Seven Seas Beacon Fire

He coughed twice on purpose, interrupting the guy who was getting more and more carried away. If he let this guy continue, they would probably start discussing how to fight their way back to the Federation's homeland.

That's completely irrelevant.

Even if we were to retake the Yingzhou Islands, in the present moment...

Just as Li Zongdi was about to say something, two familiar voices came from outside the hall.

"...I've told you so many times, no, no, no! I don't have any money right now!"

"Boss! I'm not trying to be mean, but is this the time to talk about money? The country is in crisis, how can you bring up money? We're at war right now, you'd better conjure up some money if you don't!"

"Bullshit! Do you think I'm in charge of the purse strings? Do you think the money in the national treasury grows on trees? Or are you like those protagonists in the picture books your daughter likes, who are as powerful as Zhuge Liang and never have to worry about money? If you don't like it, you might as well sell me. Look how much my 120 pounds of flesh are worth!"

"Fine, fine, you wait here. I'm going to find Dad. I don't believe you can handle him in front of the old man..."

Li Renchi and Li Renxu pulled each other into the hall, bickering as they entered. They discovered that quite a few people were already there to see the old man. The two immediately adjusted their attitudes. The eldest brother shook off the second brother's hand that was pulling his arm and quickly straightened his cuffs and collar, while the second brother hurriedly adjusted his military cap. Then, the two approached Li Zongdi and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Father."

"Did you only see me?"

The old man's words made the two men look up, and almost simultaneously they both saw the smiling middle-aged man looking at them. After a moment of surprise, Li Renchi remained relatively composed, while Li Renxu laughed heartily and punched the refined middle-aged man in the chest: "Senior brother, what brings you here? No, what brings you here so late! You have no idea when we needed your advice the most lately. You've been bogged down in worldly affairs in the Northwest, and now my good nephew has stolen all the limelight!"

Li Renchi looked at his second son with some helplessness, shook his head, stepped forward, and bowed to him, saying, "Greetings, Brother Jishi."

The refined middle-aged man before me has the surname Fifth. His original name was Quyou, but he later changed it to Fifth Jishi.

This is a name that sounds like it should appear in a picture book novel. It sounds like the kind of person who is a sword immortal in flowing white robes, suitable for the kind of person whose "sword energy spans three thousand miles and whose light chills nineteen provinces".

In fact, he was of average appearance, but could be described as having a good temperament. Many officials present were also looking at this middle-aged man, because many of them had heard of him before, but had never had the chance to meet him.

He is the academic successor of Mr. Ma Youguo, the founder of the Datong School, and the current leader of the Datong School. Although he has not held a formal official position in the court, he has been able to influence and even personally formulate many national policies in the Northwest through the Prince of Jin's Mansion and the Datong School.

Some people had said that this man, who claimed to "save the world," would either be a pillar of the nation or a threat to the empire. Now it seems that both predictions have come true. The Prince of Jin's uprising was backed by the Datong faction. It could even be said that the Prince of Jin's own family had long been closely tied to the Datong faction. The Prince of Jin and Ma Youguo were close friends and confidants, but the Prince of Jin himself was not interested in Ma Youguo's doctrines. However, he made his three sons become Ma Youguo's students.

Therefore, this middle-aged man became a fellow disciple with the heir and son of the Prince of Jin, and it is said that this Fifth Master was also the teacher of that grandson.

"I could hear you two shouting from 800 miles away!" Li Zongdi stared at his two sons, his gaze especially focused on the second son: "What kind of behavior is this, shouting like that? What? You were making such a racket outside, but now you've become such docile cats inside?"

"If we see a real tiger, won't we just become cats?" Li Renxu said to his father with a somewhat joking smile, "Father, it's not that I'm deliberately trying to argue with my elder brother, it's just that he's gone a bit too far. I've done a great job lately, the situation is excellent now. I've driven all the Japanese troops out of the Silla Peninsula, and the Federal Army is running faster than rabbits. We've been making rapid progress lately, and we just captured Busan not long ago. We're only separated from Japan by a strait!"

"So you want to take back Yingzhou now? What are your chances of success?"

"What are the chances of victory? Didn't my nephew already salvage the navy's fleet? I know it will take the navy's ships a few months to recover their combat capability, but we also need to prepare supplies for our amphibious landing. We can wait until autumn. As long as the navy can send our troops up there, Dad, I promise you, within three months..."

"You'd better keep those words to yourself." Li Zongdi immediately interrupted his second son's boastful words: "The last one who wanted to end the war before Christmas has now lost his throne and fled to Nolreweg in the north with his whole family. I know you are very proud of your ability to lead troops, but let me tell you, you are far from it! I said your third brother can only lead a division at most, and you can only lead an army group at most. The war in Dongdu is not over yet, and you want to send troops to attack Yingzhou? Do you really not understand, or are you simply ignoring the overall situation for your own military achievements?"

Li Zongdi's words and the heavy accusation he'd leveled caused Li Renxu to visibly wilt: "Father, I didn't think that much. I just simply wanted to reclaim what we'd lost as quickly as possible. My nephew's navy is doing a great job; I'm itching to get back what we've lost..."

After saying a few words and seeing that Li Zongdi didn't continue speaking and didn't seem really angry, Li Renxu gradually grew bolder: "Father, you know me. I definitely consult and understand things before doing something like this. Our navy is the kind of fast battleships..."

“It’s a battlecruiser,” Fifth Jishi reminded him from the side.

"Yes, that's the battlecruiser. The Federation devils have lost all their battlecruisers before, and their new battlecruisers are still on the shipyard. Even though we lost some before, we still have eight battlecruisers. This should be considered our unique advantage, right?"

This is like fighting on a vast grassland where we have cavalry while the enemy doesn't. Wouldn't we win every battle like that? That's why I think we can try attacking Yingzhou. I believe that as long as our troops can land on the Yingzhou Islands, we won't face too much resistance. Even if things go wrong, we can easily retreat under the cover of these ships. That battlecruiser is the source of my confidence to give it a try!

"The Second Young Master has indeed learned a lot; it seems this wasn't just a whim he made on a whim."

"Right, right! Senior brother, you also think I..."

Fifth Jishi turned to face the Prince of Jin: "But the Second Prince has clearly overlooked one thing."

"what?"

“There is a batch of idle battlecruisers in the world right now, and I think the Colombians are definitely trying to acquire them.”

Chapter 120 The Leitanian Warships

At this point, many people recalled that the entire capital ships of the Leitanian High Seas Fleet had sailed to Scapa Flow and surrendered to the Royal Victoria Navy, as previously reported in the news. These capital ships, once the pride of the Leitanian High Seas Fleet and treasured by the Leitanians, were now like merchandise on a shelf, waiting to be divided up by the victorious powers.

(If this kind of plot were made into a book, it would be absolutely amazing. If Wilhelm II were included, he would be the ultimate NTR character. NTR is the best in the world.jpg)

Although most of the battleships built after the outbreak of World War II were never completed, the Leitanian High Seas Fleet was already quite large.

After all, during the entire World War, the Leitanian High Seas Fleet, excluding pre-dreadnoughts and armored cruisers, only lost the battlecruiser Blücher (with eight 283mm/L45 main guns mounted diagonally) and the battlecruiser Lützow. All the dreadnoughts and super-dreadnought battleships were unharmed. Until the Kingdom of Leitania collapsed and withdrew from the war, the Leitanian High Seas Fleet still possessed four Nassau-class battleships (six twin 283mm/L45 main guns in a hexagonal diamond configuration) and four Heligoland-class battleships (five twin 305mm/L45 main guns mounted diagonally, similar to the historical Caesar-class).

除此以外，还有包括四条凯撒级战列舰（八门330毫米/L50舰炮中轴）、四条国王级战列舰（十门330毫米/L50舰炮中轴）和四条巴伐利亚级（八门380毫米/L45舰炮中轴）一共12条超无畏舰，其中巴伐利亚级还是这个时代可以目前竞争现役最强战列舰宝座的强大战舰。

In addition to the battle fleet, the High Seas Fleet, after losing two battlecruisers and selling one to the Ottomans, still possessed a total of five battlecruisers, including one von der Tann (with eight 283 mm/L45 guns mounted diagonally), two Moltke-class battlecruisers (with eight 305 mm/L45 guns mounted centrally), and two Derfflinger-class battlecruisers (with eight 330 mm guns mounted centrally), which earned a great reputation in the Battle of Jutland.

Although the more powerful Mackensen-class battlecruisers of the Leitanian Navy, equipped with 380mm guns, were only fitted with two and a half turrets (out of four; and unlike the misleading video of a certain game, the turrets weren't hoisted on as a whole – where would they have gantry cranes capable of lifting over a thousand tons during World War II? The turrets were assembled directly from parts on the gun mounts), they were still not finished. But apart from these unfinished, half-finished products temporarily stationed in Leitania, the Leitanian High Seas Fleet's battlecruiser fleet was still the third largest fast fleet in the world.

The Federal Navy has long coveted these battlecruisers of the Leitania High Seas Fleet, especially given that the Federal Navy has lost almost all of its own fast capital ships and the completion of the more powerful Lexington-class battlecruisers on the shipyard is far from being ready for service in the short term. These Leitania-made battlecruisers have become the only option the Federal Navy can obtain in the short term.

If the Colombians were to acquire the Leviathan battlecruisers from the British, a significant portion of the navy's current advantage in fast ships would be lost. If the Colombians were to further acquire Leviathan battleships... the situation would be even worse. After all, the quality of the Ming Dynasty's battle fleet is somewhat inferior to that of the Federation Navy. The Federation Navy currently has slightly fewer battleships than the Ming Navy, but its number of super-dreadnoughts is clearly superior.

Why did the Ming Dynasty Royal Navy build too many battleships with 280mm guns back then? In fact, the second batch of "Hai Ting" class battleships was originally intended to replace the original four triple 280mm gun turrets with four twin 330mm guns. However, these 330mm guns were jointly developed by the Ming and Germany, unlike the 280mm guns which were developed by the Ming Dynasty alone. Therefore, purchasing the latter would bring more benefits and kickbacks. And who got these benefits and kickbacks?

During the early Ming Dynasty, the Jiangnan Shipyard had 65% of its shares held by the royal family, including Emperor Yongning. Emperor Yongning was a very business-minded emperor, and under such circumstances, the development of the Ming Dynasty's Royal Navy's super-dreadnoughts naturally lagged behind that of Britain and the United States.

However, Emperor Yongning at the time seemed unaware that throughout history, few emperors who were good at business had a good ending.

"The British probably won't let the Columbians get these Leitanian warships, will they?" Li Renxu's words revealed obvious worry. This second young master of the Prince of Jin's mansion really wanted to lead troops to invade Yingzhou. So, although Li Renxu was already over thirty years old, when it came to leading troops into battle, his enthusiasm was just like that of a young man in his twenties, or perhaps... a radical youth?

When Li Renxu realized that if the Federation forces acquired these Leitanian warships, he would probably have no chance to reclaim Yingzhou, he couldn't help but show obvious concern.

“Logically speaking, it shouldn’t be,” Fifth Jishi said. “If the Britons were happy to see the Federation Army defeat us, they should have provided the Federation Army with Leitanian warships before then. These Leitanian warships arrived in Britain at the beginning of this year and are still anchored in Scapa Flow. Moreover, there must be quite a few countries eyeing these Leitanian warships. There are many eyes on such a lucrative piece of cake. Even if the Britons were willing to support the Colombians, they could only give the Federation Army a few of them, which shouldn’t have a significant impact on the naval balance of power between the two sides in the short term.”

"These spineless Leitanians! The Prussian army was so mighty in Europe back then, but who would have thought that their navy would actually hand over its warships to the enemy without firing a single shot? I used to think our navy was lacking, but now it seems we're much stronger than them." A general in an army uniform couldn't help but complain. His words seemed to be praising his own navy's officers and men, but those present, including Sa Dingming, felt a bit uneasy listening to them.

What do you mean you used to think the navy was lacking? How was the navy lacking? Was it because the navy couldn't fight, or because it didn't want to fight? It was all because the country had a bizarre emperor and a bunch of incompetent officials. If you replaced the navy with a wise and powerful emperor, a capable and decisive princess, an empress who could revitalize the national economy, and a group of fierce and powerful ministers, well, you see, our Ming Dynasty navy would be very different (I'm sure of it).

"The navy is part of the national machine. You can't expect the navy to fight on like a rootless duckweed after the entire national machine breaks down." Fifth Jishi looked at the officer: "The fundamental reason for Letania's defeat is that the people of Letania could no longer hold on. The common people are the foundation of the country. They determine the lower limit that a country can withstand. If we can't even maintain this lower limit, then let alone continue the war, then as Emperor Taizong of Tang said, we will face the water that capsizes the boat."

"Regardless of whether or not the Britons will provide the Federation with Leitanian warships, since the Britons have not yet provided these warships to the Federation, I think we should hurry up and prepare for the operation against Yingzhou."

"How do you plan to fight?" Li Zongdi asked without even lifting his eyelids.

Li Renxu's eyes darted around, and he quickly moved to Li Zongdi's side. He then whispered something in the old man's ear. The Prince of Jin's expression was initially calm, but the more Li Renxu spoke, the more his brows furrowed. However, it was clear from the old man's eyes that the Prince of Jin was indeed thinking seriously. In the end, Li Zongdi simply stood up, turned around, and kicked Li Renxu in the buttocks: "Do you think you're Wei Yan? If he came with Ziwu Valley, you'd be no less capable than him."

"If Zhuge Liang had agreed to let Wei Yan lead his troops out of the Ziwu Valley, he might have actually been able to restore the Han Dynasty and return to the old capital!"

"I think you're asking for a beating!" Li Zongdi snorted, but today, Prince Jin did not give his second son a pleasant beating as usual for talking back. Don't underestimate the two young masters just because they are old. Apart from the heir apparent, Prince Jin can really beat the two brothers when he gets angry.

“I’m telling you, you should give up these thoughts now. From the day I raised my army, I vowed to pull the country out of the mire, and never to risk the country’s safety for the sake of personal honor, dragging the country into another abyss.”

Then, Li Zongdi turned to the others and said, "Someone just said I am a sage king, as if the current victories in war and the smooth progress of national affairs are all because of my rule as a sage king..."

Prince Jin's gaze swept across Fu Shengshu's face. The man had been smiling slightly under Prince Jin's fierce eyes, but Prince Jin's next words made him break out in a cold sweat: "I am not some kind of sage king. In the more than five thousand years of our dynasty's history, I don't know if there are even a handful of people who deserve the title of sage king. My greatest strength is that I have self-awareness, and I know that I am definitely not one of them."

The improved situation in the war and the smooth progress of national affairs are simply due to the efforts of a group of people with ideals and ambitions, including myself, who have done our best to clear the blockages in this country and correct the wrong paths. Our country is a powerful country, and we only need to do these small things, and everything will naturally fall into place.

However, our country is not as powerful as it seems now. We made many mistakes in the previous war, and the negative effects of these mistakes cannot be eliminated in a short time. The whole country is now like a giant with aches and pains all over its body and strained muscles. After ensuring that our vital organs are not torn apart by wild beasts, what we need to do next is recuperate and rebuild our strength.

At this point, Li Zongdi turned his gaze to the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies and Li Renchi: "I think it won't be long before we clash with the Colombians at the negotiating table. I imagine there will be several rounds of back-and-forth between the negotiating table and the battlefield. Gentlemen, as General Nelson of the West said, now is not the time for us to relax. On the contrary, it is at this time that the country needs us to be more conscientious in our duties!"

Li Zongdi's words commanded everyone to remain solemn and bow in agreement. However, just as Li Zongdi was about to wave for everyone to leave, a sudden voice rang out from the crowd: "Your Highness Prince Jin, if we are to negotiate with the Colombians, what should we represent?"

All eyes turned to the official who had spoken. A young official, who looked quite young, stepped forward and bowed to Li Zongdi, saying, "Please give your instructions, Your Highness Prince Jin."

The hall fell silent instantly. Li Zongdi looked intently at the young official before him. He vaguely remembered that this should be an official from the Northwest Garrison who had come to the interior, but he didn't have much of an impression of him.

"What's your name?"

“Reporting to Prince Jin, my name is Chen Shiyin.”

Chapter 121 The Grandson Returns to the Capital

In this world, the Ming Dynasty holds a special significance.

The two Han dynasties combined lasted for a little over 400 years, but that was enough to make the prophecy of the golden knife an inescapable shadow over all rulers after the Han dynasty for more than a thousand years. Even in the Tang dynasty, the topic was kept a deep secret.

The Han Dynasty gave the people living on this land a national name. After that, whether it was the Cao Wei or the Jin Dynasty, no matter how the name on their heads changed, people might not necessarily say that they were "Jin people", but they would certainly admit that they were Han people.

By the time of the Tang Dynasty, even at its peak, people could only refer to themselves as either Han Chinese or Tang Chinese, but ultimately, Tang Chinese were Han Chinese.

In the Song Dynasty... well, let's skip the non-unified dynasties. The Yuan Dynasty was too short-lived, while the Ming Dynasty, as a dynasty that "recreated China," inherently possessed a high degree of legitimacy. In this world, the Southern Ming Dynasty not only continued under Emperor Longwu, but also, like a computer that had been left on for a long time, took the opportunity to clean up junk files and memory, giving the Ming Dynasty a significant boost in its lifespan.

What does it mean to have a Celestial Empire that lasted for 550 years? Perhaps only Liu Bei's three reconstructions of the Han Dynasty could surpass it.

Now, a choice has been presented to everyone, including Li Zongdi – how should the future of the country be calculated?

"Does this mean I have to go back to Yingtian Prefecture too?"

Li Che has been quite the ladies' man in Leizhou Port lately, having lost all interest in the women around him. Don't misunderstand, our grandson isn't spending all his time surrounded by women; he's spending all his time surrounded by shipboard women. The dreadnoughts in the Sishui Fleet, after giving most of their high-explosive shells to the Federation forces on shore, smoothly returned to Leizhou Port, even as Benson nearly blew up the boilers of the entire fleet's battleships.

In fact, before the Surabaya Fleet returned, many of the other warships of the First Battleship Squadron, which had returned from Cam Ranh Bay to the shipyards around Leizhou Port for major repairs, had already arrived. After the Surabaya Fleet arrived, the number of various capital ships approached 20, and Leizhou Port had not been as lively as it was now for a long time.

As a naval enthusiast nurtured by the internet in another world, Li Che has never had the opportunity to buy a warship model—the girl thinks it's outrageous that a small plastic boat decorated with some copper pieces and painted costs several thousand yuan!

Of course, Li Che thought that the amount of cosmetics and skincare products the girl bought was really outrageous. The five-in-one products in the supermarket were much better, and the money saved could have bought several model boats.

Therefore, it can only own its favorite ships in the virtual world. Of course, some of these virtual ships are represented in the form of warships from a certain magical game, while some ships are more special, such as some destroyers that wait for their main guns to pass through customs every day.

In the past few days, Li Che visited almost every major warship under the guise of greetings. These naval officers and soldiers, who had traveled a long way to finally return to their homeland, originally had some emotions about the changes in the domestic situation. After all, although they had been tricked quite badly by the Ming Dynasty court and the royal family, it was probably like a couple arguing. They might argue, but they still had some feelings for each other.

However, the grandson of the crown prince was too good at undermining others. He personally visited every ship, warmly greeted the sailors on every warship, and personally inspected many places, both high and low.

Especially when Li Che saw Yang Yuchen, his expression could even be described as slightly excited—it was impossible not to be excited. Deng Zhengqing was a great national hero in both this world and the other world. It was just a pity that this hero sacrificed his life in both worlds. Li Che did not have the opportunity to meet Deng Zhengqing in this world, but fortunately Yang Yuchen survived in this world.

This man was actually the most capable among the many naval commanders of the Ming Dynasty. In another world, Lang Weili, the instructor of the Beiyang Fleet, had a very high opinion of him, believing that his future achievements in the naval field were limitless.

Unfortunately, in that corrupt dynasty, Yang Yuchen did not have the opportunity to develop his abilities. In the end, the hot-tempered man used a bullet to end his life alongside the navy he had dedicated his life to. It is truly lamentable.

In this world, Yang Yuchen should have had more room to develop, but unfortunately, the problems accumulated over the years of the Ming Dynasty's system have prevented Yang Yuchen from having a stage to truly showcase his abilities.

However, as the supreme commander who was appointed to command in that critical situation in Surabaya, the fact that the isolated fleet was able to hold out for so long, repelling several attacks by the Federation forces that attempted to annihilate the fleet in the harbor, and thwarting a series of Federation tactics including large fleet assaults and torpedo boat and submarine raids, shows that his abilities have been thoroughly tested by the Federation forces. Anyone with expertise knows how valuable this is, because it means that he is a rare all-rounder who is proficient in everything from commanding large fleets to small torpedo boats.

Unfortunately, battlefields like this are destined to be less eye-catching than large-scale naval battles. In fact, because Yang Yuchen was always able to thwart the Federation's plots in the early stages of their attacks, most of the battles around Surabaya Port did not appear to be very large-scale to outsiders, thus giving the impression that a skilled strategist did not achieve great feats.

Li Che went up and shook hands with Yang Yuchen, and was reluctant to let go for a long time. If it weren't for the fact that Yang Yuchen had also been overworked and needed to rest at night, Li Che would have liked to talk with him all night long.

Such a move garnered a lot of goodwill from the naval officers and soldiers. Since ancient times, the Chinese have valued confidants and mentors, and Li Che can play both roles at the same time to some extent, just like Kafka and Wu Zetian can play different roles at the same time. Damn, he is as attractive as a succubus!

Li Che hadn't had enough fun yet when his father sent him a message, telling him to quickly hand over his work and come back as soon as possible.

Immediately following another secret telegram from his father, Li Che finally understood why he had been suddenly asked to return to Yingtian Prefecture, because they were about to discuss the important matter of the future of the country and its name.

However, he was somewhat dismissive of this. He figured that if he went back, his words wouldn't carry any weight, so why bother going back? He'd rather stay outside.

Moreover, regarding the matter of choosing a national title... in Li Che's view, that would definitely cause a stir. He currently has a Ming princess by his side, and his father is telling him to hurry back. Should he take this princess with him when he goes back? At this time, with Zhu Miaoyun's delicate identity, returning to Yingtian Prefecture, he doesn't know whether it will bring trouble to his father and grandfather or to Zhu Miaoyun.

Therefore, Li Che sincerely felt that as long as Grandpa and the people around him had discussed and decided on the name of the country, it was fine. As long as it wasn't called Jin, it didn't matter whether he wanted to call it the Third Ming Empire or change the name to Tang.

In fact, if Zhu Miaoyun were just an ordinary Ming princess, Li Che wouldn't care whether she would get caught up in these political vortexes. However, recently Li Che has vaguely felt that there are some suspicious points about this princess Zhu Miaoyun. But for some reason, Li Che always backs down when he wants to test her directly.

Li Che knew this might be a psychological issue. Zhu Miaoyun's behavior in many ways also resembled that of a time traveler. Although the girl had learned to hide it relatively well, Li Che usually hid it even better. Zhu Miaoyun had no idea that there was a time traveler right next to her. Therefore, from some clues, Li Che was able to sense the incongruity of this era.

This feeling is like... when you're playing a game and you encounter a mod with a different art style.

So what is the root cause of my repeated setbacks?

Upon introspection, Li Che concluded that it was fear.

Yes, fear.

If Zhu Miaoyun is indeed a time traveler, then she may have traveled from a world she frequently visited in the past.

In that world, there are so many people, but among these billions of people, there is one girl who once filled Li Che's heart. This also means that there is a one in billions chance that the girl's soul can cross the barrier between the two worlds and come to this world to be reborn.

However, it is more likely that either Zhu Miaoyun is not a time traveler at all, and the things she does that seem incongruous to him are just his overinterpretation, or Zhu Miaoyun is a stranger he does not know. Both of these results would bring him a truly cruel answer.

That once beautiful girl, as lovely as a flower, may truly have been killed forever by a group of terrorists disguised as a nation, who used bombs to kill her.

And this might be the real reason why he had been hesitant before. This kind of thing is a bit like unrequited love—as long as you don't confess, you can continue to have a crush on her in the dark. As long as Li Che doesn't take the initiative to confirm it, he can assume that the most important girl in his life has survived.

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Chapter 122 Tokugawa Akiko has many questions (1)

As usual, Tokugawa Akiko prepared breakfast for Li Che. During this period, Tokugawa Akiko had gained a lot of "useful knowledge" from Zhu Miaoyun, although most of the knowledge that Zhu Miaoyun imparted was rather unorthodox and difficult to understand in Akiko's eyes.

For example, suggestions like "Although there are no colored contact lenses now, you can try dyeing your hair white. No Chinese people can refuse white hair" and "Men like women who can become their mothers" sound ridiculous.

However, Akiko Tokugawa believed that some of her suggestions were worthwhile, such as "If you want to win a man's heart, you must win his stomach."

Akiko was well aware that in a political marriage, she could not expect Li Che to have any deep feelings for her. Although Akiko and Li Che were currently in a "reformist marriage" between the Prince of Jin's residence and the Tokugawa Shogunate, which meant that the two of them would develop feelings for each other through getting to know each other—in short, it was a political matchmaking. But regardless of whether they were compatible or not, they would eventually become a couple.

Now that they've reached the point of blind dating, Mingzi is naturally very clear about her position in this relationship. She doesn't crave any grand vows or promises. Mingzi firmly believes that as long as she can seamlessly integrate into Li Che's life like water, making Li Che feel indispensable to her in every aspect and becoming a part of his daily life, that will be enough for her to establish herself by Li Che's side.

Even if Li Che becomes the grandson of the emperor, the crown prince, or even the emperor in the future, the beauties presented by foreign countries to China have never been the focus of power struggles in the palace.

Yes, it's an emotional and career-related section.