Shiquan Lake, not far from Luoyang, has been covered with thick ice, surrounded by countless jujube forests, and the bare branches are now covered with ice ridges.

On the shore not far from Shiquan Lake, there is a lonely wooden house standing. At this moment, by the window of a house on the second floor of the wooden house, an old man was looking at the book calmly.

From the outside, this wooden building seems to be very simple, but only those inside will be shocked by his luxury. Any item inside is worthless to be taken outside, which is not something an ordinary Qi people can earn in their entire lives.

Take the chairs that the old man is sitting now and the tables that he is leaning on his elbows, which are all made of the best huanghuali. The materials are rare and not unusual. What is even more precious is the heavy history carried by this set of furniture. This set of things has a history of at least 500 years, and should have been made by someone in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.

Everything in this room seemed to smell the strong smell of history, and of course, it was also the smell of wealth.

The tea set on hand is new, but it is all crystal clear glazed products. The best sword hair floats in the transparent teacup, and each one is clearly visible. The green tea is pleasing to the eye.

These things come from the Ming Dynasty. I heard that the craftsmanship was passed down from overseas. I heard that to build such a set of tea sets, the cost alone would cost tens of thousands of yuan. So you can imagine what the price would be sold.

Da Qi is now trying hard to curb the Ming Dynasty's commercial infiltration into Da Qi. How could Qi not guard against the lessons of Chu? In Da Qi, Ming people's things were rarely seen on the market, but this cannot withstand these expensive luxury goods flowing into the hands of these special people from certain special channels.

The wind outside is cold, but the room is as warm as spring. The charcoal burning in the brazier not only has no smoke, but has a faint fragrance. The old man knew that a pound of charcoal was worth ten taels of silver. When he stayed in this room, the charcoal burned every day was worth no less than hundreds of taels of silver.

It's really luxurious, almost as enjoyable as an emperor, no wonder they don't want to give up their privileges.

The old man was Cao Yun. In Changning County, the emperor issued an order to take him down and escort him to Chang'an. However, before the man had left Changning County, an accident occurred. A very powerful team robbed the prison cart. Then Cao Yun was transferred away, and the team that hijacked him went around with Xian Bisong's pursuit army until the entire army was destroyed. When Cao Yun woke up from his coma, he had already left Changning County and headed towards Luoyang.

Cao Yun was very calm. He was very calm at that time and now.

He has lived by Shiquan Lake for a while and has never seen the people he wants to meet. He has witnessed the luxurious life of these wealthy families every day. To be honest, although Cao Yun is a prince, he has lived in the military all year round. He has rarely seen such enjoyment.

But now, he has seized the time to see and enjoy it.

There was a faint sound of breathing outside the door. Cao Yun put down the book, picked up the tea book, took a sip, stood up as if nothing had happened, and pushed open the window. Now the true power in his body was closed, and the method of the attack was very clever and strange. Cao Yun tried countless methods, but it was useless. However, for him, it was not important whether he had a force value. What was important was his identity. With this identity here, he had never worried about his own safety issues.

Without true power, it does not mean that his eyesight is gone. There are not many people in this wooden building, but each one is a good player in martial arts. There are no less than three masters at level nine alone. The worst one left is even a chef who has a level seven or above martial arts cultivation. The rich background of the aristocratic family is really amazing.

There are more good players hidden in the jujube forest outside that looks empty.

His eyes swept through the jujube forest, but his final eyes fell at the center of Shiquan Lake, where a man in a straw raincoat and a hat was sitting cross-legged on a brocade mat, fishing from a chiseled ice cave.

Although his internal strength was not there, his eyesight was still sharp. The man faced Cao Yun, his white hair drooped from his hat, with white eyebrows and white beard, and he looked very old.

Cao Yun laughed. This was exactly the person he wanted to meet.

It seemed as if he noticed someone was peeping at him. The man raised his head, grinned at Cao Yun and smiled silently, then raised a finger and placed it beside his mouth, made a gesture of silence, and then pointed to the ice cave below.

Cao Yun nodded with a smile, but he felt contempt in his heart. People from wealthy families always like to pretend. They were already anxious at this moment, but they still had to pretend to be calm on the surface and everything was under control.

The Great Qi court had tightened the noose, making them almost breathless. Hijacking themselves was a sign of poor skills, but they still had to pretend to be a model in front of them. They knew they could not deceive themselves, but they still had to pretend to behave. They really couldn't change this lofty attitude even if they died.

In a silent sneer, Cao Yun saw the man raise his fishing hook, and a silver fish brought countless splashes of water and was pulled out of the ice cave. The man stood up, took off the hook with quick hands and feet, stuffed it into the fish, and then walked towards the wooden building with brisk steps. Looking at his steps, it was hard to believe that this man was almost eighty.

His name is Zhou Yifu, he is the helm of the Zhou family and the chief elder of the Presbyterian Church of the Aristocratic League.

Cao Yun closed the window and picked up the teacup. Although the window had only been open for a short while, the tea had already cooled down. Cao Yun raised his cup and drank it all, and even put the tea leaves in his mouth and chewed it carefully. Although he had been away from the army for many years, whenever something big happened, some of his habits in the army would involuntarily return to him.

He was imprisoned and robbed, which were all predictable in the plan. These wealthy families thought they could plot against the world and play with their methods, but they didn't know that they really wanted to play with these ghost tricks. They didn't deserve to carry shoes to the chief assistant Tian Fen. That was a master who played with people's hearts. Even Cao Yun himself felt cold when facing Tian Fen.

Gathering wealthy families and fighting them all in one go is the plan that Tian Fen and Pan gave to Cao Yun. The wealthy families were distributed in various fertile lands in Daqi. Tian Fen did not want to have a civil war, and the war was everywhere, fighting Daqi in chaos. In this way, even if the court won, what else could be left? Naturally, they gathered them together and then cooked in one pot to make it easier.

Cao Yun agreed to this plan, but he still did not give up his best hope in his heart. He wanted to make his last effort. If he could persuade these people to surrender to the court, then it would be considered as saving more power for the court.

It has to be said that although the wealthy families are abominable, the elites among them are also the elites of the Daqi court. Once these people are involved in this rebellion, their final outcome will inevitably be to go to Caishikou. This is also a loss for Daqi.

Cao Yun knew that the possibility of this matter was too slim, because the premise of their surrender to the court was to give up all their previous privileges, which was almost unacceptable to wealthy families.

Knowing it was not feasible, Cao Yun still wanted to give it a try.

The door was pushed open with a creaking sound. Zhou Yifu walked in with a smile in a straw raincoat and a straw hat.

"Your Highness, I'm rude." Zhou Yifu held his hat and said with a fist in the corner of the wall.

"I've seen Mr. Zhou." Cao Yun returned the favor with a smile. Zhou Yifu is not just a simple person. This person is not only a leader in a wealthy family, but also served as the chief minister of the Daqi. Of course, when he retired from the officialdom, Cao Yun had just made his mark on the battlefield. This person is strongly his predecessor.

Taking off his straw raincoat and still standing there, Zhou Yifu smiled and said, "Your Highness, it is a bit rude to invite you in this way, but it is a last resort. Your Highness the Prince also understands it very much, right? You may not know yet, if you return to Chang'an, you will be afraid of your life."

"Mr. Zhou, please sit!" Cao Yun smiled and brought a chair for Zhou Yifu to the side of the brazier. He then lifted up the copper pot that was nestled beside the fire and added hot water to the teapot. He poured a cup for Zhou Yifu to serve. Then he sat opposite him and said, "Your Majesty is as close as a brother. Is this a sir? Is this a sir? Maybe Cao's actions angered Your Majesty, but at most it would be a little punishment?"

"What kind of person is Cao Tiancheng, you know better than me!" Zhou Yifu smiled and savored the tea. "You said this, I'm afraid that he would not do anything to you before you go to the Ming Dynasty, but this time you go to the Ming Dynasty and come back, he was really murderous."

After taking a sip of tea, Zhou Yifu put down the teacup and patted his hands gently. The door sounded softly. The two of them walked in, holding several thick stacks of files in their hands, put them on the table with their hands and feet, and then silently retreated.

Pressing his hand on these files, Zhou Yifu said: "These are reports, memorials and manuscripts of letters written by His Royal Highness, Your Highness, since you entered the Ming Dynasty. I read them one by one, and I feel a lot of emotion!"

Cao Yun's face changed slightly, "These things should be sent directly to the palace. How did the sir get them?"

"What we want can naturally get," Zhou Yifu said easily: "Even if His Highness the Prince wants to know that the emperor has come to the concubine or palace maid today, we can find it for you."
Chapter completed!