After everyone left, the Crown Prince breathed a sigh of relief.
“Your Highness, given the Xu family’s current intentions, it is no longer appropriate for you to support them. You need to choose a more suitable force to win over.” Mr. Shi bowed to the Crown Prince.
Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince fell silent. Besides the Xu family, who else could support him? And whose power was sufficient?
"Does Mr. Shi have someone in mind?" The Crown Prince could only ask Mr. Shi for his opinion.
"Your Highness, the most powerful people in the court are just a few. The Prime Minister's most beloved daughter has entered the palace and is currently at odds with the Empress. The Prime Minister is not suitable. Among the Six Ministries, Minister Xu is in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, Minister Kong is in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, the people in the Ministry of Rites have almost no power, the people in the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Justice are the Emperor's people, and the people in the Ministry of Works also have little power."
Then there's Grand Tutor Xu. As things stand now, only Lord Kong and Grand Tutor Xu seem suitable.
Currently, Grand Tutor Xu remains neutral, and there is no suitable opportunity to win him over, as is Lord Kong. Therefore, we must now find a way to win them over.
Winning over just one company would be very helpful to us; if we could succeed with both, that would be even better.
That's the situation in the court, and Mr. Shi's analysis is quite objective.
However, the Crown Prince fell silent. He had considered winning over Lord Kong, but his father had already decided to send Yongchang to marry a foreign ruler, and there was no other way but to arrange a marriage.
As for Grand Tutor Xu, it seems that he can only be married off. As a princess who returned to the court for a political marriage, Xu Yanyan naturally cannot remarry, so the only option is Xu Yanyan's younger sister, Xu Yingying.
The current situation is quite clear: regardless of the Kong family, the Crown Prince must marry Xu Yingying, the daughter of Grand Tutor Xu.
However, the current problem is that the Emperor has already arranged a marriage for the Crown Prince, with Xu Mingxiu, the county magistrate, and Ren Nuanyun as the Crown Princess. Mr. Shi does not believe that Grand Tutor Xu would agree to his daughter becoming a concubine.
"Your Highness, Minister Kong has no daughter, but Grand Tutor Xu happens to have a woman of marriageable age. However, now that you are engaged to Princess Mingxiu, Grand Tutor Xu will probably not agree to his daughter becoming Your Highness's concubine."
Mr. Shi was naturally aware that the Crown Prince had different feelings for Princess Mingxiu, so he could only express his opinion in a roundabout way.
The Crown Prince was well aware that this matter was somewhat troublesome, but unfortunately, there was no other way but to arrange a marriage. Ren Nuanyun had been so good to him, and besides, his father had already bestowed the marriage upon them in front of everyone.
Moreover, deep down, the Crown Prince was unwilling to have someone he didn't like as his Crown Princess.
"Let me think about this carefully." The Crown Prince hesitated after all. He couldn't touch Yongchang, so he could only start with the Xu family.
Seeing that the Crown Prince had already considered the matter, Mr. Shi did not say anything more. As long as the Crown Prince did not directly refuse, there was still room for maneuver.
After all, Mr. Shi knew something about the relationship between the Crown Prince and Ren Nuanyun.
He still needs to discuss this matter with others. The Crown Prince and Grand Tutor Xu's daughter must be married, and Xu Yingying must be the Crown Princess.
If Xu Yingying were to become the Crown Prince's concubine, it would probably not be about winning over Grand Tutor Xu, but rather about making enemies of the Xu family.
Moreover, Mr. Shi also vaguely knew that the Emperor was not satisfied with Ren Nuanyun's identity...
After Mr. Shi left, the Crown Prince sat in his chair, looking somewhat troubled.
He was unwilling to marry Xu Yingying as the Crown Princess, yet he wanted to win over the Xu family. The Crown Prince was also well aware that the Xu family would never allow their daughter to be subservient to anyone, merely as a concubine.
So what methods can we use to perfectly solve this problem?
If something were to happen to Xu Yingying and she were to lose her innocence...
No, that won't do. Putting aside what would happen if this were found out, if Xu Yingying really lost her innocence and I still married her, wouldn't that be putting a green hat on myself?
But what better way is there?
If Ren Nuanyun were more understanding and willing to become a concubine and give up the position of principal wife to Xu Yingying, wouldn't everyone be happy?
As long as he assures Ren Nuanyun that even if he marries Xu Yingying, he will not favor her and will only ever favor Ren Nuanyun, he will always be the only one to dote on her.
Ren Nuanyun is so understanding, considerate and gentle, she will definitely understand me, but before that, I still need to discuss this matter with her properly.
Just as the Crown Prince's men arrived at Qinglan Pavilion and entrusted them to arrange assassins to hunt down a group of people outside the city, Qu Qingxi received this news. Shen Shuyan asked her if she should agree to this task.
Qu Qingxi's answer was of course yes, after all, she had received so much silver for free, and the fact that the Qinglan Pavilion people had killed the Xu family members today could also ease the Crown Prince's burden.
Otherwise, given Xu Ding's cunning and years of management, the Crown Prince probably wouldn't last more than a few days. The longer the Crown Prince drags things out, the more schemes he devises, and the greater the damage he will cause to the Xu family.
Moreover, Qu Qingxi also knew from He Liufeng that there were several people in the Heavenly Prison who were the Crown Prince's men. Now that the Xu family had other intentions, the Crown Prince was furious and Xu Xingfeng was likely to suffer a lot.
Night fell. He Liufeng was busy outside all day and didn't come back. This made things even more convenient. Otherwise, if He Liufeng slept with her, given his vigilance, he would definitely wake up as soon as she got up.
After changing into night clothes, Qu Qingxi headed towards Zhou Wenli's residence.
Qu Qingxi had mentally reviewed the map and the general layout of Zhou Wenli's room several times.
As soon as Qu Qingxi entered Zhou Wenli's courtyard, she sensed that there were quite a few experts there. She estimated that there were no fewer than ten experts in the courtyard. However, these people were basically useless to Qu Qingxi. Putting aside everything else, Qu Qingxi was second to none in terms of concealment skills.
Zhou Wenli's courtyard looked quite nice. Qu Qingxi tiptoed to Zhou Wenli's room, where candlelight flickered and the window was slightly ajar.
Although Qu Qingxi didn't quite understand why Zhou Wenli didn't close the windows at night in the dead of winter, it was convenient for her.
Qu Qingxi approached the window and looked inside. The room was luxuriously furnished, filled with nice things. Qu Qingxi felt a little itchy to buy them, but she resisted.
After all, her purpose in coming here today was to obtain Zhou Wenli's seal.
Qu Qingxi observed for a long time and confirmed that Zhou Wenli was not in the room, and there was no one else in the room.
Where did Zhou Wenli go in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?
Qu Qingxi frowned, quieted down, and carefully observed her surroundings. She was now unsure whether Zhou Wenli was actually in the courtyard.
Qu Qingxi inadvertently caught sight of a room with a rather strange layout. It was the innermost room, which only had a door but no windows, which was somewhat illogical.
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