313, envoys sent abroad
313, envoys sent abroad
“Da da da—”
In mid-February, before the snow on the branches had melted, Lu Mingfei boarded a carriage to leave the capital. This time, he was on the emperor's orders, traveling south to persuade the Prince of Zhennan to return to the Guishun court.
After the year, local princes successively declared themselves kings. Now, most of the local armies are controlled by those princes. With the independence of these princes, local governments and armies no longer obey the orders of the court.
This means that local governments and armies have all been out of the control of the central government.
Therefore, if the imperial court sent troops to various places to capture and suppress these vassal kings, the imperial court simply did not have that many troops to send.
Obviously, the emperor and the officials in the court also realized this and knew that sending troops to attack these vassal kings at this time was not the best strategy. The only way to buy time was to persuade these vassal kings to return to the court.
We will have to find ways to defeat them one by one in the future before we can regain the territory of Dayan.
Therefore, this time the emperor issued an order and sent several envoys to various places to talk to these vassal kings. The purpose was to persuade these vassal kings who had declared themselves kings to submit back to the court, and the court would let bygones be bygones.
Lu Mingfei is in charge of the King of Zhennan in the south.
Among these princes who declared themselves kings, the Prince of Zhennan commanded the largest number of troops and horses, and also held the greatest influence on the land. Furthermore, his fiefdom was vast, and once he declared himself king, he had effectively taken away half of Dayan's territory.
However, he was not very optimistic about this trip.
Since the Prince of Zhennan dared to be the first to declare himself king, he must have already made plans to separate from the imperial court, and it is absolutely impossible for him to surrender back to the imperial court.
Could it be that the Prince of Zhennan and the other princes didn't know what the officials and the emperor in the court were thinking?
In this world, it is not only the officials and the emperor in the court who are smart people, everyone else is a fool.
Thinking of this, Lu Mingfei smiled bitterly and shook his head. He didn't expect that the idea he had given to the emperor before would eventually lead to the task falling on his head, and he had to persuade the most difficult Prince Zhennan.
When the mission was announced, the other officials grabbed the easiest ones, leaving the most difficult one to him, a lowly official with no power or influence. The emperor gave him such an important mission, which showed his trust in him and his hope that he could complete it and return.
This time, Her Royal Highness the Fifth Princess also went to the South with him.
Thinking of Her Royal Highness the Fifth Princess, he felt even more headache.
Just as he was thinking about the Fifth Princess, a fussy voice came from the carriage behind him, "Stop, stop, I want to get off..."
"Did you hear that? Stop, I want to get off!"
"Princess, there is no village or shop here. It will be dangerous if you stop here. Please be patient. The post station is just ahead and we will be there soon." The guards on horseback followed the side of the carriage and persuaded Her Royal Highness the Princess who was making a fuss about getting off.
This guard was sent by the emperor to protect Her Royal Highness the Princess.
"No, I want to get off now!" The fifth princess was still shouting that she wanted to get off the carriage.
Lu Mingfei listened to the noisy sound behind him and pinched his nose bridge in annoyance.
After a while, he heard the princess behind him still clamoring to get off the carriage, so he lifted the curtain and said to the guards following him, "Send the word down, we will stop and rest for a while, and then continue on our journey."
"Yes." Upon hearing this, the guard on horseback raised his hand and gestured, shouting, "Pull over and rest where you are."
The carriage that Lu Mingfei was riding in was in front, so as soon as the convoy stopped, his carriage stopped first.
After sitting in the carriage for so long, his butt was sore, so he got out as soon as the carriage stopped.
"Ugh—" As soon as the carriage stopped, the fifth princess got off the carriage with the help of the palace maid and vomited while standing on the side of the road.
Hearing the sound behind him, Lu Mingfei looked back. He was no longer surprised by this.
The Fifth Princess was prone to motion sickness and had been vomiting non-stop since the first day she left Beijing. She kept asking to get off the train, largely because she felt uncomfortable.
However, there was nothing he could do about this matter.
This time, the emperor asked the fifth princess to go to the south with him. He granted a marriage between the fifth princess and the prince of Zhennan, and asked the fifth princess to go to the south with him to marry the prince of Zhennan.
The imperial decree granting the marriage was still in his carriage.
Lu Mingfei also knew something about the marriage between the Fifth Princess and the Prince of Zhennan. Zhao Lang had told him before that the Princess of Zhennan had asked her son to marry the Fifth Princess.
Originally, this marriage had been agreed upon during the late emperor's lifetime and should have been finalized long ago. However, during the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet last year, the Fifth Princess confessed her love to him midway and was caught by the Crown Prince of Zhennan. This angered the Crown Prince of Zhennan, and the marriage was put on hold.
Later, the late emperor passed away, and this marriage has been delayed until now.
Looking at the Fifth Princess squatting there and vomiting, Lu Mingfei thought of the princess's feelings for him, and he felt even more headache. He couldn't even walk to the Princess to comfort her.
It is not known whether the current emperor is unaware of the Fifth Princess's feelings for him, or whether he knows and sends him to the Prince of Zhennan to vent his anger.
This time, the emperor arranged a marriage between the fifth princess and the prince of Zhennan, probably because he wanted to use a royal princess to persuade the prince of Zhennan and the prince of Zhennan to return to the court.
So his big boss is very calculating.
If a minister and a princess could win the submission of a vassal king, thus reducing a civil war and the court's losses, it would be a good thing that kills two birds with one stone.
But this is not a good thing for him.
"Princess, are you okay?" The accompanying palace maid was so anxious that tears came out when she saw their princess vomiting like this.
Lu Mingfei took a look from a distance and turned away.
The Fifth Princess, who was standing there hunched over and vomiting, turned around and saw Lu Mingfei's back as he resolutely left. She couldn't help but burst into tears.
Lu Mingfei, who had already walked far away, could not see the scene behind him.
However, even if he saw it, he would not be able to comfort Her Royal Highness the Princess who had feelings for him.
***
At this time, their convoy was parked on the side of the official road.
It's called an official road, but it's just a wider, rotten road. After leaving Kyoto Prefecture, the road gets worse and worse.
Standing on the side of the road and looking into the distance, Lu Mingfei couldn't help but let out a sigh when he thought about the long road ahead. When he thought about the princess who was traveling with him, he felt even more annoyed.
If he could not give up halfway, he would have turned around and gone home, resigning from this position. It would have been better if he hadn't held this lousy position!
"Sir, have a drink of water." Guard Ma brought a water bag and two baked buns to their lord.
Lu Mingfei glanced back, took the water bag and a sesame cake, and gave the remaining one to Guard Ma. "You eat it, one is enough for me."
"If we continue like this, we don't know how long it will take to reach the South." Guard Ma took the pancake and started eating it, then stood beside their adults and talked to them.
"No rush, we'll arrive whenever we want." Lu Mingfei took a sip of water and took a bite of the sesame seed bun. The mission of persuading the Prince of Zhennan to surrender was doomed to fail anyway. The later he arrived, the later he would have to return to the capital to face the emperor's wrath.
He felt a burning gaze on him, and he knew who was staring at him without turning around.
I don’t know if the Prince of Zhennan will vent his anger on him when he sees him.
After all, if it weren't for him, the Prince of Zhennan would have been engaged to the Fifth Princess long ago.
However, just days after last year's Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, the Hu army stormed into Kyoto City, and the late emperor died outside. During the chaos in Kyoto, the princes fled. So, even if the Crown Prince of Zhennan and the Fifth Princess were engaged, the marriage would certainly not have taken place so quickly.
Moreover, he did not think that the Crown Prince of Zhennan had agreed to marry the Fifth Princess because he loved her. And the Princess of Zhennan had only asked for the Princess in marriage because the Zhennan Palace had other purposes and plans.
The marriage between the two of them was not pure in itself.
Hearing the footsteps approaching, Guard Ma turned around and saw the Fifth Princess standing behind them. He reminded their master and then bowed to the Princess, "Greetings, Her Royal Highness."
"Greetings, Her Royal Highness the Princess." Lu Mingfei also turned around and saluted the Princess.
The fifth princess said nothing and glanced at the guard standing beside her.
When Guard Ma saw the Fifth Princess looking at him like that, he glanced at their master, and only walked away when he saw their master nodded to him.
But he didn't go far, just stood three steps away and kept watch.
The Fifth Princess looked at the man in front of her with tears in her eyes and asked, "Do you have to be so heartless to me?"
Faced with the princess's questioning, Lu Mingfei was speechless. When did you and I ever have feelings for each other? How could I be so heartless to you?!
Although he thought this in his heart, he could not say it out loud. He still maintained the respectful attitude of a subject and said, "I don't know what your Highness means."
"Lu Mingfei, don't you know..."
"Your Highness, please be careful with your words."
As soon as the princess opened her mouth, Lu Mingfei knew what she was going to say, and he had to interrupt her quickly. There were more than just the two of them here.
The people on his side would not say anything to outsiders, but in their team this time, there were people sent by the emperor, and I am afraid there were also people sent by Prime Minister Wan.
If these words were to reach the ears of the emperor, or the prince of Zhennan, it would be he, a small official, who would suffer.
After all, the princess can stay in the south and marry the prince of Zhennan, but he has to return to the capital! Losing his job is a small matter, but he is afraid that the emperor will be angry with the prince of Zhennan because he refuses to surrender, and then he will be in big trouble. Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, mua! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading
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