Chapter 70

Chapter 69

What... What's going on?

The young eunuch, both shocked and puzzled, stared at the emperor who had suddenly flown into a rage, and was so frightened that he fell to his knees with a thud.

He couldn't understand why the emperor had suddenly become so angry when it was clear that the Eighth Prince, Zhao Hongrun, hadn't caused any trouble.

During this time, the emperor glared fiercely at Tong Xian, took several deep breaths to calm himself down, and then, suppressing his anger, he said to the two young eunuchs in a deep voice, "Both of you, leave."

The two young eunuchs, who were trembling on the ground without knowing the reason, felt as if they had been granted a pardon. They scrambled to their feet and fled from the Chui Gong Hall.

They couldn't help but be afraid, for they had never seen the emperor display such a terrifying expression. Even when the Eighth Prince, Zhao Hongrun, had vandalized the imperial garden, the emperor hadn't been this angry.

After the two young eunuchs had hastily left the hall, the emperor took a deep breath and then scolded in a stern voice, "Tong Xian, you are becoming more and more daring!"

The Grand Eunuch Tong Xian trembled all over and repeatedly kowtowed, saying, "This old servant is guilty, this old servant is guilty."

Hearing the thuds of his forehead hitting the ground, the emperor looked down and, seeing blood seeping from Tong Xian's forehead, a look of pity flashed in his eyes. He sighed and said, "Enough, stand up."

Tong Xian stopped kowtowing and stood there, uneasy.

"Why did you hide this from Me?... I appointed you to lead the Inner Chamber to monitor both inside and outside the palace, not to deceive Me!"

Upon hearing this, Tong Xian fell to his knees again with a thud, hesitated for a long time, and then said in a low voice, "This old servant... This old servant just didn't want Your Majesty to hear... to hear about that person again..."

"Are you talking about that woman?"

At this moment, the emperor's eyes were cold, and he no longer looked like the kind father and wise ruler that Zhao Hongrun knew. He looked like a tyrant, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

"..." Tong Xian lowered his head, as if he hadn't heard.

The emperor closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. When he opened his eyes again, the terrifying look filled with murderous intent had eased somewhat.

"Stand up. ... Tell Me the truth, when did that rascal start to get involved with Yulong?"

Tong Xian stood up, trembling, and dared not hide anything. He reported truthfully, "According to this old servant's guess, it should have been during the Dragon Boat Festival... As far as this old servant knows, on that day, when Your Majesty led the ladies to the high platform to admire the lanterns, Princess Yulong was sitting alone by the pond in the small garden on the west side of the Wende Hall. Coincidentally, the Eighth Prince was invited by the Sixth Prince to attend a poetry gathering at the Yafeng Pavilion, and on the way, he saw Princess Yulong sitting alone by the pond, so..."

"So that rascal went up to talk to her?" the emperor asked with a cold smile.

"Yes..." Tong Xian lowered his head, "Then, the Eighth Prince took Princess Yulong, disguised, out of the palace to play in the city."

"Did he do this for all three days of the Dragon Boat Festival?"

"Yes..."

The emperor pondered for a moment and sneered, "What a fine brother-sister bond!... Seeing Princess Yulong sitting alone and feeling sorry for her, that rascal took her out of the palace? Too outrageous! Too outrageous!"

Tong Xian remained silent, his head lowered. From the way the emperor referred to the Eighth Prince, Zhao Hongrun, he knew that the emperor wouldn't punish this increasingly favored prince. The problem was with Princess Yulong.

Indeed, after the emperor pondered for a long time, a sentence made Tong Xian's heart skip a beat.

"Hongrun is one of My best sons, and I have high hopes for him. Although he is young and mischievous, he will surely be a pillar of our Great Wei in the future. I... do not want him to have any connection with Yulong."

After saying this, the emperor pondered for a moment and then asked, "Yulong... is she fifteen this year?"

"Yes... She will be of marriageable age next year."

"Next year..." The emperor frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "Tong Xian, draft a national letter. I intend to propose a marriage alliance with Southern Chu."

"Southern Chu?" Tong Xian was taken aback.

Southern Chu, located to the south of Great Wei, had a territory four times larger than Great Wei, with a large population and strong national power. For over a hundred years, it had been in constant conflict with Great Wei, making it the most troublesome neighbor to the south.

Despite the fact that Great Wei was not weak, the limitation of its territory made it difficult to resist the invasions of Chu, often resulting in more defeats than victories.

However, since Chu also had an enemy, the State of Qi, which did not border Great Wei, Chu had to fight on two fronts. This allowed Great Wei to barely hold its ground and prevent the loss of territory.

If the emperor could use the marriage alliance to form an alliance with Chu, it would be beneficial for Great Wei. After all, Great Wei also had a powerful neighbor to the north, the State of Han, which had long been eyeing the territory of Great Wei in Hebei and Shangdang. If Wei and Chu formed an alliance, Chu could withdraw its troops from the Ying River region to attack Qi, allowing Great Wei to redeploy some of its southern troops to the north to focus on resisting Han's invasions.

However, according to Tong Xian's knowledge, the Eighth Prince, Zhao Hongrun, and Princess Yulong had a very close relationship. How could he tolerate his elder sister being sacrificed for diplomatic purposes?

Thinking about this, Tong Xian couldn't help but advise, "Your Majesty, please think carefully. ... According to this old servant, Princess Yulong has been exchanging letters with the grandson of the Chancellor, He Xinxian, and there may be some affection. The He family's status is suitable for a princess. Why not let Princess Yulong marry He Xinxian? After she is married, she will no longer have any connection with the Eighth Prince..."

"Are you teaching Me how to do things?" the emperor asked coldly.

Tong Xian was startled and quickly kowtowed, saying, "This old servant would never dare. ... However, according to this old servant, the Eighth Prince and Princess Yulong have some brother-sister affection. If Your Majesty marries Princess Yulong to Chu, the Eighth Prince may..."

"Hmph!" The emperor hummed, closed his eyes, and leaned back in the dragon throne. After a long time, he said calmly, "If it were not Yulong, marrying her to the grandson of Chancellor He would be acceptable, but it is Yulong... I do not want Hongrun to have any connection with her!" He looked at Tong Xian and ordered, "Go and draft the national letter!"

Seeing that the emperor's decision was final, Tong Xian did not dare to argue further and bowed to accept the order, "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Wait!... Keep this matter secret. Do not reveal it until the envoys from Chu arrive, especially to Hongrun."

"This old servant obeys the imperial command."

A day later, in the absence of many people's knowledge, a national letter was sent to Chu.

Then, around late August, Chu sent a reply.

As the emperor had considered, the King of Chu accepted the proposal of a marriage alliance with Great Wei and soon organized a delegation to slowly head towards the capital of Great Wei, Chen Du.

On August 23rd, the Chu delegation crossed the border between Chu and Wei, entered through the Fenxing Pass on the Great Wei border, and slowly made its way towards Chen Du.

However, due to the emperor's deliberate secrecy, few people in the court knew about this. After all, the eunuchs who had handled the national letter had been warned by the emperor not to reveal the information.

But strangely, despite the emperor's precautions, someone still learned about the news and wrote it in a letter, which was specifically sent to Zhao Hongrun's Wenzhao Pavilion.

It was around the ninth day of the eighth month, around the hour of Si, when Zhao Hongrun, still groggy from sleep, got out of bed, dressed, and waited for his meal. The palace guard, Shen Yu, entered with a small wooden box in hand.

"Your Highness, someone has delivered a letter."

"Who?" Zhao Hongrun yawned lazily.

"The person did not reveal their identity, only saying that this letter must be read by Your Highness personally."

"Bring it over." Zhao Hongrun waved his hand, not suspecting anything.

Shen Yu walked up to Zhao Hongrun and opened the lid of the small wooden box.

Zhao Hongrun lifted his hand, took out the letter from the box, and unfolded it. As he read it, his expression changed, and he immediately sat up straight from his lazy posture.

"Who delivered the letter?" Zhao Hongrun asked in a deep voice.

"The person delivered the letter in the morning and has already left," Shen Yu replied.

"Did they say who sent it?"

"They did not reveal it."

"..." Zhao Hongrun frowned and thought for a moment, then asked, "What did the person delivering the letter look like?"

"A guard," Shen Yu recalled, "but the person seemed to avoid being seen, always keeping their head down... Your Highness, is the content of the letter urgent?"

"Urgent?" Zhao Hongrun hummed twice, his tone filled with dissatisfaction, "The letter says that Father plans to marry my elder sister, Yulong, to Chu. Is that not urgent?"

"Marriage alliance?" Shen Yu was taken aback, "Why Princess Yulong? She hasn't reached the age of marriage yet."

It was no wonder Shen Yu was surprised. After all, according to his knowledge, there were other princesses in the palace who were of marriageable age. Even if a marriage alliance with Chu was necessary, it shouldn't have been Princess Yulong, who hadn't yet reached the age of marriage.

"Could it be a rumor?" Shen Yu frowned and thought.

"What benefit would the person spreading this rumor have?" Zhao Hongrun snorted, "We'll know the truth if I ask Father."

Saying this, Zhao Hongrun was about to head to the Chui Gong Hall, but he suddenly stopped, his expression thoughtful.

He suddenly remembered the advice given by the Grand Eunuch Tong Xian that day.

Could it be...

Zhao Hongrun frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly instructed, "Shen Yu, go and investigate immediately to see if anyone in the palace or the court knows about this."

Shen Yu nodded and immediately went to investigate.

About two hours later, Shen Yu returned with the news: no one in the palace or the court knew about this.

Hearing this, Zhao Hongrun's heart skipped a beat. He didn't think someone was playing a cruel joke on him.

Instead, he leaned towards another hypothesis.

That his father, the emperor, was dissatisfied with his interactions with Princess Yulong and, for various reasons, planned to marry her to Chu.

The reason no one in the palace or the court knew about it was likely because the emperor knew that Zhao Hongrun would oppose it and had deliberately kept it secret, waiting until the Chu envoys arrived in Chen Du to reveal the plan.

By then, even if Zhao Hongrun opposed it, it would be too late.

If this were true... he must not go to ask his father now.

Zhao Hongrun had a premonition that if this were true, and he foolishly went to the Chui Gong Hall to question the emperor, his father would find a way to confine him until the marriage alliance with Chu was settled.

"I must find a way to test this..."

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Hongrun had an idea.