Chapter 841 The Empress Arrives
The envoy sneered, “It doesn’t matter that we are late. We have already brought the wedding gifts from the Khan of the Northern Xiao Kingdom to congratulate the Emperor and Empress of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Please accept them, Your Majesty.”
A man wearing a pointed leather hat took out a brocade box and handed it to Shangguan Li, who was standing next to him. Shangguan Li was on guard and dared not accept it, fearing that there might be some poison inside that was meant to harm the emperor.
Just then, Jiang Huai suddenly stepped out from the ranks, bowed to the Emperor, and smiled warmly. "Thank you for coming from afar to present congratulatory gifts, envoy of Bei Xiao Kingdom. It is understandable that Bei Xiao Kingdom, being far from the Great Zhou, missed the Emperor and Empress's wedding ceremony."
He personally accepted the gift box and opened it in front of all the ministers and the envoy from the Northern Xiao Kingdom. Inside, a blue crystal sphere about the size of a fist was revealed to everyone.
Jiang Huai was quite knowledgeable. "This quality of blue crystal is already top-notch. There are no crystals with such excellent transparency in the Central Plains yet. Such a valuable gift shows your country's thoughtfulness."
It would be priceless on the market.
The envoy then looked Jiang Huai seriously and scoffed at Shangguan Li, saying, "Your Great Zhou Dynasty is really strange. The courage of a military general is not as good as that of a weak scholar."
Shangguan Li was a member of the Imperial Guard. It wasn't that he was cowardly, but rather that he was responsible for protecting the Emperor's safety. Since the other party was unwilling to lay down their weapons, he naturally had to be on guard at all times.
Jiang Huai said, "Your Excellency's words are surprising. The Imperial Guard and we are just doing our own jobs. In the arena, Your Excellency's martial arts skills may not even be as good as this Imperial Guard captain's."
The envoy narrowed his eyes, staring at Jiang Huai. "Then let's have a contest?"
Shangguan Li said, "Let's have a competition then, who's afraid of you?"
The envoy, seeing his thin shoulders and slender legs, said, "Do all the guards of your Great Zhou Dynasty look like him? I can lift him as easily as lifting a chick. If you try to compete with me, I won't be responsible if you kill him."
Shangguan Li was full of fighting spirit, "We men of the Great Zhou Dynasty are fearless, let's go and compete!"
Shangguan Li was young and impetuous. As a dignified military officer of the Imperial Guard, he had endured a lot of hardship to get to his current position. Now that he had lost face in front of all the civil and military officials and the emperor, he was naturally unwilling to accept it.
They had never heard of the Northern Owl Kingdom, but in the Great Zhou Kingdom, it was forbidden to bring a sword into the palace. However, these unshaven men seemed to disregard the Great Zhou Kingdom.
The envoy suddenly gripped the hilt of his curved sword at his waist, his eyes flashing with a fierce light. "Sign a life-or-death agreement. If you kill me, I won't be responsible."
"It's not certain who will die!" Shangguan Li said coldly.
Seeing this, Jiang Huai quickly stopped them, saying, "Guests from afar are all guests. If there is to be a competition, it cannot be at this time today. The Emperor is still sitting on the dragon throne. We have the numbers and the power. If these three people come to our Great Zhou Dynasty as guests and kill them, it will be difficult to explain to the Northern Xiao Kingdom. Lord Shangguan, please calm down."
Jiang Huai sang both the white-faced and red-faced songs, which made the envoy feel uneasy. Did they mean to bully the few with the many?
Shangguan Li cupped his hands in greeting, "Please grant me permission, Your Majesty, to go..."
Xie Shang looked at the envoys from the Northern Xiao Kingdom below. They were only three people, yet they were so arrogant. What exactly did the Khan of the Northern Xiao Kingdom want to do?
Xie Shang said, "You may step down now! Grand Tutor Jiang is right. If there is to be a contest, it is not today. I will arrange for you to spar when I host a banquet for the envoys another day." It was not appropriate to have the soldiers and envoys spar right away, but what Grand Tutor Jiang said was really infuriating.
Shangguan Li respectfully withdrew.
Jiang Huai felt utterly exasperated; he had only come to break up the fight, not to fan it.
Seeing that the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty had spoken, the envoy continued, "Now that we have arrived in the Great Zhou, we might as well enjoy the scenery of the Great Zhou Kingdom. We have always heard that the Great Zhou Kingdom is a land of etiquette. Your Majesty would not be stingy and not arrange it for us, would you?"
This is going to be a shameless act.
"Why waste words with them, Lord Dada? We have already sent our gifts. Now let's state our demands directly."
The Dada envoy said, "A hundred years ago, the northern border of the Great Zhou was originally the territory of my Beixiao Kingdom. Later, it was just due to glacial migration. Now, in addition to bringing congratulatory gifts, we have another purpose in coming to the Great Zhou: to discuss with His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Zhou the return of the northern border. If His Majesty agrees, my Beixiao Kingdom's 100,000 iron cavalry can ensure peace in the border areas of the Great Zhou for a hundred years."
These words caused an uproar among the court officials. Minister Li of the Ministry of War was furious. "Arrogant! The three northern states have been the territory of my Great Zhou Kingdom since the time of the Holy Ancestor Emperor. They are guarded by soldiers of my Great Zhou Kingdom. Your little Northern Owl Kingdom is nothing but a small country north of the glacier. You should not covet it today."
Xie Shang's brows furrowed even deeper, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. "You three dared to break into the Great Zhou Dynasty's palace. You're truly audacious. But audacity alone is useless. There were only three of you in the palace..." Could it be that there were other people in the Great Zhou Dynasty's palace?
"Your Majesty need not test us. We are merely conveying the Khan's message: if you do not yield to our Khan, we will have no choice but to break off all pretense of civility." This means that the iron cavalry of the Northern Owl Kingdom will sweep across the northern frontier.
Shangguan Li even drew his sword and pointed it at the envoy: "So you had no good intentions after all."
“We have long heard that the Great Zhou Kingdom is a land of etiquette, where even when two armies are at war, envoys are not killed. Moreover, we are merely envoys here to discuss a plan. Why are you all acting like frightened birds?”
When Jiang Fenghua's imperial carriage arrived outside the Golden Palace, the sounds of arguing inside could be clearly heard, and a gruff voice was spouting nonsense.
Jiang Fenghua suddenly walked into the Golden Palace and said coldly, "I have heard a proverb that says a greedy wolf wants to eat a whole sheep, but in the end, the sheepdog bites its throat. Since the envoy knows that the Great Zhou Dynasty is a land of etiquette, I wonder if he has heard this proverb before."
The envoys turned around and saw a stunningly beautiful woman walking gracefully and elegantly into the main hall.
At the same time, the ministers also turned around and saw Empress Jiang wearing a bright red phoenix robe, a nine-phoenix golden crown on her head, a touch of red between her eyebrows, and her almond eyes were clear and bright, yet contained a sharp edge.
The Dada envoy had almost no doubt and said directly, "This must be the Empress of the Great Zhou Kingdom! Indeed, she is exceptionally beautiful."
Jiang Fenghua raised her head, not even glancing at Dada, and walked directly to Xie Shang, bowing respectfully. "Your Majesty, I pay my respects. I have presumptuously come to the Golden Palace. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."
Xie Shang looked at Jiang Fenghua and smiled slightly. "What crime has the Empress committed? I was just about to send someone to invite the Empress over. Didn't you say you hadn't seen anyone from outside the Great Zhou Kingdom? Today, an envoy from the Northern Xiao Kingdom has come to our Great Zhou Kingdom to congratulate me and the Empress on our wedding."
Jiang Fenghua smiled slightly, staring in the direction of the envoy, "Is that so? I have been married to His Majesty for six years, and the Khan of Beixiao Kingdom wanted to attend my wedding banquet. Why didn't you come sooner? It's too insincere of you to only come now to drink the wedding wine."
The Dada envoy's expression changed slightly. "The congratulatory gifts have already been presented."
Jiang Fenghua walked up to her father, glanced at the blue crystal in the box, and realized it was indeed a priceless treasure. She and Lin Yu had been in the jade business for so many years, and they had never encountered such a high-quality crystal.
She said, "The Khan of the Northern Xiao Kingdom is very kind, but no matter how precious crystal is, it is just a pretty but useless item. Considering that your country has traveled thousands of miles to present this congratulatory gift to me and His Majesty, I will reluctantly accept it!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
