Chapter 52: Prime Minister's Advice, Diverting the Trouble to the East
The candles at the welcoming banquet were burning brightly. Batu poured the last sip of wine down his throat, smashed the wine glass, and slammed the table in frustration: "Prime Minister Shen, where is the beauty you were talking about? If you continue to fool this envoy with these vulgar women, don't blame me for being rude!"
The dancers were so frightened that they all fell to their knees, trembling all over. Prime Minister Shen, however, still smiled gently, slowly walked over to Batu, and said in a low voice, "Emissary, please calm down. It's not that I'm deliberately delaying. It's simply that the beauty's status is special, and I need to make good arrangements so that the envoy can enjoy her with peace of mind."
"A special identity?" Batu raised his eyebrows, greed intensifying in his eyes. "Whose noblewoman is she? This envoy tells you, no matter who she is, as long as this envoy wants her, you Daqi must give her to me!"
"It's not a noble lady," Prime Minister Shen shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of deliberate contempt, "It's a criminal slave from Prince Duan's mansion, named Yun Zhi."
"A criminal slave?" Batu frowned, clearly dissatisfied. "A criminal slave is worthy of making this envoy wait for so long?"
"Your Excellency, you don't know," Prime Minister Shen said, leaning closer to Batu, his voice lowered. "Although Yun Zhi is a criminal slave, she is the daughter of the criminal Yun Xiao. She is incredibly beautiful, bearing a striking resemblance to Shen Qingyue, the courtier who fell off the cliff that year. Prince Duan Xiao Jin treats her very 'specially'—he claims to dislike her, yet he keeps her in his palace; he claims to care for her, yet he humiliates her in every way."
He paused deliberately, watching Batu's interest piqued, before continuing, "If we give her to the envoy, firstly, he'll get a stunning beauty, and secondly, we can test Xiao Jin's attitude. After all, Xiao Jin holds military power. If he can't even protect the criminals in his own palace, he might not dare to resort to force against your country in the future."
Batu's eyes lit up instantly - getting the beauty and suppressing Xiao Jin at the same time, this was simply killing two birds with one stone! He patted Prime Minister Shen on the shoulder and laughed heartily: "Great! Prime Minister Shen really knows how to get things done! This Yun Zhi, this envoy wants her! Go and do it now, and make sure to send her to the embassy as soon as possible!"
"Don't worry, envoy," Prime Minister Shen bowed and responded, a hint of viciousness flashed in his eyes, "I will make arrangements right away, and I will not let the envoy down."
After leaving the celebration hall, Prime Minister Shen immediately had someone draft a warrant and stamped it with his own prime minister's seal - Xiao Jin was not in the capital, and the emperor was old and weak, so he basically had the final say in court affairs. This warrant was enough to mobilize people from Prince Duan's Mansion.
"Send this warrant to Prince Duan's Mansion and give it to Princess Lin Wanru," Prime Minister Shen handed the warrant to his confidant with a cold tone, "Tell her to immediately kidnap Yun Zhi and send her to the enemy's embassy. Tell her that this is for the sake of national peace. If she fails, don't blame me for not considering the friendship between her Lin family and the Shen family."
The confidant took the order and left. Prime Minister Shen stood at the palace gate, looking in the direction of Prince Duan's Mansion in the distance, with a calculating smile on his lips - Yun Zhi, Xiao Jin, your good days are over.
Inside Prince Duan's mansion, Lin Wanru sat in the main hall, reading a secret report brought in by a maid—it stated that Yun Zhi was hiding in a villa outside the capital, and that Liu Zhong had already joined her. Furious, she crumpled the report into a ball and was about to order a search when the housekeeper hurried in, holding a bright yellow warrant.
"Princess, this is the Prime Minister's order!" The butler handed over the order in an urgent tone.
Lin Wanru unfolded the warrant, her eyes brighter and brighter as she read it, and finally she couldn't help laughing out loud: "Great! That's great! Prime Minister Shen really understands me!"
The warrant clearly stated: "To maintain peace between the two countries, Yun Zhi, the criminal slave of Prince Duan's Mansion, must be immediately abducted and sent to the enemy's embassy to serve the envoy Batu. Any delay or resistance will be killed without mercy. - Chen Jingzhi"
"Yunzhi, Yunzhi," Lin Wanru clutched the warrant, her eyes filled with venom. "Did you think you could survive by hiding in the outskirts of Beijing? Now it seems you're destined to be given as a gift to that barbarian envoy! I want to see if you can still be as tough as you are now in Batu's hands!"
She immediately summoned her trusted maid and ordered, "Take your men to the outskirts of the capital and search all the villas. Make sure you find Yun Zhi! Once you find her, don't hesitate to tie her up and send her to the enemy's embassy! Tell those searching that whoever captures Yun Zhi will be rewarded with a hundred taels of gold!"
"Yes!" the maid responded and quickly ran out to make arrangements.
Lin Wanru had Su Yurou called over again and handed her the warrant. After reading it, Su Yurou's eyes were filled with joy and delight. "Sister, that's great! Now we can finally get rid of that bitch Yun Zhi! That Batu is violent and lustful. If Yun Zhi falls into his hands, she'll definitely be tortured to death!"
"That's not all," Lin Wanru picked up the teacup, took a sip, and spoke with a hint of pride. "Prime Minister Shen did this to suppress Xiao Jin. When Xiao Jin returns and finds out that his 'woman' has been given to the envoy of the enemy country, he will be furious. By then, he will not only hate Yun Zhi, but he may also vent his anger on the Shen family. Even if Shen Qingyue comes back, she may not be able to win his true love."
Su Yurou suddenly realized and quickly complimented, "Sister, you're so thoughtful! This way, not only can we get rid of Yun Zhi, but we can also alienate Xiao Jin and Shen Qingyue. In the future, the mistress of the palace can only be sister!"
Lin Wanru smiled without saying anything, but she had already made a plan in her mind - after Yun Zhi was sent away, she would send someone to exaggerate in front of Xiao Jin, saying that Yun Zhi "voluntarily" went with Batu, and that Yun Zhi "had long disliked" Xiao Jin. In this way, Xiao Jin's last bit of "specialness" for Yun Zhi would turn into disgust.
Yun Zhi, who was staying at her villa outside Beijing, was still unaware of this. She was studying the incomplete letter with Xie Heng and Liu Zhong, trying to find Zhao Feng's whereabouts from the blurred handwriting.
"It seems to say 'Zhao Feng... Border... Black Wind Village' here," Yun Zhi pointed at a blurred mark on the letter, her tone tinged with excitement. "Black Wind Village is a mountain stronghold on the border. Maybe Zhao Feng is hiding there!"
Liu Zhong leaned over to take a look and nodded. "It certainly looks like Black Wind Village! I'll send someone to investigate the border right away. We must find Zhao Feng!"
Xie Heng frowned, his tone tinged with worry. "The Black Wind Village is in a dangerous position, and most of the people there are desperate criminals. If Zhao Feng is really there, it will probably be difficult to approach him. Moreover, Prime Minister Shen is definitely looking for Zhao Feng. We must hurry, otherwise if he gets there first, Zhao Feng will be in danger."
Yun Zhi nodded and was about to speak when she heard hurried footsteps outside the courtyard, accompanied by the maid's cry of alarm: "Oh no! Miss! A lot of people have broken in! They say they are here to arrest you!"
Yun Zhi's expression suddenly changed, and she stood up abruptly: "Is it Lin Wanru's people? Or Prime Minister Shen's people?"
"I don't know! They have the Prime Minister's warrant, saying they want to kidnap you and take you to the enemy's embassy!" The maid ran out of breath, her face pale.
"Enemy embassy?" Yun Zhi was shocked and immediately understood - it was Prime Minister Shen! He wanted to give her to that lustful envoy Batu!
"Girl, hurry up!" Xie Heng immediately drew his dagger and stood in front of Yun Zhi, "Let's go through the secret passage!"
Liu Zhong also drew the long sword from his waist, his eyes determined: "Miss, this old slave will cover your retreat! Run away!"
Footsteps outside the courtyard were getting closer, and shouts of killing had already begun—it was the guards arranged by Liu Zhong fighting the newcomers. Yun Zhi knew that she could no longer hesitate. She followed Xie Heng to the secret passage behind the woodshed, but her heart was filled with anger and determination—Prime Minister Shen, Batu, you want to treat me as a gift, but I won't let you succeed!
But she didn't know that this crisis was more dangerous than any previous one - Prime Minister Shen not only sent people to arrest her, but also set up an ambush around the embassy, waiting for her to fall into the trap.
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