That night, Qi Ning didn't know how he returned to his house. Early the next morning, he was awakened by a cry outside, but the palace sent someone to summon him.
Qi Ning had already expected that Longtai might summon him today, clean up now, and go to the palace to see him.
This time, I did not see it in the imperial study room, but met in the library where I first saw Longtai. After the news, Longtai ordered Qi Ning to go in. When he saw Longtai, Qi Ning's first feeling was that the little emperor seemed to be in a bad mood. After meeting him, he asked, "Are you unhappy about the emperor?"
Longtai didn't hide it and said, "Before you came, the Queen Mother just left here."
"Oh?" When Qi Ning heard the queen mother, she guessed a few points and asked, "Emperor, is it for the wedding again?"
Longtai's face was quite cold and he sneered: "She has forced me to issue an order to send people from the Ministry of Rites to the Zhongyi Marquis' Mansion to issue an order. This is to ask me to marry the daughter of the Sima family."
"Emperor, the people's marriage is all the orders of their parents and matchmakers. You are the emperor, do you also have to follow the empress dowager's wishes?" Qi Ning frowned slightly: "Now, the main thing in the court is the Marquis of Zhongyi who is taking care of. If the emperor does not follow the orders of the empress dowager, the Sima family is afraid that they will be dissatisfied."
Longtai said angrily: "I am the emperor, can I still depend on the Sima family's expression?"
Qi Ning knew that this little emperor was actually a very rational person and could weigh the pros and cons. When he said this, he was nothing more than a remnant of dissatisfaction in his heart and had nowhere to vent his words in front of him.
"Your Majesty, I'm blunt, since you ascend the throne, it's actually a matter of time before you become the queen." Qi Ning smiled and said, "And there is also a palace in the harem."
Longtai frowned and said, "Do you think I should welcome the daughter of the Sima family into the palace?" He showed a hint of dissatisfaction.
Qi Ning said: "The emperor misunderstood. If the queen is established, it is not necessarily the girl from the Sima family. There are many beauties in the world. It is not the final say for anyone the emperor likes and whom he is appointed as the queen."
"If you say it like you said, that's great." In front of Qi Ning, Longtai no longer looked like a young man and seemed much more relaxed. "You don't know that until now, Sima Lan has never asked me to convene a court meeting, saying that I should wait for a good day before going to the court. I know many things in the court later than him. In this situation, do you think I can still make decisions on my own?"
"Your Majesty, you are still young, so there is no need to worry." Qi Ning said: "Look at the actions of these old ministers, you may not be able to learn anything. However... it is not difficult for the emperor to not want to marry the girl from the Sima family."
"Oh?" Longtai's eyes lit up slightly: "Qinning, have you come up with some good idea again?"
Qi Ning leaned closer and said softly: "Emperor, although the throne of Zhongyi Marquis is highly powerful, he is also inconsistent with the King of Huainan, so some things are not like the ones that are just like the ones in Zhongyi. Just like this time the emperor's wedding and is preparing to enthrone the empress, it is not his Zhongyi Marquis who have the final say. As long as the emperor can find a more suitable girl, the empress dowager and Zhongyi Marquis will not be able to find any problems, and the empress dowager will not be able to force the emperor."
"The right girl?" Longtai frowned: "What do you mean? In addition to the royal family, my Great Chu is the most respected of the four hereditary marquis. If I want to establish a queen, in addition to choosing from these four families, can there be more suitable candidates than these four families?"
Qi Ning smiled and said, "Emperor, the Jinyi Marquis' Mansion is not worthy of the Emperor's girl."
Longtai laughed and scolded, "If you really have sisters, I will definitely summon her into the palace." Suddenly, he thought that the Marquis of Jinyi in front of him was just a fake. Even if Qi Jing really had a daughter, he could not be considered the sister of the person in front of him.
As soon as he smiled, the atmosphere suddenly became a little relaxed. Qi Ning said, "Your Majesty, I actually thought that if the Jindao Hou family had a daughter, they could choose one from his mansion to enter the palace...!"
"Hahaha..." Longtai slapped the table with one hand and said, "You actually thought of it with me. I had thought before that if it really didn't work, I chose someone from the Jindao Dantai family to enter the palace. I have learned that there are several girls of my age in the Dantai family."
Qi Ning was stunned, but Longtai shook his head in an instant and said, "But this won't work."
“Why?”
"If I really chose the girl from the Dantai family, then the Dantai family will naturally assist me with all their strength." Longtai said slowly: "But in this case, I am only worried that the Marquis of Zhongyi and the King of Huainan will join forces to deal with the Dantai family." He sneered: "Both of them want to be powerful in the court, so how can they allow the Dantai family to come out to block their way?"
Qi Ning smiled and said, "It turns out that the emperor has thought of this a long time ago."
Longtai said: "The late emperor once told me that the King of Jindao is a man, with more courage, less intelligent, and not good at playing power. If the King of Huainan and the Marquis of Zhongyi really join forces to deal with him, I am only worried that the old marquis will be angry and fight against him for a while, it will be a big problem. After many years of war, I have just stopped my troops with the people of Northern Han. The most important thing is to restore national strength and we must not damage the national body because of their struggles."
"The emperor is wise." Qi Ning nodded and said, "Actually, I am also worried about this. It is easy to summon the girls of the Dantai family into the palace, but the subsequent things will be very difficult. Now the King of Huainan and the Marquis of Zhongyi have their own power and have roughly maintained a balance in the court. If there is no major change, there will be no big trouble. However, once the Dantai family of Jindao is involved, the situation is likely to change, which will break the current stability of the court."
Longtai frowned and said, "So I am worried about this."
"Emperor, the girl from the Dan Tai family cannot be summoned to the palace, but there are more suitable candidates in addition to that." Qi Ning whispered: "Have you ever thought about Dongqi?"
"Dongqi?" Longtai was stunned and looked at Qi Ning in surprise.
Qi Ning chuckled and said, "Emperor, the Northern Han Dynasty confronts my Great Chu north and south. Whoever can win over the relationship with the people of Dongqi will have the upper hand. If the emperor marry the princess of Dongqi and set the Princess of Dongqi as the queen of my Great Chu, what do the emperor think?"
Longtai thought something, and his clear eyes gradually shone brightly. He suddenly stood up and stared at Qi Ning, and his voice was a little excited: "Why didn't I think of this? Qi Ning, you... are you talking about marrying Princess Dongqi and becoming my queen?"
"Your Majesty, if you marry the Princess of Dongqi, it is for the diplomatic relations between the Great Chu and the Eastern Qi. Who doesn't know how important Dongqi is to me, the Great Chu?" Qi Ning smiled and said, "If the Emperor marry the Princess of Dongqi for the sake of my Great Chu's interests, the civil and military officials of Dongqi will not only not stop it, but will also admire the emperor very much. The people of Dongqi survived between the Northern Han and the Great Chu. If their princess could become the queen of my Great Chu, I thought they would definitely be unable to ask for it."
Longtai said excitedly: "Yes, marrying the Lord of Dongqi is a major event for the benefit of the country. Even if he is the Marquis of Zhongyi, it is hard to say anything."
"It's just... it's going to be wronged by the emperor." Qi Ning sighed: "The emperor has never seen what Princess Dongqi looks like. If she is an extremely ugly...!"
Before he finished speaking, Longtai shook his head and smiled, "You are wrong. Princess Dongqi is not only not ugly, but also as beautiful as a flower, a hundred times stronger than the one from the Sima family." Her body leaned forward slightly, approached Qi Ning, and whispered: "Don't forget that I have been to Dongqi to participate in the ceremony of the founding of the Crownship of Dongqi. At that time, I saw the third princess of Dongqi."
"In this way, the emperor has long been interested in the Third Princess Dongqi?" Qi Ning laughed.
Longtai immediately put away his smile, coughed twice, and said, "Isn't I a person who is deceived by beauty? It's just that your idea is beneficial to my great Chu..." After pondering, he thought for a while before nodding, "I have decided to propose marriage to Dongqi." He snorted coldly and said, "In this way, the Sima family has nothing to say."
"Your Majesty, if you really want to propose marriage to the people of Dongqi, it is better to keep a low profile." Qi Ning whispered: "I am only worried that if the people of Northern Han will interfere with it if they hear the news."
Longtai nodded and said, "I know." After thinking for a while, he asked, "Qinning, if I ask Dongqi for marriage, who do you think is the most suitable one to send?"
"Of course I sent the Minister of Rites Yuan to come." Qi Ning immediately said: "Old Secretary Yuan is familiar with the etiquette system and is most suitable for this errand."
Longtai frowned and said, "Yuan Xiuru is already over 60 years old. I am only worried that he can't hold on to the East Qi. The mountains are high and the road is far away. And even if he really supports it, he is old and his mind is sometimes unsatisfied. If something happens to Dong Qi, this old man is afraid that he can't handle it."
Qi Ning said: "Who is more suitable except Mr. Yuan?" He lowered his voice: "The envoy sent to propose marriage must not have any connection with the Marquis of Zhongyi. I am only worried that he would not dare to object on the surface, but secretly deliberately destroy the proposal."
"I know too." Longtai nodded slightly: "But I have also thought that the girl from the Sima family cannot be summoned to the palace, but... in order to appease this person, I have prepared to grant him the title of Duke." He smiled faintly and said, "Just as you said, let him sit higher and become the target of public criticism."
Qi Ning smiled and before he could speak, Longtai suddenly said, "Qining, what do you think if I send you to Dongqi?"
Qi Ning was stunned and hurriedly said, "Master, I have just become the commander and I have to be responsible for the establishment of the Black Scale Camp. This is not a trivial matter, I am afraid it will be difficult to make it free. Besides, I know nothing about the red tape. If I really want to go to Dongqi, if I am not careful, it will be a bad thing. If I mess up my errands at that time, it will be a big problem."
"Let me think about this matter again." Longtai thought for a while before asking, "Do you have a clue about the matter of Black Scale Camp?"
"Being ready," Qi Ning said: "There are several guards in the Jinyi Marquis' Mansion who came out of the Black Scale Camp back then, and they were also generals of the Black Scale Camp. These people are very familiar with the Black Scale Camp. With their help, they will achieve twice the result with half the effort."
Longtai said, "That's good, Qi Ning, this is my most worrying thing. You have to give your all your strength and never let me down." Suddenly, he thought of something, looked up and down, and then asked, "I ask you, where did your martial arts come from? Instruct honestly, if you lie to me, it would be a crime of deceiving the king. I have someone pull you out and crack it."
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Chapter completed!