As Zhu Yuanzhang woke up, it seemed as if there were a pair of hands pushing him inside and outside the palace, and all the movements miraculously calmed down.

Everything seemed to have returned to the way it was before, and the guards outside Li Jinglong's mansion retreated quietly.

For several days, there was no more disturbance.

But at this time, in the courtyard by the Qinhuai River.

Princess Chen Muyue of Annan Anxiu was beginning to get anxious.

When she first came, she was not so anxious, but what people fear most is seeing hope.

Since Zhu Ying moved to the palace, he rarely comes here.

Ye Yueqing followed him to the palace. Zhao Xiangxi, who came from Goryeo, now focused all his attention on the Gunpowder Bureau. He racked his brains every day to study everything related to the matchlock gun.

The purpose is to establish merit as soon as possible, so that the Fengrang Zhao family can rise again.

For Zhao Xiangxi, it doesn’t matter who is in charge of Goryeo. Even if it is incorporated into the Ming Dynasty, she doesn’t care.

As a noble family, all we want to do is to make the clan take off.

Besides, most members of the Fengyang Zhao clan can speak Chinese and have a deep understanding of Chinese culture.

Goryeo's annexation to the Ming Dynasty was a good thing for the Pungyang Zhao family.

This means that the Pungyang Zhao family will change from a Goryeo family to a Ming family, and will suddenly be upgraded. How can this be a bad thing?

At this stage, the Ming Dynasty is undoubtedly the most powerful country both at home and abroad.

This is well known.

In the eyes of the Fengrang Zhao family, relying on or merging into a more powerful dynasty is not a bad thing.

So now, only Chen Muyue and her maid Xiaoqing are left in the courtyard by the Qinhuai River.

Oh, and Uncle Zhang is here as the housekeeper.

"When will this day end? His Highness clearly said it would be soon, but two months have passed and there is still no movement. I'm afraid His Highness has forgotten about this matter."

Chen Muyue spoke to her maid Xiaoqing in a somewhat bored tone, complaining endlessly.

No one restricted her freedom, and everything was pretty good, whether it was food or other aspects.

It is worth mentioning that the food is especially worth mentioning. Compared with here, Annan is completely not on the same level.

In the first month, Chen Muyue's appetite was directly captured by the Ming Dynasty delicacies, and she even forgot about Annan.

However, after eating it for a month, I can’t say that I’m tired of it. It’s just that I repeat it all day long, which reminds Chen Muyue of what Zhu Ying had promised before.

Send troops to support the Annan royal family.

"Princess, why don't we tell Uncle Zhang? Your Highness, with your status, must be very busy, which is definitely different from our Annan."

"The Ming Dynasty is so big, there must be a lot of things to do every day. Our Annan is just a small country. It is normal for Your Highness to forget."

The maid Xiaoqing suggested, and immediately grabbed a small snack and started eating.

In the past two months, Chen Muyue has not changed much. Although she likes to eat, considering her status as a princess, she has not yet entered the palace.

So I pay more attention to my figure.

As a maid Xiaoqing, she doesn't care so much. She has gained weight in the past two months.

If there weren't a lot of things to do every day to expend energy, I would probably have become a ball.

Chen Muyue hesitated when she heard this.

She is actually quite courageous, as can be seen from the fact that when she came here before, she dared to exchange identities with the maid Xiaoqing.

But the affairs of the Annan royal family involve tens of thousands of troops, so we must be extremely careful.

She was worried that her urging would cause dissatisfaction among the princes, and that would be bad if the matter was dropped.

After the maid Xiaoqing finished her snack, she saw the princess's worry, her eyes rolled, and she began to give some advice.

"Princess, I think it is very likely that Your Highness has forgotten. The Ming Dynasty has so many troops. Tens of thousands of people are just a matter of a word from Your Highness."

"I think the reason why His Highness agreed to send out 50,000 troops was probably because of the princess."

Xiaoqing analyzed and said.

Chen Muyue frowned slightly and asked, "Because of me? What does that mean?"

"Oh my, my princess, you don't know how beautiful you are. Although His Highness is wise and brave, he is still a man after all."

"The princess is the most beautiful woman in Annan. Your Highness is not a monk, so how could he not be tempted?"

"I think even monks would want to return to secular life if they saw the princess."

Xiaoqing said with a smile.

"You are talking nonsense. Your Highness is not the kind of person who is easily swayed by beauty. Besides, this is the Ming Dynasty. There are tens of thousands of people under our command. There are all kinds of beauties."

"I was only in Annan and other places. Even those I saw in the yard before were no worse than me."

When Chen Muyue said this, her face, which was originally a little blushing, suddenly became a little helpless.

The Goryeo princess in the courtyard and the people following His Highness are all top beauties.

Chen Muyue felt that compared with the two of them, she had no advantage at all. At most, she was on par with them, each with her own strengths.

Xiao Qing shook her head and said, "Princess, you don't understand. His Highness is a very important person. He is the eldest grandson of the Ming Dynasty. How can one or two concubines be enough for him?"

"Besides the Crown Princess, there are many other consorts. If Your Highness becomes the Emperor, there will be even more consorts. There will be too many imperial concubines and beauties to count."

"So, your highness's thoughts must not be on one or two people. The princess has a good chance."

"It's just that, in my opinion, His Highness was a little dazzled, so he didn't think of the princess for a moment. We have to think of a way to remind His Highness."

Chen Muyue looked at the maid Xiaoqing with some surprise. She didn't expect Xiaoqing to be able to say such words.

When in Annan, Xiaoqing was timid and never put forward such reasonable opinions.

"You are such a smart girl, tell me the truth, have you been hiding this from me all these years? What is your intention?"

Chen Muyue's tone seemed to contain surprise and anger.

This made Xiaoqing panic for a moment, and she hurriedly explained: "Princess, Xiaoqing has grown up with you since childhood. For so many days and nights, I have never left you. How could I have any ulterior motives?"

"It's not that Xiaoqing has become smarter, but the princess is too worried and concerned. She has lost her sight in the situation. Ming is a strange place, not as familiar as Annan."

"Besides, the princess herself didn't think about it, so she couldn't see it clearly, but Xiaoqing was a bystander, so she saw it very clearly."

After hearing Xiaoqing's explanation, Chen Muyue thought about it and found that it was indeed the truth.

This method, after all, is not very good, it can even be said to be somewhat ordinary, but I was confused and panicked, and I didn't think about it at all.

Besides, when in Annan, Chen Muyue never thought about the matters between men and women. She was only concerned about the court, people's livelihood, and matters between officials.

"Okay, I forgive you. I didn't expect that you, Xiaoqing, could be so useful at a critical moment."

"So, tell me, how can I remind His Highness? If I say it directly, wouldn't it be a bit too abrupt? If it leaves a bad impression, I'm afraid it will be difficult to talk to him later."

Chen Muyue said with some concern.

Xiao Qing nodded and subconsciously analyzed: "We must think of a way to make His Highness pay attention to the princess without being too direct."

"It's definitely not possible to ask Uncle Zhang, so what else can we do? Or the princess can just tell Uncle Zhang that she misses His Highness? Maybe that should work. This way His Highness won't blame me."

Chen Muyue said angrily, "How could someone like your Highness pay attention to such a simple sentence? No, it definitely won't work. We must think of other ways."

Xiaoqing said "Oh" and began to think hard.

The two women stood in the yard for a long time, but could not come up with a good idea.

At this time, a breeze blew, bringing with it a faint scent of flowers.

Chen Muyue suddenly had an idea and said, "Xiaoqing, how about I embroider a sachet for His Highness? This way it won't be abrupt and it can also remind His Highness."

"Princess, you're so amazing. This method is so perfect. Xiaoqing couldn't think of such a great idea." Xiaoqing said with a smile.

Chen Muyue thought about it and felt that this was a good idea. Without hesitation, she went straight into the house and started to embroider the sachet.

Influenced by the Central Plains culture, embroidery is also a skill that women in Annan must master. In this regard, Chen Muyue may not be an expert, but her skills are top-notch.

…

In Kunning Palace, Zhu Ying was listening to Ye Yueqing reading the information sent from Goryeo.

After listening, he said: "It seems that our Daoyan State Master is a little bit exhausted now, but this guy is really a heart of stone. He doesn't care about the lives of the soldiers in Goryeo at all."

"It is said that Buddhists have compassion for the world and people. After all, you are a monk. How can you only care about the will of heaven and not the human heart?"

Zhu Ying said with a smile.

This information was sent urgently by Yao Guangxiao. In addition to describing the current situation in Goryeo, it also mentioned that the morale of the army was somewhat fluctuating.

The main problem was food. The logistics of the large-scale military deployment could not keep up. This should have been caused by Lee Seong-gye, who obviously did not want Yao Guangxiao, the national teacher, to have things go too smoothly.

If he really became famous in one battle, his prestige in the Goryeo army would probably surpass that of Lee Seong-gye.

Although the Goryeo royal family is now basically half-abandoned except for a nominal one, Lee Seong-gye is now stuck in the middle, being neither up nor down, which is very awkward.

The only thing to be thankful for is that Yao Guangxiao is just a monk. If he were a general or something like that, he would probably turn around and kill him.

Of course, it was precisely because Yao Guangxiao was a monk that Lee Seong-gye compromised.

"Your Highness, we now need to mobilize the Chamber of Commerce over there to fully assist Master Daoyan." Ye Yueqing asked.

Zhu Ying nodded and said, "Of course we will help. In fact, Master Daoyan knows very well that we only need to maintain it until February next year."

"When the time comes, cooperate with the Ming Dynasty to attack Japan. The internal conflicts of Goryeo will be diverted through war. Even if Lee Seong-gye wants to take any action, he will have no choice but to be forced to move forward."

"Notify them, whether they are in Goryeo or other regions. For now, we should focus on supporting Master Daoyan. We must occupy Tsushima Island and build it into a base camp."

"Then the Ming Dynasty might be able to borrow a passage there to launch an expedition."

After finishing speaking, Zhu Ying calculated in his mind for a moment, frowned and added: "Even if our Qunying Chamber of Commerce helps with all its strength, I'm afraid it will be difficult for Master Daoyan to survive until the end of the year."

"I estimate that if it's not used for two months, the Chamber of Commerce over there will be completely emptied out."

Zhu Ying’s Qunyin Chamber of Commerce is naturally wealthy, or even rich enough to rival a country.

But this country that is rich enough to rival other countries does not refer to big countries like Ming Dynasty and Goryeo, but to smaller countries.

The support of an army of 150,000, even in part, is not something that the branch chamber of commerce can bear, unless all the resources of the Chamber of Heroes are mobilized and combined.

Of course this is impossible. The travel expenses alone are a huge expense.

"Your Highness, for matters like this, perhaps we can only inform His Majesty and ask for help from the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, Master Daoyan might fail." Ye Yueqing reminded.

Seeing that such a large army has been integrated, a total of 150,000, and this time more than 90% of them have been mobilized, the secret forces of the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce in Goryeo.

In other words, from this moment on, the entire Goryeo's secret forces have been placed in front of Lee Seong-gye and have completely surfaced.

This will have a huge impact on the future situation and will lead to a head-on confrontation with Lee Seong-gye.

If Yao Guangxiao loses, he will be in a very passive position.

If he won, he would naturally be able to completely suppress Lee Seong-gye, creating a situation of two tigers fighting each other.

You have to know that the Goryeo royal family was still there, even if it was a puppet. Lee Seong-gye and Yao Guangxio were also warlords fighting each other.

Zhu Ying hesitated for a moment and said, "This matter cannot be handled directly by the Ming Dynasty. Even if it is handled, it can only be done secretly. Otherwise, I am afraid that Li Chenggui will take advantage of it and use this matter to arouse the people of Goryeo to boycott the Ming Dynasty."

Ye Yueqing asked in confusion: "Does Li Chenggui have the courage to do this? It seems that he has always been very close to Daming before."

Zhu Ying smiled and said, "There is no such thing as a permanent ally in this world. It's just driven by interests."

"The reason why Lee Seong-gye submitted to the Ming Dynasty was probably because of the Goryeo royal family. He had to gain the support of the Ming Dynasty in order to have a legitimate reason for establishing his own royal family."

"The Goryeo region has been influenced by our Central Plains Dynasty since the Han Dynasty. It was a province of our Central Plains Dynasty before, and has been a vassal state since the Tang Dynasty."

"Don't underestimate the enthronement of the Ming Dynasty. At least in terms of justice, Lee Seong-gye can fully control it."

Hearing this, Ye Yueqing nodded slightly, as if she understood, and then asked: "Then wouldn't it be better not to confer the title of Emperor Li Chenggui?"

Zhu Ying laughed and said, "It's not that simple. Due to the distance limit, it is difficult for the Ming Dynasty to interfere with Goryeo. This is just a question of name."

"As for Master Daoyan, we can only provide assistance. He still has to rely on himself to deal with things."

"But from my point of view, Master Daoyan probably doesn't want to make a decisive move. This guy has 150,000 troops in one go, and I'm afraid he must be in a lot of trouble now."

Ye Yueqing said: "Master Daoyan probably has never led an army before, so he doesn't know that an army of 150,000 people would be such a heavy burden."

Zhu Ying heard this and said with a smile: "How could he not know? He must know it more clearly than anyone else. There are some things that you don't know, Yueqing. When you were following King Yan, Master Daoyan was King Yan's military advisor."

"The reason why this situation happened is because of Dao Yan, who underestimated my plan in Goryeo!"