Such a brave and formidable enemy must not be allowed to become the new emperor of Wei. Otherwise, her and her brother's great cause would be in vain.
Realizing this, Yelü Nanxian admitted defeat without hesitation, but then she cupped her hands and said, "Your Highness Prince Qin is indeed worthy of being the son of Emperor Taizong of the Great Wei. Your swordsmanship is extraordinary and truly admirable. Even the number one warrior of the Northern Rong would probably have to admit defeat."
She spoke highly of Xue Shen and frequently mentioned the late emperor. The crowd, who had been celebrating Xue Shen's victory, gradually became serious and cautiously looked at the emperor at the head of the table.
Although Emperor Cheng'an still had a smile on his face, the smile clearly did not reach his eyes.
Xue Shen won so brilliantly that he didn't lose face in front of the Northern Rong people, but it greatly increased Emperor Cheng'an's sense of threat.
He offered a few perfunctory compliments, then said to Yelü Nanxian, "The princess has already witnessed the brilliance of the Great Wei gentleman; the Prince of Qin is merely the tip of the iceberg."
Yelü Nanxian sat back down and echoed, "The King of Qin's swordsmanship is truly admirable." Then, she abruptly changed the subject, saying, "To be honest, Your Majesty, I came here with the King's sincere desire for peace. Before I left, the King told me that the most stable way for our two countries to maintain relations is through marriage. To ensure the alliance's stability, the King originally wanted me to marry into the royal family. However, I have always been picky about my husband and did not immediately agree. But now, having met His Highness the King of Qin, I am utterly impressed by his bravery. Only someone like him is worthy to be my man."
These words shocked everyone present.
A buzz of discussion arose among the court officials; even Emperor Cheng'an hadn't expected the Northern Rong woman to be so audacious. However, when it came to a marriage alliance, he would never allow the Prince of Qin to marry a Northern Rong princess. The Prince of Qin was already powerful enough; if he were to entangle himself with the Northern Rong, the consequences would be unpredictable.
His face twitched, and he forced a smile, saying, "The King of Qin is already married and I'm afraid he can't marry the princess. There are many young men present; why doesn't the princess choose one from among them?"
To everyone's surprise, Yelü Nanxian shook her head, saying proudly, "If I'm going to marry, I'll only marry a man who can conquer me. What use is a defeated opponent?"
"Besides, our grasslands are not like your Central Plains, where capable men can marry multiple wives, and all these wives are of equal status." As she spoke, she looked at Xue Shen and smiled, "Your Highness, Prince Qin, would you mind having one more wife?"
In Yelü Nanxian's mind, whether the King of Qin wanted to fight against the current emperor or was intentionally targeting the Northern Rong, the other party should not refuse her suggestions.
If he agrees, the emperor will be even more wary of him. Yelü Nanxian doesn't even need to actually marry him to instigate a power struggle within the Great Wei throne.
In this way, she could buy her brother time to conserve his strength and prepare troops and provisions without lifting a finger.
Unexpectedly, Xue Shen coldly replied, "Only the victor has the right to choose. If Princess Yelü wants to marry, it depends on whether I am willing or not."
"You grassland people are not civilized. For so many years you have still believed in barbaric and backward customs. There is no loyalty between husband and wife. You believe in the principle of father to son succession. But the Great Wei is founded on Confucianism. Marriage is a union between two families. Husband and wife are of one mind and one heart. They are loyal to each other and will never betray each other."
Xue Shen looked up at her directly, making no attempt to hide the contempt in his expression: "I already have a wife, I don't need another person to interfere."
His words were so impolite, practically throwing Yelü Nanxian and the Northern Rong people's dignity to the ground. Immediately, a Northern Rong envoy challenged Emperor Cheng'an, saying, "Is this the sincerity of your Great Wei in peace talks?!"
Before Emperor Cheng'an could speak, Xue Shen asked in surprise, "If I remember correctly, it was General Shen of our Great Wei who drove the Northern Rong army back five hundred li. The Northern Rong army fled back to the royal court in a sorry state, which is why they had to send envoys to sue for peace, right?"
He toyed with his wine glass with amusement: "Your words sound more like the Great Wei seeking peace with you?"
His reminder prompted a court official to speak up, saying, "The King of Qin is right. Our Great Wei is vast and our people are happy. We do not wish to wage war. But that does not mean that the Northern Rong do not need to show sincerity when they come to seek peace."
"Or is this your sincerity?"
Emperor Cheng'an also realized this. Although he was dissatisfied with Xue Shen's control of the overall situation, this matter was related to the price of the subsequent peace talks, so he could only choose to stand on Xue Shen's side and said: "If the Northern Rong come with sincerity, Great Wei welcomes them. We will also choose a good son-in-law for Princess Yelü. But if the Northern Rong have no sincerity in peace talks, the hundreds of thousands of troops on the Great Wei border have not yet been withdrawn."
The messenger who had launched the attack hadn't expected the Wei people to be so assertive this time, and was momentarily speechless, so he could only look at Yelü Nanxian.
Yelü Nanxian smiled, ignoring the tense atmosphere, and bowed to Emperor Cheng'an, saying, "As a princess, my trip to the Great Wei has already demonstrated the sincerity of the Northern Rong in seeking peace. Since His Majesty of the Great Wei has said so, I will stay in Dongjing and wait for His Majesty to choose a suitable son-in-law for me."
By saying this, she was essentially giving Emperor Cheng'an a way out.
Emperor Cheng'an originally had no intention of continuing the war with the Northern Rong, but Xue Shen's words were too forceful, raising the issue and leaving him no choice but to agree.
Now that Yelü Nanxian had offered him a way out, he readily accepted, smiling and saying, "Princess, just stay at the inn. If you take a fancy to any young man, just tell me."
The banquet ended amidst the overt and covert exchanges between the two countries.
When the banquet ended, Shen Youying went out with Xue Shen, only to see Yelü Nanxian follow them. After looking her over with great interest, he said to Xue Shen, "So His Highness Prince Qin likes such a gentle and delicate woman."
Shen Youying looked at her and met her undisguised provocative gaze.
She stopped, placed her hands on her lower abdomen, her skirt perfectly still, and softly retorted to Yelü Nanxian, "Does Princess Yelü define women as either weak or strong? In my eyes, no matter how strong you are, even if you can defeat many men, isn't what you're doing now what the world considers a woman's duty? You're not even as good as many of the 'weak' women of Great Wei that you speak of. We women of Great Wei, any woman with self-respect and self-love, would never rush to become a concubine for a married man."
"In our Great Wei, there is no polygamy, only concubines. Princess, you are of noble birth and exceptional martial arts skills, and the Northern Rong have even fewer restrictions on women. Throughout the history of the Northern Rong, there has been no shortage of female generals who have made great achievements. With your abilities, why don't you go and make great achievements and leave your mark on history? Why do you want to become someone's concubine?"
She looked puzzled: "Is the princess actually no different from the 'weak woman' you described, or... does she actually have ulterior motives?"
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