Chapter 917

"Father, why do I feel like Yuan Kui seems a bit strange?" Yang Biao said with some confusion: "At first, it was just the Emperor wanting to use Father and Yuan Kui's mouths to suppress that Duan Yu."

"But later, why was Yuan Kui so eager to put Duan Yu to death?"

Wearing his court robes and leaning on a cane, Yang Ci raised his head slightly, looked at the receding Yuan Kui, and then sighed.

"The Yuan clan is in Runan, thousands of miles away from Liangzhou, but the Yang clan..."

Yang Ci shook his head and sighed as he walked toward the carriage.

Yang Biao, following behind, listened with a bewildered expression.

The West Garden.

In a great mood today, Liu Hong once again brought Duan Yu to the West Garden, the place where they had first met.

Not only was Liu Hong in a great mood, but Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, who were following Liu Hong, were also in excellent spirits.

Sitting on the dragon carriage, Liu Hong kept praising Duan Yu.

"Beloved Official is truly my thousand-mile steed. With Beloved Official, and with Beloved Official in the Great Han, I have no worries."

"Beloved Official, speak, what reward do you want?"

Liu Hong said with a smile.

Beside him, Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong exchanged a look, smiled, and then advised:

"Your Majesty, Lord Duan has slain the rebel leader Zhang Jiao this time and also resolved the trouble in Jizhou. Jizhou has a million refugees, but it should soon be able to recover its vitality. Lord Duan has truly solved a major problem for Jizhou; he should be rewarded well."

Zhao Zhong also hurriedly echoed this.

Liu Hong nodded with a smile: "It should be so, it should be so."

"Then tell me, how should I reward Beloved Official Duan?"

The two old foxes already had a plan in mind and knew what Liu Hong wanted them to say.

"Your Majesty, this old servant has heard that since ancient times, harmony between ruler and subject is not as good as being one family," Zhang Rang said with a smile. "Lord Duan is so loyal to the ruler and loves the country, why doesn't Your Majesty become closer to Lord Duan?"

"If you could become closer to Lord Duan, then in the future, it would avoid some petty people in the court presenting slanderous words to attack Lord Duan."

"Oh?"

Liu Hong pretended to be surprised, raised an eyebrow, and asked: "This 'becoming closer' you speak of is..."

Zhang Rang chuckled and said: "Your Majesty, this old servant has heard that although Lord Duan has taken a wife, he has no primary wife."

"Now there is still a princess in the imperial family who is waiting to be married, and her age is just right for Lord Duan."

Duan Yu listened to the two of them singing in harmony from the side, wanting to laugh but holding it in.

When they had just come over from the Southern Palace, Zhang Rang had already told him about it in private.

He said that Liu Hong intended to bestow a marriage.

Duan Yu also learned from Zhang Rang who this marriage was to be with.

The late Emperor Liu Zhi's youngest daughter, the Princess of Yangdi, Liu Xiu.

If not for Zhang Rang's reminder, Duan Yu would not have known that the person beside the Princess of Yang'an, Liu Hua, whom he had met at Fu Wan's residence that night, was the Princess of Yangdi, Liu Xiu.

The Princess of Yangdi, Liu Xiu, was the youngest daughter of Emperor Huan, Liu Zhi.

She was only granted the title of princess in the seventh year of Yanxi.

Not even two years later, Emperor Huan, Liu Zhi, died, and at that time, Liu Xiu had not yet come of age.

Now she had just turned twenty.

If things had followed the norm, a princess would generally have been married off by the age of fourteen or fifteen.

However, because Liu Xiu was the daughter of Emperor Huan, Liu Zhi, she and Liu Hong were of the same generation, and she had always grown up beside the Princess of Yang'an, Liu Hua, so Liu Hong had never interfered in her marriage, and it had been delayed until now.

If calculated by age and generation, Liu Hong and Liu Xiu were cousins.

Liu Hong's great-grandfather was Liu Kai, the Filial King of Hejian, and Emperor Huan, Liu Zhi, was the grandson of Liu Kai, the Filial King of Hejian; in other words, the great-grandfather of the Princess of Yangdi, Liu Xiu, was also Liu Kai, the Filial King of Hejian.

But in terms of age, Liu Hong was older than Liu Xiu.

"Your Majesty, this old servant is speaking of the Princess of Yangdi, who is currently residing with the Princess of Yang'an, and presumably Lord Duan has already met her." Zhang Rang winked at Duan Yu.

"Ah?" Liu Hong pretended to be surprised and said with a smile: "I didn't expect Beloved Official Duan and my imperial sister to have such a predestined connection?"

"Isn't this a coincidence? Haha!"

"Beloved Official Duan, since you have already met my imperial sister, that is even better."

"I have heard that you don't have many wives and daughters at home, and now that you hold a high position, you need to expand your family."

"And my imperial sister's age is also appropriate."

"In this way, I will take the liberty of deciding: I will bestow my imperial sister upon you. As for whether she is a primary wife or not, we won't discuss that; I have also heard that you only have two equal wives at home, and as for them not being concubines, it won't be a disgrace to the imperial family."

"Beloved Official Duan, are you willing to become closer to me?" Liu Hong looked at Duan Yu.

Duan Yu thought to himself, can I refuse?

This Liu Hong is asking if he is willing to become closer to him, not if he is willing to marry Liu Xiu.

If he said he was unwilling, that would be equivalent to saying he was unwilling to become closer to Liu Hong.

Of course, marrying a princess wouldn't have any major downsides.

As for Liu Hong wanting to use a princess as a spy,

that was probably unlikely.

Those wives of his in the inner palace were none of them vases.

Marrying the Princess of Yangdi, besides giving him the status of an imperial relative, had no downsides.

At the very least, before the world fell into chaos, this status still had a lot of value.

"I, Duan Yu, kowtow to thank Your Majesty for your holy grace."

Duan Yu stopped his steps and bowed respectfully to Liu Hong: "My origins are humble, and to be valued and trusted by Your Majesty, I can only repay you with my life!"

"Good, good, good!"

"Haha!"

Liu Hong laughed happily and said: "From now on, Beloved Official Duan and I will be closer than ever."

"Let's go, today I want to host a banquet for Beloved Official Duan in the West Garden; I want to drink with Beloved Official Duan until we are both drunk!"

Before long, Duan Yu followed Liu Hong back into the West Garden.

It was midsummer, and the sun was like fire.

Compared to the first time Duan Yu came to the West Garden, the West Garden was much more desolate now.

The Taiping Dao rebellion had emptied out all of Liu Hong's savings accumulated over many years.

Most of the money, grain, and jewelry stored in the West Garden had been emptied out to expand the army.

And the horses that Duan Yu had brought back from the Xiongnu had also been used to expand the cavalry.

Without money in hand, it was impossible to support Liu Hong's extravagant expenses of the past.

The facilities in the West Garden had also fallen into disrepair.

"Does Beloved Official Duan still remember the first time I met you?"

Liu Hong walked in front of Duan Yu and said with some melancholy: "At that time, my West Garden was filled with flowers, but now it is dilapidated. Sigh..."

Duan Yu, following behind Liu Hong, raised his head slightly.

This Liu Hong was crying poverty to him.

Duan Yu saw it clearly in his heart.

"Your Majesty, I have two sources of income under my name: snow salt and white paper. Previously, I used this money to support the war against the Qiang in Liangzhou, which consumed a huge amount."

"But now Liangzhou is stable."

"I am willing to pay Your Majesty five hundred million coins every year to rebuild the West Garden," Duan Yu said.

Liu Hong, walking in front, stopped abruptly.

He turned his head, widened his eyes, looked at Duan Yu, and then grabbed Duan Yu's hand: "Beloved Official Duan, you... how can I reward you for this?"

"How can I take so much of your money for no reason?"

Liu Hong said with his mouth that he was embarrassed to take it.

But his eyes were already shining.

After the incident with the Zhen clan of Jizhou was exposed, the secrets of white paper and snow salt could no longer be hidden.

Since they couldn't be hidden, it was better to offer them voluntarily; that way, it would appear more sincere.

Duan Yu had already prepared for this beforehand.

Before Duan Yu could say anything, ===== CHAPTER 919 =====