Liang Ye held the jade pendant in his hand, examining it carefully for a long time. His eyebrows moved slightly as he said, facing everyone’s gaze. “This is indeed Zhen’s possession.”
A bright smile appeared on Shen Yueli’s face. “Does Your Majesty still remember me?”
“However, Zhen lost this jade pendant many years ago. Where did the princess find it?” Liang Ye asked.
Shen Yueli’s expression became desolate. “Your Majesty, you personally handed this jade pendant to me back then, saying you would not fail me and telling me to come find you when I grew up.”
“Zhen doesn’t remember,” Liang Ye said with a smile. His gaze, however, passed over her and met Wang Dian’s eyes. His smile faded as he said seriously. “Zhen only had one pair of these jade pendants. Just the other day, Zhen was worried about where to find them. Now the princess has come at just the right time.”
After saying this, facing the varied gazes of everyone present, he cheerfully tucked the jade pendant into his sleeve.
Wang Dian: “……”
This guy was truly shameless, but it also seemed like something he would do.
Shen Yueli looked at him in bewilderment, her gaze somewhat disillusioned. But she still forced herself to muster her spirits and said, “I just don’t know if Your Majesty is willing to fulfill the promise from back then?”
“What promise?” Liang Ye looked utterly baffled, waving his hand dismissively. “Princess, you’d better go back to your seat quickly. You’re blocking Zhen’s view of the beauty.”
At this point, even Shen Yueli’s face showed signs of embarrassment. Another Eastern Chen deputy envoy standing behind her said, “Your Majesty, we respect you as the king of Northern Liang, which is why we’re doing this. Our princess has countless suitors in Eastern Chen, yet she has set her heart solely on you. Now you’re breaking your promise, showing no gratitude to your lifesaver, and even ignoring the alliance between our nations by attempting to break the engagement. When I return, I will certainly inform our monarch of your actions!”
Liang Ye gave him a cold glance, showing no intention of speaking to him. He was just smiling at Wang Dian, who looked back at him expressionlessly.
“Ah, esteemed envoy from Eastern Chen, don’t be so hot-tempered,” one of the Northern Liang ministers who had been quietly listening finally spoke up. Feng Qing, the Minister of Rites, looked very amiable as he said with a smile. “It’s well known that our Emperor has a poor memory. It’s not unusual for him to misplace things here and there. If today a princess comes with His Majesty’s old possession claiming an old promise, tomorrow someone else might come with another of His Majesty’s old possessions claiming another promise. Today you want our Emperor to marry, tomorrow someone might demand our Emperor to cede territory. We can’t set such a precedent.”
It seemed to make sense, but these words were truly impolite. The Eastern Chen envoy’s face turned half green with anger.
Wang Dian was a bit surprised. This Feng Qing usually appeared amiable and avoided conflicts with anyone, but who knew he could be so sharp when he spoke up.
“Feng Daren’s words are too severe,” Xu Xiude patted his big belly. “Since the princess has had such a fateful encounter with His Majesty, it’s normal for them to fall in love and promise themselves to each other. Moreover, with the Lintu Alliance preceding this, it should be a joyous occasion on top of joy.”
The Eastern Chen envoy finally squeezed out a smile on his face and was about to nod when he heard this fat man grin and say, “But if it were truly mutual love, His Majesty shouldn’t have forgotten the princess no matter how forgetful he is. Could there be some misunderstanding here?”
“You—” The Eastern Chen deputy envoy’s entire face turned green with anger. Another deputy envoy said coldly. “So does His Majesty intend not to abide by the Lintu Alliance?”
“As is well known, the Lintu Alliance was a treaty signed by the three countries more than 70 years ago. It’s long been invalid,” a Southern Zhao deputy envoy spoke up. “Why must you Eastern Chen force others?”
“If it weren’t for your Southern Zhao being the first to tear up the treaty, how could the relationship between the three countries have come to this state?” the Eastern Chen deputy envoy said. “Eastern Chen and Northern Liang have never said the Lintu Alliance doesn’t count!”
Back and forth, they brought up the Lintu Alliance again.
Liang Ye, along with the various ministers of Northern Liang, watched the commotion with amusement. From time to time, some troublemakers would add fuel to the fire, and when people got agitated, peacemakers would come out to mediate. Taking advantage of their numbers, they said all kinds of things, sometimes helping Southern Zhao, sometimes helping Eastern Chen, stirring things up vigorously. In the end, the envoys from both sides began to drink water frequently.
Shen Yueli sat in her seat, staring fixedly at Liang Ye. Her gaze was full of resentment, anger, and disappointment, not concealed at all. Anyone who saw it would think she was looking at a heartless man.
Liang Ye remained calm. Cui Yuxian tried to probe several times but was lightly brushed off by him. He let these people argue fiercely, determined to play dumb to the end, resolutely refusing to give in.
Let you all argue till the sky falls, Zhen is just a madman with a bad brain.
Wang Dian could even see a trace of innocence on his face, and couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
During the banquet, taking advantage of Liang Ye’s temporary absence, Wang Dian also got up and left, circling to the side door of the back hall. Without waiting for an announcement, Yun Fu opened the door from inside.
As soon as Wang Dian entered, he saw Liang Ye playing with the jade pendant he had taken from Shen Yueli. Seeing him come in, Liang Ye happily waved it at him, “Zhen has found this jade pendant, which can be paired with the one you have.”
“……” Wang Dian was silent for two seconds, then decided to discuss the main issue with him. “Eastern Chen won’t let this go easily. If we continue like this, I’m afraid it might backfire.”
Liang Ye raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise, “Zhen thought you would ask about Shen Yueli’s matter.”
Wang Dian replied calmly, “There’s no need.”
“No need?” Liang Ye waved the tassel of the jade pendant at him and said seriously, “This is truly Zhen’s personal item.”
“You don’t like women like Shen Yueli,” Wang Dian said nonchalantly. “I just don’t know how she obtained it.”
“Zhen has no recollection,” Liang Ye tossed the jade pendant, asking curiously, “How do you know Zhen doesn’t like Shen Yueli’s type?”
“Because I like gentle and considerate ones, so naturally you would like the same type,” Wang Dian said casually, lowering his head to reach for something in his sleeve.
Liang Ye narrowed his eyes, “You like gentle and considerate ones? Like your wife?”
“Of course, why else would I marry her,” Wang Dian made up a lie. “Moreover, she’s very good at making money and listens to me the most.”
Every time he looked at the company’s quarterly and annual reports, he always felt gratified.
He rummaged around inside before finding what he wanted to take out, completely unaware of Liang Ye’s increasingly gloomy gaze. “I found a fragment of the Lintu Alliance treaty this morning. There’s quite a bit of useful information in it. Since they want to bring up the Lintu Alliance, we should discuss it with them properly according to the treaty. Later, you don’t need to keep refusing—”
Wang Dian spread out the fragment in front of Liang Ye, pointing to a line of text, “Just steer the topic towards the marriage alliance, and leave the rest to me.”
Liang Ye lowered his head to look at that line for a moment, frowning in displeasure, “Are you capable enough?”
“It’s just negotiation, only the subject has changed form,” Wang Dian said calmly. “I understand a bit about it.”
Liang Ye looked down at the fragment for a long while, pondering for some time before raising his head, his expression grim, “Between Zhen and your wife, who is more gentle and considerate?”
Wang Dian doubted his own ears. Meeting Liang Ye’s threatening and sinister gaze, he reached out to roll up the fragment, patted it against Liang Ye’s chest, and asked calmly, “Your Majesty, are you perhaps not fully awake yet?”
