Chapter 28

The atmosphere in the capital suddenly grew heavy and depressed after the matter of Zhu Luyun making a public spectacle when she agreed to marry during the receiving banquet for foreign envoys became known.

When the Central Plains was in turmoil and the people were being slaughtered, the Zhu clan refused to move south to avoid the disaster. They instead persuaded the powerful and noble families in the north to join together to defend against the foreigners and save the empire from collapse.

It was after seeing the Zhu clan’s blood letter that the Xie family moved north to help the Zhu clan deter the enemy.

The Li family and the court ministers chose to stand by with folded arms as the Zhu family destroyed the country and the previous emperor fled south. Even if they tried every way to cover up, it was difficult to erase this stain.

So no matter how Zhu Luyun, the sole bloodline of the Zhu clan, messed around, the court ministers still had sympathy for her because in the new dynasty, from the emperor, the prime minister, to the local officials, all had claimed to be subjects of the Zhu clan.

The ministers of the court could not sit back and watch Zhu Luyun marry far away and agreed with the Crown Prince’s proposal to marry someone else in her stead.

The Ministry of Rites soon selected suitable palace maids, all of whom were as lovely as flowers. The portraits were sent to Chief Yelu, who laughed and flatly refused.

Gold and silver, jewels and stones, silk and brocade, horses and livestock, and sheep, land and slaves….. Whatever the Minister of Rites promised, the Yelu tribal chief remained unmoved.

The Yelu tribe believed in Zoroastrianism, and the ministers spent a lot of money to bribe their priest Sabo, asking him to persuade the Yelu tribal chief, but the tribal chief still refused to change his mind.

Li De was afraid that Zhu Luyun would cause more trouble and put her under house arrest in the princess’s residence.

Within a few days, rumors spread in the capital that Zhu Luyun had been secretly executed. The world was in an uproar for some time, with the Southern Chu spies taking advantage to spread this rumor.

The Yelu tribe immediately incited other tribal forces to demand to see Zhu Luyun at once, or they would immediately attack Chang’an!

Li De realized that Zhu Luyun’s identity was special, involving too many, so he let Zhu Luyun show her face once, stabilizing the situation.

The imperial court feared causing more unexpected consequences and were in a dilemma.

Commander-in-Chief Pei angrily said, “I’ll go kill Yelu tribe’s father and son, and solve all our problems!”

Zheng Yu scolded Commander-in-Chief Pei.

The Yelu tribe had killed some Han Chinese before. The Yelu chief dared to take his son to the capital and ally with the Han dynasty precisely because he had full assurance that Li De would not dare to harm him. If Commander-in-Chief Pei really killed the man, the Yelu cavalry would start killing outside Chang’an in the blink of an eye!

Moreover, if the Wei dynasty killed the tribes who came to become allies, losing the trust of the world, how would they appease the others in the future?

The minister could only continue to look for a candidate to replace Zhu Luyun.

Under the tense atmosphere, Li Yaoying was in a heavy mood.

This storm did not happen in the novel.

The Wei dynasty did send women to marry, but those women were not princesses, but women of lowly origin chosen by the Ministry of Rites from among a pool of captives.

The Yelu tribe also did not oppose the Wei dynasty in order to marry a princess. They married Han women, got gold, silver and treasures, helped the Wei dynasty draw in other Hu tribes, and then went back to the grassland.

Soon after, the Yelu tribe was annexed by other forces. Those Han women fell into the hands of other tribes and ravaged. In less than six months, the fragrant jade perished1.

Yaoying’s heart was extremely restless.

Zhu Luyun’s matter was unrelated with her, but she felt a strong sense of powerlessness that her fate would be at the mercy of others.

She instructed Cuifang Palace and the wangfu to talk carefully and conduct themselves cautiously. If there was no matter, do not leave the residence.

Zhu Luyun’s most devastating skill was to stir up the wind and rain, but in the end, she would remain unscathed, the bitter fruits left to be suffered by others on her behalf.

The chief historian advised Yaoying to live in the wangfu.

If something really happened, the wangfu’s guards could hold out for some time.

Yaoying was not reassured about Noble Consort Xie. After thinking about it, she simply took Noble Consort Xie out of the palace and both mother and daughter lived in the wangfu.

……

At the same time, the Eastern Palace ministers were also under pressure.

No matter how they tempted, coaxed, or threatened, Chief Yelu only wanted to marry Zhu Luyun.

Today, Chief Commandant Qin Fei personally went to negotiate with Chief Yelu and returned to the Eastern Palace, saying indignantly, “Your Highness, Chief Yelu still won’t agree to replace her!”

Li Xuanzhen frowned lightly.

Wei Ming stood in front of the window and paid obeisance toward Li Xuanzhen: “Your Highness, since things have reached this stage, there is only one person who can make Chief Yelu relent.”

The other advisors in the room looked at him expectantly, “Who?”

Wei Ming’s eyes lifted up, looked directly at Li Xuanzhen, and said word for word: “The Seventh Princess.”

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1: metaphor for the death of young women.