Reborn as Powerful Minister's Beloved-Chapter 513 - 492: Second Update

A guard quietly entered Chenyuan Hall, Prime Minister Lin was startled, the lament he was voicing broke off midway, and as everyone was listening intently, Prime Minister Lin immediately realized this guard was not from Chenyuan Hall. He felt somewhat relieved; the Crown Prince hadn’t been entirely inactive.

The guard quietly approached Zheng Congyuan from behind, blending in with the crowd of Qi Ling and Qi Zhu. Dressed identically, in the midst of chaotic minds, no one noticed in the moment.

"Your Highness——" The guard was unfamiliar, but had a very inconspicuous appearance and, blending into the crowd, he approached Zheng Congyuan and whispered.

Zheng Congyuan’s head stayed facing forward, not turning around. Behind him, Qi Ling and Qi Zhu scanned the surroundings, ensuring that no one was paying attention to them, and intentionally distanced themselves from others.

"The Southeast Border and Eastern Border are secured, the two aristocratic families supporting the Wen Family have been dealt with, only the Western Border remains..." the guard spoke very softly, as if waiting for a signal from Zheng Congyuan, who did not respond.

The guard hesitated, then continued speaking.

"As for Nanmen State, they intend to cooperate with us..." The envoy from Nanmen State had mentioned this three times, for very obvious reasons.

Nanmen State had also recently undergone turmoil; the new emperor had not yet ascended the throne, thus they naturally needed allies, and this was an excellent opportunity. Moreover, having spent time in Nanzheng State already, the new emperor of Nanmen State clearly knew who truly held power in Nanzheng State.

The guard was somewhat anxious, seeing this as a two-birds-one-stone good deal for both Nanzheng State and Nanmen State.

"It’s not necessary, we don’t need them," Zheng Congyuan said coldly, dismissing any notion that Nanmen Yu would use this as a bargaining chip.

Zheng Congyuan thought back to an incident he had encountered that day, wishing he could have killed Nanmen Yu outright. He had made a mistake initially by allowing Nanmen Yu to return to Nanmen.

If he could now deploy some troops, he would definitely resolve the issue with Nanmen State as well.

The guard paused briefly, yet did not speak further, but if Nanmen State cooperated with them, they would almost have no concerns about what might come. What if Nanmen State decided to cooperate with the Wen Family?

"Proceed as planned, and pay attention to any movements in the Northern Border," Zheng Congyuan spoke again, to which the guard nodded and quickly exited, blending into a corner of the hall and disappearing in a moment. The next instant, it seemed as if no guards had left Zheng Congyuan’s side.

Prime Minister Lin continued to lament, obviously pulling everyone’s attention. The guards from the Wen Family took their places surrounding Chenyuan Hall entirely, led by General Wen Han, the Wen Family’s commander in the Eastern Border with over three thousand troops, who now had the Imperial Palace completely surrounded.

"Why hasn’t he arrived yet?" Wen Han frowned, the plan had been for two days, and now it was already the second afternoon, yet there was still no sign of the Qiandao Temple Mage. Hadn’t things been settled already?

"General, Deputy General Lin has already gone to rendezvous with him, he should reach Zheng Capital by tomorrow morning," his trusted aide immediately replied.

...

"You disagree?" Nanmen Yu was slightly stunned, surprised and increasingly anxious, why the disagreement, why did Zheng Congyuan not agree?

"Prince, our people simply haven’t been able to connect with anyone of importance," Tan Zong sighed, but given the exceptional period, it was understandable that Zheng Congyuan’s men were being extremely cautious. But they had already made their identities known; did they need the prince himself to go in person?

Nanmen Yu raised an eyebrow, trying to interpret Zheng Congyuan’s motives. By his reasoning, Zheng Congyuan should be more receptive to the offer at this time. Was he waiting to put everyone in jeopardy before he was satisfied?

Especially now, Prince Duan’s Mansion was in a very awkward position. What if, by some mistake, swords and blades inadvertently hurt someone from Prince Duan’s Mansion?

As soon as Nanmen Yu thought of this, he simply couldn’t sit still.

He had fled to the Western Border when he had heard of Emperor Jingzhi’s demise. The news of the Wen Family deploying troops also reached him; he couldn’t return in time, so he sent his men directly to the border and immediately sought out Zheng Congyuan.

As long as Zheng Congyuan agreed to his terms, he would immediately mobilize his troops to Nanzheng State and first secure Prince Duan’s Mansion, not even allowing half a fly to enter.

But unexpectedly, Zheng Congyuan seemed totally uninterested in dealing with him.

Could it be that Zheng Congyuan didn’t realize the military power of the Wen Family was not to be underestimated? Indeed, it shouldn’t be underestimated. The Wen Family had long controlled the frontier forces of Nanzheng State, with about one hundred and fifty thousand troops across the Northern, Southern, Southeastern, and Eastern fronts, almost half of Nanzheng State’s military strength.

Moreover, Wen Jia held a steady power in court, and among the sixteen aristocratic gentry clans of Nanzheng State, four had generations of good relations with the Wen Family. These four clans also wielded similarly fearsome influence within Nanzheng State.

In Nanmen Yu’s eyes, the Zheng Imperial Family of Nanzheng State simply couldn’t compete with Wen Jia.

However, Nanmen Yu also knew that over the years, Zheng Congyuan had done quite a few things and had secretly nurtured some forces. As for the extent of these forces, Nanmen Yu did not know, but surely they were not strong enough to refuse his help.

"Go again—" Nanmen Yu steadied his heart, let it be, let it be. Perhaps he is just being cautious, fearing that at this time, he might already be colluding with the Wen Family. As long as he shows sincerity, Zheng Congyuan isn’t a fool. He will know that forming an alliance with him is the only way to stabilize the situation.

...

"Where did the Fourth Prince go?" Noble Consort Wen suddenly realized and turned pale, immediately looking at the Little Eunuch who was reporting below, "What are you doing? How can you lose sight of someone so important?"

"Please calm your anger, Your Highness. This servant didn’t even dare to blink at the palace gate. The Crown Prince, the Fourth Prince, he didn’t go out," the Little Eunuch trembled, knowing he couldn’t escape his deadly punishment, continuously kowtowing, "Your Highness, spare my life, spare my life."

"Quickly take people to search—" Noble Consort Wen couldn’t sit still. At this time, how could Fu Gong suddenly disappear when he had already agreed?

In less than half an hour, the entire Chenhe Hall had been turned upside down, and nothing was found.

Noble Consort Wen’s face turned pale, barely able to stand. How could Zheng Haoyuan disappear at this time? How could he be missing?

Noble Consort Wen realized the gravity of the situation and didn’t dare delay any further, immediately sending someone to call her brother.

"Your Highness, nothing is missing from Chenhe Hall; the Crown Prince is likely not trying to escape," Kang Ning immediately said, trying to steady his mistress’s nerves, "Moreover, there are no signs of a struggle in the palace, and Eunuch Cang Er is also missing. Perhaps, perhaps the Fourth Prince might be nearby?"

Noble Consort Wen immediately looked at Kang Ning.

"Then, don’t just stand there, go search—" Noble Consort Wen nodded as well, right, right, Fu Gong had already agreed. He must have understood and realized the significance of the matter.

Eunuch Kang Ning waved his hand, and a group of eunuchs and palace maids immediately began searching throughout the Imperial Palace. Noble Consort Wen, holding her forehead, sat in the principal seat of Chenhe Hall and sighed deeply after a long while.

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