He refused to read Xiu Yu's letter simply because he was afraid he would be unable to resist writing back to him.
Qiao Yu felt that she was already halfway to her death, so rather than let her death bring her younger brother a deep blow and pain, she would rather slowly cool down the relationship so that Xiu Yu would not be too sad when she died.
I just don't know if I'll ever get to see my sister-in-law...
Qiao Yu closed her eyes briefly, then gave instructions to her staff in a cold voice.
The more the staff listened, the more terrified they became.
The Crown Prince had no intention of leaving His Majesty a way out, and his words even implied that he would hand over the throne to the Seventh Prince... The advisors quickly realized that the Crown Prince was entrusting the young emperor to someone else.
He bowed in agreement, his eyes reddening.
Heaven is jealous of talent; the Crown Prince was destined to be a benevolent and wise ruler, but unfortunately, such a good person did not live long.
...
Five days later, in the Southern Chen Dynasty, at the imperial palace.
He Shuye was refining elixirs for Emperor Chen when he suddenly frowned, did some calculations with his fingers, and then smiled and said, "Your Majesty, a guest has arrived."
Emperor Chen had long held unwavering faith in He Shuye's abilities, and naturally believed that someone wanted to see him, but...
Emperor Chen hesitated for a moment: "This batch of pills is at a crucial stage in its refining process. If I were to leave..."
He Shuye smiled nonchalantly: "Your Majesty, rest assured, I will keep an eye on this batch of pills. Lord Qin is also here, so you can go ahead with peace of mind."
Seeing this, Emperor Chen had no choice but to nod. He was actually still reluctant to go, but he trusted Qin Ye and He Shuye and felt that there should be no problem. He would give whatever the person requesting an audience asked for as soon as possible, as he could not delay things here.
Emperor Chen hurriedly left the alchemy room and then summoned the person who had come.
"Marquis Yongle?" Emperor Chen frowned. "What brings you here?"
He was somewhat displeased. Everyone knew that Consort Zhao's younger brother was a useless good-for-nothing. It was definitely not worth delaying his path to immortality for such a person.
Emperor Chen immediately tried to leave, but Li Langxuan didn't linger. He kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am getting married in five days. I would like to invite Your Majesty and the Imperial Concubine to attend the ceremony. If Your Majesty and the Imperial Concubine could grace us with their presence..."
Emperor Chen immediately refused, saying, "I am busy."
After saying that, he wanted to leave.
Li Langxuan quickly kowtowed again: "If it is only the Imperial Concubine who comes, that is also acceptable. Please grant me permission, Your Majesty!"
Emperor Chen hesitated, for there was no such rule in this dynasty.
Unexpectedly, He Shuye came over at this moment, holding a box of pills, with an ethereal smile on his face: "Your Majesty, the pills are ready."
Emperor Chen was overjoyed and took it from He Shuye's hands.
He Shuye said casually, "I just did some calculations and found that five days from now would be a good time for alchemy, but..."
Emperor Chen hurriedly pressed, "But what?"
He Shuye hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "But this elixir belongs to water, which is an extremely yin substance. It must be kept away from the yang energy that belongs to metal. I just calculated with my fingers, and there is a person in the due west of the palace whose destiny belongs to metal. I wonder if Your Majesty knows who it is?"
Is it associated with the metal element?
Having recently learned a great deal from He Shuye, Emperor Chen naturally knew about the ruthless nature of the Jinzhu. He replied almost without thinking, "It should be Consort Zhao. Immortal Master, you may not know this, but she used to serve in the army in Yunnan and killed many people."
He Shuye nodded in sudden understanding, and then said, "Your Majesty can simply send her out. The alchemy will only take ten days. After ten days, the Imperial Concubine can be brought back to the palace. Her golden energy can enhance the immortality of the refined elixir. However, I also know that there is no precedent in our dynasty for sending a concubine out of the palace..."
Emperor Chen looked at Li Langxuan and was overjoyed: "Marquis Yongle, I grant your request. I will have your sister come to congratulate you. You can return to the palace after ten days."
Li Langxuan: "..."
He thanked the emperor somewhat absentmindedly, then left the palace in a daze, and unknowingly arrived at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
Seeing his absent-minded expression, Shang Yunlan asked with some puzzlement, "Did the plan fail? That shouldn't be the case. You first suggested inviting Emperor Chen to attend the ceremony, but he's so obsessed with elixirs that he'll naturally refuse. However, if you suggest inviting your elder sister, and with He Shuye by your side, it should definitely work."
This is the "saving face" effect in modern psychology, and it works very well.
Li Langxuan snapped out of his daze, looked at Shang Yunlan, and suddenly hugged him, his eyes slightly red: "Thank you, Your Excellency, my sister can leave the palace now."
Shang Yunlan quickly pushed him away, touching the goosebumps on her arm: "Why are you being so mushy? As long as you succeed, that's all that matters. Is there anything else? If not, hurry back to the manor and wait to marry my cousin."
Li Langxuan refused to leave. He asked Shang Yunlan curiously, "How do you know this will definitely work? I didn't have high expectations."
With part of the plan succeeding, Shang Yunlan was naturally in a great mood, and he was happy to explain to Li Langxuan: "This is a psychological tactic—when people refuse a large request, they are more likely to accept a smaller one. The best way to increase the likelihood of acceptance is to first make a larger request. If you call Emperor Chen and Consort Zhao to come, they will naturally refuse. However, the feasibility of this method is based on the premise that the person has a conscience. As we all know, Emperor Chen has no conscience. He will only hesitate briefly, but if He Shuye comes out and says something, he will agree as a matter of course."
The more Li Langxuan listened, the brighter his eyes became, and the way he looked at Shang Yunlan was as if he were looking at a deity.
If he was somewhat uneasy about participating in the rebellion plan of Shang Yunlan and Shang Shaoyan before today, he is now full of confidence.
Even Emperor Chen could be fooled by him. What's so difficult about a rebellion? With these two siblings' incredibly sharp minds, how could they possibly be outmaneuvered?
Just as Li Langxuan was filled with admiration and respect, he heard Shang Yunlan say, "Jinyu, neither Heyang nor I are very bright. Now that you have joined us, it's like adding wings to a tiger. You are so intelligent that you are almost supernatural. If we can recruit you, you will definitely be our strategist in the history books."
Li Langxuan: "..."
He looked at Shang Yunlan carefully, trying to find a trace of hypocrisy on his face, but he was shocked to find that Shang Yunlan really thought so.
Shang Yunlan, this Duke Zhenguo who is so intelligent that it is frightening, actually thinks he is smarter than him?
What kind of operation is this?
But looking into Shang Yunlan's sincere, earnest, and ardent gaze, Li Langxuan suddenly felt a surge of pride rising within him. He patted his chest and immediately declared, "Rest assured, Your Excellency, I will dedicate my life's talents to assisting Your Excellency and the County Princess, so that you two may achieve lasting success!"
Shang Yunlan patted his shoulder with emotion, and the two smiled at each other.
Li Langxuan smiled—his cousin trusted him greatly, and he was determined to enrich his knowledge and assist them well.
Shang Yunlan laughed—his cousin-in-law was so easily fooled. He would definitely work hard to enrich his knowledge because of these words and do a good job of assisting him and An'an.
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