Chapter 741 Trouble (2)

The crown prince was also speechless. The Daliang Rui Wang came to the palace once and, unknown what he said to Emperor Wenhui, after he left, the emperor flew into a rage, slamming tables and throwing teacups, and nearly turning the imperial study upside down.

The prince guessed that he must have said something outrageous, otherwise Emperor Wenhui would not have been so angry and lost his composure.

Emperor Wenhui was truly furious. He knew better than anyone the current strength of Ming Qi; it was no longer as powerful as it had been during the old emperor's reign. Facing the slightly superior Qin and the powerful and wealthy Daliang, there was nothing to be proud of. This tribute banquet, with all its grandeur, was merely an attempt to mask its own guilt and show Daliang and Qin that Ming Qi still had some strength.

But this was a self-deceptive act. Qin's Huangfu Hao treated him with outward respect, but in reality, he wasn't much of a presence. He still held the Dali Temple officials accountable for Princess Ming'an's death, while Mingqi's officials were busy clearing the Qin princess' name, fearing ridicule if they were to tell anyone. Yet, Emperor Wenhui didn't dare refuse, as he still wanted to win over Qin and join him in his fight against Daliang.

As for Daliang, that's even more so. Prince Rui had his own rules, and Huangfu Hao, at least on the surface, showed respect for Emperor Wenhui. Prince Rui, on the other hand, went his own way, showing no sign of respect. Emperor Wenhui had been trying to convince himself that this was simply Prince Rui's nature. But yesterday, Prince Rui visited the palace, and during a conversation in the imperial study, Emperor Wenhui attempted to establish a friendly relationship with Daliang, only to be met with a vague rebuff from Prince Rui.

Although he didn't say it explicitly, his attitude showed no mercy to Emperor Wenhui. Emperor Wenhui was still the ruler of a country, and naturally, his face darkened and he became gloomy after losing face. But Prince Rui didn't care if he was angry at all. He casually mentioned several cities on the border between Mingqi and Daliang, implicitly implying that he wanted to reclaim them.

Emperor Wenhui's expression changed immediately.

Those cities weren't very large, but they contained several mines. The ore mined from those mines was precisely what could be used to craft large weapons. The cities also happened to be on the border between Mingqi and Daliang. Daliang hadn't previously paid much attention to them, as the inhabitants were all Mingqi citizens. What did this statement mean? It meant Daliang was interested in occupying these cities!

Even if Emperor Wenhui was foolish and incompetent in other matters, he was extremely sensitive to every inch of territory. Daliang first seized a few cities, but who knows what they'll seize later? Now they've set their sights on these, then a few more, and then a few more, what if they set their sights on Dingjing? And then, in a few days, they might as well lead their troops and crush Ming Qi!

With the military strength of Ming Qi, it is impossible to compete with Daliang.

Prince Rui was an envoy from Daliang, representing the Yongle Emperor of Daliang. His seemingly casual words revealed Daliang's ambitions. What deeply annoyed Emperor Wenhui was that, despite knowing the other party's ambitions, he still didn't dare to arrest Prince Rui, a traitor. He simply couldn't withstand Emperor Yongle's wrath. If they had formed an alliance with Qin, they might have had some confidence, but with only Mingqi... they could only endure it.

Emperor Wenhui was extremely angry because he had no dignity as an emperor.

"With such ambitions, who knows what Daliang will do next. Your marriage with Shen Miao is not urgent for now," Emperor Wenhui said, "I cannot anger Shen Xin now. This is a critical moment. If Shen Xin becomes dissatisfied with me and Daliang takes advantage of the situation, it will be bad."