Situ Ce arrived at the Prince's Mansion and exchanged a few words with Lu Chen before leaving directly, without lingering too long at the North Prince Mansion.
Lu Chen suspected that Situ Ce's visit to North City was not as simple as just conveying a message; he had seen in Situ Ce's file that another purpose of his trip was to test him.
With just a few questions asked, how could he probe his secrets?
Lu Chen suspected that Situ Ce might have been in North City for some time without his knowledge, so he immediately summoned Bai Qingqing to the courtyard.
Bai Qingqing, the Deputy Commander of the Shadow Guard, certainly would have received intelligence from other Shadow Guards upon her return to Yan County; asking her would likely reveal how long Situ Ce had been in North City.
After a short while, Bai Qingqing arrived in the courtyard, and upon entering, she performed a courtesy and said, "This servant pays respect to the Prince."
Lu Chen directly took Bai Qingqing's jade hand, helped her up, and said, "Bai, do you know how long the State Preceptor has been in North City?"
Bai Qingqing answered expressionlessly, "Around half a month."
Hearing this, Lu Chen thought that it was indeed as he had suspected: Situ Ce had arrived in North City much earlier.
However, he couldn't blame Situ Ce, as he himself had been away negotiating with the Sky Wolf King's tribe in the Northern grasslands for over half a month.
At this time, Lu Chen continued to inquire: "Since he has come to Yan County, he must have brought you a new mission as well."
While saying this, Lu Chen wrapped his arm around Bai Qingqing's slender waist and stood behind her, his hand wandering over her body.
Being held by Lu Chen, Bai Qingqing's body involuntarily began to tremble, and a blush appeared on her usually cool face.
"The State Preceptor has instructed this servant to investigate evidence of Prince Lu Shuyun colluding with the Barbarian Tribe and then to send the collected evidence back to the Capital city."
Hearing this, Lu Chen smirked slightly. As expected, after the threat from the northern Barbarian Tribes had ended, his father, the Sum Emperor, was preparing to take action against the Aristocratic Families.
Once the evidence of these families colluding with the Barbarian Tribes was obtained, it was likely that his father would use it as an excuse to directly purge their influence within the court.
Situ Ce had also hinted to him earlier that Situ Ce's intention was clear: he hoped that Lu Chen would not rebel when the Sum Emperor dealt with the Aristocratic Families, as the position was likely to be his in the future, so Situ Ce was reminding him that purging the families would benefit him as well.
In fact, there was no need for Situ Ce to specifically remind him, as Lu Chen had no intention of rebelling while the Sum Emperor was dealing with the Aristocratic Families.
Times make heroes. Great Sum was turbulent under the surface, but it had not yet descended into complete chaos, and if he were to rebel at this moment, it would be suicide.
Moreover, Lu Chen was no fool. He actually hoped the Sum Emperor would swiftly deal with the Aristocratic Families, as if not cleared, they would make a mess of things when he someday took control of the entire Great Sum.
Each dynasty would give rise to powerful families, but many of the Aristocratic Families in Great Sum were no ordinary families; they controlled the court, a vast amount of resources, and could even be said to control the lifeline of Great Sum.
These families were beyond comparison with newly emerging powerful clans.
The families that the Sum Emperor intended to remove were precisely those that held sway in the court, and it was unrelated to some of the emerging clans. On the contrary, the Sum Emperor would not only refrain from suppressing these new powers but would also support them, allowing them to become a force to counter the old Aristocratic Families at court.
After pondering for a moment, Lu Chen decided to put aside the matters of the Capital city for the time being and focus first on the development of North City.
With the ten thousand captives from the Barbarian Tribe and the newly acquired method of making cement, infrastructure development of the major roads in North City could begin.
Just then, a maid came into the courtyard, "Prince, the two ladies have finished washing up."
Hearing this, Lu Chen came back to his senses. The two ladies the maid mentioned were naturally Yelv Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao, who had just entered the North Prince Mansion.
Lu Chen then let go of Bai Qingqing and gave her a pat on the buttocks, "Bai, you can go attend to your matters."
A sense of shame suddenly washed over Bai Qingqing, and she couldn't understand why Lu Chen always liked to touch her buttocks.
"As you command, Prince."
Having spoken, Bai Qingqing quickly left.
At that moment, Lu Chen said to the maid who had made the report: "Which courtyard are the two ladies in? Lead me there."
The maid immediately responded: "Yes, Prince. Please follow this servant."
Following that, the maid led Lu Chen to the courtyard of Yelv Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao.
Their rooms were both located in the same courtyard, which was not very large, having only two rooms. Next door was the courtyard where Wang Qingci resided.
At that moment, Wang Qingci was sitting above the courtyard wall, openly scrutinizing the two Barbarian beauties that Lu Chen had brought back.
Then, as a man's figure appeared in the courtyard of Yelv Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao, the two promptly rose from the stone bench in the pavilion.
"We pay respect to the Prince."
Seeing the new attire of Yelv Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao, Lu Chen was momentarily dazzled.
They had exchanged their clothes for those of Great Sum and, after the maids had carefully dressed them, looked significantly different from before.
Yelv Nanyan wore a sheer long gown embellished with lotus patterns, with a belt cinched at the waist, perfectly showcasing her voluptuous figure. The sheer fabric clung to her skin, suggesting more than it revealed. As it tightly hugged her body, her shapely buttocks were even more pronounced, making the beautiful matron look seductive, noble, and opulent.