Ximen Zhanying's face turned pale. Qining thought he had heard wrong because of his bad ears. He frowned and asked, "Qu Xiaowei, what did you say? The emperor granted marriage? To whom?"
"Back to the Marquis, the marriage decree has not been issued yet." Qu Xiaocang said: "It's just that someone in the palace just heard that Duan Shao, the crown prince of the Eastern Qi Dynasty, just entered the palace to meet with the Holy Emperor and begged the Holy Emperor for a marriage. "
"That's not right." Qi Ning's expression immediately turned grim: "Duan Shao didn't express his intention to propose to Chu State before. Even if he had a temporary proposal, he should have found the princess from the royal family. How could he have the idea of Zhan Ying?"
"Master Marquis, the late emperor only had one dragon-blooded emperor." Qu Xiaocang explained: "Most of the royal princesses have already left the cabinet. Although there are still two princesses of royal blood who have not yet left the cabinet, the older ones are less than ten years old. Years old, she is not old enough to leave the palace, so there is no princess in the royal family suitable to marry."
Qi Ning thought to himself that the bloodline of the Xiao royal family was really not strong. He frowned and said: "Even if the royal family does not have a suitable princess to marry, Duan Shao is the prince of Dong Qi. Since he wants to marry, he should find a high-ranking princess. Girl, now the Duke of Zhen is the most important minister of our great state of Chu, and his granddaughter Sima Wanqiong has not yet left the cabinet, so wouldn’t she be the most suitable candidate?"
Qu Xiaocang said: "I don't know why Duan Shao would think of Zhan Ying despite my humble position. But the words from the palace are correct. Duan Shao personally begged the emperor to marry Zhan Ying."
Ximen Zhanying's pretty face was pale, her delicate body was trembling, and she seemed to be about to cry. She looked at Qi Ning and said in a tearful tone: "Qining, what should I do? Please think of a solution quickly."
Qi Ning knew Ximen Zhanying's mood at this moment, and said softly: "Zhan Ying, although Duan Xuan proposed for marriage, the emperor did not issue a decree. There is still hope for this marriage. Don't worry, if you don't want to, I will definitely do it." It's like the emperor's advice." He looked at Qu Xiaocang and asked, "Qu Xiaowei, does the God Lord know about this?"
"I have sent someone to Xianleju to report to the God." Qu Xiaocang said seriously: "Master Marquis, the Crown Prince of Dong Qi came here to see his relatives this time. It seems that he has hidden his thoughts for a long time."
Qi Ning nodded slightly, thinking that it was no wonder that Prince Dong Qi would send the bride off in person. It turned out that he wanted to play such a trick.
But even if he marries Ximen Zhanying, what benefit will it bring to Dong Qi? Is it just to strengthen the alliance between the two countries
"I will go to the palace now." Qi Ning pondered for a moment and said, "Duan Shao wants to take Zhan Ying away from Da Chu. It is simply a wishful thinking." But in his heart, he was thinking that Ximen Zhan Ying is already his woman. , how can you let others take away your love with a sword? Even God has to fight tit for tat.
Without any delay, he comforted Ximen Zhanying, then left the Shenhou Mansion and went straight to the palace.
When he arrived at the palace, he went straight to the imperial study, thinking that Longtai had already promised that he would marry Ximen Zhanying into the Jinyi Qi family. If Longtai compromised with Dongqi Crown Prince Duan Shao for the sake of his relationship with Dongqi, he was really prepared to marry Ximen Zhanying to the Jinyi Qi family. Yingyuan married Dong Qi, and she would argue with Longtai no matter what.
Before reaching the imperial study room, I saw several figures coming towards me. The one at the front was Fan Dehai, the eunuch chief next to Longtai. The person behind him was dressed in brocade and jade belt, wearing a crown on his head, and had a slender figure. It was Duan Shao, the crown prince of the Eastern Qi Dynasty.
A sharp look flashed in Qi Ning's eyes, but it flashed past. Duan Shao had already seen Qi Ning over there, and smiled and said: "Jin Yihou!"
Qi Ning stepped forward and cupped his hands and said: "Your Highness the Crown Prince!" He thought that if Duan Shao was really in the palace, then the news Qu Xiaocang got would not be false.
Although the Shenhou Mansion has great magical powers, they should not dare to put spies in the palace. Before Duan Shao left the palace, the Shenhou Mansion got the news. It was probably Long Tai who deliberately let people leak it.
"Your Majesty has summoned me today, so I came to the palace to pay my respects." Duan Shao said with an elegant demeanor, "I had a very pleasant chat with your Majesty, and Your Majesty even stayed with me to dine with you. The dishes of your country are really good. Delicious.”
Qi Ning said with a smile: "It's a pity that the Jinyihou Mansion is very shabby and there are no good cooks. Otherwise, I would definitely invite His Highness to come to the humble residence and have a few drinks."
Duan Shao laughed and said: "Jin Yihou, it doesn't matter whether you invite me or not, but you must drink my wedding wine."
"Wedding wine?"
Duan Shao put his hands behind his back and said with a smile: "I am sending my relatives to your country this time in order to establish a lasting alliance between the two countries. In order to bring our two countries closer together, I have already requested the Lord's decree. I sincerely ask the Lord Another marriage is granted. Although I am nearly thirty years old, I have not established a crown princess until now. Now that I have married a beauty from your country and returned to my country, I will immediately appoint her as a crown princess. From then on, You and I are truly in-law countries."
"I see." Qi Ning said calmly and with a smile, "Congratulations to Your Highness."
"Jinyi is waiting to enter the palace. I want to meet with the Lord to discuss something." Duan Shao cupped his hands and said, "I won't disturb you anymore. I'll take my leave first and have a drink later."
Fan Dehai also bowed to Qi Ning, and then led Duan Shao to leave.
Qi Ning watched Duan Shao go away, sneered, and then went to the imperial study. After the notification, Longtai called Qining in. As soon as Qining entered the imperial study, Longtai said: "You came here very quickly."
Qi Ning saw Longtai sitting behind the imperial desk, stepped forward and saluted, and then said: "The emperor gave me three days, I have made a decision, and now I come to report to the emperor."
"No need to pretend." Long Tai said: "As soon as Duan Shao left, you came over with your back. Don't I know what you want to do? Do you already know that?"
"I don't know what the matter is." Qi Ning shook his head and said, "I came to the palace today because I want to ask the emperor to grant me a marriage. I am willing to marry Ximen Zhanying, and I hope the emperor will grant it."
Longtai saw Qining's calm expression, but he couldn't see any trace of dissatisfaction in Qining. He smiled faintly, pointed to the chair next to him, and said, "Speak slowly if you have something to say, don't be in a hurry."
Qi Ning went over and sat down, and Long Taicai said: "I let people leak the news to the Shenhou Mansion and tell them that Duan Shao begged Ximen Zhanying to marry back to Dong Qi. Of course you already know this."
"I have heard a little bit about it." Qi Ning said: "But I don't believe these rumors. The emperor has promised to give Ximen Zhanying to me, and the emperor has kept his promise, so I will naturally ignore these rumors."
Long Tai was startled for a moment, then smiled and said: "Qining, are you deliberately mocking me?"
"How dare you." Qi Ning looked at Longtai: "The emperor is the emperor. He can take my head off with one finger. How dare I mock the emperor."
"Don't talk nonsense." Long Tai laughed and scolded: "If you don't enter the palace, I will call you here. Qining and Duan Shao really want to marry Ximen Zhanying, but I haven't agreed yet."
"Your Majesty, does Duan Shao know that you have betrothed Zhan Ying to me?" Qi Ning asked.
Longtai said: "I did mention it, but Duan Shao said that since I haven't made a decree yet, it is not the emperor's order. Duan Shao initially wanted to marry a princess from the royal family, but the royal family did not have a suitable candidate. He Only then did you propose to marry Ximen Zhanying." He looked at Qi Ning and said, "Don't put all the mistakes on me. If you had agreed three days ago and I had issued the decree at that time, how could you have done anything else? There’s all this trouble.”
Qi Ning sat back on the chair and said: "How did I know that this bitch Duan Shao would come out like this?" He frowned and said: "Your Majesty, with all due respect, Duan Shao is the crown prince of Dong Qi, and his status is considered noble. Ximen Zhan Although Ying is Ximen Wuhen's daughter, Ximen Wuhen's title is not as high as that of the royal family, not even the four hereditary princes. The royal family has no princess to marry, and it is not easy to choose one of the four hereditary princes. Disaster."
"You are right." Long Tai said: "The Jindao Tantai family and your Qi family have no suitable candidates, but Sima Wanqiong of the Sima family is at the age of leaving the cabinet, and Su Zhen also has a daughter who is also at the age of leaving the cabinet. , these two people are originally very suitable. No matter what the purpose is when Dong Qi sends Princess Tianxiang, at least she is sincerely making friends with me, Da Chu. Since Duan Shao proposed to marry me, I naturally cannot refuse, and even agree to it if He wants to marry the four hereditary candidates, and I am very willing to see it happen."
Qi Ning knew very well that if the person Duan Shao was marrying was not Ximen Zhanying, but the lady of another high-ranking official in the Chu Kingdom, not only would he not have the slightest objection, but he would strongly support it.
If Chu and Dong Qi can get married, the alliance between the two countries will naturally be further strengthened.
But if Duan Shao falls in love with Ximen Zhanying, there is no way Qining can just watch this matter become a reality. He is not a person who doesn't care about the overall situation, but if he can't even protect the woman around him, it's hard for him to believe that he can still Have greater achievements.
"In that case, why didn't Duan Shao accept the emperor's suggestion?" Qi Ning frowned and said, "Why does he have to keep an eye on Ximen Zhanying?"
Longtai said: "He claims to have loved horseback riding and archery since he was a child, and he likes heroic girls. Those weak ladies are not suitable to be his crown princess. He said that he heard that Ximen Wuhen has a daughter who has been practicing martial arts since she was a child, and she has outstanding appearance, so Then he begged me to marry Ximen Zhanying to him."
Qining frowned, thoughtfully. Seeing that Qining was silent, Longtai asked, "What are you thinking about?"
"Your Majesty, I'm wondering how Duan Shao knew about Ximen Zhanying." Qi Ning stood up and walked to the table, "Duan Shao's delegation arrived in Jianye only a few days ago, so why did they know so much about Ximen Zhanying? ? This time he asked the emperor for a decree to grant marriage. Was it decided before the trip, or was it an impromptu decision? "
Longtai asked: "Do you think he made it temporarily?"
"I'm not sure." Qi Ning said, "But I always feel that it won't be that simple if the Emperor wants to grant a marriage during this period." After thinking for a while, he said: "Your Majesty, the former King of Huainan went to the Huaihe River The emperor welcomed the delegation and told me in advance that the emperor might want to grant a marriage. Did the emperor tell him about the marriage in advance? "
Longtai said: "I thought of granting a marriage, and it actually has something to do with King Huainan. When I sent King Huainan to greet him, King Huainan said that you were on an envoy to the Eastern Qi Dynasty and had made great achievements. After you returned to Beijing, I could issue an edict to grant you a marriage. Marriage can be regarded as a reward for your achievements."
"That's it." Qi Ning nodded slightly: "Did King Huainan advise the emperor on who to marry me?"