The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 979: still here
Chapter 979 is here
Li Zhijie clenched his fists and forced a smile. He was organizing his words in his mind, but before he could speak again, Bai Qingyan continued, “Does King Yan really not know the reason why the covenant has not been finalized?”
“Your Majesty, please give me your instructions!” Li Zhijie saluted.
“Princess Li Tianfu of Xiliang sent people to Shuoyang to assassinate me. Now… Prince Yan has been jumping around since he came to the capital. He lent the assassin of Xiliang to Prince Baishui, intending to cause chaos on the day I ascend the throne. Xiliang is so restless and has such great malice towards Dazhou. How dare Dazhou sign this treaty?”
“Your Majesty!” Li Zhijie’s back was slightly sweaty, and he stood up and bowed. “I know nothing about the princess sending assassins! I have never participated in the rebellion of Prince Baishui, and I have never lent Prince Baishui Xiliang assassins. Please understand, Your Majesty!”
“Li Zhijie…” Bai Qingyan put down his teacup and looked at Li Zhijie who seemed to be terrified. “Although the assassins are dead, King Baishui is still alive. Do you really think you can deny it? I am willing to see you now, which is already a great honor for Xiliang. How should we negotiate peace… What kind of sincerity should Xiliang show? You’d better send someone back to ask the Queen of Xiliang!”
At this point, if Xiliang used Jintong as a gambling card, he should have revealed it now.
“Your Majesty…” Li Zhijie looked up, unable to hide his panic even though he tried his best.
“Don’t worry, as long as the Great Zhou keeps the Ghost-faced Prince in the capital and doesn’t return to Rongdi, Rongdi will never go to war with Xiliang. Although the Great Zhou won’t be stable for long, there is still time for the King of Flame to send people back to Yunjing, Xiliang, and then return to the Great Zhou. If it takes longer… the Great Zhou can’t guarantee it! Of course, Xiliang must also guarantee that it will not attack Rongdi during this period, otherwise… Rongdi’s Ghost-faced Prince is a guest of the Great Zhou in the capital. Our alliance has not yet been finalized, but Xiliang attacked Rongdi because the Ghost-faced Prince was away. Naturally, the Great Zhou cannot stand idly by.”
When Li Zhijie came out of the hall, his back was soaked, but he felt relieved…
From what Bai Qingyan said, he was not satisfied with the city that Xiliang gave to Da Zhou, and wanted to take advantage of Xiliang’s help to Prince Baishui to get more benefits from Xiliang. Bai Qingyan was afraid that he could not make the decision, so she gave him time to send someone back to Yunjing to ask the empress. For these benefits… Bai Qingyan was willing to help Xiliang keep the Ghost-faced Prince in the capital.
Therefore, Bai Qingyan still wanted to negotiate peace with Xiliang, but he simply felt that the benefits were too little.
Li Zhijie clenched his fists, that’s all… At least Bai Qingyan still wanted to negotiate peace, and if he could delay it for a day, it would give him time to plan how to save Xiliang if he couldn’t form an alliance with the Great Zhou in the end.
Li Zhijie raised his head and looked at the imperial palace of Dadu, which was enveloped in the golden light of the early morning sun. The red walls and green tiles were shining brightly, and he felt really worried for Xiliang.
Before coming to the capital city to meet the Empress of Great Zhou, and before knowing about her various actions, Li Zhijie fully believed that Xiliang was now undergoing reforms, and would surely rejoin the ranks of powerful nations in the near future. Even if it was not as good as Great Zhou and Dayan… at least Great Zhou and Dayan would not dare to go to war with Xiliang easily.
But now I realize that I am just a frog in a well.
One wrong step, all wrong…
If Xiliang had not forcefully attacked the State of Jin, resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of elite troops and the enmity with the Empress of Zhou, but had instead secretly sought to strengthen itself like the State of Yan, would it still be afraid of the Rongdi now?
Unfortunately, there is no medicine for regret in this world.
Although after the Queen of Xiliang ascended the throne, she implemented various measures to strengthen Xiliang, but… there were eight major surnames that constrained it, instead of the six major surnames today, but the speed at which Xiliang became stronger was far behind the speed at which the Great Zhou became stronger.
Both Dayan and Dayzhou want to annex the world. Now Xiliang is like meat on a chopping board. How can we save Xiliang? How can we save it?
Li Zhijie was heartbroken and felt helpless. He was filled with sadness and didn’t know what strategy he should use to save the country from danger. He didn’t know where Xiliang’s way out was…
Seeing Li Zhijie standing at the entrance of the hall for a long time without moving, a young eunuch stepped forward and asked in a low voice: “Does King Yan have anything else to say?”
The King Yan of Xiliang was always generous, so the young eunuchs all liked to get close to him. They could always get a reward or two, and the amount was always sufficient.
But this time, Li Zhijie came back to his senses, and just looked at the little eunuch deeply, then walked down the high steps.
The young eunuch was a little puzzled that he did not get the reward. He sighed and returned to his position to guard.
Li Zhijie had just left the palace and got on the carriage, closing his eyes in deep thought when he heard his guard whisper beside his carriage, “Your Majesty, it seems that the Ghost-faced Prince is also going to the palace to ask for an audience!”
Li Zhijie opened his eyes upon hearing that and used his iron fan to push aside the curtain. He just happened to see the ghost-faced prince of Rongdi getting down from his tall horse. His eyes seemed to be looking in his direction with a chilling look.
He tightened his grip on the folding fan and simply nodded to the Ghost-faced Prince. Then he lowered the curtain of the carriage and the smile on his face faded.
He had just come to see the Empress of the Great Zhou when the Rongdi people arrived right after. It was obvious what they came for.
It seems that Li Zhijie has to send someone back to ask the empress whether she can make other preparations besides making concessions in the alliance.
·
Bai Qingyu received news last night that the Empress of the Great Zhou would meet Li Zhijie after the morning court… before having breakfast with the Queen Mother. He then understood that his eldest sister was giving him a legitimate opportunity to meet his mother… and his elder sister.
So since he got the news that Li Zhijie entered the palace, Bai Qingyu has been restless. He was worried that if A Niang asked him to take off the mask, how would he face A Niang with such a broken face.
He didn’t want to see his mother crying, nor did he want to see his sister crying.
The time waiting in front of the palace gate was very difficult for Bai Qingyu.
But even though he was completely overwhelmed, he couldn’t suppress his desire to see his mother and sister, so he came anyway.
Bai Qingyu followed the eunuch leading the way and walked along the long palace road…
Thinking back to the countless times I walked this passage with my grandfather, father, uncle, and brothers, looking at the half-person-high candle pavilions on both sides of the passage and the red walls and green tiles, but never once did I feel as complicated as I do today.
The young eunuchs looked at the ghost-faced prince who was wearing a mask but looked very majestic, and couldn’t help but whisper about it. They also compared this ghost-faced prince with the masked Ninth Prince of Dayan.
Shouhe Palace.
Dong had been restless since before the morning court session. Bai Qingyan came to her last night and told her that perhaps she could meet Ayu today. Dong had hardly slept all night and looked a little haggard.
Bai Qingyan saw his mother holding her chopsticks while having breakfast and looking outside. He turned around and signaled to Nanny Qin to tell the other palace maids to go out and not to serve her.
I will continue to ask for monthly tickets for the third update! I will try to update the little ancestors tomorrow…