Daqing: Reborn Prince, intercepting Si Lili at the beginning

However, just as Li Chengyuan was about to leave, Emperor Qing suddenly spoke.

"and many more!"

Li Chengyuan immediately stopped, came to his senses, and listened attentively.

"I heard that many scholars and writers have come to visit you recently, but you rejected them all?"

Li Chengyuan was shocked and said to himself, "Here it comes."

"Your Majesty, I have been under house arrest for a while now, so I dare not see any guests!"

"Hmm!" Emperor Qing nodded in understanding, but then asked, "Now that the confinement is over, what are your plans?"

Emperor Qing asked in a very subtle way, but his meaning was very clear.

He just wanted to ask, does Li Chengyuan want to accept any retainers?

If you don't accept it, it means you still want to resist.

If you accept it, it means you are showing your attitude and participating in the fight for the throne!

Li Chengyuan had already made plans before arriving, so he said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, I plan to invite all the scholars in Kyoto to hold a poetry banquet in my palace in three days!"

"Good!" Seeing that Li Chengyuan had finally "surrendered," Emperor Qing immediately revealed a happy smile. He looked at Li Chengyuan with approval and said, "Very good! This is what a prince of Qing should do. Feel free to hold this banquet. When the time comes, I will definitely support you strongly!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Okay, it's okay, you can go down!"

"Yes! I'll take my leave!" Li Chengyuan bowed and turned to leave.

Looking at Li Chengyuan's departing back, Emperor Qing fell into deep thought.

After a while, Emperor Qing suddenly said, "Eunuch Hou!"

"The slave is here!"

"I remember that there was a novel circulating in the Fan Mansion. Please check for me. If there is one, please find a copy for me to read!"

"Whoo!"

......

After leaving the palace, Li Chengyuan asked the guards to return to the Prince's Mansion first.

He and Lao Huang went directly to Miaoyinfang.

I haven't been to Miaoyinfang for half a month. It's still the same as before, with no changes.

Because it only performs, unlike Zuixianju, Miaoyinfang is most lively during the day.

As soon as Li Chengyuan entered Miaoyinfang, he felt a wave of sound coming towards him.

On the stage, a dozen dancers were dancing to exotic music, and the dignitaries watching around all had red faces from excitement.

This scene seemed to bring Li Chengyuan back to the bar in his dream.

However, the ancients were still restrained in their bones.

So these dignitaries just cheered loudly but did not move along with the dancers, which lacked some interaction.

As soon as Li Chengyuan entered Miaoyinfang, he was discovered by the manager of Miaoyinfang.

These people all know Li Chengyuan.

So he immediately walked over, bowed and said, "Your Highness, please follow me!"

Li Chengyuan nodded and said nothing.

Follow the steward up to the third floor.

It’s still a palace-sized room!

Not long after Li Chengyuan went in, Gong Yu and Mr. Thirteen arrived one after another.

When he saw Li Chengyuan again, Mr. Thirteen was very calm.

Gong Yu, on the other hand, looked a little excited, his eyes full of longing, almost overflowing with it.

Seeing this, Li Chengyuan waved directly towards Gong Yu.

Gong Yu's expression lit up with joy, and she immediately walked over, then sat down behind Li Chengyuan and skillfully began to massage Li Chengyuan's shoulders.

Mr. Thirteen knelt opposite Li Chengyuan.

As for Old Huang...he stayed on the first floor to watch the dancing!

P.S.: Thank you so much for your reward and urging for updates. I will definitely work hard to update!

Chapter 22 Preparing to Open a Bookstore! Emperor Qing’s Reward!

"Your Highness, do you have something to tell me this time?"

Mr. Thirteen was a man of swift and decisive action. As soon as Li Chengyuan sat down, he began to ask.

"Yes!" Li Chengyuan nodded and said:

“I recently wrote a book and have finished the first volume, which I want to publish!

"Sir, please help me find some trustworthy new faces with business talent. Go to the palace tomorrow and I will set up a bookstore in the name of the palace, specializing in selling books!"

Mr. Thirteen immediately said, "I understand. I'll do it right away!"

"Well!" Li Chengyuan continued, "Please pay attention to this matter, sir. I plan to expand this bookstore and make it stronger. It would be best if we could open branches in every major state in Qing Kingdom!

Sir, don't worry about the book problem. I will find a solution.

What the gentleman has to do is to ensure the normal operation of the bookstore.

This will be one of our foundations in the future.

Miaoyinfang is good, but this kind of business is too eye-catching.

If you encounter any trouble here in the future, the bookstore will be your new shelter.

Therefore, you must pay enough attention to this matter!"

After hearing this, Mr. Thirteen's expression instantly became serious.

After a brief thought, he replied seriously, "Your Highness, now that you have said this, I understand.

Your Highness, please rest assured. The girls in our Miaoyinfang are all literate. As long as we train them in some calculation skills, they can help run the bookstore!

So we have no shortage of manpower, as long as Your Highness can provide enough manuscripts.

I promise that I can make this bookstore a success!"

"Okay, then sir, go get ready. It's better to do it sooner rather than later. The sooner the better!"

"I understand. I'll go down and prepare right away!" Mr. Thirteen responded, then turned and left.

...

After Mr. Thirteen left, Gong Yu asked, "Your Highness, are you really going to close Miaoyinfang?"

"Just preparing for a rainy day!" Li Chengyuan patiently explained, "You know, Miaoyinfang has been established in Kyoto for more than half a year, and I was only crowned king half a month ago. So, openly, I can't have anything to do with Miaoyinfang, otherwise people will suspect that I've made plans in advance and have premeditated them!

Therefore, I cannot stand up to protect Miaoyinfang.

But Miaoyinfang now has no real backing.

If we encounter any trouble in the future and I can't solve it secretly, Miaoyinfang will have to close temporarily!

So I'm making plans early now.

As long as the bookstore is run well, no matter what accidents happen in the future.

The girls in the neighborhood will also have a place to stay and will not disband in the same place.

Miaoyinfang itself is not important.

What's important is you. As long as you're still here, even if Miaoyinfang is shut down, our losses will be minimal. We can even use this opportunity to switch from being open to being covert, making it easier to hide!"

After hearing Li Chengyuan's explanation, Gong Yu immediately understood.

This also made Gong Yu feel relieved.

She was not afraid that Miaoyinfang would close down, she was only afraid that Li Chengyuan would no longer want them.

Li Chengyuan could also guess Gong Yu's worries, so he reached out and pulled Gong Yu into his arms.

Facing Gong Yu's shy yet expectant gaze, Li Chengyuan said softly, "I'm telling you, don't let your imagination run wild. Aside from Mr. Thirteen, you're the most important person to me in the entire Miaoyinfang. Don't worry, even if something really happens to Miaoyinfang in the future and the bookstore doesn't work out, I'll still take you into the palace and I definitely won't abandon you!"

When Gong Yu heard this, his eyes instantly turned dazed.

She raised her hand, stroked Li Chengyuan's cheek, and whispered softly: "Your Highness..."

Li Chengyuan was aroused and could no longer bear it. He lowered his head, found Gong Yu's red lips, and gently kissed them.

.......

Li Chengyuan had lunch and took a nap at Miaoyinfang.

It was not until the early afternoon that he and Lao Huang returned to the palace.

After arriving at the palace, Li Chengyuan called Sang Wen and Qingniao into the study and asked them to help him write invitations.

At the same time, he asked all the servants in the palace to go to the streets and spread the news that the palace would hold a poetry banquet three days later.

Then the palace must also make preparations early. There will definitely be a lot of people coming in three days, so all aspects must be prepared well to avoid any mistakes and loss of face!

This is actually Li Chengyuan's biggest headache.

The main reason is that the palace is still lacking a chief steward.

Among the people around him, Sang Wen is best at playing musical instruments and singing, and only secondly at serving people.

Qingniao is well-behaved, but she has no experience in managing affairs. It is okay to ask her to kill people, but it is too much of a stretch to ask her to manage the palace.

As for Lao Huang, let’s not even mention him.

It's fine to let Lao Huang cheat and deceive people, but if he is asked to manage people, it would be worse than asking him to embroider!

As for other people in the palace, Li Chengyuan didn't trust them.

It’s a pity that Miaoyinfang cannot be exposed, otherwise Mr. Shisan would definitely be the best candidate to be the butler!

So there was no other way, and Li Chengyuan was forced to decide to go into battle himself.