The prince is more stable

Chapter 579: Intercepting the Princess
Using the imperial army to rob women is something that smacks of shame no matter how you look at it.

This is the typical behavior of a dandy who bullies men and women. No one who has not had a history of being a scoundrel for twenty years would do such a thing.

But Zhao Xiaoqian did it without any scruples.

After several major battles, the Song army gradually gained actual control over the vast land in the north, and Zhao Xiaoqian was no longer so cautious in his actions.

So what if she was the Xixia king's woman? So what if she was a Liao princess?

Just rob it, don’t be afraid of offending anyone.

From the perspective of interests, this is also in line with the interests of the Song Dynasty. No one in the court of Bian Jing dared to say that he did something wrong. At most, a group of censors would condemn him from a moral standpoint.

This is even less of a problem. As long as one is thick-skinned enough, morality cannot hurt him in the slightest.

There was a sound of ghosts crying and wolves howling in the main hall of the government office. The generals were extremely excited and were eager to try.

Obviously, they were very interested in helping His Royal Highness the Prince snatch a woman, and everyone patted their chests and asked to fight.

General Xu, who had been silent nearby, was shocked. Seeing the generals arguing, he hurried over and asked in a low voice what woman Zhao Xiaoqian wanted to snatch.

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled and told him the whole story. General Xu looked at him in astonishment. After a while, he said, "Zi'an, you should think twice about this. It's not that we shouldn't stop the Liao-Xia alliance, but it would be... unseemly to tell anyone about the Liao princess's capture."

Zhao Xiaoqian looked at him in astonishment. "Mr. Chong Yuan, why do you say that? A normal man is tempted by beauty and robs a normal woman. How can it be considered dishonorable?"

General Xu became more and more shocked, and his three views were shaky.

As a prince, he forcibly abducted the princess of Liao Kingdom, and he even spoke so righteously and sternly that General Xu felt for a moment that there was nothing wrong with it and that the princess of Liao Kingdom deserved to be abducted.

"So frank? You don't even try to hide your shameless behavior?" General Xu said in surprise.

Zhao Xiaoqian thought for a moment and asked tentatively, "...for the peace between the Song, Liao, and Xia kingdoms?"

General Xu's expression froze, and he sighed, "I quite disagree. There should be other ways to solve this problem. It doesn't necessarily have to be to snatch the Liao princess."

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded and said, "There are indeed other solutions, but by comparison, robbing the Liao princess is the method that makes me most happy."

General Xu sighed helplessly, "...I know nothing today, I haven't seen anything, I'm going back to the backyard to sleep!"

After saying that, General Xu stood up and left, looking very cute as if he was trying to cover his ears and steal the bell.

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled and looked around at the generals who were arguing fiercely. Only his father-in-law Di Zi was looking at him silently with a condemning look. It was obvious that he was the only one who was not happy about his son-in-law snatching another woman.

Unfortunately, the son-in-law is too strong and the father-in-law can't control him at all.

"Where is Zhang Rong?" Zhao Xiaoqian asked in a deep voice, and the quarrel among the generals stopped immediately.

Zhang Rong was startled, then immediately stood up and excitedly clasped his fists: "I am here!"

"Go there. The Liao princess is on her way and will pass through the Song controlled area tomorrow. Stop her and politely invite the princess to be our guest."

"I would like to warn Xixia envoy Li Jinzhen again. If Xixia becomes restless and develops any inappropriate thoughts, the Song Dynasty will not mind changing its strategy. I will personally lead my troops westward to have a good talk with Li Qianshun."

"Gather two thousand soldiers and set off now." Zhao Xiaoqian waved his hand.

Zhang Rong said excitedly, "I will fulfill your order and bring the Liao princess to your bed!"

Zhao Xiaoqian's face turned pale with rage. "What are you talking about? What are you talking about? I am seizing the princess for the sake of peace between the three kingdoms of Song, Liao, and Xia!"

"Yes! For the sake of peace among the three kingdoms, I will capture the princess and bring her to your highness's bed!"

The generals around him burst into laughter, with an ambiguous look on their faces that all men could understand.

Zhao Xiaoqian sighed helplessly and was too lazy to explain to these murderers.

"Gather your troops and get out of here!"

…………

Outside the northern border, the cold wind is howling.

The first snow had fallen in Liao Kingdom. The snow was not heavy, but the roads became muddy and difficult to travel on. The carriages and horses were stuck in the mud and could only move forward slowly and with difficulty.

The team consisted of about a thousand people, half of whom were entourage of the Western Xia envoys, and the other half were the wedding team of Princess Cheng'an of the Liao Dynasty.

The team of thousands of people seemed huge. In addition to the accompanying personnel, there were more dowry items given to Princess Cheng'an by the royal family of Liao.

A very luxurious carriage in the team looked particularly conspicuous.

The carriage was gilded and inlaid with jade, and was pulled by four horses. The body of the carriage was wider and larger than an ordinary carriage, and even the four horses pulling the carriage looked very majestic and strong.

A beautiful woman in gorgeous palace dress sat in the carriage, her legs curled up naturally, hugging her knees and staring blankly at a pot of charcoal fire in the middle of the carriage, her eyes indifferent and lifeless.

The woman's face was so beautiful, with clear eyebrows and eyes, beautiful eyelids like stars, thin lips tightly pursed, and a jawline that perfectly outlined a charming arc. Just looking at her profile could drive a man crazy, like the white moonlight encountered in the ignorant youth.

This woman was none other than Princess Cheng'an, who had just been canonized by the Liao Kingdom. Of course, she also had a maiden name, "Yelü Nanxian".

The fairy-like name fully matches her beautiful appearance.

Kneeling beside the carriage, a young palace maid watched her cautiously. Even as a woman, she couldn't help but be captivated by the princess's beauty, secretly envying the good fortune of Li Qianshun, the ruler of Western Xia. The Liao emperor had chosen such a stunning princess for his marriage. "Your Highness, Your Highness..." the maid called softly.

Yelu Nanxian came back to his senses and looked at her indifferently.

Yelu Nanxian was originally the daughter of a royal family member of the Liao Dynasty. Before leaving Shangjing, she was just a princess. However, Yelu Hongji chose her to marry the king of Western Xia, and only issued an edict to confer her the title of Princess Cheng'an before she left.

Yelu Nanxian was not familiar with the palace maid in the carriage. She was assigned by the Liao Palace Shanglijian as a dowry and was responsible for taking care of her food and daily life along the way.

It had been five or six days since they set out. Along the way, the palace maids had been quite respectful to her and had taken good care of her daily life. However, Yelu Nanxian had a naturally indifferent personality and was not good at interacting with others. Although the two had been in the same carriage for many days, they were still not familiar with each other.

Seeing the palace maid asking carefully, Yelu Nanxian finally raised his eyes.

With his lips slightly parted and his breath as sweet as orchid, Yelu Nanxian's voice was pleasant but cold.

"What's the matter?" Yelu Nanxian asked.

The maid said carefully, "I noticed that Your Highness didn't eat at noon today. But is the food not to Your Highness's liking? Please tell me what you would like to eat."

Yelu Nanxian said calmly, "I'm not hungry."

Yelu Nanxian absentmindedly lifted the curtain of the car window and looked at the white snow on the fields outside the car. The sky and the earth were covered with white, and he couldn't help but sigh.

It is said that during the Han Dynasty in the Central Plains, there was also a woman named Wang Zhaojun who was sent by the emperor to marry a foreign prince.

The scene at this moment is just like the scene at that time. Wang Zhaojun must be feeling the same as hers.

Isn't it ridiculous that the division and unification of two countries depends on the marriage of women?
Can such a marriage really last long? Can it really maintain the interests of both countries?

Yelu Nanxian curled her lips slightly, as if mocking her fate, or ridiculing the men's naive thoughts.

But it didn't matter. Yelu Nanxian had no intention of resisting the arrangements of the Liao Emperor and his family. Even if she did not marry, she would not have the final say in her own life affairs. In the end, she would still be betrothed to a stranger.

Since they are all strangers, it doesn't matter who you marry.

She is just a weak woman, unable to resist the power of the world and can only accept her circumstances.

I hope that after marrying the King of Western Xia, she can be given a small place to live so that she can live out her life in peace. A woman's life can be muddled and quick.

Staring at the white snow outside the car, Yelu Nanxian immersed himself in his own world again.

Her fate was like this, and she no longer cared about anything, including her own life and honor.

The team moved very slowly, with fine snowflakes floating in the sky. The road was becoming more and more muddy, and the wheels would get stuck in the mud every few miles. They could only move forward after a lot of struggle.

In the team of a thousand people who were struggling to move forward, Xixia envoy Li Jinzhen was very worried and looked more and more uneasy.

It has been five days since he set out from Shangjing. The route he chose was to first reach Datong Prefecture, then take a road through the territory of the Song Dynasty, and enter Western Xia through the northwest defense line of the Song Dynasty.

There was no other choice but to choose this route, from Shangjing of Liao to Xingqingfu, the capital of Western Xia, although the map showed that it did not require passing through the Song Dynasty.

But in fact, the straight line between the two cities is too difficult to travel. Some places are even deserts or high plateaus with no roads to go. Only by taking the Song Dynasty's highway can one travel more easily.

At this moment today, the team has entered the territory of the Song Dynasty. The further they go, the more uneasy Li Jinzhen feels.

The Song Dynasty knew about the marriage between Liao and Xia. Li Jinzhen had spoken frankly about it when he presented gifts to Zhao Xiaoqian.

At that time, Zhao Xiaoqian did not comment on Xixia's diplomatic tactics of treating both sides equally and pleasing both sides, but now that he was escorting the Liao princess to her marriage, it was difficult for Li Jinzhen to judge what Zhao Xiaoqian's attitude was.

Not judging does not mean he agrees.

Especially a few days ago, he heard that another great war had broken out between the Song and Liao dynasties, in which the Liao dynasty was completely defeated and the Song army was at its peak of vigor. To be honest, Li Jinzhen felt that it was really inappropriate for the ruler of Western Xia to marry into the Liao dynasty.

However, it was his mission to marry the princess to the Liao Kingdom, and the mission could not be changed. Li Jinzhen had no choice but to escort the Liao princess on the road as planned.

"I hope that His Royal Highness the Prince will be reasonable and turn a blind eye and let me go... I'm just a small ant, please don't mess with me!" Li Jinzhen sighed.

However, today is not destined to be an auspicious day, everything is unfavorable, and it offends Tai Sui.

Li Jinzhen was still thinking when he heard someone in the team exclaim, "What's that dense mass up ahead?"

Li Jinzhen was startled and quickly looked up. He squinted his eyes and observed for a while, then took a deep breath and said, "Yes, it's cavalry..."

In the heavy snow and wind, more than 2,000 cavalrymen stood quietly on the open plain, blocking the path that the Western Xia delegation had to take.

The team stopped immediately and the crowd was filled with panic.

The two thousand cavalrymen in the distance were all wearing black armor, looking mighty and mysterious. A general in the lead suddenly raised his hand high, and the two thousand cavalrymen quickly changed direction and surrounded the wedding procession from three directions: left, right, and center.

The cavalry was getting closer, and Li Jinzhen finally saw the flags of the cavalry, and his heart fell into the abyss.

It’s the Song army!
There were huge words embroidered on the flag, all of which were Chinese characters from the Central Plains. A big "Zhang" character fluttered in the wind, dancing.

Li Jinzhen's cheeks twitched violently a few times, and he looked at the flag getting closer and closer with despair in his eyes.

Zhao Xiaoqian is indeed not a reasonable person!

(End of this chapter)