Xiao Ruohai’s smile grew wider at the corners of his mouth, then he suddenly changed the subject: “It’s just… if the prefect’s wife doesn’t confess truthfully, if the young master and miss lose their hands or noses or eyes, they won’t grow back!”

“Wife! Wife!” Hearing these words, the prefect trembled like chaff in the wind, hurriedly pleading with his wife: “Wife, just tell the truth! I said we shouldn’t be greedy. As long as we could keep the prefect position, that would be good enough, but you insisted our son must marry the Great Zhou Emperor’s sister, and insisted our daughter must marry into the royal family!”

Xiao Ruohai lowered his eyes, turning the thumb ring on his finger, his gaze extremely cold…

“The prefect’s wife has a big heart! Once, when the Yan Kingdom’s emperor offered the empress position to marry our Majesty’s sister, our Majesty didn’t agree. What kind of thing is your son? How dare he covet our Majesty’s sister?” Xiao Ruohai still had that smiling appearance, but his words inexplicably made the prefect and his wife’s spines turn cold. “Our Bai family’s young masters aren’t for any dirty, stinking thing to want. With your daughter’s status, even being a foot-washing maid for our Bai family young masters would be elevating her!”

Xiao Ruohai shook non-existent dust from his clothes, resting one hand on the chair’s armrest: “This time, you greedily came forward yourselves, thinking you could control our Great Zhou with just one method of attacking the city. But in reality, you have absolutely no chips to save your own lives. After all, your method – for us, it’s best if we have it, but it’s not impossible without it! In war… our Bai family army has never feared anyone! The harder the bone to crack, the more interested our Bai family army becomes!”

Xiao Ruohai smiled: “At this point… if the prefect’s wife speaks properly, and this time the city gates open and our Great Zhou wins, I can guarantee your family’s lives will be safe. But if there’s even the slightest error…”

He tapped his finger on the table, full of threatening intent.

Ye Yingwan’s face was extremely ugly. With Xiao Ruohai’s hint, she who thought herself clever finally understood that whether she greedily wanted her son to marry the Great Zhou Emperor’s sister or wanted her daughter to marry the Great Zhou Emperor’s brother, she hadn’t grasped the Great Zhou Emperor’s weak point at all!

To the Great Zhou Emperor, if she didn’t help, she would just attack and take it anyway.

She was merely judging others by herself, thinking the Great Zhou Emperor would consider using her brother’s or sister’s marriage to easily take Yecheng Pass a very profitable deal. Then she could use the Great Zhou imperial family’s banner to seek wealth for her son and the entire clan. But she misjudged how much the Great Zhou Emperor valued her siblings’ marriages.

She completely forgot to leave herself a way out, a reason why the Great Zhou Emperor wouldn’t dare kill their family.

She was too clever for her own good, too confident, and ended up being harmed by her cleverness.

She had so easily placed her entire family’s lives in the Great Zhou Emperor’s hands!

But she was unwilling!

Could this Great Zhou Emperor be so unconcerned about reputation, unconcerned about chilling the hearts of Great Zhou soldiers, not afraid that Great Zhou soldiers would know she preferred her brother’s marriage over letting those soldiers go to their deaths?!

The prefect trembled terribly, his face pale with fright. Thinking that if there were any errors, their entire family would meet the King of Hell, he hurriedly kowtowed: “My wife will certainly speak without concealment! Please, sir, spare our entire family’s lives!”

Ye Yingwan pretended to be calm, scolding the prefect: “Useless dog! What are you begging for? Am I the kind of person who doesn’t leave herself a way out?”

She put on an appearance of not fearing life or death, even seeming to have victory in hand: “Do you really think I’m a fool! Since I entered this prefect’s residence, I naturally left people outside the city. If our family dies here, my people will certainly spread the word until everyone knows, letting your Great Zhou soldiers all know what your Great Zhou Emperor has done!”

Xiao Ruohai chuckled softly: “The prefect’s wife seems to have forgotten – I followed you all the way and entered the city together with you. Your group, including the prefect, you, your son and daughter, plus guards, was exactly one hundred sixty-four people in total. Not one less… all were captured. Where… do you still have people?”

Not knowing Xiao Ruohai’s capabilities, upon hearing him report the exact number, Ye Yingwan’s face turned green.

Xiao Ruohai sighed: “Our Majesty was right – we really shouldn’t waste time here with you! I’ll give you the time of one incense stick. If you don’t speak… I won’t stay here to accompany you anymore! If you do speak… but what you say is false, causing our Great Zhou to lose soldiers, I’ll slice your family of four’s flesh into that many pieces. Don’t worry… I absolutely won’t let you die before I finish slicing!”

“Father… Mother!” The prefect’s son was still young and trembled with fear.

“Father, Mother…” The prefect’s daughter was also panicked and uneasy, her small face deathly pale.

Hearing their children’s timid calls, the prefect was immediately terrified, crawling forward on hands and knees to kowtow to Xiao Ruohai: “Sir, sir! I’ll tell! I’ll tell everything! My wife said General Ye Shouguan’s deputy general once swore to the heavenly gods to protect my wife completely, regardless of any cost! Ye Shouguan’s attendant once loved my wife and remains unmarried for her sake to this day. As long as you take the personal jade pendant he gave my wife to see him, he will certainly steal the token from my wife! Sir, everything I said is true! Please see clearly and spare our family of four!”

Ye Yingwan had originally wanted to struggle desperately, but seeing her daughter and son both dragged over, aside from cooperation, there seemed to be no other option. She could only sit there, kneeling with a face like a vegetable, saying nothing.

“Very good!” Xiao Ruohai tapped his finger once on the small table beside him, signaling to take the prefect’s son and daughter away, then said: “Thank you for the prefect’s cooperation. I must trouble the prefect’s wife to give me that personal jade pendant. I’ll return it immediately after use! Naturally… if things go smoothly, not only will the prefect’s family keep their lives, but having rendered merit, you’ll also receive proper arrangements!”

“Will you arrange for our family to go to the capital? Will you give us a residence and official position?” Ye Yingwan immediately asked.

“This isn’t difficult. As long as the prefect’s wife no longer covets marrying her daughter to our young master, since you’ve rendered merit… naturally, you’ll receive due rewards!” Xiao Ruohai smiled. “Moreover… the prefect’s wife must have heard that in our Great Zhou, women are allowed to study and take imperial examinations! On this journey following the prefect’s family back, I noticed the prefect’s daughter seems educated based on her speech. If this matter succeeds, I can also petition His Majesty for a favor, letting your daughter try taking the imperial examination – perhaps there’s even a chance to become an official!”