Remarrying Chun Yuan

Chapter 358 Domineering

But no one could answer that question at the moment, because everything had to wait until after the negotiations.

Yuan Cuo set the tone for how the negotiations should be conducted and where to begin.

“If you’re not convinced, keep fighting until you are convinced.” Yuan Cuo said to Wei Tianxuan and the other court officials who were participating in the negotiations, while peeling oranges for Liu Yuechu.

Two days ago, Liu Yuechu sprained her ankle while sunbathing. Since then, Yuan Cuo has stopped attending court meetings and instead has everyone go to Liu's house.

Originally, everyone was dissatisfied.

These are all court officials, and the matter involves the diplomatic relations of three kingdoms. Such an important matter is being discussed at the Liu family's residence because of a woman? It's utterly absurd!

But after a day, they stopped complaining.

Because the tea is the best tea, and the food is from Huaiyuelou Restaurant, with screens providing privacy, even though it's not yet winter, the aroma and comfort are delightful under the warm sun and charcoal.

No one wants to go back to that poor place like the Court of State Ceremonial, where even burning charcoal requires careful calculation, let alone the hand warmers that maids come to replace every now and then.

"Your Majesty is still worried about this, fearing that Chu and Yan will become angry and continue fighting with Qi, in which case we may not be able to win." Wei Tianxuan said that this was Emperor Qi Xiao's concern, but it was also the concern of many court officials.

Chen Hongwu's victory can also be attributed to the underestimation of his strength by the states of Chu and Yan.

If they get serious and go all out, it might lead to a major defeat for the Three Kingdoms.

Moreover, besides these three countries, there are four other countries eyeing the market covetously, and even if they are far away, they cannot be ignored.

“If they had the ability to fight, they would have done so long ago. Otherwise, Governor-General Chen wouldn’t have delayed replying to the capital for so long.” Yuan Cuo had already calculated everything clearly. “The reason why Yan and Chu came so quickly is because they believed that Qi had not yet recovered from its cowardly state of being at the end of its power.”

“Look at you all, you get all nervous and sigh when it comes to negotiations. If you can’t muster your spirit, even if your troops and military strength improve, you’ll always be cowards and always be the last of the seven kingdoms.”

……

Yuan Cuo handed the orange to Liu Yuechu. If the court officials hadn't been there and Liu Yuechu hadn't refused, he would have fed it directly to her.

The court officials lowered their heads and remained silent, also drinking their tea in quiet contemplation.

They were used to the affectionate display between the two in front of them, but they were also secretly mocked by Yuan Cuo as cowards, which was a really infuriating feeling, yet no one dared to say anything.

"Even if Minister Yuan is convinced that Chu and Yan will not fight again, should we still prepare for another battle?" the official in charge of the Court of State Ceremonies asked tentatively. "I'm just worried that if they join forces, they might catch us off guard."

"This is a matter for the Ministry of War; it's none of our Honglu Temple's business," Yuan Cuo replied domineeringly.

"It's not that I'm worried, it's that the Ministry of War specifically came to the Court of State Ceremonial to discuss this matter. They want us to be diplomatic and not too forceful, because the Ministry of War hasn't finalized its next steps yet..." the official hurriedly said.

Yuan Cuo's face instantly turned cold. "Who said that?"

The official in charge said, "The Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War... I'm not making this up, that's exactly what he meant. Lord Feng was there at the time, and he heard it too."

Feng Zhongheng immediately nodded, "What the magistrate said is correct. I did hear that, and that is exactly what he meant."

Yuan Cuo nodded slightly and instructed Hou Lai beside him, "Go and tell Eunuch Cheng to replace this man. He is not worthy of being the Assistant Minister of War. Send him home to sell sweet potatoes!"

Hou Lai nodded with a grin.

The officials were speechless. Suddenly, the tea in their mouths no longer tasted sweet.

That was a junior official in the Ministry of War, a respectable fifth-rank official, yet Yuan Cuo dismissed him from his post with just a word.

Liu Yuechu was half asleep and half awake, but she heard the gist of it: "His Majesty asked the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of War to follow the direction of the proposal from the Court of State Ceremonies, but the Ministry of War turned around and asked the Court of State Ceremonies to do the same."

“What you say is true, Madam. He doesn’t even understand His Majesty’s requests. It’s best to deal with such a person this morning.” Yuan Cuo said with a smile, his reasoning quite sound.

The court officials were speechless. How did these two end up together? They're so adept at scheming against people, their teamwork is impeccable.

Wei Tianxuan had long been used to Yuan Cuo's ruthlessness.

It's just that it used to be done covertly, but now it's out in the open.

He had wondered if he would be just as arrogant if he were in Yuan Cuo's position.

The thought flashed through Wei Tianxuan's mind, and he immediately marked it with a big X. Because with his courage, he simply wasn't qualified for that position.

"Master, the Lady of Zhenning Marquis has passed away unexpectedly. Young Madam Lin is asking if you would like to give a funeral gift?" Xia Zhi asked in a low voice.

The young mistress of the Lin family is Lin Mengyu.

Now, Lu Bingyang not only manages half of the operations of the Liu family's horse farm, but also holds a position in the palace.

Liu Yuechu also heard about Guan's unexpected death, but it was all too sudden.

"Did she receive the message?"

"Yes, it was sent by the Marquis's residence."

Has our household received it?

"not yet."

"Then let's pretend we don't know. Every tael of silver saved is a tael of silver. With that money, we might as well buy a couple more sets of cotton-padded clothes for the soldiers in the southwest to keep warm." In Liu Yuechu's mind, there was no such thing as death being the most important thing.

In her past life, the Guan family had bullied and oppressed her. It would be better if she died sooner in this life to avoid a fate worse than death and to avoid even greater retribution.

Xia Zhi accepted the order and immediately went out to report back to Lin Mengyu.

Mentioning Wei Gongming of the Zhenning Marquis's Mansion at this time naturally brings to mind the Third Prince.

"I wonder if the Third Prince has already arrived in the west?" They were all curious about this.

The officials had initially guessed that Qin Muyan would not readily agree to go to the west to inherit the title of Prince Chun, which would essentially mean he would be adopted out.

But to my surprise, he agreed so readily, without even a final resistance.

Yuan Cuo smiled faintly, pretending not to hear.

After all, the court officials were unaware that Qin Muyan had disobeyed His Majesty's decree and refused to send troops to the southwest to help.

"They should have arrived by now. After all, Prince Chun was assassinated on the way, and his body cannot be left on the road for too long. It needs to be sent to the west overnight as an urgent request," Wei Tianxuan replied first.

However, even as he spoke, he kept looking at Yuan Cuo, and people still believed that he was Prince Chun's biological son, after all, Prince Chun had made a big show of recognizing his relatives in the capital...

But Yuan Cuo seemed not to hear, and didn't want to pay any attention to this matter.

The court officials no longer harbored any gossip, after all, the capital city was no longer as relaxed and comfortable as it used to be.

“Since Minister Yuan thinks we can negotiate forcefully, then let’s negotiate forcefully…” After what had just happened, they no longer objected to Yuan Cuo’s opinion.

At this moment, Qin Muyan looked in the bronze mirror and saw his own pale face. "How could I have fallen to this state?" He had long since lost his hysterical cursing and was left only with his own sorrow.