Chapter 33: The Value of the Princess

  "Princess, you've really made things difficult for me." Qin Yu said with a bitter smile, "Get out."

  The Princess Chang Le was initially at a loss, but after hearing Qin Yu's words, she suddenly felt much more at ease and nodded her head slightly, saying softly, "Mm."

  Qin Yu took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled, then left the room with Li Lijun following behind him.

  Qin Yu's mind now had only one thought, "How to die."

  As they arrived at the gate, they saw Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaowen kneeling down to plead guilty. A middle-aged man stood there with a long sword in his hand, staring coldly in their direction.

  It didn't take much thought for Qin Yu to know who the man in front of him was. He let out a quiet sigh, "Sleeping with the princess, no matter whose fault it is, sticking your head out is one knife, and retracting it is also one knife. What's the use of being afraid? In the end, it's still one knife."

  Qin Yu finished thinking, and a relieved smile immediately appeared on his face. He stepped forward, bowed his head in respect, neither servile nor arrogant, "Your humble subject, Qin Yu, pays homage to Your Majesty, may the Emperor live for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, forever."

  Li Shimin was apparently stunned by Qin Yu's expression and tone, in Li Shimin's view, Qin Yu should be afraid and nervous, with a bitter face.

  But in fact, it's not what he thought. Qin Yu is not only not afraid of tension, but also has a smile on his face. Qin Yu's expression and behavior are like declaring war on Li Shimin again, "I'm going to sleep, how about you? Come and kill me."

  Li Shimin suddenly became angry, raised his sword and was about to chop, but at this moment, Qin Yu suddenly lifted his head, stretched out his neck, with a gesture of inviting beheading. Li Shimin suddenly realized, "This is seeking death again." The sword movement stopped abruptly.

  At this time, Li Lijun suddenly let out a sharp cry of "Ah!", and then rushed to Qin Yu's side, opening her arms wide to block Li Shimin's long sword, sobbing and shouting. "Don't, Father Emperor, don't kill Qin Lang, wu wu wu..."

  "Your Majesty, have mercy." Qin Qiong's eyes were filled with tears. The Qin family had finally restored their ancestral rites, and now they would be extinguished like this. Where could Qin Qiong still show his face to his ancestors?

  Cheng Yaojin's face turned iron-green, he glared at Qin Yu, and hated to go up and peel off Qin Yu's skin. The invitations had already been sent out, but Qin Yu was sleeping with the princess at this time. What kind of thing is this? He didn't want to help, but in the end, he couldn't bear it. Just mention Qin Qiong, and he can't not help.

  "Your Majesty, have mercy," he said, his voice trembling with rage and his words barely containing a hint of pleading.

  Li Shimin stood silently, and the others also fell silent, waiting for him to speak. Half a moment later, Li Shimin looked at Li Lijun, who was trembling with fear but still standing in front of Qin Yu, and let out a cold snort, "Hmph!"

  "Father." Li Lijin was startled, but she didn't move an inch, still stretching out her arms to block Qin Yu in front of her.

  "Shut up." Li Shimin's eyes widened, and he immediately looked at Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin beside him, asking, "How should we handle this matter?"

  Qin Qiong heard Li Shimin's words and was suddenly delighted in his heart, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he didn't know what to say again.

  Obviously, Li Shimin temporarily dispelled the idea of killing Qin Yu, but there must be a solution to this problem. The method is not impossible, marrying Princess Chang Le would do, but what about Cheng Yaojin?

  The invitations have all been sent out, and the guests who are coming to the wedding are already on their way. If it were to happen that no one marries Cheng Lingyun, then not only would Cheng Yaoguang lose face, but also Li Shimin's reputation would be tarnished. The story of a princess stealing someone's husband is not a pleasant one to spread around.

  Another way is to marry both of them, but how could Cheng Yaojin agree to make Cheng Lingyun his concubine? This was something that Qin Yong couldn't bring himself to say. If they were both taken in as wives, it would go against the laws and ethics of their clan, not to mention that one of them was a princess.

  Cheng Yaojin's face stiffened, and he gave Li Shimin a strange look before hastily lowering his head. Cheng Yaojin seemed to understand that he was waiting for him to speak again.

  After humming for half a day, Cheng Yaojin said with a dark face, "Your Majesty, let's make it easy for this kid. Let him marry both of them together, but Lingyun cannot be his concubine."

  Cheng Lingyun became a concubine, Cheng Yaojin was absolutely unwilling, so he came up with such an unorthodox and unethical suggestion.

  When Li Shimin learned that Princess Changle had stayed overnight at Qingfeng Residence, his first thought was to kill Qin Yu to cover up the matter. However, he couldn't just kill Qin Yu casually, as it would hurt Qin Qiong's feelings, and Qin Qiong held a significant place in Li Shimin's heart.

  Empress Changsun was also very angry, but she thought more than Li Shimin who was furious. If Qin Yu hadn't slept with Princess Changle, this matter would have passed, and at most, they could find an excuse, such as asking about the prescription for treating Empress Changsun's body.

  But once they sleep together, the problem becomes big, there is no reason to kill, after all Qin Yu ate bear heart and leopard gall but did not dare to detain the princess, that is the responsibility of the princess, spreading out will be bad for the imperial family's dignity, so the result can only be not killing.

  But this matter must be properly resolved. If Princess Changle really slept with Qin Yu, then Qin Yu could only marry the princess. However, Cheng Yaojin would not agree to that, so Empress Changsun gave Emperor Taizong a suggestion: to bring both Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin along.

  The goal is simple, it's to get Cheng Yaojin to speak up for himself. If not, the relationship between the monarch and his subjects will be strained, and there will be no stability in the Tang Dynasty. Qin Qiong acts as a mediator, with him around, Cheng Yaojin will consider Qin Qiong's feelings, and this matter can basically be settled.

  Li Shimin furrowed his brow, and after a while, he let out a sigh, "It can't be helped, it's just the way it is."

  "Thank you, Your Majesty." Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin, with a surprised expression on his face, bowed together.

  "Thank you, Father Emperor." Li Lijun heard this and burst into tears of joy, choking with sobs as she spoke.

  "Thank you, Your Majesty." Qin Yu's suspended heart finally landed, and he secretly let out a sigh of relief, hastily thanking him, but in his heart, he was thinking...

  "Is this possible? Two wives? In ancient times, a wife could only have one, the nobles had no second-ranking wife for a long time, and they could only marry one wife, with the rest being concubines. One chief wife and two secondary wives, that was something that only appeared in the Qing dynasty, which didn't exist at this time."

  Li Shimin glared at Qin Yu, then turned to look at Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin, saying, "You two nobles should think about how to persuade the civil and military officials of the court. For example, Wei Zheng. Otherwise, this child will be killed too. You have half an hour."

  Li Shimin had no choice but to force Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin to think of a solution together. Forcing Qin Yu to marry two wives might not be impossible, but at that time, countless people would definitely oppose it, which was not the result Li Shimin wanted to see.

  As soon as Li Shimin's words fell, several people's hearts hung again.

  Qin Yu's mouth twitched, "Indeed, the Tang Dynasty can only have one wife, how is this going to work? If I don't marry the princess, I'll be dead, and if I marry both, it won't do." As soon as he thought of this, Qin Yu felt a bit anxious, but it wasn't enough to make him resent Li Lijun.

  Li Lijun heard Li Shimin's words and began to cry again, but she didn't dare make a sound, fearing that Li Shimin would take back his words and kill Qin Yu on the spot. However, she couldn't think of any way to solve this problem either.

  It wasn't until now that Li Lijun realized she had thought things were too simple, thinking that she could win Qin Yu over with this, but the result was that Qin Yu might lose his life because of it. Regret and worry were now Li Lijun's emotions.

  Cheng Yaojin was meticulous in his heart, but compared to Wei Zheng and others, he couldn't think of a way no matter how hard he tried.

  Qin Qiong furrowed his brow, pacing back and forth. Li Shimin sheathed his long sword, standing there with his hand still on the hilt. If they couldn't come up with a clear answer within half an hour, Li Shimin was ready to behead Qin Yu, lest it become a laughingstock.

  After a while, Qin Qiong suddenly stopped and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to give up the position of Guo Gong, only asking Your Majesty to agree to allow my nephew to marry the lady on your side."

  Qin Yu's heart was deeply moved when he heard this, Qin Qiong couldn't think of any other way, so he used his own merits to exchange for Qin Yu's future, how could Qin Yu not be moved.

  Li Shimin furrowed his brow, shook his head without hesitation, "I disagree, your merit is yours, how can it be transferred to this son?"

  "Your Majesty." Qin Qiong wanted to plead for mercy, hoping that Li Shimin would agree, but Li Shimin firmly shook his head, "No way."

  Qin Yu suddenly spoke up at this moment, "Your Majesty, if there is a crop that can produce at least ten stones per mu, I will present it to the Great Tang. How great would that merit be?"

  Li Shimin heard Qin Yu speak and immediately looked over, but unexpectedly Qin Yu gave him a heavy bombshell, suddenly shocked, "What?".

  Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaoguang were also shocked by Qin Yu's words, they both looked over at the same time, thinking that Qin Yu was talking big again, this was a suicidal behavior.

  "The humble subject says that there is a crop that can yield at least ten dan per mu, and the humble subject is willing to present this thing to Your Majesty." Qin Yu said calmly.

  "Do you know the crime of deceiving your lord? Even if it were your uncle, he would be implicated by you." Li Shimin, after all, was an emperor. After a brief shock, he regained his composure, furrowed his brow and asked, with a tone of reprimand.

  Obviously, Li Shimin did not believe what Qin Yu said at all, thinking that it was nonsense. The land of the Great Tang Dynasty yielded no more than one stone per mu, but Qin Yu said there were crops with a yield of ten stones per mu, how could that be possible?

  Qin Yu's expression didn't change at all, and he nodded very seriously before opening his mouth to say, "Your humble servant knows, but what your humble servant has said is all true. It's just that I don't know if this thing can be used in exchange for Your Majesty making an exception and allowing me to marry both of my wives."

  However, Qin Qiong's words reminded Qin Yu of some ancient events. Before the Song Dynasty, there were several people like Jia Chong who were specially permitted by the emperor to have left and right madams, with two wives having equal status.

  So, Qin Yu thought of using his merits to exchange for Li Shimin's exception, to marry the left and right wives, and also to give Li Shimin an excuse, to block the mouths of the people in the world.

  Li Shimin saw Qin Yu's persistence and also believed it a bit, but Qin Yu's words sounded like a transaction, which made him somewhat unhappy. He frowned and said after a moment, "If what you say is true, then I won't be unable to make an exception."

  "But if what you say is false, I will have your head cut off, and the Dukes of Wing and Lu will also be severely punished."

  Qin Yu didn't show any panic, and instead smiled slightly, bowed his head, and said, "Your Majesty can rest assured, every word I say is true."

  Li Shimin was slightly stunned, and then smiled, the matter of Princess Chang Le had been settled after all, it was natural to be happy, but more was a sense of helplessness, however this Li Shimin would not show it.

  What Qin Yu said about the crops yielding ten stones per mu indeed moved Li Shimin, otherwise he wouldn't have cracked a smile just because the matter of the princess was resolved, this is an unexpected gain.

  If what Qin Yu said is true, it can be imagined that the future of the Great Tang will surely be a time when the people are well-fed and clothed, the world is at peace, and he will surely leave his name in history as an emperor for the ages.

  At that time, the national strength of Datang was strong and prosperous. Even if it expanded its territory, there would be no burden at all. As a heroic ruler, how could he lack the great achievements of expanding his territory?

  As for the yield of sweet potatoes per mu, Qin Yu was confident. Ten dan was still an understatement by Qin Yu. It wasn't until now that Qin Yu finally felt at ease and secretly sighed, "This princess really is a bargain, just a few sweet potatoes and she's already in my hands."