After being demoted, my 300,000-strong army trampled the imperial city!

"I heard that the King of the Northern Frontier gave your younger brother to Bei Wu as a gift, and also sent away the son of the Minister of War, Guo Yunqi." Chen Futu revealed this bombshell in a serious tone.

"What!" Upon hearing this, the Crown Princess stood up abruptly, her bright smile vanishing instantly, replaced by intense anger in her eyes. "The King of Northern Frontier, how dare he!"

“Who says otherwise? The King of Northern Frontier is truly a scoundrel. But it’s not too late. I heard they’re heading east of Kaiyang Pass. If the Crown Princess arranges for messengers to rush to Dongchuan Pass now, they might be able to stop the Northern Wu delegation and save your brother.”

Chen Futu appeared extremely indignant, and the Crown Princess suddenly frowned, "How did Mr. Zhu know about such an important matter?"

"Of course, it was Madam Yan who told me. Besides, she's the Northern Frontier King's concubine. With the Northern Frontier King's backing, her business in the Northern Frontier is booming, and everyone has to give her face."

"Is it?"

The Crown Princess was now quite confused. If Chocolate was really sent from the Northern Frontier, why would he reveal Yan Qing's identity? Wasn't he afraid that Yan Qing wouldn't be able to return to the Northern Frontier?

"Mr. Zhu, if I were to capture Yan Qing in exchange for my brother, would the King of Northern Frontier agree?"

"You're overthinking it. Madam Yan is just a businesswoman, not someone with that much influence. At most, it's because the King of the Northern Frontier has a penchant for married women that Madam Yan has this status."

Chen Futu immediately belittled himself to the point of being worthless.

The Crown Princess fell silent, glancing sideways every now and then, seemingly unsure of his true identity.

Seeing that the time was right, Chen Futu added, "Let me tell you another secret: the glassmaking technique was actually taught to our king by the King of the Northern Frontier."

"Is this happening?"

"Absolutely true. Otherwise, where do you think those tens of thousands of warhorses came from?"

Chen Futu was talking nonsense with a straight face, just to induce her to say things she shouldn't have said.

As expected, the Crown Princess asked displeasedly, "What exactly is your identity, sir? Are you truly not from the Northern Frontier?"

"Of course not. The Northern Frontier is clearly on good terms with the Western Regions now, but that man is a wolf in sheep's clothing. How could my lord not know that after he destroys the Great Qian Dynasty, he will definitely send troops to the Western Regions?"

"Since you are not one of the Northern Frontier King's men, may I ask if the mysterious person who took away Zhou Qingzhi's remains last night was sent by the Northern Frontier?" The Crown Princess bluntly stated her question.

Chen Futu's heart skipped a beat. That's right, the Crown Prince had already linked this matter with the caravan. So Liu Longyue guessed correctly. The Crown Prince wanted to use the caravan to deal with the Prince. He might as well continue to deceive this woman.

Chen Futu cleared his throat. "Yan Qing asked me to do this."

"how dare you!"

The Crown Princess's elegant face suddenly turned frosty. "Mr. Zhu is quite frank. Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"

"Princess Consort, please don't be angry. Yan Qing and I are just doing what we need. She needs to make achievements to show her loyalty to the King of Northern Frontier and compete for the position of Princess Consort. As you know, Liu Longyue has targeted the King of Northern Frontier. If the King of Northern Frontier hadn't needed Beiwu's support, she would have died long ago. So she can't stay in Northern Frontier forever, and the position of Princess Consort will soon be vacant. Many women are eyeing it."

"Continue," the Crown Princess said, her face grim and her attitude growing increasingly cold.

Next, Chen Futu solemnly explained that the purpose of the Northern Frontier King taking away Zhou Qingzhi's body was nothing more than to win the support of the scholar-official class, so as to gain their support without fighting the world.

These messages are all true.

The Crown Princess was understandably alarmed upon hearing this.

As the Crown Prince, she had a keen political sense, so she knew it was true and that Chocolate hadn't lied.

Chen Futu pressed his advantage, "My cooperation with Yan Qing is merely to secure interests in the Northern Frontier. You've probably heard that most of the industries in the Northern Frontier are now in the hands of the Ministry of Commerce. Yan Qing, with her special status as a businesswoman, has already begun to dominate the commercial development of the Northern Frontier. This is a huge piece of meat. The Western Zhao has always focused on commerce and is not good at military affairs. We cannot give up such interests. Furthermore, the Great Qian is vast and rich in resources. If the new emperor can provide sufficient benefits, I can inform the Crown Princess of any disturbances in the Northern Frontier in the future."

Chen Futu has finished speaking. Now it depends on the Crown Princess's attitude. Whether she believes him or not is still uncertain.

The Crown Princess asked suspiciously, "Your King Zhao Xi'er has a good relationship with the King of Northern Frontier, so why would she betray him?"

"It makes me angry just thinking about it!"

Chen Futu stood up angrily, pointed to the north and cursed, "That Chen Futu is a piece of trash. He killed the Grand Preceptor as soon as he arrived in Xizhao, causing chaos throughout the country. Then, in the war in the Western Regions, that guy forced our king to have his way with him, promising him the position of queen. Then he dragged the king into the military camp and made a mess of things, which allowed the Longman to launch a successful sneak attack, almost causing the king to lose his life. After that, he slaughtered tens of thousands of Longman soldiers. He could easily walk away, but the bad reputation fell on the king. The king is annoyed by this every day."

Upon hearing this, the Crown Princess finally smiled slightly. "I have heard about these things, but it's not enough to warrant Zhao Xier targeting him."

"Not only that, for example, when the King of Northern Frontier was crowned, he clearly notified our king, but before the king even arrived in Dragon City, he completed the ceremony. Our king was so angry that he turned back halfway. He didn't even promise the king any position as a queen, nor did he promise the king to give birth to the eldest son. He made no guarantees at all. What is he if not a scoundrel? The king is very disappointed in him. In addition, Chen Futu once boasted that he would destroy the Western Regions and even told our king to think carefully about the future. So the king had other ideas, at least to preserve the Western Zhao dynasty."

Chen Futu was filled with righteous indignation and hurled his insults to his heart's content.

The Crown Princess said jokingly, "Alright, the envoy's intention is to strengthen relations with the new emperor and replace the northern border."

"Everything is up to the Crown Princess. However, Zhou Qingzhi's body has already been sent away, so you shouldn't worry about it. Otherwise, it will displease the scholar-official class and play right into the hands of the Northern Frontier King."

“That makes sense. There is news from Yan Qing that you need to inform me.”

"Hehe, the Crown Princess wants to deal with the Prince, right? I can help you with that."

Chen Futu said casually, and the Crown Princess suddenly frowned, "Your Excellency really dares to say anything."

"Do you think I know nothing about this? I would be happy to help you, after all, you are of noble status and cannot be insulted like this."

At this point, Chen Futu also made his intentions clear, so what was originally a tacit understanding between the two sides has now been laid bare.

The Crown Princess snorted. "I will report this matter to His Highness the Crown Prince. If he agrees, I have no objection. It's getting late, Mr. Zhu, you should go back now."

"I'll take my leave."

Chen Futu smiled and bowed, then strode away. By the time he stepped outside, his back was soaked with cold sweat.