Chapter 375

228, Cui Linyu, furious with shame!

Cui Linyu stood there, dazed and stunned, while everyone looked at him differently.

His mind went completely blank.

Only after a subordinate whispered a reminder did he manage to pull out the imperial edict from the Wanli era addressed to the King of Joseon, which concerned the sovereignty over Liaodong.

"Present it!"

Zhu Youjian indeed remembered this edict, but he had never seen it, so he still wanted to take a look.

Seeing Zhu Youjian's curiosity,

Cui Linyu's heart stirred, and he vaguely guessed that Su Qiao must have said something to the Great Ming Emperor.

He really did help.

That is why the Great Ming Emperor was so curious.

One has to admit, he was truly capable of wild speculation; before, he had been suspicious and cautious to the point of death.

Now that he had entered the court, perhaps due to nervousness,

he had become completely muddled.

He didn't know what he was thinking, but he felt that Su Qiao must have exerted influence, and as long as the Great Ming Emperor saw the edict from the Wanli era, he would agree to his conditions.

A great deed was finally about to be accomplished under his hands!

He might even become a hero of the Kingdom of Joseon in the future!

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became; standing there, his face turned red, utterly thrilled.

It seemed he was just waiting for Zhu Youjian to make an announcement!

The courtiers nearby, 620, felt very puzzled, seemingly unable to understand the situation of the Joseon delegation at all.

You are asking for Liaodong land, which is practically asking for death, yet why are you so happy and even looking forward to Your Majesty's punishment?

Is your brain different from everyone else's?!

The edict from the Wanli era was handed up.

Zhu Youjian opened the imperial edict and read it; the content seemed to show him the helplessness of the Wanli era, the frustration and bitterness of the court at that time!

The edict was closed, and the state letter was thrown onto the table in front of him.

Looking at the Joseon envoys below, Zhu Youjian finally showed an expression on his face.

It was an expression of mockery and cold sneering, revealing a chilling coldness!

Su Qiao had, of course, told Zhu Youjian very clearly what tricks the Joseon envoys were up to.

Zhu Youjian also had his own understanding, including Cui Linyu's repeated bribery attempts, which involved throwing around vast amounts of silver.

Su Qiao had also told Zhu Youjian in detail.

This even made Zhu Youjian jealous.

As the Emperor, why was there no one giving him money?

Even a few hundred thousand taels would make him envious, you know.

"Cui Linyu, is it?"

"Your subject is here!"

Hearing Zhu Youjian call his name, Cui Linyu stepped forward excitedly.

Zhu Youjian stared at him with a cold sneer and said:

"Hehe, one has to admit your thoughts are clever, but what you presented is an edict from the Wanli era; now it is the Chongzhen era, the era of me, Zhu Youjian. Do you not think it is wrong to use an edict from a previous dynasty to govern the affairs of the current one?"

Hearing Zhu Youjian's words, Cui Linyu suddenly became panicked.

He was truly panicked!

He originally thought Su Qiao had helped, and the Great Ming Emperor would agree.

But why was this different from the script he had imagined?

"Your Majesty, the Great Ming Emperor, no matter how you look at it, back in the Wanli era of the Great Ming, the Liaodong region was already allocated to our Kingdom of Joseon; from that time on, Liaodong was our land, it was just occupied by the Later Jin Jurchens all along. Now that the Later Jin Jurchens are gone, shouldn't the land be returned?"

Cui Linyu was truly desperate; recklessly disregarding his life, he lunged forward a step and knelt on the ground.

Zhu Youjian did not continue speaking but handed the matter over to the ministers below.

At this moment, Du Du Yinxi stepped forward and angrily rebuked Cui Linyu: "Is Vice Envoy Cui joking? The territory was given to you, but you lost it when the Jurchen Tatars snatched it; naturally, your territory counts as lost. It is just like me dropping a copper coin on the road, and a second person picking it up; he takes the money to buy a bowl of tea, and the money goes to the Shopkeeper of the tea stall. Can I then step forward and demand that copper coin back?"

Cui Linyu's eyes widened, and he was completely stunned.

"This..."

One has to admit Du Du Yinxi's mind worked very fast; he directly substituted concepts, leaving Cui Linyu speechless.

Zhu Youjian and all the ministers burst into loud laughter.

Seeing that things had gone wrong, Cui Linyu still did not give up; he wanted to make one last gamble.

The result was that he was directly driven out.

Without Cui Linyu, the troublemaker, the Joseon envoys suddenly became harmonious and joyful.

Instead, the Chief Envoy, representing the King of Joseon, and Zhu Youjian seemed to be on the same wavelength, and the relationship between the two sides grew even closer.

Exclude Li Kangcheng!

Driven out of the palace, Cui Linyu felt utterly dejected.

He rarely managed to forcibly suppress the heat and bitterness in his heart.

He entered the guesthouse, locked himself in his room, and carefully recalled the events after entering the palace.

Before, he had gone all in, subconsciously ignoring many things.

Now all hope was shattered, and he had finally calmed down.

He immediately sensed something was wrong!

Su Qiao seemed to have accomplished nothing; it was simply catching a white wolf with an empty glove.

Moreover, the Great Ming Emperor's behavior today was also quite off.

His expression was wrong...

The more Cui Linyu thought about it, the more he felt he had been deceived by Su Qiao.

Thinking of the over four hundred thousand taels of silver, nearly five hundred thousand taels, he had sent to Qian Qianyi for Su Qiao.

The matter had not yet succeeded.

He was so heartbroken he could hardly breathe.

With red eyes, he could not wait to go find Su Qiao.

However, as soon as he left the imperial palace, he was spotted by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who turned around and passed a message to Su Qiao.

Su Qiao had been waiting early for the results of this morning.

He simply did not expect Cui Linyu to be so bold; he was directly kicked out by Zhu Youjian halfway through.

Is there anything more pleasing than this?

Indeed, Su Qiao let out a gleeful, schadenfreude laugh at home.

Furthermore, even at the very end, Su Qiao did not hide anything from Liu Rushi; he recounted in full detail everything Cui Linyu had done.

Liu Rushi could not help but feel sorrow for Cui Linyu.

From beginning to end, he had been duped by others; Su Qiao had even tacitly performed a double act with the Emperor.

Fortunately, Cui Linyu finally noticed something was wrong.

"I estimate he will be here any moment; what do you plan to do?"

Liu Rushi, somewhat worried, poured Su Qiao a cup of tea and asked.

Su Qiao smiled and shook his head, saying, "He is thoroughly finished now. If he had not spoken about the Liaodong land in court, Your Majesty would not have killed him, but since he said it, and with so much evidence, he is doomed!"

"Then will the Kingdom of Korea and other vassal states not find it suspicious?"

"They might find it suspicious; after all, it was somewhat crude. But they also know where the Great Ming's bottom line lies and can understand the Great Ming's actions in their hearts; the issue of territory is very serious!"

Su Qiao said with a chuckle.

Cui Linyu was a typical case of someone who would not die if they did not court death.

No, that is not quite right; he was simply forced into this situation!

229, March south to Jiangnan!

Hoo-hah, hoo-hah...

Cui Linyu, covered in sweat and looking rather wretched, arrived once again at the gate of Su Qiao's residence.