Be an emperor from drawing cards

Chapter 176 People's joys and sorrows are not connected

Jin State, in the guest house of Honglu Temple.

Zhao Wenbin, the envoy of the State of Qi, looked at the early summer scenery outside the window and felt agitated for no reason.

It has been more than a month since he came to Shangjing, and it has been a long time since he last saw Sima Deguang, the leader of Jin Dynasty.

Although he had people find out that Jin envoys had gone south to Chu to mediate the peace talks between Qi and Chu, he had no idea what the outcome would be. This made him feel uneasy and he couldn't sleep well.

The State of Jin has agreed to come forward, so this matter should be possible...

Zhao Wenbin stood up, walked back and forth in the room, and finally sighed and sat back down.

Now, he can only do his best and obey fate.

At this moment, there was a sound of footsteps from outside the door, and then one of his followers opened the door with a smile on his face and said to Zhao Wenbin:

"Sir, His Majesty Wang Qinghuai of Honglu Temple is coming this way!"

Zhao Wenbin couldn't help but perked up and asked:
"Can you see clearly that it is really Mr. Wang, coming this way?"

The attendant immediately laughed and said: "My lord, even if I have the heart and courage of a leopard, I don't dare to joke with you here. I can see clearly that it is indeed Lord Wang who is coming towards us."

These words were like reassurance, immediately calming Zhao Wenbin's anxious heart.

That Wang Qinghuai came here at this time probably had something to do with his mission, and it was probably a good thing.

Even with Zhao Wenbin's temperamental character, a smile appeared on his face at this time, and he said "good" three times.

"Okay, okay, okay. If it comes true, you and everyone else will be rewarded heavily this time!"

"Thank you sir!"

When he heard that there was a silver reward, the smile on the attendant's face grew even more.

A moment later, Wang Qinghuai, wearing a goldfish bag and a purple official robe, appeared in front of Zhao Wenbin, cupped his hands and said:
"Master Zhao, we haven't seen you for a while!"

Zhao Wenbin quickly returned the gift and said with a smile:

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, values ​​your lordship. It is reasonable for the noble man to be busy with things."

The two exchanged a few polite words, then sat down as guest and host, and the maid served tea.

Wang Qinghuai took a sip of tea and waved gently.

The maids understood and exited the room one after another. Soon, only Wang Qinghuai and Zhao Wenbin were left in the room.

Wang Qinghuai was not polite and went straight to the point:

"Sir Zhao, at the request of your country, our envoy from the Jin Dynasty went south to the Chu Kingdom to mediate for your country. A few days ago, they returned from Southern Chu and brought back the conditions of the Chu Lord..."

At the end of the sentence, Wang Qinghuai showed a troubled look on his face.

When Zhao Wenbin heard this, his eyes lit up and he tentatively said:
"Thank you very much for coming forward. I am deeply grateful. However, I don't know what request the Master of Chu made to make Master Wang so embarrassed?"

Wang Qinghuai sighed and said:

"Master Zhao, it's better to be prepared."

Immediately, he told Zhao Wenbin one by one the conditions for Chu's "exit".

After Zhao Wenbin heard this, his expression suddenly changed.

"It's unreasonable. Could it be that everyone in the Chu State thinks that our Qi State is weak and easy to bully, so they actually put forward such shameless conditions!"

The compensation of 200 million taels of silver was not a small amount for the wealthy Qi State.

What's more, the Lord of Chu, who had killed a thousand swords, was not satisfied and even proposed to let Princess Wang Qianmo of Gaoyang marry into the Chu Kingdom and become one of his harem concubines!

How dare this guy make such an outrageous request? !
Princess Wang Qianmo of Gaoyang is the youngest daughter of His Majesty and the Queen. She is beautiful and clever, and is His Majesty's favorite. She is always held in her hands for fear of falling, and held in her mouth for fear of melting. She is so precious that she cannot be more precious. .

In the huge Eastern Capital, there are so many young heroes who want to embrace beautiful women. How could it be the turn of Nan Chu, the lecherous king!

Trying his best to calm down the anger in his chest, Zhao Wenbin asked Wang Qinghuai in a hoarse voice:

"Lord Wang, didn't your envoy ask Lord Chu to give up this impossible idea?"

Wang Qinghuai frowned, with a hint of dissatisfaction in his tone.

"Master Zhao, are you questioning me?"

Seeing that Zhao Wenbin wanted to explain, Wang Qinghuai waved his hand, showing some sympathy on his face.

"Master Zhao, it's not that the envoy didn't help with this, but that the Lord of Chu bluntly said it in front of the civil and military officials, saying that if the Qi State did not agree to send Princess Gaoyang to come for marriage, then there was no need to say anything and the fight would continue. We will continue to beat you until everyone in the country admits defeat, and then we will stop."

Zhao Wenbin opened his mouth, but finally swallowed back what he wanted to say.

He originally wanted to ask, if the Chu State really did this, would the Jin State have to watch the Chu State cross the river and go north?
But as soon as the words came to his lips, he realized with dismay that it was absolutely impossible to get Jin to send troops to support Qi just based on the promised gold, silver and grain.

It would be considered kind of Jin not to take this opportunity to send troops to invade Qi's land!
Thinking of this, Zhao Wenbin felt a dull pain in his chest.

It would be no less than a great shame and humiliation for the monarchs and ministers of Qi to really send Princess Gaoyang to the Lord of Chu!
But now with his resourcefulness, he can't see any way to break the situation...

Looking at Zhao Wenbin whose expression was changing, Wang Qinghuai couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Although His Majesty is a bit cold-blooded, he is very accurate in measuring certain things.

As long as the princess of Gaoyang comes to Chu to make peace, then Qi and Chu will definitely become a big enemy, and there will be no room for change.

Facing the strong and aggressive Chu State, the Qi State wanted to withstand the pressure of the Chu State. No matter how unwilling it was, it could only turn to the Jin State.

"Master Zhao, there is nothing we can do."

Wang Qinghuai sighed softly and said helplessly:
"Not long after the Lord of Chu came to the throne, he defeated the armies of the two countries. He was at the peak of his strength. Even with the power of the Jin Dynasty, I could only make him make some concessions. However, there is no compromise on Princess Gaoyang's marriage. There is room for this matter. This matter is of great importance, and Mr. Zhao cannot make the decision alone. It is better to spread the news back to the country as soon as possible and let your Majesty make the decision."

Zhao Wenbin hesitated for a long time, and finally nodded dejectedly.

What more can he say?
After all, the so-called armies of the two countries that Wang Qinghuai said included the navy of Qi State.

After all, if you can't get it on the battlefield, you will most likely not get it at the negotiation table.

The only solution now is to send the news back to the country and leave it to His Majesty's Holy Judgment...

Helpless, Zhao Wenbin bowed his hand to Wang Qinghuai and expressed his gratitude.

"Your envoy has worked so hard and is so careless. It is not respectful."

After taking a look at the small bag in Zhao Wenbin's hand, Wang Qinghuai laughed and said, "Master Zhao is too polite."

Although he said this, his hands were not slow at all. He gently took the money bag out of Zhao Wenbin's hand and stuffed it into his sleeve.

The two chatted for a few more words before Wang Qinghuai stood up, said goodbye and left.

Standing in front of the room, watching Wang Qinghuai's leaving figure, Zhao Wenbin called his entourage to him in a low voice.

"In the past few days, you should look for opportunities to make friends with Feng Datong and other ministers who are envoys to Chu State, and learn from them the specific situation in Chu State."

The attendant looked surprised and asked in a low voice:
"Sir, what do you mean?"

Zhao Wenbin nodded.

"Yes, I always feel that something is wrong here. These Jin people are not good people. It's better to be on guard."

After all, the Qi State is not negotiating with the Chu State in person. As the middleman, who knows what tricks the Jin State will play in it?
"I understand what the adults mean."

The attendant nodded heavily.

Zhao Wenbin nodded slightly and said no more.That night, a wind-breaking falcon flew out of the guest house and flew toward the east through the night.

There is the location of the Eastern Capital, the capital of Qi State.

…………

East Capital City, Imperial Palace, Chengming Hall.

boom!
The sounds of utensils being smashed to the ground were heard one after another from Chengming Hall, mixed with the angry roars and continuous curses of Qi Lord Wang Kuang.

On both sides of the hall, a famous palace man knelt on the ground in fear, pressing his forehead against the cold floor, not even daring to breathe.

If he becomes the target of His Majesty's anger because of his carelessness, then his little life will be completely over.

How do you say that?

When the emperor was angry, he buried a million corpses.

boom!
After smashing a sapphire wine cup into pieces, Wang Kuang finally vented some of the anger in his heart.

At this time, Wang Kuang's eyes were red and his hair was disheveled, like a wounded beast, completely losing the calmness and demeanor that an emperor should have.

"Damn Chu Man, how dare he, how dare he do this!!"

Wang Kuang fell heavily back onto the throne, muttering curses at the man who had the same status as him in Jiangnan.

After receiving the secret report from Zhao Wenbin from Jin last night, he was so angry that he couldn't sleep well all night.

After attending the morning court this morning, when he returned to Chengming Hall, he could no longer suppress the anger in his heart and smashed all the large and small objects in the hall.

How dare that boy make such an extremely rude request?

Do you want my precious daughter to marry him?
Princess Gaoyang, that is her most precious daughter!

Even if I had to pay for the entire Qi Kingdom, I still wouldn't be able to do this kind of thing like sacrificing my daughter for peace!

Also, this is how Jin made peace with himself, and in the end he had to pay for it with his most beloved daughter?

If I had known this, I would rather feed the dogs with the money, which is ten thousand times better than giving it to the people of Jin!
However, there is no regret in selling medicine in this world.

No matter how much he cursed the world, he finally had to face this cruel reality.

To give a princess a wedding gift, or not?
If he didn't send it, the Chu army would invade the territory, and even the Jin state would take advantage of it to rob him; if he didn't send it, Wang Kuang would be extremely reluctant to part with it.

Wang Kuang, who was at war with nature and man, had difficulty making a decision for a while.

"His Majesty?"

At this moment, a soft female voice came from outside the palace, and then the female voice became surprised.

"Amitabha, what happened in this palace? Who made Your Majesty so angry?"

Seeing the surprised beauty in front of the palace gate, Wang Kuang showed a trace of embarrassment on his face.

"Zitong, why are you here?"

The person who came was none other than Wang Kuang's wife, the biological mother of Princess Gaoyang, and Queen Yang of Qi.

Queen Yang gave Wang Kuang an angry look, waved her hands to all the palace attendants, and said, "There's no need to wait here, go down."

"Thank you madam."

Queen Yang's order was like the sound of nature in the ears of these palace people. As if they had received an amnesty, they all got up and bowed to Queen Yang before retreating from the palace.

Soon, only Wang Kuang and Queen Yang were left in the palace.

Queen Yang walked to Wang Kuang and asked softly:

"Your Majesty, what is it that makes you so angry? If you tell me, I can help share your worries."

Wang Kuang glanced at his wife, with a hint of guilt in his eyes.

"Zitong, I can't help you!"

When Queen Yang heard this, she was surprised and said: "Why does your Majesty say that?"

Although Wang Kuang was the emperor of Qi, there were not many concubines in the harem, and Queen Yang herself was extremely favored. Therefore, no one could threaten Queen Yang's position as the master of the harem.

Therefore, Queen Yang was so surprised after hearing Wang Kuang's words.

Wang Kuang sighed and said: "Zi Tong also knows that I asked Zhao Wenbin to go to Jin to ask the other party to make peace."

Queen Yang nodded.

Although she was in the harem, it was impossible for her not to know about such a big event in the previous dynasty.

Queen Yang asked tentatively: "Is there any news from Zhao Qing?"

"Yes." Wang Kuang nodded, his tone becoming heavier, "Last night, Zhao Qing used the Wind-breaking Falcon to convey Chu's conditions back."

"So urgent?"

Queen Yang realized something and her expression changed slightly.

"Your Majesty, could this be bad news? Is the Chu State going to cede territory to negotiate peace?"

If it is good news, it is impossible to use the Wind-breaking Falcon. We can wait until he returns home to inform His Majesty.

Such urgency can only mean that Chu State's appetite is too big for Zhao Wenbin to make the decision, so Feishu informed His Majesty that it was up to His Majesty to make the decision.

Wang Kuang said in a deep voice:
"It is not necessary to cede the land. Even if I dare to give it, the kings and ministers of Chu State would not have the courage to accept it. The condition offered by the Lord of Chu is that our Jin State should compensate 200 million taels of silver."

"hiss!"

When Queen Yang heard this, she took a deep breath.

Although she comes from a famous family, she still has certain concepts about money.

Two million taels of silver, which is almost equivalent to a quarter of Qi's annual tax revenue.

"Although there is not so much silver in the treasury for the time being, I can always get enough money by going to the Mahabodhi Temple and sacrificing my life once." Wang Kuang's face became even more bitter, "The only person I am worried about is the second son of Lord Chu. A condition.”

Having said this, Wang Kuang's face turned slightly ferocious and he began to gnash his teeth.

"Your Majesty, your health is urgent..."

Hearing the anger in Wang Kuang's tone, Queen Yang couldn't help but look at Wang Kuang worriedly.

Wang Kuang waved his hand and said: "I have nothing to do, I just don't know how to handle this matter with Zitong and Gao Yang..."

Why is there something about Gao Yang's child here?

Queen Yang was stunned for a moment, and a layer of gloom filled her heart.

Wang Kuang exhaled heavily and said word by word:

"The second condition set by Lord Chu is that Gao Yang's child must marry him, otherwise, there will be no peace talks!"

When Queen Yang heard this, she lightly covered her mouth, her eyes full of surprise.

"what?!"

(End of this chapter)