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

Chapter 289 I advise you to put away your little schemes

Upon hearing Emperor Xia's words, Wu Yunwan asked, "Father, are you planning to send your daughter as an envoy to Dayue?"

Wu Yunwan possessed the largest intelligence agency in the Great Wu Kingdom. She had known for a long time that the Northern Kingdom had purchased land in Yong'an County and stationed 30,000 heavy cavalry there.

Therefore, she basically guessed what Emperor Wu planned to do next. Now that the Northern Kingdom borders the Great Wu, it has sent 30,000 heavy cavalry to garrison the border area. If the Great Wu makes any move against the Great Xia at this time, the Northern Kingdom will probably send troops to the Great Wu immediately.

The recent trend in the court is to send troops to attack Da Xia. In addition, Wu Yunwan knows her father well and knows that he will not easily give up sending troops to Da Xia. Therefore, her father will likely want to form an alliance with Dayue and then attack Da Xia together.

Seeing that Wu Yunwan had already guessed his plan, the Emperor said, "It seems you already know."

"Currently, the Northern Kingdom has stationed 30,000 heavy cavalry in Yong'an County. If Da Wu launches an attack on Da Xia, the Northern Kingdom is likely to attack Da Wu as well. This makes Father Emperor very worried."

"The best course of action now is to win over Dayue and have Dayue help Dawu restrain the Northern Kingdom. Only in this way will Dawu have a chance to destroy Daxia."

Wu Junwan said, "Father, I understand your meaning. I will go to Dayue tomorrow."

Hearing this, the Martial Emperor looked at Wu Yunwan with a smile, and then said with a smile, "Then I'll have to trouble you."

At this point, the Empress sighed and continued, "Only you, Yunwan, can share some of the burden with your father. Your brothers are all useless. Your father often thinks, how wonderful it would be if you were a man."

Wu Yunwan instantly understood something from the Emperor's tone. The Emperor was reminding her that she was just a woman, not a man, and shouldn't think about unrealistic things.

Although she understood the Emperor's implied meaning, Wu Junwan didn't take it to heart; she had already seen through her father's attitude.

Although her father bestowed upon her the title of Princess, greatly elevating her status, Emperor Wu was also trying to balance the power in the court and was making great efforts to cultivate her brothers. This can be seen from the fact that her father sent Wu Ming to the Northern Kingdom with her. It is clear that her father had no intention of passing the throne to his daughter.

At this moment, Wu Junwan said, "Father, I understand what you mean. These are all things I should do. As the eldest princess of Da Wu, I should bear these responsibilities."

Hearing Wu Yunwan's words, the Emperor smiled and said, "I am very pleased that you understand my difficulties. Alright, if there is nothing else, you can go back and make your preparations."

Wu Yunwan immediately bowed and said, "Yes, I will take my leave."

After saying this, Wu Yunwan turned and left the imperial study.

When Wu Junwan returned to Qingyun Palace, a maidservant excitedly entered, "Your Highness, there's some great news!"

Hearing this, Wu Junwan asked in confusion, "What great news?"

The maid replied, "During the morning court session this morning, someone suggested that His Majesty choose a husband for you, and Lord Chai directly stepped forward and requested that His Majesty marry you to him."

Upon hearing this, Wu Junwan's face instantly darkened, and she coldly said, "Is this the good thing you were talking about?"

Hearing that Wu Junwan's tone was off, the maid immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Your Highness, I was wrong. I shouldn't have guessed your thoughts. I deserve to die. Please punish me, Your Highness."

Chai Jiliang frequently visited Wu Yunwan's residence. Over time, almost all the maids and eunuchs in Qingyun Palace assumed that Chai Jiliang and Wu Yunwan had a very good relationship and had even developed feelings for each other. Moreover, Chai Jiliang was already quite old and still had not married or even taken a concubine. Anyone with eyes could see that Chai Jiliang was interested in the Princess.

The maids and eunuchs thought that the eldest princess was already in her thirties and still unmarried, which must be because of Chai Jiliang. Now that Chai Jiliang had taken the initiative to ask His Majesty to marry the eldest princess to him, the maids of Qingyun Palace naturally thought it was a good thing, believing that the eldest princess and Prime Minister Chai were finally going to be a couple.

However, what they didn't know was that in Wu Junwan's eyes, Chai Jiliang was merely a political collaborator, and she had never felt even the slightest attraction to him.

Wu Junwan wasn't stupid; she knew what path she was on. This path absolutely forbade her from having any romantic feelings for men, so she had long since closed herself off and basically wouldn't develop feelings for any man.

Wu Junwan glanced coldly at the maid on the ground, then said, "If there's a next time, you can go back to your room and hang yourself."

Upon hearing this, the maid quickly replied, "Thank you for your forgiveness, Your Highness. I promise I will never speak out of turn again."

Just then, a mature man's voice came from behind, "Your Highness seems quite unhappy today?"

Upon seeing that it was Chai Jiliang, Wu Yunwan asked directly, "I heard that you just asked my father, the Emperor, for a marriage decree in court?"

Hearing Wu Yunwan's tone, Chai Jiliang knew that she was angry, and he immediately said, "Your Highness, I am trying to buy you time."

"You should understand that His Majesty would never marry you to me. By doing this, I will let others know that I admire you. In this way, no one will continue to urge His Majesty to find you a husband in court."

Wu Yunwan sneered, then said, "Lord Chai, I advise you to put away your little schemes."

With that, Wu Junwan turned and left.

Wu Yunwan wasn't stupid. Chai Jiliang's actions did buy her some time, and no ministers would bring up her marriage again for a while.

But in doing so, she is now bound to Chai Jiliang. When their story spreads among the people, they will surely be described as a perfect match, a match made in heaven. If Wu Yunwan were to ascend to the throne in the future, how would she treat Chai Jiliang?

Their story has already spread to the public. Should she give Chai Jiliang a proper status?

If she doesn't give Chai Jiliang a formal title, what will the people say about her? They will most likely say she is heartless and ungrateful, a cold-hearted emperor since ancient times.

Wu Yunwan had been dealing with Chai Jiliang for so many years, how could she not know what kind of person Chai Jiliang was? Chai Jiliang always had a long-term vision; he couldn't possibly only see the gains and losses in front of him.

Wu Yunwan was indeed very angry at this moment; Chai Jiliang had actually schemed against her.

Watching Wu Junwan's departing figure, Chai Jiliang muttered to himself, "It seems I went a bit too far this time."

……

half a month later.

North.

The Hall of State Affairs.

Lu Chen sat on the throne, full of vigor. He smiled and said, "This is the last time we will discuss important matters in this council hall. Gentlemen, if you have anything to discuss recently, please bring it up."

"If not, then let's discuss relocating the city."

Thanks to the hard work of the people and barbarian slaves of the Northern Kingdom, the new city of the Northern Kingdom has now been built. The new city is basically made of reinforced concrete, and the streets are very wide. The new city also has a royal palace, and the palace is very large. Lu Chen can't wait to move to the new city.

The current palace is still a bit too small, and he can't really do as he pleases. Once we go to the new city, he and his wives and concubines can do whatever they want.

Upon hearing Lu Chen's words, Li Rui stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, although the new city has been completed, the houses there are very expensive, making it unaffordable for ordinary people. I'm afraid very few people from Yancheng will move to the new city."

The new city has been completed, but it was built using reinforced concrete and red bricks. These materials all came from the Northern Prince's Mansion and were all new and expensive. As you can imagine, the price of houses built with these materials was also very high.

Although Yancheng's commerce has become increasingly prosperous since Lu Chen came to the North, and the people of Yancheng have made some money through trade, the number of particularly wealthy people in Yancheng is probably less than one percent.

If only the Northern Prince's Mansion moves to the new city, but the people of the old city stay in the old city, what use is the new city?

Lu Chen said with a smile, "I had already anticipated this matter, so I had the Embroidered Uniform Guards register the number of people in Yancheng from the beginning. Currently, there are 100,000 original residents of Yancheng. Each of these 100,000 residents only needs to pay 500 coins to own a house in the new city."

"If you really can't come up with the money, you can owe it for now and pay it off within ten years."

Upon hearing this, the officials in the hall thought for a moment. If it was only five hundred coins, most of the people in Yancheng should be able to afford it.

The key point is that the Northern King gave a ten-year repayment period. Although the people of the Northern Kingdom were relatively poor before, since the Northern King came to the Northern Kingdom, the Northern King's Mansion has established many industries. These industries require a large number of laborers. Although the core industries are all based on indenture, the Northern King's Mansion adopts an employment system for some simple manual labor. If the people of Yancheng want to earn five hundred coins, they can do so by working in the Northern King's Mansion's industries.

Even if they don't work for the industries established by the Northern Prince's Mansion, with Yancheng's commerce so developed today, the people of Yancheng still have no problem finding something to earn money. To put it another way, even if the people of Yancheng don't work for anyone, but simply contract some land outside to grow grain, they can easily pay off their 500 coins within ten years.

Therefore, the price set by Lu Chen is reasonable.

Lu Chen then said, "Of course, this price is only for the residents of Yancheng. If outsiders want to buy houses in Yancheng, the price will be different."

At this moment, an official asked, "Your Highness, what if the people of Yancheng sell their houses to others at high prices?"

Lu Chen said calmly, "The first home owned by the residents of Yancheng is not allowed to be traded."

Upon hearing this, Li Rui returned to his seat and said, "Your Majesty, I have no further questions."

Lu Chen asked, "Does anyone have any other questions? You can also raise the issue of relocating the city now."

Seeing that no one spoke, Lu Chen said, "Since everyone has no questions, then I will explain the arrangements for relocating the city."

As soon as he finished speaking, a Jinyiwei soldier next to Lu Chen took a small booklet and walked to the center of the hall, then began to read the contents of the booklet aloud.

The booklet mainly discusses the arrangements for relocating the city and how the new city should be managed.

An hour later, after discussing the relocation of the city, Lu Chen returned to his study.

Lu Chen sat on the stool in the study, glanced around the room, and couldn't help but feel a little reluctant to leave.

This study holds so many fond memories for him. In this study, he had flirted with Chu Yuqin, argued with Wang Qingci, made deals with Chu Qingli, and secretly did bad things with Lin Wanyun. He never expected that he would be leaving this place soon.

Just as Lu Chen was lost in his memories, a familiar voice came, "Your Highness, this is the first time I've seen you daydreaming in the study."

Lu Chen snapped out of his daze, looked up at the study door, and saw Wang Qingci's alluring S-shaped figure.

I've switched to new typing equipment, so typing is slower. Please excuse the slow speed.

(End of this chapter)