Chapter 38

They were of one mind, intermarried, and their influence was deeply intertwined, forming an extremely powerful force in the local regions.

Even in the imperial court in the capital, eight or nine out of ten officials came from aristocratic clans.

This is an irrefutable fact!

Not to mention anything else, just within their own Empress Zhangsun family, how many scions were filled with glory?

Even a tiny servant in Empress Zhangsun Zhangsun Wuji’s mansion had a great chance of entering the court as an official.

And this opportunity was something an ordinary person could never reach in a lifetime.

Seeing Empress Zhangsun Zhangsun Wugou’s reaction, Princess Changle felt Wu Li Ke a deflated ball, her whole person wilting.

So, not everything was as beautiful as she had imagined.

In an instant.

The young girl seemed to have grown up.

Just as Qin Mu was taking Empress Zhangsun Zhangsun Wugou and Princess Changle to "tour" Yunzhou, Changancheng and the entire Great Tang were experiencing an unprecedented shock!

The flames of war had ignited!

Ever since Li Er announced the declaration of war against Tibet, the entire Great Tang had boiled over.

Every circuit and county became tense.

Orders from the imperial court arrived Wu Li Ke snowflakes!

Mobilizing generals, raising military pay, transporting grain and fodder.

At this moment, the Great Tang was already Wu Li Ke a war machine, beginning to operate at high speed.

On the official roads across the land, warhorses galloped, and dust rose everywhere!

Soldiers clad in armor rushed from all directions toward the same place.

Jiannan Circuit!

The pass closest to Tibet!

For a time.

The winds and clouds changed color, and people were filled with panic!

People did not know why the imperial court had suddenly issued an order to declare war on Tibet.

Clearly, they had already announced a marriage alliance.

According to normal circumstances.

This should have been the "honeymoon period" between the two countries!

Not only that.

The sensation and fanfare surrounding the departure of the Tibetan envoy mission from Changancheng had long since spread to every corner of the Great Tang.

Everyone in their hearts looked forward to peace, hoping that there would be no more war between the two countries.

But who could have imagined.

The reversal would come so suddenly, so rapidly!

Many people had not even reacted yet.

The vast majority of people still did not know what had happened to cause the imperial court to be so shaken and the Emperor to be so furious.

This was, of course, Li Er’s "masterpiece"!

As the dignified Emperor of the Celestial Empire, to be played in the palm of a rebel barely in his teens, treating the entire Great Tang as a plaything!

Kidnapping the Empress, tricking them into marrying off the Princess, and then leaving Changancheng in such a grand manner, even receiving a send-off from the Great Tang officials and nobles.

Such an unheard-of, humiliating disgrace—how could Li Er allow such a thing to circulate in the world?

He had long since ordered everyone who knew the truth to keep the matter strictly confidential.

Otherwise, death without mercy!

Changancheng, Duke of Zhao Prefecture.

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

Inside the main hall, countless precious porcelains were smashed to pieces.

Any single one of these precious porcelains would be worth at least ten million in silver!

These celadon fragments covering the floor were worth at least ten thousand taels of silver!

Empress Zhangsun Zhangsun Wuji’s eyes were red with rage; he looked extremely disheveled, still smashing the porcelains in the room, roaring and screaming while he did so.

"Ahhh!"

"It infuriates me so!"

After the morning court session.

He had been severely scolded by Li Er.

It was he who had advocated for a grand send-off for the Tibetan envoy mission.

What was supposed to be an achievement to claim credit for had become Empress Zhangsun Zhangsun Wuji’s greatest failure!

Coupled with being repeatedly toyed with by Qin Mu, he was now even seen as the world’s number one incompetent Prime Minister. ===== CHAPTER 84 =====

There was another more important matter.

Qin Mu had kidnapped Empress Zhangsun Zhangsun Wugou and Princess Princess Changle, causing Empress Zhangsun Zhangsun Wuji’s political power to lose a major pillar of support.

Especially Princess Princess Changle.

Li Er and he had originally planned to arrange the marriage between Empress Zhangsun Chong and Princess Changle immediately after the Tibetan envoy mission left the capital.

If things had gone smoothly, Princess Changle would have already become his daughter-in-law.

The Empress Zhangsun family would have stepped onto the pinnacle of glory once again!

Now.

All of this had turned into a bubble!

Not only did it fail to bring glory to the Empress Zhangsun family, but his own status in Li Er’s heart had plummeted.

The once bustling Duke of Zhao Prefecture, where countless officials came to pay respects day and night.

But now, the entrance was so desolate that not even a falling leaf would land there.

Everyone avoided it Wu Li Ke the plague!

Everything, everything was because of Qin Mu!

"Qin Mu!!!"

"I will tear you into ten thousand pieces!"

Empress Zhangsun Zhangsun Wuji clenched his fists and roared at the sky.

Inside the prison.

It was dim and lightless.

Fang Fang Xuanling, wearing prison garb, lay in the cell, his hair disheveled, his face devoid of life.

He was Wu Li Ke an eggplant beaten by frost...

Despondent to the extreme!

"Qin Mu? Your Majesty?"

"Hahaha!"

"Hahahahaha!"

"I was truly stupid to the core; I thought I could form a friendship across generations with him, I thought keeping my promise could bring back peace between the two countries."

"And the result?"

"I was merely a chess piece in his hand!"

"Friend? Hahaha!"

Fang Fang Xuanling laughed in despair with a hoarse voice.

He had once truly believed that Qin Mu considered him a friend.

The two had different political views, different statuses, and a massive age gap, yet they had developed a sense of mutual appreciation.

Fang Fang Xuanling had thought that by keeping his promise and letting Qin Mu marry into the Great Tang, perhaps there was still a little room for easing tensions between the two countries.

Coupled with his efforts to clarify the previous matters between Qin Mu and Empress Zhangsun Zhangsun Wuji, perhaps they could turn hostility into friendship.

Wouldn't that be the most beautiful ending?

But Fang Fang Xuanling had been wrong after all.

He had not expected Qin Mu’s heart to be so resolute! ===== CHAPTER 85 =====