Chapter 1073

He never imagined that the Great Tang's female emperor would hold him in such high regard.

Yet he also knew the principle that the tallest tree in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind.

He humbly said at once,

"Your Majesty the Empress, you are too kind. Fusu's talent is merely that of an ordinary man.

Not to mention compared to your nation's Prince of Linzi and His Highness Liang Wang—even compared to my younger brother, the Eighteenth Imperial Prince Hu Hai, I am far inferior!"

Wu Zhao, seeing that he knew when to advance and when to retreat, grew even more appreciative of him.

She nodded and said,

"Imperial Prince Fusu truly possesses the bearing of a benevolent man.

But may I ask what brings the Grand Imperial Prince here?"

Hearing this, Fusu immediately said,

"Fusu has come on behalf of Great Qin to form an alliance with Great Tang.

To cultivate friendship together and stand watch, aiding one another."

"What—"

The Ming Hall, which had been silent, erupted in an uproar.

It was not that these Tang civil and military officials were making a fuss over nothing; it was simply that this news was genuinely rather surprising.

After all, although Great Qin could not compare with the Qinglong Society, it did indeed bear the name of the foremost imperial dynasty.

This was a fact acknowledged throughout the Nine Provinces.

And now this foremost imperial dynasty under heaven had actually come of its own accord to form an alliance with Great Tang?

This not only exceeded the imagination of the Great Tang ministers, but also filled them with a strong sense of pride.

The Great Tang's senior minister Zhang Jianzhi actually asked directly,

"Grand Imperial Prince, are your words truly sincere?"

"My lord, on a matter of such national importance, how would Fusu dare to speak recklessly?"

Fusu found it amusing—this renowned senior minister of Great Tang, the world-famous Zhang Jianzhi, had actually asked such an absurd question.

Seeing the smile on Fusu's face, Zhang Jianzhi realized he had lost his composure and asked the wrong question.

He immediately turned toward the Lantai direction, his face flushed with embarrassment, preparing to beg forgiveness.

"Enough, no harm done!"

Wu Zhao naturally had no time to listen to Zhang Jianzhi's apology; she waved her hand, letting the matter pass.

Only now did Di Renjie step forward from the ranks and ask Fusu,

"May I ask why Great Qin wishes to form an alliance with our Great Tang?

Please tell me, after forming this alliance, what benefits are there, and what obligations does our side bear?"

"Since the emergence of the Qinglong Society, the return of Yunzhou, and the unification of the Nine Provinces, an era of great contention has already begun."

Fusu had long prepared his words; he immediately stood before the Great Tang ministers and spoke out in a clear, ringing voice,

"Previously, our Great Qin, overestimating its own strength, only felt that the Qinglong Society was admiring its own isolation, intending to stand above all other forces.

Therefore we had always thought to join hands with the various great dynasties and major powers to overthrow the Qinglong Society…"

"…"

The Great Tang ministers, including Di Renjie, upon hearing Fusu's words, could not help but break out in a cold sweat.

Are you here to form an alliance, Grand Imperial Prince of Great Qin, or to entrap us?

To utter such treasonous and improper words within the Ming Hall?

You may want to overthrow the Qinglong Society, but we do not, nor do we dare to even think of it!

"Grand Imperial Prince, mind your words! Our Great Tang has never harbored such treasonous and improper thoughts."

The Great Tang ministers were already like birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring; at this moment, before Fusu could finish speaking, another minister stepped forward and cut him off.

Hearing this, Fusu swept his gaze around and discovered that every one of the Great Tang ministers had faint traces of sweat on their brows.

Only then did he realize that his words had been far too ambiguous.

He could not help but let out an involuntary laugh and said,

"My lords, it is my failing; I spoke wrongly. I offer my apologies here.

In truth, I harbor not the slightest disrespect toward the Qinglong Society.

In my heart, the Qinglong Society is truly a being akin to the heavens themselves."

Upon hearing Fusu's urgent self-explanation, the Great Tang ministers all collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

You may want to die, but we still want to live.

The Qinglong Society is like the heavens themselves—do not drag us into this!

Fusu smiled and no longer mentioned the Qinglong Society, but continued,

"Since I made a trip up Qinglong Peak, our Great Qin has set itself in the proper position.

We know that from now on, the struggle under heaven will be among only five great powers: our Great Qin, Great Tang, Great Yuan, Yunzhou, and Dongying."

With these words, Di Renjie and other central chancellor-level ministers of Great Tang could not help but nod.

In truth, Di Renjie and the others had long since analyzed the situation of the world.

They knew that if the Qinglong Society took no further action, the world would ultimately still be contested among the five great powers of Great Qin, Great Tang, Great Yuan, Yunzhou, and Dongying.

"Great Yuan is a race of barbarian nomads, and Dongying is even more so a people of overseas dwarves.

The peoples of these two lands are not only not descendants of our Huaxia, but at every moment desire to enslave the children of Huaxia.

Our Great Qin is well aware that, considering the strength of any single nation alone, we truly are no match for these two sides.

After deliberation among our ministers, a memorial was submitted to His Majesty the Emperor of our Great Qin.

Therefore, they dispatched Fusu to come to Great Tang, hoping that Great Tang, considering they were all descendants of Huaxia, would form an alliance and make peace.

From then on, the two powers would face outward together, protecting our Huaxia Tianyu Shenzhou from being ravaged by foreign races."

Seeing the expressions of Di Renjie and the others, Fusu knew he had played this move correctly, and immediately stated his true intention.

Among Great Tang's civil and military officials, there were actually quite a few people of foreign races.

But these foreign peoples all admired Great Tang's culture and had converted to become Huaxia people.

At this moment, Fusu used the debate between Hua and Yi as the opening for the alliance.

The civil and military officials in the Ming Hall immediately felt Fusu's words were reasonable.

Among them, quite a few officials who had opinions about foreign races were now even more eager, ready to jump out and push for the success of this alliance.

Just as the matter of the alliance was about to be discussed openly in the hall.

Suddenly, above the vault of heaven, the Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers Ranking emitted ten thousand beams of brilliant light.

Many of the brilliant rays even shone into the Ming Hall.

Wu Zhao saw this, and a flash of joy immediately crossed her face.

She no longer had any mind to care about state affairs, focusing entirely on the Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers Ranking.

Most of the civil and military officials of Great Tang in the Ming Hall also had their attention drawn.

A small number, like Di Renjie and others, seeing the Empress's stance, immediately knew this was not the time for discussion.

For now they no longer thought about the matter of the alliance, and instead also looked toward the vault of heaven.

Fusu saw this and could not help but smile bitterly.

Originally, his words had been meant to secure Great Tang's agreement to the alliance.

Who could have known that at this very moment, the announcement of the Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers Ranking would appear.

His heart turned bitter, yet he was also curious about the Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers Ranking.

Last time, at twenty-seventh place, Great Qin had made the list with a Miss Duanmu.

Now His Majesty's most beloved chief swordsman, Mr. Gai Nie, had even left the palace to go searching for Miss Duanmu.

He did not know which Great Qin person would make the list this time on the Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers Ranking.

While he was pondering, the Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers Ranking was announced.

With Da Siming, Shi Yao, and Princess Hua Zheng introducing them in turn.

The exclamations of Great Tang's civil and military officials rose one after another.

Wu Zhao saw that this Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers Ranking had stopped abruptly here, and could not help feeling her interest dampened to the extreme.

The place on the list she had been hoping for had once again eluded her.