“In the past, he had too much power and wasn’t loyal to the imperial court. After what happened in Quanzhou, the left prime minister changed a lot. Most importantly, not so many ministers support him now. So, it’s okay to ask him to come back.”
“Right.” Long smiled and kissed Shi. “Qingzhou, you’re really a mind-reader. I believe that after seeing what we’ve done in Quanzhou, he won’t dare to do anything. What’s more, we saved his life… So he must be willing to serve us whole-heartedly this time.”
“Yes.” Shi also smiled. “The left prime minister, the right prime minister and the minister of Punishment. That’d be enough. But that Shadow Guardian needs to continue to impersonate you. We can leave, but we don’t need to make it public.”
“Haha.” Long held Shi’s hand.
“Qingzhou… it seems that we’re going to run away from home.”
“Run away from home?” Shi couldn’t believe him. “That’s what you think?”
“No, I don’t mean that… Just kidding.” Long laughed.
Shi cast a glance at him and said nothing.
Quanzhou was quite far away from the imperial city, but if they travelled at top speed… it would only take five or six days.
Before the left prime minister arrived, Long talked with the right prime minister and the minister of Punishment, as well as another first-ranking minister who supported the emperor.
Long directly told them that he and Shi were leaving and assigned the tasks.
The three ministers were all a little shocked, but they immediately pledged to protect the imperial city and promised that they wouldn’t allow anything dangerous to happen while Long was away.
“I believe in your ability, otherwise I wouldn’t entrust the tasks to you. In addition, the left prime minister will arrive in a few days. Right prime minister, you and him will take more care of the court affairs later.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I promise I’ll do my best to share your worries,” the right prime minister said immediately.
Long smiled and said a few more words before letting them leave.
After all the court affairs had been arranged, Long summoned Zhang Yuan.
“Zhang Yuan, when I’m away, you must ensure the safety of the people in the imperial city and protect everyone in the palace. We’ll take away that evil object. If there is any trouble, we’ll be the target. I trust your medical skills and I’ll also ask Doctor Liu to leave some antidotes. I believe you can solve all the problems by yourself.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I’ll do my best to live up to your expectations.”
Long nodded. “You should also pay more attention to Madam Zhou Huan. Nothing bad can happen to her.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Long thought about it and arranged more things. Then, he finally let Zhang Yuan go.
At this time, Liu Xiangyang reported that Lady Luo asked for an audience again. This time, she finally said what she wanted.
Long raised his eyebrows.
“Oh? What did she say?”
“Lady Luo said that since last month, something strange would appear in her palace every few days. Yesterday, she also received some powder and a note. She was asked to put the powder into the well near the imperial kitchen, otherwise her entire family would be killed!”
Long knitted his brows. “Where’s the powder?”
“She’s given it to me.” Liu Xiangyang answered, but didn’t take it out. He was afraid that the powder was poisonous and would hurt Long.
Long nodded. “Send it to Liu Suifeng. Ask him to check carefully.”
“Yes.”
“As for Lady Luo… just let her leave. I’ve known what happened.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Long left the imperial study after a while.
After returning to Qiankun Palace, Long told Shi about Lady Luo.
Shi frowned. “There are still some spies in the palace.”
Long sighed. “It’s understandable. The palace is so big after all.”
Shi pursed his lips. “Investigate strictly after we leave.”
Long nodded. “But… if they think that we can be defeated just by some powder, I’d say they’re too naïve. Since we left for the first time, many people have tried to poison us, but no one has succeeded.”
“No one?” Shi glanced at Long. “What about Lady Rou?”
“Uh…” Long blinked. “That was an accident.”
Shi curled his lips and didn’t focus on that. He said, “Send more Shadow Guardians to protect Lady Luo’s family members. Also, tell Qiu Ming to pay more attention to it.”
“Won’t Qiu Ming come with us?” Long asked.
Shi shook his head. “Not this time.”
“Then who’ll come?” Long asked with doubts.
Shi said calmly, “Lian Qingyang.”
“Huh? This name sounds a bit familiar.” Long blinked.
Shi rolled his eyes at him. “Stop pretending.”
“Ahem.” Long coughed. “Well… alright, I remember this person. He had a crush on you before…
But why will he come with us? I never think he’s a threat and I’m not jealous, but why should we bring him?”
Shi said calmly, “The Shadow Guardians summarized what he has done for me.”
After that, Shi directly gave Lian Qingyang’s information to Long.
After reading it, Long was a little surprised and said, “Well… this man likes to do something mysterious occasionally.”
“He doesn’t do it very often, but it’s been over ten years and I think it’s a big problem,” Shi said coldly.
Long touched his chin. “He’s obviously suspicious. You’ll tell Qiu Ming to stay and ask him to lead the troops. Well…”
Shi said calmly, “Only in this way can he be given a chance. We’ll see if he has any problems later.”
Long blinked. “If the situation gets out of control…”
“That won’t happen,” Shi said firmly.
He was a little puzzled and didn’t know what made Shi so confident. “Why do you think so?”
Shi just said, “You will know later.”
The corners of Long’s mouth twitched. “Qingzhou, do you have to keep it from me?”
“Yes.” Shi nodded.
Long became speechless.
No matter what, they decided to let Lian Qingyang go with them.
However, Long was still a little confused. “Qingzhou, why did you ask the Shadow Guardians to investigate him?”
Shi did not speak.
Long was puzzled. “Hmm? Qingzhou?”
Shi looked at him and said calmly, “Do you really want to know?”
Long nodded. “Of course I do.”
“On the second day after we came back… he did something.”
“What?” Long was shocked.
Shi said, “He didn’t show up, but two eunuchs’ seemingly casual conversation made me think of him.”
“Hmm? I don’t understand.” Long was still confused.
Shi lowered his head.
Back when they were in the barracks, he and Lian Qingyang made a promise.
That was to be a swordsman for one day, travelling with the sword and the wine.
However, that promise had not been fulfilled.
That day, the two eunuchs vaguely mentioned their promise and even said the place where Lian was waiting.
At that time, Shi just thought that Lian still didn’t give up on him, so he ignored it.
However, he felt that something was wrong later.