Never divorce, never stop getting rich

Chapter 130 White-Eyed Wolf

"Your Majesty, it's time to go to court."

The empress stood beside the bronze mirror, looking at the blurry figure in the mirror, without a trace of joy on her face.

Prime Minister Pei sighed, took the crown from the palace maid, and put it on the empress himself.

"Ranran, something like this will happen eventually. It's just a little earlier than we expected."

When the empress heard her nickname, her expression softened. She quickly put on a few pearl hairpins, turned around and said, "I know, but I don't want this to be caused by my son."

Marriage is an inevitable hurdle for a weak country, but she and Prime Minister Pei had estimated that judging from the extent of competition among other countries, it would probably not happen until Yongle grew up or even got married.

At that time, no matter how they operate, they will not be passive, which is completely different from being caught off guard now.

"The delegation has arrived. Let's go quickly."

Prime Minister Pei suppressed his anger but remained calm and advised.

"Pei Yuan! Yongle is only fourteen years old! She's still a child!"

The empress could no longer control herself, her shoulders dropped and she covered her face with her hands.

"I know, I know... I will find a way. Yongle will not go for the marriage." Prime Minister Pei held the empress in his arms and kept comforting her, but the worry between his brows did not diminish at all.

When the empress calmed down and walked into the hall, no one could notice her brief loss of composure.

Prime Minister Pei stood below with his head bowed, but he could not stop the eldest prince standing in the front from looking at him with hatred.

"Your Majesty, the Queen of Tang, I am from Idan. I am a member of the royal family of Idan and the crown prince, which is what you call a prince here."

A man with deep facial features, with brown curly hair draped over his shoulders, wearing very exotic clothes, and all the gems on his body sparkling in the sun. He is very confident, and there is a hint of arrogance in his every move.

The officials in the court were surprised. They thought he was just an ordinary envoy, but they didn't expect that he would be the crown prince of a country. This made the officials who had always been bullied by neighboring countries flattered and even felt close to him.

"Welcome to the Crown Prince of Ito. I just wonder if the Crown Prince has a handwritten letter from the King of Ito with him?" The empress was not as superficial as the people in the court. Although she was surprised at his status, she also became more vigilant.

"I..." The Crown Prince glanced at the eldest prince, feeling a strange sense of guilt, but he quickly concealed it, saying even more proudly, "Of course I do. My father is very concerned about the relationship between our two countries. It just so happens that Li Lu came to our country to study. He has been my good friend for many years. This time, I present a gift to Your Majesty and thank him for guiding me."

The eldest prince Fu Lilu smiled slightly and bowed in return.

The empress looked at her son who had brought a wolf into the house and almost crushed the armrest of the dragon throne.

People used him as a pathfinder, but he thought he was getting help. How foolish he was.

"These are the gifts my father asked me to bring. Your Majesty, please take a look." After saying this, the Crown Prince of Idan clapped his hands. The gifts that had been prepared long ago outside kept coming out like water. The boxes of these gifts were all opened.

The boxes were filled with precious stones, jades, gold and silver, staring at the people in the court without blinking. The greed in their eyes made the empress want to drag them out and chop them into pieces.

"This is the gift list." Mocking these ministers of poor countries in his heart, the Crown Prince presented the list with both hands very politely. He originally thought that these things could soften the empress's expression, but who knew that the empress didn't even look at the list and let the eunuch take it away.

He was slightly displeased, but couldn't show it. He only lamented that this empress was not as easy to fool as the previous emperor. No wonder his father was wary of this small country.

"I have already accepted the gift, so a return gift is essential. To thank the Crown Prince for coming all the way here, Tang Country has also prepared a gift. I hope the Crown Prince will not despise it."

As soon as the empress finished speaking, the chief eunuch came in with several junior eunuchs, each holding a box in their hands, but the lid of the box was not opened.

The Crown Prince was disdainful. Among the six countries, their country produced the most gems and gold. What else had he not seen? How could he be surprised by the gifts from such a poor country?

But it was just a formality, and the Crown Prince casually opened a box, but unexpectedly found that there were no jewelry inside, nor any tea or porcelain that was produced here, but only pieces of snow-white, delicate, and fragrant paper?

Isn’t paper always yellow and rough?

And what kind of paper is that? It's soft and thick, not like paper but more like fine cotton?

The eldest prince was also a little dumbfounded. He had only been away for a few years, so how come Tang Kingdom had such a specialty?

"There's an old saying in our country: 'Books contain a house of gold, books contain a beautiful woman...' Speaking of books, we have to talk about paper. This is our Tang Kingdom's unique Xiangxue paper and Yunmian paper... Does the Crown Prince like it?"

When the empress saw the crown prince's fond look, she felt relieved and naturally had a better impression of Qian Qiansui.

"This paper... why is this paper so different?" The crown prince said excitedly. At this time, he didn't care about using money to overwhelm these ignorant Tang people. He only knew that Tang had something that their country did not have at all.

"But they are just some folk stuff. There are many varieties of this kind of paper. Xiangxue paper is used for printing books, and Yunmian paper... is used in daily life." The empress smiled easily.

The eldest prince saw that the crown prince's attention was completely attracted by the papers, so he didn't care where these things came from. If he didn't mention it, the empress would probably not give them another chance to make trouble.

"Mother, Crown Prince Idan has come to request something..." The eldest prince almost wanted to pull the crown prince's clothes. He secretly hated this man for being so stupid.

Crown Prince Itami reluctantly put down the papers and finally realized what was happening. "That's right, just as my friend Li Lu said, I came here to maintain the everlasting friendship between our two countries. I ask Your Majesty to give me Tang Country's only pearl as a marriage token, as a token of our friendly coexistence, mutual assistance, and shared prosperity."

The empress's good mood disappeared in an instant. She originally thought that the eldest prince could be patient today, but she didn't expect that this man couldn't wait for a moment. He didn't even have a trace of pity for his sister and was just taking advantage of her.

"This matter is of great importance. I still need to consider it..."

"Mother! The Six Nations will soon usher in a new meeting. If we form an alliance with the Idan Kingdom, our country will definitely have a place in this new meeting. Mother, why don't you agree to the Crown Prince of Idan? My sister will have a good home, and we will also have a strong ally. Why not!"

How could the eldest prince miss this opportunity? He stepped forward and said.

The ministers were whispering to each other in private, and many of them actually showed their approval.

"My daughter is only fourteen years old. She is really not a match for the crown prince..." The empress wanted to leave the court.

"How could that be? Although I already have a wife, if the princess marries me, I will never let her suffer any injustice!" When Crown Prince Ito heard that the princess was so young, he was immediately overjoyed and spoke without thinking.

"What? You actually want the princess to be your concubine!" Prime Minister Pei couldn't bear it anymore and turned around and shouted loudly.