I just want to be a princess, no, you want to be a queen

Chapter 193: Female Soldiers' Strategy

Chu Mingzheng shook his head. "It won't hurt to teach him a lesson."

"You're crazy!" Lu Mingyang was anxious. "Song Wei is hoping for a rift between you two. He's King Guangcheng's teacher now, aren't you afraid..."

"Zizhao won't!" Chu Mingzheng looked at the anxious little girl and said with a smile, "Madam, please be kind. It's already so late. I have to go to the palace early tomorrow morning. I'm sleepy."

"Your Highness, this is not a trivial matter..."

Chu Mingzheng kissed her and said with a smile, "If my lady isn't sleepy, shall we do it again?"

Lu Mingyang quickly wrapped himself in the quilt.

……

Overnight, news of Lu Mingze's continued survival spread throughout the capital. The rumor initially circulated from the Tiger Guards, where Lu Mingze had previously served. After a brief encounter with the masked man, the soldiers recognized Lu Mingze's martial arts prowess.

This was corroborated by Princess Qinghe, who lived in Shoukang Palace and cried while holding a silver mask. Concubine Song held up a portrait for Princess Qinghe to identify, and she accurately picked out Lu Mingze's portrait.

The emperor couldn't sleep all night in Xiefang Palace.

All this was within Chu Mingzheng's expectations, but when he saw the bloodshot in the emperor's eyes, he was still surprised by the reaction that was far beyond normal.

The emperor sat cross-legged on the couch, looking at Chu Mingzheng who knelt down to pay his respects, his eyes trembling slightly: "Do you know the rumors in the capital?"

"My son knows."

"Where are the people?" the emperor asked.

"Ran!"

Before he could finish his words, a cup of tea exploded in front of him. The emperor angrily said, "If you can't even capture a single person, what's the point of having you?"

"I am incompetent!" Chu Mingzheng knelt quietly on the ground, motionless.

The emperor realized that he had overreacted and coughed lightly, "Sit down!"

"Thank you, Father!" Chu Mingzheng sat down across from the Emperor and recounted the results of yesterday's duel. The Emperor had hinted at this before the duel, and now he could only apologize, "I have failed to live up to your grace, but I never imagined the eldest daughter of the Lu family would be so skilled in martial arts."

The emperor stared at Chu Mingzheng closely and asked, "You really don't know?"

"I'm terrified," Chu Mingzheng explained frantically, "Chen Hong didn't even know his wife was a martial artist, so how could I have known?"

Whether it was true or not was no longer important. What was important was that Lu Shaolian had trained his daughter to be a top-notch expert and still said that she had no intention of rebelling. The more the emperor thought about it, the more he felt that he was right.

"Zheng'er, who do you think will be the Marquis of Chengyang now that Lu Mingze is back?"

"When the father dies, the son inherits. This has been the way since ancient times." As the emperor's face grew increasingly gloomy, Chu Mingzheng slowly changed his tone, "But my father has already issued the decree. It is Heaven's will. How can Heaven's will be changed? No matter how great the rules in this world are, they cannot override the emperor's orders."

"It would be great if all those old-fashioned people in the court could think like Zheng'er." The emperor waved his hand and stopped talking about this matter. He asked directly: "Regarding the girl from the Yulu family taking charge of the army, what do you think, Zheng'er?"

Chu Mingzheng said, "Father, the outcome is already decided. If we don't let Marquis Chengyang take command of the army, I'm afraid it will undermine your majesty."

The emperor said coldly, "I have already planned to send Lu Shao's personal soldiers to the border. This is also the emperor's order."

How could the emperor maintain his dignity while dealing with these two contradictory issues? This was clearly putting the problem on Chu Mingzheng's shoulders.

Chu Mingzheng feigned panic and said, "I have no other choice but to select other soldiers to join the Chengyang Marquis's garrison."

"Who should we choose?" The emperor's eyes flashed with ferocity.

Chu Mingzheng said: "Female soldiers."

"what?"

The fact was already established, and the emperor could only think of selecting some old, weak, and sick people from other places to send to the Chengyang Marquis Mansion. Unexpectedly, he heard a refreshing answer.

In this way, once the female soldiers are registered in the mansion, they will definitely be the soldiers of the Chengyang Marquis' mansion. Lu Mingze is a man, and even if he comes back, he will not be able to command the female soldiers.

The emperor was very pleased with this suggestion and sighed, "I'm afraid those old ministers won't agree."

"Why not?" Chu Mingzheng asked, "The Marquis of Chengyang is the descendant of a loyal and righteous man, and her husband was killed by the Xiongnu, leaving only a baby. Shouldn't a woman like her protect his honor?"

The emperor smiled, but he couldn't understand why a mere female soldier, even if deployed by Chu Mingzheng, could be of any use. Could it be that his son would rather suffer a loss than help him?

Chu Mingzheng understood the confusion and shock in his eyes. He brushed his clothes and knelt down, tears in his eyes: "Your Majesty, I am your father's son. Whether as a minister or a son, the only one you can rely on is your father."

The emperor was also moved by what he heard and patted his shoulder gently: "If you help me well, I will not treat you unfairly."

"Your son knows!" Chu Mingzheng bowed his head.

"Go!" The emperor waved his hand. "I've discussed this with the other lords, and I've sent someone to announce the decree. First, tell the Marquis of Chengyang to recruit eight hundred female soldiers within ten days, no, five days, and register them in the palace."

"Yes!" Chu Mingzheng walked to the door and vaguely heard the emperor instructing Eunuch Su to summon the deputy envoy of the Jinyiwei. A sense of uneasiness rose in his heart.

Back at the palace, the uneasiness reached its peak.

"Where's the princess?"

They had agreed to return to the palace last night, but when Chu Mingzheng arrived at the main courtyard, he only saw two unfamiliar maids. They were the two little girls that Lu Mingyang had redeemed from Chunxiang Pavilion.

The two little girls didn't have names. When they were at home, their parents called them Da Ya and Er Ya. When they were in the opera troupe, the troupe owner named them Da Hua and Er Hua. Lu Mingyang thought these names didn't sound good, so he gave them new names: Ru Ying and Ru Shu.

After several days of care, the two little girls' faces were no longer as pale as before, but they were still afraid when they saw Chu Mingzheng. Ruying said timidly, "The princess has gone out."

Nonsense, didn’t he know he was out? Chu Mingzheng was furious: “Where are you from?”

The two men knelt down in fear and answered in panic.

Chu Mingzheng listened, but it was not easy to scold them anymore. He said patiently, "I am asking you, where is the princess?"

Ru Shu looked up and said, "The princess didn't say where she was going, but she took some medicine with her when she left. She also asked Zheng Zong to prepare some good gifts and went out with the princess."

Chu Mingzheng left and warned, "Don't talk nonsense in front of the princess."

The two looked at each other. Is His Highness afraid that they will complain to the princess?

……

Peiguogong Mansion

Upon hearing that Princess Ningyuan had come to visit her son, Madam Pei came out to greet her personally: "Princess, I am sorry for not welcoming you in person. I hope you will forgive me."

"Madam, you are so polite." Lu Mingyang helped Madam Pei up and gestured for Zheng Hao to present the generous gift. He smiled and said, "It's just a small gift. Please accept it."

"Thank you, Princess!" Mrs. Pei did not refuse.

This was Lu Mingyang's first visit to a noble family in the capital, and he felt a little nervous. Seeing Madam Pei leading him to the main hall, Lu Mingyang said, "Let's go to Madam's courtyard."

Mrs. Pei immediately understood, and after having someone serve good tea, she sent her attendants away.

After Lu Mingyang chatted with Madam Pei for a while, he brought up Pei Mian's situation and asked, "I wonder how Captain Pei's injury is going?"

"Thank you for your concern, Princess. It's nothing serious." Having said that, Mrs. Pei was obviously jealous.