Raising a wife? The mistress of the Hou family divorced and remarried her younger uncle

Chapter 154: The Court
Xilin Yongxuan entered the flower hall with a valuable gift.

"Princess, I was worried when I heard that you were frightened, so I rushed to see you." Xilin Yongxuan's face was full of concern and his tone was full of sincerity.

Su Qingwan bowed slightly, her expression slightly relieved: "Thank you for your concern, Second Prince."

The two men had dealt with each other due to trade exchanges and eventually became good friends.

Seeing that the atmosphere was still good, Xilin Yongxuan changed the subject and began to sow discord between the King of Southwest and the royal family: "You were assassinated in the capital. After the Xilin peace talks, the emperor might want to suppress the status of the generals. He even dared to touch the daughter of the King of Southwest, which shows that he does not take the King of Southwest seriously."

Su Qingwan frowned slightly, with a hint of displeasure in her eyes: "Second Prince, if you are sincere in coming to visit me, I welcome you; if you are here to sow discord, there is no need to do so."

Xilin Yongxuan did not give up and played the emotional card: "Princess, you and I have known each other for a long time. When have I ever lied to you? The situation is turbulent now. If you join hands with me, I will protect you. I don't ask for much, I just hope to be with you, and the southwest can be more powerful."

Su Qingwan sneered and said mercilessly: "Don't be so foolish. I have something to ask you. Is it true that the daughter of the King of Huainan is lurking in Xilin? Are you aware of the conspiracy?"

Xilin Yongxuan's expression changed slightly, but he quickly returned to normal: "What do you mean? How would I know? Our friendship is deep, don't let these groundless speculations hurt our feelings for each other."

Su Qingwan stared into his eyes, trying to find flaws in his expression: "Some things you can hide for a while, but not forever. I don't believe that the daughter of the King of Huainan is lurking in Xilin, and coincidentally came to seek justice during the peace talks. The emperor doesn't even mind you listening in on Dayuan's internal affairs. I don't believe you know nothing about it. You want to join forces with me, but you can't even be honest. How can you marry me like this!"

When Xilin Yongxuan heard Su Qingwan's rejection of the marriage proposal, he was full of regret, but he did not give up. He used Xilin's military strength to tempt her: "Princess, Southwest and Xilin should cooperate. With Xilin's support, the position of the King of Southwest will be stable. The court needs the Southwest army to guard the border, but once the peace talks begin, the King of Southwest will no longer have any advantage."

He paced around the room with his hands behind his back, his tone full of unquestionable confidence.

Su Qingwan looked serious. "The border is Dayuan's border. We are protecting the peace of the people and do not care about personal gains and losses. If we allow the border to be in turmoil all year round in order to consolidate our position, it is not the way of a gentleman."

Xilin Yongxuan still did not give up, and lowered his voice and said: "The emperor has few children and is weak. The lineage of the Southwest Prince is the one destined by heaven. The Southwest Prince's Palace will need Xilin sooner or later. I hope you can consider it carefully."

He moved closer to Su Qingwan, with a hint of urgency in his eyes, as if he was making a final effort.

On the rooftop, Li An hid in the dark and eavesdropped, and was shocked. He did not expect that the Second Prince of Xilin would openly instigate the princess. The current situation was complicated, and if the princess was persuaded, the consequences would be disastrous.

Su Qingwan was silent for a moment, and said calmly: "If there really is a person with a destiny, destiny cannot be violated, and I don't have to do anything more." Her tone was as calm as water, but it made people feel that she was calm in her heart.

Before Xilin Yongxuan left, he suddenly asked, "Why are you so concerned about the little princess of Huainan?"

Su Qingwan remained silent, and Xilin Yongxuan did not force her, only saying, "I hope you can consider my suggestion carefully."

The atmosphere in the court was tense. A group of officials, led by Prime Minister Lu, stood in a row in court robes with stern expressions. One of the officials stepped forward, holding the tablet in both hands, and said indignantly: "Your Majesty, the King of Southwest is really too much! He actually sent the body to Prime Minister Lu's door. The Prime Minister is so noble, but he was frightened and fell ill in bed. He has not been able to attend court until now. The King of Southwest is so violent and has no respect for the court. He should be severely punished!" Another official immediately echoed: "Yes, Your Majesty. The King of Southwest has his own army and now has done such a horrific thing. If this continues, where will the dignity of the court be?"

The King of the Southwest was dressed in a python robe, with an upright posture. Hearing these accusations, he was not afraid at all, but sneered: "Humph, you say I am violent? My daughter was assassinated in the capital. I have found out that it was done by the assassins sent by the Lu family! Since she is a member of the Lu family, I will naturally let the Lu family collect the body. What's wrong with that?"

As soon as these words came out, the court immediately started to discuss. At this time, Ning Yuanhou stood up and said loudly: "Lu Shoufu usually relies on his power to cover up everything, but now he has attacked the princess. He is going too far."

General Chen also clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, the prince loves his daughter dearly and wants to seek justice for the princess."

The King of Southwest looked at the civil officials again, his eyes were like torches: "You keep saying that I am violent, but when you tried to kill my daughter, did you ever think about the consequences?"

The civil officials were speechless, but they still refused to give up. One of them retorted: "No evidence. You said that he was a assassin of the Lu family. What evidence do you have?"

Just as the King of Southwest was about to speak, the Emperor, who was sitting on the dragon throne, suddenly started coughing violently. The eunuch hurried forward and gently patted the Emperor on the back. The Emperor waved his hand and said impatiently, "Stop arguing! Uncle, if you don't have solid evidence, don't make random accusations. It's disgraceful!"

Upon seeing this, the King of Southwest knelt down with a plop and said loudly, "Your Majesty, this matter was caused by the generals' efforts to vindicate the King of Huainan. I hope Your Majesty will re-investigate the old case of the King of Huainan's rebellion, give an explanation to the people of the world, and calm the chaos."

When the emperor heard this, his face instantly turned livid, his eyes widened, and he pointed at the King of Southwest and cursed: "How dare you! How dare you force me to re-investigate an old case in the court? Do you still have the emperor in your eyes?"

After that, the emperor took a deep breath, calmed down his emotions, and then ordered: "Uncle, you will reflect on your mistakes behind closed doors in the post house from now on. Without my order, you are not allowed to take a single step out!"

Although the King of Southwest was unwilling in his heart, he could only thank the emperor for his grace.

In the inn, Zhou Jingming came to see Lu Jing and told him what happened in the court.

After Lu Jing learned that the King of Southwest was under house arrest, he frowned slightly, sighed secretly, and said to Zhou Jingming beside him: "Your Highness is too impatient. The more you are like this, the more likely you are to make things worse."

Zhou Jingming looked around and saw that no one was around, so he moved closer to Lu Jing and said in a low voice, "There is one more thing I can only tell you in secret. I'm afraid the little prince won't survive this winter. He is already weak, and he caught a cold the day before yesterday, and his fever won't go away. A baby less than a year old has such a high fever, his life is in danger."

Lu Jing's expression suddenly became solemn. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Go tell Doctor Fang that no matter what, the little prince must be kept alive. At least until the peace talks are over and the King of Southwest returns to his fiefdom. Otherwise, the situation will become even more dangerous."

Zhou Jingming nodded in agreement, and continued, "The peace talks between the Minister of the Honglu Temple and Xilin Yongxuan were not going well. Xilin wanted a princess to marry, but no one in the royal family was willing to marry their beloved daughter far away. The emperor has summoned several women from the royal family, hoping that they could send their daughters to the palace, but they were all rejected."

Hearing this, Lu Jing narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "Is it because the King of Southwest and the royal family exaggerated the disadvantages of marriage, so no one is willing to send their daughters to the palace?"

Zhou Jingming nodded quickly: "That's right. The King of Southwest is really against the emperor in every way. I don't know what he wants to do."