novelhk Chapter 365: Prophet 1
Chapter 365: Prophet 1
Although the Jiang family was married to King Xian, in reality both the Marquis of Guanjun and the Marquis of Wu'an had always maintained a neutral attitude.
So what benefits can Jiang Meng get from being with King Xian?
"Empty talk? Who is talking nonsense? It's definitely not me..." Jiang Meng's tone was filled with indignation, "However, someone took advantage of the other party's lack of medical care and insisted on boasting that he is a genius."
Are there really some grudges between the two?
Speaking of which, shouldn’t the lack of medical care and medicine in the Mirage Kingdom be attributed to the Yuan family?
Therefore, although it is difficult to say it directly, Zhou Chang still wants to say a few words for the Yuan family: "Lack of doctors and medicine? Most of the medicinal materials of the Shen Kingdom are imported from my Lin Kingdom, right? Of course, if we don't sell them medicinal materials, resulting in their soldiers being sick and having no medicine to treat, they will indeed collapse without attacking."
Jiang Meng had obviously been holding it in for a long time, and Zhou Chang also called him "brother-in-law", so he regarded Zhou Chang as his confidant: "Your Highness Prince Yi guessed it right. The reason why we were able to win the war suddenly in the end was because there was a plague in the military camp of the Mirage Kingdom, but there was no medicine to treat it. It seems that we won this war, but in fact, the Mirage Kingdom itself couldn't hold on. They are just a bunch of poor ghosts. I said at the beginning that the delaying tactics would eventually kill them. If it weren't for Your Highness Prince Xian's ambition and recklessness, he wouldn't have died..."
As he was talking, he accidentally mentioned King Xian, and Jiang Meng quickly stopped talking.
These words further confirmed Zhou Chang's thoughts and triggered some of Shen Rui's memories. Unexpectedly, Shen Rui had also heard the gossip about Jiang Meng.
Jiang Meng is the son of Princess Pingning and Marquis Wu'an Jiang Rui. He has had a special ambition since he was young to surpass his ancestors.
But until middle age, he was still just a mediocre deputy commander. Even though he got the title of general last year, he was still one step away from the rank of general.
Even though it’s just one step, sometimes just one step means the rest of your life.
Xian Wang is a prince, and his family background is obvious. Jiang Meng usually follows Xian Wang, not to compare his status with Xian Wang, but if it comes to talent, he will not admit defeat. Therefore, it is reasonable that he feels really uncomfortable being suppressed.
Jiang Meng knew he had talent, but no one knew whether he actually had it or not. However, everyone could see that he was under the influence of his ancestors.
For this reason, Wu'an Hou Jiang Rui would often whisper in his ears something, telling him not to be complacent, to strive for excellence and merit, and not to seek glory for the Jiang family, but also not to bring disgrace to his ancestors.
Jiang Meng felt annoyed by what he heard, and couldn't help feeling that his father looked down on him, so he wanted to achieve something even more.
However, in this matter, Jiang Meng also misunderstood Wu'an Hou Jiang Rui.
Wu'an Hou Jiang Rui's behavior is also a personal concern.
Jiang Rui's title of marquis was partly due to his marriage to Princess Pingning, not because of his brother, Marquis Jiang Qin, who fought his way to the top on the battlefield. As a result, people often talk behind his back, saying that Marquis Wu'an Jiang Rui is not as good as his elder brother and is relying on his wife's fame.
Wu'an Hou Jiang Rui was also very unhappy about this, but he had few opportunities to go to the battlefield in his life, and he had not made any military achievements, so he could only pin all his hopes on his son, hoping that his son Jiang Meng would one day be able to earn the title of general with his own strength, which would bring glory to his branch of the Jiang family.
Therefore, in the last war with the Mirage Kingdom, Jiang Rui secured the position of deputy commander for Jiang Meng. However, the status of King Xian was there, and although Jiang Meng made a lot of efforts, he only got the title of general in the end, and his limelight was far overshadowed by King Xian, and no one mentioned him.
From this perspective, the father and son are truly father and son, with the same aspirations. I wonder if their final destinies will also be the same.
Zhou Chang didn't care whether the father and son of the Jiang family could get what they wanted, but unfortunately, no one knew about the efforts made by the Yuan family in medicinal materials and the Mirage Kingdom, but all the credit for the victory in the war was attributed to King Xian.
Therefore, he was willing to save Jiang Meng's reputation: "No matter what, the battle was won. Although you are the deputy commander, you still have a record of military merit."
Jiang Meng is in his middle age, which is the rising period of his career, but he already feels that his talent is not appreciated.
In the end, he was unwilling to accept the result but couldn't say much, so he could only sigh: "Alas, we have won, but it is a fluke and we will lose it eventually. It won't be long before the Mirage Kingdom will make a comeback. It's a pipe dream to expect that Lin Fang can hold on."
Zhou Chang didn’t know who “Lin Fang” was, but he couldn’t help but be surprised that Jiang Meng actually predicted that the Mirage Kingdom would launch another war. Did they have to fight again?
Just as I was about to ask in detail, the two of them had already walked to the west side hall.
Jiang Meng said, "Your Highness Prince Yi is still young, so he probably doesn't like those old-fashioned people. It's better to stay here, watch operas and listen to music, and even have some fun."
The side hall was bustling with noise and from time to time one could hear shouts of “Bet, bet, open, open…”
Zhou Chang was not surprised to see gambling being held openly, as it was commonplace for the powerful families in Jindu City, but he had not forgotten Yuan Qi in his heart: "Mr. Jiang, go and greet the others. I will wait here and make sure that the princess comes here."
"Okay, then please wait for a moment, Your Highness Prince Yi." Jiang Meng had always been prudent and measured, so he stopped persuading and left.
Zhou Chang stood outside the side hall and looked around. After a long while, he neither saw Yuan Qi come out nor did he see the skinny monkey stop his carriage to look for him. He felt very bored, so he turned around and walked back into the side hall.
Most of the people in the West Hall were court officials or princes. They gathered in groups of three or four to chat or play games. Most of them were gambling on crickets and dice.
Everyone looked focused, and few recognized Prince Yi Fengming.
Zhou Chang looked around with no interest, and vaguely heard the sound of gongs and drums coming from the back door of the west hall.
She followed the sound and walked inside again.
Behind the west hall was another small courtyard with a stage set up. Specially invited performers were invited to sing and perform acrobatics. The performance was lively with noisy gongs and drums. If anyone was tired of playing in the halls on both sides, they could come out and sing here.
Marquis Wu'an Jiang Rui, the Duke of the County, really put a lot of effort into preparing for his wife, Princess Pingning's 70th birthday.
Zhou Chang was not interested in opera and acrobatics, and was afraid that Yuan Qi would not be able to find her when he came out, so she turned back to the west hall.
In the west hall, there was one table with the most people sitting around it, and it was the noisiest and most lively, so Zhou Chang went over to take a closer look.
Behind the table was a folk artist invited from outside, performing a three-bowl-and-one-coin show.
There are three upside-down bowls with a coin in one of them. The three bowls are then moved quickly, and people are asked to guess which bowl the coin is under.
Many people took out silver and placed it in front of the guessing bowl, then waited for the result to be revealed, only to be disappointed in the end.
Zhou Chang understood everything after watching two rounds. This was a marquis's mansion, and the man would not dare to cheat. So the rest was just a matter of probability.
As a "math idiot", she naturally didn't understand the true probability, but she understood one thing: the more likely something seems, the less likely it is.
Thinking of this, and since he was short of money, he simply took out the one hundred taels of silver note that he had been reluctant to spend and took the opportunity to win some money.