Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 769: Queen's Choice

Yang Yuan's entourage of guards numbered as many as nine hundred people, plus the troops escorted along the way by the Dali Kingdom, there were more than fifteen hundred people in total.

As such a large-scale team traveled along the way, news of what happened in Liangshan Prefecture reached the ears of many people who were originally unaware of it.

The weather was excellent for many consecutive days along the way.

The car that Yang Yuan was riding in was specially provided by the Dali Kingdom for this distinguished guest.

The carriage was gorgeous in shape, extremely spacious, and was pulled by a white elephant.

The carriage was covered with curtains decorated with flowers, the fragrance of which was refreshing.

In the car, there was a long table in front of the soft sleeper, with various fruits placed on it.

Dao Feifei and Fan Qing accompanied Yang Yuan.

Because the journey was long and the carriage curtains were well covered, Dao Feifei did not put her hair up, and her long black hair fell to her hips.

Fan Qing once envied Feifei's beautiful hair, but unfortunately her hair grew too slowly.

It takes Fan Qing three years to grow such beautiful hair.

She has started growing her hair now, and now has short hair that looks neat and clean.

But in this era, even men have long hair.

So Fan Qing cares a lot about her hair. She either covers her head with a scarf or wears a wig. She doesn't want others to see her hair until it grows longer.

You know what, although Fan Qing's bald head looks good, it is particularly stimulating.

Especially when she looked at Yang Yuan with such clear and pure eyes.

But, with hair, Fan Qing looks even more beautiful, sweet and lovely.

When Yang Yuan was with her in private, he didn't want her to wear hair.

Yang Yuan said that her short hair looks good too, and looking at her, he feels particularly close to her.

Fan Qing didn't understand why he felt so friendly and close to a woman with short hair.

But her telepathic Zen power told her that Yang Yuan was not lying.

So, in the elephant carriage, she followed Yang Yuan's example and only showed her short hair.

Dao Feifei had an extra cushion around her waist. As she traveled south with Yang Yuan over the past few months, she became pregnant as expected.

But Fan Qing remained motionless.

Yang Yuan now has many children and is no longer in a hurry to have children.

But there are some things that you are afraid of being compared with. He is not in a hurry because he has many children, but to Fan Qing, it is like she has no children at all.

"Why can't I do it? The Lotus Sutra, refining essence into energy..."

Fan Qing suddenly opened her beautiful eyes wide: "I understand!"

Yang Yuan was also stunned when he heard this: "Your Kung Fu can have such an effect?"

Fan Qing was very annoyed, and immediately hugged Yang Yuan's arm, saying softly: "Husband, I don't need that skill tonight."

Yang Yuan gently scratched her nose and chuckled, "Fei Fei is pregnant, you don't need to use your skills, how can you be my opponent alone?"

Fan Qing gently punched him on the chest and said coquettishly, "When did I ever compete with you? It was you who insisted on winning me. I let you win this time, but you're not happy."

Yang Yuan touched his nose and said guiltily: "I just want to win you fair and square this time. Just wait, I will win you sooner or later!"

……

"We can't win. There's absolutely no chance of winning!"

Inside the Chongsheng Temple, in a meditation room, Duan Zhengxing, who had abdicated and become a monk, and several loyal guards and generals had pale faces.

In the room, besides Duan Zhengxing, there were also several palace guards including Chu Yan, Gu Xuanlei, Fu Shichen, and Zhu Anyue.

If it was someone from the Duan family who forced the emperor to abdicate and seize the throne, Emperor Duan, who had already been forced to abdicate and become a monk, would have endured it.

However, this was not only a change of ownership of the country, but also a change of royal family with a different surname.

Emperor Duan could not accept that the Duan family's kingdom was destroyed in his hands.

He was unwilling to give up, and when the local dignitaries, deeply afraid of Yang becoming emperor, rose up in opposition, he regained hope.

So he contacted his loyal old subordinates, connected with powerful people from all over the country, and conspired to take back the world.

Yang Liangao could launch a coup to drive him out of power, and he could also use the same means to drive Yang Liangao out of power, find a suitable candidate from among the descendants of the Duan family, and return to the throne.

Unfortunately, while we were making intensive preparations here, news came that three armies of the Song Dynasty were marching into the Dali Kingdom.

When people were in panic, Yang Liangao jumped out and said that Yang Yuan, the Grand Marshal of the Song Dynasty who fought against the rebels, had a close friendship with him, and the two were even relatives.

Yang Liangao said he was confident that he could stop the fighting and force the Song Dynasty to withdraw its troops.

As soon as the news came out, the enthusiasm of the tribal leaders who originally wanted to "overthrow Yang" immediately cooled.

They were afraid that a member of the Yang family would become emperor, and the Yang family had great appeal in their territory.

However, this game is a long-term struggle after all and there is no need to rush.

But now the Song Dynasty has a large army on the border and is unstoppable. This is an imminent crisis.

Since Yang Liangao has close relations with the commander-in-chief of the three armies of the Song Dynasty, he is the only person who can resolve the situation.

They did not want to lose everything they had now and did not have the courage to face Yang Yuan's army, so they did not dare to support the Duan family and take back the country.

There was a depressing atmosphere in the Zen room, and silence lasted for a long time.

In the face of absolute strength, all conspiracies and tricks are in vain.

They really have no other choice.

If we don't take action immediately when Yang Liangao has just ascended to the throne and his position and influence are not yet strong enough, the increasingly declining Duan family will have even less chance in the future.

This realization made them feel gloomy.

……

The day before Yang Yuan arrived in Dali City, Prime Minister Gao Zhenshou returned to Dali from "Lijiang".

Although he already had the support of the Song army, Yang Liangao still led the nine ministers to personally welcome them out of the Dali Imperial City.

After all, the Gao family is still the one to rely on in the future, and Yang Yuan will not stay in Dali forever.

After returning to the capital, Gao Zhenshou did not return home immediately, but immediately entered the palace with Yang Liangao. The emperor and his minister had a secret discussion for an hour and a half before returning to the Prime Minister's Mansion.

The next morning, Gao Zhenshou summoned Gao Shuyao to the Prime Minister's Residence.

Gao Shuyao has been leading the Tantric masters to monitor the Chongsheng Temple these days.

According to the Dali Kingdom's rule of not annihilating the previous dynasty, after Duan Zhengxing voluntarily abdicated and became a monk, it was not convenient for Yang Liangao to put the monks of Chongsheng Temple under house arrest.

Such behavior will only intensify the resentment of the powerful people on all sides towards him.

However, Yang Liangao was worried if he ignored it completely.

This is the base camp of the Duan clan of Dali. After the abdicated emperor became ordained here, he became an even more important target of surveillance.

So he asked Gao Shuyao to lead the Tantric masters to secretly monitor the Chongsheng Temple.

Gao Shuyao had just obtained some evidence about the secret connection between Chongsheng Temple and local wealthy families when she received news that the prime minister wanted to see her.

Until this moment, Gao Shuyao still didn't know that she would become the Queen of Daxing Kingdom today. Today she was going to visit her uncle, the head of the Gao family, so Gao Shuyao changed back into the formal clothing of a woman of her own clan.

A combination of white and blue, a tight-fitting shirt with a small collar, surrounded by ribbons, with braids hanging on the shoulders and a "wind, flower, snow and moon" head wrap.

The image is completely that of a bright, lovely and lively girl, without any trace of a little Tantric witch at all.

"Uncle, you want to see me?"

Gao Zhenshou smiled slightly, took a sip of tea, and looked at Gao Shuyao with satisfaction.

The Gao family's bloodline is excellent. Look at this child. If all the Gao family's descendants are like this, there is no need to worry about not being able to pass down the family for generations.

Gao Zhenshou laughed and said, "Shu Yao, you are a good child who knows how to act. You were sent by the Secret Sect to return to Dali to assist Yang Liangao. From beginning to end, you never asked your family for help. You are a good child who knows how to act."

Gao Shuyao smiled lightly: "Uncle, Shuyao's identity is already troublesome. Since I am returning to Dali as a disciple of Tantric Buddhism, I naturally cannot drag my Gao family into the water because of Tantric Buddhism.

Whether the Gao family is willing to participate is something you should decide, uncle."

Gao Zhenshou laughed and stroked his beard and said, "Shuyao, Yang Liangao has successfully ascended the throne. What are your plans next?"

Gao Shuyao said indifferently: "I want to continue traveling in Tibet. The original plan was to travel for three years, but only one year has passed."

Gao Zhenshou frowned and said, "You are already sixteen years old this year, and it is time for you to get married. It is inappropriate for you to still wander around."

Gao Shuyao didn't agree with this. She was not against getting married, but she was not eager to get married either.

You could say she is cynical or that she just loves freedom, but she is quite satisfied with her current free and unrestrained life.

Faced with her uncle's urging to get married, just like her parents' urging to get married, Gao Shuyao just smiled faintly, picked up the tea and sipped it in small sips, did not respond to Gao Zhenshou's words, and tried to brush it off.

Gao Zhenshou was both helpless and amused when he saw her like this: "Child, you are too playful. In this case, your uncle will make the decision for you. Marry the emperor and become his queen."

Gao Shuyao was stunned for a moment and put down the tea: "Uncle, it was Yang Liangao who proposed to you."

Gao Zhenshou stroked his beard and nodded: "Yes, the emperor likes you very much."

"Uncle, our Gao family has already reached the highest position in the country. Do we still need to marry into the royal family?"

In fact, the Gao family was not only a powerful official, but also had the upper hand over the emperor.

The Gao family inherited the position of prime minister and occupied eight of the nine prefectures. Without the Gao family's approval, the emperors of the Dali Kingdom could do nothing.

Gao Zhenshou smiled faintly: "Status also needs to be constantly strengthened. The world is changing, and there are vicissitudes of life. How can there be a wealthy family that remains unchanged?"

"But Yao'er doesn't want to be Yang Liangao's woman."

Gao Shuyao frowned, with undisguised disgust in her eyes.

Gao Zhenshou frowned slightly: "Yao'er, do you have someone you like?"

Gao Shuyao shook her head calmly: "No."

"So……"

"I just hate him. I hate him so much."

Gao Zhenshou said helplessly: "Yao'er, you can't find a man more suitable than him in the whole of Dali.

He is good at martial arts, handsome, and has lofty ambitions. Now he is the emperor of Dali.

You will be the queen right away when you marry her, what else are you dissatisfied with?"

Gao Shuyao spread her hands and said, "Uncle, Yao'er knows that as the daughter of a noble family, it is my duty to marry to strengthen the family.

Besides, Yao'er has never had a lover that she can't let go of. As long as the man is good, it doesn't matter whether Yao'er likes him or not. Just marry him. How can we not spend the rest of our lives together?"

Gao Zhenshou smiled and said, "Good boy, you are right to think so."

Gao Shuyao said, "But, at least that person can't disgust Yao'er, right? Yao'er gets sick the moment she sees Yang Liangao's pretentious face."

Gao Zhenshou was stunned and said in astonishment: "This..., did he do something to displease you?"

Gao Shuyao sneered and said, "He is hypocritical and insidious. Feifei has liked him since she was a child. He can hook Feifei and play with her like a monkey. Such a disgusting man, if Yao'er sleeps with him in the same bed, she will be so disgusted that she can't eat."

Gao Zhenshou was speechless for a moment.

Gao Shuyao's eyes turned smartly and she said, "Uncle, I am not the only daughter in our Gao family. Can't we find someone who likes him to marry?"

Someone else?
If it's just a marriage, it's certainly possible to change the person.

However, Gao Zhenshou had already reached an agreement with Master Vajrabodhi. They wanted to turn Yang Liangao into a fool who could not be seen through by others, and turn him into a complete puppet.

Then they would use him to deal with his own family, cut off the Yang family's foundation, and bring in the Tantric forces to replace it, so that everyone would be happy.

To accomplish all this, Gao Shuyao is indispensable, because she is the only one in the Gao family who has practiced the "Six Phases of a Concubine" since childhood.

After a long silence, Gao Zhenshou sighed softly and said, "Yao'er, Yang Liangao, as the emperor, has proposed to my Gao family and specifically asked for you to be his queen. Your uncle has already agreed to it as the head of the Gao family."

"Uncle, you should at least ask for my opinion first!"

Gao Shuyao slammed the teacup, looking a little unhappy.

Most women in Dali choose their husbands by themselves, unlike in the Central Plains where marriages are arranged by their parents or matchmakers. Therefore, Gao Shuyao's questioning was justified.

Gao Zhenshou smiled bitterly and said, "Yang Liangao is an excellent person in every aspect. Moreover, you cooperated with him to seize the throne before. Uncle thought that you two had already been in love for a long time. How could he have thought that you had such a deep prejudice against him?"

Gao Shuyao couldn't help feeling annoyed after hearing this.

This is really easy to be misunderstood.

Moreover, Yang Liangao is indeed the most suitable candidate for marriage for the Gao family in all aspects.

With such an excellent candidate for marriage, the Gao family would naturally consider giving the marriage to the legitimate wife first, and would never let this opportunity fall into the hands of the concubine.

"Shu Yao, the imperial edict of Emperor Daxing to marry Shu Yao of the Gao family as his empress has already been announced. There is no time to change it."

"But I don't like him!"

Every person has a practice method that is most suitable for him, and the practice method will in turn affect his temperament.

Gao Shuyao practiced the "Six Aspects of a Concubine Ming" and could do her best to please the person she liked.

She will feel strong disgust both physically and psychologically towards people she doesn't like.

This is also the reason why she and her childhood sweetheart Dao Feifei have a very good relationship. So when she saw Dao Feifei being deceived and teased by Yang Liangao, she was furious. Even though Dao Feifei misunderstood her again and again and even wanted to break up with her, she still didn't say a word to Yang Liangao.

Maybe she initially disliked Yang Liangao only because her best friend was cheated. No matter what the reason was, she could no longer establish a close relationship with Yang Liangao.

"Uncle, if our Gao family wants to change people, does Yang Liangao dare to object? At worst, if he wants to marry Gao Shuyao, can't I change my name?"

Gao Shuyao's bizarre idea made Gao Zhenshou smile bitterly.

How can national affairs be treated as a joke? If the court loses its prestige, how can it govern the country?

It's just a marriage arrangement. I don't like the wife designated by my family, but we have lived together for decades and have three sons and one daughter.
"Hey, I've already agreed, how can I... Never mind, go find Yang Liangao and talk to him yourself."

"it is good!"

Gao Shuyao jumped up in joy and said excitedly, "Then Yaoer will go and tell him. If he doesn't agree, Yaoer will beat him until he agrees."

Seeing Gao Shuyao walking out, Gao Zhenshou's eyes darkened.

"Venerable Vajrabodhi is right. Yao'er hates him and would not be heartless if she turned him into an idiot."

"Yao'er is the most suitable candidate for the queen!"

(End of this chapter)