Chapter 455: Chapter 254 Princess Consort Dai Passes Away_2
Prince Eight raised a playful smile at the corner of his mouth and said, "With Princess Consort Dai dead, now the real show begins."
Yu Hai laughed, "Finally, some drama to watch." Just as he finished, Yu Hai remembered another interesting matter, "Your Highness, I heard that the princess of Annan Country is causing a fuss to divorce Prince Zheng." Prince Zheng is Prince Three. Last year, Prince Three came of age and was titled Prince Zheng, with his fief in Jiaozhou. However, Prince Zheng hasn’t yet gone to his fief.
Shortly after being titled, Prince Zheng married Princess Zheng and a Consort. Because he had just married, and with Princess Zheng being pregnant, he hadn’t set off for Jiaozhou.
Concubine Shu and the Wang Family were dissatisfied with the fief allocated to Prince Zheng. They didn’t expect the emperor to send Prince Zheng to Jiaozhou. Jiaozhou is a very small and not affluent region, most importantly, it’s somewhat remote from the capital and closer to Shu territory.
In the eyes of Concubine Shu and the Wang Family, Jiaozhou was a desolate place. They couldn’t bear to let Prince Zheng go to such a poor place to suffer. Most crucially, Jiaozhou was too small to be of any real use.
Marquis An Yang and Concubine Shu pleaded earnestly with the emperor, hoping the emperor would allow Prince Zheng to stay in the capital for another two years. Initially, the emperor disagreed, but considering that Prince Dai was still in the capital, eventually consented to let Prince Zheng remain in the capital for two more years.
After Prince Zheng came of age and was titled, though he didn’t go to his fief, he began attending court. However, unlike Prince Dai, he was not assigned any real position. At court, he was merely a figurehead.
The emperor was displeased with Prince Zheng’s unseemly actions with the princess of Annan Country. The emperor scolded Prince Zheng as being improper and said he had brought disgrace to the Imperial Family.
Because of this incident, the emperor did not assign any duties to Prince Zheng.
In fact, before last year when Prince Three was titled, the emperor considered making him a Commandery Prince rather than a Prince. Later, under the persuasion of Prime Minister He and Grandmaster Liu, he changed his mind and titled Prince Three as a Prince.
Concubine Shu and Marquis An Yang also knew that the emperor was angry over the Annan Country princess issue, so they didn’t dare to seek a real position for Prince Zheng just yet.
Their plea to keep Prince Zheng in the capital was in hopes of securing him a position in the future. They believed once Prince Zheng’s child was born, the emperor would likely forgive him, at which point they could then work on getting him a position.
"The princess of Annan Country originally favored someone else, not the third Prince. She was coerced to marry him after falling victim to his deceit, naturally bearing resentment and displeasure towards him." Of course, back then, Prince Eight had secretly aided the third Prince, otherwise the third Prince wouldn’t have succeeded.
"Your Highness, whom did the princess of Annan Country actually favor, was it the emperor?" Yu Hai thought his guess was correct, "Indeed, being a concubine to the emperor is better than being a Consort to Prince Zheng."
"No, the one the princess of Annan Country had her eyes on was Prince Four."
"What?" Yu Hai was shocked, "Prince Four?"
Prince Eight nodded slightly, "Exactly, Prince Four."
Yu Hai gaped in disbelief, "How could it be Prince Four?"
Prince Eight mocked, "With that face of his, all women like him. It’s not surprising the princess of Annan Country fancied Prince Four."
"Prince Four isn’t as handsome as you, Your Highness..." Yu Hai realized his mistake immediately, shut his mouth, and knelt to beg Prince Eight’s forgiveness, "I deserve to die, I beg Your Highness to punish me."
Prince Eight wasn’t angry and gestured for Yu Hai to rise, "Get up."
Hearing that Prince Eight wasn’t angry, Yu Hai breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
He stood up and said, "Your Highness, since the princess of Annan Country likes Prince Four, we might as well manipulate this situation to our advantage."
Prince Eight asked, "How do we manipulate it?"
"Your Highness, in a few months, Prince Four is to be titled. If we don’t take action, perhaps the emperor will grant him a very good fief."
Prince Eight asked with interest, "Which province do you think Father will grant to Prince Four?"
Without any hesitation, Yu Hai replied, "Liangzhou."
"Why do you think it will be Liangzhou?"
"Liangzhou is one of the most important provinces, and it is rich in resources. The emperor would not trust such a significant province to Prince Five or Prince Seven," Yu Hai analyzed. "Moreover, in the past year or two, the emperor has favored Prince Four, so he will likely assign Liangzhou to him."
Hearing Yu Hai’s analysis, Prince Eight gave Yu Hai an appreciative look.
"Well said, Father will indeed assign Liangzhou to Prince Four."