Within the capital of Chu State, there was only one royal palace, which was Prince Xin's Palace.
Different from the Chen State, the emperors of the Chu State would appoint princes early. The other princes, after reaching adulthood, would go to their respective fiefdoms. Without transfer orders, they were not allowed to return to the capital, nor were they allowed to build mansions in the capital.
But King Xin was different. As the younger brother of His Majesty and the regent of a country, King Xin was transferred back to the capital from his fiefdom when His Majesty ascended the throne and entrusted him with important tasks. This became the only exception in Chu State in decades.
And King Xin did not disappoint His Majesty. Over the years, he worked with His Majesty to stabilize the internal and external affairs, which made the Chu State's national strength flourish. Since His Majesty became ill and stayed away from the court, he has even managed the inside and outside of the court in an orderly manner.
Everyone is convinced.
Because of this, King Xin also accumulated incomparable prestige in the Chu Kingdom, far exceeding that of the prince. Now that the prince is fatuous, there are voices in the court and among the people saying that King Xin should "replace him".
However, in addition to helping His Majesty manage the affairs of the court, King Xin did not do anything beyond his reach. Instead, he often taught the prince and delegated power to him. As a result, the people and courtiers all admired King Xin even more and asked him to replace the prince.
The voice got louder...
In Prince Xin's palace, the most powerful man in the Chu Kingdom placed the tea cup heavily on the table and said disdainfully: "The princes of Chen Kingdom are more useless than the last, and they still want to marry my king's daughter?"
The young man standing below showed a bitter smile on his face and said: "Your Majesty, this time the Chen State sent envoys to propose marriage, I'm afraid it will be difficult to deal with, and the Chen State has already married Princess Pingyang. With the diplomatic relations between the two countries, this time
Even your Majesty can't refuse."
King Xin snorted coldly and said: "I want to marry Princess Pingyang and want to marry my daughter back. Zhao Zheng, an old fox, is really good at planning. On the surface, he is hypocritical and uses his own daughter as a bargaining chip.
, my men will show no mercy at all!"
He walked outside the door and asked, "Where is the princess?"
The young man said: "In the back garden."
Because the princess likes flowers and plants, the back garden of Prince Xin's Mansion is very large. It was mid-March, and the flowers in the garden were in full bloom, and the air was filled with a sweet fragrance.
The woman in white held a sword in one hand, and the long sword in her hand was flying like a snake. After a moment, she held a beautiful sword flower, looked at the middle-aged man standing in the pavilion, and asked: "Why are you free to come here today?"
"
The middle-aged man said: "I have nothing to do in the court, so I came here to enjoy the flowers and let me tell you two pieces of news."
Li Tianlan sheathed the long sword, looked at him, and asked: "What's the news?"
"Emperor Chen has agreed to our marriage proposal and has already sent someone to escort Princess Pingyang. She will arrive in Kyoto in as soon as two months or as slowly as three months."
Li Tianlan looked at him and asked, "Is there another one?"
The middle-aged man said: "Emperor Chen also sent an envoy to propose marriage to His Majesty so that you can marry into the Kingdom of Chen."
"I won't marry." Li Tianlan said simply.
"Of course I won't marry." King Xin shook his head and said, "My daughter is a third-level daughter, and is both civil and military. Who in the entire Chen Kingdom is worthy of you?"
He seemed to have remembered something, and then said: "I heard that Chen Guo produced a number one scholar who passed three yuan last year, which can be regarded as a talent. You happened to be in the capital during the scientific examination. Are you familiar with that person?
"
Li Tianlan's face moved slightly and he said, "It's pretty familiar."
"Even if he is also a third-level official, he is not worthy of you in terms of status." He looked at Li Tianlan and said: "But Lanlan, I don't know if there is a man in this world who is smarter than you and has better martial arts than you. You
Are you really not going to lower your requirements?"
"Let's talk about it later." Li Tianlan waved his hand and walked out of the garden.
The middle-aged man looked behind him and asked the young man: "You just said, who is the wedding envoy sent by Chen Guo this time?"
The young man cupped his hands and said, "Tang Ning, a doctor in the Ministry of Rites and a bachelor's degree student at the Hanlin Academy."
…
Prince's Mansion.
There was singing and dancing in the hall, and a young man was lying on a soft bed. The thinly dressed woman beside him put sliced fruits and vegetables into his mouth.
A figure hurried in from outside the palace and said: "Your Highness, there is urgent news."
The young man on the couch waved, and a woman came over with a wine glass. He took the wine glass, rinsed his mouth, and then said, "Say."
The man said: "Back to Your Highness, Chen Guo has agreed to the marriage. Princess Pingyang has already set off and should arrive before six months."
"I got it." The young man looked at the beautiful dancing of several women in the palace, with no emotion or anger on his face.
The man added: "Your Highness, there is one more thing. You will definitely be happy to hear it."
The young man looked at him and asked, "Oh, what's the matter?"
The man smiled and said: "Your Highness, the Chen State delegation is not only here to see off the bride, they also want to marry Princess Changning."
The young man suddenly became energetic and asked: "Is this the case?"
"It is true." The man nodded and said: "In order to strengthen the diplomatic relations between the two countries, Emperor Chen wants Princess Changning to marry a prince of the Chen Kingdom, and has already sent a marriage envoy here."
A smile appeared on the young man's face. He had been dissatisfied with his cousin for a long time.
The girl's family did not learn female red embroidery, but went to the scientific examination. Everyone in the capital knew that the princess of Changning was a first-rate and extraordinary woman in the world. No man in the Chu country could match her. Except for this,
In addition, there is actually another sentence at the end, although Princess Changning is born as a girl, she is much better than that useless prince.
And he is that useless prince.
Those people said that he was not as good as King Xin, but they actually said that he was not as good as a woman. Have they considered the feelings of the prince?
A person behind the young man stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, Princess Changning is the only daughter of King Xin. I'm afraid King Xin will not agree."
"Don't agree?" The young man shook his head and said, "Uncle King Xin is so familiar with the general situation, how could he disagree? How could he disagree with a major matter concerning the diplomatic relations between the two countries and the people of the two countries?"
A sneer appeared on his face and he said: "It would be great if he really disagrees."
…
Chen State, a state in the north, above the official road.
Dozens of carriages moved forward slowly. It had been a month since they left the capital. Everyone was dusty, but the atmosphere was not dull.
Along the way, people were not in a hurry. They traveled for six hours every day. When they encountered a city, they would rest for a day and a half. Most people were very energetic.
According to the current speed of travel, we will arrive at Fengzhou in about half a month. Fengzhou is the northernmost city of Chen State. Going beyond Fengzhou is the border of Chu State.
Tangning was sitting in a luxurious carriage. Under the curtain, a slender hand secretly stretched out. Tangning took the candied fruit she handed out and put it into her mouth.
After three days of riding out of Beijing, his buttocks hurt so much that he couldn't stand it, so he sat outside Zhao Man's carriage.
She originally wanted Tangning to go in and rest, but since she was away from the capital, this carriage was the princess's boudoir, so naturally he, a foreign minister, couldn't go in.
The Prime Minister of Honglu Temple, He Rui, was watching from the carriage behind, hoping that something would happen to him. It was uncomfortable to be stared at like this all day long. Tangning originally wanted to find an opportunity to arrange for him, but why did this person act cautiously?
, usually don’t come out to see him at all, leaving him unable to find an opportunity to make a move.
Along the way, Lu Teng did his duty faithfully and did a good job in defense. But if you think about it carefully, there is actually nothing to defend against. A team of nearly a thousand people, 800 of them are fully armed forbidden troops, not to mention petty thieves.
, no matter which bandit force saw him, he would have to stay far away.
There were eight hundred imperial guards in the Chen Kingdom, so there was no need to worry about any safety issues. However, He Duan and the envoys arranged by King Duan would appear in front of his eyes from time to time, which made people upset.
A figure walked over from the front, cupped his hand and said, "Master Tang."
In addition to the handymen and guards, there were two imperial doctors in the team this time. Tang Ning looked at him and asked casually: "Physician Wang, what are you doing here?"
Doctor Wang said: "Master Cui is not feeling well. I will go and have a look."
Tangning thought for a moment and said, "Master Cui is ill... If it's serious, let him recuperate here. It doesn't matter if there is one less person. His health is important..."
