OFTLHFRO C172

Chapter 172: You Guess—or Shall I?

Even so, Ji Bowen still felt the risks were considerable. Yet he could not speak too plainly and could only offer a veiled reminder. “General, within the court, there are not many who support the Third Prince—and most of those few are, in fact, aligned with the Fifth Prince.”

Compared to the Third and Fifth Princes, the Fourth Prince was truly a simpleton. Even with imperial favor, it amounted to little—especially when the Fifth Prince enjoyed no less favor than he did.

Huo Yan, however, said calmly, “Don’t we still exist?”

Ji Bowen thought it over. If they were to support the Third Prince, then no matter how many voices opposed him in court, it would ultimately be useless—because those people held no military power.

More importantly, there were still some pure ministers in court who listened only to the emperor. Whether it was a new emperor or the old one made no difference; as long as he sat on the throne, they obeyed.

Furthermore, Hu Zhongyi was not the sort to involve himself in factional struggles. As for the Wu family, who supported the Fifth Prince—Wu Qing had already been crippled by Jiang Sheng. Given their current strength, even if matters came to open conflict, it was not as though they had no chance of victory…

With these thoughts in mind, Ji Bowen nodded slightly. “The General is right.”

Huo Yan continued, “His Majesty wishes to use Grand General Huo to restrain me, yet fears that we might join forces.”

Ji Bowen understood at once. “If His Majesty’s suspicions cannot be dispelled quickly, I fear he will send others over.”

“Does the strategist have a good plan?” Huo Yan asked.

Luo Mingchen glanced at Huo Yan.

They had long since tossed this matter to Old Master Ming to agonize over. He truly did not understand why Ji Bowen still needed to be asked.

That said, Luo Mingchen knew his own shortcomings well and did not voice the question aloud.

In any case, once Ji Bowen left, he could always ask Huo Yan. There was no urgency to understand it all this very moment.

Ji Bowen asked, “How did the General establish contact with the Third Prince?”

Huo Yan then briefly recounted the course of events.

“If it was Grand Tutor Ming who served as the intermediary,” Ji Bowen said after listening, “then in my humble opinion, this matter can be left to Grand Tutor Ming to resolve. We need only observe and respond as circumstances change.”

Luo Mingchen’s eyes lit up. This strategist… really was impressive.

The two of them had pondered for so long, yet Ji Bowen arrived at a solution almost immediately after hearing the details.

Of course, it was not entirely their fault that they had failed to think of it.

No matter how seasoned Huo Yan appeared, he had only recently entered officialdom and was still learning all the twists and turns of such matters.

As for Luo Mingchen, it simply had not occurred to him that they could rely on someone else at all…

Huo Yan smiled faintly. “The strategist speaks wisely.”

“Grand Tutor Ming has many disciples. As far as this subordinate knows, the commander of Yancheng is also among them. With Grand Tutor Ming’s assistance, this matter will be far simpler.”

To be honest, Ji Bowen had already prepared himself to fight this battle alongside Huo Yan alone. He had not expected the Third Prince to possess such a powerful ally.

In that case, affairs at court no longer required their attention. They need only guard the border well and wait for promotions to come.

And precisely because Huo Yan supported the Third Prince, it was now all the more imperative not to curry favor with others, lest disaster be invited.

Before leaving, Ji Bowen still could not help saying, “General, then all the more reason for us to save up some funds. If the Third Prince ever runs short of money, at least we can help make up the difference. The Fourth Prince is always asking for money…”

His expression made Luo Mingchen chuckle. “Don’t worry. We know what we’re doing.”

Ji Bowen could only acknowledge this and take his leave.

After he left, Luo Mingchen said to Huo Yan, “I didn’t expect the strategist to be so miserly.”

“Doing business carries great risks,” Huo Yan replied. “The strategist is merely exercising the caution any ordinary person would.”

What was more, this time they had truly invested heavily.

If the losses were too great, it would take the entire following year just to recover.

And Ji Bowen did not know about the special nature of those seeds—he also feared that nothing might grow next year.

Seeing Luo Mingchen nod thoughtfully, Huo Yan curled his lips slightly. “You’re not bad yourself.”

“Hm?”

Luo Mingchen’s eyes were full of confusion. It took him a moment to realize that Huo Yan was implying that he, too, was stingy.

“Are you saying I’m tightfisted?”

“I didn’t say that,” Huo Yan replied.

Luo Mingchen narrowed his eyes at him. “Then what do you mean?”

“You guess?”

“…Then you guess whether I’ll guess.”

Huo Yan laughed. “I guess you want to guess.”

Luo Mingchen answered childishly, “Then I won’t guess.”

The two of them bickered idly, and in the end, nothing at all was resolved.

Opening a mutual market would only increase the number of travelers passing through. But if they wanted to expand trade on a larger scale, they would have to strengthen ties with nearby cities.

They had already fought wars with Beiyue and Xiaguang. Unless there was something highly enticing, those places would not easily come to trade—after all, the taxes were steep.

Thus, in order for the spring market to get off to a strong start, the couple decided to make a trip to Wolf King Fortress.

First, Wolf King Fortress itself was a major city, with a population of some five hundred thousand.

Second, many people went there to do business, making it easier for news to spread.

Lastly, the roads had been repaired, and there was truly nothing to do in the depths of winter—so they could take the children along for a bit of travel as well.

They had heard that Wolf King Fortress enjoyed springlike warmth all year round.

Of course, that spring was certainly not the same as the spring of Cold City.

After telling the three children, the first to cheer was unexpectedly Huo Xinyue. “Yay!”

Huo Xiang followed close behind. “That’s great! I heard it’s really fun over there!”

Although Huo Yuhui said nothing, the look of longing on his face betrayed his thoughts.

Luo Mingchen smiled. “We’ll set out after lunch. Go pack your things first.”

Huo Xinyue tugged at Luo Mingchen’s sleeve and looked up at him. “Daddy, can I bring dried meat for big brother to eat?”

“You still remember big brother?” Luo Mingchen truly had not expected her memory to be so good. After so much time had passed, she had not forgotten him at all.

Huo Xinyue showed him the wolf fang and smiled sweetly. “Big brother gave me a gift, of course I remember! He said he’d buy lots of fun gifts and wait for me to go to his home so we could play together.”

Luo Mingchen: “……”

Was his daughter about to be abducted?

Huo Xiang widened his eyes. “Why didn’t he say he’d play with me too? That’s way too biased! And here I was planning to bring my little box to play with him—hmph!”

Huo Xinyue comforted him earnestly. “Second brother, I’ll play with you.”

The two younger ones chattered away, discussing what gifts to bring for Lan Fei. Leaning against Huo Yan, Luo Mingchen lowered his voice and said, “Hong Xing said that people from Wolf King Fortress only give wolf fangs to those they like. He wouldn’t be trying to take Yueyue away as a child bride, would he?”

Huo Yan watched them for a moment, then asked in return, “Does he even need to?”

Luo Mingchen fell silent.

These two children did not need to be lured at all—they would leave the moment they were asked.

Even if his heart ached, they still had to be brought along.

Once everything was packed and lunch finished, they set out with bundles large and small.

The items they brought were called gifts, but in reality they were agricultural products from Cold City—vegetables, grain, cotton, as well as dried meat, yogurt, and chili powder.

To do business, one naturally had to bring items to display.

No matter how eloquent one’s words, they could not compare to seeing things with one’s own eyes.

They did not bring too many people. Hua Niang’s belly had grown large and required care, so Xiao Lin stayed behind.

Those accompanying them were Li Yunde and Ji Bowen, along with three shadow guards. Hong Xing and Bai Xue remained to look after Hua Niang. They also brought Hua Yaoyue and more than a dozen soldiers, tasked with escorting the gifts bound for Wolf King Fortress.