"Your father passed away long ago. Your royal grandfather and grandmother seemed to love you dearly, but when the time came, they still gave up on you! Now they're even going to take away your father's status as the crown prince! How will you gain a foothold in the palace in the future? Wuwuwu~~~~"

The Crown Princess was sobbing while clutching her handkerchief, looking miserable.

Zhongli Tao frowned upon hearing this: "Mother, Grandmother and Grandfather must have their reasons for doing this. My son is not in good health, but he is still alive because of Grandfather and Grandmother's meticulous care. Please don't say such things again in the future. It's not nice for others to hear."

He lost his father when he was just over one year old, so naturally he has no impression of him.

But he was raised by Emperor Mingde and Jiang Qianruo, so naturally he felt somewhat dissatisfied with the Crown Princess's complaints about them.

When the Crown Princess heard that her son didn't stand by her side and instead turned around to blame her, she was immediately even more heartbroken: "What sin have I committed! I gave birth to a son who is not at all caring and is alienated from me! Tell me, if your father wasn't the Crown Prince, how would we live now?! We would have to worry about food and clothing. Do you think you can adapt?"

"Don't you think your grandparents love you? Go and beg them for mercy, ask them to take back their decision! Otherwise, they're going to kill us both!"

As the Crown Princess said this, she was about to go over and pull Zhongli Tao over, taking him to Yanfu Palace to ask to see the Queen.

Zhongli Tao naturally refused: "It's useless for me to occupy this title now. It should be given to those who need it. I won't go!"

The Crown Princess's face twisted. "You have to go even if you don't want to! If you don't go today, I'll pretend you're not my son!"

Zhongli Tao was startled and looked at her in disbelief.

Seeing him like this, the Crown Princess's expression softened, tears welling up in her eyes. "Tao'er, I'm not forcing you, but I have no other choice! If I lose my title of Crown Princess today, and your father isn't the Crown Prince, not only will we have to leave the Eastern Palace where you grew up, but we'll also be bullied every time we go out!"

"You're weak, and you can't fight back when you're bullied. I'm worried about your health!"

Zhongli Tao pursed his lips, a little stubborn: "I have guards with me, they won't watch me being bullied, don't worry mother."

Seeing that he was unmoved, the Crown Princess grew anxious and raised her voice, "What should I do then? When I go out, I'm no longer the Crown Princess, but a widow of a deceased prince! Do you know how much cold stares and ridicule I'll face when I go out? Don't you even consider me?"

Zhongli Tao seemed to understand something.

He remained silent: "I won't go."

After saying this, he shook off the Crown Princess's hand and returned to his room alone.

The Crown Princess looked at him like this and her face turned ashen with anger.

——

Many people originally thought that Emperor Mingde was just hot-headed and confused.

However, unexpectedly, as time passed, Emperor Mingde not only did not revoke his order, but became more and more concerned about teaching Zhonglizhou.

He almost never took charge of the morning court, leaving everything to Zhonglizhou to handle, only occasionally giving some guiding opinions.

On the other hand, although Zhongli Zhou has not yet reached adulthood, after a month of instruction, he has gone from being flustered to being able to handle things with ease.

Even the few neutral ministers who had been watching from the sidelines began to soften their attitudes.

The faces of King Yi and King Xuan became gloomier and uglier day by day.

The two of them were not willing to make things difficult for each other openly, but they did a lot of tricks in private, but they were all easily resolved by Zhonglizhou.

Furthermore, with Ji Changying's mediation, Zhonglizhou signed a 'Ten-Year Non-Aggression Agreement' on behalf of Dali and the Crown Prince of Beiyan.

Dali sold a large number of potatoes and sweet potatoes to Beiyan by taking advantage of its good quality and low price, and would exchange the money for the goods the following year.

When this news broke out, people in the court finally understood.

Wow! They actually have these two things!

And the yields of these two crops are so high!

What? And it was all done with Princess Hua?!

Is it actually already happening quietly in Liangzhou?

I don’t know what others were thinking, but the Minister of Revenue, Wei Qiumao, was so anxious that he was scratching his head and wanted to catch Ji Changying and have a good talk with her on the spot about how he did it.

But because he was still in court, he could only look at Ji Fengshou who was standing in the corner.

Wei Qiumao did not have a deep impression of Ji Fengshou. In the past, he just thought that this man had a vulgar temperament, was a bit rustic, and looked useless.

Thinking that this man was Princess Hehua's father, Wei Qiumao looked at him again and felt that this man was a hidden talent.

Look!

They were all so shocked by the news that they couldn't recover. The man stood there with his hands in his pockets, motionless as a mountain, and his eyes lowered, looking so unfathomable!

As expected, he is Princess Hehua’s father. A tiger father will have a dog daughter!

Wei Qiumao looked at Ji Fengshou with awe.

Ji Fengshou was feeling sleepy and dazed. He felt someone was paying attention to him. He stood up straight with a start and looked over quietly while feeling the gaze.

He saw the Minister of Revenue with a flushed face and his eyes looking at him with a burning eagerness that almost drowned him.

Ji Fengshou couldn't help but wrap his clothes tightly when he was stared at and quickly turned his head away.

Oh my God!

This bald guy, does he have any special "hobby"?

Looking at the ministers who were stunned by the news one after another, Emperor Mingde couldn't help feeling a little proud.

In the past few years, these people often laughed at him and the Queen behind their backs, saying that they were not a good person at all!

There were also people who whispered behind their backs that it was because they had committed too much sin of killing that caused all the children to die young.

Although he was furious and punished some people at the time, those words also pierced his heart deeply like thorns.

Now, it has finally been pulled out.

When no one in the court spoke, Emperor Mingde spoke up, "It's almost the end of the year. From now on, you won't have to attend court every day. Everyone can relax. In addition, there will be a palace banquet the day after tomorrow. All of you ministers of the seventh rank and above can bring your families to the palace to attend and enjoy the atmosphere."

Emperor Mingde's oral order lifted everyone's spirits, and they couldn't help but glance at Zhongli Zhou.

"Your Majesty, I obey your command!"

There have been rumors for a long time that a concubine is to be chosen for Zhonglizhou. Now that the emperor specifically mentioned bringing his family into the palace, doesn't that mean that he is ready to start the matchmaking process?

Many people were thinking about going back quickly and informing their families.

Ji Fengshou had successfully spent another day there. When he heard that he no longer had to attend the morning court, he was ready to go home in high spirits. However, Wei Qiumao blocked his way: "Master Ji!"

Ji Fengshou shuddered, smiled dryly, and turned to greet him, "Master Wei!"

"We've worked together for so long, and I've never visited you. Isn't today your day off? I wonder if I'd be honored to come and have a cup of tea with you?"