Chapter 1544

Daring to confront them head-on in front of the Goddess Temple's chief attendant? This kid is truly a tough nut to crack!

Although what he said wasn't wrong at all. These guys in the temple relied on the Goddess's majesty, enjoying free appropriations from the national treasury while enjoying the love and respect of believers across the country, and pointing fingers at domestic affairs, always claiming it "offended the divine power," and coming to trouble the Yao Court all day long.

At this moment, the Yao King even felt a bit of pleasure in his heart.

"Rude? King, is it him who is rude or me?" He He Lingchuan automatically changed his words, his face righteous. "No matter how you say it, you can't break the word 'reason'! To do such a large project and do it well, the most important thing is nothing more than rules and regulations. If the rules are chaotic and unclear, and the regulations are obscure, a two-year project can be dragged into ten years!"

The other party talked to him about "etiquette," but he talked to the other party about "reason."

Why? Because the gods don't talk about reason, they only bring down punishment.

With the "big mistake" he committed and his offense against Miaozhantian, if it weren't for the nine hundred palace guards protecting him, the temple might have sent temple soldiers to take He He Lingchuan down without a word before slowly arguing with the Yao King.

Not to mention he was just a commoner; in the past, when officials committed crimes, the temple had really done just that.

But in this temple hall today, He He Lingchuan insisted on arguing with reason and convincing people with reason.

Not because "reason" was on his side, but because "power" was behind him.

As soon as the word "ten years" came out, the Yao King's face twitched.

"Today someone complains that I moved his stones, and tomorrow someone will jump out and say that their ancestors are buried in the land we want to dig. If everyone can come out and point fingers and push back on this project, then I really can't do it; King, you'll have to invite someone else."

The Yao King's face was about to lose its composure. This kid even confronted him? "You dare to be so arrogant and unruly in front of the imperial presence and the Chief Envoy; I don't know how unscrupulous you are in private!" Chief Attendant Xiao was furious, and the next sentence came out without thinking, "You explain clearly here today, why did the Xilin Temple collapse as soon as the New City construction was short of Panjin Stone?"

Furious, he accidentally spoke his mind.

Chief Envoy Liang wanted to speak, but upon hearing this, he could only shut his mouth, instead giving him a reproachful look.

Not good.

Sure enough, He He Lingchuan immediately seized this handle and said righteously: "Isn't it because the Xilin Temple was on the verge of collapse and was already a dangerous building, so the New City temple had to be built urgently? Otherwise, which place would only give five days to build a temple!"

Others couldn't get a word in: "Since Chief Attendant Xiao implies—no, since Chief Attendant Xiao accuses us of making the Xilin Temple collapse, you must have collected solid evidence, right? Please present it to the court, otherwise, it is spitting blood and intending to obstruct the progress of the project!"

Evidence of the Xilin Temple's collapse? Hehe, even the gods couldn't produce it.

Why did he aim at Chief Attendant Xiao? Because people who don't talk about reason are the easiest to get angry.

Once angry, they would lose their composure and send handles to themselves.

Seeing Chief Attendant Xiao speechless, He Xiao almost shouted "Come here." Chief Envoy Liang had to come forward himself: "Let this foreign merchant blow as much as he wants, the misappropriation of the Xilin Temple's stone materials is already certain; King, how should this matter be handled?"

He didn't entangle with He Xiao, but spoke to the Yao King as soon as he came up.

The Yao King stroked his long beard, his face solemn: "Speaking of handling, we must solve practical problems."

You Rongzhi was dumbfounded listening on the side, but immediately came to his senses and replied, his words earnest: "The temple in the New City has indeed been planned, and we have also reported it to Chief Envoy Liang and Chief Attendant Xiao; it can be moved into in six months."

He He Lingchuan immediately added: "Six months later, problems like waterlogging, ground subsidence, collapse, and injuries to temple followers can all be solved once and for all, so that you divine officials don't have to worry anymore."

Chief Attendant Xiao said with a cold face: "Since the New City is going to build a temple, why not transport this batch of materials from the Xilin Temple there first and store them properly?"

"We can't transport them there," He He Lingchuan said bluntly. "The road hasn't been opened yet; it's still dense mountains and forests there. How can stone materials weighing tens of thousands of jin be moved up the mountain?"

You Rongzhi, with the Yao King's consent, opened the sand table in the imperial study, showing the outline of the entire capital's eastward expansion project.

When others looked, sure enough, the location You Rongzhi pointed to was a piece of green hills.

They couldn't even complain that He He Lingchuan picked a bad location. Since the subsidence problem of the Xilin Temple became more prominent, later temple construction liked to be built on high ground, overlooking the official residences of dignitaries, which could bring a sense of superiority.

The terrain of the New City was relatively flat, so small hills weren't easy to find. He He Lingchuan arranging this location for them could be considered thoughtful.

But as He He Lingchuan said, the road hadn't been built on the mountain yet; how could building materials weighing tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of jin be transported up?

The previous project to open Lushan was to grab progress, using both Yuan power and Mysterious Crystals; calling it wasting money and manpower was not an exaggeration. The construction of the temple didn't grab the schedule, so of course, it had to wait until the road was built before starting.

He He Lingchuan continued: "I have asked two mines, and they will ship two batches of Panjin Stone within three months. Added to the remaining stone materials from the Xilin Temple, the materials for building the New City temple are completely sufficient."

So the facts were very clear: the current New City construction was short of stone materials, and the temple wouldn't be built for a while, so this project misappropriated the building materials dismantled from the Xilin Temple. Three months later, the mine would send new Panjin Stone, and the road up the mountain would be built, and He He Lingchuan would order people to send the stone up the mountain and start repairing the temple.

If done step by step, this process could be run. The Yao King knew it very well, and You Rongzhi knew it very well, because the capital's eastward expansion project had always been operated this way under He Xiao's leadership, and it was very smooth.

At this moment, You Rongzhi stared at the uncertain expressions of several people, and several thoughts flashed through his mind.

Whose position should he stand on?

How should he express it?

What position and what words would the Yao King hope he would take? Looking at the Yao King's slightly furrowed brows, You Rongzhi understood. This project official stepped forward and said clearly: "If we look at the process alone, what He Xiao said has no problems. The project has always been done this way."

The Youhu Villa was short of materials, so they dismantled the abandoned large houses nearby;

The demonstration model block was short of building materials, so they dismantled the surrounding villages and the old city area of Tianshui City;

When grabbing the construction of the Shi Huan Tablets and being short of Panjin Stone, He Xiao naturally aimed at the materials most easily accessible at hand.

Doing things this way had the highest efficiency.

Of course, You Rongzhi standing out to support He Xiao was a need of the situation.

Otherwise, what could he do? Things had reached this point.

He read the Yao King's intention.

Chief Attendant Xiao laughed out of extreme anger: "Clearly misappropriating the Xilin Temple stones, yet you say the process has no errors? You Rongzhi, you are confused! Since this project is handled by you, the first thing you should do is dismantle the Shi Huan Tablets, send back the Xilin Temple stones, and apologize to the Goddess!"

He He Lingchuan wanted to applaud him.

This guy kicked the ball back to the Yao King with one foot.

Dismantle, or not dismantle? Just say what to do.

The Yao King was also in a difficult position.

Not dismantling had the suspicion of offending the gods;

Dismantling, the Shi Huan Tablets had just been built and were now being dismantled, which was time-consuming and laborious, caused public criticism, and there were several foreign delegations coming to visit immediately; should he let them visit the pits on the ground?

The Yao King sighed secretly in his heart, and just as he was about to open his mouth, Chief Attendant Xiao pointed at He He Lingchuan again and said sternly: "This person is hypocritical and offends the gods; he must be taken back for investigation!"

The collapse of the Xilin Temple made him increasingly suspect it was He Xiao's doing.

Chief Envoy Liang didn't speak, but observed the Yao King's expression and waited for the Yao King's reply.

He He Lingchuan spoke before the Yao King again: "Which heavenly rule did I violate?"

Chief Attendant Xiao said coldly: "Hypocritical and offending the Goddess! Which word do you not understand?"

"The specific regulations?" He He Lingchuan sneered, "You must have rules to follow to say I broke the rules, right? Otherwise, why arrest me, just because of your black-and-white-blind mouth?"

The Soul-Stealing Mirror in his arms also said "Ouch": "Will that old man, the Yao King, sell you out?"

It always felt that the Yao King also harbored ill intentions toward its master.

He He Lingchuan was anxious on the outside, but relaxed on the inside.

Chief Attendant Xiao's request was called an unreasonable demand; proposing it would only further intensify the conflict. The Yao King couldn't possibly let He He Lingchuan be detained at this time.

Sure enough, the Yao King waved his hand: "The nature of this matter is bad, and He Xiao's actions were indeed inconsiderate. But he is a foreign merchant, doesn't understand the national conditions and temple regulations, and his momentary negligence is understandable..."

Alright, as soon as the Yao King opened his mouth, the crime was directly downgraded to "negligence"? How could there be such a good thing? Chief Attendant Xiao sneered and was about to speak, but received a look from Chief Envoy Liang, and immediately swallowed his words.

The Yao King coughed and said to You Rongzhi and He He Lingchuan: "You two withdraw first."

You Rongzhi immediately said: "King..."

The Yao King waved his hand: "Go quickly."

Qiu Long, who was standing behind him, also gave You Rongzhi two looks. The latter was then relieved and withdrew with He He Lingchuan.

The two were silent all the way, passing through the Yuquan Palace, before You Rongzhi let out a long sigh: "You've poked a big hole this time."

He He Lingchuan stiffened his neck, still appearing somewhat unconvinced: "Lord You, I didn't break the law!"

"You offended the temple, and the one who came to your door was the Chief Envoy under Miaozhantian's throne." Talented as he was, this young man was ultimately a bit arrogant and didn't understand the Yao Nation's national conditions.

You Rongzhi's use of the word "offended" was very clever; it was just short of saying clearly that the temple arresting people was "guilty until proven innocent," not requiring solid evidence, nor requiring solid reasons; as long as they determined there was a crime, they could usually take the person away.

He He Lingchuan immediately said: "Lord You, will I be convicted and imprisoned?"

"This..." Based on You Rongzhi's understanding of the Yao King, no. But how could he give He Xiao a guarantee?

He could only say: "I'll wait for news with you."

The palace attendant guided them to sit in the corridor of the Yuquan Palace: "Please wait for the summons here."

After speaking, the palace attendant slipped away quickly.

This haunted place was too cold, especially in the middle of the night, with a layer of white frost on the ground.

If a living person sat here all night, the next morning they would either be paralyzed or turned into an ice sculpture.

Obviously, the Yao King had a lot of resentment toward them and wanted them to suffer a bit here to vent his anger.

Finally finished editing, my eyes are burning.

Need to go rest, see you tomorrow.