Qi and Hao had been at war for years since their founding, and the two sides were at loggerheads. It was not until the late emperor that the two countries reached a ceasefire agreement. This marriage was also arranged by the late emperor and the current monarch of Nanhao. At that time, the Great Qi was in crisis, with internal and external troubles. The late emperor wanted to use this marriage to give the Great Qi some time to recuperate.

Although Nan Hao agreed to it back then, he was obviously not interested in this marriage, which is why the wedding was delayed again and again until today.

Now that the Ninth Prince is seriously ill, my father is still so high-profile and has made the matter known to everyone. Wuhejialou and his party have been in the capital for two months, so this matter will definitely not be hidden from Wuhejialou's eyes and ears.

The Ninth Prince is the national treasure sword of the Great Qi.

With him around, the four barbarians can be intimidated, and even Nan Hao would not dare to send troops to Da Qi easily.

If something happens to the Ninth Uncle and Nan Hao wants to tear up the peace treaty, Da Qi will probably be in danger of another bloody storm.

Several ministers exchanged glances with each other, and their expressions became serious.

In fact, they knew very well in their hearts that the emperor had just spoken out of turn.

If Wuhejialou is really in collusion with King Chen, then he should choose to leave Da Qi as soon as possible.

But he didn't leave in a hurry, instead he stayed.

The reason why he didn't leave was probably because he wanted to see if Prince Chen was really terminally ill...

One of the cabinet ministers, who was in his fifties, seconded the proposal, "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is right. It is rare for the Crown Prince Wuhe to be an envoy to Daqi, so the marriage should be pushed forward as soon as possible."

Everyone still remembers vividly the scene when the emperor provoked Uhagalou in public on the birthday of his great-grandson.

They could all see that the emperor was very dissatisfied with Uhajaro.

But Hao was strong and Qi was weak, and it was unwise to turn against Wuhejialou at this time. To be honest, the emperor's indifference to Wuhejialou and his party these days had already made them very uneasy.

Fortunately, Uhakala was a devout believer in Buddhism and had a gentle temperament, so he did not fall out. And thanks to the prince's intervention, the situation was not too ugly.

It would be best to settle the marriage as soon as possible while Wuhejialou is in Beijing.

Several elders echoed:

"Your Majesty, our Daqi princess and Nanhao's eldest prince are a perfect match. When they give birth to a child with Daqi's bloodline who will inherit Nanhao's throne, the two countries will be truly at peace!"

"Master Li is right."

"Your Majesty, once Da Qi has rested and recuperated, it is not impossible for us to take Nan Hao under our control and unify the Central Plains."

“…”

Everyone flattered the emperor and racked their brains to say all the nice things they could.

The emperor's expression finally eased a lot. He was very pleased to hear what he heard, as if he had already seen the scene in the future where the people of Nanhao would kneel down and submit to him and he would unify the Central Plains.

Thinking about Gu Jue's critical illness and Taoist Master Xuan Jing, the emperor finally felt happy again.

A god descended from heaven to help him cultivate Taoism and become an immortal. He will definitely be the master of the four seas!

Seeing that the emperor was relieved, the cabinet chief immediately suggested: "Your Majesty, why don't you let the crown prince go and discuss this matter with Haoren?"

This proposal was seconded by other cabinet ministers.

The emperor had no interest in summoning Wuhejialou, so he responded without thinking: "Prince, I'll leave this matter to you."

Gu Nanjin: “…”

Gu Nanjin's eyes twitched, and he felt speechless.

This is a marriage between two countries, so of course it was the emperor of that country who negotiated it, which made Da Qi appear more sincere.

Could it be that in Father's heart, the Hao people would be as servile to him as those vassal tribes? !

That’s Nan Hao!

Gu Nanjin's forehead ached slightly, and he became even more unsure about this marriage.

The last time he saw Wuhejialou's attitude, it was obvious that he was not very happy about this marriage. His attitude also represented the attitude of Emperor Hao. Gu Nanjin was not sure whether he could make the marriage a success, but his father seemed to be condescending.

But in the current situation, if his father were to intervene, Gu Nanjin was afraid that he would offend the person so much that there would be no room for maneuver.

He thought about it again and again, but finally could not bear any more persuasion and agreed: "Yes, Father."

As the voice fell, the cabinet ministers including the prime minister breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that the emperor's temper had become more and more changeable in recent times.

After finishing the serious business, the emperor continued to examine the homework of several princes, while Crown Prince Gu Nanjin withdrew.

As the crown prince, he had already begun to get involved in court affairs. He was already busy with government affairs, and when he came to the study, two extra things came up. He really wished he had three heads and six arms.

Gu Nanjin first went to the Eastern Palace to meet with several counselors. They stayed in the study and discussed for a long time. That afternoon, some invitations were sent from the Eastern Palace to the residences of some royal family members and nobles in the capital, inviting everyone to play polo.

One of the posts was also sent to the Yongding Marquis Mansion.

The Marquis's residence was in an uproar, and a maid immediately rushed to Rongfu Hall to report to the Madam: "Madam, someone from the East Palace has sent an invitation."

The lady was overjoyed and said quickly, "Quick, please come in."

She smiled so hard that deep wrinkles appeared between her brows.

Seeing that the Madam was happy, Nanny Wang said in a humorous way, "Madam, it is a great honor to receive an invitation from the Eastern Palace. I heard that in March, the Eastern Palace sent out an invitation to appreciate flowers, but even the Marquis of Jing'an Mansion didn't get one."

The lady felt more and more relieved after listening to this. She straightened her back even more and there was a hint of arrogance between her eyebrows.

Their Yongding Marquisate was conferred the title of marquis by Emperor Taizu, which is naturally different from the Jing'an Marquisate, which has not yet passed down three generations of nobles.

After a while, another maid brought in a young eunuch in blue clothes.

The young eunuch in blue was very arrogant. Facing the Madam, he just casually bowed and said indifferently, "I am here to deliver a letter to Miss Chu Er."

As if she had been slapped in the face, the lady's smile disappeared and her expression suddenly became very unsightly.

The lady looked at the apricot-yellow card in the young eunuch's hand. She had originally thought it was so glorious, but now she felt how terrible it was.

She forced a smile and told Nanny Wang with a forced smile, "Take this eunuch to the doctor."

The young eunuch in blue curled his lips, and his round face still looked smiling, but when he turned around, he waved his sleeves without any concealment, and felt that the Yongding Marquis Mansion was simply incomprehensible.

Can't they call Miss Chu over?

After the young eunuch followed Nanny Wang out of Rongfu Hall, the sound of things being smashed was heard from the room at the back, and the servants in the courtyard all behaved themselves in a low voice.

The atmosphere in Rongfu Hall was stiff and solemn. The same was true in the main courtyard. There was an ambiguous dullness in the air.

The maid who went to report to Mrs. Shen didn't even invite the person in. She said politely to the young eunuch, "Young Master Li, please follow me to the side room and wait for a while. I will send someone to summon the second young lady."

Young Eunuch Li had not expected that the Marquis's wife did not even intend to see him. His face instantly darkened and he said unhappily, "Lead the way!"

What can a mere marquis' wife do? !

Eunuch Li was almost angry, but he was also afraid that if he messed up such a simple task, he would be the only one who would be in trouble, so he could only follow a little maid to the side room and wait.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Shen, who was hated by Eunuch Li, was not deliberately putting on airs. She was in no mood to greet people from the Eastern Palace. She was so shocked that she hasn't calmed down yet.

There were only Shen and Nanny Chen in the room; everyone else had been sent away.

"When did this happen?" Shen asked anxiously.

Nanny Chen also looked solemn, "It happened the day before yesterday."

"The day before yesterday afternoon, Madam Yu went to her son's tavern. On the way, a flower pot fell from the third floor of a restaurant and hit her. She was bleeding profusely and fell unconscious on the spot..."

"The Lu family invited many doctors from the county, but Nanny Yu injured her head and died in the middle of the night."

"Yesterday, the Lu family went to the restaurant where the incident happened in mourning, crying, making a fuss, and burning paper money. The restaurant owner said that the flower pot was blown down by the wind, and they were willing to pay compensation. The two sides bargained for half an hour, and in the end the restaurant paid the Lu family a total of 1,000 taels of silver to settle the matter peacefully."

"The matter has not been reported to the government."

Nanny Chen told the whole story in detail.

As the saying goes, officials will not investigate unless the people sue.

Ordinary people are afraid of the government, so they dare not get into trouble with it. Officials and businessmen also do not want to be involved in lawsuits for fear of ruining their reputation.

Therefore, many issues often never get brought to the government and are resolved quietly in private.

At first glance, this incident sounded like a simple accident, but the more Shen listened, the more frightened she became.

There are many unpredictable accidents in life. It is not uncommon for you to encounter a frightened horse when you go out and be accidentally hit to death or crippled.

Nanny Yu had lived well for so many years, and had even been living a good life as a wealthy country gentry since she was released. But just as I ordered people to investigate her, she suddenly died in an accident. How could there be so many coincidences in this world!

Chu Qianchen's wet nurse died of illness when she was six years old, her midwife and her family moved away and their whereabouts are unknown, and now even the managing nanny, Nanny Yu, happened to die at this time. With so many "coincidences", it's no coincidence at all.

Shen's heartbeat quickened and her expression became increasingly solemn.

A thought inevitably came to her mind: There must be someone behind these coincidences, and this person did this because he didn't want her to investigate the matter? That's why he used various methods to "silence" the insiders.

Shen's eyelids trembled suddenly and she slowly closed her eyes.

After she closed her eyes, her expression was dignified and gentle. In the sunlight, her face looked a little pale, and her clenched hands showed that she was not as calm as she looked at the moment.

It seemed as if huge waves were rising in her heart, one higher than the other, and it took a long time to calm down.

The surroundings fell into silence, and the atmosphere became more and more depressing as the silence continued.

Outside the house came the dull chirping of cicadas, sounding mournful.

Just when Nanny Chen felt she was almost suffocating, Shen opened her eyes and her look became calm.

She asked softly, "You didn't leak the fact that I asked you to go to the Duke's Mansion to borrow someone, did you?"

"No, you personally reminded me of this, and I didn't tell anyone." Nanny Chen said hurriedly, and then she recounted how she had personally gone to Duke Mu's mansion that day and asked the Duke's wife to borrow someone.

On that day, Shen and Chu Qianchen had just been to the Duke's Mansion and brought Gu Zhiyan back. Nanny Chen was afraid that if she went there again, it would arouse suspicion, so she brought two baskets of watermelons that had just been delivered from the farm and left the house under the pretext of Shen's filial piety.

She just casually exchanged a few words with the doorman when she was leaving the house, and after that she never mentioned to anyone else her trip to the Duke's Mansion to deliver watermelons.

Shen clutched the handkerchief even tighter, causing her fingertips to turn slightly white.

She asked again impatiently: "Think about it carefully, have you really not told anyone?"

"Maybe one or two words you said carelessly let the news slip..."

Some things may be said unintentionally by the speaker but taken seriously by the listener. Maybe Nanny Chen just said something casually, but it's hard to say if others heard some clues.

So Nanny Chen thought carefully about what happened that day and said with certainty, "No..."

etc!

Nanny Chen's eyes widened and she suddenly remembered something.

By the way, when she walked out of this room that day, she happened to see the eldest girl Chu Qianhuang and spoke a few words to her.

Under Shen's inquiring gaze, Nanny Chen told the truth: "That day, when I left here for the Duke's Mansion, I saw the eldest lady in the corridor..."

It's the 1st, there should be guaranteed monthly tickets today, give me two~

(End of this chapter)