Chapter 39: If you can't win, then just lose! (Vote requested)
Qī Běi's carriage and the retinue arrived at Miàn Yuè Palace in a grand manner, but were stopped by a group of palace guards outside. Except for Qī Běi, the ceremonial officer, and those dozen or so maidservants, everyone else was not allowed to enter.
This was not Zhi Bei's first time in Meng Yue Palace, of course that was a long time ago. At that time, he would run to the palace every day and pester Princess Ming Yue to death.
"Master Nuo De, the princess requests your presence. You alone." A delicate palace maid appeared before Qi Bei and curtsied, her voice crisp.
"This is not in line with etiquette... But since Mingyue is so eager, then this young master will satisfy her." Qi Bei coughed lightly and said with a pretentious tone. When he saw the palace maid turn around to leave, he chuckled and followed after her.
What is courtesy? Does this little rascal know what courtesy is? The etiquette officer behind him was secretly shouting, but dared not show half of it on the surface.
Xiaogongnv led Qibei to the bedroom of Mingyue Princess, a place that Qibei had dreamed of entering in the past but never thought he would be openly invited into by Mingyue Princess herself.
As soon as he entered Princess Mingyue's bedroom, Qi Bei smelled a faint and delicate fragrance that was refreshing.
The bedroom of Princess Mingyue was divided into an outer and inner chamber by a layer of semi-transparent white gauze.
In the front room, there were tables and chairs, tea sets, and stacks of books on the side, presumably where Princess Mingyue relaxed. As for the back room, it goes without saying that it was a place to rest and sleep.
"Princess, Mr. Nuo De has arrived." The little palace maid said from outside the screen.
"Get out." The cold voice of Princess Mingyue came over.
The little palace maid turned and left, and the bedroom was suddenly quiet.
If it were another man, he would have sat down in the front room, but Qi Bei lifted the curtain and entered the back room without hesitation.
The princess in a pure white dress sat in front of the dressing mirror, her beautiful hair piled high, with only one jade phoenix hairpin, simple yet highlighting her noble and elegant temperament.
A flash of surprise flickered in Zhi Bei's eyes, and he couldn't help but admit that Princess Ming Yue's beauty was so captivating that it didn't need any deliberate embellishment to move people's hearts. Compared to her beauty, the aura she exuded was even more alluring.
"We're alone, you asked me to come in, aren't you afraid I'll do something to you?" Qi Bei smiled and sat down on Mingyue Princess's soft couch with a plop.
"You won't." Princess Mingyue said calmly, patting the lone-horned young beast that looked a bit frightened on her leg.
"Heh heh, you're so sure of my character, I just can't help but want to do something naughty." Qi Bei smiled, his nose twitching as the subtle fragrance on this couch was really nice, like a natural woman's scent.
The princess Mingyue turned around, facing Qi Bei, her beautiful eyes gazing at him with a hint of inquiry, as if trying to see through his eyes into his heart.
"Ah, Mingyue, if you keep looking at me like that, I won't be able to hold back. You know, I've never been good at self-control, especially when it comes to beautiful women." Qi Bei's gaze took on a hint of aggression as he swept his eyes over her tender red lips and the increasingly prominent curves beneath her fitted dress.
The bright moon princess felt a bit uneasy, withdrew her gaze, and stroked the single-horned young beast lightly, saying: "Qibei, I called you in just to discuss something with you."
"You say." Zhi Bei Man said nonchalantly, his eyes becoming even more brazen.
"Our engagement, whether driven by political reasons or not, is still a relationship after all. I heard that you will be heading to your own fiefdom after the engagement, and perhaps after today, we may never meet again..."
Zi Bei listened but was stunned for a moment, somewhat unclear about Princess Mingyue's meaning. Listening to her say this, it didn't make sense at all.
"You know, I will be going to Tongtian Mountain soon and can no longer intervene in the power struggles of the mundane world. The noble families and the imperial power will eventually have a winner and a loser, either your Nuo De family emerges victorious or the imperial power does." Princess Ming Yue said this, paused for a moment, then continued: "If there is a change in power within our generation of the Jin Ye dynasty, if your Nuo De family loses, I will persuade my father to spare your Nuo De family. But if...the Nuo De family wins, I hope you can promise me that you will spare the people of our imperial family."
He gazed at Princess Mingyue with a thoughtful expression, her words were beyond his expectation, so bluntly exposing the contradictions between them, the last word wins and the first word loses, it's actually reserving a way out for the royal family now.
"How can you be so sure I'll agree? And even if I do, my word won't count for much in the Nuo De family, a useless person like me." Qi Bei said calmly.
"This is beneficial for both of us. As for whether your words will be effective or not, we'll leave that to the future. For now, just answer: do you agree or not?" Princess Mingyue said.
Zi Bei burst out laughing, he stood up and walked to the front of Ming Yue princess, suddenly stopped smiling, word by word said: "Disagree."
The Moon Princess was taken aback, she had thought about it for a long time and was very confident that Qi Bei would agree, after all, the one in control of the Golden Leaf Empire now was the Golden Leaf family, not the Nuo De family, but unexpectedly he flatly refused.
"When two tigers fight, one must die. You're too naive." said Qi Bei.
"It's highly likely that death is what awaits the Nuo De family." Princess Ming Yue said coldly.
"But it's also possible that you're from the Golden Leaf family, otherwise why would you make such a request?" Qi Bei Xiao smiled.
Princess Mingyue was speechless. Although Emperor Hanmo had laid out a grand plan, she believed that the old fox of the Nuo De family would not be easy to deal with either.
Actually, Princess Mingyue had never thought about this problem before, but since the confrontation with Qi Bei in the western suburbs, she vaguely sensed that Qi Bei would be a huge variable. There was an unsettling and fearful aura on his body, and even now, her demonic pet unicorn cub still felt afraid when seeing him.
"It's about time, my princess. Let's go, the entire Nord family is waiting for us." Qi Bei stretched out his hand, making a gesture to hold hands.
"Qibi, you're too reckless. You know that if the Nuo De family loses, the entire main and branch families of tens of thousands of people will perish because of your impulsive actions." Princess Mingyue's pretty face was tinged with thin anger, ignoring Qibi's outstretched hand.
"No family can last forever, and no dynasty can last for eternity. If it cannot win, then it will perish." Qi Bei smiled lightly and withdrew his hand, walking out of the palace.
It's either victory or defeat, and if not, then death! Princess Mingyue stared at Qi Bei's back in a daze, wondering if for this guy, everything was either win or lose, life or death?
"Little girl, you may be cleverer than others, but how can you know that some things are impossible to win-win? So you're just a princess, not an empress." Qi Bei sighed in his heart. In the Golden Leaf Imperial Court, whether it was the emperor's faction or the aristocratic families' faction, the complex relationships were too intricate, with shared prosperity and shared loss. The Five Great Sacred Lands had a tacit agreement not to interfere with secular power, so what she said would absolutely not be listened to by Emperor Mos. Even if he did listen, would his subordinates listen? The Nuo De family was the same, unless one day Qi Bei possessed absolute controlling power.
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