After the immortal disappeared

Bai Tan crossed the street, and everyone gave way.

But tonight, a carriage came from the opposite side. It was luxurious and spacious, driven by four big red horses, with golden feathers on the horses' heads, and more than thirty elite soldiers guarding in front and behind.

Just this carriage was enough to block Ding'an Street tightly.

Bai Tan recognized it at a glance. This was the team of the regent.

The pedestrians on the roadside also stopped - at this time, even pedestrians could not pass through, so they simply stopped to watch the excitement.

Both sides were wealthy families, which side would give way first?

Both sides stopped and confronted each other silently at the intersection.

"General Bai, the carriage in front is the regent's carriage." The long-servant whispered, "Or..."

He was still worried that the general would go to someone else's car. No matter how big the official is, if they meet on this old street, one of them must give way, otherwise they can't leave.

No matter how big the commotion is, it will end in the end.

But before he finished speaking, Bai Tan waved his hand: "Back off, move aside."

At the command, the team quickly retreated to the Laoshu intersection and let the Regent's carriage pass first.

The dozens of riders surrounded the carriage and passed the Laoshu intersection in a mighty manner. The place here is narrow, and the two sides staggered and passed by less than four feet apart.

The weather was hot, and the carriage had a small window open, and Bai Tan saw Qingyang at a glance.

Qingyang also looked back and smiled slightly: "General Bai, thank you."

Sat on the horseback, Bai Tan clasped his fists and said in a loud voice: "Lord Regent, have a good journey."

The two looked at each other for only two breaths, and then each looked away.

No conversation, no expression, just like strangers.

The shop owners on the roadside were a little disappointed. They thought that General Bai and Regent were not getting along, and there would be a good show of meeting on a narrow road today.

Qingyang's carriage rumbled away and finally disappeared at the corner of the street. Bai Tan then retracted his gaze and said, "Let's go."

After both parties left, Ding'an Old Street returned to its bustle and crowds.

This little episode seemed to have never happened.

……

The big project of Youhu Villa finally began.

After the foundation laying ceremony, the construction team began to dig and fill the ground, and artificially raised the position of the main gate of the villa.

That is, it was raised about ten feet from the flat ground, and the front and back were connected to a particularly spacious gentle slope. The main gate was to be built on the top of the slope.

The team leader was skeptical at first, but when he saw cart after cart of huge stones transported to the south bank of Youhu Lake, he couldn't help but give He Lingchuan a thumbs up: "The boss is really amazing. He really got such a large blue square stone, although some of it was used."

He had sharp eyes and could see at a glance that some of the blue square stones were probably removed from the originals, with concave and convex patterns and moss on the surface.

He Lingchuan smiled: "Is it still useful?"

"No problem, just polish it and it will be as good as new. These treasures have been lying underground for thousands of years." The foreman patted the boulder, "Some of the existing patterns can still be used, which can save a lot of time."

"The boss is really capable, he can get whatever he needs." He laughed softly, "The king should let you build the Great Temple, so that it won't be delayed for two and a half years."

He Lingchuan asked casually: "What's the matter?"

"The Panjin stone in the quarry has always been in short supply. We use a little bit of it, and the construction period has been delayed for two and a half years." The foreman lowered his voice even more, "I heard that there is still a large amount of money owed for the stone materials. The treasury has not paid for the past six months."

He Lingchuan understood: "Okay. From now on, the main gate of the villa must be built quickly, the faster the better!"

Needless to say, this batch of Qingfang stone was obtained by Tonglinji. Qingfang stone is indeed limited in production, and it takes two months to deliver after ordering from the place of origin. Conventional channels were limited, so Gulin took a different approach and found an abandoned villa, dismantled the building materials and sent them to the south bank of Youhu Lake.

The original owner of this abandoned villa was beheaded by the king forty years ago, and his family was exiled, so the villa was vacant. Later, ferns grew everywhere, and few people would think of it.

Gulin showed such a skill, and He Lingchuan knew that he knew all kinds of things about Tianshui City, and few people could match him.

Tonglinji is still as good as ever, and we can cooperate.

The head of the team quickly agreed.

The boss had just told us to build the gatehouse slowly a few days ago, the slower the better, but now it has to be fast, the faster the better.

However, the boss was the one who paid the money, and this guy was still a favorite in front of the king, so the head of the team could not complain, but just silently added 200 more people.

A team of more than a dozen people suddenly became 200. If it were a few days ago, the Imperial Household Department would definitely block them for not having enough qualifications.

But now, they turn a blind eye.

In fact, the reason why He Lingchuan changed his mind was that the Imperial Household Department was willing to cooperate.

Originally, he was only approved for one gate, so of course he had to build it slowly; now that the second phase of the villa is about to be approved, he has to work overtime to process it.

Other materials have been in place for a long time, and the most important stone materials have also entered the site. The foreman led his men and rolled up his sleeves to work hard. With sufficient manpower, the construction site is more chaotic, no, more enthusiastic, and the progress of the project has been greatly accelerated.

Dingdangdingdang, bangdangbangdang, ah, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh-the whole south bank of Youhu Lake echoed with the loud sounds of sawing wood and chiseling stones, and it was very rhythmic.

He Lingchuan specifically instructed that no matter whether it was cutting, digging, carving or polishing, all the stones should be transported to the south bank of Youhu Lake for processing.

The opposite Youhu Xiaozhu is only separated from the south bank by a shallow water, which is too close. Although the trees have a good noise insulation effect, the construction noise on the south bank is still audible.

The Youhu Cottage was originally Qingyang's place for meditation, but now it can only be used to erect a soundproof barrier.

Although the small building was quiet after the barrier was opened, the Bejia people who came with Qingyang could not ignore the construction on the other side.

The ground near the upper bridge of Youhu Small Building was dug into potholes, with ruts, mud, mortar, and construction materials placed everywhere.

The originally quiet and elegant lakeside now looks like a mud pit where elephants take a bath.

Qingyang goes in and out from here every day, so he has to see this bad scene every day.

And the construction of the villa has just begun, and it is still a long way from the end.

The most annoying thing is that the main gate of Youhu Villa is less than five meters away from the gatehouse of Youhu Small Building. Looking at the latter alone, it is exquisite. But the main gate of Youhu Villa is taller and bigger than it. Standing behind it, it makes the gatehouse of Youhu Small Building look like a bullied young wife.

Then, King Yao sent a guard team to the villa project.

Although there were only a few dozen people, it clearly showed King Yao's attitude.

Foreign merchants built a building, and they even had to use the power of the royal family to guard it. This was too impressive.

On the other hand, once this guard team appeared, the fact that "He Xiao built Youhu Villa at the instruction of Guoqun" was basically confirmed.

Then, the fact that "buying a villa is to stand on the side of the king" was once again verified by facts.

In the afternoon, Yuwen Xu brought an important news:

The two adjutants of the Imperial Household Department received extremely large amounts of bribes, and their power-for-money transactions were shocking. The evidence was conclusive and they confessed to the crime, so they were sentenced to death and executed in the autumn!

Other arrested officials of the Imperial Household Department were also tried and convicted in turn.

Fast, too fast.

The chief and deputy chief officers of important functional departments were removed at the same time. Except in wartime, there has never been such a swift and resolute action in the history of Yao State. The result came out in two days:

The king of Yao pushed the former adjutant of the Imperial Household Department to be executed on the grounds that the amount of bribes was particularly huge!

So this news also caused a thousand waves, and produced a series of effects.

The adjutant was sentenced to death, so how could Liang Xiaohao, as the chief officer, be a white lotus that was not stained by mud? The officials all knew what was going on.

The death penalty can be avoided, but the living crime cannot be escaped. Even the dullest officials felt the anger and toughness of King Yao.

The Imperial Household Department thought that "following the rules" could embarrass He Xiao and disobey the emperor? Naive!

In Yao State, there are only two people who are qualified to do so:

the king and the regent.

The move of King Yao was also to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, and to deal with the officials of the Imperial Household Department headed by Liang Xiaohao with thunderous means. So everyone understood that obstructing the construction of Youhu Villa was to go against the king!

After this incident, who dared to underestimate King Yao's determination to provoke and attack Qingyang?

The king was going to fire at the regent of Beijia. As a minister, which side should I stand on?

Those who bought the Jingshe and surrendered to the king were also rewarded.

And those who tried to stand behind Qingyang in a veiled manner would soon be beheaded.

Who else?

The Yaowang court was in turmoil for a while, and everyone was thinking about this question.

If you offend Qingyang Regent, you may be reported and exposed;

But if you offend the monarch, at the least, your career will be hopeless, and at the worst, you will lose your head. After all, not everyone has such a strong backer as Liang Xiaohao.

How to choose?

Actually, it's not difficult.

At this time, many people noticed that the south bank of Youhu Lake was under construction.

Youhu Villa was really under construction, just opposite the residence of Qingyang Regent!

Many people who were curious had already rushed to watch and confirmed this statement when they came back. The rumors that He Xiao could not and dared not to build were broken.

It seems that Qingyang Regent is also helpless. The construction of Youhu Villa does not seem to be as difficult as everyone imagined?

Does the smooth start of Youhu Villa mean that the monarch has the upper hand?

Yao Wang, who was threatened by Qingyang and had part of his power taken away because of Xue Zongwu's death a few days ago, has finally made a small comeback.

"The approval for the second phase has come down." He Lingchuan took a stack of documents to find the head of the team.

The latter was slightly surprised: "So fast? Unprecedented."

In the past, he had been in Tianshui City for so many years, and he didn't know that the efficiency of the General Affairs Department and the Imperial Household Department could be so high. It takes three or two months to get approved once, and it takes a year or two to get approved. Of course, it is not impossible to speed up.

He Lingchuan smiled and said: "Everyone is anxious, so things will be done faster."

The Imperial Household Department cooperated this time, and almost sent him out.

This time, even the head of the team was very interested: "Boss, what is the starting price for the second phase of your Youhu Villa?"

It's an exaggeration. The wood and stone materials of the first phase have just arrived, and even the gatehouse has not been built, and the second phase will be on sale. The head of the team was very happy, at least he had work to do in the next few years.

"Do you want to buy it?"

"A friend of mine wants to buy it, so he asked me to ask."