allonlinenovel Chapter 281 Harmony
Chapter 281 Harmony
"Opening a trading post on the border with Zhongshan State to conduct trade will not only promote friendly exchanges between the people of the two countries, but also be a way to govern the country and benefit the people. If the emperor sees your proposal, he will definitely be happy."
In the northern border military camp of Xiyue Kingdom, Yan Zong looked at the long border trade strategy written by Mr. Fan with great enthusiasm, and was extremely impressed, nodding his head in praise.
"Although Zhongshan State is small, it has fertile soil, beautiful waters and rich resources. In addition, the country has always been stable with few wars. It is the first choice for this strategy. If the implementation goes smoothly, Xuanmeng State can also be allowed to join in later. Only through mutual benefit and mutual assistance among the three countries can the peace of the border be stabilized." Mr. Fan stroked his beard and smiled, and continued.
"It's a pity that your talent for governing the country is kept in this military camp." Yan Zong couldn't help but sigh again.
Although he had been following Mr. Fan since he was a child, Yan Zong knew very well that although he was undoubtedly the bravest among the three armies in killing enemies in the battlefield, he was not half as good as Mr. Fan when it came to writing and governing the country.
"Your Highness, are you going to chase Old Fan away again?" Mr. Fan shrugged his shoulders in a wronged manner and laughed jokingly.
Yan Zong was speechless and just glanced at the other person. Just as he picked up the pen, he saw Yu Cheng rushing in. He thought that he had found some results in his search for Si Yao, so he hurriedly asked:
"Anyone found?"
Three days ago, Yan Zong received a letter from Xiao Lu and learned that Si Yao was going to Jingsong to practice medicine. He naturally guessed that her real purpose was to find Jiang Si Yao. Although Xiao Lu was with her, Jingsong was full of bandits, and Yan Zong was worried about her journey, so he asked Yu Cheng to send secret guards to find her and protect her secretly.
"Your Highness, our people have discovered the secret sign left by Xiaolu. We should be able to find Miss Siyao soon." Yu Cheng was slightly stunned. After nervously answering Your Highness' question, he handed over a note and continued, "But the secret guards of Shangjing have sent news."
Yan Zong was a little disappointed that he didn't get any news about Si Yao, but the news from Shangjing made his cold face show some surprise. He had two secret guards left in Shangjing City, one was responsible for guarding Yiying Temple and the wet nurse E Li outside the city, and the other was hidden in his own palace to watch over Nan Rong Liang Ling for him to prevent her from doing anything wrong in the palace.
"Your Highness, what happened?"
When Yu Cheng and Mr. Fan saw Yan Zong sneer after reading the letter, they looked at each other in confusion. Yu Cheng was the first to ask.
"Nanrong Liangling and Yan Chen are hooking up." Yan Zong still sneered as he handed the note in his hand to Mr. Fan beside him. Instead of feeling the slightest bit of anger in his heart, he admired his cousin for daring to provoke a woman like Nanrong Liangling.
Yu Cheng was immediately furious when he heard this. Although His Highness and the princess were only a couple in name only, in the eyes of outsiders, she, Nan Rong Liangling, was the princess that His Highness married into the mansion with great fanfare. If Nan Rong Liangling really couldn't stand the loneliness, she could have filed for divorce. But now, she was using the title of Princess Zong to hook up with her own brother-in-law. Wouldn't this humiliate His Highness's reputation and bring shame to the royal family?
"Uncle and sister-in-law are having an affair, this is simply..." But when Yu Cheng was about to burst into curses, he was stopped by the prince's cold eyes.
Seeing that His Highness seemed to be unconcerned at the moment, Yu Cheng was puzzled but did not dare to say anything.
"What should Your Highness do?" Mr. Fan put down the creed in his hand, sighed lightly, and then asked the prince.
"I can take this opportunity to end the marriage between Nan Rong Liangling and me." Yan Zong smiled lightly, with a glimmer of joy in his eyes. He had originally planned to ask his royal brother to dissolve his marriage with Nan Rong Liangling after the northern border was stabilized. Unexpectedly, Nan Rong Liangling fulfilled his wish in advance. Thinking of this, his hatred for her subsided a lot.
"Yesterday Xuan'er was still asking whether his uncle would come back for the Mid-Autumn Festival, but he didn't expect you to come back early?"
In the imperial palace of Shangjing City, Yan Qiao was surprised to see his third brother Yan Zong suddenly return to the capital. He was delighted and patted his shoulder and asked with a gentle smile.
"Thank you for your concern, His Royal Highness. Unfortunately, I was in such a hurry that I didn't have time to prepare a gift for him." Hearing his nephew's thoughts, Yan Zong rarely showed a gentle smile, but soon regained his composure, presented the memorial in his hand to his brother, and continued: "This is Mr. Fan's trade strategy for the border control of the North."
"Oh?" When Yan Qiao heard that it was Mr. Fan who asked this, a light flashed in her eyes, and she immediately couldn't wait to open the letter and read it.
"Well, it is simple and clear, pointing out the hidden dangers in the border areas incisively and listing the strategies to resolve the hidden dangers in detail. The writing style is also carefully chosen. Mr. Fan is really worthy of his name." After carefully reading Mr. Fan's strategy, Yan Qiao was very pleased and couldn't help but praise him.
In the north, he had Mr. Fan for literature and his third brother for martial arts, which did save him a lot of worries. But it would be even better if a great scholar like Mr. Fan could stay by his side. Unfortunately, he couldn't get him.
"Although this memorial is important, it doesn't require you to make a personal trip, right?" The imperial study was silent for a long time. Yan Qiao finally put down the memorial in his hand, narrowed his eyes, and looked at his third brother who had remained silent with a deep smile.
"I came back for both official and personal matters." Yan Zong bowed respectfully and answered truthfully.
"Private matter?" As for the private matter that made his third brother rush back in such a hurry, Yan Qiao could only think of his biological mother, Concubine Leng. Could something have happened in Yiying Temple?
"The matter of divorce with Nanrong Liangling."
But Yan Zong's answer surprised Yan Qiao again: "Divorce? Your sister-in-law is willing to divorce you, my third brother?"
"Yeah." Yan Zong didn't say much, just nodded lightly.
After all, if the emperor knew that there was an affair between an uncle and his sister-in-law in the royal family, he would be furious. I just heard from Eunuch Qin that the emperor has been unwell recently and was very angry with his second brother a few days ago. Although Yan Zong didn't care about the affair between Nanrong Liangling and Yan Chen, it was shameful for the royal family after all. Once it was publicized, it would only make the royal family lose face. He didn't want his emperor to hurt his body again because of such a thing.
Furthermore, my brother has been enforcing strict laws and setting an example. If Yan Zong tells me about this, my brother will definitely not tolerate it. According to the laws of Xiyue Country, uncles and sisters-in-law have an affair and should be hanged. However, one is my cousin and the other is the princess of Guyun Country. Wouldn't this make my brother embarrassed?
When Yan Qiao heard that even Nanrong Liangling agreed to divorce, he naturally didn't know what to say. The couple had become so hostile to each other less than two years after their marriage, so it was better for them to divorce now.
"I hate that we met so late, and I resent that you left so quickly. The willow branches are so long that it is hard to tie up the jade horse, and I hate that I could ask the sparse forest to hold the setting sun."
As the sun sets, the red glow dyes half the sky. Nan Rong Liang Ling returns to the Prince's Mansion with the help of her maid Buna. She is not drunk but looks like she is. She happily imitates the pitiful people in the theater to sing a song. Her voice is as melodious as an oriole, and she imitates it to about 70% of the same.
“Princess…” Buna wanted to remind the princess that they had arrived at the palace and not to let the cat out of the bag in her excitement, but just as she opened her mouth, she saw a black shadow appear in front of them.
"Who dares to break into Prince Zong's mansion?" Nan Rong Liang Ling suddenly cried out in fear. Buna was a martial artist after all, so she calmly protected her princess behind her and then shouted sternly.
"Your Highness invites the princess to the study for a chat." The black-clad secret guard had no expression on his face and spoke coldly to Nan Rongliang Ling.
"Zong...Zong Prince is back home?" Buna was obviously frightened when she heard that.
This prince never showed up at the Prince's Mansion even when he returned to Shangjing. Why did he suddenly come back today? He wanted to see the princess? Could it be that he already knew about the princess and Prince Chen's affair?
"Princess, please." The secret guard still ignored Buna, and spoke coldly to Nan Rong Liangling behind him.
Nan Rongliangling seemed to have a premonition of what Buna could guess. Although she was afraid, she pretended to be calm and walked towards the study.
If she wanted to stay with Chen Lang forever, she would have to face the Prince of Zong first. Besides, she didn't feel that she had let the Prince down. Instead, it was he who had let her down. He had never fulfilled his duties as a husband since they got married. Why should she abide by the rules of a wife?
"Tatsuro?"
As soon as Nan Rong Liang Ling entered the study, she was surprised to see Yan Chen, whom she had just parted with in the theater, also appear here. She nervously wanted to pounce on her lover but was stopped by Buna behind her. After she calmed down, she found that Prince Zong was sitting in front of the desk and watching coldly. She was so frightened that she stood still.
The prince's expression was as cold as before. He did not look directly at Nan Rong Liang Ling, but nodded silently to Yu Cheng beside him.
Yu Cheng understood and ordered the secret guards in the room to withdraw, and also drove out Nanrong Liangling's maid Buna.
Seeing that he, the princess and his cousin Prince Zong were the only ones left in the study, Yan Chen knelt down in front of Yan Zong tremblingly.
Seeing Chen Lang kneeling down before the person she hated, Nan Rong Liang Ling couldn't help but feel angry. She hurried forward to pull Yan Chen up but was pulled down to her knees by him instead.
"Brother Zong, no matter how wrong it is, it's all Yan Chen's fault. But since you have no feelings for Princess Liang Ling, why don't you help us?"
Yan Chen was stopped by Prince Zong's men on his way back home from the theater. After learning that they were Prince Zong's men, he realized that his affair with Princess Liang Ling had been discovered by his cousin Zong.
Yan Chen naturally respected Prince Zong, his cousin whom he had admired since childhood, but Princess Liang Ling was also the person he loved now. At first, he did not dare to act rashly in front of his cousin's wife, but from Nan Rong Liang Ling's confession, he learned that his cousin Zong actually disliked his princess so much. Yan Chen could not help but feel pity for the princess who was crying in front of him, so he boldly hugged her in his arms, and from then on, he could not stop.
"Get up." Yan Zong glanced at you coldly, still saying indifferently: "I didn't come back today to embarrass you."
"Thank you, cousin Zong!" The two people kneeling on the ground were surprised and happy after hearing Yan Zong's words. After Yan Chen thanked Yan Zong, he hurriedly helped Nan Rong Liang Ling beside him up.
"Since you two love each other, you can just speak frankly. I will help you. Why do you have to disregard the dignity of the royal family and make such a secret affair between uncle and sister-in-law? If this gets out, do you know the consequences?"
"We also want to confess to our cousin, but he has been in the northern border..." Facing Yan Zongwei's cold questioning, Yan Chen was also frightened and hurried to explain, but Yan Zong didn't have the patience to listen and interrupted him:
"Nanrong Liangling, you and the king will go to the palace to meet the emperor tomorrow."
Nan Rongliangling was shocked again. After learning that she had an affair with someone, the prince did not give her a divorce letter and abandoned her, but was so generous to give her dignity? But when she thought about it, Nan Rongliangling felt cold to the bone. How could he be so generous even though he hated her? He just let her go easily for the sake of the royal family of Xiyue Kingdom.