"minister……"
She had barely opened her mouth when the fourth princess stood up.
"Father, I have taken a liking to Prince Ishino Akira and request that Your Majesty grant me this marriage."
【Oh wow~ Are you that bold?】
[That's quite bold indeed. This way, she can avoid her fate. At least this prince is a good match for her. As for that maid, I believe the princess can handle her well.]
Why is it that her ending wasn't good?
[Didn't I just tell you that no matter which man she marries, her ending won't be good, and she might even die?]
[Good heavens, so this prince of Hai Xiang Kingdom is intended for the fourth princess? What about the other princesses?]
The other princesses are all doing well as long as they don't encounter any reckless men. Anyway, there haven't been any major scandals yet. You know we can only enjoy the past; only those with very messy endings can see a glimpse of the future.
【Too.】
Ishino Akito was dumbfounded when he didn't hear what was on his mind. He had already said he didn't like her, so why was someone forcing him to marry her?
"What do you think, Prince Shi?" the Emperor asked, and then he saw Ji Yingying silently retreat.
"Let's sit and watch the show." Her lighthearted tone made it seem like she genuinely wanted to watch the show.
"Your Majesty, I believe this princess deserves a good match."
"How do you know I'm not your perfect match if you haven't even tried?" the Fourth Princess retorted, her expression icy and cold, exuding the aura of a mature, sophisticated woman.
"this……"
"Since you are coming to marry into our Tianyou Dynasty, then we will follow the custom and get married, instead of letting you choose from our sisters. Our Tianyou Dynasty has already given you the proper etiquette. If your Haixiang Kingdom wants to trample on it, then don't blame our generals for flattening your Haixiang Kingdom."
Wow, what a powerful woman! I like her. But hey, now that you're married into this family, you should listen to your mistress. I'm letting you choose a wife, not let you come here to act like a big shot.
"Dog, let's befriend this princess. Later, when women become officials in the court, let's have her take the exams and get her a position as a vice-minister—there's a huge shortage of vice-ministers."
Which position do you think would suit you best?
[The Ministry of War, isn't it short of a vice minister? Let her go train. The way she's acting reminds me of those female warriors. Oh, it's been so long since I thought of those valiant female warriors. They can kill enemies on the battlefield, and after the battlefield, they can go into the kitchen and give birth. They're practically omnipotent.]
That seems to be true!
Shi Yelang was speechless and could only bow to the emperor and say, "Your subject is willing to marry the princess."
"Okay, haha..."
Then the emperor bestowed the marriage upon the fourth princess and even granted her a princess residence.
[That's it? I thought something big was going to happen, but it turned out to be quite...] Before they could finish their thought, their envoy stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, I have something here that no one in our country has been able to solve. I wonder if Your Majesty can help us solve it?"
"What is this? Bring it here for us to see."
I have this feeling that I might... be thinking about starting a national competition?
What is international competition?
[It's like a novel where another country challenges our dynasty, and the prize is a city, a gold mine, jade, or something similar—basically, a national competition. If our dynasty is the protagonist, then our dynasty wins; if our dynasty isn't the protagonist, then our dynasty loses. However, most of these national competitions in novels involve time travelers, and our dynasty has them too.]
Are you?
[You forgot? I'm a native, and the transmigrator is a detective. Didn't you say we shouldn't offend him? What if he's the male lead in a novel? Then he'll be the protagonist!]
[Unlikely!]
【Why?】
[How can a time traveler end up doing so poorly?]
[Haha, he's not even that bad? In this ruthless world, he's already done very well.]
【That's true, then let him compete later.】
[It also depends on whether he's willing or not.] Ji Yingying sighed inwardly: [Let's see what the competition is about. If it's about poetry and songs, our detective brother can compete. If it's about singing and dancing, then let's see which young lady is better. I'm definitely not cut out for it; I've never danced before.]
Lord Ji is not good at dancing, and as for singing... all the ministers have already experienced it, and they can't compare, they can't compare at all!
Not long after, the other party brought out a bead, and Ji Yingying almost choked on it.
Wow, such an easy competition?
Then she heard the other party say, "It's like this, since it's about solving this problem, our dynasty will also send people to help. If they solve it first, then we'll set up a prize!"
"They insisted? Well, they didn't expect our Fourth Princess to be so brave, coming right up and taking her away."
"Oh... what's the prize?"
"If our country wins, I hope the princess can return to Hai Xiang Kingdom with us to live. If we lose, we are willing to give her fifty ships."
[That's good. If the ship is large, it will be very important for our maritime operations.]
"Furthermore, how about a best-of-three match?"
The other party had made their statement, and their gaze seemed to say: The rest is up to you.
"Minister Ji, Minister Mu, do you have any other ideas?"
Why single us out for discussion?
Ji Yingying and Mu Kaiji both stepped forward. Mu Kaiji glared at him and said, "Isn't it all your fault? Why didn't you use the two of us when there are so many other people available?"
"Your Majesty, this matter will be discussed with the ministers. I have no objection."
"I have no objection either."
Then the ministers started discussing, but no one stood up to speak, and the women and noblewomen behind them dared not utter a word.
[There's no villainous female supporting character, and no male supporting character standing up for her. What's going on? Is this really a real world?]
"Does any of my beloved ministers have any objections?"
As soon as the Emperor finished asking his question, the Fourth Princess stepped forward and said, "Isn't the envoy's offer a bit too much? How about this: if our dynasty wins, your country will provide us with fifty ships and a salt lake. If our dynasty loses, I, the princess, am willing to return to your country with my dowry and the prince. Moreover, you will not be required to pay our dynasty any annual tribute. What do you say?"
Their annual tribute seems to be very costly, so I estimate that Hai Xiang Kingdom would be very willing to exchange it for this.
"this……"
"The princess's will is my will. What are your country's thoughts?"
[This fourth princess is quite clever; she actually knows about salt lakes. They can extract refined salt and natural alkali, which can be used to make glass.]
"One salt lake won't do." The other party refused outright.
The next second, Ji Yingying said, "Since that doesn't work, then we'll have the right to use the salt lake for fifty years. If you lose, we'll still want the right to use the salt lake for fifty years."
The other party fell silent, seemingly deep in thought, while the ministers whispered amongst themselves, seemingly not understanding what Ji Yingying meant.
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