"Wang Yucen and Zhao Zhan are in love?"
Yuan Xiu frowned deeply and asked, "The General and the Right Chancellor's residence?"
"How could it be that the Wang family and the Zhao family have a blood feud involving the murder of their son?"
"This is absolutely true!" Wen Hu argued, "I have intelligence that the Right Chancellor's wife is very fond of Wang Yucen and is already planning to propose marriage to the General's wife!"
"Is there really such an absurd thing? I really don't understand."
Yuan Xiu closed a box, sat down on the lid, and after thinking for a while, said, "Although Wang Yucen is in Yanchuan City, she lives in the former General's Mansion, her own home, and is not being held captive by the Zhao family. Her mother wrote to her asking her to come back, but she refused, which means your intelligence is reliable."
Wen Hu exclaimed excitedly, "Your Majesty is wise!"
"But the more this is the case, the less we can force her to come."
Yuan Xiu rubbed his fingers and continued, "If we push Wang Yucen too far and provoke Wang Ren's resentment, it will be easier for Wang Ren to side with the Right Prime Minister's Mansion."
"Your Majesty..." Wen Hu was at a loss for words. Without Yu Changsi's prior recitation, Wen Hu felt that he couldn't keep up with Yuan Xiu's thought process.
“There’s no need to worry about General Wang.” Yuan Xiu stood up and paced back and forth, saying, “Although Wang Yucen is not in Changsui City, her mother is still alive, so Wang Ren wouldn’t dare to act rashly. Besides, even if Wang Yucen and Zhao Zhan are in love and intend to get married, do you think the Right Chancellor would let them act recklessly and have his wife propose marriage to the General’s Mansion at this time?”
"Not only will the Right Chancellor stop this, but Wang Ren will also avoid suspicion once he finds out."
With his hands behind his back, Yuan Xiu set the tone, saying, "Let's leave it at that and not dwell on it anymore. Instead, I will personally write letters to the Right Chancellor and Wang Ren. Firstly, to comply with the Right Chancellor's wishes and allow him to retire in peace, and secondly, to properly comfort Wang Ren. I will not hold any grudges against him because of Wen Tai's matter, so that he will not harbor any resentment."
“Yes, let’s do it this way…” Yuan Xiu walked inside and said, “Wei You, arrange for someone to carry the silver into the inner treasury, and you go and grind ink for me.”
Wei You bowed and said, "Yes."
After taking a few steps, Yuan Xiu noticed that Wen Hu hadn't moved and asked suspiciously, "Lord Sha County, is there anything else?"
Wen Hu gritted his teeth, bowed, and said, "Your subject takes his leave."
The Left Prime Minister's residence had been sealed off. Wen Hu returned to his newly purchased Marquis's mansion and angrily drank several bowls of tea as soon as he entered the main hall.
Clang!
He grew angrier the more he thought about it, slammed the teacup down, and roared, "Bland and tasteless! Bring me some wine!"
As the servant brought in the wine, Yu Changsi also entered and quietly watched Wen Hu drink a large pot of it.
Yu Changsi remained silent. Although he was ostensibly the steward of the Marquis's mansion, he was still dressed in plain clothes and sat down in the chair below the main seat.
Wen Hu drank another half pot before shouting, "It's Zhao Cheng again! And Zhao Huan too! They managed to thwart your scheme with a little silver and a nominal position, sir! I'm furious!"
"I must kill them!"
"Kill them!"
After Wen Hu vented his anger, Yu Changsi calmly said, "If those two, father and son, were so easy to deal with, would the Right Prime Minister's Mansion have survived until now?"
Wen Hu looked at Yu Changsi with suspicion and asked, "Did you foresee this, sir?"
Yu Changsi said, "It's not that. It's just that I know they will definitely have a way to deal with it. Actually, there's no need for the Marquis to be angry. Although the Right Chancellor is a nominal position, that's only in the eyes of us. In the eyes of the common people, a chancellor is a chancellor, and the common people are common people. Without this title, Zhao Huan has lost some convenience and reputation among the people."
"In the long run, this is in our best interest."
Yu Changsi smiled slightly and said, "So this time, it can't be said that it was fruitless."
Hearing this, Wen Hu calmed down a bit, but still said anxiously, "But the emperor already believes them, how can we deal with them in the future?"
Yu Changsi got up and walked behind the door, slowly turned his head, and asked in return, "Lord Shaxian, are you in such a hurry?"
"Or has the situation truly reached the point where we must eliminate them?"
Wen Hu knew that Yu Changsi was testing him, so he thought for a moment and said seriously, "No, not at all."
"If that's the case, why rush things?"
Yu Changsi smiled and said, "Zhao Huan and his son are not easy to deal with. We cannot strike them down with lightning speed. So we must change our strategy and plan for the long term, taking things slowly. When the time is right, their defeat will be inevitable."
Wen Hu asked, "What should I do?"
Yu Changsi said, "Yuan Xiu's loyal minister, Yuan Li's favored minister."
...
Clang!
Chen Ling casually smashed the things in front of her to pieces, then picked up the makeup box and was about to throw it out. The two maids were terrified and didn't know what to do. One of them quickly knelt down and cried out, "Princess, this is an item bestowed by Her Majesty the Empress. You mustn't smash it!"
"What princess? I don't care!"
Chen Ling was sixteen years old. Although she was pretty, her demeanor and actions were somewhat tomboyish, and when she got angry, her eyes would flash with ferocity.
Although she was young, she loved to stick close to her father and brother since she was a child. Having spent a lot of time with the two men in her family who were officials in the court, her thinking and knowledge were much stronger than those of ordinary women. So when the decree to confer the title of Princess Qingling and the decree to bestow marriage came down at the same time, she realized what the core meaning of the decree was.
The act of bestowing the title of princess upon Chen Ke was a pretense; the real purpose was to use her to detain Zhao Zhan in Changsui City as a hostage.
Chen Ling knew very well that she was nothing more than a pawn.
But as clear as she was, she knew she was powerless to do anything and could only accept it, so she used various connections to find out some things about Zhao Zhan.
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