Yan’s Minister of Revenue withdrew his gaze from Lu Jin and bowed deeply to Bai Qingyan with sincere respect, saying, “Your Majesty, from when your country’s Minister Liu was assassinated until now, Minister Zhong has been proclaiming his innocence. As a colleague… this foreign minister does not believe Minister Zhong would do such a foolish thing! Please grant Yan an opportunity for a detailed investigation!”

“I, Lu Jin, have tried countless cases. Every heinous criminal, even knowing death is imminent, will cry injustice, hoping for a sliver of chance at life…” Lu Jin looked at Yan’s Minister of Revenue with a beaming smile, “There’s nothing strange about this.”

Xiao Rongyan’s profound, dark eyes gazed at Bai Qingyan, whose smile didn’t reach her eyes. After a long moment, he said, “I wonder what reason makes the Great Zhou Emperor and Minister Lu cling so tightly to a corpse?”

“If the Regent puts it that way, I… am also quite curious! Since he’s not your Yan’s martyr…” Bai Qingyan picked up the teacup beside her, “why does the Regent also cling so tightly to a corpse, insisting on taking it back? Could it really be as our Minister Lu said – to take it back for a grand burial?”

After speaking, Bai Qingyan lowered her eyes and sipped her tea unhurriedly. Her noble bearing was natural, yet she was born so fair and exquisite, beautiful beyond compare.

The brilliant golden light from outside the hall streamed in, reflecting on the mirror-bright azure stone floor. The hall appeared even more magnificent. Behind the golden table sat a woman of extraordinary beauty with extremely fair, translucent skin, wearing only a wild goose hairpin – she was the only soft, bright color in this resplendent golden hall. Her fair complexion seemed illuminated by the golden light within the hall, beautiful in such a pure and noble way that none dared show disrespect.

“Our Minister of Revenue spoke very clearly. Regarding this assassination, Minister Zhong has never admitted to it. This Prince also worries that some villain might be trying to sabotage this national gamble negotiation, so I want to investigate more thoroughly to give Great Zhou an explanation and also give our Yan Emperor an explanation,” Xiao Rongyan spoke deliberately, with his usual composure.

“Does the Regent mean that our Great Zhou’s Minister of Justice, Lu, is incompetent, easily fooled by an assassin, and killed the only lead in the case before it was thoroughly investigated?” Bai Qingyan let out a light laugh and looked at Lu Jin. “Minister Lu, if that’s the case, I think you need not continue as Minister of Justice…”

How could Lu Jin not understand his Emperor’s meaning? He only smiled and said, “Your Majesty speaks truly. When Yan is incorporated into our Great Zhou in the future, this minister will certainly yield his position, giving the post of Minister of Justice to the Ninth Prince of Yan! I hope the Ninth Prince will not disappoint Your Majesty and will offer much guidance to this official.”

On the surface, Bai Qingyan’s making things difficult for Xiao Rongyan was perfectly reasonable.

The Yan envoys were indignant but dared not speak out.

Only Xiao Rongyan let out a very light, low laugh, saying, “Who will be the ultimate victor is still uncertain. If Great Zhou is incorporated into our Yan at that time, in consideration of how much the Great Zhou Emperor values Minister Lu, this Prince… will certainly still reserve the position of Minister of Justice for Minister Lu!”

Yan’s Minister of Revenue’s lips moved slightly. He felt it wasn’t worthwhile to break relations with the Great Zhou Emperor at this moment, yet didn’t dare to persuade otherwise.

“Since the Great Zhou Emperor is unwilling to hand over the corpse to our Yan for detailed investigation, then… we also hope Great Zhou won’t keep harping on the assassin matter to pressure our Yan. Otherwise, if word spreads, those who don’t know the truth… might think that when our Yan envoys came to Great Zhou’s territory for negotiations, the Great Zhou Emperor took the opportunity to settle personal scores and pressure Yan!” After Xiao Rongyan finished speaking, he bowed deeply to Bai Qingyan. “Farewell…”

Seeing their Regent leave with a flourish of his sleeves, Yan’s Minister of Revenue quickly led the Yan court ministers in a deep bow: “This foreign minister takes his leave.”

Watching the Yan envoys depart, Lu Jin irritably straightened his sleeves and turned to look at Bai Qingyan: “If this assassin hadn’t died and we’d really let Yan take him back, in the end… they would probably spread word that our Great Zhou was unwilling to determine victory through national gambling for the sake of our people and soldiers’ lives, crying thief while being the thief themselves, deliberately staging this drama to have an excuse to attack Yan.”

Bai Qingyan picked up her teacup again and said, “Now that Minister Liu is ‘severely injured and unconscious,’ who does Minister Lu think should host these negotiations?”

Lu Jin thought seriously: “Since Yan sent their Regent, why not have Grand Commander Lu preside? Grand Commander Lu has always been diplomatic and measured. Let the other officials handle the bickering and arguing. No matter what, Yan must bow their heads this time. As long as our Great Zhou’s demands aren’t too excessive, Yan will probably agree to most of them.”

“It will be hard work for Grand Commander Lu,” Bai Qingyan said with a smile.

If Bai Qingyun were here, having him handle these negotiations would be most suitable. When Bai Qingyun got serious… that mouth of his was quite formidable too.

Bai Qingyan had a good sense of the person Liu Rushi recommended. Fan Yugan was someone who could stir up trouble out of nothing – let him go stir things up.

She imagined these peace talks would be quite a spectacle. However, she now needed to devote more energy to the new laws. The new laws she wanted to implement had no precedent to follow; Bai Qingyan could only explore step by step.

After Lu Jin and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court withdrew, Bai Qingyan sent a letter to the southern frontier, unable to resist sending news of Second Uncle’s deputy general Gao Yuxing’s return to the Bai Family Army. She even hoped in her heart… since Second Uncle’s deputy general could return, perhaps her brother who hadn’t come home yet could also escape death and return?

The Battle of the Southern Frontier was the greatest pain in Bai Qingyan’s heart. After everyone had withdrawn, Bai Qingyan calmed herself for a moment, smoothing her emotions before picking up the bamboo scrolls left by Empress Ji to study carefully.

Bai Qingyan had only read a few lines when Wei Zhong hurried in again, bringing news from the embassy.

“Your Majesty… word came from the embassy that Yan’s National Uncle Zhong Xingxiao has escaped under his guards’ protection…”

Upon hearing this, Bai Qingyan set down the bamboo scroll in her hands. Her expression was cold and clear, with what seemed like mockery in her eyes.

She had originally thought this assassination of Liu Rushi could temporarily come to a close, but she hadn’t expected the cowardly Zhong Xingxiao to make such a foolish move.

Bai Qingyan couldn’t help but feel sorry for Xiao Rongyan. Surrounded by fools and having to drag along such a massive Yan – it was truly exhausting.

Yan’s court was different from the Great Zhou’s current court. Yan’s court had various noble families and factions mixed. Though they weren’t like Western Liang’s Eight Great Families, who were like parasites clinging to Western Liang, each faction would place their people in court, each calculating their schemes, inevitably constraining Xiao Rongyan.

In contrast, the Great Zhou’s court, being a newly established dynasty, though Bai Qingyan had ministers she relied on, all those she could use had clear minds and would never cause trouble for Bai Qingyan.