Bai Jintong had already mentioned in her letter to Bai Qingyan about Sima Mingdao coming to Yanwo, but she hadn’t expected that Sima Mingdao had come to find Qin Shangzhi.

“Some minor modifications… cough cough cough!” Qin Shangzhi covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve, coughed a few times to calm down, then pointed his finger at several spots on the blueprints. “These few minor modifications could allow the Guanghe Canal’s effectiveness to be greater, but… the required manpower and resources would also be much more.”

Bai Qingyan nodded: “In Minister Qin’s opinion, is it worth it?”

Qin Shangzhi was stunned, pursed his lips, then said: “In this minister’s view, considering Great Zhou’s current situation, temporarily… It’s not worth it.”

“Tell me more!” Bai Qingyan supported herself on Chun Zhi’s hand and sat down on a small stool nearby.

After another violent bout of coughing, Qin Shangzhi finally said: “What Your Majesty wants is the entire realm, not merely limited to the Great Zhou. Once the realm is unified, the Guanghe Canal that can be built won’t be just this section, but can be extended into the Yan Kingdom’s territory. If so, Your Majesty won’t only be able to turn the Yanwo area into Great Zhou’s granary, but can connect through to Qingbi City within Yan Kingdom’s borders and extend to the Jing River. Your Majesty, imagine… all these lands could become Great Zhou’s granary!”

Speaking of this, Qin Shangzhi’s eyes lit up, as if he had long-term plans, his words revealing ambitious determination and eager anticipation.

Qin Shangzhi was a person of comprehensive talents – Bai Qingyan had known this long ago.

Bai Qingyan’s fingers tapped intermittently on the table. After a long while, she smiled and said: “Then… this matter will still be left to Minister Qin’s responsibility.”

Qin Shangzhi was stunned, coughed violently several times, then stepped back two paces and bowed to Bai Qingyan: “Your Majesty, Qin Shangzhi once said that after completing this canal, he would take his leave to accompany the deposed Crown Prince of Jin. I have already promised the deposed Crown Prince… that I would become a teacher to the deposed Crown Prince’s descendants. Your Majesty can delegate the canal construction to Master Sima Sheng’s grandson, Sima Mingdao.”

“Master Qin is a person with great aspirations. I’m not forcing Master Qin to abandon the deposed Crown Prince of Jin and follow me! But… since Master Qin has already planned how this canal should be built after the realm is unified, wouldn’t you want to personally construct it with your own hands?” Bai Qingyan, hearing that Qin Shangzhi had changed how he referred to himself, also smiled and changed how she addressed Qin Shangzhi, calling him Master. After a while, she continued: “Naturally, I won’t force Master Qin either.”

Bai Qingyan stood up, supporting herself on Chun Zhi’s hand: “If Master Qin is willing, when the realm is unified, come and preside over the canal construction. I will certainly have the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works provide full support! If Master Qin is unwilling, as Master Qin said… there’s still Master Sima Sheng’s grandson!”

“Canal construction is something that benefits a thousand autumns, something that can leave one’s name for eternity. It can be said that as long as the canal exists, people will remember that there once was a person in this world called Qin Shangzhi! But if Master is unwilling, it would merely be an insignificant speck of dust in the vast expanse of time and rolling history. After a hundred years… several hundred years, who would remember Master as this loyal and righteous person?”

Bai Qingyan smiled as she looked at Qin Shangzhi: “The person presiding over the construction of the Guanghe Canal is Master Qin. If Master Qin feels that Sima Mingdao is useful, then use him! I said that Master Qin has full authority over canal matters, and the court will cooperate! Master Qin can decide for yourself what people to use – there’s no need to request instructions for everything!”

Qin Shangzhi couldn’t help but cough a few times, then performed a deep bow: “Yes, thank you for Your Majesty’s trust!”

“Minister Qin, the Guanghe Canal isn’t finished yet, and canal construction still depends on you. If you’re unwell, you should rest more. If Minister Qin collapses, it would instead delay matters.”

“Yes! This minister will remember.” After Qin Shangzhi finished speaking, he looked at Bai Qingyan and asked: “Does Your Majesty wish to meet this Sima Mingdao?”

After meeting Sima Mingdao, Qin Shangzhi found that he seemed to hold himself in high regard because he was Sima Sheng’s descendant, saying he was unwilling to go to the capital city to take shortcuts using his grandfather’s name, so he came to Yanwo instead.

But Qin Shangzhi believed this Sima Mingdao indeed had some real talent and was quite willing to recommend him to Bai Qingyan.

“Did he entrust you to request an audience?” Bai Qingyan asked.

“Not at all. This Young Master Sima has the ability, so naturally, he’s rather aloof. He would never entrust this minister to request an audience with Your Majesty,” Qin Shangzhi said.

“Then I won’t meet him.” Bai Qingyan’s answer was straightforward. “When he truly achieves great merit and lives up to Master Sima Sheng’s reputation, that’s when I’ll meet him! Minister Qin should go back and rest well. Wei Zhong and the guards will accompany me to walk around and look at this embankment.”

“This minister… cough cough cough, this minister should still accompany Your Majesty! I can explain things to Your Majesty along the way, cough, cough, cough…” Qin Shangzhi couldn’t help coughing.

“Minister Qin should go back and rest properly. Canal construction will still depend on you in the future! This old slave and the guards will accompany Your Majesty for a walk, and we need to depart for the capital city soon. There’s no need for you to worry,” Wei Zhong said with a smile.

Qin Shangzhi was coughing uncomfortably, his face flushed red. After a while, he also felt that his condition truly couldn’t allow him to accompany Bai Qingyan, so he received the order and took his leave.

Bai Qingyan, supporting herself on Chun Zhi’s hand, walked around the embankment once in Wei Zhong’s company, then prepared to set off back to the capital city. Xiao Rongyan’s letter had also arrived.

In the carriage, Bai Qingyan opened the letter.

“A’Bao, my wife, seeing these words is like meeting you…”

Seeing the first four words, the corners of Bai Qingyan’s lips couldn’t help but curve upward.

Perhaps because Xiao Rongyan had seen her letter’s sincere words and extremely good attitude, he said he understood that Bai Qingyan’s grasp of battle situations was always extraordinary. His concern had made him confused, but he was truly worried, because no matter how strong Bai Qingyan was, to him she was still his pregnant wife.

Xiao Rongyan also said that they had reported to Heaven and kowtowed to Heaven and Earth – they were already husband and wife. As a husband, he should shield Bai Qingyan from wind and rain. Though being in two different countries brought many constraints, he still hoped Bai Qingyan wouldn’t risk herself and the child.

Finally, Xiao Rongyan didn’t hide the current situation in Yan Kingdom’s capital. He said he planned to first give Empress Dowager Yan a reassuring pill, indicating that after the Xiliang matter was settled, he would have Empress Dowager Yan host a banquet. If he found a young lady he fancied, he would tell Empress Dowager Yan and have her decide for him, but this Meng Zhaorong wouldn’t do.

Moreover, Xiao Rongyan had already sent someone to take that storybook back for Empress Dowager Yan to see, telling her he didn’t want to become others’ topic of conversation.

This was to show that he hadn’t abducted Meng Zhaorong.

He had also calculated that after the Xiliang war ended and he returned, A’Li should propose the strategy of merging the two kingdoms. At that time, Xiao Rongyan would ask Empress Dowager Yan to persuade A’Li to withdraw the order, then claim he had no mood to think about lifelong matters. Combined with Empress Dowager Yan also being annoyed, she definitely wouldn’t trouble Xiao Rongyan about marriage matters.