Chapter 611

After hearing Li Zhiwei’s words, Xu Heming looked at her with a troubled expression. He was deeply conflicted.

He did not want to leave Li Zhiwei for even a moment. However, he also knew that the emperor must have summoned him for something important. Otherwise, the emperor would not have sent Jin Yan to fetch him.

After all, the matter of having him thrown into prison had yet to be resolved.

“I’ll go and come right back. Wait for me,” Xu Heming said reluctantly after giving it some thought before finally leaving.

“Weiwei, you’re finally awake.” Lady Yao’s eyes were red as she gazed at her daughter on the bed. She had thought she was going to lose her daughter. Thankfully, her daughter had finally regained consciousness.

“Mother, I’m sorry for making you worry.” Li Zhiwei looked apologetically at Lady Yao and Li Tianyou, who stood beside her.

Though she had been unconscious these past few days, she had been aware of everything that had happened recently.

“As long as you’re awake.” After saying this, Lady Yao could not stop the tears of joy from spilling down her cheeks.

She felt somewhat relieved as well. She was glad she had agreed to let that girl Zhiya try to save her daughter.

“Mother, I’m a little hungry.” Afraid that Lady Yao would become upset, Li Zhiwei quickly changed the subject.

“Miss, the kitchen has been keeping some porridge ready for you. I’ll go fetch it right away.” Chun Tao was delighted when she heard this.

Xu Heming followed Jin Yan toward the imperial palace, his brows furrowed.

“Jin Yan, what does His Majesty want with me?” Xu Heming asked impatiently.

“Oh, Your Highness, have you forgotten? Today is the day the Qinling Kingdom’s envoy enters the palace,” Jin Yan said anxiously.

After all, the Qinling Kingdom’s envoy had already arrived at the palace.

Xu Heming was stunned when he heard this. He had indeed forgotten about it.

“Who has come?” Xu Heming asked.

“The Qinling Kingdom has sent an envoy named Yan Zhaohe. I’m afraid he won’t be easy to deal with.” At the thought of Lord Yan, Jin Yan felt helpless as well.

Xu Heming had heard of Yan Zhaohe. Unlike Shangguan Mu, that man was no fool.

By the time Xu Heming reached the main hall, Yan Zhaohe already felt that victory was within his grasp.

When Yan Zhaohe had first come to the Lan Nuo Kingdom, he had been rather apprehensive of Prince An. He had never expected to be so lucky—Prince An was actually absent. Yan Zhaohe felt that everything was working in his favor.

With such a perfect opportunity, how could he not make good use of it?

“Emperor of the Lan Nuo Kingdom, our Qinling Kingdom has come to your country with the utmost sincerity. To prove this, we have even brought our most beautiful Ninth Princess Consort to marry into your royal family,” Yan Zhaohe said smugly.

Zhu Jingchen’s expression darkened.

Who wanted their Ninth Princess Consort? he thought. Besides, they wanted to use one princess in exchange for a hundred years of tribute from the Lan Nuo Kingdom. Was this princess made of gold?

It was questionable whether their princess could even live to be a hundred years old.

The more Zhu Jingchen thought about it, the more he felt that the Lan Nuo Kingdom would be suffering a tremendous loss in this deal.

“Lord Yan, I don’t think this is appropriate,” Zhu Jingchen said with a light cough.

“Emperor of the Lan Nuo Kingdom, what do you mean by this?” Yan Zhaohe had assumed the matter was already settled. He had never expected the emperor of the Lan Nuo Kingdom to reject him.

No matter what, Yan Zhaohe could not accept such an outcome.

“Lord Yan, I’m sure you know that our Lan Nuo Kingdom has always been extremely poor. We truly cannot produce the tribute your country demands. Your kingdom’s Seventh Princess is a woman of noble birth and precious status. I’m afraid our humble Lan Nuo Kingdom would be unworthy of her.” Zhu Jingchen spoke with a perfectly serious expression.

“Your Majesty, the Qinling Kingdom sent the Ninth Princess Consort,” Eunuch Liu reminded him in a low voice.

“Oh, it makes no difference. She’s a princess of the Qinling Kingdom either way.” Zhu Jingchen did not feel that he had said anything wrong.

Yan Zhaohe’s expression had become so ugly that the word “grim” no longer seemed sufficient to describe it.

He had never expected the Lan Nuo Kingdom to dare challenge the Qinling Kingdom. Not only had they refused to pay tribute, but they had even insulted their princess.

“Emperor of the Lan Nuo Kingdom, our Qinling Kingdom has come here in earnest to make peace with you. Don’t force us to offer you punishment instead of a toast!” Yan Zhaohe felt that his patience had run out.

If a small kingdom like Lan Nuo refused to pay tribute on schedule, he did not mind letting them experience the might of the Qinling Kingdom.

“Oh? ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‍I would very much like to know what sort of punishment the Qinling Kingdom has to offer.” Xu Heming’s contemptuous voice came from behind them.

When Zhu Jingchen saw Xu Heming arrive, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, “Prince An, you’re finally here.”

The assembled ministers lowered their heads one after another, secretly wondering whether the emperor considered all of them invisible.

Still, they had no courage to confront the Qinling Kingdom’s envoy themselves.

At that thought, they could not help feeling that all of them together were still no match for Prince An alone.

“Prince An?” Yan Zhaohe frowned and turned toward the newcomer.

Just moments ago, he had been rejoicing that Prince An was absent. He had never expected the man to arrive so soon.

Even without Prince An, the emperor of the Lan Nuo Kingdom had been unwilling to cooperate. Now that Prince An was here, completing this mission would surely be even more difficult.

Yan Zhaohe’s brows drew tightly together.

He had originally thought this would be an easy assignment. Clearly, things were not going to be that simple.

“Lord Yan, it’s been a while!” Xu Heming raised his brows and turned to look at Yan Zhaohe.

He was displeased. If this annoying man had not shown up, he would have been at the Li residence keeping Li Zhiwei company by now.

Instead, he had been dragged here to deal with this irritating fellow.

The moment Yan Zhaohe saw Xu Heming, he knew that completing this mission through diplomacy was impossible.

“Emperor of the Lan Nuo Kingdom, our Qinling Kingdom has also brought along our strongest warriors. We have decided to hold a friendly competition with your kingdom,” Yan Zhaohe announced.

He was certain that they would defeat the Lan Nuo Kingdom this time.

When that happened, the Lan Nuo Kingdom had better not blame the Qinling Kingdom for showing no mercy.

“Is that so? As it happens, our Lan Nuo Kingdom has recently acquired a new weapon as well. We would be delighted to test it against the Qinling Kingdom,” Xu Heming said after hearing Yan Zhaohe’s words, feeling that the man had handed him the perfect opportunity.

He could use this chance to demonstrate the power of the Lan Nuo Kingdom’s new weapon and let the Qinling Kingdom know that it might be time for another country to take the title of the strongest nation.

Xu Heming had already been in a foul mood. During the court assembly, he exchanged only a few words with Yan Zhaohe before leaving the man utterly speechless.

“Prince An, I’m very much looking forward to seeing your Lan Nuo Kingdom’s new weapon. I hope it won’t disappoint us,” Yan Zhaohe said, looking at Xu Heming with a clear warning.

“Why are you in such a hurry, Lord Yan? Whether you’re disappointed or not, you’ll find out when the time comes.” Xu Heming was not the least bit intimidated by the warning in Yan Zhaohe’s tone.

He acted as though he had not heard it at all.

All he wanted was to settle matters here as quickly as possible so that he could return and keep his beloved princess company.

Seeing that Xu Heming was completely impervious to either reason or threats, Yan Zhaohe felt both anger and unease.

Could it be that the Lan Nuo Kingdom really had some extraordinarily powerful weapon?