The Three Spirit Stones

After a short silence, there was a sudden burst of laughter in the hall, and many ministers laughed so hard that they fell to the ground.

The civil officials were still a bit reserved, but the rough military officers were laughing so hard that tears and snot came out.

They felt that this girl was just what they wanted!

She looks delicate and cute, but she calls me "old lady" all the time!

She was so openly jealous, without any attempt to hide it! She even forced a woman of good character into prostitution and died of exhaustion!

Even a grown man would be too embarrassed to say these words, but she, a girl in her teens, said them so fluently that Cheng Yu, who was standing next to her, was so embarrassed that he sighed and stroked his forehead!

The Song and Liao dynasties fought for twenty-five years. The Song generals hated the Liao the most. However, the emperor was weak. Even though the Song Dynasty still had the military advantage, it signed the famous "Chanyuan Alliance", promising to give the Liao Dynasty 10 annual tributes and 20 pieces of silk for free. Every year at the New Year's Eve dinner, they would also perform a show to please the Liao people. These generals had been holding a grudge for a long time, but it was difficult to disobey the emperor's orders, so they got used to it.

Tonight's New Year's Eve dinner was really refreshing for them. First, the loyal and brave Marquis bravely fought against the Liao strongman, and then the wife of Hua Ning Zuo County scolded the Liao Yelu Princess.

It’s so enjoyable!

However, while they were happy, some generals couldn't help but worry. Given the emperor's character, what if this girl offended the Liao people like this and was blamed?

Seeing the people below being so angry that they couldn't speak, pointing at Ah Cai and saying "you, you, your Yelu Xunu", Zhao Heng wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.

The Liao people cannot be offended, but this little ancestor cannot be offended even more!

He didn't want to be the first to persuade Ah Cai, fearing that she would bear a grudge against him. He looked at Wang Qinruo and Ding Wei.

Ding Wei understood immediately and stood up and said to Ah Cai, "Madam Zuo, the marriage between Princess Yelu and Marquis Zhongyong is a good thing that benefits the country and the people. Song and Liao have been at war for so many years, and the people on the border are suffering. No one wants another war to happen. The marriage between Song and Liao, Princess Yelu and Marquis Zhongyong is a bridge of peace. They can feedback the opinions of the two courts in a timely manner, thus avoiding the occurrence of war. This is beneficial to the country."

"Secondly, after the marriage, Song and Liao will open a trade route to trade their products with each other, which will enable many people to make a living, which is beneficial to the people,"

"Third, the Loyal and Brave Marquis can achieve great success with this opportunity. Madam Marquis, don't you want your husband to rise to the top in his career? This will also be of great benefit to you!"

Ding Wei's eloquence is really amazing. He stands on the moral high ground and puts on the hat of national justice. If you, Cheng Acai, don't agree, you will be a sinner for all ages and a jealous woman who hinders your husband's career development.

After listening to this, Ah Cai looked at Ding Wei intently, as if she was thinking hard, while Ding Wei looked righteous and open-minded.

He was very confident in his heart. She was just a maid, who was spoiled and had a willful temper. Everyone agreed to this marriage, and even the emperor wanted to grant the marriage. But you, a woman, are trying to stop her. You are overestimating yourself!

Ah Cai was also thinking, I don't trust you, you old man are so bad,

Although I failed in history, I know that you are a treacherous minister of the Northern Song Dynasty. Are you trying to blackmail me morally here?

no way!

All I heard was her raising her eyebrows and saying, "So... their marriage has nothing to do with love, but is purely for the benefit of the country?"

"Yes~"

"That sounds great. Can my husband be the prime minister in the future?"

"…This, this is decided by the government. But as long as the Loyal and Brave Marquis performs great merits, wouldn't it be natural for him to be promoted?"

"Then Lord Ding, do you want to be the prime minister?"

“…this…this,”

Ding Wei didn't know why she asked this question, nor did he know how to answer it.

"You must want to be prime minister, why don't you..."

She pointed at Ding Wei and said slowly, "You~ go and marry Princess Yelu. It has nothing to do with love anyway. As long as he's a man, it doesn't matter who goes. I'm giving you this great opportunity to make achievements. You don't need to thank me. Please call me Leifeng, hahahaha..."

She clapped her hands on the table and laughed a few times, then suddenly stopped. She looked at Ding Wei and frowned and said seriously, "But you are so ugly, like a monkey, the princess may not like you."

This sentence is so hurtful!

Ding Wei always cared about his appearance, so he studied hard and worked hard. He firmly believed that a man's career success could make up for his appearance.

But now this woman mercilessly said in the hall that he looked like a monkey.

He was stunned,

After he realized what was happening, he was so angry that his hands were shaking. He pointed at Ah Cai and said, "You, you, you..."

Cheng Yu felt a little embarrassed after hearing this. He said to A Cai, "Cai Bao, you can't talk like that. Apologize to Lord Ding quickly."

"Why should I apologize to him? He is blackmailing me morally,"

Ah Cai said unconvinced,

Cheng Yu advised her, "Caibao, you can't be so willful. Political marriage is a national event. It is a decision made by the emperor and the ministers after careful consideration. It is not a child's play. You can't ignore the national interest for your own selfish reasons."

She looked at Cheng Yu in disbelief and said, "So you also mean to agree to the marriage, right?"

"...I obey your majesty's decision,"

When Zhao Heng heard Cheng Yu's words, he secretly admired him, thinking that he was indeed a rare good minister.

Ah Cai's eyes slowly turned red. She asked sadly and angrily, "Do you remember what you promised my father? You said you would only love me in this life and would never like other women. Now you actually want to marry someone else. You lied to me, you lied to me~!"

At the end of her speech, she was so sad that she almost cried!

Everyone felt a little sad!

Especially those generals who had a good impression of Acai, they couldn't help but feel distressed when they saw such a pretty and lovely girl looking like she was about to cry!

Seeing her like this, Cheng Yu said helplessly, "I don't like anyone else. I have always loved you. Political marriage and love are two completely different things."

Hearing this she then asked,

"Okay! Then let me ask you, what is the political marriage you mentioned?"

"...So are you going to sleep with her or not? Are you going to sleep with her or not? Tell me the truth, if you dare to lie to me?..., you know the consequences,"

Zhao Heng above was looking at Ah Cai with her eyebrows raised, pointing her finger at Cheng Yu's nose and questioning him, especially the sentence "You know the consequences", he couldn't help but feel a chill rising from his tailbone, and he couldn't help but look into the void.

Cheng Yu didn't know how to answer. Seeing him like this, Ah Cai showed an expression of "as expected" and said angrily, "See! You really lied to me, you really lied to me."

As he said this, he suddenly picked up a jade bowl from the table and smashed it towards Cheng Yu's forehead.

With a "bang",

The jade bowl shattered to the ground, and a stream of blood flowed down his smooth forehead.

Everyone was shocked.

Sun Yuechan was also frightened and quickly took out a handkerchief to cover the wound on his head. She angrily said to Ah Cai, "Cai, how could you hit someone?"

Ah Cai was a little frightened, and stood there blankly with eyes wide open.

Zhao Heng was also startled and asked, "What are you guys standing there for? Why don't you go check on Mr. Cheng's injuries?"

Zhou Huaizheng reacted immediately and hurriedly asked someone to bring medicine for the wound. Even Yelu Yuan and Zhao Shouyi came over. A group of people surrounded Cheng Yu to help apply medicine and bandage the wound.

Zhao Shouyi looked at the injured Cheng Yu and felt very sad. He said to A Cai in a crying voice, "Aunt Cai, please don't hit the master anymore, okay? Xiao Yi begs you,"

Ah Cai looked at Zhao Shouyi's sincere eyes and felt a little uncomfortable. Tears flowed down her cheeks and she choked up and said, "...I...I,"

Yelu Yuan couldn't hold it in any longer, pointing at Ah Cai and angrily saying, "You are so willful and arrogant. You are such a jealous woman. You disregard the interests of the country and the people's livelihood for your own selfishness. The Marquis loves you so much, but you are so cruel as to hurt him? Are you still a human being? You are unworthy of being a wife, unworthy of being the daughter-in-law of the Cheng family."

Ah Cai seemed to realize that she had gone too far, and she cried as she defended herself,

"...I...I didn't, I'm not,"

At this time, Zhao Heng, who had been silent for most of the day, finally came over surrounded by a group of ministers and said to Ah Cai earnestly, "Ah Cai, I just call you Ah Cai, have you ever seen the cruelty of war? Song and Liao fought for more than 20 years, and countless people died. We can't let war happen again. As long as there is a possibility of peace, we must strive for it. Please understand me and Mr. Cheng's difficulties!"

Wow! The emperor actually said something almost like begging to Cheng Acai? This is too unusual!

Wang Qinruo, Ding Wei, Kou Zhun, Li Di and other ministers all had doubts in their hearts. They found that the emperor was too lenient with her. No matter how arrogant this woman was, he would not say a word.

If she hadn't noticed the emperor's abnormality, she would have been punished for the crime of contempt for the emperor when she started yelling.

Therefore, everyone was watching the situation silently!

After hearing what Zhao Heng said, Ah Cai seemed a little touched.

At this time, Cheng Yu spoke again. He said sadly, "Caibao, you have scolded me and beaten me, what else do you want me to agree to? You can't always be so willful!"

Ah Cai looked at her husband's disappointed look and said aggrievedly, "...I...I,"

Suddenly, she stomped her feet and yelled like a child throwing a tantrum.

"I'm not convinced. How can she compare to me?"

She pointed at Yelu Yuan who was standing next to her husband and said unwillingly, "Except for being taller than me, how else can she compare to me?"

Isn't this just like what children say to each other in anger?

Many ministers couldn't help laughing, and even Cheng Yu's mouth twitched slightly.

"So do you want to compete with me?"

The one who spoke was Yelu Yuan. She straightened her back and raised her chin high, like a proud phoenix!

She was standing next to Cheng Yu, just half a head shorter than him. Both of them were extremely handsome, and they were a perfect match made in heaven.

Even Sun Yuechan couldn't compare to her, let alone Acai. Her height had always been a concern for Cheng Yu.

"Let's compete, do you think I'm afraid of you?"

Ah Cai said stubbornly,

"Then what do you want to compete in? Music, chess, calligraphy, and painting?"

Yelu Yuan asked,

"Won't,"

"Reciting poems and writing couplets?"

“…I don’t know.”

"Embroidery?"

“Who will do those jobs?”

"So what exactly can you do? You can't use swords, spears, halberds, or archery, right?"

Yelu Yuan was getting a little impatient as he kept asking, and Ah Cai said as a matter of course, "I'm a girl. Have you ever seen a delicate girl who can wield a gun or a stick?"

Everyone burst into laughter again, thinking, this woman is really weird, she knows nothing but dares to challenge others.

Yelu Yuan was also speechless.

"…Then what do you know?"

Ah Cai tilted her head and thought for a while, and finally said two words,

"Tossing pots,"

"it is good!"

Sun Yuechan was stunned!

At first she thought Ah Cai wanted to compete in knowledge of astronomy and geography, but who knew it was actually a competition of pitching pots?

She asked in disbelief, "Cai, do you really want to compete in pot-throwing? Can't you compete in something else?"

Ah Cai pouted and said, "I can't do anything else except throwing pots, but I'm actually not bad. I've won a full pot before, haven't I?"

Sun Yuechan was even more speechless.

Is that what you call throwing pots? The mouth of the pot is bigger than the soup bowl. That's just to make you happy.

She didn't give up and asked Cheng Yu again,

"My Lord, are you really letting Ah Cai compete in pitching pots?"

Cheng Yu pondered for a moment and said coldly, "This is her choice. She should not regret it."

Yuechan looked at Cheng Yu steadily, and she suddenly felt very sad.

It turns out that in the face of wealth and glory, human nature really cannot stand the test. I originally thought that he was different from other men, but in fact, all crows are black.

He knew that Ah Cai was not good at pitching pots, and he wanted her to lose. If she lost, he could marry the princess as he wished, and his career would be bright in the future!

If that’s the case, why should I block other people’s way?

She smiled sadly and said, "Okay, pitching pot is good, very good."

The pot-to-pot competition was scheduled for the eighth day of the first lunar month at Xuande Gate Square. If Acai lost, Cheng Yu would have to marry Yelu Yuan and respect her as his sister. If Yelu Yuan lost, he would have to compensate Acai with five thousand taels of gold.