Chapter 1112: Chapter 268: Premature Birth (Part 2)
Therefore,
it’s among our own!
And right now, the feat of Lord Pingye entering Chu to rescue the princess has already spread throughout Yanjing city. Even children playing at the alley can sometimes draw their wooden swords and sticks, shouting:
"I am Lord Pingye!"
Then,
they grab the little girl next door they’ve always fancied, yelling:
"Your Highness Princess, return home and marry me!"
Then,
the girl’s father would rush out, wielding a shoe sole to chase and whip him.
Meanwhile,
the He family father and son were engrossed listening to a storyteller narrating how Lord Pingye and a Chu State swordsmith battled in the skies,
when suddenly,
a group of armored guards suddenly charged in,
led by no other than Master Zhang,
who immediately spotted the He family father and son sitting by the table at the entrance,
and screamed at once:
"Those two, take them away quickly!"
The He family father and son had no idea what was happening before they were lifted and forcibly taken away by the armored guards.
...
"That Zheng Fan, indeed stirs up a racket, I had thought he would rest a bit longer at Snow Sea Pass, who would have thought he’d suddenly dash to Chu State and even bring back a princess.
Just look, this is a memorandum from Wu Jing, this incident, well, it’s settled for sure."
Zhao Jiulang took the memorandum from Wei Zhonghe’s hand and read it carefully.
In truth, various rumors had already arrived in the capital, even some local government channels forwarded this news.
So, it seems that Lord Pingye entering Chu is true, bringing back the princess is likely true as well.
But strangely, as always, Lord Jingnan didn’t rush at all, it’s as if he intentionally waited for the public’s talk before slowly sending his memorandum.
In this, the focus of the memorandum was still about the temporary truce with Chu State, while the matter of the princess was merely incidental.
Thus, the court faced wave after wave of rumors, feeling uncertain about things.
Is the princess real? Is there any flaw in this matter?
Any decision by the court must be based on solid confirmation, otherwise it would be ridiculous, hence the court remained silent on the matter.
Now,
finally awaited definite news came.
"Whew... the memorandum by Lord Jingnan states that the Chu State princess voluntarily wished to be with Lord Pingye, Your Majesty, forgive this old minister’s boldness, but I truly want to laugh, want to laugh heartily."
Zhao Jiulang said this,
and he did just that,
after putting down the memorandum,
he put one hand on his chest, the other hand stroking his beard,
then,
very earnestly:
"Hahaha, hahahaha, haha, haha, hahaha!"
The Yan Emperor sitting at the head felt a wave of frustration, and Wei Zhonghe, a Qi cultivator, also felt like his inner energy was disrupted by the Prime Minister’s laughter.
Finally,
the Prime Minister finished laughing,
took a deep breath,
and said:
"Pardon me, Your Majesty, for such a joyous matter, I would feel uncomfortable if I didn’t laugh."
"No harm, no harm."
The Yan Emperor sighed and said, "Didn’t the Ministry of Rites previously draft several princess titles in advance? I’m dissatisfied with them now."
"Indeed, they’re not suitable." Zhao Jiulang agreed.
Previously, it was thought that Lord Zheng captured the princess, so titles like ’Return to Righteousness’ or ’Uphold Purity’ with clear ’abandon darkness for light’ connotations would suffice, but now that Lord Jingnan says she willingly came to Yan, the court naturally can’t be petty and take advantage with these titles.
"Instruct the Ministry of Rites to prepare a set of princess ceremonial rites, instruct the Ministry of Revenue to allocate funds for constructing a princess mansion, all to be sent to Snow Sea Pass."
The princess naturally stays at Lord Pingye’s residence, this allocation for a princess mansion is actually a pretext for rewarding Lord Pingye with money.
"Then... Lord Pingye?" Zhao Jiulang cautiously asked.
Logically, Lord Pingye should be rewarded, but he is already a count, promoting further would make him a marquis, which is unsuitable given his young age and rapid rise.
Conferring him as Lord Pingye was already stretching norms.
Though both Lord Jingnan and Earl of North Border had been titled kings, fundamentally, Yan’s nobility peaked at ’Marquess.’
Fortunately, it seemed the Yan Emperor had pondered this and said:
"Bestow upon Zheng Fan the title of Great General of Cheng State."
His rank couldn’t be raised, so his position was elevated instead; from being commander at Snow Sea Pass to Great General of Cheng State.
In reality, he’s still in charge of the Snow Sea Pass area, since Cheng State, Cheng State had long perished.
Although there’s still a Prince Cheng Mansion in Ying Capital City, they’ve been living by the rules.
The Three Jin military power is under Lord Jingnan’s control, so the so-called General of Cheng State is just an honorary title that adds no real authority, it’s just for Lord Zheng’s grander declarations at formal occasions.
The Yan Emperor seemed to feel that dismissing it like this was somewhat inappropriate and said:
"Gift him a set of imperial golden armor, and also... wasn’t there a barbarian knife in the tribute list from the last barbarian envoy? They said it was forged from refined iron deep in the barbarian tribes, grant it along too."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhao Jiulang nodded, that should suffice.
After all, bringing back the princess truly delighted everyone, all across Yan’s court and society, they felt extraordinarily relieved and satisfied, but ultimately it wasn’t a conquest or tangible military victory.
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