How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

The ice hockey game ended with great fanfare, and the spectators, both business tycoons and common people, were still not satisfied.

Including Emperor Jian, everyone was eager to go on the court and experience the fun of playing ice hockey.

Fortunately, Xie Chengze really prepared this project. The ice rink is open every morning to rent ice hockey sticks and balls to businessmen and let them play with him.

Of course, the price is not cheap.

A total money-spending den.

In order to keep Shang Hao in Liaozhou for a few more days, he even deliberately postponed the auction to three days later, forcing them to stay here longer and incur more expenses.

After the competition ended that day, the night had darkened, the lanterns were hung high again, the candles next to the ice sculptures were lit, and we entered the colorful world of ice and snow again.

Li Dongyao will personally present awards to the winning teams, but before that, as the governor of Liaozhou, he will first give a "speech" of thanks for the Ice Sculpture Festival.

He walked into the building, followed by two rows of yamen runners, all of them tall and strong. Starting from Li Dongyao, they set out towards the people outside the ice rink, stopping every twenty meters.

Li Dongyao's gaze stayed on Xie Chengze for a while. He winked at him quickly before looking away.

According to the original plan, at this moment Li Dongyao should praise Xie Chengze's wisdom, be grateful for his contribution to Liaozhou, create a character for him that is blessed by a star from heaven, and say "He who gets the lucky star gets the world". While praising Emperor Jian for his good looks, he should use this to induce the man to believe it and want to cooperate with him privately.

Li Dongyao cleared his throat and said, "Fellow villagers, wealthy businessmen, happy new year!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the yamen runner a few meters away from him lifted his abdomen, took a deep breath, and roared like a lion to another yamen runner 20 meters away: "Fellow villagers, wealthy merchants, everyone, Happy New Year!"

Then, one yamen runner after another went to pass the message in the direction of the crowd. The voice was so loud and far-reaching that it ensured that all the people present could hear what he was saying.

Emperor Jian took a glance and said, "Wow, this is such a grand ceremony, it looks even grander than when I was delivering a message in the Golden Palace!"

Xie Chengze silently shed a drop of cold sweat.

He didn't know Li Dongyao had done this! There was no such thing in the rehearsal!

Regardless, let’s just pass on the blame! Xie Chengze immediately retorted: “It’s because the Ministry of Industry is too useless. If they had invented a loudspeaker that could diffuse sound, there wouldn’t be a need for people to pass on messages!”

The old man on the side:?

Are we the waste again?

In front, Li Dongyao continued to express his gratitude, "The ice hockey game was a great success, Liaozhou ice sculptures celebrate the New Year! Before awarding the winning team, I hope everyone can remember that the reason why we in Liaozhou were able to survive the snowstorm and welcome the New Year was not only because of the help of the court and the business tycoons, but also because of the Second Prince's day and night planning for us!"

Li Dongyao raised his head and shouted excitedly, "Recruit mountain bandits to dig coal in the mountain, open up snowy roads to deliver food, use the kang to keep warm in the cold winter, and make fortunes with ice sculptures! Who is so capable? The second prince has been blessed by the sky!"

Xie Chengze nodded slightly. Very good. It seemed that the lines were the same as what they had planned.

Next, we should sing praises to Emperor Jian, saying that whoever gets the lucky star will rule the world.

But Li Dongyao changed his tone, his expression filled with grief, "However! I'm sure you've all heard that the Second Prince worked so hard every day, and eventually died suddenly on the ice rink due to overwork!"

Xie Chengze:?

Wait? I don't think there's this line in the rehearsal?

He subconsciously looked at Shen Yuan, but saw that Shen Yuan turned his head away, his shoulders shaking, as if he was trying to hold back a laugh.

The people below nodded and talked about it. They had indeed heard that the second prince had died. Although many people had never seen the second prince, they had all heard of his achievements and were full of gratitude and admiration for him.

but……

Some people have also heard that the second prince is alive again. What is going on?

Is the second prince still alive or dead?

Xie Chengze turned around and saw that Li Dongyao's face was filled with relief. He said to the people below, "This prefect, like all of you, hates that God took the Second Prince away too early. When I was mourning for him, I fainted from grief. Unexpectedly, I was visited by the Five Immortals in my dream!"

The people immediately let out a low cry.

In the north, people believe in five great immortals, namely the fox fairy fox, the yellow fairy weasel, the white fairy hedgehog, the willow fairy snake and the grey fairy mouse.

The Five Great Immortals are also known as the Five Gods of Wealth. They are worshipped by the people because they live with them. They believe that if they are disrespectful to the Five Great Immortals, they will be retaliated against, but if they are worshipped, they will be blessed and wealthy.

The prefect was visited by the five immortals in his dreams at the same time. This is obviously a great blessing from heaven!

"The five immortals told this prefect that the second prince is a lucky star sent from heaven. The more blessings he brings, the greater his blessings will be. However, how can a mortal body bear too much blessing? Therefore, God took the second prince away in advance, hoping that he would be ranked among the immortals and be worshipped by future generations."

"But the Second Prince refused, and said frankly that he wanted to benefit more people. The Heaven thought that the Second Prince had compassion on the people, so He brought him back to life, and the Five Great Immortals personally sent his soul back to his body, waiting for the Second Prince to complete his merits and return to heaven—"

The people once again gasped, their eyes wide open with surprise, yet they felt it was natural.

So, the second prince really came back to life!

God is really kind and actually returned the second prince to them!

And the second prince actually gave up the opportunity to be included in the immortal class in order to benefit the people. How could this not move the people?

Thinking of the sacrifices made by the second prince after coming to Liaozhou, the people couldn't help but burst into tears.

They knew very well that if the bandits had not been recruited, the coal mine had not been discovered, and there had been no heated kangs, when the heavy snow came, they would surely starve to death and no one would find them even if they died in the snow.

If it weren't for the Second Prince, they would have spent this New Year in grief and despair. They would have cried numbly while holding the frozen bodies of their loved ones, would have had to cut off the flesh and blood of their loved ones to feed their children, would have been frozen to death under the collapsed snow house, would have been hacked to death by the bandits who broke into their house to rob...

Instead of it being like it is now, with laughter and joy all over the place.

At this moment, the people's gratitude resonated with Li Dongyao's speech. They knew that the people sitting on the balcony were all noble figures. Although they did not know who these people were or what their official positions were, they knew that the second prince must be sitting there.

They knelt down one after another and prayed for Xie Chengze with clumsy but sincere words, "Second Prince, you must live a long life."

"Second Prince, may all diseases leave you."

"Second Prince, may Jian'an get better and better under your blessing..."

The people knelt on the ground in worship, what a grand scene it was.

Even Emperor Jian had never enjoyed such treatment, let alone the Crown Prince.

Xie Chengze covered his face, his inner shame reaching its peak.

Emperor Jian touched his chin, turned to the blushing Xie Chengze and said, "Ze'er, do you want to be the crown prince?"

By suddenly making such a big fuss, doesn't it mean that you are not interested in the throne?

Could it be that he has changed his mind again?

"What a piece of shit!" Xie Chengze cursed with his lips covered by his hands, "Don't try to exploit me! If you dare to let me become the crown prince, I will hang myself on the spot in the Golden Palace!"

Emperor Jian:?

What a great threat! I can't do anything about it.