But Fu Zhiyu knew that this was not feasible. Not to mention that Emperor Qingyuan had seen Yuan Mingdao before, it was impossible for him not to recognize his gender. Besides, the princess was not married casually. After so many inspections, how could he get away with it
Besides, Mingdao is only twelve years old now. Fu Zhiyu treats him as a younger brother and pampers him. He is not such a beast yet.
"Let's just drag it out like this," he stretched out his hand and rubbed his brow tiredly, "I just don't want to get married, can you force me into the bridal chamber?"
He also prayed that something would happen to attract Emperor Qingyuan's attention and ask him to focus on state affairs instead of messing around with other people. However, he did not expect that within half a month, something big would happen.
The battle of Qianyuan not only defeated the barbarians, but also shocked the entire continent. Now the barbarians have signed a treaty to cede territory and pay compensation, and the first batch of tributes is about to be sent to Jilin. However, they not only want to send things, but also people.
King Xidan is coming.
On the surface, he said that he admired Jilin's national strength and came here to apologize for his youth and ignorance. However, his action prompted the ancient Western Regions, which had been watching, to send a letter, saying that there had been few exchanges between the countries on the mainland in recent years, so why not take this opportunity to have a gathering and have in-depth exchanges and communication, and also hoped that through this opportunity, all countries could understand each other, so as to protect the peace of the mainland and protect the people from the harm of war.
Emperor Qingyuan knew that they wanted to find out Jilin's bottom line, but he was also confident that Jilin was not a pushover. The Battle of Qianyuan was not just because of good luck, but also a good opportunity for them to see and recognize their own status so that they would not dare to make random attacks in the future.
The two vassal states of Chen and Jing naturally followed Ji Lin's wishes. As for the southern border, which was easy to defend but difficult to attack, it had always been independent and did not get involved in all these matters, so Emperor Qing Yuan did not expect them to come.
The four countries coming to pay tribute is a rare event.
However, it would take time for the countries to set off, and this event would obviously be made into a grand one. Emperor Qing Yuan was ambitious and wanted to secure his position as the number one country on the continent. When Fu Zhiyu went to the Glazed Palace again, he could hear the music troupe playing in the distance on the road.
How to demonstrate a country's strength naturally involves both civil and military affairs. Emperor Qing Yuan has always been a well-prepared person, so he has a lot of things to arrange.
"This didn't happen in my previous life." Yuan Mingdao also heard about it and said to him with emotion, "The world changes so fast."
Fu Zhiyu didn't know how to describe what had happened. Tracing back to the bowl of medicine knocked over by Nanny Gui in the imperial garden, it could be traced back to the choice he made the moment he woke up, which was different from the choice he made in his previous life.
The flapping of the butterfly's wings caused an unpredictable hurricane, and everything that happened afterwards was beyond his control. Fu Zhiyu was just a person who went with the flow. He just wanted to follow the development of history and live in peace in a corner.
Because of the court meeting, Emperor Qingyuan's attention was somewhat diverted, and he was no longer so concerned about urging the marriage. But the pressure was still there, and Fu Zhiyu changed his mind. There were people in his backyard.
We can't really go along with Xie Ke's wishes just because he's causing trouble. Fu Zhiyu has no intention of doing anything with Lu Jian now, but he can play a minor tune on the pipa, so he can occasionally call her over to listen to a tune. The other concubines sent from the palace are all talented, and one of them can dance the water sleeve dance. Fu Zhiyu took a look and thought she was pretty good.
The stories told by storytellers outside recently are all boring and boring. The Xie family is being praised to the sky by them. Fu Zhiyu doesn't want to listen to them anymore. It's better for her to read the storybooks at home, listen to some music and watch some dancing occasionally, so that her life can be more interesting.
He also deliberately took one of his charming concubines out several times, causing rumors outside that he was extremely licentious and doted on his concubine too much. Prince Zhao is now not very smart and has basically no chance of inheriting the throne. Families with high status all have purposes. In terms of marriage, he is really not as good as Concubine Xue's two princes, or even as good as the younger Fu Yanxi and Fu Yanran.
Fu Zhiyu was pleased to see this.
The emperor also looked down on some families of lower status. The Xie family, which he favored the most, had a marriageable girl, a legitimate daughter. Everything was going well at first, but the girl went crazy and said that she had a lover and would rather die than marry King Zhao. She cried, made a fuss, and even threatened to hang herself. Although the marriage was not up to her, it would not be good if the matter was made too big. If the girl from the Xie family really made up her mind and committed suicide, not only would the happy event turn into a funeral, but the original plan of marrying into the Xie family would result in enemies instead of marriage. That would be unnecessary trouble.
There are other girls in the Xie family, but they are not from Xie Lin's lineage. Emperor Qingyuan has also taken a close look at the cousins in the Loyal and Brave General's Mansion, but to be honest, the Xie family was originally a poor family, and it was Xie Lin alone who brought the entire family to this state. The rest are useless and cunning. Xiaojiu is also simple-minded now. Emperor Qingyuan is afraid that if he marries such a cunning girl, it will cause unrest in the harem.
In the end, after all the trying, he still couldn't find a suitable woman in this huge capital city.
Emperor Qingyuan was also tired of this matter. He told Imperial Noble Consort Yun that it didn't matter if the princess was not from the capital. In the future, when the four countries came to pay tribute, there would be princesses coming, and a marriage alliance would not be impossible at that time.
Fu Zhiyu: "...He hasn't given up yet?"
"Let him do whatever he wants," Imperial Noble Consort Yun said helplessly, "If he doesn't want her, he will always find a reason. He is a person who thinks too much, and he won't ask you to marry someone casually."
In addition to the forced marriage, Xie Ke is also very annoying.
Or maybe he had a lot to do with the progress of Fu Zhiyu's marriage. Fu Zhiyu had also heard about the incident with the young lady from the Xie family. She was fine at the beginning, but then she suddenly became like this, as if... she was threatened by someone.
General Zhenyuan's Mansion was just opposite, and Xie Ke climbed over the wall more and more often, both at night and during the day.
He was even used to Rongrong rushing up to bite him. With Xie Ke's physical fitness, it was impossible for him to be defeated by a wolfdog. Even if he met Yuan Mingdao halfway through climbing over the wall, he was not afraid. Fu Zhiyu also saw the two of them fighting once. After all, Mingdao was smaller in size, so Xie Ke took the sword away in a few moves.
"Practice for a few more years, kid," Xie Ke said, "You can't beat me now."
Yuan Mingdao was angry, but he just showed off for a while. When he was in front of Fu Zhiyu, his treatment was naturally not as good as Yuan Mingdao's.
Those people of Shadow have been watching Prince Zhao's mansion. He knew that Fu Zhiyu only sought out those concubines to watch the singing and dancing performances and to create momentum outside so that he could cancel the marriage. He had never stayed overnight at their place. But knowing was one thing, and the feeling after seeing was another.
Jealous and envious, but helpless.
He couldn't help but feel sour, but he really didn't dare to show this temper in front of Fu Zhiyu. Now, while controlling his fur that was about to bite him, he approached Fu Zhiyu and said sourly: "I can also play many instruments. What do you want to hear? I'll play them for you."
Fu Zhiyu waved his hand, signaling Rongrong to come over, and then he stroked Rongrong's dog ears soothingly, without looking up at him, and said, "I don't want any of them."
No one knew what Xie Ke had learned from somewhere, but now he was a complete dog-skin plaster. Even Fu Zhiyu was afraid of him because of his persistence. Fu Zhiyu couldn't get rid of him, so he just let him be. The main thing was that if he really spent his time thinking about how to get rid of Xie Ke, he probably wouldn't have the time to do other things all day.
Because of the last time Xie Ke was seriously injured, he kept telling the emperor that he had not recovered and needed to rest for a while. The health of a military officer was a big deal, and since there had been no wars recently, Emperor Qing Yuan was naturally willing to accommodate him, so this new noble in the court had plenty of time to pester whoever he wanted.
However, Xie Ke seemed to be afraid of Fu Zhiyu getting angry, so he didn't dare to do many things too much. He was slowly infiltrating, starting with small things like food, clothing, housing and transportation, trying to make Fu Zhiyu fall into his trap imperceptibly. But Fu Zhiyu was not without vigilance, and he even received warnings from outside.
This warning actually came from the Minister of Justice Shen Yang. Fu Zhiyu would now pay attention to the developments in the court from time to time. He could see some turbulent waves in the dark. Shen Yang and Xie Ke were clearly cooperating in some aspects, but this man had seized the opportunity to find him again and again, and repeatedly reminded him that Xie Ke was very dangerous and not a good person, and he should not be fooled by him.
"King Zhao, please don't be deceived by appearances. Xie Ke seems to be treating you well at the moment, but he has other intentions," Shen Yang said righteously, "but I am different. I will protect you for the rest of my life."
Fu Zhiyu: “…”
Do you believe this? And you two are birds of a feather, so stop stepping on each other.
Every time he faced Shen Yang, he would run away. If he couldn't afford to provoke him, he could afford to hide. Anyway, Shen Yang was not as powerful as Xie Ke. Fu Zhiyu would run away when facing him. Perhaps it was the lack of this part of communication that Shen Yang seemed to have never realized that he was also reborn.
The days passed in a turbulent manner. Generally speaking, it was certainly not as peaceful as the time when Xie Ke went to the war. However, Fu Zhiyu was calm and would not be disturbed too much by the actions of others, so he felt it was okay.
Information exchange was slow these days, and it took a long time to discuss something remotely, let alone such a grand event as the four countries coming to Jilin for a court meeting. The day was carefully chosen, and more and more things were being prepared. Fu Zhiyu spent a hot summer like this, and when the leaves on the trees turned yellow and early autumn had arrived, the envoys from the four countries finally arrived.
The official road was crowded with people who came to watch the fun. There was nothing good to see in the caravan of Chen Guojing. Its style was similar to Jilin's, but it lacked the grandeur of Jilin. It was mainly made up of barbarians and ancient countries from the Western Regions. Not to mention the caravan, even the people looked very different from those here. People just came to watch for fun.
The people in the ancient country of the Western Regions were the same as Yuan Mingdao. Their eye and hair colors were not all black like the people in the Central Plains. Their caravans were often decorated with light gauze, their pants were baggy, their facial features were deep, and their customs were more open than Jilin's. As for the barbarians, they all rode horses, wearing riding clothes, tall and dark skin, which was really interesting to watch.
Fu Zhiyu has been very bored recently. Since Xie Ke was called to welcome the envoy today, he was happy to have some free time, so he brought Ming Dao and booked a private room by the window in Fengyue Tower.
When he saw the Western Region convoy, Fu Zhiyu couldn't help but ask him, "Ming Dao, have you ever thought about going back?"
Yuan Mingdao looked at him puzzledly and said, "Why do you want to go back? I don't have a home there. Where the master is is my home."
Fu Zhiyu rubbed his head, not knowing how to answer. Finally, he sighed and said, "I will always be good to Ming Dao."
"I will treat my master well in the same way," Yuan Mingdao smiled at him, and seemed to have thought of something. His face suddenly darkened, and he touched the crescent-shaped scimitar hanging on his waist.
"Xie Ke, this old thief, keeps talking nonsense and keeps bothering the master!" He said angrily, "He bullies me because I'm young and haven't finished my martial arts training yet. I will definitely skin him alive with my own hands in the future!"
Taking all the new and old grudges into account, he and Xie Ke will be even more irreconcilable in this life.