The side hall of Qianqing Palace.
As soon as the assembled personnel arrived, Zhao Jun spoke directly:
"You should all know about the recent incident involving Zhao Ping'an. Today, we will not discuss whether she is still my daughter or if she has been possessed by demons.
Instead, we will discuss how we should deal with this matter.
Regardless of her identity, she is currently uncontrollable. My decree likely has no effect, and she might even harbor hatred towards me, or perhaps lean more towards the Qi family and even wish to avenge them.
If we allow her to continue her reckless behavior.
I believe none of you would wish to see that.
So, let's discuss it!"
It had to be said that this was the first time the ministers present had heard Zhao Jun speak so frankly about Princess Ping'an. They also vaguely guessed that he was displeased with this daughter of his.
However, based on the current information available.
It seemed he was also unable to deal with Princess Ping'an.
He felt rather helpless, which was why he had summoned them to discuss a plan of action.
"Your Majesty, Your humble servant has actually gathered some information prior to this. The situation is not good.
Firstly, Princess Ping'an did not change after going to the Wei Kingdom. She had already changed before the marriage alliance, before leaving the Zhao Kingdom. In fact, judging by the timeline, the change occurred on the very night that the deposed Empress Qi died.
At that time, the guards and palace maids watching over Princess Ping'an had already reported her abnormality to their superiors. However, the responsible officials found their words too absurd to be possible.
Therefore, they did not report it.
A few days ago, I briefly compiled and collected the testimonies of those guards and palace maids, and the results were largely consistent, so it should be true. They said that after Princess Ping'an finished a dinner she couldn't finish before, she soon complained of hunger again. They didn't take it seriously, and then Princess Ping'an directly broke down the door and rushed to the kitchen.
She then proceeded to eat voraciously.
Soon after, she consumed everything cooked in the kitchen, and then began eating raw food.
Raw grains, raw meat, lard, and such.
After Princess Ping'an finished eating everything edible in the kitchen, she even kicked open the kitchen door, eating pieces of wood while threatening them to quickly bring her food, or she would eat people.
After that, they continuously supplied Princess Ping'an with food. When money ran out, under Princess Ping'an's coercion, they dismantled the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and spent most of her dowry. During the process, they had also tried to subdue Princess Ping'an, specifically adding a potent sedative to the food capable of stunning ten oxen, as well as chicken crest blood and black dog blood, which might be effective against demons and ghosts.
Even cinnabar was added in considerable amounts.
But none of it worked.
From this, your humble servant infers that Princess Ping'an may not only possess immense strength and invulnerability as rumored, but also special abilities such as immunity to all poisons. Such an existence, to put it bluntly, is no different from a deity or immortal.
We are neither able to poison her to death, nor can we harm her with conventional weapons, even the most powerful crossbows. Although theoretically, a person's strength and stamina are finite, and with enough people attacking, she could be subdued.
If she can be subdued, then high-temperature furnaces or volcanic lava might be able to kill her, as they can melt iron, let alone flesh and blood.
However, this is only theoretical, and the practical feasibility is not high, as Princess Ping'an is not foolish.
If she is truly outmatched, she can simply flee.
Therefore, your humble servant believes that eliminating Princess Ping'an is quite difficult. Rather than taking that risk, it would be better for Your Majesty to appeal to her emotions, see what Princess Ping'an cares about, and if we can win her over.
And make Princess Ping'an useful to our Zhao Kingdom.
Then, why would we worry about unstable borders or foreign invasions?"
As the Left Prime Minister, who was almost directly responsible for the near annihilation of the Qi family, he naturally did not want to let go of Princess Ping'an, who might seek revenge, if possible.
But the key was, wasn't it not possible?
No matter how he looked at the collected information, he felt that if the information was completely accurate, he had virtually no chance of eliminating Princess Ping'an. Since he couldn't eliminate her, he could only try to appease her through family ties.
Besides, his final statement was not wrong. If Princess Ping'an could truly be used by their Zhao Kingdom, it would be equivalent to Zhao having an ultimate weapon capable of destroying the royal families of other countries, or even the entire court at any time. Who would dare to defy them then?
As long as Princess Ping'an lived.
Other royal families would certainly not dare to act rashly.
At the same time, the other high officials and nobles on the side, after a moment of silence, all expressed that if possible, they should try to mend their relationship with Princess Ping'an.
It would be best to achieve filial piety between father and daughter.
That would be the greatest fortune for Zhao.
"But how would I know what she cares about?
I don't even know if she is still considered my daughter. Should I go back on my word, admit my mistake, pardon the Duke of Zhenguo of all crimes, and even reinstate her birth mother to the position of Empress?"
Actually, Zhao Jun could roughly guess what his daughter cared about, but he was unwilling to admit he was wrong. Furthermore, he had genuinely never experienced a life-or-death crisis.
Therefore, he was momentarily unwilling to yield.
His tone was inevitably a little stiff.
The Left Prime Minister and the others could only remain silent.
Because this was not something they could advise too deeply on. If they spoke too deeply or too directly, the Emperor might resent them. They were all experienced schemers, and who didn't understand the principle of self-preservation?
However, Zhao Jun had been their sovereign for over a decade, and he knew their character. He ultimately had to find a way to save face for himself and waved his hand impatiently:
"Enough, you all may leave.
I need to think further..."
"Yes!"
"Your humble servant takes his leave." ...
In the following days, Zhao Jun was in a state of hesitation, while several important ministers waited.
They waited for Zhao Jun to finish his deliberation and make a decision.
So they could cooperate.
However, Zhao Jun's hesitation dragged on for too long. By the time Ding Yun arrived in the capital half a month earlier than their expected date, he still hadn't officially made a decision.
As for why he arrived half a month early, it was mainly because Ding Yun encountered fewer and fewer "tumors" to clear along the way. Many people fled as soon as they heard rumors, and Ding Yun couldn't chase after them specifically.
With fewer tasks, Ding Yun's progress naturally became much faster than they had anticipated, hence his arrival in the capital half a month ahead of schedule.