Chapter 659 Changning's Fate!
The people and officials of the Great Chu Kingdom finally realized what was going on!
So all the changes in the Chu Emperor over the past six months are due to this truth?
Several princes have run into trouble one after another, and even the crown prince was personally deposed by the Chu Emperor.
Is the Chu Emperor really out of his mind to allow a king from a different clan to inherit the throne?
However, he was originally a mad tyrant.
The fact that he could pass on the throne in this way doesn't seem so outrageous, and it even makes the court officials find it hard to believe.
Previously, some cunning and shrewd ministers had already made such an absurd guess.
I think I might pass the throne to the highly favored Prince of Yue.
However, their guesses about the truth were quite different; they all believed that the King of Yue was actually the illegitimate son of the King of Chu.
After all, the two of them do share a certain resemblance in their features.
Now, the truth turns out to be that he's the prince of an enemy country!?
How is this any different from handing over the Great Chu to the Great Liang?
However, countless people of the Great Chu soon came to their senses.
Prince Su of Daliang is dead!
Regardless, Prince Su is dead!
Regardless of who it is, there is one thing that the Chu Emperor is very clear about.
That is the King of Yue, who will most likely lead the State of Chu to its true peak one day.
It can completely pull the Great Chu, which was already on the verge of collapse, out of the mire.
"He will be a wise ruler..."
"You must all be loyal to him..."
"After the Great Chu... what the royal surname is... what the name of the country is... none of that matters..."
"People living in peace and contentment... national prosperity and stability... these are the foundation of a nation..."
On his deathbed, the Chu Emperor finally regained full consciousness.
He seemed to have found his former self, the one who still had a heart full of ambition.
In a daze, I felt immense regret for turning such a beautiful land into this state.
This left Rong Shi with such a mess.
Fortunately, Rong Shi did not disappoint himself.
His achievements and military exploits were enough to convince the people and officials of the Great Chu.
Moon, will you forgive me?
Now your brother has given everything to your child.
This is your brother making it up to you...
Moon, I hope to see you in hell.
But I don't want you to appear in hell.
Duan Rongshi ultimately failed to catch up with the Chu Emperor one last time.
Fortunately, the imperial edict still landed safely in his hands.
As soon as he turned around, all the court officials, led by Wei Zhaolie, knelt down at his feet.
Within six months, all the cities lost by the Great Chu were recovered.
They also drove the Western Regions army five hundred miles away from the border and even swallowed up three cities in the Western Regions.
I dare ask the world, I dare ask the entire history of the Great Chu, has there ever been such a war god who brought their Great Chu to such a high peak?
I believe that in the future, their Great Chu will reach a position that no one in the world dares to even dream of.
So, it doesn't matter whether it's Li Wu or the King of Yue, or whether it's the King of Su or the King of Lanhai.
From now on, their Great Chu will be completely turned around!
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
However, Duan Rongshi only held a brief enthronement ceremony before quickly leading all his troops back to the border.
This time, he personally led the expedition.
"We will not return to the capital until the Western Regions are destroyed!"
He entrusted the administration of the Great Chu Dynasty to several reliable individuals, such as Yang Qilang and Zhang Tingjiu, as well as several Grand Secretaries and the former Prime Minister. All the loyal and patriotic ministers he knew were invited back to the court.
Although Yang Qilang was a collateral branch of the former crown prince's maternal family, and the Yang family had been serving the crown prince for many years.
However, after the crown prince was deposed, Yang Qilang decisively chose to sever ties with the direct line of his family.
While all the former subordinates of the Crown Prince were still hoping that he could be reinstated, Yang Qilang had already been led by Zhang Tingjiu to completely surrender to the Chu Emperor and become a loyal subject who only served the Chu Emperor.
Therefore, after the truth about the King of Yue's true identity was revealed and he inherited the throne of the Great Chu, the two of them became the happiest people in the entire Great Chu court.
I'm not just happy, I'm so happy I'm going crazy.
Sure enough, their initial intuition was the most accurate!
They were close to Li Wu and trusted him, so they decisively and readily chose to favor the tyrant who favored Li Wu, even amidst the chaos.
Now that their positions are both crucial, isn't this also a way for Emperor Chu to pave the way for Li Wu... oh no, the future emperor?
Yang Qilang's collateral branch was naturally relieved that they had chosen to trust their own son, while the direct line had ceased to exist with the death of the crown prince.
From then on, there was only one Yang family in Nan'an.
Zhang Tingjiu was even more intelligent.
Even without his encouragement, Yang Qilang wouldn't have made the wise choice at the crucial moment.
However, he had a daughter, Princess Changning, who caused him a great deal of trouble.
Although Changning was not his biological daughter, he had still raised her with great favor and affection.
But just after the news spread that King Yue's true identity had been revealed and that he would inherit the throne, Changning kept cursing in her residence.
"So what if she is the Princess Consort of the Great Liang?"
"Even if she is the Princess Consort of Yue, the Princess Consort of Lanhai, or the future Empress, she is still a despicable woman!"
"How long does she think she can remain so arrogant? Whether a lowly merchant's wife can truly ascend to that throne is still an unknown."
"It would be best if she died out there and never came back, and it would be best if hundreds or thousands of women shared her favor..."
These words terrified the servants in the mansion. They quickly invited Zhang Tingjiu back and told him everything without daring to miss a single word.
Zhang Tingjiu felt his blood rush to his head and almost fainted from anger.
He finally got to where he is today, is it all just luck?
And it also depends on their own hard work and timing!
He is no longer the prince consort of the princess's mansion, but now the powerful and influential Lord Zhang!
However, all of this is about to be ruined by his beloved daughter.
If even one of these words were to be spread, it would be a capital offense punishable by the extermination of the entire clan!
He attacked Changning for the first time.
A slap sent her sprawling to the ground, blood streaming from her mouth.
Under Changning's shocked and incredulous gaze, he made a painful decision.
"Do you really think I don't know whose bloodline you are?"
"You are nothing but the bastard child born from your mother and Xie Huaiyuan!"
"And the reason I can still love you as much as before, without holding grudges, is because your father truly loves you."
"But you have done these vicious things again and again. First, you dared to poison the princess and frame that queen. If the princess hadn't let it go, do you think you would still be alive today?"
"Instead of reflecting on your actions at home, you've become increasingly malicious, and now you even dare to curse that important person without thinking at home."
"Isn't her status more noble than yours?"
Why do you insist on going against her?
“She does all the important things, while your petty tricks and intrigues in the inner quarters are not even worth her attention. In her eyes, you are nothing but a spoiled clown.”
Zhang Tingjiu's eyes turned completely cold and ruthless: "Changning, your father gave you chances. You didn't cherish them and disappointed your father time and time again."
"I can't let you continue like this."
"Father can forgive and forget and continue to treat you as his daughter, but you can't ruin our entire Zhang family."
"I won't be able to protect you anymore."
"Let's end our father-daughter relationship here."
"Guards, take the princess back to the Xie family!"
"Take their daughter for example, my Zhang family can't handle her anymore. Send her away!"
Changning cried and refused, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing until her head bled.
"Father, you can't be so heartless! Changning only recognizes you as her father, Father—"
She did not acknowledge her mistake.
She just clung to Zhang Tingjiu's leg, unwilling to leave.
If she returns to the Xie family, her status as an illegitimate child will be definitively confirmed.
How will she ever be able to hold her head high again in the whole of Nan'an?
No, she doesn't—
However, Zhang Tingjiu was determined to teach her a lesson this time, so he had someone cover Changning's mouth, stuff her into a carriage, and send her to the Xie family.
But he was also afraid that the Xie family would drive her to her death, so he sent a message to the Xie family: "Tell the Xie family that Changning is the princess's daughter. If she dies under mysterious circumstances, the Zhang family will not stand idly by!"
It is said that after Changning was sent to the Xie family, the Xie family reluctantly settled her in a state of panic.
But she still refused to rest all day in the courtyard.
First, she scolded the Xie family for being delusional, saying that she, as a princess, would never acknowledge the Xie family as relatives.
Then she cursed the Zhang family for being heartless and cruel to her.
Finally, he cursed Nangong Qingluo.
At first, the Xie family did not realize who Nangong Qingluo was.
When they realized that Nangong Qingluo was none other than Nangong Niangzi from the Flower Pavilion Restaurant, and later the Princess Consort of Yue, they understood that she was actually Nangong Niangzi.
She might even become the Empress of the Great Chu in the future, and the entire Xie family was instantly on high alert.
They were already ashamed in Nan'an because of the scandal at Ningyuan Temple. If they were to suffer the same fate because of this bastard child from Changning, their Xie family would be wiped out!
Zhang Tingjiu is truly a cunning and treacherous beast.
Knowing that Princess Changning was a troublemaker, they sent her to the Xie family to cause chaos.
Is he trying to drive the Xie family to the brink of ruin?
The Xie family knew that the new emperor was a ruthless and decisive person.
So without hesitation, they tied up Changning and gagged her tightly.
Then, after only informing the Zhang family, she was hastily married off to the Xie family's ancestral home.
Zhang Tingjiu did not get involved in the matter.
He was so busy that he only asked the servants in his mansion to find out what kind of person Changning's husband was, and then he went back to his own political struggles.
Not long after, I heard that Changning never caused any more trouble and was even sent to the countryside quietly.
Zhang Tingjiu felt a pang of pain in his heart upon hearing this.
Did the Xie family drug Changning?
Or is it a drug to make someone mute?
Whatever it may be, their methods are indeed ruthless.
"She is, after all, a daughter of the Xie family."
"But as long as I, Zhang Tingjiu, am still alive, I can keep her alive for another day."
"If she can behave herself in the future, she will still be able to struggle out of adversity."
"Never mind, let them be."
From then on, Zhang Tingjiu no longer concerned himself with matters in Changning.
Changning never returned to Nan'an in his lifetime...
However, even though Zhang Tingjiu now holds a high position and wields great power, he cannot control the government.
Soon, a situation that caused him a great deal of trouble appeared.
Those old fogies who were invited back to the court by the new emperor were a bunch of stubborn and restless old men, and he would argue with them every day until they died.
However, Zhang Tingjiu also understood in his heart that the new emperor's purpose was to make them check and balance each other.
Therefore, he would go to court every day with great enthusiasm to argue.
Perhaps, a new chapter truly awaits the return of the new emperor in their Great Chu...
However, before Duan Rongshi could return to Mantuo City, the Western Regions army had already arrived at the city gates once again.
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