Chapter 152 - Search for a Plan"City Lord Lu!"
Watching Lu Yongchang carefully walking over with a bowl of clear water, Xiang Yun was a little taken aback. He had originally thought that Lu Yongchang was currently on his way to the outskirts of the city, but to his surprise, the latter had actually appeared here!
All of a sudden, Xiang Yun"s mind was in a mess. He was at a loss!"Your Highness, aren"t you going for a stroll in the countryside? Why are you visiting your humble mansion at this time?"
By this time, Lu Yongchang had already walked up to the two of them. Looking at Xiang Yun, he could not help but ask curiously.
"Uh, boss, he said to come and see if you"re home!" Before Xiang Yun could open his mouth to speak, Fatty Niu had already gone beyond the boundaries of his authority.
"See if I"m in the mansion?" The doubt on Lu Yongchang"s face became even more obvious.
"Ehhh, City Lord Lu, don"t listen to this d.a.m.n fatty"s nonsense. I was planning to go outside the city for a walk, but it just occurred to me that there was an extremely important matter. I needed the City Lord"s help, didn"t I?"
Fatty Niu wanted to say more, but he was stopped by a glare from Xiang Yun!
"City Lord, the servants just said that you were in the study reading doc.u.ments. Hey, what are you doing carrying a bowl of water?"Lu Yongchang said with a wry smile, "Ah, don"t mention it. The servants in this house are more lazy than the last. Just now, when I was reviewing the doc.u.ments, they used up all the ink in the inkstone. The water tank in the study room is empty."
After saying that, Lu Yongchang stepped into the study room and put the bowl full of water on the desk. He then hurriedly ran back to the door, opened it wide and bowed as he spoke."Your Highness, Young Master Niu, please go inside quickly. If you have anything to say, we can talk about it slowly!"
Xiang Yun looked calm and collected, a hint of doubt still in his eyes as he walked into the study. The latter did not immediately find a place to sit down, but instead walked towards the desk in the middle of the study.
At the moment, there was a small pile of leather booklets on the desk. On it were some local officials of the Qinfeng City, reporting on the government affairs within the city and answering some important questions.
Xiang Yun"s gaze fell onto the book at the top, "City Lord, you"ve worked hard, reading so many things all day, the government is very busy."
Lu Yongchang shook his head and smiled, "I am here to seek a position. Since I am the City Lord of Qinfeng City, I will naturally take responsibility for my duties. It will not be hard on me."
"City lord Lu is indeed a loyal subordinate of the king and his father!" As Xiang Yun chatted with City Lord Lu, he secretly flipped open the imperial report with one hand.
Flipping through the imperial report, the article was indeed only halfway done. From the looks of it, Lu Yongchang had already written half of it and no ink was left on it.
Xiang Yun caught a trace of it as he extended a finger towards the last line of words. As his finger made contact with the last line of words, a moist feeling immediately transmitted over!
It was obvious that these words had just been written not too long ago, because the words had not been written properly yet. This proved that City Lord Lu was indeed taking care of his matters in the study!
For a time, the layers upon layers of doubt that had been plastered upon Xiang Yun"s heart was suddenly enveloped by a layer of thick, bottomless mist!
"Could it be that I guessed wrongly? That day was just a coincidence?"
Xiang Yun"s originally a.s.sured judgment began to waver as he looked towards City Lord Lu.At this moment, this simple and honest looking middle-aged man with a pair of wind-attracting ears and small eyes was rolling up the sleeves of his sleeves and holding an ink stick in his hand. He was personally studying the ink.
Judging from the way he was studying the ink, he seemed extremely familiar with it. One could tell that he was usually the one who did everything. He treated the servants and servants as if they were his guests.
How could he dare to have the heart to devour a person with such a soft heart who was afraid of the inside as if he were a tiger!
Seeing Xiang Yun watching his actions, City Lord Lu smiled awkwardly, a little embarra.s.sed.
"Your Highness, please do not take offense. Today, those maidservants have been called to the backyard to play mahjong with her. No one has ordered them to do so. Once I"ve finished studying the ink, I"ll immediately go make tea for you and Young Master Niu!"
Looking at City Lord Lu"s kind smile, Xiang Yun thought to himself, "It looks like I really guessed wrongly. He definitely can"t be the one who harmed me!"At this moment, a sense of guilt arose in Xiang Yun"s heart. City Lord Lu was a simple and honest man, and had even saved his life before. Not only did he not repay him, he even suspected him.
It was as if City Lord Lu had not noticed Xiang Yun"s strangeness at all. As soon as he finished preparing the ink, he immediately personally went to the back hall and brewed two cups of tea, respectfully bringing them over.
After doing all this, City Lord Lu invited Xiang Yun and his son to their seats before asking, "Your Highness, Your Highness, you said that you had something you needed me for. May I know what it is that Your Highness needs my help with?"Xiang Yun nodded, "Actually, it"s not a big deal. I just want to ask City Lord Lu for a map."
"Oh, a map?" Lu Yongchang was a little surprised.Fatty Niu also asked curiously, "Boss, what do you want the map for?"
The Wind and Cloud State strictly stipulated that any public official not designated by the imperial government, ordinary citizens or aristocratic families may not hide their land, and shall not divulge any map of the mountains and rivers.It wasn"t that the maps themselves were prohibited, but rather that they were related to national secrets and were of great importance to a country"s strategic deployment.
All of the precise maps of the Wind Cloud Country were made with the heavy money of the Ministry of Rites. It would take a lot of time and effort to travel the world and map them out, so it was very precious.Besides the prefect, only the military commanders guarding the border gates were able to grasp the precise map of the city. City Lord Lu naturally had a map of the city, even the outskirts of the city.
"Your Highness, what do you need the map for? You know that all the maps in the city have related rules."
Lu Yongchang looked embarra.s.sed.
The topographic map of Qinfeng City was an important secret of the city, as well as secrets such as the arrangement of the weapons within the city. Lu Yongchang naturally did not dare to easily approach anyone; he still had to ask about Xiang Yun"s purpose.
Naturally, Xiang Yun understood Lu Yongchang"s concerns. Smiling, he said, "Mister Lu, there"s no need to be nervous. I just want to borrow a map of the Silvermoon Mountain Range to the north of Qinfeng City.""The map of the Silvermoon Mountain Range!" City Lord Lu and Fatty Niu were even more confused.
"Your Highness, this map of the Silvermoon Mountain Range is no longer within the borders of our country. What use do you have in bringing it over?"
It"s just that I saw the Silvermoon Mountain Range a few days ago during the Great Hunt. The environment there was elegant and the weather was extraordinary, so I wanted to find a mountain peak and build a garden. If I had time, I could stay there for a few days.
"Build another garden!" When Fatty Niu heard this, he immediately jumped up in excitement!
"Aiyo, boss, this is such a good relationship. Why don"t you just not build any more courtyards and just directly build another Exquisite Phoenix Pavilion on the mountain!"
"In the future, if we want to find a girl, we can just go up the mountain. We can have a rest and enjoy life, haha!"
As Fatty Niu spoke to this point, his saliva even dripped to the corner of his mouth. He had a face full of yearning!
Xiang Yun ignored Fatty Niu and looked towards City Lord Lu, "City Lord, I don"t know if you have such a map."City Lord Lu pondered for a moment before saying, "Your Highness, I do have a map of Qin Feng City. Furthermore, because it is drawn north of Qin Feng City, it has already surpa.s.sed our borders, so even if we give it to Your Highness, it will not violate the law!"
There were quite a number of maps stored outside of the border. Most of these maps were personally made by the intelligence agents of the Wind Cloud Country, or they were purchased directly by the officials of the Ministry of Rites from other countries.
As for the Silvermoon Mountain Range, which belonged to a landless region and was not under the jurisdiction of any other country, it was naturally the former.
"That"s great!" Xiang Yun was overjoyed. He had not expected that the map of the Silvermoon Mountain Range really did exist in Lu Yongchang"s hands.
This saved him a great deal of trouble. The Silvermoon Mountain Range was a mountain range, and in order to find a mountain range and build a sect, he would naturally need to meticulously select a detailed topographic map, which would save him a lot of effort.However, Lu Yongchang was a little worried, "But Your Highness, honestly speaking, I do not recommend you go to the Silvermoon Mountain Range and build a garden."
"Oh, why is that?"
"Your Highness, although the Silver Moon Mountain Range of the Northwest is filled with extraordinary peaks and abundant clouds, it"s a great place to recuperate."
"However, this place is not a homeland, but an important place for our sect. There are hundreds of different sized sects here, and they are not subject to the laws of this world. It"s not easy for them to take over a mountain and build a courtyard."
Lu Yongchang"s words were tactful, but Xiang Yun understood the latter"s meaning. Many sects within the Silvermoon Mountain Range competed intensely with each other.
He still wanted to steal food from the tiger"s mouth and occupy a mountain. This was too unrealistic, and even if he was the crown prince, it would still be useless.
However, Xiang Yun waved his hand and said, "It"s fine. I just want to see if there"s any suitable place. Even if I can"t find it, it doesn"t matter."When Lu Yongchang heard this, he thought for a moment and then nodded in relief, "Okay, since Your Highness needs it, then please follow me. I"ll give the map to you right away!"
Immediately, Lu Yongchang brought Xiang Yun to fetch the map. Fatty Niu lazily sat on a chair, waiting for the two of them!Xiang Yun followed City Lord Lu to a heavily guarded building in the back courtyard of the City Lord"s Mansion. Inside were many books, mostly about the history and government affairs of Qin Feng City.
As the two of them entered the loft, City Lord Lu brought Xiang Yun up to the second floor. Lu Yongchang had Xiang Yun sit on a chair next to the window on the second floor.He then turned around and went to a bookshelf in the southwest corner of the building. He took out a roll of brown paper from the top shelf. It was wrapped in a cylinder shape.
Lu Yongchang carefully opened the brown paper and took out a round paper cylinder.
The two ends of the paper cylinder were combined into a big and a small set. Lu Yongchang held one end of the cylinder with both hands and pulled out the top. Immediately, a leather map appeared and was wrapped around it.
Taking out the map, Lu Yongchang gently spread it out in front of Xiang Yun. A moment later, a map of the mountains and rivers northwest of Qin Feng City was clearly displayed before Xiang Yun!
The intertwined rivers, even their branches had their own labels and names, layers upon layers of mountains, each with its own detailed name of the mountains, and even the sect on top of the mountains had its own labels!Xiang Yun"s eyes lit up the moment he saw this map.
"Your Highness, can you take a look at this map?" Lu Yongchang asked with a smile.
"This is a good map!"