Nine out of ten gamblers lose; I've run into a jerk!

Chapter 38 A Gathering of Heroes

Shen Qing looked at the fair-skinned, delicate-fleshed girl in front of him, who was 160 cm tall and weighed 160 kg, and wondered what was wrong with her.

After exchanging pleasantries, Jingchuan personally escorted the Xuan Kingdom delegation to the Qidu post station to express his gratitude for their care along the way. The plump princess, clinging to Jingchuan, insisted on going with him. If it weren't for her weight, Shen Qing suspected that she would have hung directly on Jingchuan.

Upon arriving at the post station, the two sides bid farewell. Jingchuan was about to return home when the plump princess continued to peek inside. Jingchuan tugged at her sleeve before reluctantly returning to his carriage, which then headed back towards the palace.

Shen Qing followed the delegation into the post station and overheard two men who appeared to be guards whispering to each other.

"Princess Fukang has come to see His Highness again."

"This favor from a beautiful woman is truly hard to bear!"

Your Highness? Shen Qing caught the key words: Your Highness staying at the post station, and delegations from other countries?

Shen Che naturally noticed the same issue that Shen Qing had noticed. After entering the room, he gave Du Zhong a wink, and Du Zhong understood and left the room to inquire about the situation.

It's not hard to find out. The fact that Qi Guo dared to arrange them together means he's not afraid of them finding out. Even if there are any secret plots, it's not hard to find out what's on the surface.

Shen Che realized that his younger sister was no ordinary young lady, so he didn't send her away. If she became curious, she would find out for herself even if he didn't tell her. Rather than letting her go out and ask around, it was better to wait for news together.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Du Zhong returned and reported the information he had heard.

It turned out that the delegation from the Jing Kingdom was next door. They had arrived in Baifeng City five days earlier than them. The leader of the delegation was Zhao Zheng, the fourth prince of the Jing Kingdom. Their purpose in coming to Qi was to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries. They did not know the specific terms of the negotiations, but the Jing Emperor planned to welcome a princess back to be his crown princess.

"The Crown Princess?" Shen Qing raised an eyebrow. "Who is the Crown Prince of Jing Kingdom?"

"Jingguo has nine princes, but the crown prince has not yet been decided."

Shen Qing's lips twitched. Nine princes vying for the throne? There are already nine princes, so there must be quite a few princesses as well. The Emperor of Jingguo is quite prolific.

So, the meaning of "Crown Princess" is to keep her in reserve for now, and whoever becomes the Crown Prince will marry her.

"Fat... Has Princess Fukang taken a fancy to the fourth prince of Jingguo?" Shen Qing asked, cracking open a piece of candy on the table.

"It is said that Princess Fukang fell in love with the fourth prince of Jingguo at first sight during the palace banquet held to welcome the Jingguo delegation. She would create chance encounters with him whenever she had the chance, which scared the fourth prince so much that he dared not enter the palace casually anymore."

Shen Qing stroked his chin thoughtfully, "What, does marriage alliance depend on looks? Logically speaking, if a princess who is going to be the crown princess takes a liking to him, wouldn't his chances of winning the crown prince competition be much greater? What's the point of hiding? How superficial!"

Shen Che poured himself a cup of tea and said, "Jing Kingdom probably wants to marry Princess Fucheng, right?"

“Your prediction is correct,” Du Zhong nodded. Seeing that Shen Qing was confused, he explained, “There are differences between princesses. Princess Fukang originally had no title; it was given to her to appease the Third Prince who was being held hostage. Princess Fucheng, on the other hand, was born to the Empress and had a fief of eight hundred households.”

Shen Qing suddenly realized that marrying an unfavored princess didn't seem to be of much use.

"But if Emperor Qi keeps his promise and Prince Jingchuan becomes the Crown Prince, Princess Fukang's status will be different, won't it?"

Shen Che shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it's not that easy. The eldest prince, Jing Dan, is born to Consort Chen, whose elder brother is the General of the Western Garrison. The second prince, Jing Xun, is born to Consort Yang, whose father is the Left Prime Minister."

Hiss~ Shen Qing gasped. The two princes either had military backgrounds or civil officials' influence, while Jing Chuan was all alone. Even if he became the crown prince, who knew how many days he would live? The key was that with Emperor Qi's promise, he was now the uncrowned crown prince. Whether he fought for it or not, there would be people who wanted him dead. It was practically a hellish scenario.

"Since Princess Fukang can entangle the fourth prince of Jingguo, it means that Emperor Qi has not yet decided to send Princess Fucheng to a marriage alliance, right?" After all, even if Princess Fukang is not favored, there is no need to marry two princesses to the same country at the same time. That would be such a waste. Wouldn't it be better to send them to other countries for marriage alliances?

Du Zhong nodded in agreement, "Sanlang is right. The Empress has only one daughter, so she is naturally reluctant to let her marry far away."

The Empress of Qi has no sons~ Shen Qing suddenly had a flash of inspiration, as if she had realized something. Zhao Zheng's avoidance of the fat princess may not have anything to do with personal preference. He was just waiting to avoid suspicion before the results came out.

Shen Che and Shen Qing had different perspectives. He thought that Jingguo was located in Zhongzhou, which was the heart of the Central Plains during the Daqian era. It was a land of good weather and abundant harvests. After the warlords divided the country, Jingguo was surrounded by the six kingdoms of Xuan, Qi, Yu, Jing, Xiang, and Beimo. Although it was rich, it had no natural defenses and could only survive by relying on the checks and balances of the other kingdoms. Now, he wanted to form a marriage alliance with Qiguo. Was it for self-preservation or was there some other, more far-reaching plan?

Shen Che couldn't do anything about it, so he just noted it down and planned to report it to Emperor Yongxi after returning to China. Someone else would take care of it, since his main mission on this mission was to escort the Fifth Prince Que Shu to Yu Kingdom to discuss some related matters, and escorting Jing Chuan was just a side trip.

But since he was already there, out of courtesy, he still had to pay his respects to Emperor Qi.

The original plan was to drop Jingchuan off and leave, but an accident happened on the way, and many guards were injured. Shen Che is not a devil, so it was decided to stay in Qidu for a few days to let them recover. In any case, Qiguo will cover all food and lodging.

Meanwhile, Jingchuan and Fukang returned to the palace, but Emperor Qi was indeed "too busy" to receive them. Fukang, oblivious to the world, pulled Jingchuan toward the newly renovated Linzhi Palace.

What books has Miaomiao been reading lately?

"I don't like reading, and my mother also said that girls don't need to be so knowledgeable, just able to read is enough."

"Brother, look, I personally led the people to set this up. Do you like it?"

Jingchuan smiled as he watched his younger sister flutter around like a big moth, but his heart ached terribly. When Fukang wasn't looking, he secretly wiped away his tears with his sleeve.

The cold palace was a harsh place, and her mother hoped that she would grow tenaciously like a blade of grass, so she named her Miaomiao (meaning "small seedling").

Miao Miao used to be such a beautiful and intelligent girl~ Now look at her like this... Whether someone deliberately turned her into an obese idiot, or Miao Miao did it on purpose to protect herself, it all comes down to his incompetence in protecting her.

"Brother, these are snacks I made especially for you."

"My dear Miaomiao, it's been so many years since I've had this. I really miss it."

"Gurgle gurgle~" Fukang awkwardly covered his stomach.

Jingchuan's expression changed as he recalled unpleasant memories.

Fu Kang realized he had misunderstood and quickly explained, "I'm controlling my diet because I'm thinking that if I lose weight, Zhao Zheng might like me more."

Oh, it's the stirrings of first love.

Who is Zhao Zheng?

"It's the fourth prince of Jingguo. He came on behalf of Jingguo to ask for the princess's hand in marriage so that she could become the crown princess."

"Are you crazy?" Jing Chuan's expression changed drastically. "Someone else would avoid this like the plague, and you're going to do it?"

"Brother, you don't understand love."

"..."