Previously, the Empress had already begun the process of selecting a princess for Long YiXuan, but who knew that a smallpox outbreak would suddenly occur? The Empress was worried about her future daughter-in-law, and Long YiXuan was also busy assisting Long XuanMo in handling the emergency, so the matter was delayed. Now that the situation was satisfactorily resolved, it naturally needed to be put back on the agenda.
Even if Long YiXuan had a thick skin, he couldn’t help but blush profusely when the Empress mentioned it in front of everyone, "Mother Empress..."
"Oh, Xuan Er is actually feeling shy, how rare indeed," Princess Ning teased.
Everyone laughed heartily, while Long YiXuan became even more bashful, hanging his head and remaining silent.
That evening, the Chen Prince Mansion was exceptionally lively, filled with continuous laughter and chatter, creating a warm and harmonious atmosphere. However, in the Lin family study room, the mood was somber and gloomy.
Lin Zheqi and his group returned to The Capital one day earlier than Yang Mengchen and the others due to the news of his wife and child’s death, and he had been very depressed these days.
Butler Lin held a confidential letter in his hand, "I didn’t expect that even such a hidden place could be found by Prince Chen, we seem to have underestimated him."
Leaning back in his chair, Lin Zheqi had his eyes slightly closed, his expression serene, which made it impossible to decipher what he was thinking.
Yesterday, the Emperor announced that Prince Chen had eradicated the dregs of the previous dynasty in Danyang County. Butler Lin was quite pleased at first, thinking that the Lord had prepared for all eventualities, and the spy he had carefully trained would not be easily exposed. Even if anything happened, the blame could be put on the remnants of the old dynasty, ensuring that it wouldn’t be traced back to the Lord. He even believed that the Emperor exaggerated the situation to boost public morale.
It was not until they received a secret message from the Lord that they realized that all of his hidden forces in Yuzhang Prefecture had been completely uprooted, and the gold, silver, and treasures weren’t pilfered by the dregs of the previous dynasty from the people but were actually left by the Lord himself in the deep mountains not far from Tieling Village. It was mostly the Lord’s funds.
Butler Lin sighed, "It’s said that the Lord vomited blood and fainted because of this, and he fell gravely ill, not recovering his vitality even after being cared for these days."
Lin Zheqi still kept his eyes shut, not uttering a word.
Back then, that person said that he and Butler Lin would act as the main force, handling most of the affairs in The Capital, and since other forces were too scattered, to avoid causing trouble for their main line, they would not have any contact with each other.
He and Butler Lin did not interact with other forces, so of course, their information was not up-to-date; they either relied on the letters sent by that person or listened to the news from the Imperial Court. Often, they only learned of events after they had already occurred.
It seems now that that person has been guarding against him from the very beginning, hence not allowing him to get involved with other forces.
After a long wait without a word from Lin Zheqi, Butler Lin called gently, "Young Master, Young Master..."
"What did ’Father’ say?" Lin Zheqi slowly opened his eyes and glanced indifferently at Butler Lin, "Could it be that he wants us to assassinate Prince Chen?"
Butler Lin was taken aback, a strange feeling flickering in his heart.
Could the Young Master bear a grudge against the Lord? It’s not strange that he thought of this; even he felt very uncomfortable, he and the Young Master weren’t even aware that the Lord had such a large treasure hidden in Danyang County.
"No," Butler Lin shook his head, "Just after such an incident, it’s not a good time to assassinate Prince Chen; doing so would reveal our tracks. The Lord wants us to be patient, not to act rashly, and to find ways to secretly gather Silver Coin."
Whether it was for bribing people, rising up in revolt in the future, or to stabilize the Imperial Court later on, Silver was the most crucial element. But gathering Silver, how easy was that?
Openly, the Lin family only owned "Ni Chang Pavilion" in several places, and in secret, there was "Da Yuan Building". Although the income was not insignificant, it was mainly used for training "spies", buying people’s hearts, and daily expenses, with income and outgoings breaking even. Now was not a time of unrest; where could they find a faster way to amass wealth?
Lin Zheqi spoke blandly, "Since ’Father’ has asked us to be patient, you, Butler Lin, just focus on doing business to earn money."
"Young Master..." Butler Lin was taken aback.
Was the Young Master throwing a tantrum?
Upon reflection, when he had first come to the Young Master’s side, he was also teaching the Young Master while doing business to earn Silver Coins. Now that the Lord’s forces in Yuzhang Prefecture had just been compromised and such a large sum of money was lost, they indeed urgently needed Silver Coin to support their cause.
Already unable to stand by, Le Xing said with an edgy tone, "The Young Master has just returned from his public duties and is extremely tired, yet Butler Lin, you didn’t even ask a word of concern, instead, you’ve been incessantly bothering the Young Master. Do you even care about the Young Master at all?"
"I am concerned about the Young Master, I..." Seeing Lin Zheqi close his eyes again, his brows showing signs of weariness, Butler Lin found himself unable to continue.
He was just so shocked that the Lord had such a vast fortune hidden away, so amazed at how capable Prince Chen was, that he completely forgot how sensitive the Young Master’s mind was. Especially since the Young Master was extremely intelligent, it was easy to nurture resentment towards the Lord; he also noticed that the Young Master had been speaking less and less to him over the past few months.
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