Zhenguan: I, Dou Fengjie, will not be the first cuckold.

"This is a humiliation for the Tuyuhun!"

Murong Xiaojun, the King of Gaochang of Tuyuhun, trembled all over.

"The princess of the Great Tang Dynasty only asked the ruler of the state she married to, so it was reasonable for her to request the abdication of the Khan of the Great Tang Dynasty."

"If you want to marry the princess, the Tang people from Longyou who have been plundered by Tuyuhun over the years must be released. This is the threshold."

Dou Fengjie, the head of the Court of State Ceremonial, looked down at Murong Xiaojun with an even more arrogant attitude than when Murong Xiaojun had arrived.

Knowing full well that a marriage alliance meant marrying the king, Tuyuhun still hypocritically asked for a princess for their prince. Wasn't that humiliating the Tang Dynasty?

Others might have tried to reason with Murong Xiaojun in handling this matter, but Dou Fengjie's choice was to be even more ruthless than Tuyuhun.

Inside the Four Directions Pavilion, the foreign envoys trembled with fear, while several kings and chieftains who knew the whole story wore eerie smiles and quietly explained to those around them.

The six clans of the Dangxiang Qiang, who were in contact with the Tang Dynasty, were especially eager for a war between the two sides.

The six clans, including Feiting, were hesitating whether to follow the example of Xifengbulai, break away from Tuyuhun, and become a tributary state of the Tang Dynasty.

Therefore, they also wanted to see if the Tang Dynasty had the courage to be more assertive.

"Tuyuhun has repeatedly apologized..."

Murong Xiaojun lowered his voice considerably.

No matter where you look at it, the Tuyuhun are shameless and ruthless: plunder, apologize, plunder again, apologize again...

Previously, the Tang Dynasty was busy dealing with the Turks and had no time to deal with the Tuyuhun, which allowed Murong Fuyun to act with great enthusiasm.

Dou Fengjie grinned menacingly: "How about I cut off the King of Gaochang's kidney and then apologize to you?"

The officials of the Sifang Pavilion cheered repeatedly.

Dou Fengjie's words greatly boosted morale, far surpassing those officials who constantly spouted "the style of the Celestial Empire."

An enemy country is an enemy country. Don't suffer in silence while being generous. With that kind of generosity, why not use it to help your own starving commoners?

If a foreign land treats you well, then bestow favors upon it;

Foreign barbarians who offend our Great Tang, no matter how far away, shall be punished!

Don't keep shouting slogans all the time, only to end up being so weak that it's heartbreaking and demoralizes both the military and the people.

A fist can't always be waving in the air; sometimes you have to throw a powerful punch so others know you're not a paper tiger.

Otherwise, others will just think he's a complete fool.

Dou Fengjie punched Murong Xiaojun in the stomach, causing Murong Xiaojun to bend over in pain and almost vomit.

Dou Fengjie grabbed Murong Xiaojun by the collar, his face contorted with rage: "I've apologized to the King of Gaochang, isn't that enough?"

With a loud "smack," Dou Fengjie slapped Murong Xiaojun across the face, blurting out in his Luozhou dialect, "Is it acceptable? Is it acceptable? Give me an answer!"

Murong Xiaojun rolled his eyes. "Don't be so quick. Give me a chance to speak!"

Asking a question, followed by a slap, creates a rhythm that's strangely comforting.

"Ahem, Master, it seems inappropriate to treat a envoy who is powerless like this." Cui Xinggong, the interpreter of the Secretariat, finally appeared, and his words were sarcastic.

The Sifang Pavilion fell silent for a few moments, then bursts of wild laughter shook the black tiles on the roof.

Murong Xiaojun, a trusted and beloved general of Busabo Khan, was a man who was so weak that he could not even kill a chicken.

That's hilarious!

"Yes! I still prefer to fight him on the battlefield, that way I won't be bullying him." Dou Fengjie shook off Murong Xiaojun, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

Even though Murong Xiaojun was acting and had restrained most of his strength, Dou Fengjie could still tell that Murong Xiaojun was no match for him.

Whether it's strength or skill, even if you try your best to hide it, traces will still be left, and you can't fool an expert.

Murong Xiaojun did not fight back in order to create the impression that Tuyuhun was wronged.

Unfortunately, Dou Fengjie never bought into that.

Perhaps it was because he had been enjoying too many good days, but Dou Fengjie felt that Murong Xiaojun was a bit weak, and he was afraid that he would need to soak more goji berries to help.

"Return the captured people of the Tang Dynasty, or go to war. Choose."

Dou Fengjie's attitude was exceptionally tough.

In reality, Dou Fengjie understood that with the Turks removed, the Tang Dynasty would inevitably have to deal with the Tuyuhun next.

Regardless of personal grudges or the fact that they were right next to each other, Li Shimin would not allow Tuyuhun to threaten the Longyou region again.

Although Longyou has a small population, the vast majority of the imperial guards and supervisors are located there, and the insufficient number of military horses are replenished from Longyou.

Although Tuyuhun was barren, its tens of thousands of horses were the envy of the Tang Dynasty.

The Tuyuhun coveted the people of the Tang Dynasty, while the Tang Dynasty coveted the horses of the Tuyuhun.

Wait, why does that sound like an insult?

Dou Fengjie glanced at the six Dangxiang Qiang clans, and the envoys immediately spoke up: "Sir, our Feiting, Yeli, Wangli, Pochao, Fangdang, and Miqin clans sincerely submit to the Great Tang Dynasty. Please convey this to the Heavenly Khan!"

"We can provide the Tang Dynasty with cattle, horses, donkeys, and sheep; we only ask that the Tang Dynasty bestow upon us barley and wheat!"

The Dangxiang Qiang people did not farm; they were purely herders, but they had a particular fondness for brewing and drinking wine.

One reason they wanted to break away from Tuyuhun was that Tuyuhun's wheat and barley production was insufficient for the Dangxiang Qiang to brew wine.

The Wude era name of the Tang Dynasty is no longer in use, yet it is still full of martial spirit, really!

However, this is exactly the kind of leader they want. Talking the same soft, meaningless words over and over again is just not satisfying!

Dou Fengjie clenched his fist: "It seems the Xifeng clan has submitted to the Han dynasty, but what about the Tuoba clan?"

Among the eight clans of the Tangut people, the Tuoba clan was the largest, bordering Taozhou, Diezhou, Fuzhou, and Songzhou, and colluding with the Tuyuhun.

Fei Ting's envoy awkwardly crossed his hands and said, "Shangguan Rong Fei Ting Danji reports that Tuoba Chici, the chieftain of the Tuoba clan, is the son-in-law of Tuyuhun Busabo Khan, and has never been one of us."

This makes it sound like the six surnames are all the same.

In fact, the Dangxiang Qiang were fiercely infighting, with no one willing to submit to the others.

Otherwise, the six clans would have already submitted a petition to the central government at the grand court assembly requesting to become annexed.

Dou Fengjie made a sucking motion: "Sip some wine?"

"Expert!" Fei Tingdanji swayed slightly, and the other five surnames swayed along with him, involuntarily revealing smiles.

A large jar of zaba wine, everyone singing and dancing around the bonfire, sucking it through long bamboo or reed tubes—how delightful that was!

Unrefined zaba liquor has a very low alcohol content.

Of course, this hobby is something that some people with obsessive-compulsive disorder should politely decline.

This hobby is something that some Qiang people who have migrated to Guanzhong for generations may not even remember.

Cui Xinggong smiled outwardly, but inwardly he was somewhat surprised.

Apart from the officials from the Court of State Ceremonial who had been sent on missions to the Dangxiang Qiang, few people in the Tang Dynasty knew about the Dangxiang people's interests.

According to the Rites of Zhou, an envoy was also called a messenger, and the Minister of Ceremonies was also called a Grand Messenger.

The attitude of the six Tangut clans has been wavering. The court has tried to win them over, but it has always fallen just short.

Unexpectedly, Dou Fengjie's reckless actions in dealing with Murong Xiaojun strengthened their resolve to submit to the central government.

However, the emperor's decision to put Dou Fengjie in charge of matters related to Tuyuhun was itself a reflection of his strong dissatisfaction with Tuyuhun; otherwise, Cui Xinggong would not have appeared so late.

Cui Xinggong inexplicably thought of a saying: "Fear power, not virtue."