After speaking, Liu Rushi turned to the official recording the negotiations between the two nations: “What are you standing there for? Write it down—Yan’s Regent is equivalent to Yan’s Emperor. In the future, when our Great Zhou discusses state affairs with Yan, we can go directly to the Yan Regent’s mansion!”

Wang Hanbing narrowed his eyes with a smile: “Why must Minister Liu twist my meaning? Though our Yan Emperor is wise and decisive, when the two nations truly engage in this national wager, His Majesty will set the strategy… but how to implement it requires our Regent to control. This is known to everyone in our Yan court, just like this time… even though our Emperor decided on the national wager strategy, and even if the Regent disagreed, he still brought the Yan envoys to Great Zhou to negotiate this national wager with your nation.”

Seeing Wang Hanbing’s demeanor, Liu Rushi didn’t press the matter further, only saying: “Your Yan’s Regent, Second Prince Murong Li, and General Xie Xun—all three must be held as hostages in Great Zhou! First… these three are all capable generals of war in your Yan. Leaving them in Yan… our Great Zhou cannot be at ease! General Xie Xun is ultimately an outsider to Yan’s imperial family. When your Yan decides to betray the alliance, your imperial family would surely sacrifice General Xie without hesitation!”

“As for this Second Prince Murong Li, your Yan Emperor has yet to enfeoff him as a prince since ascending the throne, showing that this bastard son of Yan’s former emperor is not favored by the Empress Dowager and Emperor. Your Yan would naturally not consider him when betraying the alliance!”

“Therefore, only with your Yan Regent held hostage in Great Zhou can our Great Zhou feel secure in this national wager with your Yan!”

Liu Rushi spoke rapidly and steadily, giving the Yan envoys no chance to interrupt. After finishing, he picked up his teacup, and before bringing it to his lips, added: “After all, this national wager strategy is not profitable for our Great Zhou… almost all our Great Zhou court officials disagree. It’s only because His Majesty cherishes soldiers and common folk that he agreed to discuss it. If negotiations fail, it’s no loss to our Great Zhou—we’ll just fight a few more days.”

Finishing this, Liu Rushi picked up his teacup and leisurely took a sip, as if he didn’t particularly care or especially want to conclude this national wager.

The Yan envoys became anxious instead, whispering among themselves, which Liu Rushi pretended not to hear.

Wang Hanbing understood that while Grand Marshal Lu had sat here gently and slowly before, seeing that soft approaches didn’t work, Liu Rushi came and immediately took a hard stance. Indeed, Great Zhou had nothing to worry about—whether they fought or not… the suffering would all be Yan’s.

Soon, Wang Hanbing responded, his hands hidden in his sleeves tightening slightly: “Minister Liu says the Second Prince is not favored by the Empress Dowager and Emperor—I cannot agree with this statement. Though the Second Prince has not yet been enfeoffed as a prince, he is a capable general of our Yan. How could our Empress Dowager and Emperor not favor him? Moreover, the First Prince, who shares the same mother as our Emperor, has also not been enfeoffed as a prince. Does this mean the Empress Dowager and Emperor also disfavor the First Prince?”

“As for General Xie, his father is still our Yan’s Marquis Wenjuan. How could we casually sacrifice General Xie if we held him hostage in Great Zhou?”

As Wang Hanbing spoke, Liu Rushi raised his head and closed the lid of his teacup, seeming eager to engage in a battle of wits with Wang Hanbing.

It was at this moment that Wang Hanbing boldly made a decision, raising his eyes to look at Liu Rushi: “The Regent absolutely cannot be held hostage in Great Zhou, but… as Minister Liu said, Great Zhou now holds all advantages and wants our Yan to show sincerity. Then… this sincerity our Yan must provide. How about this—along with holding the Second Prince and General Xie hostage in Great Zhou, we’ll also send the First Prince, born to our Empress Dowager and sharing the same mother as our Emperor, as hostage to Great Zhou. Would this demonstrate our Yan’s sincerity?”

Wang Hanbing made this decision without consulting anyone, though he had calculated it in his heart early on. His Majesty’s letter also stated… no matter what, the Regent could not be held hostage in Great Zhou.

Since that was the case, he would push forward the Empress Dowager’s son, the Emperor’s brother, better than having the Regent held hostage in Great Zhou.

Liu Rushi raised an eyebrow, gripping his teacup tighter as he looked at Wang Hanbing.

Not only Liu Rushi, even the Yan envoys were shocked. This Wang Hanbing hadn’t consulted with anyone before directly pushing forward the First Prince. If the Empress Dowager blamed them, whose fault would it be?

Yet oddly enough, once Wang Hanbing spoke these words, none of the Yan envoys dared to contradict him.

After all, sitting at this negotiation table, the two nations were bargaining with each other for benefits. Since their people had already spoken, the Yan envoys naturally couldn’t undermine him. Moreover, they knew before coming that Wang Hanbing was in charge of these peace talks.

“What Great Zhou worries about is nothing more than our Yan’s national wager being a delaying tactic, fearing that once the national wager is set and Great Zhou withdraws troops, when Yan’s main forces return, Yan will break the agreement. Since that’s the case, rather than holding our Regent hostage in Great Zhou, it’s better to hold our Empress Dowager’s son, His Majesty’s brother, hostage in Great Zhou. Compared to the Regent… our Yan Emperor’s uncle would be more persuasive.” Wang Hanbing raised his gaze to Liu Rushi, “Is this sincerity… enough for Great Zhou?”

Liu Rushi knew in his heart that in the end, no matter what, Yan would never hold their Regent hostage in Great Zhou. He just hadn’t expected Great Yan to ultimately push forward the First Prince, born to Yan’s Empress Dowager.

Liu Rushi nodded: “This… can indeed be considered Yan’s sincerity, but there’s still one person our Great Zhou must keep…”

“Minister Liu can be assured, Imperial Uncle Zhong—before the case of the guards assassinating Minister Liu is cleared up, he will remain in Great Zhou to cooperate with the investigation. Our Yan is still aware of this!” Wang Hanbing spoke slowly.

“How strange…” Liu Rushi turned to look at Fan Yugan, then at Lu Fenglang, his gaze sweeping across his other colleagues, “This Yan envoy delegation is quite reasonable! How is it that you couldn’t negotiate with them…”

“This… this is our fault! We’re just too soft-faced. At crucial moments, we still need to rely on Minister Liu!” Fan Yugan said with a smile, his fawning attitude making Lu Fenglang unable to watch.

Liu Rushi gave Fan Yugan a withering look, then continued: “Since Yan shows such sincerity, let’s discuss the detailed matters of this national wager between our two nations. All the cities, territories, and people of both nations combined would probably take half a year to a full year to calculate completely. How about we select a dozen or so connected cities from both nations’ territories?”

Before Liu Rushi arrived, the negotiations between the two nations had been constantly hitting snags. Both sides had been stuck on this matter of taking hostages for so long without resolution. Now that Liu Rushi had arrived, things proceeded smoothly from hostage negotiations to discussing the selection of a dozen cities for the national wager.