The music gradually faded, while the whip sounds became louder.
The woman's waist twisted like a water snake, soft but not weak. The lines of her exposed arms were beautiful, and every time she swung the whip, there was a sound of hunting. The martial arts practitioners present could see that her whip was not just a fancy trick, but a real skill.
The sound of the whip in the wind matched the charming and nimble dance steps, making her look charming and attractive, yet deadly and dangerous.
This is a beautiful and untamed woman.
When the dance ended, the woman's skirt flew off, revealing her full chest wrapped in a golden-red tube top, rising and falling slightly, adding a touch of glamour.
She wrapped the whip around her arm, swayed her waist, and walked lightly to Yin Chengyu. After performing a unique Tatar etiquette, she handed the handle of the whip to Yin Chengyu: "There is a saying on our grasslands that 'women are like wild horses. The more beautiful a woman is, the more fierce her temper is. Only the most courageous warriors can tame them.' I heard that the prince is not married yet. I wonder if His Royal Highness is willing to be Wuzhu's warrior?"
The girl's clear voice was clearly heard by everyone, and everyone present had different expressions.
Most of the sons of noble families are jealous. When such a beauty takes the initiative to show her affection, which man would be willing to refuse?
The civil and military officials considered the relationship between the two countries from a friendly perspective. The woman who was brought by Aharu and danced today must be extraordinary. Her attitude was enough to explain the Tatars' attitude.
——The Tatars wanted to form an alliance with Dayan through marriage.
It is naturally impossible for a woman of a foreign race to become the prince's principal wife, but if she is only given the position of a concubine, it is not impossible to negotiate as long as the Tatars are sincere enough.
Only Concubine Wen and the Third Prince had a look of surprise on their faces, but they were smart enough to remain silent.
On the contrary, Ahalu was very proud of Wuzhu's honesty. He smiled and raised his glass to Yin Chengyu and said, "This is the Khan's most beloved youngest daughter, Princess Wuzhu. Princess Wuzhu is the most beautiful pearl on the grassland. Countless warriors have come to marry her, but none of them have been able to win her. Now Princess Wuzhu has chosen His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. The girls of the grassland are honest and do not understand the etiquette of the Yan Kingdom. I hope Your Highness will not be offended."
Yin Chengyu raised his cup with a smile and said, "Princess Wuzhu is young and ignorant, so I won't care about it." He then turned his head to the maidservant beside him and instructed, "It's cold in winter, go get a cloak for the princess, don't let the distinguished guest catch a cold."
With just a few words, he attributed Princess Wuzhu's love confession to her "young age and ignorance" and did not take it seriously.
After that, he never looked at Princess Wuzhu again.
Princess Wuzhu blushed, and just then a palace maid brought her a cloak, so she wrapped herself in the cloak and returned to the banquet, her eyes filled with anger and resentment.
She had always been the one to reject others, and this was the first time she was rejected.
She reluctantly glanced at Yin Chengyu who was sipping elegantly across from her, but unexpectedly met Xue Shu's gaze.
Xue Shu looked at her with half-closed eyes, like a lone wolf whose territory had been invaded, and slowly gave her a sinister smile.
The murderous intent in his eyes was so strong that Princess Wuzhu instinctively tensed her body and placed her hands on the whip handle at her waist.
Ahharu called her twice, but she didn't seem to hear him. He frowned and tapped on her desk, speaking louder and faster in Tatar: "I've heard that the Crown Prince of Dayan is outstanding in both civil and military affairs. Now it seems that the Crown Prince of Dayan is much better than his father. Princess needs to use more tricks." He glanced at the Wala envoys opposite and said gloomily: "The Wala was badly hurt in the war this spring. If it weren't for the support of Dayan, the Khan would have been able to swallow Wala next year."
Princess Wuzhu retracted her gaze, relaxed her body slightly, and then nodded and said, "Don't worry, Grand Master, Wuzhu will not fail in her mission."
After she finished speaking, she couldn't help but glance diagonally across from him.
But his eyes met Xue Shu's again.
Xue Shu's eyes were too sharp. When he looked at people, it was as if they were wrapped in blades, cutting through layer by layer of skin. The murderous intent was real, making people feel uneasy.
Wuzhu glared at him, then quickly looked away and cursed in her heart.
He's just a eunuch, but he looks more ferocious than the beasts on the grassland.
Xue Shu looked at her coldly for a while before looking away.
Although Princess Wuzhu is young, she has great ambitions.
In her previous life, after Yin Chengyu ascended the throne, she had accompanied Ahalu on a diplomatic mission to Dayan. At that time, Dayan was weak, with insufficient troops in the northern border and weak defense. After annexing the Oirat, the Tatars became more powerful and more prosperous under the leadership of Wuzhu's father, King Tolui Khan, and became more and more disloyal to Dayan.
Wuzhu had also expressed her love to Yin Chengyu in this way before, but at that time the Tatars were strong and Wuzhu's attitude was more arrogant.
Her goal was to become the empress, and her words were full of threats, implying that if Dayan did not agree, she would let the Khan personally bring the grassland warriors to the capital to "propose marriage."
Yin Chengyu naturally refused, but he was concerned that the people on the border still needed to recuperate and he did not want to anger the Tatars too much. In the end, he did not accept his advice to kill the Tatar envoy and Princess Wuzhu on the battlefield, but instead treated them politely and sent them back.
Afterwards, the Tatars indeed led their troops to invade, but Yin Chengyu had already taken precautions and deployed troops in advance, thus preventing the Tatars' attack.
Although the Tatar Khan coveted Dayan, the northern tribes were not in harmony with him, and the remnants of the Oirat were also looking for an opportunity to revive, so after failing to attack him once, they did not launch another attack.
The two sides barely maintained superficial peace and even had trade across the border, but each side had the intention of annexing the other.
This situation did not end until three years after Yin Chengyu's death. He followed the strategy formulated by Yin Chengyu during his lifetime to appease the people and keep a low profile. After the treasury was full and the troops were sufficient, he personally led the army to conquer the Tatars, flattened the northern tribes in one fell swoop, and incorporated the northern grasslands into the territory of Dayan.
Princess Wuzhu, who had wanted to marry Yin Chengyu and become his queen, was killed by him on the battlefield.
Before she died, this foreign princess who was already married even tried to seduce him in order to get a chance of survival.
Xue Shu smiled coldly, his gloomy eyes fell on Yin Chengyu's snow-white neck, he reached out and touched the handkerchief in his arms, carefully hiding the violence that was constantly surging.
The banquet is still going on.
Perhaps seeing that the Tatars had taken the lead, the Oirat tribe did not dare to fall behind. After three rounds of drinking, the Oirat prince Mubar stood up and said with a bright smile: "Your Majesty, the Tatar princess has taken the initiative to show her goodwill, and the Oirat tribe cannot fall behind. I have long heard that there is a princess in the Dayan tribe who is both talented and beautiful. Now I see her in person. She is indeed as famous as her reputation says. She is so stunning that one can forget the world." He bent down and put his right fist on his chest: "I, Mubar, would like to offer the most sincere courtesy of the Oirat tribe and ask to marry the princess of the Dayan tribe."
The young prince looked straight in the direction of Yin Ciguang, determined to win: "If your majesty agrees to the marriage, in addition to the 5,000 war horses we paid as tribute this year, the Oirat is willing to add another 5,000 war horses as a betrothal gift to marry the princess."
Ten thousand war horses!
Not to mention Emperor Longfeng, even the officials present were tempted, and their eyes turned eagerly towards Prince Oirat.
These are ten thousand war horses!
The northern tribes were a nation of horsemen, and their horse breeds were much better than those of Dayan. Eighty percent of Dayan's war horses today were bred from the tribute horses of the northern tribes.
However, the number of horses that the Oirat Tatars paid as tribute was not large. According to the custom in previous years, the number of horses was no more than 2,000 to 3,000. The Great Yan had a large number of soldiers and still had to spend a huge amount of money to purchase horses from the northern tribes.
The most common horses on the market still cost thirty or forty taels each, while the war horses purchased from the north cost as much as one hundred to one hundred and fifty taels each.
Ten thousand war horses, converted into silver, would be worth a million taels.
How can one not be moved by this?!
A princess is worth a war horse worth a million taels!
Emperor Longfeng was also very tempted and almost agreed. But when the words came to his lips, he remembered the demeanor of a great monarch and said in a controlled tone: "I only have one princess. If she wants to marry far away in Wala, I will be very reluctant. If the little prince really loves the princess, you need to show your sincerity so that I and the princess can rest assured."
Mubar smiled, his eyes fixed on Yin Ciguang: "Mubar will definitely let Your Majesty and the Princess see my sincerity."
Yin Ci Guang turned his eyes away without looking at him. His fingers under the table were clenched tightly, and his face was as pale as paper.
Even he knew that exchanging an insignificant princess for ten thousand war horses was a deal that could not be over-calculated.
Just when he was shrouded in despair, he heard a clear voice saying slowly and calmly: "The eldest princess is a talented lady with a kind heart. There are many suitors for her. If Prince Mubal wants to be worthy of the eldest princess, he must be better than the men of Dayan, not to mention being good at both civil and military affairs. Otherwise, if he wants to marry the princess of Dayan with only ten thousand war horses, I'm afraid the men of Dayan will not accept it."
Yin Ci Guang suddenly raised his eyes and looked at him, but saw Yin Chengyu nodding at him with a soothing smile.
The clenched fingers loosened, Yin Ci Guang narrowed his eyes, revealing a slight smile, and suddenly he didn't feel so hopeless anymore.
Mubar frowned, but did not back down: "Then what do you think is considered capable, Your Highness?"
"The Red Rhinoceros Winter Hunt is coming up, so the real test will naturally be in the enclosure." Yin Chengyu smiled faintly: "If Prince Mubal can win the Red Rhinoceros Winter Hunt this year, he will naturally be worthy of the Princess of Dayan."
Mubal thought he would make some difficult demands, but when he heard that it was just winning the first prize in the winter hunting of red rhinoceros, his features relaxed and he smiled with a hint of superiority: "However, winning the first prize in the winter hunting, how difficult is that?" He looked at Yin Ciguang: "Then Princess, wait for me to hunt bears and tigers, and peel off their skins to make clothes for you."
Before Yin Ciguang could respond, Princess Wuzhu sneered: "Mubar, you can't even beat me, how dare you promise the princess that you can win?" She raised her chin high, her eyes full of contempt: "I will also participate in this year's winter hunt. If I win, then the princess of Dayan will have to follow me back to Tatar, right?"
"But my father and elder brother have already married. If the princess of Dayan returns to Tartary with me, she can only be a concubine." She blinked, as if she didn't realize how insulting her words were.
When talking about the war this spring, the members of the Oirat delegation glared at the Tatar delegation.
The officials of Dayan also looked surprised. Princess Wuzhu was too arrogant and did not take Dayan seriously at all.
The sound of stringed instruments gradually faded, and there seemed to be a murderous intent in the air.
Finally, a crisp collision sound broke the stagnant atmosphere.
Looking at the people looking at him, Yin Chengyu slowly put down the jade cup, his back straight, "Don't break the peace, the two of you. The Red Rhinoceros Winter Hunt is held every three years. The last time it was the Oirat who won the championship, and the time before that it was the Tatar who won the championship. We have an old saying in Dayan, 'Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west'. This year's feng shui may have turned to Dayan's favor."
His eyes swept over the crowd, his attitude was calm and unhurried: "Since both the Oirat and Tatar want to marry the eldest sister, why not make a bet before the winter hunt begins. The Tatar or Oirat, whoever wins can marry my Princess Yan." At this point, his tone paused, his red lips curled up, and there was a trace of contempt in his eyes: "But if my Princess Yan wins, the ten thousand good horses that Prince Mubar promised before can be given to the eldest sister as a make-up. How about it?" He looked at Ahalu and Princess Wuzhu again: "The little prince of Oirat offered ten thousand good horses, can the Tatars offer the same? If not, you can also reduce it as appropriate."
"Everything can be discussed."
From beginning to end, he had a warm smile and a calm tone.
But the toughness in his tone was unmistakable.
Ahhalu looked at his expression and thought something was wrong.
This prince of Dayan seemed to be more tough than he knew.
However, at this time, both they and the Wala delegation had been put on a high pedestal by the other party's words.
If we are afraid of fighting, we will lose the face of the tribe.
After careful consideration, Ahlu finally felt that given Dayan's current situation, it would not be easy to win the championship.
What's more, they brought some good players this year.
Wala wanted to ask Dayan for help, so the people they sent should be pretty good.
Ahharu hesitated for a moment, then nodded imperceptibly towards Princess Wuzhu.
The air was filled with the will to fight. Princess Wuzhu raised her chin high, with undisguised arrogance: "No need, just ten thousand horses, I, the Tatars, can afford to lose!"
Seeing this, Mubar ignored the slight possibility of losing and said in a deep voice, "Then the bet is settled. I will definitely get the beauty."
In just a few words, the bet was settled.
At this time, the banquet was coming to an end. After the Wala and Tatar delegations left, Emperor Longfeng summoned Yin Chengyu to give him a lecture.
He drank a lot of wine, and his face was still a little red. I don't know if the pills took effect, although he looked energetic, his eyes became more cloudy and his face looked old.
"The prince is still reckless."
Emperor Longfeng was very dissatisfied with Yin Chengyu's initiative to make a bet with the Oirat Tatars.
In his opinion, the marriage between Yin Ciguang and the Oirat prince could be reconciled, and there was really no need to create further complications.
"Since I dare to set up the gambling game, I must be confident." Yin Chengyu lowered his head, but his tone was not soft.
Emperor Longfeng frowned unhappily, wanting to reprimand him, but in the end he was cautious and did not open his mouth.
Instead, Concubine Wen smiled sweetly and said, "It is said that victory or defeat is uncertain. Although the Red Rhino Winter Hunt is just a hunting expedition, it is no different from a battlefield. If His Royal Highness wins, that's fine. If he loses like in previous years..." She covered her mouth and said, "That's 10,000 war horses and a million taels of silver."
Emperor Longfeng nodded in agreement: "The Crown Prince is still young, and he needs to look further ahead in the future. I know that you are close to the eldest princess, but as the crown prince, you should always put the interests of Dayan first and not let your emotions get the better of you."
Yin Chengyu laughed briefly. "Whether there is a bet or not, Mubar must offer 10,000 war horses to marry the emperor's eldest sister. Now that we have made a bet, if we win the winter hunt, we can get 20,000 war horses for free. Father wants the emperor's eldest sister to marry him, isn't it for the war horses? We should be happy. As long as we don't let the Tatars take the lead, Dayan can at least get 10,000 war horses. We can win a lot with a small investment, and both get war horses and shock the northern tribes. Why not do it?"
He was not as gentle and tolerant as usual, and his tone was instead a little sarcastic and aggressive.
Emperor Longfeng choked up, thinking carefully that this was indeed the case. But from his tone, he couldn't be happy at all.
He looked at Yin Chengyu and found that his son had grown into an appearance that he was not familiar with without him noticing.
The Dragon King is getting old, but his claws and fangs are still sharp, and he is in his prime.
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Big Dog Gou: The enemy attacks, protect our wife.
Big Dog Gou: If you dare to look at my wife, you will die.