Dad, don't be greedy! My brother climbed into the emperor's bed, and I became famous overn

Taozhi called for the waiter from downstairs.

Before long, two bowls of white porridge were served, which were extremely light and soft, with a layer of glistening rice oil floating on the surface.

"Second Master, Young Master, the kitchen specially prepared this porridge. You two should drink some to warm your stomachs. Hangovers are the worst thing for your health."

As Taozhi set out the bowls and chopsticks, she said considerately.

At this moment, Gu Mingli's mind was like a monk striking a bell, buzzing loudly.

He struggled to prop up his heavy body with his limp, noodle-like arms, his eyelids drooping.

"Thank you, Peach Branch."

He glanced down at the steaming bowl of white porridge in front of him.

I immediately felt a churning in my stomach, and the nausea from a hangover shot straight to the top of my head.

He suppressed the nausea in his throat, and with trembling hands, reached out and pushed another bowl of porridge in front of Xiao Ye.

"Here... have some to sober up."

Xiao Ye: "..."

Gu Mingli: "..."

The result of the hangover is that today, just hearing the word "drink" makes my stomach churn.

The two, who were already pale, turned an even greener shade.

Gu Mingli and Xiao Ye sat there stiffly.

Facing two bowls of plain white porridge, I fell into a strange state of "porridge intoxication".

Gu Mingyue watched from the sidelines, feeling both annoyed and amused.

Finally, he sighed helplessly, got up and went to the kitchen to ask the proprietress for a solution.

Before long, two bowls of hangover soup were served.

Gu Mingli took a deep breath, picked up the rough pottery bowl, and turned to look at Xiao Ye.

"Come on, bottoms up!"

Upon hearing the word "gan," Xiao Ye's face visibly paled even further.

Helpless, he picked up the bowl, tilted his head back, and gulped down the hangover soup.

Half an hour later, the group finally packed up and set off back to Jizhou.

Shopkeeper Tao and Ji San escorted the group all the way to the outside of Longmen City.

The Dayong cavalry, which had been stationed outside Longmen City, only announced that they had captured the Northern Di cavalry after seeing the emperor's entourage leave the city, and then broke camp and withdrew.

Shopkeeper Tao and Ji San exchanged a glance as they stood below the city gate.

Manager Tao lowered his voice and asked, "Third Brother, are you really planning to have all the brothers join Pujitang?"

"This...is getting involved with the imperial court safe?"

Ji San's eyes were deep as he gazed silently in the direction the army had vanished, kicking up dust as they left.

"Our leader has been planning this for over a decade, step by step. Who can touch us now?"

He turned around and patted Manager Tao on the shoulder heavily.

"It's alright. Since Master Gu can confidently say he'll protect the brothers, he must have received the young emperor's approval. That promise is credible."

"We've been lying low for so long, it's time to come out into the open and meet those powerful clans again."

Gu Mingyue and her entourage arrived at the official residence in Anyang, Jizhou, before noon, in a carriage.

As soon as the group stepped off the carriage, before they could even stretch and loosen their aching muscles, Eunuch Liu, with his sharp eyes, led his men to greet them.

He flicked his whisk and lowered his voice.

"Your Majesty. Prefect Jia and Magistrate Zhao are already waiting in the front courtyard."

After the bumpy journey, Xiao Ye was relieved by the effects of the hangover soup.

The effects of the alcohol had mostly worn off by now, and his eyes regained their usual sharpness.

He gave a soft "hmm," then turned to the Gu siblings and said:

"Let's go listen to them and see how they're doing with their job."

The atmosphere in the main hall was solemn.

Zhao Pucheng, the magistrate of Anyang County, stood respectfully on the left.

The governor of Ji Province, Jia Zhengjing, stood on the right.

The two were three steps apart, one thin and one fat, clearly distinct, neither looking at the other.

Upon hearing footsteps and seeing His Majesty stride across the threshold, the two bowed in unison.

Xiao Ye strode over to the head seat and sat down, glancing at the two of them.

"How are the preparations for controlling the locust plague going?"

Zhao Pucheng perked up and immediately stepped forward, bowing with his hands clasped in return.

"Your Majesty, the ducks from Jiangzhou have arrived! As you instructed, they are parked near the military camp outside Anyang City."

"A full three thousand cages! You can't see the end of them!"

"When the people heard that it was something the imperial court had brought to control locusts, they were incredibly excited and all rushed to the riverbank to watch the spectacle; we couldn't stop them!"

Gu Mingyue, sitting in the lower seat next to him, exchanged a glance with Gu Mingli upon hearing this.

The two exchanged knowing smiles.

Three thousand cages? That was just the first batch.

Xiao Ye gave a faint "hmm," then turned his gaze and landed on Jia Zhengjing as if it were a physical object.

"Prefect Jia, how's the investigation going?"

Jia Zhengjing shuddered, his fat jiggling twice.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty has already compiled statistics on the affected villages and counties, as well as... the land purchase situation at the Cui Family Manor."

He forced a dry smile and hurriedly raised his sleeve to wipe the fine sweat dripping from his forehead.

He reluctantly pulled out a folded paper from his large sleeve pocket.

With trembling hands, he presented it to the waiter beside him.

Xiao Ye took the folding book, glanced at it casually, and then tossed it onto the table with a "thud".

"Governor Jia, is this quantity accurate?"

Jia Zhengjing's heart trembled as he listened to the sound of the folding book slamming onto the table.

He chuckled dryly, his lips twitching uncontrollably.

"Your Majesty, this... I wouldn't dare say it's perfectly accurate, but it's probably... probably not too far off."

Fortunately, the emperor seemed to be in a good mood and did not intend to delve into the matter further at this moment.

Jia Zhengjing finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

Xiao Ye ordered, "Starting tomorrow, Zhao Pucheng will be in charge of disaster relief work. We will begin a comprehensive effort to control the locust plague, starting with Anyang County. Governor Jia will supervise the operation and strictly investigate corruption."

"Pujitang was responsible for guiding this remediation effort."

He turned to look at Gu Mingyue, who was sitting to one side.

"The specific implementation and allocation will be under the full command of Gu Dongjia. Officials in all prefectures and counties must cooperate unconditionally."

"Your humble servant obeys the decree!"

Zhao Pucheng and Jia Zhengjing bowed respectfully and withdrew.

After finishing their business, Gu Mingyue was still thinking about the huge army that had been transported from outside the city.

"Your Majesty, I would like to go and see the ducks."

After all, with such a huge number, let alone pest control, just raising millions of poultry in captivity is a major problem.

An on-site inspection is necessary to ensure there is a suitable place to settle the animals and a proper care process.

"I'll go with you."

Gu Mingli immediately got up and straightened his wrinkled robes.

On such a hot day, he couldn't let his little sister, a mere girl, run off to do all the work by herself.

Moreover, he first had to hold a serious "ideological unification meeting" for the group of newly arrived ducks.

"Using ducks to eliminate locusts requires a matrix-style operation. I need to go to the site to plan the route."

Gu Mingli said in a very serious tone.

Xiao Ye was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and curiously looked up at him.

"Matrix-based operations? What does this mean?"

Gu Mingli patiently explained as usual:

"Simply put, we need to break this huge flock of ducks into several independent combat units."

"Based on the distribution map of the locust-affected areas that we surveyed in advance, we are advancing in stages, batches, and in a rhythmic manner."

"Like chess pieces on a chessboard, it precisely covers the entire disaster area."

He gestured the shape of a grid in the air with his hand.

"The core of this working method is: partitioning, grouping, and collaboration!"

"We can't just release hundreds of thousands of ducks into the field all at once, otherwise the locusts won't finish eating them before the crops are all pecked up!"

Xiao Ye's eyes lit up, and he nodded in understanding.

"This is an excellent method. In that case, I will also go and see the ducks."