Chapter 34: How Did Breaking Off the Engagement Turn Into a Marriage Alliance? (Second Update—Please Vote!)

Autumn night. The cool wind swept by, sharp and cold as a blade.

Outside the city gates of the capital.

The envoys from the Great Zhou, with nowhere else to take shelter, crowded beneath the crude canopy of a tavern, its scant cover barely enough to shield them. Yet the little tavern shed was far too small, inadequate to hold back the biting wind that surged from every direction.

One of the envoys shivered suddenly, cursing through chattering teeth, “Damn it, how is the autumn night in the Great Tang colder than ours in Great Zhou?”

“Exactly!” another envoy echoed, gritting his teeth as he swore. “Hell, I didn’t expect this night wind to be sharper than the Tang people themselves…”

The group of envoys cursed and muttered, exchanging pointed insults about the Tang officials responsible for their reception, invoking the ancestors of their hosts with practiced spite. At the same time, they huddled together, seeking warmth as hunger gnawed at them.

Despite the severity of their predicament, none dared raise their voice against their chief, Lin Xianrong, for earlier that afternoon he had scolded them harshly.

Lin Xianrong, chief of the Great Zhou envoys, was utterly bewildered. How could the Tang officials not come to open the city gates? How could they simply leave the envoys from Great Zhou stranded outside, to spend the night at the gates? How dare these Tang people!

He could scarcely believe it.

The Prince of South Suppression had just died in Tang, and the remnants of his faction were surely sowing chaos. It was precisely for this reason that the Emperor of Zhou deemed this a golden opportunity. Lin Xianrong had been dispatched to Tang to secretly investigate the situation and, simultaneously, to break off the marriage alliance previously agreed upon.

Meanwhile, the Emperor of Zhou was preparing supplies and readying troops to attack Tang at any moment.

Lin Xianrong had assumed that the Tang, upon receiving the envoys from Zhou, would treat them with deference, careful not to offend and risk making an enemy. Yet, to his astonishment, the Tang’s attitude was appalling: indifferent, unconcerned, leaving the envoys stranded outside the city gates.

“What kind of nonsense is this!” He surveyed his companions, huddled together for warmth, their stomachs rumbling audibly. His face grew increasingly troubled.

He had assured them that the Tang officials would soon be chastised by their emperor and would shortly come forth to offer heartfelt apologies, along with good food and wine.

Yet now, there wasn’t even a Tang official in sight—not even a fly had appeared!

The phrase “cold and hungry” fit the envoys from Great Zhou perfectly tonight.

A sudden urge to return home welled up in Lin Xianrong’s heart. He felt utterly humiliated.

Once I return to Zhou, I will report this to His Majesty and ensure that Tang is conquered to avenge this insult! He resolved silently.

Suddenly, one of the envoys, still hunched against the cold, spotted a flicker of firelight on the city wall and shouted joyfully, “Sir, look! Someone has appeared atop the wall!”

The envoys were like desert travelers, parched for days, suddenly glimpsing hope of water. Their faces lit up with excitement.

Lin Xianrong instinctively followed their gaze.

Indeed, several figures appeared atop the wall of Tang’s capital, illuminated by firelight. In a few moments, Lin Xianrong recognized their faces.

The leader was none other than Bai Muge, Tang’s chief official for reception, whom they had met at noon.

Standing beside Bai Muge were two faces unfamiliar to the Zhou envoys—but very familiar to Lin Xianrong: the leader of the Sun and Moon Sect, Shangguan Yiren, and her attendant, Xiaotao.

“How could it be them?” Lin Xianrong was taken aback, his eyes wide in shock, inwardly muttering, “Aren’t they members of the Sun and Moon Sect? Why are they mingling with the Tang?”

He couldn’t make sense of it.

The Sun and Moon Sect was based within Zhou’s borders. Before departure, Lin Xianrong had personally traveled there to secretly commission them to gather intelligence in Tang ahead of the envoys’ arrival.

But now, the members of the Sun and Moon Sect were mingling with the Tang!

Could they have been captured by the Tang? Or perhaps… they seemed to accept my commission, but actually sold our intelligence to the Tang? How else to explain their presence?

A flurry of thoughts raced through Lin Xianrong’s mind. His body trembled at the realization, scalp tingling uneasily.

At that moment, Bai Muge’s voice rang out from atop the wall, laughing, “Which of you is the chief among the Zhou envoys? See these two beside me—do you recognize them?”

Shangguan Yiren, standing beside Bai Muge, saw the group of Zhou envoys huddled under the tavern’s canopy below. In the faint firelight, she spotted Lin Xianrong and frowned in anger.

Hearing Bai Muge’s words, Shangguan Yiren snorted coldly. Her voice had been silenced—her mute acupoint surreptitiously struck by Cao Zhengchun—so she could only glare furiously.

Lin Xianrong was stunned.

It’s over! The Sun and Moon Sect must have accepted Tang’s commission before us. Why else would Master Shangguan glare at me so coldly?

Recalling Bai Muge’s earlier refusal to let the Zhou envoys enter the city and the sparse reception, Lin Xianrong grew ever more convinced.

Their true purpose in Tang had already been discovered!

That was why the events of noon had unfolded as they did, and why the Zhou envoys were left outside the city gates.

Otherwise, how else could any of this be explained?

If Tang hadn’t already quelled its internal turmoil, their emperor wouldn’t dare risk offending Zhou!

Thinking of all this, Lin Xianrong shivered and sighed heavily.

Since our secret purpose has been exposed, we cannot break off the marriage alliance in Tang. Otherwise, not only would our lives be forfeit, but Great Zhou itself would be in danger. Tang has resolved its internal strife, and now, with intelligence from the Sun and Moon Sect, Zhou cannot hope to defeat them.

After pondering deeply, Lin Xianrong forced himself to remain calm. He stepped out from the crowd, bowed toward the city wall, and lowered his stance, apologizing humbly, “Honorable Tang officials, it was our fault earlier. Please do not hold it against us. We have come at the behest of His Majesty, the Emperor of Zhou, to discuss a marriage alliance with His Majesty, the King of Tang. We beg you, allow us entry so we may jointly celebrate this auspicious event!”

Bai Muge, atop the wall, was momentarily stunned by Lin Xianrong’s words.

The Zhou envoys had come to Tang—not to break off the marriage, but to arrange one?

How had the matter suddenly changed?

Bai Muge couldn’t help but ponder whether the secret letter sent by the young Tang king was true or false…