At its root, it was the Second Prince’s palace coup and rebellion that left a deep shadow in the emperor’s mind. Any son touching military power made the emperor extremely jittery.
Today, Bai Qingyan suddenly learned that King Liang planned to deceive Dong Tingzhen into marrying him. She deliberately had Bai Jinzhi hint to the Crown Prince that King Liang might be secretly allying with King Xian of Nandu. The Crown Prince might want to create an impression for the emperor that King Liang was trying to marry Dong Tingzhen while entangling himself with Liu Ruofu, who was already betrothed to the Fourth Prince of Daliang.
Given the emperor’s suspicious and cautious nature regarding his sons having military power, he would undoubtedly think that King Liang wanted to use the marriage to gain the support of King Xian and Dong Qingyue, who held significant military power.
Then, King Liang’s good days would be over.
At this time, as Daliang was negotiating peace with the Jin Kingdom, even if the emperor did not wish for Liu Ruofu to marry into enemy territory, he could not let such a scandal give Daliang an excuse to bargain with Jin.
Make King Liang suffer and not benefit from it.
What a brilliant scheme!
Originally, Bai Qingyan intended to use King Liang’s violation of ancestral rules through alchemy against him. Unexpectedly, the Crown Prince’s residence could not hold back anymore and acted, making waves.
Bai Qingyan looked back at the two Hidden Guards kneeling in the courtyard reporting news and instructed, "Go back and tell the others to continue monitoring the six people sent out by the Crown Prince’s residence. Report every quarter-hour, and report immediately if there are any special circumstances."
"Yes!"
The Hidden Guards quickly disappeared from the courtyard. After pondering for a moment, Bai Qingyan sent someone to summon Lu Ping.
Tonight, Lu Ping was first sent by Bai Qingyan to deal with those spreading rumors about King Liang and Dong Tingzhen from the Crown Prince’s residence. After completing the task, he awaited Bai Qingyan’s instructions. As soon as Bai Qingyan sent for him, Lu Ping immediately headed to Qinghui Courtyard.
"Uncle Ping, sorry to trouble you to make a trip to the Dong Mansion now. You must see my uncle and tell him... if he can trust me, I want to take Tingzhen back to Shuoyang tomorrow. She can accompany my mother and also get away from the intrigues of Dadu City to relax! If my uncle and aunt agree, we will depart at dawn, and our convoy will go to the Dong Mansion to pick up Tingzhen ahead of time," Bai Qingyan said to Lu Ping.
"Rest assured, Miss. I will go now!" Lu Ping cupped his fists in a respectful salute and walked away without another word.
It was already midnight, so Bai Qingyan had a few hours to make proper arrangements before dawn.
Bai Qingyan sat on a stone bench in the courtyard, her fingers gently caressing the edge of the stone table. If the Crown Prince’s residence wanted to make King Liang and Liu Ruofu’s affair concrete, Bai Qingyan would facilitate it, ensuring the Crown Prince’s people handled it properly without any mistakes.
The best outcome would be for the foolish girl Tingzhen to see King Liang for what he truly was.
Her fingers tapped lightly on the stone table intermittently.
King Liang’s interest in Dong Tingzhen was solely for the Dong family’s military power. Regardless of whether King Liang and King Xian had formed an alliance, there were insufficient binding agreements to tie the two firmly together.
So, with the Dong family marriage not feasible and with the Crown Prince setting things up between him and Liu Ruofu, if King Liang had to choose, he would certainly pick Liu Ruofu, the sole daughter of King Xian.
As for King Xian, instead of letting his daughter marry into Liang Kingdom, it was more attractive for him to become the Duke of Jin.
The issue was that King Liang’s current strength couldn’t contend with the Crown Prince. If the Crown Prince concealed the matter, King Liang would have no chance to resist.
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