"Did Madam Zhao use similar rhetoric to deceive my son?"
Princess Fu Ya didn't buy into Gu Jiu's tricks at all.
Gu Jiu lowered his head and smiled with pursed lips.
After laughing, she continued, "That wasn't bewitching. I gave you an ideal."
Princess Fuya directly retorted, "I gave my son a living. Ideals cannot be eaten, and ideals cannot change His Majesty's decision not to chop off his head."
Gu Jiu raised his eyebrows and smiled.
Princess Fuya was furious. "What are you laughing at? Are you laughing at my unfounded worries? Are you sure Liu Zhao can inherit the throne?"
Gu Jiu slowly shook his head. "I'm not sure Liu Zhao will definitely inherit the throne. Excluding the few little princes who were born after Your Majesty ascended the throne, every prince has a chance."
Princess Fuya laughed.
Gu Jiu said frankly, "I now know what Your Highness is worried about. You're worried that your son will have too much contact with this lady, and if anything happens to Liu Zhao and me, he'll be implicated."
Princess Fuya raised her head, her eyes scornful. "Are you trying to say my worries are unnecessary? I solemnly tell you, only when you and Liu Zhao are 100% sure of success will my worries be unnecessary. Even if there's even the slightest possibility of failure, my worries are necessary."
Gu Jiu nodded. "Your Highness has a loving motherly heart. No matter how much you worry, it will never seem unnecessary. I am also worried about my children. I am always afraid that they will encounter danger, be bullied or deceived... In short, I am always worried. I can't guarantee to Your Highness that Liu Zhao and I will succeed 100%. I can only promise that your son will not be beheaded by His Majesty."
"How can you guarantee that my Qubing won't be beheaded? It's only been a few years since the Prince of Zhao forced the emperor to abdicate. Haven't fewer people died? Look at the officials in the Prince of Zhao's palace. Who is still alive? How many officials who had close ties with the Prince of Zhao are still alive?"
Princess Fu Ya's eyes were sharp. She wanted to force Gu Jiu to stay away from her son Huang Qubing.
She would not allow anyone to drag her precious son into the abyss of the struggle for the throne.
Gu Jiu frowned slightly, "In the eyes of His Highness, my Liu Zhao is on the same level as Prince Zhao. Is he as stupid as Prince Zhao?" How could this lady not see this?
Princess Fuya chuckled, "Speaking of these princes and grandchildren, I know their character better than you do. Let me tell you, no matter how smart, clever, or steady they are in normal times, when the critical moment comes, they all rush into hot-bloodedness, abandoning everything and going to extremes. Without exception."
Gu Jiu frowned even more, and she pointed at her face, "Your Highness, look at me. Do you think I'm just like the Princess Zhao, a woman in the inner chamber who listens to men in everything? Even if one day, as you said, Liu Zhao gets carried away and wants to go to extremes, Your Highness will assume that I have no way to persuade Liu Zhao?
Are you sure that I can only follow Liu Zhao and throw myself into the fire, dying without a burial place, with no backup plan and no second way to go?
Your Highness may look down on Liu Zhao, treating him like a fool like the King of Zhao. But Your Highness should not look down on me. Let me put it this way: even if Liu Zhao gets dizzy and wants to go to extremes one day, I have a hundred ways to calm him down and make him follow the plan."
This time it was Princess Fuya's turn to frown. "I didn't know Liu Zhao was actually a henpecked man. Every time I see him outside, he always looks fierce. I thought he was the one who made the decisions in your family."
Gu Jiu laughed, "In our family, he makes the decisions on major matters, and I make the decisions on minor matters. But usually, no major incidents occur. Even if a major incident occurs, this lady has the ability to make it a minor one."
Princess Fuya laughed out loud, "I unexpectedly like you like this."
Gu Jiu was curious, "Did His Highness not like me before?"
Princess Fuya was also very bold in saying, "Of course I don't like it. You speak so softly and gently, but you clearly think that I am unhappy, yet you pretend to be polite on the surface. It seems hypocritical."
Gu Jiu was a little hurt.
She was a little amused and said, "Your Highness, I am just being sensible and polite."
"In my eyes, you are hypocritical."
You are hypocritical, your whole family is hypocritical.
Gu Jiu rolled his eyes at Princess Fu Ya.
Princess Fuya laughed heartily and pointed at Gu Jiu, "See, I knew you were not gentle at all. This is your true face."
Gu Jiu was speechless.
She rubbed her brows and muttered, "Royal princesses, they're all fucking weird."
Princess Fuya clapped her hands and laughed, "I like the word 'weird'. There isn't a single normal prince in the royal family. What makes you think a princess should be normal?"
Gu Jiu sincerely admitted his mistake, "Your Highness is right. I now finally understand that no one, whether a prince or a princess, is normal."
Princess Fuya nodded, with a teachable expression on her face, "It's not too late for you to realize this now."
Gu Jiu grinned at Princess Fu Ya, "Thank you for your teachings, Your Highness. I will definitely remember this day."
“Very good!”
"Now let's talk about your young master." Gu Jiu finally changed the subject back to the topic. It was really not easy.
Princess Fuya's expression changed instantly. "Don't even think about it. I absolutely don't agree to my son taking risks with you two."
“There’s no need to take risks.”
"To come into contact with you is to take a risk."
Gu Jiu rubbed his eyebrows, realizing that everything he had said before was in vain.
"I said I would ensure your safety."
"What guarantees do you have? Just lip service?"
Gu Jiu lowered his head and smiled, "First of all, the thing Your Highness is most worried about, Liu Zhao's rebellion, will definitely not happen. He is the eldest son, the rightful heir, and he is not stupid, nor is he the idiot Prince Zhao. Why would he rebel?"
Princess Fuya smiled and said, "You said that King Zhao is mentally retarded. Aren't you afraid that King Zhao will jump out of his coffin and cause trouble for you?"
"I'm not even afraid of people, so how could I be afraid of ghosts?" Gu Jiu asked back.
Princess Fuya was speechless. Because human hearts are scarier than ghosts, if people are not afraid, how can they be afraid of ghosts?
Gu Jiu continued, "Secondly, my interactions with Young Master Ling were normal. They didn't involve anything like a fight for the throne."
Princess Fuya had a stern face, as if saying: You can say whatever you want, I will never believe you.
The corners of Gu Jiu's mouth twitched.
She discovered that the most difficult person to deal with was not Emperor Wende or Lord Lu, but Princess Fuya.
This person is unyielding to persuasion and stubbornness. His determination is rare in the royal family.
But Gu Jiu is not someone who will give up easily.
The more difficult the fortress is to conquer, the more determined she is to fight.
It had been a long time since he met a worthy opponent in chess. Gu Jiu felt the exhilaration of a duel between two masters.
You can't use conventional means to deal with people like Princess Fu Ya.
Gu Jiu realized that he had used the wrong method before.
She was very decisive and immediately changed her strategy. "If one day the worst happens and your son's life is at stake, I will ensure that he is safe."
"How can you guarantee that he will be safe?" Princess Fu Ya asked back.
Gu Jiu raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Of course it's to please His Majesty and persuade Him to change His Majesty's mind."
Princess Fuya chuckled twice.
Gu Jiu asked directly: "Is one million taels enough?"
Princess Fuya opened her mouth in shock.
She never expected that Gu Jiu would play this trick.
This is a foul.
Seeing that Princess Fuya remained silent, Gu Jiu asked again, "Is two million enough? If two million isn't enough, how about three million? Three million for your son's life and future, I think Your Majesty would be very happy to make this deal."
"You, you, you...you actually plan to bribe His Majesty directly?"
Holy shit! That's not how it works.
The unspoken rules are to bribe the civil and military ministers of the court, or the personal servants around the emperor, or some concubines in the harem who have the final say.
Who would give money directly to the emperor and bribe him blatantly?
Hey, Your Majesty, let’s make a deal. How much does it cost to buy a life?
If you dare to play like this, aren’t you afraid of dying faster?
If this method is effective, why has no one used it seriously in thousands of years?
Princess Fuya took a deep breath and said, "Are you afraid of angering His Majesty and having your property confiscated and your head executed?"
Gu Jiu laughed. "Search my house? That's fine. I don't have a single ounce of silver in my house except for some valuable ornaments. And I think it would be more beneficial for His Majesty if I were alive."
Business is always done through negotiation. Perhaps in His Highness's view, my actions are risky and I am playing with my life. But in my opinion, if you pay a little attention to skills when negotiating business, you can actually succeed."
puff!
Princess Fuya always felt that her ideas were somewhat incompatible with this era.
Today I realized that she is clearly a normal person. The real abnormal person is Gu Jiu, the one who is out of tune.
Princess Fuya rolled her eyes at Gu Jiu and asked, "Is this how you succeed again and again?"
Gu Jiu slowly shook his head.
Princess Fuya sneered, "In your eyes, negotiating terms with His Majesty seems like a very simple matter. If it were really that simple, why hasn't anyone done it before?"
Gu Jiu smiled and said as a matter of course, "That's because people in the past didn't have the channels to directly meet the emperor to negotiate terms. Those with money didn't have power and were not qualified to see the emperor. Those with power didn't dare to show so much money, so naturally they didn't dare to negotiate. Even if someone wanted to buy their life with money like me, they could only ask a middleman to help."
It is obviously a heresy, but when you think about it carefully, it seems to make sense.
Gu Jiu added, "And I can discuss the terms directly with the emperor, without going through any middlemen. In this world, any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem."
Princess Fuya frowned, "Does it have to be my family's cure?"
Gu Jiu smiled and said, "Your Highness, you should understand how difficult it is to find a suitable and trustworthy partner. I have worked with Master Ling for many years and I know him well. He is quite good. He is my best choice at the moment."
Princess Fuya asked again, "If I insist on not agreeing, what will you do?"
Gu Jiu smiled confidently, "Your Highness, asking this question means that you have recognized me and my cooperation with Master Ling."
Princess Fuya said coldly, with a stern face, "I didn't agree."
Gu Jiu smiled and said, "If Your Highness insists on not agreeing, I will end all contact with Master Ling. I will liquidate all his investments in Sihai as quickly as possible. From now on, we will go our separate ways."
"What about the Shaofu? What are you going to do with him? If you get rid of the Prince Consort, then Qubing won't be able to go to the Shaofu?"
Gu Jiu smiled but said nothing.
Does this matter need to be stated clearly?
Since she can't use it for her own benefit, there is certainly no reason for her to help others get promoted or make money.
She is not the most holy lady in the world.
Princess Fuya gritted her teeth and smiled. "My son-in-law was able to be promoted to the position of Shaofu Household Order. It turns out that you are manipulating everything behind the scenes. How do you plan to get rid of my son-in-law? The Ministry of Justice or the Dali Temple?"
Gu Jiu shook his head. "To force Prince Consort Huang to step down, there's no need for the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court. All it takes is one account book to infuriate His Majesty and have him dismissed. Honestly, Your Highness, without the support of the four seas, the Shaofu's account books for the next few months won't be presentable to anyone."
"Impossible! Before you, the Shaofu had been operating for hundreds of years. Even without the support of the four seas, with the Shaofu's current foundation, it still has a large amount of money coming in."
Gu Jiu laughed, as if he was laughing at Princess Fu Ya's naivety.
"Your Highness has probably never seen the Shaofu's previous account books!"
"So what?"
Gu Jiu said softly, "If Your Highness doesn't believe it, why don't we wait and see. Let's take two months to see what happens to the Shaofu's income without the support of Sihai."
After saying that, she patted Princess Fuya's hand and said, "Your Highness, please take good care of yourself. I may not be able to visit you again in the future. Goodbye!"
"Wait... what did you mean by that? Two months? What do you want to do?"
Gu Jiu turned around and smiled at Princess Fu Ya, "Of course, I want to let Your Highness know that even without Prince Consort Huang and Huang Qubing, I, Gu Jiu, can still handle it. However, whether Prince Consort Huang and Huang Qubing can handle the Shaofu is hard to say."
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