Chapter 343 Let’s Go Together

Xizhou City, the main hall of the royal palace.

As the sun began to rise in the morning, Huo Zheng and the officials of Xizhou were discussing important matters in the main hall. After discussing the affairs of Xizhou, someone mentioned the opinions of the officials on the marriage between the two countries:

"We have proposed various strategies that will benefit the relationship between the two countries. Half of the advice from the officials in the capital has been accepted by the emperor, but he has yet to mention the marriage of the princess to Beili. This is truly disturbing."

"I heard that the ministers who originally opposed the princess's marriage have gradually fallen silent, and only Liu Yan and Liu Tanhua are still firmly opposed. In my opinion, the emperor has made up his mind on this matter, and no matter what others say or do, it will be difficult to stop him."

Chunzhi sat beside Huo Zheng, listening to the officials express their opinions. She had been worried about Huo Yanran for several days, and now she was even more worried.

Someone else suggested, "If that doesn't work... Your Highness should submit a memorial to the Emperor, recommending a few noble ladies. One of them could be made a princess in Zhongze and married off to Beili, so as to protect the Thirteenth Princess first."

No matter how clearly Huo Zheng explained it, what he had to do was to prevent Daxing from making friendly relations with other countries by marrying the princess. There were always people who felt that he was doing the right thing just to protect his sister.

As soon as these words came out, several people spoke up to persuade Huo Zheng, "Your Highness has just left the capital to take up his fiefdom, so it's not appropriate for him to interfere in the affairs of the capital. Moreover, our Daxing Dynasty has always had the custom of marrying princesses to Beili as a form of marriage alliance. It's not very appropriate for Your Highness to propose canceling the marriage between the two countries at this time..."

"While the Emperor hasn't decided on a bride for Beili, it's most important for Your Highness to protect the Thirteenth Princess first!"

"Your Majesty—"

Huo Zheng raised his hand to signal them not to say anything more, "I will consider this matter again. You can go ahead and do your work."

The officials had no choice but to swallow their unfinished words and stood up to leave.

The morning sunlight was very bright, pouring in through the doors and windows, making the entire main hall very bright.

But Huo Zheng's eyes were a little dark.

Chunzhi poured him a cup of hot tea and handed it to him. "It's the instinct of most people to settle for second best when they know they can't do something."

Upon hearing this, Huo Zheng couldn't help but look sideways at Chunzhi.

Chunzhi passed the cup of tea forward again. "They advised you to settle for the second best and save Yanran first. It's not necessarily because they don't understand what you want, but because they really can't do what you want at the moment."

Huo Zheng listened to her gentle voice, reached out to take the teacup, and slowly took a sip of hot tea.

The tea went down my throat and warmed my lungs.

He exhaled and said slowly, "Actually, I also know that in their eyes, marrying a princess to Beili is a very cost-effective deal in exchange for decades or even hundreds of years of peace between the two countries."

Yes, it's just a deal.

Many people say that since the princess was born into the royal family and is supported by millions of people, she should make sacrifices when required.

But whether to be born into the royal family or into the common people is not something they can decide.

It is obvious that there are other ways to make the two countries friendly, so why do we have to sacrifice women to achieve it?

Huo Zheng did not say these words directly. All his thoughts were in his mind, and only a little bit of them were revealed in his eyes.

Chunzhi knew what he was thinking, "Just do what you want to do. Don't worry about what others think or say, and don't worry about whether it succeeds or not. Just do your best."

She used to not understand why some people changed after becoming officials and their lives became increasingly difficult. She also didn't know that those who were born noble would have so many constraints.

It was not until I became Huo Zheng's bedmate that I realized that no one's life in this world is perfect.

The emperor's sons were born into the royal family and enjoyed glory and wealth. However, some of them, like Huo Yan, who had an arrogant temperament, suffered a great setback at the hands of the rebels.

To avoid a tough job, Prince Rui Huo Yang was willing to injure himself. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, he ultimately disappointed the emperor. His life wasn't going well, and he later became jealous of Huo Zheng's achievements in suppressing the rebellion.

Huo Zheng is talented and courageous. He risked his life to quell the rebellion and drive out foreign enemies in Xizhou. However, because his achievements surpassed his father's, he was feared by his father and demoted to Xizhou to be a vassal king.

The opera says, "If the king wants his subject to die, the subject must die. If the father wants his son to die, the son must die."

It turns out it’s all true.

Chunzhi knew that Huo Zheng was in a difficult situation at the moment. As a good wife, she should advise Huo Zheng not to go against her father. Complying with the emperor's wishes was the best way to protect herself.

But if Huo Zheng could just obey the emperor, he would not have given up his position as crown prince and come to Xizhou to become a vassal king in order to marry her.

So she followed her heart and said to Huo Zheng, "No matter what you want to do, I will stand with you."

Huo Zheng put down the teacup and looked at Chunzhi with eyes as dark as ink. "Your words are enough."

Chunzhi was about to speak when someone hurried in, presented a memorial, and said solemnly, "Your Highness, the Emperor rejects your memorial..."

"Rejected?"

Huo Zheng had written so many memorials to the emperor, but this was the first time that his memorial was rejected. He reached out and took the memorial and unfolded it.

I saw a red mark on the memorial, saying that he, the great King of Xizhou, was not as righteous as my Thirteenth Princess, and ordered him to reflect quietly in Xizhou.

"Father, what you said..."

Huo Zheng knew that his father was not the kind of person who would write nonsense in memorials. What he wrote meant that—

Chunzhi noticed Huo Zheng's expression was off, so she leaned over to take a look at the memorial. After seeing what was written on it, her expression changed slightly. "Father, so, does this mean that it's already been decided that Yanran will marry Beili?"

The more she thought about it, the more she felt something was amiss. She immediately asked, "Father said he had a sense of righteousness. Could it be that Yanran could actually propose to marry Beili on her own?"

Huo Zheng looked at the red handwriting on the memorial and pondered for a long time before speaking: "Father wants Yanran to have a sense of justice, and there are only a hundred ways to force her to do so."

Chunzhi said in disbelief: "That's his biological daughter!"

The emperor was in a high position, and in order to check and balance his ministers, he would occasionally match up his political enemies, which led to many resentful couples. Now he could even abandon his own daughter at will.

It's really chilling.

Huo Zheng whispered, "I am also his biological son."

He devoted himself to working for Daxing and sharing his father's worries, but he was still feared and suspected, and was even unable to stay in the capital.

In the eyes of the emperor, imperial power is the greatest, interests come first, and everything else is not worth mentioning.

Chunzhi was about to say something else when someone came to report that the Thirteenth Princess had sent someone to deliver a letter.

Chunzhi hurriedly said, "Present it quickly."

The visitor presented the Thirteenth Princess's handwritten letter. Chunzhi opened the envelope and read it with Huo Zheng.

Huo Yanran wrote in the letter that she was sorry for her seventh brother and sister-in-law, that she had asked to marry to Beili in order to protect her lover, and that she felt extremely sorry for her seventh brother and sister-in-law's unwavering support. She said that although she felt regretful, she had no regrets...

Chunzhi's eyes turned red as she watched, "Yanran, this silly girl, why is she so silly?"

Chunzhi and Huo Zheng both knew that although Yanran was deeply in love with Liu Tanhua, she was by no means a person who was only interested in love. She volunteered to go to Beili for marriage, at most half to save Liu Yan, and the other half to prevent them from continuing to oppose it and not to anger their father.

After Huo Zheng read Huo Yanran's letter, he made a decision. He said to Chunzhi, "Now it seems that we can only do as you said before and wait for the wedding party to enter Beili before snatching the bride."

Chunzhi raised her head and looked at Huo Zheng with tearful eyes, "Then I will go pick up Yanran myself."

She would not feel at ease until she picked up Yanran in person.

"Okay." Huo Zheng nodded and said, "Let's go together to pick up Yanran and take her home."