For Chu Tianyu, the fight between Chu Tiankuo and the Prince of Zhao was naturally a good thing.
He was still waiting for Zhao to send troops, for Chu Tiankuo to lead the troops to fight, and then kill him!
It's been too much of a nuisance ever since Chu Tiankuo came back.
Shen Mingzhu heard a hint of happiness in the second prince's tone. She leaned in his arms and drew circles on his chest: "Is it because of the 20 million taels again? I really can't understand why the eldest prince doesn't want silver notes but cash. Isn't it the same?"
Shen Mingzhu knew that the second prince did not recognize the eldest prince's identity as the crown prince, so he deliberately called the eldest prince.
Chu Tianyu was so distracted by her that his hands became restless. He was really unhappy when he heard others calling Chu Tiankuo the prince behind others' backs. However, he was worried that Shen Mingzhu might let it slip outside, so he said, "You should still call him the prince! He is killing two birds with one stone. First, he wants to please Master Shen, and second, he wants to take the opportunity to use the silver to buy the princess back."
"The eldest princess?" Shen Mingzhu pretended to know nothing and asked curiously.
Chu Tianyu was in a good mood, so he said a few more words to her: "The eldest princess is the prince's biological sister. She went to Zhao State to marry seven years ago, which brought peace to the border for a few years!"
Unfortunately, this peace is about to be destroyed by Chu Tiankuo!
"Zhao State would like to make peace with our Chu State."
"The Chu State is famous for its many beauties. Tonight, the Crown Prince of the Zhao State proposed a marriage alliance again."
Chu Tianyu can understand the king of Zhao. As the king of a country, he naturally wants to win all the beauties in the world.
Seeing that he was not unhappy about the marriage, Shen Mingzhu asked, "Which princess did Zhao State take a fancy to this time?"
She still didn't know how many princesses there were in the palace, but she thought there shouldn't be many. After all, the emperor was still young, there were only three adult princes, and there shouldn't be many adult princesses. If the emperor wasn't still young, she wouldn't have thought of entering the palace to become a concubine.
"The imperial sisters in the palace are not yet adults, so I guess we'll have to look for one among the princesses this time."
Princess? Shen Mingzhu thought that Xing Qing was brought to the capital for no reason and became a princess.
Could it be...
She suppressed her excitement and asked, "Which princess?"
Chu Tianyu shook his head: "It has not been decided yet, it should be Princess Changle. The Crown Prince of Zhao has taken a fancy to Princess Changle. But the Queen Mother will probably not agree. But if the Crown Prince of Zhao insists on having his own way and only takes a fancy to Princess Changle, there is nothing the Queen Mother can do if she disagrees."
Chu Tianyu wanted to say that the Queen Mother deliberately promoted Chen Xingqing to be a princess, probably in order to let her replace Princess Changle to marry.
However, he felt that there was no need to explain the affairs of the court so clearly to a concubine.
At the same time, he remembered that Shen Mingzhu and Shen Xingqing were somewhat related, so he didn’t say it.
He thought to himself that Princess Funing was actually quite pretty!
Shen Mingzhu is gorgeous and charming, while Shen Xingqing is pure and elegant.
If Princess Funing had not been sent to marry this time, it would have been nice to have her taken into his harem and become a concubine in the future.
The concubines in the harem should be like a hundred flowers blooming. There should be gorgeous and noble peonies, as well as fresh and refined wild chrysanthemums. In short, there should be women of all kinds and temperaments! Chu Tianyu held Shen Mingzhu on his lap and played with her hair, thinking.
Shen Mingzhu's fingers also played with another bunch of hair that fell on her chest, with a thoughtful look on her face: The Prince of Zhao has taken a fancy to Princess Changle
She knew that Princess Changle was the daughter of the Grand Princess and the Queen Mother's favorite.
If she helped Princess Changle escape the fate of becoming a princess married to a foreign country, she could make friends with Princess Changle and take the opportunity to get close to the Queen Mother.
Shen Mingzhu prides herself on being smart. She knows that she was born in a low family and now she has become a concubine. If the second prince cannot ascend to that position in this life, she will only be a concubine for the rest of her life. But how can she be willing to be a concubine
With the help of Princess Changle and the Queen Mother, and after she gives birth to a son or grandson, she will have the opportunity to ask the Queen Mother to confer her the title of concubine and raise her status.
Princess Changle thought that Xingnong was Chu Tiankuo’s junior sister. She already knew that Old Tang was actually the most famous formation master in the Chu State!
She still found it hard to accept that the bastard Chen Xingnong would actually take Master Tang as his master and become a senior and junior brother with the prince.
She became extremely jealous when she thought of the prince's protection of her.
I can't deal with her now, but there is a good opportunity to deal with Chen Xingqing in the near future.
She couldn't help but say, "Princess Changle is a princess of the royal family, of noble status. If she were to marry, it would be a bargain for those reckless men in Zhao. I think the emperor can let Princess Funing marry instead of Princess Changle! Princess Funing is not a royal relative, and has made no contribution, but she was granted the title of princess by the emperor and the empress dowager due to the emperor's grace. If she were to marry, it would be considered as repaying the court, and she would be worthy of the title of princess!"
Chu Tianyu smiled awkwardly when he heard this: "You are smart. The Queen Mother named her a princess for this very reason! But the Crown Prince of Zhao State doesn't like her, so there is nothing we can do about it."
Shen Mingzhu took the opportunity to say, “I have a way to make the prince of Zhao take a fancy to her.”
Chu Tianyu was moved when he heard this: "What do you have in mind?"
"Does your Highness remember who took away the credit for saving the oil lamp?"
Chu Tianyu raised his eyebrows: "Chu Tiankuo's junior sister?"
"Your Highness, do you know that Princess Funing is the cousin of the eldest prince's junior sister? Didn't Your Highness say that the eldest prince and the prince of Zhao are fighting fiercely now? In that case, the prince of Zhao should want to make things difficult for the eldest prince. We just need to reveal the relationship between Princess Funing and the prince to the prince of Zhao, and at the same time let the prince of Zhao know that the eldest prince loves his junior sister very much. The prince of Zhao will probably change his mind!"
Chu Tianyu's eyes lit up when he heard this, his brain worked very quickly, and he thought more than Shen Mingzhu!
He hugged Shen Mingzhu’s face, kissed her hard, and then pushed her away: “Wait for me to come back in the evening!”
~
the next day
Wen Ruiqing went as a representative to hand over the tribute to the Zhao State envoys.
The Zhao envoys were picky for a long time when inspecting the tribute, which made Wen Ruiqing very annoyed.
During this period, the Prince of Zhao kept asking him about Princess Changle, which made him even more annoyed. Thinking of his daughter who had cried until her eyes were swollen last night, he felt distressed.
Changle must not be allowed to marry.
Because he intended to let Xing Qing replace Chang Le, he patiently belittled Chang Le and praised Xing Qing in front of the Prince of Zhao.
After the tribute was finally counted, the Prince of Zhao seemed to have been brainwashed by Wen Ruiqing and became displeased with Princess Changle.
He smiled and said to Wen Ruiqing, "Lord Wen is truly admirable. He has two daughters, Princess Changle and Princess Funing, who are both as beautiful as flowers and have many talents. One is both talented and beautiful, and the other is stunningly beautiful. I just thought about it. Our Concubine Hui was also a famous talented woman in Chu State, and Princess Changle was one of the four famous talented women in Beijing. It seems inappropriate to marry two talented women of your country at once. I think that for this marriage, our Zhao State should choose Princess Funing! What do you think?"
Wen Ruiqing was ecstatic, but his face did not show it: "As a princess enjoying the respect of the people, I naturally need to make some contributions to the court. So no matter which daughter of mine the prince takes a fancy to, it is their honor to contribute to the diplomatic relations between the two countries! But this matter still needs to be decided by our emperor, and I will obey the emperor's order."
Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince of Zhao smiled and said, "Lord Wen is very righteous! Then I will go and tell the King of your country."
The Crown Prince of Zhao State laughed secretly. Prime Minister Liang was right. If they wanted to replace someone, it would be much easier to start with the Minister of the Ministry of Rites.
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