NFBE Chapter 179 A Turtle in a Jar: Just Waiting for Them to Fall into the Trap
Chapter 179 A Turtle in a Jar: Just Waiting for Them to Fall into the Trap
Just as Wen Yuening was pondering, Ru Shan brought over the meal.
Since Cen Yan had previously instructed her to deliver it to the palace gate, she got up and brought it over.
"Eat something first. You haven't eaten for several days. Quickly eat something to replenish your strength."
The minced meat porridge looked very appetizing. After smelling the aroma, Wen Yue Ning picked up a soup spoon and scooped up several mouthfuls.
"Yuening, eat slowly. If you're not full, there's more in the kitchen. I made a lot earlier."
"You did it?"
Wen Yuening ate several more bites and found that the taste was quite different from the meat porridge she usually ate.
“I’ve always loved tinkering with food. If Yue Ning doesn’t mind, when Sang Wan comes back, we can sit down together and have hot pot.”
It was the first time she had heard of "hot pot with mutton." Although she was a little curious, she didn't ask what it was. She just nodded and said, "Okay."
After finishing the meat porridge, Wen Yuening began to make preparations in advance.
He asked Cen Yan if she knew about Shen Sangwan's arrangements for Kyoto before her departure.
The response was a shake of the head.
"Qingque, immediately find Ruoli and the others, and then ask Princess Ming why she escaped from Fragrant Mountain, and what secrets she found out about Prince Ming."
Then, a message was sent instructing Qingtang to use a method to control my father and prevent the Northern Witch from getting involved in this matter.
Then have Qingzhi and Wenque bring all the assassins from the pavilion to the capital. Also, send a message to Yuanzhou, informing Qingli to bring his men back immediately.
After half an hour of contemplation, she sorted out all her thoughts.
"Your Majesty, shall we allow Ruoxin and Ruoli to come and meet you?"
"If Your Highness has a backup plan in Kyoto, once the Ming King starts his rebellion, I won't need to go looking for the two of them; they will naturally come to me. You only need to have Qingzhi and the others come to the capital and then bring the Imperial Guards under our control."
Even if the Prince Ming has secretly trained an army, with the Imperial Guards present, they can hold out for several days. Furthermore, due to the matter of Prime Minister Cen, His Highness has already instructed Mo Feng to replace some of the Imperial Guards; the recruits from the new recruit camp won't be too bad.”
"Yuening, this is a big deal. I think it's necessary for us to consult with His Majesty and form a united front."
Wen Yuening smiled slightly, her words somewhat teasing, "Our Emperor only acts weak and helpless in front of Your Highness. In reality, despite his young age, he is quite shrewd and calculating. He may have already had the people left to him by the late Emperor guard all the important places."
"Only our prince is still foolish enough to think that his younger brother is a weak person who needs protection."
Shen Sangwan, who was being scolded, sneezed several times on her horse.
Could it be that Xiao Yan Yan misses me?
【...】
The narcissistic Shen Sangwan never expected that it was his own wife who was scolding him.
On the other hand, Xiaotong's eyes were practically rolling to the sky.
Shuyun, sitting on the same side, asked with some concern, "Your Highness, have you caught a cold from traveling these past two days?"
"I have nothing to do, let's hurry on our way."
Shen Sangwan waved her hand to indicate that she was fine and continued on her way.
Cen Yan, sitting next to Wen Yuening, heard the other woman criticizing Shen Sangwan and wanted to defend her, but before she could speak, she heard the other woman say, "Ayan, if the Ming King really rebels, you should follow Qingque out through the secret passage, and then she will take you to the new stronghold of the Soul-Hooking Pavilion. It will be very safe there."
"You...you're kicking me out?"
“Ayan, you don’t know martial arts. If you stay here, it will distract me from protecting you. If you get injured, I won’t be able to explain it to His Highness when he returns.”
At this moment, Cen Yan suddenly felt that she was really useless. If something really happened, she wouldn't be able to help at all.
Finally, he could only nod reluctantly, "I'll have Ruoying accompany me. Sang Wan mentioned the Soul-Hooking Pavilion to me before. If I go there, I'm afraid it will bring a lot of trouble. At that time, I will have Ruoying take me to another safe place."
"Ayan, please don't feel guilty. I didn't mean anything by it..."
Seeing Cen Yan's dejected expression, Wen Yue Ning, who wasn't good at comforting others, panicked for a moment, but felt that the more she explained, the more people would misunderstand.
"It's alright, I didn't think too much about it. You need to take good care of yourself in the palace, otherwise Sang Wan will be sad when she comes back and sees this."
The two stopped dwelling on the current problem and nodded in unison.
Xingde Hall
Shen Yuchen showed no signs of his previous irritability and remained calm as he calmly flipped through the rumors circulating in the marketplace on the table.
Not far away stood a person wearing a cloak and a veil; judging from his figure, he was a tall man.
"Your Majesty, the trap is now set, and we are just waiting for the Ming King to crawl in so that we can annihilate him in one fell swoop. This will make your nearly six-month-long performance worthwhile."
The man's voice didn't sound like someone from Kyoto; it sounded more like someone from Qinzhou. Judging from his build, he seemed more like a Northern Wuren.
Shen Yuchen shook his head, his expression clearly showing a lack of confidence.
This move was too risky for him.
He neatly stacked all the papers on the table. "Where is my elder sister now?"
"The eldest princess will arrive in Chenzhou in a few days, and the Ming King probably plans to make his move then."
Shen Yuchen touched the jade thumb ring in his hand, looked up at the window, and saw the autumn wind blowing in gusts, causing the leaves to rustle and making people feel uneasy.
"Some people are probably not going to have a good year-end."
After a long period of contemplation, Shen Yuchen suddenly uttered these words.
"Your Majesty, is there anything else I may do?"
"Is there any movement from the Empress's side?"
"The Empress has been in a coma since the Eldest Princess left the palace. Her maid, Qingque, left the palace last night via a secret passage leading to the Eldest Princess's residence. Our people discovered this outside the palace."
Shen Yuchen got up and walked to the window, reaching out as if to feel the autumn wind sweeping by. "It seems that Prime Minister Wen has also made a move."
"No letter has come from the person secretly monitoring Prime Minister Wen. Why is His Majesty so certain that Qingque left the palace because of Prime Minister Wen?"
Shen Yuchen, standing by the window, did not answer the man's question. "Change your clothes and come with me for a walk along the palace wall."
Fu'an fetched a eunuch's robe and had the man put it on, but it still looked very out of place.
After all, most of the palace eunuchs were short and thin, unlike the tall and strong men, and the aura they exuded was also different from that of the other eunuchs.
The man didn't say anything, quickly changed his clothes, and left Xingde Hall with Shen Yuchen.
When the palace servants along the palace road saw Shen Yuchen, they all knelt down and paid their respects.
The two climbed the city wall and looked down at the bustling capital.
"Xu Zhi, do you know how long the road to the top is, and how heavy the crown feels?"
The man shook his head. He always did things by following orders and never thought too much about them.
"The corrupt officials act like prostitutes, the civil officials speak empty words, and the military officials deceive and oppress. The Southern Jing court had already accumulated many problems during the time of the Emperor's reign."
The new dynasty has lasted for thirty or forty years, yet it still cannot change the problems left over from the previous dynasty. I very much want to listen to my elder sister's advice and take things slowly, but if we don't take drastic measures, I'm afraid there will be no hope for Nan'an...