Lan Jinxiang's roar was like the screech of a hawk, sharp and filled with fierce anger.
Half of the palace lanterns in the room were so frightened that they went out.
Song Yinghuai didn't even bat an eyelid. He watched Lan Jinxiang leisurely.
Her beautiful face had flushed scarlet with anger.
Song Yinghuai raised his eyebrows. "Why is the second young lady so angry? You are now the mother of the Tartar country. A married woman should follow her husband. You are now a Tartar. Everything should be centered around Tartar's national affairs. Isn't my proposal good?"
"As long as we join hands, the Jiangshan of the Great Ye will be in our hands. I'm willing to cede the three regions of Qin, Jin, and Yan, doubling Tartar's territory."
"Second young lady, by then your position in Tartar will be unshakable. Even the Khan will have to listen to you."
"Song Yinghuai!" Lan Jinxiang roared. "You traitorous scumbag! I thought you were a good prince who loved his country and people. I never thought you'd destroy your own country for your own self - interest and plunge the common people into displacement!"
"Having a worm like you in the Great Ye is simply a disgrace!"
"Well said!" Song Yinghuai actually laughed instead of getting angry. He gave his praise.
Lan Jinxiang was stunned. Looking at his calm smile, she suddenly felt something was off.
The anger in her chest dissipated a bit. She hesitated. "You..."
"It seems the second young lady's heart is still with the Great Ye even though she's in Tartar. None of Lord Lan's children are of bad character. I admire them."
Lan Jinxiang suddenly realized. "Song Yinghuai! You tricked me!"
Song Yinghuai bowed deeply with his hands clasped. "I had no choice. I hope the second young lady will forgive me."
Lan Jinxiang's lips trembled. She was so angry but had nowhere to vent. "What on earth do you want to do?"
Song Yinghuai looked at her and said sincerely, "I really do want to cooperate with the second young lady, but not to seize the Great Ye. Instead, we'll kill the crown prince and destroy Tartar!"
"I've been waiting in the capital for a long time, just waiting for the second young lady's arrival. Your words just now really didn't disappoint me."
When Song Yinghuai was discussing with Zhu Xiao and others before entering the capital, he had said that the Tartar Khatun might be the key figure.
Now, everything was about to fall into place.
...
After Caiyu returned to the post - station, she was concerned about Lan Jinxiang. She wanted to ask how she had escaped death back then and how she had spent these years.
After taking a bath, she went out and headed towards Lan Jinxiang's place.
When she was getting close, she heard familiar voices talking.
Caiyu was stunned.
The prince?
Why was he in Second Sister's room?
Inside the room, Lan Jinxiang calmed her anger. She took a deep look at Song Yinghuai and sneered. "No one can match your scheming. No wonder my younger sister was no match for you."
Mentioning Caiyu, Song Yinghuai couldn't help but smile bitterly. "Caiyu is the only person and thing I've never been able to control in my life. I accept it. Once this matter with the second young lady succeeds, all the estrangement, all the misunderstandings, all the chasms between us, as well as the reputation and prestige of all the people in the Lan family, will be resolved."
"Since the second young lady still cares about the Great Ye and the Lan family, I guess you won't refuse to cooperate with me."
Lan Jinxiang took a silent breath.
Song Yinghuai was so accurate in judging people and so powerful in gauging people's hearts that she couldn't even come close.
Being an enemy of him was simply seeking death.
She even began to feel lucky that her younger sister could handle this man and make him willing to take the whip. It was really not easy.
"Tell me your plan." Lan Jinxiang was always straightforward. "Time is limited. I still have to have a good time with Xu Ziyi!"
Song Yinghuai smiled.
Master Xu probably wouldn't be coming.
Just now, he had already asked Xiao Rencheng to take him drinking.
Song Yinghuai sat down and began to talk about his plan:
"Before the second young lady arrived in the capital, I had already sent Master Guangzhi to the regions of Qin and Jin to incite the kings of Qin and Jin to rebel."
Master Guangzhi had been active in the two regions of Qin and Jin, spreading rumors widely, making the kings of Qin and Jin firmly believe that the court had made up its mind to reduce the power of the vassal states.
Moreover, the crown prince, regardless of brotherly affection, was about to lead troops personally to the regions of Qin and Jin to arrest the two kings and take them to the capital.
Originally, the kings of Qin and Jin didn't believe it.
But considering that the Qi and Zhou kings had been detained by the crown prince in the capital, and then Prince Yan had been unable to return to Yan for a long time after entering the capital.
As the most powerful prince, even Prince Yan had been detained. Just like the rabbit worrying when the fox is killed, the kings of Qin and Jin couldn't help but have wild thoughts.
As the saying goes, repeated hearsay makes a fiction fact. Master Guangzhi's appeal in the Buddhist world was astonishing. His believers were all over the world. Even among the advisors of the kings of Qin and Jin, there were many of his believers.
No matter how much the kings of Qin and Jin trusted Song Chengyuan, with all these rumors flying from the capital to their local areas, they couldn't help but believe them.
So, the two kings finally began to secretly plot to rebel.
The news of this rebellion was then deliberately spread back to the capital.
Lan Jinxiang stared at Song Yinghuai and said, "Prince Yan's scheme of sowing discord is masterful."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"What about me? What do I have to do?"
Song Yinghuai twirled the Buddhist beads on his wrist and said with a gentle smile, "Send a message to the Khan, informing him of the news of the rebellion in the regions of Qin and Jin. Let the Khan withdraw his troops from Shanhaiguan and instead station them at Yanmen Pass and Tongguan."
"By then, once there is a military uprising in the regions of Qin and Jin, the Khan's troops can take advantage of the situation and enter the pass smoothly."
The voices inside the room faintly reached outside the door. Caiyu's face turned as white as snow, as if struck by lightning.
What were Song Yinghuai and Second Sister plotting in secret?
They... they...
They were actually plotting to annex the territory of the Great Ye!
She stood still on the spot like a puppet. Her head felt so numb and swollen that she couldn't think at all.
Some things that she had never been able to figure out seemed to be connected now.
No wonder Song Yinghuai always refused to reveal the slightest bit of what he was going to do to her.
No wonder he always thought she had ruined his plan.
It turned out that all this was because he was secretly plotting a rebellion!
For such a heinous crime, he really couldn't reveal it to her.
He must have known her well. If she knew he was going to rebel, as a daughter of the Lan family, she would definitely disrupt his plan to seize the throne!
No wonder.
No wonder he had always kept his mouth shut.
Caiyu's legs trembled slightly. She left there in a daze as if her legs were filled with lead, her eyes empty and lost.
At this moment, her mood was so complex that she couldn't even put it into words. Her mind was completely blank.
If it had been before, she would have rushed forward without hesitation to stop everything.
But now, after knowing how absurd the crown prince of the Great Ye was, she didn't even have the impulse to stop Song Yinghuai.
He wanted to kill the crown prince.
Wasn't this also what she wanted?
He wanted to seize the throne.
Although she didn't want him to seize the throne by force, she had always hoped that this throne would fall into his hands.
So... actually, she had no reason to stand up and blame him, right?
A string of tears welled up and slid down her cheeks.
But what he was going to do was to subjugate the country!
If he did this, the people of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun would never be able to return home.
The people of the three regions of Qin, Jin, and Yan would become vassals of Tartar!
They were all once the people of the Great Ye!
How could he sacrifice so many common people?
Caiyu rushed back to her room and locked herself inside, letting the tears flood her eyes...
Lan Jinxiang and Song Yinghuai were completely unaware that Caiyu had come and left just now.
They were still discussing.
Lan Jinxiang was puzzled. "Are you really going to let the kings of Qin and Jin create chaos and give the Khan a chance to enter the pass?"
A smile played on Song Yinghuai's lips. "No. I'm just creating the illusion of internal and external troubles in the Great Ye... The kings of Qin and Jin were originally the crown prince's confidants. Now that something has happened in the two regions, Father will surely suspect that the crown prince is also involved. To clear his suspicion, the crown prince will definitely lead troops personally to the two regions."
Lan Jinxiang understood immediately. "Oh! Hearing that the crown prince is leading troops here, those two stupid princes will surely think the rumors are true. In a desperate situation, there will be infighting between them, and the crown prince will be in great danger."
"Exactly." Song Yinghuai nodded. "Hearing such good news, the Khan will surely try to attack the pass. He will definitely mobilize all his troops to gather near the two regions..."
Song Yinghuai's eyes sparkled. He stared at her firmly. "I have two hundred thousand troops of Yan waiting behind the Khan. Second young lady, have you ever heard of the story of 'shutting the door to beat the dog'?"