The women in the backyard didn't know the full picture of the major events of the previous dynasty, but the women in the Zhou Palace were the ones who worried King Zhou the most. Xu Qingrong was originally happy that Gan had no children, and she took the medicine to regulate her body as soon as possible, maybe she could have a son.

But the Xu family also told her that King Zhou's behavior was difficult.

Madam Xu even said to her, "My master said that this might be intentional on the part of the emperor, mainly to pave the way for Prince Chen. After all, Prince Chen is the best at fighting, but instead of sending him out, Prince Zhou was sent out, which obviously meant that he would be embarrassed."

"What should we do?" Xu Qingrong didn't understand this either.

Madam Xu sighed, "Your father said the same thing. Now we can only leave it to fate. What else can we do? Prince Chen is always by the emperor's side. I'm afraid he will do something bad."

"Yes, I'm not afraid of the Donghu people. What I'm most afraid of is the insane Prince Chen." Xu Qingrong sat paralyzed on the chair.

She suddenly realized that sending King Zhou to the front line might be a conspiracy. The current King Chen was much more arrogant and powerful than the King Heng during the reign of the previous emperor.

Seeing her like this, Madam Xu hurried to comfort her: "In the past, we in Dalin dared not provoke the Donghu. Even when the late emperor was in power, we paid tribute every year. One year when we didn't pay tribute, the people came to the capital and then we opened the trade again. Our emperor has seen the Western Rong being destroyed, and he actually wants to destroy the Donghu. I think the worst that can happen is that we will be defeated and ask for peace."

Even though the pro-war faction in the court was clamoring loudly, in reality it was really impossible. The emperor was a fickle person, and the monarchs of Dalin in recent generations were not powerful rulers either.

In fact, being able to destroy the Western Rong would be an unprecedented achievement.

Xu Qingrong curled her lips: "My daughter only hopes that our prince will return safely."

Madam Xu said, "Prince Zhou is the eldest son and should be staying in the palace. Don't worry, our Xu family will definitely mobilize people to prevent Prince Zhou from leaving the capital again in the future."

"No, we have to invite Prince Chen to his fiefdom as soon as possible. There is no time to waste." Xu Qingrong was becoming more and more worried.

The King of Zhou had only one eldest son, and the King of Chen had three sons. His eldest son was also the eldest grandson of the emperor and was very favored. When the father and son stood before Emperor Jianzhang, there was no place for the King of Zhou.

Queen Hong, who had previously been biased towards Prince Zhou, seems to have changed her attitude recently and has begun to warm up to Prince Chen's faction again.

While the King of Zhou is away, let the King of Chen go to his fiefdom, so that when the King of Zhou returns, the matter will be settled.

Mrs. Xu agreed with what she heard.

Therefore, after the failure of the expedition against the Eastern Hu, ministers in the court requested the Prince to become a vassal.

This was certainly something Gao Xuance had never thought of. At this moment, these people were still thinking about the throne. He did not discuss it with the so-called staff, but brought up the matter with Yao Niang.

"They told me to become a vassal. I took a look and it seems that the Xu family was behind this."

The Luo family helps King Chen, and the Xu family helps King Zhou. This is human nature, and Gao Xuance will not blame the Xu family.

Yao Niang said, "In fact, victory and defeat are common in the military. If they really have confidence in King Zhou, they should not be so arrogant. It seems that the emperor will no longer trust King Zhou after he returns this time. That means the ministers know how capable King Zhou is. I think if father is ambitious, he should use you."

As expected, Gao Xuance talked to his wife about this achievement. He played with her fingers and stood up again, saying, "But my father is not a man of strong mind. He saw me destroy the Western Rong before, so he thought he could unify the world. But now that he has failed, I am afraid he will never start a war again."

This was the weakness of Emperor Jianzhang, and the officials in the court were unwilling to do so.

"Hmph, the Eastern Hu have wicked ambitions. Peace talks now will only last temporarily. It's a pity that you can't make the decision." Yao Niang sighed.

Gao Xuance smiled and said, "Do you think that Father will think that it was because of King Zhou that we were unable to win the battle? Now I can make a fuss about this."

Seeing that he already had a plan, Yao Niang felt relieved.

Gaoping Luojia

Because Luo Jingyuan passed the imperial examination, a memorial archway was erected in front of the Luo family's gate. Yu looked at Wang, who was already pregnant, and said to her, "You have to take good care of yourself, because the first three months of pregnancy are the most important for a woman."

"Yes, ma'am." Not long after Wang got married, she returned to her hometown in Gaoping. She felt bad being away from her parents and relatives, but fortunately her mother-in-law was kind and her husband was gentle. She had fewer restrictions in the countryside, so she was in a good mood.

But she was young and often couldn't communicate with her mother-in-law.

After Yu gave the instructions, she began to do some needlework. It was obviously a small piece of clothing. Wang thought that it must be made for the baby in her belly.

Ke Erzhen came in and said, "Madam, this is the soft cloth you requested. I asked someone to beat it with a wooden mallet until it is soft. This way, our young master will be more comfortable when he wears it."

"Yes, I heard Yao Niang mention that Chengze was a child who couldn't stand having a thread on his clothes and would cry for a long time." Yu was very concerned about her daughter.

Upon hearing this, Wang remained silent.

It is natural for others to feel sorry for their daughters, but why is it that since she is the daughter of the Wang family, the Wang family never seemed to love her so much, thinking that once she got married, she would belong to someone else's family?

The Princess of Chen is truly a darling of heaven. She is extremely pampered in her natal family, and in the palace the Prince of Chen is infatuated with her. She is also extremely beautiful, and she is the one who has won the heart of the country. It seems that she has all the good things in the world.

Of course, Yu Shi did not care about her own grandson, but she was far away from Yao Niang and was always thinking about her.

Normally, she would be by Yao Niang's side when she gave birth, but this time she couldn't.

At noon, Luo Zhizheng came back. Wang quickly stood up to serve the dishes. Luo Zhizheng waved her hand and said, "You are pregnant. Please go down first. You are not needed here."

After Wang left, Luo Zhizheng couldn't help but say to Yu, "Look, if my Yao Niang was at home, she would definitely have someone serve me my favorite walnut and pine nut tea when she saw me back. Even if she married into the palace, she would serve Empress Hong the best and raise children that the emperor loves."

"Master, you are exaggerating when you say that." Yu also knew that Luo Zhizheng had been a willful person all his life, and no one else could change him. He always spoke his mind and did not like stupid people.

I don't know how Yao Niang fell in love with him. She talks about her daughter every day, as if no one in the world can compare to her.

Luo Zhizheng held up his hands and said, "What's wrong with bragging? I would have regretted it if I had invited a live-in son-in-law. I don't know how wonderful a grandson Yao Niang would have given me. Forget it. The more I talk about it, the more troublesome it becomes."

After the couple had lunch, he received a letter, which he opened in front of Yu. After opening it, he frowned and said, "The court is really not peaceful. All officials are knocking on the door. Please ask the emperor to let the prince go to the vassal state."

Yu was also shocked: "Why has it come to this? The Prince has always put state affairs first and has never done anything wrong."

"Not only that, the supervisors also signed a letter and held a petition on the bus..." Luo Zhizheng said to himself, there must be someone behind this.

To drive Prince Chen away at this time was simply to catch him off guard, because Prince Chen's original plan was to send Prince Zhou to the border area and fight a chaotic battle to let Emperor Jianzhang see who was the true emperor?

However, the King of Zhou did not win this battle. If he came back, he would most likely ask the emperor to change the heir or even accuse him of a crime. Those who supported the so-called system of primogeniture succession feared the most.

The Emperor is likely to change the crown prince, so at this time, Prince Chen should be sent away quickly, and when Prince Zhou comes back, he will still be the crown prince. After he is conferred the title of crown prince, no one will remember his previous battle.

As for Emperor Jianzhang, he would also accept his fate.

Because Emperor Jianzhang was not a man of strong mind. He was different from Prince Chen, who was ambitious, strong-willed, and had his own opinions.

For example, if he likes Yao Niang, he will do anything to marry her. He never follows the crowd and knows what kind of person he really wants.

This is very bad. It is not something that can be solved by simply becoming a vassal. The Prince of Chen is not an ordinary prince.

If he were to be enfeoffed, the Jianzhang Emperor would definitely grant him a good place. Would the new emperor let the Prince go after ascending the throne? The Prince was not someone who could be bullied. There would be a war sooner or later.

King Wuling of Zhao made his youngest son the king and divided the kingdom among his eldest sons. When the two sides started to quarrel, King Wuling of Zhao eventually starved to death.

King Zhao Wuling was a great ruler? Our emperor is even more mediocre.

Luo Zhizheng is no longer worried about his son-in-law, Prince Chen, but is more worried about the emperor. After all, he is also deeply favored by the emperor.

Emperor Jianzhang was also in a very difficult situation, because there was a bold official who had bluntly said that he himself wanted to sit on the throne for a long time. Gao Xuance looked at the kneeling old minister, and he suddenly knelt in front of Emperor Jianzhang.

"Father, I originally wanted to clear up the situation for you and help you unify the Central Plains. Unfortunately, after seeing those old men, I don't want to make things difficult for you." Gao Xuance knelt down and sighed slightly.

In the eyes of Emperor Jianzhang, his son had always been a man of great bearing, his appearance and demeanor had always been first-rate, but now he was so discouraged, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

If it were an ordinary prince, he would probably be afraid of implicating himself and would definitely not say such things.

For the royal family, talking about power is an act of usurpation.

Emperor Jianzhang helped him up and said, "There's no need to rush this matter."

This kind of comfort obviously had no effect, but Gao Xuance still stood up obediently. Emperor Jianzhang talked to him about the things on the front line again, and also took the opportunity to see his attitude towards King Zhou.

Gao Xuance said, "Victory and defeat are common in the military since ancient times. The Donghu were originally powerful, and our army waited for an opportunity to move and barely resisted them. Therefore, it was right for father to tell them not to advance. However, they deliberately used three horses to tire us out. If they occasionally win one or two battles, there is still a chance to win. Since ancient times, speed is the most important thing in war. When fighting against the Donghu, we must be quick and flat. Second brother has already tried his best and reduced losses by making strategic plans. All this is also thanks to father's blessing."

The implication is that after all, one needs extremely strong abilities to do so. The front-line generals dare not make decisions, and the King of Zhou himself is not good at martial arts, so of course the battle against the Donghu is not as good as expected.

Of course, after Gao Xuance finished saying this, he continued, "Father, you must take good care of yourself after I become a vassal. Some ministers are thinking about the country, while others are simply bullying the weak and afraid of the strong. This time, the Donghu defeated our army, and I heard that someone in the court wanted to restore the Xirong country to please the Donghu. I just beg you not to agree, otherwise, your legacy will be destroyed in an instant."

Having said that, Gao Xuance kowtowed to three more people and resolutely prepared to leave.

Emperor Jianzhang also had his own imperial skills. It was certainly a good strategy for Prince Chen to retreat in order to advance, which made him feel very sorry for it and even caused all the officials to resign. The influence was very great, but now that Prince Chen was gone, he had to appoint a crown prince.

Now they are willing to rebel against the emperor just for the King of Zhou? What if the King of Zhou appoints a crown prince?

The King of Zhou is not good at fighting, so those ministers will definitely support the King of Zhou. Isn't this a mistake for the country?

Moreover, as the son of the King of Zhou, although he is heard to be somewhat intelligent, how can he compare with Ji'er?

After all, he himself couldn't bear to part with Xuan Ce.