Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2372 Bring a Message 35.0
"Wait!" Xue Ruitian scratched his ears, looked at Qi Zhifeng who said this in a very calm tone, and then looked at Shen Cha and others who were shocked and unbelievable like him, and confirmed again, "Who did you say just now to marry whom?"

"Don't be so surprised, Lord. There's nothing wrong with your ears. I'm talking about Wanyan Qingmu and me." Qi Zhifeng spread his hands towards Xue Ruitian, "Don't you think it's ridiculous and outrageous?"

"Hmm!" Jin Miaomiao was puzzled. "You just said that they attended the palace banquet on the first night they arrived, and they didn't have time to inquire about the situation in Linhuang Mansion. Besides, at that time, Xiao Qi was still very young and probably didn't go out much. How did they know you?"

"My father was an official in charge of receiving envoys at the time. I guess the people in charge of receiving them did some research, but they didn't have time to do a detailed investigation. They probably knew my name but had never seen me."

"You want to marry someone you haven't even met? That's really absurd and outrageous."

"No, this is not the most absurd or outrageous thing." Xue Ruitian shook his finger gently. "They haven't seen you, but they should have asked about you. They should know that you are the only son of the Qi family. Even so, they still want to propose a marriage. Are they here to disgust people?"

"No, they don't know anything. They just know a name, that's all."

Xiao Fengqi put down the tea bowl and placed the mung bean pastry in front of him to Qi Zhifeng, asking him to eat slowly while he explained.

"Isn't it a bit too hasty to propose a marriage just knowing a name?" Jin Miaomiao sat opposite Xiao Fengqi and frowned at him, "Or do they have other purposes?"

"There must be some other purpose!" Shen Cha sneered. "That time, Xia and Liao joined forces to severely defeat the invasion of Jin, causing them to lose nearly 30,000 soldiers and two cities. King Jin couldn't stand the pressure, so he followed the domestic proposal and asked for peace negotiations. We finally chose Linhuang Prefecture in Liao as the place for the negotiations, because the main battlefield that time was the Liao border, not the Xia border."

"The general is right." Xiao Fengqi nodded towards Shen Cha, "That time the Jin Kingdom attacked our border, and we couldn't mobilize so many troops at once, so we asked Daxia for help. Unexpectedly, the Duke did not refuse, put aside the past grudges, and sent troops to support us." He looked at Shen Haolin and nodded slightly, "With the support of the Duke, we can beat back the Jin soldiers who attacked us, and make them actively seek peace."

"But what does this have to do with their proposal for marriage?"

"Of course it matters!" Shen Cha looked at Jin Miaomiao and smiled, "After all, it was our joint efforts that forced them to seek peace. If they want revenge, the best way is to dismantle our alliance and defeat us one by one. According to normal people's thinking, if both parties are not interested in marriage, they will not make this request at the first meeting, as it would be too presumptuous. So, they did this to alienate the relationship between Xia and Liao, making us mistakenly believe that Liao had reached some agreement with Jin behind our backs. It's just..."

"But they don't know that in the Yelu family and the families related to the Yelu family, there are very few girls of marriageable age. Most of them are boys. In addition," Xiao Fengqi glanced at Qi Zhifeng, whose cheeks were bulging from eating, smiled and said, "this kid has a nickname that sounds like a girl. No wonder the Jin people thought he was a girl!"

"Sounds like a girl's nickname?" Jin Miaomiao's eyes lit up, and she raised an eyebrow at Qi Zhifeng, "Little brother Qi, tell me about it!" "I don't really want to mention it." Qi Zhifeng snorted, "Anyway, that name is indeed easy to be misunderstood. I guess they misunderstood it, so they wanted to marry. But..." He looked at Shen Haolin and Shen Cha who were whispering to each other, and saw Shen Cha couldn't help but laugh with his back turned, and clenched his fist angrily, "Duke, how can you do this!"

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else." Shen Cha made a gesture to shut up. "However, it is indeed easy to cause misunderstandings, and it is not their fault. It's just that they proposed a marriage without even meeting each other. I'm afraid they intend to sabotage the peace talks."

"Yes!" Xiao Fengqi nodded. "They thought that this would alienate the Xia-Liao alliance. Unfortunately, they were completely wrong. The moment they proposed the marriage, the entire hall fell silent. Most people didn't say anything. To be more precise, except for the people from the Jin Kingdom delegation, everyone looked at them as if they were fools."

"Did your brother know that Xiao Qi was a boy at that time?"

"Of course." Shen Haolin nodded gently. "Lord Qi received us personally. Later, officials from the Liao Kingdom also introduced Lord Qi's situation. We know that he has an only son. So, when we heard Yanyou propose on behalf of Wanyan Qingmu at the palace banquet, we were a little surprised." He raised the corners of his lips and said, "Later, Master Qi personally stood up, which scared them."

"That's right!" Qi Zhifeng snorted twice and said, "I stood up and said that they were making trouble without reason, but Yanyou turned the tables on me."

"Put the blame on someone else?" Shen Cha looked at Qi Zhifeng curiously, "How do you put the blame on someone else?"

"They said he was a woman dressed as a man, that he didn't want to marry into the Liao Kingdom, so he said in public that he was a man. They also said that the Liao Kingdom looked down on the Jin Kingdom and didn't want to negotiate with them. They were deceiving them." Xiao Fengqi shook his head helplessly. "Anyway, they just talked nonsense. In the end, they... no, it should be that Yanyou, who actually asked us to prove our innocence."

"What do you mean?" Jin Miaomiao looked at Qi Zhifeng, "You are asked to prove that you are a man, not a woman dressed as a man?"

"Right!" Qi Zhifeng knocked lightly on the table. "Don't you think it's ridiculous too? It's obviously their own problem, but they insisted on asking us to prove our innocence. If we didn't, they would make a scene in the palace. Yanyou even injured the two guards beside me and insisted on rushing over to take off my clothes. Later, the Duke intervened in time and told my king that since the Kingdom of Jin had no intention of negotiating and just wanted to make trouble, there was no need to talk. Let's continue fighting. Anyway, the army is still at the border, so we can just go straight to Yiqing Prefecture and talk to King Jin."

"Yes!" Xiao Fengqi nodded. "That's what the Duke said at the time. As a result, Wanyan Qingmu and Yanyou's faces changed immediately, especially Wanyan Qingmu. This might be the first time he has done such a big thing. If he fails this time, even if he is Wanyan Yuwen's son, I'm afraid no one will support him. So, he stopped Yanyou and ended this farce. Although the subsequent peace talks went smoothly, this grudge."

"I am considered to have made a bond with Yanyou!"