The Eternal Beauty of the City of Wealth

Zi Ri took Peng Ruo into his arms and gently wiped away the tears from her eyes: "Ruo'er, let me go. Even if we get married, I will not consummate the marriage with her!"

Seven days later, Duke Jian of Yan held a grand engagement banquet in the palace for Princess Thirteen and Prince Ri.

During the banquet, everyone looked at the handsome Gongzi Ri and couldn't help but worry for him.

They all wondered in their hearts: Can such a handsome and beautiful young man control the unruly and headstrong Thirteenth Princess?

Just as everyone was drinking and chatting happily, a eunuch suddenly came to report that there was an urgent battle report from the north eight hundred miles away.

Duke Jian of Yan was stunned. Why was there a war in the north? He quickly ordered the soldier who delivered the letter to be summoned.

The messenger knelt on the ground exhausted, clasped his hands together and said, "Your Majesty!"

"The Shanrong Chanyu was angry that Dayan did not marry his princess to him, so he took the opportunity to lead an army of 100,000 to attack us."

"They have already captured Lingzhi, a key town on the border, and are about to cross the Yanshan Mountains and attack Jicheng!"

What! Duke Jian of Yan was shocked and stood up: "The Shanrong really are coming with their troops to attack us!"

Prime Minister Zizhi sneered contemptuously and thought to himself, Ji Kuan, I was right this time!

Shanjie has sent out an army of 100,000 this time. Let’s see how you deal with it!

At this time, General Zhao Ben stood up, clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty!"

"A mere 100,000 Shanrong troops are nothing to be afraid of! I am willing to lead the elite troops of Dayan and destroy them in one fell swoop!"

Prime Minister Zizhi stood up with a sneer, cupped his hands and said, "General Zhao, this is rather frivolous!"

"The Shanrong army of 100,000 is composed entirely of cavalry. You should know better than I do how powerful cavalry is."

Zhao Zhen snorted coldly: "So what? Cavalry has its advantages, and infantry has its advantages."

"As long as we use our troops properly, we can still defeat them!"

After hearing what the prime minister said, Duke Jian of Yan also hesitated.

Yes, Shanrong’s troops are all cavalry, and the combat effectiveness of the cavalry can be said to be one against ten.

He only had 20,000 cavalrymen, and even if he sent another 200,000 infantrymen, he wouldn't have much chance of winning, not to mention that he couldn't mobilize so many troops now.

Zhao Ben snorted again, "Prime Minister! You're so frightened before the battle even begins! We'll know if we can win once we give it a try!"

Zizhi sarcastically said, "General Zhao! Do you think you're buying shoes? If you try them on and they don't fit, then don't buy them!"

"This is war! War means death! How can you, General, play with the lives of our Great Yan soldiers?"

You! Zhao Yan was speechless for a moment. His face flushed and his neck thickened as he said, "That's not what I meant. Don't lie!"

When Duke Jian of Yan saw the two men about to quarrel, he quickly waved his hand and said, "Alright! My dear ministers, please stop arguing!"

"I think what the Prime Minister said makes a lot of sense. So, according to the Prime Minister, how should this matter be handled?"

Zizhi glanced at Zhao Ben with an arrogant look, which meant, "Well, Your Majesty, please listen to me!"

He bowed and said, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, we should continue with the original plan and marry the Thirteenth Princess to the Chanyu."

"And also capture the culprit, Prince Ri, and hand him over to the Shanrong. By doing so, perhaps the Shanrong will calm down and withdraw their troops."

Zi Ri was horrified upon hearing this. He hurriedly bowed to Duke Jian of Yan and said, "Your Majesty! I wonder what the Prime Minister means by this statement? How did I become the culprit?"

Ji Kuan also looked at Zizhi displeasedly: "Prime Minister, saying that Gongzi Ri is the culprit is an exaggeration!"

"Your Majesty, I am not exaggerating. If the prince does not marry the princess, the Shanrong Chanyu will not be angry!"

Zi Rixin said, you old bastard, what's the point? Even if I don't marry the princess, she will not marry Shanrong.

It seems that Zizhi is deliberately making things difficult for me. I have never offended him, so why would he do this?

Ji Xiang had been listening for a long time. She couldn't bear it anymore and pointed at Zizhi's nose and cursed.

"Zizhi, you old fool! If you're willing to marry your granddaughter, marry her to him! Why are you staring at this princess?"

"Now you're saying the Prince Consort is the culprit! In my opinion, you are the culprit!"

"If it weren't for your stupid idea to let me marry Shanrong last time, would I have been able to escape?"

"Today, I will settle all my old and new grudges. I will kill you, you old bastard!"

After saying that, he swung his two sharp claws towards the prime minister's face.

Zizhi didn't expect the princess to attack him, so he was not on guard at all.

Watching Ji Xiang's two hands scratching her face: "Ahhhh..."

In an instant, Ji Xiang grabbed Zizhi's face and turned it into a bloody gourd.

Ji Xiang was still not satisfied, so she grabbed his arm and bit it hard.

Zizhi screamed, shook off Ji Xiang's arm, and ran away.

He ran while shouting, "My king! My king, help me..."

Duke Jian of Yan was very happy and thought to himself, I have disliked you, old man, for a long time.

I always wanted to find a reason to replace you, but I never had the chance.

This time his sister finally gave him some relief, and he secretly cheered for her.

Girl! Good job! Harder! Come on! Hahahaha…

Upon seeing this, Zizhi's accomplices quickly stopped the princess and surrounded the prime minister.

Seeing that she couldn't hit him, Ji Xiang was so angry that she jumped up and down and cursed: "Zizhi, you old bastard! Bastard! When will you die?"

"When you die, I will light up the house with lanterns and fireworks!"

"And you need to build a high stage! Sing for three days and three nights! Die quickly! Die quickly..."

The ministers were left in a state of confusion by the Thirteenth Princess's behavior. They shook their heads and sighed, saying, "Whoever marries you will have an extra aunt. Alas..."

When Duke Jian of Yan saw that his sister could not beat Zizhi, he slammed the table.

Pretending to be angry, he said, "That's enough! You're beating and scolding your daughter. How disgraceful! Get out of here!"

Ji Xiang straightened her slender neck and said, "I'm not leaving? This princess wants to see who dares to ask me to marry Shanrong!"

Seeing that his sister was unwilling to marry into the Shanrong tribe, Ji Kuan turned his attention to the ministers.

"My dear ministers, you have seen that the princess refuses to marry. What should we do?"

At this time, the doctor Zhuang Ziyi bowed and said, "Your Majesty!"

"Since ancient times, marriages between men and women have been arranged by their parents and matchmakers. How could a girl be allowed to make her own decision?"

"Now the Shanrong army has become an overwhelming force, heading straight for Yanjing."

"If we don't use the princess' marriage proposal, we can only resort to war. With the current military strength of Great Yan, do you think we can win?"

Duke Jian of Yan immediately answered in his heart: We can’t win!

But he didn't say it out loud. He looked at Zhuang Ziyi and said, "My dear, do you have any good ideas?"

Zhuang Ziyi shook his head and said, "I don't have any good ideas. Now I can only seek help from the various vassal states."

The doctor Su Dai also stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I agree with Zi Yi's plan."

"The only solution now is to seek help from the various states. There is no other way."