Zhu Yu looked at her in astonishment. “Miss, you actually saw through my intentions! You’re amazing!”
Seeing that her flattery was getting more and more out of hand, Lu Liangwei said in amus.e.m.e.nt, “Have you been spending more time with Butler Zhao lately?”
This time, Zhu Yu was astounded for real. “How did you know, Miss?”
“Your flattering skills are getting better and better. It’s probably thanks to Butler Zhao, right?”
Hearing this, Zhu Yu stamped her foot. “I don’t do flattery. Every word I say comes from the bottom of my heart.”
“I know, every word you say is flattery from the bottom of your heart.”
“Miss…” Zhu Yu flushed.
“All right, I’m just kidding. I’m going off to play badminton with Jiu,” Lu Liangwei said as she walked over to a relatively empty area in the courtyard with Chu Jiu.
Meanwhile, in the meeting hall.
A heated discussion regarding Danjue had broken out among the court officials.
Some advocated peace, while others proposed to send out troops.
“What’s the use of making peace? How many years has the Grand Princess been married off to Danjue? In the end, Wanyan Jin still jumped on the opportunity to attack Great Shang the moment the Danjue Prince died, didn’t he? If you ask me, the Danjue people have always been ambitious. The only way to end this once and for all is to repress them with our troops and make them surrender to Great Shang.”
“Easy for you to say. The Danjue people are born strong fighters. It’s no simple feat to make them surrender.”
“Their people may be brave, but our kingdom’s troops are also well-equipped and well-trained. It seems that the past few years of comfort have diminished your spirits. If they launch an attack at us one day, it will be too late for you to regret.”
“Exactly. Instead of being pa.s.sive, we might as well make the first move. I heard that Wanyan Jin is already ama.s.sing troops and planning to conquer our frontier. If we’re going to wait for that time before sending out troops, we’ll have missed our opportunity to make the first strike.”
The hall was quiet for a while. Then, the people that advocated peace frowned and said, “If we can make peace, we should. Even if we can’t, it’s not too late to send out troops when the time comes.”
Hearing this, the ones who proposed to dispatch troops sneered. “Wanyan Jin has made it clear that he doesn’t want to make peace. Even if we push for it, we’ll only get humiliated, and we’ll still have to cross weapons in the end. Rather than that, it’s better to send out our troops right away and put Wanyan Jin in his place.”
The peace advocates were also aware that, with the warmonger Wanyan Jin controlling Danjue at present, the two kingdoms would go to war sooner or later.
However, the people would always be the ones to suffer in a war, so they felt that they should still strive for peace if they could, even if it would cost them some riches. Stability and peace were necessary for the kingdom’s development.
Most of those who insisted on fighting were military leaders. In their opinion, if they did not knock an ambitious guy like Wanyan Jin down a peg or two, it would only inflate his arrogance. He would become even more unscrupulous in the future and have zero respect for the Great Shang Kingdom.
Long Yang was growing impatient with the relentless arguing below him and said, “Let’s discuss this another time. Court adjourned.”
The disputing parties immediately fell silent at his words, and even Long Chi glanced at him in surprise.
Since when had Royal Uncle become so hasty and impatient?
It had not been too long since morning court started; it was shorter than usual, to say the least. Why was Royal Uncle retiring now?
There was no finalized decision on the Danjue issue yet.
Noting Long Yang’s disinterest in state affairs, Zhao Qian sighed to himself.
Master was just eager to go back and see the Empress, wasn’t he?
Not daring to dawdle, he raised his voice and announced, “Court adjourned!”
The moment he uttered those words, Long Yang rose, got off the throne, and strode out of the hall.