Beckoning with her hand, Yang Mengchen whispered a few words into Hai Tang’s ear. Hai Tang nodded solemnly and left to arrange everything.
The next day, after breakfast, the Princes and Princesses of the Three Kingdoms visited the Chen Prince Mansion as agreed.
Recently married, the Emperor had granted Long Xuanmo’s request for half a month’s wedding leave (normally, a prince only gets three days for the wedding, but the Emperor favored Long Xuanmo greatly and agreed on account of Yang Mengchen), so naturally he spent the time with his beloved wife.
Yang Chenghong, Luo Jingrui, and Nangong Lingfei were also present; after all, the business dealings of the Yang family were publicly a joint venture between the three families.
Presenting a brocaded box to Yang Mengchen, Beiyue Country’s Eldest Prince Wu Zhenglie sincerely said with a smile, "This is a modest gift, not worthy of your grace. I hope Princess Chen will kindly accept it!"
As the legitimate son of the late queen, he was favored by his father and could inherit his mother’s family’s strong support that had helped secure the royal authority. He was ambitious and wielded significant influence in court.
He was kind-hearted but not foolish, and he naturally understood that should the new queen and her son, Second Prince Wu Zhengshan, successfully take power, he would undoubtedly face death.
His maternal family had always favored good relations with Dong Chu, so this time he took the initiative to visit Dong Chu—first, to celebrate Prince Chen’s grand wedding, and second, to take the opportunity to form an alliance with Dong Chu.
Little did he expect Princess Chen to have such a formidable background. If he could establish good relations with Princess Chen, he wouldn’t need to fear the new queen and her family any longer and trusted he might obtain some surprising bonuses. Therefore, he’d brought the specially prepared gift for Princess Chen.
Wu Wenlan was a sister of the same mother to Wu Zhengshan and often conspired with the new queen and Wu Zhengshan against him. This time the new queen sent Wu Wenlan with him both to surveil him and with the intention of arranging a marriage with Dong Chu.
Wu Wenlan’s admiration for Prince Chen was no secret, and to avoid displeasing Princess Chen and spoiling his plans, he had no choice but to keep Wu Wenlan confined in the posthouse. Of course, he would not harm Wu Wenlan; after all, fratricide was profoundly tragic for their father, and he did not want to cause his father grief.
Hai Tang stepped forward to take the brocaded box, carefully inspecting it inside and out, before respectfully presenting it to Yang Mengchen.
Wu Zhenglie, well aware of their concerns for any trickery, remained completely indifferent, watching Yang Mengchen with a calm expression, though he felt somewhat uneasy inside.
Opening the brocaded box, inside was a blooming Snow Ling Flower emitting a faint blue glow, along with a contract. The contract stipulated that Wu Zhenglie would gift Princess Chen five thousand fine horses and thirty thousand tons of Wind Copper each year. Yang Mengchen handed the contract to Long Xuanmo, who read it over, and then the couple exchanged glances.
Leaving aside the fact that the Snow Ling Flower blooms only once a century and is only found at the peak of Mengga Peak in Beiyue Country, reputed to have medicinal effects that revive the dead and prolong life, illustrating its extreme rarity. Just considering Beiyue’s excellent horses, particularly their war horses, and Wind Copper, ideal for smelting various vessels and beneficial for making musket balls. However, in this era, firearms and ammunition have not yet been developed.
Now, Wu Zhenglie was personally gifting these items to Yang Mengchen in a contract, which, considering the actual situation in Beiyue, allowed her to guess some of Wu Zhenglie’s thoughts in an instant. Unfortunately, he thought to form an alliance with her so easily; things were not so cheap.
"Thank you for the gift, Eldest Prince, but this princess must humbly refuse," she said.
Looking at Yang Mengchen, whose expression was tranquil and whose gaze was calm, Wu Zhenglie’s heart was filled with shock and unease.
He knew that his gift was not ordinary, and believed that even Emperors of several nations would not be able to hide their delight. Yet Princess Chen didn’t even blink an eye, remaining incredibly composed—so much so that it was hard to believe. Moreover, based on the tone of Princess Chen, he could not fathom whether she was indeed willing to form an alliance.
The Princes from Nanping and Xiliang had also given gifts, but Yang Mengchen treated them all equally, and then had Luo Jingrui and primarily Yang Chenghong discuss cooperation matters with the three nations. Yang Mengchen watched from the side; she had already discussed the arrangements with the three of them beforehand, and therefore did not interject.
Approximately two hours passed, and the two sides finally reached an intention to cooperate—of course, the greatest benefits were on the Yang family’s side.
Yang Chenghong took out pen and paper and drafted an agreement, stating that if the parties had no objections, he would arrange to have it printed as soon as possible. The Princes of the Three Kingdoms would take the agreement back to stamp it with the Jade Seal of their respective nations, as well as with their own seals. Finally, they would hand it over to the manager of Yangji Supermarket in The Capital cities of their countries. Once Yang Chenghong received the agreements, the cooperation would become effective.
Looking at the sheets of paper emitting a faint fragrance in their hands and hearing Yang Chenghong say that such paper could be preserved forever, the Princes of the Three Kingdoms couldn’t help but smile bitterly and feel envious, as not even their royal families had such paper.
Princess Yashuang of Nanping and Princess Qiulu of Xiliang had originally been determined to win over Long Xuanmo, but after witnessing Yang Mengchen’s peerless elegance and wise strategies at the banquet, this desire completely dissipated, and they harbored genuine admiration for Yang Mengchen.
Yang Mengchen invited the guests to stay for lunch, and Princess Yashuang and Princess Qiulu conversed happily with Yang Mengchen. At the same time, they invited Yang Mengchen to visit their respective countries when she had the time, to which Yang Mengchen readily agreed.
Before leaving, Yang Mengchen gave each of them a set of high-quality cosmetics and a bottle of perfume (currently only three types of perfume have been developed, and they had just been launched in The Capital and Qinghe Prefecture), which they accepted with great joy.
As if she didn’t notice Wu Zhenglie’s hesitation to speak, Yang Mengchen, along with Long Xuanmo, sent off the guests and then returned to the study to continue working on the plan.
On the day of Long Xuanmo’s birthday, Yang Mengchen personally made him a bowl of longevity noodles. The celebration took place at noon in the Cining Palace, including the families of Grand Prince and Prince Ning as well as their children. Afterwards, the Emperor and Long Xuanmo along with the other men went to the Imperial Study Room to discuss matters, while Yang Mengchen accompanied the Empress Dowager and the other ladies to chat about family affairs. Suddenly, she saw Lv Luo, who was waiting outside the bedroom, give her a meaningful look, so she excused herself to leave the bedroom.
"Princess, Yuan Bao has sent a message that the Sixth Young Master was suddenly struck by a mad horse on the way to the supermarket, thrown from the carriage, and is now unconscious. However, Princess, there is no need to worry. The Sixth Young Master has been taken to Huimin Hospital, and Doctor Yao is personally treating him. It seems there shouldn’t be any problems."
Yang Mengchen’s complexion changed abruptly, and she swayed as if about to fall. Hai Tang and Lv Luo quickly supported her and softly consoled her.
After steadying her mind, Yang Mengchen returned to the bedroom and told the Empress Dowager that there were urgent matters in the mansion that needed to be addressed. She then left Sister Jin to wait for Long Xuanmo and departed from the Imperial Palace with the four of them.
Not long after they left the palace gates, a group of masked figures in black surrounded Yang Mengchen’s carriage from all sides.
The men in black were all highly skilled in martial arts, and Hai Tang and her companions were no match for them. They were injured quickly and could only watch helplessly as Yang Mengchen was carried away by the assailants.
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