NCCnovel Chapter 284 Yuhedian
Chapter 284 Yuhedian
Just as she was about to speak, saying she didn't mind the Crown Prince's coma and was willing to wait, the Emperor of Zhao continued, "Princess Min'an is of noble status. She has traveled thousands of miles to come to my State of Zhao. I will not neglect her in the slightest. However, since the Crown Prince cannot be married, and the First and Second Princes have already been married, your Majesty is not kidding. How can I let the Princess suffer the humiliation of being a concubine?"
His tone was firm, leaving no room for doubt. "Therefore, I have specially selected a group of talented young men, hoping to help the princess find a good husband and form a harmonious relationship. However, I never expected that this arrangement would cause the princess to misunderstand. It is truly my negligence."
"The First and Second Princes already have fiancées?"
Fan Xueer's eyes widened in disbelief, her voice rising unconsciously, "Why didn't Concubine Rong mention this in the message she sent back earlier?"
She wondered to herself how this could be so strange, as if someone was deliberately manipulating her from behind, leading her step by step into a carefully arranged trap.
"In reply to the princess," Eunuch Zhao, who had been standing behind the Emperor, bowed slightly and said respectfully, "The Emperor, because the Crown Prince was in a coma, was worried that the First and Second Princes had also met with misfortune. Therefore, he arranged their marriages early, hoping to dispel bad luck with joy."
Eunuch Zhao's tone was steady, but a barely perceptible complex expression flashed in his eyes.
What he didn't say was that the two imperial decrees granting marriage were both sent to the girl's home quietly without any publicity. Not to mention outsiders, even Concubine Rong was kept in the dark.
Previously, Eunuch Zhao was also deeply puzzled by the emperor's move. It was not until today that he suddenly realized that all this was to deal with the marriage proposal of Princess Min'an.
"Ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous!" Fan Xueer cursed in her heart, and the expression on her face became extremely ugly.
She thought to herself, the crown prince was assassinated and in a coma, his life or death uncertain, but instead of granting him a marriage to cheer him up, the eldest and second princes who were unharmed were given marriages to cheer him up. What kind of logic is this?
What kind of joy was this? It was obvious that he was deliberately making things difficult for her and forcing An Guo to live!
Not only was Fan Xueer stunned by these words, but even the several young men who were forced to listen in on the side looked at each other with shock and confusion in their eyes.
They looked at each other, and a trace of sympathy arose in their hearts, feeling unfair for the unconscious prince.
In their opinion, the emperor's actions were too biased and difficult to understand.
The atmosphere in the hall became increasingly solemn, as if there was an invisible haze that made it hard to breathe.
Emperor Zhao sat high on the dragon throne, his eyes as sharp as torches, and he looked at the princes and others calmly.
Below, Fan Xueer's face was filled with shock, and then a fleeting trace of anger flashed across her eyes.
Fan Xueer's heart was in turmoil, and she felt like she was being caught up in a carefully planned farce.
Before this, she fully believed that she had come as a noble princess to discuss the important matter of marriage between the two countries, but she did not expect that from the moment she stepped into the Zhao Palace, everything seemed to be out of her control.
She believed that she was being plotted against by Concubine Rong, being used by Emperor Zhao, and even being treated as a joke by the entire State of Zhao.
As a princess of the Min'an Kingdom, she had never suffered such humiliation before. Anger burned fiercely in her heart, and every inch of her thoughts was filled with hatred. She wished she could immediately cut the culprit, Concubine Rong, into pieces.
At the same time, in Rongshen Palace, Concubine Rong was sitting lazily in front of a bronze mirror, being helped by palace maids to dress up. When she heard the news that Emperor Zhao had summoned Princess Min'an and the marriage candidate to Yuhe Palace, the jade hairpin she was playing with suddenly stopped, and a complicated look flashed in her eyes.
"Quick, redo my makeup, and be quick!"
Concubine Rong spoke in a hurried voice, her eyes revealing a hint of anxiety and anticipation. She knew very well how complicated the water behind this marriage was, and that she played a crucial role in it.
After a while, Concubine Rong finished dressing up carefully. Wearing an extremely gorgeous palace dress, she walked out of the palace with great grace, ready to go to Qianxin Palace.
Her steps were light and confident, as if the entire harem was under her control.
But fate always seemed to play tricks on people. Before Concubine Rong even left the palace, a young palace maid came running in, breathlessly reporting, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Princess Min'an has already left the palace!"
Upon hearing this, Concubine Rong stopped in her tracks and the smile on her face froze instantly.
"What did you say? Say it again!" Her voice rose unconsciously, her eyes full of disbelief.
The little palace maid trembled with fear and quickly repeated it again.
Concubine Rong's expression instantly darkened. She gritted her teeth and wondered to herself, "What on earth is Princess Min'an up to? Why did she suddenly leave the palace?"
Despite being full of doubts, Concubine Rong did not give up. She decided to continue to go to Yuhe Hall, hoping that she could get some information from Emperor Zhao.
So she got on the sedan chair and hurried towards Yuheden.
When Concubine Rong finally arrived at Yuhe Hall, she was stopped outside the hall by Eunuch Zhao.
Eunuch Zhao smiled broadly, but that smile revealed a hint of embarrassment: "Your Highness, the Emperor is busy with government affairs at the moment and it is inconvenient for him to see you."
Concubine Rong's gaze swept coldly from Eunuch Zhao to the tightly closed door of the hall, and an ominous premonition surged in her heart.
"Eunuch Zhao, I just want to ask, has the marriage candidate for Princess Min'an been decided?" She tried her best to keep her tone steady, but her eyes revealed an irresistible majesty.
Eunuch Zhao looked embarrassed and hesitated for a moment before he said cautiously, "Your Majesty, this...it's really hard for me to say!" As he spoke, he secretly observed Concubine Rong's expression and groaned in his heart.
Seeing this, Concubine Rong's expression turned even uglier. She snorted coldly and said, "What? Even I don't have the right to know about this? Eunuch Zhao, don't forget who has the final say in this harem!"
There was a hint of menace in her voice and a cold glint in her eyes.
Eunuch Zhao was so frightened that he fell to his knees and kowtowed repeatedly: "Your Majesty, please forgive me, Your Majesty, please forgive me! This matter concerns the marriage between the two countries. It is truly too serious. I dare not speak carelessly. If there is any mistake and this marriage goes wrong, even if I have a hundred heads, they will not be enough to chop off!"
Concubine Rong looked at Eunuch Zhao kneeling on the ground, and her anger grew stronger. She had always been the one who had the final say in the harem, but today she was blocked outside the door by a small eunuch and could not get any information from him. How could she swallow this?
"You're such a good dog slave! You seem to be quite smart on weekdays, but how dare you fool me like this today!" Concubine Rong was so angry that she raised her hand and wanted to slap Eunuch Zhao.
But just as her hand was about to fall, she suddenly pulled it back. She knew very well that at this critical juncture, she couldn't make things too awkward, otherwise it would only make her more passive.
"Hmph!" Concubine Rong snorted heavily, turned around and left.
Her figure stretched out in the afterglow of the setting sun, making her look particularly lonely and angry.
On the way back to the palace, Concubine Rong secretly pondered her next move. This marriage was even more complicated than she had imagined...