By the time Qin Changqing and Lan Sinian returned to the palace, the lights were already on. Naturally, the noble lady had already left, unable to wait. When Qi Feng reported this to him, Qin Changqing paid no attention and left the palace early the next day with Lan Sinian.
Sure enough, not long after they left, the noble lady came again, but was disappointed again, and her face turned pale.
However, this lady was worthy of being the mistress of a large family. She had visited the house twice but didn't meet anyone. Yet, she could calmly ask Qi Feng, "I wonder when the queen usually stays in the palace?" As she spoke, she asked the servant Cong who followed her to give Qi Feng a gift.
Qi Feng had never been interested in accepting gifts privately, but this time he accepted the gift and said with a smile, "Madam Mina, the Queen asked me to tell you that since she is so keen on organizing the birthday party for Her Majesty, why don't you take full charge? I won't ask any questions."
Madam Mina: “…”
Lady Mina was obviously outmaneuvered by the Queen. If the Queen was not favored by the Emperor, it would be common for many of the powers in her hands to be usurped by noble ladies. However, the degree to which this Queen was favored by His Majesty was witnessed by the entire empire. If she really dared to take on so much responsibility in such a tactless manner, it meant that she did not take the Emperor seriously.
Qi Feng relayed this to her and said no more. Madame Mina was furious and anxious. To avoid offending the Emperor, she had to come to the palace early every morning for the next few days. However, the Emperor and his family left earlier and earlier each day, leaving her with nowhere to be seen. Her anxiety was so intense that blisters formed on her beautiful lips. Only then did she realize that the Empress's temper was not as subdued and calm as she usually appeared.
As His Majesty's birthday was approaching, Lady Mina had to seek help from the princess, whom she had always looked down upon, hoping that she could help her say a good word in front of the queen.
The princess had her invited to the garden, but she paid little attention to her. These nobles had always been arrogant, even ignoring the Queen's previous warnings. Now that they had hit the wall, they realized the pain in their feet. Not only did they not think there was anything wrong with the Queen's actions, but they were actually happy to see it happen.
…
Qin Changqing went out early and came back late every day during this period, but he didn't just follow Lan Sinian around. Most of his time was spent treating patients with manic disorder, and comparing the genes he got from Xingzhou with the blood left by the third prince.
After numerous complex tests and comparisons, he discovered that the Third Prince's genes were undoubtedly more perfect than Xingzhou's. If one were to truly determine who was perfect, the Third Prince's genes were miles ahead of Xingzhou's. Of course, the Third Prince's genes still had significant flaws. For example, the rapid bursts of power in his body caused intense emotional conflicts, causing him to frequently become trapped in his own intense emotions, like a mentally ill patient constantly mumbling to himself and having violent outbursts.
Of course, none of this was the most important thing. What Qin Changqing really cared about and worried about was the fact that he was being manipulated. How did the other party do it? And would Lan Sinian one day be manipulated like a puppet?
At the same time, Lan Sinian did not stop interrogating Lan Lezhang. Lan Lezhang looked gentle and just an ordinary person without any special abilities, but his mouth was unusually hard. Not only did he insist on not talking about the third prince, he also tried to brainwash Lan Sinian whenever he had the chance, telling him about his crazy research and ideas, as well as his experimental blueprints, trying to get Lan Sinian's approval and support him to continue his research. Of course, all he got was Lan Sinian's indifferent expression.
Shen Hai failed to get anything out of his mouth, but got the answer from Batsen.
From his confession, everyone learned that the reason why Lan Lezhang had to personally capture Qin Changqing, with only the paper-mache Batsen left as his helper, was because all his men betrayed him and defected to Ulysses!
Qin Changqing and Lan Sinian exchanged a look of surprise upon hearing the news. Lan Sinian gave a solemn order, "Closely monitor Ulysses' daily activities and forbid him from leaving the Imperial Star."
"yes."
Qin Changqing held Lan Sinian's hand and sighed worriedly. He didn't know if it was because this conspiracy had lasted for too many years and implicated too many people, but he always had an lingering sense of uneasiness in his heart.
※
After repeatedly hitting a wall in the palace, Lady Mina went to work for the princess Fu Xiao and worked for a few days before finally meeting Her Majesty the Queen.
Faced with Qin Changqing's cold expression, Madam Mina no longer dared to take on the responsibility and repeatedly said, "Your Majesty, before Your Majesty got married, it was all us noble ladies who came up with ideas and made preparations. But now that Your Majesty has you, it would be against the rules for us to step in."
Qin Changqing glanced at her sincere expression and said with a smile: "Madam, you are worrying too much. I am a boring person. It is not a bad idea to let you prepare."
Mrs. Mina was outmaneuvered by him. Even though she was furious, she didn't dare say anything more. "No, no, I think His Majesty would prefer you to prepare his birthday dinner. After all, he loves you so much."
Qin Changqing chuckled, seeming to like her words. He took a sip of tea, and when Madam Mina breathed a sigh of relief, he suddenly said, "Then do you want to cancel the program you prepared? For example, introduce more beauties to His Majesty."
Madam Mina froze, her expression hesitant. She hesitantly tried to persuade him, "...I know you and His Majesty have a good relationship. You can rest assured. We just hope His Majesty can choose a suitable person to cultivate an excellent heir to the throne. With the advancement of technology, they don't even need to meet or interact with each other to cultivate the next generation. We will definitely not destroy your relationship."
Qin Changqing appeared calm on the surface, but he was actually raging with rage in his heart. He had personally given birth to an excellent child for Lan Sinian, and his bloodline was about to awaken, so why did he need irrelevant people to interfere?
Madam Mina knew that was what she said, but no one would feel good about this kind of thing. She was sure that Qin Changqing would not agree, so she took out her long lecture and softened her voice to persuade him, "Queen, I know you must be upset, but this matter concerns the future of the entire empire. If you don't consider the future development of the empire, you should also consider His Majesty. His Majesty is now the only bloodline of the Lan royal family. If his powerful genes cannot be passed on, how will he explain to His Majesty? Think about it, a hundred years later, His Majesty will be old. If he doesn't have a strong heir, then his position will fall into the hands of outsiders. Besides..."
She paused, glanced at Qin Changqing's belly, and said gently, "By that time, you and his children will have no strong backing to protect them. How can they gain a foothold in the Lan family? We are all parents, don't we all hope that our children will have a safe and smooth life?"
Qin Changqing was almost laughing at her, but he didn't say anything in rebuttal. Instead, he remained silent for a long time. Madam Mina saw that his attitude was a sign of a painful struggle in his heart, so she shut up and let him figure it out.
"Okay, I'll do as you say." Qin Changqing lowered his eyes, as if he had made a difficult decision. Madam Mina was overjoyed, and then he continued, "However, if His Majesty doesn't make a choice by then, you can find another way on your own."
Madam Mina was certain that he must be in great pain at this moment, and she didn't dare to show her excitement in front of him. However, she was very dissatisfied with Qin Changqing's reaction. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "Given your Majesty's personality, he will definitely not agree. I hope, I hope that Your Majesty can have a good talk with him. After all, this concerns the future of the empire..."
I'm afraid this isn't about the future of the empire, but about whether you can profit from it, right?! Qin Changqing sneered inwardly, his tone tinged with anger. "I've already shown the utmost tolerance by agreeing to your request. Don't go too far!"
Mrs. Mina's delicate face flushed crimson, but she didn't dare to anger him again, so she quickly comforted him with a few words, and the matter was settled.
…
In the blink of an eye, Lan Sinian's birthday was approaching.
Qin Changqing's belly is almost five months pregnant and the bulge is quite obvious. He had been busy with his manic disorder and had no time to prepare a birthday present for Lan Sinian. He became a little anxious at this time.
His son Qin Xu had already prepared a gift for his father early on. This was the first gift he prepared for Dad Lan. It contained so many things that were hard to describe. Even a calm person like him couldn't help but take it out and look at it from time to time. He really hoped that his father would like it.
That day, Qin Xu took out the sapphire brooch again and examined it carefully. Qin Changqing glanced at it from the side, paused, and said, "Xiao Xu, um, do you have any money? Can you lend me some?"
"Ah?" Qin Xu raised his head, not understanding what he meant.
Qin Changqing felt somewhat embarrassed to ask his son for money. He coughed lightly and explained, "All my money is invested in Huaxialou. It's not dividend time yet, so could you lend me some first?" Lan Sinian was particularly generous to his son, but he was incredibly stingy with him, the queen. Spending money on him was fine, but asking for more than he deserved, or simply giving him money, was out of the question. This left Qin Changqing with no other options. His main sources of income were selling cinnabar jade and Huaxialou. Huaxialou had recently opened several branches in the Imperial Star Region, and he had invested all his money in them to get a bigger share. Only recently did he realize he hadn't prepared a gift for Lan Sinian... and since Lan Sinian was the emperor, the gift couldn't be bad. After much deliberation, he decided to borrow from his son.
Qin Xu was a wealthy man, lying at home counting his money, and the kind of person whose money made more money. He nodded generously, "Okay, Dad, how much do you want?"
Qin Changqing also said he was not preparing anything, and after hesitating for a moment, he said, "Why don't you go out with me for a walk? I'm going to use the money to buy a gift for your Blue Dad."
Qin Xu became interested after hearing this and jumped up from the ground. "Okay, okay, I can also give you some advice!"
"Let's go."
The father and son then went out together and went to the most luxurious shopping mall in the Imperial Star...
…
After Lan Sinian came back, he not only had to interrogate Lan Lezhang, Fusen and Duchong, and follow the clues they gave him to find out more of the truth of that year, but he also had to hold various secret meetings frequently, the main focus of which was on the conspiracies and ambitions of the Bat Clan, the Snake Clan and even the Locust Clan.
He was also in a meeting that day when he suddenly received a call from Qin Changqing. He frowned, raised his hand to stop the voices of the military and political officials, and answered the call with a little anxiety.
Qin Changqing's face, pale with fear, immediately appeared on the communicator. "Si Nian, Xiao Xu fainted in the mall. I don't know what happened to him."
Lan Sinian felt as if his heart had been struck hard. He suddenly stood up from his seat, not caring about the expressions of those at the conference table. He strode out, trying to calm himself and soothingly said, "Don't worry, dear. I'll be right there. The cub's coma might be due to the approaching awakening of his bloodline..."
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