“Ninth Prince doesn’t believe me?” Old General Cui laughed heartily and said, “Whether Ninth Prince believes it or not, after the Great Zhou Emperor destroys Xi Liang, the first thing he’ll do is trap Ninth Prince and General Xie’s main Yan army forces here, then have the Great Zhou armies already stationed at Yan’s borders march west and drive straight to Yan’s capital!”

Xiao Rongyan set down his wine cup and looked at Old General Cui, saying: “So Old General Cui means that our Yan’s enemy is not Xi Liang, but Great Zhou!”

“Exactly!” Old General Cui nodded, “Now Xi Liang is willing to submit to Yan, only seeking to preserve our nation! Today, our two countries should secretly sign a state treaty, and before the Great Zhou Emperor arrives, join forces to completely exhaust the Great Zhou armies!”

“Why did Old General Cui choose Yan instead of Great Zhou! In terms of national strength… the current Great Zhou is somewhat stronger than Yan!” Xiao Rongyan said indifferently, “Moreover, if Xi Liang allies with Great Zhou, given the Great Zhou Emperor’s magnanimity, he would certainly provide grain to Xi Liang! Yan… doesn’t have that much grain to feed Xi Liang.”

Hearing these words, Old General Cui Shanzhong showed a bitter smile: “Ninth Prince has forgotten that we Xi Liang still have an emperor, Li Tianfu, in Great Zhou’s hands. If the Great Zhou only wanted us, Xi Liang, to submit, they could have signed a state treaty with Li Tianfu, proclaimed it to the world, then come attack us, Xi Liang, with legitimate grounds to reclaim their territory! But Great Zhou didn’t… they harbor intentions to destroy Xi Liang, so how dare we Xi Liang submit to them?”

Xiao Rongyan remained silent. If they had signed a state treaty with Li Tianfu early and proclaimed it to the world before attacking Xi Liang, then the Great Zhou’s war would certainly be several times more difficult than now!

What Bai Qingyan exploited was precisely that Xi Liang people knew Li Tianfu was also Xi Liang’s emperor, causing them to waver uncertainly, not knowing whether Li Tianfu or Li Tianjiao was truly legitimate, which is why some cities were so easy to capture.

Signing the state treaty early would have confirmed Li Tianfu as a traitor selling out his country, and Xi Liang’s defending soldiers and generals would have fought to the death in resistance!

Old General Cui’s words were half-true and half-false, trying to deceive him!

If he hadn’t known and loved Bai Qingyan, he might have truly believed Old General Cui’s lies.

Xiao Rongyan didn’t expose this, pretending to be convinced by Old General Cui Shanzhong as he nodded: “Since Old General Cui Shanzhong wants to sign a state treaty with our Yan and submit to our Yan, then… tonight open the city gates wide and let our Yan army enter the city! We’ll jointly resist the Great Zhou armies!”

Old General Cui Shanzhong’s eyebrows twitched as he stared intently at Xiao Rongyan.

“What? Old General Cui Shanzhong says he wants to join forces against the Great Zhou armies, but doesn’t plan to let our Yan army soldiers enter the city? Don’t tell me you want our Yan army to serve as live targets outside the city, then mutually destroy each other with the Great Zhou army while you Xi Liang reap the fisherman’s profit?”

Old General Cui Shanzhong frowned tightly: “Ninth Prince need not be angry. This matter is too significant, this old man must return and discuss it with our Xi Liang Emperor!”

“Good…” Xiao Rongyan nodded, “Then please have the old general and Xi Liang Emperor give us Yan a swift reply!”

Having said this, Xiao Rongyan stood up, nodded to Old General Cui Shanzhong, then leaped onto his horse and rode away quickly with his guards.

Old General Cui Shanzhong sat in place for a long time, watching Xiao Rongyan’s figure disappear into the darkness, lost in deep thought.

“General…” The guard following Old General Cui Shanzhong wanted to help him up.

But the old general shook his head, supporting himself on the table to stand up.

“Old General, do you think… this Yan Ninth Prince believed what you just said?” The young attendant carrying the small red clay stove and wine pot looked up and asked Old General Cui Shanzhong.

Seeing Old General Cui Shanzhong remain silent, the young attendant asked again: “Will you return to persuade His Majesty to open the city gates wide and let the Yan army enter our Yun Jing City?”

Cui Shanzhong shook his head: “I’m afraid this Ninth Prince has already heard my intention to sow discord and has become wary of us Xi Liang instead! This Great Yan Ninth Prince… should be a person who values loyalty and righteousness! It seems he still believes Great Zhou is benevolent, remembering the friendship from when most of the war spoils were shared with them initially, wanting to wait for this Great Zhou Emperor to arrive and have a good explanation, turning hostility into friendship with Great Zhou.”

“How can this person be so stubborn?” the young attendant said angrily.

“It doesn’t matter if this Great Yan Ninth Prince won’t cooperate with us, Xi Liang, but if he has no wariness toward Great Zhou, I’m afraid this realm will belong to Great Zhou!” Old General Cui Shanzhong felt deep down that Xi Liang’s fate was probably sealed.

This realm would ultimately belong either to the Great Zhou or to Yan!

Current Xi Liang was making a cornered beast’s struggle, like… dying throes.

But Cui Shanzhong was a Xi Liang person, born and raised in Xi Liang. Xi Liang was his home, his country! Even knowing the general trend wasn’t on Xi Liang’s side, he still had to exhaust all his efforts to plan and fight for Xi Liang; only then could he face his conscience!

The matter of Xiao Rongyan meeting with Cui Shanzhong quickly reached the Great Zhou army camp.

Bai Qingqi heard the news without changing expression, but Bai Jinzhao, who had been searching for Xiao Qi Bai Jinse for a day and night without finding her, was extremely frustrated and said angrily: “Last time Yan stabbed us in the back, causing Fifth Brother to be captured and Xiao Qi to go missing! Are they going to stab us in the back again this time?!”

“Don’t get angry first. The general who betrayed the Great Zhou before has already been executed by Yan’s Ninth Prince!” Bai Jinxiu patted Bai Jinzhao’s head consolingly, “This time it was Ninth Prince who went personally, so there shouldn’t be any problems!”

“If there are no problems, why didn’t he send someone to inform us?” Bai Jinzhao stiffened her neck, her eyes reddening. Worried about Xiao Qi in her heart, she inevitably directed her anger at Yan, at Yan’s Ninth Prince, “And he sat drinking wine with that Old General Cui! Why don’t they just move the Yan army camp into Yun Jing and jointly resist the Great Zhou with Xi Liang!”

“This Old General Cui probably intends to drive a wedge between us Great Zhou and Yan, which is why he deliberately let our people discover his meeting with Yan’s Ninth Prince!” Bai Qingqi looked at his sister with reddened eyes and said, “Third Brother knows you’re worried about Xiao Qi, but you can’t bring this emotion before the soldiers. In another hour or two, Yan and our Great Zhou army will coordinate with your Fifth Brother to attack the city. There can’t be any mistakes! This is for your Fifth Brother!”

Hearing this, Bai Jinzhao clenched her fists, wiped away her tears, and nodded: “Third Brother, rest assured. Jinzhao knows what’s important!”

“Have the messages been sent to General Shen and Xiao Si? Have they sent anyone back with replies?” Bai Qingqi asked Bai Qingjue.

Bai Qingjue nodded: “They’ve already replied. Xiao Si is now lying in ambush at the south gate. If Li Tianjiao tries to flee the city during the siege, he’ll capture him alive immediately. General Shen and Xie Xun’s Yan army are both at the west gate…”