Ever since Mu Zixuan gave birth to her child, Lu Chen has hardly ventured outside for a while, neither inspecting the new city's construction nor visiting the armory, spending most of his time in the Prince's Mansion handling state affairs.
The construction of the new city was proceeding methodically, and the first batch of weapons produced by the armory was about to be completed. Lu Chen was mainly waiting for the arrival of the Grandmaster Zhuge Zhongguang.
Of course, in addition to Zhuge Zhongguang, Lu Chen was also waiting for the children in the bellies of the two Xiaozhou to be born; he was eager to find out what kind of surprises these two children could bring him.
Lu Chen came out from Yelv Nanyan's room with a beaming face, his whole being feeling very delighted after spending the previous night cultivating affections with Yelv Nanyan.
After leaving the Spring Sound Court, Lu Chen planned to eat breakfast in the main courtyard first, but at that moment, a maid came walking towards him.
"This servant pays her respects to the Prince, long live the Prince!"
Lu Chen nodded slightly, intending to continue toward the main courtyard, but the maid did not step aside and instead said, "Prince, Commander Qin is looking for you."
"He's waiting for you in the study."
Upon hearing this, Lu Chen was momentarily startled.
Qin Yushan was looking for him so early in the morning; could it be some important intelligence?
Lu Chen then skipped breakfast and went straight to the study to see what Qin Yushan needed.
By the time Lu Chen arrived at the courtyard of the study, he found that not only Qin Yushan but also Wang Qingci was standing at the entrance of the study.
Seeing Lu Chen's arrival, Qin Yushan immediately performed a greeting, saying, "I pay my respects to the Prince, long live the Prince."
Lu Chen nodded, then directly walked into the study, saying as he went, "Come in."
Following closely behind, Qin Yushan and Wang Qingci entered the study. Lu Chen then asked, "Commander Qin, what brings you to seek me out so early in the morning?"
Qin Yushan took out a piece of intelligence from his sleeve and placed it on the desk, "Prince, there's movement in the Capital city!"
Hearing this, Lu Chen's mind jolted.
In recent months, he had been waiting for his father, the Sum Emperor, to act against those Aristocratic Families. Only if turmoil arose in Great Xia could the court's attention be completely diverted, allowing him to annex the North Land into the North Country.
If he were to annex the North Land into the North Country now, it would inevitably attract the court's scrutiny, which would be highly disadvantageous for him.
However, after waiting several months, there had been no movement from the Capital city, making Lu Chen doubt whether his father had truly given up on striking down those Aristocratic Families.
Both Great Wu and Great Qian had already descended into internal strife, and yet after such a long delay without action, if he didn't promptly eliminate those Ancient Families within the Great Xia Dynasty, Great Xia would miss a golden opportunity once Great Wu and Great Qian recovered their strengths.
After several months, there was finally some activity.
Lu Chen immediately opened the intelligence on the table and read it earnestly.
Having read the intelligence on the desk, a slight smile appeared on Lu Chen's face; it seemed that Great Xia's civil war was about to erupt.
A few days ago, the Sum Emperor had purged some Aristocratic Family officials from the court and began to mobilize troops on a large scale, claiming that there was an epidemic in the Great Qian Dynasty to the South. He planned to send troops southward to guard the southern border, to prevent the contagion from spreading into the Great Xia Dynasty.
Even a fool could see this was an excuse.
First, he purged some officials from the South's Aristocratic Families, then mobilized a large army southward—this was obviously aimed at the Aristocratic Families of the South.
It was true that the Great Qian Dynasty was experiencing an epidemic, but even with the outbreak, with Seigniors guarding the borders, it would not be so easy for the epidemic to spread into Great Xia.
Although the military force in a Seignior's domain was limited, at least each domain had fifty thousand soldiers. Couldn't fifty thousand soldiers defend a border? The Great Qian Dynasty was not waging war, so the soldiers of the domain merely needed to prevent the population infected with the epidemic from fleeing to Great Xia.
This minor matter definitely didn't necessitate the court deploying a large army southward; the Sum Emperor's intentions were all too obvious.
Lu Chen now found his father quite baffling.
He had previously refrained from acting, and instead of acting, he had established Lu Shuyun, that fellow, as the Crown Prince. Later, he even opened up the management rights to the salt industry, causing the salt prices within Great Xia to continue to rise, fattening up those salt-producing Aristocratic Families of the South.
After such a long time, he's now remembered to purge the Aristocratic Families, and with such overt moves.
Even the dimmest Aristocratic Families from the South could guess that the Sum Emperor was planning to send troops southward to deal with them, could they not?
Considering the current situation, it probably wouldn't be long before news of the Aristocratic Families' rebellion would arrive.
After reviewing the intelligence in hand, Lu Chen said, "Send a message back to Commander Liang, telling him to keep a close eye on the movements of the Aristocratic Families in the South."
"Prince, if there are no other matters, then your subordinate will take leave."
With Wang Qingci still standing by, Qin Yushan certainly knew how to take his leave.
Lu Chen nodded and said, "Alright, go attend to your duties."
As soon as the words fell, Qin Yushan turned and left the study.
After Qin Yushan's departure, Lu Chen looked up at Wang Qingci standing before him.
Thanks to Lu Chen's nurturing over time, Wang Qingci's figure had become even more enchanting, and her whole demeanor even more seductive.
Lu Chen smiled and asked, "Mr. Wang, what brings you to seek me out so early in the morning?"
Wang Qingci took out a piece of intelligence and placed it on Lu Chen's desk, speaking lightly, "Prince, there is a rumor that the Grandmaster from Universal Academy has gone to the Da Yue Dynasty, and has privately met with the Yue Emperor about something. It seems they might be planning to relocate Universal Academy to the Da Yue Dynasty."