Chapter 339: She Decides for Herself

It's much like the banquet last time, only with a few more unfamiliar faces.

There are bearded frontier folk, islanders with brown eyes, and people whose looks and complexion are much like those of the Great Ming Dynasty.

They all wear their court's attire, sit there scanning the surroundings, pointing with their fingers, seemingly selecting candidates for marriage alliances.

Good, there are no foreigner with big noses and blue eyes, nor any short, single‑eyelid wokok.

That made her feel a bit more at ease, but she noticed several people staring at Ling'er with lecherous eyes, and she instantly became angry.

Damn it, just look properly; a graceful lady and a gentleman are a normal good match, so whose disgusting gaze is that?

Qiao Mai silently projected a burst of mental force, lunging straight at that man's eyes without a scream, and for some reason the men's eyes that had been staring at Ling'er began to grow increasingly blurry.

No matter how they squint, they can't see clearly, as if they were severely nearsighted.

At that moment the Emperor arrived with his concubines; the Empress, lofty above, spotted Qiao Mai at a glance, nodded and smiled at her.

Qiao Mai also smiled back, and the court officials and envoys present all rose to pay their respects.

"Exactly, we don't need women in the city; we want the city itself, and we'll seize it ourselves."

"Your Majesty," the Four Nations envoys simultaneously stood up.

"A ruler is a ruler, a minister is a minister; if the ruler orders a minister to die, the minister must die. As the sovereign of a nation, can you not decide even a minister's marriage affairs?"

The Emperor, seeing that things were nearly settled, finally spoke.

Many ministers echoed, "Exactly, a defeated nation, it's fine if we don't accept their tribute, yet they come to our country to pick people—on what grounds?"

When the Emperor arrived, the banquet was set, and music and dance began.

"Exactly, exactly, cut the act, we won't accept it."

"Ah, we cannot. I rarely grant marriages. I believe in Buddha, I believe in Heaven, I believe a forced marriage is unsweet. Though I am the ruler of the Great Ming Dynasty, I am not the ruler of all under heaven. I also seek virtue; I do not wish to commit an unvirtuous act. If I refuse to do the unvirtuous, does that mean I cannot be a sovereign?"

The banquet turned into a denunciation; the Emperor sat above, smiling sweetly, tolerating his ministers' uproar.

Today's banquet was to let the young men and women of both sides choose spouses; they had already formally spoken before, so today there was less to say.

The Emperor looked at Ling'er, "Princess of Tianshui, what do you think?"

"Trading women for a city—how can the men of Da Ming Huangcheng hold their heads high? Only a city bought with our own blood and lives feels justified."

"Are they not within the scope of this marriage alliance?"

In truth, he still feared these people; after all, if the Four Nations united, his chances of victory would be almost zero.

Ling'er stood up, spine straight, "Your Majesty, Tianshui does not consent,"

"Why?"

The other three princesses were all chosen from royal members; this is an attempt to infiltrate the Ming royal family.

Hou Bang's gaze flickered, glancing at Chu Wang, "Old Second, has the betrothal been arranged?"

"Your Majesty, why do Princess Jiamei, Minister Yuan Haichuan, and his sister Princess of Tianshui not showcase any talents?"

"Haha, naturally. Buddhism emphasizes the concept of fate; people without destiny, even if they walk together, will eventually part."

The Emperor muttered inwardly, "Damn you, go dream sweetly; I won't let you have Ruyi. Wait a few years; when I'm stronger, I'll demote all these princesses to concubines, so you won't be able to cause trouble, humph."

Yuan Jiaqi stood, "Your Majesty, you are a wise ruler who would never commit robbery; even in a marriage alliance, it must be voluntary. Please grant them the chance to choose freely—whether it succeeds depends on fate. What do you say?"

When she said that, all the girls hoping to marry foreign princes bowed their heads.

Now relieved, he didn't know why, but something in his heart was moved by her.

The envoy's gaze turned to the Emperor, "Your Majesty?"

The envoy was left speechless by the Emperor; at this moment, the Lord of the State stood, "A defeated nation has no right to come to our country to select suitable partners; they should present these princesses to us."

"Fine, the two nations' troops clash without sending envoys, that's enough. As for the few princesses who came to our country, which ones have you taken a liking to?"

"Alright, then it shall be so."

The envoy smiled, "Princess, I think you misunderstood; the earlier incident was a joke caused by language barriers, and it hasn't happened again since."

"There's no other way; I am the sovereign of a nation, and my promises will not be altered."

The four envoys could only plead marriage before the Emperor, but all were rejected. Whether it hurts or not, as officials of the Ming, who would want to send their daughters to a defeated nation?

Wouldn't that just let them be trampled? We can't go; after tarnishing our own reputation, how could we hold our heads high?

"Dizi doesn't mind, he'll follow the father's arrangement."

"Your Majesty, our Second Prince has fallen at first sight for the Princess of Tianshui; we hope you will approve?"

Not a single maiden stepped forward, so the alliance became one‑sided.

The Emperor, who had been intrigued, suddenly gave up; he covertly watched Qiao Mai, seeing her calmly sipping wine with no sign of anger.

"Not yet,"

"Has the father forced you into hardship?"

Damn, this old Emperor's way of speaking has that vibe, but the ministers seem to love it.

"These envoys are impolite and uncultured; a defeated nation comes to the victorious country flaunting itself—presumably they treat their own people as slaves. I am a princess of the Great Ming Dynasty, so I disdain such petty behavior. Whoever wishes to marry, may do so; as for me, I will not marry."

The Emperor, composed atop, watched silently, occasionally whispering to the Empress.

After the princesses were chosen, the princes followed. Many officials' daughters had been willing to marry and become principal consorts, but after hearing Ling'er's words, they all backed out.

The envoy group seemed to have walked into a dead end; each opened their mouths with embarrassed faces, not knowing what to say.

"Hmph, this princess also refuses; can a two‑nation marriage guarantee friendship? You don't even eye our country hungrily? I, Qiao Wan Ling, will only marry someone I like, someone who treats me as my father treated my mother. You satisfy none of those conditions."

At this moment, the Second Prince of Qin stepped forward, "Your Majesty, if the Princess of Tianshui agrees to marry me, our nation is willing to cede the five border cities. What do you think?"

Because even now he can't figure out her background; she's too mysterious—whether it's a Transformation Trick or she truly retrieves objects through the void?

Until he understands, it's best not to offend her.

The Emperor's heart fluttered at the words; the Lord of the State stood, "Trading women for a city—how will we men survive? If we think the city belongs to our soldiers, we don't need Princess of Tianshui."

They all knew that marrying a princess of an enemy nation leads to one fate—isolated. Yet as royal members, they cannot escape the marriage alliance.

"I have promised Prince Fu that the Princess of Tianshui's marriage will be decided by herself."

The emperor was somewhat displeased; do you still need to ask, you have ears, haven't you heard? Pretending to be stupid, huh?

"Jia Mei is Hai Chuan's fiancée."

"I see, what about the Princess of Tianshui?"

Several princesses wore rather sour expressions; they whispered with people from their own country.

In such a setting, offering performances was unavoidable; the envoy troupe's four princesses performed dance and guqin, and four men showcased their specialty sword technique, staff technique, blade technique, and hidden weapons.

One envoy stood up and bowed once to the emperor.

The Chu King's expression shifted, he glanced at Old Second, clenched his teeth, and whispered.

"Why?"

"Hmph, that would cause many deaths."

"Your Majesty, a Qin princess is willing to marry the Chu King's legitimate second son as his consort; please grant your approval!"

The second prince gritted his teeth and shouted out, "Of all the women in the world, there is none I cannot obtain."

"How about ten cities?"

The emperor's hand trembled slightly, "Better to abandon it; compared to Chengchi, my promise is most important."

The girl that even Qin could not obtain with ten cities suddenly became the focus, and the other girls glared at Ling'er with jealousy.

(End of chapter)