Chapter 409: News

After Li Musheng and his party left Taixuan City, they headed steadily westward toward White Emperor City.

Along the way, Cao Gaoshan would collect news from Great Li at regular intervals. After all, it was his homeland, and he had no wish to see it fall.

During the time Li Musheng had been in Taixuan City, the situation in Great Li had indeed been far from encouraging.

While Great Xuan had not yet withdrawn its forces, Great Li had been hemmed in on all four sides. Great Zhou in particular was the most dangerous, with the other three kingdoms merely keeping large forces stationed at the borders as a threatening presence.

But Great Zhou and Great Li were genuine mortal enemies, and during this period the two nations' borders had seen real fighting, with dozens of engagements fought back and forth.

Because Great Li had to keep forces deployed against all three other kingdoms, its strength against Great Zhou had been insufficient, and it had been winning far less than it was losing. At present, eleven cities along the border with Great Zhou had already been lost, and the situation was extremely grim.

Of course, ever since Great Xuan's sudden reversal of attitude, withdrawing troops from the shared border and even considering an alliance with Great Li, the situation had eased considerably. What had been four against one was now trending toward three against two, dramatically reversing Great Li's isolated disadvantage.

But Great Xuan's defection had naturally sent shockwaves of shock and fury through Great Zhou, Great Wu, and the other kingdoms.

Though all three had already learned through spies that the old Great Xuan emperor was dead and a new emperor sat the throne, the fact that a change of emperor had also meant a complete change of attitude was something none of them were willing to accept. A chance this good to divide and devour Great Li was on the verge of being ruined by Great Xuan, and that was simply unacceptable.

Letters of formal protest from all three kingdoms poured in to Zhao Muning, but they sank like stones in deep water. Zhao Muning's approach was to treat them as though they did not exist.

Because any explanation from Great Xuan was pointless. She was not going to help three kingdoms attack Great Li, and the three kingdoms were inevitably going to resent Great Xuan for this. Rather than wasting time tangling with them, she was better off doing things that actually benefited Great Xuan's people, reorganizing the army, and strengthening border defenses against any possible incursion.

"Your Highness, the news from Great Li appears to have shifted dramatically once more."

On one particular day, Cao Gaoshan returned from gathering information at a large city they were passing through and came to find Li Musheng with some urgency.

Li Musheng had not been paying much attention to any of this, but seeing Cao Gaoshan act differently from usual, he was curious enough to ask, "What has happened now?"

As he said this, Li Musheng gave a small shake of his head, "I told you before. You read less of this kind of news. If the sky falls there will be taller people to hold it up. These things are not something you should be losing sleep over."

Cao Gaoshan was a bit like one of those old men in the park who read the newspaper every single day and worried endlessly about national affairs.

At those words, Cao Gaoshan looked at Li Musheng, his expression shifting, and said gravely, "Your Highness, this time it truly is a significant matter. Great Chu has apparently approached Great Li about an alliance as well."

"Oh?"

Li Musheng's eyebrow went up. This news was genuinely somewhat beyond his expectations.

Cang Yinyue and Shen Anran, also hearing this from Cao Gaoshan, both showed unusual expressions.

"Uncle Cao, is this confirmed? Why would Great Chu want an alliance with Great Li?"

Cang Yinyue asked with a puzzled expression. Great Xuan's alliance with Great Li had come about because Li Musheng had supported Zhao Muning's ascension to the throne.

But between Great Chu and Great Li, though they were not quite the mortal enemies that Great Li and Great Zhou were, there had been no small amount of friction between them and they were in an adversarial relationship. On top of that, Great Chu had been absolutely determined in its assault on Great Li in this campaign, making a change of attitude seem nearly impossible.

Faced with the questioning looks from Cang Yinyue and Shen Anran, Cao Gaoshan hesitated briefly, then directed his gaze toward Li Musheng, "Your Highness, apparently this matter is connected to Princess Huarong. A prince of Great Chu wishes to form a marriage alliance with Princess Huarong, and through that has brought about the prospect of an alliance between the two kingdoms."

At those words, Li Musheng's brow furrowed slightly. The Princess Huarong Cao Gaoshan was referring to was naturally his sworn younger sister.

"Is that right? My little sister has that much appeal?"

Li Musheng rubbed his chin, not entirely convinced. His sworn sister was certainly attractive.

But she was nowhere near his own catastrophically good looks. If someone said a princess from some kingdom had taken a liking to him and was shamelessly pursuing a marriage alliance with him as a Great Li prince, that would be understandable.

But that little Yuanling was still a little too green for that, not quite in the same tier.

At this, Cao Gaoshan's eyelid gave a sharp twitch, and he said hesitantly, "Your Highness, are you perhaps focusing on slightly the wrong aspect of this?"

As he said this, Cao Gaoshan explained with a grave expression, "From what I have gathered from the messages passing out of the Great Li imperial capital, Great Chu sent a formal communication to His Majesty indicating they would consider an alliance with Great Li, but only on the condition that the two royal houses form a marriage bond between a prince and princess."

"Though Great Chu's true purpose is still unknown, this move is plainly using the marriage proposal as leverage over Great Li. It seems very difficult to imagine His Majesty refusing."

Cao Gaoshan naturally knew how close Li Yuanling was to Li Musheng. But marriage alliances had always been the currency of political sacrifice, and with the current balance of power the way it was, it was nearly impossible to imagine Li Yuanling escaping this fate.

At those words, Li Musheng gave Cao Gaoshan a look, "I know what you are thinking. You have always had a good heart."

As he said this, he waved a hand, "But that sister of mine is not someone who can be easily pushed around. If she does not want to enter this marriage, she will have found a way to disappear long before it comes to that."

Cao Gaoshan's brow creased. He had a daughter of his own, and he felt in his bones that using a daughter's lifetime happiness as a bargaining chip was something he would be utterly incapable of.

But Li Yuanling's situation was different. She was a princess of Great Li, and many things were not entirely within her control.

With that thought, Cao Gaoshan hesitated visibly for a moment, but in the end still spoke, "Although what I am about to say may be overstepping, I still want to say it. What if Princess Huarong has no way of escaping? Or what if she is unwilling to escape, because she would rather face it for the greater good and for Great Li?"

Cao Gaoshan was somewhat different from the other members of the Tianjin Guards. He had more of the martial world's spirit of loyalty and justice, returning kindness for kindness and staying true to his feelings.

What he was considering right now was clearly not the position of the Great Li court, but rather the perspective of Li Musheng and Li Yuanling.