Having children earns benefit, start competing for dominance in the world by marrying a wife

Wang Qingci was wearing a red gauze dress today, the upper part loosely revealing a vast expanse of snowy white skin.

The lower part of the skirt had a slit, exposing her long, white legs. Standing at the doorway, her slim and charming figure was made even more enticing by the light from outside.

Seeing Wang Qingci appear at the doorway of the study, Lu Chen's lips curled into a slight smile. If he hadn't remembered wrongly, the most frequent acts they performed were in that study. Since Wang Qingci had come, it would be the perfect ending to wrap things up with her.

Lu Chen asked with a smile, "Mr. Wang, do you have any important intelligence to report today?"

Wang Qingci entered the study and conscientiously closed the door before swaying over to the side of the desk and placing a letter on it.

"Great Wu has sent Wu Junwan as an envoy to the North Country to prepare for an alliance with Great Jue against Great Xia, aiming to start a war of annihilation."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen was slightly taken aback before he picked up the intelligence on the desk, opened it, and scanned the contents.

After reading the content, Lu Chen frowned slightly. If Great Wu truly allied with Great Jue, then it was likely Great Jue could tie down North Country. In that case, North Country would be unable to stop Great Wu from deploying troops against Great Xia.

This was indeed a troublesome issue.

Seeing Lu Chen silently reviewing the intelligence, Wang Qingci reminded him, "Wu Junwan and the Yue Emperor are very close, referring to each other as sisters. Once Wu Junwan arrives at Great Jue, the likelihood of their alliance is very high."

Hearing this, Lu Chen came back to his senses, thinking that unless Great Jue were unwilling to get involved, preventing the alliance between the two great dynasties would indeed be quite challenging.

After the annihilation of the Great Xia Dynasty, Great Jue would gain a large swath of land and population, becoming even more powerful. It was likely that the Yue Emperor might be tempted.

North Country can expect some difficult times ahead.

They need to become stronger faster.

With this in mind, Lu Chen glanced at Wang Qingci beside him and said with a smile, "Mr. Wang, now that the various dynasties are aware of your identity and the relationship between Rain-listening Pavilion and the North Prince Mansion, there's no need for Rain-listening Pavilion to keep hiding its affiliation."

Wang Qingci paused upon hearing this.

Ever since Wu Junwan returned from her mission to North Country, news that Rain-listening Pavilion belonged to the North Prince Mansion had spread throughout the various dynasties, and now almost all of them were aware of the association between Rain-listening Pavilion and the North Prince Mansion. Rain-listening Pavilion's ability to gather intelligence was no longer as easy as before.

Clearly, the leak of the relationship between Rain-listening Pavilion and the North Prince Mansion was done intentionally by that woman, Wu Junwan. She did not want North Country to develop smoothly, hindering their ability to gather intelligence from other dynasties.

After hearing Lu Chen's words, Wang Qingci thought he was planning to disband Rain-listening Pavilion and felt somewhat disappointed internally.

Rain-listening Pavilion was established from the ground up by Wang Qingci herself, and she had used it to collect a considerable amount of intelligence from the various dynasties. It was through the Rain-listening Pavilion that she had been able to realize her value by Lu Chen's side.

If Rain-listening Pavilion ceased to exist, what else could she do in the future?

Deep down, Wang Qingci was concerned and afraid that Lu Chen would ask her to return to the Prince's Mansion to attend to him.

Attending to Lu Chen wasn't really an issue for her; she enjoyed their time together, but she had her own stubborn streak. She didn't want Lu Chen to see her only as someone to fulfill certain desires.

At this moment, Wang Qingci asked, "Does the Prince intend to disband Rain-listening Pavilion?"

Lu Chen said, "Why would you think that? What reason would I have to disband Rain-listening Pavilion without just cause?"

This...

Wang Qingci paused, then asked, "Didn't the Prince say that Rain-listening Pavilion has been exposed..."

Wang Qingci hesitated, not continuing further.

Rain-listening Pavilion, as an intelligence organization, is generally abandoned once exposed.

Since its affiliation has been revealed, it will surely be closely watched, making it much harder to collect intelligence undercover from that point on.

Lu Chen said with a smile, "Although Rain-listening Pavilion's relationship with the North Prince Mansion has been exposed, it can still continue to serve its purpose."

"Now with Rain-listening Pavilion's business reaching all the great dynasties, the commercial scale of the North Prince Mansion would not be what it is today without Rain-listening Pavilion's assistance."

Wang Qingci instantly understood Lu Chen's intention; he wanted Rain-listening Pavilion to continue playing its commercial role, aiding the North Prince Mansion in selling various goods.

Wang Qingci felt somewhat excited internally. Although Rain-listening Pavilion could no longer collect intelligence as it did in the past, as long as Rain-listening Pavilion still existed, she could continue to demonstrate her value.

Then, Lu Chen continued, "Even if Rain-listening Pavilion is exposed, it can still collect intelligence overtly."

"Now that the various dynasties are aware that Rain-listening Pavilion belongs to the North Prince Mansion, they will not directly move against Rain-listening Pavilion before they fall out with the North Prince Mansion."

"Moreover, we have already signed trade agreements with both Great Jue and Great Wu. Even when Rain-listening Pavilion conducts business in Great Jue and Great Wu, they are following the trade agreements, so neither can raise any objections."

Lu Chen's idea was straightforward. Now that Rain-listening Pavilion's backing power had been exposed, it should openly become another commercial group of the North Prince Mansion.

In the past, Rain-listening Pavilion collected intelligence secretly; once it turned official, it would gather intelligence openly. With the North Prince Mansion's backing, Rain-listening Pavilion would not likely be targeted publicly in non-war times, but rather face minor underhanded tactics.