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

Chapter 251 Marriage
Knowing that he could no longer hide this from Su Qingwan, Lu Jing told her in detail everything the Princess had done in the capital over the past few months.

The eldest princess still firmly controls military and political power, while the attitude of the southwest is ambiguous. Since they are all members of the imperial family, they are highly likely to unite against Lu Jing. Although Lu Jing, as regent, can act arbitrarily in domestic affairs, he must obey the eldest princess's orders in military and political matters, which puts him in a very passive position.

The eldest princess was ambitious and even plotted to seize control of the capital's guards. She secretly invited General Liu to several banquets. General Liu was a staunch royalist who held the late emperor's dying wish and was loyal to the young emperor. He was not so easily turned.

The Jiangnan navy is controlled by the Earl of Anping, whose family was a royalist during the late emperor's reign. However, due to the Li Xueying incident, the Earl of Anping's family has developed a grudge against Lu Jing and opposes him in every aspect of government affairs. Now, they are showing signs of leaning towards the Eldest Princess.

Lu Jing, with a serious expression, said directly to Su Qingwan, "If the Huainan fiefdom falls into Lu Changqing's hands, the Eldest Princess will at least control the military power of three realms, and it will all be her direct subordinates. I will never take that risk. Xiao Wu, if you insist on letting Lu Nianqing take over Huainan, then Huainan will not have military power. I will transfer the southwestern garrison back to Zhongzhou, send someone to take over, and train my own direct subordinates!"

The distribution of military power in Dayuan was complex, with various forces intertwined, requiring careful balancing. Its complexity and danger far exceeded those of domestic affairs.

Su Qingwan was exceptionally intelligent and quick to grasp things. She knew that Huainan was determined to seize military power, given that it was a border defense line. Over the past decade or so, border conflicts had been frequent, mainly concentrated in the southwest, and most of the troops stationed there had been transferred from the southwest, leaving Huainan's defenses extremely weak.

Now she only has two paths before her: either transfer troops from the southwest or form her own army. But given the current situation in Huainan, forming an army belonging to Huainan is simply a pipe dream. She would have to wait until Huainan's population quadruples before she could possibly achieve her goal of forming an army.

Su Qingwan pondered for a moment and then shared her thoughts: "Xilin and Dayuan have already signed a ceasefire treaty, and I am currently negotiating trade cooperation with Yongxuan of Xilin. The Crown Prince of Xilin is in poor health, and the next King of Xilin will likely be Yongxuan. In this way, we should not experience war for the next ten years. If you wish to transfer the army in the southwest back to Zhongzhou, that's fine too. After Nianqing succeeds as King of Huainan, we in Huainan will build our own army. The internal affairs and military power of Huainan will be completely separated from the capital. I don't need funding from the capital; the fiefdom can be completely self-sufficient. Even the cost of raising an army will be borne by the fiefdom. However, it will take at least ten years to build a decent guard army. After ten years, the Emperor will be grown up, and then we can discuss the follow-up matters. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Jing gave a bitter smile. The tea had gone cold, and he had no appetite for it anymore. "Little Fifth," he said, "twelve years ago, the civil officials falsely accused Huainan of abusing its military power and refusing to obey the court's orders, leading to the massacre of Huainan's entire clan. Do you want to repeat that mistake? If Huainan's fiefdom rebuilds an army within ten years, it will still be considered abusing its power. The late emperor had a blood feud with Huainan; how can Huainan expect the court to believe in its loyalty?"

"This is utter nonsense! For six generations, we of Huainan have guarded the border and have never committed any act of collusion with the enemy or treason. This is clearly a fabricated charge!" Su Qingwan was instantly enraged. The pain of her clan's extermination had always been a deep-seated knot in her heart, and whenever it was mentioned, she would be filled with rage.

Lu Jing remained calm and continued his analysis: "If the court agrees to allow Huainan to establish its own army, it must be to use this to counterbalance the southwest. However, you have close ties with the southwest, and neither the Princess nor the Emperor can sit idly by and allow the power of the border clans to grow stronger. Moreover, the Emperor is currently the only heir of the direct line, and he is still a child. Whether he can grow up smoothly is still unknown. In ordinary families, it's only when a child is ten years old that people feel somewhat at ease. Children's bodies are too delicate; even a snowstorm could endanger their lives. If the Emperor..." If anything were to happen to the Emperor, Dayuan would inevitably fall into turmoil again, and at that time, he would certainly have to adopt a son from the imperial clan. Do you think the Southwest would agree? The Southwest has a large army and a thriving population, and it is also a member of the imperial clan. As long as the Emperor is alive, the Princess and the Southwest will be on the same side against me, the Regent. Once something happens to the Emperor, they will surely break off their alliance immediately. If the Princess controls the military forces in Huainan and the garrison in Jiangnan, a civil war in Dayuan will break out on the verge of erupting, and then there will be widespread devastation. Therefore, I must prevent such a crisis and prepare for the worst!

Upon hearing this, Su Qingwan was slightly taken aback and had to admit that Lu Jing was absolutely right. She couldn't help but say, "You were truly loyal to the late Emperor."

Lu Jing replied with a wry smile, "I am only obliged to serve the emperor as I receive his bounty."

Su Qingwan glanced at him and said, "I don't know how to answer you right now. Nianqing hasn't been formally recognized as a member of the family yet, so I have to wait for him to make a decision before I can make any plans."

"Xiao Wu, if Kyoto truly wants to completely divide Huainan, it's as easy as turning your hand. The current Huainan fiefdom is no longer qualified to sit at the negotiating table on equal footing with Kyoto. Times have changed." Seeing that the time was ripe, Lu Jing spoke frankly, "Huainan has been weak for many years, while the Southwest is becoming increasingly prosperous. In this world, rise and fall go hand in hand. If Huainan wants to prosper, the Southwest will inevitably decline. Huainan can cut off the economic lifeline of the Southwest. The reason why the Southwest has been able to rise over the years is because the court deliberately turned Huainan into a no-man's-land. Your relationship with the Southwest Prince's Mansion is certainly good, but you are ultimately a member of the Huainan royal family. If you really want to revitalize Huainan, the Southwest may not agree, after all, the interests of the fiefdom always outweigh personal feelings."

Su Qingwan understood these principles perfectly well, which was precisely why she wanted to form the Huainan Army instead of transferring troops from the southwest. However, hearing Lu Jing say it so bluntly inevitably left her feeling somewhat bitter.

Although Lu Jing has only served as regent for a few months, he has long been a close guard of the emperor. If the late emperor had made arrangements in advance, he would have surely taught him how to handle government affairs. Otherwise, Lu Jing could not have been able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the eldest princess so soon after taking office, and even dared to leave the capital to negotiate with her.

"Then, what suggestions does Your Highness have? I'm all ears," Su Qingwan asked. "You will arrange a marriage!" Lu Jing said decisively. "If you want to hand Huainan over to Lu Nianqing, you must arrange a marriage. If I were to marry you into the royal family, you'd probably be disgusted to the point of vomiting, wouldn't you? After all, the royal family is your sworn enemy. Besides the royal family, the Lu family has been wiped out, and other high-ranking clans are no longer a threat. The only person you can choose to marry into is me. Stabilizing the situation through a marriage alliance is Lu Nianqing's only condition for taking control of Huainan. If Lu Nianqing refuses to acknowledge his ancestors and you become the King of Huainan... then we can discuss other matters, shall we?"

If Su Qingwan succeeds as the Prince of Huainan, there will truly be no possibility between her and Lu Jing. There is absolutely no possibility of a marriage alliance between the Prince of Huainan and the Regent.

Anger rose within Su Qingwan, yet she was powerless to do anything about it; this was the cruel reality she had to face. She secretly preferred Nianqing to take over Huainan, but the problems Lu Jing had raised were indeed real. If this were the case, she, as a princess, would likely have to go to the capital as a hostage, representing Huainan in a tripartite balance of power with the Eldest Princess and the Southwest. And under these circumstances, her only option for a marriage alliance was Lu Jing!

“I will consider it!” Su Qingwan couldn’t help but sneer. “If Your Highness had brought up the marriage earlier, we wouldn’t have wasted so many days and would have reached an agreement long ago.”

Lu Jing was taken aback by her retort, but then smiled and said, "It's all about courtesy first, then force, Princess, please don't take offense!"

He actually started being sarcastic and sarcastic towards her? Su Qingwan was so angry she wanted to curse, but she ultimately suppressed her anger. She was usually emotionally stable, but she had lost her temper several times because of Lu Jing. This was a bad habit, and she had to control herself.

Lu Jing was also upset. The situation in Huainan was so complicated that a marriage alliance was indeed a way to stabilize the situation, but his desire to marry Su Qingwan was also from the bottom of his heart.

"Xiao Wu, you'd better be willing!" Lu Jing said this meaningful remark before getting up to take his leave. He still had official business to attend to, so he hurriedly left the mansion with Li An.

Green Bamboo, standing to the side, angrily retorted, "What does Your Highness mean by this? What do you mean by 'it's best if it's done willingly'? If the girl doesn't want to, can he just take her by force?"

“He wouldn’t dare!” Qingyun said coldly. “If that’s the case, we’re not to be trifled with either.”

Su Qingwan pondered to herself, perhaps Lu Jing really would dare to do such a thing. She could never truly understand Lu Jing. He was a man of clear goals, and once he set his mind on something, no one could stop him, and he acted with extreme decisiveness. Just like his devotion to the late emperor, having placed his complete trust in him, he was determined to dedicate his life to the young emperor. Since he wanted to marry her, if she refused, given his personality, who knew what crazy things he might do? Lu Jing always gave her the feeling that madness lurked beneath his calm exterior, and Su Qingwan really didn't want to take the step of tearing apart his relationship with him.

"Send a letter to Nianqing, telling him to return to Huainan immediately!" Su Qingwan instructed.

Green Bamboo nodded and went out to instruct her subordinates to deliver a message. Although Lu Nianqing was traveling the world and had not been heard from for a long time, Su Qingwan had never lost contact with him and knew how to reach him.

Lu Jing's words still left a shadow in Su Qingwan's mind. Nianqing was indeed raised by the Eldest Princess and had no emotional foundation with Huainan. He had only just learned about his background. His feelings for Huainan were different from his feelings for the Eldest Princess. He would not be as loyal as she was. If... she felt a faint sadness in her heart.

If she knew Nianqing's true identity, she could have taken him in and raised him. But how could that be possible? She even kept it a secret from the Southwest. She couldn't even control her own life, so how could she raise Nianqing?

In this situation, she is indeed in a difficult position; one wrong step could lead to total defeat. She needs to be even more cautious.