Chapter 409: The Matter Not Over, The Living Enma’s Might
Getting resented for no reason, Le Cheng Emperor naturally was unhappy, inevitably needing to ask for the reason within.
That tall and st.u.r.dy Xiongnu man coldly sneered, “The Great Wei Emperor wrote a letter to our king, wis.h.i.+ng to have his Princess Yi Ning married to Xiongnu to establish friendly relations between the two countries. But now, Qi Yuan Emperor actually conferred Princess Yi Ning as a consort, what is the meaning of this?”
In reality, if this matter had nothing to do with him, he wouldn’t even be this angry, but the problem was, this Princess Yi Ning was originally prepared to be given to him, else this time, he probably wouldn’t have come to Qi Yuan. As the West Valley Li w.a.n.g[1], possessing royal blood, wielding great power in hand, how can he allow getting messed with as such.
Originally, in this West Valley Li w.a.n.g’s eyes, although Princess Yi Ning appeared to be a bit too delicate, compared to the others, he further liked Qi Yuan women. In the past, he’d once pillaged quite a few from Qi Yuan’s borders before, more than ten had fallen into his hands. That being said, he further wanted to taste the women of Qi Yuan’s n.o.bility. Just, unfortunately, this time, it was Former Wei proposing an arranged marriage. Former Wei and Qi Yuan possessed similar traditions, and the Former Wei imperial clan was further closer to Qi Yuan people. It can be said to be exactly what he wanted. He was just a Valley Li w.a.n.g, so matching with a princess of a large country, his status ultimately was a bit low. Just, once they have the person taken back, who she’ll marry, wasn’t it still them having the final say?
When the West Valley Li w.a.n.g saw Princess Yi Ning, she completely matched his ideal preference. In a certain sense, he already had Princess Yi Ning viewed as his woman, yet now, they were telling him, that Princess Yi Ning became Qi Yuan Emperor’s consort? How can he not be furious!
Upon hearing this, everyone was endlessly shocked. How can this be good!? Their hearts all raised in alarm along with. Of course, those that were completely unrelated to this happily watched the play.
Everyone was all waiting for Le Cheng Emperor to erupt in anger, but Le Cheng Emperor was much calmer than expected, just coldly looking to the Former Wei first prince, “Former Wei preparing one daughter for two marriages, this is quite the calculations.” There wasn’t any distinct anger, his tone normal, further like just stating a simple truth.
But the more it was like this, the more it made others at a loss for what to do. After all, sometimes, by having the emotions fully displayed on the surface, it let others better understand which step to take next according to the other party’s emotions. To not reveal in the slightest, making one unable to guess, one might make a mistake. As such, in the middle of winter, the Former Wei first prince still couldn’t help but be covered in sweat, “Qi Yuan Emperor, there’s a misunderstanding in this matter.”
At this time, he wasn’t able to spare the people of West Xiongnu any thoughts, not only because right now, he was in Qi Yuan’s territory, but further because Great Wei bordered Qi Yuan, but didn’t have the slightest connection with West Xiongnu. The reason why Former Wei chose West Xiongnu, there was most likely the intention of wanting to join forces with West Xiongnu to divide up Qi Yuan. After all, these two countries, regardless of which one, to want to devour Qi Yuan on their own was all impossible.
“Misunderstanding? The previous matter can be said as a coincidence, but you all had long started eyeing this emperor’s son, could it be that this is also a misunderstanding? Don’t tell this emperor that your Former Wei had the intention of forming a political marriage with West Xiongnu, and this time, even specially had your princess brought out, yet you all weren’t aware in the slightest?” Le Cheng Emperor’s tone penetrated with mockery.
However, carefully thinking it over, this matter was indeed suspicious. Just as Le Cheng Emperor said, if they’d already came to an agreement, then it wasn’t possible for the incident of ‘Former Wei’s Princess Yi Ning falling for Qi Yuan’s Jin Qinw.a.n.g’ to have appeared. After all, Former Wei’s internal matters, if not having communicated with West Xiongnu, then naturally it was impossible to know about matters regarding Princess Yi Ning. That’s why, it wasn’t possible for West Xiongnu to be lying. Then, either it was the emissaries of Former Wei indeed not knowing about this matter, or it was just after coming to Qi Yuan, this party from Former Wei decided to act on their own.
The former situation was purely nonsense. The West Xiongnu royal court from Former Wei’s capital city was even farther than Qi Yuan’s capital. Calculating from the time, something that West Xiongnu was all clearly aware of, can’t be that people from Former Wei was completely unclear about? And the latter situation, even if it’s three members of the imperial family, they certainly won’t have the guts to disobey their own old man.
The most reasonable explanation was that Princess Yi Ning knew about everything, but didn’t want to go to that barbaric place to suffer hards.h.i.+ps, wanting to stay in Qi Yuan, thus acting out such a play on her own. As for why the Former Wei first prince didn’t try to erase this matter afterwards, instead secretly helping Princess Yi Ning, no one believed that it was him doing it out of love for his younger sister. The only possibility was that by helping Princess Yi Ning achieve her goal, he can obtain something even better.
The Former Wei first prince had unspeakable grievances. Truthfully speaking, he really didn’t know that they’d already reached an agreement with West Xiongnu. Otherwise, he certainly would’ve tightly watched over Yi Ning from the start, and definitely wouldn’t have let her cause the slightest trouble. But in the end, everything was all too late.
If West Xiongnu had been able to arrive a few days earlier, as long as they catch wind of the matter of Princess Yi Ning falling for Jin Qinw.a.n.g, then it would’ve been impossible for them to not take action. That way, the matter could still be remedied. In reality, as long as Princess Yi Ning didn’t get slept, then there was still leeway, but……..
The Former Wei first prince inwardly cursed. Since they’d already reached an agreement, why didn’t they just directly have the person sent to West Xiongnu, instead taking a detour to Qi Yuan? Wasn’t that purely having nothing to do thus looked for trouble? Naturally, he was also endlessly furious at the fact that this matter had been kept from him.
“Qi Yuan Emperor, this matter was indeed……………..”
Le Cheng Emperor waved his hand, “This matter, no need to explain to this emperor. Your Princess Yi Ning is already this emperor’s woman. This is an unchangeable fact, else why don’t you all just have her corpse taken back.” He was the emperor. His women, regardless of whether he liked or not, that was all his. Even if throwing in a corner to mold, it was all impossible to yield to someone else, unless dead.
The Former Wei first prince had a mouthful of old blood lodged in his chest, but he had no other way. In this situation right now, even if Princess Yi Ning really dies, it was also completely useless. Right now, Le Cheng Emperor had obtained a ‘tangible benefit’, so no longer bickered over this matter, but West Xiongnu wasn’t that easy to brush off. Since they were unable to obtain the person, then they will undoubtedly tear a layer of flesh from Former Wei. However, thinking to here, West Xiongnu was very far from Great Wei. Between the two countries, to the south, they were separated by Qi Yuan, and to the north, they were separated by several small and medium-sized countries as well as North Xiongnu. No matter how they dispute, it was still impossible to directly spark into war. As such, the Former Wei first prince slightly relaxed again. Just, even so, the later matters were still more than enough to make him be burned badly in the head. Also, after returning to Great Wei, some people also won’t easily let go of him.
(T/N: Who knew that the map of the various countries I did back in chapter 404 was actually somewhat accurate.)
West Xiongnu revered having a strong physique, but it didn’t mean that they were simple-minded. What kind of att.i.tude they should put out in what situation, they were still aware of. After hearing Le Cheng Emperor’s few simple words, they can also be said to have understood who the main culprit was. Moreover, Former Wei first prince was obviously treating them differently, having Qi Yuan viewed more highly, so it naturally further angered them. —————–This will cause the following period of time prior to leaving Qi Yuan to be especially tiring in dealing with West Xiongnu for the Former Wei first prince.
West Xiongnu this while just began sharpening their swords, preparing to cause trouble for Former Wei, yet unexpectedly, with a loud thud, something got thrown onto the table of the West Xiongnu main seat, overturning the tray of desserts. That was a wine cup. Looking along the direction where it came, they met with Jin Qinw.a.n.g’s cold gaze, expressionlessly looking over, “Did you all forget what day it is today? Either have the matter pushed back, or immediately get lost from Qi Yuan’s imperial palace.”
That’s why, the living Enma was just the living Enma. Once his temper rose, he didn’t care who you were!
[1] 右谷蠡王 – This is an actual t.i.tle used by the Xiongnu in ancient times. Its counterpart is the East Valley Li w.a.n.g. The t.i.tle contains the region they preside over. The position is usually filled by the younger generation of the Chanyu (Han dynasty name for the chiefs of Xiongnu). It’s a position that’s higher than the other n.o.bles. One of the more confusing things in translation is how the word 右(right) in ancient times also meant west, while 左(left) meant east. Me as a modern person is h.e.l.la confused sometimes.
T/N: Historically speaking, wars between countries that don’t border each other were quite rare, especially before the industrial revolution, purely because of the distance and lack of proper transportation, but it’s not impossible.
Also back in chapter 390, Jing Wan actually foreshadowed all this when she said, with LHY involved, it was more likely for the two countries to fail in forming an alliance and become enemies instead. If these two countries form an alliance to take down Qi Yuan, it would actually be dangerous due to how they border Qi Yuan on two different fronts.