Mo Junxing's words completely put Shen Hechuan in a difficult position.
If he doesn't accept these beauties, it means he's not on good terms with Daqi.
Even if he disagrees, the ministers will not.
If this gets back to the ears of the common people, it might cause unrest and lead to unnecessary trouble.
Shen Hechuan clenched his fingers and fixed a fierce gaze on Mo Junxing.
Mo Junxing, however, smiled and continued, "So, Your Majesty, what do you think? Will you accept it or not?"
Shen Hechuan tilted his head back and drank the wine in his cup in one gulp before looking at Mo Junxing again.
"Since Your Majesty has presented such a gift, I wonder what Your Majesty desires?"
He didn't say whether he would accept it or not, but instead drew everyone's attention back to Mo Junxing, which was quite a good move.
Mo Junxing chuckled upon hearing this.
"Since you wish to establish friendly relations between our two countries, it is only natural that we should reciprocate. I have sent Your Majesty a few beauties; in return, Your Majesty, why not reciprocate by sending me a beauty as well? What do you say?"
After Mo Junxing finished speaking, Shen Hechuan immediately chuckled.
"Since she is a beauty, my Great Cheng naturally has no shortage of them. Please wait a moment, Your Majesty, and the beauty will be presented to you immediately."
Mo Junxing chuckled softly.
"No, what I want is not just any ordinary beauty."
"What I desire is a marriage alliance."
"A marriage alliance?"
Upon hearing this, everyone present paused for a moment.
Luo Ziqian was the first to get nervous upon hearing this.
If it were a marriage alliance between two countries, naturally a princess would be sent to marry the foreign ruler.
Princess Rongyang is now the only princess left in the Great Cheng Dynasty.
Luo Ziqian would never allow Princess Rongyang to go on a marriage alliance.
Therefore, he immediately said, "No, there has never been a precedent in our Great Cheng for a princess to be married off."
"right."
Situ Qinghe, who was behind him, echoed his sentiment.
"Our Great Cheng is powerful and strong, why would we need a princess to marry into the state to maintain stability? I think your Great Qi is just using this marriage as a pretext to stir up trouble."
Shen Hechuan also pursed his lips, a cold glint flashing in his eyes as he stared straight at Mo Junxing.
"Your Majesty has surely heard our stance on this matter. I advise you to retract this idea and return to your Great Qi as soon as possible."
Shen Hechuan's words showed no mercy to Mo Junxing.
If it were before, Mo Junxing would definitely have been furious.
At this moment, Mo Junxing chuckled softly.
"Oh……"
"Do you really think that after two rebellions and a drought, your Great Empire is still the same Great Empire as before?"
"Furthermore, are you sure that our Great Qi is still the same Great Qi as before?"
Mo Junxing curled his lips into a smile, but what he said made everyone present jump.
"How about we have a match first to test our strength?"
After he finished speaking, everyone fell silent.
The ministers were all trembling with fear, their eyes fixed on Shen Hechuan.
Putting aside their respective strengths, the current situation makes a fight absolutely out of the question.
Therefore, the ministers were in complete agreement.
That means we absolutely cannot go to war.
Shen Hechuan, however, remained silent and expressionless throughout, clearly suppressing his anger.
The news of the princess's marriage to a foreign ruler quickly reached the ears of one of the palace maids outside the main hall.
Greenie came here today specifically on Princess Rongyang's orders to stay here.
They planned to have Luo Ziqian go to see Princess Rongyang after the banquet, but unexpectedly they overheard this news.
She was so frightened that her mouth dropped open. Without thinking, she immediately covered her mouth and ran back to Princess Rongyang's palace.
"Oh no, oh no, Princess!"
Princess Rongyang was doing her hair and makeup at that moment.
She hadn't seen Luo Ziqian for a long time.
So, I'm going to dress up beautifully today and seduce him.
Just as she was drawing her eyebrows, Greenie rushed back in a hurry.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
"Why the rush?"
"Is the banquet over? Where is Brother Ziqian?"
She asked several questions in a row, and even glanced back to make sure Luo Ziqian hadn't come. Only then did she sigh with some disappointment and continue putting the hairpin into her hair.
Greenie stood still for a long time, first taking several deep breaths, and then she couldn't help but speak out.
"Princess, it's terrible! His Majesty wants to send you to marry into the Great Qi Kingdom!"
"Smack—"
Princess Rongyang dropped the hairpin from her hand, making a crisp sound.
She looked up in disbelief.
"What did you say?"
"Are you serious?"
Greenie nodded.
"It's true, I heard it with my own ears."
Princess Rongyang stood up, tears welling in her eyes.
"Then... what did His Majesty and Brother Ziqian say?"
"They refused immediately, and His Majesty even told the ruler of Daqi to get out of Dacheng."
"Lord Luo also refuted this immediately, saying that our Great Cheng has never had a precedent for marriage alliances, so naturally we will not allow Princess to be married off."
"But...but...the ruler of Qi threatened war, saying that if we did not agree to the marriage alliance, he would start a war."
“Princess, you are well aware of the current situation in our Great Cheng. If we were to go to war, even if we won, the people would suffer greatly!”
"so……"
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