Ye Yun's words successfully aroused Man Xing's interest.
Yes, he had been circling with Ling Qingwan and Ling Xiao since he came to Dayue. He thought that even if he couldn't beat Ling Xiao on the battlefield, at least he had to be better than him in strategy.
Unexpectedly, Ling Xiao's sister is an opponent that cannot be underestimated. In fact, in terms of intelligence, she is more difficult to deal with than Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao and Ling Qingwan, the two siblings, were like a solid wall of steel, protecting the General's Mansion. Man Xing and Shang Wu used coercion, bribery, and many other methods, but they still had not achieved their goal.
Not only that, but he also caused a fire in his own backyard.
Thinking of everything that had happened during this period of time, Manxing felt a surge of anger in his chest, and he wished he could raze the general's mansion to the ground.
"But the Northern Zhou is in chaos right now, and I have to go back. Even if I know I can start with Shen Chengzhou's daughter, what good will it do."
Manxing raised a question.
"You can come back after you solve it. It will take a little longer, but there won't be any other problems." Ye Yun didn't care. "Besides, I'm here to watch over you, so nothing will go wrong."
"No problems? Don't you have enough problems?" Man Xing gave Ye Yun a cold look.
Ye Yun lowered his head without saying a word in rebuttal.
Although he was angry, there seemed to be no other way except to listen to Ye Yun. Manxing thought for a moment, discussed the future plan with Ye Yun, and then asked him to leave.
After Ye Yun left, Man Xing went to Shangwu's room.
Shang Wu still didn't know what happened in Northern Zhou, and her mind was full of thoughts about how to please Ling Xiao and make him fall in love with her.
"What are you thinking about? You look so happy."
Manxing stepped in and greeted Shangwu who was sitting at the table.
"Royal brother!"
Shang Wu was a little surprised when she saw Man Xing and stood up suddenly.
"Why are you here?"
Thinking of what Manxing said to her last time, Shangwu instinctively felt a little guilty.
As for Manxing, Shangwu is actually afraid of him.
"I came to you because I have something to tell you." Manxing retracted his smile and his expression became extremely serious.
He handed the imperial edict to Shang Wu.
Shang Wu was stunned for a moment, took it, glanced at the contents on the document, and was immediately shocked.
"Father asked you to go back?"
Manxing has been in Dai Viet for some time, and the Dai Viet emperor and all the civil and military officials know that the prince of Northern Zhou is coming to Dai Viet for marriage. If it weren't for an urgent matter, why would the emperor order Manxing to return to Northern Zhou at this critical moment
"You're right. There's something wrong with the government of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and I need to go back to deal with it urgently." Man Xing sighed helplessly. "It doesn't matter if I go back, and I can still leave you the opportunity to make peace with Daiyue, but..."
"But what?" Shang Wu was anxious.
Judging from Manxing's expression, this matter might be related to her.
"But the attendant sent by my father said that you have to go back with me."
After hearing this, Shang Wu was extremely surprised and her eyes widened.
Sure enough, she came to Dai Viet not for the sake of national justice, but because she had a private relationship with a Dai Viet man. Man Xing snorted coldly, trying to suppress the ridicule and disgust in her eyes.
He originally thought that Shang Wu could be a very advantageous chess piece for him, but unexpectedly, Shang Wu deceived him from the very beginning.
How could Manxing not be angry after wasting so much of his patience and energy
"Shang Chu should be leaving Northern Zhou in the next few days, so you should make preparations in advance." Man Xing pretended to feel sorry and patted Shang Wu on the shoulder.
"I'm sorry, brother. I helped you come to Dayue, but now I can't let you stay here."
"Brother, why do you have to say that? You are willing to help me out of kindness. In the final analysis, you have no reason to help me. I have read the imperial edict just now. Since something happened in the Northern Zhou Dynasty and we need to go back, I will follow you back."
Shang Wu forced a smile.
It was obvious that he was very unwilling in his heart, but he still pretended to be open-minded.
"Then will you blame me?" Manxing frowned, looking worried.
"How could that be! Don't overthink it, my brother!" Shang Wu responded immediately, her tone firm. "Shang Wu came to Da Yue with the help and protection of my brother. In Shang Wu's heart, I have long regarded my brother as my own brother. Don't worry, no matter what happens, Shang Wu will stand by you."
"I won't treat you unfairly."
Manxing smiled slightly.
Shangwu wanted to wait until Shangchu arrived in Dai Viet before leaving, so she was after Manxing. On the second day after the imperial edict was issued, Manxing went to the palace to bid farewell to the emperor.
Shen Chengzhou told Ling Qingwan about this later. It was said that Manxing talked a lot that day and stayed in the imperial study for half an hour. The emperor was very troubled by this.
He didn't care about anything else. He just wanted Manxing to leave Dayue as soon as possible and not stay there to get in his way.
Manxing did not disappoint the emperor's expectations. Two days later, he packed his luggage, rode away from Dayue, and left Shangwu alone at the post station.
After Manxing left, people in the capital were talking about it, all wondering why he left.
"I heard that the emperor specially arranged a palace banquet to choose a good wife for the crown prince of Northern Zhou, and invited hundreds of famous ladies from the capital to attend. With so many beauties gathered together, the scene was something that ordinary people like us dare not even think about. In the end, the crown prince of Northern Zhou didn't like any of them, but fell in love with Miss Sun from the general's mansion."
"Miss Sun from the General's Mansion is engaged to our Seventh Prince. Why is the Crown Prince of Northern Zhou joining in on the fun? Does he really think he's someone important?"
"The princess of Northern Zhou is also very picky. She won't let go of the young general. Just think about it, General Shen's grandchildren are so good. How can they be taken away by the people of Northern Zhou?"
"Yes, and our Seventh Prince is much more handsome than that Northern Zhou prince."
…
Song Tian told Ling Qingwan everything that was rumored outside.
"Miss Sun is far-sighted and suppressed the discussions early. Otherwise, they would have been saying that the Northern Zhou and Dai Viet had a dispute over the marriage, and that there would be another war afterwards, which would have made people panic." Song Tian couldn't help but sigh.
In fact, Ling Qingwan was not sure whether the public opinion outside was really in this direction. She asked a few people to spread the word. It was just a small matter. She would do it if she could. At least she could feel at ease.
"Uncle Song, how long does it take to get here from Northern Zhou?" Ling Qingwan asked Song Tian.
"About half a month." Song Tian replied.
Half a month, that is to say, Shang Wu will have to stay in the capital for another half a month.
Ling Qingwan roughly understood Shang Wu's thoughts. From what she had done before, it was enough to show that Shang Wu liked Ling Xiao and couldn't wait to take Ling Xiao for herself.
Seeing that she finally came to Dayue and had the opportunity to marry Ling Xiao, she was called back by an imperial edict. It was possible that Chang Wu would be stimulated and try her best to get close to Ling Xiao in the past half month.
Ling Qingwan couldn't imagine how crazy a person could do because of love.
"Uncle Song, please help me send a few people to secretly protect Gu Zhi."
The more Ling Qingwan thought about it, the more worried she became about Gu Zhi's safety.