New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

The two rode forward, exiting the north gate and arriving at Zhuo Luwang's camp. Zhuo Luwang snapped his fingers at the guards outside the tent, and immediately someone brought out the wine and dishes that had been prepared beforehand.

Wanyan Aru crossed his arms and did not take any food from in front of him: "No need for drinking. I came with you because I was just curious about the plan you mentioned earlier."

He poured himself a glass of wine, and seeing that the other party indeed did not intend to drink with him, Zhuo Luwang was not angry. He simply tilted his head back and drank a glass by himself: "Your Highness, the Fourth Prince, probably knows better than I do about the value of glass. However, both the manufacturing process and the raw materials are controlled by the Seventh Princess. It seems that it will be difficult for us to get involved."

Wanyan Aru closed his eyes, his face full of impatience. Just now, Zhuo Luwang had acted very confidently, and he thought that the other party had a complete plan. Who would have thought that he was just a smooth talker?

"To be honest, I intend to gain something for nothing, so I've racked my brains and come up with three plans. I wonder if the Fourth Prince would be interested in hearing them?"

Upon hearing this, Wanyan Aru opened his eyes, a slight smile appearing on his lips: "Prince Zhuolu has gone to great lengths to scheme against my seventh sister. I'd like to hear what you plan to do."

“The first option,” Zhuo Luwang held up a finger to Wanyan Aru, “is Youzhou the fiefdom of the Seventh Princess. If I could become her husband, wouldn’t that mean the entire Youzhou would also be my territory?”

Before Zhuo Luwang could finish speaking, he was greeted with a light laugh from Wanyan Aru: "Glass is indeed Seventh Sister's dowry, but with the strength of the Zhuo Lu tribe, you think you can covet Wanyan Xi? Isn't the young master a bit too confident?"

The Jin dynasty royal family was controlled by the Wanyan clan, but that did not mean that the throne of the Jin dynasty would always belong to the Wanyan clan. Every political group needs to manage itself, and the marriage of princesses was one of the most convenient means. Wanyan Wugumai's seven daughters could not escape the fate of marrying into powerful tribes.

For example, the fourth princess, Wanyan Ling, who had just gotten married, married the heir of the Jiagu tribe. This was because the emperor wanted to use this opportunity to consolidate his rule in the northeast.

"Seventh Sister's husband has indeed not been chosen yet, but your Zhuolu tribe is just a small tribe in the northwest. Do you think you have that opportunity?"

Zhuo Luwang shrugged helplessly. As the saying goes, it's easy to get things done if you have connections in the court. The Zhuo Lu tribe only surrendered to the Jin Dynasty after the Liao Dynasty was destroyed. The entire tribe had a population of less than 10,000. In the eyes of the Wanyan family, they were not a powerful tribe. Naturally, he, as the crown prince, could not enter the emperor's field of vision and become one of the candidates for the seventh princess, Wanyan Xi's husband.

“However, if the Fourth Prince intervenes, it’s not impossible for me to win the heart of the beauty.” Zhuo Luwang raised his wine cup to Wanyan Aru once again. “If the Fourth Prince can grant my wish, I am willing to offer half of the profits from the glass business in Youzhou.”

After pondering in silence for a long time, Wanyan Aru shook his head: "It's not that I'm unwilling to help, but my father will definitely not agree to this marriage. Not only will it not work out, but it will also displease my father. It's really not a worthwhile deal. Let's talk about your second plan instead."

“In that case, I was being a bit presumptuous.” Wanyan Aru’s rejection seemed to be within Zhuo Luwang’s expectations. Upon receiving such a reply, he remained calm and composed, put down his wine cup, and held up two fingers. “Judging from today’s meeting, the Fourth Princess and the Seventh Princess must have reached a cooperation agreement. In other words, Wanyan Ling’s caravan will definitely come to Youzhou to transport the raw materials for glass back to Liaoyang. If we send people to intercept them along the way and ask those tribes that have obtained the glassmaking technology for help, we can still succeed.”

Upon hearing this, Wanyan Aru's face quickly darkened, and his gaze toward the other party was filled with ruthlessness: "Zhuo Luwang, you are courting death."

Knowing full well that he was at odds with the Fourth Princess, this kid could still come up with such a plan without batting an eye. This was clearly telling everyone that Wanyan Ling's caravan was hijacked by him, Wanyan Aru. Zhuo Luwang was trying to pin all the blame on himself.

"Fourth Prince, there is no need to be angry. As the saying goes, war is based on deception. The more others believe that you were the one who did this, the more certain Wanyan Ling will be that you would never dare to be so audacious. I will settle the accounts for the stolen goods and leave no evidence."

Zhuo Luwang's words tempted Wanyan Aru somewhat, but a wise man does not stand under a crumbling wall. He would not be foolish enough to act as a henchman himself and instead keep Zhuo Luwang out of the picture. Even if the other party's plan was indeed feasible, one can never be too careful. There is no foolproof plan in this world. If Wanyan Ling found out that he was fighting with his own family, his father would surely sentence him to death.

"Since the Fourth Prince is being so cautious, then there is only one last option left."

Zhuo Lu held up his third finger. "These past few days, the spies I sent out have thoroughly investigated the general situation of the Yanshan mine. The specific location and Wanyan Xi's various deployments are all under my control. The princess's mansion only has five hundred guards. Wanyan Xi can't possibly send them all to guard the mountain pass. The personal guards that you and I brought this time have at least a thousand men in total. Let's take this opportunity to seize a batch of her ore and leave through Yunzhou. Once we reach the Western Regions, it will be like throwing stones into the sea. Wanyan Xi is just the city lord of Youzhou. Even if she wanted to chase after us, she simply wouldn't have the ability."

Zhuo Luwang's third plan finally brought a hint of excitement to Wanyan Aru's eyes. If they could block the source, it would mean that the ore they had seized had not yet been transported out of Youzhou or the city, which meant it had not yet been delivered to other tribes and they would not offend any faction.

After taking Yan Xi's things, Wanyan Aru felt no guilt whatsoever. The two women's mothers were sworn enemies, and he had no reason to be polite to his fourth and seventh sisters.

“My spies have found out very clearly that Wanyan Xi has built a warehouse for storing ore in that mountain valley. All the raw materials she has dug out are piled up inside. As long as we act quickly and take the ore into Yanshan before the enemy's reinforcements arrive, head west and exit through Yunzhou, her personal guards will definitely not be able to catch up.”

"This is indeed a foolproof plan. This route can be used repeatedly, and Wanyan Xi will have no chance to defend against it."

Wanyan Aru reached out and touched his beard. "When the time comes, we'll have our assassins dressed in Song Dynasty clothing. Even if Wanyan Xi captures our people, he won't be able to get any concrete evidence."

This time, when Zhuo Luwang raised his cup again, Wanyan Aru finally responded.