Feng Yao poured a cup of hot tea for Xiao Rongyan, then stood silently to one side.

“I heard that Liu Rushi came forward today?” Xiao Rongyan spoke.

“Indeed…” Wang Hanbing nodded. “This Lord Liu is truly formidable.”

Xiao Rongyan picked up his teacup and asked, “Besides discussing sending the First Prince as hostage to Great Zhou, what else was discussed today?”

“In response to the Regent Prince, they have already discussed designating several connected cities for the contest. After all, if the two nations were to settle accounts comprehensively, it would likely be difficult.” Wang Hanbing answered respectfully.

Xiao Rongyan lowered his eyes and used the tea lid to press down the floating tea leaves inside, showing no intention of removing his mask to drink the tea. “So then… how are the discussions going regarding Great Zhou sending hostages?”

“Regent Prince! Speaking of this makes me furious…” A Yan nation envoy stepped forward, glanced at Wang Hanbing, and bowed with cupped hands. “Not only is the Great Zhou unwilling to send hostages to our Yan nation, they also said something like… the weak have no qualifications to make demands of the strong. It’s simply too much bullying!”

The flickering candlelight in the main hall reflected off Xiao Rongyan’s coldly gleaming mask, making those unfathomably deep black eyes even more gloomy.

He pondered for a moment before saying, “Though it feels humiliating, Great Zhou’s words are not wrong.”

“But the two nations are currently in peace negotiations over the national contest. How can the Great Zhou disregard diplomatic etiquette and speak such insulting words!” That Yan nation envoy was still indignant.

“Diplomatic etiquette, put plainly, is just a way for the strong to appear humble and fool the weak. Since ancient times, no strong power has ever truly yielded at the negotiation table. It’s always the weak who kneel and endure humiliation to seek peace.” Xiao Rongyan placed the teacup in his hand on the small table beside him, his voice betraying neither joy nor anger.

“Your Highness, now that Great Zhou is unwilling to send hostages to the Yan nation, this is truly too dangerous for our Yan nation.” Wang Hanbing’s voice was as calm as his gaze. “It’s easy to request troops, but difficult to request generals! So we must prepare for the worst. If we send both the Second Prince and General Xie Xun as hostages to Great Zhou, our Yan nation’s main forces can return from Xi Liang, but what if Great Zhou suddenly reneges and sends troops to attack? Your Highness… would you be able to coordinate all our Yan armies to resist Great Zhou?”

Xiao Rongyan was clear about Bai Qingyan’s desire for peaceful unification. He knew that as long as the Yan nation agreed to send hostages, Bai Qingyan would not send troops, but he still had to guard against contingencies.

Whether as Bai Qingyan, as Xiao Rongyan, or as Murong Li, they were all willing to accept the consequences of their gambles. But if subordinates caused trouble, it would still fall to them to clean up the mess.

Xiao Rongyan tapped his fingers on the table intermittently. After thinking for a long while, he spoke, “Since Great Zhou is unwilling to send hostages to Yan nation, then let’s change the wording, change the pretext…”

Wang Hanbing couldn’t immediately understand Xiao Rongyan’s meaning. He stood up and bowed deeply to Xiao Rongyan. “Please enlighten me, Your Highness.”

“Since cities have been designated and these cities will be used for the national contest, Great Zhou will certainly need to send people to oversee them… to prevent our Yan nation from playing tricks!” Xiao Rongyan looked up at Wang Hanbing. Seeing Wang Hanbing’s eyes brighten, he knew Wang Hanbing understood his meaning.

“Your Highness speaks truly!” Wang Hanbing admired Xiao Rongyan’s quick thinking. How had he not thought of this at the time? “If the Great Zhou Emperor is to send people to oversee, he would naturally send those he trusts.”

“When the time comes, you need not say that the Great Zhou should send people. Just say that our Yan nation needs to send people to oversee, to prevent the Great Zhou from playing tricks. If asked, say that we will naturally send imperial relatives, and it’s temporarily inconvenient to reveal this to Great Zhou. If the Great Zhou is uneasy, they can also send people to the Yan territory to oversee.” Xiao Rongyan brushed at nonexistent dust on his sleeve hem, stood up, and said, “Let’s negotiate this way! Get this matter settled early so His Majesty can rest easy!”

After speaking, Xiao Rongyan walked toward the entrance of the main hall, with Feng Yao following behind.

The Yan nation’s envoys quickly bowed deeply in farewell to Xiao Rongyan. Hearing Xiao Rongyan and his guards walk away, only then did they stand up and discuss excitedly, all wearing thrilled expressions.

“How did we not think of such a wonderful method at the time!” one Yan nation envoy said excitedly. “We send people to oversee the cities where the Great Zhou is contesting for the nation – it’s perfectly reasonable. Since we’re sending people to oversee… naturally, Great Zhou must also send people to our Yan nation to oversee these cities. The Great Zhou Emperor has so many brothers and sisters, he would naturally send someone he trusts!”

“Nonsense, if you could think of it… Then you could be Regent Prince too!” That Yan official said excitedly, then quickly covered his mouth with his hand, glanced outside, and chuckled. “This humble one misspoke! Misspoke! But if this matter can be settled, His Majesty and the Empress Dowager… and the Regent Prince can all rest easy.”

“The Regent Prince is truly the pillar of our Yan nation!”

Over the following days, negotiations between the two nations went particularly smoothly, except for much deliberation over the designation of cities.

Messages from Bai Jintong flowed back continuously, analyzing each of Yan Nation’s cities.

On Yan nation’s side, Xiao Rongyan had traveled throughout Great Zhou for many years and had established roots there. He naturally had some understanding of Great Zhou’s cities.

The cities selected by both nations had to be roughly equal in strength to those chosen by the other side. Even if there were differences, they couldn’t be too great. Moreover, they had to be connected, making them easier to manage and assess.

Bai Qingyan summoned Liu Rushi to the palace to dine with her.

Liu Rushi knelt at the seat below Bai Qingyan’s, telling her about the day’s disputes at Honglu Si over the selection of cities by both sides.

A palace maid stepped forward to refill Liu Rushi’s warm rice wine. Liu Rushi steadied the cup and nodded slightly to the palace maid to indicate that it was enough, then knelt properly and continued speaking to Bai Qingyan. “This minister observed that when the Yan nation envoys discussed our Great Zhou’s city selections, their words and expressions seemed to show familiarity with our Great Zhou’s cities. Especially regarding the former Liang territories, they might understand them even better than this minister does. Your Majesty… there are Yan nation spies within our Great Zhou borders!”

“This is natural. Our Great Zhou also has spies in the Yan nation. Otherwise… how would information about those Yan nation cities have reached Lord Liu’s hands!” Bai Qingyan smiled as she picked up a piece of braised pork elbow, clear about what was happening. With Xiao Rongyan behind the Yan nation delegation, how could they not understand Great Zhou’s cities?

Bai Qingyan was familiar with the agents Xiao Rongyan had previously planted in the former Jin territories, but she truly didn’t know as clearly about the personnel Xiao Rongyan had later placed in the former Liang territories.

Seeing that Bai Qingyan seemed unconcerned, Liu Rushi set down her chopsticks and bowed to Bai Qingyan, saying earnestly, “Your Majesty should still take this matter seriously!”

“Lord Liu, rest assured. This is a matter for the School Affairs Bureau. The School Affairs Bureau is currently investigating these Yan nation spies.” Bai Qingyan smiled as she spoke to Lord Liu. “Moreover, when water is too clear, there are no fish… So, sometimes keeping these spies might prove very useful. No need to worry.”