Su Wan'er suddenly understood.
It seemed that the Rong family was indeed colluding with people from the Southern Border. So, there must be the shadow of the Rong family behind the Gu worm incident.
"Your Majesty," after a few rounds of drinks, the Southern Border princess stood up with a wine cup in her hand. "I, Qian Han, am here by my father's order to choose a husband, so as to strengthen the relationship between our two countries. I also hope that the friendship between our two countries will last forever and be as solid as a rock. I hope Your Majesty can give me some guidance."
Su Wan'er also picked up her wine cup. "Sure, there are plenty of outstanding young men in our Jin Kingdom. Princess, you can choose at will. As long as both parties take a fancy to each other, I will make the decision for you."
The Southern Border princess bowed. "Then Qian Han would like to thank Your Majesty again."
All the young gentlemen present began to whisper to each other.
None of them wanted to be chosen by this princess. The main reason was that the princess was from the Southern Border Kingdom. They all knew what the Southern Border Kingdom was good at, and they still had lingering fears about that kind of thing.
Moreover, they couldn't accept the clothes of the Southern Border Kingdom.
For all these reasons, none of them wanted to be chosen by the Southern Border princess.
Fortunately, the Southern Border princess didn't rush to make a decision. Su Wan'er then asked the King of Luo to entertain this princess. She asked him to take her around to enjoy the scenery and let her know more about the local customs of the Jin Kingdom.
The King of Luo had been itching to do something. Seeing that his elder brother, the emperor, had entrusted him with such an important task, he naturally nodded in agreement.
All these things were arranged by Si Junlin for Su Wan'er. So, as soon as the banquet was over, Su Wan'er went directly to Si Junlin's palace and told him what had happened at the banquet.
Su Wan'er asked Si Junlin with a smile. "You asked the King of Luo to take that Southern Border princess to learn about the local customs after careful consideration, right?"
Si Junlin propped his chin with one hand and asked with great interest. "Oh? Why do you say so?"
Su Wan'er gave a disdainful snort. "Although you always like to tease your younger brother, you still care about him. You never let him do any tiring things. But this time you asked him to entertain the Southern Border envoy. Isn't it part of a plan?"
Si Junlin laughed. "You are always good at guessing my mind, but you're wrong this time."
He paused for a moment and then said to her. "This time, I've really thought about his well - being."
"Should you remember what kind of things he likes the most?"
Su Wan'er nodded slightly. Of course she remembered the places she had been taken to.
Si Junlin continued. "Is it wrong for me to give full play to his strengths and let him have fun?"
Su Wan'er thought about it and it seemed to make sense.
However... Su Wan'er sighed helplessly. "I was planning to help him get rid of those habits."
Si Junlin didn't seem to care. "Haven't you already achieved some results? This is a good chance to see if he has completely got rid of his old habits."
Su Wan'er shrugged helplessly. "Yes, you're the emperor. Whatever you say makes sense."
"Where are you going?" Si Junlin saw her getting up and about to leave, and quickly called her.
Su Wan'er looked back at him. "Naturally, I'm going to deal with government affairs. The envoys from the Southern Border Kingdom not only brought the princess for the alliance marriage but also some commercial agreements between the two countries. I certainly have to examine them carefully."
Si Junlin stood up from his chair. "I'll go with you. You've never dealt with such things before. Moreover, this commercial agreement is related to the interests of the Jin Kingdom. I'd better check it myself."
A playful smile appeared on Su Wan'er's face. "What? Is Your Majesty finally going to attend to state affairs?"
Si Junlin sighed helplessly. "I'm just training your ability. Otherwise, do you think I'd neglect my duties like this?"
Su Wan'er shrugged. "Who knows?"
"Come on, stop joking. Let's go and deal with it quickly." After Si Junlin said that, he walked out first.
Su Wan'er quickened her pace and walked in front of him so that outsiders wouldn't find it strange.
After reading the commercial agreement, the next day was for negotiating the terms.
Si Junlin was in the harem. To show respect, he couldn't be present at the negotiation. Everything would depend on Su Wan'er herself.
To prevent Su Wan'er from not knowing what to say, Si Junlin spent a whole night instructing her on how to deal with the envoys from the Southern Border Kingdom.
Early in the morning, Su Wan'er had to force herself to meet the envoys.
Although the meeting was scheduled for the Chen hour (7 - 9 a.m.), Su Wan'er still had to go there at the Mao hour (5 - 7 a.m.).
There was no other reason but to make preparations in advance.
After a long time of preparation, finally, at the Chen hour, the envoys from the Southern Border Kingdom arrived.
Su Wan'er walked out from inside. When the Southern Border envoys saw her from afar, they quickly quickened their steps. When they came in front of Su Wan'er, they bowed and said, "Greetings to the Emperor of the Jin Kingdom. Have we come late?"
A kind smile appeared on Su Wan'er's face. "No, no. I just like to come early."
"Then... Your Majesty of the Jin Kingdom, shall we go inside and talk?" The Southern Border envoy made a gesture of invitation to Su Wan'er.
"Sure. Envoys from the Southern Border, please."
Su Wan'er walked in front of them. After entering the main hall, they took their seats according to their status as host and guest.
"Our Southern Border Kingdom would like to sign a 50 - year grain trading contract with the Jin Kingdom this time. I wonder what Your Majesty thinks?" After chatting with Su Wan'er for a while, the Southern Border envoy said to her.
Su Wan'er recalled what Si Junlin had said and then said to them, "I know that your Southern Border has fertile land and high grain yield. But asking for five taels of silver per dan at the very beginning is a bit of an over - asking price."
"It is indeed an over - asking price, but isn't there a saying in your Central Plains, 'bargain on the spot'? Your Majesty, you can just make a counter - offer." The Southern Border envoy said.
Su Wan'er held up two fingers. "Two taels of silver."
"It's too low, Your Majesty. We also need to pay for the transportation. You can't let us suffer losses, right?" The Southern Border envoy said to Su Wan'er.
"But we also have to put in effort for our silk and tea. You can't let us suffer losses either, right?" Su Wan'er seemed quite insistent.
The Southern Border envoy argued forcefully and kept introducing how good the rice in his country was.
Unfortunately, he was facing Su Wan'er who had been personally taught by Si Junlin.
Su Wan'er, who was well - versed in military strategies, was even more unyielding in the negotiation.
After a long time of negotiation, the price was finally set at three taels of silver.
When the envoy signed the commercial agreement, there was a look of near - tears on his face.
It was so tiring to negotiate with this emperor. If he had a choice, he would rather run all over the mountains to contact the leaders of various tribes.