Chapter 226: A Show of Power
Shen Qingtan grasped the key point: "The Northern Qi envoys are waiting for the court to receive them outside the city?"
Northern Qi came to the Great Zhou for negotiations. As the host, the Great Zhou must have arranged for the Minister of the Honglu Temple, who was in charge of the Ministry of Rites, to receive the envoys as early as possible.
Is leaving the envoys at the city gate a warning to Northern Qi?
"I waited for about quarter of an hour." Jiang Chao replied.
Shen Qingtan lowered the curtains and said to Zhao Yi, "This is extremely strange. Although Northern Qi was defeated, the Emperor, in order to demonstrate the magnanimity of a great power, would not only not intimidate Northern Qi but would also treat them with courtesy. Why would he leave them at the city gate?"
Zhao Yi said thoughtfully, "It must be that Northern Qi did not keep its gentlemanly agreement, angering the Emperor and no longer caring about demeanor and Northern Qi's reputation."
Emperor Jing'an made his attitude clear: either endure it or go to war.
The envoys from Northern Qi were not useless and should be able to figure it out.
It all depends on whether they choose to swallow their anger and continue the negotiations.
Or return to Northern Qi and become enemies with the Great Zhou.
Shen Qingtan thought of this and looked solemn. "Northern Qi will probably swallow their anger and stay to continue the negotiations. I'm afraid they will hold a grudge and stir up trouble in the Great Zhou."
"Since the emperor has done this, he will have a way to deal with it." Zhao Yi tapped her forehead with his fingertips: "Aren't you tired of thinking so much all day long?"
"I'm always prepared for danger." Shen Qingtan grabbed his finger and said, "Our identities are not ordinary. Maybe they have evil intentions against us?"
"I blame myself for being too favored by the Emperor, causing Madam to suffer." Zhao Yi held her hand, pulled her into his arms, and laid her down on the thick and soft mattress. "You sleep for a while. Leave Siwei's affairs to me for the time being."
Shen Qingtan wanted to go and inquire about the situation further, worried that being stuck here for an hour or two would delay Zhao Yi from taking his medicine.
She moved a little: "I...well..."
The man held her lips, and his taste buds, numbed by the bitterness of the medicine, absorbed a hint of sweetness, tempting him to go deeper.
He saw the green shadows on her eyelids and just stopped briefly: "Sleep for a while."
Shen Qingtan obediently stopped moving and closed his eyes.
Zhao Yi lowered her eyes and looked at the person in her arms, sighing in her heart. She had been taking good care of him along the way and had not had much rest.
By the time he recovers and begins to truly cure his illness, I'm afraid he will become even more anxious and uneasy.
Zhao Yi lowered his head and kissed her gently on the forehead, and her eyelashes trembled slightly.
He said softly, "I'll tell Jiang Chao to check again."
Zhao Yi reached out and knocked on the car wall twice, signaling Jiang Chao to go and check the situation ahead.
Only then did Shen Qingtan feel relieved and snuggled in his arms to take a nap.
Jiang Chao heard the secret signal and went to find out more information.
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Northern Qi sent the King of Qi, Princess Guangning, and eight envoys to the Great Zhou for negotiations.
The King of Qi was the most favored prince of Northern Qi, so the character of the country's name was used as his title to show the favor of the Northern Qi emperor for him.
At this moment, the King of Qi looked gloomy. "Now that the Great Zhou has won the battle, it no longer takes Northern Qi seriously. Has Emperor Jing'an forgotten how he fawned on Northern Qi?"
"Your Highness, be careful with your words." Chang An, the aide, handed the King of Qi a cup of tea. "Zhao Qiyuan returned to the capital. I'm afraid he presented the letter our general sent him to Emperor Jing'an. It's understandable that Emperor Jing'an is furious. Far from being angry, we should be happy about it."
The King of Qi opened his eyes and looked at Chang An, naturally understanding the meaning of his words.
Because Princess Yizhen was mentioned several times in the letter, if Emperor Jing'an did not get furious about it, it meant that Princess Yizhen had no place in his heart.
Now, because of this letter, Emperor Jing'an has lost even the demeanor of a great power and is willing to go to war with Northern Qi again, which shows how important Princess Yizhen is in his heart.
This was good news for Northern Qi, as it would help them gain a great advantage in the negotiations.
"I want to see how long Emperor Jing'an will keep the Northern Qi envoys out in the cold."
The King of Qi took the teacup and said nonchalantly, "When the time comes, I will give Emperor Jing'an a generous gift to thank him for his 'generous treatment' of the Northern Qi envoys."
Chang An disagreed and said, "A powerful dragon cannot defeat a local snake. We are in the territory of the Great Zhou and the two countries are not allies. If we really anger Emperor Jing'an, I'm afraid we won't be able to return to Northern Qi smoothly."
The King of Qi's face was filled with dark clouds, and he threw the teacup onto the small table with a "clang".
"As the saying goes, to resist foreign aggression, one must first stabilize the country. The internal political power of the Great Zhou is not stable. Simply letting them fight among themselves is enough to severely damage their vitality."
Chang stroked his beard soothingly and said, "We don't need to spend a single soldier yet."
The King of Qi laughed and said, "Chang'an, you are still very shrewd."
Chang An bowed and said, "Your Highness, thank you for your compliment."
The King of Qi was irritable and lacked stability, so the Emperor of Northern Qi assigned Chang'an to him.
"In your opinion, what should we do to get the officials from the Great Zhou to receive us as soon as possible?"
"Wait." Chang An said, "We are here to form an alliance with the Great Zhou. No matter what the Great Zhou does, we will accept it all. We want to show our sincerity to Emperor Jing'an, so that he can't find a reason to attack us."
The King of Qi understood these principles, but he found it hard to swallow that Emperor Jing'an had torn off the face of Northern Qi and thrown it on the ground and stepped on it.
The cold reception they received today would surely spread across the world. How would other countries view Northern Qi?
The King of Qi suppressed his anger and lifted the curtain of the carriage in annoyance. He saw a commotion at the city gate and the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, wearing a black hat with two wings and a bright red official robe, walked towards them with an official step.
There was a huge ceremony behind him, and a special ceremonial guard was arranged.
"Your Highness, the Prince of Qi, has been waiting for so long. I apologize for not coming to greet you." The Minister of Rites bowed and said a few polite words, "I received word that the envoys from Northern Qi will not arrive in the capital until tomorrow. Furthermore, we were not aware of the Prince's arrival, so the ceremonial guard was not up to standard, which delayed us."
The King of Qi's face became even uglier. He didn't believe at all that the Great Zhou had no idea of their movements. It was obvious that they were deliberately leaving them here to show their power.
But they turned the tables and blamed them for not revealing the specific identities of the envoys and for arriving in the capital early, which led to the Zhou Dynasty's inadequate preparation and neglect of them.
He said with a forced smile, "This matter was my negligence. I did not send someone to inform your Majesty in advance."
The Minister of Rites said with a smile, "Your Highness, the Prince of Qi, please accompany me to the Four Barbarians Pavilion for resettlement."
The King of Qi dropped the curtain, got back into the carriage, and headed towards the Siyi Pavilion.
The carriage entered the city gate, and Chang An heard footsteps passing by the carriage.
The footsteps were steady and well-trained.
When he lifted the curtain of the carriage, he saw the Jinyiwei in Feiyu uniforms carrying two sedan chairs out of the city.
The Imperial Guards obeyed the Emperor's orders, and only the Emperor could send them to investigate. It was unknown what kind of identity had caused the Imperial Guards to mobilize such a large force to welcome him.
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