C161

After the young eunuch who followed the imperial edict entered Cheng De Palace, Gu Changfeng saluted Dong Fang who was sitting at the head of the hall. "Emissary Gu Changfeng of the West Chu greets Emperor Zhou. Long live the Emperor!"

"No need for formalities." After gesturing for Gu Changfeng to get up, Dongfang Shaofeng said, "There have been a lot of troublesome matters in the court lately, so I haven't had the time to call for an audience. This subject has been waiting for a long time."

"Emperor Zhou is too courteous." Gu Changfeng cupped his hands and asked tentatively, "When will I be able to welcome you back?"

Dongfang Ru lightly rapped his index finger on the imperial table. "If I'm not wrong, the Chu Emperor has already deposed Princess Xuanji and changed his position to the Cao family."

Gu Changfeng looked embarrassed as he said, "No matter what, she was once a descendant of Xi Chu. I hope that Your Majesty will allow me to bring her back."

"With the destruction of South Zhao, only Princess Xuanji and Prince Zhuang are left in the royal family. Why would Emperor Chu need to force himself into a corner? He has to be killed!"

"Zhou Emperor has misunderstood. Although His Majesty has destroyed Nan Zhao, his love for the princess has never changed. Otherwise, he wouldn't have specially sent me here to welcome you."

Dongfang Ru stared at him for a moment before chuckling, "What a good talker Gu Changfeng. No wonder Emperor Chu sent you here as an envoy."

Gu Changfeng lowered his eyes, "Emperor Zhou is too kind. I am just telling the truth."

His words caused the smile on Dongfang Zexuan's lips to deepen. "I also want to help the Chu Emperor achieve true love. Unfortunately, Princess Xuanji is not willing to return with you."

"Princess, it was just a misunderstanding. When we go back, we will slowly explain, and everything will be fine."

Dongfang Ru glanced at him and said, "Princess Xuanji is my guest. If she doesn't want to, then I won't force her. The only thing I can do is disappoint this envoy."

Gu Changfeng raised his head and said, "This matter concerns the friendship between the two countries. I hope Zhou Emperor can reconsider."

"I've already thought about it enough. If Emperor Chu wants to ruin the friendship between the two countries, I have no other choice." Dong Fang Qian's tone was filled with pride. Even though the Zhou Empire had no way of dealing with Xi Chu, it was not something that Xiao Ruo could threaten. Did Bei Zhou and Xi Chu have any friendship at all?

Gu Changfeng was waiting for these words. But what he needed to do now was enough, so he could make a later request. "So that means, Emperor Zhou is definitely not willing to hand over Princess Xuanji?"

"I have made myself clear." With that, Dong Fang Qian turned to Wei En: "Why aren't you sending off the envoys?"

"Yes." "En!" Huai En replied respectfully. He walked in front of Gu Changfeng and raised his hand, "Please enter, envoy."

Gu Changfeng paid no attention to him. He stared at Dongfang Shao and said, "Since Emperor Zhou is unwilling to hand over Princess Xuanji, then I have no choice. However, before leaving, His Majesty still has a matter for me to pass on to His Majesty."

Dong Fang He signaled for Huai En to step back, and coldly said: "Speak."

Gu Changfeng followed Mu Qianxue's instructions and slowly said, "Although Princess Xuanji has been deposed, she was, after all, the Empress of the West Chu. This is an uncontested matter, no matter how long it takes or where she is, she must not have a second wife!"

Dong Tianleng's expression changed slightly. "The princess no longer has any relationship with the West Chu. It doesn't seem like it's Chu Emperor's place to question whether she's married or not."

Gu Changfeng did not explain, but said word by word, "Please, Emperor Zhou, you must agree."

Dong Fang Qian's nostrils flared, and he said expressionlessly: "And if I don't agree, what will you do?"

"Then Zhou Emperor hopes to meet on the battlefield between the two countries. If Northern Zhou becomes the second South Zhao, then Zhou Emperor will be the biggest sinner of the Northern Zhou Empire!"

"How dare you!" His words caused Huai En's expression to change, he shouted: "A mere small country like the West Chu actually dares to threaten His Majesty, this is too presumptuous!"

Even though cold sweat had formed on his forehead, Gu Changfeng still maintained his calm demeanor, "Gu Changfeng, I am just a servant, how could I dare to threaten the Emperor? The words that I just said were actually from the bottom of my heart!"

Before he could scold her, the sound of clapping could be heard in his ears. Dong Fang Qian said sarcastically, "In that case, do you mean that I have to thank you?"

"I don't dare!" Before Gu Changfeng had finished speaking, Dongfang Qian had already slammed his palm down heavily on the imperial table. Anger surged within his unfathomable black eyes, "Do you really think that I won't kill you because you're an emissary of the West Chu?" Despite the rule of "the two countries are at war with each other", there have been many instances of emissaries being killed throughout the ages.

Gu Changfeng swallowed and endured the fear in his heart, "There is no reason why I wouldn't dare to kill North Zhou with the Emperor's Palm. But then, what awaits North Zhou will be the anger of the entire West Chu!"

Dong Fang Jue laughed coldly, "A small country that destroyed Nan Zhao by such a despicable means dares to be so impudent in front of me. My cavalry can flatten Ying Tian at any time!"

"Since that's the case, why did we not meet with Emperor Zhou's army after so long?" With an ugly expression on his face, Gu Changfeng slowly said: "Northern Zhou may be powerful, but it also has powerful enemies. It's simply too much for us to handle. If my country teamed up with the Qi Kingdom, East Ling, and Yan Nation, what would happen to the Zhou Emperor?"

Dongfang Ru's face was ashen as he gritted his teeth. Right now, what he feared the most was the combined efforts of the other countries, even though Northern Zhou was strong, it was still impossible for them to fight one against four. After a long while, he squeezed out a dozen words from his sore teeth, "How could the Qi Empire and Dongling listen to the words of Xiao Ruo Ao."

"Of course not, but I believe that they will be interested in destroying Northern Zhou and sharing this land!" Even though Dongfang Muqian had concealed it well, Gu Changfeng could still see a trace of fear in his eyes.

"Aren't you afraid that if they win, they will turn their spearheads to face Xi Chu?"

Gu Changfeng disapprovingly said, "Even if it was as Eunuch said, it was only after the Northern Zhou Dynasty was destroyed."

"So you're saying that Xiao Ruo Ao has decided to become our enemy?"

Gu Changfeng lowered his eyes and said, "How could that be? My Emperor has always been respected by others. I respect him for ten feet, so let's see how Emperor Zhou decides!"

"Good!" Good! "Alright!" After saying three good words in succession, Dongfang Shao's eyes turned dark and cold as he said, "I will remember what happened today. When I see Xiao Ruo Ao in the future, I will definitely tell him about it."

Gu Changfeng's eyelids twitched. "So that means the Emperor has agreed?"

"Princess Xuanji had no intention of marrying; there is no need for us to agree." Dong Fang Qian clenched his fists tightly, maintaining his dignity. He hated himself for being threatened by such a powerful monarch; the humiliation he had suffered today would be repaid to Xiao Ruo Ao a hundred times over!

"That's good." With that, Gu Changfeng gave a bow, "If you have no other orders, Emperor Zhou, then I will take my leave!"

After Gu Changfeng left, Dongfang Chonglou ruthlessly swept the items on the imperial table to the ground. His eyes were bloodshot as he said, "Xiao Ruo Ao, I'll make sure you live a life worse than death!"

After walking out of Cheng De Palace, Gu Changfeng felt his legs go weak and cold sweat gushed out from all over his body, soaking his clothes.

It was extremely dangerous just now. Luckily, Emperor Zhou was cautious and had been fooled by him. Otherwise, his head would have fallen to the ground by now.