Princess Jielan was wearing the traditional costume of the Ryukyu Kingdom, a red gauze dress with a slender waist exposed in the middle. Not only was she slim, but her face was also very charming.
Everyone was thinking secretly, with such a beauty being sent for marriage, I wonder which royal family member the Ryukyu Kingdom had its eyes on.
Emperor Shao Yuan looked calm upon hearing this. The power of Ryukyu Kingdom was not as strong as before. To prevent Dali from invading again, it was reasonable for him to want to consolidate the relationship between the two countries through marriage.
He was not disgusted, but asked kindly: "Which member of our royal family does your king prefer to be his son-in-law?"
The Ryukyu envoy bowed respectfully again and replied, "We should have followed your Majesty's arrangements, but your prince has a long history with our country..."
"I won't marry that sickly girl!"
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by a shout. The Ryukyu envoy quickly grabbed Princess Jielan and signaled her to shut up.
But Princess Jie Lan shook off the envoy's hand, with a look of disgust on her face, and said righteously: "It is what it is! The sickly girl was so timid when she was in the Kingdom of Ryukyu that she was annoying. Now she is bedridden. I don't want to be a widow after marrying her!"
The words were not spoken loudly, but everyone present heard most of it. They all looked at each other, and finally turned their gazes implicitly to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had a pale face, a cold expression, and lowered eyes.
He seemed as if what he heard had nothing to do with him, yet also seemed deeply hurt by Princess Jielan's dislike.
Everyone felt sorry in their hearts. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was a talented person, but he was sent to Ryukyu as a hostage at a young age and was looked down upon in a foreign country.
After finally returning home, he was weak and sickly and was not taken seriously by the emperor.
Now he has to endure such humiliation in front of the ministers, royal family members and envoys from various countries. It is not easy for His Royal Highness to be the Crown Prince.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Shao Yuan's kind expression turned visibly cold. He said nothing, but the people in the court could truly feel the emperor's wrath.
Seeing that things were not going well, the Ryukyu envoy kowtowed and apologized in a hurry, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. Princess Jielan is young and ignorant, but she has no bad intentions. Please don't blame me."
Emperor Shao Yuan asked Princess Jie Lan, "Who does Princess Jie Lan like?"
Princess Jie Lan ignored the envoy's look and raised her head as if it was a matter of course and replied, "Of course, he must not only be healthy and handsome, but also be both civil and military. Most importantly, he must be the prince most favored by His Majesty!"
After hearing this, everyone turned their attention to the Third Prince. Isn't this the Third Prince that Princess Jie Lan is talking about?
Su Xu sneered, looking disdainful.
This princess of the Ryuk Kingdom thinks very highly of herself and doesn't even ask which prince is willing to marry her.
Marrying a woman from a foreign race as his principal wife basically meant that he had no chance of becoming emperor. Only a fool would marry her.
After hearing Princess Jielan's reply, Emperor Shao Yuan said nothing more, and his expression became even colder.
The whole room was silent, with only the sound of the Ryukyu envoys kneeling and apologizing. The scene was extremely awkward.
Princess Jielan also realized belatedly that something was wrong in the atmosphere, and her originally righteous expression turned into a guilty one.
But she still muttered softly, "I was not wrong. The prince was scolded by his elder sister and brother in the Liu Kingdom Palace before, but he didn't dare to fight back. No one would want to marry him after seeing his appearance..."
"Shut up!"
A crisp shout stopped Princess Jielan's complaints, with anger evident in the voice.
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Princess Yuexi standing up and slamming the table.
Princess Yuexi stood up and confessed her sins to His Majesty: "I have behaved unbecomingly in front of your palace, but I have a few words to say, I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."
Emperor Shao Yuan looked at Ning Xihua, and his expression softened a little. "It's okay. You can speak freely."
After Ning Xihua thanked His Majesty, she straightened her back and walked in front of Princess Jielan with dignity.
It was not her turn to intervene in the marriage dispute, but as Princess Jielan kept going further and further, Ning Xihua could no longer tolerate it.
Although Su Bi pretended to be weak, in her heart he was a brilliant and talented person.
He was decisive and ruthless, but he never killed her. He was trustworthy and well-intentioned, and his subordinates were loyal and swore to serve him till death.
Whether as an ally or a friend, Su Bi treated her with great indulgence and obeyed her in everything.
Such a kind and upright person, but Princess Jielan used this person's difficult past as a hostage to despise and humiliate him. Ning Xihua really couldn't bear to hear someone treat him like this in front of her.
Her beautiful eyes were filled with anger, making them look unusually bright.
"Princess Jielan, I just looked at you up close. In terms of appearance, you are just plain."
As soon as Ning Xihua opened his mouth, he attacked the aspect that women care most about, appearance, and Princess Jielan's face instantly turned pale.
Everyone in the court was originally wondering whether this charming appearance was just average.
As a result, when they turned around, they saw the delicate and bright face of Princess Yue Xi, whose vivid expression was made even more domineering by her anger. They all sighed that there is no harm without contrast.
Princess Jielan is just plain looking...
Ning Xihua continued, "In terms of moral character, Princess Jielan casually hurts others with her words and deeds, which clearly shows that she lacks moral character."
Princess Jielan was about to speak out in rebuttal, but was stopped by the envoy again.
Ning Xihua continued, "In terms of family background, although you are a princess, you are just a concubine's daughter. Moreover, the Ryukyu Kingdom signed a letter of surrender with our country several years ago. You are just a concubine's princess of a surrendered country."
"So, who gave you the courage to point fingers at our country's emperor and find fault with him? Look in the mirror," Ning Xihua said sarcastically with a look of contempt, "Do you deserve it?"
"Are you worthy?"
The three words fell to the ground with a loud sound.
Su Bi raised her head and looked at Ning Xihua seriously.
Look at the slight redness at the corners of her eyes due to anger, look at her eyes burning with blazing fire, look at her red lips curled in a mocking arc as she uttered sharp words.
Suddenly, unconsciously, a smile appeared in his eyes.
A vine seemed to grow in my heart, extending its slender tentacles and gently wrapping around me.
This seemed to be the first time that someone had defended him so openly without caring about other people's opinions.
After Ning Xihua finished speaking, everyone in the court wanted to applaud.
Well said! She is just a princess from a conquered country, is she worthy?
No matter how incompetent the prince is, he is still the crown prince of our Li State. If you speak rudely to the prince, isn't it the same as slapping the face of their Li State? Princess Yuexi's ridicule really touched people's hearts, it was wonderful!
People didn't think Ning Xihua and Su Bi had any personal relationship. They just thought that Princess Yue Xi spoke up for the Crown Prince for the sake of the dignity of our dynasty, which was truly a heroic act.
Princess Jielan was already shaking with anger at Ning Xihua. If she hadn't remembered that this was in Li State, she would have wanted to rush up and slap her twice.
"You said I'm unworthy? Your Majesty hasn't said anything yet, how can you, a woman, criticize me? Are you worthy?"
Ning Xihua sneered, her momentum not weakened at all, "You should be thankful that my father's jurisdiction is in the Northern Frontier instead of the Western Regions, otherwise you wouldn't be here to ask me if I am worthy."
Princess Jielan wanted to argue, but was interrupted by someone in the court.
"If Princess Jielan thinks that Princess Yuexi is not worthy, then I wonder if the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion is worthy?"
A man in the court stood up and bowed to His Majesty, and said proudly, "If it weren't for Your Majesty's kindness and concern that the war would displace the people, my Bai family would have led 200,000 troops to the Royal Court of Liu Kingdom. By then, I'm afraid it wouldn't be the Princess' turn to discuss whether she is a good match with Princess Yuexi."
As soon as the name of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion came out, Princess Jielan's originally arrogant attitude suddenly dimmed. Her face turned pale and she dared not say anything else.
The person who was speaking in the court was Bai Luoqiu, the son of the Duke of Zhenguo.
The Bai family of the Zhenguogong Mansion has been engaged in military service for generations. During the time of the previous emperor, the Zhenguogong relied on the military power in his hands to ensure that the current emperor ascended the throne.
Later, the Duke of Zhenguo grew older and retired behind the scenes, and the Duke of Zhenguo's eldest son Bai Luoqiu took over power on his father's behalf.
Although he is the prince, he has already propped up the Bai family and become the person with the final say in the Zhenguo Mansion.
After the current emperor ascended the throne, the Duke of Zhenguo took control of an army of 200,000 to guard the Western Regions.
After welcoming the crown prince back that year, it was this prince of the Duke of Zhenguo who took advantage of the chaos in the Kingdom of Ryuk and led his troops to capture several border cities, and marched all the way to the Royal Court of the Kingdom of Ryuk. The Kingdom of Ryuk was helpless and had no choice but to surrender and beg for peace.
Therefore, after Bai Luoqiu said this, the envoys from the Kingdom of Liu and Princess Jielan could only keep their heads down and dared not argue anymore.
After all, they came to form an alliance, not to provoke Li State to send troops to attack.