Remarrying Chun Yuan

Chapter 331 War begins

The lunch between Prince Chun and Emperor Qi Xiao was naturally a lose-lose situation, and quite unpleasant.

Because Emperor Qi Xiao informed Prince Chun that he had pondered for a long time and felt that Yuan Cuo was not worthy of inheriting Prince Chun's title, "...His background is still a mystery, and the Imperial Clan Court is still unwilling to acknowledge him. I know the difficulty in your heart. I still have nine princes under my name. Why don't you choose one of them and adopt him?"

Prince Chun chuckled softly, "My brother is still reluctant..."

"Are my princes inferior to Yuan Cuo?" Emperor Qi Xiao seemed to be smiling, but his eyes were like knives. "I heard that you had private dealings with the third prince before. I thought you would choose him."

Last night, Cheng Hai led his secret guards to investigate everyone around Qin Muyan to see if they had close ties with Prince Chun.

Sure enough, they found Wei Gongming's name.

This seemingly insignificant county magistrate of the capital had repeatedly met secretly with Prince Chun, and their interactions were frequent. Furthermore, this Wei Gongming had been consistently inciting the Third Prince to oppose the Crown Prince…

Emperor Qi Xiao had just heard Cheng Hai's report before summoning Prince Chun for a meeting and having lunch.

He had already shown the Marquis of Zhenning some face by not stripping him of his title, but his son was extremely ambitious, which was outrageous!

Emperor Qi Xiao was still angry and went straight to the point, tearing away the fig leaf.

"Your Majesty's capital is indeed impenetrable, and those ruthless and bloodthirsty secret guards are everywhere." Prince Chun was not surprised; he couldn't wait for Emperor Qi Xiao to kill Qin Muyan to vent his hatred!

"I did not send any secret guards to follow you, and it was an accident that I learned of this matter." Emperor Qi Xiao did not try to be perfunctory.

"Is Your Majesty truly willing to register the Third Prince under your name?" Prince Chun asked.

Emperor Qi Xiao nodded, “You are my brother, and I naturally cannot bear to see you die alone... In fact, it would be excellent if you could get married.”

The pain in Prince Chun's heart was once again dredged up and torn apart.

He stood up and looked at Emperor Qi Xiao, "Your Majesty may laugh at me, but I am a man of unwavering focus. However, I am also fortunate, unlike Your Majesty, who bears the heavy responsibility of expanding the Qi dynasty."

"Even if you don't like a woman, you should still marry her and make her pregnant and bear children... Your Majesty, I can't stand it, I admire you!"

Emperor Qi Xiao was already furious, but who would have thought he would be insulted like this?

"You are my own brother, born of the same father and mother, and I will not hold a grudge against you. We have not seen each other for more than twenty years, and we should be drinking and celebrating, singing and dancing, but you insist on acknowledging your son. It is truly... truly disappointing!"

"As Your Majesty has said, this is not a matter for one person alone. My only son is Yuan Cuo. Although Your Majesty has mentioned the Third Prince, I'm afraid Your Majesty alone cannot make the decision. Even if the Imperial Clan Court approves, would Consort Yu approve? Would my nephew approve?"

Prince Chun laughed wildly, his laughter particularly chilling. "Brother, don't speak recklessly. Why don't you go back and ask them if they agree?"

He cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, then turned and left, saying as he went, "Your Majesty, I am not afraid of hardship and will continue to accompany you to court tomorrow."

……

He wore a simple robe, exuding boundless arrogance.

As soon as he disappeared, Emperor Qi Xiao overturned the breakfast table!

"He actually mocked me! He actually dared to question me!"

Cheng Hai hurriedly summoned the eunuchs to clean up the mess, and then approached Emperor Qi Xiao, saying, "Your Majesty, please calm down. You know that Prince Chun did it on purpose... just let him be."

"He colluded with my son, plotting something wicked. How could I not be angry!" Emperor Qi Xiao felt like his head was about to explode.

Cheng Hai didn't really want to say it, but since someone had just reported it, he had no choice but to tell Emperor Qi Xiao the truth: "Today, His Highness Prince Chun was copying scriptures in the ancestral hall when he happened to run into Consort Yu. I heard that the two of them didn't have a very pleasant conversation, and when Consort Yu returned, she invited the Left Chancellor to the palace to talk."

Emperor Qi Xiao was about to explode in anger, but he quickly calmed down. "You mean, he's deliberately trying to sow discord?"

Cheng Hai nodded quickly, "If the collusion were real, why would they do it so blatantly?"

Emperor Qi Xiao pondered deeply, and realized that there was some truth to it.

"Moreover, this old servant discovered today that Eunuch Fuyue, who serves His Highness the Prince, is no longer here; someone else has taken his place." Cheng Hai's observations were very meticulous.

"He's still unwilling to give up, and he's still making moves..." Emperor Qi Xiao thought of the urgent military report sent by Chen Hongwu, "I only hope that he can help me hold on and give me some more time!"

"If I were to send Yuan Cuo to Huai Prefecture again, would he agree?" He somewhat regretted recalling Yuan Cuo...

"Fine, summon the Lu family. I have something to tell you!" In the end, he chose the Eastern Palace faction. Although the Crown Prince was a bit foolish, at least he was of one mind with him.

After meeting with several generals from the Lu family, Emperor Qi Xiao ordered them to quickly lead troops to Huaizhou, ostensibly to assist Qin Muyan, but in reality to keep a close watch on the power grab.

When Jiang Jiuwei arrived home, he cursed and angrily denounced Emperor Qi Xiao for being old, foolish, and suspicious. He quickly sent an urgent letter to Qin Muyan, telling him to keep a low profile in Huaizhou, and even criticizing him for daring to make moves in the west, saying that he had gone too far.

Qin Muyan was completely bewildered by her uncle's scolding. He had only robbed a bandit; what did it have to do with the Guanzhong region?

"You have no manpower, no money, and you expect me to replace the equipment of the Great Qi soldiers on schedule?! And now you doubt me?!"

Qin Muyan cursed and swore, but he didn't realize that Yuan Cuo had set a trap for him, nor did he expect Prince Chun to rub salt into his wounds. He even thought that the Crown Prince had done something behind the scenes. "He only hopes that Father Emperor won't ascend to heaven too soon, otherwise I will never tolerate him again!!"

He uttered these words, startling those around him who pretended to be deaf. "Your Highness, should we still drive the bandits westward?"

They chased the bandits, and the bandits chased the people.

After all, one cannot simply "raise money" in one piece of land; one must also take the opportunity to observe the surrounding situation.

"We can no longer forcefully collect taxes in Huai Prefecture, so why don't we look eastward?"

"I don't care where you go, but before the Lu family arrives, you must get your hands on the silver. Also, find more smelting craftsmen! The more the better!"

Although the weapons forged by Qin Muyan were made of good materials, they were far less powerful than the weapons presented by Li Chengyue.

His subordinates had no choice but to go and raise the funds.

Qin Muyan was somewhat confused, but still wrote a letter to Wei Gongming, asking if he could discuss with Prince Chun the possibility of borrowing some support from the west to help him overcome the crisis. He added that if they could successfully seize the throne, Prince Chun would accept whomever he wanted as his son or grandson!

But after he sent the letter, there was no response; Wei Gongming never received it.

The secret guards were placed directly in front of Emperor Qi Xiao, and the questions that had been hanging in Emperor Qi Xiao's mind were finally answered!

"Go and summon the Imperial Clan Court. I don't want this son anymore. Tomorrow I will adopt him to Prince Chun, so that the father and son can join forces to rebel!"

"Your Highness, war has broken out in the southwest... The Chu army has launched an offensive to seize the northwest!" Under the cover of darkness, the eunuch beside Prince Chun woke him up and whispered the news in his ear.