Li Zhijie clenched his fists, forcing a smile as he mentally organized his words. But before he could speak again, he heard Bai Qingyan continue: “Does Prince Yan truly not know the reason why the alliance has been delayed for so long?”

“Please enlighten me, Your Majesty!” Li Zhijie bowed.

“Princess Li Tianfu of Xiliang sent assassins to Shouyang. Now… after Prince Yan arrived in the capital, you’ve been scheming and plotting, lending Xiliang assassins to Prince Baishui, attempting to cause chaos during my coronation. With Xiliang being so restless and harboring such great malice toward Great Zhou, how dare Great Zhou sign this alliance?”

“Your Majesty!” Li Zhijie’s back broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly rose and bowed deeply. “I knew nothing of the princess sending assassins! I never participated in Prince Baishui’s rebellion, nor did I ever lend Xiliang assassins to Prince Baishui. Please, Your Majesty, see the truth!”

“Li Zhijie…” Bai Qingyan set down her teacup, looking at Li Zhijie, who appeared genuinely terrified. “Although the assassins are all dead, Prince Baishui is still alive. Do you think you can deny your way out of this? That I’m still willing to see you shows that the Great Zhou has already given Xiliang tremendous face. How to negotiate peace… what kind of sincerity Xiliang should show, you’d better send someone back to ask the Empress of Xiliang!”

Having said this much, if Xiliang intended to use Jintong as a bargaining chip, now would be the time to reveal it.

“Your Majesty…” Li Zhijie raised his head, unable to hide his panic despite his best efforts.

“Don’t worry. As long as Prince Ghost-Face is kept stable in the capital by Great Zhou and doesn’t return to the Rong Di, the Rong Di won’t wage war against Xiliang for even a day. Although the Great Zhou can’t maintain stability for long, there’s still time for Prince Yan to send someone back to Yunjing in Xiliang and return to the capital. Any longer… The Great Zhou cannot guarantee. Naturally, Xiliang must also guarantee that during this period, they cannot attack the Rong Di. Otherwise… Prince Ghost-Face of the Rong Di is a Great Zhou’s guest staying in the capital. Our alliance is not yet settled, but if Xiliang attacks the Rong Di because Prince Ghost-Face is no longer there, Great Zhou naturally cannot stand by and watch.”

When Li Zhijie emerged from the great hall, his back was soaked with sweat, but his heart had settled considerably…

From Bai Qingyan’s tone, it seemed she was dissatisfied with the city Xiliang had offered to the Great Zhou. She wanted to use this incident of Xiliang assisting Prince Baishui to extract more benefits from Xiliang. Fearing he couldn’t make the decision, she was giving him time to send someone back to Yunjing to consult the Empress. For these benefits… Bai Qingyan was willing to help Xiliang keep Prince Ghost-Face stable in the capital.

So Bai Qingyan still wanted to negotiate peace with Xiliang; she simply felt the benefits were too few.

Li Zhijie clenched his fists. Fine… at least Bai Qingyan still had the intention to negotiate peace, and being able to delay even one day was one day gained. This also gave him time to plan and see how to save Xiliang if they ultimately couldn’t ally with the Great Zhou.

Li Zhijie raised his head, gazing at the Great Zhou imperial palace bathed in the brilliant golden light of the early morning sun. The red walls and azure tiles gleamed magnificently, and his heart truly broke out in a cold sweat for Xiliang.

Before coming to the capital to meet the Empress of Great Zhou, before witnessing the various measures of the Great Zhou Empress, Li Zhijie had been fully confident that with Xiliang’s current reforms, it would surely rejoin the ranks of strong nations in the near future. Even if not matching Great Zhou and Great Yan… at least it would make both Great Zhou and Great Yan hesitant to easily wage war against Xiliang.

But now he realized he had been nothing but a frog at the bottom of a well.

One wrong step led to every step being wrong…

If only Xiliang hadn’t forcibly attacked Jin back then, losing over a hundred thousand elite troops and making an enemy of this Great Zhou Empress, but had instead quietly built strength like Yan, would they still fear the Rong Di today?

Unfortunately, there’s no medicine for regret in this world.

Although the Xiliang Empress had implemented various measures to strengthen Xiliang after ascending the throne, with the eight great clans holding her back, Xiliang’s pace of strengthening was far slower than Great Zhou’s pace of growing stronger.

Both Great Yan and Great Zhou harbored ambitions to annex the world. Present-day Xiliang… was like meat on a chopping block. How to save Xiliang, how to save it!

Li Zhijie’s heart ached unbearably. He suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness, his heart filled with desolation. He didn’t know what other strategies he should employ to save the nation from danger, didn’t know where Xiliang’s path forward lay…

Seeing Li Zhijie standing at the palace entrance without moving for a long time, a young eunuch approached and asked in a low voice: “Does Prince Yan have any other matters?”

This Prince Yan of Xiliang had always been generous with his rewards, so the young eunuchs all liked to gather around him, always managing to receive a coin or two in reward, and the amounts were always substantial.

But this time, Li Zhijie merely looked deeply at the young eunuch upon coming to his senses, then lifted his feet and walked down the high steps.

The young eunuch, having received no reward, felt somewhat puzzled. He sighed and returned to his position to continue his watch.

Li Zhijie had just exited the palace and boarded his carriage to close his eyes in contemplation when he heard his guard whisper beside his carriage: “Your Highness, Prince Ghost-Face also seems to be entering the palace for an audience!”

Li Zhijie opened his eyes upon hearing this, using his iron fan to lift the curtain. He happened to see the Rong Di Prince Ghost-Face dismounting from his tall horse, his gaze seemingly looking in his direction with chilling coldness.

His grip on the folding fan tightened. He simply nodded openly and generously toward Prince Ghost-Face before lowering the carriage curtain, his smile also sinking.

He had just come to see the Great Zhou Empress, and now the Rong Di were coming right after. What they were here for was obvious.

It seemed Li Zhijie would need to send another person back to ask whether the Empress could make further concessions in the alliance, while also preparing contingency plans.

·

Bai Qingyu had received word last night that the Great Zhou Empress would see Li Zhijie after the morning court session… before accompanying the Empress Dowager for breakfast. He understood that his elder sister was creating a legitimate opportunity for him to see Mother… to see Elder Sister.

So from the moment he learned Li Zhijie was entering the palace, Bai Qingyu had been restless. He worried that if Mother asked him to remove his mask, how could he face Mother with this broken, incomplete face?

He didn’t want to see Mother cry, nor did he want to see Elder Sister cry.

The waiting time at the palace gates was extremely difficult for Bai Qingyu.

Yet despite his complete bewilderment, he still couldn’t suppress his desire to see Mother and Elder Sister, so he had come.

Bai Qingyu followed the eunuch leading the way, walking through the long palace corridors…

He remembered how countless times he had walked this passage with Grandfather, Father, Uncle, and his brothers, looking at the waist-high candle pavilions on both sides of this corridor, gazing at these red walls and azure tiles. But not once had his mood been as complex as today.

The young eunuchs glanced at this Prince Ghost-Face who wore a mask yet appeared dignified and imposing, inevitably whispering among themselves and comparing this Prince Ghost-Face with Great Yan’s masked Ninth Prince.

Shouhe Palace.

From before the morning court session, Dong Shi had been restless. Last night, Bai Qingyan had told her that today she might be able to see A’Yu. Dong Shi had barely slept all night, her mental state appearing somewhat haggard.

Bai Qingyan saw that during breakfast, Mother was gripping her chopsticks and constantly looking outside. She turned to signal Nanny Qin to have all the other palace maids leave and not attend to them.