"Envoy Choi! I am Princess Saitama!"
Cui Hongdu was startled when he heard the woman in his arms whispering. He thought he heard wrongly. Just when he was about to ask, he heard the woman say softly: "Katsuragi monitors this place extremely tightly. There is nothing we can do about it." , I can only disguise myself as a lady in bed and have a secret conversation with you, please forgive me for any rudeness!"
"Your Majesty, please forgive me!" Cui Hongdu heard clearly this time and hurriedly pushed the woman in his arms out, but she was hugged and could not push out.
"There is no need to worry about Ambassador Cui!" Saitama whispered: "Katsurogi has a group of spies who can penetrate every corner. This palace is his lair. We must not be careless in the slightest. If we discuss this way, we don't have to worry about being discovered by outsiders. Already!"
"Such a discussion?" Cui Hongdu was full of fragrant jade at this time, but he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. At this time, he felt a soft feeling behind his back, but another woman also turned into the quilt and leaned closer. She was already attacking him from both sides. I had to grit my teeth and endure it.
"Envoy Cui, can we start discussing?" Princess Saitama asked
"That's it!" Cui Hongdu said, resisting the urge.
"Very good, my first question is, what is the purpose of the Tang Dynasty envoys coming to this country? Are they planning to send troops to our country and turn it into counties like they did to Baekje!"
"Princess Saitama, it is clearly written in the state letter: I came across the sea under the orders of the emperor, and there are three things in total: first, to enshrine your country and determine the distinction between the emperors and ministers of the Tang Dynasty and the Japanese country; second, to grant Fuyu Fengzhang and His subordinates are criminals of Baekje. If they are not punished, Baekje will have no peace and must be handed back. Thirdly, the two countries should maintain good relations and trade with each other as a long-term solution!"
After Cui Hongdu finished stating the three conditions, he immediately felt the tight body of the woman in his arms relax. Obviously, the three conditions he proposed were much more relaxed than Princess Saitama originally thought.
"There is no problem with the first one. Our country is willing to accept the Tang Dynasty as its suzerain, but it does not accept hostages, does not pay tribute, and Tang troops and horses are not allowed to station in our country!"
"The princess is joking!" Cui Hongdu said with a smile: "It does not take hostages, pay tribute, or station troops and horses. What kind of country is this a country of monarchs and ministers? Is there such a monarch and ministers in the world?"
"Then you can accept the pledge. The people in this country are small and poor, and they really can't afford to pay the tribute and support the horse!"
"Princess, your country has sent envoys many times, and you are not ignorant of the situation in China. Silla is my vassal of the Tang Dynasty, and the leader of Silla is the third division of Yitong, Kaifu of the Tang Dynasty. , Shangzhu Kingdom, and Lelang County King, Jin Renwen, the younger brother of the king, has been in Chang'an for more than ten years, and he has reached the third rank and lives in the Wei Palace. Do you think it is a good thing or a bad thing to accept the pledge to the Tang Dynasty? The Silla Kingdom paid another How much tribute? How many soldiers and horses of the Tang Dynasty are there on the land?"
"Then what do you mean?"
"Princess, since your country is willing to accept the canonization and determine the distinction between monarch and ministers, then it is the proper duty to accept pledges, pay tribute, and accept the soldiers of the superior kingdom. It's just a matter of how much there is and how little!"
Cui Hongdu heard the woman in his arms was silent for a moment, and then whispered: "Let's put this matter aside for now. The second thing is that Fuyu Fengzhang came to seek refuge in poverty. His wife was a noblewoman in the country and an in-law. There are quite a lot of them. If I hand them over to your country, I’m afraid the nobles in the country will be dissatisfied!”….
"Hahaha!" Cui Hongdu chuckled a few times: "As far as I know, Fuyu Fengzhang's wife is the daughter of Hirafu Ampere, right?"
"Not bad!" Princess Saitama was secretly shocked. She didn't expect that the other party knew so much about her side: "Hirafu Abe is a general of our country and has made many meritorious deeds. He will definitely try his best to protect his son-in-law! "
"Princess! This time your country lost tens of thousands of soldiers, and every family in the country wore mourning. In the final analysis, it was all because of Fuyu Fengzhang. You said that the nobles in the country would be dissatisfied just to hand him over. Isn't it strange?"
"In an attack, the outcome is unpredictable. Besides, the purpose of sending troops this time is not entirely to support Yu Fengzhang, but more to recover the four counties of Ren. All the nobles know this!"
After hearing what Princess Saitama said, Cui Hongdu was slightly surprised. The other party admitted that the Japanese sent troops to Baekje mainly to recover the four counties of Imna, which surprised him. He hesitated for a moment and decided to throw out a trump card as Wang Wenzuo had arranged: "What if the captured Japanese are exchanged for Fuyu Fengzhang and his men?"
"Exchange?" Princess Saitama's breathing suddenly became heavy: "You mean you are willing to exchange our soldiers who were trapped in Baekje?"
"Yes, for example, Mononobe Renxiong, Shoujun Oishi and others are also in the hands of the Tang Dynasty! If your country can return Fuyu Fengzhang, you can return these people to your country!" Cui Hongdu said this and smiled Laughing: "Princess, it's actually hard for me to understand why you are so insistent on Buyeo Fengzhang. Since this person has the blood of the Baekje royal family and was the head of the original judgment, as long as he lives for one day, Baekje will Peace is hard to come by. Your country has kept him in your hands as a treasure. Are you still unwilling to give up on Baekje? If so, then there is nothing to talk about!"
Princess Saitama fell into silence. Cui Hongdu's words hit home. As he said, the conflict between the Tang Dynasty and the Japanese state was the battle to restore Baekje, and Buyeo Fengzhang was the source of this war. If the Japanese state insists on refusing to hand over Fuyu Fengzhang, it can only be explained that it still has intentions for Baekje. If so, the peace between the Japanese and the Tang Dynasty will be empty talk.
"Then if we hand over Fuyu Fengzhang and the Tang Dynasty still needs to use troops, wouldn't we be a bad person in vain?"
"Princess, the Tang Dynasty did not ask your country to unilaterally hand over Fuyu Fengzhang, but to exchange the captives in your hands. Doesn't this show sincerity? Could it be that in the eyes of your country, our own people are not as good as Fuyu Fengzhang?" Save the fugitives!"
This time, Princess Saitama was finally forced into a corner. She gritted her teeth and said, "What the envoy said makes sense. I will support the handing over of Fuyu Fengzhang, but the real power is in the hands of Katsuragi. What I say may not count!" "
"The Katsuragi you are talking about is Prince Nakadai-nii, right? Has he been enthroned as king now?"
"Yes, that's him!" Princess Saitama nodded: "He has not succeeded to the throne yet!"
"Then who is on the throne?"
"The throne is vacant, and now no one in this country is king!"
"This is strange!" Cui Hongdu laughed and said: "As the saying goes, a country cannot live without a king for a day. How come your country has no king for so long? Besides, if the throne is vacant, who will give the credentials I brought? And canonize it? who?"….
"This is indeed a trouble!" Princess Saitama whispered: "It is for this reason that Katsuragi keeps you in the palace!"
"So that's what happened. I was wondering why he gave us all kinds of preferential treatment every day but didn't let us go to the capital. It turns out there is something unspeakable!" There was a hint of ridicule in Cui Hongdu's laughter: "Who are there? Are you qualified to ascend the throne?"
"Actually, there are only three of us, me, Katsuragi, and his younger brother, Kaito!"
"Oh? Can a woman in your country be the king?" Cui Hongdu asked.
"Yes, the last king was a woman. According to convention, I do have the right to be king. In fact, my brother is Katsuragi's biggest enemy. Unfortunately, he has been killed by that guy!" After saying this, Princess Saitama's body trembled slightly. , obviously extremely angry.
"Then, princess, you are going to have to deal with these two brothers, one against two. The situation is worrying!"
"The envoy guessed wrong!" Princess Saitama chuckled and said, "Although Prince Kaijin and Katsuragi are brothers, they have split in order to compete for the throne. Prince Kaijin has married me and joined forces to deal with Katsuragi. Now we are Two versus one is true, but it’s me, not Katsuragi, who’s on their side!”
Cui Hongdu was stunned when he heard this, and then laughed: "I really didn't expect that if it is as you said, wouldn't it mean that your side has the advantage?"
"That's not necessarily the case!" Princess Saitama shook her head: "Although Katsuragi and Kaito are brothers, Katsuragi is much older than Kaito, almost like father and son. Moreover, Katsuragi has been in charge of national affairs for many years. If it weren't for this The first expedition to Baekje was defeated, and the damage to the prestige was not small. He has directly succeeded to the throne, and the current situation will never happen!"
"That's it!" Cui Hongdu nodded: "In that case, I will stay here for a while. By the way, what does the princess want when she takes the risk to come here tonight?"
"I actually came to meet with your envoy for two purposes: first, I hope to understand the purpose of your envoy's visit; second, I hope to seek support from the Tang State to defeat Katsuragi, ascend to the throne, and avenge the murder of my brother! "
"The princess should have understood the first thing. As for the second thing, to be honest, I am in the palace now and can't do anything, let alone support which side!"
"No, there is a way!" Princess Saitama smiled and said, "Katsurogi won't let you go to the capital, but if you say you want to go back to Baekje, he won't stop you!"
"So what? Even if I return to Baekje and report these things to my superiors, what's the use? Do you want the Tang Dynasty to send troops here? But just now you were clearly not even willing to garrison troops and pay tribute!"
"Of course I don't want you to send troops, but as long as your envoys come to the capital and claim that the culprit who sent the troops to Baekje in the first place must abdicate before peace can be negotiated, then Katsuragi will naturally not be able to ascend the throne!" Princess Saitama said with a sly smile.
"Is this okay? Didn't you say that Katsuragi has been in charge of state affairs for many years?"
"This is the moment, that's why he won't let you go to the capital!" Princess Saitama said with a smile: "Right now, both sides of the capital are about the same power. As long as one party increases its strength, it can take the throne!"
"Even if what you said is true, then I can't go to the capital?"….
"Okay, this is a sea chart!" Princess Saitama took out a piece of silk paper from her arms: "There is an island marked on it. Next time your ship does not need to go to Chikushi, you can go directly to the island. There are my people on the island. , he will take your ship directly to the capital by sea, so Katsuragi cannot stop you!"
Cui Hongdu took the silk paper and thought to himself that no matter what the woman said was true or false, he would discuss it with Zen Master Huicong after dawn before making a decision, so he agreed here. Thinking of this, he put away the silk paper: "In that case, let's go here tonight first. How do you leave?"
"Pfft!" Princess Saitama said with a smile, "What else can you do? Of course, it will be the same today as usual! Otherwise, the palace would be full of Katsuragi's eyeliners, at least there would be dozens of pairs of eyes staring at this place, if there is even the slightest If it’s different, wouldn’t it tell Katsuragi that there is something fishy in it?”
"What's going on on weekdays, what's going on today?" Cui Hongdu was stunned, and he suddenly started to moan: "But, but -"
"What's the big deal! What's the big deal about the love between men and women and the integrity of the country? We Yamato people don't have as many rules as you Tang people. Do you, a man, still need our daughter's family to help you?"
Cui Hongdu wanted to speak, but found that the two pieces of flesh in front of him and behind him were squirming, and he couldn't say anything when he reached his mouth. Then the front and back got closer and closer, sandwiching him between them, like a meat pie.
The next day, early morning.
Huicong opened the door and took a deep breath. He felt a fresh air filled with the fragrance of flowers flow into his lungs. He suddenly felt at ease all over his body and subconsciously chanted "Amitabha!"
After reciting the Buddha's name, he walked out, raised his hands and kicked his legs in the corridor to relax his muscles and bones, and walked around twice in the orange grove. He just came back. As soon as he walked up the stairs, he heard a creaking sound, Cui Hongdu's door. It was also opened, and Cui Hongdu walked out of it, disheveled, shaking his head, looking like he hadn't slept enough.
"Brother Cui, you got up much later than usual today. The poor monk had already wandered around the orange grove twice before you got up. This is rare!"
"Really?" Cui Hongdu lowered his head in shame: "I made Zen Master laugh. Tomorrow, no, from now on I will definitely change my past!"
Hui Cong said it casually, but he didn't expect Cui Hongdu to react so strongly. He smiled and said: "Brother Cui, why is this necessary? It's just a joke. The two of us stay in this palace. To put it nicely, we are envoys. The bad thing is that he is a prisoner. He only has better food to eat. What's the big deal if he sleeps a little longer!"
"That's what Zen Master said!" Cui Hongdu coughed twice and looked around: "Zen Master, if everything is okay, can you accompany me for a walk in the forest again?"
"Is everything okay? What else can happen here!" Hui Cong smiled and said, "Brother Cui, you are too polite!"
"Okay, let's go for a walk!" Cui Hongdu and Huicong walked into the orange grove. When they walked deep, Cui Hongdu made sure there was no one around and whispered: "Zen Master, a strange thing happened last night. Please listen to me. Say!" So he told the Japanese who came last night and sent two girls to his bed, one of whom claimed to be Princess Saitama.
He described everything that happened next exactly, and finally said: "Zen Master, this matter is of great importance. I dare not make the decision alone. I ask you to think about it together before making a decision!"
"There are indeed many strange things about this matter!" Huicong thought for a moment and said, "Did the woman produce any proof of her identity?"
"No!" Cui Hongdu shook his head: "But even if she took out something, I couldn't tell the authenticity at the time!"
Chris Webber
