The blazing sun hung high in the sky. Ou Shinian, the Minister of Works, had finally returned from Mingzhou after being away from the capital for nearly a year.
He lifted the carriage curtain and looked up at the characters for "Capital City" carved into the city wall. All the exhaustion in his body vanished in an instant, leaving only the bittersweet feeling of being so close to home.
"Do not return to the manor yet. Head to the palace immediately."
The maritime expedition had yielded significant results, and he had to report to the Emperor at once.
"Yes, My Lord." The driver nodded in compliance, immediately pulling the reins to drive the carriage into the city.
In the imperial palace, Xiao Chengjing, who had been in a foul mood for months, finally received some good news.
"Is this true? Can that ship truly travel a thousand miles a day?"
Ou Shinian smiled and cupped his hands in a respectful salute. "To answer Your Majesty, this humble subject personally led the boatmen and the naval forces on a sea trial for a month. During that time, we encountered tsunamis and torrential rains three times, but we remained safe and sound, and the ship never capsized."
"We also verified the locations of six islands provided by the commoners of Mingzhou, though they were all in the coastal waters. However, this humble subject believes that as long as we send more men to travel further, sooner or later, we will find the origin place of potatoes. We might even find more varieties of high-yield crops."
The more Xiao Chengjing listened, the more delighted he became, pacing back and forth in his excitement.
"Excellent! After so many days, We have finally heard a piece of good news."
Standing in place, Ou Shinian froze for a moment.
What did that mean?
Could it be that there had been a lot of bad news lately?
After receiving a round of praise, Ou Shinian left the Imperial Study with a glowing, red face.
It was only after returning home that he learned what had transpired in the capital during his absence.
"It hasn't even been a year, how could so many things have happened?"
Prince Qi had gone blind in both eyes and was severely injured by the marriage-seeking envoy delegation from the Shuobei Kingdom.
The two countries had been at war for so many years, and neither side had ever brought up the word "marriage alliance."
And the target of their proposal was County Princess Linghui. This was as obvious as Sima Zhao's ill intent; they were clearly harboring nothing but malicious schemes.
Eldest Young Master Ou: "Father, did you not hear any news at all while you were in Mingzhou?"
Ou Shinian looked utterly bitter.
"When I left the capital, I knew something had happened in the southwest, but I never expected the Emperor to send Prince Qi."
"Mingzhou is so far away. I was busy from morning to night every day and had to go out to sea from time to time. I truly had no energy to care about anything else."
Madam Ou tugged at Ou Shinian's loose sleeves with an aching heart; he had lost a significant amount of weight compared to when he left.
"You have suffered, My Lord."
Ou Shinian waved his hand to show he was fine. "No matter how hard it is, serving the imperial court is worth it. So, the Emperor did not agree to the marriage alliance?"
Eldest Young Master Ou: "A marriage alliance is acceptable, but the bride cannot be County Princess Linghui. Right now, everyone is waiting for word from the Shuobei Kingdom."
Ou Shinian breathed a sigh of relief. "That is good. They can marry off anyone, but not County Princess Linghui."
Song Jinzhao was incredibly talented. If it were not for her ideas, the ocean-faring galleons could never have been built so quickly. Such a talent absolutely could not be married off to the Shuobei Kingdom.
Inside the Huitong Envoy Hostel, Wang Nie, who was still feigning illness, did not step out of his room all day.
Qi Xiong carried some bar snacks in his hands, his expression tense, his footsteps moving so fast they were practically a blur.
He shoved open Wang Nie's door, startling the man sitting on the daybed.
"Can't you knock before coming in?" Wang Nie glared at Qi Xiong with annoyance.
Qi Xiong casually placed the food box on the table.
Lately, the meals prepared by the envoy hostel had become increasingly bland, with the staff constantly claiming that a sick person should eat light food. Left with no choice, he had to go out and buy food.
"My Lord, while buying food at the tavern today, I overheard something that I felt necessary to tell you."
Seeing his grave expression, Wang Nie could not help but press, "What is it?"
Qi Xiong tugged at his clothes uncomfortably.
He had walked too fast just now, and his back was covered in sweat, causing his innermost layer of clothing to stick to his skin.
"The Dongzhao Kingdom has built incredibly powerful ships to go out to sea, saying they are looking for the origin place of potatoes. I heard there are also landmasses across the sea with plenty of treasures."
Wang Nie furrowed his brows in disbelief. "More landmasses? Who did you hear this from?"
Qi Xiong: "From the youngest son of Dongzhao's Minister of Works, Ou Shinian. I eavesdropped on him at the tavern."
"Ou Shinian just returned to the capital yesterday, specifically for the matter of building ships to go out to sea. According to Ou Shinian's youngest son, they might even find crops with higher yields than potatoes."
Wang Nie pondered for a moment before instructing Qi Xiong: "Find two clever men to go out and gather intelligence. Start with Ou Shinian's youngest son and try to coax more information out of him."
Qi Xiong: "That will be easy. I heard them say they are going out to drink at a brothel tonight. Once they are drunk, we can coax anything out of them."
