When Li Qiji arrived at the Cold Palace with Hua Quan and his entourage, Guan Zhiyue had just finished marinating the beef in the kitchen when she saw Li Qiji walking over from the outer courtyard.
"The Emperor has arrived."
"Hmm, what's wrong with the Empress?" Li Qiji asked.
Guan Zhiyue spread her hands and shrugged, saying, "I don't know which little punk stole some of the high-yield grain seeds from the back mountain near the cliff edge."
Upon hearing this, Li Qiji immediately said, "Then they climbed up from the cliff."
Guan Zhiyue nodded and then said, "I think so! Do you have any way to stop it?"
"I'm afraid of more than just one group of people."
Li Qiji looked at Guan Zhiyue and said, "You mean, there might be several groups of people?"
Guan Zhiyue found a chair, plopped down on it, picked up a palm-leaf fan from the side and started waving it, very casually, giving off a rather comfortable feeling.
"Yes, I guess so."
"Moreover, I feel that these people are somewhat unlike people from our country, but their behavior makes them seem like people from our country." Guan Zhiyue shared her thoughts with Li Qiji.
Li Qiji sighed and remained silent, pondering who had done it.
However, somewhere on the border.
"Your Highness, we've succeeded!"
“We’ve already brought back some grain seeds. Would you like to take them and try planting them now?” A man dressed in a dark blue short-sleeved shirt knelt respectfully before a man dressed in a four-clawed dragon robe.
"Let me see it."
The man brought out two cloth bags that were placed to the side, and they contained all sorts of odds and ends.
There were sweet potatoes, corn, rice, and some other miscellaneous items that he couldn't name yet.
"What are all these things? Are they all high-yield grains?" asked the man dressed in a dragon and python robe.
This person is Li Qiji's seventh uncle, and also a prince who is the brother of Li Qiji's father.
The seventh prince, also known as his seventh uncle, was banished to the border by Li Qiji.
His name is Li An, the seventh prince of the current emperor Li Qiji. He was a leisurely prince of his father's generation, whose fief was in a remote border region, just across a river from the barbarian tribes.
Since Li Qiji ascended the throne, he had dismissed all his uncles, exiling or demoting the stubborn ones to commoners. However, Li An was raised by his mother, so regarding this person...
The Empress Dowager still spoke up and asked him to spare him, sending him to a very far place, forbidding him from returning to the capital unless summoned.
He's now in his forties, not much older than Li Qiji, after all, he's the youngest son of Li Qiji's grandfather, so he's considered a certain person by Li Qiji.
Most importantly, Li An was raised by his mother, so Li Qiji was fair to this imperial uncle.
"Where is she? Where is my dear niece-in-law? Didn't you catch her?" Li An asked.
The man kneeling on the ground lowered his head in shame and said with great remorse, "Your subordinate is incompetent and failed to bring back the Empress."
"waste!"
"You bunch of useless trash! You sent so many people out, how come you still haven't caught them? You can't even handle a woman?" Li An said sternly.
The man didn't dare to speak, he just nodded.
Looking at his subordinates, Li An was truly at his wits' end. They were all a bunch of useless people! Was all the money he spent on supporting them every year just a bunch of good-for-nothings?
"Your Highness, look at this?" The man pointed to the contents of the bag.
Li An should have kept quiet, because once he did, he got angry. He was speechless. How could someone be so stupid?
"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? This is the first time I've ever seen this thing. How would I know what to do?"
"So you're all trash! Trash!" Li An said, kicking the man a few times until he fell to the ground.
"Your Highness, please calm down! I will go and inquire immediately to see how to deal with these things," the man said.
Upon hearing this, Li An became even angrier. He was simply a pig!
"Are you a pig? Who are you going to ask with this thing out in broad daylight? In this godforsaken place, who are you going to ask?"
"If the news gets back then, and they find out the grain has been stolen, but we have more seeds here,..."
Are you deliberately trying to thwart my grand plan?
Li An was so angry that he jumped up from his chair. It was just too stupid.
"Then what do you mean, Your Highness?" the man quickly asked.
Damn it! Has the prince eaten gunpowder today? Why do I get yelled at no matter what I ask? It's unbearable!
"What else can we do? Of course, we'll send someone in the capital to ask around."
"What are we going to do with these things?! How could we possibly know about them while we're at the border?" Li An was truly speechless.
How could he have such stupid subordinates! It's a real headache for him.
The prince on the border has been heartbroken by his subordinates, while in the cold palace in the capital...
Guan Zhiyue looked at the memorial Li Qiji handed her, and at what it said inside.
They found something dark and greasy in the north of Nanding Kingdom. I wonder if it is what the Queen was talking about.
Some have already been sent back to the capital by fast horses so that Her Majesty the Empress can confirm if this is indeed the kind of thing.
"It has truly been a long and arduous journey! The asphalt has finally been found," Guan Zhiyue said after reading the memorial.
Li Qiji nodded slightly and said, "The memorial only said that this thing may have been discovered, but it is still uncertain."
"It may take some time before we can confirm whether it is true or not."
"Yes, as long as we have this, our highway project can proceed. And remember one thing!"
"What did you say?" Li Qiji asked.
Guan Zhiyue frowned upon hearing this and then said, "Don't you know?"
"What?"
Guan Zhiyue looked at Li Qiji very solemnly and said, "I'll tell you again, and you must remember it clearly."
"yes."
"If you want to get rich, build roads first! Only when we build roads, widen them, and improve them can our country become rich and strong."
"Only with well-connected roads can you expand all business opportunities, understand?"
"If our roads are still full of potholes, how can we conduct business and travel smoothly?"
We need to make roads reach everywhere so that our businesses can develop.
Guan Zhiyue gave a passionate speech, and Li Qiji stared at her as if she were a fairy from heaven. She was simply too amazing!
"Yes, the Empress is right!"
"I will certainly keep this in mind!"
Li Qiji assured him.
Guan Zhiyue glanced at him but didn't say anything!
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