The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 1288: plead guilty
Chapter 1288: Asking for Guilt
But she also understood that this method was thought up by Murong Li, because her son wanted to protect her as a mother and was unwilling to hand her over to the Great Zhou, so he could only come up with this method to protect the State of Yan and her.
But neither her brother nor Xiao Rongyan agreed to this method, which reduced Empress Dowager Yan’s doubts about Xiao Rongyan.
She understood… After Bai Qingyan gave birth to a premature baby, she ignored her own body and her two children and insisted on going to Xiliang. She also deployed troops on the border of Yan State and asked the eunuch beside her to question Xiao Rongyan… These things added up to make A Yan feel disappointed with Bai Qingyan.
She finally believed that even if A Yan married Bai Qingyan, he would still put Dayan first in his heart. Otherwise, when Xiao Rongyan proposed the method of merging the two countries, A Yan should have agreed immediately and then secretly helped Bai Qingyan defeat the State of Yan. Then, the whole world… would fall into the hands of his children.
Queen Dowager Yan had tears in her eyes. She was moved by the fact that Murong Li was willing to gamble his country to protect her, and she also felt guilty towards Xiao Rongyan. Her heart was filled with mixed emotions.
She forced herself to step into the hall with the dignity of a queen mother, and every word she said was loud and clear: “It was I who betrayed the Great Zhou! If the Great Zhou insists that our Yan State give an explanation, then they will hand over me, the queen mother of Yan State! Even if I die… I will never watch Your Majesty gamble with the future of a country!”
Seeing the Queen Mother coming in, the court officials of Yan State all bowed to her.
Even Xiao Rongyan stood up from his chair and bowed to Queen Dowager Yan.
Murong Li saw his mother step into the palace and all the court officials, including his uncle, bowing to his mother. Only then did he lower his eyes, clasped his fists, and bowed, his thin lips tightly pursed.
Queen Mother Yan looked at Murong Li and Xiao Rongyan on the high steps, took a deep breath, and said, “Please wait outside the palace first. I will persuade the emperor!”
As soon as the Queen Mother said this, the court officials stood up and left the hall.
Just when Zhong Xingxiao was about to leave, Queen Mother Yan said, “You stay…”
“Yes!” Zhong Xingxiao quickly bowed in response.
Soon, only Xiao Rongyan, Murong Li, Queen Mother Yan, Murong Ping and Zhong Xingxiao were left in the hall.
The court officials of the Yan court standing in the square outside the main hall were talking about it. The queen mother had actually colluded with Xiliang and betrayed the Great Zhou. Since the Great Zhou had made an alliance with the Yan State, it had taken good care of the Yan State. If this got out… wouldn’t the Yan State be branded as unkind and unjust?
In the hall, as soon as the court officials left, the empress dowager couldn’t help but burst into tears.
“Ali, you are crazy. You can actually come up with such an idea!” Queen Mother Yan held up the hem of her clothes and walked up the stairs, saying, “You even dared to refute your uncle Jiu and your uncle. Ali… you really have grown wings!”
“The Queen Mother, please advise Your Majesty!” Xiao Rongyan spoke slowly, “My Yan State has come to this point today. Others may not know, but the Queen Mother knows. For this country…whatever my brother has paid, I will pay…”
Xiao Rongyan paused for a moment before continuing, “The Queen Mother should know better than Your Majesty what the people of Yan have paid!”
How could Queen Mother Yan not understand what her husband had done for this country? Xiao Rongyan had done even more for Yan State… He risked his life almost every day to work for Yan State, and the people of Yan State…
Queen Mother Yan looked at Xiao Rongyan and nodded to him with tears in her eyes: “Ayan, I am sorry for making you feel wronged. I know you have worked hard for this country! Ah Li said such words, which hurt your heart! I will scold Ah Li! Ah Yan, don’t take it to heart!”
“Uncle Jiu disagrees with my method, so what do you think?” Murong Li turned his head boldly and shouted angrily, “If Uncle Jiu can solve the current predicament of Yan State with a better method than A Li, the Emperor of Yan State, A Li… is willing to give up his throne to Uncle Jiu and no longer be the Emperor!”
“A Li!” Queen Mother Yan raised her hand high and stared at Murong Li with wide eyes, but she hesitated to slap him.
She remembered the day when she had an argument with Ah Li and she slapped Ah Li in the face. She regretted it till now. She could only clench her raised hand into a fist, turned away without looking at Murong Li, and said sternly, “Apologize to your ninth uncle! The Great Zhou has deployed troops to the border of the State of Yan… As for the matter of asking our State of Yan for an explanation, at worst, your mother can go to the Great Zhou in person to apologize to the Emperor of the Great Zhou!”
Hearing this, Zhong Xingxiao’s heart skipped a beat.
“Mother…” Murong Ping called Queen Mother Yan uneasily.
“The disaster was caused by me, so I should bear the consequences alone. My life and death, honor and disgrace are nothing compared to those of our Yan State!” When Queen Mother Yan said this, she was already prepared to die in the Great Zhou. But no matter what, she could not let A Li use that method to fight for a chance of survival for Yan State.
If she lost the State of Yan because of this bet, how would she face her dead husband?
After all…it all started because of her, and Ali’s method was to protect her as a mother!
“That’s true. It will make our Yan country lose face and let everyone in the world know… our Yan country is a shameless villain who repays kindness with grievances!” Murong Li used sharp words.
“Queen Mother!” Zhong Xingxiao kowtowed before the Queen Mother got angry. “Sending the Queen Mother to the Great Zhou to apologize is a more shameful thing than losing the country! This is equivalent to admitting to the world that you, Queen Mother, stabbed the Great Zhou’s ally in the back, and made the world think that Your Majesty is unfilial and actually pushed your mother out to quell the anger of the Great Zhou. How will the world view our Yan royal family? The Yan royal family will lose prestige in the hearts of the people!”
“What better way do you have?!” Queen Mother Yan cried in her hysterical voice, “What better way is there! I don’t mind dying, but I can’t lose the Kingdom of Yan!”
More importantly, Queen Mother Yan didn’t believe that Bai Qingyan really dared to kill her!
“My uncle is right…” Xiao Rongyan spoke slowly, agreeing with Zhong Xingxiao for once. “If we push the queen mother out, people will not only say that we are ungrateful, but will also speculate about your majesty and the royal family, which will be even more detrimental to Yan!”
“If I really go to Great Zhou, I will become a hot potato in Bai Qingyan’s hands!” Queen Mother Yan’s chest heaved violently. She had already started to make plans in her mind, and she spoke whatever came to her mind. “If she kills me, it will definitely arouse the anger of the people of Yan. When that time comes, Bai Qingyan wants to attack Great Yan again, and the people of Yan will surely rise up in resistance!”