Chapter 350: Taking the Initiative

Zhao Shen shook his head: "I don't know, but I found out a few days ago that the people around Xiao Kun were transferred."

"Are you still keeping an eye on Xiao Kun? Why is he mobilizing manpower?"

Ji Yunshu was a little curious.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Shen narrowed his eyes and asked, "You care about him a lot?"

Ji Yunshu blinked innocently: "As long as you don't care, I didn't ask anyone to keep an eye on him."

Zhao Shen then answered her seriously: "I don't know either. In fact, I still don't know what he wants to do."

Although he is the prince of Yong's Mansion, he often holds Yong's Mansion back.

At first, he thought that Xiao Kun did not want his illegitimate brothers to succeed, but this time the events in southern Xinjiang made him feel that Xiao Kun did not want Prince Yong to succeed at all.

But at the same time, he did not side with the emperor.

Most importantly, he established his own power under the emperor's nose.

The fact that the Dark Chamber was used by him alone was chilling enough.

Compared to the Yama Palace, which has only risen for a few years and only knows how to kill people for money and does things in a rather crude way, the Dark Chamber is a more effective tool.

Ji Yunshu thought of the person he met by the lotus pond that night of the palace banquet, and his emotions seemed to fluctuate greatly.

She suddenly said, "Maybe everything he did was just to protect himself, just like us."

Xiao Kun was born the prince of Yong. His father wanted to rebel, so he was sent to the capital as a hostage since he was a child. He had no choice in all this.

If he had known Prince Yong's intentions long ago, he would have understood that no matter whether Prince Yong succeeded or not, he would hardly have a good ending.

So it is reasonable for him to develop his own strength to protect himself.

Zhao Shen said sarcastically, "You do understand him."

Ji Yunshu: "...Isn't this something any normal person would think of? And he's helped us so many times. You don't have to be so sarcastic when you bring it up, right?"

Zhao Shen discovered that Ji Yunshu was able to directly point out things that others were embarrassed to say.

"If he is as you say, then that would be the best. With the current situation in Mobei, the Emperor has no time to focus on other things."

Ji Yunshu then realized that the topic had gone off track: "We were talking about the marriage. What does the emperor think? Does he still want Xiao Yue to go?"

Zhao Shen said, "The Emperor believes the Mobei peace talks are a cover, and he's trying to figure out their true intentions. The Mobei people haven't mentioned the marriage yet, so the Emperor naturally won't bring it up. Furthermore, I mentioned your suggestion to him, and he thought it was a good one."

"My opinion? What opinion do I have?"

Ji Yunshu completely forgot that he had any opinions about the marriage.

"Didn't you say that if we wanted a marriage alliance, it would be best to let the princes from Mobei stay? The emperor feels that if these two princes want to inherit the throne, he will not agree. We can take this opportunity to negotiate terms and test their bottom line."

Ji Yunshu then remembered that she seemed to have talked about this with Zhao Shen before, but she just said it casually at the time.

Because if there is bound to be a war between the two countries, it is better for the prince of Mobei to stay in the capital than for the princess of Daxia to go to Mobei.

"That means the Emperor has no interest in peace talks, let alone a marriage, right?"

From this point of view, Ji Yunshu still admired the emperor. It was not an easy thing to insist on one's own ideas in the atmosphere of peace in the court.

"The Emperor simply understands Mobei's evil ambitions better than anyone else. It's best not to fight if it's possible, but if Mobei is truly confident, how could he not want to march south? Don't worry too much about the Emperor retreating. Right now, the Emperor fears more than anyone else that something might happen to your father and brother."

If Mobei wants to march south, the Ji family father and son will be a hurdle they cannot overcome.

As far as the current situation is concerned, they will not gain any advantage in a head-on confrontation. The best way is to attack the father and son of the Ji family first.

Just like he was in his previous life.

As soon as the father and son of the previous century family got into trouble, they realized that something was wrong, so the emperor asked him to find out the truth, but it was too late.

So when he had the chance to do it again, he asked the emperor to pay more attention to Mobei.

Thinking of this, he smiled and said, "This time, we finally have the upper hand."

Ji Yunshu also sighed: "Yes, we have the upper hand and know the future direction. If we can't win even with this, then maybe it's fate."

Zhao Shen had indeed been busy these days and had not had enough rest. As the two of them talked, they soon became sleepy.

Ji Yunshu touched his brows, which were still furrowed in his sleep, and shook his head.

I got up, turned off the lights and went to bed.

The next day, Ji Yunshu opened his eyes and found Zhao Shen still there. He quickly woke him up: "Don't you have to go to court today? Are you going to be late?"

Zhao Shen didn't open his eyes, but instead pulled her into his arms and murmured, "The Emperor has granted me a day off. I don't need to go to court today. Stay with me and sleep for a while."

Ji Yunshu also understood that everything that needed to be discussed had been discussed, and it didn't matter whether Zhao Shen was present at the court meeting, so that's why he was given a holiday.

She couldn't fall asleep the moment she woke up, so she naturally wouldn't let Zhao Shen continue sleeping: "Your Majesty is so generous. It would be a waste to spend the whole day sleeping."

Zhao Shen wanted to cover her mouth: "You didn't say you wanted to sleep all day, forget it, what do you want to do?"

His voice, just waking up, was low and pleasant to the ear. Ji Yunshu touched his slightly rolling Adam's apple and asked, "Do you have any plans?"

Zhao Shen said, "I still have some unfinished business. Does that count as an arrangement?"

Ji Yunshu said seriously, "Of course not. This is your rest time, how can you use it to handle official business? The emperor won't give you any extra salary."

Zhao Shen chuckled, "You're right. Actually, in order to entertain the envoys from Mobei, the Emperor made a last-minute decision to go to the hunting grounds. Firstly, to buy time, secondly, to show them our military might, and thirdly, since the weather is getting hotter, and since it's close to the summer palace, it's a good opportunity to escape the heat."

Ji Yunshu's eyes lit up. "Let's go to the palace. It's only June and it's already so hot. I don't know how hard it will be later. How long will it take?"

"If all goes well, we'll finally get through this summer."

Zhao Shen also felt that the heat this year was a bit unusual.

Thinking of the drought that occurred in his previous life, he felt a little heavy in his heart. Fortunately, he had mentioned this matter to the emperor a long time ago, so when the weather got warmer, the emperor asked his subordinates to pay attention to the drought.

With advance preparation, it should be able to ease some of the pressure when the time comes.

"Then why are you still sleeping in? Hurry up and get up. The emperor should also tell you about such a big thing earlier."

Zhao Shen smiled and said, "Why rush? The emperor's decree will only be issued today, just to catch some people off guard."

"Okay, I know that besides what you just said, the emperor must have other plans for making such a sudden move. But let's think about our own affairs first. Given the current situation in the mansion, are we the only ones going?"

Although Lord Zhao holds an official position, he is an invisible man both inside and outside the mansion.

Yao wants to be the housekeeper, and now she has fallen out with Princess Taining, so she may not go.

Zhao Heng had no official position, but of course he could go because of his status as a son of a marquis.

Thinking of this, she suddenly thought that although Zhao Hengwen was not good, he still had some talent in martial arts.

It is hard to say whether Yao will not seize this opportunity and let Zhao Heng take the lead.