Chapter 43: Changing Hearts (3)
"Well, I don't want to beat around the bush. What's King Zhou's reply?"
"Regarding this, I have specially asked Prime Minister Zhang, the father of the princess, to come and discuss this with King Zhao—"
"And you?"
Zhao Ziheng's rhetorical question was indeed a good one. If he had asked Zhou Cheng directly, Zhou Cheng would have definitely refused.
"...I want to seek the Prime Minister's opinion!"
"oh!"
Zhao Ziheng responded lightly. It seemed that Zhou Cheng had escaped. How could he not know that Zhou Cheng also loved Yin Yin? At the same time, he also knew that Zhou Cheng was also helpless like himself, and could not make a decision easily because of his concerns . Otherwise, Zhou Cheng could have given him a direct answer at the beginning. Why drag it on until today?
"Let me answer the King of Zhao. Lord Yu wants my daughter to marry into the State of Zhao. I want to know what status the King of Zhao plans to give her."
"Of course the Queen!"
"Thank you, King Zhao, for thinking so highly of me!"
"Of course, since she is a princess and the daughter of the prime minister, how could I neglect her? Moreover, I have a special affection for her and will never allow anyone else to be with me. She is the only choice for my ideal wife, so who else can be my queen?!"
"I don't understand. When did the King of Zhao fall in love with my daughter? As far as I know, the only thing you know is that you helped my daughter. Didn't the King of Zhao already have a candidate for the Crown Princess, Shu Ji? Not long ago, you also appointed her as the Queen. Unfortunately, she died in the civil strife in Zhao not long ago. Now, it has only been less than a hundred days since the former Queen passed away, and you suddenly said you want to marry my daughter? Do you have a special liking for my daughter? I can't believe it easily. Or does the King of Zhao just want to use my daughter as a political sacrifice and propose a marriage?"
Zhao Ziheng did not answer Zhang Ren directly, but took a sip of tea first. If it were not for their current status and position, why would he have to endure it? Fortunately, Zhao Ziheng was mentally prepared to face various problems when he entered the palace, so he did not seem to be shaken.
After drinking tea, put the cup back on the coffee table.
"What the Prime Minister said is very true. On the surface, it does seem to be so. And in terms of timing, it is just as the Prime Minister said. He is using her as a political tool. Please forgive me for being frank. If I want to use her as a political tool, I think her importance should not be as good as that of the Princess Xin, the sister of the King of Zhou. If I have this idea, she will be more useful than the Princess. Please don't mind me. I am just making an analogy-"
It does sound unpleasant literally, but Zhang Ren and Zhou Cheng are not unreasonable people, so they can understand it.
"Well, please continue!"
Zhang Ren said.
"I did save Miss Ling. In fact, I have had a special feeling for her since then. Yes, I did have an engagement at that time, but not long after that, Miss Ling was framed for murdering your country's future Crown Princess and was forced to fall off a cliff. I got married the second year after that. On the day of my wedding, the Crown Princess was assassinated. Although the assassination failed, the Crown Princess fell into a coma. Not long after, I succeeded to the throne due to the sudden death of my father. At that time, in order to track down the murderer who assassinated the Crown Princess, we finally locked in Prince Jing, who was the most suspected, and later launched negotiations with your country in the "Parliament" because of this incident. As for what happened in the "Parliament" in Gray Valley, I think King Zhou should have informed the Prime Minister?"
Zhao Ziheng guessed correctly. After hearing his words, Zhang Ren and Zhou Cheng looked at each other at the same time. It was not difficult to guess that Zhang Ren was a famous minister of the contemporary era, and if Zhou Cheng was a wise monarch, he would certainly know who to tell and who not to tell, but he did not tell the whole truth.
"Then I wonder if the Prime Minister knows who the most suspected murderer of our country's Crown Princess was?"
Hearing this, Zhang Ren's heart was instinctively startled. Could it be... Zhang Ren subconsciously looked at Zhou Cheng, and Zhou Cheng also instinctively avoided him a little. It seemed that Zhang Ren's guess and uneasy premonition were correct.
"Does King Zhao mean to say that my daughter is the most likely suspect?"
"Um!"
I guessed it, but I just didn't want to accept it immediately. It was confirmed, and I didn't want to make Zhang Ren more worried. It was another attempt to murder the Crown Princess...
"But I never doubted her. Just like she was suspected of murdering our country's crown princess a few years ago, I also thought that she would never be the murderer."
Zhao Ziheng's absolute self-confidence shocked Zhang Ren and Zhou Cheng at the same time. The courage he exuded was as if he knew Yin Yin very well, or he had absolute trust in Yin Yin, which made Zhang Ren and Zhou Cheng shocked. Where did Zhao Ziheng's absolute trust come from?
"I believe the Prime Minister thinks so too, right? Would his own daughter really do such a thing? The Prime Minister should know better than anyone that she was framed. However, some people do not trust her at all and even force her off a cliff—"
Obviously, all these words of Zhao Ziheng were directed at Zhou Cheng. Zhou Cheng knew this but was powerless to refute it. Zhang Ren also knew this. He really had never believed that Yin Yin would do such a thing, but at that time, all the accusations were directed at Yin Yin, which made him powerless. He could only watch others slander his daughter. At that time, Zhang Ren was completely disappointed with the former King of Zhou and even Zhou Cheng. It was not that he loved his daughter too much, but that they did not investigate clearly at all and unanimously believed that Yin Yin was the murderer. Remembering that Yin Yin was framed as the murderer and fell off the cliff, Zhang Ren had no interest in the affairs of the government. Now, there was actually someone who trusted his daughter so much, which made Zhang Ren somewhat relieved, but more shocked, because this person could be Zhao Ziheng, the king of Zhao State, who was far away? This made him unbelievable...
