I have suffered enough in my previous life, my cousin will never marry me

Chapter 224 Setting an Example
As Ye Wanshu and Consort Zhang arrived at the gate of the mansion, Li Youzhen and the court officials immediately knelt down and pleaded in unison, "Please, Consort Zhang, allow His Highness to come out and take charge of the situation."

"Take charge of the overall situation?" Consort Zhang smiled coldly: "Haven't you all already found a master for Lin'an City? Why would you need him?"

"Your Highness, since His Highness has decided to marry Princess Helian and form an alliance with Daqiu Guoyong, he should value this marriage. How can you treat Princess Helian so coldly?"

Li Youzhen complained bitterly, "If His Highness hadn't deliberately neglected and slighted Princess Helian, how could chaos have broken out in Lin'an last night?"

"What a joke." Consort Zhang rubbed her temples speechlessly. "This is the first time I've ever heard of diplomatic relations between two countries using marital harmony as a bargaining chip. According to Vice Minister Li, my son has married that Princess Daqiu, and he'll have to bow and scrape before her for the rest of his life?"

"I have no such intention."

Li Youzhen glanced at Ye Wanshu with dissatisfaction: "Everyone knows the reason for the discord between Princess Helian and Your Highness. It all lies with Princess Jinghe. As long as Your Highness can completely sever his ties with Princess Jinghe, our Great Ye Dynasty will be able to coexist peacefully with Daqiu."

"This is getting more and more absurd," Consort Zhang said angrily. "When did your spines become so weak?"

Ye Wanshu couldn't help but sneer: "Does Vice Minister Li really think that without me, the two countries can achieve peaceful coexistence? The Great Ye Dynasty has suffered oppression and humiliation at the hands of the Great Qiu Iron Cavalry for over a century. Is all of this because of me?"

"This," Li Youzhen and the court officials looked at each other, unsure how to respond.

"In my opinion, you all have developed a servile nature to your very core, but you just refuse to admit it," Ye Wanshu said indignantly. "The more you belittle yourselves, the more determined the Daqiu cavalry will be to march south."

Zhu Wencai had long been fed up with these pedantic scholars. From Yuezhou to Lin'an, Miss Ye had suffered countless grievances for the sake of the Yuezhou army, and he would never allow her to be mistreated again.

His Highness's plan has been achieved; now all that is needed is to continue to lull the Daqiu delegation into a false sense of security.

"Please leave, everyone," Zhu Wencai said, drawing his sword with a livid face. "Since you have brought this great Buddha into your homes, you may take good care of it yourselves. If you come to the Ji residence to cause trouble again, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Seeing the sharp edge of the blade, everyone felt a chill and had no choice but to leave dejectedly.

Walking along the road, thinking about what happened at the mansion last night, Lou Yan, the Minister of Revenue, said with lingering fear, "Your Excellency, what should we do now? Princess Jinghe's words may be rough, but they are not wrong. The Daqiu cavalry has not even entered Lin'an yet, and the Daqiu delegation is already so arrogant. If the Daqiu cavalry were to actually enter Lin'an, who knows what the situation would be like."

Li Youzhen pondered silently for a moment. Everything had already been done according to the Daqiu people's requirements. It wouldn't be right to force that girl from the Ye family to her death. If this continued, there would be no room for compromise in the future.

He had hoped to please the people of Daqiu and quell the conflict between the two countries, which would not only win them favor but also relieve His Majesty's burdens. In this way, he might even be promoted to Grand Secretary.

Judging from the current situation, I was being far too optimistic.

"Go to the East Palace," Li Youzhen said. "I effortlessly allowed the Daqiu cavalry to enter my Daye territory. Princess Helian would surely repay kindness with enmity."

Hearing this, everyone had no choice but to follow them to the East Palace.

Meanwhile, inside the Crown Prince's residence, Helian Jiu had just finished writing a letter and handed it to his trusted confidant.

"Princess, do you really intend to invite the Crown Prince to come and pay your respects?" the confidant asked nervously.

"The common people of Daye are all spineless. If we want to completely conquer them, we can only trample on their dignity so that they dare not raise their heads and willingly accept our enslavement."

Helian Jiu smiled faintly: "But I am, after all, a young lady, and there are many things that I cannot do myself. Now, I can only ask my brother, the Crown Prince, to lead the army to Lin'an to take charge of the overall situation. As long as we win back the hearts of the people of Daye, my brother, the Crown Prince's position in Daqiu will be unshakable."

"Your Highness is wise." The confidant smiled sincerely: "I will immediately send someone to invite the Crown Prince to come to Lin'an for a meeting."

No sooner had she finished speaking than a guard rushed in: "Princess, officials from the court of Daye have come to pay their respects."

Helian Jiu's eyes darkened, and he led his men out. As soon as they arrived outside the mansion, Li Youzhen hurriedly stepped forward, clasped his hands in a salute, and said, "Princess, I have come here without permission and have disturbed you. Please forgive me."

"What is it?" Helian Jiu asked coldly, sounding somewhat impatient.

"Your humble servant has come only to discuss with the princess. Now that our dynasty has submitted to your esteemed country, we only hope that the princess will treat us with courtesy and properly manage her subordinates," Li Youzhen said cautiously.

"What do you mean?" Helian Jiu's eyes grew even colder: "Are you teaching this princess how to do things?"

"Your subject dares not," Li Youzhen said, feeling a chill in his heart. "It's just that the princess sent your esteemed delegation to our residence to harass the women. This truly makes us uneasy."

"Harassing women?" Helian Jiu sneered. "Vice Minister Li, didn't you just advise us a few days ago to vigorously promote the marriage alliance between the two countries and facilitate the integration of relations? Could it be that you were just talking casually and didn't truly submit?"

“Your subject would never have such an intention.” Li Youzhen was so frightened that cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he hurriedly knelt down on the ground: “Your subject has long admired your country and has long hoped to establish relations with your country.”

"That's good." Helian Jiu finally looked at him directly: "Vice Minister Li, since this princess can marry your country's crown prince, you and the other ministers, as pillars of the country, should also set a good example."

After saying that, she directly instructed the general beside her: "Changrong, take men and bring all the female relatives of the Vice Minister and other ministers to the Eastern Palace, so that they can properly reward the thousands of soldiers who came to Lin'an with me this time."

“Princess Helian, this is not a marriage alliance, it is clearly an insult to us!” Lou Yan, the Minister of Revenue, knelt down in desperation: “Please, Your Highness, rescind your order.”

Helian Jiu, enraged, drew his sword and plunged it into Lou Yan's chest: "You bastards! You lowly commoners dare to dream of marrying into my Great Qiu? The bloodline of the people of Great Qiu is so noble, how could you possibly be worthy of our favor?"

Seeing Lou Yan lying bloodied in a pool of blood, Li Youzhen and the others were terrified and knelt on the ground, not daring to utter a sound.

Before long, the Daqiu people brought the women to the East Palace.

The sound of crying and fussing filled the air.

"Madam, our daughter."

Seeing that her family was being taken into the Eastern Palace, Li Youzhen hurriedly stepped forward to stop them.

Changrong suddenly pressed the sword against his neck and said sharply, "What does the Vice Minister mean? Do you also want to end up like Minister Lou?"

With an arrogant glance at the crowd, Changrong continued, "Let me tell you, the Crown Prince of our dynasty will arrive in Lin'an soon. As long as you obediently comply, you will still be guaranteed wealth and honor."

Helian Jiu was too lazy to pay any more attention to these lowly people, and directly led his trusted generals back to the East Palace.

Thinking that Fu Mingchi had not shown up for several days, Helian Jiu was quite annoyed.

"Where has the Crown Prince of Daye gone? Is he still at that vile woman's residence?" Helian Jiu asked.

“The entire family of Crown Prince Fu is at the Ji residence; I’m afraid he won’t return to the Eastern Palace.” Changrong said indignantly, “Princess, shall I go and bring Crown Prince Fu back?”

“No need,” Helian Jiu said. “What Vice Minister Li said is also right. After all, I will be living with Crown Prince Fu in the future. I can’t afford to offend his mother. Anyway, it’s only a few days’ journey from Jiayu Pass to here. I can settle things with him slowly after the wedding.”

Clenching her fists fiercely, she said with a sinister look in her eyes, "I will keep Fu Mingchi in a cage and then cut that little bitch from the Ye family into a thousand pieces. Only then can I vent my hatred."

Seeing that the princess had no intention of provoking the Crown Prince of Daye at this time, Changrong had no choice but to give up.