Munitions Empire

When Tang Mo learned that there were Elves in this world, he actually entertained the somewhat rogueish thought of giving it a try. After all, in his past life, he really had not had the chance to try out the Elf species, so full of fantasy.

However, due to a series of coincidences, he ended up marrying Alice and Yulin, and also had a cute cat-eared girl Yue'er, and thus did not go out of his way to seek out Elves anymore.

He's not a card collector, after all; there's no need to deliberately acquire an Elf wife just to satisfy his burning curiosity.

What he never expected was that the Elf Race had actually been plotting this idea for a long time: earlier, it was only because there was no princess of suitable age available, otherwise they would have set this plan into motion much sooner.

Stimulated by the marriage alliance with Qin Country, the Poplar Empire finally could not sit still any longer. They chose the only girl of suitable age from within their relatives, bestowed upon her a princess's title, and sent her over to Tang Mo.

In terms of looks, the Elf Royal Family always maintained a high standard: they were inherently handsome and beautiful, the women of the Royal Family were one in ten thousand in terms of beauty, and each was a top-notch choice.

This was all determined by genetic heritage, after all. With handsome men and beautiful women coming together, it would be hard to produce a bad outcome.

The selected princess was said to be particularly outstanding in appearance, already a beauty as a child around seven or eight. Now at the prime of her life, she was definitely in full bloom. What's more critical was... for Tang Mo, this came with the bonus BUFF of long ears!

Princess Ying Yue, who was sitting at the other end of the table, thought something major had happened and didn't dare to interrupt. She could only sit there nervously watching her future husband.

She knew that if Tang Mo showed such an expression, it must be a matter of great national importance; she even thought it might be something like an uprising or a war, some kind of emergency.

In fact, she guessed wrong. If Tang Mo had received a report about a war or disaster, he certainly wouldn't have looked so panicked.

For the Great Tang Empire, facing three to five countries alone wasn't a big deal, but turmoil in Tang Mo's harem was truly a dire calamity.

"Can't we... turn it down?" After a long pause, Tang Mo finally emerged from this sudden disaster, beginning to struggle for the happiness of his later life.

As a joke, the matter of marrying Ying Yue hadn't been completely settled, and now here was an Elf Princess from the Eastern Continent. This felt like the enemy launching their fiercest assault on him.

The main direction of the attack was not the sacred and inviolable territory of the Tang Empire, but his imperial spine—striking directly at his weak spot, leaving Tang Mo struggling to defend.

It seemed his enemies were quite vicious, having thoroughly studied his weaknesses: in any field, the Tang Empire stood undefeated, but when it came to the Emperor himself, seriously, he couldn't just produce a third kidney to strengthen himself...

"Your Majesty, while the native faction celebrates with high fives, have you considered the feelings of the foreign faction?" Wes's smile grew even broader.

"..." Tang Mo looked at Wes, hearing the teasing in his words: "Are you reminding me that in the future I might need to collect girls from every city according to my subordinates' ancestry?"

"If you can handle it," Wes nodded, "but I seriously doubt that when your army reaches Dorne, your body will fail you."

"Find a way to turn it down..." Tang Mo felt that he really did not need to marry so many wives: at least he shouldn't and didn't need to consider spouses from Goblins and the Dwarf Race, which would be more unbearable than death for him.

"Your Majesty, it's better to discuss this matter with the ministry of foreign affairs and other ministers before making a decision..." Wes reminded Tang Mo, "Refusing the Elf's marriage alliance at this time will affect many people's thoughts."

With this reminder, Tang Mo understood what Wes meant: If he refused the Elves now, it would be like pouring cold water on the Brunas faction.

Everyone eagerly wished to return to the Eastern Continent, and with Ying Yue's arrival, they all felt the crisis. To refuse the Elf Race's marriage alliance now, would that not cause even more anxiety among the people?

As an Emperor, even if just to suppress the native faction's arrogance, he would choose to accept this opportunity served to him on a silver platter. Balance, restraint, discipline, control... these are the techniques of an emperor, and having sat on the throne for so long, he was well aware of this.

But damn it, going on like this, his harem might destabilize first! Yulin, Alice... neither were easy to deal with, right?

And then, isn't that damned Elf girl underage? What's this about? She's still a child! Isn't this forcing himself into a beastly act?

Indeed, this Elf Princess was truly in the prime of her life, just 16 years old this year, and to Tang Mo, she was really just a child.

"Convene a special meeting about this matter tomorrow. All department heads in the Imperial Capital must attend!" After some thought, Tang Mo gritted his teeth and issued the command.

Then he squeezed out a smile and said to Ying Yue, "Sorry, there was a bit of a situation just now, some people always like to cause trouble for others."

"I hope Your Majesty can resolve the trouble. The prosperity and strength of the Great Tang Empire are things I have witnessed firsthand, and I believe there is nothing that can stump you." Ying Yue paid Tang Mo a tactful compliment, slightly easing the atmosphere.

The two continued to talk on various topics, and then according to proper protocol, Ying Yue had to leave the Forbidden City to go back to her lodging—after all, everyone has their dignity to maintain, and if news of a foreign princess spending the night in the Forbidden City got out, it really wouldn't sound very pleasant.

Tang Mo wasn't some inexperienced young boy who'd never been around, and he was definitely not in a rush; in fact, he was not in the mood to entertain romantic notions with Ying Yue right now, because another "atomic bomb" was about to arrive at Hotwind Port...

In John's office, his secretary brought in a report, informing him of a major diplomatic incident that he had just learned about.

The shapelessly fat John twisted his corpulent body and suddenly reacted, asking his secretary in disbelief, "What? Say that again?"

Seeing the splendid expressions on John's face, the secretary repeated the news, "The Elves have sent over a beautiful girl claiming to be the daughter of a prince, just turned sixteen this year, barely old enough, and they just sent her here directly, saying she's a symbol of the continual friendship between the Poplar Empire and the Great Tang Empire, and she has brought an official letter and gifts..."

"Pfft... Ah hahaha! Hahaha!" Upon hearing this, John couldn't help but laugh out loud. In the past few days, he had seen Li'ao and Nangong Hong with their smug faces, strutting with extra confidence as they walked during meetings.

As a member of the Brunas faction, John naturally found these two ministers disagreeable. But with their current momentum, there was really nothing he, an Elf, could do about it.

Now it was different, the Poplar Empire had sent an Elf Princess at such an opportune time—this made things much more interesting.

With this thought, John couldn't help but laugh heartily.

"Director..." The secretary, looking at John laughing wildly, reminded him.

John waved his hand and couldn't stop his laughter, "I just thought about the looks on Nangong Hong and Li'ao's faces, and I couldn't help but want to laugh, hahaha!"

"Although they might be embarrassed right now, might you want to consider His Majesty The Emperor's feelings? And... there are also the Princess's feelings." The secretary reminded him once again.

Immediately, John pulled back his laughter. After all, officially, he was still a subordinate of Imperial Concubine Yue'er and also a subject of the Great Tang Empire.

The Elf Race sending a Princess to His Majesty The Emperor, how could this not leave a bad impression on the Imperial Concubine? It's evident that His Majesty The Emperor would not be pleased either.

So he said gravely, "Uh... well, laughing like this really isn't appropriate. Ahem... you can go now, make sure you close the door properly."

"Understood, Director." The secretary bowed his head and exited the room, then closed the door behind him.

Before the secretary had gotten far, John's laughter exploded from inside the room again, "Hahahahaha!"

In another office, Nangong Hong frowned and made a grim assessment of the situation: "This time it really is a case of lifting a rock only to drop it on one's own feet… I really didn't expect they'd be so eager to marry off a princess?"

Because of his previous stance, he still had to express support from the diplomatic department: however they supported Princess Ying Yue before, now they must support this Elf Princess in the same way.

The situation was just this awkward, this aggravating, this laughably frustrating: Nangong Hong felt that for a good while he wouldn't make a good impression on the Imperial Concubines.

The secretary tried to explain awkwardly, "Director, you might not be aware... it was just that a few years ago the Elves didn't have a suitable royal lady, or they might have thought of this earlier."

"They chose this prince's daughter, who was exceptionally raised to the rank of a princess, and she just turned 16 a few days ago, and they were so eager to send her over," he went on about the princess's background, "The girl herself probably never imagined she'd have such a fate... previously just a prince's daughter, and then suddenly possessing the qualifications to become a princess consort of the Empire."

"Is now the time for discussing this? Huh?" An utterly embarrassed Nangong Hong snapped back, "Think hard about how I'm going to face His Majesty and so many colleagues looking to laugh at me in tomorrow's meeting."

Just thinking about so many mocking eyes scrutinizing him in the meeting room, making him feel as though he was on pins and needles, Nangong Hong thought he should resign as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Great Tang Empire right now.

The usually self-proclaimed unparalleled strategist Nangong Hong knew that his illustrious image was thoroughly tarnished. From now on, whoever saw him would recall this marriage alliance. He might even earn an annoying nickname like "Good Things Come in Pairs" or "The Minister of Matrimony."

But then he thought about Li'ao and felt slightly relieved: there was still a fellow brother from the Imperial Security Bureau to share in the situation—not a bad deal after all...