After the man in black escaped, Su Mu soon returned to Lingyun Pavilion. But he still felt as uncomfortable as if a poisonous snake had fixed its sights on him, so he secretly decided to send someone to look into it.

Early the next morning, Su Mu and Sun Hongyu came to the Wu kingdom's palace to meet the Emperor of Wu.

The Prince of Rong, the most trusted brother of the Emperor of Wu, was already waiting.

After Su Mu amd the Prince of Rong both made greetings to each other, the Emperor of Wu came out of the room.

"You have been disturbed last night. I have ordered someone to investigate the matter thoroughly and I will definitely give you an explanation." The Emperor of Wu spoke as he sat in a chair, his bearing majestic and solemn. Although he was only in his early fifties, most of his hair had already greyed.

Su Mu sneered in his heart. If he didn't just sit back and watch, the assassin wouldn't have gotten into the Lingyun Pavilion that easily. After all, it was a place that specialized in receiving foreign guests so the security should be more stricter than it was last night. What else could be the intention of the Emperor of Wu but to test him out.

Though he was as clear as a mirror on this matter, he still had to put on an expression of gratitude: "The Emperor of Wu is wise, many thanks to the Emperor of Wu."

The Emperor of Wu was an intelligent person. Of course he knew that Su Mu was aware of everything, but there were certain times when even if everyone understood what was going on, they must still pretend not to know. He nodded and said: "Zhen have seen your drawings. They indeed could bring a major change, but it is still not enough for our kingdom to send 200,000 troops. The most is 100,000. This is the number our kingdom can deploy at present."

A drawing of a dragon bone water lift was worth only 50,000 troops! Su Mu really wanted to smear his face with the ink on the table.

The land in the Wu kingdom was relatively high, and the role of the dragon bone water lift would be even greater. It was worth more than 50,000 people. Besides, the food, horse feed, army salaries and all other expenses were to be paid by Su Mu himself.

But, in this situation where he was the one requesting help, Su Mu could only continje to bargain with this greedy old man: "Your Majesty, the dragon bone water lift is only one condition. When the army arrives in Qing kingdom, I will hand over the technique of preventing smallpox to Wu kingdom. And when the army wins and return back to Wu kingdom, I will also hand over the drawing of the animal drawn seed plow to Your Majesty. How can the benefits of these three technologies that are enough to shock the world be comparable to the benefits of a 200,000 army?"

The Emperor of Wu stared at Su Mu with shrewd eyes: "The dragon bone water lift is indeed useful, but as for the way to prevent smallpox and the animal drawn seed plow, how do Zhen know if what you said is true?"

This old thing, Su Mu secretly grinded his teeth.

Although he was nearly angered to death, Su Mu still had to bargain with the Emperor of Wu with a smile: "If your kingdom is willing to borrow troops, I can give your kingdom the technology to prevent smallpox first, but the drawing of the animal drawn seed plow must wait until the army returns back to the Wu kingdom before it can be handed over to Your Majesty.

"One hundred thousand, if you are willing to hand over the animal drawn seed plow drawing together then two hundred thousand. Or you can use other technologies instead." The Emperor of Wu said decisively.

Su Mu stood up straight and looked directly at the Emperor of Wu, with a polite smile at the corner of his mouth he said: "His Majesty the Emperor of Wu would not make pay everything upfront when doing business as well. If the Emperor of Wu is not interested, I believe the Wei kingdom or Shi kingdom will definitely be interested."

The Emperor of Wu looked at Su Mu calmly and said: "The 200,000 army is not a small number. It consumes a lot of money every day. I have heard that the output of Qing kingdom has been reduced severely this year. What does Crown Prince Su plan to use to feed the 200,000 army?"

Su Mu straightened up further and said, "Since I came to borrow troops, I am naturally prepared."

Su Mu had naturally thought of this problem a long time ago, so the money that Qingye Villa earned from selling soap and toilet paper had been used to buy grain and horse feed. A lot of grain and horse feed have been stocked up in half a year, and added to the Qing kingdom's original reserves, it was not impossible to feed 200,000 troops. Not to mention, the army of 200,000 would not stay in Qing kingdom for too long of a time.

Seeing that there was no room for further bargaining, the Emperor of Wu said: "In this case, the drawing of the animal drawn seed plow can be handed over after the army returns."

But before Su Mu could be too happy he heard the Emperor of Wu say, "However, Zhen only agree to add another 50,000, a total of 150,000."

Seeing Su Mu's expression becoming displeased, the Emperor of Wu said again: "You can rest assured that these are all elite soldiers. The 150,000 troops alone are enough to suppress all the rebels in Qing kingdom."

The Emperor of Wu said in a calm voice, without any exaggeration. This was a kind of domineering, a kind of self-confidence, and a manifestation of the strength of a powerful kingdom.

In the end, Su Mu only borrowed 150,000 troops. Although it did not reach Su Mu's goal, it was not far from what he expected.

And something to celebrate about was that the Emperor of Wu finally showed an act of compassion and also included a month of food and horse feed along with the troops.

It's just that Su Mu didn't know that those were old grains that were about to grow moldy, and the Emperor of Wu was just trying to make the best use of it in exchange for favors.

Just as Su Mu wanted to leave, the Emperor of Wu asked: "Does the Crown Prince have a Crown Princess?"

As soon as he heard this, Su Mu knew it was not good. Don't let it be a political marriage!

It's just that even if he guessed it, Su Mu still had to answer honestly: "I haven't married a Crown Princess, but......"

"That's good." Before Su Mu's words were finished, he was interrupted by the Emperor of Wu: "I have a kind and virtuous daughter, who matches the age of the Crown Prince."

Su Mu got a cold sweat: "Your Majesty, the princess is noble and I dare not......"

Sun Hongyu, who had been on the sidelines, heard the Emperor of Wu's proposal and his eyes brightened. Su Mu was not bad in appearance or talent. The only flaw was his identity. Originally, a Crown Prince of a small kingdom would never make it on the list of perspective prince consort of the Wu Kingdom.

However, Princess Hongyun was disfigured by smallpox, and none from a good family background were willing to marry her. As for ordinary aristocrats, she herself looked down on as well. Her marriage issue had dragged on until now and at twenty-three she was still not married.

Sun Hongyu was very anxious for his sister, and piped up on the side: "How can you say such humble words? Neither of you are married so where is the problem?"

Su Mu silently turned his head and looked at Sun Hongyu, motioning with his eyes: Don't you know that I like men? Let your sister marry me would be practically the same as being a widow!

However, Sun Hongyu seemed to have not seen it, and continued to add fuel to the fire: "Fu Huang, I think sister Hongyun and Crown Prince Su are a perfect match."

The Emperor of Wu also laughed twice and agreed.

Su Mu's voice of opposition was ruthlessly ignored, and he could only stare on the side. If it weren't for him being in need of their help, he would definitely turn his head and leave.

However, Sun Hongyu and the Emperor of Wu also grasped onto this weakness, so that was why they dared to force their beloved princess on Su Mu. The Emperor of Wu had few sons and fewer daughters. Each of the prince consorts for his daughters were all carefully selected by him. Only Hongyun's marriage remained a headache these many years.

Although he knew that Su Mu liked men, it was not necessarily all bad. There was no woman in Su Mu's palace so far, so when Hongyun married over not only would she be the legal wife and the Crown Princess, there would also be no concubines to be an eyesore for Hongyun.

Besides, it was impossible for a man to be the Empress. Judging from the situation that remained the same for so many years, it was extremely unlikely that a woman would appear in the harem of Su Mochi.

When the time came, the child born to Hongyun would automatically be the Crown Prince. And as long as she had an heir how could those male pets still be of any threat to her?

Towards those male pets, the Emperor of Wu and Sun Hongyu hardly even spared them much thought. Who would dare to make trouble for their princess who had the kingdom of Wu as her backing?

At that time, Hongyun would be the only female owner of Qing kingdom.

Of course, there was also another considerable point. The future heir of the Qing kingdom would have the blood of the royal family of the Wu kingdom. On this point, many of the benefits were self-evident.

In the end, Su Mu failed to reject this sudden 'peach blossom luck', and could only return to Lingyun Pavilion very depressed. He could do nothing but continue to think of ways to avoid this political union.

Inside the imperial palace, a slender woman in a palace dress and a veil over her face frowned and asked the maid next to her when she heard the news, "What you say is true? What kind of person is the Crown Prince of Qing kingdom?"

The little maid recalled the glance she had seen from afar and her face turned red and said: "Very, very beautiful." Then she whispered in Hongyun's ear: "More beautiful than the Crown Prince."

Hongyun frowned further after hearing this. Because of her ugly appearance she had received much ridicule. The more handsome the man the more they avoided her as if she was a scourge.