Upon hearing this, Li Qitian’s face remained tense, his hands clenched into fists within his sleeves. For a long time, he couldn’t utter a single word.

The treasure he had searched everywhere for – the clue was actually in the hands of the grandfather of Yuchi Yan’s concubine!

This old thing had been hiding and concealing the treasure map all along, and his surrender to Great Zhou wasn’t even sincere.

He had been searching for this treasure for days. Although he hadn’t made a big show of it, it wasn’t exactly a secret either. Who knew this old fellow could remain so composed!

If he hadn’t detained Yuchi Yan’s family of three in the palace, this old thing definitely wouldn’t have handed over the item!

Li Qitian forced himself to calm down. After quite a while, he finally got over this frustration and said in a low voice: “So the treasure map is now in the Lu family’s hands?”

Gu Shixiong was delighted to see Li Qitian at odds with court ministers, so he wiped his tears with his sleeve and said tremblingly: “Yes, it was snatched by a general who said he was Second Master Lu’s man.”

Li Qitian naturally knew what connections Lu Heng had in court. Elder Lu held sway in the cabinet, the Lu family’s influence was enormous, and Minister Cheng of the Ministry of War had also submitted to the Lu faction.

Great Zhou Dynasty lacked silver, but silver was such a good thing. The Lu family had contributed considerable blood when they initially funded the attack on Northern Ji. Now hearing about the treasure, they naturally wanted to get their hands on it to replenish their losses.

Li Qitian knew that with the treasure map in the Lu family’s hands, he would find it very difficult to see it again.

“Li Guanwen!” Li Qitian’s voice was unprecedentedly high-pitched.

Li Guanwen, who was guarding at the entrance to the imperial study, was so startled by the shout that he tumbled and crawled his way in, bowing: “Your Majesty!”

“Immediately send someone to the Three Thousand Battalion to bring Lu Heng back. I have urgent business to discuss with him.”

“Yes.”

Li Guanwen took the order and rushed out with a grave expression.

Gu Shixiong, kneeling on the ground with his head lowered, was sneering inwardly.

Lu Heng wasn’t stupid – having obtained the “treasure map,” would he really hand it over?

But thinking about it carefully now, that little girl Qin Yining’s scheme was truly vicious. She had both protected the real treasure and diverted trouble elsewhere, making Li Qitian clash with the great families, completely clearing all the surrendered ministers.

Most importantly, Qin Yining had made a fool of him, an old minister of the court.

If he remembered correctly, Qin Huaiyuan had been detained by the Emperor these past days, which meant Qin Yining had independently thought through, planned, and executed all of this.

Gu Shixiong couldn’t help but be amazed: at only sixteen years old, she had such methods – what would she be capable of in the future?

Thinking further, if Yuchi Yan could have such a clever woman by his side, it would surely be good for him, since Yuchi Yan was truly not skilled in political affairs.

But Qin Yining was already promised to Prince Zhongshun.

Being promised to the Pang family was also good – with a clever wife, he could fight against Li Qitian without any worries.

Gu Shixiong’s thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Having thought through all this, his mood became even more cheerful, and his resentment toward Qin Yining for scheming against him lessened.

Li Qitian, however, wasn’t as calm as Gu Shixiong.

He lowered his eyes in contemplation, sometimes looking at the kneeling Gu Shixiong, sometimes at the main gate.

After a long while, Li Qitian finally said: “Elder Lord Gu, regarding the contents of that treasure map, I hope you can recite them for me.”

Gu Shixiong had expected Li Qitian would ask this, so he shook his head: “Replying to Your Majesty, this commoner has never looked at the treasure map and doesn’t know its contents at all.”

Li Qitian raised an eyebrow: “Oh?”

“Your Majesty, although this commoner is unworthy, I was formerly the teacher of Great Yan’s Great Emperor. When he arranged tasks for me, I naturally had to do my utmost to complete them well. Moreover, imperial edicts must be obeyed. This commoner wasn’t qualified to look at the treasure map, and I had no interest in the treasure, so naturally I wouldn’t take the initiative to look at it.”

Li Qitian looked at Gu Shixiong suspiciously. This thin old man was already completely gray-haired and in his twilight years. Moreover, he had brought his entire family to Great Zhou. If he dared to deceive the emperor, everyone in the Gu family would be finished.

Li Qitian was certain Gu Shixiong wouldn’t lie.

A treasure map had finally appeared, but Gu Shixiong didn’t know its contents, and the treasure map had been taken by his mortal enemy.

This really was…

Li Qitian took several deep breaths, waiting for good news from Li Guanwen.

But what Li Guanwen brought back was bad news.

“Your Majesty, when the people this servant arranged reached the Three Thousand Battalion, Second Master Lu had already left.” Li Guanwen kept his head lowered, not daring to look at Li Qitian’s expression. He knew that if things went badly now, he might lose his life.

Li Qitian’s face was dark. After a long while, he asked: “Where did he go?”

“Replying to Your Majesty, the people at the Three Thousand Battalion only said that Second Master Lu took several personal attendants and left in the night.”

Li Qitian’s hands clenched tightly.

It seemed the treasure map was real. Otherwise, with Lu Heng’s steady temperament, how could he abandon everything and leave immediately?

Li Qitian was both angry and regretful.

Why hadn’t he arrested this old man earlier? Why had he wanted to watch that joke?

If not for his indulgence, this old man wouldn’t have gone to the Lu family with the treasure map in his hour of need.

After searching for so long, he had finally seen a glimmer of hope, but now that hope was shattered again.

Watching Li Qitian’s face that looked as if he was in mourning, Gu Shixiong felt indescribably pleased – more refreshing than drinking a bowl of iced sour plum soup on the hottest day of summer.

But Li Qitian didn’t let Gu Shixiong rejoice for long before saying: “Elder Lord Gu is an old minister of Great Yan. Your qualifications are naturally beyond question, but you’re getting on in years and need to rest and recuperate. If there’s nothing important these days, Elder Lord Gu should rest at home.”

This was house arrest!

Gu Shixiong smiled without the slightest concern: “Yes, thank you for Your Majesty’s care. This commoner also hopes to be able to stand by Your Majesty’s side again.”

Li Qitian smiled and ordered someone to escort Gu Shixiong back to rest.

It seemed that with the treasure map falling into the Lu family’s hands, they would spare no effort.

“Li Guanwen, go invite Elder Lu for me. Also, release Yuchi Yan’s family of three, along with the Qin family people. The Qin and Pang families are still planning to marry – don’t delay their wedding preparations.”

Li Qitian’s words were too peaceful and passive. Li Guanwen felt something was wrong with the Emperor, but didn’t dare to persuade him, so he could only say: “Yes,” and carefully carried out the order.

Elder Lu quickly entered the palace.

Among the Grand Secretaries in the cabinet, Li Qitian most disliked Elder Lu. Because the several leaders of the Lu family were all too excellent and too difficult to fool. Elder Lu’s words carried great weight in the cabinet, which would influence Li Qitian’s decisions, and Elder Lu’s behavior also affected the direction of court politics. If he was slightly careless, what if this person rose in rebellion?

The Lu family wasn’t like him, lacking silver and constantly living frugally.

If the Lu family really wanted to take action, they wouldn’t even need to raise funds.

Li Qitian shook his head – what a mistake, what a mistake. How had he allowed things to develop to this point!