Chapter 479: The Wise Prime Minister
Faced with Ye Changhong's volunteering, the Sun Moon Emperor fell silent for a moment before speaking.
"Commander Ye, how do you intend to test him?"
Ye Changhong had clearly already thought about this and immediately explained:
"Your Majesty, no matter how Han Shi disguises itself, it is still ultimately a restaurant. Since it is a restaurant, it must operate and receive customers. This subject plans to disguise myself as a Fifth-Level Spirit Engineer passing by Han Shi, then enter to dine. I will find a way to provoke a conflict with that Qi Han and see if I can force him to make a move."
"According to the intelligence reports, the spirit masters of the Douluo Continent are vastly different from us Spirit Engineers. As long as both sides take action, we should naturally be able to discover something."
This plan sounded fairly good, it's at least far more reliable than the one proposed by the Terrorclaw Spirit Engineer Legion.
After hearing Ye Changhong's proposal, everyone nodded in approval. After thinking it over for a moment, the Sun Moon Emperor also nodded.
"This plan is excellent. If Commander Ye's test succeeds, I will certainly credit you with a great merit."
Having received the emperor's promise, a trace of joy appeared on Ye Changhong's face.
Their Evileye Tyrant Spirit Engineer Legion had been established later than the Terrorclaw Legion, and in every aspect they were overshadowed by them. Ye Changhong had never been satisfied with that situation. Now that he had an opportunity to earn merit before the emperor, he was naturally delighted.
However, even after adopting Ye Changhong's plan, the Sun Moon Emperor was not satisfied. He looked around at the assembled ministers and spoke again.
"Do any other ministers have good suggestions?"
Everyone looked at each other. In the end, the Prime Minister, who stood at the head of the officials, stepped forward once again.
"Your Majesty, according to the Third Prince's memorial, Han Shi deliberately opened on a remote street so that we would not discover its presence too early. Fortunately, because of the Fifth Princess's accidental departure from the palace, we discovered Han Shi in time."
"Since that is the case, we naturally cannot allow the other party's plan to succeed."
The emperor nodded approvingly. "Continue."
"This Han Shi chose such a remote location not only to avoid early discovery, but likely also because they wanted to leave later without attracting attention," the prime minister said thoughtfully before continuing. "Since the other party has accomplices, we cannot rashly alert the enemy. However, by doing certain things that appear unrelated, we can keep Han Shi under our watch at all times."
"It seems the Prime Minister already has a plan?" The emperor smiled slightly. Zhou Yuan, the prime minister, was a true strategist of the state. Many policies regarding Douluo had been proposed by him. Seeing the confidence in his expression, the emperor knew he had come up with another clever strategy. "Please, speak."
"Yes." Zhou Yuan smiled faintly. "I wonder if the ministers would be interested in changing their dining location in the future?"
"How about this, what if we all dine at Han Shi every day from now on?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the ministers behind him immediately revealed knowing smiles.
Under the watchful eyes of so many officials, Qi Han would surely be unable to make any suspicious moves.
"But wouldn't that be giving that guy business?!" The commander of the Terrorclaw Spirit Engineer Legion shouted again. "That's aiding the enemy!"
Zhou Yuan's face darkened slightly.
Again, this guy.
The former commander of the Terrorclaw Legion, Zhao Linlong, had stepped down due to old age and passed the position to his son Zhao Zhiyuan, retiring behind the scenes. However, Zhao Zhiyuan was rather simple-minded—brave in battle but lacking in strategy.
If it weren't for the fact that his father was still alive—and out of respect for the old general who had served the nation his entire life—the emperor and Zhou Yuan could easily replace the Terrorclaw Legion's commander at any moment.
This time, Zhou Yuan did not even need to respond. Ye Changhong, standing beside Zhao Zhiyuan, had already spoken.
"You idiot. Do you really think Han Shi opened this restaurant in Mingdu City to make money? Who cares about such a small amount of money?"
"If we can use money to keep them here and ensure they remain under our watch at all times, why wouldn't we do it?"
Zhao Zhiyuan—whose name carried a hint of scholarly elegance but who was actually a burly and forthright man—was momentarily at a loss for words when he heard this. He scratched his head, trying to come up with something to refute Ye Changhong, with whom he had never gotten along. In the end, however, he could only glare angrily at him before falling silent.
Seeing that the simple-minded man had finally stopped talking, Zhou Yuan continued.
"However, all of you ministers must pay attention to one thing—do not reveal your identities while inside Han Shi. Simply pretend to be ordinary customers who have come after hearing of its reputation."
"The Third Prince holds a status even more distinguished than ours, and the royal family's complexion is quite recognizable. Yet that Han Shi owner did not recognize him. This means he surely will not recognize us either—which is actually a good thing."
"If we appear merely as ordinary diners, then although Qi Han may be somewhat helpless at the sudden prosperity of his restaurant, he will still have to receive us properly in order to avoid exposing himself over something trivial."
"But if he were to learn our identities…"
Zhou Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly, his tone becoming more serious.
"I fear he might take a desperate risk and add something to the food that should not be there."
If the entire court went to dine there and all ended up poisoned, the plan would truly become a complete joke.
"The Prime Minister's reminder is very wise."
"Ah, I nearly forgot about that…"
After Zhou Yuan finished speaking, the earlier smugness among the ministers vanished instantly.
After all, they would be eating at a restaurant opened by the enemy. In their excitement earlier, they had completely forgotten that the other party could simply poison the food.
Several ministers even secretly wiped the sweat from their foreheads. Some of them had already been planning to go to Han Shi in a high-profile manner as soon as court ended. If not for the Prime Minister's reminder, they might all have fallen into trouble.
With Zhou Yuan's warning, everyone silently sounded an alarm in their hearts.
They absolutely must not reveal their identities.
They would simply go as ordinary diners.
Seeing that the ministers had taken his warning seriously, Zhou Yuan nodded slightly and continued.
"Our going to Han Shi as customers is only the first step. As for the second…"
"A restaurant cannot remain open at all times. During the periods when Han Shi is not operating, customers would have no reason to go there. Therefore, this plan still has a loophole. To solve that loophole, we must send additional personnel to watch Han Shi at all times."
The Sun Moon Emperor nodded.
"Finding people to monitor a restaurant is naturally not difficult. But how can we do so without being discovered by Han Shi, or by the powerful individuals hiding in the shadows?"
"That is also simple." Zhou Yuan smiled confidently.
"The Mingke Street area is extremely remote, and many storefronts there are vacant. These shops can be used for our people to open various businesses. On the surface they will run normal shops, but secretly they will monitor Han Shi at all times, leaving that Han Shi owner with no chance to escape!"
"Of course, if a large number of new shops suddenly appear on such a remote street, it might still arouse suspicion. However, I already have a solution."
A flash of wisdom appeared in his eyes.
"Mingdu City is vast and magnificent. With Sun-Moon Avenue as the center, other districts are often quite quiet, and some areas are especially remote with few residents. The people living in these distant districts suffer many inconveniences in daily life."
"Your Majesty, upon learning of this, feels compassion for the people and is willing to spend funds to improve their living conditions. Thus, an imperial decree will be issued—taking Mingke Street as a pilot project—to invest heavily in rebuilding the street…"
Zhou Yuan bowed slightly toward the emperor.
"Would Your Majesty be willing to issue such a decree?"
"The people living in remote districts are also citizens of my Sun Moon Empire. How could I watch them struggle with inconvenient lives and do nothing?" The Sun Moon Emperor laughed heartily. "This decree—I shall naturally issue it!"
Ruler and minister exchanged smiles, their eyes filled with mutual understanding.
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