Chapter 119
The Prince of England also got the news, because of the heavy losses in the mountains, especially the tense relationship with the barbarians. Who would have thought that among the dead was the young leader of a tribe. The leader of that tribe had only one son, who had always been brave and resourceful. He was secretly sent to Tianqi to study, so he was highly valued. Who would have thought that he would die at the hands of his own people? This was extremely unacceptable to the leader. He did not believe it was an accident at all, and thought that the Prince of England had deliberately harmed his son.
That tribe was the leading tribe in the cooperation with the Prince of England, otherwise they would not have sent their most trusted son. The Prince of England was already in poor health, and he couldn't help vomiting blood after hearing the news. If he had been resting, the Prince of England might have lived a few more years, but he couldn't calm down at all. He always wanted the throne. The Prince of England was stubborn and self-willed. Even if he had offspring, he was not close to them. He was even busy with his great cause and neglected his children.
Not only that, the Prince of England was also amorous and fickle-minded. He kept many women in his backyard. In addition to the principal wife, in order to win over his subordinates, he also took in many of his subordinates' relatives. In addition, there were women sent by gentry and others. However, the more women he had, the fewer children the Prince of England had. Now there are only three or four left alive, and one of them was the son of Xue Qiao who was kept outside.
After Xue Qiao came back, the Prince of England only went to meet him once. Xue Qiao naturally described what happened in the border town, but most of what he said was just to excuse himself, which made the Prince of England less and less aware of the situation in the border town. However, he did not blame Xue Qiao, after all, Xue Qiao brought back a lot of news.
Not only that, the Prince of England also took Xue Qiao back to his palace. Xue Qiao had been looking forward to this day, but after arriving at the backyard of the Prince of England's palace, Xue Qiao found that the situation here was far less comfortable than outside. Although she was an unofficial mistress outside, the Prince of England did not treat Xue Qiao badly. Not only did she have someone to serve her, but because Xue Qiao had a son, she had no shortage of things such as gold and silver. Even when the Prince of England was not here, Xue Qiao was the hostess and lived a rich and comfortable life.
But after arriving at the Prince of England's palace, Xue Qiao's life became difficult. In addition to the principal wife, the Prince of England also had four concubines. In order to balance the people's hearts outside, the concubines were even divided into different levels... and Xue Qiao was just a concubine, who brought her child in with her. She was not a proper concubine at all. How could her life be easy? If she didn't have a son, her life would have been even more difficult. But now she couldn't even keep this son, because the Prince of England's principal wife wanted to take the child over to raise.
The situation outside was critical, and the palace was not peaceful either. The prince of England did not even have a quiet place to recuperate. When he learned that the child in the orphanage had been taken away, he waved his hand to overturn the medicine bowl and asked in a stern voice, "Go after him."
"We've sent people, but the child has been missing for more than ten days, and I'm afraid we can't catch up with him." The guard said with his head down.
In fact, it was also because of the Prince of England that Chu Xiuming's people were able to take the child away so easily. No one had discovered where the child was hidden for so many years, and less than five people knew about it. The Prince of England was very proud of himself because he was in urgent need of people. It was inevitable that he was a little negligent because he was confident that no one would think that he hid the child in the orphanage that had just suffered a disaster a few years ago and would find out now. It was because he wanted to take the child back and make a deal with Chu Xiuming. But who knew that when the people were sent there, they found that not only had all the stakes there been pulled out, but the child was also missing.
The prince of England gritted his teeth and gasped for air. He could smell a strong fishy smell in his throat. Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, he lowered his head and spat out a mouthful of blood. He wiped it with the back of his hand, stopped the people who were shouting, and said, "Where is Chu Xiuyao?"
"In reply to Your Highness, Chu Xiuyao is still imprisoned and has not gotten better." The guard said.
The prince of England lay back on his bed. If this was the case, the situation was not too bad. "Why didn't anyone send any news? No one reported it!"
The guards didn't dare to say much. In fact, the reason for this was that the Prince of England had never cared about that side. In the first two years, he still checked the news, but later he didn't ask at all. Gradually, the people over there became lazy, and even the people around the Prince of England could not avoid negligence. In the final analysis, the Prince of England didn't pay much attention to the child. For example, Chu Xiu Yao had always been under the strict supervision of the Prince of England.
Although he said so, the Prince of England would not find fault with himself. He dragged out the people who were in charge of the information and beat them to death. He also wanted to make an example of them. After all, ever since he fell ill in the military camp, people's hearts have been unsettled. Killing a few people would also serve as a warning to everyone.
However, he did not know that doing so would be like trying to stop the boiling of the pot by adding more water. It would stop the boiling for a while, but it was not a long-term solution. The Prince of England knew in his heart that he might not be able to hold on for much longer, and now he brought several older sons with him, hoping to choose one among them to inherit the Prince of England's Palace. However, the Prince of England's wife had only one daughter alive, and only one of the four concubines had a son who was spoiled. None of the remaining sons were anything to show for themselves, which made the Prince of England even more worried.
The prince of England is not incompetent, so even if he knows that Chu Xiuming is involved in the mountain range, he can only choose to cooperate with Chu Xiuming, because in the current situation, he has no other choice but to cooperate with Emperor Cheng? Even if Emperor Cheng is tempted, all the ministers in the court will not agree. The prince of England knows that his father offended those noble families a lot. The most important point is that Chu Xiuming is not legitimate, and Emperor Cheng is also on guard. If they keep the Prince of England's Mansion, Emperor Cheng will be cautious and dare not attack Chu Xiuming for a while. Therefore, the prince of England thinks that with Chu Xiuyao, Chu Xiuming will not refuse for the sake of his brothers and the stability of the border town. Even if there is a lot of hatred between them, Chu Xiuming has vented it now.
If the Prince of England knew that the Crown Prince's grandson was in the border town, he would never have made such a choice, but there is no such thing as knowing in advance in this world.
After receiving Chu Xiuming's reply and setting the location in Kuncheng, the Prince of England looked at the map carefully and agreed. He did not go alone, but brought the son born to a concubine with him. He wanted to hold this son as a hostage to Chu Xiuming. Although Chu Xiuming did not mention this, the Prince of England now only wanted to preserve the remaining power of the British lineage. As long as he was given some more time to teach his son hand in hand and lie low for a few more years, the Prince of England believed that he would still be able to compete by then.
The Prince of England felt that he was just one step behind in this chess game because of bad luck. If Chu Xiuming had not known the secret on the other side of the mountain, it would be hard to say who would win or lose.
In the capital, Emperor Cheng has lost a lot of weight and has been in poor spirits recently. Even if he consulted an imperial physician, he could not find out anything and only told him to maintain good health and abstain from sex. In fact, the imperial physician found something fishy but did not dare to speak up. In the imperial hospital, there were people of the empress dowager and the queen, but no one of Emperor Cheng. In the eyes of Emperor Cheng, both the queen and the empress dowager were from humble family backgrounds and could only rely on himself. This was indeed the case in the past, especially when the empress dowager was wholeheartedly loyal to Emperor Cheng. However, Emperor Cheng ignored the fact that people's hearts would change. When they first took the positions of empress dowager and queen, neither of them had any power. However, after a long time, the empress dowager and the queen had already promoted a lot of their own people, especially since the harem was different from the court and Emperor Cheng did not have those girls from aristocratic families in his harem.
Emperor Cheng looked very unhappy. He looked at the many ministers below and said, "Do you want me to send troops to eliminate the prince of Ying right now?"
"Yes." The Minister of War said in a deep voice. When the King of England led his troops to attack Cheng, there were many disasters along the way. His aunt and her family, whom he went to visit, died at the hands of those people, and even their bodies were not found.
Not only the Minister of War, but many ministers knelt in the middle of the hall and said, "Your Majesty, please send troops to wipe out the rebels."
Emperor Cheng's eyes were gloomy, but he couldn't point at these ministers and question them. What if Chu Xiuming took the opportunity to send troops to threaten the capital? "We'll discuss it later."
“Your Majesty…” Although the Minister of Revenue was promoted by Emperor Cheng, his parents died at the hands of King Ying, so he also said at this time, “The opportunity cannot be missed!”
Emperor Cheng could no longer control his temper. He waved his hand, swept everything on the imperial desk to the ground, and said, "Dismiss the court." He turned around and left.
The many ministers kneeling on the ground looked at each other. Although they didn't say anything else, they already had other plans in their minds.
In Kuncheng, Fei An was tied up and taken in front of Chu Xiuming. Besides him, there were several people who had betrayed the border town and led the barbarians. The Prince of England and Chu Xiuming sat face to face. In this courtyard, neither of them brought too many people, but they had quite a few outside, and even a lot of people were hidden in Kuncheng. The move by the Prince of England was a risky one, and his sincerity was not small.
Chu Xiuming just glanced at Fei An, waved his hand and escorted him away, then said, "Where is my brother?"
The Prince of England said, "I always have to keep some cards in my hand. This is the first time we two have met."
Chu Xiuming did not answer, but just looked at the Prince of England calmly.
The prince of Ying said, "As far as I know, the wife of the Marquis of Yongning is just the concubine daughter of the King of Rui."
Chu Xiuming raised his eyebrows but did not speak. The Crown Prince of England said, "This king has a daughter, who is the legitimate daughter of the princess."
"Where is my brother?" Chu Xiuming asked again.
The Prince of Ying said, "When the Marquis of Yongning and my daughter get married, the Marquis of Yongning's brother will naturally come to watch the ceremony."
Chu Xiuming pursed his lips tightly and said, "I will only marry one person in my life."
The Prince of Ying smiled upon hearing this, "I heard that the wife of the Marquis of Yongning was willing to go to the capital as a hostage for the Marquis of Yongning. I also admire such a woman. My daughter is virtuous and kind, and I am willing to be his co-wife, and regard the former wife of the Marquis of Yongning as my superior. I am even willing to hand over all my troops and connections to the Marquis of Yongning, as long as the matter is accomplished, the son born to my daughter will be made the crown prince."
This kind of temptation is not small. Chu Xiuming's face changed slightly, as if he was a little moved. He asked, "Can the King of England be willing to give it up?"
The prince of King Ying said, "My principal wife has only one daughter, and among the remaining sons, the one with the highest status is the one born to the concubine. I have brought all the sons here, and I am willing to send them to the border town as hostages. Marquis Yongning still doesn't believe in my sincerity?"
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