"It has begun."

On the rooftop of the Guards Department building, Leyu sat at the edge. With the enhancement from the Lingxu Battle Technique, his vision was clear enough to see Ming Shuiyun step onto the lectern in the second-floor classroom, starting her first speech in life.

He smacked his lips, took out a bottle of red juice from his pocket, sipped to moisten his lips, and asked, "Is everything arranged?"

"Everything is arranged."

Qin Yueyang, who had just walked behind his brother, said, "Now, all the other classrooms in the Guards Department know about Shuiyun Palace's speech and will soon gather there. Rumors have started spreading at both the Pig Feed Cafeteria and Dog Feed Cafeteria. Before the first afternoon class, the entire Imperial Academy will know what Shuiyun Palace said."

"What about the bulletin board?"

"A post about Shuiyun Palace's speech will appear in ten minutes, with a thirty-floor thread count. If nothing unexpected happens, it will become today's hot topic on the bulletin board."

"Prepared in advance?" Leyu was somewhat surprised. "What if she encounters any problem?"

"Precisely to prevent problems, we need to prepare a large amount of promotional work in advance."

Qin Yueyang calmly said, "When the Statistical Department captures extremely notorious criminals, it will put out a kill announcement in advance, even if the criminal is not dead yet."

"What if the criminal escapes?"

"Then, treat him as if he's dead."

"And if he appears again..."

"Then say he's an impostor, or find a way to kill him first, or claim the Statistical Department previously caught his body-double... No matter what, we absolutely cannot allow the issue of 'the Statistical Department failing to capture the criminal on time' to occur."

"Preventing problems can mean either solving them directly or postponing their appearance. The key is to accomplish the task now without worrying about the entire situation."

Leyu nodded thoughtfully, "Your abilities are growing stronger."

"It's all thanks to the good leadership of my brother and Inspector Xianchan." Qin Yueyang said, bowing.

Leyu blushed slightly—he had correctly guessed the situation with Inspector Xianchan, who was definitely giving Qin Yueyang a hard time. He had mostly been a hands-off manager, merely bringing up a framework plan that Qin Yueyang perfected in three days.

With both of them leading like this, it's hard for Qin Yueyang not to improve.

"Brother, the wind is strong on the rooftop. Why meet here?" Qin Yueyang asked, puzzled, watching Leyu's red hair blow in the wind.

"The view is good here." Leyu pointed to Ming Shuiyun's classroom. "Just like yesterday, when I saw Shuiyun Palace running out, I rushed over from the rooftop and intercepted her in the stairwell... She must have been wondering if I had been waiting there by chance or had accurately predicted she'd run out at that time."

"Hey, she definitely didn't realize that to create such an opportunity, I sat on the rooftop for two days just so I could appear 'timely' when she most needed me."

"Every time she tries to do anything behind my back, she'll definitely recall the mysterious red-haired figure standing in the stairwell."

Qin Yueyang said, "Brother is far-sighted."

"There's another reason, being up high like this and overlooking the masses, it's truly..."

Leyu suddenly remembered something, took out a silk-wrapped phone from his pocket. His thumb hovered over the power button, hesitated, but didn't press it.

He estimated the phone might still have some charge but probably only 'some.' Instead of now, the charge should be used for something more meaningful—like taking a wedding photo when Qing Lan arrives?

At Xuanzhu County, he thought he still had a future, so he didn't leave any moments behind.

Leyu raised the phone as if to take a selfie, looked at himself in the black mirror with a goofy V sign, then contentedly put the phone back.

"... makes me feel very handsome."

...

...

In the classroom, everyone was stunned.

Borrow money?

Ming Shuiyun is asking us to borrow money?

The emperor... no, the future emperor Ming Shuiyun, is asking us to borrow money?

"Shuiyun Palace." Long Xiaoyuan immediately said, "I don't know how much you need, but the Long family has some surplus and should be enough to meet your needs..."

"Wait, Senior Long." Ming Shuiyun interrupted with a smile, "Don't misunderstand, I don't lack money."

"Money is never lent to the poor. The richer you are, the easier it is to borrow money because everyone believes you can repay it." One of the classic quotes from Qin Yueyang, the lender of the Qin Family.

"I've said the simple part, now I want to talk about the complicated thing—why I'm asking to borrow money." Ming Shuiyun spread her hands, glanced at the speech script, and said, "As many of you know, even though I am a descendant of the Imperial Family, my ancestors left the Imperial Court long ago. My family is an ordinary family in Yanjing, and compared to many of you here, I am even just an ordinary person. If not for the Celestial Mandate favoring me, I wouldn't have come this far."

"But now that destiny has brought me here, I must seize the opportunity. However, compared to the Imperial Crown Prince and even my sisters, I have great shortcomings—the most crucial being my lack of a suitable team."

"I have no subjects."

"I am a solitary ruler."

"However, where else can talents be found that match the Imperial Academy?" Ming Shuiyun looked at Long Xiaoyuan and others, "For this reason, I hope to find suitable talents within the Imperial Academy who can help lead the Imperial Court with me after I ascend."

"A new era belongs to the young, to me, and to you."

The students were stirred, not because the speech was particularly good or because Ming Shuiyun's tone was particularly passionate, but because of Ming Shuiyun's identity—the most likely future emperor!

What is a potential stock? This is a potential stock!

Many people have long wanted to align themselves with Ming Shuiyun, but she was protected by Qian Yuya and others initially, then sponsored by the Anguo Tea Party afterward. They had no chance to get close to Ming Shuiyun, not even to get an opportunity to ingratiate themselves.

If borrowing money allowed them to ingratiate with Ming Shuiyun, they would undoubtedly be willing!

"But how do I identify talent? More importantly, compared to capability, I value—loyalty." Ming Shuiyun said, "I am still young with many deficiencies. While I yearn for exceptional talents to join my cause, I hope even more for many ordinary young people like me who are willing to grow and witness brilliance with me."

Ordinary young people!

The students became agitated—Shuiyun Palace must be talking about me, right? It's definitely me, I'm just an ordinary young person!

"Compared to unassessable capabilities, loyalty is much simpler." Ming Shuiyun said loudly, "I read a sentence from Youth Daily that I strongly agree with—Love someone not for what they say, but for what they do."

"Loyalty is the same."

"The more you invest in me, the more you offer me, the more I can believe you won't betray me casually. The more you give me, the more you invest, you'll also be more loyal to me, voluntarily solving problems for me."

"Because you don't want your investment to fail but desire more returns."

"Loyalty requires not just fervor but 'price' as a warning and 'interest' as motivation!"

"Therefore, I, Ming Shuiyun, ask everyone to lend me money!"

"Everyone who lends me money, I will note down your name. You can obtain a certain share of the revenue from my future career and also participate in the businesses I will start next, showcasing your loyalty and capability!"

Is there such a good opportunity?

As the classroom and outside filled up with students, someone quickly asked, "Then Shuiyun Palace, how much money do you need?"

"Minimum loan amount: 10 gold rounds!" Ming Shuiyun stated a figure that made everyone gasp but continued unfazedly, "But as I said earlier, what I hope more is to find loyal ministers willing to grow with me at the Imperial Academy!"

"I also have my political ambitions; after resolving the Huiyao turmoil, I hope to develop a fleet, open up maritime territories, and expand borders! The turmoil of Huiyao stems from resource depletion and land annexation. Our fighting in Huiyao is utterly meaningless; going out is the best route!"

Those words caused the crowd to nod continuously; Ming Shuiyun's idea aligns with a mainstream viewpoint within the Imperial Academy: after the appearance of luminous power steamships and trains, sea and land transport has greatly increased, and Huiyao will inevitably venture out to develop trade and solve domestic conflicts is also the best solution.

"To realize my political ambitions, to witness the arrival of Huiyao's age of discovery in my lifetime, I need loyal ministers to guide, accompany, and assist me!"

"And the standard for determining loyal ministers is the same!"

Ming Shuiyun wrote two big characters on the blackboard, boldly stating 'Captain'!

"Anyone willing to lend me 198 gold rounds, I believe has the capacity to become a captain and acknowledge my maritime ambition! When listening to opinions, I'll respect or lean more towards the captain's suggestions because they express loyalty through money!"

198 gold rounds!

As everyone was stunned by that figure, they suddenly heard a voice:

"Qin Yueshi is willing to become Shuiyun Palace's first captain!"

Qin Yueshi stood up, looking around and confidently declared:

"If you aren't even willing to lend this bit of money, do you have the right to say you're loyal to Shuiyun Palace?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.