novelCompeting Between the Two Countries
| ← Ch.185 | Ch.187 → |
The Sixth Prince, who took the initiative to accompany Zhangsun Hee into the palace, had a face beaming with happiness, which surprised the Emperor Xiao Hui greatly. He did not investigate specifically, but when he heard that Zhangsun Hee had been beaten up by the Prince Ming, he asked out of curiosity.
Zhangsun Hee then took the chance and told him about the fact that Prince Ming would have another son. He had done it on purpose. If he properly exposed his family's matters to Emperor Xiao Hui, Emperor Xiao Hui would be even more at ease.
Sure enough, the Emperor Xiao Hui didn't care at all. He would only be able to sit on the Dragon Throne for twenty years at most. After that, it would be enough for him to guard against the next Emperor, so there was no need for him to worry so much.
Two days later, the Imperial Palace had another sumptuous feast. No matter whether or not Grand Xia Country wanted to calculate Turow Country, they were guests from afar, and Grand Xia Country had no choice but to welcome the envoy from Turow Country. If he were to do it half-heartedly, it would definitely cause his Turow Country to become suspicious.
In addition, the marriage proposal had to be put on the agenda today.
Today's banquet would be held at noon in the reception hall.
Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin both liked the dishes in the imperial kitchen. Qin Mian also took a leave of absence from his two sons and brought them into the palace. Lei Tia expressed his support, but his son still needed to be educated. He directly told them that the other purpose of bringing them into the palace was to let them see the world, so that if they missed their studies, they would be punished. Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin were young, but they knew about a lot of things in their hearts and calmly agreed to it.
The rest of the ministers and wives looked at him strangely.
Qin Mian didn't care at all. When Chen Mufeng asked him what he was thinking, he immediately replied him with "My son is smart. It's fine even if he doesn't go to class for a day".
Chen Mufeng was speechless, and made up his mind to treat his little brother like his son after he was born.
The banquet this time was different from last time. Other than Madam Imperial Orders, there were also the daughters of the distinguished officials and dukes who had not been decided yet.
Grand Xia Country valued the defense of males and females more, but if the woman's parents were present, the defense of males and females was not strict. Moreover, in a banquet like this, there were many palace maids and attendants, so the possibility of them secretly accepting each other was extremely low.
All the ministers and wives knew that the reason the Turow Country Envoys were here today was to propose marriage, and could not help but guess that the reason the Emperor Xiao Hui allowed them to bring the young ladies to the banquet was most likely because they wanted to choose a suitable woman to be bestowed the title of Princess to be sent to the Grand Xia Country and marriage. Some parents were delighted to hear about it. If their daughter became a princess, their family would receive some rewards. Some parents were especially worried about this, unwilling to let their daughter marry into another country. But the imperial edict ca ot be disobeyed. Therefore, beauties were as numerous as the clouds within the reception hall. Most of them were young girls between the ages of fourteen and eighteen who had yet to be engaged. Their clothes were all tied up in a bun.
This time, however, the seating arrangements were not for men and women, but in accordance with family arrangements. The couple sat in front, the girls behind their parents. Some couples only have one young girl behind them, and some couples have three or four behind them.
The Emperor Xiao Hui sat on the throne while the Empress and the empress sat on the tables to the left and right of the throne respectively. The Princess Yan Qing and Princess Duan Ning were present as well, Princess Duan Ning and the empress sat together while the Princess Yan Qing and the empress sat together.
The First, Second Prince, Third, Fourth and Fifth Princes were present. This was the first time Qin Mian had seen five adult princes at the same time. Among them, the First Prince was given out by the First Queen, the Second Prince and the Third Prince were given out by the current Empress, and the Fourth and Fifth Princes were given out by the Consort Xian and the Fifth Prince, respectively. The rules of the Grand Xia Country harem are: one queen, one imperial concubine, four virtuous and virtuous concubines, and six concubines. The empress was the only one in the imperial harem who had two sons. This meant that her methods were not ordinary.
Qin Mian looked around and was puzzled. Could it be that the Princess Yan Qing and Princess Duan Ning were not candidates for marriage?
After three rounds of drinking, Emperor Xiao Hui looked at Prime Minister Wen Ming.
The Prime Minister chuckled and stood up, bowing towards the Emperor Xiao Hui."Reporting to your majesty, this humble subject believes that it's extremely boring just to serve wine and food to Prince Li's rare visit."
"Oh? Could it be that the Wen Daiqing has some good idea? " The Emperor Xiao Hui asked with interest.
Prime Minister Wen said: "I have long heard that Turow Country people can cultivate and become martial artists, and my Grand Xia Country is not lacking in talents of the martial arts, why not use this rare opportunity to compete? "Firstly, we can spar and learn from each other, and secondly, we can also amuse His Highness and the other envoys."
Qin Mian understood. It seemed that Emperor Xiao Hui was very confident in his subordinates, which was why he wanted to show off.
Seeing that the Emperor Xiao Hui and the Prime Minister were singing the same tune, they all agreed. Their tone were full of modesty, hoping to be able to seek guidance from the people from Turow Country.
Emperor Xiao Hui's interest was piqued when he heard this, "Everyone's words make sense, but I wonder what Your Highness is thinking?"
Yu Manqing had spent a lot of effort in order to arrange two of his own people in the envoy during this trip to Grand Xia Country. The rest were all arranged by the Emperor of Turow Country. Even if he did not care about the reputation of Turow Country, the rest of the people could not allow him to submit.
Ye Yunwen, the envoy, was the one who had sent out the envoy this time. He was around forty years old and was gentle and refined. His gentle eyes were flashing with a calm and wise radiance, and he said unhurriedly: "I have also admired and respected Grand Xia Country and culture for a long time, your majesty's words are also with us. May I know how does Your Majesty wish to compete? "
This was the way countries dealt with each other. There was always a contest between them. They were prepared for this since the envoy was not lacking in martial arts experts and literary talents.
Just eating and drinking alone was truly boring. All the young men and women participating in the feast were interested.
Emperor Xiao Hui muttered to himself for a moment, "Since we are going to compete, we should naturally compete to our heart's content. How about this? The first round will be a formal competition, and the second round will be a martial competition."
Ye Yunwen indistinctly glanced at the ministers and the girls behind the Imperial Orders Mistress, and thought to himself that the Emperor Xiao Hui probably wanted to choose one of these girls to marry to the Turow Country as a princess. Their Turow Country s were not easy to fool either. If they overcame them in today's competition, it would be even better to make a request.
He looked at Li Manqing and asked respectfully, "What does Your Highness think?"
"Your Majesty's words make sense, " Li Manqing said.
Just as Emperor Xiao Hui was about to speak, a crisp female voice came out from the hall.
"Father, this son has an idea. I don't know if I should say it."
The one who spoke was Princess Yan Qing.
Emperor Xiao Hui looked at her warily, and said gently: "What does Yan Qing want to say?"
The Princess Yan Qing's gaze swept across Qin Mian and smiled, "This son thinks that in the written competition, it would be better if I give three questions each with my Grand Xia Country, giving answers by name. At the same time of the competition, it would also increase my interest." Although the seats were not segregated according to gender, the civil and military officials were still segregated. Furthermore, the clothing of the civil and military officials were different. If anyone from the Turow Country didn't know to use this point, they would be a fool. Today, she wanted Qin Mian, that country bumpkin, to look good!
The Emperor Xiao Hui nodded, "That's a good idea." Grand Xia Country had always been important, even if there were many military officials they would be able to oppose each other while reciting poetry. Even if it was in this way, he had nothing to worry about.
The people from Turow Country seemed to have come prepared, and calmly agreed to Princess Yan Qing's suggestion.
Qin Mian detected Princess Yan Qing's gaze just now, and was very curious in his heart how the other party would attack him.
Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin looked at Princess Yan Qing at the same time, the two brothers looked at each other indifferently, their eyes were sharp to the point that it was shocking.
Princess Yan Qing's heart jumped, subconsciously avoiding their eyes, then angrily looked over. However, the two brothers had already shifted their gaze away, whispering to each other.
Emperor Xiao Hui took a sip of his wine and laughed: "You are our guest, Turow Country, so I will leave you to set the questions first."
Leu Manqing suggested, "Your Majesty, how about this."My country and your country have interacted to set the question."
"Sure." The Emperor Xiao Hui raised his hand and made a "please" gesture, "Let your envoy go first."
The Turow Country Envoys all looked at Ye Yunwen.
Ye Yunwen stood up, bowed towards the Emperor Xiao Hui, and muttered to himself. As he was speaking, his gaze swept over the officials, "It is midsummer, so the first question, foreign delegate requests your country to write a poem with the title 'Magnificent Summer'."
Everyone understood, the other party clearly knew of the importance of Grand Xia Country, yet he gave such a simple question.
Ye Yunwen looked at the strong and burly general among the military officials, "Please give your answer, Sir."
The general stood up, clasped his fists at him, scratched his head, and lowered his head in thought.
Ye Yunwen looked indifferent, but he did not urge them to do so.
Of course, it would not be good to drag this on for too long. After pondering for a moment, he recited, "The east window is still warm at night, and there is a breeze blowing from the north. He would sit and sleep for the rest of the day, never leaving the room. The center is unrelated, and it's the same as going out."
Some of them nodded, while others shook their heads.
Ye Yunwen gave a simple comment, "Although this poem is simple, it is definitely interesting. There is indeed a great amount of talent in your country."
Emperor Xiao Hui laughed out loud.
Li Manqing smiled and asked, "It's your turn to set the question."
Everyone looked at the Prime Minister.
The prime minister stood up and said, "Since that's the case, please let the envoy compose a poem on the topic of 'wine' as well." He also pointed at one of the enemy's generals.
Who would have thought that the military general would be so talented. After he stood up, he muttered to himself for a moment before opening his mouth and saying, "How big is one's life when it comes to alcohol? For example, in the morning dew, the days were much more bitter. One should never forget his sorrow. How could he solve this problem? Du Kang is the only one."
Everyone in Grand Xia Country could not help but be inwardly startled. This poem was beautifully written!
The Emperor Xiao Hui praised without hesitation: "Good poem! Your envoy has won the first match. I toast all of you! "
Let's toast and set the second question on Turow Country.
It was still Ye Yunwen who gave the questions."Today, we have the same chicken and rabbit cage, with 35 of them and 94 of them. Ask the chicken and rabbit how tall they are?"
Hearing this question, the faces of Qin Mian, Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin all changed slightly. Isn't this the "Dual Elemental Equations" that Qin Mian taught him? When Qin Mian taught Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin, Lei Tia also learned from him, so all four of them were able to solve this problem. But when they looked at the others, they were all very nervous.
Qin Mian thought that Ye Yunwen was really ruthless. This question was quite difficult for ordinary people. It wasn't that they couldn't solve it, but rather, it would take them a relatively long time to solve it.
Many people write and calculate on the table with their hands full of wine.
Ye Yunwen's gaze swept across, and looked at the Prime Minister, "Please advise me, Master Wen." Since he had won the first question, Turow Country, he could still try it out once more. He had thought that the Prime Minister had the highest position amongst the civil officials, and should be the most outstanding amongst the civil officials.
The prime minister stroked his short beard and ordered pen paper and abacus.
The leader of the envoy asked, "Your Majesty, should we limit the time limit for this question?"
Emperor Xiao Hui was also an knowledgeable person, so he was naturally able to see the difficulty of the question. He completely took in the expressions of everyone present and was unsure of what to do, but he smiled and said, "That's how it should be. Why not just limit it to an incense stick? What do you think? "
Li Manqing and the others did not have any objections.
Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin asked as they looked at Qin Mian, who shook his head slightly.
Prime Minister Wen was as steady as Mt. Tai. After writing for a while, he put down his brush and replied, "Chicken 12, rabbit 23."
Ye Yunwen cupped his hands and praised: "Prime Minister, I am truly impressed!"
"Hur hur, too much, too much." Prime Minister Wen looked at Emperor Xiao Hui, somewhat unconfident.
The smile on the Emperor Xiao Hui's face slowly faded.
Ye Yunwen was secretly pleased with himself as he said in a clear voice: "May I know what is your second question?"
| ← Ch. 185 | Ch. 187 → |