Frost for a Thousand Years

Chapter 243 The Prince of Jin's Top-Tier Battle of Wits

For the first time, the narrow passageway leading to the Taiyuan Hall felt incredibly short.

Wei Wusheng hadn't come to his senses yet when he was almost finished walking.

He felt extremely uneasy when he learned about it yesterday.

Today, seeing so many colleagues who were still unaware of Song Shi'an's situation and were all wondering what had led to the morning court session, this unease deepened.

If Your Majesty wishes to bring Song Shi'an back, you can simply refuse this request without making a sound.

No one will ever know.

There will be absolutely no resistance from the imperial court.

Does Your Majesty not understand what will happen if we bring this matter up in public today?

Wei Wusheng stopped and raised his head.

He gazed at the enormous palace, his face devoid of any emotion.

Don't you only hate me?
"Wusheng." Seeing his somber expression, the King of Wu comforted him, "It's alright, your fourth brother is here."

"Ah."

The two of them, along with the officials, entered the main hall.

Today, all the important people are here.

The group included Prince Jin, Prince Zhongping, Prince Wu, Prince Zhongshan, Duke Li, and other noble families, as well as the newly rich, led by Song Jing.

However, among the so-called new elites, only the Song family was in the imperial court.

The rest of the people are wavering.

The most miserable were still the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Zhongping, because they noticed that their two opponents, Wei Wusheng and Song Jing, had very somber expressions.

Logically speaking, shouldn't I be happy if my opponent is unhappy?

It's so refreshing!

This means that, apart from the King of Wu, almost all of the King of Wu's supporters had the right to know the inside story in advance!
They were completely abandoned by the emperor.

Can we still win?

The emperor has arrived.

His health was clearly not very good.

He even released this information despite his poor physical condition?
It's time to determine a successor.

I'm going to win.

King Wu suppressed his joy, so much so that the seriousness on his face seemed somewhat superficial.

When attending court, one must prostrate oneself in worship.

Rise.

"Today, we've come to discuss something."

Without letting the eunuch announce it, the emperor spoke first: "The Prince of Yan has sent a letter saying that he greatly admires Song Shi'an's knowledge and abilities, and wishes to maintain a lasting friendship with our Great Yu. He requests that Song Shi'an be appointed as the prime minister of Northern Yan."

As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar in the main hall.

Song Shi'an, who took the initiative to go on the mission, is actually going to become the prime minister of Yan?
And what followed was a secret joy in my heart.

The land reclamation program will not be carried out.

At least, it won't be presided over by that ungrateful bastard Song Shi'an!
"When I learned of this, I was just as surprised as you all. As expected of my top scholar, he has already shown the talent of a prime minister at the young age of twenty-one." The emperor smiled and said, "Moreover, the Prince of Yan's 'betrothal gifts' are quite generous, expelling Ji Hui from the country and expressing his willingness to sign a military alliance with my Great Yu."

Hearing this, everyone was even more astonished.

This is a very generous gift!

“Sending the hostage back will inevitably lead to a conflict with the State of Qi, but then our northern border will be secure.”

"In particular, this alliance put the State of Qi in a passive position, and it no longer dared to take the initiative to send troops."

"As long as Lord Song is in Yan and holds the position of prime minister, wouldn't the major affairs of Yan be under the control of my Great Yu?"

These people are all using grand and righteous words to express their thoughts.

Who would be foolish enough to attack him at a time like this?
Sun Situ had rarely been so happy in his life.

Your Majesty, I really thought you were planning something.

It seems I guessed wrong.

When a political system is in decline, what is the first thing the ruling class thinks about?
Yes, to embellish.

But why would rulers still undertake seemingly bold or far-reaching initiatives?
This is to give the people a fantasy, or rather, a promise, making them think that the emperor has something big planned, which will come true at some point.

But when that moment actually comes, it will give you a big one.

What's the point of doing that?
So, did you wait until that time and try your best not to cause trouble?

Was Song Shi'an's year too short?

No, this year almost entirely shifted all the major domestic conflicts to other areas.

This person's value is sufficient once they've reached this point.

Although it did not achieve the same effect as the emperor, it achieved a different effect in a different way.

In essence, they all aimed to prolong the life of the nation.

"What do you think, gentlemen?" the emperor asked.

At this moment, Ye Changqing stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that Envoy Song went on this mission with a sincere heart for the country and its people. In this matter, we should follow his advice."

The strategy of the Wu King's faction was: to do their best.

No matter what, I will do my best.

But someone as intelligent as Ye Changqing couldn't possibly be unaware that simply doing his best wasn't enough; he had to fight tooth and nail.

"Minister Ye is right," the Emperor agreed. "Song Shi'an guarded the north wind for Dayu and drove Ji Yuan away. If he was unwilling, no matter how many benefits Yan offered, I would not agree."

"Your Majesty is benevolent—"

After the emperor uttered such a beautiful sentence, everyone, including Song Jing, bowed according to the rules and showered him with compliments.

Only Wei Wusheng remained standing still.

The emperor stared at him.

As he bent down, King Wu noticed that Wei Wusheng hadn't moved and quickly lowered his voice to anxiously remind him, "Wusheng!"

Only then did he follow suit and bow.

But he didn't open his mouth.

But the emperor was not disgusted by his behavior.

This king who rebels in his dreams, he really has guts.

Ji Yuan was right about him.

Unfortunately, he was a scoundrel. "Your Majesty," Grand Secretary Sun Kang said at this moment, "I also feel that Lord Song has devoted a great deal of effort to our Great Yu. If he is truly appointed as Prime Minister in Yan, he should urge the King of Yan to treat him with the respect due to a duke or marquis, and not to sideline or belittle him."

“That’s for sure.” At this moment, a civil official chimed in, “Our Great Yu is not exchanging Lord Song for peace, but using our Great Yu’s superior ministers to influence the small country of Liaodong and make it more respectful and obedient.”

"If our two countries were to establish a permanent diplomatic relationship, Lord Song would be remembered for all time."

"The 21-year-old prime minister is truly worthy of being the top scholar of our Great Yu."

All the good people have suddenly appeared.

This made Prince Zhongping realize that this brat was really not coming back.

So he decided to put in a lot more effort and say something.

Just then, he was glared at by the Prince of Jin who was standing to the side.

My second brother is chickening out again at times like this, sigh!
Just as he was thinking this, the Prince of Jin stepped forward.

I was wrong. It turns out you're the one who's going to add fuel to the fire, Second Brother.

You look so different today!

"His Majesty."

Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, the King of Jin walked to the center and solemnly said, "Your Majesty, the Yan state previously killed our Yu envoy, and now they are begging for an alliance on the grounds of appointing Song Shi'an as prime minister. I believe this should not be taken lightly."

The moment those words were spoken, everyone was stunned.

Aren't you two mortal enemies?

The Prince of Zhongping was speechless.

Hey, second brother, you... wait a minute!
Upon realizing his father's cold expression, Prince Zhongping instantly understood... Second brother, you're amazing!

Wei Yixuan, you bastard!

The King of Wu was also caught off guard by this move.

Although Prince Jin was slow to grasp the situation, his survival instinct made him the first person to understand the political landscape without any intelligence.

His Majesty was to hold a court assembly, but instead of staying in Yan, he sought out the King of Wu beforehand.

This is paving the road.

If Song Shi'an doesn't return, the King of Wu should ascend to the throne as crown prince.

Ask yourself.

Wei Yixuan, are you going to rebel against Song Shi'an?

No, you're rebelling against Wei Yiyun.

Therefore, whatever the King of Wu supports, I, the King of Jin, oppose. And whatever the King of Wu opposes, I, the King of Jin, support.

But that's what gave the old emperor a headache.

Damn it, why wasn't you so wise and capable sooner!
"Fourth Brother." Seeing that the Prince of Jin had spoken, Wei Wusheng quickly looked at the Prince of Wu with an urging look, urging him to step down now.

King Wu swallowed hard, his heart pounding with anxiety.

The original script was that the emperor would play the villain, while he would play the good guy.

In the end, the good guys couldn't overcome the bad guys.

He did bad things, but left behind a good reputation.

What now?
If only I were to say such nice things, just like the Prince of Jin…

Both of the candidates for crown prince pleaded for Song Shi'an's life.

Then, which of the civil and military officials in the imperial court would dare to speak up?
After all, today's advice is a rebuttal to the future emperor!
……

"Peace and safety."

On the towering Xiaoyun Pavilion of the Great Yan Dynasty, Kang Xun and Song Shi'an were drinking wine.

Each of the two men was served wine by a maid with a deep cleavage.

And they were all a little tipsy.

“The Prince of Yan.”

When the other party suddenly called out like that, Song Shi'an also raised his wine cup and, taking advantage of his drunkenness, spoke disrespectfully.

But Kang Xun didn't take it to heart at all. Instead, he mocked, "You don't need to argue with me. In the future, the person you'll be with is still me."

"Why?"

Song Shi'an expressed his confusion.

"Want to know?" The Prince of Yan laughed, pointing to his wine cup. "Drink!"

Song Shi'an immediately fell silent.

He then turned the wine vessel upside down to prove that he did not keep fish.

"You finished drinking it, so why?" Song Shi'an asked.

"Isn't that simple?" the Prince of Yan laughed. "In Da Yu, nobody likes you!"

“Impossible.” Song Shi’an denied it directly, saying in a serious tone, “My wife likes me.”

"Hahaha..." The Prince of Yan laughed, "You defeated Ji Yuan using that method. Which of those pampered people of Qinzhou wouldn't be jealous? As a young master from a noble family, you want to engage in land reclamation and rebel against your father. Which of those old noble families wouldn't hate you to the bone?"

"That's just because I did things right and people were jealous. Aside from that, why can't I be liked?" Song Shi'an questioned.

"The world is corrupt, yet you alone are pure; this is what makes you stand out. You are arrogant and disdainful of others because of your talent; this is what makes you lack humility. You have keen insight into people's hearts and your strategies are flawless; this is what makes you wise."

Is not being stupid a flaw?

"Too smart, no friends!"

“You may have few friends, but how can you say that nobody likes me?” Song Shi’an retorted seriously.

"Can you really call someone you like someone who has to speak up for you because of the political infighting in the court? At most, it's Wei Wusheng, the one you've been longing for and who has captivated you. He's one of them."

With a smirk playing on his lips, Kang Xun looked at the man before him and said in a rather cheeky tone, "Besides him, who else genuinely wants you to go back?"

After he finished speaking, Song Shi'an fell silent.

Holding a freshly filled wine glass in his hand, watching the ripples of wine, the smile on his lips was so faint that it was almost imperceptible.

"If that's what the Prince of Yan says," Song Shi'an raised his head, "then where in this world can I not stay?"

"Ah, what are you talking about?" Kang Xun said somewhat bewilderedly, "Stay in Yan Kingdom."

"In the Yan Kingdom, even more people dislike me," Song Shi'an said self-deprecatingly, swirling his wine cup.

"I like you."

Conson laughed and looked at the man he had called emo.

Song Shi'an smiled, looked at the Prince of Yan, and raised the wine cup with one hand: "To Your Majesty's liking."

(End of this chapter)