roccoschili Chapter 226: A show of force
Chapter 226: A show of force
Shen Qingtan grasped the key point: "The Northern Qi envoys are waiting outside the city for the court to receive them?"
The Northern Qi came to negotiate with the Great Zhou. As the host, the Great Zhou would certainly have arranged for the Minister of Rites, Honglu Temple, to receive the envoys well in advance.
Is leaving the envoys waiting at the city gate a way to intimidate Northern Qi?
“I waited for about 15 minutes,” Jiang Chao replied.
Shen Qingtan lowered the carriage curtain and said to Zhao Yi, "This matter is too strange. Although Northern Qi is a defeated country, the emperor would not only not give Northern Qi a hard time in order to show the demeanor of a great power, but would also treat Northern Qi with courtesy. Why leave them waiting at the city gate?"
Zhao Yi said thoughtfully, "It must be that Northern Qi has broken its gentlemanly agreement and angered the Emperor, no longer caring about manners or the reputation of Northern Qi."
Emperor Jing'an made his stance clear: either endure it or go to war.
The envoy from Northern Qi was not just a pretty face; he should have been able to figure things out.
It remains to be seen whether they choose to swallow their anger and continue negotiations.
Or perhaps they should return to Northern Qi and antagonize the Great Zhou.
Thinking of this, Shen Qingtan's expression turned solemn: "Northern Qi will probably swallow their anger and stay to continue negotiations. I'm just afraid they'll hold a grudge and stir up trouble in Great Zhou."
“Since His Majesty has done this, he must have a way to deal with it.” Zhao Yi tapped her forehead with his fingertip: “Aren’t you tired of thinking about so much all day?”
“I’m just being cautious,” Shen Qingtan said, grabbing his fingers. “Our identities aren’t ordinary; who knows, they might have ulterior motives towards us?”
"It's my fault for being too favored by the Emperor, causing you, Madam, to suffer." Zhao Yi grasped her hand and pulled her into his arms, then lay down on the thick, soft mattress. "You should sleep for a while. Leave the matter of Siwei to me for now."
Shen Qingtan wanted to find out more about the situation, but worried that if she stayed here for an hour or two, it would delay Zhao Yi from taking his medicine.
She stirred slightly: "I... um..."
The man held her lips in his mouth, and his taste buds, which had been numbed by the bitterness of the medicine, tasted a hint of sweetness, enticing him to go deeper.
He noticed the bluish shadows on her eyelids, but only briefly said, "Take a nap."
Shen Qingtan obediently stopped moving and closed her eyes.
Zhao Yi lowered his eyes and looked at the person in his arms. He sighed inwardly. She had been taking good care of him all the way and hadn't rested much.
Once he has recovered and is truly treating his illness, he will likely become even more anxious and uneasy.
Zhao Yi lowered his head and gently kissed her forehead, and her eyelashes trembled slightly.
He said softly, "I'll instruct Jiang Chao to go and investigate again."
Zhao Yi reached out and tapped twice on the carriage wall, signaling Jiang Chao to go and check the situation ahead.
Shen Qingtan was relieved and nestled in his arms for a short rest.
Upon hearing the coded message, Jiang Chao went to investigate further.
-
The Northern Qi sent the King of Qi, Princess Guangning, and eight envoys to negotiate with the Great Zhou.
The Prince of Qi was the most favored prince of Northern Qi, so the title of his was derived from the name of the state, which showed the emperor's affection for him.
At this moment, the King of Qi looked gloomy: "Now that the Great Zhou has won the battle, it no longer takes the Northern Qi seriously. Has Emperor Jing'an forgotten how he groveled before the Northern Qi back then?"
“Your Highness, be careful with your words.” The advisor Chang An handed a cup of tea to Prince Qi: “Zhao Qiyuan has returned to the capital. He has probably presented the letter our general gave him to Emperor Jing’an. It is understandable that Emperor Jing’an is furious. We should not be angry, but rather we should be happy about it.”
King Qi lifted his eyelids to look at Chang An, and naturally understood the meaning behind his words.
If Emperor Jing'an didn't fly into a rage over the fact that Princess Yizhen was mentioned several times in that letter, it would mean that Princess Yizhen held no place in his heart.
Now, because of this letter, Emperor Jing'an has even lost the demeanor of a great power and is willing to go to war with Northern Qi again, which shows how important Princess Yizhen is to him.
This is good news for Northern Qi, as it gives them a significant advantage in the negotiations.
"I want to see how long Emperor Jing'an intends to keep the Northern Qi envoy waiting."
The King of Qi took the teacup and said casually, "I will definitely give Emperor Jing'an a big gift when the time comes to thank him for his 'generous treatment' of the envoy from Northern Qi."
Chang An disagreed, saying, "Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. We're currently on the territory of the Great Zhou, and our two countries aren't allies. If we really anger Emperor Jing'an, we might not be able to return to Northern Qi smoothly."
King Qi's face darkened, and with a clatter, he threw his teacup onto the small table.
"As the saying goes, to fight external enemies, one must first secure internal stability. The internal regime of the Great Zhou is not stable. Just let them fight amongst themselves, and that will be enough to severely damage their strength."
Chang An stroked his beard and said, "We don't need to waste a single soldier yet."
King Qi laughed and said, "Chang'an, you are indeed the most shrewd and calculating old man."
Chang An bowed and said, "Your Highness is too kind."
King Qi was quick to anger and lacked composure, so the emperor of Northern Qi appointed Chang An to him.
"In your opinion, what should we do to get the officials of the Great Zhou to come and receive us as soon as possible?"
"Wait," Chang An said. "We are here to form an alliance with the Great Zhou. Whatever the Great Zhou does, we will accept it all to show Emperor Jing'an our sincerity. Then he will not be able to find a pretext to attack us."
King Qi understood these principles, but Emperor Jing'an had torn off the mask of Northern Qi and trampled on it, making it difficult for him to swallow this insult.
The cold reception they received today will surely spread to other countries. How will other nations view Northern Qi?
Suppressing his anger, King Qi lifted the carriage curtain in annoyance and saw a commotion at the city gate. The Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, wearing a black gauze hat with two wings and a bright red official robe, walked in with an official gait.
He was accompanied by a large entourage, with a special ceremonial guard arranged behind him.
"Your Highness, I apologize for not welcoming you sooner." The Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies bowed and said a polite phrase: "I received news that the envoy from Northern Qi will not arrive in the capital until tomorrow. Moreover, they were unaware that Your Highness would be coming, so the ceremonial procession was not up to standard, which caused the delay."
King Qi's face grew even uglier. He simply did not believe that the Great Zhou had not been aware of their movements. It was clear that they had been deliberately left hanging here to give them a warning.
They then turned around and blamed them for not explaining the envoys' identities and for arriving in the capital ahead of time, which led to the Great Zhou being unprepared and neglecting them.
He said with a forced smile, "This was my oversight; I failed to send a document to inform Your Majesty in advance."
The Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies smiled and said, "Please, Your Highness Prince Qi, accompany this old minister to the Four Barbarian Inn for accommodation."
King Qi threw down the curtain, got back into his carriage, and headed towards the Four Barbarians' Pavilion.
As the carriage entered the city gate, Chang'an heard footsteps brushing past it.
The footsteps were steady and well-trained.
He lifted the carriage curtain and saw that the Imperial Guards, dressed in flying fish robes, were carrying two sedan chairs out of the city.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard is under the command of the Emperor; only the Emperor can dispatch them to investigate cases. It's unclear what kind of person this is that warrants such a large-scale welcome from the Embroidered Uniform Guard.