Chapter 331: Departure
After the princes finished speaking, their eyes looked expectantly at the Jin Kingdom Emperor.
The Jin Kingdom Emperor’s face darkened. He snorted coldly in his heart: *Hmph, you guys wish! If every single one of you runs off to the Chu State, then who will handle the affairs of the state?*
*Are you trying to work your old father to death?*
*Even freeloading isn’t done like this!*
He said with a stern face: “Your mother has just conceived and needs to rest. If all of you run off to escort your sister, who will handle the affairs of the state?”
The Fifth Prince was a simple and straightforward person. He said with a matter-of-fact expression: “Father Emperor, Mother has conceived and needs to rest, not you. You can handle the affairs of the state, can’t you? Besides, Father Emperor is the ruler of the country. If you don’t handle the affairs of the state, what do you handle? Mother needs to rest, isn’t this perfect? You can handle more state affairs without disturbing Mother’s rest!”
The princes above the Fifth Prince were immediately relieved!
*With the Fifth Imperial Brother saying this, the one who has to stay behind must be him!*
*See, being good to the Imperial Brother usually pays off. I’ve spoiled the Imperial Brother so much that he dares to be disrespectful to Father Emperor.*
The Jin Kingdom Emperor was so angry that his beard bristled. What kind of heartless and ungrateful words were those coming from Fifth?
*Hmph, none of these brats are good. They all know how to shirk their responsibilities, love good food and fun, but just don’t like to work.*
He was too lazy to listen to the unfilial sons shirking their responsibilities anymore: “Fifth, you stay behind to assist me in handling the affairs of the state.”
The Fifth Prince was dumbfounded: “Father Emperor, why me?”
*There are four older brothers above me, why should the affairs of the state fall on my head?*
The Jin Kingdom Emperor stared at the Fifth Prince: “What? Do you think the affairs of the state should be handled by me alone, and you, as my son, should not be involved?”
The Fifth Prince widened his eyes. *That’s not what I meant!*
But seeing that the tyrant was about to throw the throne at him and make him review memorials for the rest of his life if he said another word, he lowered his head and said dejectedly: “…No, this son should share a tiny, tiny, tiny bit of Father Emperor’s worries! Just a tiny, tiny, tiny bit…, not too much. This son is still growing, too much work will stunt my growth.”
The Jin Kingdom Emperor laughed in anger: “Very well, then you stay behind to handle the affairs of the state.”
*Who cares about a tiny bit!*
*But Fifth is still young. I’ve always had him train outside. He lacks experience in handling state affairs. When it comes to experience, the Crown Prince is still the most experienced. After all, I’ve been training him all these years. I can abdicate and let the Crown Prince ascend the throne now.*
The Jin Kingdom Emperor’s gaze fell on the Crown Prince. He still had to let the Crown Prince stay and guide Fifth.
The Crown Prince knew what the Jin Kingdom Emperor was thinking as soon as he saw his gaze. After being the Crown Prince for so many years and handling so many state affairs, he was already tired of it. He also wanted to take this opportunity to take the Crown Princess out for a walk! He immediately lowered his head and said respectfully: “Father Emperor, thanks to your grace, this son has become the Crown Prince of the Jin Kingdom and has a somewhat noble status. If I can personally escort my Imperial Sister to the Chu State, it will be enough to let the people of Chu see how much we value our Imperial Sister. Moreover, this son feels that the feng shui of the Chu State is good. Younger Sister Xingnong was born in the Chu State. This son wants to take the Crown Princess there for a walk and see if we can have a well-behaved daughter. Furthermore, it is more convenient for the Crown Princess, as a female family member, to enter the Chu palace to visit Imperial Sister than this son.”
Chu Tiankuo looked up at the sky with a disapproving expression.
The Jin Kingdom Emperor’s heart stirred. *Speaking of which, the Chu State is known for its beautiful women. The Chu royal family has always had a lot of princesses and princesses consort. Could it be that the feng shui of the Chu State favors women over men? It must be!*
*How could such a feng shui treasure land be occupied by the Chu State!*
*If it weren’t for that girl Xingnong marrying over there, I really want to destroy it and take it for myself!*
The Jin Kingdom Emperor nodded: “Hmm, Eldest is right. Then you and the Crown Princess will escort your Imperial Sister to the Chu State.”
*It would be best if you bring me back a granddaughter when you return.*
*There are still too few princesses in the family. The yin is too weak!*
The Crown Prince breathed a sigh of relief: “This son obeys the decree!”
The Jin Kingdom Emperor looked at the Second Prince.
The Second Prince immediately cupped his hands and said: “Father Emperor, to show our Jin Kingdom’s regard for Imperial Sister, the more princes go to escort her, the better! Father Emperor, let’s settle this matter!”
The Third Prince quickly nodded: “Eldest Imperial Brother and Second Imperial Brother are right. When the people of Chu see us, they will surely think: which princess has so many princes personally escorting her upon marriage? It seems that this princess consort is very favored in the Jin Kingdom. The people of Chu will have to think twice before they want to mistreat Imperial Sister!”
Chu Tiankuo turned his head away, his lips twitching.
The Fourth Prince nodded vigorously: “That’s right! That’s right!”
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The Jin Kingdom Emperor thought for a moment. *If everyone goes, who will review the memorials? If I have to rely on myself to go through so many memorials, I won’t have time to cultivate my relationship with the little princess in the empress’s belly.* He said: “Second and Fifth stay behind! Eldest, Third, and Fourth will escort your Imperial Sister to the Chu State together.”
The three of them hurriedly said: “We obey the decree!”
The Second Prince immediately protested: “Father Emperor…”
The Jin Kingdom Emperor waved his hand: “Alright, your eloquence is not good, your martial arts are not good, and you haven’t married a consort yet, you can’t enter the inner palace, what are you going there for?”
The Second Prince: “…”
Chu Tiankuo looked at the harmonious father and sons, brothers, and couldn’t help but sigh in his heart, *No wonder the Jin Kingdom has been able to steadily hold the position of the head of the four great powers.*
~
The next day, when the sky was just turning light, the palace gate was already filled with civil and military officials who came to see them off, and the streets were filled with commoners seeing off the wedding procession.
Outside the palace gate, Xingnong and Chu Tiankuo knelt on the cushions prepared by the palace maids: “This subject/son bids farewell to Father Emperor/Mother Empress!”
Shen Ruoxi, who had not felt much sorrow at parting yesterday, now saw that Xingnong was about to leave, her eyes reddened. She held back her tears and pulled Xingnong up, holding her hand and saying reluctantly: “Get up! Remember to send a message back to report your safety every time you reach a place along the way, so that your mother can be at ease. Take good care of yourself and your grandmother!”
Xingnong nodded: “Don’t worry, Mother, I will. I will bring Grandmother and Xingqing, Xinghui to the capital then.”
Shen Ruoxi nodded, then took Chu Tiankuo’s hand, placed Xingnong’s hand on his, and said to Chu Tiankuo: “Tiankuo, I’ll entrust Xingnong to you. This child has suffered a lot since she was a child, and this good life hasn’t lasted long before she’s getting married. I’ll have to trouble you to take good care of her in the future!”
Seeing that Shen Ruoxi was so worried, the Jin Kingdom Emperor hurriedly said: “Don’t worry, if he dares to bully Xingnong, I will destroy him!”
Shen Ruoxi glared at the Jin Kingdom Emperor. *Can’t you speak properly?*
However, after the Jin Kingdom Emperor said this, her sorrow at parting did lessen a bit.
Chu Tiankuo pulled Xingnong closer and said solemnly: “Don’t worry, Mother Empress, I will not fail your trust! I will definitely treat Xingnong well.”
The Jin Kingdom Emperor was worried that Shen Ruoxi would be sad because of her reluctance to part with Xingnong and it would affect the child in her womb, so he said: “It’s getting late! Let’s set off! Otherwise, we won’t be able to reach the post station before dark.”
Shen Ruoxi immediately said: “Yes, let’s set off!”
So Xingnong and Chu Tiankuo bowed to the two of them again and boarded the carriage.
Then, the members of the wedding procession boarded their carriages and horses. After everyone was ready, the ritual officer announced loudly: “Depart!”
As the wheels of the carriages started to turn, all the civil and military officials knelt down: “Respectfully sending off Princess Xingnong!”
The carriages proceeded along the way, and the commoners on both sides of the street and the guards on the street all knelt down: “Respectfully sending off Princess Xingnong!”
Shen Ruoxi and the Jin Kingdom Emperor watched the grand wedding procession slowly leave the city until they could no longer see it.
