After deceiving the villain, I was forced to love him.

Chapter 188 Early Signs of Drought

Even the hardest rock will grow weeds if there is even the slightest possibility.

Once the fifth nine-day period is over, the beginning of spring will not be far away.

This year is a big year, with Lunar New Year's Eve following the beginning of spring, which means she will be spending her first Lunar New Year with Wang Qingyan.

However, Wang Qingyan's condition did not improve as she had expected. He still stayed in the house every day and rarely went out.

As a result, she was also unable to leave the mansion, and could only go for a stroll in the courtyard when she felt bored.

Fortunately, the yard was big enough, the food was good enough, and the clothes were beautiful enough. Even living under Wang Qingyan's watchful eye, she didn't find it too difficult.

Moreover, if she didn't obediently stay by his side, how could he feel at ease letting his people cause trouble?

Only when she hears no sound from the outside world and is completely absorbed in the peaceful and harmonious life he has created, will he truly believe that she has no way to contact the outside world.

"Madam, the master of the family has woken up."

"it is good"

Serving her the eight-treasure porridge she had been simmering for an hour, along with homemade appetizers, Bai Li Ce felt that his cooking skills had returned to their peak (when he was so fed up with the terrible food at San Cheng Zhai that he had to cook for himself).

Therefore, Wang Qingyan was quite satisfied with his meal.

Before I knew it, I had eaten two extra bowls of food and needed to go to the yard to digest.

"The weather is nice today, we can take a walk." After wrapping him up tightly, Baili Ce took his arm and went out the door.

The place where they lived had excellent natural lighting and layout, and the scenery was especially beautiful the further away from the main house it was.

Bai Li Ce was afraid that the people in the manor or those non-human things wouldn't be able to find her, so she didn't dare to go too far away on weekdays.

Now that Wang Qingyan is with her, she naturally...

The focus was on Wang Qingyan from beginning to end.

What a joke! With him by her side, how could she possibly have anything else in her eyes?

I'd rather watch him until he's cross-eyed than let him look around.

"Let's rest for a while." When they reached the pavilion deep in the bamboo forest, Baili Ce wiped the stone bench clean first before letting him sit down.

Wang Qingyan was flattered and in high spirits.

Then, considering that there were spies everywhere in the entire mansion, and that she had indeed been working hard these days, he pointed her in a direction.

"There are many green calyx trees planted behind the bamboo grove. Feng Zhongquan said they are in full bloom these days. You can go and take a look."

Quite a few?!

Good heavens, Meg is already aloof and proud, but Green Calyx is even more secluded and exquisite.

Green calyx plum blossoms are hundreds of times more expensive than ordinary plum blossoms. Wang Qingyan himself said they were quite expensive, so they must be priceless and extremely stunning.

Shouldn't she go and broaden her horizons?

"And what about you?" But she didn't leave immediately.

"I'm a little tired, so I won't go."

Bai Li Ce, who had already stood up, sat down again. "Then I won't go either."

"There's no need for that." He didn't want her to keep forcing herself like that either.

To everyone's surprise, Baili Ce leaned over across the stone table, gave a charming smile, and said in a sweet voice, "No flower is as pretty as you~"

"Heh," a warm breath brushed against his face, making him feel a little itchy. "I'm not falling for your sweet talk."

It's not that I was fooled, but I couldn't help but smile.

"Why are you cold again?" I took his hand to warm it up. We've only been out for a short time, and he's already as cold as if he just took a cold shower. It's really illogical.

But regardless of whether it's scientific or not, the thought of those Gu guards still made her think, "Maybe I should go back sooner rather than later."

Compared to security, freedom is insignificant.

"It's nothing," Wang Qingyan shook his head lightly. Of course, he wouldn't say that it was because of overuse of the power of primordial life.

"Really?" Baili Ce touched his face, then touched his own, which seemed to be getting colder and colder.

"I also want to get some fresh air. Staying indoors all day is not good for my recovery."

I've been taking care of you for over ten days now, and you're only saying this now?

But Bai Li Ce didn't dare to expose it directly.

So I continued to be her gentle, considerate, and humorous conversationalist, suggesting, "Let's go check out Huabei together~"

Such valuable things, just looking at them might grant you a long and healthy life.

The key point is that even after being with Wang Qingyan for so long, she had no idea that the mansion had such luxurious things.

It would be such a waste not to go and take a look!

Wang Qingyan was speechless for a moment.

He knew she couldn't possibly resist looking.

but--

Hold her hand tightly; if we go together and return together, it's not impossible.

......

The Beginning of Spring marks the turning of the seasons and the beginning of new life.

The drought that swept across the entire Wei Kingdom in Baili Ce's dream finally began to show signs of itself at the end of this year.

Starting with Cangzhou, which had been plagued by plague several years ago, seven or eight counties and prefectures experienced river drying up before the Lunar New Year's Eve.

Located in the southwest, Yongchuan has a humid climate and has suffered from floods. It has even experienced strange sandstorms, causing panic and hardship among the locals.

Wang Qingyan's previous "grain-robbing plan" also began to take effect at this time, amplifying all the problems tenfold or a hundredfold and spreading at an alarming rate.

Looking at the ever-increasing number of memorials on his desk, so many that even taking a nap felt like a sin, Lu Jian's sleep time decreased day by day.

Even so, he still couldn't solve all the problems.

“Your Majesty…” Zhang Shan wanted to persuade him to rest, but Lu Jian stopped him as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Go and rest. You don't need to be served here anymore."

“…Yes.” Zhang Shan remained silent for a moment before finally leaving.

But when I looked back at Lu Jian, I found him still focused on looking for something on the map.

What are you looking for?

Of course, he would look for the "treasures" left behind by the high-ranking officials and powerful families he had eliminated.

This was inspired by Baili Ce.

After she returned from the Xianbei, she said the following:

Everyone should always leave themselves a way out.

She said that back then she wanted to give up her identity as Baili Shi, change her appearance, and start a new life.

But he never thought about living a hard life.

Besides the few places that Wang Qingyan found, she also hid silver and grain in many other places.

To what extent?

There are so many that even if she were to escape from Wang Qingyan penniless now, she could find a corresponding location and live for five or eight years without any problem.

Of course, based on the timeline she mentioned, much of the grain may have already become infested with insects.

However, if the total quantity is large enough, it should be able to solve an urgent problem at a critical moment.

After all, if a drought really comes, eating stale grain infested with insects is better than having nothing to eat, or even resorting to cannibalism.

Lu Jian then wondered, if someone like Baili Ce, who was being groomed as the second heir, could hide things for himself from the age of thirteen, would others do the same?

So he followed Baili Ce's "template" and the ideas she gave him, and combined them with the intelligence from the Investigation Division, to deduce the locations where other wealthy people hid their grain.

"Phew..." After another half hour, Lu Jian finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He actually found more than a dozen suspicious locations.

"Comer"

"exist"

"Immediately summon the Prefect of Linfu and the Minister of War to the palace for a meeting."

......