The Great Wei Music Bureau

Chapter 133 Marriage Game (Part )

Continuing from the last chapter, Tuoba Ziyi and Li Yi staged a great show and made a big fuss in the Honglu Temple. Let's continue with the story and see whether Li Yi's plan can successfully help Tuoba Ziyi overcome the difficulties.

Tuoba Ziyi and Li Yi ran out of the Honglu Temple and headed straight for the Bishui River, where they hid in an empty black-sailed boat. The two looked at each other and laughed heartily. Ziyi asked excitedly, "How is it? How is it? Did I act like the real one?"

Li Yi gave a thumbs up and said: "The acting was great! It was just like playing yourself!"

Ziyi glared at Li Yi and said unhappily, "What are you talking about? I'm not like that! I'm the most gentle, well-educated and well-mannered person!"

Li Yi curled his lips and nodded: "Yes, you are right, you are absolutely right!"

Ziyi looked up at Li Yi and asked, "Hey, why don't you refute me? This is not your style!"

Li Yi said seriously: "Oh, it's nothing, it's meaningless, my mother taught me since I was a child not to argue with fools!"

Zi Yi raised her hand to hit someone, and Li Yi subconsciously reached out to block it, but Zi Yi's hand never came down.

Tuoba Ziyi looked at Li Yi, who put down his hand and said, "What's going on? Why are you still unhappy? You were fine just now, weren't you?"

Ziyi sat at the bow of the boat with her back to Li Yi and said, "Yes, I haven't been this happy for a long time. This is my first time out of the palace, and I ended up causing a scene in the Honglu Temple with you, a rascal. I'm afraid I won't be able to leave the palace again in the future! It's getting dark, and I haven't had time to walk around Shangjing City yet!"

Li Yi stuck his head out of the cabin, looked at the sky and said, "Fortunately, it's still early. Didn't your brother say that we just need to go back before dark? Come on, I'll take you for a walk!"

Ziyi shook her head and sighed, "It's better not to go. I'm afraid that if I really like the outside world, I won't want to return to the palace."

Li Yi smiled and said, "Not really. The first time you came out, you saw all new things. But if you come out again, you might see ugliness. It's so big out there, you have to come out and take a look! Let's go. Although I'm not familiar with Shangjing City, I still know a few good places. I'll take you to see them, and then we'll go back to the palace!"

Tuoba Ziyi looked at Li Yi suspiciously and said, "Are you going to take me to a brothel?"

Li Yi almost choked to death. He covered his chest and calmed down and said, "If that wasn't a true portrayal, I would have taken your last name!"

Tuoba Ziyi raised her hand to hit him, but Li Yi said sternly: "You're still here! How many times have I let you hit me today? Let me tell you! If you hit me again, I won't take you shopping anymore!"

Ziyi slowly withdrew her hand and snorted, "Hmph, tell me, where are you going to take me?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "This is your first time out of the palace, so naturally I'll take you to experience the world of mortals! Let's go eat!"

Ziyi was surprised and asked, "Can the food cooked outside be delicious?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "Brother Yu did take me to a very special store, I'll take you to try it too!"

Li Yi brought Zi Yi to a three-story restaurant by the Bishui Lake. The waiter greeted Li Yi warmly when he saw him, "Master Yuefu, you are here! Oh, this girl is yours..."

Li Yi waved his hand and said, "Don't talk nonsense, he is my friend!"

The waiter nodded and smiled, "Hello friends, good friends, bring friends to drink good wine, please come in!"

Li Yi waved his hand again and said, "We won't eat upstairs today. Let's call a boat and eat on the lake!"

The waiter nodded repeatedly and shouted, "Okay! Please come this way!"

The two followed the waiter to the dock. The waiter waved flags and a double-decker wine boat slowly sailed over. The two boarded the boat and sat down on the second floor. Zi Yi was surprised and said, "You really know how to enjoy yourself! You want to eat while cruising the lake!"

Li Yi turned to ask the waiter on the boat, "Where's Xiaodie? Let her come out and sing a few songs. I want to see if she has improved. The dishes are naturally the ones you are best at. Forget about the wine."

Ziyi said unhappily, "Why should we just forget about it? We finally came out here, why don't we have a drink now?"

Li Yi waved his hand and said, "I'm afraid you've drunk too much, and it will be hard to report to the boss when I send you back later!"

Ziyi chuckled and said, "Who are you looking down on? Besides, how can you fail to complete your mission just by drinking a little?"

Li Yi shook his head and smiled, "Okay, let's have two pots!" Just like that, Li Yi and Tuoba Ziyi sat in the wine boat and enjoyed the scenery in the clear water lake, listening to songs, eating and drinking wine. It was so pleasant! After eating and drinking, Li Yi sent Tuoba Ziyi back to the palace.

When they returned to Li's residence, Tao Zhongwen was sitting in the hall, his face full of anger, as if he was going to call for an explanation. Shi Yu stood beside him without saying a word. As soon as Li Yi came in, Tao Zhongwen said, "Shouldn't you give me an explanation for what happened today? As an official of the Ministry of Rites, you actually brought Princess Longyun to cause trouble in the Honglu Temple! You also beat up the envoy of the Southern Liang Dynasty, which is punishable by death!"

Li Yi was surprised and said, "It was Tuoba Ziyi who beat him up. What does it have to do with me? I tried to stop her in every possible way. The officials from the Honglu Temple were watching! They can all testify for me!"

Tao Zhongwen said sternly, "Tell me the truth, why did His Majesty suddenly let Princess Longyun leave the palace and specifically asked you to bring her out! Are you doing this to ruin this marriage?"

Li Yi nodded and said, "Sir, you still can't figure this out? It's obvious that the Queen Mother is reluctant to let the princess marry far away, and doesn't want to bear the sin of breaking off the engagement. I have no choice but to do this!"

Tao Zhongwen said unhappily, "Of course I know all this, tell me something I don't know! Why is the Queen Mother reluctant to let the princess marry far away?"

Li Yi said sternly, "The Queen Mother married here from Southern Liang. She knows all too well the pain involved. How could she bear to let her beloved follow her old path? She also wanted to disgust the Southern Liang Emperor, so she had to force them to give up the marriage proposal!"

Tao Zhongwen snorted coldly, "Hmph, whether it's the Queen Mother, His Majesty, or you, you ignorant kid, you all underestimated Emperor Liang Xiao Yongming! He is a scheming and resourceful emperor who is both civil and military! What you are doing will only allow Emperor Liang to grasp the Queen Mother's weakness!"

Li Yi waved his hands and said, "No, no, this time..."

When he told the story of what Ziyi had done, Shiyu at the side could not help laughing, while Tao Zhongwen shook his head and sighed, "Alas, young people just don't rely on others when doing things!"

Tao Zhongwen stood up and turned his back to Li Yi. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Do you really want to help His Majesty and the Queen Mother solve this problem?"

Li Yi could not tell Tao Zhongwen that Zi Yi was carrying the dragon energy, so he could only say in a serious tone: "I eat your food and share your worries. Since your majesty has entrusted this matter to me, I will naturally try my best to get it done."

Tao Zhongwen sighed and said, "Okay, then I'll help you, and I'll do the rest."

Li Yi asked curiously, "What else is there to do?"

Tao Zhongwen sighed, "Do you think they will give up the marriage proposal just because of your disturbance? It's a joke. You have to spread all kinds of rumors in the Southern Liang Dynasty, such as incompatibility, fate, and luck. In short, if you want to make this happen, you have to put pressure on the Liang Emperor in the court!"

Li Yi was surprised and asked, "Sir, can you do this kind of thing?"

Tao Zhongwen said coldly, "Do you think Liang Chu is the only one who has secret agents in our Wei? It's not worth using the chess piece lurking in the Southern Liang just for this matter. Forget it, just consider it as a favor for you to return the holy weapon! And you have caused such a big disaster, do you know how many people will bring it up? Do you know what the consequences will be?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "I am waiting for the imperial edict from His Majesty at home. I don't want to be an official anyway." Tao Zhongwen snorted coldly and turned away...

The next morning, three censors impeached Li Yi by citing the Honglu Temple incident. More than a dozen people supported severe punishment. The most ruthless one proposed to take Li Yi's head to appease the Southern Liang, and the lightest punishment was imprisonment and exile. Strangely, Tao Zhongwen was also among those who supported severe punishment of Li Yi, while the people of the four major families actually spoke up for Li Yi.

Prime Minister Gongsun Yi said: "Your Majesty, I have long said that Li Yi is only good at writing and talking, but has no practical ability. Now that he has caused a big disaster, he should be punished, but considering his outstanding talent and your majesty has given him the title of the most talented scholar in Wei, it is better to send him to the Imperial Academy of Literature to be a clerk."

Yuwen Zheng came out and said, "Your Majesty, the incident at the Honglu Temple was not Li Yi's fault alone. It was the princess who beat him. If we talk about the guilt, Li Yi should have failed to persuade him. You should just stop serving him and dismiss him. Why do you have to put him to death?"

Nangong Ting came out and said, "Your Majesty, I think the Liang people are ungrateful. The Queen Mother was kind enough to propose marriage, but they turned around and asked Princess Longyun to marry them first. It is clear that they don't want to marry Princess Huaxuan! I request that all units of the Dingnan Army line up on the north bank of the Yangtze River to put pressure on the Southern Liang, so as to enhance the prestige of our Great Wei! Let's see if they dare to put forward any more conditions!"

Dugu Rong, the King of Zhenbei, smiled and said, "Minister Nangong is right! In my opinion, these southern barbarians have probably forgotten the power of our Wei cavalry. I ask Your Majesty to order my son Dugu Long to lead 10,000 elite cavalry out of Qingzhou, cross the Sishui River, and go to Xiapi to build a Jingguan on the north bank of the Yangtze River to intimidate the Southern Liang!"

When the civil servant heard that the Prince of Zhenbei and the Minister of War wanted to use military force, he was in disarray. You know, as long as the army moved, the food and supplies would cost a lot of money, and all levels of local governments would have to contribute money and food wherever the army passed.

It has only been a few days since peace came. They certainly don't want to start a war! They all said that diplomatic incidents should be resolved through diplomatic means. We are all civilized people. Don't build a Jingguan every time. It's so scary!

What is this Jingguan? It is a high tower made by piling up the corpses of the enemies and covering them with earth. It can be said to be a very cruel means of intimidating the enemy. Emperor Chengwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Tuoba Tao, liked to do this. On his way to the south, he burned, killed, looted and built 27 Jingguans to intimidate the soldiers and civilians of the Southern Liang Dynasty. There were eleven of them just on the other side of the Southern Liang capital Jiankang!

However, although Tuoba Tao fought to the other side of the Yangtze River, he was unable to hold the conquered land and had to retreat north. It was precisely because of his horrific behavior that the people of the Southern Dynasty were full of fear of the Northern Wei Dynasty and could not accept the rule of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

The two sides argued for a long time but could not come up with a solution. Tuoba Jun said, "Minister Kong, how is the pacification of the Nanliang delegation going?"

Kong Xiu came out and said, "Your Majesty, Deputy Envoy Pei You was slapped by Your Highness, and there is still a blood mark on his face, so he refuses to see anyone, and we can't visit him. I think it's not easy to deal with. However, Chief Envoy Yu Feng has been appeased. After all, he is a relative of the Queen Mother and can bear it a little."

Tuoba Jun said: "This sister is really too much. She actually slapped me in the face. Tongqing issued an order that Princess Longyun be confined to the palace. She is not allowed to step out of the palace without an order!"

"promise!"

Tuoba Jun sighed and said, "Alas, my sister has been spoiled by my mother, but you also know that I can't say much. If I say too much, she will go to my mother and cry and make a fuss, and my mother will even blame me.

Yuwen Shangshu is right. It was Ziyi's fault for causing a scene in the Honglu Temple. But what happened with Liu Hong before, plus the sudden proposal to Ziyi, Emperor Liang still looks down on me. Nangong Shangshu, Dingnan Army..."

Kong Xiu, the Minister of Rites, suddenly came out to interrupt Tuoba Jun, who knelt down and begged, "Your Majesty! You must not mobilize the army! Injuring the envoys of another country is already rude, and starting a war at this time is even more unreasonable. The two countries will become enemies, soldiers will die, and civilians will suffer. What will the people of the world think of Your Majesty?"

Nangong Ting said, "What does Minister Kong mean by this? Liu Hong's arrival in our Great Wei caused such a big stir. He was assassinated in the streets of the capital, and people from our Dingnan Army and Zhenbei Army were bewitched by him. How can I swallow this? I wish I could lead the Dingnan Army to Shouyang and capture Shouyang King Xiao Yonghui alive and bring him back to apologize to Your Majesty!"

Dugu Rong, the King of Zhenbei, said, "That's right. My son has been very angry about Liu Hong's involvement and has long wanted to lead his troops to fight to get back at his anger! Please allow me, Your Majesty!"