Chapter 357: Li Lizhi's Proposal

"Husband, what are you looking at?"

Li Lizhi saw Chen Yan not eating his meal properly, instead holding a sheet of paper and looking at it, and she couldn't help asking aloud.

From last night to this morning, she had noticed Chen Yan occasionally spacing out, as if pondering something.

Before Chen Yan could reply, Gao Yang spoke first: "Still worrying about the workshop fire the other day?"

"No!" Chen Yan gently set the paper down, "I just regret that I shouldn't have urged your Father Emperor back then, to not kill those alchemists first."

"I have to admit, although they are a bunch of wandering swindlers, they do have talent in certain respects."

Gao Yang and Li Lizhi both froze, the former instinctively glancing at the paper Chen Yan had placed on the table, "Could this be the poison pill formula?"

"You still kept it?"

"This pill formula is interesting; why not keep it?" Chen Yan laughed, adding, "Later, you'll realize its value."

Gao Yang retorted, "I know you're a healer, it's no surprise you're interested in this kind of thing, but don't go refining any immortal pills. Father Emperor has already been tormented enough; the last time Mother Empress told me, his symptoms had only slightly eased, and we still don't know how much more suffering he'll endure."

"I was going to... that won't do!" Chen Yan had intended to agree, but for some reason changed his mind, saying, "Never mind, I'm increasingly thinking this immortal pill is a good thing."

"When you cause trouble again later and I can no longer stand it, I'll refine a few immortal pills and trick you into swallowing them, to see if you still dare to jump afterwards."

Gao Yang: "......"

She rolled her eyes, "Fine, fine, fine, our Lord Bo is indeed formidable; if it's poisonous, you'd really give it to your own married wife."

"But don't just talk fancy. If you want me to eat an immortal pill, you don't need to trick me; just hand it over, and I'll definitely eat it."

"After I eat it, I'll go find a wild man, turning you from a kidney‑deficient gentleman into a turtle gentleman!"

Chen Yan: "......"

Gao Yang tossed out a harsh remark and then continued eating her lunch by herself.

Having been married so long, the couple had each pinpointed the other's absolute weakness; Gao Yang feared Chen Yan's disappointment, feared he would abandon her.

Since Chen Yan discovered this, he sometimes uses it to manipulate her; a single "I will be very disappointed" can shatter all of Gao Yang's pride.

Similarly, Gao Yang gradually realized that Chen Yan seemed very afraid of her being intimate with others; although Gao Yang didn't understand why, even felt insulted, she had to admit that using this to manipulate Chen Yan was absolutely effective.

Just the phrase "go find a wild man" always lets her turn the tables.

Sure enough, Chen Yan fell silent instantly.

Li Lizhi, both angry and amused, said, "Can you two stop stabbing each other?"

"You're both acting as father and mother, yet still so improper!"

Chen Yan: "Who let her mess around all day? How can I not warn her?"

"Hehe!" Gao Yang, imitating Chen Yan's old manner, chuckled without saying anything.

Li Lizhi helplessly massaged her temples.

She always felt that after marrying in, she wasn't a wife but rather like an old mother caring for two unruly children.

Li Lizhi sighed softly, changing the subject: "Husband, those alchemists aren't worth regretting; if you had tried to persuade Father Emperor not to kill them back then, it would have been very risky."

"Compared to that, why not look for more alchemists? After all, the Tang Dynasty has plenty of wandering swindlers, and weren't those the ones Father Emperor summoned?"

"You speak reasonably!" Chen Yan praised, "I was short‑sighted, I hadn't even thought of that."

Li Lizhi curved her eyes, feeling quite delighted inside.

But Gao Yang felt uneasy, "You! You! We've been married so long, and you've never called me that!"

When she's in a good mood she calls Zhao Tang, Tang'er; more intimately she would just say "wife", but nothing matches the affectionate title "you".

"By the way, Husband," Li Lizhi suddenly said, her bright peach‑blossom eyes on Chen Yan, "Regarding the workshop fire, I have a small suggestion you might consider."

The workshop fire......

Chen Yan's gaze darkened briefly, and he nodded slightly, "Go ahead, is there anything between us we can't discuss?"

"Alright!" Li Lizhi said leisurely, "Here's the thing: the workshop fire certainly wasn't an accident; it must be that some villain covets the silk‑making technique."

"Only... Husband, you assigned garrison troops to guard the hydraulic loom day and night, so the villain had to strike other workshops, hoping to find that technique."

"Essentially, the key is the technique that can greatly boost silk production; if you want to uncover the villain behind it, why not use this technique as bait, waiting for the fish to bite on its own?"

Li Lizhi slipped a piece of food onto Chen Yan's chopsticks and continued, "Even if the fish can resist the bait's lure, they will certainly linger and observe around the bait; then, as long as we focus on that, we can always find some trace."

After listening, Chen Yan was somewhat surprised that Li Lizhi could think of that.

He set down his chopsticks and raised a question, "Have you considered that our technique for massively increasing silk output is so tempting that we don't know how many eyes are watching this?"

"How can you be sure the fish we catch will be the ones we want?"

Li Lizhi listened attentively, thought for a moment, and smiled, "I was almost led astray by you, instinctively pondering how to catch the fish we want, which is really the arsonist and the forces behind them."

"But in reality, Husband, you don't really care about the loss of a single workshop, do you?"

Chen Yan neither confirmed nor denied, giving Li Lizhi an encouraging look, signaling her to continue.

Li Lizhi breathed a slight sigh of relief, gaining confidence, and said slowly, "The reason you are so obsessed with finding the arsonist, even going so far as to ask Father Emperor to look for him, must be to set an example and scare others."

"However, the warning must be swift; a thunderous strike is best, so other forces will fear it."

"So I think whether the fish we catch is the one we want isn't important right now; what's important is that we must catch one, and then kill it to show others."

"As for the real arsonist..."

Li Lizhi paused, a smile at the corner of her mouth, "Nothing in the world is absolutely airtight; you can hide for a while, but not forever, and eventually it will be exposed, then it's not too late to deal with it."

Chen Yan clapped his hands, turned to Gao Yang and said, "Look, we're both sons of the same father, why is the gap so big?"

"I hope the child in your womb inherits my mind, and certainly not like you."

Gao Yang:???

"What do you mean?"

She slapped the table, "Are you calling me stupid?"

"Could it be..." Chen Yan was about to say "Could it not be?" but suddenly recalled Fuermogao and said thoughtfully, "At least when you don't have a MEGA evolution, you really can't match your sister."

Gao Yang: "......"

Li Lizhi: "......"

"......"