Chapter 721 King Meets King
Pingzhou entered first.
When the Xianbei royal court arrived, they saw that the Pingzhou team had already arrived.
The ceremonial procession of the Governor of Pingzhou was mainly dark red, with several luxurious carriages parked in the front, and servants on both sides holding black and purple lotus-shaped umbrellas. A little further back were other styles of carriages.
At the end, the flags were waving.
Under the flags stood rows and rows of soldiers in neat uniforms.
Soldiers were busy working in the open space on the left, and various tents of various shapes and sizes had been set up in some places.
As soon as the Xianbei entered the scene, the people below started to get busy.
Tuoba Khan noticed the bright red flag of Pingzhou and asked his attendants, "What is the totem on the flag of Pingzhou?"
"Is it Pingzhou's totem?" Tuoba Jin tried to identify it. "It looks like a rooster?"
"The Second Prince is absolutely right. This totem does look like a rooster."
Tuoba Khan frowned, "Rooster, what does this mean?" The totem of their Xianbei flag is the golden sika deer, which symbolizes turning misfortune into good fortune and longevity.
"What a mess!"
If Lu Desheng were here and heard his question, he would definitely tell him kindly that this is what the Central Plains should look like, and this is also what their Pingzhou will look like in the future.
If they heard what he said, whether it was the Xianbei or the Dali, they would definitely jump up and down: No, your Pingzhou's territory is too large, some places are not yours, and you included them in the territory?
Not long after the members of the Xianbei royal court arrived, the ceremonial procession of the Emperor of Dali entered the venue.
Tuoba Khan noticed that the ceremonial guards of Dali were mainly bright yellow, those of Pingzhou were mainly dark red, and those of Xianbei were mainly black.
He thought to himself that what the second brother said was right. If he followed the previous travel plan, it would be too simple compared to Dali Pingzhou.
At this time, the three forces arrived and occupied each side of the Hancheng Plain, with an army following behind each force.
Very good, all three parties have brought large armies to negotiate, and they are ready to start fighting if there is any disagreement.
This peace talk was presided over by a highly respected elder from Dali. He stepped forward, struck a bell three times, and announced, "The time has arrived! The ten-day peace talks between Dali, Pingzhou, and the Xianbei have begun."
"Now, please invite the Lord of Dali, the Governor of Pingzhou, and the Xianbei Khan to take their seats!"
To ensure the safety of the talks, everyone was subject to body searches.
The people responsible for the inspection were composed of Dali, Pingzhou and Xianbei, because no one trusted each other.
There were two women responsible for searching Lu Songli.
Lu Songli spread out her hands and let them search her from top to bottom.
The same is true for Song Mo and Tuoba Khan.
Song Mo was full of patience. He, the emperor, actually had to endure such humiliation...
Tuoba Doji didn't have so many thoughts.
After the inspection, Lu Songli took Qin Sheng and walked in front; on the Dali side, Song Mo was in front and Lin Ran was one step behind; on the Xianbei side, Tuoba Duoji was in front and Yuchi Rui was behind.
Qin Sheng, Lin Ran and Yuchi Rui are all highly skilled people. They follow the leaders of various forces in order to better protect them.
The three parties walked towards the center of the negotiation table at the same time.
In the past, tripartite negotiations usually adopted a U-shaped structure, with the major power sitting in the host seat and the other two forces sitting in the relative guest seats.
However, this time the tripartite peace talks did not adopt the Hui-shaped structure because Pingzhou and Xianbei disagreed.
This time, seats were arranged in a triangle at the center of the negotiation table, indicating that the three forces are on an equal footing, and no one should dream of being the invisible big brother.
After the three parties sat down, Song Mo looked at Lu Songli first.
Lu Songli noticed the gaze and turned his head to look over.
The two looked at each other.
After six years, the two met again.
The last time they met, they were in Dali Prison. Back then, she was a Qin family woman, also a prisoner. He was already almost certain to be the next emperor of Dali.
She negotiated with me, using the golden medal of immunity from death and a will, and only asked me to release them to the exile place of Pingzhou as soon as possible.
Now, she is on equal footing with herself.
Thinking of this, Song Mo felt extremely regretful. If he had not been so anxious to get the imperial edict and the golden medal of immunity from death and released them, nothing would have happened later.
For some reason, Song Mo remembered that when he was in the Qiandi Palace, Xue Huaimin had suggested that he marry Lu Songli.
What was he thinking at that time? He didn't like scheming women like Lu Songli. He liked women who were as pure as lotus and kind and lovely.
Now it seems that his idea is right, but also wrong. The right thing is that seeing how she has developed Pingzhou, she probably won't be content even if she is relegated to the harem.
What's not right is that, judging from today's perspective, even if he had really married her at the time, it wouldn't have been impossible.
Even if she is the hen that crows at dawn, she is still his wife of the Song family!
Even if she holds power throughout her life, she will still grow old and die.
After her death, the throne would eventually be passed on to a child with Song blood. Furthermore, with her abilities, she would likely govern Dali well, handing over a prosperous dynasty to her children.
But Song Mo did not think of one possibility, that is, if he really married Lu Songli, there was a great possibility that she would kill the father and keep the son.
Would Song Mo be willing to do that? He wasn't the type of person who would willingly do things for others, even if that person was his own son.
Sensing Song Mo's complicated emotions, Lu Songli smiled and said, "Your Majesty, long time no see."
Song Mo nodded expressionlessly in response.
Tuoba Khan felt the invisible undercurrent between the two of them. He looked at one, then looked at that, and finally his eyes fell on Lu Songli.
It really is true that you can't judge a book by its cover. Such a young woman has built up such a huge force in just five or six years.
After so many battles between the two sides, Tuoba Khan has a better understanding of Pingzhou. He knows that Pingzhou was built from scratch by the woman in front of him.
There is nothing wrong with admitting this. The Xianbei people have always respected strength and will not deny Lu Songli's excellence just because she is a woman.
Tuoba Duoji imitated the Han people in the Central Plains and clasped his fists, "Emperor Song, Governor Lu, I have long admired you."
Song Mo still just nodded.
Lu Songli smiled and said, "Tuoba Khan is very polite."
After a few pleasantries, Song Mo spoke, "Tuoba Khan, Governor Lu, I believe that as rulers, we only need to make decisions. We have our own ministers to help us with civil and military affairs. How about leaving the peace talks to them?"
Lu Songli and Tuoba Doji looked at each other and said, "Just do as Emperor Song says." Anyway, it was impossible for them to go down to negotiate alone.
Song Mo added, "While the ministers are negotiating, why don't we come and enjoy some singing, dancing, and swordplay?"
Lu Songli raised an eyebrow and said, "Sword dance? Isn't that a bit old-fashioned?"
Song Mo looked at her, "Governor Lu, what suggestions do you have?"
Lu Songli suggested, "How about we each prepare and hold an exercise in three days?"
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