The most romantic little emperor

It was late at night, but Qin Hao was still sitting on the dragon throne in the imperial study, writing without stopping. It was not until dawn broke in the sky and the eunuchs in the palace reported softly that he put down the brush in his hand that had been sharpened to a round shape.

After changing clothes and taking a shower, Qin Hao walked towards the Tai Chi Hall with steady steps.

After a few days, the long-awaited morning court session resumed. This was also the first time that Qin Hao presided over this solemn court meeting as an emperor since he ascended the throne.

Today's topic is not ordinary state affairs, but the thorny issue of the Liao Kingdom's delegation coming to Beijing to ask for food.

Qin Hao stepped into the Taiji Hall on time. Inside the magnificent hall, all the civil and military officials stood in silence and paid homage to him.

However, the atmosphere today is different from usual.

According to convention, Qin Hao had asked everyone to stand up long ago, but today he remained silent and let all the civil and military officials bow their heads, and the atmosphere gradually became solemn.

This weird atmosphere made everyone even more uneasy.

Everyone knelt for a long time, which lasted for half a cup of tea. It was not until veteran ministers like Wei Zheng could hardly kneel any longer that Qin Hao slowly spoke.

"Be flat!"

Qin Hao's voice was cold, and he was obviously suppressing his anger.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Everyone responded in unison, their voices filled with awe and exhaustion.

When several elderly ministers stood up, they staggered and almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, the officials around them reached out to support them in time, thus avoiding an embarrassing scene.

Qin Hao's eyes swept across everyone's faces one by one, especially when his gaze stayed on Su Zhengfang, Dong Sicheng and others, the time he stayed there was obviously longer. His eyes were full of scrutiny and coldness, as if he wanted to see through the thoughts of these ministers one by one.

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps was heard outside the palace, and then the eunuch in the palace reported in a sharp voice: "Your Majesty, the Liao Kingdom delegation is waiting outside the palace and requests an audience."

"Xuan!"

Qin Hao waved his hand, and then said solemnly: "Today, I hope that all of you can work together to show the majesty of our Great Xia, and never let the Liao Kingdom delegation act arrogantly in our Great Xia court!"

All the ministers responded in agreement.

Not long after, the Liao envoys entered the hall, still walking with their heads held high and being extremely arrogant as before.

"Greetings to His Majesty the Emperor of Daxia!"

Yelu Lingxiao walked to the center of the hall, placed his right hand on his heart in accordance with Liao etiquette, and bowed his head slightly.

In Qin Hao's eyes, this scene was just another performance by the Liao delegation to show their arrogance and disdain.

However, he did not get angry. He just stared at Yelu Lingxiao quietly with deep eyes, and a bit of displeasure hung on the corners of his mouth: "King of the Southern Courtyard, have you forgotten the bet with me?"

Yelu Lingxiao shook his head slightly, with a cunning light flashing in his eyes: "The ceremony was just an agreement made last night, and it no longer counts today."

Qin Hao sneered in his heart when he heard this, secretly cursing this old fox for being so cunning that he actually took advantage of the loophole in the bet.

He waved his hand gently, his face regaining its composure: "Well, since you have already knelt before me, I will not pursue this matter any further."

However, he changed the subject, staring at Yelu Lingxiao with a sharp gaze, and said calmly: "As for the other bets..."

Yelu Lingxiao raised his eyebrows and snorted coldly, "The Emperor of Daxia is stingy, but don't worry, I always keep my word. I have ordered someone to send the snow-riding horse to the palace."

Qin Hao nodded gently, his face calm. He turned to Gao Lishi and said, "Gao Lishi, go and arrange for someone to bring the King of the Southern Court's BMW into the hall. Let the ministers appreciate the demeanor of this divine horse and see if it is really as handsome as the rumors say."

Yelu Lingxiao couldn't help but frown when he heard this. He didn't expect Qin Hao to react so quickly. The little show of power he just gave him was cleverly counterattacked in this way.

He thought to himself that this little emperor was indeed not simple and he had to be careful in dealing with him.

Then, Yelu Lingxiao's expression changed in an instant, and he put on a warm smile. He smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty, the Emperor of Daxia, I have been leading the delegation away from my homeland for a long time. Time is precious. Let's get to the point first."

Qin Hao nodded slightly and waved to Gao Lishi beside him. There was a hint of indifference in his words: "I haven't been in a good mood these days, so I don't want you to mess around too much. King Nanyuan, tell me frankly, how much food does your Liao Kingdom want from my Great Xia this time?"

"Two million dan!" Yelu Lingxiao said the number he wanted without hesitation.

"What?" An exclamation suddenly rang out in the hall.

"Two million dan?"

This number was like a huge rock, stirring up thousands of waves and causing an uproar in the court.

"This is absolutely impossible!"

"If all the food is given to Liao, what will we, the people of Daxia, eat?"

"That's right. The annual tax grain of our Great Xia is only 8 million dan..."

The ministers immediately objected fiercely.

Qin Hao secretly complained in his heart that Yelu Lingxiao had a big appetite.

Two million dan, converted into kilograms, would be 200 million kilograms of grain. How could such a large amount be easily obtained?

"That's a nice thought!" Qin Hao sneered in his heart but remained expressionless on his face. He waited quietly for the next reaction of Yelu Lingxiao and the civil and military officials.

"No, no!" Yelu Lingxiao shook his head slightly with a sly smile on his lips. His voice echoed in the empty hall, with a bit of teasing and confidence.

He swept his eyes over the ministers and spoke slowly: "My Lords, I have heard that although Daxia was hit by natural disasters, the Jiangnan area has seen good weather and good harvests, and this year we have seen an unprecedented bumper harvest."

"The tax grain is expected to exceed 20 million dan. Compared with that, the grain that the Liao Dynasty requests is less than one-tenth of it."

As Yelu Lingxiao finished speaking, the faces of all the civil and military officials in the court changed drastically.

Although the amount of tax grain is not a secret of the imperial court, it is also of utmost importance. Apart from the Ministry of Revenue, only those important officials at the core of power and close ministers to the emperor have the opportunity to know it.

As a foreign envoy, Yelu Lingxiao was able to grasp the tax and grain situation of Daxia so accurately. The profound meaning behind this is terrifying when one thinks about it carefully.

The atmosphere in the court suddenly became tense, and everyone's eyes were cast on Yelu Lingxiao, trying to find some clues from him.

However, Yelu Lingxiao seemed to be out of the matter and still stood there with a smile on his face, as if everything was under his control.

Qin Hao's gaze involuntarily fell on Su Zhengfang, and a hint of cold murderous intent appeared in his eyes.

What he suspected most was that Su Zhengfang was a bad guy who leaked the court secrets. After all, this was an act of treason and no one else had the courage to do so.