Chapter 93: Tribute
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Empress Dowager Min kept praising Mingzhu, who became increasingly nervous. Several times she wanted to interrupt Empress Dowager Min’s words, but she didn’t get the chance. She could only watch as the Wusun princess’s eyes sparkled more and more brightly, as if she had seen a treasure.
The Wusun envoy initially requested to marry a princess, but for some reason, the bride became a county princess instead of a princess.
Mingzhu suddenly thought of this twist and her heart skipped a beat. She turned her head abruptly to look at Yuwen Xue sitting not far away. She saw Yuwen Xue sitting quietly, looking pale and weak, her eyes seemingly focused on this side but actually lost in thought.
What happened at that palace banquet back then must have been something unknown to others, which led to the bride’s selection changing from a county princess to a princess! But what exactly happened?
Mingzhu nervously looked at Empress Dowager Min, who was still chatting away animatedly, and then at Baoyun, who seemed to have changed her resentful and jealous expression into a pensive one. When Baoyun saw Mingzhu looking at her, she suddenly smirked, revealing a mocking and gloating smile.
Yes, that’s probably it. What the Han people consider virtuous and gentle may not necessarily be appreciated by the nomadic tribes like the Wusuns… The virtues that Empress Dowager Min praised her for were probably the strengths of every Wusun girl. Mingzhu had never thought that such a crisis would fall on her head. She suddenly remembered Jiang Shanshan, who was fluent in Wusun. Could it be that Jiang Shanshan knew about and participated in this matter?
Jiang Shanshan spoke Wusun fluently, with a confident smile on her face. When Mingzhu looked at her, she saw Jiang Shanshan smiling brightly and purely, seemingly as if she had seen a good friend. Jiang Shanshan whispered softly during the break between Empress Dowager Min and the Wusun princess, “These are the things I like most about you. I’ve said it before, you have a beautiful heart.”
The Wusun princess saw them whispering and asked curiously. After Jiang Shanshan finished answering, the Wusun princess nodded vigorously, took Mingzhu’s hand, and chattered away.
Jiang Shanshan smiled and said, “The county princess asked what you talked about, so I told her what we discussed earlier. She agrees and said that the Wusun people value inner beauty the most. She considers you her friend now. She invites you to visit her. Will you go?”
Mingzhu instinctively felt something was off, but she knew she couldn’t refuse at this moment. As for whether she would go later, that was another matter. She smiled and said, “I’ll go. Of course I’ll go.”
Jiang Shanshan conveyed this message to the Wusun princess, who was very happy. She held Mingzhu’s hand and spoke a long string of words. Mingzhu couldn’t understand what she was saying and had to rely on Jiang Shanshan. Jiang Shanshan, however, was very accommodating and conveyed both sides’ intentions accurately. Not to mention that everyone present admired Jiang Shanshan’s talent, even Mingzhu had to admit that Jiang Shanshan was quite knowledgeable and capable.
As the banquet reached its midpoint, Mingzhu got up to change clothes. As she walked out from a convenient place, she suddenly heard someone whispering next door.
She vaguely heard a young girl crying softly, “I know all the advice you’ve given me is right, but I really can’t bear it anymore. They say that with a stepmother comes a stepfather, and it’s true. That woman envies my brother for being the eldest son, and she constantly causes trouble for him. My father pretends not to see it, and it’s only thanks to your help that my brother can escape danger several times. When she couldn’t harm my brother, she started targeting me, and these days she’s been using my marriage to pressure my brother…”
Mingzhu originally didn’t care much, thinking it was just two noblewomen chatting privately during the banquet, which wasn’t convenient to discuss in front of others. Taking advantage of the opportunity while changing clothes, she hid here to eavesdrop.
Just as she was about to leave, she heard another person’s voice comforting, “Ah Xue, don’t worry. After all, you’re a county princess. You can’t let her marry you off randomly. Otherwise, if both Empress Dowagers find out, she’ll get a severe scolding.”
Surprisingly, this voice belonged to Jiang Shanshan. So Jiang Shanshan and Yuwen Xue were close? This was strange. Mingzhu wondered if in her past life, there was any connection between Yuwen Xue marrying into the Wusuns, and Jiang Shanshan, who was proficient in Wusun and acted as a mouthpiece for the Wusun princess. Mingzhu naturally stopped in her tracks, listening intently by the wall.
She knew a bit about Yuwen Xue’s family affairs, mostly involving the struggle between her wicked stepmother and the legitimate children left by the former wife. She didn’t know the details of their previous conflicts, but she remembered that after Old Shou Wang’s death, his legitimate eldest son, Yuwen Xue’s own brother, had killed his stepmother during the mourning period, then committed suicide before the investigation by the Court of the Imperial Clan could take place.
This incident caused a sensation at the time. Originally, the title was to be inherited by the son of Imperial Concubine Ji, but it was discovered by Yuwen Chu, who was then the Minister of Court of the Imperial Clan, that something was fishy. It turned out that Shou Wang’s Imperial Concubine Ji had framed and set up the trap. In the end, no one benefited. Shou Wang’s Imperial Concubine Ji committed suicide, and her son was convicted as an accomplice. Thus, the line of Shou Wang’s family abruptly ended.
Lost in thought about the past events, Mingzhu gradually became absent-minded. Yuwen Chu was indeed capable. Then she heard Yuwen Xue crying and Jiang Shanshan’s somewhat flustered voice. Unable to hear anything useful, she took the opportunity to slip away unnoticed.
Back at the banquet, the entire hall was silent. Feeling strange, Mingzhu asked the palace attendant standing at the door, “What’s going on?”
The palace attendant hurriedly bowed to her and whispered, “The Wusun princess is presenting gifts.”
Mingzhu walked closer and indeed saw three tall and handsome Wusun warriors kneeling in the hall, each holding a tray.
Some trays contained crowns adorned with diamonds and rubies, while others held agate ornaments or rare fur. The Wusun princess was smiling and talking to Empress Dowager Min, who couldn’t understand her words and could only smile awkwardly. Just as she was becoming impatient, Jiang Shanshan strolled in from outside and clearly translated the Wusun princess’s words to Empress Dowager Min.
The Wusun princess was extremely happy, running up to Jiang Shanshan and speaking rapidly. The Wusun warriors also turned to look at Jiang Shanshan.
Jiang Shanshan smiled, calmly linking arms with the Wusun princess and Mingzhu, who was merely a bystander. She casually walked away, saying something in Wusun with a light tone. The Wusun princess and the warriors nodded repeatedly, and one of the Wusun warriors suddenly repeated Jiang Shanshan’s words with great excitement.
Everyone looked at each other, all turning their eyes to Jiang Shanshan. Jiang Shanshan calmly said, “He says, our Great Tang and the Wusuns have been friends for generations, like brothers!”
Empress Dowager Min pounded the armrest of the phoenix throne and exclaimed, “Excellent!”
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