The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 1294: Targeted
Chapter 1294 The Target of Public Criticism
“Sister-in-law…” Xiao Rongyan raised his head. Although his expression was calm, his dark eyes could not help showing sadness. “The Emperor of Great Zhou and I were wrong from the beginning. Now let’s put an end to this mistake. The father of those two children is Xiao Rongyan, the richest businessman in the world. He has nothing to do with me, the Regent of Great Yan. If it’s for my own good, sister-in-law, don’t mention this matter again.”
“Okay, okay! I won’t mention it anymore, I won’t mention it anymore!” Queen Mother Yan responded repeatedly, “Ayan, I don’t want to think about it anymore. If you don’t like Meng Zhaorong, I will definitely find you a quiet and demure princess in the future.”
“Let’s discuss this matter later!” Xiao Rongyan said.
After hearing what Xiao Rongyan said, Queen Mother Yan felt relieved, but she couldn’t help but worry about Murong Li. She frowned and clenched her handkerchief tightly. After a while, she said to Xiao Rongyan: “A Li was indeed too wrong this time, but today I thought about it carefully, and now our Yan State’s predicament seems… There is no better solution! A Yan, don’t you think so?”
Xiao Rongyan turned to look at Queen Mother Yan: “Sister-in-law, what you mean is…A Li convinced you?”
Queen Mother Yan tightly grasped the handkerchief and wiped the sweat off her palms with it, pretending to be relaxed. “It’s not that Ah Li convinced me, but I really can’t think of a better way! The main force of Great Yan is now blocked by Great Zhou in Yunjing, and the Great Zhou army is at the border of my Yan State and can march into Yandu at any time!”
She was genuinely scared when she thought of this. She couldn’t help but wipe her tears with a handkerchief and turned to look at Xiao Rongyan: “By then, the main force led by Xie Xun will not be able to return, and the Great Zhou army will approach Yandu. Ah Yan… I don’t want to tell your brother after I die that I didn’t help him defend his kingdom! Ah Li’s method, as long as the Great Zhou Emperor agrees, can not only win a glimmer of hope for our Yan Kingdom, but it may also fulfill the wish of mother and your brother and unify the world!”
“Sister-in-law…” Xiao Rongyan frowned, disagreeing. “Since the Great Zhou conquered Daliang and Rongdi, the natural horse farms, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers has greatly increased, and the soldiers and horses are strong! The Great Zhou… the emperor is ambitious and aims to unify the world. Even if they agree with Ali’s method, our Yan State has just taken back Southern Yan not long ago, and the foundation is too poor. In three or five years… it may not be able to catch up with the Great Zhou.”
“Ayan, don’t you have confidence in the national policy left by your mother?” Queen Mother Yan asked Xiao Rongyan according to what her brother Zhong Xingxiao taught her, “Do you think that our Yan country’s national policy will definitely lose to the Great Zhou?”
Sure enough, when Queen Mother Yan heard this, Xiao Rongyan was stunned. She quickly continued, “I have also taken a rough look at the new policies implemented by the Great Zhou. Many of them were implemented by my mother in our Yan State, but they were not implemented. In our Yan State, they all failed without exception. I believe that the Great Zhou will be no exception. A great person like my mother could not succeed in doing something, so I don’t believe that the Emperor of the Great Zhou can succeed!”
Xiao Rongyan lowered his eyes, lifted the hem of his clothes, crossed his legs, and tapped the armrest of the chair with his bent fingers. One could guess that this was taught by his sister-in-law’s brother.
Seeing Xiao Rongyan silent and thoughtful, Queen Mother Yan adjusted her sitting position to face Xiao Rongyan, staring at his chiseled profile, choking and whispering, “I know that Ah Li’s method is actually to protect me as a mother! I was also… afraid that after destroying Xiliang, the Great Zhou would turn around and attack our Yan State. The Great Zhou has many soldiers and generals, and I thought that I could hold the weakness of the Great Zhou emperor and at least protect our Yan State. I didn’t expect… that I got into big trouble and actually handed the handle to the Great Zhou, allowing the Great Zhou to send troops with justification. I am sorry for the Yan State.”
Xiao Rongyan did not raise his head, listening to the sound of rain that was gradually getting louder outside. He lowered his eyes and took out a white jade goose hairpin from his sleeve and played with it in his hand. It turned out that his sister-in-law still did not understand where she really went wrong.
“Sister-in-law… you are wrong because you shouldn’t be the first to draw your sword against the Great Zhou when our Yan State and the Great Zhou have not yet dissolved their alliance!” He said indifferently without moving his eyebrows, “Once Xiliang is destroyed, the Great Zhou and Yan State will be in a situation of confrontation, and the two countries are allies to begin with, so… whoever draws the sword first will become the target of public criticism!”
“Not to mention… the characters of the Bai family are that they would rather commit suicide than let themselves become a burden to their family or country!” Xiao Rongyan’s voice was filled with an almost unnoticeable sigh, “Sister-in-law, have you forgotten how you felt when you heard that Bai Qishan, the deputy commander of the Bai family army, shot and killed the five Bai family members? You forgot when you heard that… the seventeenth Bai family member shouted for his death before he died. He didn’t want to become a burden to the Bai family army, and sang the Bai family army’s military song before he died. You were impressed that a ten-year-old child of the Bai family had such courage. No wonder the Bai family army was invincible!”
“So, even if I capture the brother and sister of the Great Zhou Emperor, I’m afraid I can only get a corpse. I won’t get the Great Zhou Emperor to take drastic measures, but crazy revenge!” He paused and his throat rolled. After a long while, he said in a hoarse voice, “The Great Zhou Emperor… for her brother and sister, she even gave up her newborn child. I should understand… If I really get Bai Jiazi and he dies in the hands of Yan State, the Great Zhou will definitely spare no effort to destroy Yan State.”
Queen Mother Yan tightened her grip on the handkerchief.
He turned to look at the tearful Queen Mother Yan: “Actually, A Yan knows that my sister-in-law did this to find a way to control the weakness of the Great Zhou Emperor to prevent any unexpected events. More importantly… I’m afraid she wants to see A Yan and the Great Zhou Emperor break up! My sister-in-law still doesn’t believe A Yan.”
Queen Mother Yan’s face suddenly changed. She didn’t expect that her thoughts could be seen through so easily by Xiao Rongyan.
She dodged his gaze and was about to deny it in a panic, but swallowed the lie back. She lowered her eyes to look at the handkerchief in her hand, tears falling down, and whispered: “Yes, sister-in-law does have such thoughts! But A Yan… ask yourself, you could abandon Yunjing and go to Jiangzi City to save her, won’t you abandon Yan State in the future? After your brother left, sister-in-law and A Li only have you to rely on. It can be said that… sister-in-law and A Li entrusted the entire Yan State to you. Sister-in-law is really afraid that you will be blinded by love and hand over our Yan State to Bai Qingyan!”
The main hall was quiet and silent.
A gust of wind carrying moisture from rain rushed in from the open carved partition, the gauze curtains in the main hall swayed, and the candlelight dimmed and then brightened again.
First update…