Chapter 198: Chapter 197: Alliance

Zhu Cheng’s eyes lit up when he heard this; he felt that this plan indeed sounded feasible. If Lu Qing had already laid all the groundwork beforehand and this benefit was delivered right to his doorstep, it would be truly foolish of him to push it away and not cooperate.

After all, digging channels to bring water to Shuo Country would bring countless benefits without any harm. When it’s time to send grain over, one could also check in advance if the situation there is as Zhu Yu described.

If it was indeed true, then there would be no trap hidden within this affair that could deceive them.

At the same time, he was a bit surprised at how Zhu Yu boldly addressed her husband by his first name. Not only was her husband not an ordinary person, but he was the dignified Secondary First Rank Prince Xiaoyao.

One must know that in Shuo Country, even among common households, not every woman dares to address her husband by his first name.

More importantly, Lu Qing seemed not only unbothered by this but also appeared to relish it.

This made him can’t help but look a few more times at this daughter he’d never paid much attention to before.

He truly couldn’t understand how her mother, who was undeniably beautiful but timid, almost like a wooden figure, could give birth to such a daughter.

“Dear son-in-law, you must have gone through quite a lot for this matter, haven’t you?” Setting aside his stray thoughts for the moment, Zhu Cheng asked Lu Qing.

If resolving the canal issue was so easy, it wouldn’t have been dragged on for so many years. Lu Qing also wasn’t as prominent as Prince Yi, Lu Zhang. Zhu Cheng, after all these years, knew the difficulty behind achieving this matter.

What was assumed to be a marriage without any advantage suddenly turned beneficial within just a few months, quietly solving such a major issue for them.

“Since I am married to Zhu Yu, the Xiaoyao Royal family and Shuo Country are naturally in a mutually beneficial relationship,” Lu Qing replied with a faint smile.

Zhu Cheng nodded quickly.

Initially, he thought this son-in-law wasn’t reliable—having a bad reputation, and not in Emperor Jin’s favor. As long as he didn’t do anything ridiculous that would implicate Shuo Country in the future, it would have been good enough. Hence, he chose a pretty concubine’s daughter to marry off and deal with it.

The words Lu Qing said earlier were clearly a kind of warning to him.

It seems now that rumors are not entirely trustworthy, and he would need to reevaluate Lu Qing.

Zhu Cheng quickly made up his mind and was about to have a proper conversation with his “dear son-in-law” when the steward suddenly rushed in from outside.

“Milord…” The steward glanced at Zhu Cheng, then at Zhu Yu and Lu Qing, looking hesitant to speak.

“What’s gotten you to rush in so hastily? What’s happened?” Zhu Cheng knew that the usual steward wasn’t one to act rashly. For him to rush in so anxiously, something must have happened.

“Milord, Princess just sent someone to look for you, saying her heart palpitations flared up again and asked you to quickly go see her,” the steward replied awkwardly. “What do you think…?”

On hearing this, Zhu Cheng paused, then looked at Zhu Yu and Lu Qing: “Well… I’m not sure if Divine Doctor Yan is already resting. If not, could he come with me to take a look?”

“Divine Doctor Yan has an eccentric nature; he retires early and dislikes disturbances,” Lu Qing said coolly. “Since the steward said Princess Shuo’s palpitations have ’again’ flared up, it doesn’t seem to be the first time. It’s probably not an acute condition; better for everyone to rest early and call him over tomorrow morning.”

Zhu Cheng thought Lu Qing would immediately send someone to call Yan Daoxin back, but he didn’t offer any face at all, then glanced at Zhu Yu once more.

Zhu Yu ignored him and nodded to Lu Qing instead: “That’s fine. My mother usually retires early and will be up early in the morning to attend to Princess. Then having Yan Daoxin come by would be just right.”

“Alright, as Madam wishes,” Lu Qing nodded in agreement.

It seemed there was no room for discussion in this matter for Zhu Cheng. Without further delay, he mentioned resting early, planning to arrange matters for transporting grain first thing in the morning and left in a hurry.

As Zhu Cheng had just stepped out, barely enough time for Lu Qing to refill two cups of tea, Yan Daoxin drifted in silently from outside, like a ghost.

“I wondered why my ears were burning in the room; turns out someone was talking bad about me.” He drifted to the table and plopped down where Zhu Cheng just sat, “What do you mean eccentric nature? Can’t you say Divine Doctor Yan needs to meditate at night and shouldn’t be disturbed?”

“Oh?” Lu Qing squinted at him, “May I ask what skill Divine Doctor Yan is meditating on? The Heavenly Ear?”

Busted for eavesdropping, Yan Daoxin showed no embarrassment, chuckling: “It’s not that I intended to listen. My room is right next door. Your father-in-law does have a robust voice; difficult not to hear him speaking loudly when my hearing is quite acute.”

He then turned to Zhu Yu, asking puzzlingly: “Your father really is perplexing! On seeing him leave so hurriedly earlier, he seemed quite concerned about Princess Shuo. But when he was speaking to you earlier, he had an air of looking down on women. Someone like that shows special concern and importance to his wife, which is quite interesting!”

“It’s not that strange; my father values the Princess for a reason,” Zhu Yu shook her head. “Back then, the old Prince had many heirs, and the question of who qualified to succeed him was never settled. It wasn’t exactly a den of tigers and wolves, but close enough.

Father didn’t rise above his brothers through remarkable skill or talent, but because he married well and received strong support from his father-in-law’s family.

Princess Shuo’s maiden name is Pang, Yuzhen. Her family, the Pang Family, is a major family in Shuo Country with substantial influence.

They helped father ascend to the position of Prince Shuo. In the years since, leveraging their relationship as in-laws to the prince, their influence only grew stronger than before.”

She helplessly smiled and sighed lightly: “So, him valuing or caring for the Princess isn’t entirely accurate.

More precisely, what he truly values and cares for is the Pang Family that stands behind the Princess, her brothers in her maiden family, the leaders of the Pang household.

Considering the Pang Family’s favor, despite Pang Yuzhen’s particularly domineering nature over the years, unlike typical Shuo Country women in their deference to their husbands, father endures and concedes wherever possible.

After all, he and the Pang Family need each other, and nobody wishes to see the alliance break easily, which benefits nobody.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep