201 – Tender One’s Resignation

Years hurried away – time passed quickly like a white foal’s shadow across a crevice.

In the mid-third of the 3rd month, the news that the Tuluo envoy had already set out reached the Capital – they would arrive in the mid-third of the 4th month.

It was probably to express the sincerity of Tuluo or that the Tuluo emperor was not reassured by others so that this time, it was surprisingly the Tuluo emperor, Emperor Renguang, who came out in person.

Emperor Renguang was similar in age to Emperor Xiaohui, but he was not as good as Emperor Xiaohui in terms of maintenance – he looked distinctly older than Emperor Xiaohui. However, he was tall and strong with a body as tough as nails. Only based on the outer appearance, he looked more like a general. The envoy’s cavalcade was extremely grand. Emperor Renguang’s imperial carriage was gilded with gold and silver with a quail egg-sized gem also hung on the four eaves of the roof every few inches. Under the warm spring sunshine, the resplendent dazzle could blind people’s eyes. More than that, a rank of 2000 people, all of which were soldiers, rode on tall horses and looked very imposing.

Qin Mian, who had altered his appearance, was behind the crowd. He put his arms around Lei Tie’s waist and whispered in his ear, “I think Emperor Renguang is a big–stupid–c*nt. Isn’t he plainly saying to His Majesty, ‘come and kill me, come and kill me’?”

The smile in Lei Tie’s eyes thickened – he extremely loved his wife’s high-spirited appearance. “En, he’s stupid.”

Inside the imperial carriage, Emperor Renguang put on a gentle smile as he sneakily looked at the people of Great Xia cheering on both sides of the street. He was secretly puzzled. It was said that the people of Great Xia would throw rotten vegetable leaves and smash fruit and eggs at the loathsome people. He had been prepared for it. Hence, he had people changed the muslin hanging around the carriage with solid boards. He didn’t expect that it was unnecessary. Surprisingly, the people of Great Xia were so happy with their arrival.

He didn’t know that in the past two days, news had spread among the people that His Majesty the Emperor would certainly peel off the skin of the Tuluo emperor in this negotiation. So of course, the people were happy!

Emperor Renguang, who had been sitting on the throne for 30 years, was certainly not a fool. He sent people to inquire about the situation in the Capital two days in advance, lest they were unable to deal with unexpected incidents. But he did not know that this was the Capital – the territory of Emperor Xiaohui. Except for the secrets of Qin Mian’s family, almost any disturbance or trouble was under the control of Emperor Xiaohui. What Emperor Renguang’s people could or couldn’t hear was controlled by him. One had to say that as an emperor, Emperor Xiaohui’s ability was indeed not bad.

Qin Mian looked at another luxury carriage behind the imperial carriage and said to Lei Tie, “Look at the appearance and decoration of that carriage. It should be a female visitor inside.”

When a young man at the side heard what he said, he spontaneously interjected, “There are even eight palace maids beside the carriage. Is it the Western Barbarian’s princess? Western Barbarian brings her to unite by marriage?”

This statement immediately aroused many people’s agreement.

“I guess it is!”

When the Tuluo cavalcade was over, the civilians gradually dispersed, but they still talked about the fact that the Tuluo emperor actually came out in person. The whole Capital, from the high officials of the imperial court to the staff of teahouses, all talked about it.

After watching the excitement, Qin Mian and Lei Tie slowly walked home. Before they entered the entrance gate, they heard the sound of the horse’s hooves quickly approaching. They turned around and saw Chen Mufeng galloping on his horse.

“Shu––”

Qin Mian asked, “What’s the matter? Spring breeze has obtained its wish that the horse’s hooves are swift?”¹

“Qin Mian!” Chen Mufeng jumped off the horse and held Qin Mian’s shoulders in excitement. “My mother, my birth mother, is pregnant, for more than two months!”

Without an expression, Lei Tie flicked away Chen Mufeng’s arms and simultaneously pulled his wife back to distance him from Chen Mufeng.

The corner of Qin Mian’s lips curved and he leaned against Lei Tie.

Chen Mufeng didn’t mind. He sincerely said, “Brother, thank you!”

It was better to have the formal consort gave birth to Imperial Prince Ming’s son. First of all, Chen Mufeng naturally preferred the formal consort to the two side consorts, which was his birth mother. Secondly, if the little brother Chen was the legitimate son, his future identity could be higher. Back then, after Imperial Prince Ming’s body was well nurtured, Princess Consort Ming could not get pregnant for a while. Later, Qin Mian prescribed medicine for her for a month after taking her pulse. Only then her body was nursed back to health. Now, good news had finally come out.

“Congratulations!” Qin Mian was also happy for Chen Mufeng that he teased, “Now, Zhangsun He has to give me the most substantial gift.”

Chen Mufeng laughed despite himself, but after laughing, there were some concerns, “I’m afraid, it’s not necessarily a younger brother.”

Qin Mian patted him on the shoulder, “Don’t worry. Now, both Imperial Prince Ming and Princess Consort Ming have a health that is equivalent to that of 35 years old. Even if this baby is a daughter, they can beget another.”

Chen Mufeng nodded and took the initiative to say, “My father is also very happy. He relented the affairs of me and Zhangsun He. He even comforted me that if this baby is a daughter, he’ll have another one.”

At this time, another fast horse came. Because the street was spacious enough, it didn’t bother the pedestrians.

It was Zhangsun He who came.

“Mufeng!”

“What are you doing here?” The smile on Chen Mufeng’s face had yet faded.

Zhangsun He took his hand and said, “I, I, I already knew about your family’s affairs. I came to thank the State Defender Duke and his Lady.”

It was rare for this man to stammer with excitement. Qin Mian and Chen Mufeng burst out laughing.

When Chen Mufeng finished laughing, he looked at Zhangsun He in suspicion. “It wasn’t long since I knew of this; how did you know?”

Zhangsun He squeezed his hand. “I didn’t put my man in the princely establishment, but I got a guy in the store opposite. When he saw your steward go to the direction of the drugstore with a happy face, he guessed that there was good news.”

Chen Mufeng saw that Zhangsun He really cared about him. He softly snorted and didn’t inquire further.

Zhangsun He said to Qin Mian and Lei Tie, “I came in a hurry today, so I didn’t prepare for anything. Mufeng and I will invite you to drink some other day.”

“Deal.”

The negotiation between Great Xia and Tuluo was a matter of the two emperors and also the civilian court officials. It had nothing to do with Qin Mian and Lei Tie. They only attended a few banquets, eating and drinking.

Due to Emperor Xiaohui’s tough attitude and the Tuluo emperor’s extreme unwillingness, the negotiation went on very hard. Until the first ten-day of the 5th month, Emperor Renguang worried that his princes would be uneasy if he did not return to Tuluo, so he had to loosen his mouth and ceded the four big cities near the border of the two countries to Great Xia, as well as compensated one billion taels of silver in three years. Otherwise, Great Xia didn’t mind directing troop movements to the west again.

Emperor Renguang really feared Lei Tianren. Under the circumstances that Tuluo lost three defender generals, Lei Tianren might directly attack the imperial city of Tuluo.

Besides that, Tuluo’s Princess Ziluo stayed as the side consort of the Fourth Prince conferred by Emperor Xiaohui.

On the same day, Emperor Xiaohui ordered people to distribute the imperial announcement which stated that a part of the indemnity payment from Tuluo would be taken out as the compensation money for the dead soldiers’ bereaved families.

After the news came out from the palace, the whole Capital was as lively as the New Year. The winehouses under Chen Mufeng’s name took the lead in giving all customers a 70% discount. Other businesses, whether they were winehouses, teahouses, grain stores… all of them gave a discount, no matter it was 70%, 20%, or 10%. Be it the bosses, the customers, or the shop assistants, everyone was happy and proud that Great Xia had the upper hand – they were proud to be a citizen of Great Xia. Even people who were usually reluctant to spend money to eat in restaurants were willing to call on three or five friends to celebrate.

Two days later, the Tuluo envoy set out on its way home.

The civilians in the Capital bid them farewell with the uncles of the lion dance team banged the big cymbals.

Emperor Renguang looked at their happy faces only to feel offended, but he had nothing to say besides sighing.

Both Qin Mian and Lei Tie were relieved that the negotiation was successfully completed.

After Qin Mian quietly sold the drugstore and the silverware shop, he and Lei Tie finished their works as if nothing had happened every day. No one else could figure out that they were about to resign.

By early of the 6th month, when it was estimated that the Tuluo envoy had returned to Tuluo, Lei Tie and Qin Mian went to the palace together to seek an audience with Emperor Xiaohui.

“Reporting, Your Majesty. State Defender Duke and Lady of the State Defender Duke asks for an audience.”

Emperor Xiaohui was very puzzled. He put down the memorial and said, “Announce.”

“Announcing the presence of State Defender Duke and Lady of the State Defender Duke~~”

“Paying respects to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live long, absolutely long live!”

“You may rise.” Emperor Xiaohui asked with a smile, “For you two to come together is unexpected – what’s the reason?”

Lei Tie went straight to the point, “Reporting, Your Majesty. Both of your subjects came to tender our resignation.”

Eunuch Li, who was ready to go forward to pour tea for Emperor Xiaohui, staggered and fell on the ground upon hearing what was said. He quickly got up and knelt, “Beg Your Majesty’s forgiveness for your servant has failed etiquette.”

His drooping face was full of shock and disbelief. The emperor had bestowed honor and favor on the four members of the State Defender Duke’s family, who were now the most glorious people in the Capital with exception of the emperor. He even heard that many ministers were thinking about marrying their daughters to the two little gongzis of the State Defender Duke Establishment! It was absolutely unexpected that the State Defender Duke and Lady of the State Defender Duke wanted to resign at this time.

Emperor Xiaohui was also shocked. His mouth involuntarily opened wide and yet he couldn’t speak for a long time. Emperor Xiaohui knew Lei Tie. Since Lei Tie requested to resign, it showed that he was really determined. Because of this, he believed all the more that Lei Tie was disinterested in power and fame. Such a person was more worthy of his trust – he would not be willing to let go. Of course, that was just one of the reasons. Another reason was that, before the battle with Tuluo, Great Xia had not been in a battle state for a long time, so few generals in the court could really be of great use – Lei Tie was the reassurance of Emperor Xiaohui. The third reason was related to Qin Mian. Qin Mian had excellent medical skills and was a well-deserved highly-skilled doctor. The imperial palace was full of people with shady means. With Qin Mian being there, Emperor Xiaohui was more at ease.

Such two people, how could Emperor Xiaohui be willing to let go?

Footnotes