Chapter 430 Two Rebellious Kings Threaten Us!
Shen Lanxi also received an invitation to the wedding. Ironically, she had just attended the Fifth Prince's funeral yesterday.
Emperor Renxiao was unwilling to wait even a day longer.
"Send the invitation to the old lady and ask her to arrange for someone to attend!"
She will definitely attend, but it's unclear how Emperor Renxiao will arrange it.
After all, the wedding and the investiture of the prince were on the same day, and there were many things to take care of. Zhou Rulin was the late empress's legitimate son, so in principle, this matter should have been handled by the empress.
Unfortunately, the Empress had been claiming illness and not leaving her home ever since Consort Shu's miscarriage. No matter how much Emperor Renxiao wanted to support Zhou Rulin, he would not allow the Empress to come out and handle the arrangements while she was ill.
Similarly, since her miscarriage, Consort Shu had been claiming illness and not leaving her home. In addition, since this pregnancy was caused by the Crown Prince's wife, Emperor Renxiao could not bring himself to let Consort Shu, despite her illness, come out to arrange the Crown Prince's wedding.
After much deliberation, Emperor Renxiao decided to entrust the marriage of his eldest son to the Ministry of Rites.
With the imperial edict granting the title of king as a guarantee, even if it violated etiquette, the court officials could not find any major faults.
When Shen Lanxi was on patrol, she saw a guard hurriedly carrying an urgent document into the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
Before long, Shen Lanxi learned about the urgent details.
"Your Majesty, these two traitors are utterly audacious! This old minister will certainly send troops to attack them immediately!"
"Your Majesty, I agree!"
"Your Majesty, I agree!"
"No, no, that's not right. All the imperial forces are currently focused on defending the fortresses. It wouldn't be appropriate to divert troops from any side!"
"This matter needs careful consideration!"
"These two traitors actually dared to threaten the safety of our Great Zhou! They are still up to no good and must be severely punished, otherwise our Great Zhou will be at their mercy!"
Inside the main hall, the court officials were engaged in heated discussions and endless debates.
Emperor Renxiao was extremely troubled. He had already shown leniency by not sending troops to attack the two traitors, but they were shameless enough to join forces with other places to threaten him!
We do have troops, but those 200,000 soldiers haven't been completely subdued yet. What if they rebelled and surrendered to those two traitors? Wouldn't that just make them even more arrogant and rampant?
"Your Majesty, those two traitors even said they would send envoys to negotiate, clearly showing they don't respect our Great Zhou. If those two envoys dare to come, let them never return."
"No, no, in war between two armies, envoys are not to be killed. This is a rule set by our ancestors!"
"What rules? They don't even acknowledge their ancestors anymore, so what rules are they supposed to follow!"
We can't let them get away with this!
They started arguing again.
In his frantic state, Emperor Renxiao subconsciously looked at Shen Lanxi.
Shen Lanxi was a trusted minister of his; others might have ulterior motives, but she would not.
"Lanxi, what do you think we should do?"
The courtiers' discussions abruptly ceased; some were disdainful, some watched with amusement, and some pondered, but no one interrupted them.
"I think we could use the tactic of delaying!"
The military officers huddled together, whispering about whether it was feasible.
The civil officials also gathered in a separate group, whispering amongst themselves.
Emperor Renxiao looked thoughtful. He understood Shen Lanxi's meaning: things would be better done slowly.
But~
"How exactly are you going to drag it out?"
These two traitors must not be allowed to live.
Shen Lanxi said confidently, "Our Great Zhou is renowned and its power is felt in all directions. Since it is His Majesty's birthday, envoys from all directions will surely come to offer their congratulations. Why don't you change the date of the annual tribute payment to the birthday itself? Then let those two traitorous envoys see the mighty strength of our Great Zhou, terrify them, and see if they still dare to be so arrogant!"
Emperor Renxiao nodded.
"We must let those two traitors know that His Majesty did not send troops against them out of pity for the people of the world, not out of fear of them, much less fear of their rebellion."
"The Great Zhou has a strong military and a wealth of talent. His Majesty has countless elite soldiers and generals at his disposal. Any one of them could crush them with a flick of his finger!"
The civil officials whispered that this was indeed a good way to subdue the enemy without fighting.
The military officers also gathered together and whispered, all of this was a good thing to show off their military prowess.
"I believe Lord Shen's words make sense!" said the civil official.
Military officer: "I also think that Lord Shen's words make sense!"
When Emperor Renxiao met with his civil and military officials, they all expressed their approval of this delaying tactic and readily agreed to the matter.
"After the court session, the regent, Shen Lanxi, and the people from the Ministry of War remained."
A courtier advised, "Your Majesty, the Prince of Zhennan is the God of War of our Great Zhou, and his fame is widespread. If the Prince of Zhennan were to participate in this matter, the deterrent effect would surely be even greater!"
Emperor Renxiao glanced at the courtier, a hint of displeasure flashing in his eyes, but his face showed an expression of just remembering.
“The Prince of Zhennan has been busy settling the Fifth Prince’s family lately, and I had forgotten about it.”
"May the Prince of Zhennan stay as well!"
Zhou Ruyuan: "Yes!"
There is still more than a month until Emperor Renxiao's birthday, so there is still time to make arrangements.
Emperor Renxiao and his court officials discussed the matter for more than an hour and finally decided that Shen Lanxi and Zhou Ruyuan would be in charge of security and defense, while Prince Chen would be in charge of receiving guests.
The regent minister is responsible for supervising and addressing any shortcomings, with the Ministry of War providing assistance.
Further detailed divisions were then arranged by the regent.
On the surface, Emperor Renxiao treated Prince Zhennan and Prince Chen equally.
...
When Shen Lanxi returned to the mansion, she saw a happy family.
Shen Yuantang approached with a well-behaved expression, holding the gift: "Big sister, Yuantang knows she was wrong and brought this gift to apologize to the family. Please forgive me!"
Shen Lanxi looked at the exquisite jewelry in the box without saying a word.
"Big sister still won't forgive me? Then next time Yuan Tang comes, I'll carry a bundle of thorns on my back and apologize to you!" Shen Yuan Tang said pitifully, wiping away her tears.
"Lanxi, Yuantang has already apologized to us." Old Madam Shen, having benefited from the situation, spoke up for Shen Yuantang.
However, Liu and the others, seeing that Shen Lanxi's expression was not right, did not dare to speak easily.
"Elder sister, I know I shouldn't have lost my temper with that concubine, but I couldn't help it. Elder sister, do you know what she looks like?"
"I don't blame Father, but I couldn't help but stand up for Mother, so I did that. Big sister, I was wrong, I will never do it again!" Shen Yuantang looked like she was sincerely admitting her mistake.
Shen Lanxi slowly raised the corners of her mouth: "I accept your kindness!"
Chunxue stepped forward and put away her headdress.
“I understand what you mean!” Shen Lanxi said again.
Shen Yuantang's brow twitched, and his eyes flickered.
She truly came to apologize today from the bottom of her heart. She has been so humble and submissive, so the older sister should forgive her, right?
"Big sister, I have already met with Mother. She said I am young and don't know much, but she will teach me more in the future."
Shen Lanxi then said, "Then you shall be punished by having to pay your respects to your mother every morning and evening and listen to her teachings!"
Shen Yuantang remained silent, his face showing hesitation.
"What, you don't want to?"
Shen Yuantang quickly said, "Elder sister, I have already married into the Zhennan Prince's Mansion, and I have to be mindful of Bai Qingling's mood when I come and go. I'm afraid she won't agree to come over every day."
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