A guard quietly entered Chenyuan Hall, Pri Minister Lin was startled, the lant he was voicing broke off midway, and as everyone was listening intently, Pri Minister Lin imdiately realized this guard was not from Chenyuan Hall. He felt sowhat relieved; the Crown Prince hadn’t been entirely inactive.
The guard quietly approached Zheng Congyuan from behind, blending in with the crowd of Qi Ling and Qi Zhu. Dressed identically, in the midst of chaotic minds, no one noticed in the mont.
"Your Highness——" The guard was unfamiliar, but had a very inconspicuous appearance and, blending into the crowd, he approached Zheng Congyuan and whispered.
Zheng Congyuan’s head stayed facing forward, not turning around. Behind him, Qi Ling and Qi Zhu scanned the surroundings, ensuring that no one was paying attention to them, and intentionally distanced themselves from others.
"The Southeast Border and Eastern Border are secured, the two aristocratic families supporting the Wen Family have been dealt with, only the Western Border remains..." the guard spoke very softly, as if waiting for a signal from Zheng Congyuan, who did not respond.
The guard hesitated, then continued speaking.
"As for Nann State, they intend to cooperate with us..." The envoy from Nann State had ntioned this three tis, for very obvious reasons.
Nann State had also recently undergone turmoil; the new emperor had not yet ascended the throne, thus they naturally needed allies, and this was an excellent opportunity. Moreover, having spent ti in Nanzheng State already, the new emperor of Nann State clearly knew who truly held power in Nanzheng State.
The guard was sowhat anxious, seeing this as a two-birds-one-stone good deal for both Nanzheng State and Nann State.
"It’s not necessary, we don’t need them," Zheng Congyuan said coldly, dismissing any notion that Nann Yu would use this as a bargaining chip.
Zheng Congyuan thought back to an incident he had encountered that day, wishing he could have killed Nann Yu outright. He had made a mistake initially by allowing Nann Yu to return to Nann.
If he could now deploy so troops, he would definitely resolve the issue with Nann State as well.
The guard paused briefly, yet did not speak further, but if Nann State cooperated with them, they would almost have no concerns about what might co. What if Nann State decided to cooperate with the Wen Family?
"Proceed as planned, and pay attention to any movents in the Northern Border," Zheng Congyuan spoke again, to which the guard nodded and quickly exited, blending into a corner of the hall and disappearing in a mont. The next instant, it seed as if no guards had left Zheng Congyuan’s side.
Pri Minister Lin continued to lant, obviously pulling everyone’s attention. The guards from the Wen Family took their places surrounding Chenyuan Hall entirely, led by General Wen Han, the Wen Family’s commander in the Eastern Border with over three thousand troops, who now had the Imperial Palace completely surrounded.
"Why hasn’t he arrived yet?" Wen Han frowned, the plan had been for two days, and now it was already the second afternoon, yet there was still no sign of the Qiandao Temple Mage. Hadn’t things been settled already?
"General, Deputy General Lin has already gone to rendezvous with him, he should reach Zheng Capital by tomorrow morning," his trusted aide imdiately replied.
...
"You disagree?" Nann Yu was slightly stunned, surprised and increasingly anxious, why the disagreent, why did Zheng Congyuan not agree?
"Prince, our people simply haven’t been able to connect with anyone of importance," Tan Zong sighed, but given the exceptional period, it was understandable that Zheng Congyuan’s n were being extrely cautious. But they had already made their identities known; did they need the prince himself to go in person?
Nann Yu raised an eyebrow, trying to interpret Zheng Congyuan’s motives. By his reasoning, Zheng Congyuan should be more receptive to the offer at this ti. Was he waiting to put everyone in jeopardy before he was satisfied?
Especially now, Prince Duan’s Mansion was in a very awkward position. What if, by so mistake, swords and blades inadvertently hurt soone from Prince Duan’s Mansion?
As soon as Nann Yu thought of this, he simply couldn’t sit still.
He had fled to the Western Border when he had heard of Emperor Jingzhi’s demise. The news of the Wen Family deploying troops also reached him; he couldn’t return in ti, so he sent his n directly to the border and imdiately sought out Zheng Congyuan.
As long as Zheng Congyuan agreed to his terms, he would imdiately mobilize his troops to Nanzheng State and first secure Prince Duan’s Mansion, not even allowing half a fly to enter.
But unexpectedly, Zheng Congyuan seed totally uninterested in dealing with him.
Could it be that Zheng Congyuan didn’t realize the military power of the Wen Family was not to be underestimated? Indeed, it shouldn’t be underestimated. The Wen Family had long controlled the frontier forces of Nanzheng State, with about one hundred and fifty thousand troops across the Northern, Southern, Southeastern, and Eastern fronts, almost half of Nanzheng State’s military strength.
Moreover, Wen Jia held a steady power in court, and among the sixteen aristocratic gentry clans of Nanzheng State, four had generations of good relations with the Wen Family. These four clans also wielded similarly fearso influence within Nanzheng State.
In Nann Yu’s eyes, the Zheng Imperial Family of Nanzheng State simply couldn’t compete with Wen Jia.
However, Nann Yu also knew that over the years, Zheng Congyuan had done quite a few things and had secretly nurtured so forces. As for the extent of these forces, Nann Yu did not know, but surely they were not strong enough to refuse his help.
"Go again—" Nann Yu steadied his heart, let it be, let it be. Perhaps he is just being cautious, fearing that at this ti, he might already be colluding with the Wen Family. As long as he shows sincerity, Zheng Congyuan isn’t a fool. He will know that forming an alliance with him is the only way to stabilize the situation.
...
"Where did the Fourth Prince go?" Noble Consort Wen suddenly realized and turned pale, imdiately looking at the Little Eunuch who was reporting below, "What are you doing? How can you lose sight of soone so important?"
"Please calm your anger, Your Highness. This servant didn’t even dare to blink at the palace gate. The Crown Prince, the Fourth Prince, he didn’t go out," the Little Eunuch trembled, knowing he couldn’t escape his deadly punishnt, continuously kowtowing, "Your Highness, spare my life, spare my life."
"Quickly take people to search—" Noble Consort Wen couldn’t sit still. At this ti, how could Fu Gong suddenly disappear when he had already agreed?
In less than half an hour, the entire Chenhe Hall had been turned upside down, and nothing was found.
Noble Consort Wen’s face turned pale, barely able to stand. How could Zheng Haoyuan disappear at this ti? How could he be missing?
Noble Consort Wen realized the gravity of the situation and didn’t dare delay any further, imdiately sending soone to call her brother.
"Your Highness, nothing is missing from Chenhe Hall; the Crown Prince is likely not trying to escape," Kang Ning imdiately said, trying to steady his mistress’s nerves, "Moreover, there are no signs of a struggle in the palace, and Eunuch Cang Er is also missing. Perhaps, perhaps the Fourth Prince might be nearby?"
Noble Consort Wen imdiately looked at Kang Ning.
"Then, don’t just stand there, go search—" Noble Consort Wen nodded as well, right, right, Fu Gong had already agreed. He must have understood and realized the significance of the matter.
Eunuch Kang Ning waved his hand, and a group of eunuchs and palace maids imdiately began searching throughout the Imperial Palace. Noble Consort Wen, holding her forehead, sat in the principal seat of Chenhe Hall and sighed deeply after a long while.
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