My Aloof Lord Ex-Husband Begs for Remarriage
Chapter 506: The Emperor’s Plan

Chapter 506: Chapter 506: The Emperor’s Plan

Lu Xinyue was so favored by the Empress Dowager, that the gaze of Yang Shu toward her was even more eager.

But just then, Yang Shu had already spoken out and was warned once by the Empress Dowager, so she dared not bring up the topic again.

Although she dared not do anything openly, it didn’t mean she couldn’t do anything secretly.

She only needed to be careful, quietly win over Lu Xinyue, and ensured the Empress Dowager wouldn’t find out, right?

Yang Shu’s thoughts made a full circle in her mind, and she quickly came up with a plan.

She must win over Lu Xinyue for Ye Yunting!

In doing so, she would also add more leverage for Ye Yunting.

The Empress Dowager held on to Lu Xinyue and spoke with her for a long while, before finally having someone send her to the Prince Residence of Lingnan.

Meanwhile, Yang Shu had already arranged for her servants to deliver quite a few items to Lu Xinyue before she left the palace.

After Yang Shu’s servants left, the maid by Lu Xinyue’s side quietly spoke up.

"Commandery Princess, this Princess Consort is truly generous! She is sending out so many fine things, she clearly values you greatly!"

"She just wants to curry favor with me, but I don’t care for her son!"

Even though in the eyes of others, the War King was unmatched at the moment.

To Lu Xinyue, Ye Yunting couldn’t even handle a common Princess Consort, and his household was a complete mess; he was simply not worthy of her.

And even if Ye Jiuxiao was currently treating Chu Nanli better, Lu Xinyue would only be more intrigued.

After all, once she had that man, his tenderness and uniqueness would all be hers alone.

"These items aren’t even that precious, and she dared to give them away?"

When Lu Xinyue was gathering information, she often heard about how Chu Nanli was treated by Yang Shu back in the Prince Residence.

"Forget it, pick some expensive items to keep and throw the rest away!"

She waved her hands indifferently, and although she accepted these items, she had no intention of getting close to Yang Shu.

Her target was Ye Jiuxiao, and if she needed to please anyone, it would naturally be the Empress Dowager.

After the father and daughter from Lingnan had left the palace, the Emperor actually came to the Empress Dowager Palace.

It just so happened that the Empress Dowager wanted him to come as well.

"Mother, have you seen that girl from the Lingnan Prince family? I’ve heard that she seems to have won your heart!"

"I indeed like such lively children; if she could often come to the palace to chat with me, I wouldn’t be so bored every day," the Empress Dowager joyfully expressed on her face, seeming to truly like Lu Xinyue and not just because of the power she represented.

"So, I was thinking, perhaps we could find her a husband in the capital, so she could stay here," the Empress Dowager suggested.

Keeping Lu Xinyue in the capital was actually also a way to control the Lingnan Prince.

Yet, this matter couldn’t be too obvious or arouse any suspicions from others.

"Mother, such arrangements are excellent, but why look further when a suitable candidate is right in front of us? Why not just decree a marriage?"

"The Regent King is still unmarried; why not have Mother issue an edict for their marriage?"

The Emperor originally didn’t have this in mind.

He was concerned that finding a good marriage for Ye Jiuxiao would further increase Ye Jiuxiao’s power and perhaps provoke ambitions he shouldn’t have.

But just now, the Lingnan Prince had already declared his loyalty, even proactively offering to increase the tax by ten percent, which was enough for the Emperor to confirm his loyalty.

Now bestowing Lu Xinyue to Ye Jiuxiao could serve as a means of surveillance as well.

"But your brother..."

The Emperor’s proposal, indeed, stirred some excitement in the Empress Dowager.

She was well aware that Ye Jiuxiao had no interest in the throne, and even if he married the daughter of the King of Lingnan, it would not significantly boost his power.

Nor would it pose a threat to the Emperor.

However, Ye Jiuxiao had previously been unlikely to agree, and was even more likely to oppose the arranged marriage now.

"Mother, my own brother’s status is noble; how could such a common girl be worthy of him?"

The Emperor, now eager to finalize this marriage, naturally became even more impatient with Chu Nanli, whom he had already looked down upon.

"Should mother be worried, after the marriage is bestowed, I can simply grant her to my brother as a concubine. Wouldn’t that solve the problem?"

It must be said that what the Emperor mentioned was exactly what the Empress Dowager was thinking.

However, the Empress Dowager knew very well that Ye Jiuxiao would absolutely not agree to do this.

"No, aren’t you aware of your brother’s temperament? Moreover, I just promised Xinyue that I would find her a husband with whom she shares mutual affection."

"If I were to suddenly arrange this marriage and they turned out to be a couple bearing resentment, what then?"

The Empress Dowager felt guilty towards Ye Jiuxiao, and although she had been displeased with him over Chu Nanli’s incident in the past, she had vented her anger on Chu Nanli and had never blamed Ye Jiuxiao.

Now, she was even less likely to go against Ye Jiuxiao’s wishes and arrange the marriage directly.

However, she was still unwilling to agree to the matter between Ye Jiuxiao and Chu Nanli.

"Then I, on another day, will speak again to my brother, and Mother could think of a way to arrange for them to meet. Who knows, they might find they like each other?"

The Emperor did not care about Lu Xinyue’s opinion, believing that, given the King of Lingnan’s "loyalty," he would undoubtedly agree to this marriage.

As for the King of Lingnan and Ye Jiuxiao joining forces, that was even more unlikely.

Unless the King of Lingnan went mad, he would not forsake the monarch of a country to choose a Regent King.

"Very well, let’s proceed as you have suggested. If this plan fails, do not bring it up again."

While the Empress Dowager appeared unmoved on the surface, she had already started scheming internally, considering how to arrange their meeting without making it seem abrupt.

...

Those two sample sets, Chu Nanli had not only shown them to Lu Xinyue, but also through Zhuang Lin’s connections, had them viewed by many elites.

After sufficiently piquing their interest, Chu Nanli then leisurely announced that only a hundred sets of these two series would be sold.

She knew well the strategy of scarcity value; even though she had enough raw materials to make more, she still chose not to release too many at once.

Besides, Chu Nanli also had people compile numerous tales of talented scholars and beautiful ladies.

These stories had already been dispatched to various bookstores ahead of time.

"Do you think this stuff really works?"

Lin Xuanxuan flipped through one of the storybooks. She was originally uninterested in such romantically intense narratives, but had to admit that the plot was indeed captivating.

Chu Nanli patted her hand, "I asked Zhuang Lin, and the sales of the storybooks are very good, with servants even waiting outside bookstores to buy them."

"I’m not talking about these storybooks; I mean, do you honestly think that selling these storybooks will make someone buy jewelry?"

Lin Xuanxuan, in all her years, had never seen such a method of selling products.

The storybooks and the jewelry they were making seemed completely unrelated!