Chapter 760, Marriage
Walking on the streets of the capital, Yelu Hao, the second prince of Western Liao, always behaved very kindly, asking Jiang Jinghui and Xiao Yeyang a few questions from time to time.
The eldest prince of Western Liao had a loyal look on his face and remained silent throughout.
While Yelu Hao attracted the attention of Jiang Jinghui and Xiao Yeyang, the eldest prince Yelu Kangda was observing the capital of Daxia quietly.
Daxia had been at war with the Tatars in the past few years, and the national treasury must have been depleted greatly. But even so, Daxia's capital was still so prosperous and bustling.
Thinking of the destroyed Tatar royal family, Yelu Kanda felt a little heavy-hearted.
In the past few years, Western Liao had been in civil strife, resulting in serious loss of national strength. Otherwise, taking advantage of the opportunity when Daxia had just finished fighting with the Tatars and was unable to launch another war, the Western Liao cavalry would have been able to march north in large numbers and seize the land of Western Liang.
Unfortunately, the Western Liao Dynasty is also currently lacking in national strength and cannot support large-scale warfare.
Western Liao needed to recuperate now, and this time, he came to Daxia in person under the pretext of celebrating the Queen Mother's birthday, intending to ask to marry the princess of Daxia, in order to establish friendly relations and buy a few more years for Western Liao, while also reducing Daxia's vigilance against Western Liao.
While Xiao Yeyang was silently listening to the conversation between Yelu Hao and Jiang Jinghui, he was secretly looking at Yelu Kangda. Seeing the calculation flashing in his eyes, he thought to himself that he should send more people to monitor the Western Liao people after returning.
On the other hand, Yelu Qianhua, the seventh princess of Western Liao, was unhappy when she saw that Daxia had only sent a few small officials to accompany her.
"They say they are a country of etiquette, but from my perspective, you don't understand any rules at all."
"I am at least the Seventh Princess of Western Liao. Even if they don't send a princess to receive me, they should at least send a few princesses or county ladies to accompany me."
While strolling around, Yelu Qianhua did not hide his bad mood at all, and the officials accompanying him were all very worried.
On their way back to the inn, Yelu Qianhua happened to see Jiang Jinghui and Xiao Yeyang, who had just returned from escorting Yelu Hao and Yelu Kangda. She walked over and said coquettishly, "Hey, this princess orders you two to accompany her shopping tomorrow!"
Xiao Yeyang looked at her as if she were a fool, then left without looking back.
Although Jiang Jinghui also felt that Yelu Qianhua was ill, he still maintained his composure and did not just walk away.
Yelu Qianhua seemed to have not expected that Xiao Yeyang would treat him like this, and stared at his back as he walked away.
Jiang Jinghui was a little surprised to see that Yelu Qianhua didn't get angry. He went out of the capital to pick someone up and spent a few days with the Western Liao people. He knew clearly how unruly this Western Liao princess was.
Along the way, he would whip people whenever he was unhappy, but now that he was treated so poorly, he actually endured it!
Thinking of Xiao Yeyang's appearance and identity, and thinking of his cousin Wanying's recent depression, Jiang Jinghui's heart moved, and he said with a smile: "Princess, don't mind. Lord Xiao is not usually like this. Maybe he is in a hurry to go back and build his new house."
Yelu Qianhua immediately asked, "What new house?"
Jiang Jinghui smiled and said, "Master Xiao is getting married in December this year and is now preparing to build a new house."
Yelu Qianhua's eyes lit up: "He's not married yet?"
Jiang Jinghui smiled and nodded, but didn't say anything else. He said hello to Yelu Hao and Yelu Kanda and left the inn.
Yelu Kanda watched him leave thoughtfully, then returned to his room with Yelu Hao and Yelu Qianhua.
When there was no one around, the three of them put away their disguises.
The kind smile on Yeluhao's face disappeared, and his eyes were shining;
Yelu Qianhua lost his unruly behavior in front of others and became more steady and well-behaved.
Yelu Kanda put away his honest expression and immediately gave off an oppressive aura.
Yelu Kangda sat in the main seat, with Yelu Hao and Yelu Qianhua sitting on either side. It was obvious that he was the leader of the three.
"Tell me about what you saw and heard today."
Today I just had a rough tour of the capital and didn't gain anything, so Yelu Hao and Yelu Qianhua just chatted briefly.
Yelu Kangda was silent for a while: "Although Jiang Jinghui is the eldest grandson of the Jiang family, his ability is far inferior to Xiao Yeyang."
Yelu Hao nodded. "Although Xiao Yeyang is the son of a prince, he was able to serve as the commander of Jinling Guards entirely through his own hard work. Jiang Jinghui has never fought in the battlefield with real weapons."
Yelu Kanda: "In future contacts, we must be more vigilant against this person." He was silent for a while and looked at Yelu Qianhua.
"Among the princesses of Daxia, only the legitimate princess is suitable for marriage. The emperor may not be willing to accept our request for marriage. If so, we need you to stay in Daxia."
Yelu Qianhua's expression straightened: "Don't worry, my royal brother. I will shoulder my responsibilities."
Yelu Kangda nodded with satisfaction: "If you have the opportunity, you'd better get in touch with the princes of Daxia."
On the first day of July, after staying in the capital for a few days, the Western Liao delegation was summoned by the emperor again.
During this period, Yelu Hao proposed that Western Liao wanted to form an alliance with Daxia.
As soon as the news came out, the court was in an uproar.
The emperor has quite a few offspring, including princes and princesses. However, the only princess of marriageable age is Princess Lekang, the daughter of the queen.
When Princess Le Kang heard the news of the marriage, her face turned pale and she looked at the Queen in panic: "Mother."
The Queen's face was not much better. She hugged her daughter tightly and kept repeating: "Don't be afraid, Lekang. Your mother will never let you marry into the Western Liao family."
After comforting Princess Lekang, the Queen hurried to the Cining Palace to find the Queen Mother.
Unfortunately, the Queen Mother didn't wait for her to speak, and said first: "It's an important matter in the court, and I can't say much. You should go and ask the Emperor."
The Queen stared at the Queen Mother in astonishment, her eyes reddened: "Why, Le Kang also has the blood of the Jiang family flowing in his veins?"
The Queen Mother disliked the implicit accusation in the Queen's words and said indifferently, "Le Kang is the Emperor's daughter. It is the Emperor, not me, who can decide Le Kang's life. Moreover, you are well aware of the true relationship between the Emperor and me. If I speak up about some things, it will have the opposite effect."
As he spoke, he said he had a headache and let the nanny help him go to the inner hall to rest.
The queen knelt stubbornly in the Empress Dowager's palace for a long time. Until dark, when the Empress Dowager did not come out to see her again, she stood up, wiped away her tears, and turned to leave the Cining Palace.
"The person has left?"
After the queen left, the maid immediately went to report to the empress dowager.
The Queen Mother sighed and said, "This time, the Queen will probably hate me to death."
She also didn't want to see Le Kang marry into the Western Liao Dynasty, but she knew that if she could exchange a woman for border stability, the emperor and all the civil and military officials would be happy to see it.
Now that Daxia had just finished fighting with the Tatars, the treasury was empty, and Western Liao was willing to make peace with it. If she stood up to oppose it and caused instability on the border, she would be a sinner, and it would also cause the Jiang family to be resented by officials and the people.
In that case, the emperor would have a reason to deal with the Jiang family.
The empress dowager rubbed her forehead tiredly. The previous emperor had three princesses who were married off one after another, and the emperor's daughter was naturally no exception. If the empress wanted to blame someone, she could only blame Le Kang for his bad luck.
The emperor has several princesses, so how could she just happen to be born?
When Princess Lekang saw the queen coming out of the Cining Palace with a pale face, she immediately understood everything. She didn't want to marry, so she turned around and ran to the Qianqing Palace.
"Your Majesty, we have been in conflict with Western Liao for many years. Now that Western Liao is willing to make peace, please agree to the marriage proposal of the eldest prince of Western Liao."
"Yes, Your Majesty, there have been constant small-scale wars on the Xiliang border in recent years, and the people are living in hardship. If the border can be stabilized because of the princess's marriage, it will be a blessing for the people of Daxia."
Outside the palace gate, Le Kang listened with a pale face as he listened to the ministers inside encouraging his father to agree to the marriage, feeling indescribable despair in his heart.
Just because she is a princess, she should marry into a foreign alliance?
Shouldn't it be the duty of all officials and soldiers to defend the country? Why should she bear it?
Just then, a dissenting voice was heard.
"Uncle Emperor, Western Liao doesn't dare to go to war with us right now, so there's absolutely no need for a marriage! Besides, if we push a woman away in exchange for border stability, what's the point of supporting the soldiers of Daxia?"
Hearing that the person speaking was Xiao Yeyang, Princess Le Kang was stunned for a moment. She remembered that when she was a child, she also joined others in bullying him.
(End of this chapter)
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