Hundreds of years ago, it was common for the kings of the two countries to feast on each other.

However, as large countries continued to annex small countries, expand their territories, change their names, and proclaim themselves emperors, it was rare for kings to feast on each other.

Especially in the past two hundred years, Daqian and the emperor of Zhou have never met.

Even if the most important matter is discussed, envoys are sent to each other.

This time, the two countries signed an alliance and formed an alliance, and if the emperors of the two countries could attend a banquet together, it would be of great significance to the courtiers and people of the two countries!

At the same time, it also sent a clear signal to all the countries in the world that the covenant between the two countries was by no means just a piece of paper! Instead, it binds the interests! Advance and retreat together!

Today, the alliance between the two countries is led by Fang Xiu, in other words, by the Daqian court, and the little empress naturally wants to maintain the stability of the alliance.

Therefore, she would be entangled in whether to invite her to the banquet without wanting to see Li Yingyue.

「......」

When Lin Wan'er heard this, she remained silent.

At the end of the day, she's just a little maid and doesn't have much insight into this kind of big thing between the two countries.

On the dragon chair, Wu Mingkong saw that she never spoke, sighed helplessly, and said:

"If Li Yinyue is invited to a banquet in the palace, this banquet cannot be called a banquet of ministers, it has to be changed to a different name, and the etiquette of the banquet cannot be followed by the banquet of the ministers.

I don't know anything about etiquette, so if you go and summon the secretary of the Ministry of Rites to the palace for an audience, I want to hear his thoughts."

When Lin Wan'er heard this, she was slightly startled, subconsciously looked at the female emperor, and whispered, "Your Majesty means that Mrs. Fang should be invited to the banquet on Chinese New Year's Eve?"

Wu Mingkong glanced at her and said coldly, "You are a Mrs. Fang, but your name is quite kind."

Didn't you call Mrs. Fang yourself, Your Highness?

Lin Wan'er suddenly became aggrieved, lowered her head, and whispered, "The slave knows her mistake."

"You're right, she is indeed Mrs. Fang, but this time I invited her, not because of her identity as the prime minister's wife, but because of the identity of the empress of the Zhou Kingdom."

After Wu Mingkong made a decision, he quickly adjusted his mood, no longer entangled in the identity of Prime Minister Li Yingyue's wife, and ordered, "Send someone to Xiangguo's mansion and let Fang Xiu come to see me."

Lin Wan'er was afraid that something would displease His Majesty, so she didn't dare to say more, but just bowed respectfully and responded, "Yes! Your Majesty!"

An hour later, Fang Xiu appeared in front of Wu Mingkong.

"Your Majesty plans to invite Li Yinyue to a banquet? When Li Yinyue attended the banquet, was it as a minister's wife, or as the empress of Zhou?"

Fang Xiu never thought that the little empress would suddenly toss such a thing, he was a little confused.

The little empress said, "Naturally, it is the identity of the empress of the Zhou Kingdom."

"But ......"

Fang Xiu originally wanted to say, "However, even if the Zhou State is weak now, let their nominal emperor participate in the banquet held in the Daqian Imperial Palace with the etiquette of a courtier, the ministers of the Zhou State will not easily swallow this breath", but after thinking about it, this kind of thing is actually a double-edged sword.

If it is used well, it is not necessarily a bad thing to strengthen the rule of the imperial court in the Zhou State.

In a sense, letting Li Yingyue participate in the banquet is not much different from what he used to refer to as a deer as a horse.

When the officials of the Zhou State heard the news, if they reacted violently, they tried every means to remove this part of the people, so that those who did not react so violently could take the position.

At the beginning, he just let Li Yingyue participate in the banquet, and then used the tactic of cutting sausages to make Li Yinyue, the empress of the Great Zhou, become the courtier of the little empress step by step.

After a long time, the Zhou State became a de facto vassal state of the Qianguo.

"Your Majesty's idea is very good, so the minister will write to Bai Qi and ask him to prepare to deal with the hundred officials of the Zhou State."

Fang Xiu's face was solemn and he spoke.

When the little empress heard this, she was a little stunned and asked, "Just invite Li Yingyue to the banquet, let."

What is Bai Qi going to do?"

Fang Xiu looked at her suspiciously, and said, "Your Majesty, is it planned to use the etiquette of receiving the emperor to receive Li Yingyue?"

Wu Mingkong asked rhetorically, "Otherwise?"

「......」

Fang Xiu was silent for a few seconds, and said, "As far as the minister knows, the Sons of Heaven of various countries have not met for hundreds of years, what etiquette should be used in the palace to receive Li Yingyue, the empress of the Zhou Kingdom?"

Wu Mingkong said: "I have already asked the Ministry of Rites Shangshu this question, and he told me that the kings of the previous countries went to the banquet together, and they sat opposite each other in the main hall, with the emperor of country A and the courtiers of country A on one side, and the emperor of country B and the courtiers of country B on the other side, if the banquet was held in country A, country A was on the left and country B was on the right......

The little empress said a lot in one breath, all about the etiquette after the two countries met ***.

It can be seen that she put forward such an idea not on a whim, but because it was well thought out.

A moment later.

The little empress stopped, looked at Fang Xiu, blinked her eyes, and asked, "What do you think of this?"

Fang Xiu thought for a moment and said, "Since Your Majesty wants to do this, the minister has no opinion."

Wu Mingkong pursed his lips and said a little unhappily, "Listening to your tone, I think I'm looking for trouble."

Fang Xiu hurriedly said, "Your Majesty has misunderstood, Your Majesty has done this, which naturally has many benefits for the alliance between the two countries, but it is just ......."

Speaking of which, it came to an abrupt end.

Wu Mingkong looked at him without blinking, waiting for him to speak, and he didn't wait for the next sentence for a long time, and pouted: "What I hate the most is that I only say half of what I say, just what, you say it!"

Fang Xiu said, "I'm afraid that after I say it, Your Majesty will be unhappy."

"What am I going to do?"

Wu Mingkong glanced at him and said angrily, "If you make me unhappy, you will say less!"

「......」

Fang Xiu was speechless to refute, and after being silent for a few seconds, he said what he thought in his heart.

"Your Majesty's doing this is indeed beneficial to the alliance between the two countries, but it will also give the people of the Zhou State an illusion that the Zhou State is still as strong as before, and now the defeat is only a short-term defeat, and they will rise again sooner or later."

When Wu Mingkong heard this, he was slightly stunned and asked, "Will it be?"

Fang Xiu said, "There will be some people who have such thoughts...... However, if Li Yingyue is received with the etiquette of a courtier, although the courtiers and people of the Zhou State will be angry, they will also plant a seed for the whole of the Zhou State, and let them realize that the current Zhou State is no longer the same as before, and they are only worthy of being a vassal state of my great cadres."

Wu Mingkong thought for a few seconds and said, "But in this way, wouldn't it exacerbate the conflict, and it may not be a good thing for you."

Fang Xiu said: "The minister is the prime minister of the Great Qian, and he is also the regent of the Great Zhou, and he is the only important minister who holds important positions in the courts of both countries.

The words fell, and Wu Mingkong fell into deep thought.

A moment later.

She finally understood what Fang Xiu meant.

If the contradictions are not exacerbated.

The alliance between the two countries will become stronger, and Fang Xiu's power will reach an unprecedented peak.

After all, he is an important minister in the courts of the two countries, which is equivalent to the de facto leader of the alliance between the two countries, and his status is even better than that of the two empresses.

However, when Fang Xiu dies one day in the future, where should this alliance go?

Re-elect an alliance leader to serve as the prime minister of the Qianguo State and the regent of the Zhou State?

Clearly not in the interests of the emperors of both countries.

If the conflict intensifies, it will be a completely different result.

The relationship between the Qianguo and the Zhou state, compared with the alliance, was more similar to that between the suzerainty and the vassal state.

The higher status is always the empress of the Qianguo.

There is no doubt that compared with the former, it is the little empress who benefits more from the empress of the Qianguo.

"What kind of etiquette do you think should be used to invite Li Yingyue?"

correct

After a lot of knots, Wu Mingkong still couldn't make a decision, and couldn't help but ask.

Hearing this question, Fang Xiu was silent for a few seconds, and a warm smile suddenly appeared on his face, and said, "The minister thinks that it is a good thing for the people of the two countries to turn the two countries into a de facto alliance, at least the two strands of rope are twisted together, and the strength will always be stronger, and the face of the enemy will be more confident."

"I see."

Wu Mingkong nodded and said, "Since this is the case, according to what the Ministry of Rites said, the position of the banquet will be set to the left and right."

"However, if this is the case, there is only Li Yingyue on the right side, otherwise invite a few more courtiers of the Zhou State and let them also come to the banquet?"

When Fang Xiu heard this, he just wanted to speak, but before he could speak, he heard the little empress say to herself:

"Chinese New Year's Eve is imminent, it should be too late to invite the courtiers of the Zhou State at this time, then again, we have a courtier of the Great Zhou here......

When Wu Mingkong said this, he raised his eyes to look at Fang Xiu, raised his eyebrows, and said, "Huh? Your Royal Highness the Regent?"

「......」

Fang Xiu was speechless for a while.

Wu Mingkong said again, "Why don't you sit next to Li Yingyue then?"

Fang Xiu thought for a moment and said, "It's not impossible."

When Wu Mingkong heard this, he gritted his teeth and said coldly, "Since this is the case, it will be arranged like this when the time comes!"

Fang Xiu said, "Listen to Your Majesty!"

"You!"

Wu Mingkong's delicate face showed an angry look, but there was nothing he could do.

After all, it was he who proposed to let him sit next to Li Yingyue.

Originally, he just wanted to be angry with him, but who would have thought that he would really agree.

"Your Majesty doesn't look very happy, who angered Your Majesty, and the ministers are angry for Your Majesty!"

Fang Xiu didn't seem to know the reason why the little empress was angry, and she was serious.

Wu Mingkong gritted his teeth and said angrily, "Dog thing! When the time comes, you will sit next to me and pour me wine! I'm so angry with Li Yingyue!"

"Didn't Your Majesty just say that the minister is the regent of the Great Zhou and the courtier of the Great Zhou, so he should sit by Li Yinyue's side?"

Fang Xiu raised his eyebrows and said.

Wu Mingkong glared at him and said, "I've changed my mind again now, can't I?"

Fang Xiu saw that she looked angry but couldn't do anything about herself, and finally couldn't help laughing.

The so-called food and fun, probably that's it.

obviously didn't grasp his strength, and he still thought about yin and yang all day long.

Wu Mingkong saw Fang Xiu laughing, and wanted to pretend to be annoyed, but for some reason he also laughed.

The two smiled and looked at each other.

A moment later.

Wu Mingkong said, "I suddenly thought that if the alliance between the two countries is maintained, and I have a child with you, what should this child call Li Yingyue?"

When Fang Xiu heard this, he subconsciously wanted to quip, "Maybe the minister's first child is the same as Li Yingyue?" , but when I saw the little empress's serious expression, I immediately realized that this joke was not appropriate.

After thinking for a few seconds, he said equally seriously: "You have to see if the time comes, before the minister marries His Majesty, did he take a leave of absence from Li Yingyue......

Wu Mingkong raised his eyes and looked at Fang Xiu, wanting to say, "If you don't stop her, do you still want to have three wives and four concubines?" , after thinking about it, in fact, as far as the current situation is concerned, the best result is to let him have three wives and four concubines.

If so, the alliance between the two countries would not only be stronger, but might even become one.

However, this result was not what she wanted, nor was it what Fang Xiu wanted.

Thus, just silence.

"Things in the future, let's talk about it later, in a few days it will be the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, you will talk to Li Yuyue about this matter after returning to the house in the next few days, let her prepare, the dragon robe of the Great Zhou Tianzi, Shu will send the female official of the Shangyi Bureau to sew it, and give it to her when the time comes."

Wu Mingkong looked at Fang Xiu and said seriously.

[Sentiment +30.]

00】

An icy system prompt sounds.

Fang Xiu was slightly stunned, and couldn't help but look at the empress twice.

After being silent for a few seconds, he suddenly stepped forward, stretched out his hand to hug her delicate body, hugged her, and said softly: "The minister has always wanted to be a couple with His Majesty for the rest of his life, and when the situation stabilizes in the future, the minister will have a child with His Majesty, and hand over all these troubles to him, and the minister will accompany His Majesty to leave Chang'an and enjoy the mountains and rivers......

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by the little empress.

"I'm not as ruthless as you, and I'll give the burden to my children."

Wu Mingkong was moved by Fang Xiu's ability to detect changes in her emotions, even if she felt that she was hiding it well.

Therefore, he did not take Daji and Yang Yuhuan to talk about things, and the yin and yang weird qi Fang Xiu so-called life and one couple.

"Things in the future, we will talk about them in the future, and the important thing now is to practice how to have children."

Fang Xiu hugged the little empress's slender waist and said with a smile.

If you want a child, can you still practice?

The little empress's good-looking peach blossom eyes showed a hint of doubt.

Just as he was about to ask, he suddenly felt a force that knocked him up horizontally.

"You...... You ......."

The little empress was startled, her pretty face instantly turned red, and she said in a trembling voice, "It's not dark yet, what are you going to do!"

Fang Xiu looked serious, and said word by word: "Practice with Your Majesty, how to have children!"

「......」

The little empress's face was flushed, and she didn't know how to refute him.

Listening to the powerful heartbeat coming from Fang Xiu's chest, he simply closed his eyes and ignored him.

Whatever you do, it's none of me!

After a stick of incense.

Outside the Heart Cultivation Palace.

Lin Wan'er listened to the movement in the hall, her pretty face was slightly red, she looked at the sky, and a word couldn't help but come to her mind, and said in her heart: If this is put in the script, Your Majesty and Fang Xiang will be a proper pair of faint monarchs and female ministers.

............

It was already two hours after Fang Xiu left the palace.

It's getting dark.

The Xiangguo Mansion is still brightly lit.

The people in the house are busy preparing for the New Year, and it seems very lively.

Fang Xiu walked through the corridor and returned to the courtyard, and was about to rest, when he suddenly heard a cold voice not far away.

"Thou hast sent to me before, saying, Let me come to thee, and I am coming......

(End of chapter)