“Since the two imperial brothers have known about this for a long time, why did they choose to catch the Millennium Clam just now?”

Qi Mohan didn’t understand. When they learned that the Millennium Clam existed, they couldn’t be indifferent. So why wait until now?

Speaking of this, Prince Heng sighed heavily: “Fifth brother, to tell you the truth. When I discovered that the Millennium Clam exists, I did have the idea of taking it as my own.”

“I sent many people to capture it. The Fifth Brother had never been to Suolan Lake, so you don’t understand the environment there.”

“Suolan Lake is surrounded by seven mountains. The lake under the mountain is bottomless, and the millennium clam lives at the bottom of the lake.”

“I once sent out many people with good swimming skills to catch this millennium clam. As a result, these people disappeared soon after entering the lake.”

Hearing this, Qi Mohan was somewhat interested: “Why is this?”

Prince Heng continued to explain: “I was also a little confused at the time, but later I heard local people mention that there is not only the millennium clam in the Suolan Lake but also the water beast that guards it.”

“When people enter the lake, they will become a meal for the water beast.”

After a pause, Prince Heng continued: “There have been more than 2 consecutive years of drought, and the lake has completely dried up. I thought the opportunity would come and take people there myself.”

“Who knows, the water in the lake dried up, but it turned into a swamp. The people who stepped on it were directly submerged.”

Qi Mohan understood clearly. Prince Heng had put a lot of thought into this millennium clam, but in the end, he gave away a bride and lost one’s army on top of it.

“Then what other good ideas does the Second Brother have now?” Although Qi Mohan has no interest in the Millennium clam, if he can help his brother, he is willing to do what he can.

Speaking of what to do, Prince Heng also felt dizzy.

“Fifth brother, I have no idea, so I rushed to Qiushui City in the rain late at night to discuss countermeasures with you.”

What Prince Heng said was true. He didn’t just come here to notify Qi Mohan in advance about the imperial edict from the capital.

Qi Mohan didn’t say a word, sitting there in deep thought.

There was no doubt that at this time, the three of them couldn’t get food even if they had money. Qi Mohan has completely lost confidence in the court because of this drought. Imperial Concubine Yun was in his fiefdom. If that person wants to punish him, he can send troops.

He was not worried about sending troops. Due to the lack of food in the past two years, the imperial court had already dismissed most of the soldiers. Even if the remaining team wanted to attack Qiushui City, they didn’t have food to support them.

In Qi Mohan’s point of view, even if the Emperor wanted to send troops to encircle Qiushui City, it would only happen after a few years.

He had Si Si’s high-yielding grains, so if he was given two years of rest and recuperation, he could make the Qiushui City troops stronger. Especially the continuous mountains in Qiushui City, which can be used as the most advantageous protective barrier.

As long as his deployment was in the proper place, no matter whether it was the imperial court or the barbarians, it would be impossible to come back alive.

But since Prince Heng came up with such a countermeasure, Qi Mohan had no objection.

Although he already has a plan to deal with this matter, it was not a foolproof method after all. If it’s true, as Prince Heng said, that catching the millennium clam and using it as a bargaining chip for the Emperor to give them peace, was not a bad thing for him and the people of Qiushui City.

Prince Heng had just said that he couldn’t think of an idea to catch the millennium clam, so he came to him to come up with a solution.

Qi Mohan knew in his heart that he would eventually become the main force in catching the millennium clam.

The main force was the main force. To prevent the people of Qiushui City from suffering from war again in the next few years, he was willing to give it a try.

“Two imperial brothers, give me a few days to arrange this matter. Once everything is settled, I will personally take people to Soulan Lake.”

Qi Mohan said it would take a few days to arrange, and his main purpose was to wait for news from Si Si.

Without news from Si Si, he had no intention of doing anything else.

Prince Heng didn’t know what Qi Mohan had to deal with, so he couldn’t help but remind him: “Fifth Brother, it has just started to rain here, and the water in the lake that was originally dry will rise a little bit. I think that while the water is still not high there, it’s the best time to capture the millennium clam.”

Does he think Qi Mohan does not know this truth?

But he couldn’t think of anything right now.

“Second Brother, please give me 3 days to make arrangements. After 3 days, how about I take people to Suolan Lake on time?”

Prince Heng had already reminded him of all the things he should have reminded him of, and judging from Qi Mohan’s appearance, he had something urgent to deal with. No matter how much he urged, it would probably be of no avail.

“In that case, let’s follow Fifth Brother’s arrangements. In 3 days, the two of us will see you in Suolan Lake.”

“Okay.” Qi Mohan responded and asked his servants to arrange the guest rooms for his two imperial brothers, but they rejected it directly.

The two claimed that they needed to return home earlier and used the three days to prepare well. This time, they were only allowed to succeed and not fail.

After seeing off Prince Heng and Prince Jin, it was already past midnight, when Qi Mohan directly used Qinggong to go to the room of the two little kids.

Imperial Concubine Yun was the only one in the room. After all, she was old, so she couldn’t stay up late. When Qi Mohan entered the room, Imperial Concubine Yun was lying on the soft couch with her clothes on and taking a nap.

Hearing the sound of the door, Imperial Concubine Yun subconsciously opened her eyes to check.

“Mohan, have you handled the matter well?”

Qi Mohan nodded lightly but didn’t tell his mother the specific reasons why Prince Heng and Prince Jin were there. Instead, he asked: “Mother, do you have any news from Qing’er and Mujin?”

He knew in his heart that his question was unnecessary. If Si Si came back, the two little kids should have come back to rest long ago. They were not here at the moment, so they were waiting for news about Si Si.

Imperial Concubine Yun sighed deeply: “There is no news about Si Si yet, so I let them stay there. Mujin Jin said that the person spoke to them again, so they asked about the issues we are concerned about.”

Qi Mohan didn’t know what the relationship between that man and Si Si was, but he was sure of one thing, that was, the latter was just as worried about Si Si’s safety as he was.

It would be great if he could have a direct conversation with that person. At least he could find out what happened before Si Si disappeared.

Just when Qi Mohan was deep in thought, he turned around and suddenly saw the red recorder Si Si used to communicate with him lying next to the bed.

Qi Mohan picked up the recording and turned on the recording switch. To make himself not look too different, he tried his best to imitate Si Si’s tone of voice.

[Hello, my name is Qi Mohan. Like you, I care about Si Si. I heard from my nephew that Si Si was with you before she disappeared. Can you tell me if she has any abnormal behavior? And the things that happen?]

After Qi Mohan finished recording this paragraph, he sat on the chair and stared blankly at the position where the two little kids disappeared.

 

*Having given away a bride, to lose one’s army on top of it (idiom) – to suffer a double loss after trying to trick the enemy.