Chen Yuanliang smiled slightly, "Duke Chu is joking."
"Since Your Grace trusts me so much, I will certainly not fail your trust."
Chu Chen then nodded with satisfaction, "Since that's the case, it's not difficult for me to introduce you to the General Affairs department."
Chen Yuanliang smiled slightly, "Then thank Your Grace."
After a few pleasantries, Chen Yuanliang invited Chu Chen to sit, and they talked while eating.
The meal was a joyous occasion for both host and guest.
Chu Chen drank a few cups of wine and seemed a little tipsy, answering every question without reservation. No matter what Chen Yuanliang asked, Chu Chen told him everything.
When Chu Chen left, it was already past midnight.
As soon as he got into the carriage, Chu Chen's hazy eyes instantly became clear.
Everything that had just happened was all an act.
The intelligence was also a mix of truth and falsehood, seven parts true and three parts false, making it highly credible.
On the way back, Chu Chen directly initiated the Life Simulator.
As usual, Chu Chen chose to get straight to the point.
[... ]
[Chen Yuanliang's attention has been successfully diverted by you, and his vigilance towards Xue Yun has reached its peak.]
[He will not act rashly until Xue Yun is dealt with.]
[... ]
After selecting the reward, Chu Chen breathed a sigh of relief.
His actions were clearly effective, successfully diverting Chen Yuanliang's attention and keeping himself out of it.
"You guys fight amongst yourselves!"
...
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
During this month, whenever he had free time, Chu Chen would conduct a Life Simulator, carefully maintaining the balance between the Prime Minister and Xue Yun.
Since he was not in the palace, he rarely encountered Xue Yun, so he mostly focused on deceiving Chen Yuanliang.
Under Chu Chen's manipulation, Chen Yuanliang gradually increased his "care" for Xue Yun.
Xue Yun also felt that things had been going wrong recently. No matter what he did, he was targeted. Even in front of the Emperor, he seemed to have lost favor.
Many times, he even vaguely sensed the Emperor's rejection of him.
Xue Yun wanted to do something, but Princess Xin Yue was not in the palace, so he had no opportunity to harm her.
As for the Eldest Princess, that was even more out of the question; he didn't have the courage to harm her.
Meanwhile, Chu Chen was busy with his soap business.
There were already three Royal Specialty Stores in the entire Shuangyue City.
Princess Xin Yue's milk tea shop was also booming. In just one month, she had opened three milk tea shops.
Although each milk tea shop brought her considerable profit, she quickly lost interest in running a business.
Xin Yue was not short of money; opening milk tea shops was just for fun.
In the beginning, she could still enjoy the fun of opening a milk tea shop, but soon, the heavy workload made her lose all enthusiasm.
On the contrary, Chen Shengnan was quite engrossed in the milk tea business.
She was the daughter of a military family and had been riding horses and practicing swordplay since she was young, so she had never been exposed to business matters.
The monthly profit of nearly a thousand taels from the three milk tea shops was quite attractive to her.
Princess Xin Yue was a hands-off owner, and most of the milk tea shop matters were handled by Chen Shengnan.
Princess Xin Yue, having nothing to do, started bothering Chu Chen again, wanting him to find some fun for her.
Chu Chen was helpless. After much thought, he made a Kongming lantern out of paper for Princess Xin Yue and gave it to her to play with.
"Let's go, let's go, Little Chenzi, let's go fly the Kongming lantern together!" Princess Xin Yue excitedly said, pulling Chu Chen's hand.
"What Kongming lantern are you flying in broad daylight?" Chu Chen said helplessly, "You won't be able to see it when it goes up, what's the fun in that?"
"But I have nowhere else to go now except to fly the Kongming lantern," Princess Xin Yue said with a grievance.
"Have you finished all your books?" Chu Chen asked with a slightly stern tone, "His Majesty specifically instructed me to keep a close eye on your studies!"
"You've been out for so long, and it seems you haven't done anything serious, have you?"
Princess Xin Yue stuck out her tongue, "Just two more days of playing, just two more days..."
Chu Chen sighed helplessly.
The current Princess Xin Yue was like a child procrastinating on their summer homework.
But seeing Princess Xin Yue's aggrieved look, Chu Chen couldn't help but soften.
"Alright, alright, let's take a day off today, and I'll go out and play with you."
"Hooray!" Princess Xin Yue cheered, raising her arms, "What are we going to play today?"
"I'll make you an extra-large Kongming lantern!" Chu Chen smiled.
"An extra-large Kongming lantern? How big is that?"
"Big enough to carry you into the sky."
"Really?" Princess Xin Yue looked at Chu Chen suspiciously, "Don't lie to me."
"How can a Kongming lantern carry a person into the sky?"
"When have I ever lied to you?" Chu Chen smiled slightly, "However, such a large Kongming lantern should be called a hot air balloon."
Princess Xin Yue, half-believing, followed Chu Chen out the door.
This kind of engineering was beyond the capabilities of ordinary craftsmen.
To carry people, a hot air balloon would require a large amount of high-quality beast hides, and skilled tailors to sew them together to prevent air leaks.
The basket below the hot air balloon also had to be very sturdy; if it fell halfway through the flight, it would be disastrous.
Although this world had cultivators, they were different from the traditional cultivators who could fly through the sky, move mountains, and fill seas. These cultivators had no ability to fly before reaching the peak of their strength.
At the very least, in all the time Chu Chen had been here, he had only heard legends of people whose power was sufficient to hover in the air, but he had never actually seen anyone fly.
Whether in terms of style or strength, the cultivators in this world were far from what Chu Chen understood.
Therefore, the sky had always been an unknown forbidden zone for the people of this world.
Princess Xin Yue was a little unhappy when she heard they had to return to the palace.
After playing outside for so long, wouldn't she be scolded to death by her mother when she returned to the palace?
But with Chu Chen's repeated assurances, Princess Xin Yue reluctantly believed that she would not be scolded.
Even though she had prepared herself mentally, Princess Xin Yue's heart still trembled when she saw the Empress.
"You still have the nerve to come back and see me?" the Empress said coldly, "You've been out for so long, tell me, what have you learned?"
"I..." Princess Xin Yue stammered, not daring to speak.
She glared fiercely at Chu Chen.
Chu Chen suppressed a smile and said nothing.
Let's see you be so arrogant and domineering outside, can you still be arrogant now?
As if sensing Chu Chen's meaning, Princess Xin Yue became furious.
Before she completely lost her temper, Chu Chen cleared his throat, "Your Majesty, I have an important matter to discuss regarding this return to the palace, and it is of great importance."
"In fact, this matter also concerns Her Highness the Princess."
"It concerns me?" Princess Xin Yue was stunned.