After the enthronement ceremony of the new king of Yanqiu, Zhongli Mingye and his companions left Yanqiu. Xiao Xueyi was now in a difficult situation, as Prince Yu had witnessed his close association with Yanqiu with his own eyes.
Therefore, before leaving, he specifically met with Zhongli Mingye alone. After several hours of conversation, they reached an agreement.
Prince Yu would no longer pursue Xiao Xueyi's friendly relations with Yanqiu, and Tingran Tower would become Prince Yu's hidden force in the jianghu.
"Set off today. Come with this king..."
Song Jinyu was lying idly on the grass, looking at the sky. "I'll go with Yan Fei and the others to send the Yin Grass back to Master." This was the real business, but they had been delayed in Yanqiu for half a month.
The weather was getting colder, and they still hadn't returned. With a blade of grass in her mouth, her eyes were wandering, and she was increasingly worried about Miao Yunshen's health.
Zhongli Mingye was dissatisfied. "Then this king will send you back to Tianmen Mountain first."
Smiling at him, Song Jinyu propped her head up. "The emperor is waiting for you!"
"It doesn't matter. Let him wait!"
"Tsk tsk. It's not good for you to do this. Delaying important state affairs. If you have to bear the responsibility for no reason, it will be troublesome!" Although she was delighted that he considered her, Zhongli Mingye had his responsibilities as Prince Yu.
"This, it's just on the way..."
He raised his eyebrows and looked deeply at Song Jinyu. "This king just happened to encounter a fork in the road and bandits on the way... which delayed the time."
Really, there were so many excuses, all made up by people.
Unable to hold back her laughter, she reached out to brush away the grass leaves on his head. The more Song Jinyu looked at Zhongli Mingye, the more she liked him. Her eyes were full of him.
Xiao Xueyi watched the two of them from afar and felt envious in his heart. The two of them were a perfect match, being in love with each other.
Finally, they were ready to leave. The Xia Dynasty's envoys were returning to the Xia Dynasty from Yanqiu. The soldiers escorted them all the way. The Southern Courtyard King of Yanqiu looked at them coldly.
Sooner or later, the iron hooves of Yanqiu would surely trample the Xia Dynasty flat.
Zhongli Mingye looked at him indifferently. "Yanqiu is a place with lush water and grass. Not bad!" He saw the Southern Courtyard King's ambition clearly.
No matter how much ambition one had, one had to have the strength.
After the envoy group left the Yanqiu King's tent and was far away from Yanqiu's line of sight, Zhongli Mingye went to Song Jinyu's carriage on the way. Under Yan Fei's cold gaze,
He smiled casually. "This king and Jinyu's wedding date is set for the third day of the fourth lunar month after the New Year."
"At that time, this king would like to invite Master Xiao and Young Master Yan to come to the prince's mansion to congratulate us on our wedding." There was an indescribable air of elegance and self - confidence in his words.
With a heroic flick of his sleeves, he lifted the curtain on his own. Seeing Song Jinyu looking at him crossly, he smiled even more proudly.
This guy was doing it on purpose, definitely on purpose! She was too lazy to talk to him and pouted as she looked out of the carriage window.
Xiao Xueyi wasn't far away and naturally heard it. He shook his head helplessly. With Prince Yu's way of doing things, who would dare to compete with him for a woman? It was a pity for Song Jinyu. Even though she was as smart as a whip, she was firmly locked in by this man's domineering. No one could pry her away.
Fortunately, she liked him. Otherwise, under this man's coercion, Song Jinyu would have been rather pitiful.
He said calmly, "Naturally, I will come to toast."
Yan Fei silently rode on his horse, his eyes fixed on Song Jinyu's carriage. He saw the joy and starlight in the young girl's eyes, all directed at Zhongli Mingye. He knew that he had no chance from then on.
If, if Junior Sister had no feelings for Prince Yu, he could still fight for her.
But now...
Zhongli Mingye naturally knew that by saying this, he had directly dealt with two men. He felt even happier and pulled Song Jinyu's small hand, extremely delighted.
Even though she was prepared, she was still touched by Zhongli Mingye's current joy.
It turned out that the feeling of mutual love was as sweet as honey.
Under Zhongli Mingye's dominance, she gradually let go of her defenses and was slowly falling in love, without any doubt.
The two of them leaned against each other quietly, and she fell asleep peacefully. Zhongli Mingye was helpless. She always fell asleep so easily! He gently tapped her delicate little nose, and endless love welled up in his heart.
He really wished he could keep her by his side and not let anyone else see her!
Just as they were on their way to the Xia Dynasty, a scandal happened in the palace.
A little eunuch from the Eastern Depot discovered that the crown prince was having an affair with Concubine An, a new favorite of the emperor. In a moment of panic, he was killed.
After Liao Zhengye learned about this, he reported it to the emperor.
Unexpectedly, the crown prince bit back and claimed that the Eastern Depot was slandering him. The emperor was so angry that he killed Concubine An and confined the crown prince. Everyone in the harem was in a panic.
The queen's plea for mercy was in vain. Instead, she was deprived of the power to manage the harem, and Noble Consort Zhuang was given the power to assist in managing the six palaces.
"Your Majesty the Queen..."
"It doesn't matter. Whoever holds the power will be at the forefront of the storm." The queen's face was livid with anger, but she still maintained the dignity of the mother of the nation.
"Zhongli Shuoyi didn't return to his fief after getting married. Does he want to compete with the crown prince?"
The chief eunuch beside her whispered, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. Since the emperor has established the crown prince, his decision will not be shaken."
The queen sneered. "What if the crown prince makes a mistake?" This time, there was just no direct evidence. The little eunuch was dead, and there was no way to prove his words. Just a few words couldn't convict the crown prince, but it increased the emperor's suspicion.
Prince Cheng Zhongli Shuoyi changed his gloomy demeanor from a few days ago. With Liao Zhengye's arrangement, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue also became his ally.
Now his power was on a par with that of the crown prince. He even had the upper hand in the court, and there were even faint voices suggesting a change of the crown prince.
Now, the Prince Duan'an's Mansion and the Eastern Depot fully supported Prince Cheng. The power of the crown prince was gradually being suppressed. The emperor saw it all but remained silent.
After Grand Tutor Shen had a young son, his relationship with the crown prince improved. Seeing that the crown prince's position was in jeopardy, he successively hinted to the officials of his faction to submit memorials requesting to curb the power of the Eastern Depot.
After the emperor was extremely angry, he established the Inner Court. All matters in the palace were under the jurisdiction of the Inner Court. The Eastern Depot was only responsible for monitoring the court officials and no longer involved in the harem.
Liao Zhengye was in Concubine Cheng's palace, his eyes extremely sinister. "Did you know about this a long time ago?"
Concubine Cheng, who had always been proud, now had a look of fear on her face. She was very afraid of this man. If, if the matter from that year was exposed, she might lose her life.
"No... no. I didn't know about this. The emperor arranged it suddenly."
Liao Zhengye sneered. "You're a smart person. Obey me, and this supervisor will make you the empress dowager."
"Now that you're in charge of the harem, we need to insert our people into the Inner Court as soon as possible."
Ming Ruyi was far away in Yezhou. After learning the news, he said with a smile, "The emperor's art of balance is getting more and more exquisite."
"My lord, Rong Qing'er died in Yanqiu!"
The fan in his hand stopped. "Oh?"
"She killed the king of Yanqiu and tried to frame Song Jinyu."
"What a waste of a good chess piece. If she had done things according to this king's instructions, she would be the queen of Yanqiu now."
He frowned. He had originally wanted to use Rong Qing'er to threaten Prince Yu in the future, but unexpectedly, she died so soon.
He sighed. When would he be able to meet a woman as smart as Song Jinyu?
Otherwise, he wouldn't have to work so hard. "What's the situation in the Rong Duke's Mansion?"
The person kneeling below couldn't see Ming Ruyi's expression clearly. "Miss Rong Shuang'er, the eldest daughter of the duke's mansion, is back!"
"The legitimate eldest daughter that the Duke of Rong had hidden so well?"
"Yes. After she came back, she drove out many concubines of the Duke of Rong and married off all the half - sisters."
He stood up from the rocking chair and walked to the flower hall. Ming Ruyi suddenly laughed. "Interesting! It's really extremely interesting..."
He looked at his subordinate. "This king wants all the information about Rong Shuang'er!"
After Song Jinyu, she was another woman who impressed him. After all, not everyone had the courage to clean up the entire duke's mansion at the cost of their reputation.