Today's ceremony was even grander than that of the wedding, which was deliberately created by the King of Nanzhao. After talking with his mother yesterday, the King of Nanzhao returned to his palace and drove everyone out. He did not sleep a wink for the entire night, as he had thought everything through.
He has no other way to go now. No matter what others say, he must be firm in his current thinking, which is to let his eldest son follow Li Xiang back to Chang'an and then accept the enthronement of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
Just let the wolf enter the house. At least he still has a nominal title. If he does nothing and lets his second brother sit in this position, the whole family may not survive. So the King of Nanzhao felt that he had not made a wrong move. Even without Li Xiang's support, just because Li Xiang was his son-in-law, his second brother would not dare to kill him if he sat in this position.
Moreover, the King of Nanzhao believed in his own feelings. When he looked at Li Xiang, he could feel a sense of righteousness. Even if Li Xiang robbed the country, Li Xiang would definitely treat him well. But if his second brother sat in that position, he would be injured if not killed.
So for today's ceremony, the King of Nanzhao called out almost all of the ceremonial guards, and also found a group of people from the army outside the city, in order to make the ceremony as big as possible.
After hearing the news, the Queen Mother simply stopped trying to persuade her son. She felt that her son had been possessed by a demon, and that it would be useless to persuade him no matter how much she tried. So the Queen Mother simply claimed to be ill and could not go out, and there was no need for Li Xiang to visit her today.
On the way, Li Xiang got the news. Lord Cui from the Ministry of Rites and Qian Ping both felt that this was an impolite behavior of the Nanzhao Kingdom. Yesterday, so many people saw the Queen Mother drinking, but today you said you were sick and couldn't come out. This is clearly a lack of face for our Tang Dynasty.
"This matter is intolerable. In my opinion, General Su should have led the army there. It wasn't us who proposed the marriage alliance that the Nanzhao Kingdom wanted. It was clearly these people who proposed it. Your Highness, you came all the way from Chang'an City. We can say that we gave them enough face. Now that things have been handled like this, they can't regret it even if they want to."
The officials of the Ministry of Rites are mainly concerned about the prestige of the country. Now that Queen Mother Wang has done such a thing, Lord Cui really can't tolerate it. Although they just got married, Lord Cui also started to complain to Li Xiang. Fortunately, Li Xiang was riding a horse today. If he had ridden in the same carriage with the princess, the princess would probably have heard it. However, seeing Lord Cui's temper today, he didn't care even if the princess heard it.
Qian Ping, who was standing next to him as the chief steward of the Eastern Palace, didn't say anything about this, but from the expression on his face, one could tell that he was very angry. "No matter where our prince goes, others have to be coaxed to come, and that depends on whether we are happy or not. You guys actually want to turn us away. Are you tired of living?"
"What's going on between you two? You just got married yesterday, and today you're preparing for war? If that's the case, we're being rude. Will anyone else marry into the Tang Dynasty in the future? Since it was the Queen Mother who suggested this, then take my letter and send her a cart of medicinal herbs."
Li Xiang also felt that this matter was a bit embarrassing for him. If he did nothing, he would have no way to explain to his subordinates. After receiving the news, people in Chang'an City would definitely say that he was a coward. However, for the sake of his young wife's face and the long-term strategy, Li Xiang could not start a war at this moment.
But it would be different if you send a cart of medicinal materials. There is a etiquette in the Tang Dynasty. Even if someone is sick, you cannot send a cart of medicinal materials to them. You can only send some supplements. Now, sending a cart of medicinal materials directly means they are going to send you away. I wonder if the people of Nanzhao don’t understand this.
"Your Highness is truly talented. He can even think of such a solution. I will handle this matter myself."
When Lord Cui from the Ministry of Rites heard the news, he was so happy that he almost fell off his horse. This way, we don't have to start a big fight, and we can let everyone know that we are angry. Since you dare to give us face, don't blame us for being unhappy. We will definitely let you know how powerful we are.
Many people were confused. The Queen Mother was fine yesterday, so why did she catch a cold today? Today was a big day for the entire Nanzhao Kingdom. Even if someone was feeling unwell, they should have stayed at the palace gate. But when Li Xiang arrived at the palace, the Queen Mother didn't show up, so he understood what was going on.
"My mother drank one extra glass yesterday, out of joy. Who knew she'd get caught in a gust of wind on the way home? We were all at her last night tending to her, so I won't be able to meet Your Highness today."
Even though he has become his son-in-law, he still has to be careful when speaking to me. He has to address me as he should. If he speaks too casually, it may bring misfortune to his country at any time. The King of Nanzhao felt a little uncomfortable at this time, but when he thought about his future life, it could only be like this. Who made the gap between the two countries so big?
"If that's the case, then I won't bother you. However, before I came here, I brought a lot of medicinal herbs from Chang'an City, specifically for use on the road. Unfortunately, no one here can use them. Many of them are famous medicines from the north, so I'll send them to the Queen Mother."
Li Xiang said slowly, if it were in Chang'an City, people would probably scold you on the spot, you have no good intentions at all, but in the country of Nanzhao, it seems that they don't have such a custom. When hearing that Li Xiang was going to give him some precious medicinal materials, the King of Nanzhao even thanked him.
Just thank them. Li Xiang doesn't have the time to care about this. When we return to the capital, as long as we can report to the higher-ups, it will be fine. We also retaliated against the Queen Mother's actions. Of course, we retaliated according to the customs of Chang'an City, but who knew that the local people had different customs from us, so our counterattack did not achieve the expected results. This cannot be blamed on us. This is the information gap between the two places.
