It was Prince Zheng who responded first. He smiled and said to Emperor Longqing: "I want to stay in the capital for a while longer..."
The King of Chu and the King of Duan came to their senses one after another and lowered their heads.
Emperor Longqing was now particularly friendly to Prince Zheng. Seeing his expression, he smiled and asked, "What's wrong? Are you in trouble again?"
Prince Duan and Prince Chu looked at each other.
I don’t know what Emperor Longqing was referring to.
King Zheng looked extremely distressed: "They all want to be the princess, I really can't do anything about them..."
It is said that family disgrace should not be made public, but Prince Zheng actually told Emperor Longqing all this without reservation. The Prince of Chu looked at him scrutinizingly, then quickly withdrew his thoughtful gaze.
Emperor Longqing frowned and scolded him: "You are so ridiculous! Can you agree to this? I told you a long time ago to hire other ladies from famous families to manage the palace, but you always refused to listen. Your bunch of concubines... really have no rules!"
Prince Zheng never remarried in all these years.
For some reason, the Zhu family of Pingyang Marquis's Mansion took the initiative to ask someone to act as a matchmaker, saying that they wanted to send their eldest daughter to him as a princess, but he refused.
The King of Chu's right eyelid twitched violently.
King Zheng had already bent down to apologize: "But you know my temper... You have been with me until now... How can I bear to let you go?"
It was because of his docile and cowardly character that he was reluctant to give up even when Ming Yu was young.
This younger brother has been the kindest since childhood, but he still hasn't grown any brains. He can't control the concubines in the family who are vying for favor and causing so many scandals.
I haven't had a child in all these years.
This time when I come to the capital, I might be assassinated.
Emperor Longqing looked at him with a gentler gaze, and reprimanded him angrily: "What do you mean by reluctant? It's time for someone to clean up the evil tendencies in your palace!"
Prince Duan came back to his senses from the fact that his son was going to stay in Beijing, and joined in the fun: "That's right, he should have a powerful sister-in-law to control him. I just talked to him about this..."
Prince Zheng shook his head in a headache, and then bowed to Emperor Longqing: "So I really have no other choice. The matter of the principal wife has been delayed for so long, and now it is not suitable for anyone... It will make me very upset."
At this point, he asked Emperor Longqing: "How about... ..my brother, can you pick one for me?"
The fact that he was willing to give in surprised the three people present.
Emperor Longqing raised his eyebrows and coughed: "Have you thought it through?"
"Think it through!" Prince Zheng made a painful decision: "If you keep dragging it out, it will only cause trouble. Now it is useless to anyone. The palace is in a mess. It is indeed time for a princess to come and take care of it."
Then he smiled at Emperor Longqing and said, "Brother, you must ask the Ministry of Rites to pick a suitable one for me. She must not be without temper, but she must not have a bad temper either..."
Emperor Longqing was in a good mood and scolded him with a smile. He returned to Fengyi Palace and mentioned this matter to Empress Fang, telling her as a joke: "I used to think that he was reluctant to part with Mingyuyou... but I forgot that he has been a gentle person since he was a child."
Queen Fang also laughed: "That's right, didn't you say that you went on a hunger strike just for a parrot?"
That was when he was very young. A parrot that King Zheng loved very much died, and he started to go on a hunger strike, and was in a state of depression for more than half a year.
It was from this incident that Emperor Longqing felt that Prince Zheng was not an ambitious person.
The story mentioned by Empress Fang made Emperor Longqing feel happier: "This child's temperament is exactly the same as before, and has not changed at all..."
He sighed and said, "It's really not a good thing that there is no mistress in the mansion. Look at him since he came back. The gifts for the New Year and Festival in the mansion have to be prepared by the chief officials. There is no one to interact with the female relatives. Every family is busy except him. He is so lonely. It makes me feel sad."
After he said that, he really couldn't bear it.
No matter how you look at it, this little brother is the least ambitious and most harmless one.
He simply made a decision: "When the imperial edicts come to the palace to pay their respects to the emperor, take a look and see if there is a suitable one, and save one for him."
He did not object to Prince Zheng staying in Beijing.
The King of Chu really thought that the King of Zheng was crazy.
He rarely showed his emotions, and called his son a loser in front of him, and said, "I don't know what medicine he took wrong... He actually asked the emperor to marry him a princess..."
I'm afraid it's not that I took the wrong medicine, but that I haven't been doing it right
Chu Jingrui frowned. He absolutely did not believe in any coincidence.
When something is abnormal, there must be something wrong.
In the past few years, Prince Zheng was extremely reluctant to mention the matter of a princess, and had even made many fuss about it. If it could be accomplished, none of the families they had chosen would have been faultless, and it would have been done long ago.
But he chose to bring it up at this time. Who would believe him if he said he had no other purpose
The King of Chu was angry for only a short period of time. He had always been very good at regulating his emotions. After a while, there was no trace of anger on his face. After calming down for a while, he instructed Chu Jingrui: "You should go to the King of Zheng's mansion more often these days..."
You can always find out some information.
Chu Jingrui knew what was going on, so he nodded and said, "Son, I understand."
I didn't feel nervous at all about staying in Beijing.
The King of Chu endured it for a moment and said, "Don't worry, you are my father's eldest son and the son he values most."
Staying in the capital would be like being a hostage, and the risk would be enormous.
Chu Jingrui hummed, not taking it seriously: "Son understands, don't worry, as long as you are fine, nothing will happen to me."
Emperor Longqing was not crazy. If something happened to him in the capital for no reason, wouldn't it be a clear message to the world that Emperor Longqing could not tolerate the existence of a child like him
Wouldn't this force the King of Chu to rebel
This child always knows the current situation and is sensible. The rest of the persuasion from the King of Chu is unnecessary. It is useless to say anything to this son who is so clear-headed. He just patted his son on the shoulder and said, "Since you understand your father's intentions so well, that would be the best..."
He laughed heartily: "This way, my father will be relieved."
Chu Jingrui assured him, but Prince Zheng and Emperor Longqing were not so reassuring after all. He returned to the backyard to see Princess Chu, still with anger on his face. Only when he heard Princess Chu asking questions did he tell her what happened today with a cold face.
The Princess of Chu did not focus on the fact that Prince Zheng took the initiative to stay in Beijing. What she was concerned about was that her son also wanted to stay in Beijing. Although she had anticipated this before going to Beijing, she had also discussed a countermeasure at that time, right
She suddenly raised her head and looked at King Chu, her tone changed with nervousness: "What did you say?!"