After voicing his speculations to Li Shimin and the others, everyone was astonished.
They hadn't expected that a few chess pieces, placed casually at the time, would produce such an unexpected effect.
If the Tianwei Department alone was involved here, what about the other departments?
Li Xiaogong ultimately made his move on the volcano, planting the Great Tang's flag of the Sun, Moon, and Five Stars.
The reason was that he had learned from Fang Er that a volcano's eruption required years of accumulated internal pressure, and having just erupted, it should not erupt a second time in a short period.
Much like certain people and certain things.
Heh heh heh, if you have the ability, keep erupting! kanoshu.xa
The fleet departed from the Kamchatka Peninsula, and unlike before, the subsequent voyage was closer to the coastline.
The helicopters did not return to the ships but continued to fly in the air.
Six helicopters, maintaining a distance of over ten li, extended from the fleet inland, attempting to find traces of the Tianwei Department.
After passing Anadyr, the sea ahead suddenly narrowed, entering the Bering Strait.
Further ahead, ice floes appeared on the sea, and the weather grew colder.
In the ship's activity room, Chang Le, dressed like a little bear, sat beside Fang Er holding a doll, watching the scenery outside the porthole.
In the distance, a group of seals poked their heads out of the water, clumsily climbing onto the ice floes and curiously observing the massive fleet before them.
This area was within the Arctic Circle, and Alaska was on the eastern shore of the strait. Despite searching this far, the helicopters had still not received any news of the Tianwei Department.
Li Xiuning, Hua Mulan, Mu Guiying, Qin Liangyu, along with Empress Zhangsun, were engrossed in a game of "Three Kingdoms Kill," happily trying to identify the spies.
Huh? Why can't I pick up this piece of abalone?
Ninth Brother, are you blind? Look where your chopsticks are going.
Damn it! Duke Mao was right, look, you're hurting the girl by pinching her like that!
Uh, hehe, that'sā¦ my eyesight is bad, it veered off course~~
Oh, come on, I think your mind wandered off course!
~~~~~~
Suddenly, from a nearby walkie-talkie, the conversation between Li Shimin, Li Xiaogong, and Li Ji could be heard.
Fang Er froze for a moment and quickly walked over to turn off the walkie-talkie.
As soon as he finished doing so, he noticed Li Xiuning and Empress Zhangsun looking at him with displeasure.
"Turn it back on! I want to hear what those three unreliable fellows have been busy with all day on that ship!"
Li Xiuning threw down her cards on the table, saying with considerable annoyance.
Fang Er helplessly turned the walkie-talkie back on and respectfully handed it to Li Xiuning.
"The three old Li's, you're on your own. It's not that I'm not covering for you, it's just that you're asking for trouble!
If you're going to eat, shouldn't you turn off the walkie-talkie first?
By the way, who accidentally touched the transmit button of the walkie-talkie?"
Immediately after, the three men's discussion could be heard again from the walkie-talkie.
The more Li Xiuning listened, the more she felt something was wrong, and her brows gradually furrowed into a character 'å·'.
"Send me to that ship to take a look!"
She commanded Fang Er coldly, then looked at Empress Zhangsun.
"Sister, you don't need to go. Just listen with the walkie-talkie here."
With the elder sister's command, Fang Er had no choice but to comply. He recalled one of the helicopters searching outside and used its hoist to send Li Xiuning over.
Empress Zhangsun sat there silently. After Li Xiuning left, she smiled at Hua Mulan and the others and said, "Come, sisters, let's continue playing. It has nothing to do with them, brother and sister."
Chang Le quietly tugged on Fang Er's sleeve: "Brother-in-law, did Dad and Ninth Uncle steal food and make Auntie unhappy?"
Fang Er nodded awkwardly: "It seems so. Brother-in-law, shall we go back to the room and play 'Candy Crush'?"
Some things, it wasn't appropriate for him to overhear, and it was best to slip away early.
Saying that, he took Chang Le and walked outside.
Not long after they left, Li Xiuning also arrived on another ship and, without anyone noticing, appeared in Li Xiaogong's cabin.
The sound of the cabin door opening finally alerted Li Shimin and the others.
The three instinctively looked over, only to find Li Xiuning glaring at them with a frosty expression.
"Good! No wonder you three have been on this ship for so many days without returning. So, there's something fishy going on here!"
"Your, Your, Your Highness the Eldest Princess, why, why have you come?" Li Xiaogong was dumbfounded. Why did this tigress decide to visit this ship?
"Ah~~ Your Majesty, this subject has a severe abdominal pain, I must take my leave first~" Li Ji clutched his stomach, feigning great pain, and got up to leave.
*Bang!*
Li Xiuning raised her leg and kicked Li Ji.
"Leave? You won't get out of here until you explain things clearly to me!"
Being able to capture a fierce lion, her combat power was no weaker than these three.
Don't talk about "a good man doesn't fight with a woman"; even if they did fight, the key was whether they were a match, wasn't it?
Compared to martial arts, Li Ji's stat distribution leaned more towards intelligence. This kick sent him sprawling to the ground.
Seeing this, Li Shimin hurriedly said with a wronged expression, "Elder Sister, you've misunderstood. I was also~~"
"Right, I was dragged here by Ninth Uncle!"
"Ninth Uncle wouldn't let me leave and insisted I stay to play 'Dou Dizhu' with him~~"
As he spoke, he winked at Li Xiaogong, thinking "May my fellow unfortunate brother die before me, Ninth Uncle, I'll have to inconvenience you~"
Li Xiaogong: ???
Why is it always me who gets hurt!
He quickly plastered on a smile and said, "Your Highness the Eldest Princess, please don't misunderstand. Th, this, this is a maidservant sent by officials from Wa-fu when I was looking for fresh water.
They said, they said, they said this is the highest form of courtesy for the people of Wa-fu.
As the saying goes, 'He who embraces all rivers, gains immense capacity.' Since our Great Tang has accepted Wa-fu, we should also accept this along with it, shouldn't we?
Researching the customs of Wa-fu is, is very beneficial for our governance of Wa-fu, don't you think so?"
Upon hearing this, Li Ji's eyes lit up: "Yes, yes, yes! Your Highness the Eldest Princess, Your Majesty and Ninth Uncle are indeed researching the customs of Wa-fu~"
"Heh, hehe, heh heh heh~"
Li Xiuning sneered, walked to the table, and gently patted the Wa woman's face a few times.
"Then, guess if I'll believe this explanation?"
The three were awkwardly at a loss for how to respond.
The cabin was air-conditioned, and their clothes were thin. Li Ji's eyes darted around. Taking advantage of Li Xiuning not paying attention to him, he slipped his right hand into his clothes and tucked it under his left armpit.
Then he raised his left arm and suddenly dropped it.
*Pfft~~~*
A sound like a fart came from his armpit.
Then he quickly covered his backside, his face turning red, and shouted, "Your Highness the Eldest Princess, this subject cannot hold it any longer, I will return to apologize to you later~"
Saying that, he immediately ran out of the cabin again.