Priceless: A widow with a baby asks the prince to marry again

Prince Kang's Mansion.

The concubine relayed her conversation with Prince Kang to the three ministers: "The imperial decree to pass on the throne is probably true..."

"In this situation, what does it matter if it is true? It would be more reasonable if it is false!" Minister of Personnel.

Everyone present was now in the same boat, so naturally they could only agree: "The imperial edict must be fake! It can't be true!"

"The difficulty now is that His Royal Highness Prince Kang believes it to be true, and is trapped both physically and mentally by it..."

"Then what should I do?"

Everyone started discussing it.

According to the concubine, Prince Kang was personally attacked and killed by the late emperor's henchmen, and he has determined that the imperial edict of succession is true. These two events corroborate each other and are also the knot in Prince Kang's heart. If he wants to untie this knot, he must start with these two events.

But even if the three ministers had a plan to conceal the truth, it would take some time to implement it.

"After all, the Eighth Prince has not yet firmly established his throne. We are in the fiefdom of Prince Kang in Yu Province. It is difficult for the Prime Minister's faction to interfere, so there is no need to rush." The Minister of Rites said something to comfort him.

"By the way, doesn't the Fifth Prince want to mobilize the Qin family army to fight against the Eighth Prince? We can supply food and supplies until they are enough to march to the vicinity of the capital. If the Eighth Prince wants to use force, the Qin family army can stop him for us." The Minister of Revenue thought.

"Well, I'm afraid..." Everyone knew what the Minister of Personnel had not finished saying, and they were afraid that it would be a disaster if they raised a tiger.

"Don't worry too much. Regardless of whether the Fifth Prince has the guts to challenge his eldest brother, the Qin Army doesn't belong to the Fifth Prince. As the letter from the Empress Dowager clearly stated, we're intervening only to prevent Great Xia from falling into the hands of those unworthy of their position."

"As for the Qin family army, we don't provide them with enough food and supplies immediately. If there is any unusual movement, the supply will be cut off..."

...

The capital city was in turmoil, but the *** government was relatively peaceful.

Although the place was guarded like an iron barrel by the soldiers sent by the Ministry of War, except for the restrictions on entry and exit, everything else remained the same.

In the study, Chu Wei had learned the news that Prince Kang Chu Shikun had returned safely, and also received a reply from her son Qin Tao that he still wanted to continue mobilizing the Qin family army.

The situation was changing rapidly, and the ambition that was about to move had to return to silence again. However, Chu Wei was not worried that the previous actions would bring disaster. After all, she was not an enemy of King Kang. Even if her son still wanted to mobilize the Qin army, he would be targeting Chu Shiqi, which would be icing on the cake for King Kang.

What made Chu Wei uneasy was, what happened to Qin Shuangyu? Ever since he got the news of Emperor Chu Tianming's death, he had been rushing to the southwest without stopping.

Looking for relatives... what relatives are you looking for? If they are such important relatives, why haven't you looked for them for the past twenty years?

...

When the news of King Kang's return reached the capital, everyone felt a mixture of joy and sorrow.

At this time, Chu Shiqi angrily scolded the killer hired by the old prime minister for his poor performance and for daring to claim the reward even though his body had not been found!

Besides scolding and beating, there was also worry about the current situation... Chu Shikun and Chu Shihuan were worlds apart. The previous treatment of Chu Shihuan was just a precaution, but it was a foregone conclusion that Chu Shikun would come with a strong force.

However, neither Chu Shiqi nor the Prime Minister were sure that they could defeat King Kang in a head-on confrontation...

"Then let's move the capital to Jiangnan!"

Originally, Chu Shiqi was still hesitant about this decision, but now facing the moment of victory or defeat, in this capital city with constraints everywhere, he is afraid that it will be difficult to defeat Chu Shikun.

...

Prince Qin Tao of Changtai brought a dozen people and traveled across mountains and rivers to the southwest to look for his father Wei Yu.

At a roadside tea stall, passersby sighed, "When the dragon and the tiger fight, the fish in the pond suffer..."

"Why are we mobilizing troops for no reason? And it's these brutal bandit troops that are hurting people!" Someone looked indignant.

The companion hurriedly stopped them, saying, "Hey, don't dare say bandit army! They are the direct personal army of the new emperor of Daxia!"

The man was even more indignant: "Why can't I tell you?! I came from the southwest and saw many atrocities along the way! That's the bandit army! They robbed the people of their money and food for military funds, and forced young men to join the army. The most outrageous thing is that they kidnapped decent women to serve as military prostitutes!"

"That's right! There were still women who weren't abducted, but they were also raped. I heard that many women committed suicide because of their loss of chastity!"

"If you ask me, you are not worthy of being called emperor for raising such an inhumane army to harm the people! Anyway, I don't recognize you as the emperor!" Someone made such wild remarks, and his companions around him hurriedly stopped him, fearing that he would cause trouble by speaking!

The tea stall suddenly became much quieter, but if you looked closely at the faces of the people, you could see that many of them agreed, and no one objected to the person who was speaking so arrogantly...

The young man dressed as a civilian felt relieved upon seeing this. He leaned over to the ear of the still youthful man beside him and whispered, "Young General, it seems the Eighth Prince is in great wrath. We are acting as a righteous act!"

"Hmph, just look at Chu Shiqi himself and you'll know. He definitely won't be able to raise any good soldiers!" Qin Tao responded in a low voice of disdain, but in his heart he had not expected that Chu Shiqi's minions would be so brutal...

A group of more than a dozen people had been traveling for over half a month, and the journey was very hard, but it was going smoothly. However, the further south they went, the more they heard the complaints of the people...

After a short rest, the group set off again.

After a few days of rushing and hurrying, one day, it rained heavily and more than a dozen people galloped on horseback in the rain at dusk.

The group couldn't help but feel a little worried. Although they wore hats and cloaks, sleeping outdoors in the rain would be difficult even for the strongest people. And there seemed to be no trace of people in this area...

Just as they were frowning, they saw the vague outline of a village not far ahead, and there were also traces of human smoke...

"Young General, shall we go to that town and rest for a while?"

Qin Tao looked around and found that the population was indeed not far away. The group went towards the population and saw a strange sight just when they were not far away.

It was a village surrounded by walls built of earth and stones. It was too simple to be called a city wall, and too thick to be called a courtyard wall. The most peculiar thing was that although the people guarding the entrance were all dressed in smart clothes, most of them were women!

As we got closer, we were even more surprised. These women all had short hair, cut to their ears! Their resolute faces bore a burn scar, only the size of a finger, but it added a touch of bravery to these women, who seemed frailer than the men.

As the group approached, the women guarding the gate suddenly looked alert! Dozens of people on the earthen walls on both sides of the town entrance set up long tubes and pointed them at them!

"Who are you?!" The female guard also held a long pipe and asked loudly, revealing a hint of hostility as if she was facing a threat!

The dozen or so people were all veterans who had experienced hundreds of battles. Although those long-barreled objects were slightly different in shape from the usual muskets, they could be seen to be similar firearms!

They immediately stepped forward and used their bodies to block Qin Tao on both sides, and some people even pulled him back, fearing that General Qin's only child would be accidentally injured by firearms.

Qin Tao was not pleased. He pushed aside the people around him and stepped forward, asking calmly, "We are just passing through here and want to stay overnight. Why are you so hostile?"

The guarding women remained vigilant, but did not act rashly. They simply asked in a stern voice, "Who are you?"

Qin Tao and his companions had been calling themselves merchants on the road, and at this moment they also answered without hesitation: "We are merchants from the north."

The women exchanged glances, all in disbelief. One woman even rebuffed them immediately, "You're just rough and tumble men, what kind of businessmen are you?! We don't accept people who hide their heads and show their tails! Get out of here! Or I'll shoot!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the long tubes in the hands of the guards on the wall and at the door moved as a threat!

The accompanying soldiers were horrified when they saw this, and hurriedly tried to protect Qin Tao behind them!

Qin Tao was even more upset, and he yelled at the people around him, "This... this is my first time here, and I haven't provoked them before! How could I act so rashly? Are you such a coward that you got scared by a few broken pipes?!"

The soldiers were momentarily embarrassed. If it were them, they wouldn't be afraid of mountains of swords and seas of fire, but with General Qin's only son, shouldn't they be cautious? And the young general was also reckless. Not provoking him didn't mean he wouldn't take action. There were many unreasonable things in this world...

But for a moment, the soldiers did not stop them, because the women guarding the gate, after hearing Qin Tao's words, also looked a little embarrassed, and the weapons in their hands drooped a little, as if they also felt that they were a little startled...

The woman who had just spoken in refusal, though she had lowered her weapon, still said sternly, "What a broken barrel! If our muskets were to fire, you'd be a bloody mess no matter how strong you are!"

Qin Tao also knew about fire muskets, but he remained unconcerned. "To fire a fire musket, you need to ignite it. By that time, I would have dodged it! After firing, you have to reload the gunpowder. If we really fought, could you beat me?"

The gatekeeper suddenly became furious: "Then come and try it!?"

As she spoke, the woman picked up the long pipe in her hand again!

However, this time, it wasn't just the soldiers around Qin Tao who stopped her. Another calmer female guard beside the woman also stopped her from acting impulsively. She said sternly, "Madam said that weapons are for us to defend ourselves, not for fighting!"

The scolded woman was somewhat annoyed and unconvinced, "These men are rough and rude, like those gangsters... How can they be good people!"

Qin Tao immediately became unhappy: "You don't even know me, how can you confuse me with bandits?!"

The calmer woman reprimanded the impulsive woman again: "Madam said that people should be judged by their words and deeds, not by their appearance!"

The woman being reprimanded seemed to listen to the lady's words and immediately reflected on herself, but she was still a little worried: "But... if these dozen young men are bad guys, wouldn't it be very dangerous to let them in..."

Night had already fallen, and apart from the lights scattered throughout the town, everything was completely dark. The rain was getting heavier and heavier. Standing outside the eaves at the door, the wind and rain were beating down on them. They just wanted to find a place to rest as soon as possible. One soldier couldn't help but reassure them, "We're really not bad people!"

"How are you going to prove it?!" the impulsive woman asked.

Qin Tao couldn't help but feel annoyed. He always suspected that they were bad guys, but his identity couldn't be exposed. How could he prove that he was a good person? If it weren't for the heavy rain, he would have just camped out in the wild!

The calmer woman next to them was also a little hesitant, sizing them up, as if trying to discern whether they were good people. However, one can only judge a person by their appearance, not by their heart. Obviously, it's impossible to tell by appearance alone...

But after a few breaths, she spoke seriously, as if trying to convince herself, "Madam said that we shouldn't isolate ourselves just because we've been hurt. This town isn't a cage for self-pity. It can be a haven for friendly outsiders, regardless of gender, age, or status."

"But...how can I tell whether they are friendly or not?" The impulsive woman was still full of resistance and doubt.

The calm woman was clearly the one in charge, and she immediately made up her mind. "Although you have the aura of martial artists, you don't appear to be bullies. Wuzui Town will allow you to stay on this cold and stormy night. I just hope you're decent gentlemen!"

"Don't worry! We Qin... cough, we are well-known in the northwest for helping the weak and suppressing the strong! How could we bully the weak?" An accompanying soldier wanted to pat his chest to make a promise!

Since the late emperor ascended the throne twenty years ago, the Daxia army has had strict discipline, and is not allowed to bully or disturb ordinary people without reason. However, the Qin family army's military discipline is even stricter than that of ordinary armies! Yet, they are repeatedly suspected here!

The calm woman nodded and didn't ask any more questions. Although this group of people were secretive and didn't seem like merchants at all, judging by their words and actions, they all seemed simple and straightforward... and the men that Madam would allow to live in the town for a long time were mostly like this, so there shouldn't be any mistakes...

A group of more than a dozen men were allowed into the town, with the calm woman walking in front to lead the way for them.

After entering the town's gatehouse, Qin Tao saw several large stones with inscriptions on them standing on the road ahead. The calm woman also stopped and looked at them, asking, "Before entering, you need to read these words. Can you read? Or should I read them to you?"

"I know it! You don't need to read it to me!" Qin Tao was annoyed again. He was suspected of being a bad guy before! Now he was suspected of being illiterate!

However, not all the soldiers accompanying him could read, and Qin Tao probably understood this. To take care of them and also to prove himself, he read out the words on the stone: "Bandits robbed robbers. Who is guilty, the bandits or the robbed?"

After reading it, Qin Tao felt puzzled and answered as if it was a matter of course: "Of course it is the crime of robbery. Is there any need to ask?"

The calm woman said nothing, walked towards another big rock, and motioned them to look again.

"Thin and weak are bullied. Who is to blame, the weak or the bully?" Qin Tao finished reading and then answered on his own: "Although being thin and weak is not good, it is not a sin in itself."

The calm woman had a complicated expression on her face and moved on to the next stone...

"If a woman is humiliated, or if she is raped by a thief, who is guilty?"

Qin Tao answered the question without thinking: "This is the same as the second question. Most women are weak. People like Fang Qiu are a minority..."

Qin Tao paused as he spoke, his expression growing a little melancholy before he continued, "Of course it's the traitor's fault."

The calm woman still didn't say anything, but her attitude towards them seemed to relax a little, and then she led them to the last and largest stone.

"It is not my fault that I have encountered disaster."

Qin Tao read out this sentence, but it was an affirmative sentence and did not require him to answer.