Chapter 9 Marriage

Lu, located in the north of Qi, has a cold climate all year round, and the snowy mountains can stretch for thousands of miles. Although the harsh weather conditions have hindered the prosperity of mainland China's commerce and economy, it has made the people of mainland people extremely brave and good at fighting, which can be said to be a soldier of the whole nation. Not only that, decades ago, Cang sent more than three times the troops of Lu to attack, but the result was miserable. Except for the soldiers in the land that are too fierce, most of the reasons are that the bad climate of the land makes the soldiers living in the warm climate unable to adapt, so that the troops have been damaged by up to 30% at the time of the war.

When Princess Shuning and Qi Ming arrived in the State of Lu, it was already mid-February. The royal family of the State of the State of Lu held a grand celebration to welcome the princess who had been married far away. Before that, the court of the State of the State of Lu was divided into two factions, led by Liu Jie, the left prime minister, who advocated war with the State of Qi, and the right prime minister Wei Fang Fang, who advocated peace. Just when the two factions quarreled, the State of Qi took the initiative to make peace, and used 30 million taels of gold and thousands of pieces of jade as dowry. This huge number of dowry was not a small for Lu, which lacked funds, so the idea of starting a war with the State of Qi followed Princess Shuning and the sixth prince of the State of Qi. Mo's wedding disappeared.

In order to show his respect for the princess, Lu Guo chose a residence in the west of the palace and named it after her.

"Brother, what are you going to do? Now that my father has abdicated, I'm afraid you should go back at this moment..."

"I'm afraid of what?" Qi Ming's tone was obviously a little angry, "How could my father abdicate? It must be the king of Xingle rebellion. Anyway, I am also the prince. How can I let the country of Qi fall into the hands of the chaotic ministers and thieves? Damn it..."

Qi Ming clenched his fists and hit a tree next to him.

"Don't live up to your father's good intentions. The reason why he asked you to protect you along the way is that I don't want you to be killed by those traitors and thieves. What can you do if you go back now?

"Am I hiding here like a turtle?"

It's not too late for a gentleman to take revenge. Now my brother who returns to the State of Qi will definitely die. Don't forget that we have been attacked by assassins before. Those assassins must have been sent by the court.

Qi Ming remembered those assassins with high martial arts skills. If it hadn't been for Lian Zhen's protection, he and Shuning's assassins would have been in a different place: "But I can't swallow this breath. Lian Zhen, can you teach me martial arts? In this way, I can avenge my father.

"No." Lian Zhen, dressed in black, said coldly, "The palace master ordered me to protect you, but he didn't let me teach you martial arts unless there is an order from the palace master."

"Cut, what's the use of your martial arts skills? A hundred years later, there is not even an apprentice.

"No apprentice is needed." Lian Zhen said.

"Brother, in fact, don't you understand your father's intentions?" Although Princess Shuning is only 15 years old, her expression and appearance are quite steady. "Don't you understand why your father married me far away from the State of Lu?"

"What do you understand?"

"Rrow a knife to kill people. Isn't it better to annex the State of Qi with the help of the strength of the State of Lu for revenge?

"The annexation of the State of Qi? How can you let Lu annex your own country?

"So I want to find a way to let the sixth prince ascend the throne of the State of Lu, then use his hand to let the two countries go to war, and finally force King Xingle to abdicate. At that time, won't you be able to succeed to the throne smoothly? During our stay in Lu, integrity will protect our safety, right? Shuning threw an innocent smile at Lian Zhen with a cold face.

"The palace owner only told me to protect the safety of the eldest prince."

"It doesn't matter. After all, it's better to control your own life." Shuning said lightly.

The House of Political Affairs.

"Your Majesty, I think that the State of Qi must have planned to marry Princess Shuning to the sixth prince this time. Please think twice." Liu Jie, Prime Minister Zuo, said, "Princess Shuning is just a concubine of the royal family of Qi. How can she match the sixth prince born to the queen?"

"Lord Liu's words are too heavy." Wei Fang, the prime minister, retorted, "Now that our land treasury is empty, if we can make friends with the State of Qi, it can not only alleviate the urgent needs but also promote the commercial economy of the two countries. If the two countries go to war, it will be the people who will suffer. What is Lord Liu's mind?"

"What kind of heart do you have? Naturally, I am worried about the country and the people, but Lord Wei, what benefits have you received from the State of Qi and helped them in a word of voice?

"You...you bloody..."

"Don't quarrel. You quarreled so much that I have a headache. What the two Aiqing said makes sense, but Mo'er's wedding is imminent, and the new king of the State of Qi has just ascended to the throne. Let's talk about the war in a few days."

"Your Majesty..." Liu Jie wanted to continue, but when he saw that there was an obvious impatience on Emperor Lu's face, he swallowed the words back to his throat.

"Holy Ming."

"Your Majesty, I don't know whether I should talk about something?" The speaker is a man in his thirties with unusually dark skin, which is quite rare in the cold climate of Lu.

"Qin Muye, just say anything." Lu Di said, "You shoulder the heavy responsibility of managing the revenue and expenditure of the treasury, and naturally I also want to hear your opinion."

"Your Majesty, I believe that the fundamental reason for the emptiness of China's treasury is that the harsh weather conditions hinder the development of trade and agriculture, so the most fundamental solution is to make China's commerce and trade prosperous."

"Well, it's easy for you to say." Liu Jie said disdainfully, "You also said that the climate in mainland is so bad that even crops can't grow. Which businessman is willing to come here?"

"Yes, Liu Aiqing's words are reasonable." Emperor Lu frowned slightly, and his tone was even more helpless, "Our Lu Kingdom is located in the north. It has neither the superior geographical conditions of Qi, nor the unique climate of Cang, nor the coastal advantages of Nanxia..."

"Your Majesty, I don't think these are problems."

"Oh? Is there any good way for Aiqing?

"Your Majesty, now that the State of Qi has a marriage relationship with our country, in this case, our country should let talented young people go to the State of Qi to study and take the strengths of others to make up for their own shortcomings." Qin Muye said, "Not only the State of Qi, but also our country should marry Cang and Nanxia. Only in this way can we learn the strengths of other countries..."

When Qin Muye finished speaking, the whole political hall was silent. In the long history, both the State of Qi, Cang, and Nanxia have married the princess of their own country to another country for marriage, or accepted the princess who married far away, but only the State of Lu has never married its own princess far away from another country, and this time the acceptance of Princess Shuning can also be said to be unprecedented, if it were not for financial difficulties. To a certain extent, Lu will never allow this kind of confusing royal blood to happen.

Although Lu accepted Princess Shuning and married Princess Shuning to the sixth prince born by the queen, in fact, the sixth prince already has a concubine and two side concubines, so Princess Shuning is strictly counted as the third side concubine of the sixth prince.

Although Princess Shuning is only a concubine princess in the State of Qi, she is also the emperor's daughter anyway. It is still possible to marry a prince and noble as a main room in the future. However, she is just a tool for the relationship between the two countries.

"Let's discuss this matter later and retreat from the court."

After retreating from the dynasty, the ministers walked out of the government hall one after another. Suddenly, Qin Muye heard someone calling him behind him. Looking back, it was Wei Fang, the right prime minister who advocated peace: "Lord Wei, what's the matter with you?"

"Haha, Lord Qin, you think it's still early. Why don't you go to my house for a drink?" Wei Fang patted Qin Muye on the shoulder with a smile.

"This?"

"Okay, it's just a glass of wine."

"It's better to obey than to be respectful."

Liu Jie, Prime Minister Zuo, looked at the departure of Wei Fang and Qin Muye, and his heart was full of unhappiness. Judging from today's situation, the emperor obviously does not want to go to war. It's crazy that the king of a magnificent country was confused by tens of millions of taels of gold. He looked up at the blue sky and couldn't help exhaling, "Alas, what should I do?"

"Lord Liu, why are you so worried?" A slender and sharp voice sounded.

"Faun-in-law, are you in good health recently?"

"Well, the weather is getting colder and colder, and my throat always feels uncomfortable."

"If Grandpa Shun doesn't dislike it, my wife's mother's family just sent some hundred-year-old ginseng to have a good voice."

"How can this be so embarrassing? Ha ha..." Grandpa Shun's sharp laughter made Liu Jie listen a little harshly, but there was no expression on his face. "Lord Liu, do you know why the emperor suddenly changed his mind this time and accepted the princess from the State of Qi?"

"I would like to hear more about it."

"Actually, the emptiness of the treasury is one of the reasons, and the other reason should start from the Shenyue Palace of the State of Qi." Grandpa Shun said with a mysterious face, "Lord Liu, have you heard anything about the Divine Moon Palace?"

"Kagura Palace? Isn't that a place to pray for the royal family of Qi? However, I heard that it was not under the jurisdiction of the State of Qi. I also heard that Lian Zhen, the world's first swordsman, came from the Moon Palace, the swordsman who escorted the princess.

"You're right, this Divine Moon Palace is a place to pray for the royal family of Qi, but what Lord Liu doesn't know is that it is said that nearly half of the world's wealth is owned by the Divine Moon Palace. If anyone has a good relationship with the Divine Moon Palace, it is equivalent to a steady stream of wealth. Think about it, the army of Qi is not as good as us, the paper governance is not as good as the Nanxia Kingdom, and the trade is not as good as the Cang Kingdom, but the status of Qi has been the highest among the four countries for a long time. This is because the Divine Moon Palace is in their State of Qi, and the palace masters have maintained a close relationship with the royal family of the State of Qi.

Liu Jie asked doubtfully, "What does that mean?"

"Alas, Lord Liu doesn't know that the owner of the Divine Moon Palace personally asked the emperor for this marriage. Do you think the emperor can refuse to agree? The 30 million taels of gold and thousands of jade you saw are all from the Divine Moon Palace. If we can make friends with the Divine Moon Palace, the benefits will not be limited to these 30 million taels of gold in the future? Don't you think so?"

Liu Jie had heard that the power of the Moon Palace could not be underestimated, but he definitely did not expect that it would be so huge that even the monarch of a country would please him: "So, this marriage is indeed a must."

"That need not be said. In fact, the emperor doesn't want to fight. What is this empty treasury? Who doesn't love money, even if he is the emperor.

"It makes sense, it makes sense."

"The old slave still has something to do, so I won't accompany him."

"Fath-in-law, please."

In a blink of an eye, it came to the wedding day of the sixth prince and Princess Shuning. Although Princess Shuning was a side concubine, the royal family of the State of Lu held a wedding according to the etiquette of the imperial concubine. The maturity and stability shown by Princess Shuning at the wedding are completely unimaginable that she is only 15 years old. Not only is she not picky in her behavior, but also her beautiful appearance is not negligible. Although she is still a little childish, she will become a stunning beauty in a few years.

Lu Guo, in the 20th year of Jiude, February 17, made the sixth prince Mo the proud king, married Princess Shuning the next day, and made Princess Shuning Princess Ning, with the same status as the imperial concubine.