Everything starts from Menghualu

Chapter 422 Self-defeating
"What? Help him? You, you said you helped him? Are you crazy?" Shen Zhiyi asked in surprise.
"Madam, of course I'm not crazy. I just want to help him. Madam, you should know what my adoptive father and the Queen Mother are planning, right?" Cao Cheng said
"Of course I know this. My brother is in poor health and has no son. So my mother has always wanted my second brother to become the next emperor."

"Although I don't like this kind of thing, but this is also very normal. My brother's health is really not good. If you help him now? Then what?" Shen Zhiyi said worriedly

"Madam, since we are husband and wife, I might as well be more straightforward. What do you think this marriage means? Do you really think it's as simple as letting me take a concubine?"

"Madam, don't forget that Jiang Xuehui is the sweetheart of King Linzi. What do you think King Linzi will do to me after he ascends the throne if I marry Jiang Xuehui?"

"So this time, my godfather is not asking me to take a concubine, but to die. If I really take a concubine, I will have no other choice." Cao Cheng said
"Well, I understand. The palace gate will be closed soon. You should go back quickly. I will go find my brother. Come back tomorrow and I will tell you the result." Shen Zhiyi said directly.

"Okay, I'll leave first, ma'am. I'll trouble you with these." Cao Cheng said
"You are not allowed to say such things. You are my consort, my husband. You and I are husband and wife. Moreover, I am involved in this matter. How can I not care?" Shen Zhiyi said

"Okay, okay, Madam, I was wrong. I won't say anything more, okay? I'm leaving first and will come to see you tomorrow." After Cao Cheng finished speaking, he turned and left.

After he left, Shen Zhiyi stood up and went towards the imperial study, and soon arrived there.

"Zhiyi, why are you here today? Have you run into trouble again?" Shen Lang asked
"Brother, look at what you said. Can't I come to see you if I'm fine?" Shen Zhiyi said

"Oh? Really? Well then, now that you have read it, can you leave now? After all, I still have a lot of memorials to read." Shen Lang said with a smile

"Oh, my brother, you are teasing me again. I said, is it not okay for me to say it? This is what happened. My husband came here just now and he told me." Shen Zhiyi said directly

"Hmm? Jiang Xuehui? It seems that the Queen Mother still refuses to give up." Shen Lang said with a smile

"Brother, what do you think I should do? I haven't even married my husband yet, but they are already planning to give him a concubine. Why is my life so miserable?" Shen Zhiyi said

"Alright, alright, stop pretending. Tell me, what exactly do you want me to do? I'm telling you in advance, don't even think about trying to persuade the Queen Mother to take back her decision. It's impossible." Shen Lang said
"Oh, my brother, don't be so absolute. I didn't ask you for help in vain. Your brother-in-law said that if you can prevent the queen mother from issuing an order, he will help you." Shen Zhiyi said coquettishly

"Hmm? Zhiyi, you didn't lie to me, did you? No, it should be you who was deceived. Do you believe such words? Jiang Xuehui is quite pretty, is he really not moved at all?"

"Besides, he is my uncle's adopted son. Would he abandon my uncle to help me? Silly girl, wake up. How is this possible?" Shen Lang said directly.
"How can it be impossible? I think it is very possible. Brother, I know what the Queen Mother is going to do now."

"This Jiang Xuehui is the girl that my second brother has been dreaming about day and night. If my prince consort marries her, he will have a hard time living happily ever after, so of course he can't marry her." Shen Zhiyi said

"Okay, I'll take what Tan said as true. Then how can I be sure that he really wants to help me and not use me? So don't say anything. I won't help you." Shen Lang said
"Oh, my brother, will you help me or not? If you don't help me, then I won't leave. I will pester you every day until you agree to help me." Shen Zhiyi said

"Silly girl, do you understand? I will never help you, because only when your husband marries Jiang Xuehui can he completely break away from that side."

"Do you think he will have any other choice besides me? How can I help him at this time? I wish he would marry Jiang Xuehui, do you understand, silly girl?" Shen Lang said helplessly.

"Royal brother, how could you do this? People came to you for help with good intentions, and you said that? I will never talk to you again." After Shen Zhiyi finished speaking, tears immediately fell.

"You, forget it, I promise you, can I promise you? But we have agreed in advance that I can only help you talk to the Queen Mother once, whether it succeeds or not, I will not care." Shen Lang said
"Okay, brother, just agree to it. I know you are the best to me." Shen Zhiyi said

"You, I really can't do anything about you. Okay, go back now. I will go and talk to my mother tomorrow. Go back quickly." Shen Lang said helplessly.

After hearing this, Shen Zhiyi naturally turned around and left in a hurry. On the way back, she was very happy, but she didn't know that Shen Lang's brows were tightly furrowed at this time.

At this moment, Shen Lang was hesitating whether to tell his mother. Because no matter how he looked at it, success would be beneficial to him, so from his heart, he didn't want to stop it.

However, he had to maintain the relationship with his sister. It was not because of his deep brotherly love, but because the greatest benefit he could get after the success of this matter was Cao Cheng's loyalty.

And it was Cao Cheng who proposed to his sister in public, which shows that he still values ​​his sister very much in his heart, so his sister's thoughts are particularly important at this time.

He wanted to make this happen, but he couldn't let his sister become alienated from him, so he was in such a dilemma at this time. Shen Zhiyi didn't know about this.

At this time, Shen Zhiyi was telling her good friend about what happened.

"Ningning, do you know? He is really nice. Do you know what he said to me today? He said to me, Ningning, do you think he is nice?" Shen Zhiyi said with a smile

"Your Highness, what did you say? Duke Dingguo wants to marry my sister to Marquis Dingyuan as his concubine?" Jiang Xuening asked

"Oh, it doesn't matter. It won't work anyway. I'm telling you, Ningning, my brother has already promised me that he will go see the Queen Mother tomorrow. This won't work." Shen Zhiyi continued.

Compared to Shen Zhiyi's optimism, Jiang Xuening didn't think so, because no matter how you look at it, His Majesty would not help, or really help.

After all, anyone with a discerning eye can see that this matter would be of great benefit to His Majesty, and it is impossible for His Majesty not to understand it. So, if he says he wants to help now, it is probably just to appease his own sister.

But she couldn't say it now. After all, if she said it, then according to His Highness's temper, he would definitely go directly to the imperial study. She didn't know what the princess would do at that time, but she would definitely be dead, so she couldn't say it even if she was beaten to death. However, although she couldn't say it openly, it was still okay to say it a little in advance, so she said, "Your Highness, do you think the Queen Mother will really give in?"

"Hmm? This, this, seems really hard to say, but no matter what, there is still a chance now, right? So Ningning, why don't you be happy?" Shen Zhiyi said with a smile

Jiang Xuening was stunned when she heard this. She thought the princess didn't understand, but she didn't expect that the princess knew everything. It seemed that she had underestimated Her Highness.

"Yes, Your Highness, you are right. Why don't you be happy for a while?" Jiang Xue Ning said

"Okay, Ningning, you go back first, and don't worry about your sister. My brother is going to see the queen mother soon, and no accidents can happen at this time." Shen Zhiyi said

When Jiang Xuening heard this, she knew exactly what the princess meant, so she nodded.

Watching Jiang Xuening's departing back, the smile on Shen Zhiyi's face faded. For her, as long as there was hope, she would not give up, and she did not want to listen to other opinions.

This is her. Others may think that she is willful and capricious, but she doesn’t care. She doesn’t care at all. She doesn’t care about other people’s opinions as long as she is happy.

At this time, Jiang Xue Ning had returned to her room. In fact, she really wanted to see Xie Wei, but it was too late and she couldn't go out, so she could only endure it.

Time quickly came to the next day. After the morning court was over, Shen Lang went to clean up Wang Cining Palace. At this time, Xue Yuan had already talked to the Queen Mother.

"What did you say? Let Cao Cheng take a concubine? Are you crazy? Don't you know that he is Zhiyi's consort? And they haven't gotten married yet."

"You want him to take a concubine now? And I have to issue an order myself? What do you want to do?" the Queen Mother said
"Queen Mother, there is nothing we can do about this. After all, apart from my adopted son, I, the Lion, cannot think of any other suitable candidate."

"After all, since His Royal Highness Prince Linzi can threaten the Chang family, he can threaten other people. After thinking about it, I think only Cheng'er is not afraid of these." Xue Yuan said in a deep voice
"Hmph, that sounds nice, but why don't you let your own son go?" the Queen Mother said directly
"Queen Mother, if Ye'er is allowed to go, what will happen in the future?" Xue Yuan said
"You, forget it, you go back first. I need to think about this matter carefully." said the Queen Mother
Xue Yuan was about to say something when he heard Huang Renli say outside, "Your Majesty has arrived."

After hearing this, Xue Yuan could only swallow his words and saluted Shen Lang.

"Oh, uncle is here too. It seems I came at the wrong time." Shen Lang said with a smile

"Well, Your Majesty, you are joking. I came at the wrong time. I will take my leave now." Xue Yuan said
"Uncle, please stay. You can go back later. Actually, what I want to talk about today is also related to you, uncle. Last night, Zhiyi came to see me and told me."

"I want to ask you now, uncle, is what that girl said true?" Shen Lang asked directly

"Your Majesty, this, this, I do have this intention. After all, this matter must be resolved now. If it is delayed like this, I am afraid..." Xue Yuandao
"Haha, come to think of it, my second brother is really a fool. He is about to become the crown prince, why is he still so unmotivated?"

"How can I feel at ease if he threatens the ministers for a woman? How can I feel at ease handing over the government to him?" Shen Lang said directly.
After hearing this, the Queen Mother and Xue Yuan immediately understood that this person came here to take advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble, but even though they knew it, they had no solution.

After all, they were caught in evidence this time, and even if they wanted to help, there was nothing they could do.

"Yes, Your Majesty, you are absolutely right. His Royal Highness Prince Linzi is indeed not suitable to be the crown prince at this moment. That is why I want the Queen Mother to marry the girl to my adopted son." Xue Yuan bowed and said
"Hey, uncle, no matter what, Cao Cheng is still the emperor's consort. He hasn't even officially entered the palace yet, but he's already granted a concubine. How will the royal family maintain its dignity if this gets out to others?"

"Anyway, I'm just worried that my second brother will cause trouble. Why don't you just promise Jiang Xuehui to your cousin? Do you think my second brother dares to go to your house and cause trouble?" Shen Lang said with a smile.

"Well, Your Majesty, this is not appropriate. After all, Ye'er doesn't have a marriage contract yet. If you give him a concubine now, then his future marriage will be in jeopardy." Xue Yuan hurriedly said
"Your uncle is right, my son. It is indeed not appropriate to marry Jiang Xuehui to Ye'er. It is better to marry her to Cao Cheng. Although it is a bit unfair to Zhiyi, we have no choice but to let her do so for the sake of the country." said the Queen Mother
When Shen Lang heard that even the country and the people were brought up, he felt amused, but he naturally agreed directly.

After all, from his heart, he also supports this matter, and for him, this is already the best result.

Meanwhile, Shen Zhiyi had been distracted the entire morning and had no intention of listening to the class. After Xie Wei reminded her twice, she stopped talking.

After all, she is a princess, and sometimes she cannot behave like other people. After class, Shen Zhiyi got up and left, heading towards the imperial study.

On Xie Wei's side, he called Jiang Xuening over to question her.

"Tell me, what happened to your Highness? Why do you look like this today?" Xie Wei said
"Sir, don't ask me this. You should ask His Highness directly. How would I know if you ask me?" Jiang Xuening said

"Ning Er, don't be so playful with me. I'll ask you one last time, what happened to His Highness?" Xie Wei said
"Oh, okay, okay. I said, is that not okay? Anyway, it should be fine now. This is what happened. Last night, His Highness suddenly told me..."

"That's how it is. You can't blame me for not telling you about it. It was His Highness who told me to do it. I didn't even tell my sister." Jiang Xue Ning said

"Hmm? Is that so? In other words, His Majesty should be in the Cining Palace now, and if nothing unexpected happens, Duke Dingguo is also here? Interesting, I don't know what the result will be." Xie Wei said to himself
"Sir, sir? What did you say? Speak louder, I didn't hear anything. You can't do this. I've already told you, you have to tell me." Jiang Xue Ning asked

(End of this chapter)