Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

Inside Samaga's bedroom.

Her grief-stricken and resentful cries caused the palace maids and eunuchs waiting outside the palace to tremble with fear at the audacity of this Tibetan princess.

Now even His Highness the Crown Prince dares to question us?

Do you really think that life in Tibet is too good?

Want to cause trouble for Tibet?

Wang De gestured to everyone to retreat and move further away.

Inside the bedchamber, Li Chengqian was wearing a five-clawed dragon embroidered brocade nightgown, a garment reserved for emperors, and his calm eyes gazed at Samaga before him.

"When have I ever slighted you? What aspect of the palace has failed to provide you with the proper etiquette and treatment you deserve?"

Li Chengqian spoke calmly, but his fingers, resting on the couch beside him, tapped lightly.

"Your Highness, I have been in the palace for over a year and have become fluent in Tang language. However, the imperial physicians have diagnosed me with nothing wrong with my health, yet I show absolutely no signs of pregnancy... Your Highness, do you trust me, and do you trust Tibet?"

“My elder brother was indeed wrong back then, but he was ignorant and arrogant. Can’t we call Tibet’s respectful attitude towards the Tang Dynasty even now a sign of loyalty?”

“Every year, Harsha slaves capture and offer over 100,000 as tribute.”

"Grain was transported to the Tang Dynasty by dozens of ships, and the allowances you give to support the wounded and disabled veterans of the Tang Dynasty are all based on the profits from the spice trade."

"Why is it that despite all that I and the Tibetans have done for you and for the Tang Dynasty, you still don't trust me?!"

The more Samaga spoke, the more sorrowful her voice became.

She looked as if she had suffered a great injustice, and with her current plump and beautiful appearance, if it were anyone else, they would really be captivated by her tears.

"Hehe... I never imagined that the Tubo (Tibetan) princess and the Tibetan people had suffered such a great injustice for the sake of the Tang Dynasty..."

Li Chengqian was smiling, but there was really no warmth in his smile.

Li Chengqian had carefully considered various factors before taking this woman, whose heart was devoted only to Tibet and her brother Songtsen Gampo, into the palace. She was a tool to appease and utilize Tibet.

Unexpectedly, in just one or two years, Tibet acquired a large colony in the Harsha Dynasty, which made this Tibetan Zanmu (monk) a bit arrogant.

Outside the palace, Wang De, who was left alone at the door, had already begun to mourn for Songtsen Gampo in his heart just from the tone of his own prince.

News came back today from the Jinyiwei Tianzhu Zhenfu Division that a major war has broken out between Tibet and the Zhelouqi Kingdom, with the number of participants on both sides reaching 100,000. Several battles have been fought, and both sides have suffered considerable losses.

The Crown Prince was already displeased with Tibet's ulterior motives.

Now, instead of trying to smooth things over and use womanly tactics to reassure the crown prince, this Tibetan princess is questioning him as if he doesn't trust Tibet.

Ah.

When has His Highness the Crown Prince ever kept his poems from you?

Don't you know His Highness's attitude towards you Tibetan barbarians?

Wang De sighed softly to himself.

At almost the same time, in a palace in the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince's concubine, Queen Kim Deok-man of Silla, looked towards the palace where golden tiles were faintly visible.

She was well-informed and had already heard about what was happening in Tibet.

"This Samaga still doesn't know that the reason she didn't conceive the prince's child is not because the prince was afraid of or distrustful of Tibet."

Beside her, a personal maid who had accompanied the Silla royal palace bowed her head slightly.

"After all, she is a woman from the plateau. I have heard that the people there are quite wild."

Jindeman and the other concubines in the harem had no idea what had happened in Samaga's palace that night, but the next day, news spread throughout the palace.

Princess Samaga of Tibet, the Crown Prince's concubine, offended the Emperor and angered the Crown Prince... She was demoted to the rank of Fengyi!

The term "Fengyi" refers to the lowest-ranking concubine in the Crown Prince's harem.

They were all sixth-rank officials, and there were twenty-four of them in total. They were the young ladies selected by the Empress and His Majesty for the Crown Prince over the years, and they had basically not been favored by Li Chengqian.

The inner palace, the Lotus Washing Hall.

Sun Yi arrived with a group of palace maids and eunuchs to deliver the imperial edict.

"Lady Langqiong, receive my decree, Zhaoxun Yuyao!"

Yu Yao, the daughter of the leader of Langqiong Zhao, the first of the six southern Zhao kingdoms to submit to the Tang Dynasty, hurriedly led several maids to kneel and listen to the imperial decree. The maids seemed to realize something and were all extremely excited.

Sun Yi cleared his throat.

Produce the Crown Prince's edict.

"Disciple: Langqiong Zhaoxun Meng Shi Yuyao, descended from the loyal family of Nanzhao. Your father Meng Luoduo first presented the map of the Tea Horse Road, burned three hundred bronze drums for the shamanic sacrifice, and led the ancestors of the six Zhao to return to the king's rule. He cultivated thousands of acres of terraced fields to fill the border granaries, welcomed the Central Plains to open up trade routes, and sent eighty of his sons and disciples to the Imperial Academy to study etiquette."

"You have been in the inner palace for two years, serving the Empress day and night in studying the *Book of Rites*, and on the first day of each month lecturing the palace women on the *Pharmacopoeia of the Zhenguan Era*. Your virtues are exceptional, like the spirits of Erhai Lake and the beauty of Diancang Mountain; therefore, you are promoted to the rank of Liangyuan, and placed in the fifth rank of the Eastern Palace."

Everyone in the Lotus Washing Hall, including Yu Yao, was breathing heavily with excitement. Even Meng Yu Yao herself had never expected that she would be directly surpassed by the sixth-rank Cheng Hui.

She was promoted directly to the same level as the former Tibetan princess Samaga.

However, Sun Yi had not finished reading.

"Your mother is hereby granted the title of 'Lady of Eryuan County,' and is to be bestowed with three hundred bolts of Shu brocade annually."

"An imperial edict was issued ordering the establishment of five market offices in Langqiong Prefecture, permitting the exchange of Erhai copper for Taiyuan fine steel."

"Proclamation to the southern border, so that all may know."

Even Meng Yuyao herself did not expect that not only was she promoted, but her mother was also granted an imperial title. The implications of this are worth pondering.

She respectfully accepted the imperial decree and expressed her gratitude, but very sensibly slipped a jade bead to Sun Yi.

"Eunuch Sun, is there anything Your Highness needs me to do?"

Sun Yi smiled, quite admiring of this newly arrived lady from the southern border.

“Consort Meng, this is the Crown Prince’s decree. The Crown Prince rules over all the people of the world; how can we, his servants, possibly comment on his actions? It is enough to do our own job well and not trouble His Highness.”

Meng Yuyao understood instantly.

This is basically saying, don't be like that Tibetan princess who couldn't figure out the relationship, who married into the Tang Dynasty's crown prince's harem and still thought about her family all the time.

Having been promoted, Meng Yuyao moved into the palace where Samaga had once lived, with the help of palace maids and eunuchs. During this transition, no one saw Samaga, the disgraced concubine, again.

However, just as Meng Yuyao moved into the new palace and prepared to serve the emperor that night...

Tonight, His Highness the Crown Prince summoned Consort Zheng Lizhen from Xingyang to serve him in bed.

"Waaaah, Your Highness, I desperately want a child! Please, Your Highness, grant me a child! Waaah~"

While acting coquettishly, Zheng Lizhen stammered out words of pleading.

......

Yang Zhengdao and his delegation from the Tianzhu Provincial Administration Office, who had set out from Chang'an and led a large entourage into Jiannan Circuit, were suddenly caught up by several fast horses.

Yang Zhengdao, the Provincial Governor of India, and his deputy, Zheng De, the Left Provincial Governor of India, hurriedly got out of the car and bowed.

The newcomers were members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"Provincial Governor Yang, Counselor Zheng, a secret decree from the Crown Prince!"