Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“A bunch of useless idiots…” Lin Qingtian slammed his palm down. The ten-thousand-year sandalwood table in the office shattered. Lin Qingtian turned around and looked at the person bowing before him, “What did Wei Wuji say?”

“General Wei brought the army to Chi Province, so he would only reach Gan Province at the end of the fourth lunar month. General Wei said that he would think of a way to find Yan Liqiang after he arrives at Gan Province!” the person answered carefully.

“Find? How?! Mount Azure Dragon is that huge. Even if he spreads the entire army over Mount Azure Dragon, he wouldn’t be able to find Yan Liqiang. Plus, Yan Liqiang might not even be there!” Lin Qingtian’s eyes grew bleak. “Clearly, it was someone next to him who leaked the news. Yan Liqiang got the news and used the same tactic to avoid them. Yan Liqiang is young but he is as cunning as a slippery eel. There is no way he would come out at this time…”

“General Wei has too many people around him — he’s still investigating how this news was leaked but there are no results yet!”

Lin Qingtian frowned, and wrinkles formed between his eyebrows, “How is the business of the Yan Clan’s manufacturing bureau and the woolen mill?”

“General Wei sent news saying that his men and the Transportation Office people can’t take over those businesses. Before Yan Liqiang left, he asked Lei Sitong to take care of them. Without seeing Yan Liqiang, he couldn’t make the order. Lei Sitong is not under his command. Even though General Wei has the identity of Anxi General, he can’t intervene with the local authorities. Plus, that Lei Sitong isn’t easy to deal with. The Yan Clan has great connections with the Gan Provincial army. They have a deep foundation there and ordinary people can’t touch it so this is a bit tough…”

“Alright, you can go. Tell Wei Wuji that before he finds Yan Liqiang, don’t do anything rash. Leave it for now to prevent more trouble…” Lin Qingtian waved his hand impatiently.

“Yes!” That person bowed as he left Lin Qingtian’s office.

Lin Qingtian stood with his hands behind his back and frowned as he treaded in his office. A Great Han Empire Times newspaper fell to the ground alongside the table. In an obvious spot, there was the catchy title: ‘The Creator of the Greatest Mill, the Heavenly Craftsman of the Great Han Empire, Goes Into Hidden Rehabilitation After Receiving Heavy Injuries’.

This article recounted the story of Yan Liqiang falling into Qi deviation in detail and didn’t forget to applaud Yan Liqiang for donating money to help the country even though he was heavily injured. He still thought about the country and wanted to help the people…

In just a day, pretty much the entire capital knew about this. Under such a situation, Wei Wuji’s order, the lethal blow that Lin Qingtian was confident in, clearly seemed inappropriate. Yan Liqiang was heavily injured and just went to rehabilitation, but you still want to pull him out to work on military provisions? Making someone work for you when their life was in danger was crossing the line. Even at the imperial court, if someone was sick or wanted to resign, the emperor or the prime minister wouldn’t disagree. This was only rightful. More importantly, you couldn’t even find the person to give the order to right now.

Lin Qingtian had this indescribable feeling of discomfort. It was like his prepared punch had hit air.

Using the Gulang Plains situation, he would get rid of Yan Liqiang. This was something he had planned for a long time. The Emperor let you be the Qiyun Protectorate? I’m going to use that as the rope that will choke you to death and break apart your family. I’ll let the world see who is the master of the Great Han Empire. Can a kid like you intervene in the political battles of the imperial court? I’ll get rid of you and see who dares to act against him….

His idea was good, but just when the sword was on his neck, Yan Liqiang ran away again!

For some reason, Lin Qingtian felt that these two years hadn’t gone well for him. The big plans he made all didn’t go according to plan, but he still didn’t know what went wrong. This time, even a small Yan Liqiang could escape from him twice. This made him feel very annoyed.

Was there some powerful figure with that person in the imperial court?

Or was someone scheming against him?

At this moment, there was another rush of footsteps and a voice sounded, “My lord, the Anbei Military Governor’s Office has an urgent message!”

Lin Qingtian stopped and took a deep breath, “Bring it in!”

The doors to the office opened and a servant bowed as he handed a letter over above his head.

Lin Qingtian opened the letter and soon, his anger shot up again…

This message was sent by Anbei General Shi Tao. There was no good news here indeed. It was a ‘nightmare’. In the message, Shi Tao reported that the Storm Army started mass keeping sheep on a few grassfields in the northeast. They had two woolen mills and started weaving wool. Wool was a very popular commodity and the demand was greater than the supply. After knowing the Storm Army could produce cloth and wool, the local merchants all rushed over. The Storm Army sold both wool and sheep fur and was ballooning with wealth. Now, the Storm Army had bypassed the restriction of the Anbei Military Governor to buy food and military equipment from the local merchants. Recently, Shi Tao asked to see Long Feicheng but was rejected by the Storm Army saying that Long Feicheng was checking the paddocks and didn’t have time. This had never happened before as it was always the Storm Army begging the Anbei Military Governor’s Office…

Shi Tao knew where his value was and why he was selected by Lin Qingtian to be this Anbei General. If the Storm Army could bypass his control, then he would be useless. Thinking about how much he offended the Storm Army over the years, his fate would be doomed if he had no value. That’s why he desperately asked for Lin Qingtian’s support…

Lin Qingtian had no way. Could he order sheep to not grow wool? Or forbid the flow of wool on the market? That was impossible. Wool was flowing everywhere in the world; it wasn’t something an order could forbid. He wasn’t emperor yet and even if he was, he couldn’t do that…

Lin Qingtian let out a heavy roar and the letter burned in his hands.

“M-My… Lo…Lord… Your… Your face…” That servant looked at Lin Qingtian in shock. The servant saw a layer of black scales actually grow out of Lin Qingtian’s face…

Lin Qingtian stopped and touched his face. Then he turned around and looked at the servant with cruel red eyes. Before the servant said anything, Lin Qingtian punched the servant and the servant turned into a fresh bloody pulp, spattering blood across the office…