Chapter 303 No! I will never marry a barbarian!
(Thanks to Haheyyun for casting a monthly pass.)
Li Shiyue and Li Chunli didn't exchange a single word. She didn't even give Li Chunli a proper look, yet her behavior made it seem as if she had said everything.
At least for Li Chunli, Li Shiyue's indifferent attitude was the most distressing thing.
Li Shiyue didn't care what Li Chunli was thinking.
After Liu Shu and Li Chunli left, she went downstairs with Li's mother and the others. She glanced at the lanterns on the street in the cold wind and then hurried back to the inn.
After Li Shiyue went to the government office to ask General Liu Tan for help, and obtained her sixth-rank military officer's certificate, she was able to arrange for her four acres of official land to be transferred to Liujiatun and also receive three tenant farmers. Finally, she and Yan Jiuniang had a chance to meet alone!
Fucheng, Xingshenglou, second-floor private room.
The charcoal brazier in the corner of the window was burning hot, and a small crack was left in the window to let out the charcoal fumes, so that occasionally a snowflake or two would drift in.
The snowflakes melted from the heat of the room before they even reached the floor.
"October, come and try this. It's a snack that came from the south. It's very sweet and soft."
Yan Jiuniang pushed the plate of pastries on the table toward Li Shiyue. On it was a round, white, pastry-like snack.
Li Shiyue picked up a round cake, took a bite, and chewed it. She felt the soft and glutinous texture and the sweet aroma of red beans in her mouth. Only then did she realize that this snack was actually just a glutinous rice and red bean cake.
However, it was indeed delicious.
Nowadays, there are very few pastries made with glutinous rice dough in Andong.
Seeing that Li Shiyue finished one in just a few bites, Yan Jiuniang also took one to eat.
"Isn't it delicious?"
I went to the port to check the accounts, and this was brought up from below.
I knew you'd like it as soon as I tasted it. When you leave, take two boxes with you; you'll definitely love it in the summer too.
Li Shiyue thanked Yan Jiuniang and then asked her a few questions about her affairs in Sanshan Port. Only then did she ask Yan Jiuniang, "...It's already past the fifteenth, has the Prince said anything more about your marriage?"
When the topic of her marriage came up, Yan Jiuniang's lips drooped.
After swallowing the soft, sweet pastry in her mouth, Yan Jiuniang looked at the tea that Li Shiyue had poured for her, picked up the teacup and took a sip to dilute the sweet taste in her mouth before slowly saying, "I secretly asked Manager Jin to go out and inquire about news from Guanzhong, and I also went to find the Chief Secretary of the Prince's Mansion." As she said this, Yan Jiuniang's fingers gripped the teacup tightly.
When Li Shiyue saw Yan Jiuniang like this, she knew that something must have changed, and it was likely to be a bad change.
"In October, I probably won't have to go to Guanlong to get married."
Haha, judging from the information I got from the caravan in the building, the Sun family of Guanlong is indeed preparing for a wedding, but the marriage partner they announced to the outside world is not me, but the Gao family, a prominent family in Guanlong.
It could even be said that the Sun family was marrying above their station by marrying the eldest daughter of the Gao family.
Li Shiyue frowned; she always thought of things in the worst possible light.
At this moment, she thought to herself, "Could it be that the Prince of Zhenbei deliberately didn't tell Jiu Niang that he was going to send her to be a concubine instead of his principal wife!"
But Li Shiyue thought to herself, "No way?"
No matter what, Jiu Niang is the biological daughter of the Prince of Zhenbei. Even if it's for profit, why send one's own daughter to be someone's concubine?
The Prince of Zhenbei is also losing face in public!
Li Shiyue made no attempt to hide her true feelings. She had no conflict of interest with Yan Jiuniang and they got along well. Why would she hide her true self from Yan Jiuniang?
Therefore, Yan Jiuniang naturally saw Li Shiyue's worried look. "Shiyue," Li Shiyue raised her head and met Yan Jiuniang's eyes.
"Haha, right now I feel like I'm the biggest joke ever."
Yan Jiuniang gave a bitter laugh twice before saying to Li Shiyue, "Just as you thought, the news coming from the brothel makes me wonder if he was hiding something from me, that he wasn't sending me to be his wife, but rather to be someone's concubine."
A few days ago, I returned to the Prince's Mansion from Sanshan Port. Unable to get any information from the Chief Secretary of the Prince's Mansion, I barged into his study and confronted him directly.
Only then did I learn from him that my engagement with the Sun family had been called off.
It's gone, haha, it's been cancelled, it's like a joke!
Haha, I'm free now!
Li Shiyue naturally understood that Yan Jiuniang's sarcastic attitude at this moment was not because she was sad that she could not marry into the Sun family, but because Yan Jiuniang felt that she was like an object, being manipulated at will by the Prince of Zhenbei, and was upset that she had lost the right to decide her own marriage!
"I have no idea what kind of deal she made with the Sun family in October."
However, I've come to understand that in his eyes, I'm not his daughter at all.
I am nothing more than a puppet in his hands, to be molded and kneaded at his will!
If I could…
Li Shiyue interrupted Yan Jiuniang before she could speak, "Jiuniang, do you still remember what the Turkic Khan said during the trade fair?"
Yan Jiuniang was a little confused. She was still immersed in the resentment of being ignored or even used by her own father. Suddenly hearing Li Shiyue mention the Turkic Khan, she was a little unable to react.
"Huh? Ah!"
Turkic Khan?
What did he say?
Ah... um, he said he wanted to use my marriage as a prize!
"Ninth Sister, it was because the Youzhou Army and the Xuanjia Army besieged the Turks from the north and west respectively that they stopped fighting, bowed their heads and submitted, and agreed to trade with our Andong!"
You were there during the trade fair, and you saw that they were not without the ability to fight!
However, the damage will be significant!
Given the age of the Turkic Khan and their custom of levirate marriage, he had too many sons!
He must have been afraid that if he were to collapse too quickly, the Turks would be unable to control the situation, and the various tribes would fall into chaos. That's why he agreed to negotiate peace and become a vassal!
Three years, five years at most, after the Turks have used this time to recuperate and build up their strength, Andong will surely have a battle with them!
The Turkic Khan knew this, and so did the Prince!
But why did the Turkic Khan still bring up those words?
Why insist on a marriage alliance with Andong?
Even though the prince refused to go on the spot!
Ninth Sister, something's happened here!
You've gotten the truth from the prince; your marriage to the Sun family is off. So, Ninth Sister!
Li Shiyue stared at Yan Jiuniang and said to her word by word, "Will the prince really let you marry into the Turkic tribe?"
"Does Your Highness have some kind of deal with the Turkic Khan in private?"
Yan Jiuniang was completely frozen. She heard every word Li Shiyue said clearly and understood the meaning of her words, but she had never thought of this matter before!
Marry into the Turkic Khaganate?
That barbarian tribe where fathers died and sons succeeded each other?
"No!
Can't!
I will never marry a barbarian!
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