Chapter 379 The Emperor and the Crown Prince Learned of Zhao Lingmeng's Speculations
The prince, who was sitting above Huaishu, was originally listening to the court officials and the people of Longling Kingdom arguing with each other. Suddenly, Huaishu stuffed a handkerchief into his mouth, and he quickly turned to the side, blocking the gaze of those below with his body.
The prince carefully opened the handkerchief. Although he was mentally prepared, he was still shocked when he saw the words on the handkerchief. He was stunned for a moment before pretending to be calm and put the handkerchief away.
After the prince put away the handkerchief, he couldn't wait to look at Huaishu and Funing.
Zhao Lingmeng and Huaishu saw the prince looking over and nodded slightly. The prince felt his heart was about to jump out of his chest.
The prince calmly picked up a cup of tea and took a sip, then turned his gaze towards the Longling Kingdom's delegation, carefully calming his excited mood.
It's no wonder the prince was so excited. Iron ore! Anyone who heard about it would be excited. Besides, their country didn't have a lot of iron ore to begin with. If there were new iron ore, it would be like timely help.
Prince Yang Jingchen saw the opportunity when the emperor was listening to the people below, took a clean cup from the side, made a new cup of tea, and stood up to serve it to the emperor himself.
"Father, we've been talking for so long, you must be tired! This tea tasted pretty good just now."
When the emperor heard the prince say this, although he remained expressionless, he was already thinking of countless reasons why the prince was unreliable in such situations.
But no matter how many reasons the emperor thought of, when the prince took the opportunity to serve tea and unfolded Huaishu's handkerchief in front of the emperor, the emperor was also very surprised, and it showed a little on his face. Fortunately, the prince turned his body to the side just in case, basically blocking the gazes from below.
The prince was sure that his father had seen it, so he immediately put away the handkerchief and asked in a normal voice: "Father, this tea is good, isn't it?"
The emperor also cooperated and took a sip of tea. He was already thinking about who to send to check the iron mine. "Haha, you are filial. You still remember to make me a cup of tea."
When the noble ministers below saw the royal father and son like this, they all praised the prince for being filial and the emperor for being blessed.
The emperor was in a good mood at the time, so he also praised it a few times.
The people from the Longling Kingdom delegation didn't care about this matter. They all thought that because Princess Qingcheng hesitated just now, the prince was afraid that the emperor would misunderstand him, so he expressed his loyalty to the emperor!
Later, the Longling Kingdom delegation mentioned the two cities several times, both openly and covertly. Originally, when the two cities were empty, the emperor would not agree. Now that they suspected that there was something as important as iron ore, the emperor would be even less willing to agree.
Anyway, the emperor just pushed the matter aside and said we'll talk about it later. It's impossible for their Jing Kingdom to give away the spoils of war for no reason.
The Emperor had expressed his stance, and the noble ministers below would undoubtedly actively follow his wishes. After a heated exchange of words, Lord Li of Longling State and his men realized that it was impossible to finalize the matter today.
Lord Li and the others saw that the Emperor of Jingguo was not willing to give up until he saw the rabbit. They cursed everyone present in Jingguo in their hearts as "not a good person".
But even though they cursed in their hearts, they could only keep winking at Princess Qingcheng, hoping that this princess could do better and win the heart of the Emperor of Jingguo as soon as possible, otherwise they would be too passive.
No matter what these people in the hall were thinking, the emperor quickly ordered them to disperse.
Huaishu and Zhao Lingmeng adjusted their sleeves and were about to follow the crowd outside.
Eunuch Zhuo beside the emperor quickly stopped them, "Your Highness Princess Funing, Your Highness Princess Huaishu, please wait a moment. The emperor invites you two to the imperial study."
Hearing this, Zhao Lingmeng had no choice but to change direction. While changing direction, she did not forget to reply to Eunuch Zhuo: "Thank you, Eunuch Zhuo, we'll go right away!"
Seeing this, Huaishu nodded to Eunuch Zhuo, strode to Zhao Lingmeng, and walked side by side with her.
Zhao Lingmeng glanced at Huaishu next to him and didn't say anything. She just silently complained in her heart about Huaishu, this competitive guy who felt uncomfortable even if he fell behind.
When Zhao Lingmeng and Princess Huaishu arrived at the imperial study, they saw the emperor, the crown prince, and several of the emperor's trusted ministers were there.
As soon as the emperor saw Zhao Lingmeng and Huaishu coming, he quickly said, "Fu Ning and Huaishu are here! Hurry and sit down, we are waiting for you two."
Zhao Lingmeng and Funing quickly bowed to express their gratitude and sat down in their seats.
Although the ministers did not know why the emperor had summoned the two princesses, they knew that the princesses of Jing State did not have the right to participate in government affairs, but the princesses did, so they would not object.
Moreover, these two princesses have made contributions to Jing State, so no one would be stupid enough to come out and question them.
So when these ministers saw Zhao Lingmeng and Huaishu coming in, they saluted respectfully, "Your servants greet Princess Funing and Princess Huaishu!"
After Zhao Lingmeng and Fu Ning sat down, Zhao Lingmeng immediately said, "No need to be so polite, ministers! Neither of us is the type to pay attention to such things, so just be casual."
Huaishu also quickly echoed Zhao Lingmeng's words. These people were her father's trusted ministers, and she couldn't afford to offend them: "My sister is right. Ministers, there is no need to be so polite!"
Although Zhao Lingmeng and Huaishu said so, these ministers still thanked them politely before getting up and sitting down in their respective seats.
As soon as these ministers sat down, the emperor went straight to the topic of why they were called here.
"Fu Ning, you just said in Anhe Hall that you suspected there were iron mines in the two cities of Longling Kingdom?"
"What iron ore?" The Left Prime Minister stood up immediately in surprise. The remaining ministers also looked at each other in confusion.
Zhao Lingmeng saw that they were all looking at her with excited and expectant eyes. Zhao Lingmeng quickly explained, "Don't get excited, everyone. I'm just guessing based on their actions. I'm not just guessing about iron ore. To be more precise, I'm guessing about gold and iron ore."
The emperor calmed down a bit after hearing what Zhao Lingmeng said, but since this was a possibility, he had to investigate first. Otherwise, if he just handed it back to Long Lingguo, it would be hard to regret it later. "Fu Ning, how did you guess there was a mine? Tell us."
"I initially thought Long Lingguo's request was rather outrageous, like sharing weapons or something. Anyone with a serious brain hole would definitely not agree to this. I feel this is more likely to serve the later request to return the two Dragon Cities.
Then Princess Huaishu tried to test the waters. The Longling Kingdom's envoys became anxious, and even Princess Qingcheng was anxious. They were even willing to pay silver for the redemption. I think I have something good. Something that even the emperor of a country would appreciate. Think about it, everyone!
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