Chapter 381 A Contest of Smart People
As soon as Princess Huaishu left, Qiuyue and the others returned. As soon as Qiuyue entered the carriage, she couldn't wait to look at Zhao Lingmeng, "Your Highness, are you okay?"
Zhao Lingmeng saw the maids looking at her with concern. She felt touched and inexplicably funny. She muttered to herself, "Princess Huaishu! Take a look at your character."
Zhao Lingmeng still smiled as she answered Qiuyue and the others' concerns, "Don't worry, what could possibly happen to me? Princess Huaishu just wanted me to repay her a favor and give her some advice, and I've done it."
After hearing what Zhao Lingmeng said, Qiuyue and the others couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and whispered, "That's good, that's good!"
"Hurry up and sit down, let's go back to eat. I miss the food at home." Zhao Lingmeng said as she reached out and pulled the two people closest to her to sit down next to her.
Seeing this, the others also quickly sat down.
The first thing Zhao Lingmeng did after returning home was to instruct Qiuyue that the mansion should be closed to visitors for the time being, and the main gate of the Princess's mansion should be closed, leaving only the side door open for convenient entry and exit.
Then he ordered Qiuyue to control the people in the mansion and not to go out and cause trouble for her.
Zhao Lingmeng felt that the court had important things to do at this juncture, so he should not cause trouble. If he got involved in something, it would be difficult to explain.
By the way, while the waters in Yuanjing City are muddy, I should thoroughly investigate the spies in the mansion. It is not a good idea to let them stay in the mansion all the time.
While Zhao Lingmeng's situation was smooth sailing, Princess Qingcheng's wasn't so smooth. Overall, the entire Longling Kingdom delegation felt their situation was not very good.
When they were in the palace, as soon as the emperor, the crown prince and the important ministers left, Princess Qingcheng had no time to say a word to Lord Li and the others before the Queen of Jing Kingdom came to her in person.
"Sister Yuepin, just follow me directly into the harem! The emperor has just personally instructed you where to live. The position of concubine is also the main position of a palace, and you can bring these four maids with you."
After the Queen finished speaking, she affectionately took Princess Qingcheng's hand and patted it, "My dear sister, your blessings are still to come!"
Princess Qingcheng could only look at Lord Li helplessly. After all, she really didn't want to marry an old man, let alone be his concubine. Even if this old man was the emperor, she would still be unwilling to do so.
Lord Li was still hoping that Princess Qingcheng would quickly gain favor so that he could reclaim the two cities of Longling State, so he wouldn't offer any refusal on Princess Qingcheng's behalf. Furthermore, Crown Prince Jing had just been so filial to the Emperor that it was impossible for him to confront the Emperor of Jing State over a woman.
In the current situation, the choice between being a concubine to the powerful emperor and the powerless crown prince was a no-brainer. So Lord Li's response was to immediately bow and express his gratitude, "Thank you, Queen, for taking care of our princess. She's just so happy she doesn't know what to do with herself for a moment."
The Queen was no longer at the age of jealousy, and her position was now very stable. The Crown Prince treated her with respect, if not kindness. If nothing unexpected happened, she would inevitably become the Empress Dowager. She truly didn't take the Princess of Longling Kingdom seriously.
So now she just has to complete the task assigned to her by the emperor and trick this beautiful Princess into the harem (or coax her into the harem), and her mission will be done.
The Queen thought of the beautiful days ahead, and her smile became even gentler: "Don't worry, Lord Li. The sisters in the Emperor's harem are all very easy to get along with. You'll know once Sister Yuepin goes in."
Lord Li listened to the Queen of Jingguo's boasting and pursed his lips speechlessly. It wasn't like Longlingguo didn't have a royal family. He didn't know how dangerous the emperor's harem was! However, the situation was stronger than people. Now, Longlingguo had no right to speak.
So no matter how much Lord Li complained in his heart, he still said with a smile: "Thank you, Queen, for your care!"
After Lord Li finished speaking, he did not forget to give Princess Qingcheng a look of advice.
Seeing Lord Li like this, Princess Qingcheng could only follow the Queen to the harem, looking back every few steps.
After seeing Princess Qingcheng leave, Lord Li hurried back to the post station with all the members of the delegation. As soon as one of the officials entered the post station, he was about to ask something. Lord Li, a seasoned veteran, quickly stopped him with a look and gestured for them to go inside first.
The one who followed Lord Li and his men was actually Fan Yong, and the leader of their secret guards had already set off for the border.
Therefore, Fan Yong was in charge of all matters in Yuanjing. He was also responsible for the safety of the emperor and Princess Funing.
But even if Lord Fan personally brought his trusted confidant You Yu with him, it would be useless. This group of people was too smart. After they entered the room, they did not communicate with each other at all. Instead, they wrote on paper and showed it to each other. Those who had read it would burn it directly.
Seeing this, Fan Yong could only order You Yu to keep an eye on things here while he returned to the palace to report.
When Fan Yong arrived at the Imperial Study, the Emperor and the Crown Prince were still there! Even the Emperor's eldest grandson, Yang Chengchen, was there.
Fan Yong went in and bowed respectfully first!
The emperor said anxiously: "Stop being so polite and tell me what's going on with the Longling Kingdom delegation."
"Your Majesty, I haven't heard any news. The notes that those people from Longling Kingdom used for communication were burned on the spot after they read them. They are obviously wary of us."
Fan Yong's face didn't look very good after he finished reporting. This really made him look useless.
The Crown Prince saw his father looking pensive. He quickly spoke to comfort the gloomy Lord Fan below: "Lord Fan, don't blame yourself. Commander Huang has already led his men to the border. Until then, we just need to hold this group of people back."
"Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince!" Fan Yong bowed and stood quietly aside.
The prince saw that his father was still thinking about something, so he instructed Fan Yong:
"Go down and get busy first!"
"I'm leaving!" He said this particularly loudly, obviously speaking to the emperor, fearing that the emperor would find him for something.
Moreover, Fan Yong was the emperor's secret guard, and the prince's orders required the emperor's consent. But he was the prince, so he couldn't just disobey him. So Fan Yong came up with this compromise.
The prince obviously saw through Fan Yong's subtle thoughts. Not only did he not feel offended, on the contrary, he quite admired this kind of person, who was not in a hurry to curry favor with others and was loyal to whoever he wanted. It was also quite safe to use such people.
The emperor was distracted by Fan Yong's loud farewell, but he shared the same sentiment as the crown prince, believing Fan Yong to be loyal. He smiled and gave Fan Yong a look that told him to leave.
Seeing that the emperor had also spoken, Fan Yong retreated quickly. He still had to find someone to interview the people from the Longling Kingdom delegation. He couldn't just rely on Commander Huang.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
