Chapter 135: The Prince of Mo Bei
"Why are you here? Are you here to see how fallen I’ve become?" Jiang Yue Lan looked at Li Wei Yang and tried her best to suppress her hatred, saying word by word, but the venom from her teeth was looming in her eyes.
"What is Mother saying, I just came to visit you." Seeing Jiang Yue Lan looking behind her, Li Wei Yang smiled, "Mother does not have to wait, Father will not come, nor will Lao Furen."
Jiang Yue Lan's eyes were obviously showing disappointment. She thought that she and Li Xiao Ran have been husband and wife for quite some time now and would still have affections for her. But who would have known that he was this ruthless and unjust that he believed Li Wei Yang so much and thought that his own child wasn’t his. How could it not be his? Jiang Yue Lan wanted to sneer, but found that the smile surfaced on her lips but turned bitter.
She took a glance at the cold food beside the table and it was just cold buns and half a bowl of cold rice that even the lowest-ranked servants refused to touch. Li Wei Yang smiled slightly: "After Mother married into the Li family, you've been eating delicacies. Treating you with such food is not serving you right."
Jiang Yue Lan's mouth sneered and the venom in her eyes gradually cleared up. Li Wei Yang's words aroused all her grievances. She couldn't help biting her teeth and the sneer in her mouth burst into a full bloom: "The triumphant king has defeated the bandits; I’ve lost to you and it’s because I wasn’t as cunning as you were. When I rise again one day, you might fall into my hands and then, you will become much more miserable than I am."
Li Wei Yang smiled and said, "No one even cared about your suicide ploy. Do you think --- it is still possible to rise up again?"
Jiang Yue Lan stopped suddenly, and a chill covered her heart: she wanted to say that she would win back Li Xiao Ran. However, Li Wei Yang's smile reminded her that Li Xiao Ran is so ruthless to her now, would he believe her words? Even if she knelt by his feet and pleaded, she might be shaming herself.
Yes, committing suicide to gain sympathy was her last resort. If the other party doesn't even bother about her life, does she still have a chance to regain her position again? Jiang Yue Lan gritted her teeth and said, "I still have--"
"Oh, you mean, you still have your own maternal family and the Jiang's family. Ever since the incident, no one came to visit you." Li Wei Yang said slowly but cruelly. "For them, you are just an abandoned child. Who cares about your life and death? I heard that your mother-in-law is already planning to marry your second sister to Father as his new wife, saying that she’s going to help you out. You don’t know about this, right?"
This sentence pierced into Jiang Yue Lan's heart like a bloody red knife. At that moment, she immediately realized that her miscarriage disappointed her maternal family. She hadn't even given birth to a child yet after marrying into the family for more than a year. They couldn't wait to send another daughter to consolidate their position ... how can they be so shameless! She is still alive, and she is the rightful wife of the Li’s family! Uncontrollably, a cold tear came down from the corner of her eye, but Jiang Yue Lan turned away and refused to let others see it. She spit out a cold sentence after a long moment of silence: "I did lose, and I lost completely. But I will never let you be even if I become a ghost! I will haunt you forever, making you feel uneasy day and night, and I won’t let you live a good day!"
After listening to this, Li Wei Yang suddenly laughed. The smile on her face was very contemptuous and apparently she did not care too much about her opponent.
Jiang Yue Lan felt that the laughter was like scoops of ice water pouring into her heart. She shivered involuntarily and felt defeated. "I… I… I..." She suddenly lost the strength of her struggle and became extremely discouraged. She burst into tears and fell down suddenly and then fell to Li Wei Yang's feet: "Third Xiaojie, I won’t dare to fight against you anymore, just let me go! Can you give me a way out?"
Li Wei Yang looked at her with half pity and half sarcasm: "I never meant to put you to death, why should Mother be so afraid?" As she said, she told A Luo, "Help your Furen up, look at how she is acting now."
A Luo hurried to help Jiang Yue Lan but she was pushed away, she said loudly: "I know that your willingness to come today means that I still have value? As long as I am here, Li Xiao Ran won’t marry a new wife, nor will there be a newcomer coming in to threaten the status of Seventh Yiniang and Min Zhi. Now that he can’t have children and I can’t get pregnant anymore, Min Zhi will be the only son in this family, which is also beneficial to you. Isn’t it? Let me go, I’ll never be against you again. I will tell you if there is any situation in the Jiang family, no, I can even help you deal with them, as long as you let me continue to stay in this position and as long as you can help me prevent my sister from entering the family, I will depend on you!" Just now she just figured all out; who cares about Li Min De or her family, she, herself, is the most important. Li Wei Yang is not someone she dared to provoke anymore. Enemies she can’t win against should become her friends. This is her way of survival for so many years. Instead of letting her family send someone to demolish herself, it is better to go to Li Wei Yang. There is still a way to save this...
Li Wei Yang smiled slightly and said, "A Luo, wipe the tears for your Furen. Her current body condition can't bear her crying like this."
That means she had agreed! Jiang Yue Lan wiped her tears and stood up, but stumbled and fell to the ground. A Luo quickly went to help her and she immediately said: "I will not disappoint you for helping me. In the future, if the Jiang family have any movements, you will be the first one who I will tell!"
Li Wei Yang's smile brought a bit of indifference and said, "I hope so." She kept Jiang Yue Lan but it was because she could be put to good use in the future. Towards her enemy, her heart had already turned into ice and snow so there was no sympathy at all.
A Luo reluctantly helped Jiang Yue Lan to go to bed and lay down. Li Wei Yang looked at her unsteady pace and couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. She just knelt in the ice and snow for a long time just after her miscarriage. Seeing her legs and feet were not as agile and she also heard that she occasionally vomited blood... How long can such a person live, she should hurry up with her plans. Thinking of this, Li Wei Yang no longer looked at the people in the room, turned and walked out.
Inside the room, A Luo asked quietly, "Furen, are you really going to depend on Third Xiaojie?"
Jiang Yue Lan's face was decayed and although her eyes were still hateful, she was already exhausted. She glanced at A Luo and said, "It's not that I want to depend on her, but I have to depend on her. Me being alive now is useful to her so she is keeping me. If one day I become useless, no one will care for me anymore. Li Wei Yang is certainly irritating but what I hate the most is Li Xiao Ran, this cruel and unscrupulous thing. I am pregnant with his child but he didn’t even ask me and punish me to kneel, causing me to live with this illness for the rest of my life. I will never forgive him. Even if I go to hell, I will drag him with me!"
Jiang Yue Lan's hatred has gradually shifted to Li Xiao Ran, who had ruined her life. Seeing her clenching her teeth, A Luo couldn't help but feel frightened and urged: "Furen, Laoye just didn’t think it through yet---don’t take all of this too seriously."
Jiang Yue Lan snorted but said nothing.
On February 15, the palace held a glamorous feast. The Emperor was sitting on the throne with the Empress sitting by his side. Consort Lian was wearing a set of precious jewelry on her head and under the moonlight, they emitted an extravagance. Her position was closely placed next to the Emperor, which made it look like she was a little more honorable than the Empress. Virtuous Consort Zhang sat a level below her. This time, her whole person appeared very quiet, making people seem to be unable to feel the existence of one of the four main consorts in the harem. However, this was unsurprising at all. After Able Consort Wu was sentenced to death and Imperial Consort Mei is not in a great position because of the conspiracy of Fifth Prince, only Virtuous Consort Zhang and Consort Rou were left among the four consorts and Consort Rou's body was not always well, so she couldn't attend this banquet and so Virtuous Consort Zhang became more and more low-key.
The court ladies shuttled around and served a plate of delicacies. The Emperor smiled and kept whispering to Consort Lian next to him. It was obviously that he pampered her dearly and within the subjects’ eyes, they started planning something.
When Consort Lian was being favored, other women in the harem were also getting worried, for example, the most noble woman in the harem, the Empress. She sat aside, looking at the shy Consort Lian, her heart was full of jealousy, this child of hers... if she is a princess, she would be very happy but if he is a prince, it would be the rise of many troubles.
In the royal family, it is generally the eldest son who will be the heir to the throne. The current Crown Prince meets this requirement, but if the Emperor likes it, it is not a big problem to change the position, for example, if the Crown Prince makes a mistake. Originally, there were already many people around the Crown Prince who could be considered threats, but if there is another little prince who is much loved by the Emperor, that day will become even much more saddening.
But after all, even though the child could be a boy, it was just a baby so what is there to worry about. But the Empress felt that ever since Zhou Da Shou improved the medicine, the Emperor's body recovered greatly. It was certainly not a problem for the Emperor to live a decade or so longer. By then, it might not be known who will assume the throne... ultimately, the Crown Prince has become more and more displeasing to the Emperor! If the Crown Prince's position was robbed and even if the Emperor would not mistreat her since they have been husband and wife for many years, when the new emperor, who had no blood relationship with her, ascends the throne in the future, she is afraid that her position as the Empress Dowager would just be in name only. Therefore, this child cannot be a prince no matter what, otherwise, she would not dare to imagine the future...
Although Li Wei Yang was sitting under the steps, she saw the Empress's expression keenly, but she lowered her head and smiled slightly. At this time, she suddenly realized that some fiery eyes were fleeting on her, and Li Wei Yang raised her head slightly and noticed Tuoba Zhen sitting not far away, with a meaningful expression that collided with her own eyes.
Li Wei Yang's expression froze for a moment, and Tuoba Zhen looked at her deeply, then raised his glass, smiled, and sipped it. Li Wei Yang suddenly felt a strange feeling in her heart. This person seems determined to have her. Is he really that confident?
"Wei Yang, what's wrong with you?"
The words of concern from Sun Yan Jun floated into her ears. Li Wei Yang looked back, saw her worried eyes, smiled slightly, and lowered her head. "I was just looking at the beautiful scenery tonight and got lost in it for a good second."
"That's good." Just seeing Li Wei Yang in a daze just now... she thought that she had something on her mind, Sun Yan Jun thought. But Li Wei Yang's expression had returned to its original state, making people see no signs of it.
Not far away, Jiang Hua looked at it all with his eyes and couldn't help but sneer. He suddenly let out a fierce cough and he covered up the blood on his lips, pretending nothing happened and drank a sip of his wine. Since he was enraged by Li Wei Yang last time, he had been sick in bed for three months. Before coming to the banquet, he couldn't even get up in bed. But he still came, because he knew that Li Wei Yang would definitely come, and if he did not come, he would look weak.
He originally thought that Li Wei Yang would notice him, but her eyes didn't look at him for a moment and she didn't even notice him coming. Even with the occasional encounter, he did not see a touch of human emotion in Li Wei Yang's eyes. The woman on the opposite side had the willpower and mobility that were not inferior to him and it was so powerful that it was scary and terrifying. Because of this, he can't lose to her! This cannot happen! Jiang Hua's fingers turned faintly white as he squeezed the cup. Although there were heat pans around him and he was still holding a cup of hot wine in his hand, he still felt that nothing could dispel the cold in his body.
Grandfather clearly said that he is the smartest man in Da Li, the bravest strategist, and the soul of the entire army, but why would he lose to an unknown little girl, this is not fair at all! Eradicating his viciousness and selfishness, Jiang Hua at this moment put all the faults on other people and didn’t want to fail, but the facts behind his failure couldn’t be changed. Especially when he saw Li Wei Yang's beautiful and calm face, it was as if a nerve in his head had suddenly broke. There was something in his head that kept shouting: beat her and kill her!
Jiang Xu reminded in a low voice: "Hua'er, can you still hold it?"
Father's worries made Jiang Hua wake up suddenly. He smiled and suppressed the violent factor in his body. He said: "Father, rest assured that my illness has completely recovered. There will be no problem at the occasion today."
Jiang Xu glanced at him worriedly. Jiang Hai was dead. Jiang Nan could never see the light again. He had lost his two sons one after another, and even his nephew had disappeared. He never wanted to lose Jiang Hua again: "Your Grandfather is going back to the Capital soon, your Second Brother is already welcoming him back, so relax," Jiang Xu comforted.
Of course, Jiang Hua knew that his grandfather Duke Jiang was coming back soon, but he didn’t want his grandfather, who had always regarded him as proud, to see his declining appearance. Thinking of this, his fists clenched involuntarily, and now he believes that he may really be sick. He grew up in the army with his grandfather. Everyone praised him for his cleverness and strategic thinking, but few people knew that he was actually the most violent of the five boys in the Jiang family. At the age of six, he once wounded a playmate until he laid in bed for half a year. The reason was because that person said that he was as pretty as a little girl! He was angry on the spot and disregarded their friendship. He rushed up to the other child and he broke the bridge of his nose and three of his rib cages. Finally, two adults were sent to pull him away. He regretted seeing his playmate hurt like that, but what made him unacceptable most was that he had no restraint against the violent situation at that time.
Afterwards, his grandfather saw that he was in a low mood and didn’t leave his room once, so he invited a famous doctor to see him. The doctor suggested that he learned to restrain himself and he also hinted that he might suffer from an aggressive disease. So all these years, he learned to cultivate his temperament, doing everything possible to suppress the violent spirit in his heart, but Li Wei Yang easily let him release the beast in his heart, and he was going to be driven crazy by her little by little.
Fortunately, this situation will soon change... Jiang Hua thought about this as a sneer appeared on his face.
Li Min De looked at everyone's dark, violent expressions, but raised his eyebrows lightly. Tuoba Yu, Tuoba Zhen, and Jiang's family all have bad intentions for Wei Yang. Should he do something to warn them? There was a smile on his lips, and Li Min De showed a habitual smile.
Li Wei Yang's eyes inadvertently fell on Li Min De's face, and he couldn't help but slightly pause. Whenever such a smile appeared on his handsome face, it meant that he was beginning to plot against others. She would like to know who will be out of luck this time?
At this moment, the Crown Prince suddenly stood up and said loudly: "Imperial Father, your son has something to raise."
The emperor raised his eyes, glanced at him, and said, "Speak." The attitude was a little lukewarm. It seemed that the Empress next to him was a little uncomfortable, but she could only suppress herself.
The Crown Prince seemed to care about nothing, and said with a smile: "The ambassador for Mo Bei has arrived in the Capital today and will present a gift to Imperial Father tonight."
Mo Bei is a sparsely populated country to the north of the Da Li Dynasty. The people live by riding and shooting, and the folk customs are very rough. For many years, they have been fighting openly with Da Li in various conflicts and disputes, but war has not broken out yet in the past decade and the relationship between the two countries is at a very delicate position. The Third Prince, Tuoba Zhen, saw this situation and offered to identify seven cities to be divided between the two countries for trade, and Mo Bei people can use their specialty products, such as horses, sheep, camels, mink, etc., to exchange for Da Li’s silk fabrics, porcelain, gold and silver ware, tea and iron, etc. They will also be setting up special officials to control the price of the goods on both sides trying to make the transactions fair, so that the relationship between the two countries can be quickly alleviated. It wasn’t rare at all for a messenger from Mo Bei to come to Da Li.
The Emperor nodded and smiled on his face: "In this case, please summon the messenger."
As soon as the words came out, ladies who had danced in front of the crowd had danced back out. And in a blink of an eye, they saw the silhouettes of the empty ground in front gathered and the sound of drums roared. Soon, the musicians and drummers came out and started to play. The tall drummer with a mask on lifted a peculiar shape up to his head, and then the drumstick landed gently onto the drum surface. The sound seemed to be a sudden burst from a mountain stream, and it seemed like stones suddenly falling into the abyss. And soon, one after another, the sounds become more intense and exciting. The musicians next to the drummers also began to play the instruments in their hands. For a moment, the sound of the lute was added to the drums, but the sound of the drums was not attenuated at all. Instead, the whole instrument showed a state of fervor. At this moment, the sounds of the drum became more and more exciting and everyone seemed to see the scene of a massive array of battles rushing in front of them. The drummer has been sweating, his face dignified and his body moving artfully!
Li Wei Yang frowned, such an impassioned tune, and such a strange artistic conception that cannot be easily arranged by any ordinary craftsmen! This drummer---
At this moment, the drummer suddenly dropped the mallet and began stroking the surface of the drum with his hands, and desperately flapping, but it was more intense and clear than the original drum sound! All the musical instruments seemed to stop for a while, and everyone who was accustomed to Da Li's soft singing and dancing performances stared at the people in front of them for a while, and they could not speak for a while until a moment later, the drum sound stopped abruptly. The crowd awakened.
The Crown Prince who had been sitting in his seat suddenly stood up and shouted, "Wonderful! The Fourth Prince was amazing!"
The drummer smiled aloud and quickly stepped forward to take off his mask and bowed to the Emperor of Da Li, saying, "Li Yuan Heng, the Fourth Prince of Mo Bei, greets His Majesty, the Emperor of Da Li."
The Fourth Prince of Mo Bei, who claimed to be Li Yuan Heng, was not very young. He had a sharp, angular face with a deep outline, and two thick black eyebrows pressed against his deep eye sockets. The bridge of his nose and his sturdy lips all revealed his vitality. He wore a tall wool hat on his head, covered with gold and silver ornaments and jewels---under the felt hat was long black hair, which was woven into tresses in accordance to the customs of Mo Bei. Wearing crimson or dark green jade beads was different from the young men who like to wear fine silk in the Da Li Dynasty. He was wearing a rare and unusual golden leopard fur and a scimitar with a gold sheath and an ivory handle around his waist, which was particularly eye-catching.
He seemed to invite the attention of the females. After he said this, he suddenly turned around and looked at the females. His eyes suddenly stopped in one of the places.
"Why are you here? Are you here to see how fallen I’ve become?" Jiang Yue Lan looked at Li Wei Yang and tried her best to suppress her hatred, saying word by word, but the venom from her teeth was looming in her eyes.
"What is Mother saying, I just came to visit you." Seeing Jiang Yue Lan looking behind her, Li Wei Yang smiled, "Mother does not have to wait, Father will not come, nor will Lao Furen."
Jiang Yue Lan's eyes were obviously showing disappointment. She thought that she and Li Xiao Ran have been husband and wife for quite some time now and would still have affections for her. But who would have known that he was this ruthless and unjust that he believed Li Wei Yang so much and thought that his own child wasn’t his. How could it not be his? Jiang Yue Lan wanted to sneer, but found that the smile surfaced on her lips but turned bitter.
She took a glance at the cold food beside the table and it was just cold buns and half a bowl of cold rice that even the lowest-ranked servants refused to touch. Li Wei Yang smiled slightly: "After Mother married into the Li family, you've been eating delicacies. Treating you with such food is not serving you right."
Jiang Yue Lan's mouth sneered and the venom in her eyes gradually cleared up. Li Wei Yang's words aroused all her grievances. She couldn't help biting her teeth and the sneer in her mouth burst into a full bloom: "The triumphant king has defeated the bandits; I’ve lost to you and it’s because I wasn’t as cunning as you were. When I rise again one day, you might fall into my hands and then, you will become much more miserable than I am."
Li Wei Yang smiled and said, "No one even cared about your suicide ploy. Do you think --- it is still possible to rise up again?"
Jiang Yue Lan stopped suddenly, and a chill covered her heart: she wanted to say that she would win back Li Xiao Ran. However, Li Wei Yang's smile reminded her that Li Xiao Ran is so ruthless to her now, would he believe her words? Even if she knelt by his feet and pleaded, she might be shaming herself.
Yes, committing suicide to gain sympathy was her last resort. If the other party doesn't even bother about her life, does she still have a chance to regain her position again? Jiang Yue Lan gritted her teeth and said, "I still have--"
"Oh, you mean, you still have your own maternal family and the Jiang's family. Ever since the incident, no one came to visit you." Li Wei Yang said slowly but cruelly. "For them, you are just an abandoned child. Who cares about your life and death? I heard that your mother-in-law is already planning to marry your second sister to Father as his new wife, saying that she’s going to help you out. You don’t know about this, right?"
This sentence pierced into Jiang Yue Lan's heart like a bloody red knife. At that moment, she immediately realized that her miscarriage disappointed her maternal family. She hadn't even given birth to a child yet after marrying into the family for more than a year. They couldn't wait to send another daughter to consolidate their position ... how can they be so shameless! She is still alive, and she is the rightful wife of the Li’s family! Uncontrollably, a cold tear came down from the corner of her eye, but Jiang Yue Lan turned away and refused to let others see it. She spit out a cold sentence after a long moment of silence: "I did lose, and I lost completely. But I will never let you be even if I become a ghost! I will haunt you forever, making you feel uneasy day and night, and I won’t let you live a good day!"
After listening to this, Li Wei Yang suddenly laughed. The smile on her face was very contemptuous and apparently she did not care too much about her opponent.
Jiang Yue Lan felt that the laughter was like scoops of ice water pouring into her heart. She shivered involuntarily and felt defeated. "I… I… I..." She suddenly lost the strength of her struggle and became extremely discouraged. She burst into tears and fell down suddenly and then fell to Li Wei Yang's feet: "Third Xiaojie, I won’t dare to fight against you anymore, just let me go! Can you give me a way out?"
Li Wei Yang looked at her with half pity and half sarcasm: "I never meant to put you to death, why should Mother be so afraid?" As she said, she told A Luo, "Help your Furen up, look at how she is acting now."
A Luo hurried to help Jiang Yue Lan but she was pushed away, she said loudly: "I know that your willingness to come today means that I still have value? As long as I am here, Li Xiao Ran won’t marry a new wife, nor will there be a newcomer coming in to threaten the status of Seventh Yiniang and Min Zhi. Now that he can’t have children and I can’t get pregnant anymore, Min Zhi will be the only son in this family, which is also beneficial to you. Isn’t it? Let me go, I’ll never be against you again. I will tell you if there is any situation in the Jiang family, no, I can even help you deal with them, as long as you let me continue to stay in this position and as long as you can help me prevent my sister from entering the family, I will depend on you!" Just now she just figured all out; who cares about Li Min De or her family, she, herself, is the most important. Li Wei Yang is not someone she dared to provoke anymore. Enemies she can’t win against should become her friends. This is her way of survival for so many years. Instead of letting her family send someone to demolish herself, it is better to go to Li Wei Yang. There is still a way to save this...
Li Wei Yang smiled slightly and said, "A Luo, wipe the tears for your Furen. Her current body condition can't bear her crying like this."
That means she had agreed! Jiang Yue Lan wiped her tears and stood up, but stumbled and fell to the ground. A Luo quickly went to help her and she immediately said: "I will not disappoint you for helping me. In the future, if the Jiang family have any movements, you will be the first one who I will tell!"
Li Wei Yang's smile brought a bit of indifference and said, "I hope so." She kept Jiang Yue Lan but it was because she could be put to good use in the future. Towards her enemy, her heart had already turned into ice and snow so there was no sympathy at all.
A Luo reluctantly helped Jiang Yue Lan to go to bed and lay down. Li Wei Yang looked at her unsteady pace and couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. She just knelt in the ice and snow for a long time just after her miscarriage. Seeing her legs and feet were not as agile and she also heard that she occasionally vomited blood... How long can such a person live, she should hurry up with her plans. Thinking of this, Li Wei Yang no longer looked at the people in the room, turned and walked out.
Inside the room, A Luo asked quietly, "Furen, are you really going to depend on Third Xiaojie?"
Jiang Yue Lan's face was decayed and although her eyes were still hateful, she was already exhausted. She glanced at A Luo and said, "It's not that I want to depend on her, but I have to depend on her. Me being alive now is useful to her so she is keeping me. If one day I become useless, no one will care for me anymore. Li Wei Yang is certainly irritating but what I hate the most is Li Xiao Ran, this cruel and unscrupulous thing. I am pregnant with his child but he didn’t even ask me and punish me to kneel, causing me to live with this illness for the rest of my life. I will never forgive him. Even if I go to hell, I will drag him with me!"
Jiang Yue Lan's hatred has gradually shifted to Li Xiao Ran, who had ruined her life. Seeing her clenching her teeth, A Luo couldn't help but feel frightened and urged: "Furen, Laoye just didn’t think it through yet---don’t take all of this too seriously."
Jiang Yue Lan snorted but said nothing.
On February 15, the palace held a glamorous feast. The Emperor was sitting on the throne with the Empress sitting by his side. Consort Lian was wearing a set of precious jewelry on her head and under the moonlight, they emitted an extravagance. Her position was closely placed next to the Emperor, which made it look like she was a little more honorable than the Empress. Virtuous Consort Zhang sat a level below her. This time, her whole person appeared very quiet, making people seem to be unable to feel the existence of one of the four main consorts in the harem. However, this was unsurprising at all. After Able Consort Wu was sentenced to death and Imperial Consort Mei is not in a great position because of the conspiracy of Fifth Prince, only Virtuous Consort Zhang and Consort Rou were left among the four consorts and Consort Rou's body was not always well, so she couldn't attend this banquet and so Virtuous Consort Zhang became more and more low-key.
The court ladies shuttled around and served a plate of delicacies. The Emperor smiled and kept whispering to Consort Lian next to him. It was obviously that he pampered her dearly and within the subjects’ eyes, they started planning something.
When Consort Lian was being favored, other women in the harem were also getting worried, for example, the most noble woman in the harem, the Empress. She sat aside, looking at the shy Consort Lian, her heart was full of jealousy, this child of hers... if she is a princess, she would be very happy but if he is a prince, it would be the rise of many troubles.
In the royal family, it is generally the eldest son who will be the heir to the throne. The current Crown Prince meets this requirement, but if the Emperor likes it, it is not a big problem to change the position, for example, if the Crown Prince makes a mistake. Originally, there were already many people around the Crown Prince who could be considered threats, but if there is another little prince who is much loved by the Emperor, that day will become even much more saddening.
But after all, even though the child could be a boy, it was just a baby so what is there to worry about. But the Empress felt that ever since Zhou Da Shou improved the medicine, the Emperor's body recovered greatly. It was certainly not a problem for the Emperor to live a decade or so longer. By then, it might not be known who will assume the throne... ultimately, the Crown Prince has become more and more displeasing to the Emperor! If the Crown Prince's position was robbed and even if the Emperor would not mistreat her since they have been husband and wife for many years, when the new emperor, who had no blood relationship with her, ascends the throne in the future, she is afraid that her position as the Empress Dowager would just be in name only. Therefore, this child cannot be a prince no matter what, otherwise, she would not dare to imagine the future...
Although Li Wei Yang was sitting under the steps, she saw the Empress's expression keenly, but she lowered her head and smiled slightly. At this time, she suddenly realized that some fiery eyes were fleeting on her, and Li Wei Yang raised her head slightly and noticed Tuoba Zhen sitting not far away, with a meaningful expression that collided with her own eyes.
Li Wei Yang's expression froze for a moment, and Tuoba Zhen looked at her deeply, then raised his glass, smiled, and sipped it. Li Wei Yang suddenly felt a strange feeling in her heart. This person seems determined to have her. Is he really that confident?
"Wei Yang, what's wrong with you?"
The words of concern from Sun Yan Jun floated into her ears. Li Wei Yang looked back, saw her worried eyes, smiled slightly, and lowered her head. "I was just looking at the beautiful scenery tonight and got lost in it for a good second."
"That's good." Just seeing Li Wei Yang in a daze just now... she thought that she had something on her mind, Sun Yan Jun thought. But Li Wei Yang's expression had returned to its original state, making people see no signs of it.
Not far away, Jiang Hua looked at it all with his eyes and couldn't help but sneer. He suddenly let out a fierce cough and he covered up the blood on his lips, pretending nothing happened and drank a sip of his wine. Since he was enraged by Li Wei Yang last time, he had been sick in bed for three months. Before coming to the banquet, he couldn't even get up in bed. But he still came, because he knew that Li Wei Yang would definitely come, and if he did not come, he would look weak.
He originally thought that Li Wei Yang would notice him, but her eyes didn't look at him for a moment and she didn't even notice him coming. Even with the occasional encounter, he did not see a touch of human emotion in Li Wei Yang's eyes. The woman on the opposite side had the willpower and mobility that were not inferior to him and it was so powerful that it was scary and terrifying. Because of this, he can't lose to her! This cannot happen! Jiang Hua's fingers turned faintly white as he squeezed the cup. Although there were heat pans around him and he was still holding a cup of hot wine in his hand, he still felt that nothing could dispel the cold in his body.
Grandfather clearly said that he is the smartest man in Da Li, the bravest strategist, and the soul of the entire army, but why would he lose to an unknown little girl, this is not fair at all! Eradicating his viciousness and selfishness, Jiang Hua at this moment put all the faults on other people and didn’t want to fail, but the facts behind his failure couldn’t be changed. Especially when he saw Li Wei Yang's beautiful and calm face, it was as if a nerve in his head had suddenly broke. There was something in his head that kept shouting: beat her and kill her!
Jiang Xu reminded in a low voice: "Hua'er, can you still hold it?"
Father's worries made Jiang Hua wake up suddenly. He smiled and suppressed the violent factor in his body. He said: "Father, rest assured that my illness has completely recovered. There will be no problem at the occasion today."
Jiang Xu glanced at him worriedly. Jiang Hai was dead. Jiang Nan could never see the light again. He had lost his two sons one after another, and even his nephew had disappeared. He never wanted to lose Jiang Hua again: "Your Grandfather is going back to the Capital soon, your Second Brother is already welcoming him back, so relax," Jiang Xu comforted.
Of course, Jiang Hua knew that his grandfather Duke Jiang was coming back soon, but he didn’t want his grandfather, who had always regarded him as proud, to see his declining appearance. Thinking of this, his fists clenched involuntarily, and now he believes that he may really be sick. He grew up in the army with his grandfather. Everyone praised him for his cleverness and strategic thinking, but few people knew that he was actually the most violent of the five boys in the Jiang family. At the age of six, he once wounded a playmate until he laid in bed for half a year. The reason was because that person said that he was as pretty as a little girl! He was angry on the spot and disregarded their friendship. He rushed up to the other child and he broke the bridge of his nose and three of his rib cages. Finally, two adults were sent to pull him away. He regretted seeing his playmate hurt like that, but what made him unacceptable most was that he had no restraint against the violent situation at that time.
Afterwards, his grandfather saw that he was in a low mood and didn’t leave his room once, so he invited a famous doctor to see him. The doctor suggested that he learned to restrain himself and he also hinted that he might suffer from an aggressive disease. So all these years, he learned to cultivate his temperament, doing everything possible to suppress the violent spirit in his heart, but Li Wei Yang easily let him release the beast in his heart, and he was going to be driven crazy by her little by little.
Fortunately, this situation will soon change... Jiang Hua thought about this as a sneer appeared on his face.
Li Min De looked at everyone's dark, violent expressions, but raised his eyebrows lightly. Tuoba Yu, Tuoba Zhen, and Jiang's family all have bad intentions for Wei Yang. Should he do something to warn them? There was a smile on his lips, and Li Min De showed a habitual smile.
Li Wei Yang's eyes inadvertently fell on Li Min De's face, and he couldn't help but slightly pause. Whenever such a smile appeared on his handsome face, it meant that he was beginning to plot against others. She would like to know who will be out of luck this time?
At this moment, the Crown Prince suddenly stood up and said loudly: "Imperial Father, your son has something to raise."
The emperor raised his eyes, glanced at him, and said, "Speak." The attitude was a little lukewarm. It seemed that the Empress next to him was a little uncomfortable, but she could only suppress herself.
The Crown Prince seemed to care about nothing, and said with a smile: "The ambassador for Mo Bei has arrived in the Capital today and will present a gift to Imperial Father tonight."
Mo Bei is a sparsely populated country to the north of the Da Li Dynasty. The people live by riding and shooting, and the folk customs are very rough. For many years, they have been fighting openly with Da Li in various conflicts and disputes, but war has not broken out yet in the past decade and the relationship between the two countries is at a very delicate position. The Third Prince, Tuoba Zhen, saw this situation and offered to identify seven cities to be divided between the two countries for trade, and Mo Bei people can use their specialty products, such as horses, sheep, camels, mink, etc., to exchange for Da Li’s silk fabrics, porcelain, gold and silver ware, tea and iron, etc. They will also be setting up special officials to control the price of the goods on both sides trying to make the transactions fair, so that the relationship between the two countries can be quickly alleviated. It wasn’t rare at all for a messenger from Mo Bei to come to Da Li.
The Emperor nodded and smiled on his face: "In this case, please summon the messenger."
As soon as the words came out, ladies who had danced in front of the crowd had danced back out. And in a blink of an eye, they saw the silhouettes of the empty ground in front gathered and the sound of drums roared. Soon, the musicians and drummers came out and started to play. The tall drummer with a mask on lifted a peculiar shape up to his head, and then the drumstick landed gently onto the drum surface. The sound seemed to be a sudden burst from a mountain stream, and it seemed like stones suddenly falling into the abyss. And soon, one after another, the sounds become more intense and exciting. The musicians next to the drummers also began to play the instruments in their hands. For a moment, the sound of the lute was added to the drums, but the sound of the drums was not attenuated at all. Instead, the whole instrument showed a state of fervor. At this moment, the sounds of the drum became more and more exciting and everyone seemed to see the scene of a massive array of battles rushing in front of them. The drummer has been sweating, his face dignified and his body moving artfully!
Li Wei Yang frowned, such an impassioned tune, and such a strange artistic conception that cannot be easily arranged by any ordinary craftsmen! This drummer---
At this moment, the drummer suddenly dropped the mallet and began stroking the surface of the drum with his hands, and desperately flapping, but it was more intense and clear than the original drum sound! All the musical instruments seemed to stop for a while, and everyone who was accustomed to Da Li's soft singing and dancing performances stared at the people in front of them for a while, and they could not speak for a while until a moment later, the drum sound stopped abruptly. The crowd awakened.
The Crown Prince who had been sitting in his seat suddenly stood up and shouted, "Wonderful! The Fourth Prince was amazing!"
The drummer smiled aloud and quickly stepped forward to take off his mask and bowed to the Emperor of Da Li, saying, "Li Yuan Heng, the Fourth Prince of Mo Bei, greets His Majesty, the Emperor of Da Li."
The Fourth Prince of Mo Bei, who claimed to be Li Yuan Heng, was not very young. He had a sharp, angular face with a deep outline, and two thick black eyebrows pressed against his deep eye sockets. The bridge of his nose and his sturdy lips all revealed his vitality. He wore a tall wool hat on his head, covered with gold and silver ornaments and jewels---under the felt hat was long black hair, which was woven into tresses in accordance to the customs of Mo Bei. Wearing crimson or dark green jade beads was different from the young men who like to wear fine silk in the Da Li Dynasty. He was wearing a rare and unusual golden leopard fur and a scimitar with a gold sheath and an ivory handle around his waist, which was particularly eye-catching.
He seemed to invite the attention of the females. After he said this, he suddenly turned around and looked at the females. His eyes suddenly stopped in one of the places.
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Translator: Erica
Editor: Erica
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