While Zhao Xifang was planning how to get rid of Fang Youting, Prince Yu was trying hard to "persuade" Prince Jin to hand the person over to him, and he went to have tea with Prince Jin every day.
During the first three times, King Jin did not admit that Qu Wenpo was in his hands. It was not until the fourth time that he vaguely revealed that Qu Wenpo was indeed in his hands.
The Prince of Jin was willing to hand the person over to the Prince of Yu, but he did not want to hear any opposing voices when it came to the appointment and removal of officials.
Seeing Prince Yu hesitate, Prince Jin smiled faintly, "Brother Prince Xia, don't rush to answer me. You can discuss it with Uncle Prince Qing and make a decision later."
Prince Yu stared at him with a hint of anger in his eyes, "Brother Prince Yu, there is no need to provoke me with words."
"Brother Xia Wang, you are a junior, how can you be the master of the elders? I am reminding you kindly, not trying to provoke you."
The sarcasm became more obvious. Prince Yu walked away with a look of anger on his face, while Prince Jin raised his cup and drank the tea in one gulp with a smile on his face.
The next day, the second piece of good news came from the border.
General Fan led his army to kill one thousand enemies and captured two thousand prisoners. He reported to the emperor and asked how to deal with these two thousand prisoners, should they be killed or escorted back to the capital
Prince Qing meant to use these two thousand captives to exchange for Prince Jiujiang.
The people sent by General Fan failed to rescue the King of Jiujiang and had to resort to exchanging captives.
"Two thousand in exchange for one person is not appropriate." Some ministers disagreed.
No matter how noble the King of Jiujiang is, there is no need to sacrifice two thousand people in exchange for his life.
"What's wrong?" Prince Qing glared at the minister.
"Prince Qing, please forgive me for speaking frankly. It has always been a life for a life. General Fan led the troops and fought bloody battles to achieve such a victory. How can we just exchange the prisoners like this and be worthy of those generals who died on the battlefield?"
The life of King Jiujiang is life, but the lives of the soldiers are not lives
Although in the eyes of Prince Qing, these soldiers were worthless and would be dead if they died.
But he couldn't, and didn't dare, say it out loud.
If he dared to speak out, he would either be scolded to death by the military generals who loved their soldiers like their own sons, or be criticized by the civil officials.
"These two thousand prisoners of war are veterans who have experienced the battlefield. Can we exchange them back and let them put on armor again and fight against our army again?"
"How is this any different from letting a tiger go back to the mountains?"
The exchange of prisoners failed, and Prince Qing said angrily: "Are we just going to ignore Prince Jiujiang and let him be imprisoned and humiliated?"
"Prince Qing, General Fan is actively rescuing Prince Jiujiang. You still need to be more patient and not be too impatient. Some things cannot be rushed." Prince Changshan advised.
"Rescuing King Jiujiang is not an urgent matter. The most important thing now is what to do with these two thousand prisoners of war?" said a minister.
"The Di people have evil ambitions and dare to invade us. These two thousand prisoners of war should be killed on the spot." Prince Qing said cruelly.
Prince Jin sneered and said, "I thought Uncle Qing really wanted to rescue Uncle Jiujiang, but now it seems that Uncle Qing doesn't care about Uncle Jiujiang's life or death."
"What are you talking about? Have I ever not cared about the life and death of King Jiujiang?" King Qing asked sternly.
"By burying the two thousand Di prisoners of war in a pit, Uncle Qing isn't worried that the Di people will get angry and kill Uncle Jiujiang to vent their anger?" asked the King of Jin in a deep voice.
Prince Qing's face changed slightly, and he spoke out of anger, something he said wrong.
But he would never admit this in public, and still said firmly: "Then you tell me how to deal with these prisoners of war more safely."
The King of Jin did not answer him, but bowed to the little emperor sitting on the dragon throne and said, "Your Majesty, please allow me to discuss this matter before making a decision."
The little emperor nodded, "I'll trouble the King of Jin and the ministers to take care of this matter."
Among the three regents, the young emperor had the best impression of Prince Jin, mainly because Prince Jin would give the young emperor some of the intellectual toys that Jiang Changning made for his son.
Let the little emperor, who bears heavy responsibilities, get some temporary relaxation and pleasure.
"Your Majesty, this is not possible." Prince Qing and Prince Yu said at the same time.
The little emperor ignored him and signaled to the eunuch to adjourn the court. He stood up, left the dragon throne and walked towards the inner court.
"Your Majesty, I have something else to report." Prince Qing said loudly.
Prince Jin, Prince Changshan and others walked out of the palace while chatting and laughing. Prince Qing turned around and looked at their backs with murderous intent in his eyes.
What happened in the palace was soon known to the King of Jiujiang's family after someone passed on the news.
Princess Jiujiang angrily said to the prince: "Prince Qing wants to kill your father."
As they have been married for many years, Princess Jiujiang certainly knows that Prince Jiujiang is a good-for-nothing who is neither good at literature nor martial arts.
When Prince Qing instigated Prince Jiujiang to lead his troops to the border, Princess Jiujiang anticipated that something would happen.
However, what he didn’t expect was that King Jiujiang was captured by the enemy just after the battle started.
Trash is trash. Even with elite soldiers and generals, it is still a hopeless case.
Although Princess Jiujiang despised Prince Jiujiang as a waste, she still believed that husband and wife should be grateful to each other for a hundred days, and Prince Jiujiang treated her well. She did not want to be a widow and had to rescue Prince Jiujiang.
“Mother, in the court, there are more people who admire Prince Jin than Prince Qing. If we want to save my father, we can’t rely on Prince Qing. We have to rely on Prince Jin,” the prince analyzed.
"You are right. I am a female relative, so it is not easy for me to go to see the Prince of Jin. You go to see the Prince of Jin, and I will send a letter to the Prince of Jin's mansion to meet the Princess of Jin."
"It's better to meet the Jin Wang Consort than the Jin Wang Consort. The Jin Wang Consort is weak and incompetent. I'm afraid she can't say anything in front of the Jin Wang."
Princess Jiujiang sneered, "The rumors are not credible. If Princess Jin was really cowardly and incompetent, she would have no status in front of Prince Jin. Why would the concubines in Prince Jin's mansion be replaced again and again?"
"After giving birth to the eldest son, Princess Jin will recover and become pregnant again?"
"If he is really cowardly and incompetent, how could outsiders be completely unaware of the news in Prince Jin's mansion?"
"This Jin Wang Consort is probably playing dumb to get the upper hand. She is just an orphan, but she is able to hold the position of Jin Wang Consort firmly, and even the Jin Wang Consort cannot find fault with her. She must be a resourceful person."
The prince asked doubtfully, "Is Princess Jin really that powerful?"
"This is not called being powerful, this is being smart and resourceful. Prince Jin is so lucky that he can get such a good princess through arranged marriage." Princess Jiujiang said with a smile.
She had limited contact with Jiang Changning, but had a good impression of him.
"Then mother, please go and meet her." The prince did not know Jiang Changning, so he could only agree with what Princess Jiujiang said.
"If she hadn't stayed at home to take care of her pregnancy, I would have visited her long ago, but it's not too late now." Princess Jiujiang called her maid in, wrote a visiting card herself, and ordered someone to deliver it to the Prince of Jin's Mansion.
Jiang Changning was stunned when he received the visiting card from Princess Jiujiang. "Did she send it to the wrong person?"
She is my nephew's wife, and it is not polite for an aunt to visit her.
But since the Princess of Jiujiang had sent a visiting card, as her nephew's wife, it was not easy for her to refuse. So Jiang Changning wrote a reply personally, saying that she would be waiting for you at the mansion tomorrow.
In the evening, the King of Jin returned to the palace. Jiang Changning told him about this. The King of Jin smiled and said, "She must have come to save the King of Jiujiang. You should accept the gift and tell her that I will do my best to mediate."
After hearing his words, Jiang Changning understood what was going on.
I'm sorry for the late update today. I had vomiting and diarrhea yesterday, and had a low-grade fever and tinnitus. I felt like a broken machine that couldn't be started at all. I could only lie in bed, dying. I told them that I had seen my great-grandmother.
(End of this chapter)