357: Chapter 357 To Agree or Not

Throughout the various dynasties of the Tianwu Continent, instances of princes marrying princesses were countless.

However, Princess Li Xinglan was enfeoffed with the Three Prefectures of Yan, and her status was far more noble than that of an ordinary princess.

With her status, she could easily take a husband into her household and let their offspring inherit the fiefdom.

Once she married the Crown Prince Li Chenghao, it would mean that the Three Prefectures of Yan would all become part of the 'dowry'.

Anyone with eyes could see the intention behind Emperor Hong's imperial edict of marriage!

"Leave the imperial edict and you may go."

Li Xinglan responded coldly.

The eunuch stiffly smiled and asked, "Princess... are you... agreeing or not agreeing?"

Li Xinglan wore a half-smile. "How about you don't leave?"

The eunuch turned pale with fright, hurriedly set down the imperial edict, and fled in a panic.

Li Xinglan picked up the imperial edict, read it through, and her eyes were filled with sarcasm.

"Wei Kongming."

"This general is here."

"What would happen if I were to defy this imperial edict?"

Wei Kongming frowned. "Princess, according to the laws of Great Gan, even with your status as a royal princess, defying an imperial edict is a capital crime punishable by beheading."

"As soon as the Emperor gives the order, he can revoke your fiefdom and send troops to suppress you for treason."

Li Xinglan sighed. "So, we have to go to war again?"

Wei Kongming cupped his hands and said, "If you insist on defying the edict, this general is willing to lead the Yan Army soldiers to pledge our lives to you!"

Li Xinglan turned around, surprised, a hint of emotion in her eyes.

"You are willing to defy the edict with me?"

Wei Kongming said matter-of-factly, "You are the only bloodline the Prince Yan left in this world; for that reason alone, this general is willing to go through fire and water for you!"

"Not to mention, you have governed the Yan Region well, and the common people here surely hope for you to stay!"

Although the Prince Yan was an incompetent and muddleheaded prince, many of the Yan Army generals, including Wei Kongming, had been promoted by him.

Although Princess Li Xinglan was just a young girl and had only been the Princess of the Yan Region for a few months, she had an excellent reputation among the people of the Yan Region.

This princess seemed unreliable, but her strength lay in being pragmatic.

If she did not understand something, she would not interfere, letting the officials handle it themselves so as not to cause trouble.

Furthermore, having spent years mingling among the common people, Princess Li Xinglan could empathize with their hardships, so she enacted various policies to benefit them and abolished harsh taxes and levies.

Not only that, she fully opened up to the Northern Trade Alliance, introducing all their products.

This allowed many people in the Yan Region to become 'middlemen', making a fortune from the money of wealthy people in the Eastern Border and the Capital Region.

Under Princess Li Xinglan's 'relaxed' management, the freedom in various places became quite high, and the people's livelihoods were rapidly recovering.

Wei Kongming and the other Yan Army soldiers were very gratified, feeling that the Prince Yan had a worthy successor, and they wholeheartedly supported Princess Li Xinglan.

"I haven't even read a few complete books, yet I'm governing well?"

Princess Li Xinglan felt embarrassed; she was used to being idle, how would she know about government affairs?

She was purely imitating how the Zhenbei Army governed the Northern Border, taking it one step at a time.

"Alright, just drag it out for now. If the Emperor really comes to force a marriage, I'll just run away!"

Wei Kongming grew anxious. "Princess, if you leave, what will happen to the people of the Yan Region?"

"It's simple. I'll just hand the Yan Region over to the Zhenbei Army and give it to Lin Xiao!"

Princess Li Xinglan shrugged. "If Emperor Hong has the ability, let him go ask Lin Xiao for it himself!"

At this thought, Princess Li Xinglan's eyes suddenly lit up!

"Right! With this imperial edict, I can contact Lin Xiao now!"

"This guy... making me watch over three prefectures for him here; this lady is not going to be a puppet for the rest of her life!"

Princess Li Xinglan had been worrying about not having an excuse to find Lin Xiao, so she immediately had Wei Kongming send a message by carrier pigeon.

The Yan Region did not really belong to her, so surely Lin Xiao could not just sit by and watch, right?

Qizhou was too far from Cang Province, so Lin Xiao had Su Chang arrange carrier pigeons for Princess Li Xinglan to facilitate urgent communication.

Two days later, Princess Li Xinglan received a reply.

The letter contained Lin Xiao's reply, telling her that he had to go to the Daoist Sect first to watch the Tianwu Grand Tournament.

Regarding the marriage, he told Princess Li Xinglan to just ignore it.

Princess Li Xinglan was initially very annoyed by this 'irresponsible' reply, but her attention was quickly diverted...

"Tianwu Grand Tournament? The Daoist Sect?!"

Princess Li Xinglan slapped the table in anger. "Such a fun event, and he didn't even take me! My stinky Daoist master is from the Daoist Sect, after all!"

That night, Princess Li Xinglan left a letter for Wei Kongming and a few other advisors.

She put on a night-walking outfit, transformed once again into a nimble young martial arts heroine, and headed straight for the Daoist Sect in Gan Province.

Meanwhile, in the Capital Region.

The Imperial Garden of the Imperial Palace.

With the arrival of early spring, the weather was no longer so cold.

Emperor Hong lay on a chair, holding a copy of the "Northern Daily" in his hand, his expression somewhat puzzled.

"Zheng Yangwei, can catching a bag of fireflies really be used as a lantern?"

"Huh?"

Zheng Yangwei was stunned on the side. What kind of question was that?

"This... this servant really hasn't thought about that."

Emperor Hong frowned and said, "Lin Xiao, in his childhood, actually relied on catching fireflies in the summer and the reflection of moonlight on snow in the winter to study hard in the dark of night."

"With such perseverance and such a heart for learning, he could achieve today's earth-shattering great cause."

Zheng Yangwei was dumbfounded. Did the Emperor actually believe that?

Just then, Crown Prince Li Chenghao walked over excitedly.

After paying his respects, Crown Prince Li Chenghao smiled and said, "Father Emperor, did you summon me?"

Emperor Hong nodded and had Zheng Yangwei pass the "Northern Daily" in his hand over.

"Have you seen this?"

After taking it, Crown Prince Li Chenghao laughed. "Father Emperor is also reading the 'Northern Daily'? Someone sent a copy to me as well; it talks about quite a few interesting things."

"Lin Xiao opened a 'New Northern Academy', and it actually accepts even women. Not only that, my mentor actually attended the opening ceremony, which truly confuses me."

"And I also found that Lin Xiao is quite thick-skinned; he actually claimed to have chiseled through a wall to borrow the candlelight from his neighbor to read. Isn't that just stealing?"

Emperor Hong frowned and interrupted, "You read this newspaper, and you have no other thoughts?"

"Does Father Emperor mean that the stories in the miscellany section should be fabricated?"

Crown Prince Li Chenghao displayed a look of triumph. "Father Emperor truly has discerning eyes; that is exactly what I thought too!"

Emperor Hong was disappointed. "Whether it is true or false is not important; the world has its own judgment."

"But do you know that such a small newspaper, although only distributed in the Northern Border and the Yan Region, has already spread throughout the entire Great Gan?"

"Even in the imperial court, the ministers are all mentioning this matter."

Crown Prince Li Chenghao blinked. "I suppose... everyone is paying so much attention because it's fresh and fun, right?"

"Fool!!"

Emperor Hong shouted angrily, "Ask yourself! Those so-called scholars of the Imperial Academy, the civil and military officials of the entire court, and even you, the Crown Prince—if you were to write an official gazette and distribute it, could it attract such attention?!"

"The 'Northern Daily' has rapidly spread across the length and breadth of the country, from the court to the streets, with people discussing it everywhere..."

"What this represents is Lin Xiao's weight throughout the Great Gan and his prestige among the common people. Do you understand?!"