***
Jade Kingdom.
"Your Highness, the Empress requests an audience," a servant reported from inside the Eastern Palace of Yu Chuyi.
Yu Chuyi paused slowly as he reviewed the memorials, lifted his eyelids, and nodded after a moment: "Please invite the Empress Dowager in."
After she finished speaking, the eunuch left and soon Jing Ning hurriedly walked in. As soon as she saw Yu Chuyi, she pleaded with him with red eyes.
"Your Highness, my sister-in-law has been captured by Anguo. Could you help my brother demand her release from Anguo?"
Yu Chuyi watched as Jing Ning arrived, pleading with him to save the Crown Princess of Jing Kingdom, her face filled with worry and anxiety.
If he remembered correctly, the Crown Princess of Jing Kingdom was abducted to An Kingdom, and Prince Jinglu of Li Kingdom, Empress Dowager Zheng, and Consort Zheng, all of Jing Ning's relatives, went there one after another.
Yu Chuyi had rarely seen Jing Ning shed tears and grieve for them, but he was surprised that she would ask him for help from a sister-in-law of the emperor.
"Mother, Jing Yan has just harmed all your closest relatives. Aren't those people closer than your sister-in-law?"
The news of her loved ones' deaths was still fresh in her mind, but when they insisted on sending Jingning to the Jade Kingdom, Jingning's heart died.
She didn't want her body anymore, but her sister-in-law persuaded her to live and to find a way to face things that suited her.
Despite all the embarrassment she encountered, Jingning could not deny that when she met someone, she still had the will to live and did not want to hastily end her life.
A look of sorrow appeared on her face as she said sadly, "They will make a terrible mistake sooner or later, and I am just one of the victims of their terrible mistake."
"They were already driving me to my death, but my sister-in-law, who empathized with me, persuaded me to live. Your Highness, please save my sister-in-law, as a way of repaying her kindness."
Yu Chuyi remained silent after listening. He had no favors to Jing Yan and had been tricked twice without getting revenge. What could he do to help?
With Jing and An locked in a struggle, both countries will inevitably seek assistance. Yu Chuyi will wait and see who pays the higher price before helping them.
Seeing Yu Chuyi hesitate slightly, Jing Ning felt a sense of difficulty. She stepped forward and was about to grab Yu Chuyi's sleeve: "Chu..."
Just then, someone rushed in to report: "Your Highness, the Crown Prince Jing Yan of Jing Kingdom has sent four hundred shi of grain, plus twenty boxes of gold and silver jewelry, to Yu Kingdom."
"He said he was very grateful to His Highness the Crown Prince for his help in procuring grain from the Dragon Tiger Camp a few months ago. In addition to sending an extra hundred shi of grain, he also gave twenty boxes of jewels as a token of his gratitude. He hoped His Highness the Crown Prince would accept them with a smile."
Before Yu Chuyi could react, Jingning was overjoyed: "It must be that my brother wants to save my sister-in-law. He invited Your Highness."
Yu Chuyi frowned, turned around and paced back and forth: "Mother, you are really naive."
This wasn't Jing Yan seeking his help at all. The last time, An Chenghuan wanted to wear Jing Yan down to death at the Chenqi border, but Jing Yan unexpectedly received relief from the Yu Kingdom.
An Chenghuan missed a golden opportunity, which made him suspect that Yu Guo and Jing Guo were plotting against each other. Only then did Yu Chuyi regain his trust.
The grain that Jingyan sent originally belonged to the Jade Kingdom. So what if there were an extra hundred shi (a unit of dry measure) and twenty boxes of jewels?
The fact that this was sent at this critical juncture clearly shows that Jing Yan was afraid that Yu Guo would help An Guo, so he sent the gift to Yu Guo as a formality, hoping to make An Chenghuan reconsider his cooperation with him.
If An Chenghuan doesn't rely on Yu Kingdom's help, Yu Kingdom can't profit from it, and Jing Kingdom won't be afraid of Yu Kingdom helping An Kingdom.
At least Yu Chuyi wouldn't help Jing Yan for no reason.
This was the third time Jing Yan had schemed against him.
"Chu Yi, please help my imperial brother!"
"Stop making noise," Jing Ning urged him from behind as Yu Chuyi was about to plan what to do next. He became agitated and swung his arm violently.
Jing Ning was violently thrown away, staggered a few steps, and stared in astonishment at Yu Chuyi's back.
Yu Chuyi suddenly felt the silence behind him. He turned around and saw Jing Ning staring at him with restraint and fear, just like the look in her eyes when she saw her father on her wedding night.
Seeing this, Yu Chuyi suppressed his fierce expression and softened his demeanor.
"Isn't the Empress Dowager just asking me to help Jingyan save your sister-in-law? We'll see how things go, and if there's a way, we'll help."
"Someone, take away the lavish gift from the Crown Prince of Jing," Yu Chuyi ordered to the outside.
Jing Ning didn't know why Yu Chuyi's expression changed so drastically, sometimes gentle, sometimes terrifying, but it seemed that he had always been like this since she got to know him.
In the entire palace, she could only trust him, and only wanted to trust him; she was content with promising to save her sister-in-law.
Jing Ning nodded in relief: "Thank you, Your Highness."
Anguo.
After Yue Jiang was brought into the palace by An Chenghuan, he often came to talk to her at first.
Yue Jiang ignored him. An Chenghuan came over one last time and told her to think it over carefully. He hasn't come back since.
Aside from restricting her freedom and requiring her to move around with others, she was well-fed and cared for in her daily life.
The only downside is that Yue Jiang misses Jing Yan and Zhang'er, and Jing Lu threw away her original love knot.
Having nothing better to do, I borrowed a few red ropes to make love knots; just looking at them was nice enough.
But as she looked, Yue Jiang's eyes welled up with tears. She murmured to herself, "Jing Yan, if it's too difficult to save me, you don't have to. But you must take good care of Zhang'er. If I hear you treating Zhang'er badly, I will hate you for the rest of my life."
As she spoke, she burst into tears, saying, "What's the use of just hating you? Who knows if you'll even care anymore..."
The knot of love was almost finished. Just as Yue Jiang wiped away her tears and continued, a commotion suddenly arose outside the palace. She listened quietly.
"If we let the Crown Princess in, it will harm the baby in her womb. You cannot take responsibility for that."
Immediately following, another woman's arrogant voice rang out: "Get out of the way! His Majesty has brought her back to the palace and hidden her for so long. Is it because he can't bear to see her, or because he can't bear to see me?"
“She can’t stand to see me. I’m coming to see her in person. If you dare to stop me again, believe me, I’ll jump off these steps.”
As soon as the woman finished speaking, followed by an apologetic sound, the door to Yue Jiang's place creaked open from the outside.
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