The Dumb Prince of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 103 Oh, Your Highness, this is inappropriate.

Li Siqi looked at Princess Qin, his gaze suddenly sharpening: "Minmin, you come to see me at this time, revealing my identity. Have you already betrayed me?"

Princess Qin met Li Siqi's gaze and shook her head: "No, times have changed. Uncle Li, His Majesty will help us."

Li Siqi was stunned, then burst into laughter: "Zhu Yuanzhang, helping the Yuan Dynasty? Minmin, have you lost your mind?"

"Uncle Li, you know the current situation of the Great Yuan, don't you?" Princess Qin said in a deep voice, "Internal strife continues, with various tribes attacking each other. Let alone marching south to reclaim the Central Plains, they can't even unify the northern deserts."

"His Majesty promised me that he would help my second brother, Toyin Temur, and assist the late emperor's son, Maidelibala, to become the next Khan."

Li Siqi was shocked.

He remained silent for a long time.

He paused for a while before speaking: "Zhu Yuanzhang was truly a master strategist. Back then, he captured the imperial grandson, Maibala, but did not kill him. Instead, he enfeoffed him as the Marquis of Chongli and raised him in the capital. Later, he released Maibala back to the north, all for the sake of today."

Princess Qin nodded: "Your Majesty's thoughts are profound."

"His move is worthwhile," Li Siqi said slowly. "Supporting pro-Ming forces in the northern deserts is indeed beneficial to the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, as long as the northern deserts are still embroiled in internal strife, he can free up his hands to deal with Nahachu in Liaodong."

"His Majesty also promised to allow Hai Li to return north," said the Princess Consort of Qin.

Li Siqi frowned: "He's really that careless? That's not like him."

Princess Qin smiled bitterly: "His Majesty has sent my second brother's son and daughter to the Ming Dynasty as hostages."

"That's right, that's Zhu Yuanzhang for you," Li Siqi snorted.

Princess Qin said, "I have already written to my second brother, urging him to agree to His Majesty's request."

Li Siqi remained silent for a long time, then sighed deeply: "I never imagined that your elder brother's plan back then would come to nothing."

.

"My elder brother left too early; otherwise, how could things have turned out like this?" Princess Qin said sadly.

Li Jinglong listened quietly the whole time.

Back then, Wang Baobao persuaded Li Siqi to return to the Ming Dynasty in exchange for losing an arm, faking his death and living in anonymity as a Darughachi in the scout army.

That was a grand strategy.

Hidden agents deep within the heart of the Ming Dynasty, working in concert with the Northern Yuan's southward advance, forming a coordinated attack from within and without—what a grand scheme!

But Wang Baobao is dead.

With his death, all those intricately planned and meticulously orchestrated schemes fell apart.

People are not as good as the sky.

"Minmin, you haven't betrayed me, yet you brought Li Jinglong to see me. That means you've betrayed me." Li Siqi's eyes suddenly turned cold.

Li Shou, who had been standing silently behind Li Siqi, suddenly changed his expression.

Seeing Li Siqi's posture, ready to draw his sword at any moment, Li Jinglong waved his hand: "Hey, hey, Old Li, calm down, calm down. We're not here to take your life. If we really wanted to take your life, why would I bring Princess Qin? Wouldn't it be better to bring a squad of Imperial Guards? Axemen would just squat down in the courtyard, and your head would be gone before you even finished your tea."

"What do you want?" Li Siqi asked.

"You told me about it yourself last time, about the wealth of Guanzhong and the trade routes." Li Jinglong shrugged.

Li Siqi sneered: "Last time? Last time you were the beggar Li Chongliu, now you are Li Jinglong, the son of the Duke of Cao."

"It's the same, because I can save your life," Li Jinglong said.

Princess Qin spoke up at the opportune moment: "Uncle Li, you can trust him. His Majesty sent him to take over everything for you."

Li Siqi stared at Li Jinglong for a long time.

"Idiot." He uttered those two words, shook his head, and chuckled at his own foolishness. "Heh. I misjudged you."

"I'm such a fool," Li Jinglong shrugged. "This time I'm ordered to amass wealth, and I have no choice. Do you think I want your cumbersome stuff? I really don't. But His Majesty has dumped this task on my head, what can I do? I'm desperate too."

Li Siqi's lips twitched slightly, and he said coldly, "It's not just about accumulating wealth, is it?"

"Your spy network of scouts and spies, that whole system belongs to me too," Li Jinglong said.

"That's the culmination of ten years of my hard work," Li Siqi said through gritted teeth.

Li Jinglong looked disgusted: "You think I want this? I don't even want it! But I have no choice, I'm ordered to smuggle grain with Toyin Timur."

"Her second brother, the northern deserts are short of food, and the imperial court can't step in, so they need to find a scapegoat. Oh no, they need to find a reliable person to do this, and His Majesty has chosen me. You say I need manpower to smuggle grain? I need intelligence? I need to know which tribes in the northern deserts are short of grain and which have surplus? Aren't your scouts and spies for that purpose?"

Li Siqi's chest heaved a few times as he struggled to suppress the urge to slap him.

He stared at Li Jinglong, his gaze sharp as a knife: "Kid, you've gained so many advantages, be careful you don't end up in a bad way."

Li Jinglong pursed his lips: "I was forced into this."

"You look like you deserve a beating." Li Siqi was about to lose her temper.

Li Jinglong beckoned: "Do you dare? You, Li Shou, and Li Chang, the Assistant Commander of the Imperial Guard, your lives are all in my hands."

Li Siqi nearly choked on his own blood and asked, "Now that things have come to this, how does Your Majesty intend to deal with me?"

"Listen to me. You'll have a good old age." Li Jinglong waved his hand.

Li Siqi slowly lowered his head and slumped back onto the stone bench.

"Fine, the victor is king, the loser is villain. I'll play along."

"I'll give you whatever you want. But on one condition: you must at least save the lives of my two sons."

One hour later.

Li Jinglong and Princess Qin left in a carriage.

Inside the car, Li Jinglong had just lowered the curtains and hadn't even had time to sit up straight when he felt a weight on his legs.

Princess Qin turned to her side and rested her head directly on his lap, her long black hair spreading out and covering his leg.

-

"Hey, Your Highness, this isn't appropriate." He reached out to pull her away.

Princess Qin slapped his hand away: "I'm tired, what's wrong with lying down for a while? I've seen you naked before. Are you shy now?"

"Huh? Is that so?" Li Jinglong's eyes widened.

Princess Qin glared at him: "That year, you took the twelfth prince to catch fish in the pond in the backyard of the Qin Prince's mansion, have you forgotten?"

Li Jinglong: "Uh————"

"My head hurts, can you massage it for me?" Princess Qin closed her beautiful eyes.

Li Jinglong reached out and gently pressed his hand on her smooth forehead a few times: "Your Highness, I reckon that after this matter is settled, His Majesty will allow you and Prince Qin to return to Xi'an."

"What good would going back do?" Princess Qin said softly. "We'd still be imprisoned. We'd be locked up in the capital, and we'd be locked up in Xi'an. It'd just be a different cage."

Li Jinglong's fingers paused for a moment.

He looked at the face so close to his own, now devoid of its former allure, leaving only a faint trace of weariness.

"You're a spy from an enemy country; sparing your head is already a mercy," he consoled.

Princess Qin did not respond.

Li Jinglong waited a few moments, then looked down and saw that she had fallen asleep.

Li Jinglong rolled his eyes and silently repeated it three times in his mind:

This is Zhu Lao Er's wife. This is Zhu Lao Er's wife. This is Zhu Lao Er's wife.

Then he looked down at the mature woman's face resting on his lap. She was fast asleep, her eyelashes slightly curled, her lips gently pursed, and a strand of hair slipped down from her forehead and draped over his robe.

He withdrew his hand from her forehead.

Hey.

I, Li Jiujiang, am truly an honest man.