, I'm afraid it will still be insufficient."
Speaking of this, Li Longjing couldn't help but frown.
He was once on good terms with Li Yunting, the Princess of Xianning, because he coveted the mining resources in her fiefdom, Xianyang.
However, Li Yunting appears to be dissolute, stupid and ignorant, but in fact she is scheming and difficult to deal with.
Those mines were firmly under her control, and even after they were stripped of their titles, local officials still secretly obeyed her orders.
"Tomorrow, Li Yunting will leave the Great Zhou with the Western Rong delegation and marry Prince Zuo Xian. Li Longze will even confer the title of princess on her. It seems that I will have no chance of marrying Xian Yang anymore." Li Longjing's tone was full of regret.
This move was obviously a mistake.
Yan Boxi's gaze fell on the lotus pond in front of Bishuiyunju, but his thoughts drifted far away.
He suddenly remembered that there was also a lotus pond in the Xingyuan Marquis's mansion. He wondered if the lotus there was in full bloom, and whether the beautiful woman he missed was also quietly admiring the flowers under the moonlight...
"Mr. Yan, do you have any good ideas to help me make this Xianyang area my own?" Li Longjing asked anxiously.
"Oh..." Yan Boxi came back to his senses and spoke leisurely, "The Western Rong are different from the Great Zhou. They don't pay much attention to hierarchy, social order, and social ethics. Now that Queen Mother Ninghu and Prince Zuo Xian are colluding, after the princess marries, given her personality, there can't be two tigers in one mountain. I'm afraid if she stirs up a dispute, she won't even be able to save her life."
"After all, that's not the Great Zhou. Without the Empress Dowager and the Emperor to protect her, with her temper, she might even get stabbed in the neck with a scimitar!"
Li Longjing couldn't help laughing at what he said. He felt that Yan Boxi's analysis did make some sense. If Li Yunting died in the Western Rong, wouldn't the Xianyang fiefdom be easily captured?
"Let's end today's discussion here," Li Longjing said, the anger on his face completely dissipated. "Tomorrow morning, I have to accompany Li Longze to escort the Western Rong envoys out of the city."
"Sir, you have been in the palace for some time, but you have never left. The scenery around Taohua Temple is beautiful now. Why don't you go out and enjoy the scenery to relax and unwind?"
Although Li Longjing never explicitly restricted Yan Boxi from leaving the house, he would still send people to follow him secretly to prevent him from having private contact with others outside.
However, as time passed, Li Longjing became increasingly dependent on Yan Boxi's wisdom and planning in many matters. He had great trust in him and had long lost his vigilance against him.
At this moment, he suggested that Yan Boxi go out of the house to relax, out of complete sincerity, hoping that he could enjoy the scenery outside the house.
"I, Yan Boxi, am just a dead man outside the high walls of the palace. It makes no difference to me whether I see the scenery in the world or not..." He wanted to refuse outright, but the moment his fingertips touched the edge of the teacup, his thoughts suddenly changed.
"Speaking of which, I'd like to see the Xirong envoys. I wonder if Your Highness could arrange it for me?"
In the secret report from the Western Rong translated by Yan Boxi, it was mentioned that the son of Zuo Xian Wang was also in the delegation. Somehow, he suddenly wanted to find out the truth.
"Okay, it's rare for you to ask for something, so I will naturally agree." Li Longjing responded readily.
"In that case, thank you very much, Your Highness." After Yan Boxi finished speaking, he bowed and then turned and walked into the courtyard where he lived.
The moonlight was like water. He took out the white jade butterfly twin hairpin that he had treasured for a long time and stared at it quietly. Thousands of thoughts seemed to flow in his eyes. Finally, he looked up at the vast starry sky, and a sigh disappeared with the wind.
…
A night passed, and at dawn, Hong Zhengxuan set out from the Marquis' Mansion half an hour earlier than usual to go to the Imperial Hospital.
Before leaving, the old lady of the Marquis' Mansion, Hong Yingrong, told him that no matter what the results of the investigation in the Imperial Hospital were, she hoped that Hong Zhengxuan would tell the truth, and he should not have any scruples even if the person behind the scenes was extremely powerful.
Hong Zhengxuan deeply agreed with the old lady's instructions and solemnly promised that he would never tolerate such sinister and cruel behavior in the Imperial Hospital.
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