CH 35.1

Chapter 35.1 – Bestowed a Cup of Tea (1)

Things were worse than Qi Yang had thought, because she saw the letter of credence sent by Rong State in Xuanshi Hall.

When the barbarians established a country, they sent that so-called letter of credence not so much to establish a diplomatic relationship with Liang State as to inform it that they now had another strong enemy. And this was not the only thing – the guess about the marriage was also true. It was clearly written on the letter of credence that the envoy would marry a princess when he arrived!

Before Qi Yang had time to panic, she became angry at the letter of credence’s contents first. She sat on her knees in front of the Emperor, her back straightened and her eyebrows frowned. She almost threw down the letter of credence.

The Emperor had calmed down and looked at his daughter who had an ugly complexion, asking, “What does Daughter think?”

Qi Yang pursed her thin lips tightly, glanced up at the Emperor, and asked, “Such a letter of credence. Does Royal Father think establishing a marriage alliance with them would be beneficial?”

It wasn’t that the Liang State had no precedent of having a marriage alliance with the barbarians, but the northern barbarians had no credibility at all. Even if they declared themselves to be a vassal and married a princess, they would only do it to get a moment of peace to recuperate.

Once they’ve built up an army of strong horses and powerful men, those darned people would still seek death and war would be inevitable. As for those princesses who were sent to the barbarians for a marriage alliance, almost none of them met a good end.

Even a three-year-old knew the adage of throwing a meat bun at dogs1. Even so, whenever the barbarians wanted to stop fighting and make peace, it would still cause a debate in the court, as if sending a princess there would really be able to pacify those barbarians.

Qi Yang had a serious chat with the Emperor, but the hand hidden inside her sleeves were unconsciously clenched tight, because she didn’t know what her father was thinking. The Emperor had been sitting on the throne for more than ten years, and the border was guarded by General Ji.

Although the war with the barbarians had been ceaseless, they had a lot of victories and few defeats, and had never been pushed to a situation where they also wanted a marriage alliance. The princesses had spent more than ten years in peace, and didn’t know what the Emperor would prefer.

In Qi Yang’s view, the current Emperor could be called a wise ruler. Setting aside the muddle-headedness in his later years, the current peace and prosperity was thanks to him. Such an Emperor might not want to see the war continue and ruin his peaceful and prosperous world…

In the short moment after asking that question, Qi Yang went through a lot of thoughts, and even thought about the worst possibility.

Fortunately, the Emperor wasn’t someone who chased after reputation, and the blood in his bones had not been worn away by years of living the life of an Emperor. He glanced at the letter of credence that Qi Yang had left on the desk in front of him and looked at it with similar disdain. “This marriage alliance thing is ridiculous.”

The throne of Liang state had only been passed down for three generations. The Founding Emperor conquered the four directions, snatching the world from the hands of many heroes and put an end to tumultuous times. Unfortunately, he was weary from injuries and he died just three years after founding the country.

When Emperor Wen rose to the throne, he had many things to do. When the country was still recuperating, the barbarians invaded the northern border, so he had no choice but to do a marriage alliance. And the result was obvious to everyone now.

Now, the country had become prosperous, and the national treasury had accumulated enough to support a big war. Even if the momentum of the founding of the barbarians’ country had been stronger, the Emperor still had famous ministers and capable generals serving him, as well as a full treasury. That was why he could speak such sentence with confidence.

Qi Yang breathed a long sigh of relief, and her tense heartstrings had mostly relaxed. “But if the court finds out, I’m afraid there would be a commotion.”

This letter of credence was sent directly to the Emperor, so even if outsiders knew about it, they would not know the specifics of its content. Even the Crown Prince only noticed a thing or two from the Emperor’s attitude and came up with a speculation.

When she learned of this, Qi Yang was momentarily overwhelmed by the favor, and was immediately taken aback by the unusual attitude. She thought that the Emperor had intended to send her to the political marriage, that’s why he took out this letter of credence to sound her out!

Fortunately, that was not the case.

The Emperor glanced at his little daughter who was still worried, then suddenly curled his lips. “I don’t have any extra daughters to send to a marriage alliance. If any of the ministers in the court thinks they have too many daughters in their family, I will not be stingy in giving them the title of a princess.”

When she heard this, Qi Yang finally couldn’t help but laugh. Her originally straightened back also finally relaxed. But soon her eyes rolled and she leaned towards the Emperor while smiling, “Royal Father, I’m afraid this is not right. With me here, the envoy of Rong State would not want to bring back a ‘fake princess’.”

The Emperor had already guessed her routine, but he still followed her words and asked, “So what does Daughter think?”

Qi Yang blinked and said without any hint of shyness. “A married daughter obviously cannot be sent to marry again.”

Even after living so long and reading so many books, who has ever since such a princess who couldn’t wait to get married!?

The Emperor could only accept things as it was. He leaned back on his dragon throne, and squinted at the daughter who immediately acted like a good girl to get on his good side as soon as he relaxed. “Is he really so good you cannot do without him?”

Qi Yang naturally nodded. After making that serious statement, she remembered the Emperor’s care for her and sweettalked again, “In This Daughter’s heart, Father Emperor is number one, my Royal Brothers are second, and she is third.”

The Emperor was amused, and finally waved his hand and said, “Alright, alright, I have my own arrangements for your marriage.”

Qi Yang wanted to ask more when she heard that, but the Emperor dismissed her lightly and didn’t tell her anything else.