Chapter 7 Transaction Failed
At this time, Cao Meng passed by Wang An and his mother, and said in a low voice with a smile on his face: "Boy, why do you have to drag my daughter with you when you are going to die?"

Wang An did not care about the rudeness in Cao Meng's words, because after Wang Hongyuan said that, he keenly discovered that almost all the court officials looked at him with pity in their eyes.

It's like looking at a dead person.

Although his predecessor was intelligent and precocious, Wang Hongyuan was wary of him and did not provide Wang An with an orthodox education as a crown prince. He even isolated Wang An from knowing the outside world.

This caused Wang An to have no idea what Wang Hongyuan meant by "autumn harvest". When Cao Meng spoke, Wang An immediately asked, "What do you mean by this, father-in-law?"

Seeing Wang An still calling him father-in-law, Cao Meng said unhappily, "You really are oblivious to what is happening outside. Don't you know that the barbarians in the east and north take advantage of the autumn harvest to plunder our Daliang border almost every year?"

"Jizhou will bear the brunt of the impact. Once you become a vassal and the imperial army withdraws, you will have to rely on the few local farming troops in Jizhou. I'm afraid you won't survive the autumn harvest!"

Wang An's heart suddenly skipped a beat. Oh my god! The original owner had no memory of this at all. He just vaguely heard that Jizhou was the border of the empire, with some barbarians around it and it was very desolate.

If Wang An had known that there would be barbarian raids on the border every autumn harvest, he would have fought with Wang Hongyuan even if it meant dying in the imperial capital!
But it's too late to regret now. The only thing we can do now is to find a way to deal with it.

Thinking of this, Wang An looked at Cao Meng in front of him and his eyes lit up.

"Father-in-law, you don't want anything to happen to your precious daughter, do you?"

Cao Meng sneered and said sarcastically: "You are afraid too, kid. Weren't you so brave just now?"

Wang An chuckled, "My son-in-law is just trying to find a glimmer of hope. I think my father-in-law can understand."

Cao Meng then straightened his face, looked at Wang An again, and said with a smile: "It seems that not only His Majesty has made a mistake, but also the entire court has been deceived by His Highness!"

After saying that, the two looked at each other and smiled.

Secretly curse the other person as an old fox (little fox).

After a smile, Cao Meng said: "For the sake of the late emperor, I will show you a clear way."

"Father-in-law, please come!" Wang An immediately asked for advice humbly.

Cao Meng said: "After the vassal is established, the imperial court withdraws its troops and the vassal king is responsible for the fief. This has been the ancestral system for hundreds of years. I advise Your Highness not to make plans on this matter."

"However, there is still hope for you to save your life. Although I cannot mobilize a large army to support you openly, it is not a big problem to send a small group of soldiers to rescue you in times of crisis."

"but……"

"The premise is that I have to give up marrying your daughter, right?" Wang An said first.

For the first time, Cao Meng showed an admiring look to Wang An and sighed, "You are quite similar to the late emperor. You are equally brave and intelligent, and you even have the forbearance that the late emperor did not have. It would be great if the late emperor were still alive."

But before Cao Meng could finish his sigh, Wang An gave him an unexpected answer: "Thank you very much for your kindness, father-in-law. I have been friends with your daughter for a long time..."

"You kid, are you more interested in sex than life?" Cao Meng interrupted angrily, "God damn it, don't you know that those barbarians like tender young men like you the most? And if they knew that you are the only son of the late emperor and have noble blood, I'm afraid you would have a hard time dying!"

Wang An felt someone gently hugging his arm. When he turned around, he saw Shen Shaozhu looking at him with concern.

"My son, otherwise..." Wang An knew what Shen Shaozhu wanted to say, so he gave a reassuring smile and looked at Cao Meng and said, "If my father-in-law is unable to mobilize the army, I think it would be more cost-effective to marry your daughter."

"Could it be that if the barbarians came to attack, would the father-in-law have the heart to sit back and watch his precious daughter be buried with his son-in-law?"

After saying that, he laughed and took Shen Shaozhu away, leaving Cao Meng stunned behind.

"My son, why don't you agree to Cao Meng's conditions?" Shen Shaozhu couldn't help but ask after walking far away from the Huangji Palace.

After all, in her opinion, paying a marriage contract in exchange for a chance to save her life was simply the best deal.

However, Wang An just chuckled and explained: "Mother, if I agree, I will really ruin my only chance to save my life!"

"Do you think Cao Meng, who can even go back on his promise to the late emperor, would value his promise? It would be better to hold his daughter in your hands, which is equivalent to a hostage!"

"If it really comes to the last moment, Cao Meng is far more likely to send troops to rescue his daughter than to rescue his son!"

Shen Shaozhu opened her mouth in surprise. Forcing her son to marry in public in the court to seek help was already the most cunning plan she could come up with. She never expected Wang An to come up with so many twists and turns. She was immediately delighted.

"The prince has really grown up!" Shen Shaozhu couldn't help but touch Wang An, who was already a head taller than him. His eyes did not show any disgust or disappointment at his son's "cunningness". Instead, he was delighted that his son was so smart and knew how to take advantage of every opportunity.

…………

And because his great enemy was about to leave the capital, he might hear the news of his death soon. Wang Hongyuan, who was in a good mood, just returned to the harem and saw his eldest son being carried in front of him by several panicked guards. All his good mood suddenly disappeared.

"Father, the imperial physician said that I will never be humane again! It's all because of that bastard Wang An. You have to avenge me! Wuuwuwu..."

Wang Qianqiu was lying on a stretcher, grabbing Wang Hongyuan's trouser legs and crying heart-wrenchingly.

Wang Hongyuan's face turned pale. He looked at the trembling guards and asked, "What's going on? If anyone hides this, the whole family will be killed!"

The guards dared not hide anything and immediately told the whole story.

After hearing this, Wang Hongyuan couldn't stop shaking all over. After suppressing his emotions for a long time, he kicked Wang Qianqiu off the stretcher with a fierce kick.

Wang Qianqiu hit his head on the stone steps with a thud and passed out. He didn't even have time to think about why his father kicked him.

"Beast, she is your aunt after all!" Wang Hongyuan kicked him, feeling a little scared.

Fortunately, Shen Shaozhu was not beaten to the punch by his own son, otherwise what would he do...

Wang Hongyuan became angrier and angrier as he thought about it. He ordered, "Come here, carry the eldest prince back home and put him under house arrest to recover from his injuries. He is not allowed to go out even a step!"

"And you," Wang Hongyuan looked at the guards who had failed in their duties and waved his hand, "You can't even protect the eldest prince, so there's no point in keeping you."

Without waiting for the guards to beg, other guards immediately came forward and dragged these people away.

(End of this chapter)