Chai Shibo didn't wait for Chai Shijing's face to darken, and said to himself, "Sixth brother, I'm doing this for your own good. It's not okay for a husband to be weak. I tell you...ah..."
Seeing that he was getting more and more ridiculous, Chai Shijing picked up a piece of pork and stuffed it into his mouth, "Eat more meat and less nonsense!"
Chai Shiyan pulled Chai Shibo and said, "Sit tight!"
After Chai Shibo sat down, he looked around and said, "Where's that Chu Yun? Oh, he ran away..."
He was very unwilling to accept this, and accidentally saw Yu Qing at the other table. "I heard that Yu Qing is about to get engaged. I'm going to talk to him."
After the wedding night, the congratulatory guests left one after another. Chai Shijing took a carriage to send Kang Yueran back to Four Seasons Garden. He hugged Kang Yueran with joy and said, "I have contacted the Imperial Observatory. We will get married in the first month of the year after next."
He counted on his fingers, "It's the end of August now, and there are still four months until the Chinese New Year. In another year and five months, we will be married. Yueran, are you happy?"
"Happy, I'm very happy!"
Chai Shijing tightened his grip and kissed Kang Yueran's forehead, "I'm happy too!"
The two of them were so sweet and loving, while on the other side, Chai Shibo was still talking to Yu Qing.
Princess Ning, who was sitting in the carriage, could no longer bear it and ordered the servant, "Go, drag the prince over here!"
The servant took the order and left, but he didn't dare to delay Chai Shibo. He just advised, "Your Highness, it's getting late. Let's go back. We can talk tomorrow."
Yu Qing tried hard to pull his sleeve out of Chai Shibo's hand, but unfortunately he failed. "Prince Ning, you've been talking all night. I remember everything you said. Please let me go!"
"Yu Qing, your attitude is not right, I tell you..."
"Stop talking! What does it have to do with you whether I get married or not? Why are you so worried?" After enduring for so long, Yu Qing's patience had been worn out. He pulled out a dagger for self-defense, slashed his sleeve, and turned away.
The two had known each other for many years, but this was the first time Yu Qing had gotten angry at Chai Shibo. "Hey? Hey? Yu Qing, don't be angry!"
The servant supported Chai Shibo and, with a little effort, pulled him towards the carriage. "Your Highness, Master Yu must be tired. Let's talk to him tomorrow."
After getting on the carriage, Chai Shibo looked unhappy and asked, "What's wrong with Yu Qing?"
Princess Ning advised, "Yu Qing's marriage will be taken care of by the Yu family, so don't interfere. Close your eyes and rest for a while, as we still need some time to prepare when we get home."
Madam Yu had been worrying about Yu Qing's marriage for over a year and had even approached Princess Ning to ask for a match, hoping to introduce him to a lady from a wealthy family, but Yu Qing refused. When pressed, he would say he was still young and not destined to be with her.
Yu Qing returned home and had just finished washing up when Mrs. Yu came over. Seeing that Yu Qing was not drunk but was in a very low mood, she sighed, told him to go to bed early, and then got up and left.
Yu Qing's eyes suddenly turned red, and he wanted to say that he agreed to the marriage, but no matter how many times he opened his mouth, Mrs. Yu left, and he didn't say it. He knew that Kang Yueran didn't belong to him, he knew it, but he still didn't want to marry anyone else.
Chu Yun had a few days of vacation after her wedding, and Princess Ning tried her best to persuade Chai Shibo to go talk to Chu Yun.
Knowing that Kang Yueran had come to the capital, Du Ruhui sent a letter to Chai Shijing, inviting Chai Shijing and Kang Yueran to his place for tea.
Knowing that Du Ru likes to drink tea, Kang Yueran prepared two cakes of Pu'er tea for him.
She took the tea knife and tea needle and easily took out a piece of tea cake. "Pu'er tea can help digestion and has a warm nature, so it's more suitable for drinking in winter."
Du Ruhui took out a new purple clay teapot and brewed a pot himself. "It smells good."
Chai Shijing teased, "I haven't tried it yet."
Du Ruhui was a little proud, "If you want to drink it, come to me, I will make you a pot if I am free."
After tasting the tea, Du Ruhui squinted his eyes with a look of enjoyment, "Not bad, not bad!"
After drinking tea, it was time to get down to business. Du Ruhui asked, "Miss Kang, what do you think about Princess Yongtai going to the northern border?"
Because they were afraid of the news leaking out, Kang Yueran and Chai Shijing reduced their correspondence, and only exchanged greetings and expressed their longing, avoiding discussing business matters. "Qin Shu went to the southwest to investigate Duke Lu's private soldiers."
Chai Shijing smiled and said, "I also guessed that she would not stay in the Northern Territory. However, she left right after you did. I'm afraid Duke Lu guessed that she would go to the southwest."
"Princess Yongtai is not a reckless person. If she dares to go to the southwest, she must have someone to rely on."
"Teacher, are you guessing that the Duke of Zhenguo has buried people in the southwest?"
Kang Yueran interrupted them, "It's not the Duke of Zhenguo, it's the Emperor. The Emperor has spies in the southwest."
Du Ruhui's expression darkened. "The Emperor is already preparing to take action against Duke Lu. Shijing, you have to be careful!"
Kang Yueran felt that Du Ruhua had something else in mind. "Teacher, what do you mean by that? Why should Ajing be so careful? The emperor is dealing with Duke Lu, so how can Duke Lu have time to deal with Ajing?"
"Your Majesty's mind is changeable, and I am afraid that Duke Lu will do something desperate."
This made sense. Kang Yueran nodded and said, "When I return to Anzhou, I will find a way to contact my spies in Ningzhou." She didn't have any spies, but she could go there directly. It would only take more than an hour to get there anyway.
"You also left spies in Ningzhou?"
Kang Yueran didn't respond, but took out two pieces of paper. "One is written with the names of the deputy generals and lieutenant generals in the southwest who are loyal to Duke Lu; the other is the names of the officials in the southwest that Duke Lu has wooed."
Du Ruhui took it and read it over, her expression becoming increasingly grim. "Miss Kang, is the source of this list reliable?"
"Reliable! There's a merchant in the southwest who was severely harmed by Duke Lu. He doesn't dare to resist openly, but has been secretly collecting information about Duke Lu."
Chai Shijing took it from Du Ruhui and read it over, "I didn't expect that the governor of Shuzhou would also defect to Duke Lu."
Kang Yueran asked, "Is the governor of Shuzhou important?"
Shuzhou is also a border town, bordering the Eastern Kingdom. The Eastern Kingdom is very small, but its people are warlike and often harass the people of Shuzhou, especially during the autumn harvest, when they come to steal food every year.
"He comes every year? Then why doesn't the court care?"
"The Eastern Dynasty's land is small and barren. If they don't seize food, their people will starve, so they have no choice but to come and rob every year. The Eastern Dynasty's ruler specially established a grain-grabbing army. It's small in number but very powerful. Shuzhou also has garrisons, but they are no match for the grain-grabbing army.
Your Majesty also wanted to annex the Eastern Kingdom, but the Eastern Kingdom had close relations with the Southern Chen Kingdom, which was adjacent to Huaizhou. Therefore, he tried to annex it twice, but both attempts were unsuccessful.
Once the Eastern Dynasty was annexed, the Southern Chen would not be far from being annexed, and vice versa. This is the so-called "lips and teeth are cold" principle.
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