The Imperial Palace, the Council Chamber.
The Emperor of Anguo, dressed in a dragon robe, was speaking to Su Mochen.
"Mo Chen, the reason I called you back this time is to discuss the matter of the Southern Qi prince's marriage alliance..."
"What is Father thinking?"
Su Mochen blinked his big eyes at Emperor An.
"You are my only daughter, and naturally I don't want to marry you off to such a far place as Southern Qi! Besides, it would be a marriage alliance, which would not only be beneath the dignity of our royal family, but also use you as a bargaining chip, which is not what I want!"
Upon hearing this, Su Mochen smiled radiantly.
She returned to the palace a few days ago. Guizhi learned from others that the prince of Southern Qi had come to Jingzhou and proposed a marriage alliance.
The Southern Qi was adjacent to Anguo, and the Southern Qi capital Dianyang was separated from Jiangling only by the Yunling River.
Because it was adjacent to Jiangling, the Southern Qi Dynasty also had a flourishing literary culture and produced many scholars. However, the Southern Qi Dynasty not only valued literature but also military prowess, so its national strength was much stronger than that of Anguo.
In recent years, in particular, they have been making moves on the border, having already defeated the Yue Kingdom to the east. If they were to attack the An Kingdom next, the consequences would be unimaginable.
When the third prince of Southern Qi visited Anguo and proposed a marriage alliance to Emperor An, the civil and military officials saw it more as an opportunity to establish their authority.
If Anguo agrees to the marriage alliance, it can tell the other countries that Anguo can only appease Southern Qi by marrying off its daughter.
If Anguo refuses, they will have a reason to start a war against Anguo. No matter how you look at it, they will be the ones who benefit.
Given such a difficult situation, her father must be exhausted from dealing with it. So she especially wanted to hear what he thought. If even the person she trusted most didn't want to resist and only wanted her to go for a marriage alliance, then what hope did she have left?
Fortunately, his father was still the same father who loved him dearly.
"But Father must be under a lot of pressure, right?"
Upon hearing Su Mochen's words, Emperor An looked slightly embarrassed.
Over the years, because of his great love for poetry, he has entrusted most of the affairs of the court to his ministers, thus losing control of many things to some extent.
Take this marriage alliance as an example. Led by Grand Tutor Bai Qingyuan, nearly half of the ministers in the court were pressuring him to accept the marriage alliance. He kept delaying it by saying that Su Mochen had not yet returned to the palace and that the matter should be discussed again after she returned.
Now that Su Mochen is back, there's no time to delay. There have been an unusually large number of memorials and remonstrances these past few days, especially today, when the morning court session lasted until the afternoon. Fortunately, Prime Minister Zhu Tong is on his side, otherwise he wouldn't have been confident he could have made it through.
"As long as Mo Chen doesn't want to, we don't need to worry about anything else!"
Emperor An waved his hand and said in a deep voice.
Ultimately, Anguo is still his Anguo. If he really doesn't want a marriage alliance, can those ministers really rebel?
"Father, I agree."
"..."
An Di was stunned for a moment, looking at her in disbelief: "Mo Chen... are you serious? How could you agree to this?"
She knew her own daughter best; what she longed for most was a free and unrestrained life, otherwise she wouldn't have run away from the palace to travel.
Su Mochen walked up and nestled on Emperor An's shoulder, smiling, "Father, I will eventually get married when I grow up! Besides, if that prince of Southern Qi is truly talented, marrying him doesn't seem like a bad thing!"
Emperor An glanced down at Su Mochen, seeing a smile on her face but unable to discern anything else.
"but--"
Su Mochen lifted his shoulder from Emperor An's and changed the subject, saying, "He has to grant me one request!"
"..."
...
After Su Mochen left, Emperor An immediately ordered someone to summon Sui Shouren, who had escorted her back to the palace.
"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty!"
Emperor An waved his hand and then asked, "Did anything happen when you escorted Mo Chen back to the palace?"
Sui Shouren shook his head. "Your Majesty, everything is going smoothly."
Suddenly, she thought of that handsome young man who had run away to pee halfway through the journey and was scolded by Su Mochen the whole way, so she said, "There is indeed someone who is very strange..."
Then he spoke to Emperor Andi.
"Jing Zhe... Jing Zhe..."
Emperor An muttered a few words, and suddenly the image of an old friend flashed into his mind, "Could it be a descendant of an old friend?"
But then he immediately shook his head. "I heard that Mo Chen only went as far as Yongzhou, while he is in Pengzhou. We shouldn't have run into each other. Am I just overthinking things?"
Emperor An shook his head and smiled, then said seriously, "Send someone out to find out where this young man named Jing Zhe is currently living and what he is doing. Remember, you are in charge of this personally, and you must keep a low profile and not let a third person know about it!"
Sui Shouren nodded in agreement.
"Oh, and send someone to the Eastern Palace again. I've arranged for the Southern Qi prince to stay there. Go and deliver a message saying that Mo Chen has agreed to the marriage alliance, but he must..."
After listening, Sui Shouren withdrew.
...
"What are the conditions?"
The Eastern Palace was where Anguo entertained the three princes of Southern Qi.
"His Highness must attend the Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering in Anguo, and only if he wins first place will Princess Anguo agree to the marriage alliance!"
"That's what the envoy from Southern Qi said."
The man sitting in front of him was about twenty years old, tall and slender with an average appearance, but he exuded confidence. He was none other than Qi Junguang, the third prince of Southern Qi.
After hearing what the envoy had to say, Qi Junguang stood up and paced back and forth, rubbing his chin.
"These conditions...are quite interesting!"
"Your Highness, I believe this is Emperor Anguo deliberately making things difficult for us, simply because he doesn't want a marriage alliance! If that's what I'm asking, we shouldn't agree to his proposal, lest we fall into his trap!"
The envoy's face was full of anger, and he spoke with righteous indignation.
Why not agree?
Qi Junguang glanced at him and asked again, "What, do you think I can't win?"
The envoy shook his head repeatedly after hearing this.
"Your Highness, that's not what I meant! Your Highness's talent is known to everyone in Southern Qi. Your Highness studied under the Imperial Preceptor, but your attainments in poetry and calligraphy have long surpassed the Imperial Preceptor's. With such skill, let alone the younger generation from Anguo who participated in the Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering, even if their older Grand Secretaries and Grand Tutors came forward, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to beat Your Highness!"
Qi Junguang seemed quite pleased with the envoy's flattery, and a grin spread across his face.
Seeing this, the envoy wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, let out a long sigh, and asked again, "Does Your Highness mean we should agree?"
Qi Junguang nodded, then asked curiously, "If I don't win first place and someone else does, will Princess Anguo have to marry the person who wins first place?"
The envoy shook his head. "The messenger did not explain. I think this was tailor-made for Your Highness. I'm afraid even if someone else wins the prize, they won't be able to marry Princess Anguo!"
"That's excellent!"
Qi Junguang clapped his hands in satisfaction, his smile widening.
————
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