“Giant elephants are merely beasts after all. No matter how precious… they’re still beasts. Your Majesty’s heart lacks reverence for human life.” Bai Qingyan spoke slowly, lifting the teapot to pour herself another cup of hot tea. “Thus… It’s no wonder Tianfeng Kingdom has been abandoned by your so-called Sky God, who sent punishment to let the desert devour Tianfeng.”

Sa’er Khan’s lips moved silently, his gaze falling once again on the pouch at Bai Qingyan’s waist. He steadied his mind, forcibly suppressing his rage, and resumed his previous gentle and refined appearance: “Great Zhou’s Empress speaks truly. Tianfeng Kingdom should indeed reflect on this error. I wonder if Your Majesty could lend the jade cicada to Tianfeng Kingdom?”

“Speaking honestly now – you’re indeed here for the jade cicada…” Bai Qingyan’s smile deepened. “Your Majesty places hope in reversing time and has already become obsessed. If that’s the case… should our Great Zhou find the jade cicada, we will certainly present it to Tianfeng Kingdom.”

“Could Your Majesty lend me this pouch you carry for examination?” Sa’er Khan, seeing that Bai Qingyan still wouldn’t be forthright, was too lazy to pretend anymore.

Bai Qingyan looked down at her pouch: “I didn’t expect Sa’er Khan to be interested in a pouch for carrying snacks.”

She untied the pouch from her waist and held it in her hand, asking Sa’er Khan, “I can lend you the pouch to examine, but I can’t casually lend it to Sa’er Khan. How about… we make a trade? I’ll lend you the pouch to look at, and you can take what’s inside. I… want your Tianfeng Kingdom’s great shaman.”

Sa’er Khan’s palms tightened as he stared at the pouch in Bai Qingyan’s hand, wondering whether she was deceiving him.

The great shaman had said the jade cicada was in the pouch Bai Qingyan carried, but Bai Qingyan claimed it contained snacks.

Was she using this trade… to make him retreat in the face of difficulty? To not dare reach out and take the pouch?

The great shaman had never made an error in divination. If he obtained the jade cicada and could reverse time, the great shaman would return to his side, and by then, he would already know where the jade cicada was located – he could obtain it directly from Bai Qingyan again.

The jade cicada was Tianfeng Kingdom’s advantage.

If what was inside wasn’t the jade cicada, then the confident great shaman had made an error in divination…

A useless, erroneous great shaman who had been abandoned by the Sky God – he did not need such a useless great shaman either.

After contemplating for a long while, Sa’er Khan spoke: “Very well…”

Bai Qingyan’s smile deepened as she casually tossed the pouch onto the table. The pouch’s opening gaped open… and the plum strips that Yinshuang had packed for Bai Qingyan spilled out.

“Wei Zhong, detain that Tianfeng Kingdom’s great shaman. That great shaman… has been traded to me by Tianfeng Kingdom’s ruler for the snacks in this pouch!” Bai Qingyan picked up her teacup, completely unconcerned about the pouch.

When Sa’er Khan saw the plum strips scattered across the black lacquered table, his expression had already changed dramatically. He hastily grabbed the pouch, pulled the opening wide, and dumped everything inside out, frantically pushing aside the pile of plum strips. The pouch contained nothing but plum strips – there was no trace of any jade cicada.

His pupils trembled, and his upright posture seemed to lose all strength as he slowly sat back down.

Bai Qingyan paid no attention to Sa’er Khan’s reaction. Did Sa’er Khan think they could achieve foolproof success on Great Zhou’s territory?

It seemed Tianfeng Kingdom, having been isolated by the Heavenly Mountains and grown accustomed to being the sole power, had indeed lost its caution.

The results of that Tianfeng Kingdom great shaman’s divination had been delivered to Bai Qingyan not long after Sa’er Khan learned of them.

It just so happened that early this morning, Yinshuang had come to bring Bai Qingyan the new plum strips that Nanny Tong had made for Yinshuang. Chun Tao had laughingly advised Yinshuang that Bai Qingyan was about to attend court and could eat them after returning. Yinshuang had then pointed insistently at the pouch hanging at Bai Qingyan’s waist, saying she wanted to put the plum strips in Bai Qingyan’s pouch.

Hearing Yinshuang’s words, Bai Qingyan had Chun Tao put the plum strips in the pouch as a precaution. She hadn’t expected that Sa’er Khan would indeed lose his composure today.

“Your Majesty has truly become obsessed. It’s merely a jade cicada. Even if it were my late husband’s relic, if Tianfeng Kingdom claims it’s a national treasure… and it happens to be in my possession, why wouldn’t I give it? After all… I’ve never believed such nonsense as reversing time! Though it may sound disrespectful, Your Majesty should carefully consider Tianfeng Kingdom’s legend – why couldn’t it be a well-intentioned lie told by a childless queen to stabilize her power and prevent chaos in Tianfeng Kingdom, using mythical legends?” Bai Qingyan spoke steadily, holding her teacup and looking at Sa’er Khan.

She did believe in reversing time, because she… was reborn!

But in Sa’er Khan’s presence, she couldn’t speak this truth directly.

Nor would she hand over the jade cicada to Sa’er Khan. After all… if Tianfeng Kingdom truly possessed a method to reverse time, giving the jade cicada to Sa’er Khan would be a disaster for Great Zhou’s people.

“We are both rulers of nations. To make our countries prosperous and strong, we rely on two things… military strength and governance! Your Majesty has long been bewitched by this great shaman. Now that Great Zhou has detained this great shaman, I hope Your Majesty will sincerely ally with Great Zhou. Good relations between our two nations… benefits the people of both countries!” Bai Qingyan’s words seemed earnest and sincere, entirely for Sa’er Khan’s benefit.

Sa’er Khan looked up at Bai Qingyan: “Then I truly must… thank Your Majesty for your kind intentions!”

In the great hall, when the great shaman heard that he had been traded by Sa’er Khan to Great Zhou for the snacks in Bai Qingyan’s pouch, he was shocked. He immediately understood in his heart that he had divined the jade cicada to be in the pouch the Great Zhou Emperor carried, and Sa’er Khan had agreed to trade him for the pouch because he believed in his abilities.

But the Great Zhou Emperor had specifically requested to trade for him, clearly knowing he had divined the jade cicada to be in her pouch. She had sensed the threat and might have even known in advance… replacing the jade cicada in the pouch, then deliberately enticing their Tianfeng Kingdom ruler to trade him for the pouch.

The great shaman’s mind went blank in waves – he had been careless!

They were staying in Great Zhou’s guest quarters. He had thought that as long as he didn’t speak aloud… using Tianfeng Kingdom’s script to communicate with Sa’er Khan, there would be no problem with walls having ears. But how had the Great Zhou Emperor still found out!

The great shaman had followed Sa’er Khan for so many years – how could he not understand that as a divine messenger… he absolutely could not make errors? Making errors meant being abandoned by the Sky God. Tianfeng Kingdom had more than just one great shaman, and never making mistakes was the reason Sa’er Khan valued him so highly.

Now that he had erred, Sa’er Khan would probably abandon him directly!

Even… even if he hadn’t made an error, in the face of the jade cicada, he wasn’t that important to Sa’er Khan. As long as the Great Zhou Emperor gave the slightest indication, Sa’er Khan would unhesitatingly trade him for the jade cicada – this was certain.

The great shaman couldn’t help but worry about his future. With the Great Zhou Emperor detaining him in Great Zhou, what would she do to him? Kill him quickly, or… want him to submit and serve her?