Chapter 252 Strive for
The next day, Su Qingwan took Yun Zhizhou to discuss a trade agreement with Xilin Yongxuan. In fact, Yun Zhizhou and Xilin Yongxuan had already conducted several rounds of negotiations before this, and all the terms had been agreed upon with Su Qingwan one by one in advance, so there should not be any unexpected situations on this trip.
Xilin Yongxuan had a deep gaze and had a very thorough insight into the situation. During the conversation, he couldn't help but ask Su Qingwan a question in his mind: "Princess, if the King of Huainan is not you in the future, will the agreement we signed at this moment still be valid?"
Su Qingwan looked determined and responded without hesitation: "As long as it is an agreement signed by the King of Huainan, Huainan will naturally recognize it! I will ask the Regent for a seal to ensure that every treaty you sign with Huainan is fully effective. Of course, you must also go all out and strive to ascend the throne of the Emperor of Xilin!"
Xilin Yongxuan heard this, the corners of his mouth turned up, revealing a slight smile, raised his glass and gently clinked it with Su Qingwan, his words full of expectations: "Thank you, Princess, for your good words!"
The two sides finally agreed on all matters, and Xilin Yongxuan was about to lead the delegation to leave Huainan City and return to Xilin. Su Qingwan specially prepared a banquet to show her sincerity. At this time, Lu Jing was in the palace, but he did not attend the banquet. In the Huainan fiefdom, Su Qingwan was undoubtedly the focus of everyone's attention, and her brilliance was unmatched. Lu Jing knew this well, and in order not to steal the show, he deliberately chose to avoid it.
In the front yard, there was singing and dancing, the sound of stringed instruments was endless, and it was very lively; but the backyard was exceptionally quiet.
Lu Jing sat alone on the eaves, holding a wine pot, drinking by himself. He looked out at the lively scene in the front yard from afar, and saw Su Qingwan sitting in the main seat, leisurely entertaining the Xilin delegation. The two sides had a pleasant conversation and the atmosphere was harmonious. After the Huainan style song and dance performance, it was followed by a wonderful sword dance.
The members of the Xilin delegation were very excited and went down to compete with the sword-dancing girl. The girl's swordsmanship was mostly fancy, and she was naturally no match for the Xilin warriors. At this time, Zhang Huaining stepped forward and had a wonderful fight with General Xilin. The two of them fought back and forth, with both hard and soft moves. For a while, cheers came one after another, pushing the atmosphere of the banquet to a climax.
Lu Jing looked at the scene in front of him and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, what a lively picture of peace and prosperity! After Huainan and Xilin signed a trade agreement, the future development prospects are bright.
In time, if Su Qingwan is given a few years to manage it, Huainan will surely be able to regain its former glory. But if she insists on becoming the King of Huainan, how can I stop her? Thinking of this, Lu Jing felt annoyed. He picked up the wine pot and took a big gulp of wine. The wine from the border was spicy and clear, rolling down the throat, burning like fire to the abdomen, leaving only a bitter taste in the mouth.
He longed to be with Su Qingwan forever, but he didn't expect that his consideration of the situation in Huainan would be regarded by her as ambition hidden behind love. Su Qingwan had some true feelings for him, but in her heart, Huainan was obviously more important. If he insisted... I'm afraid that in the end, both of them would end up hurting each other.
Lu Ziyu, Lu Ziyu, if she really doesn't want to marry someone from Kyoto, will you really force her to do it regardless of the consequences? Lu Jing took another sip of wine, feeling mixed emotions. He slowly closed his eyes, leaned back, and fell asleep on the roof. At this time, the starry sky and the bright moonlight reflected each other, and the stars were shining brightly and beautifully. However, his mood was like the dark night, dim and without any hope.
Before coming to Huainan, Zhou Jingming had advised him: If the princess really doesn't want to, then let her go. After all, the former status is there. If you force her, it will be bad if it gets out. There are many beautiful women in the world, why do you have to hang yourself on a tree? Now that he is the regent, the emperor is young, and he can choose any woman in the world. What kind of beauty can't he get?
However, to Lu Jing, Su Qingwan was unique. Even though there were thousands of beauties, no one could compare to her.
It was time for Lu Jing to leave for Beijing. He couldn't stay in Huainan for too long. Xilin Yongxuan would leave Huainan the day after tomorrow, and he would leave one day earlier than Xilin Yongxuan. He had to hurry back to Beijing. If he stayed away from Beijing for too long, he would lose control of the situation, which would only give the princess an opportunity to take advantage of him. In the next ten long years, until the emperor took power, he and the princess would be tit-for-tat enemies.
At some point, the dance battle ended, and the lively atmosphere in the front hall gradually dissipated. General Xiao Ning and others surrounded Xilin Yongxuan and sent him out. Lu Jing closed his eyes quietly. Before leaving, he was looking forward to getting a definite answer from Su Qingwan. He really didn't want to return empty-handed on this trip to Huainan, even if it was just... an illusory hope, or a promise worth waiting for.
He has always been good at waiting. He has waited for so many years, so why not wait a little longer? Su Qingwan has sent someone to inform Lu Nianqing to return to Huainan. No matter what the final result is, she must make a decision. And he can't wait in Huainan until Lu Nianqing returns, so he can only return to Beijing first.
"Lu Jing, come down and have a drink with us?" Just as Lu Jing's thoughts were in a mess, a familiar voice sounded in his ears. To him, Su Qingwan's voice was like the sound of nature.
Lu Jing stood up suddenly and saw Su Qingwan standing in the courtyard. At this time, the summer peonies in the courtyard were blooming beautifully. She was holding three pots of wine in her hands and shaking them gently. Perhaps because she had just entertained Xilin Yongxuan, she was drunk. Her cheeks were lightly pink, like a flower quietly blooming in the middle of the night, beautiful and breathtaking.
Seeing this, Lu Jing's mouth corners unconsciously rose, revealing a gentle smile, then he jumped and jumped lightly off the eaves.
With the fragrance of flowers and the breeze blowing on their faces, the two walked side by side to the pavilion. Lu Zhu was very skillful and quickly brought some exquisite side dishes. Su Qingwan said with a smile: "Today's banquet is really boring. I didn't eat much. Would you be so kind as to accompany me for dinner?"
Lu Jing nodded slightly and replied softly, "I haven't had dinner yet either." In fact, he had been drinking alone on the eaves all night, his eyes fixed on Su Qingwan in the distance. Although the distance was too far to see her expression, he seemed to be possessed, staring at that direction persistently.
Su Qingwan picked up the wine pot, poured a glass of wine for Lu Jing, and said, "I have already negotiated a trade agreement with Xilin. How about I give it to you for review later?"
Lu Jing waved his hand, with a gentle smile on his face, and said: "No need, this is Huainan's internal affairs, you can decide for yourself. When you were in the southwest, you governed the local area very effectively. The border areas prospered under your governance, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, never worrying about war. As you said, if you are given ten years, you will definitely be able to restore Huainan to its former glory."
Su Qingwan took a sip of wine, a trace of reminiscence in her eyes, and slowly said: "When I was a child, I never learned these things about governing a place. I am the youngest in the family, and my brothers and sisters are all very outstanding. My mother only hopes that I can grow up carefree and healthy, and she didn't even teach me needlework and those cumbersome rules. I am lively and naughty, always like to run outside, and I have caused a lot of trouble. At that time, I never thought that I would become the king of Huainan who governs a place one day." At this point, her expression darkened slightly, and her tone became heavy. "Later, the whole family suffered a disaster of destruction, and I was forced to flee and traveled all the way to the southwest. During that period, I lost my voice for half a year, and I was in great pain. The doctor said that I was greatly stimulated and my heart knot was difficult to resolve. I am afraid that the root of the disease will be forever. My father and mother found many famous doctors to treat me, but the doctors were helpless and shook their heads, saying that I was incurable."
Lu Jing listened quietly, his heart full of heartache. He knew very well that Su Qingwan had been living under someone else's roof at a young age, her relatives were brutally murdered, and she was left alone. She must have gone through countless hardships and dangers along the way, and could be said to have survived many deaths.
"What happened later? How did your voice recover?" Lu Jing asked softly.
Su Qingwan raised her eyebrows and fell into memories: "I have been lying on the sickbed for half a year. I have no interest in life and my body is getting weaker and weaker. My mother was worried that I was terminally ill, so she asked Xiaojiu to take me out of the house to relax. Xiaojiu was in poor health and had been taking medicine all year round. My mother thought that maybe we were of similar age and both were girls. We could have common topics and chat with each other, which might be good for my condition. We went horseback riding together and ended up entering a small forest by mistake. There, we saw a huge hornet's nest, which was larger than we could imagine, with densely packed hornets. The nest was full of wasps. Xiao Jiu was so scared that he was stung by a wasp accidentally. I was naughty when I was a child and I poked a wasp's nest once, so I knew how to deal with it. I immediately ordered someone to bring a net bag to cover the nest, tighten the net bag, and then light a fire to smoke it for an incense stick of time, and finally set the whole nest on fire. In the past, I always used this method to deal with wasp nests, and no wasp could escape. But that day was extremely unexpected. More than a dozen wasps struggled to get out when they were burned. I was very curious, so I got closer to observe them carefully, and I just felt incredible. "
Su Qingwan paused slightly, and those past events emerged in her mind one by one, vividly: "Humans and bees are like a drop of water and a river. A drop of water will eventually flow into the river, drifting with the current, powerless to resist. The same is true for the bee colony. They are too weak. Facing the butcher knife of humans, the whole clan may be destroyed in an instant. But even so, they are still struggling desperately, trying to escape. Among them, there was a wasp, whose wings were burned off and fell to the ground, but it was still flapping its remaining half of the wings, tenaciously trying to escape. At that moment, I remembered a sentence that my teacher once taught me: Even ants steal Life, let alone humans. Humans are the spirits of all things. As long as there is a breath left, there is hope. Although most of the hornets were burned by my fire, more than a dozen of them managed to escape. They will fly deep into the jungle and wait for the next spring to reproduce again. It won't be long before a new swarm of bees will be formed. The same is true for Huainan. Since God has left me as a bloodline, he must not want Huainan to lose its inheritance. I want to live, just like those tenacious hornets. One day, I will return to Huainan with dignity. The bloodline of my Su family will never be destroyed by that ruthless butcher's knife. "
Lu Jing looked at Su Qingwan quietly, listening to her story, and his heartache for her became stronger. Su Qingwan's smile was full of tenacity and perseverance after going through vicissitudes of life, which made people feel distressed.
Su Qingwan looked at Lu Jing firmly and said slowly: "That's how I figured it out. So, I found my voice and figured out what I should do. I started learning how to be a politician, and the southwest is where I practice. Ziyu, I can marry you, but the Huainan fiefdom... I will never give up!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
