Hearing his words, Yelu Nanxian's lips curled up slightly. Her plan had achieved initial success. Of course, to be interested in an emperor with countless beauties in his harem was the greatest recognition of a woman's beauty.
She slowly raised her head. Today, she had dressed up meticulously. She could be called incomparably beautiful. Li Yuanhao stared at her, dazed for a moment, forgetting what was going to happen next.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty?" The little eunuch on the side hurriedly reminded him.
Li Yuanhao finally came to his senses and laughed loudly. "It is said that Commandery Princess Cheng'an of the Liao Kingdom has excellent kung fu at a young age and is the most outstanding beauty on the grassland. Today, I see that you really deserve your reputation. You are really a beauty that captivates the fish and beasts, and outshines the moon and flowers."
The officials from the Ministry of Rites looked at each other. If Yelu Nanxian was on a diplomatic mission to Western Xia, it would be fine for the emperor to praise her like this. But this time, she was here for a marriage alliance and was his daughter-in-law. What kind of father-in-law would stare at his daughter-in-law and praise her beauty?
However, Li Yuanhao had always been decisive. Adding to the fact that the Mu brothers were killed a few days ago, who knew how many officials were implicated and how many officials of the imperial court had been beheaded. They didn't dare to say anything.
After that, Li Yuanhao and Yelu Nanxian chatted non-stop, holding hands and asking all sorts of questions. The officials on the side all kept quiet out of fear.
According to the usual protocol, after the Crown Princess entered the palace and met the emperor, she would quickly leave the palace to prepare for the wedding. However, Li Yuanhao had no intention of letting her go. It wasn't until the sky was getting dark that he spoke up and asked her to stay overnight in the palace in the name of the Crown Princess. He said that the Crown Princess wanted to take a good look at her granddaughter-in-law.
The group of people looked at each other. Who didn't know that the Crown Princess lived in the palace for a long time and never cared about anything? How could she suddenly stay overnight in the palace? Song Qingshu's mind was as clear as a mirror. He knew more about the Crown Princess than the Western Xia officials. Why would someone like Li Qiushui care about such trivial matters?
"I'm afraid this is against the rules!" Although everything was going according to plan, Song Qingshu, as the marriage escort general, still had to show the proper attitude.
I don't care what rules you have in Liao. Since you are in Great Xia, you have to follow the rules of Great Xia. My words are the rules. " Li Yuanhao said coldly. As the founder of the country, he had been tempered by mountains of corpses and seas of blood, so he naturally had an inexplicable murderous aura. As soon as these words came out, the temperature in the entire hall seemed to drop.
Xiao Huan Duo, who was at the side, hastily stepped forward to smooth things over. Only then did the atmosphere ease up. At the same time, he secretly tugged on Song Qingshu's sleeve, indicating that he should not say anything more. Song Qingshu was just putting on an act, so he took the opportunity to keep quiet.
However, the reaction of the Xixia diplomatic corps made Li Yuanhao realize something. In the end, he said, "What you said is somewhat reasonable. In that case, let the countess go to see the old Princess now. She can leave the palace later."
After that, he asked the eunuch to lead Yelu Nanxian to the direction of the harem. Song Qingshu was startled. Now that everyone was watching, how could he follow the Emperor into the palace? If something happened to Yelu Nanxian in the palace, he would not be able to save her in time.
As if she knew what he was worried about, when she passed by him, Yelu Nanxian said to him using the Secret Voice-sending Technique, "Don't worry, I know how to protect myself. If there is any danger, I will send the signal and ask you to come and save me."
Song Qingshu felt a little relieved. With Yelu Nanxian's martial arts, as long as she didn't run into Li Qiushui, there shouldn't be many masters in the Western Xia Imperial Palace who could be her opponent. Even if she ran into masters like Ding Chunqiu or Duan Yanqing, she would have no problem protecting herself.
Of course, what made him more relieved was that Li Yuanhao was still in the main hall. If he left with them, then no matter how many reasons he had, Song Qingshu would not dare to let Yelu Nanxian leave.
About an hour later, Li Yuanhao also left. Song Qingshu was hesitating about what to do next. Not long after, a eunuch came out with the splendidly dressed Princess and handed her back to the Liao delegation. But when everyone saw her, they were dumbfounded. Although this Princess could be considered delicate and pretty, how could she compare to Yelu Nanxian's peerless beauty?
Song Qingshu hastily stepped forward and pulled the eunuch back. He asked in a stern voice, "Who is this? Where did you hide our Princess?"
The eunuch calmly said, "Isn't this your Princess Cheng 'an?"
"Nonsense!" Xiao Huandu Ho was also anxious. If anything happened to the Princess and it affected the peace talks between the two countries, even if he had a few heads, it wouldn't be enough to chop off.
The eunuch humphed, "Official Xiao, since His Majesty said she is Princess Cheng 'an, then she is naturally Princess Cheng' an."
Xiao Huandu Ho could hear the hidden meaning in his words and couldn't help but be startled, "What do you mean?"
The eunuch smiled faintly and asked, "Why did you marry the Princess over?"
"Naturally, it's to bury the hatchet and forever be on good terms with Qin and Jin." Xiao Huandu Ho's expression was a little ugly. After all, this marriage alliance was not very honorable. There was a feeling that the other party was at their gates and they were forced to offer up their daughter for peace talks.
"Since you're asking for peace, then you should know who the ruler of our Grand Xia is, right?" The eunuch chuckled.
"Of course I know, of course it's the current Imperial Majesty."
Xiao Huandu Ho cupped his hands towards the direction of the inner palace.
"Then that's it." The eunuch spread out his hands, "Since the ruler is His Majesty, then is it better for the Princess to marry His Majesty or a Crown Prince?"
"This …" Xiao Huandu Ho was speechless for a moment. He was actually somewhat persuaded. After all, the Crown Prince was not the Emperor and might not become the Emperor in the end. Moreover, the position of the Empress was currently vacant. If the Princess married over, she might become the Empress. A current Empress was always better than a future Empress. Moreover, Li Yuanhao was already old and might become the Empress Dowager in a few years. At that time, it would be even more advantageous for Liao.
Even though he was tempted, Xiao Huandu Ho was still acutely aware of the danger involved, "But the Crown Prince …"
"You don't have to worry about this," the eunuch replied, "As the saying goes, the ruler is the subject and the father is the son. The Crown Prince is both the subject and the son of His Majesty. He can only obey."
At the side, Song Qingshu secretly curled his lips. The Xixia people had always been on guard against assimilation. He didn't expect that in order to justify themselves, they would take the initiative to quote some Han people.
"Since that's the case, we can't say anything else. Everything will be left to His Majesty's arrangements." Song Qingshu spoke at the right time. This was originally his plan. He didn't want to continue wasting time with this eunuch. Yelu Nanxian was still waiting for his protection.
Xiao Huandu Ho looked at him in surprise but didn't say anything in the end. It wasn't until they left the Imperial Palace that he couldn't help but pull Song Qingshu aside, "Brother, for the sake of our Great Liao, I've really wronged you."
Song Qingshu was startled. He felt somewhat baffled and didn't know what the eunuch meant. He was in a hurry to re-enter the Imperial Palace to check on Yelu Nanxian's condition, so he casually said a few words and hurriedly took his leave.
Looking at his hurried back, Xiao Huandu Ho couldn't help but click his tongue, "For the sake of the great country, you abandoned your small family. Xiao Huandu is really admirable. Right now, he must be so sad that he's drunk. I won't disturb him."
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