Chapter 995 Cold Water

Imperial City.

Xiqu's founding letter has been delivered.

On behalf of Emperor Wen, Yun Li and Princess Yangjin met with the envoys from Xiqu.

Yun Li was both happy and worried about the establishment of the Xiqu Kingdom.

The good news is that his father-in-law Sangjie became the Holy King of Xiqu. In a sense, this made the power behind him even stronger.

If Lao Liu wants to rebel, he has to consider Xiqu.

The worrying thing is that Sangjie’s establishment of a great unified dynasty would pose a greater threat to Daqian.

Yun Li was not stupid enough to think that a marriage would allow Xiqu and Daqian to be friendly forever.

Once Xiqu has accumulated enough strength, no marriage alliance will be of any use, and the invasion of Daqian will have to happen.

However, although Xiqu achieved great unification, they certainly still had many problems within themselves. It was not a true great unification even if they had achieved great unification on the surface.

In the next few years, Xiqu should be busy stabilizing its internal affairs and will not have any military conflicts with Daqian.

It would be great if we could resolve this trouble with Lao Liu before Xiqu stabilizes its internal affairs.

But the problem is that even if the imperial court solved the trouble caused by Lao Liu, it would definitely become very weak, while Xiqu would continue to grow stronger.

As one gains, the other loses. Isn't this clearly giving Xiqu a chance to invade Daqian?

Under such circumstances, the possibility of the imperial court going to all-out war with Lao Liu is even smaller.

Not to mention that the officials in the court would not agree, even he himself would not agree.

But if we join forces with Xiqu to deal with Lao Liu, there will definitely be fierce opposition in the court.

In the eyes of many officials, there is no reason to join forces with outsiders to fight against their own people.

Damn grandma!

This won’t work, and that won’t work either!

After much thought, it seems that the only way out is to provoke a war between Lao Liu and Xiqu.

If Lao Liu and Xiqu were to suffer losses on both sides, then he would not only be able to solve the trouble of Lao Liu, but also annex Xiqu in one fell swoop and become a great leader whose name would go down in history.

"What is your highness thinking?"

Just as Yun Li was daydreaming, Yang Jin's voice rang in his ears.

"Nothing, just thinking about the government affairs."

Yun Li came back to his senses and hugged Yang Jin.

Yun Li had always been very interested in Yang Jin, and since Yang Jin was passionate and unrestrained when it came to matters between men and women, Yun Li had been asking Yang Jin to accompany him more often recently.

Now, Yangjin's father has established the Xiqu Dynasty on the plateau, and Yangjin's status has risen accordingly, and she is even more favored in the Prince's Mansion.

Yangjin entered the Prince's Mansion too late and was only given the title of Prince Wanpin. In terms of status, she was below the Prince's wife and the three concubines.

But in fact, Yangjin's status among Yun Li's wives and concubines is second only to the Crown Princess.

The day before yesterday, Yang Jin even relied on Yun Li's favor to talk back to Crown Princess Gu Lianyue. Gu Lianyue was so angry that she wanted to use her status as Crown Princess to teach Yang Jin a lesson for not knowing the difference between respect and inferiority. However, she was stopped by Yun Li who returned in time.

Yang Jin rolled over and lay on top of Yun Li, teasing him with her hair, "It's already so late, and Your Highness is still thinking about the affairs of the court. When Your Highness ascends the throne in the future, he will definitely be a good emperor admired by everyone..."

Yun Li was very pleased with Yang Jin's flattery, but he still pretended to be stern, "My father is still alive, so don't talk nonsense about ascending the throne!"

Under Yang Jin's provocation, Yun Li, who had spent his sage time, rekindled his fighting spirit. While he was talking, his hands were not idle either.

"Uh-huh."

Yang Jin nodded with a smile, then laid down beside Yun Li's ear and gently bit Yun Li's earlobe, twisting her body restlessly, and said seductively, "Your Highness is not only a prince who is diligent in government affairs, but also a real man..."

Faced with Yang Jin's temptation, Yun Li, whose fighting spirit had been rekindled, could no longer bear it and became impatient.

Yun Li was about to turn over and press Yang Jin under him to let her feel what a real man is, but was stopped by Yang Jin.

Yang Jin lay on Yun Li, and said with seductive eyes: "Your Highness, I grew up on the plateau, and I... am also good at riding a horse..."

Looking at Yang Jin's charming face, Yun Li's heart suddenly howled like a wolf, and he said with a smile on his face: "Then let me see your riding skills..."

……

In the morning, Yun Li, who had turned into a three-times-a-night man, had some back pain when he got up.

Looking at Yang Jin who was still sleeping soundly, Yun Li couldn't help but feel filled with emotion.

This is simply a fairy who sucks people's essence!

Because of the jealous Crown Princess's sabotage, he missed out on the wonderful music, and he regretted it for a long time.

The charm of this Yangjin is even more than that of the sixth prince's concubine Miaoyin.

I don’t know if this can be considered as God’s compensation to me!

Normally, when Yun Li gets up, Yang Jin should get up and help him get dressed.

But Yangjin was sleeping soundly now. Out of pity for Yangjin, Yun Li did not blame her. He put on his underwear and walked out of the inner room. He asked the palace maids serving outside to help him put on his clothes, fetch water for him to wash, and then went to attend the court meeting.

There have been fewer quarrels in the court these days.

After giving the money, food and ransom to Yun Zheng, Yun Zheng seemed to feel at ease.

Yun Li also had a rare period of good times.

However, there was still no consensus in the court on the issue of establishing the Xiqu Kingdom.

But because Sangjie acted too quickly, the die was cast. Even if the officials in the court wanted to prevent the unification of the tribes in western Mo, it was too late.

What we need to discuss now is how to deal with diplomatic relations with Xiqu and whether some of the 200,000 troops in the northwest should be withdrawn to Suizhou for defense.

At the meeting.

As Yun Li raised this question, court officials began to engage in heated discussions.

"Xiqu has just been established, and has made peace with our dynasty. In the short term, it will not pose an effective threat to our dynasty. I think we should withdraw half of our troops to the border of Suizhou, Juzhou, and Liaozhou to deploy defenses. This way, we can provide timely support to Juzhou and the northwest, and reduce the supply pressure on the court."

"Lord Jingguo is right! The court has been spending a lot in recent years. Now is the best time to recuperate and focus on improving the country's strength!"

"Although Xiqu was newly established, no major wars occurred during the unification, and its strength has not been greatly damaged! If we withdraw half of the troops now, once Xiqu suddenly launches a sneak attack, the imperial court's troops may not be able to support them in time!"

"Master Yu, you are worrying too much. Although Xiqu has established itself as a country, it must still have many internal problems. Xiqu will never use military force against our dynasty at this time!"

"Yes! Sang Jie must know that if we use military force against our dynasty, His Highness the Sixth Prince will definitely send troops to raid the rear of Xiqu..."

The ministers expressed their opinions one after another.

Seventy percent of the people in the court agreed with Xu Shifu's opinion and believed that the court could withdraw half of the troops to the junction of the three states.

Although the imperial court needs to be on guard against Xiqu, it does not need to be overly cautious.

Now that Yunli and Yangjin have this marriage relationship, the two sides can establish normal diplomatic relations and carry out exchanges in trade, culture and other aspects.

Even Xiao Wanchou, who had always been at odds with Xu Shifu, expressed his agreement.

Although Yun Li already had the answer in his mind, he still wanted to symbolically ask Emperor Wen's opinion.

After the court meeting ended, Yun Li went to meet Emperor Wen.

When Yun Li arrived, Emperor Wen was listening to Empress Xu playing the piano.

Yun Li didn't want to interrupt, so he waited until Empress Xu finished her song before kneeling down and bowing, "Your Highness greets Father and Mother!"

In the past, Emperor Wen would have immediately called him up.

However, today, Emperor Wen sat there expressionlessly, and ordered Mu Shun indifferently: "Bring me a basin of cold water!"

"Yes!"

Mu Shun took the order and quickly asked the eunuch to fetch a basin of cold water.

Empress Xu thought something was not right and winked at Yun Li secretly, making the already uneasy Yun Li even more uneasy.

Soon, the young eunuch brought cold water.

Mu Shun took the cold water and respectfully presented it to Emperor Wen.

Emperor Wen directly picked up the wooden basin and splashed it towards Yun Li...