Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Chapter 196 After tonight, the Northern Prince's Mansion will cease to exist.

After the small court assembly ended, before Lu Chen had even left the Hall of State Affairs, a Jinyiwei soldier hurriedly came up to him and handed him a piece of intelligence.

Lu Chen took the intelligence from the Jinyiwei soldier, glanced at it, and frowned slightly.

As a master-level expert like Su Teng, he was discovered by the Embroidered Uniform Guard when he entered Yancheng. Therefore, no matter where Su Teng and his group went, they were closely watched by the Embroidered Uniform Guards scattered throughout Yancheng. Their every move was under the surveillance of the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

Su Teng's information had already been placed in Lu Chen's study half a month ago. The Embroidered Uniform Guard had infiltrated all walks of life, so it was not difficult to find out what missions Lingwu Pavilion had recently taken on.

Lu Chen glanced at the intelligence report in his hand again, then muttered to himself, "Looks like those guys can't wait any longer. In that case, let's take care of them first."

At this point, Lu Chen turned to look at the Imperial Guard who had delivered the intelligence and said, "Summon General Mu, General Wenren, and General Xuanyuan to my study. Also, tell General Xuanyuan to mobilize some Black Cavalry to seal off Yancheng."

Upon hearing this, the Imperial Guard soldier reminded him, "Your Highness, mobilizing the Black Cavalry might expose that the Northern Kingdom's Black Cavalry has not been wiped out. Recently, many enemy spies have come to Yancheng."

Lu Chen said calmly, "We only need to mobilize a portion of the Black Cavalry. I have never told the court that the Black Cavalry was completely wiped out."

When Lu Chen first wrote the battle report, he only said that more than 40,000 of the Black Cavalry of Beijun had died in battle. He did not say that the Black Cavalry had been completely wiped out. This was so that the Black Cavalry could be used at critical moments.

Of course, to others, the fact that the Black Cavalry had lost more than 40,000 men and only some wounded soldiers was no different from the fact that the entire army had been wiped out.

The Imperial Guard soldier said no more, "Understood."

"Your subordinate takes his leave."

The Imperial Guard soldiers then turned and went to relay the order.

The small court assembly had just ended, and Mu Changtian and Xuan Yuanchen and the other military officers hadn't gone far. After hearing that Lu Chen wanted to see them, they immediately returned to the Northern Prince's Mansion and went to Lu Chen's study.

Upon seeing Lu Chen again, Mu Changtian asked curiously, "Your Highness, what happened?"

Lu Chen said, "The assassins from those aristocratic families have arrived in Yancheng, and they plan to attack the Northern Prince's Mansion tonight."

Upon hearing this, Mu Changtian was taken aback, but he quickly realized that he knew this day would come when Lu Chenli took back the land ownership.

Those powerful families would absolutely not allow any sign of the royal family taking back their land within the Great Xia territory; they would only be at ease if the Northern King died.

Mu Changtian asked, "Your Highness, should the Embroidered Uniform Guard have pinpointed the location of those assassins by now?"

Since Lu Chen mentioned that the assassins had already arrived in Yancheng, it means that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had already discovered their location; otherwise, Lu Chen wouldn't have summoned all these military officers.

Lu Chen nodded and said, "Their location has been confirmed. I originally planned to deal with them when they attacked the Northern Prince's Mansion tonight."

"However, I thought about it again. I have wives and concubines who are pregnant, and there are my children in the palace. If the commotion caused by the Northern Prince's Mansion is too great, it will frighten them. Therefore, I have decided to take action in advance and eliminate them all."

Mu Changtian said, "Your Highness, where are those assassins now? We'll take our troops and deal with them right now."

Lu Chen then summoned the Imperial Guards responsible for monitoring the assassins and assigned tasks to Mu Changtian and his men.

There are currently three groups of assassins in Yancheng. To avoid alerting them, Lu Chen plans to eliminate them all at once.

At this moment, Qin Yushan said, "Your Highness, it is still daytime. If we take action during the day, some of your weapons may not be usable, and they may be easily seen by spies from other countries or by the common people."

Qin Yushan knew that Lu Chen had grenades and Barrett rifles, which were powerful weapons. He would definitely need to use these things to deal with these assassins. If he used these things in the city during the day, the people would see it.

When the news spreads, it will reach ten people, then a hundred, and the secret of the Northern Kingdom will be exposed.

Qin Yushan continued, "I suggest that we first arrange for soldiers to ambush them on their likely route, and then take action at night."

Lu Chen thought for a moment. The information he received also indicated that the assassins would operate at night, so ambushing them at night was indeed the best option.

Lu Chen said, "Commander Qin's consideration is not unreasonable. Let's deploy the soldiers first and then take action tonight. However, this will easily attract the attention of those assassins, so we need to be as careful as possible when mobilizing the soldiers."

Mu Changtian said, "Your Highness, rest assured, I will have the soldiers disguise themselves as a caravan and enter the city later. There have been many caravans in Yancheng recently, so those assassins will most likely not notice anything amiss."

"Even if they sensed something was amiss, they probably assumed these soldiers disguised as merchants were there to assassinate you, just like them."

Lu Chen thought for a moment and said, "Alright, you guys go and get ready."

The men replied in unison, "Yes, Your Highness!"

After the others left, Lu Chen immediately went to the courtyard where Chen Wanrong lived.

At this moment, Lin Wanyun and Chen Wanrong were sitting in the pavilion drinking tea. The Dragon and Phoenix Tea from the Prince's Mansion tasted very good and could also refresh the mind. Ever since they drank the Dragon and Phoenix Tea, they had fallen in love with its flavor.

The two were enjoying tea when they suddenly heard a maid's voice from the courtyard gate, "Greetings, Your Highness!"

Hearing the maid's words, they thought they were hallucinating, since Lu Chen had never been to this courtyard before.

Just then, they saw a figure appear at the entrance of the courtyard. Upon seeing that it was indeed Lu Chen, the two immediately got up from the stone bench.

They were very surprised. They didn't expect Lu Chen to come to their yard on his own initiative. What was Lu Chen planning to do?

Could it be that he's encountered some trouble and needs to seek help from the Xuan Yue Palace?

Chen Wanrong took the initiative to bow and said, "Greetings, Your Highness."

Lu Chen smiled slightly and then said, "Miss Chen, you don't need to be so polite."

Lin Wanyun then asked, "Chen'er, what do you need to see the Palace Master about?"

Although Lin Wanyun had already helped Chen Wanrong and Lu Chen get in touch, the two hadn't met or talked recently. Lu Chen had too many women, and it seemed that he didn't focus his attention on Chen Wanrong at all.

Chen Wanrong had no experience in seducing men and didn't know how to arouse Lu Chen's heart, which kept them in this stalemate.

Lu Chen looked at Chen Wanrong with a smile and said, "Miss Chen, I would like to ask you for a favor. I wonder if that's alright?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Wanrong and Lin Wanyun were taken aback.

They've been in the Northern Kingdom for so long, and Lu Chen has never asked them for help. The last time Lu Chen asked Xuan Yue Palace to send some disciples down the mountain to teach the people of the Northern Kingdom to read, it was Lin Wanyun who took the initiative to ask Lu Chen. If she hadn't taken the initiative to ask Lu Chen, he probably wouldn't have asked them for help.

Unexpectedly, Lu Chen took the initiative to ask them for help today, which was a great thing for them. It meant that they could finally get closer to Lu Chen and make him lower his guard.

Chen Wanrong said expressionlessly, "Please speak, Your Highness."

Lu Chen said, "Recently, many assassins have come to Beijun. I would like to ask Miss Chen to protect the Beiwang Mansion for me for a period of time."

Upon hearing this, Chen Wanrong replied without hesitation, "Okay."

Chen Wanrong agreed so readily that Lu Chen didn't know what to say next.

Lu Chen smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Miss Chen."

"I have something to do, so I won't bother you any longer."

With that, Lu Chen turned and left, while Chen Wanrong, still expressionless, said, "Respectfully seeing off Your Highness."

Hearing their conversation, Lin Wanyun was stunned.

This……

It's so simple and straightforward, with absolutely no other language involved. How can we cultivate feelings like this?

However, this cannot be blamed on Chen Wanrong. Chen Wanrong had never had much contact with men and had no experience in this area. She always spoke like this to everyone, and it had long become a habit.

After Lu Chen left the courtyard, Lin Wanyun quickly followed. Lu Chen was just about to go to Bai Qingqing to arrange the guard duties for the night when Lin Wanyun's voice came from behind him.

"Chen...Chen'er, wait a moment."

Hearing Lin Wanyun's voice, Lu Chen immediately turned around and looked at her, asking in confusion, "Aunt Lin, is there anything else?"

Lin Wanyun said, "It's nothing serious, I just wanted to remind you that you should have talked to the Palace Master a little more. It's not easy for you two to have a chance to talk face to face."

Lu Chen said with a regretful expression, "Sigh, I actually wanted to talk to Miss Chen more, but as you can see, Miss Chen and I are both the kind of people who speak very directly."

"And I get really nervous whenever I'm in front of her, and I don't know what to say."

Hearing Lu Chen's answer, Lin Wanyun thought about it and realized that this was indeed a big problem. It seemed that she would have to have a good talk with the Palace Master when she got back, and tell her not to be so concise when she spoke to Lu Chen in the future.

Although she had never developed feelings for a man, she knew that for men and women to develop feelings, they should communicate more.

Such a brief exchange is clearly not enough to cultivate feelings. If Chen Wanrong continues like this, she will probably find it difficult to use the love potion on Lu Chen.

Thinking of this, Lin Wanyun said, "Alright, I will try my best to create opportunities for you to have more time to communicate face-to-face in the future."

"The reason you two aren't talking right now is probably because you're not familiar with each other yet. Things might get better once you both get to know each other better."

Lu Chen said, "Aunt Lin is right."

"Aunt Lin, I have other things to attend to, so I'll be leaving now."

Lin Wanyun said, "Okay, you go ahead with your work, I won't take up any more of your time."

Lu Chen then turned and left.

After watching her leave, Lin Wanyun turned back to the courtyard and tried to persuade Chen Wanrong.

"Palace Master, this won't do. It's not easy for the Northern King to take the initiative to contact you, and you've only exchanged a few words. If this continues, the Northern King will definitely think that you have no feelings for him, and he might give up in the end."

Hearing Lin Wanyun's words, Chen Wanrong's face remained expressionless. "Aunt Lin, I don't know how to communicate with him."

From the day she left the State of Chen, Chen Wanrong became taciturn, and her expression remained unchanged, as if she were indifferent to everything in the world.

Lin Wanyun was taken aback by Chen Wanrong's answer.

That's true...

Chen Wanrong had no experience in this area and had little interaction with men. Even when she did interact, it was only when she was instructing the male disciples of Xuan Yue Palace to do something.

She holds a very high position in the Xuan Yue Palace, and when she speaks to the male disciples of the Xuan Yue Palace, she uses a commanding tone and rarely utters more than a few words. It would be quite difficult for her to speak to a man on an equal footing.

However, if she didn't do that, it would be difficult for Lu Chen to fall completely in love with her. In fact, her aloof attitude might even make the Northern King feel repulsed by her. After all, the Northern King is a person with a certain status and position. How could he possibly have a good impression of her if she communicated with him in such a high-handed manner?

Lin Wanyun thought to herself, "It seems I need to find a way to get Chen Wanrong trained."

The reason why Chen Wanrong has been like this is mainly because she has too little contact with men. So, let Chen Wanrong have more contact with men and not stay in the courtyard all day.

Of course, Chen Wanrong was the master of Xuan Yue Palace, so it was impossible for her to have contact with just any man.

The best practice subject is Lu Chen. Anyway, their goal is to make Lu Chen fall in love with her, and in the future, they will try to find more excuses to let Chen Wanrong and Lu Chen spend time alone together.

In this way, not only will Chen Wanrong come into contact with men, but Lu Chen might also become infatuated with her.

With this in mind, Lin Wanyun began to plan how to create opportunities for the two of them to be alone together.

After leaving Chen Wanrong's courtyard, Lu Chen found Bai Qingqing and arranged for her to guard the Northern Prince's Mansion that night.

Although they planned to take the initiative, some assassins might slip through the net. Better safe than sorry, so the Northern Prince's Mansion had to be well-defended to prevent any loopholes from being exploited.

It was evening.

The sun is setting in the west.

Inside the restaurant.

Su Teng remained seated by the window, drinking wine and gazing in the direction of the Northern Prince's Mansion.

He smiled and said to the man wearing a bamboo hat in front of him, "It seems there are quite a few people who want to assassinate the Northern King."

Su Teng was, after all, a Grandmaster of the Extreme Realm. He could tell at a glance that the ordinary people on the street who were disguised as merchants were martial artists.

He didn't believe those people were after them; in his view, they were most likely colleagues who wanted to assassinate the Northern King.

The Northern King has offended the entire aristocratic families and scholar-official class of the Great Xia Dynasty. Naturally, there are many people who want to kill him. Su Teng knows of at least three forces that share the same goal as them.

The man in the straw hat said calmly, "Of course. Why don't we hold off tonight and let those people scout ahead? The fact that Blood Moon Tower has been defeated by the Northern King's Mansion multiple times proves that the Northern King's Mansion still has some strength."

Su Teng picked up his wine glass, downed the wine in one gulp, and said, "No need for all that trouble. Since we all have the same goal, let's just go for it together."

"Judging from how hurried those people are, they're most likely planning to act tonight."

"If several forces act together, the Northern Prince's Mansion will have no way to resist. By the time the army outside Yan City enters, it will all be over."

The man in the straw hat then said, "What the Pavilion Master says is true."

As he finished speaking, the man in the straw hat looked up at the setting sun outside the window and continued, "After tonight, the Northern Prince's Mansion will cease to exist."

Su Teng smiled, picked up the knife on the table, and stood up abruptly. "The sun has set; we should get ready."

(End of this chapter)