I only wished to take up my fiefdom, but my elder brother forced me to rebel.

Lu Cangqiong didn't care about that. He grabbed the portrait from the imperial desk and stuffed it directly into Lu Yuan's arms.

"Stop talking nonsense and choose another one!"

After the dozen or so portraits were scattered around, Lu Yuan was completely overwhelmed.

Lu Yuan took two steps back, holding the portrait, his face darkening.

"Father, if you really need livestock, tomorrow I will have the Imperial Stud Bureau catch a few strong donkeys for you and send them to the palace."

"I am your son, not a donkey or horse for breeding!"

Lu Cangqiong looked at him.

"What kind of talk is that?"

"I'm telling you to marry several more wives for the sake of the royal family's offspring and for the sake of the Great Yong Empire! As a prince, you should..."

Lu Yuan ignored his attempts to manipulate him and turned to leave.

"Your subject takes his leave."

"Stop right there!"

Lu Cangqiong grabbed his clothes.

"I haven't finished speaking, why are you running away?"

"Father, the old immortal just bestowed snowflake salt, which consumed a lot of energy."

"Do immortals also get tired?"

Can even immortals take a break?

Lu Yuan spoke with great confidence, "You keep telling me to get married, the old immortal doesn't even have time to catch his breath."

"Would you be willing to do that?"

Lu Cangqiong stopped moving.

Lu Yuan seized the opportunity to pull back his sleeve, saying, "Besides, things like national treasures are all about fate!"

"What if I recklessly marry and have children for the sake of pleasure, angering God, and then end up with nothing?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Cangqiong's urging expression noticeably lessened.

He was genuinely afraid of angering the old immortal.

The Great Yong Dynasty is currently lacking in silver, weapons, and food. Obtaining just one of these treasures could solve a major problem.

If we push too hard, the immortals will think the royal family is greedy and insatiable, which would be a loss.

When Lu Yuan saw him hesitate, he immediately added another sentence.

"Today I accompanied the two ladies home, and tonight I will come to the palace to present the prescription."

"I've been busy from morning till night and haven't even had a hot meal."

"If this keeps going on, I'll collapse first."

"At that time, not only will you lose the national treasure, but you'll also lose one of your sons."

Zhou Fu quickly agreed, "Your Majesty, what the Ninth Prince said makes sense."

"Since the old immortal is willing to bestow treasures one after another, he probably won't sever our connection with the immortals."

"Let His Highness rest for a few days before discussing this matter again."

Lu Cangqiong glanced at Lu Yuan's slightly tired face and finally let go.

"Get lost."

"Okay!"

Lu Yuan cupped his hands in greeting and turned to walk towards the palace gate.

Looking at his light footsteps, Lu Cangqiong laughed and scolded in exasperation, "Just now you said you were about to collapse, but the moment I told you to get out, your legs are nimbleer than anyone else's!"

Lu Yuan did not turn around.

"My son's afraid he'll walk too slowly, so please give me ten more!"

"Get lost!"

Lu Cangqiong took a portrait and threw it out.

Lu Yuan dodged the portrait to the side, walked out of the palace, and disappeared after turning a corner on the palace road.

Lu Cangqiong turned his gaze back to the method of refining snowflake salt on the imperial desk.

"Although this kid is a scoundrel, the things he brings out are all incredibly useful."

"Zhou Fu".

"This old servant is here."

"Send someone to the Ministry of Revenue and summon Li Shoucai to me."

When Lu Cangqiong took the paper, a hint of excitement appeared in his eyes.

"Tell him that the imperial court has a profitable business."

"Let him take the salt tax ledger to the palace."

"Even if you have to break your abacus tonight, you must calculate for me how much money Snowflake Salt can make in a year!"

After Zhou Fu bowed to receive the task, he left the Qian Yuan Hall with two eunuchs.

……

Inside the palace gate, a crimson palanquin was parked against the wall.

Consort Shen sat in the sedan chair, watching Lu Yuan's departing figure through the gap in the curtain.

Some color had returned to her face, but the hatred in her eyes had not diminished at all.

From today onwards, the power of the six palaces will be handed over to Consort Shu.

Lu Cheng was further punished with a three-month stay-at-home order.

Liu Ruyan also entered the Ninth Prince's residence.

The advantages she had built up over many years were mostly destroyed by Lu Yuan in a single day.

The personal maid beside her whispered, "Your Highness, the Ninth Prince has already left the palace."

Consort Shen held the handkerchief tightly, her knuckles turning white.

"A motherless bastard dares to harm my son."

"Does he really think that just because His Majesty protects him, he can live forever?"

The palace maid lowered her head.

"The people outside the palace have already been arranged."

"Make it cleaner."

"This servant understands."

Consort Shen lowered the sedan chair curtain.

"Return to the palace."

……

Lu Yuan left the palace gate and boarded the carriage that Zhou Fu had prepared for him.

Liu Qing and the female soldiers of the Phoenix Battalion had already escorted Shen Hanqiu back to his residence, leaving him with only a coachman.

The coachman flicked the reins, and the carriage drove along the long street toward the Ninth Prince's residence.

Lu Yuan leaned against the carriage and closed his eyes to rest.

Throughout the day, he visited the Yongning Marquis's residence and the Shen residence, and also handled a case of child murder in front of officials from the Ministry of Justice.

After nightfall, Lu Cangqiong summoned him to the palace to urge him to give up on the baby.

Even the strongest body can't withstand this kind of torment.

The carriage turned two streets and suddenly tilted to the right.

Lu Yuan suddenly opened his eyes.

The next second, a crossbow bolt pierced through the carriage curtain and landed where he had just been leaning.

The driver in front lay prone on the shaft of the cart, a short arrow lodged in his back, and was no longer moving.

Two men in black fell from the roof; one slashed at the reins, while the other plunged a dagger into the carriage.

Lu Yuan grabbed the wooden box beside him to block the blade, and kicked the other man in the chest.

The man in black exited the carriage.

Lu Yuan pulled out the imperial sword from the car, rushed out of the window, and retreated towards the alleyway next to him.

"Don't let him get away!"

A figure appeared on the rooftop and at the alley entrance at the same time.

There were more than a dozen people in front and behind, all of them masked and carrying identical short knives and crossbows.

Lu Yuan glanced at their positions.

These people worked together, killing the coachman first and then cutting off their escape route; they were definitely not ordinary mountain bandits.

Three assassins rushed at the same time.

Lu Yuan swung his sword to force back one of the men in front of him, then turned and smashed the second man's chin with the hilt of his sword.

The third person's knife was already at his side.

Lu Yuan had no time to dodge and could only raise his left arm to block.

The blade sliced ​​open the sleeve, leaving a bloody gash on the forearm.

Lu Yuan thrust his sword into the man's shoulder and kicked him to the ground.

"This is the Imperial Sword."

Lu Yuan pointed his sword at the crowd, "You assassinated a prince outside the palace gates, how many heads do you have in your family to chop off?"

A man in black drew a crossbow from his waist.

"The sword is a good sword."

"But you can't take it back tonight."

The assassins pressed forward again from all sides.

Lu Yuan swung his sword and cut two crossbow bolts in half, but the wound on his left arm reopened, and blood quickly soaked half of his sleeve.

In a head-on confrontation, he could only hold off two or three people at most.

There were more than a dozen of them, including crossbowmen.

Staying here will only lead to certain death.

Lu Yuan grabbed the short knife from the ground and threw it at the crossbowmen on the roof.

The man dodged to the side.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lu Yuan rushed towards the alley entrance, shoving a killer aside with his shoulder, and ran wildly along the narrow alley.

"Chase!"

The assassin behind him kept close behind.

Lu Yuan turned a few corners and took off his belt to wrap around the wound on his left arm.

But in front of them was a high wall.

He glanced back at the men in black who were chasing him, stepped on the wooden crates piled up in the corner, and climbed over the wall.

A crossbow bolt grazed his hair ornament.

Lu Yuan didn't have time to check, and leaped into the courtyard.

There were no guards in the courtyard, and the lights were on in the main room.

He rushed to the door, pushed it open, went inside, turned around and closed the door, then moved a chair to block the doorway.

The men in black outside had already scaled the courtyard wall.

Lu Yuan, gripping the imperial sword, was about to look for the back window when a woman's scream suddenly rang out from inside the house.

"what!"

"rogue!"

"Who let you in? Get out!"

Lu Yuan turned around subconsciously.

A woman stood beside the screen, having just gotten out of the bathtub. Her long hair was still dripping wet, and her fair shoulders were completely exposed.

She nervously covered herself with a thin nightgown.

Lu Yuan froze on the spot when he saw the woman's face clearly.

Two streams of blood slowly flowed down from his nose.