Princess Promotion

Yan State Palace

Yan Yunfan looked at the King of Yan, whose eyes were red from long sleep, sitting on the dragon throne. His former spirit was gone, replaced by deep fatigue and sadness. He asked, "Father, are you really willing to hand over the kingdom of Yan to me?"

Prince Yan leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest. He had said everything he could and couldn't say in the past few days.

If the ministers had come up with a solution other than fighting to the death and believing that man can conquer nature, things would not have come to this.

Yan Yunfan's breathing suddenly became light, and his back rose and fell, as if he was trying hard to suppress the rage and despair that was erupting like a volcano.

"Father! I've figured it out. We can surrender, but Qi must agree to one condition."

King Yan took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "What are the conditions?"

Yan Yunfan's eyes were filled with hostility, and he clenched his fists tightly. He forced himself to speak, "Let... let me enter the Qi Kingdom's harem."

Upon hearing this condition, King Yan suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Yan Yunfan in disbelief: "Do you know what you are talking about?"

No one knows a son better than his father. How proud Yan Yunfan is, and King Yan must know it.

But now he has betrayed his pride and entered the palace to serve his enemy.

"As long as I can gain a foothold in Qi, Yan will have a chance to restore its country. Even if the chance is slim, I am willing to pay any price for it." After saying this, Yan Yunfan only felt his throat swollen and filled with a fishy and sweet taste. He closed his eyes and suppressed the humiliation in his heart.

The King of Yan burst into tears and said reluctantly, "My son, this is unacceptable! I heard that the Empress, though young, has toiled day and night, and has become as white-haired as an eighty-year-old woman, and looks like a demon."

Yan Yunfan had naturally heard the rumors about the empress's appearance.

The empress enjoyed all kinds of praise, but no one ever mentioned her appearance.

When asked, they all looked very secretive, and many people had indeed seen the empress with a head full of silver hair on the city wall.

It is indeed as the rumors say, he is aging prematurely.

No matter how beautiful a face is, it cannot resist the erosion of time. Yan Yunfan also believed the rumors about the empress's appearance.

Otherwise, Yao Chuguang has been on the throne for almost two years. Even if there are more troubles in the previous dynasty, it will not delay the important matter of filling the harem and continuing the offspring.

The former dynasty and the harem are closely related. Ministers send their daughters to the harem to seek family interests, and the emperor accepts concubines and rewards them, recruiting and also checking and balancing the ministers.

Often, just by looking at which minister is favored, you can know which concubine in the harem is favored.

And up to now, Yao Chuguang's harem is empty.

If Yao Chuguang wasn't too weak to bear children, sending her son to the harem would have been in vain.

It was just that Yao Chuguang was too ugly, and the legitimate son who was qualified to serve in the palace was unwilling to do so, while the illegitimate son was willing but not qualified.

No matter what kind of dangerous and dangerous situation the Qi harem might be, Yan Yunfan decided to give it a try.

King Yan saw that Yan Yunfan had made up his mind. Although this matter was a bit unfair to Yan Yunfan, it would bring more benefits than disadvantages to the State of Yan.

Qi State border, meeting hall.

Now the war in the rear has gradually subsided, but Yao Chuguang has already issued a declaration of war to the State of Yan.

Naturally, he had to stay at the border until things came to a conclusion before going back, so he found a large house and temporarily renovated it to serve as a court to discuss government affairs and national policies with ministers.

After receiving the letter from Yan State this morning.

It almost made the ministers bite their back teeth off.

The State of Yan is shameless, and the pretty boys are living off the king.

It is good news that Yan surrendered without any effort.

However, the State of Yan proposed a marriage alliance between the two countries and betrothed the Crown Prince of Yan to Yao Chuguang.

If they agree, Yan State will be the dowry of Prince Yan. If they don't agree, they will fight to the death and refuse to surrender.

The State of Yan is rich in beauties. I heard that the Crown Prince of Yan is the most handsome man in the State of Yan, and his appearance must be stunning.

That is why the minister gnashed his teeth in hatred.

The children of Yan State were clacking their abacuses, and the abacus beads were flying onto their faces.

Shameless. Knowing he can't win, he still tries to sneak in.

She used the beauty trick to seduce Yao Chuguang with her beauty.

Yao Chuguang could be said to be a genius in politics and military affairs, but she was still an ignorant girl who had never experienced love.

They have to face this group of old men every day, and suddenly a handsome man with extraordinary beauty appears.

What if she was really bewitched by the Prince of Yan and had a child with him?

When that child inherits the throne, wouldn't all the hard work for decades be for nothing to this little kid from Yan State?

But now the State of Yan is willing to surrender, with only this one condition for the marriage.

The ministers really couldn't think of a reason to refuse, as that was the entire Yan State.

After Yao Chuguang received the letter from the State of Yan, he showed neither joy nor displeasure at the news.

Anyone who knows that they can get a huge fortune and a beautiful woman will be ecstatic.

Although the ministers were cursing, they had to admit that they were stunned by the Yan State's generosity.

Yao Chuguang watched the ministers' argument calmly from beginning to end, with no emotion in his dark and deep eyes.

Although the ministers were arguing so fiercely, they were all thousand-year-old foxes and were all paying attention to Yao Chuguang's reaction.

This matter, let alone ordinary people, would be agreed to without a doubt by the emperors of all dynasties.

But if this happened to Yao Chuguang, the ministers really wouldn't dare to say anything.

For so long, no one dared to say that they could guess Yao Chuguang's thoughts.

The ministers looked at each other in confusion. Could it be that His Majesty felt that one was not enough?

Ask the King of Yan to send another prince to the palace to serve her?

Thinking about it this way, Yao Chuguang could really do this.

In the end, it was Yao Chuguang who made the final decision, saying that he would personally write back to King Yan, and the matter ended there.

As for what was written in the letter, Yao Chuguang did not say.

The four family heads gathered again in Lord Xiao's courtyard.

Why come to Xiaoge's old courtyard? Because others are still staying in the inn.

With so many ministers and officials gathered at the border this time, the post station was naturally not enough to accommodate them.

And since it was temporary accommodation, the restaurants and inns were basically full of officials of all ranks.

Yao Chuguang sympathized with the fact that Lord Xiao was so old and had not had a good rest after following him around so much that he fell ill, so he specially approved a small courtyard for Lord Xiao to live in so that he could have a good rest.

The head of the Wu family closed the window as soon as he came in and asked with concern, "Is Mr. Xiao feeling better recently?"

Elder Xiao was wearing an outer coat. Although his cold had improved a lot, he still had a slight cough. He nodded and said, "It's fine now."

Patriarch Qing said, "Mr. Xiao, please take care of your health."

The head of the Liu family took out a box and handed it over, saying, "There's nothing good here, but I was lucky enough to find some ginseng. It's good for you since you've just recovered from a serious illness."

After accepting it and thanking him, Xiao Ge Lao went straight to the point and asked, "I'm sure you all have other things to do here today. We've been colleagues for many years, so there's no need to keep us in suspense. Just speak frankly."

This is what he was waiting for. Lord Xiao did not attend the court because he had a cold, so he did not know about the letter from Yan State.

The head of the Wu family recounted what had happened during the morning court session. After finishing his speech, he picked up the teacup on the table and took a few sips of tea before asking, "What does Lord Xiao think of this?"

In the past, Lord Xiao would definitely practice Tai Chi to see what others thought before expressing his own opinion.

This time, Elder Xiao said very simply, "I don't have any opinion."

Patriarch Liu was a little unsure whether what Lord Xiao said was a hidden meaning or he really had no idea.

The head of the Qing family was also confused. Why didn’t he have any opinion?

Patriarch Liu and Patriarch Qing exchanged a glance, and Patriarch Liu asked, "Mr. Xiao, what do you mean?"

Elder Xiao waved his hand and said, "It's exactly what it says. If you're worried that His Majesty will be seduced by Crown Prince Yan, why not send a few to His Majesty right now? That way, you can take away Crown Prince Yan's favor in advance."

When talking about this, the Liu family heads, the Qing family heads, and the Wu family heads all had expressions that were difficult to describe.

They had thought about sending family members into the palace long before Prince Yan.

The question is, can they send it in just because they want to?

Since Your Majesty did not hold a selection, they used various means to create chance encounters for Your Majesty. Many of the students who passed the imperial examinations were from their family.

They are all good young men with handsome looks, and they thought that they would be favored by His Majesty during their training in the palace.

As a result, they all came back as if their mother had died, and complained about all kinds of things.

I am scolded by His Majesty like a grandson every day, and no matter what I do, I can never satisfy His Majesty.

The ministers were speechless for a moment. Not only were the young men in their families being scolded, but they themselves were also scolded by His Majesty every few days.

It was so difficult that the ministers even wondered if there really was a selection of emperors, would they still have to take exams and handle government affairs before they could sleep with the emperor.

Let Yao Chuguang recruit more concubines to balance the power of the court and the opposition.

First, does Yao Chuguang still need to balance the forces of the government and the opposition?

Who dares not to obey Yao Chuguang's orders? Even you dare not use the old methods. There are countermeasures for every policy.

Because Yao Chuguang knows how to fish, the ministers who can survive to this day are either very smart or really capable.

How could they not see that Yao Chuguang would deliberately bait out those fools who were foolish or hypocritical? There were countless ministers who fell into Yao Chuguang's trap.

Secondly, they really think that Yao Chuguang is a mad emperor. If the emperor really requires them to write a policy paper, it would be fine if their disciples were unable to write it and were dismissed. But what if they were forced to write in the middle of the night?

The ministers felt dizzy at the thought of this possibility.

Finally, Patriarch Wu asked his own question: "Mr. Xiao, what did His Majesty write in his reply?"

Xiao Ge Lao still said the same thing: "I can't guess."