After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

Chapter 575 Using Disaster Relief as an Excuse

"What does the Fifth Prince mean?"

"We'll cooperate to find the treasure. Of course, I'll mainly provide the manpower and effort, so regarding the distribution..."

"Understood, naturally the Fifth Prince will take the lion's share."

"However, the treasure map belongs to Young Master Ouyang. How about we split it 20/80?"

Haha, why not 19? Shouldn't we be grateful?

Seemingly sensing Ouyang Jue's reluctance, the Fifth Prince immediately added:

"Young Master Ouyang may not know just how much wealth Princess Baoqing of the previous dynasty possessed. To tell you the truth, even if all the princes of our Great Zhou were combined, their wealth would not equal that of Princess Baoqing alone."

All the princes of the Great Zhou? The Great Zhou had more than a dozen princes. Before the First Prince and the Third Prince fell from power, their wealth was already considerable.

"How did the Fifth Prince find out? Even the Tong family probably doesn't know about these things, otherwise, they wouldn't have so easily offered this picture as a prize."

The Tong family isn't stupid; why would they willingly hand over such a considerable fortune?

Either the item isn't that valuable, or the treasure hunt is incredibly difficult.

If neither of those apply, can't you find one privately on your own? Why force them to give it up? It can't be like doing charity, can it?

"I naturally have my own channels; all I can say is that the news is true."

The Fifth Prince spoke with certainty, and Ouyang Jue believed him to some extent.

"Then how can we guarantee that the Fifth Prince will not break his promise?"

“Write down the contract, affix your personal seal, and if you are still not at ease, you can find someone to be a witness.”

Ouyang Jue pondered for a moment, seemingly weighing his options.

"Alright, then let's do as the Fifth Prince says, split it 20/80, and draw up a contract."

The Fifth Prince smiled slightly, his smugness written all over his face, and ordered his men to write the contract on the spot.

To ensure everything went smoothly, a highly respected senior official was invited to witness the event.

This is an old vice minister from one of the Six Ministries; he is a very good person.

Ouyang Jue had no objection to this, and after both parties signed the contract, Ouyang Jue readily handed the brocade box to the Fifth Prince.

"This treasure map is now entrusted to Your Highness. I hope that Your Highness will inform me of any progress in a timely manner."

"Don't worry, if we find the direction, it's not impossible for Young Master Ouyang to go with us."

The Fifth Prince's words were sincere; after all, he wouldn't lose anything by having an extra person.

With a large group of people under our control, why would we be afraid that Ouyang Jue would just take the gold and silver treasures and leave?

Putting away the treasure map and contract, the Fifth Prince patted Ouyang Jue on the shoulder and said:

"Don't worry, our wealth is yet to come!"

Jiang Xiaoqi, Qiu Cheng, and Qiu Feng were about to leave when they happened to witness this scene.

Of course, it's not just them.

The Fifth Prince did not deliberately hide the matter of the treasure map from others, otherwise he would not have chosen the Tong family's waterside pavilion.

Of course, it's also possible that they were afraid things might get complicated if they waited too long, and that someone else might spot the treasure map and get there first.

"Lord Jiang, what do you think the Fifth Prince means? Is he really that confident in finding this treasure? The Tong family hasn't found it, and he's so sure?"

"Perhaps they've had some clues all along and have been looking for an opportunity to get their hands on the Tong family's treasure map?"

Didn't you see? The people the Fifth Prince brought today are all skilled in poetry and prose. He knew from the beginning that the prize for the Tong family poetry gathering was a treasure map.

Even before arriving, he deliberately spread the word that he would bring talented men and women skilled in poetry to the gathering.

They pretended to target a specific person, but in reality, they only wanted a treasure map.

Jiang Xiaoqi realized that the Fifth Prince had come for the treasure, and his goal was clear; he was just throwing out some smokescreens.

However, he hadn't intended to compete for any prizes in the first place, so the Fifth Prince's preparations seemed somewhat unnecessary.

As for Song Jinyang, now that he thinks about it, he even feels that Song Jinyang himself wanted to provoke him.

Even the Fourth Prince was fooled. This feint, this deceptive move, this trick of Xiang Zhuang's sword dance aimed at Liu Bang was played quite skillfully.

Wanting treasures and gold and silver without even hiding it from people, it seems they've already come up with an excuse.

By the way, there's a severe drought in both Guangdong and Guangxi!

What if you said you wanted to find treasure and donate it to disaster victims? You'd be putting the greater good of the nation on your side, and regardless of whether you actually did it, you'd at least have a good reputation.

Finding treasure takes time, of course.

But will the disaster victims really be able to receive this money?

Of course you can't wait!

"Heh, shameless!"

Jiang Xiaoqi was so angry at the Fifth Prince's shameless behavior that she laughed.

Fortunately, even if he knew exactly where the treasure was, he wouldn't get anything from it.

After all, many years ago, he had inadvertently taken over the entire dowry of Princess Baoqing of the previous dynasty.

Oh, no, there are some books that were not well preserved and are almost rotten and moldy that I haven't put into my space.

There were also some large wooden crates that were worthless but took up a lot of space, and some rusty weapons.

If the Fifth Prince manages to find these items and bring them out successfully, he probably won't even recoup his travel expenses.

I'm suddenly really looking forward to it!

"This fifth prince has grand ambitions. Is he gradually making his ambitions public? How should we deal with it?"

Having already boarded the carriage, Qiu Cheng abandoned his son and rode with Jiang Xiaoqi.

"What is Lord Qiu referring to? And what does he intend to do?"

"Oh dear, that's why I'm bringing this up again?"

"Ambition, whether it is openly displayed or kept private, is ambition."

It doesn't shrink when hidden, nor does it disappear when revealed.

"What do you mean?"

“The ambition has always been there. The ambition that has been revealed can at least be seen by people, and by more people.”

"Oh? What does Lord Jiang mean..."

Jiang Xiaoqi lowered her eyes. "I didn't mean anything by it, Lord Qiu. We should just focus on our own business now. Playing chess or fighting with others is not something we should be worrying about right now."

Jiang Xiaoqi had already made her point very clearly, and Qiu Cheng understood.

"Just do your own thing, but His Highness hasn't assigned me anything lately, so I'm feeling a bit idle."

"Does Lord Qiu like the sea?"

"Huh? The ocean?"

"Ah."

"I don't dislike it, but there's not much of a chance to see it. When I was in office, the area under my jurisdiction only had rivers and lakes, not the sea."

While visiting relatives and friends, I traveled a short stretch of sea. It was quite magnificent, but I felt a little unsafe.

Jiang Xiaoqi nodded, "The ship that Lord Qiu was on back then was probably not a standard ocean-going vessel, but rather a slightly larger river cargo ship, so the comfort level would be somewhat lower."

“My relative said the same thing. Before we got there, he was so nauseous that he was dizzy and disoriented. It took him several days to recover after we got off the ship.”

"That's why we need to build ocean-going ships. Ocean-going ships are big enough and stable enough. Their sturdiness is unmatched by ordinary cargo ships, making them more suitable for long voyages."

"Oh, that's how it is."

Qiu Cheng didn't know why the topic had turned to cargo ships and ocean-going vessels, but he still chimed in.

"Lord Qiu, please pack your things. You may be transferred in a few days."

"Huh?! Transfer? What transfer?! Who's being transferred?"

"I forgot to tell you, the Second Prince is planning to build a seagoing vessel near the Tongzhou Wharf. The location has already been selected."

The manpower is gradually arriving, and we're just waiting for Lord Qiu to take charge. Of course, there will be officials assisting you, so you needn't worry."

Qiu Cheng was completely bewildered. What? He was really the one being transferred?!

Why is there no word of this? Has the Second Prince stopped giving him orders directly? Does the Empress know this?