Chu Qingluan opened her red lips and spoke word by word, "I want you to cooperate with the Duke of Dingguo's Mansion within ten days, at any cost, using all your means and connections to eradicate Chu Lang, Gu Yanran, and their followers, purge the court, and restore order. And you must ensure that my father is completely safe and that he can regain his imperial power."
Chu Qingluan seemed to be proposing punishment, but in fact she was paying the price for Xie Yunqi's previous mistake of indulging in pain and inaction.
It also gives him a chance to make amends.
Chu Lang had already occupied the imperial court for over half a year. To uproot it within ten days was no easy task. The next ten days would keep him busy, and he would deeply realize how difficult it would be to clean up the mess his own inaction had created.
Xie Yunqi paused, looked at Chu Qingluan for a long while, and his brows, like distant mountains, frowned slightly.
"Ten days?"
"Yes, in ten days, I want to see the results. If you can't do it, there will only be the etiquette between you and me as king and subject, nothing else."
The wrinkles between Xie Yunqi's brows deepened, and he was still thinking in his mind.
Ten days is too long.
It is time to use some extraordinary measures, activate the assassins and the lines buried in the deepest places.
Maybe... five days would be enough? Seven at most.
He had been holding back for too long and couldn't wait to possess her.
Xie Yunqi had already begun to filter through his mind the overall plan to eliminate Chu Lang and his gang. Every link and every key figure that needed to be eliminated or controlled were extremely clear to him.
Although he looked like a 'walking corpse' in the past six months, his core instincts as a powerful official and his secret intelligence network never really stopped functioning.
He just lacks a core motivation to take action.
Now, this motivation is back and is spurring him on with the most 'harsh' conditions.
He only felt that his whole body was filled with long-lost, even more turbulent power... and calculation.
If it took ten days to fight against Chu Lang, it would be an insult to Xie Yunqi.
His mind raced, but his expression showed nothing. Instead, he sighed softly, as if he was under tremendous pressure.
"Ten days, time is really tight."
Seeing this, Chu Qingluan raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why? Prime Minister Xie can't do it?"
"No!" Xie Yunqi denied it immediately, with a determination to burn his boats.
"Your Highness has ordered that I will not refuse even if it means death. Within ten days, I will give Your Highness a clean and honest court. However..."
He leaned forward slightly, closing the distance between them. "The mission is so difficult, and the time is so tight. If I am lucky enough to complete the mission ahead of time, I wonder if Your Highness would give me a little extra reward..."
Chu Qingluan looked at his begging look and thought that he was just pretending just now, and now he was getting more and more demanding.
"Are you bargaining with me?"
"Well, so...is there a reward?" Xie Yunqi nodded solemnly.
Chu Qingluan looked at him with a half-smile: "Then...what reward do you want?"
Xie Yunqi took another step forward, and the distance between the two of them was instantly shortened a lot, less than half an inch.
He lowered his head, his tall figure looming over her, his lips pressed against her ear, like the whispers of lovers.
"You've been gone for several months. I want you..." He leaned close to Chu Qingluan's ear and whispered a few words:
“…Make up for it all!”
The next second, Chu Qingluan's ears began to heat up and her cheeks turned slightly red.
But just a moment later, Chu Qingluan suddenly took two steps back and created some distance.
"Xie Yunqi!" She stretched out her jade fingers, tapped lightly on his chest, and pushed him back.
"You haven't even accomplished a single bit of merit, and you're already thinking about asking for a reward. This doesn't seem like your usual calm demeanor."
"As for whether I can 'make up' for it, that depends on how 'well' you, Minister Xie, perform in the next ten days!"
…
After returning to the Duke's Mansion, Chu Qingluan found that Chu Hong had also come and brought two children with him.
Duke Dingguo was enjoying himself with his grandchildren, and a gentle smile graced his usually dignified old face.
He held the delicate little girl in his arms, a rattle in his hand, and teased her clumsily and carefully, making "oh oh" sounds to coax the child. Where was the murderous spirit of a veteran on the battlefield?
Chu Hong sat quietly by the side, holding the slightly older, already asleep baby boy in his arms, and carefully placing him in the cradle.
Compared to Duke Dingguo, Chu Hong's movements seemed unusually skilled. Although he had 'amnesia', he looked at the two children with gentle eyes. If someone didn't know him, they might mistakenly think that he was the children's father.
Chu Hong appeared at the Duke's Mansion because Chu Qingluan had sent someone to pick him up. She had been busy going to the palace and investigating her father's poisoning these past two days, and had no time to properly look after her child.
Considering that Chu Hong, a person with amnesia, lived outside for a long time, it was not a good idea. So after discussing with my grandfather, I decided to temporarily place Chu Hong and the children in the Dingguo Mansion.
"Grandfather." Chu Qingluan called softly.
Duke Dingguo looked up at her, and the smile on his face became even more intense.
"Qingluan girl, you're back? Look quickly, these two children are becoming more and more adorable the more you look at them."
As he spoke, he gently rocked the baby girl in his arms, his tone full of wonder: "Look at this girl, her eyes are so bright, just like you were when you were a child, and her little mouth is so pink, she will definitely be a beauty in the future."
Chu Qingluan walked to the cradle and looked at the baby boy inside.
The little guy had fallen asleep, and seemed to sense someone approaching. He opened his eyes and looked at her, then closed them again. His little brows slightly wrinkled, and he looked very naive.
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