Second Marriage

The Wala diplomats were still in the capital during the Mid-Autumn Festival, hence the Emperor held a big banquet.

Officials in the capital could take part with their families regardless of their ranks. This was a rare opportunity for the officials at the bottom to appear in front of the Emperor.

For a while, the Emperor’s popularity rose. On the day of the banquet, the Wala diplomats were dumbfounded by the unprecedented excitement. In the end, they realized that Dazhao was rich and prosperous, and they also had a lot of officials in the capital. This realization brought a sense of shame to them.

The fight they had had, they now realized, was more like an ant shaking an elephant1.

The palace had a lot going on, but Xiao Youning was afflicted with too much laziness to enter the palace.

Since she knew what Prince Ah Mo was planning to do, she didn’t even go outside. It saved her from a lot of potential trouble before she got married.

Those barbarians, who knew what other schemes they had planned.

Prince Ah Mo did not give up yet. Although he was afraid of Ye Shen, he was a prince of a country. This was better than Ye Shen, who did not hold an official title. As long as he could create a situation for him to rescue Marquis Ningyuan’s daughter, then he wouldn’t have to worry about not being able to marry her. It would also make the Emperor treat the Wala a bit better and make peace talks easier.

It was unfortunate that after that day, he never met Xiao Youning again. Even at today’s palace banquet, Xiao Youning did not come.

Prince Ah Mo was eventually disappointed. He drank a lot at the banquet, until he was drunk and somehow fell into a lotus pond he was passing through.

The Prince of Wala did not know how to swim, and his servants did not attend the banquet. He flailed around in the water for a long time and was on his last breath before he was rescued by the guards.

He was scared to death from almost drowning, and from how the water kept coming out of his nose. Once he was on land, he spat out the water. It took him a long time to get back to normal.

At this moment, he heard a familiar voice near him ask faintly, “How come the royal doctor has not come yet? This is our distinguished guest. It would be troublesome if he fell into the water and died.”

The voice was as cold as his sharp machete.

He suddenly turned around and saw Ye Shen, dressed in a purple brocade robe, standing nearby. He held a lantern in his hand, and the dark lines on the robe flickered in the faint light.

Prince Ah Mo trembled involuntarily, and subconsciously linked Ye Shen to his fall into the water.

Ye Shen had filled him with despair. Seeing him conscious, Ye Shen walked up to him slowly and crouched, holding the lantern that shone into his eyes. His handsome face had a faint smile on as he said, “Prince Ah Mo, if you play with your own life, then you might catch a serious incurable illness one day. When that happens… someone will take your place.”

Usually, he made people feel bleak, but a smile was more blood curdling. Prince Ah Mo knew that this was a warning. It was also telling him that his dignity did not allow being provoked. Xiao Youning was Ye Shen’s wife, and no one could covet her.

Prince Ah Mo’s head was buzzing, and he realized what a big mistake he had made.

No matter who he was, he should not challenge a man’s dignity. Ye Shen had countless ways to kill him in the palace!

Wala had been defeated, and if he died of a serious illness in Dazhao, Emperor Dazhao would at best give the Wala more lenient terms, and he would have nothing!

Prince Ah Mo finally woke up to reality and got up from the ground. He no longer dismissed Ye Shen and gave him a Wala bow of the highest respect. Then, he was helped by the guards to stumble away.

As Ye Shen watched him leave, he stood by the lake for a while. Afterwards, he slowly headed back to report what had happened to the Emperor.

Prince Ah Mo, who fell into the water in late autumn, was frightened, got a cold and had a high fever the next day.

The Emperor sent a doctor to observe him. When he got better on the third day, Prince Ah Mo realized something and immediately blamed his fever on Prince Jihan.

His accusation was that Prince Jihan asked him to go to the lake that night and to wait for him there. Then, he pushed him in.

Neither of them had proof, and it was not clear who was right and who was wrong. The Wala diplomats were mostly close to Prince Ah Mo, so Prince Jihan suffered in silence. He was so angry that he didn’t sleep for several nights, and his eyes were bloodshot.

The Emperor did not care about the fight between these two brothers, and just took it as a joke. Luckily, he could start to relax and finally let the Six Ministries2 participate in the peace discussions between the two countries. It looked like he was not going to be a kind host to them for any longer.

At the end of it all, winter was beginning and they could not travel to Wala. It was snowing heavily, so the road was not easy to travel on. If they came across another problem on the way, it might cause an accident.

Footnotes

蚍蜉撼大象 (pífú hàn dà xiàng) – it means the ant is acting ridiculously when it is small and weakMinistry of Personnel, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Rites, Ministry of War, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Works