Chapter 340: I Absolutely Won

She's quite good-looking, but not yet stunning enough to topple a nation; what's so great that she's worth ten cities?

I don't know if that great nation's prince is blind, but many of them are prettier than Princess Tianshui.

Only the Second Prince who's taken a liking to Ling'er knows that Ling'er possesses something other girls lack; only those who are blind would fail to see her virtues.

Seeing his request rejected again, the Second Prince's gaze turned vicious.

If softness fails, go hard; he's already sent scouts— the Wang Family has no guards at all, the only formidable ones seem to be those few sheep.

Even if they're formidable, they'd just kick his servants; then he'd send a few experts to chop those sheep up and eat the mutton, hmph!

He'll snatch Ling'er again, hide her somewhere, then smuggle her out of the Great Ming Dynasty; there's no reason he can't get anyone he wants.

Today's banquet was a fiasco for the foreign envoys—they didn't get the person they wanted. Fortunately a few Princesses stayed, so their country's people have effectively settled in the Great Ming Dynasty, put down roots; in time they'll flourish here.

When the banquet ended, Yuan Jiaqi left with his family, and Yuan Haichuan stared at Qiao Mai.

"Mother, I think that so‑called Second Prince won't be satisfied."

"If you don't want to die, bring it on; they're just looking for a cheap gain, maybe to probe Ming affairs. Dying here would just spark another war, after all."

Serves them right!

"I'm sorry, I was anxious for my husband."

Later, they plotted to ambush Yuan Jiaqi and Yuan Haichuan on the way to the court, kidnap the two, force Ling'er to comply, but they were wiped out by Winter Jujube and the Longxue Group.

Six demonic flying mice were assigned—one to the Embroidery Goods shop, one to the Qiao Ji Snack Puzi, plus the ones belonging to Yang Laoda—to handle sudden incidents with plenty of spare capacity.

"This is absurd! They're outrageously bold, putting me in what position?"

"Hmm, seems so. I handle official duties by day, sleep soundly at night, and don't fight alongside my wife."

Back home, everyone went to rest, and Qiao Mai used her mind to contact her contractees.

"But daily deaths are terrifying the citizens of Jingcheng."

"Admit what? Admitting is a crime; anyway they're dead, no proof. So just don't admit."

"Hmph, whoever it isn't, the Ming can't get, so the dark does; ten cities can't claim my daughter, they just want to snatch her."

Thus, for five consecutive days Jixiang Yuan eliminated over a hundred assassins; already famed in Jing, it became even more renowned.

"Of course, with my wife present, a few Shiren are nothing; even a flood of them won't scare us."

Because many of those in black were foreigners, the Emperor, angry, again summoned those envoys into the palace.

To the outside, the people say the Emperor cares for his ministers, doesn't force his own subjects, would rather forgo ten cities if the lady refuses, so he won't grant marriage—hence he's praised as a wise ruler.

"That's his affair; I gave him a steel formula, gave the people rice and wheat seeds. If we're still not strong, I might as well step down."

"These are all desperadoes; why keep them? Once captured, they bite the poison in their mouths and kill themselves."

"I already gave him the steel formula; what does his military department eat? Are they all cowardly gluttons? Everyone points to my formula—without me, the Great Ming Dynasty would have perished, right?"

In a hurry, they directly called a matchmaker.

They were asked to identify them on the spot; everyone denied, haha, utterly ridiculous.

His eyes rolled, "Fu Wang's consort's martial skill is truly high!"

In fact, among the Four Nations' princes, all have interest in Ling'er, but after seeing Qin's crushing defeat, they won't risk their men in a futile assault.

Sending men to break into a court official's house—assassination or murder? Under Great Ming law, entering a private residence without the owner's consent grants the owner the right to execute the intruders.

Everyone knows the Fu Wang Family's house hides traps; they warn their own kin not to enter lightly.

"I'm telling the matchmaker, can you give me a way out?"

They just flew onto the roof when six flying mice wiped them out; the bodies thumped and splattered to the ground. This time Qiao Mai didn't let them handle the corpses; she had Zhang Guanjia send men to surround the area and then report to Jing Ya.

The first night passed peacefully; Yuan Jiaqi performed his duties as usual, and Ling'er stayed in the shop as usual.

"Your Majesty doesn't wish to resume war; it's just a little overdue."

"Fine, even if the Qin Dynasty envoy refuses to settle, it saves me trouble."

"My wife says it's almost over; the people they brought are running out, and when there's no one left to use, they won't go again."

The Emperor, furious, slammed the dragon‑script desk, but just glared uselessly, staring at Yuan Jiaqi.

If it were dealt with silently, the shameless foreign envoys would demand people from the Emperor, claiming the Great Ming people broke the rules; killing them would then become the envoys' fault.

"You're talking about the Second Prince of the Qin Dynasty?"

The Old Emperor curled his lip, thinking, 'You still want to fight? You know nothing but nitpick words; I'm better than you.'

"These were taken down by the princess?"

Seeing it was enough, the Old Emperor began to drive people away.

The Four Nations princesses' marriages were rushed—weddings granted in July, completed in September—yet the Four Nations princes still have no willing brides; the Emperor enjoys seeing them angry.

After filing the report, Jing Ya officials removed all the black‑clad men, and at dawn reported to the Emperor.

Who?

Looks like a desperate dog leapt the wall, good fellow; Jixiang Yuan loses that many black‑clad men each night, enraging the Emperor who summoned Yuan Jiaqi into the palace.

If you're looking for death, go ahead; I won't stop you.

Make them stay alert, day or night; never let their guard down.

The Second Prince must not die in the Great Ming Dynasty; Qin borders the Great Ming, already eyeing annexation, and she cannot give them a pretext to attack.

With his wife's support, Yuan Jiaqi's daring grew even more.

Only then did the Qin Dynasty envoys become compliant; lacking manpower, they could only stay obediently at the relay station.

The Emperor dispatched the entire Golden Dragon Guard to strictly guard every part of the Imperial Palace; they were discovered as soon as they entered.

Upon hearing it, the Emperor laughed heartily, thinking they'd be tongue‑tied like a mute eating bitter herbs.

Not only are they many, the black‑clad men's martial skills keep rising.

"Wife, I sense the visitors from those nations are hostile; do you have any (plans)?"

Qiao Mai knows the Second Prince hasn't given up on Ling'er, so she left a trace of divine awareness on Ling'er.

Yuan Jiaqi grimaced awkwardly, thinking his wife's words were also correct; everything depends on his wife's lack of ambition, and in that case the nation, even with powerful weapons, will never meet a good end.

The second prince, enraged, leapt like thunder, intending to lead men himself into the Imperial Palace, using Jia Mei as leverage to force the emperor to hand over Ling'er; he did not expect that once inside, his life was nearly left there.

This struck Qiao Mai's heart; that first night eight men in black arrived, the second night twelve, and every night black‑clad intruders broke into Jixiang Yuan, increasing in number.

The second night was also uneventful; on the third night the Qiao Family received a batch of men in black.

"Your Majesty, do you truly not know? Or are you pretending to be clueless?"

When they arrived, the Qin Dynasty envoy group numbered over two hundred; now only a little more than fifty remain—it is truly tragic.

The girls of the Ming Dynasty do not wish to marry; why are you still lingering in the capital? Leave at once.

So the envoys of the various nations packed their belongings, rode in carriages, and departed the capital at dawn, escorted along the way by Ming soldiers.

The frontier people exit through Beiguan, the Qin Dynasty exits through the Western Pass, and the other two nations exit through Nanguan and the Eastern Pass.

Once the envoy groups left, those families who had taken foreign princesses immediately split up; not the whole family, but they sent away the son who married the foreign girl.

(End of chapter)