Han Yunxi was in a good mood as she eagerly followed behind Long Fei Ye towards the Hibiscus Courtyard.
Long Fei Ye was very quiet the entire way as the two of them reached a fork in the garden. To the right was a long corridor that led to the sleeping quarters, while to the left was a small path that led to the Leisurely Cloud Pavilion.
Han Yunxi couldn't help but feel that this Big Ice Cube should have said something about the matter with Grand Concubine Yi. She suspected that Long Feiye and Emperor Tianhui had quarreled fiercely over the marriage alliance, so Emperor Tianhui wouldn't let go of her imprisonment until Long Feiye had no choice but to take out his command token.
Otherwise, even if Emperor Tianhui wanted to kill her, he wouldn't give Long Fei Ye no chance without any evidence, right?
Han Yunxi slowed down as they approached the fork in the road, but Long Fei Ye didn't say a word. He didn't stop his steps, but turned right.
All right, she'd thought too much. Seeing Long Fei Ye's figure fade into the darkness of the long corridor, Han Yunxi obediently returned to her Leisurely Cloud Pavilion.
Finally home!
Under Zhao mama's care and concern, Han Yunxi washed away her exhaustion and ate her fill. As soon as she went upstairs, she saw a locked window.
Han Yunxi suddenly laughed foolishly. No one was looking, so what was she feeling awkward about? She coughed lightly a few times, smoothed out her bangs, and smoothed out her long hair. After various small movements, she finally walked over and nimbly unlocked the window!
As soon as she did, the night rushed in. Not too far away, the brightly lit palace hall was conspicuous in the darkness, but also mysterious.
Han Yunxi lazily sprawled on the windowsill, one hand propping up her head. As she stared and stared, she unconsciously fell into a trance.
Long Fei Ye, you used the command token to save me. In the end, in the end … why, ah?
At this moment, Long Fei Ye was bathing in the hot spring pool in his bedroom.
He leaned against the side of the pool, his ink-black hair casually draped over his shoulders. His slender and refined arms were spread out on the shore. His bronze-colored chest muscles were clearly defined, and his figure was so good that it made people want to vomit blood. People couldn't help but imagine the half of his body underwater.
He raised his head. Even though his eyes were closed, he still exuded the domineering aura of a king. He seemed to be thinking about something. As for what he was thinking about, no one knew …
The next day, Princess Changping's funeral was held. As for the truth behind the princess's death, it wasn't made public. To the outside world, it was only announced that the princess had contracted a terrible disease and died of natural causes.
After all, publicizing the truth would be too embarrassing for the royal family, and it wouldn't reflect well on them either.
Han Yunxi and Long Fei Ye attended the funeral together. During the funeral, Han Yunxi clearly felt the Empress Dowager's hostility.
Although Han Yunxi wasn't the culprit, she wasn't surprised by the hostility. Even if the empress dowager had arranged for her to marry Long Fei Ye, she had no heart of loyalty to the empress dowager. Even if nothing had happened, she and the empress dowager would've been irreconcilable sooner or later.
Emperor Tianhui, on the other hand, didn't reveal much of his emotions aside from his heavy expression and silence. In the end, an emperor was still an emperor.
For the next few days, Han Yunxi rested at home. Grand Concubine Yi didn't make trouble for her because of Princess Rongle. News of what happened at the family banquet on New Year's Eve didn't spread. Princess Rongle's wedding seemed to have passed just like that.
But Han Yunxi soon discovered that she'd been overthinking things.
On the fifteenth day of the Lantern Festival, bad news came from Tianning's northwest borders. Western Zhou's emperor had transferred away a third of the troops stationed at the Three-Way Battlefield!
Cloud Realm Continent had three countries: Tianning Country, Western Zhou Country, and Northern Li Country. The three countries bordered each other. To the north of Tianning was Northern Li, while to the west was Western Zhou. To the northwest of Tianning, northeast of Western Zhou, and southwest of Northern Li was a battlefield known as the Three-Way Battlefield.
The Three-Way Battlefield couldn't be considered large, but it wasn't small either. It was about the size of three cities and had no tall mountains, but flat lands and hills. This was the land that the three countries had fought over for generations. Even now, the ownership of this land was still in dispute.
Because of this, none of the countries could control it. Thus, it became a no-man's land with no sovereign or laws.
When there were no wars, all sorts of shady dealings took place there. Fists were the law, and the strong were the kings.
All three countries had built cities and garrisoned troops at the borders of the Three-Way Battlefield to strictly control all movements at the border. It was to guard against the possibility of war breaking out at any moment. Unfortunately, Tianning Country suffered a great disadvantage because of its terrain.
Northern Li's border was the easiest to defend, the "Three-Mountain Pass." It was basically impossible to cross the Three-Way Battlefield and attack Northern Li's border. Meanwhile, Western Zhou's border was also a mountainous area. Although it wasn't as good as Northern Li's, it wasn't easy to attack either. But Tianning Country's border was completely flat.
Of all Tianning Country's borders, it was the most difficult to defend and the weakest. Although generations of Tianning Country's emperors had worked hard to build a flat Great Wall here, the "Great Wall of the Southern Route," it was still no match for Northern Li's ferocious army in a real battle!
Tianning and Western Zhou had formed an alliance through marriage because they'd borrowed Western Zhou's military strength to defend against Northern Li's invasion.
But now Western Zhou's emperor had withdrawn a third of his troops from the Three-Way Battlefield after Princess Rongle's return. What did this mean?
This was a threat to eat fruit!
Emperor Tianhui viciously tossed out the memorial, causing all of the officials in the imperial study to fall to their knees, including General Mu and Mu Qingwu.
"Abominable! Truly abominable! "
Emperor Tianhui's temper flared. His original plans had been well laid out, but as soon as the marriage alliance was settled, he immediately proposed a meeting with Western Zhou's emperor to discuss military cooperation on the Three-Way Border. They'd exchange weapons and weapons for each other's needs while balancing the two countries' strategies and making long-term plans.
But who knew that such bad news would arrive before the new year was over?!
War was the best way to test a country's overall strength.
Over the past decade or so since Emperor Tianhui's ascension, the three countries had been relatively stable. Although there were a few battles, they weren't major ones. Thus, Tianning's treasury had been empty for the past few years and its outdated military equipment hadn't been exposed.
What Emperor Tianhui feared most was a major battle. More accurately, he feared that something would happen at the Three-Way Battlefield.
Northern Li had been eyeing Tianning Country covetously to begin with. They wanted to use the Three-Way Battlefield to break a hole in Tianning's northern defenses. Once Northern Li's emperor heard the news, how could he miss such a golden opportunity? How could he not make a move?
In the silence, Mu Qingwu cupped his hands in salute and said, "Your Majesty, Western Zhou has gone too far! This soldier is willing to rush to the Three-Way Battlefield immediately and deploy troops and provisions to defend the borders to the death! "
Mu Qingwu had always had opinions about the Three-Way Battlefield's defensive strategies. If Tianning relied too much on Western Zhou, it'd only end up in the hands of others. The most important thing was that its own troops were strong.
Still, Mu Qingwu was too young to understand Emperor Tianhui's true concerns. Even an old general like Mu Qingwu might not be able to see through Emperor Tianhui's depths!
Emperor Tianhui glanced at Mu Qingwu, impatience flickering in his eyes. A long time later, he dismissed everyone.
"Your Majesty, Western Zhou's actions are clearly …"
Mu Qingwu wanted to admonish him, but Emperor Tianhui cut him off angrily. "Get out!"
Mu Qingwu still didn't give up, but General Mu only glared at him before dragging him away.
"Father, if His Majesty gives in this time, what will happen in the future? Moreover, the Duke of Qin might not agree! If news of this spreads, where will the Duke of Qin hide his face? Where will the dignity of my Tianning Country go? "
Mu Qingwu was furious. He knew that Western Zhou's emperor's actions were aimed at the marriage alliance for the sake of Princess Rongle's personal gain. Did Western Zhou's emperor treat the long-term cooperation between the two countries as child's play?
Or perhaps Western Zhou's emperor had other ideas about the cooperation between the two countries and was simply using this as a pretext to make a fuss?
Mu Qingwu had no time to consider all that. That was for the strategists to consider. He only knew that if the emperor gave in this time, he'd be showing weakness to Western Zhou!
"Shh! Enough, enough! " Great General Mu knitted his brows as he pulled Mu Qingwu away from the imperial study. Only then did he speak. "Qingwu, you have to remember your duties as a subject! And also, don't mention the Duke of Qin in front of His Majesty in the future! "
Everyone knew that the emperor valued the Duke of Qin and was even more on guard against him. The general's estate held military power and couldn't afford to get too close to the Duke of Qin.
"Father, why are you even …"
Before Mu Qingwu could finish speaking, he suddenly stopped. He saw His Highness Duke of Qin walking towards the imperial study from the side.
Mu Qingwu was about to follow when General Mu said, "His Majesty has long made up his mind. It's useless to persuade him otherwise. Go back!"
So speaking, he dragged Mu Qingwu away.
Long Fei Ye glanced at the Mu father and son who were tugging at each other. He had a clear idea of what was going on and walked expressionlessly into the imperial study.
Inside the study, the memorials from the border regions were still lying on the floor. Emperor Tianhui was staring at the map on the wall with his hands clasped behind his back, his fingers intertwined.
Long Fei Ye picked up the memorial and glanced at it before tossing it onto the table. "Imperial brother summoned chendi so urgently. What's the matter?"
"Take a look at that memorial," Emperor Tianhui said Coldly.
"I've seen it," Long Fei Ye replied immediately.
"What do you think?" Emperor Tianhui asked.
"Imperial brother should find General Mu and the Ministry of War to discuss important military matters. Chendi doesn't understand these things," Long Fei Ye was still very calm.
But Emperor Tianhui suddenly laughed. "That's true. How could Zhen have forgotten? The Duke of Qin never participates in military matters."
"If there's nothing else, chendi will take his leave first," Long Fei Ye dared to say such things.
But Emperor Tianhui only said, "Eunuch Xue, announce the imperial edict!"
Announce the imperial edict?
That was a familiar phrase. Half a year ago, Emperor Tianhui had also told Eunuch Xue to announce the imperial edict and choose a wedding date for him to marry Han Yunxi.
Today, history was repeating itself.
Eunuch Xue timidly walked out and read out the imperial edict. This time, Emperor Tianhui wanted Long Fei Ye to marry Western Zhou's Princess Rongle. Not only did he want Long Fei Ye to marry her, but he also wanted Long Fei Ye to personally lead the marriage procession to Western Zhou to ask for her hand in marriage!
Imperial orders couldn't be disobeyed, much less disobeyed.
In the end, he was still a monarch and a subject.
Disobeying an imperial edict was a heinous crime!
By the time Eunuch Xue finished reading, Emperor Tianhui slowly turned around to look at the kneeling Long Feiye. His lips rose into a mocking smile.
Long Fei Ye, since you refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit, don't blame Zhen for being merciless. You didn't have a choice when you married Han Yunxi, so you won't have a choice this time either!
"Duke of Qin, still not accepting the edict?" Emperor Tianhui asked with amusement.
But Long Fei Ye actually stood up and said Cold, "Imperial brother, chendi can't do it!"
If marrying Han Yunxi was a form of compromise, then he'd only do it once in his life!
… …
Words for the readers: I'm so moved to see everyone's understanding. Thank you all, the Duke of Qin and Yunxi won't disappoint anyone!
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