Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 260: The way to break the impasse, the real dragon is not a dragon!
Zhao Qi'an knew what the second prince wanted to do.

At the birthday banquet, whoever's birthday gift best suits Emperor Tianwu's taste will receive a promise from the Emperor.

Even though it was a joke after drinking, but... you are not joking!

To this end, Ji Haoyu spared no expense to purchase the enlightenment tea that even the national teacher Shui Yuexian was looking for.

But when the real dragon appeared, the birthday gift carefully prepared by the second prince seemed like a joke.

How could he not be anxious?
Now that there is already a rift between him and Zhao Qi'an, he still has the nerve to look for Zhao Qi'an, which shows how anxious he is at the moment.

What Ji Haoyu wants... is the finale gift from the Zhao family of Donghai!

The Donghai Zhao family's contribution was naturally not small. What the Donghai Zhao family presented to Emperor Tianwu as a finale must be a treasure that attracted great attention.

Zhao Qi'an knew Ji Haoyu's inner thoughts, but this time the finale gift he prepared could only be presented through his hands.

"Boss, do you want to meet me or not?"

Gou Xiangxi was waiting for Zhao Qi'an's decision.

Zhao Qi'an stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and nodded, "See, but before you go, send someone to the merchant house to tell Xiong Shanyue to fish out the things I sank in the river and send them to me."

Something that sank in the river?
What is that?

Gou Xiangxi was a little confused, but after waiting for a while, Zhao Qi'an did not give any explanation, so he stopped asking and nodded in agreement.

Zhao Qi'an stood at the gate of the princess's mansion, glanced in the direction of the imperial palace, and then went straight back into the mansion.

……

Inside the Chengping Palace.

Ji Haoyu paced back and forth in the front hall anxiously, stopping from time to time to look towards the door, but he could not see anyone, and he felt even more restless.

After a while, Wei Fu came hurriedly from outside the palace. Seeing this, Ji Haoyu hurriedly asked, "Is Hai Qing here?"

Wei Fu looked embarrassed and bowed, "Your Highness, the Prince Consort has not arrived yet."

Ji Haoyu waved his sleeves and said angrily, "I didn't want to argue with him about what happened in Zhaixing Tower yesterday, but he put on airs instead? I never treated him unfairly. This Zhao Haiqing is a complete ungrateful person!"

Wei Fu bowed repeatedly and consoled him, "Your Highness, Prince Consort Zhao may just be delayed on the way. Please wait a little longer."

"In two hours, the Wanshou Banquet will begin. How can we wait? How should we wait?"

Ji Haoyu sighed and said, "Real dragon, real dragon... How can there really be a real dragon in this world? And how come it was such a coincidence that the third brother found it?"

Wei Fu smiled awkwardly: "After all, it's just a beast, no different from the giant tiger that the eldest prince brought into the capital. Perhaps Your Majesty doesn't like it?"

Ji Haoyu looked at him with empty eyes and questioned: "Do you believe this yourself? Besides, even if the emperor really doesn't like it, the officials will like it, the people will like it, and even I will like it. How can the emperor not like it?"

A very simple truth.

The dragon, a legendary creature, has been beautified in the minds of the people of Kyushu and turned into a totem-like existence.

During the Tianwu period, dragons appeared in the Nine Provinces. This was a great auspicious sign that even left a strong mark in history books.

Even if Emperor Tianwu felt that it was troublesome to have such an extra ancestor in the palace, he still had to give a thumbs up and say "this ritual is very much to my liking."

"Yes, I am a dull servant. Your Highness needs your guidance before I can understand the truth."

Wei Fu slapped himself lightly on the face a few times, and smiled in a naive and flattering manner: "But Your Highness, can you discuss countermeasures with Prime Minister Wu? Prime Minister Wu is a very smart man, he may have a solution."

He was actually giving Ji Haoyu a subtle reminder.

But Ji Haoyu failed to understand the meaning of his words and said impatiently: "What can Grandfather do? Although the Xuzhou Wu family is a thousand-year-old family, how can its foundation compare to the East China Sea Zhao family? If there is any family in the world that can produce a treasure comparable to a real dragon, it is only the East China Sea Zhao family!"

Wei Fu couldn't help but sigh.

Your Highness, Your Highness, no matter how rich the Zhao family of the East China Sea is, is there any treasure in the world that is more moving than the auspicious symbol of a real dragon?
Unless... the Zhao family of East China Sea can come up with an elixir that can make people immortal!
Does the Zhao family have it?

Is there such a thing in this world?
It is simply unrealistic to want to surpass the Third Prince in birthday gifts, so it is useless to ask the Zhao family for help. Only Prime Minister Wu has a chance to reverse the current situation.

Although he thought so in his heart, he did not dare to tell Ji Haoyu his thoughts truthfully.

Because he was not sure that Wu Xiang would be able to reverse the current situation.

It would be fine if it succeeds, but if it fails... He is the person who knows the Second Prince in front of him best, better than the Second Prince's biological mother, Queen Wu, and Concubine Qin who sleeps with the Second Prince day and night.

The Second Prince is not as magnanimous as he appears.

Ji Haoyu paced for a while, and finally seemed to have made up his mind. He clenched his hands behind his back and said, "Since Haiqing is unwilling to come in person, I will visit him in person!"

Wei Fu finally chose not to say anything, but leaned forward and replied, "Yes, I will prepare a carriage for Your Highness to leave the palace."

……

Imperial Palace, Guangning Hall.

Emperor Tianwu is hosting a banquet for diplomatic envoys from various countries in this hall today. The hall is now filled with members of diplomatic envoys from various countries. Their clothing is different from that of people from the Central Plains, but everyone is dressed luxuriously.

On the birthday of the Emperor of Daqian, many vassal states had their monarchs come to Beijing in person to congratulate him. Even if they could not come, most of them sent their princes as envoys. In the hall, a figure hidden behind the veil raised a wine glass, and a steady and loud voice echoed in the hall:
"Today is my birthday. I am very pleased that you have come to celebrate my birthday. I am willing to use some wine to wash away the dust on your bodies."

His Highness, everyone dared not ignore it, and they all raised their glasses and said respectfully in unison in their broken Central Plains dialect:

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I wish Your Majesty a long life and a long and stable country!"

"Hahaha, good!"

After a glass of wine, Emperor Tianwu stopped talking.

Fortunately, Daqian also had the Left Prime Minister Wu Yong, and many officials from the Honglu Temple to accompany them, so they would not neglect the delegation.

After the banquet was over and the figure hidden behind the curtain left, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"This time, I am grateful to Prime Minister Wu for his help. Otherwise, I am afraid I would not be able to cope with it."

Wu Yong stood up and walked out of the hall. The Minister of Honglu Temple followed behind him, bowing to him with a wry smile.

This old man is actually about the same age as Wu Yong, but he looks much older than Wu Yong, with a high bulge in his back, like a hunchback.

He said he couldn't handle it, and he wasn't being modest; he really couldn't handle it.

Emperor Tianwu did not like the envoys from these vassal states. He thought they were just foreigners who were trying to take advantage of others. It was useless to keep them, but a pity to throw them away. Therefore, Daqian had little contact with these vassal states. As a result, even the Honglu Temple, which was responsible for receiving the vassal delegations, did not know the countries behind these delegations.

But Wu Yong is clearly not responsible for these matters, but he knows the situation in various countries very well. Not only is he proficient in many foreign languages, he can also talk about the national conditions of these countries in detail.

This time, the hunchbacked minister was completely convinced by Prime Minister Wu.

Even though Wu Yong was cursed badly behind his back by many people and was nicknamed "the Prime Minister of Mud" and "the Prime Minister of Fighting Cocks", he was able to sit in the position of the Left Prime Minister and become the most powerful minister in the Daqian Dynasty, which was unprecedented in history. Wu Yong had his abilities.

"These small border countries are insignificant if viewed individually, but when combined, they are a considerable force. They are useful in stabilizing the border. We should not be arrogant and complacent because of our status as the Kingdom of Heaven."

Wu Yong walked out while admonishing.

When he walked out of Guangning Palace, someone was waiting for him outside the palace.

"Master Liu, I will leave first."

"Please do as you please, Prime Minister."

Wu Yong walked towards the man outside the palace and asked, "Has anyone from Chengping Palace come to look for me?"

The man waiting for him outside the hall was named Lin Wenxu, a fifth-rank Zhongshu Sheren.

However, he has another identity that is more known to people. That is, he was the second place in the imperial examination in the 36th year of Tianwu, and the prince consort who was captured by Princess De Ling.

Lin Wenxu joined the Zuo Xiang's school and just made a comeback into the officialdom. Now he is like a close confidant of Wu Yong.

He had a good appearance and was still elegant at the age of fifty. However, he was very humble when facing Wu Yong and bowed and said, "The Second Prince has never sent anyone to look for the teacher."

Wu Yong's face suddenly darkened: "Now that the real dragon has entered the palace, is he not anxious?"

"This...I'm afraid he's in a hurry." Lin Wenxu showed a bit of helplessness on his face, "So he left the palace and went to Princess Yuzhen's mansion."

When Wu Yong heard this, he understood that Ji Haoyu was going to seek help from the Zhao family.

He couldn't help but feel angry: "The Zhao family again? In his eyes, my grandfather is not as good as those outsiders?"

"Teacher, calm down. I'm sure the Second Prince is just desperate and trying all sorts of methods to cure his illness."

"He's not desperate, he's just stupid! Is he stupid enough to think the Zhao family can come up with a birthday gift more precious than a real dragon?"

Wu Yong was really angry, and even scolded Ji Haoyu for his stupidity in front of Lin Wenxu.

He said in a deep voice: "The only way to break the impasse now is...'True Dragon is Not a Dragon'!"

Wanting to find a treasure more precious than a real dragon and offer it to the Third Prince in order to outdo the Third Prince at the birthday banquet... this is almost impossible.

Not to mention that there are only two hours left until the longevity banquet, even if we give it two years, twenty years, or two hundred years, we may not be able to find it.

But... was what the third prince presented really a "real dragon"?

Even if it looks like a dragon in every way, it may not be a dragon. After all, no one in the world has ever seen a real dragon.

People in the world can't see it, they can only hear rumors.

Where do these rumors come from?

It's those who hold the pen!
And Wu Yong just happened to have this group of people holding pens firmly in his hands.

This is the solution he prepared for Ji Haoyu to break the impasse—"The real dragon is not a dragon"!
It can be a python, a dragon, or some strange beast, but it must not be a dragon.

As long as it is not a dragon, its value will be greatly reduced. In this way, the merit of the Third Prince in finding the real dragon for Your Majesty will be insignificant.

Wu Yong had already thought of a countermeasure and was just waiting for Ji Haoyu to come to him.

But I didn't expect that Ji Haoyu couldn't even figure this out. He would rather go to find Zhao Qian'an from the Zhao family of Donghai than come to find me.

In that case...it's better to let him learn a lesson himself!
(End of this chapter)