Yuan Xiu took the letter and asked in confusion, "How did the Princess's letter end up in your hands?"

Mu Shanyue said, "When I left the palace, I happened to meet the messenger. She claimed that she came from the Right Prime Minister's residence by express courier, saying that it was a private letter from the Eldest Princess to His Majesty. I didn't trust anyone else to deliver it, so I brought it over myself."

"Thank you for your hard work, Elder Mu."

Yuan Xiu nodded, unfolded the letter, and quickly began to read it.

Everyone secretly observed Yuan Xiu's expression and saw that he kept his brows furrowed, so they knew that this letter must be related to the Battle of Muqiaokou.

Yuan Xiu put down the letter and said weakly, "My brother-in-law is always causing me trouble!"

“My elder sister said that her child cannot be born without a father.”

"Tell me, is it absolutely necessary to save Zhao Cheng?"

Everyone understood, and they had a general idea of ​​what was going on in their minds.

Wen Tai said, "From a personal perspective, Your Majesty should save him. But from the perspective of the state, it is not appropriate to save Zhao Cheng at this time."

Wen Tai's words struck a chord with Yuan Xiu, who quickly said, "Left Prime Minister, please continue. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"Firstly, it's not in our best interest. As Your Majesty said, both our army and the Southern Zhou army suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of Muqiaokou. Yang Zhanbei will not release Zhao Cheng easily and will definitely take the opportunity to extort money from us. We know Yang Zhanbei's appetite; he will definitely want the bridge and the land. We have already suffered enough losses; we cannot afford to lose any more."

"Secondly, it's not in the best interests of our nation. The Great Jing and the Southern Zhou have only been allied for less than a year. At the state banquet, the Prince of Southern Zhou personally came, regarding our Great Jing as a superior nation. Our Great Jing also humiliated them by not giving them the Princess. Now, however, we are actively begging them to save the Princess and her husband. Where is the face of our Great Jing?"

"Thirdly, it's inappropriate from a moral standpoint. Everyone here should know what happened to the Champion King back then. To protect the two bridges, the Champion King sacrificed his son, daughter-in-law, and his most beloved grandson, yet he never complained to the court. If the court were to agree to the Southern Zhou's conditions now for the sake of the imperial son-in-law, what would the Champion King think? Your Majesty, doing this would chill the Champion King's heart!"

"Yes! Absolutely right!" Yuan Xiu clapped his hands and pointed at Wen Tai, saying, "Interests! Face! Favors! The Left Prime Minister's reasoning is clear and well-founded; Zhao Cheng truly cannot be saved!"

“But…” Yuan Xiu waved the letter in his hand, frowning as he said, “I’m also in a difficult position with my elder sister!”

Chen Changyun's eyes darted around, and he leaned closer, saying, "Your Majesty, I have an idea."

"you say."

"The princess said in her letter that she could not let her child be born without a father."

Chen Changyun chuckled wickedly and looked at Wen Tai, saying, "Then why don't we hurry up and find a father for the child? I think the Earl of Sha County is very suitable! The Earl of Sha County has never married and is getting old, so he and the Princess are a perfect match!"

Wen Tai coughed a few times, lowered his head, and neither agreed nor disagreed.

Yuan Xiu pondered seriously, muttering, "This idea is a bit underhanded, but it's not a bad one. However, I need to discuss it properly with my elder sister. We must ensure that she takes over Zhao Cheng's business legitimately first, and not let these businesses fall into the hands of the Right Chancellor's residence..."

"This is utterly absurd!" Mu Shanyue couldn't stand it any longer and said, stroking his white beard, "The Princess's marriage is a matter of national importance; how can you arrange it like this!"

Yuan Xiu said unhappily, "Elder Mu, I don't see anything wrong with it. What insight do you have?"

Mu Shanyue said solemnly, "The Princess did not mean that the child is fatherless. What Your Highness wants is Zhao Cheng, and what Your Majesty wants is for Your Majesty to protect Zhao Cheng!"

Yuan Xiu, barely suppressing his anger, said, "How could I not know? But you also heard what the Left Chancellor said. Putting everything else aside, how are we going to explain this to the Prince of Champion?"

“Yes.” Yuan Xiu suddenly realized something and asked doubtfully, “Such a big thing happened, why didn’t the Imperial Uncle report it to me? He should at least let me know what he was thinking!”

"Then let's wait for news from the Champion King!" Mu Shanyue insisted. "Your Majesty can send someone to find the Champion King at full speed and hear his opinion."

Wei You also said, "Your Majesty, I also believe that the opinion of the Champion King should be respected in this matter, as he is the one who understands the whole incident best."

Yuan Xiu pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Left Prime Minister, does Wen Hu have a subordinate with exceptional lightness skills? Send her on this mission."

Wen Tai was startled, realizing that His Majesty was paying more and more attention to his Left Prime Minister's residence.

This is not a good sign.

"Your subject understands."

At this moment, the eunuch who had come up earlier ran over again.

"Your Majesty, the Champion King has a secret memorial to present!"

Yuan Xiu was overjoyed and said, "I knew it! How could the Imperial Uncle remain silent on such a momentous matter!"

Yuan Xiu opened the secret memorial, expecting it to contain a lot of information, but to his surprise, it contained only four words.

"Zhao'er must be saved."

After reading it, Yuan Xiu closed the secret report.

Everyone was somewhat surprised to see Yuan Xiu read so quickly.

Wen Tai tentatively asked, "Your Majesty, what did the Champion King say?"

Yuan Xiu handed the secret report to Wen Tai and said, "You should all take a look."

Wen Tai carefully opened the secret document, and Mu Shanyue, Chen Changyun, and the others crowded around.

"Zhao'er must be saved?" Wen Tai's face darkened.

Mu Shanyue quickly said, "Your Majesty, the Champion King has ordered you to save Zhao Cheng!"

Chen Changyun remained silent.

Tie Ge pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, the Champion King has always been a person who considers the overall situation. The fact that he can express his attitude like this shows that rescuing Zhao Cheng is beneficial to the overall situation."

He Yin echoed, "Your Majesty, please make a decision as soon as possible!"

Yuan Xiu raised his hand to silence the crowd, then walked alone to the railing of the Star Gazing Tower, his back to the crowd.

He remained silent, occasionally glancing at the dark clouds in the sky, and sometimes at the scenery below.

Everyone knew the emperor was thinking, and even their breathing became softer.

boom!

A muffled thud was heard, and then a torrential downpour began.

Yuan Xiu laughed instead, saying, "The downpour has finally come. The rain has stopped and the clouds have dispersed, which means the sky won't collapse!"

As he spoke, Yuan Xiu turned around to face the crowd, his expression becoming serious.

"Interests, face, and personal relationships—if you want to save Zhao Cheng, these three things will be problematic."

"The Left Prime Minister is right, but we've misunderstood!"

"Now that the personal favors have been settled, let's settle the issues of interests and face."

"Why does our Great Jing demand that Southern Zhou release the people? Why must we meet their conditions? On what grounds?"

"Yang Qingzhi was the one who struck first in the Battle of Muqiaokou. If the alliance is ultimately broken, it will be the Southern Zhou side that has violated the rules!"

"Zhao Cheng wants to save them, but not by begging them to release them; he wants to force them to release them!"

"Our Great Jing drove out the sea pirates, pacified the Western Regions, and destroyed the Ye Dan. Why should we be afraid of the Southern Zhou?"

"If Southern Zhou releases Zhao Cheng, the Battle of Muqiaokou will be considered a military exercise between the two countries. If they do not release him, then the Battle of Muqiaokou will be Southern Zhou declaring war on our Great Jing!"

"Then the iron hooves of my Great Jing will sweep across Wei Lake and annihilate them!!"

Boom! Boom!

A muffled clap of thunder sounded, and Mu Shanyue, Wen Tai, and the others all knelt down, shouting "Long live the Emperor!"

"Long live the Emperor!! May the Great Jing Dynasty last ten thousand years!!"