Everything starts from Menghualu

Chapter 421 The Queen Mother's Response

"Sir, it's not that I don't know how to appreciate a favor. It's just that I can't afford to offend His Royal Highness Prince Linzi, so you should seek help from someone else." Chang Sheng bowed and said
"Minister Chang, you, now that the imperial decree has been issued, do you think your family will disobey it? Don't you know what the crime is?" Xue Yuan said coldly.
"Master, of course I know this, but, but the prince's words are very clear. If our family really lets the daughter of the Jiang family marry into the family, the end result will be the same."

"Master, I can neither advance nor retreat. I really have no other choice. If you don't help me, then I can only ask for your permission to cancel the engagement." Chang Sheng said directly
"You, Chang Sheng, are you threatening me?" Xue Yuan asked directly
"Sir, how dare I? Even if you give me the courage, I still wouldn't dare. I really have no other choice. After all, I'm going to die anyway, so I might as well die early."

"We have someone to take care of us on the way. If we delay this until later, who knows what will happen? I have never heard of a good ending for fighting with His Majesty for a woman."

"Master, I always ask myself, I have done nothing wrong to you. If you really want to do this, then I can't do anything about it. I hope you don't blame me." Chang Sheng said directly.
"You, forget it, just go back. I will find a way to arrange the marriage, but remember, don't act rashly before there is a result." Xue Yuan frowned and said
After hearing this, Chang Sheng naturally bowed hurriedly, then turned around and left immediately, fearing that Xue Yuan would go back on his word, which made Xue Yuan very helpless.

At this time, he knew that his previous idea would not work. After all, if King Linzi could threaten the Chang family, he could naturally threaten other families.

Under such circumstances, changing the marriage would result in the same outcome. He thought about it for a long time but couldn't figure it out, so he simply went to the palace and told the Queen Mother about it.
"What are you talking about? How could Jie'er do such a thing? How could he do it? How dare he do it?" the Queen Mother asked.
"Queen Mother, this is how it is. I don't know why, but the Chang family said so. If we ignore him, I'm afraid there will be disunity in the court in the future." Xue Yuan said
"Manage? How? Do you mean to ask me to withdraw my order?" the Queen Mother asked.
"My Queen Mother, at this point, I'm afraid this is the only way we can do this." Xue Yuan said directly
Are you crazy? Do you know what the consequences will be if you withdraw? Also, if you withdraw, do you still want Shu'er to be the queen?

"If you take a step back now, Jie'er will definitely push his luck. I know my son very well. If he can take one step forward, he will think of taking another step." said the Queen Mother
"But Queen Mother, if we don't withdraw, the consequences will be even more serious, right?" Xue Yuan said
"Humph, this is outrageous. I don't know where my son learned this despicable trick from. This is outrageous!" the Queen Mother said angrily.

"Queen Dowager, calm down, Queen Dowager, calm down. In the current situation, we still need to find a solution as soon as possible. If we take too long, I'm afraid..." Xue Yuan hesitated and said
"Do I need you to tell me this? Of course I know, but what about the solution? Do you have any solution?" How could anyone come up with a good solution in such a short time? "The Queen Mother said
"Queen Dowager, according to me, there is only one feasible solution now, and that is to marry Jiang Xuehui to someone who is not afraid of His Royal Highness Prince Linzi." Xue Yuandao
"What? Is there such a person in this world? Even if there is, can he still listen to you and me?" the Queen Mother asked
"Reporting to the Queen Mother, I don't know about other officials, but there is one person who has a good chance of success, for example, Your Majesty." Xue Yuan bowed and said
"What? Nonsense, absolutely nonsense! Are you going to make the two brothers become enemies because of a woman? If this gets out, it will be a huge joke!" The Queen Mother said angrily

"Queen Mother, this is the only solution we have now. Otherwise, we can only think of another solution. However, it is hard to say when we can come up with one." Xue Yuan said
"You, forget it, let's leave it at that for now. Go back first. When I have thought it through, I will send someone to call you." The Queen Mother waved her hand.
After hearing this, Xue Yuan realized that haste makes waste, so he bowed and left.

After he left, the Queen Mother sat on a chair, frowning and thinking about something. After an unknown amount of time, she called Huang Renli to her side and gave him instructions.

"What did you say? My mother wants to see me? Do you know what it is about?" Shen Lang asked with some doubt.

"Your Majesty, I don't know what exactly happened, but I heard that Duke Dingguo just left the palace." Wang Xinyi said respectfully.
"Oh? Duke Dingguo? I understand. Go tell Huang Renli that I'll be there soon as I'm ready." Shen Lang said seriously.

Not long after, Shen Lang left the imperial study. Although he had made preparations long ago, he was still shocked when he really heard what happened.

"Mother, what are you talking about? You want to choose a concubine for me? And one who has already been married to a minister? This is inappropriate. If this gets out, I will become a tyrant, right?"

"People in the world will say that I stole the minister's daughter-in-law. This is not okay. Absolutely not okay. Mother, other things are okay, but this is absolutely not okay." Shen Lang said directly.
After hearing these decisive words, the empress dowager was speechless. After all, she knew that this move would easily arouse criticism. Now that her own prince said so, she didn't know what to say for a while.

"Mother, I don't understand why you insist on withdrawing the imperial decree. This would be a big loss to the dignity of the royal family." Shen Lang continued.
"My son, how could I not know this? But your brother, who was instigated by someone, actually went to the minister's house to threaten him. What should I do?" the Queen Mother asked
"Mother, I think you might as well give Jiang Xuehui to my second brother. She's just a concubine anyway, how can she cause any trouble?" Shen Lang said
After hearing this, the Queen Mother didn't know what to say for a moment. Should she say that she caused all these troubles because she didn't want her beloved son to marry her?

"My son, you don't understand. Your brother is not suitable for that woman. If he marries her, he will definitely favor his concubine over his wife." The Queen Mother made an excuse.

"Mother, now that things have come to this, do you have any good ideas?" Shen Lang asked
Faced with her son's questions, she didn't know what to do for a moment. In fact, all this was done on purpose by Shen Lang.

After hearing what his queen mother said, he had already thought of a countermeasure. He knew his queen mother too well. His queen mother only had the Xue family in her heart.

Now this matter is also for the Xue family, so that the Xue family can have another empress dowager. I tried to stop her once back then, but she still didn't give up.

However, he really had not expected that his own mother would be so absurd as to force him to compete with the ministers for her daughter-in-law. This was simply too absurd.

In addition, the power of the Xue family is growing, so he naturally has to find a way to suppress it. Not to mention that he is not dead yet. Even if he really dies in the future, the world will always belong to the Shen family.

We can't let others take it away, so he definitely won't help this time.

At this time, the Queen Mother also knew that today's matter could not be done, so she said directly, "My son, I have not considered this matter well enough. I am sorry for wasting your time."

"Mother, please don't say that. It is only natural for me to pay my respects to you. Mother, if you have no other instructions, I will take my leave." Shen Lang said
After he finished speaking, he stood up and left. The Queen Mother didn't say anything when she saw this, because she didn't have time to think about this at the moment. What she had to think about now was what to do now.

Meanwhile, Xue Yuan was not idle either. He knew that His Majesty was unlikely to agree, so he had to think of another way. Don't mention it, he really thought of it, but now he was a little embarrassed. However, he still decided to speak out first to test the waters, so he called Cao Cheng into the study.

"Father, what did you say? Threatening the Chang family? This is obviously Yan Lin's idea. Only he would have such an irrelevant idea." Cao Cheng said directly
"Who said it wasn't? I think so too. Now this marriage must be cancelled. Although I have given the Queen Mother a heads-up, His Majesty may not agree to it." Xue Yuandao
"Yes, foster father, it's true that His Majesty is wary of the Yan family, but isn't it the same for our family? Some things just haven't happened yet."

"When the Yan family is gone, it will be our turn. Foster father, you asked me to come here today for more than just this matter, right? If you have something else, you can just say it directly." Cao Cheng said
Cheng'er, Cheng'er, you really are... Well, now that we've come to this point, I'll just say it straight. If His Majesty doesn't succeed, then we'll have to find another way.

"And the only solution your father can think of is you. Do you understand?" Xue Yuandao
"What? Godfather, what are you talking about? Me? What do you mean? You want me to marry Jiang Xuehui? This is not possible. This is absolutely not possible. Godfather, what about the princess?" Cao Cheng refused.
"Cheng'er, I know this matter is difficult for you, but at this point, this is the only solution we have, right? You don't have to worry about the princess, the Queen Mother will naturally go and talk to her."

"All I want to ask you now is what do you think and whether you are willing?" Xue Yuandao
"Foster father, now that things have come to this, I have no choice, right? Well, I will marry her, but the time cannot be before the princess and I." Cao Cheng said in a deep voice
"Cheng'er, I know I have wronged you this time. Don't worry, I will make the Queen Mother change her mind about you." Xue Yuan hurriedly spoke up when he heard this.
After hearing this, Cao Cheng didn't say anything, just nodded, bowed, and then left. Xue Yuan looked at his son's leaving back with a frown.

He didn't know if what he did today was right. From today on, he was afraid that all the years of raising him would be wasted.

However, if it can be exchanged for the Xue family and the position of future queen, it would be worth it.

At this time, Cao Cheng returned to his room with a calm expression. After entering the room, his face suddenly turned gloomy. It seemed that his adoptive father really didn't intend to pretend anymore.

This is blatantly asking himself to die. Jiang Xuehui is not ugly, on the contrary, she is quite pretty. If she had a different identity, he would definitely accept it with pleasure.

But this is not possible, because this woman is favored by the King of Linzi, and they are going to help the King of Linzi ascend to the throne in the future. At that time, snatching the woman from the emperor will be their own doing.

She didn't believe that her adoptive father didn't know about this, but he still did it, which meant that he had abandoned her.

It seems that I have to think about my escape route in advance. But now it seems a good thing. With the help of the Xue family, I have now become a marquis and will soon become a prince consort.

Thinking about it, I am not at a big disadvantage. I will just take the blame. After all, what I am thinking about now is only temporary. No one has said that Shen Jie will definitely ascend the throne.

At that time, as long as Shen Jie could not ascend the throne, he would not pose any threat to him. With this idea in mind, Cao Cheng suddenly felt a lot more relaxed.

But he did not relax for long. After all, he still had very important things to do. He got up and left the room, then quickly left the Duke's Mansion and went to the palace.

"Huh? Why are you here at this hour? The palace gate will be closed in another hour." Shen Zhiyi looked at him in surprise and asked

"I have to come. There is something I must tell you, otherwise I won't be able to sleep at night. Can we go to another place?" Cao Cheng said seriously.

Seeing Cao Cheng's expression, Shen Zhiyi knew that something must have happened, so she said nothing and turned around and left, and Cao Cheng naturally followed closely behind.

"Okay, this is my room. I've already told them not to get close to here. Just tell me what you want to say. What happened?" Shen Zhiyi said

"Madam, my godfather just asked me to come over. He told me that this is what happened." Cao Cheng said
"What? Let you take a concubine? And it's Jiang Xuehui? This, this? How can he do this? No, I'm going to find my mother now. I want to see what she says!" Shen Zhiyi became anxious when she heard this.

"Madam, please don't be angry. Sit down and listen to me. You can't go to the Queen Mother now because she doesn't know about this yet."

"If you go, wouldn't that be equivalent to telling the Queen Mother directly?" Cao Cheng advised.

"But, but what should we do? Are we just going to do nothing?" Shen Zhiyi asked anxiously
"Of course not, Madam. Although we cannot go to the Queen Mother about this matter, we can go to His Majesty and ask Him to stop it." Cao Cheng said directly
"Ah? But, but, how could my brother help? If the queen mother really said so, my brother would definitely not object." Shen Zhiyi said

"Madam, His Majesty will definitely agree. You can tell His Majesty that if he can stop this, then I will help him." Cao Cheng said with a serious face.

(End of this chapter)