Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 460 Argument in Court
Minglan was stunned when she heard this and said, "What's wrong with me?"

Hua Lan scolded, "I heard from my mother that the emperor wants to give Princess Anyang to my sixth brother-in-law as his second wife. If my grandmother knew about this, she would be so angry that she would die."

"What can I do about the marriage arranged by the emperor? But the emperor is very good to me. Big sister, you don't have to worry about me. Don't tell grandma about this." Minglan said.

"Even if I don't tell you, you'll know sooner or later. How long can you keep it a secret?" Hua Lan shook her head.

"It's better to hide it for a while," Minglan said.

"You." Hua Lan sighed and said, "There is really nothing we can do about the marriage granted by the government, but you have to hurry up and give birth to the child first. Princess Anyang is a concubine, and her child is also a legitimate child. If she gives birth to a legitimate son first, what will you do in the future?"

"Big sister, I know what you said, but you can't get pregnant just like that." Minglan said sadly.

How could she not know about this problem? However, since they got married, except when she was not feeling well, they had never stopped, but she did not respond.

"I heard that the scholar is weak. Your eldest brother-in-law has a jar of tiger penis wine. I will have someone send it to you later. You can let your sixth brother-in-law drink a little every day to replenish his body."

Even though Hualan already has two children, she still blushed when she said this.

Minglan blushed with shame and said, "Big sister, why do you tell everything to others?"

"I'm doing this for your own good," Hua Lan said with a smile.

"My master...he practices martial arts every day, so he doesn't need it." Minglan said in a low voice.

"Why don't we let grandma contact the He family and prescribe some medicine for you?" Hua Lan said.

"I've only been married for a short time. It's normal to get pregnant one or two years after marriage. Besides, if I go find my grandmother, she'll know about it, right?" Minglan shook her head.

"That's true, but you have to hurry up. If it really doesn't work, you can't care about so many things. Grandmother will find out sooner or later anyway..." Hua Lan reminded.

Minglan nodded, not wanting to talk about this topic any more, so she changed the subject and asked, "Any news about Fourth Sister recently?"

Although she and Molan don't get along, she doesn't like this sister Ye.

But after all, we are sisters, so there is no hatred between us.

"You know Fourth Sister's personality. Even if she's not doing well, she will pretend to be doing well when she goes back. And because of what happened in the past, she seldom goes back to the Sheng family. She has only been back three times in such a long time since they got married. I heard that Fourth Sister's husband has a concubine who is pregnant. Fourth Sister's husband is a playboy, so Fourth Sister's life must be difficult. But these are her own choices, so she can't blame anyone else." Hua Lan said.

Hualan is still furious that Molan gambled the reputation of the entire female family of Sheng.

Seeing this, Minglan stopped talking about Molan and started chatting with Hualan.

……

When Li An came back in the evening, Minglan told him that Hualan came to their house to play today.

"My dear, when you have nothing to do, you can go and chat with your eldest aunt and fifth aunt. You don't have to stay at home every day." Li An said.

"I know, but there are a lot of things going on at home, so I can't always go there, otherwise their mother-in-law will gossip." Minglan said.

"Then you can invite them to your house to play. I usually have to be on duty and not at home anyway," said Li An.

"I know." Minglan nodded and said, "By the way, there's good news from the north, saying that a great victory was won. The Queen shouldn't continue to pray at the Daxiangguo Temple, right?"

"Maybe. If the prayer is over, you should go to the Gu family more often. I guess there won't be any fighting next time. Zhong Huai will be back soon, and we won't have to worry about him then." Li An said.

The reason why there was peace for such a long time between the Song Dynasty, Liao Dynasty and Western Xia was not only because each country had its own internal problems, but also because of the mutual restraint between the three countries.

Among the Three Kingdoms, the most powerful one must be the Liao Kingdom. The Liao Kingdom did not attack the Song Dynasty not because of the annual tribute, but because it wanted to use the Song Dynasty to contain the Western Xia.

Although Western Xia was the weakest among the Three Kingdoms, it was very capable in fighting.

Both the Liao Dynasty and the Song Dynasty suffered losses at the hands of the Western Xia in recent years.

It was only because the population and territory of Western Xia were too small and its war potential was limited, otherwise the Song and Liao dynasties would have had no hope of stability.

More than ten years ago, the emperor of Western Xia died, and the successor emperor was only one year old. The Liao Kingdom seized the opportunity and almost completely drove the Western Xia forces out of the grassland.

A few years ago, the Western Xia emperor was only fourteen years old, but he dealt with his uncle who held great power and the Western Xia queen mother and took complete power.

Now, after only a few years of personal rule, he had governed Western Xia in an orderly manner, and successively annexed two Tibetan tribes, greatly increasing the status of Western Xia.

Compared with the Song Dynasty, the Liao Dynasty was more afraid of the Western Xia.

Now that the Western Xia state is strong, if the Song and Liao go to war, the Western Xia might send troops to try to regain the grasslands that were lost in the past.

In Li An's opinion, the Liao Kingdom suffered heavy losses this time, and with the Western Xia as a distraction, it was impossible for it to really go to war with the Song Dynasty.

In fact, it was similar to what Li An guessed. After Yelu Qing was defeated, he retreated to the border town of Liao, gathered the defeated soldiers, and wrote a letter to apologize.

When the Liao court heard the news, they were very angry and called for sending troops to teach the Song Dynasty a lesson.

Eventually, it was suppressed by the Liao emperor. The current Liao emperor has been on the throne for less than ten years. Last year, his uncle launched a rebellion. Although it was quickly put down, it also caused considerable losses to the Liao Kingdom.

What's more, the Western Xia was watching covetously. Once the war broke out, the Western Xia would definitely attack the Liao Kingdom.

Although there was hatred between Western Xia and the Song Dynasty, generally speaking, the Song Dynasty was the one that suffered losses, and Western Xia also seized a lot of territory from the Song Dynasty.

Instead, it was the Liao Kingdom that drove the Western Xia out of the grassland.

Whether it was to contain the Liao Kingdom and prevent it from expanding, or to recover lost territory, Western Xia would attack the Liao Kingdom.

Therefore, the Emperor of Liao did not want to go to war with the Song Dynasty. Even the decision to send troops this time was not his idea, but a proposal from the ministers in the court. Because so many people agreed, he had to agree.

Now that he has lost the battle, it will not have much impact on his prestige.

Although the Liao court officials were reluctant, they were the ones who advocated sending troops. Now that they have lost, they are not as confident as before.

After some discussion, it was finally decided not to send troops for the time being, but to send envoys to the Song Dynasty to question why the Song Dynasty sent troops to launch a surprise attack.

The Liao envoys came to Bazhou with an arrogant attitude.

Shen Congxing was so angry that he almost killed him.

Fortunately, he was stopped by the Duke of Ying, who sent Gu Tingye to escort the Liao envoys to Bian Jing.

As the saying goes, when two countries are at war, they do not kill envoys. Killing an envoy is meaningless and will only exacerbate the conflict.

As soon as the Liao envoys left Bazhou, the imperial edict from Bian Jing arrived, and Ding Yimin also led a team to the Liao Kingdom as an envoy.

It was more than a thousand miles from Bazhou to Bianjing. Because they traveled light, the Liao envoys arrived in Bianjing in less than ten days.

In order to show solemnity, Zhao Zongquan sent Zhao Ceying to bring officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Hanlin Academy out of the city to welcome him, and Li An was among them.

"play music!"

On the official road ten miles outside the north gate of Bianjing, Zhao Ceying led a group of officials waiting for the arrival of envoys from the Liao Kingdom. Seeing dust rising in the distance, Zhao Ceying gave orders.

Soon, a group of cavalrymen escorted several carriages. Gu Tingye urged his horse forward and bowed, saying, "Your Highness Prince Huan!"

"No need for formalities. Zhong Huai has made great contributions this time. He also escorted the Liao envoys to Beijing. Thank you for your hard work." Zhao Ceying smiled and walked forward to help Gu Tingye up.

"This is what I should do." Gu Tingye said.

The Liao envoy got off the carriage, stepped forward, and said with a slight bow: "The Liao envoy Ye Zuxiang greets His Royal Highness Prince Huan of the Song Dynasty. I wonder when he can meet His Majesty the Emperor of the Song Dynasty?"

Ye Zuxiang was not a Khitan, but a Han Chinese. The Liao Kingdom occupied the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, occupying not only the territory but also the population.

In order to appease the Han people, the Liao Dynasty implemented the "one country, two systems" policy and established two courts in the north and south.

The Southern Court governed the Han people, and the Northern Court governed the Khitan people.

However, most of the officials in the Southern Court were Khitans, and there were not many Han people.

After the current Liao emperor ascended the throne, he paid more attention to the Han people and promoted and employed many of them, Ye Zuxiang being one of them.

Although they are all Han Chinese, Ye Zuxiang has no sense of belonging to the Song Dynasty.

If you really count, the Song Dynasty did not even exist when the Liao Dynasty occupied the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

Ye Zuxiang's family had been ruled by the Liao Kingdom for more than a hundred years and had long been integrated into the Liao Kingdom.

"Your Excellency has been traveling long distance, so you should take a day's rest. My father will summon you early tomorrow morning," said Zhao Ceying.

"The guest should follow the host's wishes. Since His Royal Highness Prince Huan has already made arrangements, then we should follow His Royal Highness Prince Huan's arrangements." Ye Zuxiang nodded slightly.

He was arrogant in Bazhou City just to show the attitude of the Liao Kingdom.

Now that we have arrived in Bian Jing, things will naturally not be the same as before.

If the current emperor of the Song Dynasty were still Renzong, he would not restrain himself.

However, the new emperor of the Song Dynasty seemed to have a bad temper, and the Liao Kingdom just deployed troops on the border and sent troops to launch a surprise attack.

Without understanding the temper of the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, he would naturally not be so foolish as to show off his power and not restrain himself.

If he angered the Emperor of the Song Dynasty and was killed by him, he would not be able to be resurrected even if the Liao Kingdom raised an army to avenge him.

Zhao Ceying led the team and sent Ye Zuxiang to the Honglu Temple and then left.

The officials from the Ministry of Rites and the rest were sent away, leaving only Gu Tingye and Li An.

"Let's go, father is waiting for you." Zhao Ceying said.

The three of them rode their horses towards the palace under the protection of guards. On the way, Zhao Ceying was a little surprised by the attitude of the Liao envoys.

The Duke of Ying had already sent someone back to Bian Jing in advance to tell him how the Liao envoys were acting so arrogantly in Bazhou City.

Zhao Zongquan thought that the Liao envoys would be like this when they arrived in Bian Jing. He was worried that others would not be able to handle it, so he asked Zhao Ceying to take officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Hanlin Academy to greet them.

Li An guessed a little about the change in the attitude of the Liao envoy and said with a smile: "As the saying goes, bully the weak and fear the strong. Duke Ying is mature and prudent. He knows that no matter how arrogant he is, Duke Ying dare not do anything to him. Now that he has come to Bian Jing, he must be restrained. The Liao emperor can send him as an envoy, so he must not be a fool. Maybe his performance in Bazhou City was also pretended, just to show the anger of the Liao country and take the initiative in the next negotiation."

"So, we can take a tougher stance?" Zhao Ceying said.

"Yes." Li An nodded and said, "The Liao Kingdom does not want to fight with the Song Dynasty now. We just need to give the Liao Kingdom a way out."

When they arrived at the palace, Gu Tingye and Zhao Ceying went to meet the emperor, while Li An returned to the Hanlin Academy.

After meeting the emperor, Gu Tingye recounted the details of the sneak attack. The emperor asked some more questions and then let Gu Tingye go back and rest.

When Gu Tingye left the palace, he saw Li An waiting at the palace gate.

"Zi Qian, it's not time to get off duty yet, what are you doing?" Gu Tingye asked puzzledly.

"I'm taking a leave of absence. I have something to tell you. Get in the car." Li An pointed to the carriage parked in the distance.

Gu Tingye nodded and followed Li An into the carriage.

"Zhong Huai, congratulations first." Li An said with a smile.

"Haha, the reward can only be given after this matter is completely resolved. It won't be too late to congratulate you then." Gu Tingye said with a smile.

Although the sneak attack was commanded by the Duke of Ying, the credit must have gone to him and Shen Congxing.

I am naturally happy after making such a great contribution.

"That's not what I'm talking about. Your wife is pregnant." Li An said.

"Ok?"

Gu Tingye was stunned and asked in surprise: "Why didn't my wife write to tell me? You didn't tell me when we met before?"

"As soon as you left, it was discovered later. Calculate the time yourself. Can you talk about this matter?" Li An said.

Gu Tingye already had two children, so he understood all this. He took a deep breath and said, "It was your idea for the Queen to go to Daxiangguo Temple to pray for blessings?"

He heard about this incident on his way back.

He didn't think much about it at first, but when he heard the news that Yu Yanran was pregnant, he understood it instantly.

"Well, but it's also thanks to the help of His Royal Highness Prince Huan." Li An said.

"Ziqian, thank you very much." Gu Tingye bowed.

"Why are you being so polite to me?" Li An smiled and asked, "How do you feel about this battle with the Liao Kingdom?"

"To be honest, this battle was a complete sneak attack, and we did not get to see the true combat power of the Liao army," said Gu Tingye.

After chatting with Gu Tingye all the way and sending Gu Tingye home, Li An went home.

……

"The Liao envoy is here to see you~"

The next day, morning.

Amid the loud shouts of the eunuchs in charge of the palace, the Liao envoy Ye Zuxiang walked into the hall.

"I, a foreign minister, greet the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty!" Ye Zuxiang bowed slightly as a gesture of greeting.

Zhao Zongquan waved his hand and said, "What is your purpose in coming here this time?"

"I have come here this time on behalf of the Emperor of the Liao Dynasty to ask why the Song Dynasty launched a surprise attack on the Liao Dynasty's army? The two countries have a brotherly alliance, but the Song Dynasty tore up the alliance. Does it want to provoke a war between the two countries?" Ye Zuxiang said in a clear voice.

"absurd!"

An official stood up and shouted, "According to the treaty, the Baigou River is the boundary between Song and Liao. But the Liao Kingdom sent troops across the river, which is an invasion. The Liao Emperor asked me why the Song Dynasty sent troops to attack. How can this be justified in the world!"

"That's right! The Liao Kingdom took the initiative to provoke the incident first, and our Song Dynasty fought back later. What's wrong with that?"

For a moment, the officials of the Song Dynasty all shouted angrily.

Although they were somewhat afraid of the Liao Kingdom and did not want to fight, the Han Dynasty had always called itself the Celestial Empire since ancient times. Now that the Liao Kingdom's envoys were questioning the Song Dynasty in the court, if they did not speak, would they not be despised by the world?

"The Liao Dynasty sent troops not to start a war. But because we heard that a rebellion had occurred in the Song Dynasty, and the Liao and Song dynasties had a brotherly alliance, so naturally we had to send troops to help," said Ye Zuxiang.

"What a joke!" Han Zhang sneered, "My Song Dynasty has not received any news that the Liao Kingdom sent troops to help my Song Dynasty. I only heard that the Liao Kingdom took advantage of the situation and wanted to force my Song Dynasty to increase the annual tribute."

(End of this chapter)