After lunch, Zhao Yuan said goodbye and left. Fang Zian sent him out of the door and turned back to the inner house. Chuni and her son were taking a nap, and Fang Zian did not dare to disturb the two of them, so he went to the east end of the courtyard. Looking for Qin Xiqing.

Qin Xiqing's small courtyard has been well organized. It was not seriously damaged in the first place. Except for some furniture and furnishings that were taken away, there was not much damage to the rest. After a little tidying up, it has been restored to its original appearance.

The courtyard was quiet, Shen Ling'er was nowhere to be seen, only a few of Qin Xiqing's personal maids were sitting under the corridor talking in low voices. When Fang Zian came in, several maids stood up and saluted.

Fang Zian whispered: "Where is Xiqing?"

A maid pointed to the flower tree on the side of the rockery. Fang Zian nodded and walked over slowly. He saw a tree beside the rockery with crape myrtle flowers in full bloom. On the wooden chair under the flower tree, Qin Xiqing held her chin. Reclining under the flower tree, she closed her eyes and was taking a nap. Fang Zian stood there and looked at the beautiful scenery of people and flowers contrasting with each other, and was filled with admiration in his heart. Qin Xiqing is really beautiful. Although she was born in a dusty family, there is no trace of dustiness in her body. Qi, noble and elegant, charming temperament.

Fang Zian couldn't bear to disturb the beautiful scenery in front of him, so he sat cross-legged on the green grass, admiring the beautiful scenery of people and flowers in front of him. There was silence all around, the wind passed through the treetops of the flowers and trees, the shades of the trees moved slightly, the branches of the flowers trembled, and there were scattered The petals fell gently. This feeling and scene made Fang Zian feel very peaceful and peaceful. It would be great if time could be frozen here and he could enjoy the beautiful scenery in front of him and the peace in his heart forever.

A bee buzzed over, disturbing the tranquility in front of him. It flew around Qin Xiqing's temples and forehead. Fang Zian was worried that it would get into Qin Xiqing's nostrils or sting someone, so he walked over and chased it away. With such a wave of his sleeve, Qin Xiqing woke up.

"Ah! Zian, why are you here?" Qin Xiqing sat up and asked.

Fang Zian smiled and said, "I've been here for a long time. You sleep so soundly. You must be tired."

Qin Xiqing said softly: "Why didn't you wake me up when you came?"

Fang Zian said: "The beauty is sleeping soundly under the flower tree. It is a beautiful scene. I haven't had time to appreciate it, so how could I destroy it? If it hadn't been for a bee that disrupted the situation, I would have continued to appreciate it."

Qin Xiqing stretched out her body coquettishly and said, "Well... I am indeed a little tired. It was very noisy during this period, and it finally calmed down. I was sitting here thinking about something, but somehow I fell asleep."

Fang Zian saw how tempting she was when she stretched, so she leaned over to kiss her. Qin Xiqing reached out to block Fang Zian's mouth and whispered: "There are people over there, the maids are all here, don't mess around. How can it be done here?"

Fang Zian chuckled and said, "Why not? It's not like we haven't made out in the wild before."

Qin Xiqing remembered the scene of watching the sea and listening to the waves on the cliff of the island. She blushed and hit Fang Zian on the shoulder. Fang Zian lifted her chin and kissed her forcefully. Then he let her go and sat down next to Qin Xiqing.

"What were you thinking about just now?" Fang Zian asked.

Qin Xiqing straightened her clothes and said with a smile: "Thinking about the current matter. I heard the conversation between you and the prince today, and it felt strange. You two seemed to be hiding something, and there was always something wrong with what you said. You seemed to do it on purpose. Look at his face and say that he wants to go to the Shibo Division to work. Do you really want to be promoted to the Shibo Division?"

Fang Zian laughed and said: "So you are thinking about this. Xiqing, it's not that I'm yin and yang, don't you hear it? The prince is here to test me."

Qin Xiqing said: "Testing you? What are you testing?"

Fang Zian said softly: "What I did recently was a big taboo. Although I helped him, what I did also made them wary of me. I forced the emperor to abdicate, and he knows this

Is not it?"

Qin Xiqing said in shock: "But you are here to help him. How could he think so? This is so unreasonable."

Fang Zian smiled and said: "These are two different things. Helping him is a fact, and my behavior is also a fact. Everyone will consider the problem from their own point of view, and the issues they consider are different depending on their identity. When he was imprisoned in the palace, he naturally hoped

Someone did everything possible to save him. But now that he is going to be made a prince and become an emperor, he will naturally consider who is useful to him and who will threaten his position. And what I did is exactly that

The big taboo in his heart is that anyone who dares to force the emperor to abdicate, in their eyes, no matter what the purpose, is a traitor and traitor, and they are someone to be guarded against."

Qin Xiqing exclaimed: "Then if you put it this way, doesn't it mean that... the prince will be harmful to you? Will he really do anything to you?"

Fang Zian said: "I can't say for sure, but I have to be careful. He came to ask me today if I should be the deputy prime minister, just to test whether I have the intention to take power. On the one hand, I am really not interested in fighting for power and gain, and my qualifications are not

Not enough to be a deputy prime minister. On the other hand, even if I have thoughts in my heart, I can't express them. At this time, I have to keep a low profile. Do you think I lied about going to the shipping company? That's my truth. Then

It’s a fat position, but it’s also a non-threatening position. I’m not kidding.”

Qin Xiqing looked deeply at Fang Zian and sighed: "Hey, my husband, what do you think you are planning? I should have known this..."

Fang Zian smiled and said: "If I had known this, I would still do it. It's not for him, but for the people of the world, and for ourselves. Qin Hui is a spy of the Jin Kingdom, and the Song Dynasty will be destroyed in his hands sooner or later.

How could he be allowed to destroy the Song Dynasty if he laid endless eggs? Personally speaking, Qin Hui and Qin Tan wanted to kill me, how could I just sit back and wait for death. Ruomei's father and my husband both died at the hands of the old thief. This blood feud

Of course I have to retaliate."

Qin Xiqing nodded and said: "That's true. But now that the prince is treating you like this, I really don't feel sorry for you. What if he really thinks that your behavior is out of line and wants to deal with you?"

Fang Zian smiled and said: "Don't worry too much. He also knows that I helped him, so he won't be so heartless. If he is really ruthless, he won't even test him, he will just find an opportunity to deal with me. The prince still has some

I am not a cold-blooded person. I only need to keep a low profile, and he will feel at ease. So this time, I can't hold an important position, and I can't stay in the fire department. I have military power in hand, even though I only have one or two thousand people.

I'm afraid people will also be feared. I will resign from the position of commander of the fire brigade."

Qin Xiqing stretched out her hand to touch Fang Zian's face and said softly: "My husband, it's really not easy for you. Don't you have any anger in your heart?"

Fang Zian smiled and said: "Xiqing, anger is useless, we have to find a way to change the status quo. The court is an unreasonable place, it is about interests. I didn't understand it before, but now I understand it better than anyone else. We don't have to worry about other people's interests.

It is the last word to act in anger and make yourself strong. At least on the surface, the prince did not show it too obviously, and we don’t have to worry about it. If I can go to the Shipping Department, I can use my position to develop and expand our manufacturing bureau.

Get up. I want to promote steam engine ships to various shipyards, and the manufacturing bureau will have a large number of orders and silver. With the money, I can build many, many needed things. For example, the muskets I told you require copper.

Bullets and a large amount of fine iron are needed. But you don’t need many of those things. As long as you have a thousand handles, it is enough to sweep away an army of 100,000 people. Even if you don’t have money to make it, the principle is actually not difficult. Just take advantage of this opportunity, I

Concentrate on making money, study hard, and come up with something good."

Qin Xiqing smiled and said: "So you have your own Xiao Jiujiu, and you want to use your position for personal gain. I didn't expect that you are such a person."

Fang Zian smiled and said: "How can you say that? It is the general trend to put steam engines on ships. How can merchant ships sail long distances with sails and manpower? The profits are only earned incidentally. Our big ship can also withstand hurricanes, how can other ships?"

This is also for the consideration of others.”

Qin Xiqing smiled and said: "It's a high-sounding reason, but it does make sense. That's all, you can do whatever you want. I'm following you anyway, whether you are an official or a beggar, don't think of abandoning us.

"

Fang Zian smiled and hugged Qin Xiqing's waist, kissed her cheek, and whispered in her ear: "How could I abandon such a beauty in the world like you? Then am I not a fool? I'll come to your place tonight.

What?"

Qin Xiqing blushed and whispered: "No, I'm here. You go find Ling'er. Ling'er lives in the yard next to me. I asked her to live in a separate yard to make it easier for you to come in and out, so that she doesn't have to stay with me.

It feels lame."

When Fang Zian heard the words "convenient for you to come in and out", he felt very excited. He thought of Ling'er's long legs and plump body, which were very suitable for his own preferences, and he felt very moved. He had to go find her tonight, so be careful.

It's comfortable.

…

In the northeast corner of Lin'an Palace, there is a separate courtyard and palace to the right of the main entrance, which is where the East Palace is located.

At this moment, night falls, the palace is brightly lit, but the East Palace area is dimly lit.

Zhao Yuan sat in the water pavilion, holding a glass of wine in his hand and quietly admiring the surrounding scenery under the quiet night. The East Palace, this is the place he dreamed of living in, and now he finally got his wish. In the past two days, he

After walking around every corner of the East Palace, I finally felt that this waterside pavilion was relatively clean and the scenery was good.

In the dusk, the lotus leaves in the waterside pavilion stand one by one in the water. There are already buds waiting to bloom. I think if some time passes and the lotus flowers here are in full bloom, the scenery will probably not be much worse than the lotus flowers in the West Lake. It is more important.

The strange thing is that this is not the West Lake, but the East Palace. That is the residence of the future prince. Only those who want to be emperor can appreciate the lotus here. No matter how beautiful the lotus in the West Lake is, everyone can see it, but here, it is

Exclusively for oneself.

Zhao Yuan took a sip of wine and his thoughts were flying. After meeting Fang Zian during the day, he felt slightly relieved. In fact, he didn't want to test Fang Zian, but what his father said when he summoned him last night made him feel enlightened.

The feeling of empowerment, so he went.
Chapter completed!