Edited by : Minak Amie. Thank you for your hard work! Any donation will be appreciated. TQ
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The princess was, of course, also sitting in a seatreserved for those of importance. However, she was not together with Qing Li.She sat alone without any guards positioned behind her. There were only fourmaids present to serve her, including her most trusted confidante, s.h.i.+ Min, whohad just returned with good news.
The agreement between s.h.i.+ Min and Duke Ming, aswell as her encounter with a certain individual on the way back, had all beenclearly reported to Princess Zhang Liu. The one thing that concerned her was athird party’s discovery of the meeting between s.h.i.+ Min and the Duke. Thisperson was He Di.
Whether He Di planned on leaking the information ornot and if his alliance with Duke Ming was true would indirectly affect acrucial aspect that determines Zhang Liu’s life and safety.
Although s.h.i.+ Min had repeatedly a.s.sured her that HeDi did not lie, Zhang Liu still would find an opportunity to verify theauthenticity of the alliance.
Zhang Liu gently put forward her question while herbeautiful eyes tried to communicate with Feng Ming with a friendly glance in amanner that said she was on his side.
Alas, Feng Ming, this dense fool, had completely misunderstood the meaningful glance. He felthis scalp go numb as he whispered to Rong Hu, “I am finished. She must beexpecting the Wen Lan flower that I promised her. What should I do? My motherrefused to give me one. Where do I go to find one? Rong Hu, closely watch her.I have not come up with a solution yet, so do not let her come close to me. Ido not know how I will answer if she later brings it up. Ai… I really will nothave any face left to meet with Du Feng.”
[TLN : 胡涂虫 (hú tu chóng)– blunderer or 胡涂 – muddleheaded/stupid 虫- insect]
Even so, due tothe bad blood between Qing Li and Feng Ming, as well as the Prince’s dislikefor Princess Zhang Liu, it would be a ridiculous notion for the both of them tospeak in private.
“Crown Princesshas taken my words too seriously, of course the banquet is more important. Thematter of the peace treaty and the emissary were only said in pa.s.sing.” Inregards to Zhang Liu’s motives, He Di had already understood. In his eyes, thewoman who dared to secretly collude with Duke Ming behind her husband’s backprobably had more brains than the drug addicted Qing Li. He bluntly answered,“The contents of the treaty Princess is asking about are quite simple. DukeMing, as a representative for Xi Lei, has signed an agreement to negotiate atrading route for the dual luminous sand in Dan Lin. It is nothing more than ameans for the both of us to earn a little more gold.”
[TN: The text actually stated w.a.n.g Zi( Prince) Fei(Imperial concubine/Prince’s Wife), but since Qing Li is crown Prince so Ithink Crown Princess would suit Zhang Liu most since she either a concubine andwife of prince.]
With He Di’s status as prince ofa kingdom, a peace treaty such as this would surely become an important topic.Soon, the guests’ curiosities were aroused.
“Dual luminous sand?”
“Is that not the raw materialthat is used to make the sharpest type of weapons?”
“If Xi Lei gains the rights tosuch a trading route, then our Tong Kingdom…”
“Prince He Di and our prince’srelations.h.i.+p has always been good. Even if he has an agreement with Duke Ming,would Dan Lin not guarantee the same share of sand to our Tong annually?”
The officials seated on the outerrings forgot to eat and drink, unable to cease their whispering with oneanother.
Within the inner circle, theirfaces could be seen clearly as they calmly sat in front of the table full ofdelicacies with a varied amount of expressions.
For Hao Yuan Jiang, even thoughhe did not have much ability, his experience made up for what he lacked. Heknew of the complexity of the situation, as if it were an a.s.sembly of tigersand snakes, and acting presumptuously would not be good.
However, at his side was someonewho had just been a.s.signed by Rong Tong an important task to go on a diplomaticmission in Tong. His outfit was selected specially in an attempt to show offhis elegant appearance during such an important occasion. Su Jin Chao, unableto hold back, arrogantly laughed, and looking for a fight, said in a mockingtone, “How amusing. I had heard that at tonight’s banquet there would besomeone identifying himself as the Xiao Family’s young Lord and was wonderingwho it could be. Turns out it was a person who escaped Xi Lei under aconviction of treason. Humph, in no way would our king consent to Duke Ming’srepresenting of our kingdom, so you better use your ident.i.ty as the young Lordof the Xiao Family and nothing else. But you dared to ostentatiously use XiLei’s name to deceive Dan Lin’s royal family. What peace treaty—”
“I would like to ask thea.s.sistant,” Rong Hu who had mingled in Xi Lei’s court for years, knew of Su JinChao and could not stand his vile character, so he coldly cut off his absurdranting, “Your claims of Duke Ming acting ostentatiously and trying to deceive…what do you mean by these words?”
“Of course,it is because he is a traitor of Xi Lei!” Su Jin Chao said hatefully. “Who isthis Feng Ming? What qualifications does he have to sign a peace treaty underXi Lei’s name? Hahaha simply ridiculous!”