Song Qiming wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead, his expression a mix of conflict and unease.
"Winning the hearts of the people in the Southwest is no easy task. Are you certain about this, Sister?"
Song Jinzhao gave a slight nod. "For the common people, having enough to eat and warm clothes to wear is their primary need. They will submit to whoever can give them a good life. Going to the Southwest is about securing a proper status. Otherwise, even if I accomplish this, the prestige and the support of the people will fall to someone else, and I won't achieve my desired goal."
Song Qiming bit his lip so hard that two deep teeth marks appeared.
His early aspirations when he first entered the royal court, the danger of Song Jinzhao's assassination attempt, the Emperor's favoritism toward the two princes, and the cold-blooded ruthlessness of his order to flog Ye Liangyu and Fei Yanzhang—all of it echoed in his mind.
After a moment of thought, Song Qiming looked up at Song Jinzhao with a resolute gaze, his final decision already made.
"Since you want to do this, Sister, then do it. Whether it's going to the Southwest or launching a rebellion, I will support you. No matter what, the four of us siblings will always be of one heart for the rest of our lives."
After saying this, Song Qiming couldn't help but smile, though a hint of bitterness lingered at the corners of his mouth.
"Whether it is my teacher, Lord Fei, or the Duke of Qing, they have all lamented in front of me that if you were a man, Sister, you would surely achieve unprecedented greatness. But alas, you were born a woman."
"But now, I feel that whether you are a man or a woman might not be so important after all." Because even as a woman, no one could defeat her.
Just having the audacity to harbor thoughts of rebellion was enough to prove her immense courage.
Song Jinzhao smiled faintly and turned back to look at the map, her dark eyes filled with absolute determination.
A month and a half later, a marriage delegation from the State of Shuobei entered the capital with thirty full carriages of betrothal gifts.
On both sides of the street, the commoners pointed and murmured at the endless line of carriages.
"Didn't they just leave during the New Year? Why are people from Shuobei here again?" a tavern keeper asked, stroking his beard in confusion.
The proprietress standing next to him looked at the carriages covered in red silk and couldn't help but mutter.
"Why are these carriages all covered in red cloth, and bright red at that? It doesn't block the wind or the rain. Shouldn't they be using oiled paper?"
The tavern keeper smiled and shook his head.
"I have no idea. This color makes it look like a wedding. Two months ago, when the Duke of Qing presented betrothal gifts to Her Highness, it was this exact same spectacle."
In an instant, all the onlookers in the crowd whipped their heads around to stare at the tavern keeper.
Betrothal gifts? A wedding?
It couldn't be.
What kind of joyous occasion could they possibly have with the State of Shuobei?
Stared at by over a dozen people, the tavern keeper froze at first. When he finally realized what he had said, his eyes widened larger than a cow's.
"No way, Princess Yongjia just got married, and the remaining seven princesses are still toddlers. Could it be that Shuobei is marrying one of their princesses over to us?"
The crowd swallowed hard. "If they are marrying a princess over, does that mean our State of Dongzhao and the State of Shuobei won't go to war anymore?"
After all, becoming in-laws would definitely improve relations.
Hearing this, the commoners blinked in realization. For a moment, they weren't entirely sure, but having a theory felt like having hope.
They couldn't wait to find out the truth, and so the rumors of a marriage alliance between the two nations began to spread rapidly, faster than a tornado.
Less than half a day after the marriage delegation checked into the Huitong Guesthouse, before Xiao Chengjing even had the chance to receive them, the streets and alleys were already buzzing with talk of a marriage alliance between the two countries.
