Chapter 450 The self-righteous Zhou Ruyuan!
"My lord is truly a brilliant strategist; he has been summoned away by the princess!"
Shen Lanxi stared intently at the doorway. She wasn't a genius; she had already figured out some people's intentions.
On the second day of Shen Lanxi's rest at home, the court was calm and peaceful.
All the memorials submitted to her were sorted out and thrown into a corner of the small cabinet.
"It's not advisable to make trouble for her now, otherwise His Majesty will think we're deliberately causing trouble. Shen Lanxi will also use this as an excuse to say that we're deliberately delaying her preparation of provisions!" Wu Yanzhi said to the other two regents.
"The Left Prime Minister is right!"
"The Left Prime Minister is absolutely right!"
The three men continued to handle state affairs with great humor.
Song Daoxi is currently developing a longevity pill, which requires a huge amount of rare medicinal materials.
Emperor Renxiao devoted himself entirely to collecting rare medicinal herbs and had no interest in handling state affairs.
After the birthday banquet, the envoys and officials who came to offer their congratulations left one by one, and the important task of seeing them off once again fell on the shoulders of the Prince of Zhennan.
Zhou Ruyuan was happy with this kind of job, as it was an excellent opportunity to get to know court officials and envoys. He would get completely drunk every time.
Over time, his guards became somewhat careless, and one day, trouble broke out.
When Zhou Ruyuan woke up, he saw that he was lying next to Shen Yuantang, with their clothes scattered on the ground and obvious marks. There was nothing he didn't understand.
He closed his eyes in frustration, resigned to the reality.
Since then, he seemed to have come to a realization, and began to frequent the backyard of the Prince's mansion every day. When Consort Shu found out, she sent four beautiful palace maids to her son.
...
Not long after, Shen Lanxi received news that Liang Xinyi's daughter was pregnant. Less than two days later, Liu came to deliver the message.
“Your father’s illegitimate daughter is truly disgraceful.”
“Her belly can’t wait any longer. Your grandmother said that the concubine’s daughter should be carried over in seven days.”
Thinking of the message sent by carrier pigeon that she had received earlier, Shen Lanxi replied with a smile, "I'll trouble you, Second Uncle, to give my father a message!"
Liu listened attentively.
“Tell him that Shen Shuniang’s son’s wife is not dead, but is living well in their home in Jiangnan, taking care of the children.”
Although the woman who married into the Shen family was an illegitimate daughter, her social standing was still higher than that of the Zhang family in Jiangnan. If her father knew that his daughter had actually married into the family as a concubine, what would his reaction be?
Liu thought to herself, "Didn't that woman die during childbirth?"
She hurried to find Shen Conglian to deliver a message. It wasn't that she was concerned about the illegitimate daughter being deceived. Rather, it was because having a daughter become a concubine would damage the reputation of the Shen family.
Although she doesn't have a biological daughter, she has a concubine's daughter and a niece. Soon her eldest daughter-in-law and second son will give birth one after another. If it's a boy, it's fine, but if it's a girl, won't the concubine's daughter from the eldest branch be implicated?
The reputation that the Shen family has worked so hard to build must not be ruined by this rotten meat from Jiangnan!
Shen Congwen did not believe it.
"How could Fifth Sister possibly lie about something as important as life and death?"
Shen Conglian had witnessed Shen Lanxi's methods before, so regardless of whether this matter was true or not, he treated it as true.
Anyway, he's just here to deliver a message. If he really embarrasses himself, it won't be the second branch of the family who suffers.
"Brother, I don't think anyone would dare to joke about this. How about we find out more about it and then set a new engagement date?"
Shen Congwen had some concerns; the wedding date had already been set, and it wouldn't be good to change it arbitrarily.
"I'll go ask my mother!"
Shen Conglian said he didn't care anymore; he had made an appointment with his friends to have drinks at Wangjiang Tower today, and if he didn't go now, it would be too late!
After being kicked out, Shen Shuniang and Shen Huiniang, thinking that the Duke of Huguo's mansion would not want to lose face, stood in the cold outside the mansion all night.
They intended to use public opinion in the capital to suppress Shen Lanxi, but unexpectedly, not a single person came forward to watch the spectacle.
Seeing that no one cared about them starving to death at the door, they sheepishly went to stay at an inn for a few days, and then rented a house at random and moved in hastily.
"Mother, didn't you say that the court would definitely impeach Shen Lanxi and that we would move back soon?" Shen Shuniang's eldest son, Zhang Heng, complained.
Shen Shuniang's face was pale; her usual domineering air was gone, replaced by sorrow.
"Who would have thought that little bitch would actually turn her back on us?"
"Perhaps the ministers haven't realized it yet. In a few days, Shen Lanxi will definitely come to invite us back in person!"
“Brother, what are you afraid of? That illegitimate daughter already has your child, doesn’t she? Even if anyone is anxious, it should be them,” Shen Shuniang’s daughter, Zhang Jia, said confidently.
Shen Shuniang felt relieved after hearing this. Indeed, a woman's reputation is of utmost importance. Unless they kill that illegitimate daughter, she would have to beg them to marry her back!
"Wait a few more days. Yesterday, your grandmother sent someone to deliver a lot of silver, enough for our family to use for a while."
...
All the other envoys had left, leaving only the Yue Kingdom envoy and two men sent by the rebel king.
They clamored to see Zhou Ruyuan every day, but Zhou Ruyuan always refused, citing being busy.
The Yue Kingdom envoy was frustrated and trapped in the post station with nowhere to vent his anger, so he could only find fault with the post station officials every day.
The two men sent by the rebel king were treated much worse than they were.
There was no good wine, no good food, and even the room wasn't cleaned every day, making it very stifling.
After finally spending the money, the news I received was that Zhou Ruyuan was busy today.
They were essentially under house arrest, and complained incessantly.
Zhou Ruyuan finally finished his business and appeared, and the Yue Kingdom envoys hurriedly surrounded him.
"Prince Zhennan, what does your Great Zhou have to say about the grain supplies?"
Zhou Ruyuan's eyes flashed, and he said, "The matter of grain supplies has been taken over by the Duke of Protectorate, Shen Lanxi. She strongly advocates that we should no longer use the grain supplies from your Yue Kingdom and that we should sever diplomatic relations with your Yue Kingdom!"
The Yue Kingdom envoy's expression changed drastically.
The conditions they set that day were meant to intimidate the Great Zhou. Their Yue Kingdom was a small country, and without a buyer and friendly ally like the Great Zhou, their situation would become difficult.
"What right does Shen Lanxi have to stop us? Does she even know how many people will die if the Great Zhou runs out of food next year?"
"How could Your Majesty allow her to act so recklessly!"
Zhou Ruyuan said in a deep voice, "If you want to restore diplomatic relations and trade ties between the two countries, then go find Shen Lanxi!"
"If you can get her to change her mind in front of His Majesty, you'll be able to explain yourself to the Emperor of the Moon Kingdom when you return!"
The Yue Kingdom envoys are no longer so concerned about the death of the Third Prince. In the face of national crisis, the death of one or two princes is nothing!
Since they can resolve this with Shen Lanxi, they'll go to Shen Lanxi!
According to the plan, Zhou Ruyuan was supposed to escort the Yue Kingdom envoy away, but he couldn't just watch Shen Lanxi fall into the trap, so he could only help her in this way.
He had indeed wronged her, but after this incident, he would no longer feel guilty!
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