This involves the struggle for the throne in the Eastern Court. The current crown prince is not favored and has been sickly since childhood, so he is not capable of anything great.
But the Third Prince was different. Although he was not by the Emperor's side for many years, he accomplished a lot for the Emperor. Even though he was thousands of miles away, the Emperor still cared about him and even had the idea of deposing the Crown Prince.
In this way, the Crown Prince and the other princes immediately set their sights on the Third Prince.
If the Crown Prince of Dongting were to take the blame, Beiyan could be made to take the blame. But if the other princes were to take the blame, they could not only make Beiyan take the blame, but also make the Crown Prince take the blame. In the end, they would reap the benefits, and it would be a new competition.
In short, no matter what, Bei Yan will ultimately be the one to take the blame, and this may even become the main reason for Dong Ting to send troops.
"We are currently on the defensive, so let's see if we can turn the tables and take the initiative."
Lu Baichuan clenched his fist, his eyes filled with determination.
It has always been Dongting that has been eyeing Beiyan with wolfish ambitions, yet in the end, they still want to smear Beiyan.
If Bei Yan doesn't resist, wouldn't he become a great victim?
If this had happened during the previous struggle for the throne among the princes, some might have actually been willing to be the unfortunate victim, because in the midst of internal strife, no one could care about anything else.
But now Bei Yan is completely under the control of the Crown Prince, and the other princes have lost their fighting spirit. No matter how unwilling they are, they can only give up.
Now, Bei Yan can barely be considered united, so naturally they will confront Dong Ting's shameless provocation head-on.
The crown prince was very excited and asked, "How can we turn the tables and take the initiative?"
He is about to ascend the throne, and this is the time when he needs to intimidate people. If he can use this event to make a good start to his ascension, he will definitely be able to sit on the throne and those disobedient princes and disloyal courtiers will not dare to say anything.
Lu Baichuan stated bluntly: "We will send troops on the pretext that the envoy has been captured."
He Jiuniang nodded: "Okay, now we have a legitimate reason to act."
The couple shared the same idea, but the Crown Prince hesitated and said, "Over the years, Bei Yan has never taken the initiative to send troops to any country. Bei Yan hopes to coexist peacefully."
This is a rule left by the ancestors of the Yan Kingdom: to avoid initiating wars and causing disasters to the people.
He Jiuniang didn't say anything. She felt there was no need to say anything more. If she didn't make a decision now, he would have plenty of opportunities to regret it.
Let's separate the issues and stick to the facts. They've already bullied us to the point of no return, yet we don't take the initiative to send troops; instead, we just wait for them to come after us.
In any case, all her passion was extinguished by the Crown Prince's words. She finally understood why the Crown Prince, who was clearly the most powerful prince back then, could still live such a miserable life. The reasons were multifaceted.
Because they never take the initiative, they are seen as easy to bully, so anyone can get involved.
If it weren't for the two of them, he would probably have had a long way to go to become the crown prince.
He Jiuniang knew perfectly well that this was simply the Crown Prince's nature, which couldn't be changed overnight. Moreover, he was actually considering the people's well-being and wasn't entirely without merit, so she didn't say anything more.
Some ideas only work if you try to change them yourself; otherwise, it's all for nothing.
Lu Baichuan didn't waste any more words, simply saying, "This is a very good opportunity, Your Highness, please consider it carefully."
The Crown Prince nodded, and the matter was not discussed further for the time being. He then brought up the whereabouts of the Third Prince of the Eastern Court.
There are assassins in Dongting trying to kill the Third Prince. The Third Prince cannot die yet, at least not in Beiyan. He must be kept alive no matter what.
The group discussed the matter until late at night before the family of three finally left the palace.
Normally, leaving the palace was not allowed at this time, but He Jiu Niang had a gold token given to her by the old emperor. Apart from saving her life in critical moments, seeing this gold token anywhere was as if the old emperor himself was there, so naturally no one could disobey the imperial decree.
Lu Baichuan held his son, and He Jiuniang asked softly, "What do you think?"
"I also think we should send troops, but it depends on the Crown Prince's attitude. My opinion is not important."
Lu Baichuan shrugged, his tone revealing helplessness. No matter how high his official rank was, he had to obey the Crown Prince's orders and could not make decisions on his own.
And it's not without reason that the Crown Prince has some reservations; we'll just have to wait for the final decision.
He Jiuniang said, "Too many concerns are just indecisiveness. Just wait and see, he will eventually agree, because they have already bullied us to the point of being arrogant. If he still doesn't agree, then I'll just consider him a mistake."
She could understand that the Crown Prince only wanted to be a good person so that all the people in the world could live a peaceful life, but the problem now was no longer about whether he was a good person or not; it was about being cowardly, and being cowardly meant getting beaten.
He Jiuniang thought that if the Crown Prince really had to be so cowardly as to get beaten up, then he wouldn't be worth her efforts. She would just give up and let the country fall, then she would just get a new emperor and continue giving up. She didn't care about national or family feuds, since she wasn't a person of this era anyway.
Lu Baichuan could hear the disappointment in her tone towards the Crown Prince, but after all, he had followed the Crown Prince for so many years, and he couldn't help but speak up for the Crown Prince, saying, "His Highness is just worried about the lives of the people, and he must be very conflicted."
He Jiuniang nodded somewhat perfunctorily: "Yes, he's conflicted. I'm very sleepy, I'd better go home, wash up, and go to bed!"
Lu Baichuan looked at her and gave her a deliberately lewd smile: "Yeah, let's go home, wash up, and go to sleep!"
He Jiuniang: ...
Anyway, after returning home, He Jiuniang was unable to go to bed early as she had hoped. She had thought that coming to the capital would mean becoming a noblewoman, but she hadn't expected to be so busy every day. She had very few opportunities to be with her husband and children, and the couple hadn't seen each other for quite some time...
Then, it was basically another battle until dawn...
If it weren't for having to go to "work", Lu Baichuan felt he could do alright!
He Jiuniang stood resentfully at the door with dark circles under her eyes. She didn't want to ride a horse today and was waiting for the family's coachman to take her and Gou'er to the military camp.
Lu Baichuan leaned in to kiss her cheek, trying to ingratiate himself, but she slapped him away and said impatiently, "Go, go, go!"
"Okay, I'll go over and make the arrangements first. You and Gou'er should also be careful."
Lu Baichuan, who had gotten the better deal, had a smile on his face. Unable to kiss his wife, he pulled his son over and kissed him before mounting his horse and leaving.
When Gou'er learned that he was going to the military camp with his mother, he was overjoyed, as it was a place he had longed to visit for a long time.
Then, suddenly, her own father took advantage of her, and she covered her face with her little hands, looking completely incredulous.
"Daddy kissed me..."
"I'm not clean anymore..."
He Jiuniang: ...I was successfully amused, thank you.
Thinking of Lu Baichuan being disliked by his own son, He Jiuniang felt much better. Although he was inhuman, at least he was disliked by his son.
It's wonderful, another beautiful day.
Soon, the coachman had harnessed the carriage and respectfully helped the mother and child into it. Just as they were about to leave, they heard a sound coming from not far away.
"Wait a moment!"
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