Qin Yining’s face showed contemplation as she organized her thoughts, then said: “Besides giving the Emperor a handle to control him, the Marquis of Dingbei is actually trying to curry favor with the Emperor. I imagine that after he killed the Great Yan delegation and returned to the palace, he will certainly try every means to apologize and show weakness.

“When a person who has always been tough suddenly softens and shows submission before oneself, the Emperor will definitely change his opinion of him. Moreover, compared to Your Highness’s temperament, the Marquis of Dingbei’s gesture of goodwill becomes even more precious due to this contrast.

“After the Marquis of Dingbei caused this commotion, whereas previously the Emperor couldn’t easily tell Your Highness not to seek revenge, now he has grounds to say ‘don’t kill the innocent indiscriminately,’ which can help the Emperor retain the Great Yan surrendered officials he wishes to utilize.”

“Most importantly, the Marquis of Dingbei’s actions can not only win over the old officials of the Northern Ji Kingdom, but also sell a favor to the Great Yan court’s surrendered officials.”

“Oh?” Xu Weizhi frowned slightly upon hearing this. After thinking for a moment, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he looked at Qin Yining with surprise and delight, saying with heartfelt admiration, “Miss Qin truly has remarkable insight.”

Pang Xiao also looked toward Qin Yining, who was smiling gently while speaking eloquently, his phoenix eyes brimming with appreciation.

Qin Yining smiled bashfully, using her pale fingertips to trace circles on the bowl cover as she continued softly:

“I come from Great Yan, so I understand somewhat the mindset of Great Yan court officials. The delegation entering the capital this time is divided into three groups. The first group following Prince Yan consists of ten families who are the cream of the crop among Great Yan officials. These people should receive the Emperor’s attention after arriving in Great Zhou.

“But I suspect that the military generals in court must be the Emperor’s direct subordinates. As for civilian officials’ power, aside from placing a few of his own people in key positions, the Emperor will divide the remaining positions between the old officials of Northern Ji Kingdom and the Great Yan surrendered officials. This way, the vacant official positions become limited.

“The Marquis of Dingbei recklessly killed many from the first group, so when the second and third groups of Yan court people arrive successively, their chances of filling vacancies become greater. Just imagine what these people’s impression of the Marquis of Dingbei will be—it must certainly be poor.”

“You’re right. Although human life is paramount and those who died tragically were innocent, those who survived feel fortunate, thinking ‘thankfully so-and-so died, so I have a chance to take up such-and-such position’—this mentality does exist.” Hearing her analysis, Pang Xiao couldn’t help but sigh.

It should be noted that normally Pang Xiao rarely interrupted his advisors’ discussions. Usually, the advisors would present problems for discussion, with the strategically-minded Xu Weizhi devising several response strategies. Everyone would analyze the pros and cons together, and finally the decisive Xie Yue would select the most feasible plan from the various options.

During this process, Pang Xiao would listen and express his views at the end, but wouldn’t interject mid-discussion.

His behavior today was truly rare. Not only Pang Xiao, but even these people, after hearing Qin Yining’s analysis, couldn’t help but want to sigh at human nature.

Everyone’s impression of Qin Yining improved once again.

Qin Yining smiled at Pang Xiao, “There’s no need to dwell too deeply on just how evil human nature can be. What I mentioned just now should also be something the Marquis of Dingbei did incidentally. Moreover, this isn’t the key to the Marquis of Dingbei’s gesture of goodwill toward the Great Yan surrendered officials. The most crucial point still lies in the feud between Your Highness and the Qin family, as well as with Great Yan.”

Pang Xiao already understood her meaning and said in a deep voice: “It was indeed Grand Preceptor Qin who devised the alienation scheme back then, but the person who ordered Grand Preceptor Qin to devise the alienation scheme was the foolish ruler. When I previously attacked Great Yan, the people in the city spread rumors about me being a demon who kills without blinking, eats human flesh, and drinks human blood. The Yan court people must also be extremely wary of me, fearing that I might vent my anger on them and hold them accountable for my father’s revenge.”

Qin Yining frowned deeply and said: “Yes, although Your Highness has destroyed Great Yan, you haven’t actually avenged your father’s murder. So the Great Yan people must be worried, fearing whether they’ll be tormented to death when they come to Your Highness’s territory.”

Qin Yining stopped speaking at this point.

Because she knew that everyone present was intelligent. They hadn’t thought of this earlier simply because they were Zhou court people, and naturally thought about problems from the Zhou court people’s perspective. This didn’t prove that she was much more capable than the advisors present.

By not finishing her words completely, she also left room for them to contribute.

Indeed, all the advisors showed contemplative expressions.

The advisor who had been quite unconvinced after being pointed out for his error by Qin Yining now felt genuinely convinced and sighed:

“It’s exactly as you say. The Marquis of Dingbei didn’t target his revenge specifically, but killed indiscriminately! This gives everyone the impression that Your Highness kills innocents indiscriminately for revenge. In this way, if Your Highness seeks revenge in the future, you’ll face enormous public opinion pressure. If handled poorly, your reputation could be completely ruined. Doesn’t this perfectly resolve the Great Yan people’s concerns?”

The advisor stood up and bowed to Qin Yining with cupped hands: “I am Tao Hanshan. I was quite offensive earlier, and I hope Miss Qin will forgive me.”

Qin Yining rose and returned the courtesy, smiling: “Master Tao, please don’t be so formal. His Highness gave us an environment for discussion precisely so we could express our views freely and exchange opinions. Where was Master Tao offensive? On the contrary, this young woman was presumptuous to speak so boldly before all the masters.”

“Not at all.” Tao Hanshan said, “Miss’s intelligence surpasses others, and her thoughts are meticulous. Tao is impressed.”

Qin Yining exchanged humble and polite words with Tao Hanshan for a while before sitting down again.

The atmosphere immediately became extremely relaxed. The advisors’ previous exclusion and hostility toward Qin Yining had completely disappeared after this conversation.

Everyone now understood why His Highness was so deeply infatuated with her, even willing to risk everything to save her, and even willing to sacrifice his reputation by doing “forceful abduction” to preserve the Qin family’s future.

Such a woman was worth treasuring.

And the Qin family that could raise such a daughter would also make good in-laws.

Seeing these advisors who had been so arrogant and haughty now all respectful and careful in their attitudes, Pang Xiao felt as happy as drinking a bowl of hot tea on a winter day—warm and comfortable from inside to outside.

It seemed his earlier worries were completely unnecessary. His Yining wouldn’t retreat just because others had a poor first impression of her. When facing difficulties, she would only meet them head-on. She wouldn’t throw tantrums or complain.

She was like a luminous being. From childhood to adulthood, no matter what she encountered, she never retreated or admitted defeat. She always exerted herself to the extreme and fought to the utmost.

Pang Xiao’s heart surged with passion, his affection for Qin Yining reaching an indescribable level. He wished he could keep her by his side every day, so that her heart and eyes would hold only him.

While everyone was discussing, Huzi’s voice suddenly came from outside.

Pang Xiao knew Huzi must have important matters to report, so he waved to signal everyone to be quiet and called out loudly: “Come in.”

Huzi entered the door with a grave expression and said: “We just received news that the Marquis of Dingbei has petitioned the Emperor to marry Princess Imperial Anyang, and the Emperor has already granted permission.” After speaking, he also stole glances at Pang Xiao’s expression with a pained face.