chapter 1-1 Marriage proposal

(ladies and gentlemen this novel is not mine.

and I copy paste it shamelessly.)

^⁠_⁠_⁠_⁠_⁠_⁠_⁠_⁠_⁠_⁠__________________^

As the morning sun slips through the sky and falls lazily outside the palace, the lofty palace welcomes the three-day morning court as usual.

For decades since the establishment of the Great Jing, emperor Jianing has accumulated great power but he has always accepted the advice of his ministers. The court often argued and held its own views but today's situation was a bit special, as all the ministers looked at the dusty general in the center of the hall and closed their mouths tightly, all becoming a clay bodhisattvas.

"Zhao ai qing, repeat what you have just said."

(ai qing is a Chinese word which means the monarch's pet name for his subjects also it refers to the name of the brothel woman in the Song Dynasty.)

The emperor on the imperial throne had a majestic face, his hand fell on the dragon's head of the imperial throne, and his always stern expression was somewhat absurd.

Zhao Zhongshi, the fu jiang (fu jiang - Deputy General), who had travelled thousands of miles in his armour, was half kneeling in the courtroom. As he looked to the left of the hall, he was dumbfounded. The man who had come from the wind and was dumbfounded, choking and whimpering.

"Your Majesty..."

"Zhao qing (qing - high ranking old official a term used by the emperor for his subjects; honorif) answer properly!" emperor Jianing sank his voice into a light drink, his dragon eyes slightly glaring.

"Your Majesty, the Anle Village has sent a letter of surrender, willing to be pacified by the emperial court and submit to Great Jing. The Lord of the village, Anle, heard that the Prince of Great Jing is the best in Central Plains and said that the entire Anle Village does not need to be pacified by Great Jing, but only a concubine position in the Eastern Palace in exchange for her 30,000 troops to pledge their loyalty."

As soon as he was shouted at by Emperor Jianing, Zhao Zhongshi flinched and his thick voice buzzed in the hall, reverberating in a whirlwind.

At the sound of this voice all the ministers looked to their left, their faces puzzled and they tried to hold back their eccentric feelings.

The second-in-command, Zhao is an honest man. 'the Prince of Dajing is the crowning glory of the Central Plains' must have been said by Ren Anle, such words are understood in his heart. How can he blurt them out in the courtroom?

The young man at the head of the court on his left has his eyes downcast, his crimson red chao fu (court dress in ancient China, usually worn by the emperor and ministers at the court meeting) on his body and his silent posture prevents the prying eyes of the ministers.

In the quite hall of Chong'an only the emperor at the top of the emperial throne knocked lightly on the dragon chair and his slightly changed expression returned to normal very quickly after the deputy general reported back on a loud voice.

"oh? Thirty thousand soldiers pledged their loyalty? Is Ren Anle's statement true?"

The emperor Jianing's words were not without rarity and one sentence was so stone-cold think of anything else and considered the emperor's words with rapt attention.

"In reply to Your Majesty, this is what the surrender letter sent to us says. General Ji asked me to return to the capital to present it to Your Majesty, saying that it is a rare opportunity and this subject hope Your Majesty and.... Your Highness will think twice."

Zhao Zhongshi had been in the army for several years and was an old man, so his words were incoherent as if he was reciting a book.

If it wasn't for the ridiculous conditions put forward by the owner of the fortress, he wouldn't have had the chance to return to the capital to take credit for his work. The ministers shook their heads, their eyes clearing up.

The Great Jing Army is strong and powerful with a vast territory. The Northern Qin and Eastern Qian are located in the desolate northern part of the country and are not a major problem. The only problem is that bandits are rampant in the South China Sea and invading the coastal cities. However, the Great Jing shui jun (or shui shi - navy, it is a name given to the ancient maritime forces in the Chinese characters cultural circle) is weak and no solution has been found for decades.

Anle Zhai was a strange and unique place for Great Jing. Thirty years ago, when the Central Plains was in turmoil, and the Han family was ruling the world, Anle Village was a small place on the south coast.