...
Yue Jiang felt dizzy and her whole body ached. Her tongue was filled with the taste of fish and rust. She was on the verge of waking up but could not. In her hazy mind, she recalled what had happened.
Feng, which was on good terms with An, was destroyed by Jing. Yue Jiang's marriage procession had to pass through Feng, but when Feng was attacked by Jing, An did not send any troops to support it.
To avoid trouble, Yue Jiang's team took a detour around a mountain and continued onward, only to encounter the fleeing army of Feng State, followed by the people of Jing State.
She was probably captured and taken to the Jing Kingdom's camp.
Suddenly, Yue Jiang heard a conversation and listened intently.
Wei You: "Your Highness, you are right. When we attack the Feng clan, Anguo will not be willing to waste its military strength to send troops to rescue them. The fleeing troops will be difficult to pursue and suppress, and the fleeing Feng clan troops will definitely try to save themselves."
"The only target they can get their eyes on is the Yue Kingdom princess, who is also the Crown Princess of An Kingdom. This way, the mob will take the opportunity to abduct the Yue Kingdom's marriage procession."
"We can also wipe out this group in one fell swoop. Now the Feng family's deserters have all been eliminated."
Yuejiang: The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!
"How is the situation in the Moon Kingdom?" Immediately, a voice that Yue Jiang had heard not long ago asked.
Yue Jiang silently deduced that this was Jing Kingdom territory, and someone had just addressed her as "Your Highness."
Could he be Jing Yan, the Crown Prince of Jing Kingdom?
Wei You continued his report: "The Yue Kingdom is incredibly generous. This marriage alliance with the An Kingdom alone has included a dowry of one million taels of gold, two million taels of silver, ten thousand bolts of silk and satin, a thousand chests of pearls and agates, and a hundred cartloads of ironware..."
"The entire marriage procession numbered over ten thousand people. As you said, even though the Yue Kingdom is wealthy, this marriage has far exceeded the usual practice."
"Your Highness, what should be done?" he asked after reporting in a formal and methodical manner.
Jing Yan's cold and aloof voice rang out, tinged with hatred.
“Anguo is treacherous and shameless. It should have paid off its debt to Jingguo long ago. Since it is a gift from the marriage alliance with Anguo, it naturally belongs to Jingguo.”
To reminisce about the past grievances between the states of Jing and An, we must begin with the grandfather of Jingyan, who was also the grandfather of An Chenghuan, the crown prince of An.
The grandfathers of Jing and An were once hostages in the Kingdom of Yu when they were young. During their time as hostages, they formed a friendship like that of half-brothers. After returning to their respective countries, they often visited each other's countries.
When An Chenghuan's grandfather ascended the throne, Jingyan's grandfather was invited to Anguo to offer his congratulations, but little did he know that this trip would lead to trouble.
Under the guise of his own grand ascension to the throne, An Chenghuan's grandfather led his men to strangle Jingyan's grandfather's attendants and then poisoned Jingyan's grandfather at the banquet.
The ruler of Jing was detained by Anguo, who then imposed arbitrary treaties on Jing, causing chaos in the Jing court and forcing the imposition of many shameful regulations.
Even the Feng Kingdom, which rose to prominence forty years ago, was established because of internal turmoil in the Jing Kingdom. The imperial court ordered Fengzhou to raise troops to attack the An Kingdom, and the general of Fengzhou, lured by An Kingdom, rebelled against the Jing Kingdom and established his own state.
Jingyan's grandfather, ashamed of his gullibility in trusting a villain, which had brought disaster upon his family and country, committed suicide by crashing into a pillar in the Anguo court while Jingguo was raising a huge ransom to send to Anguo.
Even after Jingyan's grandfather died, Anguo's exploitation of Jingguo had not stopped.
Because the rise of Feng State was aided by An State, the ruler of Feng State advised An State to demote Jing Yan's father, who had already ascended the throne, to a vassal state and make Jing State's territory a vassal state of An State.
Jingyan's grandfather died after hitting a pillar, but he continued to humiliate the new king, the Marquis Jiang.
Jingguo would rather fight to the death with all the strength of the nation than suffer this humiliation again, and only agreed to send one million taels of silver to Anguo every year to settle the matter.
For the sake of this million taels of silver, the people within the Jing Kingdom lived a life of unbearable suffering.
While paying money to the enemy with hatred in their hearts, they secretly and diligently trained their soldiers, and finally launched a counterattack last year.
Led by Jing Yan, the army was dispatched to attack Feng Guo, who was an internal traitor to Jing Guo and a lackey of An Guo.
In half a year, they destroyed the Feng Kingdom, giving the An Kingdom a severe warning.
Upon receiving the reply, Wei You, filled with indignation, agreed: "Your Highness is right!"
Yue Jiang: "..."
"What does Your Highness intend to do with the Moon Kingdom princess and her entourage?" Wei You asked again.
Yue Jiang's heartstrings tightened.
Jing Yan remained silent for a long time, but the sound of rushing water could be heard.
Just then, the throbbing pain in Yue Jiang's head subsided, and a glimmer of light finally appeared in her eyes.
She could vaguely see a tall, imposing man sitting in front of the bed to the side. The man's clothes had been stripped down to only his plain undershirt and trousers, and he was clutching a handkerchief in his hand.
He wrung out a handkerchief and placed it over the web of his right hand, giving Yue Jiang a sharp, focused look.
Fortunately, Yue Jiang was alert and immediately closed her half-open eyes. She didn't know if Jing Yan had noticed that she was awake, and she felt uncomfortable staying in one position.
Just as Yue Jiang could no longer maintain her pretense, Jing Yan's calm voice rang out from beside her bed.
"Over the years, Yue Kingdom has donated a lot of gold and silver treasures to the six kingdoms for the sake of peace in the region. Jing Kingdom has also benefited a lot. Otherwise, Jing Kingdom would not have recovered its strength so quickly. Logically, I should not make things difficult for Yue Kingdom."
Yuejiang: Not bad! You actually have a conscience!
“However…” Jing Yan’s tone shifted, his voice becoming even deeper: “Although the Yue Kingdom is neutral and does not participate in the conflicts, it does not mean that it cannot pose a threat to the Jing Kingdom.”
"Otherwise, why would the King of Yue dare to send so many things to An Kingdom under the guise of a marriage alliance? He must have some ulterior motive."
Yue Jiang wanted to cry but had no tears, and trembled with fear.
The Moon Kingdom was neither strong nor brave. In the beginning, it was only the size of a single state called Moon State. Its only redeeming quality was its abundance of mines and wealth, and the fact that its people knew how to make money.
Over the past three hundred years, the five neighboring countries of Jing, An, Yu, Chen, and Qi have maintained close ties and become familiar with each other.
Gradually, Yuezhou gained considerable prestige among the various countries, and with their support, it established itself as a separate nation, thus dividing the world into six parts.
After that, regardless of the various disturbances from other countries, none of them took action against the Moon Kingdom.
It was definitely not because the Yue Kingdom later became militarily strong; on the contrary, apart from being good at making money and having both men and women who were beautiful, the people of the Yue Kingdom were useless at everything else.
The reason why the Moon Kingdom has stood firm to this day is entirely because it can serve as a money bag for the six kingdoms.
If there's a money bag placed in front of everyone for them to take as they please, who would tolerate letting someone else have it all to themselves?
If anyone dares to monopolize it, the others will unite and beat them up until they ask, "Do you even know the rules?"
So weak, who would they dare to conspire with?
In the past, when the Yue Kingdom made peace with other countries through marriage, it would only pay an exorbitant price to obtain a royal concubine, a royal wife, or a royal concubine.
Just then, Anguo sent an olive branch for a marriage alliance, offering her the position of Crown Princess. How could Yueguo refuse?
Jing State, however, was bullied by An State and remained dormant for forty years, yet it surprisingly managed to destroy Feng State in just six months.
Perhaps Anguo foresaw Jingguo's vengeance and was urgently seeking allies. Coincidentally, Yueguo was wealthy, so Yueguo must have been outmaneuvered by Anguo!
Yue Jiangren was implicated before she even married into Anguo. She opened her eyes, cursing inwardly.
In order to survive, Yue Jiang brainstormed and came up with an idea.
Jing Yan, having finished his thought, said, "The Yue Kingdom needs to be taught a lesson. We should use the Yue Kingdom princess and her entourage as..."
Yue Jiang spotted Jing Yan's location, mustered her courage, and clumsily hunched over to move to the bedside of the man who had kidnapped her.
Just as Jing Yan was about to make a decision, a soft voice came from beside his feet.
"Husband, my hand hurts!"
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