Chapter 1481

But even during his time in Lingxu City, He Yang rarely had contact with outsiders, so the information He Lingchuan could get was limited. He only knew that this person was very self-disciplined and didn't engage in abuse of power for personal gain. In the intelligence delivered by Fang Canran, there was indeed no mention of him having any battlefield records.

Before falling out with the Mou Kingdom, Beijia hadn't fought any major wars for a long time; even the generals in the country were waiting with bloodshot eyes, so He Yang probably didn't have much opportunity to go to the battlefield.

In He Lingchuan's view, He Yang's fighting belonged to the 'Sect School', or the academic school.

Perhaps on this point, it could be slightly utilized.

As he was pondering, Wan Qifeng came in to report:

"My lord, Lord You is here."

Only a few breaths later, You Rongzhi appeared in He Lingchuan's field of vision.

He Lingchuan immediately put on a smiling face and greeted him: "Lord You!"

"Island Master He." As the supervisor of the villa for the royal faction, You Rongzhi had seen He Lingchuan at least four times in the past few days and had discussed the construction plan. He knew very well King Yao's attitude toward He Lingchuan, so he and He Lingchuan got along quite harmoniously—at least for the moment. "I wanted to invite you to dinner; I've been looking forward to it."

He Lingchuan said 'Oh my': "I am disrespectful, making Lord You wait in vain. What instructions do you have, my lord?"

"Let's talk about the project plan again."

He Lingchuan happily responded with a 'Good' and called Wan Qiliang on the side to serve tea.

"I went to the Construction Office this afternoon. If the progress of the project behind the Youhu Villa is compliant, then the materials submitted to the Construction Office will all be approved." You Rongzhi sat down, and his first sentence made He Lingchuan overjoyed.

"As expected of Lord You; the thousand gullies and ravines here, Lord You can step over them with one leg." Flattery costs nothing; he was willing to give it.

Of course, he knew very well that You Rongzhi himself didn't have such great energy.

The only one who could order the Construction Office not to block him was King Yao.

At the beginning, King Yao had ordered various departments to cooperate with the approval of the Youhu Villa in front of him, but the Construction Office insisted on disobeying, giving Yangshan a pile of problems, and so far only one gate and a few roads had been approved.

The Soul-Sucking Mirror clicked its tongue twice: "You really guessed it; King Yao can still forcefully suppress the Construction Office. It's just that I don't know what means he used?"

Anyway, the Construction Office had loosened its mouth and made concessions, and it was estimated that they wouldn't dare to easily manipulate He Lingchuan in the future.

You Rongzhi waved his hand: "Where am I? I'm just a messenger. The King issued several decrees to the Construction Office today and made several personnel changes. Later, when you cooperate with the Construction Office, it will be smoother."

Decrees? Personnel changes? He Lingchuan was stunned: "Lord You, don't scare me. What exactly happened?"

You Rongzhi straightened his face and said softly: "Liang Xiaohao, the chief official of the Construction Office, was negligent in his duties and failed to supervise his subordinates, so he was removed from office; his deputies Liu Yun, Wang Fangmang, and five other officials of the Construction Office were dismissed and investigated for power-money transactions and accepting bribes!"

He Lingchuan gasped: "It turned out to be like this!"

The officials of the Construction Office, both chief and deputy, were all wiped out in one pot. No wonder You Rongzhi dared to guarantee that the Youhu Villa project would no longer be blocked in the future.

King Yao finally showed some courage and kicked away this stumbling block.

Was the gilding offered by He Lingchuan effective?

You Rongzhi didn't want to talk much about this and then returned to the theme: "But looking at your drawings, the materials to build such a villa gate are not easy to get. I've inquired; large pieces of blue square stone are in short supply. Those mines are ordered and mined on the spot; if you order now, the stone materials will only be delivered in two or three months."

He paused: "Otherwise, you can make the gate smaller, or use small pieces of stone to pile it up, and try to handle the seams as much as possible."

He Lingchuan looked admiring: "Lord You is thoughtful, even inquiring about these things for me."

You Rongzhi didn't interfere with construction matters before and probably hadn't built a house, so he probably inquired about these things on the spot.

"I am also following the King's orders to do this project as well as possible." You Rongzhi said sternly, "You are new to Tianshui City and developed the Youhu Villa rashly without understanding these situations; it was actually a bit reckless."

"Yes, I thought it was too simple; I have deeply experienced it these days." He Lingchuan touched his nose. "However, I have already obtained the blue square stone for building the gate, and it will enter the site tomorrow morning."

You Rongzhi asked curiously: "Where did you get it?"

"I have my own channels." He Lingchuan kept him in suspense. "Not stealing or robbing, Lord You can rest assured."

The two chatted for a while longer before You Rongzhi asked intentionally or unintentionally: "The Youhu Villa has just been founded; I heard that your first batch of twelve villas has already been sold out?"

"How can it be that exaggerated?" He Lingchuan laughed. "Externally, I say it hasn't started selling yet, but I'll give you the bottom line: there are still this many left."

He held up three fingers.

You Rongzhi was surprised: "Nine villas have already been booked?"

"Yes, and this is after I refused quite a few." For the past two days, officials have been coming to buy them personally or sending people, but He Lingchuan didn't give them to everyone he saw.

"So popular?" You Rongzhi followed his words and asked, "What about those who are interested but can't buy them?"

"Cold salad... cough, I mean, wait for a while later."

You Rongzhi was concerned: "Are there more later?"

"Hard to say." He Lingchuan looked troubled. "It depends on the effect of the first phase of the Youhu Villa. The planning for the second phase has been completed and is about to be submitted for approval. Sigh, I don't know how long I have to wait this time."

The first phase of the Youhu Villa was submitted for approval and was blocked by the Construction Office until it was out of breath.

But You Rongzhi knew that the first phase would be sold out in the blink of an eye. "Don't worry, the approval should be much faster this time. As long as the plan is compliant, all departments will try their best to cooperate. By the way, will there be lake-view landscapes in the second phase?"

The chief official of the Construction Office who was against He Lingchuan had been arrested; the newly replaced personnel must be King Yao's people, so they must cooperate well, right?

"Yes, of course, and the landscape view will be better than the first phase."

You Rongzhi thought for a moment and asked: "Which row are the three villas left in the first phase of the villa?"

"The third and fourth rows."

"What about the price?"

He Lingchuan had already tasted the flavor, but he still replied: "Third row, 31,000 taels; fourth row, 29,000 taels."

You Rongzhi was surprised again: "Even more expensive than when the Gu family bought it?"

"One price for one villa. No way, it's really in short supply." He Lingchuan smiled bitterly. "Besides, Brother Gu and I are friends, and we have business dealings. That villa can be considered as part of the payment I offset for him."

You Rongzhi nodded slowly and hesitated before saying: "I have a request."

"Lord You, please speak; I will definitely serve you!"

"I want to buy the villa in the third row."

He Lingchuan was not surprised by You Rongzhi's words. Just as he was about to speak, You Rongzhi continued: "In addition, I want to pre-order the first row of lake-view villas in the second phase!"

He Lingchuan was moved and gave him a thumbs up: "Lord You is tough, truly iron-boned!"

What were you doing earlier? You Rongzhi was also depressed. On the night the Red Castle auction ended, he had the idea of bidding for the last lake-view villa. But he hesitated at the time, thinking of taking action the next day, and as a result—

As a result, he was beaten to the punch by that old guy Bai Tan.

So he could only compromise, buy a third row first to transition, and when the second phase opened for pre-sale, he would grab a lake-view villa.

By reason and logic, he should be in the first row.

You Rongzhi said sternly: "Please, Island Master He, be sure to reserve one for me."

"Lord You, rest assured." He Lingchuan patted his chest to guarantee. "As long as the second phase approval passes and it opens, there will be a place for you in the front row."

This sentence had a double meaning, and a smile appeared on You Rongzhi's face.

"The price will definitely rise by then, but I will still sell it to you for 50,000 taels of silver." He Lingchuan said in a low voice. "You just tell the outside world it's 100,000 taels."

You Rongzhi originally wanted to say 'No need, just sell it to me at the regular price', but upon hearing the number '100,000', he silently swallowed his words.

By comparison, the price of 50,000 taels was very fragrant.

"Thank you, Island Master He."

You Rongzhi left happily.

Once he left, He Lingchuan rubbed his hands: "The pre-sale funds for the Youhu Villa seem to be much more than I expected. This is troublesome."

"Ah?" The mirror didn't understand. "Troublesome to make too much money? Do you believe that everyone in the world wants this kind of trouble?"

"It seems I need to think of a few more ways to spend money. I have to find time to go to Qian Donglai in the next few days; it has a few battle formations that are said to be ridiculously expensive." He Lingchuan pondered. "Hmm, no, I shouldn't show up myself."

He talked to himself, and the mirror didn't care, changing the subject: "As you wished, King Yao really took action against the Construction Office."

"Liang Xiaohao has a strong background and usually uses some means to block people; King Yao doesn't care much. But King Yao finally sees the importance of the Youhu Villa and is anxious to pull the ministers of the royal court to take sides. At this time, the Construction Office still dares to block him; isn't that asking to be kicked?" He Lingchuan sneered. "Liang Xiaohao thought he was dealing with me. Wrong, he was helping Qingyang deal with King Yao, dealing with his own monarch! Truly stupid!"

"Will King Yao chop him?"

"Probably not." He Lingchuan shook his head. "Liang Xiaohao's crime is 'negligence of duty and failure to supervise'; no matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like a serious crime. King Yao still gave Liang the Chief some face; but if I'm not mistaken, those deputies in the Construction Office are going to be in big trouble. If King Yao doesn't kill Liang Xiaohao, he will definitely deal with them strictly to establish authority in the court and serve as a warning to others!"

The next day, at cockcrow.

Qingyang stood on a small hill, facing due east, first taking a secret pill, then breathing and exhaling evenly.

Originally, she liked to absorb the morning glory under the ginkgo tree, but the tree was gone last night, leaving only a big hole in the ground, so she had to change places to practice.

Each long breath was separated by half a cup of tea.

Although the frequency was very slow, she would spit out a puff of white smoke. This smoke lingered in the air and wandered everywhere like a living thing.

The guards stood far away, fearing being touched by the white smoke.

This thing was like a maggot on a bone; once touched, it couldn't be shaken off and easily caused illness.

(End of chapter)