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n“You stole his silver?” Shi asked gently.

n“No, no.” The beggar raised his head. Although his little face was dirty, it could still be seen that he was a good-looking boy.

nShi raised his eyebrows. “If you didn’t steal, why did he say that you did?”

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n

nThe beggar said, “I really didn’t steal his silver.”

nThe middle-aged man said angrily, “Dirty boy, you’re the only person who has been close to me. If you didn’t steal my silver, who else would that be?”

n“I just wanted to beg for some food. I didn’t steal your silver!” The little beggar said anxiously. Then, he looked at Shi and Long, hoping that they could save him.

n“He’s just a little kid. Can’t you tell if your silver is hidden in his clothes?” Shi said lightly. After he made a gesture, a Shadow Guardian appeared. He carried the child and searched his body. “No.”

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n

nHis words caused uproar in the crowd.

nThe middle-aged man shouted. “Why would I believe in your words? I think you have hidden my silver! Otherwise, who would help a dirty beggar?”

nAs the Shadow Guardian’s eyes flashed with some cold light, he directly slapped that man across the face.

nThe middle-aged man didn’t expect that the Shadow Guardian would slap his face. He was slapped so hard that he staggered and almost fell over. “Ah…” The man gave a scream. Seeing that the Shadow Guardian was so fierce, the onlookers were afraid of being hurt, so they all ran away.

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n“You… You… I’ll report to the government!” The middle-aged man roared.

nThe Shadow Guardian sneered. He picked up the man and searched his body.

n“What is this?” A bag of silver was thrown out.

nThat man rolled his eyes. “This is my silver! My silver!”

n“I know it’s yours, but you always take two bags of silver with you?”

n“What’s the problem?” The man shouted. “I just like to bring two bags of silver with me every day. What’s that to do with you?”

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nThe Shadow Guardians didn’t want to waste time on him, so he turned his eyes to Shi and Long.

nLong narrowed his eyes and said lightly, “Since he wants to report to the government, just take him there.”

nThe middle-aged man was stunned.

nThe Shadow Guardian didn’t care what that man wanted to say at all. He directly took the man and flew away.

nLong looked at the little beggar and suddenly came up with a plan.

n“Do you have any relatives?”

nThe little beggar shook his head. “No, all my relatives have died. I’m the only one left.”

nLong smiled. “Would you like to go with me?”

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n“You’re willing to take me in?” The little beggar’s eyes suddenly brightened.

nLong smiled again. “Yes, come with me.”

nThe little beggar immediately agreed. Long said again, “Do you know how many children are like you in the town?”

nThe little beggar was stunned.

nLong explained it in detail. “I mean, orphans without relatives who are about your age. I can take all of you with me.”

nThe little beggar’s eyes brightened when he heard the words. “Yes, I have several friends!”

nLong said with a smile, “Then call them all over.”

n“Sir… there are also some older people. Can they come with us?”

nLong paused for a second and then nodded. “All right.”

nThe little beggar was very happy and hurried to call others.

nLong sent a Shadow Guardian to follow him…

nAfter the two of them left, Shi asked Long, “What do you want to do?”

nLong said gently, “Let’s go back first.”

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nShi squinted at Long and said nothing.

nSoon, the two of them returned to the inn.

nAfter entering the room, Shi said, “Can you tell me now?”

nLong smiled. “Those children are at the perfect age for learning martial arts.”

nShi was stunned. He understood Long’s intention.

n“You want to… train them?”

nLong nodded. “Right. I’ll train them into Shadow Guardians.”

nAfter thinking for a moment, Shi nodded. “They are all orphans, so they won’t be burdened by their families. Their loyalty won’t be a problem, either. That’s really a good idea.”

nLong smiled. “That’s right.”

nShi thought about it and said again, “But old beggars will be useless, won’t they?”

n“Although they’re not very useful, we can still keep them, because they can help us win popular support.”

nShi paused and then nodded. “Right. All those beggars live together. If we only take away the children, but leave the old behind, others will say we’re too cold-hearted.”

n“Right. We don’t lack food anyway. It’s good to bring all of them with us. We can set up some special buildings outside the imperial city to gather beggars from all over the nation. They are also labor force.”

nShi puckered his lips. “It’s a good plan, but some beggars are no longer labor force.”

nOtherwise, how could they have become beggars?

n“Since some children are too young, those who have lost their labor capacity can help to look after them. Anyway, as long as a person is still alive, he must have his value. Don’t worry about that.”

nShi stared at Long for a long time and then smiled.

n“Your Majesty, I’m so glad that you think like this. It’s a blessing for all the people in our nation.”

nLong’s eyes brightened slightly. “Really? Do you really think so, Qingzhou?”

n“Of course.” Shi smiled.

nLong also smiled and held Shi into his arms.

nShi smiled and thought that this was really a blessing for the people.

nThe two of them enjoyed their sweet time for a while. After asking the Shadow Guardians to deal with those beggars, Long and Shi left for Shuanghua City the next day.

n“I wonder how things are going in Tianyin post,” Shi said.

nLong tilted his head. “Don’t worry. Xu You is not stupid and there are Shadow Guardians with him. There won’t be any big problems.”

nShi turned to look at Long. “Seems that you aren’t worried at all?”

nLong laughed. “It’s not that I’m not worried, but I don’t think we’ll run into some trouble since we have the initiative now.”

nShi kept silent for a while, and then said, “That’s right.”

nLong pulled Shi and made Shi sit on his lap. They were on their way to Shuanghua City. As a modern man, Long really didn’t like riding horses, so they were going there by carriage.

nThere were two horses pulling the carriage, so it was pretty fast. Moreover, the carriage was well decorated inside, so it was very comfortable. Long made Shi sit on his lap and Shi didn’t resist.

nLong put one hand on Shi’s waist and couldn’t help stroking it.

nShi’s eyes twinkled. Thinking of what Long might do next, Shi slightly pursed his lips.

nThis place might be a little inappropriate, but…

nShi slightly lowered his head and didn’t stop Long.

nLong just wanted to stroke Shi’s body for a while, but he didn’t expect Shi would behave like that!

nLong immediately got a burning desire.

nThen, they couldn’t help but go further. Long turned Shi around and then the two of them sat face to face on each other’s laps…

nAs the atmosphere in the carriage became intimate, Long began to kiss Shi’s lips passionately…

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