Seeing that He Liufeng still looked puzzled, Qu Qingxi continued to explain.
"This is similar to the mentality of a fledgling bird. That is to say, a newly hatched bird will regard the first creature it sees as its parent. Of course, this is just my guess. The Emperor's mind is hard to fathom. Who knows what he is thinking?" After Qu Qingxi finished speaking, she noticed that He Liufeng's expression was not right. Suddenly remembering that he was the late Emperor's youngest son, she quickly explained.
“You don’t need to explain, I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. My father loved me very much back then.” He Liufeng stroked Qu Qingxi’s hair.
"Qingxi, once everything settles down and you're a little older, would you be willing to have a child for me?" He Liufeng asked seriously.
Qu Qingxi raised her eyebrows slightly. She was almost caught off guard by He Liufeng's sudden change of topic.
Qu Qingxi did not answer He Liufeng's question. To be honest, she was not sure herself.
Qu Qingxi knew she liked He Liufeng, but she didn't know if it had come to the point of having a child. After all, a child would be a bond between two people, and she wasn't sure if He Liufeng would still be the same as he was now.
Seeing that Qu Qingxi did not answer, He Liufeng's heart tightened. He gripped Qu Qingxi's shoulders tightly with both hands and tentatively asked, "You don't want to?"
"We'll talk about the future later. Let's focus on the present." Qu Qingxi's eyes darted around slightly, and she turned her head away, not daring to look at He Liufeng's serious expression.
"Okay, fine." He Liufeng stared at Qu Qingxi for a while, but didn't say anything more.
He didn't know if Qu Qingxi simply didn't like children, or if she was unwilling to have children for him? Or perhaps she felt uncertain about the future?
He Liufeng went to reply to Cuiwei Pavilion, and Qu Qingxi also sent a message to Qinglan Pavilion.
Two days later, under He Liufeng's deliberate arrangement, Zhou Wenli learned that Xu Xingfeng had been imprisoned for breaking into the Crown Prince's residence and killing someone.
In his room, Zhou Wenli smashed an entire set of precious tea utensils that he had just acquired.
"What exactly happened? How could he break into the Crown Prince's residence and kill someone?" Zhou Wenli's face turned fierce as he stared coldly at his subordinate kneeling on the ground.
"I don't know," the guard said, bowing his head and avoiding Zhou Wenli's eyes.
"Don't know? Go and find out!" Zhou Wenli couldn't help but pick up a flowerpot and smash it on the guard. Broken porcelain shards mixed with dirt covered the guard.
The guard hurriedly got up, clutching the wound on his shoulder, and walked outside.
This isn't the Zhou Dynasty, so their influence here can't penetrate that far. The only family they can trust is the Xu family, but then something suddenly happened to the Xu family, and no one was there to pass on the news to them in time.
The guard went out and then faced another problem. He was also unfamiliar with the area and didn't know anyone there. Where should he go to gather information?
Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind. He remembered hearing from others that there were two places in the capital where one could buy information: Cuiwei Pavilion and Qinglan Pavilion.
He breathed a sigh of relief, took out enough silver, and began to inquire about where it was located.
Soon, someone came in and cleaned up the mess in the room. Zhou Wenli squinted and looked outside through the open window.
The tree trunks outside were already bare, and a desolate atmosphere permeated the air. His main purpose in coming here was to discuss important matters with the Xu family. However, after only meeting with Xu Xingfeng twice, Xu Xingfeng was immediately locked up.
Breaking into the Crown Prince's residence to kill someone—this sounded like a pretext. Zhou Wenli even suspected it was a trap. Xu Xingfeng wasn't stupid; why would he break into the Crown Prince's residence to kill someone at this time? Moreover, the Emperor of Ling Dynasty actually believed it and imprisoned Xu Xingfeng.
Could it be that the emperor of the Ling Dynasty has already discovered the deal between the Xu family and himself, and that's why he's taking this opportunity to warn the Xu family at this juncture?
Could he also turn on me at any moment?
Thinking of this, Zhou Wenli broke out in a cold sweat. He then comforted himself, "No, it shouldn't be like this. He is, after all, a prince of the Zhou Dynasty. Even if the emperor of the Ling Dynasty suspects something, without absolute evidence, he wouldn't dare to do anything to me."
However, I can't stay here any longer. Once the guards have investigated the matter, I must return immediately to avoid any further complications.
As Zhou Wenli was thinking, there was a knock on the door. Zhou Wenli looked up and slowly said, "Come in."
The door was pushed open, and the person who came in was none other than the young general Liu Shiqi, who had come with Zhou Wenli.
"Greetings, Fifth Prince." Liu Shiqi bowed.
"No need for formalities, what brings you here?" Zhou Wenli was slightly surprised to see Liu Shiqi approaching.
"Your Highness, I have something to discuss with you." Liu Shiqi was a supporter of Zhou Wenli, so there was not much formality between them. After exchanging greetings, Liu Shiqi went straight to the side and sat down.
"Your Highness, I've just found out something. Do you remember that Lady Nuanyun from Mingxiu County?"
"Of course, it's the girl who danced the 'Rainbow Feather Dance' at the palace banquet that day." Zhou Wenli might not remember others, but he remembered Ren Nuanyun very clearly.
Even now, Zhou Wenli still feels that the performance of "The Dance of Rainbow Feathers" was not enough.
"I thought Ren Nuanyun was quite good at the time, so I immediately arranged for someone to investigate her. We found that she was extremely intelligent and had composed some very exquisite poems at some banquets. Most importantly, the Linghe River flood in the Ling Dynasty was ostensibly brought over by the Crown Prince, but in reality, it was Ren Nuanyun who devised the plan."
"What? It's her?" Upon hearing this, Zhou Wenli immediately sat up straight. Although he was far away in the Zhou Dynasty, he had still heard about what was happening in Linghe.
Even some officials in the Zhou Dynasty who were specifically responsible for these matters were amazed by those governance measures, and they even sent people there secretly to learn from them.
Zhou Wenli found it strange at the time that there was a suitable method of governance, and it was proposed by the Crown Prince of Ling Dynasty. He had never heard of the Crown Prince of Ling Dynasty having such ability before.
However, that was the message that came from the other side at the time. Zhou Wenli thought it was just some powerful advisor who was good at this kind of thing by the Crown Prince's side. He really didn't expect that this powerful person was Ren Nuanyun.
"Yes, this is absolutely true. So, after returning from Linghe, the Crown Prince used his merit in controlling the floods to exchange for the position of Crown Princess Ren Nuanyun from the Emperor."
Liu Shiqi nodded firmly. At first, he couldn't believe it either, so he sent someone to check again as fast as possible. The result was still the same: Ren Nuanyun was the expert in controlling the floods.
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