We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

The convoy moved slowly on the road.

The large carriage in the center was hung with the emperor's flag and was pulled by six horses, moving forward steadily.

In the carriage, Emperor Qing put down the letter and looked to his side with a smile: "Fourth Brother, Sixth Brother, take a look at the letter from Yelu Yuan."

Li Che reached out to take the letter, but Li Lin snorted coldly:

"This Yelu Yuan really doesn't know the difference between the important and the unimportant. The Khitan nation has already been destroyed. What kind of letter is this? It's just to flatter himself."

Li Che, however, read the letter while shaking his head and said, "Fourth Brother, this is wrong. The reason we accepted his surrender was simply for the greater good."

"Since this is for the greater good, we must naturally let the Khitan consider themselves the Liao Kingdom. This will demonstrate the strength of Daqing, and taking over Khitan land will also be more legitimate."

It has been three days since we set out from Fengguo.

In the past half month, Emperor Qing has been completely obsessed with science, and he is willing to continue like this for a few more months.

But the court could not wait that long.

Emperor Qing is a diligent emperor who holds great power and has a lot of work to deal with every day.

When he was in the imperial capital, his ministers had not yet realized it, but when he left, the disadvantages were instantly revealed.

Compared with Emperor Qing, Prince Jin is too immature. Although he has the ability to handle political affairs, he is not as efficient as Emperor Qing.

This led to a continuous backlog of government affairs at the imperial court, and officials were leaderless and overwhelmed.

If this continues, even basic operations will be disrupted.

Officials in the capital were helpless and could only write petitions repeatedly, requesting the emperor to return to the capital as soon as possible to take charge of the situation.

Emperor Qing kept delaying, but seeing that the people in the imperial capital were becoming more and more anxious, he had no choice but to leave Chaoyang City and head to Shangjing.

Before leaving, he dragged the reluctant Li Lin and the extremely reluctant Li Che along with him and asked them to ride in the same car with him.

Li Che read the first half of the letter at a glance, and as soon as he saw the second half, his face turned strange:

"Father, Yelu Yuan wants to form an alliance with Daqing and marry his sister to a prince?"

Emperor Qing smiled and stroked his beard: "Yes, Yelu Dahe's legitimate daughter, Yelu Yuan's biological sister, Yelu Xian."

Li Che was surprised and said, "Yelü Dahe must be in his sixties or seventies. How old is his daughter? She must be in her forties or fifties. She must have been married several times. And with Yelü Dahe's appearance, his daughter..."

The image of a 40-50 year old prairie woman with muscular build and a face full of flesh appeared in Li Che's mind, and he couldn't help but shudder.

"Or, let the third brother marry her. He has made great contributions as regent and deserves such a reward!" Li Che suggested.

Li Lin quickly bowed and said, "Sixth brother, your words are quite true. I will reconsider this."

"What are you thinking?" Emperor Qing was at a loss for words. "Yelü Dahe had a daughter in his old age. She's only in her early twenties this year. Although she's not young, she's not an old woman."

That’s right, in Emperor Qing’s eyes, people in their twenties are already considered quite old.

In ancient times, it was common for people to get married in their teens.

For example, in the Tang Dynasty, "Men aged 15 and over and women aged 13 and over can get married."

For example, during the Ming Dynasty, "all men aged sixteen and above and women aged fourteen and above were allowed to marry."

There are even legal provisions that force women of marriageable age to marry if they do not.

According to the "Book of Jin: Chronicle of Emperor Wu", Sima Yan once required that when a girl reached the age of seventeen, if her parents did not marry her off, the local government would find a husband for her and force her to marry.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a rule that if a girl did not marry at the appropriate age, it would be against the law. If she did not marry in time, her family would be imprisoned. (Book of Song, Biography of Zhou Lang: "If a girl does not marry at the age of fifteen, her family will be imprisoned.")

People like Yelu Xian, who are still unmarried in their twenties, are already considered leftover women.

"Don't even think about letting your third brother and his men take wives. It's illogical. You two conquered Khitan. No matter what, you two must marry. This will both convince the people and reassure the Khitan people."

Emperor Qing was too lazy to talk to the two of them: "I am ready to agree to marry a woman from the Yelu family. It will benefit Daqing and at least make the Khitan people more accepting of me."

"You don't have to worry about that woman's ugliness. I've heard that Yeluxian is incredibly beautiful, the most beautiful woman in Liao. And she's just a concubine. If you really don't like her, just treat her well and don't touch her."

Seeing that the two were still silent, Emperor Qing had no choice but to start calling out names: "Lin'er, can you marry me?"

Li Lin shook his head like a rattle: "Your Majesty, I understand that the princess and I are deeply in love and I really don't want to take another concubine."

What the most beautiful woman in Liao Kingdom? Li Lin didn’t believe the views of those barbarians. God knows what kind of strange woman she looked like.

Emperor Qing looked at Li Lin with disdain, thinking that the boy was henpecked, and scolded him, "You are useless!"

Li Lin shrank his neck and said nothing more.

Seeing that the fourth brother failed, Emperor Qing looked at Li Che who was standing beside him.

Before he could ask, Li Che spoke first: "Ahem... Father, it's just a concubine, but I don't think it's too much."

Emperor Qing was slightly startled, his eyes becoming even more disdainful: "You are even more useless!"

Li Che laughed twice and pretended to be stupid without saying anything.

It was not just his lust for beauty. The Khitan land and people would be under the rule of Fengguo in the future. If he could take a Khitan princess as his concubine, it would have great political significance.

It's definitely not because of what Emperor Qing said about 'the most beautiful woman in Liao Kingdom'!

Emperor Qing thought for a moment and said, "Then it's you, Sixth Prince. You only have one concubine, the Chang family's daughter. You really don't have enough women around you. If you keep going like this, when will you be able to give me a grandson?"

Li Che said, "There is a Korean woman beside me."

"I know." Emperor Qing's face was strange. "She is the princess of the Goryeo King. I didn't expect you to have a preference for other people's wives... You have good taste."

Li Che was slightly startled and looked at Emperor Qing beside him.

I never expected it, I never expected it, that you, the father with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, actually like other people’s wives?

"But you should know that no child born to you by the Goryeo princess or this Khitan princess can be crowned the crown prince."

Emperor Qing's eyes were filled with deep meaning: "And now you really need a prince."

Li Che's expression changed, and he quickly replied, "Your Highness understands."

Emperor Qing's words were another hint. Although Li Che had long been accustomed to it, he couldn't help but feel moved and pondered it secretly.

Whether it is to ensure internal stability in Fengguo or to strive for the future throne, he really needs to have a child as soon as possible.

After all, there really is a throne to inherit in the family.

The father and his two sons said nothing more, and the convoy slowly headed north.

After a few more days, the imperial carriage finally arrived at the foot of Shangjing City.