East Palace, study.
The back window faces a lotus pond, with a large expanse of dark green shade surrounding the pond, cool breezes blowing, and the fragrance of lotus flowers wafting in the air.
There were sudden footsteps in the deep shade of willows. Zheng Biyu walked quickly across the courtyard, his face gloomier than the water in the pond.
The guards hesitated for a moment, but finally did not dare to stop her and retreated silently.
The staff were discussing matters in the room. When they heard the commotion outside the door, they looked up in surprise.
Zheng Biyu walked in and looked directly at Wei Ming with an angry look.
Everyone was shocked.
The Crown Princess is gentle, virtuous, dignified and polite. She would never come to the outer courtyard study without permission. Even if she has important matters to instruct her aides, she would meet them behind the screen. Why did she just barge in today?
Zheng Biyu glanced around and pointed her finger, which was painted with bright red nail polish, in the direction of Wei Ming.
The guard outside the door immediately rushed into the study and forced Wei Ming to kneel down.
Everyone was stunned, and when they reacted, they rushed forward to stop them, but were driven away by the other guards.
Wei Ming was a scholar and had never suffered such humiliation. He was so angry that his face turned red. He raised his head and glared at Zheng Biyu.
Zheng Biyu looked down at him coldly: "How dare you use your mistress to do such a despicable thing."
Wei Ming sneered, "I am planning for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. The Crown Princess is His Royal Highness's wife and shares weal and woe with His Royal Highness. Why would an outsider question me?"
A hint of sarcasm flashed across Zheng Biyu's face. "It is precisely because I am His Highness's wife that I must punish you, a sinister villain, on His Highness' behalf. The Seventh Princess is His Highness's sister and has never been an enemy of the Eastern Palace. How dare you use this method to deal with an innocent Princess Li!"
And he used her! She was the legitimate daughter of the Zheng family and the crown princess of Wei. She disdained to use such tricks to harm others!
Wei Ming laughed loudly: "Yes, I am indeed a villain! As long as I am the prince's aide, I will make long-term plans for him. The prince can be kind and tolerant, but I cannot! For the sake of the prince's great cause, I can do whatever it takes, I can be shameless, I can be mean and vulgar. As long as I can get rid of the great threat of the King of Qin for the prince, I am willing to be a villain!"
Zheng Biyu gritted her teeth and said, "This has nothing to do with the Seventh Princess!"
Wei Ming sneered and straightened his back: "Your Highness, I have thought so too. The Seventh Princess is just a concubine and there is no need to care about her. But it was this Seventh Princess who had been weak and sick since childhood who helped the King of Qin to escape danger time and time again..."
He paused and lowered his voice, "Moreover, this Seventh Princess can influence the Crown Prince's decisions time and time again, making him indecisive and hesitant!"
Zheng Biyu was stunned for a long time.
"What is the relationship between the Seventh Princess and the Crown Prince?"
Li Xuanzhen hated Xie and her two sons to the core, so how could Li Yaoying possibly influence him?
Wei Ming narrowed his eyes and said, "I don't know what happened between the Crown Prince and the Seventh Princess, but I can be sure that it was because of his concern for the Seventh Princess that the Crown Prince missed the opportunity to get rid of the King of Qin. Has your Highness ever heard of the assassination of the King of Qin in Xiangzhou that year?"
Zheng Biyu's expression eased a little and he nodded.
Three years ago, the Wei army captured Xiangzhou. The local nobles of Xiangzhou held a banquet to celebrate the victory of the Wei army. Suddenly, a dancer who was dancing with swords tried to assassinate Li Zhongqian. Li Zhongqian was drunk and almost injured. It was Li Xuanzhen who killed the dancer.
Because of this incident, the Eastern Palace secretly attacked Li Zhongqian several times later, and no one suspected Li Xuanzhen.
Wei Ming broke free from his restraints, stood up, and bowed to Zheng Biyu: "Your Highness, you don't know that the Seventh Princess was also at the banquet that night, and she was sitting next to the King of Qin. The King of Qin was drunk, and the dancer suddenly attacked. The Seventh Princess was the first to react and threw herself in front of the King of Qin. The dancer's knife slashed the Seventh Princess."
Zheng Biyu looked surprised.
Wei Ming continued, "That knife only cut through the Seventh Princess's clothes because the Crown Prince took action."
Li Xuanzhen and Li Zhongqian had always been at odds with each other, and the two brothers sat one in the west and the other in the east.
When the dancer just showed her curved sword, Li Xuanzhen did not move and just sat there drinking.
Wei Ming was also present at the time, and was secretly delighted. He was just waiting for Li Zhongqian's blood to splatter three feet, when suddenly a figure flashed by, like an eagle catching a rabbit, and then there was a flash of cold light, and the dancer died tragically under Li Xuanzhen's sword.
Zheng Biyu murmured, "The person the prince really wants to save is the Seventh Princess."
Wei Ming nodded: "Not bad."
Zheng Biyu frowned: "Why didn't anyone mention that the Seventh Princess was there at the time?"
Wei Ming's eyes flickered. "Because no one knew at the time that the little servant who protected the king of Qin was the Seventh Princess, and women were not allowed to attend the celebration banquet. The king of Qin probably made the Seventh Princess dress up as a servant to make her happy."
"Only the prince recognized it."
Zheng Biyu was stunned.
"As long as the prince cannot bear to be ruthless to the Seventh Princess, he will not be able to kill the King of Qin." Wei Ming said solemnly, "I am planning to marry the Seventh Princess in her place, not only to protect Princess Fukang, but also to eliminate the threat of the King of Qin. If the prince cannot bear to be ruthless, then I will do it for him!"
Zheng Biyu felt cold all over.
Wei Ming regarded Li Yaoying as a political enemy, and since the matter involved the court, it was either you or me. She could not intervene.
…
Tai Chi Palace.
Yao Ying stood on the steps, wearing a lotus pearl crown on her head and a pomegranate red brocade gown with a lapel and a pattern of phoenixes and auspicious grass. Her skin was as white as snow and her face was radiant.
The chief secretary stood behind her and said softly, "My lord, don't worry. You are the emperor's daughter. The emperor will definitely not agree to let you marry."
Yao Ying's mouth twitched.
On the day of the Buddha's birthday ceremony, she learned of Li Xuanzhen's plan and hid back in the palace.
She thought Chief Yelu had escaped because he hadn't seen her face, but a few days later, trouble came.
It's still a big problem.
Chief Yelu took the initiative to propose marriage, and Li De immediately summoned the ministers. The king and his ministers discussed the matter secretly for a whole morning, and then left Chief Yelu's proposal letter.
The next day, Li De summoned Yao Ying.
Yaoying looked back at the palace in the north of the city, and a sense of absurdity came over her.
Li Xuanzhen is the son of destiny.
Zhu Luyun is his beloved woman.
She knew that she could not fight against fate, so she carefully protected her mother and brother and stayed away from trouble.
But right and wrong would not let her go.
"Uncle Hu." Yao Ying's face was calm. "If His Majesty didn't have that plan, why would he summon me?"
The chief secretary knew that he was deceiving himself. His eyes turned red as he trembled and said, "How can the emperor agree to this? How can the ministers agree to this? You are a proper princess. You are kind to others, generous and charitable, and you care about the suffering of the people. You have never done anything willful in front of the emperor..."
The more he spoke, the sadder he became, and he secretly wiped his eyes.
"You have been weak since childhood and have been taking medicine all the time. You didn't get up before the age of three, and you suffered a disaster when you were five. In the past few years, His Majesty has been fighting in the south and the north, and you have been displaced. Finally, you can have a peaceful life... How can His Majesty have the heart to do this! It was clearly Princess Fukang who caused the disaster, how could he let you marry in her place?"
Yao Ying looked at the golden palace shining brightly in the sun and said calmly, "Yes, how could you bear it, Father?"
The chief secretary's eyes were filled with tears, and he suddenly raised his head: "Your Majesty, I will go and ask Prime Minister Zheng! I will ask Commander Pei! And Prime Minister Xue, General Lu... They all have old ties to the Xie family, I will kneel down and beg them to persuade His Majesty!"
Is it true that there is no upright person among the civil and military officials in the Manchu dynasty?
Yao Ying stopped the chief secretary and said, "Uncle Hu, don't waste your time. The ministers in the court will not object to my going to marry Princess Fukang, because..."
The chief secretary was so angry that he was shaking. "Because the Xie family is gone, the tea has gone cold?"
Yao Ying shook her head: "No, because I am a woman."
The chief historian was startled.
Yao Ying raised her hand and stroked her hair. "Your Majesty has always wanted to recover Helong, so he was more tolerant of the Hu people who surrendered to him, and would rather let Princess Fukang marry him than break his promise. Now a woman can be exchanged for his dream of Liangzhou. What a calculated deal! The ministers also hope to take back Liangzhou. Chief Yelu does not ask for fiefdom or reward, they will only give their full support."
No matter how delicate, gentle, obedient, or noble she was, in the eyes of the ministers, she was just a woman.
If a woman can be exchanged for the old land of Helan, why not do it?
The chief secretary wiped his face and said, "Don't be afraid. I have already written a letter to His Highness. When His Highness comes back, we will see who dares to attack you!"
Yao Ying didn't say anything.
But I secretly said in my heart: I'm afraid it's too late!
Since Li De has made up his mind, can he get the news to Li Zhongqian smoothly?
The shadows swayed on the platform. The eunuch walked out from the inner hall, held up the imperial edict, and looked at Yao Ying with undisguised pity and sympathy.
"Your Excellency, please listen to my command."
Changshi's heart skipped a beat and his head was buzzing.
Yaoying stood there without moving.
A gentle breeze blew by, ruffling the colorful silk on her lotus pearl crown. She stood on the steps, her clothes fluttering, as if she could float away at any moment.
The eunuch urged again.
The chief secretary was deeply saddened and stepped forward: "I will go to see the emperor. Even if I die here today, I will not watch the princess go to marry!"
Yao Ying grabbed Changshi's arm and shook her head at him.
The chief historian burst into tears: "Qiniang..."
If the princess really marries far away, when the second prince returns to the capital, he will definitely fight to the death with the emperor.
He watched Erlang and Qiniang grow up, how could he bear to see the brother and sister suffer?
Yao Ying smiled faintly: "Uncle Hu, don't be impulsive. If the emperor asks me to marry, do I have to marry?"
The chief historian was startled.
The author has something to say: Thank you for your concern. I took some medicine and my cold is almost healed.
…
Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: Impatient, Wenqing;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: JaneWu; Crystal Pear, Grapefruit Color, Fengfeng, Anya; Daytime Dream Boat; Qiuxin, Cup of Wine Pillow Jinghong; Shineale, Xixi;