Princess Xu truly lived up to her reputation as a daughter of a military family; she possessed great ambition and was decisive in her actions.
She directly represented the Yong Prince's Mansion and reached a cooperation agreement with the Yue Prince's Mansion.
"Ah Yuan, are we really going to start training troops?"
Back at the guest room prepared for the Fourth Prince and his wife at the Yue Prince's residence, the Fourth Prince was somewhat worried.
He had no ambition whatsoever; he only wanted to be a wealthy prince.
Expanding the army, training troops... what's next? Will they follow Helian Jue and raise the banner of rebellion?
The Fourth Prince's heart trembled at the mere thought of the word "rebellion".
"Yes! We need to train the troops!"
As the wife of the Fourth Prince, Princess Xu had gotten to know him better after spending this time with him.
Contrary to her assertive demeanor in public, she spoke softly to the Fourth Prince, "Your Highness, I know your wishes, and I also know that you are not a competitive person."
"But you are a prince. It doesn't mean you can choose not to compete!"
If you want to be a wealthy and leisurely king, you have to see if others will allow it.
Sometimes, if you don't have enough strength, you can't have a peaceful and stable life even if you don't compete or fight for it.
"Putting aside everything else, take this imperial decree ordering you to 'take up your fief' as an example. Why would the emperor make such a decision?"
Princess Xu looked into the Fourth Prince's eyes and asked seriously.
The fourth prince pursed his lips. What else could it be but "balance"?
In the capital, the fourth prince was the fifth prince's lackey, fighting alongside him in his quest for the throne.
With the alliance of the fourth and fifth princes, the third prince would be at a disadvantage.
The emperor doted on his third son and naturally did not want to see his beloved son being bullied.
The sage wanted to break up the alliance between the "fourth and fifth".
However, the fifth prince was very outstanding and had quite a few supporters from aristocratic families and civil officials in the court.
The emperor, not wanting to harm the fifth prince, sent the fourth prince to Yongzhou.
Why Yongzhou?
Besides the fact that Yongzhou was the fourth prince's fiefdom, it was also because Yongzhou was in Lingnan, and Helian Jue was expanding wildly in Lingnan.
The Emperor sent the Fourth Prince to Yongzhou to assume his fiefdom, intending for him to restrain Helian Jue and maintain a harmonious balance among the various forces in Lingnan!
"Whether in the capital or in Lingnan, our Prince Yong's Mansion is just a pawn that can be sacrificed at any time!"
"Your Highness, why? Why did this happen?"
Princess Xu's face was filled with resentment.
No one wants to be a pawn, and no one wants to be easily manipulated.
However, without sufficient strength, no matter how unwilling one is, one can only be manipulated by others.
"...It's all my fault, I'm useless, that's why you're suffering!"
Seeing Princess Xu's grief and indignation, the Fourth Prince felt somewhat guilty.
Although both were princes, his birth was even higher than that of the Fifth Prince.
But because he lacks ambition and is unwilling to compete, he has ended up in this situation today.
And his mother, who stayed in the palace, was probably worried about him too.
As a man, he felt guilty towards his wife.
As a son, he also felt he had let his mother down.
"No! Your Highness, I have never blamed you! On the contrary, I am very grateful to you!"
Princess Xu looked intently into the Fourth Prince's eyes, her expression sincere and fervent, "It is you who have shown me tolerance and are willing to give me the opportunity to prove myself!"
Not all men are willing to let their wives appear in public.
Even the most spineless man wants to prove he's not a coward by belittling and humiliating his wife.
The fourth prince was indeed a bit slow-witted, but he was still a prince.
Even if someone of noble status is a fool, others can only tolerate them.
The fourth prince did not abuse his status to bully Princess Xu. Instead, he was willing to bear the reputation of being "henpecked" and let Princess Xu develop wildly.
Of course, the reason why the Fourth Prince was so obedient was also because Princess Xu was too powerful.
But, as I said before, the fourth prince is a prince.
If he really wanted to "resist", Princess Xu could really take a spiked club and beat the fourth prince up.
Haha, do you really think the royal family is easy to talk to?
Even if the fourth prince is not the best, he is still the emperor's own flesh and blood.
A sage may look down on someone, but he will not tolerate his subjects bullying him.
If Princess Xu dares to lay a hand on the Fourth Prince, the Emperor will dare to divorce her and may even take his anger out on the entire Xu family.
...So, in the end, it was because the Fourth Prince was magnanimous and willing to tolerate Princess Xu, this "shrew"!
"I...I'm not that good either, am I?"
After being showered with praise by Princess Xu, the Fourth Prince felt embarrassed.
"No! In my heart, Your Highness is the best!"
Princess Xu continued her fervent praise.
After completely bewitching the Fourth Prince, Princess Xu steered the conversation back on track, "Your Highness, we have already been 'exiled' to Lingnan. We have nowhere to retreat!"
They've already been knocked into the abyss; the worst that can happen is death.
However, a sage who wants to be a wise ruler will not easily bear the infamy of killing his son.
Moreover, they didn't really intend to rebel; they just wanted to recruit more soldiers in Lingnan to make the Prince of Yong's mansion harder to bully.
At this time, the imperial decree rewarding the fourth prince was still on its way; otherwise, Princess Xu wouldn't have wasted so much breath.
Of course, even if she received the imperial edict, Princess Xu would not act according to the emperor's wishes—
The army definitely needs to be expanded.
But the Prince of Yong's Mansion would never be an enemy of the Prince of Yue's Mansion.
In Princess Xu's opinion, the King and Queen of Yue were much more reliable than the biased sage.
In the future... perhaps we can give it a shot.
If they succeed, their own prince will also gain merit for supporting the emperor.
If they fail, well, they're already in Lingnan, what are they afraid of?
They weren't the ringleaders; at most, they were considered accomplices. According to the nature of a sage, the ultimate punishment would be "exile"!
Princess Xu weighed all the pros and cons, and then she said firmly, "Your Highness, please give it a try. I trust Prince Yue!"
He had been the crown prince for over twenty years, and even after being deposed, he still managed to rise powerfully in Lingnan.
Princess Xu felt that Helian Jue was far superior to the pretentious and weak scholars like the Third Prince and the Fifth Prince.
Following the King and Queen of Yue, you will definitely not suffer any losses!
"Okay! Then go and give it a try!"
The fourth prince nodded vigorously, agreeing to Princess Xu's suggestion.
Princess Consort Xu: ...Why didn't the Fourth Prince try it, but instead let her?
Never mind, our prince is just a complete idiot.
It's already quite an achievement that he even asked me to take action.
Does she really intend to force the Fourth Prince to lead troops into battle?
Firstly, Princess Xu felt sorry for her;
Secondly, Princess Xu was worried. Alas, her own prince was only suited to be a wealthy and leisurely prince.
Leave the hard work and all that to her.
The couple discussed it in their room and made a final decision.
Princess Xu, representing the Prince of Yong's residence, led 1,500 personal guards and attacked Luozhou together with Helian Jue.
To demonstrate its sincerity in cooperation, the Prince of Yue's Palace specially allocated a large area of beach to the Prince of Yong's Palace for salt production.
Once the salt fields are properly cultivated, a large amount of silver will flow into the Prince of Yong's mansion the following year.
"With help, we can actually expand overseas!"
For example, that small island not only has silver mines, but can also serve as a fallback for the two princes' mansions!
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