Zhu Houzhao and Chen Yier are about to get married.

Chenxi is about to be appointed as the Duke, and he will lead his troops to fight at the end of the month. In the late March, the Shen Mansion has become a busy group.

Regarding the matter of dispatching troops, Chen Xi wanted to connect with the Beijing camp. Cui Yuan, the son-in-law who had never seen Chen Xi before, finally had the opportunity to visit him.

Cui Yuan was summoned to face Chen Xi with a humble attitude.

"...The prince consort doesn't have to be so polite. I want to ask the prince consort for help if I have something to do."

Cui Yuan's ritual was too good, which made Chen Xi feel a little embarrassed. He asked Cui Yuan to sit down and talk, but Cui Yuan refused again and again, probably meaning that Chen Xi would sit and he could just stand and listen to the teachings.

"Shangshu Chen is the mainstay of the court. I have the opportunity to receive the advice of Shangshu Chen, which is a lifelong blessing. How dare I sit with Shangshu Chen?"

Chen Xi shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I don't have the same subordinates as my husband and I just cooperate with each other in official affairs. If my husband and I don't sit down, I'm really embarrassed to bother my husband and I'm sorry to bother my husband and I'm helping me."

After Shen Xi insisted, Cui Yuan was finally willing to sit in the main hall, but he still seemed very restrained, with his head hanging down, feeling at a loss.

Cui Yuan waited for a while but didn't hear Chen Xi talking. He secretly glanced at Chen Xi, and then said carefully: "What are the instructions from Shangshu Chen? Please just say it."

Chen Xi smiled and said, "The prince consort first drinks tea."

While speaking, a servant had already brought tea in at the door and placed it on the coffee table between Shen Xi and Cui Yuan. Cui Yuan was embarrassed to reach out and still sat there in restraint, his skin trembling slightly, as if he was not very suitable for this way of meeting.

Seeing Cui Yuan's awkward appearance, Chen Xi probably knew that Cui Yuan was not pretending to be hypocritical.

I think so, Cui Yuan was a Confucian scholar, but suddenly entered the court and was in charge of important positions. His usual affairs made him feel overwhelmed. Now, when he suddenly saw him as the Minister of War, it was difficult not to be nervous. Of course, it was more important that Cui Yuan regarded him as an authority in the army and was waiting to listen to his teachings.

Chen Xi smiled faintly and said, "The official letter of dispatching troops should be sent to the Beijing Camp. I wonder how well the troops who were arranged to be mobilized before?"

Because Chen Xi stayed in the mansion and was led by civil servants, he could not see the soon-to-mobilized Jingying troops these days, so whether the Jingying was ready could only ask Cui Yuan, the leader.

Cui Yuan then became more confident and nodded, "The troops are ready. This time, the Beijing camp allocated 13,000 soldiers and dispatched 8,000 civilians to transport food, grass and supplies, but these materials will be transported later..."

Chen Xidao: "In other words, we will use almost 7,000 Xuanfu troops this time?"

Cui Yuan was stunned at first, looked up at Chen Xi, nodded and said, "It's probably that."

Although the official letter to mobilize troops was submitted by Shen Xi and Zhu Houzhao also approved it, the cabinet and the Ministry of War later made some changes to the method of transferring troops, and transferred a group of troops from the northwest that originally followed Chen Xi to fight the grasslands and cooperated with the Beijing camp to send troops.

Chen Xi said again: "The capital suddenly drew so many people, and the defense will fall into a short period of emptiness. At that time, the responsibility of guarding the capital will fall on the prince-consort."

"this……"

Cui Yuan looked embarrassed. He wanted to express to Chen Xi that he was out of reach, but he knew that Chen Xi was not a member of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Army. In addition, some other factors made him unable to say something.

Chen Xidao: "I haven't had the chance to visit the prince-consort's mansion. I met the prince-consort in a hurry before and didn't talk in detail. Today, I happened to be there. Why not stay in the prince-consort and have a meal together? If you have anything to do, you can talk slowly at the dinner table?"

Cui Yuan waved his hand quickly, as if Chen Xi's banquet was a banquet at Hongmen. He said nervously: "No need, no, Shangshu Chen can say something now, or ask someone to notify me. I want to go back... I eat with the princess, and I dare not bother me."

This situation made Chen Xi quickly realize that Cui Yuan was a "wife-manager".

There are not many men who are afraid of their wives in this era, because the status of women in this era is low, but Mr. Cui obviously cannot be compared with her usual husband. This married a princess. She has been frustrated at home for a long time and has no chance to make achievements. Now she is in the court and works as a little man.

Chen Xi sighed slightly: "Actually, there are many things to talk to the prince-consort in detail. It is best to sit down and make the details openly and honest, especially the defense part involving the capital... These things should not be under control, but this time, the expedition will withdraw the capital's troops from a small part. If you do not make proper arrangements, once something goes wrong in the capital, the main responsibility will fall on me."

Cui Yuan said: "No, no, it's because I am not good at taking office."

Nothing happened yet, Chen Xi and Cui Yuan both rushed to take the responsibility on themselves.

Seeing that there was no result with Cui Yuan, Chen Xi nodded: "Next time, the general will report to His Majesty the precautions of the capital after sending troops. The prince consort has not been able to perform his duties for a short time, and the prince consort cannot be fully responsible for any incidents. But think about it... the capital should not have any problems. Even if there is any problem, you just need to withdraw all the troops and horses of the capital back to the capital to defend it."

“Yes, yes.”

Chen Xi's words simply reached Cui Yuan's heart.

He doesn't need to know the soldiers, he just needs to know how to deal with it. It is definitely not possible to let Cui Yuan lead the war, but he knew that if the capital was beloved by thieves, the best way was to close the city gates to defend, and there was no need to teach Chen Xi at all.

Chen Xi nodded again: "Since that's the case, then I won't bother the prince-consort... Do you need to send the prince-consort away under the guise?"

Chen Xi ordered the order to expel the guests, which was somewhat rude, but this seemed to be a relief for Cui Yuan.

Cui Yuanru heard the immortal voice and quickly stood up and said, "No need, you can walk by yourself. Shangshu Chen please step!" After saying that, he left almost as if he was running away.

...

...

Cui Yuan left Chen Mansion and did not go to the Five Army Governor's Office immediately, but took a carriage to a teahouse less than two streets apart.

Up to the second floor, a woman in men's clothing walked around anxiously. When she saw Cui Yuan appearing, her eyes lit up. She hurried over and asked, "How is it, have you seen Shen Zhihou himself?"

Cui Yuan took a breath and said, "I saw it, I saw it, it was Chen Shangshu himself, who was so majestic..."

This woman is not someone else, but Cui Yuan’s wife, Princess Yongkang.

Princess Yongkang gave Cui Yuan a blank look: "What are you saying this? Why did he tell you?"

Cui Yuan quickly told his wife what Chen Xi said to him, and almost every word he said was gone.

Although Cui Yuan was a little dull in his words and affairs, it did not mean that he was incompetent. It was mainly because he had no experience in being an official and became the commander of the garrison in the capital after his first career. This fatal official position made him feel worried and worried, and he seemed worried.

Princess Yongkang listened to her husband's story and said angrily: "This Shen Zhihou is clearly playing tricks on you. While saying that she wants to talk to you, she also said that she wants to report to Your Majesty. Isn't this looking down on you?"

Cui Yuan was stunned, his tone was full of confusion: "Princess, where do you start with this?"

Princess Yongkang said, "You think I can't see Shen Zhihou's intention? He asked you to talk to you about things. He could have gone to the Governor's Office of the Five Army or visited him, but he just sent someone to inform you to come and see you. It was clearly an airshot. After meeting, he did not talk to you about the details of defense, but just made an official voice with you. Finally, he said he would ask the emperor for his request, and he would not take it seriously!"

"Is that so? But it's clear that I'm leaving myself and I don't want to stay for dinner? Do I have to put the blame on Shen Zhihou in this way?"

Cui Yuan asked himself a few questions in a row, obviously he couldn't tell which words Chen Xi were in official accents and which were in official business. He always felt that every word Chen Xi said was very reasonable, but after careful consideration, he seemed to say nothing.

After thinking about it carefully, he probably understood what his wife meant.

"Let's go, let's find him!"

Princess Yongkang has a very bad temper. Her husband was bullied and was eager to get back the scene.

Princess Yongkang stood up and was about to leave, but was pulled by Cui Yuan. The servants who had been waiting next to him couldn't help but gather around him.

Cui Yuan said: "Princess, Shangshu Chen is also kind-hearted. Before going to war, he asked me to come to the door to explain a few words. It was a routine meeting. Moreover, he had no malicious intentions when meeting. If he came to the door like this, it would seem that we were disrespectful to others. If he mentioned it to the court, I...I..."

"You have never been an official, so I don't know that the officialdom is dangerous. Will I harm you?" Princess Yongkang's face showed a look of anger.

Cui Yuan lowered his head, not knowing what to say.

Princess Yongkang waved her hand and asked the entourage to retreat aside, sat down again, and said earnestly: "Even if we come to the door in person, we may not be going to find fault. Shen Zhihou recommended him to the emperor before and asked you to lead the Beijing camp. If he didn't have him, how could the emperor have done this? He is kind to you..."

"However, even if Shen Zhihou has the kindness of supporting you, you are not his direct subordinate. Why do you look down on others? Even if you are an official under his command and a prince consort, if he doesn't look at the monks and Buddha's faces, you are the royal relatives, and bullying you is the insult of this palace!"

Cui Yuan said: "I can't control the princess, but... I just don't agree to go to Shangshu Chen, as this will make us look petty..."

Princess Yongkang was stunned when she saw her husband so stubbornly, and then she felt relieved: "Okay, the prince consort said we won't go, so we won't go. You go back to the Five Army Governor's Office to do things first. I'll find someone to prepare some gifts for him to send. This... the prince consort will not stop him, right?"

Cui Yuan thought for a while, shook his head and said, "It's not a big deal for many gifts, how could I disagree with giving gifts?"

Princess Yongkang showed a hypocritical smile and waved her hand: "Go away, my husband, I'll go back to the house to prepare a gift. In the future, we should flatter Shen Zhihou in the court. Who can let him speak in front of the emperor? If you have a good relationship with him, you will definitely have a bright future in the future, and you can even be named a marquis and a prime minister."

...

...

The princess drew a big cake for Cui Yuan.

For those who know how to do things, Princess Yongkang's words are extremely unreliable.

A prince consort has no merits, and it is impossible to be named a marquis and a prime minister. Even his position in the Governor's Office of the Five Army would be deprived of it at any time, which is just a matter of the emperor's words.

For Cui Yuan, this was very helpful. He felt that he had already entered the fast lane of success and could hold his head up in front of his wife.

However, after Cui Yuan left in a carriage, Princess Yongkang's face changed immediately.

She looked out the window and disappeared at the corner of the street in the distance, waved her hand, and an old eunuch behind her came over: "Your Highness, what are the instructions?"

Princess Yongkang said, "What should you do if you say that the Minister of War is disrespectful to the people in our princess's mansion?"

The old eunuch was shocked when he heard this and quickly said, "If it were an ordinary person, it would be fine to teach a lesson, but that person is... the famous Lord Shen, with many guards around him..."

Princess Yongkang interrupted the old eunuch in anger: "Did I ask you to hit someone? I have never seen Shen Zhihou's ability yet. I will come to the door to see what kind of person he is!"

As a princess of the Ming Dynasty, you should abide by the moral character of women and even be more cautious than folk women to maintain the majesty of the royal family.

But Princess Yongkang is the eldest princess, the current emperor's aunt. It is nothing to her when she goes out of the house, and she doesn't even think it's wrong to visit her courtiers.

When Princess Yongkang's sedan chair was parked in front of the Shen Mansion and sent someone to hand over the prayer letter, Zhu Qi felt it was important, so he changed his habit of putting down the prayer letter and handing it over to Shen Xi before, and went back to the house and presented it to Shen Xi who was writing at the desk in the study.

"...Master, the princess is here. She is the princess of the son-in-law's family before." Zhu Qi said.

When Shen Xi heard this, he stopped writing, thought for a while, nodded slightly, and stood up: "The purpose of her coming is probably related to the errand of the prince-consort... invite people in."

Zhu Qi originally thought Shen Xi would go out to greet him in person, but when he heard the order, he realized that Shen Xi had no intention.

When the two left the study and walked with their backs, Zhu Qi realized that Shen Xi was going to go to the toilet when she came out.

"Master, should you invite the main hall or your study?" Zhu Qi asked again.

If an ordinary official arrives, Shen Xi will basically meet in the study, and Cui Yuan’s visit was set up in the main hall before. Therefore, Zhu Qi doesn’t quite understand where Shen Xi is going to meet Princess Yongkang.

Shen Xidao: "The study room is a private occasion, so you will naturally have to stay in the hall when you see the princess."

"Yes, Master."

Zhu Qi hurried away and went to the door to receive Princess Yongkang.

...
To be continued...