69novels Page 197
Page 197
As the regent, the King of Dangyang was naturally unwilling to take this risk himself.
Upon hearing the minister's words, his shoulders trembled slightly.
"Anguo is a wolf in sheep's clothing! He wants to seize my Dawu gold mine! And you say there are extenuating circumstances? His heart is despicable!"
"When did this old minister say that His Highness Prince Danyang should go to Anguo? Isn't His Highness Prince Ying a prince?"
As expected, the two factions of ministers immediately started arguing amongst themselves, each with ample reasons to support their arguments.
Grand Secretary Zhang Song, however, frowned slightly and remained silent with his eyes closed, not clearly taking sides.
What a cunning old fox! Wei Tingyu glanced at Zhang Song and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
No wonder this guy was able to become the Grand Chancellor of Dawu! His scheming skills are probably unmatched in the Wu Kingdom's court!
"Stop arguing!" At this moment, the Prince of Danyang finally couldn't hold back any longer. He roared to stop the quarreling in the court, then took a deep breath and said, "If I am unwilling to welcome back His Majesty as an envoy, I will not escape the responsibility of being unjust and unfilial to my countrymen!"
"If I were to become an envoy, my Great Wu would likely face the danger of annihilation!"
At this point, the Prince of Danyang wore a very troubled expression. After glancing at the important officials in the court, he continued, "My lords! If you were presented with two cups of poison, one containing arsenic and the other poison... which would you choose?"
As soon as the King of Danyang said this, the ministers of Wu Kingdom began to whisper among themselves and discuss the matter.
Moreover, from their conversations, Wei Tingyu could tell that most of these people were persuaded by the King of Danyang's analogy.
It seems that no matter what choice you make, you can't be completely sure of success, and if you make a mistake, the result will be the destruction of your country and the ruin of your family!
Only Zhang Song, that old fox, actually opened his eyes and looked at the Prince of Danyang.
At this moment, the expression in his eyes seemed to see right through the other person, and there was even a hint of contempt in the corner of his eye.
"But the question is, why must we choose one cup?" Meanwhile, King Danyang continued his performance on the platform.
“Indeed! The people of Anguo must be having a headache over how to settle His Majesty!” Sure enough, at this moment, a minister, as if he had discussed it with the King of Danyang, stepped forward and said, “Do they think they can endanger His Majesty’s life if our country does not pay the ransom?”
"We can stall for time, making them stop hoarding our goods!"
Upon hearing this, even the most obtuse ministers in the court understood what the Prince of Danyang meant: he had no intention of bringing Emperor Wu back at the moment.
The debate at this morning assembly is merely a formality!
Wei Tingyu now understood why this guy had invited him to come along. The outcome was already predetermined; his actions were merely a show for the court officials and foreign envoys.
He truly exemplifies the principle of "being a leader while still setting an example"!
"Nonsense! The Emperor is in distress, yet you show no concern whatsoever. Do you even deserve to be called subjects?" Of course, there were still some upright ministers in the Wu Kingdom court. Even though they knew the King of Danyang's intentions, they still stood up and angrily rebuked him.
For a time, the two factions of ministers started arguing incessantly again.
Wei Tingyu no longer cared about these arguing fellows, since the life and death of Emperor Wu had nothing to do with him, an outsider!
His attention had shifted to a window on the outside of the main hall.
His exceptional hearing naturally detected that someone breathing very lightly was peeking into the court from the window.
This person himself had absolutely no martial arts skills...
"Your Highness, Regent!" Wei Tingyu smiled slightly, cupped his hands towards the Prince of Danyang on the platform, and said, "This matter is an internal affair of your country. Whether or not to welcome your emperor back... or who to send to welcome him, is not something that I, an outsider, can comment on!"
"Therefore, I must take my leave now. Please forgive me, Your Highness and all the esteemed officials!"
"Lord Wei, please go ahead!" King Danyang paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded at Wei Tingyu.
Originally, he only asked Wei Tingyu to come here as a witness, to listen to his reasons for not going to receive the emperor, so as to prevent his reputation from being ruined and spreading to the Central Plains.
There was no point in keeping Wei Tingyu here any longer, so he immediately smiled and gestured for him to leave.
The Prince of Danyang, the regent of Wu Kingdom, held Wei Tingyu, a marquis from a powerful country in the Central Plains, in high esteem, at least outwardly.
Wei Tingyu ignored the ministers who smiled and nodded goodbye to him, as well as those who were still arguing, and strode out of the main hall.
However, after leaving, he did not go directly out of the palace, but instead flashed to the side of the main hall.
Sure enough, a figure dressed in a dark blue eunuch's robe was peering through the window.
Moreover, judging from his thin figure, he was definitely a girl in disguise as a eunuch!
Of course, the little "eunuch" was preoccupied with the ministers arguing in the main hall and did not notice Wei Tingyu walking up behind her!
Wei Tingyu checked the side hall next to him and found that no one was there at the moment. He grabbed the other person's arm and quickly pulled him into the side hall.
The woman disguised as a eunuch was no match for Wei Tingyu in terms of strength, and he easily dragged her aside.
By the time he realized what was happening, he was already in the side hall...
Moreover, because Wei Tingyu moved too quickly, her hat fell off, and then her long black hair cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall!
Without the disguise, what appeared before Wei Tingyu was indeed a petite and lovely girl, whose temperament was somewhat similar to that of Li Jia's fourth daughter, Haode.
Of course, judging from the other party's current confused and bewildered appearance, their temperament should be similar to Haode's!
"How dare you!" Wei Tingyu looked at the bewildered young girl in front of him, who seemed to have not yet come to her senses, and immediately put on a fierce expression and asked, "Who are you? How dare you eavesdrop on the court assembly?"
"I..." The other person was startled by Wei Tingyu's gentle shout, but she finally came to her senses. She subconsciously wanted to answer the question, but she realized her mistake after only uttering one word.
"You don't recognize me?" the little girl asked, blinking, her expression of confusion as she looked at Wei Tingyu's face.
That doesn't make sense! How could someone who speaks in the Wu Kingdom's court not recognize him?
"Do I need to know you?" Wei Tingyu knew the girl's true identity, of course, but now was the perfect opportunity to tease her. He widened his eyes and revealed a fierce expression, saying, "Speak quickly! Otherwise, I'll execute you on the spot!"
"You...you dare!" Upon hearing Wei Tingyu's words, and considering his expression and serious tone, the girl immediately took it seriously.
She shuddered in fright, but still mustered her courage and proudly raised her little head to look at him, saying, "How dare you! You don't even recognize this princess?!"
"Oh! So it's Princess Yang Ying!" Wei Tingyu, of course, already knew her identity. Seeing the girl's sullen expression, he immediately clasped his hands in a fist and said, "It's a misunderstanding!"
"Misunderstanding?" Yang Ying immediately became smug after hearing that the other party recognized her, and her little nose almost turned up to the sky.
In her opinion, this guy would definitely kneel down and beg for mercy immediately, after all, the palace maids and eunuchs in the palace were all afraid of her!
However, to her surprise, the other party merely cupped their hands in greeting; they didn't even bother to kneel or bow! This immediately filled Yang Ying with indignation!
"Who are you? I've never seen you before." Of course, Yang Ying, though mischievous, wasn't stupid. She rolled her eyes and began to inquire about Wei Tingyu's identity.
"I am Wei Tingyu, Marquis of Jining! I am not a native of Wu Kingdom!" Wei Tingyu had nothing to hide and nodded directly to Yang Ying.
"You are the Marquis of Jining from the Central Plains?" Yang Ying blinked. Although she was in the inner palace, she must have heard about this.
However, she had always thought that this marquis, who was acting as a special envoy, would be an old man with a white beard! But she never expected him to be so young, looking no older than herself!
"Princess, you are of noble birth. How could you disguise yourself as a lowly eunuch and casually eavesdrop on court assemblies?" Wei Tingyu asked with a smile, softening his tone as he spoke to the princess, who looked to be about the same age as the two youngest girls in the Li family.
"I..." Yang Ying was a little embarrassed. After all, the other party was a foreign envoy, and it seemed that it wouldn't work to show off her status as a princess in front of him.
And it's true that she was caught red-handed secretly trying to find out about the Super League.
Besides, he was currently dressed in eunuch's clothes! If things really escalated and a bunch of people came to see him, wouldn't he be the one who lost face?
"I'm just worried about my brother..." Thinking of this, Yang Ying pursed her lips helplessly and then explained in a low voice.
Wei Tingyu nodded silently upon hearing this. A girl of this age doesn't understand anything about national affairs. To her, it's simply a younger sister worrying about her older brother's safety.
What's there to reprimand about?
"Besides, who in this palace would treat me as a legitimate princess except for my brother and sister-in-law?" Yang Ying saw the understanding look in Wei Tingyu's eyes and suddenly felt a sense of trust in him. She immediately spoke in a low voice.
Hearing the other person's aggrieved words and seeing the pitiful expression on their face, Wei Tingyu's heart naturally melted.
That makes sense. If she were truly a favored princess who could have anything she wanted in the harem, she wouldn't have disguised herself as a eunuch to secretly eavesdrop on the court assembly.
Of course, the reason for this was also related to the affairs of the Wuguo Palace, which Wei Tingyu was unaware of, and he was simply used to such situations.
“Your Highness, you must not belittle yourself like this! Even if your mother is of lowly birth, she is still of royal blood!” Wei Tingyu said directly, looking at the pitiful Princess Yang Ying.
"But... when my elder sister called me a lowly wretch, she never treated me like Father's daughter!" Princess Yang Ying was truly moved when she heard Wei Tingyu's words! However, she was still filled with sorrow for the past and could not let go of it!
“Since Princess Yang Ying is ten times more beautiful than the eldest princess!” However, when facing a young girl in the midst of her teenage angst, Wei Tingyu’s flirting skills came naturally, and he said directly, “Of course, we must also allow the eldest princess to have a heart ten times smaller than yours!”
Anyway, it's all about making the girl happy. Even though Wei Tingyu has never seen what the eldest princess looks like, he can still say it so casually and without any scruples.
No matter how old a woman is, it's never wrong to compliment her on her beauty!
Sure enough, the little princess's eyes lit up immediately after hearing Wei Tingyu's words, and she even showed a very sweet smile.
Two tiny dimples made Wei Tingyu's eyes dazzle!
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Chapter 175 Nighttime Infiltration of the Palace! The Beautiful Empress and the Naive Princess!
"You really think so?" Yang Ying had no idea how Wei Tingyu knew what the eldest princess looked like. However, she found his two sentences very helpful.
Wei Tingyu didn't say anything more, just stared straight at Yang Ying, his eyes conveying the unwavering truth to her.
Princess Yang Ying, who had grown up in the palace, had never experienced anything like this before. She froze on the spot after seeing Wei Tingyu's gaze, and after a few seconds, her cheeks flushed slightly.
Good heavens! This naive young girl is so easily fooled! Just a few words and she's already smitten!
What a sin! Facing Princess Yang Ying, who is as innocent as a little white rabbit, I really didn't intend to seduce her; I just wanted to give her some advice!
However, my charm was just too great, and this girl fell for me in just a few words, so I can't blame myself for it.
Wei Tingyu felt a little smug inside, but he still smiled at Yang Ying again.
That smile was practically a response, and Yang Ying immediately felt the warmth of first love.