“Well…” Long paused. “It’s good that he went there. That eccentric doctor is quite skilled.”
Shi was stunned again. Then, he nodded and said in a normal voice, “Yes. Though he’s eccentric, he really is a capable doctor. In addition, he’s so beautiful.”
“That’s right. I’ve never seen such a beautiful man before,” Long said with a smile.
Jealousy flickered in Shi’s eyes.
Without noticing anything strange about Shi, Long smiled and said, “I can’t even tell how old he is.”
Shi said smilingly, “You can go ask him if you want to know.”
“What?” Long said casually, “It doesn’t matter. Why would I ask that?”
“Doesn’t it matter?” Shi smiled.
Long still didn’t realize that his empress was jealous. He just said, “Yes, as long as he has the ability.”
“Your Majesty, it’s his ability that caught your fancy?”
“Of course, talented people are always more likable.”
“Oh… He’s likable…”
Long blinked and finally realized it. He looked at the man beside him, but Shi looked very normal.
Long doubted if he had heard it wrong just now, because his empress didn’t look angry at all!
“What’s the matter? Why are you looking at me?” Shi smiled.
“Nothing…” Long shook his head. “Well… Qingzhou, just now I felt a gust of cold wind.”
“Cold wind?” Shi looked at Long with a smile. “What’s that?”
“I don’t know.” Long pointed to his back. “It made my hair stand on end.”
Shi sneered and left.
Long scratched his head. “Is he really angry? Am I mistaken? Why’s that?”
Long carefully thought about whether he had said something wrong. And the conclusion he came to was that… he didn’t seem to say anything wrong!
Long felt puzzled. At this time, a eunuch reported that the Ministers of Punishment and Works had come together and asked for an audience.
Long was surprised. Why did the two of them come together…
No matter what the reason was, since they were already there, the emperor needed to meet them…
So, Long went to the imperial study.
Long came back from the imperial study at dawn and it was getting dark.
After staying in the imperial study for more than two hours, Long had long forgotten Shi’s strange reaction earlier.
So, when Long came back, he naturally went to Shi. “Qingzhou, you haven’t eaten, right?”
Shi looked at him and said slowly, “Where have you been?”
Long sighed. “Don’t mention that. I went to the imperial study to meet the Ministers of Works and Punishment.”
“Oh?” Shi raised his eyebrows. “Why did they come?”
Long said, “It seems that they’ve discussed it beforehand. One came for the case and the other for something in Quanzhou.”
“Haven’t we asked Hu Qingyuan to deal with the case? What did he come?”
“Yes, Hu Qingyuan is in charge of that. He just came to report something to me and put forward some suggestions. His suggestions did make some sense, but I don’t think he needed to especially come here and tell me that. Later, I thought it through. He came here just to cooperate with the Minister of Works!”
Shi was stunned. “What did the Minister of Works say about Quanzhou?”
“The drought in Quanzhou has been relieved. So, the Ministry of Works wants to do something. They want to build a dam.”
Shi frowned. “They want to build a dam?”
“Yes. He said that there’s drought this year and there will be floods next year. I was so angry that I almost threw the memorials to his head. The city is still stricken with drought, but he already began to worry about the floods.”
Shi slightly pursed his lips. “There was a flood three years ago and countless people were dead and injured.”
“Oh yes, he also told me that.” Long sighed. “The Minster of Punishment helped him. In a word, they want money.”
Shi smiled. “They need a good reason to get money. Since they’ve found a reason, they just came… But I don’t think things are so simple. We haven’t demoted the Minister of Works because we didn’t find any big mistakes that he made. However, if he wants to do something in Quanzhou this time, we can just drive his away.”
“Well…” Long thought about it. “It’s not worth it. After all, we don’t have much money in the treasury.”
After thinking about it, Shi said, “We can try another way.”
“Oh? What’s that?” Long asked immediately.
“It’s necessary to build the dam. Otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable if there is another flood. The drought in the past two years is really abnormal, so it’s better to take precautions. However, as for the money, it can’t be taken from the treasury alone. We should save money for soldiers’ pay and provisions.”
“That’s what I think. We still have so many soldiers!” Long said.
“Only when the whole nation is stable, can cities be stable,” Shi said slowly, “So, the dam in Quanzhou can be built later, but the soldiers at the border and the affairs with Eastern Darkness can’t wait.”
“Yes, so the dam can’t be built.”
“It can be built, but we need to raise money in another way.” Shi smiled.
“Oh? Another way?” Long was stunned. “What’s that?”
Shi smiled mysteriously.
Long got very curious. “Tell me.”
Shi slowly walked away. “Let’s have dinner first.”
Long became speechless. Why make it so mysterious?
Long felt that he must have offended his empress.
However, he thought about it carefully and found he did nothing wrong. Long wondered how on earth he had offended his lover!
Long was very helpless.
Shi did not care about him and went to the dining table outside.
Long had no choice but to follow Shi.
“Forget it. Have dinner first. That’s the most important.” Long thought.
While they were having dinner, Long tried to please Shi and put a lot food into Shi’s bowl, but Shi showed no appreciation or happiness.
Long was a little upset.
After they finished dinner, his empress still didn’t say anything about that!
Long mentioned it several times, but Shi always managed to change the topic.
In the end, Long felt very helpless. “Qingzhou… did I do anything wrong?”
“Why do you think so?” Shi looked very surprised.
Long’s lips twitched, because he felt that his empress was… pretending!
No matter what, Long knew how to make his lover happy.
He could just tell a joke or something else. For a man, his wife was always right. Wasn’t that true?
In Long’s eyes, his empress was always right, although he really didn’t know what he had done wrong…
Long only knew that he must apologize to Shi.
So, after Long sincerely apologized and said some sweet words, Shi curled his lips and said, “It’s very simple. Fundraising.”
“Oh? Fundraising? But how do we do that?” Long was stunned.
Shi smiled. “There are many rich businessmen all over the nation, right?”
Long was stunned again. “Yeah, there are many businessmen, but this matter…”
“As long as it benefits them,” Shi said.
Long narrowed his eyes. “What does that mean?”
Shi said softly, “In fact, I’ve already budgeted for the dam construction in Quanzhou. The right prime minister is in charge of that place. So the plan can be implemented…”
“What plan?” Long asked in a hurry.
Shi slowly said, “Quanzhou needs to develop. Although it’s always stricken with drought and floods, the transportation there is convenient. So if Quanzhou is developed, the construction of the dam won’t be a problem. Businessmen seek nothing but profits and they have insights. It’s better to work with them.”
Long’s eyes brightened. He looked at his empress and thought that if it were in modern times, Shi would definitely become the president of a multinational corporation! He would be the most successful businessman in the world!
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