Chapter 506: If men don’t defend their country, we women will do it!
The next day, the heavy rain turned into light rain, and the imperial edict of marriage had spread throughout the entire Shengjing City.
Everyone was waiting to see the marriage procession. The streets of Shengjing were deserted, and everyone went to the Temple of Heaven to join in the fun.
Above the Temple of Heaven, the lead-gray sky was covered with the sound of continuous camel bells, and the vermilion and gilded carriage for the marriage was parked outside the Baqiao Posthouse.
Twelve white camels were kneeling in two rows, with lapis lazuli pendants hanging from half corners of the gold-woven brocade bags tied to their humps, which made a slight sound when the wind blew against the camel's fur.
On the city wall, the prince and his civil and military officials stood on both sides, watching the scene below.
The auspicious time is approaching.
However, the Daliang envoys were slow to arrive, and the prince sat high up in the throne, his expression expressionless.
Lu Huai and Lin Shi'an looked at the prince's profile, which was expressionless. Thinking of what Lin Zhiqing said last night, they couldn't help but squint their eyes.
Eunuch Wang was looking forward to it, and when he saw the carriage of the envoy from Daliang, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and waved to the people below.
Soon, the sound of gongs and drums filled the air and the atmosphere became lively.
The envoy from Daliang was reluctant to get off the carriage.
A gust of cold wind blew by, Eunuch Wang frowned and winked at the young eunuch beside him.
The young eunuch understood and quickly moved to the side of the carriage frame. He knelt on the ground and said, "Your Excellency, the auspicious time has arrived."
After he finished speaking, there was still no response from the people in the carriage.
The young eunuch became anxious and spoke again, but still received no response.
The people around noticed something was wrong and started talking about it.
But the civil and military officials on the city wall were quieter than expected.
Seeing that the prince had no expression on his face, Eunuch Wang raised his hand towards the young eunuch.
The young eunuch had no choice but to stand up and open the car door.
But when he saw the scene inside the carriage door, his body trembled and he rolled off the carriage uncontrollably.
As he moved, with a "bang", the carriage split apart from the middle to the four sides at an extremely fast speed.
There was only one person in the car, the envoy from Daliang!
But he could not speak because he was tied up.
His eyes were filled with fear, and he looked around with anger and confusion.
The people below were in an uproar.
"What's going on? Why did someone kidnap the envoy?"
"Well done! I've been fed up with these Daliang people for a long time!"
"Did you see how servile that eunuch was just now? The newspaper is right. If this continues, I'm afraid even we will have to kowtow to the people of Daliang."
“I don’t know what happened, but well done!”
As the people's voices grew louder and louder, the eunuch Wang beside the prince widened his eyes, not knowing how to react.
But the prince stared at the door as if he had expected it.
He is waiting!
Who are you waiting for?
Eunuch Wang was shocked and looked forward in the direction the prince was looking.
But when he took a look, all he saw was a sea of white, and the person leading the group was - Lin Zhiqing!
"Someone come, someone come!" Eunuch Wang realized something was wrong and immediately called for help.
But the prince raised his hand to stop him.
Eunuch Wang was stunned for a moment.
Lin Shi'an and Lu Huai looked at each other and were somewhat surprised by the prince's performance.
Under the city wall, Lin Zhiqing held Lin Congrong's tablet in his arms, looked at the prince on the city wall from afar, and knelt down resolutely.
When she knelt, everyone following her also knelt down.
Lin Zhiqing bowed his head and kowtowed to the ground, his forehead resting on the cold brick surface, but his voice did not tremble at all:
"Your humble servant, Lin Zhiqing, along with three hundred and twenty-seven women from the capital, kneel and beg Your Highness to revoke your order—we refuse the marriage!"
"Your Highness, please retract your order. We refuse the marriage!"
Lin Zhiqing raised his hand to wipe away the dust from his forehead. His eyes swept across the flags drooping from the city walls and landed on the prince.
"After receiving the imperial edict yesterday, I searched through the copy of the 'Great Prosperity' hidden in my home. From the time Taizu established the throne to the reign of the late emperor, it lists seventeen marriages."
"The shortest was three years, the longest was five years, but there was never a single marriage with Daliang."
"Because Daliang and our Dasheng are natural enemies."
"Your Highness said that the marriage can buy twenty years of peace, but what happens after twenty years?"
"Send another group of girls to fill the dust? I brought them here today, not to disobey the emperor's will, but to ask the adults on the city wall..."
She raised her head suddenly, her eyes sweeping over the familiar and unfamiliar faces:
"Back then, my father was guarding Yanmen Pass. An arrow nearly pierced his lung, yet he refused to retreat. He certainly couldn't have imagined that now we would be giving our beautiful daughter to our defeated enemy to maintain peace."
The women behind her stood straight with resolute expressions.
Lin Zhiqing spoke again:
"The stability of Dasheng should be earned by soldiers on the battlefield, not by girls paying with dowries and tears."
"If the soldiers of Dasheng are unwilling to charge into battle, we women can wear mourning clothes or we can wear armor and bear the sword."
"We can take those five cities back with our own hands!"
"I have said all I can, Your Highness, and I only ask that the willows of Shengjing grow well in the soil of Shengjing."
As soon as she said this, everything was silent.
But soon, a woman among the people wiped away her tears.
The crying became louder and louder, and more and more figures came forward to join Lin Zhiqing's team.
"Every inch of land is soaked in blood!"
Lin Zhiqing stood at the front, his voice cold and firm:
"If you men are afraid to defend your country..."
"Let's go women!"
His voice was resolute and firm, and he had the courage to face death with equanimity.
Men don’t defend their country?
Women on?
There was an uproar below the city wall.
"I'm willing to fight and die on the battlefield!"
"Fight, fight, fight! The battle will not stop until the blood is shed and we die!"
"As long as I'm still alive, how can my daughter stand in my way?"
No matter they were young or old male soldiers, each of them was either filled with righteous indignation and anger, or lowered their heads in shame, but they all made their voices heard at the same time.
The cries and shouts of the people merged into one, expressing anger, sorrow, determination and so on.
The whole scene was in an uproar, as grand and overwhelming as a landslide or tsunami.
In the midst of this, the envoys from Daliang were like duckweed in the rain, huddled in the carriage and dared not move, with a look of fear on their faces, obviously scared to death.
Some people who were close could even hear words like "the two dynasties cannot fight each other", "Da Sheng is too terrifying", and "it is impossible to defeat Da Sheng".
However, these words were drowned out by the boiling public resentment, no one cared, and they could not cause any waves.
Because everyone knows that whether to fight or not is not up to Daliang to decide.
On the other side, the Duke of Pei's chest kept rising and falling, and he immediately looked at the prince:
"It's a rebellion, it's a rebellion against the heavens!"
"Your Highness, Lin Zhiqing has ill intentions."
"Kidnapping the Daliang envoy and destroying the diplomatic relations between the two countries is the first crime."
"Inciting public sentiment and being held accountable in court is the second crime."
"Disobeying the imperial order and disregarding the law is the third crime!"
"Your Highness, please order someone to capture him to prevent future troubles!"
"Duke Pei, you are going too far!" Lu Huai stepped forward and said:
"You keep saying that Lin Zhiqing has bad intentions, but is there anything wrong with what she said?!"
"On the contrary, let me ask you. There have been frequent disturbances on the border, and the former subordinates of the Marquis of Zhenyuan all followed your lead."
"Duke Pei, why is this happening?"
When these words were spoken, the faces of the ministers around were filled with shock.
The Duke of Pei frowned and said, "You are an ignorant child, why are you trying to offend me?"
"If you don't want others to know, then don't do it yourself." Lu Huai looked at the prince:
"Your Highness, the Duke of Pei has ill intentions. His words cannot be trusted."
"Also, the marriage is absolutely not allowed!"
As Lu Huai finished speaking, Lin Shian also took a step forward and repeated Lu Huai's words.
On top of the city walls and below, a huge crowd of people knelt down.
"How can we men stand up straight when a woman stands in front of us?!"
"The men of Dasheng are not extinct yet! I would rather die than surrender!"
"If Lin Zhiqing wants to go and be humiliated, I am willing to go with you!"
Although the voices of the people were noisy, they were all shouting at the top of their lungs.
At this time, Wang Yuan took a deep breath, looked at Wang Shuyi in the crowd, and the frightened Duke of Pei, took a step, and knelt behind Lu Huai.
One, two, three, more and more people fell to their knees.
Soon, only a few people were left standing on the city wall.
Eunuch Wang swallowed his saliva. He had never seen such a situation before and didn't even know how to react.
“Boom, boom!”
The prince tapped lightly on the handle of his chair, looked at the ministers around him, then stood up and walked to the city wall.
He noticed Lin Zhiqing, the smart and brave woman, at first sight.
There were many other women beside Lin Zhiqing, each with a different appearance, but with the same resolute expressions on their faces.
Seeing that something was not right, the Duke of Pei couldn't help but speak up:
"Your Highness, you..."
The prince stretched out his hand nonchalantly, with no intention of listening to what the Duke of Pei said.
He looked at the Daliang envoy who was tied up, and saw that his eyes were full of panic and he was asking for help from him, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
Then he opened his mouth and said something, but no sound came out.
The envoy from Daliang saw the shape of the prince's mouth clearly, and his first expression was anger, followed by endless despair.
Lin Zhiqing frowned. She had been staring at the prince and saw the shape of his mouth.
He said it as if to say: We lost.
Who lost?
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