Chapter 120 Having just assumed power and needing to establish a reputation, the envoy from the Yu Kingdom arrives to provoke him.
All the longing I felt during our time apart was transformed into a kiss that spoke volumes.
Ning Jinli was completely unprepared before the kiss.
It was just because I was driven by emotion in that instant, and couldn't help myself.
Although the kiss was awkward and even clumsy, the moment it landed, intense emotions reached the depths of Xiao Qidi's heart, then exploded like a blazing fire, spreading throughout his body and enveloping him.
Xiao Qidi's mind went blank, but because of this pause in thought, he was able to better feel all the emotions of his beloved.
He couldn't help but hug Ning Jinli tightly, wishing he could meld her into his own body, and responded to her kiss forcefully.
Although it was his first kiss, and his lips were stiff and lacked skill, it was still full of his longing and love for Ning Jinli.
"Mmm..." Ning Jinli groaned softly, a low sound escaping her lips, "I'm... I can't breathe, be... gentle..."
Xiao Qidi snapped out of his daze and quickly released his mouth, "Sorry... I got too excited..."
Seeing his nervousness and helplessness, Ning Jinli looked at him with tenderness and a shy smile, hugged his neck again, and brought her red lips close to his mouth, saying softly, "Silly you, I only told you to be gentle, I didn't tell you not to kiss me."
Then, the two shared another passionate, unskilled kiss.
When their emotions ran high, they felt as if their blood was boiling.
"Report!"
Suddenly, a eunuch's shrill voice rang out from outside the main hall, pouring cold water on the raging fire inside.
The two quickly let go of each other's hands, and Ning Jinli, blushing, hid behind the throne.
Xiao Qidi straightened his clothes, turned around with his back to the main entrance of the hall, cleared his throat and said, "Come in!"
A moment later, a eunuch entered the palace with his head bowed, stood on the threshold and said, "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister... Situ Wei requests an audience with Your Majesty."
Xiao Qidi's expression instantly darkened. "He still has the nerve to ask to see me?"
The eunuch dared not utter a sound.
Xiao Qidi pondered for a moment, then said, "Very well, I'll go see him now and see what else he has to say."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The eunuch breathed a sigh of relief and backed away.
Xiao Qidi walked to the throne. "Jinli, I—"
“It’s alright, you go ahead and do your work,” Ning Jinli hugged him and kissed him. “Now I can go directly to the palace, and you can also go from the palace to my place. The entrance and exit of the space-time tunnel here is in a palace warehouse.”
"Okay, then I'll go to the prison first."
Xiao Qidi kissed her reluctantly before leaving.
——
In the dark, gloomy prison.
Situ Wei, wearing shackles, sat on the floor with his back against the corner of the wall.
His eyes were empty, dull, and lifeless.
Even Xiao Qidi had arrived at the edge of the prison without being noticed.
Torches were stuck in the wall, their light illuminating Xiao Qidi's cold and stern face.
Xiao Qidi stared at the hunched figure in the cell for a long time before slowly speaking, "Situ Wei, I've arrived."
Situ Wei snapped out of his daze, struggled to his feet, and took a few shaky steps forward, gripping the wooden bars of the cell with both hands. "Xiao Qidi, you... why did you treat me like this? If it weren't for me, how could the late King, the Empress Dowager, and you have returned to Xuan Kingdom? If it weren't for me, how could Xuan Kingdom have the strength it has today, rising from the bottom of the Seven Kingdoms to become one of the top powers? You... have you forgotten all of that?"
Xiao Qidi sneered, "I admit that you have been kind to the late Empress Dowager and to me, but you did it for your own career. Of course, even so, it is understandable, and I have never denied it. As for the strength of Xuan Kingdom, it is the result of generations of accumulation, and the credit is by no means yours alone."
Situ Wei's old face trembled, and he gritted his teeth and said, "No one is more suitable to be prime minister than me. I... although I want to seize power, it is for the sake of Da Xuan. I have no selfish motives."
"Wanting to seize power is selfishness." Xiao Qidi's eyes grew colder. "If you were truly doing this for the sake of Da Xuan and had no selfish motives, how could you have ended up in this situation? If no one is capable of being prime minister, I might as well not establish the position of prime minister at all."
"Governing a country is not child's play!" Situ Wei roared. "You are too young. How can you lead the Great Xuan, how can you deal with the other six kingdoms, how can you unify the world! Without me... you can't do anything!"
Xiao Qidi's eyes flashed with murderous intent. "You let the western border of Da Xuan go unchecked, allowing drought to ravage the land and the people to suffer. Is this what you call governing the country well? Situ Wei, let me tell you, I can do better without you."
Situ Wei was speechless and became dejected once again.
Xiao Qidi didn't want to say anything more and turned to leave.
“Your Majesty…” Situ Wei looked at his back and murmured, “Don’t you… feel any affection for me at all? I… I can give up being prime minister, I can even give up my official position, as long as I can stay in the capital and see you occasionally, that’s enough.”
Xiao Qidi stopped in his tracks. "Don't forget, today I didn't expose your scheme to replace me with a puppet. Do you think I have no evidence? If this were made public, think about what would happen to you."
After saying that, he left without looking back.
Situ Wei stared blankly in the direction where his figure disappeared for a long time.
Only then did he realize that he had still shown some leniency.
The act of attempting to replace the monarch with a puppet is no less heinous than a coup d'état. If made public, the punishment would be at least as cruel as being torn apart by chariots, cut in half at the waist, or dismembered by five horses. It would even leave one with a lasting infamy.
By imposing a punishment of confiscating his property and exiling him, he was already preserving the last vestige of dignity for himself as a renowned high-ranking official.
"well……"
Situ Wei looked up and sighed deeply, his expression gradually becoming calmer than ever before.
Then he turned to look at the opposite wall, closed his eyes, lowered his head slightly, and without any hesitation, used all his strength to smash into it.
Bang……
After a muffled thud.
Situ Wei collapsed to the ground, his forehead split open, blood gushing out.
By the time the jailer found him, he had already died...
...
A few days later.
The Prime Minister's residence was ransacked, all its property was confiscated and turned over to the national treasury, and all its staff were dismissed and expelled from the capital.
Xiao Qidi originally intended to invite Ning Shan to be the prime minister, but Ning Shan refused without even thinking about it.
Not only did he refuse to become prime minister, he also abandoned Qingyou Terrace, declaring that he would stay with Jinli's mother from now on and never be separated again. He also quickly left the royal city and went directly to Yuqi Mountain.
Xiao Qidi then handed over the command of Qingyoutai to Li Yao and changed Qingyoutai's original main function of monitoring court officials to spying on other vassal states.
In addition, after discussing with Ning Jinli, Xiao Qidi decided to abolish the position of Prime Minister and replace it with the establishment of the Cabinet and the Military Affairs Cabinet.
Select multiple ministers to form the cabinet or military cabinet.
The cabinet is responsible for formulating and improving the laws of Xuan Kingdom and issuing general decrees, mainly for internal affairs.
The Military Affairs Cabinet oversees all military operations nationwide, primarily for external purposes.
At the same time, it is necessary to establish more standardized functional departments in the capital city, so six departments were set up: the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Revenue.
Xiao Qidi considered that many court officials would find it difficult to accept such a huge reform in a short period of time.
Therefore, he did not rush to issue an edict to implement it immediately.
Before that, he must establish enough.
If the officials are not truly convinced of his will, when it comes time to implement the reforms, they will likely outwardly comply but inwardly resist, shirk responsibility, and procrastinate, making the reforms extremely difficult.
Just as Xiao Qidi and Ning Jinli were pondering where to begin establishing this.
The Kingdom of Yu sent an envoy.
Xiao Qidi then set up a banquet and invited some ministers to entertain the guests.
Inside the main hall, several ministers of the Xuan Kingdom sat on the right side below Xiao Qidi's throne, while envoys and guards from the Yu Kingdom sat on the left.
After everyone was seated, before Xiao Qidi could even raise his glass, the Yu Kingdom envoy picked up his own glass and drank it all in one gulp.
The ministers of Xuan Kingdom frowned slightly, but no one spoke. They wanted to see how the young king, who had now begun to rule in his own right, would deal with the hostile envoy from Yu Kingdom.
Xiao Qidi remained expressionless, quietly observing the envoy from the Yu Kingdom.
The envoy from Yu Kingdom sat with his legs spread wide, finished his wine, and then began to eat the food on the table in front of him until he had eaten it all up. Only then did he stop and let out a loud burp.
All these rude actions showed that he did not take Xiao Qidi seriously.
Xiao Qidi took a sip of wine and asked casually, "Would you like some more food?"
The envoy from Yu Kingdom laughed and said, "No need. The food you cook with bronze utensils is not as good as the food cooked with iron utensils in my Great Yu Kingdom. I don't want to eat it anymore."
Xiao Qidi said, "Then why did you eat all the food in front of you, leaving not a single bite?"
The envoy from Yu Kingdom picked his teeth as he said, "Aren't we waiting for someone?"
Xiao Qidi asked, "Waiting for whom?"
The envoy from Yu looked around and said, "Of course I'm waiting for someone who can talk to me. Why hasn't Prime Minister Situ arrived yet? I'm about to fall asleep waiting."
Before Xiao Qidi could speak, the Yu Kingdom envoy slapped his forehead and said, "Look at my memory, I almost forgot. The Xuan Kingdom's ruler has already dismissed him, and I heard that the Prime Minister Situ eventually committed suicide to atone for his sins. Alas, doesn't that mean there's no one left to talk to? What should we do?"
"Am I not qualified to speak with you?" Xiao Qidi said expressionlessly.
The envoy from Yu Kingdom looked disdainful. "Excuse my bluntness, but even among ordinary people, when two families discuss matters, it is the parents who speak on their behalf. When is it a child's place to interrupt when adults are talking? Let alone matters of national importance."
Xiao Qidi's lips suddenly curled into a faint, cold smile. "Since you won't talk, I'll have to see you out. Guards!"
"Wait!" The envoy from Yu Kingdom looked displeased. "Even when Prime Minister Situ received our envoy from Great Yu Kingdom, he was exceptionally courteous. How can you, the ruler of a nation, be so ignorant of etiquette?"
Xiao Qidi put down his wine cup and said casually, "If you don't get to the point, I won't hesitate to issue an edict to Xitun Pass, ordering the generals there to take your crown prince away to reclaim wasteland."
He had already guessed that the envoy sent by the Yu Kingdom was most likely there for their crown prince.
Instead of beating around the bush with this envoy, it's better to poke at his sore spot.
Sure enough, the Yu Kingdom envoy's expression changed upon hearing this, and he then sneered, "I suggest that Your Majesty release our Crown Prince as soon as possible."
"Release him? Sure," Xiao Qidi smiled slightly. "And the conditions?"
"Conditions?" The envoy from Yu Kingdom showed disdain. "If Prime Minister Situ were still alive, we could discuss conditions. Let me be frank: you release my Crown Prince of Great Yu, and you won't need to apologize to Great Yu anymore. Is that enough?"
Despite the envoy's arrogance, Xiao Qidi remained calm and composed.
This made the ministers sigh inwardly, realizing that their emperor was indeed too young and unable to handle the situation.
If Prime Minister Situ were still alive, he would have made the envoy kneel down and admit his mistake by now.
What a pity...
The prime minister is gone.
Yu Kingdom seized this opportunity and judged that there was no stabilizing force in the Great Xuan Royal City at this time, and the newly crowned monarch was not yet capable of dealing with the situation, which is why they rushed over to demand the release of their crown prince.
They are indeed quite clever.
Although the ministers were angry at the increasingly presumptuous behavior of the Yu Kingdom's envoy, they remained silent.
Rather than suffer such humiliation, they hoped to use the envoy to make Xiao Qidi suffer a great humiliation, so that Xiao Qidi would naturally rely on them more in the future.
Even if they can't wield the same power as Situ Wei, their positions will still be higher and more secure in the future.
"How about this," Xiao Qidi said casually, toying with his wine glass. "If all the nobles and officials of Yu Kingdom submit to Da Xuan and their territories are incorporated into Da Xuan, I will agree to return the Crown Prince of Yu Kingdom."
The ministers were stunned as soon as he finished speaking.
The envoy from Yu Kingdom looked on incredulously, and even his attendants and guards looked on with disbelief.
After a moment of silence, the envoy from the Yu Kingdom suddenly burst into laughter.
He even laughed so hard he almost rolled on the floor.
His entourage and guards also burst into laughter, as if they had heard some incredible joke.
On the other side, the ministers of Xuan Kingdom either shook their heads in silence or sighed and rubbed their foreheads.
This young king of our own is too naive.
What gives Your Majesty the right to speak such arrogant words? It was already fortunate that you defeated the Yu Kingdom's army at Xitun Pass, and it was even more fortunate that you captured their crown prince. You should not be arrogant because of this.
It should be noted that although Yu Kingdom is small, it possesses abundant mineral resources, especially excellent iron ore.
As a result, they possessed abundant financial resources and their military equipment was among the best in the seven kingdoms.
Furthermore, the Yu Kingdom can provide iron weapons and equipment to the other five vassal states at any time, thereby gaining their support and assistance.
Even though Da Xuan's overall national strength ranks among the top of the seven countries, it is absolutely incapable of resisting the joint attack of Yu Kingdom and its allies.
Therefore, even if the envoy from Yu Kingdom is presumptuous, the ruler cannot be too forceful. If one lacks the strength but acts too arrogantly, one will only be ridiculed and disgrace the Great Xuan.
"Is it funny?" Xiao Qidi said quietly. "Don't you all want me to release the hostages?"
"Bah!" The Yu Kingdom envoy stood up, pointed at Xiao Qidi's nose and cursed, "Even when your father was alive, and when Prime Minister Situ was alive, neither of them dared to claim that my Great Yu should submit and be incorporated into your Xuan Kingdom! Boy, don't be ungrateful! Quickly release our Crown Prince, oh no, you not only have to release him, but you also have to personally escort him back to the Yu Kingdom, and then kneel down and apologize in front of the Great Yu King!"
“In that case, Da Yu can consider putting aside past grievances. After all, we don’t want to bully you, a poor wretch who was abandoned by your father when you were young and whose mother had to sell herself to make money to raise you.”
When those last words came out, Xiao Qidi's eyes turned cold.
Seeing that he had touched a nerve with Xiao Qidi, the Yu Kingdom envoy became even more arrogant and sarcastically remarked, "Maybe you're not even the son of the former king of Xuan Kingdom. You're actually the bastard child left behind by one of the countless men who had slept with Jiang Peihuan. Hahahaha!"
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