Prince Luo did have enough confidence to trust Chu Jing.
Because the two brothers are of similar age, but Prince Luo has always respected his royal brother since childhood, so Chu Jing also cares for him.
Prince Luo has never remarried since the death of his princess consort. He does have two concubines in his mansion who are only used to continue his offspring.
The death of the princess was a great blow to him. He and the princess were not arranged to be married, but were childhood sweethearts who grew up together. They were very much in love after marriage. When she died, she was already two months pregnant.
Chu Jing thought of his grief over the loss of his wife, so as to prevent him from being sentimental in Kyoto, he granted him the Southern Frontier. A few years ago, Qin Zhou took over the rich lands of Donghai Nanjun, and Chu Jing did not even blink an eye, and granted him the Southern County. This kind of love and favor was unprecedented. Not only that, in order to consolidate the power of Southern County and develop it, he was given 100,000 soldiers and horses, which has now expanded to 150,000. Moreover, Southern County did not need to pay taxes to the court, and the financial income was collected by the Southern County Palace to develop Southern County. Therefore, in addition to being the territory of the Northern Desert in name, Southern County was actually an independent small country.
The two concubines in his mansion were also given by Chu Jingci.
Therefore, although Prince Luo did not love them, he still had some respect for the two concubines. This was to take Chu Jing's face into consideration and also as a way of repaying Chu Jing.
In recent years, Nanjun has broken away from the political, military and economic aspects of Beimo and has developed very well. Although it does not need to pay taxes, every year, Prince Luo sends a large amount of silver and jewelry to the capital, and grain is also transported to Kyoto in an endless stream, which serves as an economic supply line to the south of Chu Jing.
Now, he still needs Prince Luo's 150,000 troops.
With these 150,000 soldiers, he will be even more powerful.
If at that time, Prince Luo suddenly falls ill or encounters an accident, then everything in Nanjun will be taken over by the court.
Nanjun is so wealthy, with a large amount of jewels and food. Recruiting soldiers and purchasing weapons and horses are all just a matter of time.
Prince Luo would not think about these things because he was involved in the matter and trusted Chu Jing deeply.
However, as his adviser and aide, Tianjizi saw things very clearly.
Everything has its limits. Nanjun has developed too fast in recent years, attracting attention. How much profit is behind it? I'm afraid even the prince himself doesn't know.
This time when Princess An came, Tianjizi hoped that she could bring some information to wake the prince up.
If you blindly believe in Chu Jing, the outcome is foreseeable.
An ambitious emperor, whose heart is filled with lust for power, has no room for brotherly love.
"Sir, please don't say such things anymore. My brother and I have a deep relationship. I will help him with whatever he wants to do. Now that he is in trouble and the throne has been taken away, how can I just sit there and watch? So, no matter what An Ran says, I will not change my mind. Also, you should arrange some people to put An Ran under house arrest. I don't want her to be involved in this chaos. After all, she is a girl. Why is she making such a fuss instead of looking for a husband to live a good life?"
Tianjizi had no choice but to say, "Yes, I will follow your orders."
Princess An encountered quite a few assassins along the way.
After she entered the Nanjun area, assassins almost came out in droves.
However, it was obvious that the person who attacked her did not understand her true strength and seriously underestimated her. She knew that it was not because of her luck or the stupidity of the other party, but the result of her hiding herself for so many years.
Chu Jing and the Qin family both knew that she had secret guards, but over the years she never got close to them for the sake of appearances, and she didn't even assign them any tasks to do.
She did not fight, compete, or take charge of affairs, and even had a reputation for being greedy for money. Everyone thought that Princess An was a profit-seeking person.
Because of this, no one was on guard against her, and no one felt she was a threat.
This time when she came to Nanjun, Chu Jing and Old Lady Qin were probably just afraid that she would cause trouble, so they sent assassins to kill her and put an end to it all. However, their focus was definitely not on her, and the assassins they sent out were not the best.
He was injured on purpose. He suffered a minor injury so that his third brother would know that Chu Jing was not what he thought he was.
When they arrived at Nanjun Prefecture, they saw soldiers from the royal palace coming to greet them.
Princess An knew that she had attracted the attention of her third brother since she entered Nanjun.
"Princess, the prince ordered us to come and greet you!"
Sun Yang, the palace guard, stepped forward to greet him.
Behind him, there were more than a hundred soldiers and horses, as well as chariots and carriages.
Princess An got off her carriage. After traveling all the way and encountering various ambushes and attacks, the carriage was already covered in scars.
"Thank you, Lord Sun!" Princess An said, looking at the dark-skinned man in front of her.
"Princess, do you still remember me?" Sun Yang was a little stunned. He had only followed the prince to Beijing twice and had only met the princess once. Unexpectedly, the princess actually remembered him.
"I never forget any hero." Princess An said with a smile.
Sun Yang's expression was serious. "I don't deserve the title of hero."
"Lord Sun is too modest. Let's go!" Princess An walked towards the carriage. Sun Yang wanted to lend a hand to support her, but she had already stepped forward by herself.
Sun Yang mounted his horse and waved his hand, ordering, "Go!"
Princess An's people followed the team slowly into the city and went to Prince Luo's palace.
Prince Luo and his two concubines greeted them at the door. It was natural that they were very excited to see each other as brother and sister.
"An Ran, I've been asking you to come all these years, but you never came. It really breaks my heart." Prince Luo said with a smile.
Princess An said naively, "Isn't it coming? If I come more often, I'm afraid your Nanjun will be emptied out."
"Go ahead and move everything you can!" Prince Luo laughed and poked her on the forehead. "You are still greedy for money. You are not afraid of being laughed at."
"Who dares to laugh at me? Are you trying to kill yourself?" Princess An took his arm and walked in. Her arm was wrapped in gauze with bright red blood on it.
"Injured? What happened?" Prince Luo asked with a frown, looking completely clueless.
"I met a few petty thieves on the road. I was itching to show off my skills, so I exchanged a few moves with them. However, my fancy moves were useless and I got injured." Princess An said generously.
"What's the point of a girl brandishing swords and guns?" Prince Luo scolded as he walked.
"The women in our Northern Desert are different from those in other places. Isn't Qin Zhou also a woman? She has also made great contributions to the court!"
Upon hearing this, Prince Luo said calmly, "In the past, the king admired Qin Zhou very much, but he misjudged her. She was deeply favored by the emperor, but she betrayed and rebelled, and supported the traitor Chu Yue to become the emperor."
He just wanted to show his attitude so that Princess An would not try to persuade him.
However, Princess An was startled when she heard this and stopped in her tracks. "Third brother, who told you this? Qin Zhou and Chu Yue were not rebelling. It was the second brother who rebelled. He led his troops into the palace and killed the emperor. Qin Zhou and Chu Yue then brought people into the palace, but they were a step too late. The emperor had already been killed by the second brother."
(End of this chapter)