Princess Promotion

Yao Chuguang and Fu Hongxuan stood at the door and watched Zhou Chengxi leave.

Yao Chuguang sighed softly and shook his head.

Fu Hongxuan heard Yao Chuguang sigh and asked with half-closed eyes, "If Zhou Chengxi agrees to stay and exchange with Zhou Mingrui, will you let them both leave together?"

Yao Chuguang looked at Fu Hongxuan in confusion and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? If I release both of them, I will lose one million taels of silver."

Fu Hongxuan hesitated for a moment, then said carefully, "You act like a bully who breaks up the ties between family members."

Yao Chuguang drooped her eyelashes, her tone arrogant and nonchalant: "Although I say I am a good person, I never said I would not do evil things."

Fu Hongxuan shook his head and sighed, "Since you really want to let these two brothers go, why do you have to make things difficult for Zhou Chengxi? Why not just help them?"

Although Yao Chuguang did not execute the Yun family for various reasons, he finally chose the gentle method of draining the Yun family, which was more or less due to his soft feelings towards the two children.

Yao Chuguang sneered and said, "You mean Zhou Chengxi is just a child, and when faced with a life-or-death situation, he's bound to shrink back and be afraid?"

"If you ask me, you don't know enough about human nature and darkness. The Yun family is rotten to the core."

Zhou Chengxi might have some feelings for Zhou Mingrui, so he might assume that he sincerely wants to take Zhou Mingrui with him.

But Zhou Chengxi was unwilling to take risks for Zhou Mingrui and put himself in danger.

Zhou Chengxi has to rely on the Yun family to survive, and the Yun family will not spend a penny to rescue Zhou Mingrui.

If Zhou Chengxi really wanted to save Zhou Mingrui, given the importance of the Yun family to Zhou Chengxi, as long as he was still in the palace, the Yun family would sell everything they had to scrape together enough money to redeem him.

Zhou Chengxi just wanted to take some risks and stay in the palace for a few more days for Zhou Mingrui.

But Zhou Chengxi couldn't afford these risks. What if the Yun family couldn't come up with the money, or if the Yun family gave up on him to support Zhou Mingrui?

Fu Hongxuan bluntly pointed out, "You're still talking about the darkness of human nature. Can the Yun family be more evil than you? I think you've been setting a trap for the Yun family for a long time."

Yao Chuguang looked Fu Hongxuan up and down and asked, "What do you mean?"

Fu Hongxuan: "You repeatedly force the Yun family to choose between their own interests and Zhou Mingrui. Isn't it just to make Zhou Mingrui give up on the Yun family?"

Yao Chuguang praised: "You've made progress!"

Fu Hongxuan: "An Tian's case a while ago implicated many Western Zhou officials. After giving them a slap in the face, they now have to give them a sweet reward."

If Yao Chuguang wants to ensure the stability of the court, he cannot simply suppress the old ministers of the Western Zhou Dynasty. That would spread bad news and make the aristocratic families of the Western Zhou Dynasty think that Yao Chuguang wants to settle accounts with them.

A cornered dog will jump out, let alone these powerful nobles.

Therefore, Yao Chuguang needs to support a Western Zhou nobleman to hold an important position in the court to stabilize people's hearts.

Fu Hongxuan: "It would be best if this person is from the Zhou royal family. Your original choice should have been Zhou Chengxi, but you didn't expect the Yun family to come up with this incident."

"With the Yun family backing Zhou Chengxi, it's impossible for him to be content to be a subordinate. Even if he wanted to, the Yun family wouldn't allow him to be a mediocre minister."

Yao Chuguang: "Yes, I have thought about getting rid of the Yun family. Without support, Zhou Chengxi can't cause any trouble. No matter how unwilling Zhou Chengxi is, he can't escape my control."

Fu Hongxuan: "Then why not do it in the end?"

Yao Chuguang: "That's not necessary. I just want to send a message of reconciliation to the noble families of Western Zhou. As for who this person is, it doesn't matter. If Zhou Chengxi isn't suitable, we can just find someone else."

Yao Chuguang said with some regret, "If the Yun family or Zhou Chengxi had even the slightest desire to reconcile, they would have seen that I don't intend to pursue what they did before."

Maybe the Yun family has seen it, but they can’t stop now and can only go down this path to the end.

If Zhou Chengxi is willing to stay and replace Zhou Mingrui, or if the Yun family is willing to pay money to rescue Zhou Mingrui.

Unfortunately, both the Yun family and Zhou Chengxi put profit above all else. They worship those who are valuable and kick away those who are worthless.

Even if that person is your own flesh and blood.

Yao Chuguang's concession only resulted in the Yun family becoming more aggressive. Now there are rumors in the court that Yao Chuguang is clearing out the old ministers of the Western Zhou Dynasty and falsely accusing the Yun family of treason.

Otherwise, which emperor in history would let a treason go? Not punishing the entire clan would already be considered merciful, but now he is only expelled from the imperial capital.

Fu Hongxuan: "So you plan to support Zhou Mingrui now, but before you give him power, you have to make sure that Zhou Mingrui is completely disappointed with the Yun family. Isn't this too cruel?"

Yao Chuguang asked back: "Haven't you heard of it?"

Fu Hongxuan: "What have you heard?"

Yao Chuguang: "The imperial family is the most ruthless."

"So Zhou Mingrui, you see, you've been abandoned!"

Yao Chuguang turned around and looked down at Zhou Mingrui who had been standing behind him.

You were abandoned not because you are bad or because you did something wrong.

But in the face of power and desire, you are the one who is abandoned.