bookrebus Chapter 81 How to Get Close
Chapter 81 How to Get Close
"Your Majesty, please forgive me! This old minister deserves to die!" Chao Ying kowtowed three times and repeated several times that he deserved to die.
The emperor frowned; it seemed this old fellow had come prepared. "Rise, my dear minister..."
"Your subject dares not!" Chao Ying kowtowed again.
What a clever ruse! The emperor, seeing through the scheme, went over and forcibly helped Chao Ying up: "Guards, give Chao Aiqing a seat!"
"Your Majesty, this old minister is truly ashamed!" Chao Ying was a sensible man, and he naturally knew why the emperor had summoned him. It seemed that the marriage could only be called off.
So before the emperor could say anything more, he continued, "After my son Chao Huaiyuan returned to the capital this time, he was eager to marry that Miss Nie Liu. Perhaps they were already in love, and I really couldn't persuade him otherwise... That's why this happened in such a hurry..."
How could the emperor not know that this flawed explanation was fabricated? But this was a way for both sides to save face. Since the matter had not been successful, the emperor naturally wanted to let it go and would not punish the perpetrator severely.
However, they won't let Chao Ying off so easily.
"My dear minister, how about I make the final decision regarding your son Chao Huaiyuan's marriage?" The emperor was trying to cut off his family's path to forming an alliance through marriage.
Not only Huaiyuan, but also Nie Qing, the unmarried daughter of the Nie family, should be betrothed as soon as possible. The emperor pondered to himself.
Princess Li Cen instructed her spies to inform the emperor about the secret marriage plot between the Chao family and the Nie family, as well as the conflict between Princess Chengde and the Third Prince Li Yun.
Then, she quickly ordered Gao Zhan, the Grand General of the Imperial Guards and the eldest son of Grand Tutor Gao, to intercept the Imperial City Guard.
The Imperial Guards were directly under the command of the Imperial City. Although they did not have official ranks, the position of Imperial Guard General was implicitly considered to be higher than a first-rank official but lower than a first-rank official.
This is precisely where the Eldest Princess's brilliance lies. The Crown Prince and the Third Prince are vying for power, and it is inconvenient for the Crown Prince to appear in public. She informs Gao Zhan, explaining the situation clearly. A smart man like Gao Zhan will naturally go out to stop it immediately. Moreover, with the Eldest Princess's decree, the Crown Prince can also remain discreet and stay out of the matter.
In this way, the Crown Prince will inevitably owe her this favor.
In particular, it gave the Crown Prince the wrong impression that his eldest sister was wholeheartedly dedicated to protecting the Eastern Palace and was on his side. This allowed the Crown Prince to lower his guard against the eldest princess and focus on fighting against the Third Prince.
These princes would never have imagined that their eldest princess, a mere woman, harbored ambitions to become empress.
Li Cen dismissed Li Yun and looked down at Nie Sheng: "Minister, your residence is quite lively today."
"Your Highness, you flatter me. It wasn't supposed to be this lively. It was just that Princess Chengde suddenly arrived..." Nie Sheng, a seasoned official, always spoke differently to different people. He was quite adept at playing the submissive role when dealing with these princes and princesses.
"So it seems my younger sister is being unreasonable. I'll take her back now and won't bother her any longer." The princess nodded to Nie Sheng and then went straight into the Minister's residence.
Early on, servants ran out to see what was going on, climbing over pillars and railings to peek outside. When they saw the eldest princess, they hurriedly reported back to Princess Chengde.
"What! Why is she here?!" Chengde jumped up from his chair in a panic.
As Lu He had predicted, the imperial sister was indeed entangled with Chao Huaiyuan. The fact that she came to Minister Nie's residence in person today probably means that she had already set her sights on Chao Huaiyuan!
Oh no, oh no, oh no! Princess Chengde was so anxious she was pacing around in circles. "Where did Mr. Lu and Nie Qing go? Why haven't they come back yet?" She hesitated for a moment, but in the end, in the psychological struggle between choosing to face Huaiyuan or choosing to "live," she chose not to see her elder sister. She and her maid fled through the back door as if they were escaping.
After Lu He and Nie Qing finished their conversation, they returned to the main hall together. Just as they reached the door, they saw a woman with an extremely noble air coming towards them. She had a cool and aloof appearance, luxurious makeup, and wore a white dress with gold trim. She was adorned with extremely expensive jewelry and wore ornaments that were only found in the palace. Her crown was very similar to that of Princess Chengde, but it had a low-key feel, unlike Princess Chengde's ostentatious and extravagant style. Moreover, she was accompanied by only four maids, unlike Princess Chengde who was accompanied by seven or eight maids.
Lu He was still trying to figure out the woman's identity, because judging from her appearance, she should be seventeen or eighteen years old, no, the aura she exuded made her seem like she was in her early twenties, making her hard to fathom...
"This humble woman, Nie Qing, greets Your Highness, the Princess!" Nie Qing hurriedly performed the rites of a thousand years.
Princess! It's a pleasure to meet you! I am about to become the master of your body! (?ˉ??ˉ??)
Lu He looked at Princess Li Cen and revealed a satisfied yet greedy smile.