ch4 : the first princess
"Jiao Ren Guo Kuo", ruler of the state of Jiao and the first military ally of Imperial Jin, and also...husband of the First Princess Jin Rong, or supposedly called...my daughter... "
These were Ming's thoughts as he rushed to the palace of the First Princess, who had returned to her homeland after a long absence, after he had hurriedly ended the meeting with the ministers and decided to go to her to inquire about the information he had heard from the guard.
Ming stands in front of the princess's room while waiting to announce his entry
"The Sun of the Empire and the Dragon of the Jin Dynasty enter the pavilion of His Majesty the First Princess."
Ming enters the princess's room with dignity and prestige. He steps forward and stands in front of a beautiful young woman who appears to be in her early thirties. She has long, silky black hair and green eyes, with pale skin with pink lips . She sits at a tea table with dignity and pride . And when she noticed him entering her room she looked at hes father with a look filled with longing and nostalgia.
That was before she noticed the situation and got up quickly and bowed before him with respect
"This daughter salutes her the emperor , His Majesty the Imperial Father, and prays for his long life and good health."
"You can raise your head now. How have you been, the first princess?"
" " I have been fine, Your Majesty the Emperor... Just having..... Small problems "
"Glad to hear your okay, so no tell me , What's up with your sudden return? And what about the information I heard...is it true?
There was silence for a while before Jin Rong sighed softly and turned to her father with a pleading face .
"Father, is this daughter allowed to be honest?... In fact... my husband the Jiao's kingdom ruler ..got killed on the battlefield, and there was chaos in the palace because of that... and..."
His eyes narrowed angrily, then he said firmly
"There is no doubt that his brothers and his ministers were all busy with the struggle for power, and it would not be surprising even if you told me that one of them was the one who betrayed him and was involved in his death on the battlefield."
"Huh… You never fail to amaze me with your intelligence, Your Majesty."
"I don't think that you came to help, my smart daughter knows that our empire does not have the right to interfere in the affairs of other countries, even if it is a country that you were once her queen ."
The first princess smiled bitterly then looked down with a Sade expression before looking again at her father :
" Of course I Kno , I am not asking for something like this, all I want to ask for is especially safety, and I know that it is inappropriate for a woman to leave her husband's house...but I do not want to risk having my children stay close to their father's killer.
"I can understand that, but... I bet the ministers will have a different opinion, and by the way... where are my grandchildren and why can't I see them?"
(I remember that the first princess had three sons. History did not mention much about the two younger children, but the eldest son was supposed to be the heir to the throne and he was a brilliant child.) Ming thought to himself before saying
"I remember I had a brilliant young man as a grandson. How is he?"
The princess flinched for a moment before saying regretfully
"Actually... I left my son, Prince Jiao Tenjin, in the Jiao Kingdom to defend his throne... As for the two young princes, I brought them with me."
"You left him?!…You left him in the enemies' den?…Aren't you afraid for him?"
"There is nothing I can do. He has and refused to come with me, and I cannot force him. He is right. He must stay and defend his right."
Emperor Ming agreed with her words and then started thinking to himself:
(The First Princess's situation seems critical. Of course, I cannot leave her like this at the height of her crisis, but I must convince the fox ministers, as they will most likely not agree to keep her in the palace after she has become the target of the Jiao family's machinations, and has also lost her political status as the king's wife.)
While Ming was immersed in their thoughts, he raised his head to look at the princess, to notice how she was giving orders to her maids, how she was organizing their roles and tasks, and how she was speaking with firmness and dignity, indicating to them how to arrange her belongings that she had brought from the palace in Jiao, as well as instructions on how to manage her Property and jewellery, and how to register property.
Ming looked at it for a few seconds before a new idea flashed into his head. He looked at his daughter with a sly smile, then leaned back further on his seat and spoke arrogantly.
"My daughter... You look like a person who is used to managing servants and property... right?
The princess paused for a few seconds to stare at him, then answered in confusion:
"Well ..od course..... I was King Jiao's only wife and therefore I was responsible for managing the services and staff of the palace..."
"Well...and do you know, my dear?...This father of yours is having some problems with the ministers."
Her curiosity was picked by this sentence as she looked at him in waiting.
"What's the matter, Your Majesty?"
"As you know, Princess, the management of the Royal Palace has always been under the authority of the Empress...your mother...and since the death of the Empress, the management condition of the palace has been bad, and it is delayed due to some unpleasant things that happened recently, making the ministers pressuring me to appoint a New Empress "
The princess nodded in agreement and then was taken to her parent
"That is true, Your Majesty the Emperor, but appointing an empress from among your concubines will destabilise the political balance, and a someone from a noble family will put you in a difficult situation with the political factions...so..."
"Exactly, that's why this Emperor has a proposal for you."
(The princess's face changed when she understood what the Emperor was aiming at. She lowered her head and narrowed her eyes.)
"Your Majesty the Emperor… you don't mean…"
"First Princess Jin Rong, I want you to take over the role of your late mother, the Empress, in looking after and managing the Imperial Palace."
"I am grateful for your kindness, Your Majesty, but...you know that this is difficult for me...my current position in the palace without any authority...then the concubines, the ministers, and the distance of the political magnates, it is impossible for them to agree with this decision."
" I am perfectly aware of this truth princess, but you must think about what this position will benefit you, so make a good choice, for you will gain a refuge and a great home, and soon you will gain power and wisdom, which will guarantee your life and the lives of your children at the same level before their father dies... And ....., about the ministers and the noble families ,I am the emperor and my word is above them all."
"...These are certainly many tempting advantages, Your Majesty
...But will I be able to perform the important tasks...gain the loyalty of servants...control the spending of the concubines and handle the imperial banquets...all of this requires strength and political presence...so how?" for me ...? ".
"And this is your job... Nothing in this world is taken easily. Rather, you must be happy and tired for it... Also, I do not doubt your abilities, so accept my sympathy with open arms, and protect your place in this palace."
With these inspiring words, the first princess bowed on her knee before the Emperor
"This daughter thanks the Imperial Father for his great kindness and generosity and occupies the position with gratitude."
"Good...I will now leave you to organize your affairs, and I will send the appointment order after discussing with the ministers."
Ming then left the Princess's room leaving her knees as a sign of respect and gratitude.
(Wonderful! With this, I has evaded the pressure of the ministers to find an empress, and all I have to do now is contrive an excuse to appoint her. You are clever, Ming Xi.)
After Ming leaves the princess's suite, he heads to his suite. While he was walking in the corridor leading to him, he decided to rest a little in the Imperial Garden, as the Imperial Palace Garden is one of the most beautiful gardens known on the continent due to its stunning beauty, decorated with the most beautiful and rarest flowers with great care every day...
He enters the garden and sits on one of the chairs. While he is sitting, he notices a young man with blond hair, blue eyes, and skin as white as jade, wearing a luxurious robe, to feel some kind of familiarity. This sight was not strange to him.
Emperor: 'Who is this person?' I'm almost sure I know him! Since he is walking around comfortably in the garden, this means that he is one of the princes. The only people who are allowed to walk around here are the princes and some senior ministers and services. However, he looks young, not to mention his expensive robe, which indicates that he is one of my sons."
Then the old servant Yuung approached him and told him: "This is the son of Your Majesty, the Sixth Prince"
The idea of the emperor in himself: (As I expected, he is one of my sons, but...wait a minute. Is it possible that he is the sixth prince?!! I had difficulty remembering him. The record has not been narrated much in history, gradually a few times.)
Ming contemplates the sight of the young man sitting peacefully in the garden, petting the animals and playing the flute delicately, the details mentioned in history entered the Sixth Prince "Jin Liao", one of the most beautiful faces that history remembers. He was known for his calm and peace-loving personality. He was completely mobile and not interested in power. He lived as a simple person in the space granted to him by the Emperor, and nothing was mentioned about his involvement in Any political matters, war, or even economics.
Ming looked at him with warm eyes before waving to him greetingly and then saying to him:
"Don't get up, Prince. You can keep siting and playing ."
He left immediately after saying these words , and while heading his room he was thinking:
'The information about the sixth prince predicts that he did not really stand out, as the reason for his prominence was due to his appearance, as he completely inherited the beauty of his mother, but...other than that, there were many legends about him that were recognized as rumors by this entire era, but none of them were confirmed. A young and beautiful prince.It is difficult to ship him with someone, most females and into solid masculine men .'
He massages his chin while thinking deeply. He sighs regretfully as he remembers his grandmother's teachings about how important patience and analysis are in this kind of thing. Young people are always hasty. That's why she is better than him, because bringing people together is what grandmothers do.
he smiles at the memories that flayed to his head just before entering his office to do his work .
while he is on his word , a maid enters bringing some tea and snacks, he wave his hand to refuse , so she leaves with the plate while he completes the work, as he must prepare a plan to trick the ministers into appointing the first princess.
Two hours later
He feels tired from his work and rubs his temples and shoulders to get up to look out the window and see the sunset.
Until he hears a sound from outside
"My lord, the Emperor, the First Prince, requests a meeting with you."