Chapter 2317 2056: Fate Is As It Should Be (2)

However, the speed at which he was utilized was indeed beyond Wu Yan's expectations. When Li Youu transferred him from under Liu Bei's command to serve as a subordinate official within the Grand Herald, he assumed he would need to lie low for a long time, but he didn't expect an opportunity would arise so soon. The Kushan are definitely going to cause trouble this time.

Li Youu is considered a ruthless reformist within the country, but if placed on a national level, he undoubtedly belongs to the imperialist conqueror category.

Previously, not knowing of any formidable forces around, but now that the transportation speed and deployment abilities have reached a certain level, Li Youu has already marked the Thirty-Six States of the Western Regions, plus the Kushan, and Parthia, as targets within the attack range of the Han Dynasty.

In simple terms, Li Youu is planning to occupy these areas. With such a thought, it was only natural for him to prepare early by placing his own people in the Grand Herald to understand international situations and be ready to incite international conflicts. Even in the absence of conflict, he was not averse to manufacturing some; Li Youu doesn't mind using some underhanded tactics.

The Han Dynasty, after all, has tens of millions of people. If not careful, someone like Wu Yan would definitely be overlooked.

Through Li Youu's meticulous efforts, he found individuals who understood the languages of Parthia, Dayuan, Wusun, and Kangju, among others. As long as it was a language Li Youu didn't understand, he identified the appropriate person for it.

Hence, even if the Kushan had not come to propose marriage to the Han Princess and were merely part of a regular diplomatic mission, some untoward events would still occur.

After all, Li Youu was cross-referencing ancient texts and had already mapped out the locations of the surrounding small countries, and in Li Youu's judgment, Kushan was in the position of an ally to be attacked nearby.

In conclusion, regardless of Chen Xi's plans, Li Youu is certainly going to attack Kushan. Whether they are allies or not doesn't matter; there's been no contact for over a hundred years. Ban Chao once defeated them; perhaps they have harbored revenge all along. Besides, they are so close, reportedly strong, so they might as well be eliminated.

From the perspective of imperialism, anything good should be ours, and anything within our attack range is essentially our territory. Unfortunately, this era is devoid of human rights; everyone is basically imperialist, with the only difference being the varying determination of imperialist ambitions depending on power.

Originally planning to foil Kushan's plans in due time, Wu Yan grew anxious upon hearing that Kushan would visit Weiyang Palace in three days. If he didn't quickly dig a pit for Kushan to fall into, his mission would basically fail.

The timeframe was tight, and presenting a plan could expose himself. Thus, despite the urgency, Wu Yan had to maintain outward calmness, avoiding haste and carefully seeking out a flaw in Kushans.

In reality, the Kushan envoys had also been observing the Han Dynasty's fields recently. Before industrialization, the agricultural output of any country significantly influences its national strength.

Although the Kushan do not plant crops, they are intensely interested in this evidently more productive and better-tasting grain than what they cultivate. They hope to introduce it from the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, when Wu Yan feigned interest in learning the Kushan language from them, they in turn tried to extract information from Wu Yan. However, being a professional spy, Wu Yan swiftly deduced Kushan's intentions. With a request in mind, he decided to send the Kushan diplomatic mission to be imprisoned by the Prefect of Jingzhao, aiming to incite a jailbreak, which is one approach.

The Great Han Empire doesn't offer any preferential treatment to foreigners. It would be best to manufacture some incriminating materials and then bury the entire Kushan diplomatic mission, causing the Han Dynasty to develop a dislike towards the Kushan kingdom.

In a few moves, Wu Yan formed a meticulous plan full of scheming. Before he could deepen the Kushan's pit, Wu Yan received an even more shocking piece of news.

[Hiss, the Kushans want to marry a Han princess?]Wu Yan was startled upon hearing this and then overjoyed; isn't this the biggest trap he could have asked for?

Does the Han Dynasty have any princesses now? They do, but only one real one, the Regent Grand Princess Liu Tong. The rest are at most commandery princesses, with the oldest being Liu Yu's daughter, who is only ten. The youngest is Liu Bei's daughter, just born, and there are no other commandery princesses left.

Moreover, Wu Yan truly understood Kushan's strength; the counterpart they want to marry must be from the Imperial Clan, not some palace maid given the title of princess just to be sent off carelessly; that would mean treating the Kushan disrespectfully.

Others may not know, but the Yuezhi undoubtedly have records in this regard. In the Former Han Dynasty, sixteen "princesses" were married off abroad, but most were wed to unknown figures within the Huns.

Two genuine clan women were married to the King of Wusun: one was Liu Xijun, and the other was Liu Jieyou. Of course, they weren't genuine royals either, being daughters of criminal members of the Imperial Clan. However, they were at least commandery princesses given the title of princess by the emperor, which wasn't entirely inappropriate, while the others were mere substitutes intended to trick people.

The Wusun were considered a major power back then and an ally, so treating them this way was quite outrageous, yet it reveals the Han Dynasty's true attitude toward marrying off princesses abroad.

Now, the King of Kushan seeking to marry a princess means that, by standard Han practices, Kushan, as a great power and indeed an ally, is qualified to marry a princess. Given the diplomatic relations, finding a convicted woman from the Imperial Clan, granting her the title of princess, and sending her to the King of Kushan to form eternal harmony wouldn't necessarily be an issue.

But the problem is, does the Han Dynasty have any clan women now? None. The last of the Five Garments members were eliminated about half a year ago, and the bloodshed in Chang'an had just subsided recently.

As for adult princesses, commandery princesses, and Princess Wengs, there's only one in total, the full title being the Regent Grand Princess, commonly called Empress Liu Tong.

This makes it obvious to Wu Yan what will happen next, becoming terribly bad beyond repair.

How about offering you a palace maid? We currently don't have any clan women.

You think we, the Kushan, don't understand what it means to use a palace maid as a substitute?

No real princess, no true clan woman. How about I find a beauty, add her to the genealogy, thus making her a princess, and then marry her to your King of Kushan?

Blah blah, in the end, there will surely be no agreement, both feeling slapped in the face. In such a scenario, does he even need to fan the flames or incite anything? Not at all; just watching will suffice. Perhaps by doing nothing, the Kushan and the Han Dynasty will exchange declarations of war on the spot.

Both sides have been claiming dominance for many years; would they bow down for the sake of someone else's dignity?