Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 202 Engagement
The guards were in a flurry of activity and began to divide the tasks for the salvage operation.

“Big brother…” Rong Wanyin’s eyes were red, and she wanted to go forward to comfort him with heartache, but she didn’t know how to comfort him.

Rong Junye gazed at the surging river, his hand holding the brocade trembling slightly. He wasn't unfamiliar with life and death; many had perished tragically on the battlefield. But she... she was different...

"Just a little bit more, just a little bit more, and I would have caught her..." Rong Junye stared at the piece of brocade, closed his eyes, and felt a mix of emotions, not knowing what to feel.

The smoke from the incense burner rose slowly, and although there were many servants in the entire palace, it was as quiet as if no one was there.

"Your Highness, the Khitan princess has arrived..." the old servant at the door of the room reported cautiously.

"I don't see..." The sixth prince sat diagonally on the couch, raised the wine pot in one hand, and poured wine into his mouth.

"Hmph, who do you think you are? You think you can just refuse to see me like that? I'm only here to give you face!" The Khitan princess barged into the sixth prince's room without waiting for the old servant to announce her arrival.

"Princess, this is not proper for you..." The old servant bowed and scraped, trying to get the Khitan princess out, but the horsewhip in the princess's hand was no joke.

"Let her in!" the Sixth Prince sneered.

The old servant bowed and then withdrew.

"Are you satisfied now?" The Sixth Prince's voice was hoarse. He suddenly sprang to his feet and smashed the wine jug in his hand at the Khitan princess. "Are you satisfied? Are you satisfied!"

The Khitan princess was skilled in martial arts and reacted extremely quickly. She lashed out with her horsewhip and knocked the wine pot to the ground. With a "crack," the wine pot shattered into pieces.

The sixth prince was startled by the sudden sound, broke out in a cold sweat, and sobered up almost instantly.

The Khitan princess squatted down and smiled at the Sixth Prince: "Sixth Prince, are you not going to play the deep affection game with me today? I always thought I was cold-blooded by nature, but I didn't expect you to be even more ruthless than me. We are truly a match made in heaven!"

The Sixth Prince's pupils contracted slightly. Why was this Khitan princess acting so differently today? He then sneered and mocked himself. Of course, there was no deep affection in a political marriage. He should have seen through it long ago. How stupid of him!

The Khitan princess was shrewd and had already guessed what the sixth prince was thinking: "Sixth Prince, don't worry. This marriage is just a business deal, a win-win situation. I don't love you, and you don't love me. It's just about maximizing our interests. Now that we've talked it out, it's perfect. Anyway, I don't want to act anymore. I find it disgusting."

"You think that after you killed my beloved today and almost exposed the Imperial Seal case to the public, and now everyone believes I am the culprit who stole the Imperial Seal, you have ruined all my carefully planned schemes and caused me to fail at the last minute, do you think I will still cooperate with you?" The Sixth Prince turned his face away, unwilling to look at the Khitan princess's face any longer.

"Hahaha, Sixth Prince, don't joke. Whether Yu Ni Chang is your favorite person, I don't know, but I do know that you are a smart man. Maximizing your interests is always your guiding principle. Don't forget, Sixth Prince, we are the same kind of people. You will cooperate with me." The Khitan princess laughed until tears streamed down her face, as if the Sixth Prince were telling a huge joke. "If I hadn't done this today, why would you have considered cooperating with me? Don't you Han people say that helping someone in need is more valuable than adding flowers to brocade?"

"Ha, providing timely help? Where did this snow come from?" The Sixth Prince shook his head with a wry smile.

"I don't care what you say, I'm only giving you two choices: one, cooperate with me and form a marriage alliance with the Khitan, so that the Great Zhou Dynasty will have half of me and half of you; two, you can be despised by everyone and fail in your endeavors!" The Khitan princess spoke lightly, as if she were discussing with the sixth prince where to go for fun. "I'll wait for your reply. Give me an answer before noon tomorrow. I'm impatient and can't wait too long. His Majesty the Emperor has more than just you as a prince, don't you think?" "..." The sixth prince simply picked up another wine pot and drank his wine in silence, ignoring the Khitan princess's words.

"Since I've said my piece, I'll take my leave!" The Khitan princess said without any hesitation, putting away her riding whip and departing.

The sixth prince sat dejectedly on the cold, hard floor. He sneered, "Love? Do you even need that kind of thing?"

The sixth prince smashed the wine pot in his hand, shattering it into pieces. The flying shards cut his hand, but he was completely unaware of it, feeling only that the physical pain lessened the pain in his heart.
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"Have you found the person?" Rong Junye asked, grabbing a soldier who was walking from the riverbank.

"Has the Imperial Seal been found?" The Sixth Prince, standing beside him, also asked.

The guard was somewhat fearful, afraid of being reprimanded, and gently shook his head.

Yan Mingzhang and Rong Wanyin exchanged a glance, a hint of doubt in their eyes. Today, the guards had searched almost the entire moat, yet this person and the imperial seal had vanished into thin air? This was too strange!
"Found it! Found it!" A soldier who was searching on the shore used a bamboo pole to pull the red clothes from the water toward the shore.

The guard looked young and inexperienced, but when the clothes were pulled ashore, he was startled and collapsed to the ground, shouting, "There are only clothes, no one! It's a ghost! It's a ghost!"

The attendant beside the Sixth Prince stepped forward and slapped the guard several times, silencing him: "Anyone who dares to talk nonsense will be severely punished! It's just that the water washed the clothes down, what nonsense! If you dare to talk nonsense again, I'll break your jaw!"

The guard was so frightened that he sat there with red eyes, not daring to utter a sound. The other guards quickly lowered their heads and got back to work, afraid that the anger would spread to them.

The sixth prince looked at the useless garment, flicked his sleeve, and went to rest in the shade.

Yan Mingzhang squatted down and carefully examined the clothes several times. His eyes became firm, and his thoughts were slowly being confirmed.

Seeing that Yan Mingzhang's expression was off, Rong Wanyin approached him and asked in a low voice, "My lord, have you discovered something?"

“The clothes aren’t damaged,” Yan Mingzhang whispered in Rong Wanyin’s ear, making a nonsensical remark.

At this moment, another guard raised the net in his hand. Inside the net was a bright yellow cloth, the yellow cloth used to wrap the imperial seal!

"The Imperial Seal has been found!" someone shouted.

The sixth prince jumped up from his seat, pushed aside the servant who tried to help him, and strode over.

As the net got closer, the more they realized something was wrong. The knots on the yellow cloth that originally contained the imperial seal were still tied, but the cloth bag was flat, clearly indicating that there was no imperial seal inside!

The imperial seal has also disappeared! Everyone looked somewhat uneasy; it really was a ghost!
"Open it and take a look..." Rong Junye raised his chin, instructing his personal guards to open the yellow cloth package.