Bai Qingyan had already guessed that Xiao Rongyan’s talk of tribute and vassalage… was merely to make the Dongyi court officials more readily accept Yan’s troop stationing, so this wasn’t surprising.

If Bai Qingyan’s calculations were correct, after Yan stationed troops in Dongyi, Xiao Rongyan would also follow Great Zhou’s example and have Dongyi bear all expenses for the Yan army’s needs in Dongyi.

This would be equivalent to using Dongyi’s silver to guard against Great Zhou ordering Dongyi to cause trouble for Yan, providing an acceptable explanation to Yan’s domestic affairs while not affecting this wager.

If their positions were reversed and Bai Qingyan was now sitting in Xiao Rongyan’s position, the next step… would be to seek out this Dongyi Empress to probe the truth about the Dongyi Seventh Prince and win the Empress’s cooperation.

However, just now Bai Qingyan had noticed Xiao Rongyan’s eyes behind his mask repeatedly scrutinizing Tuoba Yao. She wondered whether Tuoba Yao’s words and actions had dispelled Xiao Rongyan’s suspicions.

But regardless of whether this Dongyi Seventh Prince was truly the Dongyi Seventh Prince, as long as Yan could station troops in Dongyi, it was immaterial to Xiao Rongyan and Yan. Yan’s stationed troops would be like a sword held to Dongyi’s throat—if Dongyi made any suspicious moves, Yan could destroy Dongyi at any time.

This was probably why Xiao Rongyan had left five thousand men in the mountain hollow beside the Jade River. He had already chosen that location, and as soon as Dongyi agreed to troop stationing, he would naturally designate that place.

That location… was very close to the Dongyi capital, absolutely sufficient to deter Dongyi from seeking trouble with Yan.

“Then…” Xiao Rongyan looked at Bai Qingyan and Dongyi’s new emperor with a smile, “Dongyi’s compensation to our Yan we accept, but… this prince won’t take back the troops I brought. They’ll remain in Dongyi just in case. Naturally, as long as Dongyi has no intention of provoking our Yan, these troops are just for show. Otherwise, if Dongyi neither becomes a vassal nor allows troop stationing, after fighting this war for so many days… this prince would have no way to explain to our emperor and people upon return!”

Bai Qingyan’s smile deepened. Indeed…

This was a matter between Dongyi and Yan—the Great Zhou didn’t want to interfere too obviously.

“Then, where does Yan wish to station troops?” Tuoba Yao turned to look at Xiao Rongyan and asked.

“Since troop stationing is for deterrence and prevention, naturally it must be in a location relatively close to the capital!” After speaking, Xiao Rongyan smiled and said to the Dongyi Empress, “Please rest assured, Dongyi Empress, new emperor, and all Dongyi court officials—our Yan, like Great Zhou, considers the wager our most important current matter. We seek only peaceful coexistence! In the future, if Yan is fortunate enough to win the wager, then, as the new Dongyi emperor said, Dongyi will be Yan’s vassal state. If Yan loses, naturally, there would be no point in attacking Dongyi to make wedding clothes for the Great Zhou!”

Every sentence was reasonable and impossible to refute.

Xiao Rongyan rested his elbow on the armrest, his smile deepening: “If Dongyi is unwilling to pay tribute and become a vassal to Yan, and also disagrees with troop stationing, I fear our entire Yan court… could not agree!”

He adjusted his sleeves and continued: “Signing treaties is about mutual concessions—you step back, I step back. There’s no principle of only one side making concessions, especially… our Yan is not the one kneeling to beg for peace. So at this point, Dongyi shouldn’t be too ungrateful. Both nations step back, the treaty is signed, all is well—Dongyi gains stability, and this prince can return to report successfully.”

Just as the Dongyi court officials were discussing among themselves, Xiao Rongyan spoke again: “Now that Yan and Great Zhou have already fought to this point, Dongyi shouldn’t treat us too differently. Though our Yan indeed isn’t as mighty as Great Zhou and doesn’t dare war with Great Zhou, we’re still not afraid of little Dongyi!”

“Our Dongyi is already Great Zhou’s vassal state. Does the Yan Regent Prince act thus without considering the Great Zhou?” The Dongyi court officials bowed toward Bai Qingyan’s direction. Since Dongyi was now Great Zhou’s vassal state, paying tribute ten times what they once paid to Great Liang, naturally, they expected Great Zhou’s protection at crucial moments.

After hearing the Dongyi court official’s words, Xiao Rongyan nodded and turned to look at Bai Qingyan: “Great Zhou and Yan have prior treaties, once jointly destroyed Western Liang to resist Tianfeng, and now our two nations are engaged in a wager. Three years hence, regardless of who wins or loses, we’ll be one family. The Great Zhou attacked Dongyi… to vent anger and gain benefits for itself. But if Great Zhou and Yan fought over Dongyi, in the future… we’d be depleting our family assets while Dongyi could profit as a fisherman. This deal isn’t worthwhile, so the Great Zhou Emperor won’t war with Yan over Dongyi. Otherwise, when this prince proposed Dongyi’s vassalage earlier, the Great Zhou Emperor should have spoken against it. Why did the Great Zhou Emperor remain silent?”

Hearing Xiao Rongyan say this, Bai Qingyan chuckled softly: “Please enlighten this prince—why did I remain silent?”

Xiao Rongyan bowed to Bai Qingyan with cupped hands, then said slowly: “If the Great Zhou Emperor had spoken against it, wouldn’t these Dongyi people again judge a gentleman’s heart with a petty person’s mind, thinking… that Great Zhou now stations troops in Dongyi but won’t let Yan station troops—could it be they’re treating Dongyi as Great Zhou’s backup plan? If Great Zhou wins the wager, they’ll conveniently absorb Dongyi; if they lose, they can perfectly come to Dongyi to be emperor and make a comeback! Because Dongyi… is exactly such a nation that loves to take a mile when given an inch!”

Bai Qingyan smiled without speaking, only looking at Xiao Rongyan indifferently.

“The Yan Regent Prince’s words are too excessive!” The Dongyi court officials angrily raised their voices: “Our Dongyi has never harbored such thoughts!”

Even though some hot-tempered Dongyi court officials shouted thus, it still made some other Dongyi court officials’ hearts skip a beat. They secretly glanced at the Great Zhou Emperor in silver armor sitting above with their young master. Could it be… that the Great Zhou didn’t destroy Dongyi now precisely to occupy Dongyi if they lost the wager?

Seeing the varied expressions of the Dongyi court officials, Xiao Rongyan smiled slightly: “If Dongyi weren’t such a nation, why would they take advantage of our two nations’ wager, betting that Great Zhou wouldn’t war with Dongyi, to pursue and kill Great Zhou envoys? And relying on superior numbers to massacre all the Great Zhou naval forces led by the Prince of Hancheng, even saying they’d chop up the Prince of Hancheng’s corpse to feed dogs? Our Yan… cannot help but guard against this! Great Zhou cannot help but guard against!”

“Those were things done when the traitorous Second Prince was on the throne. Now that the Second Prince is dead and I have ascended… Dongyi will certainly have a new atmosphere.” Tuoba Yao spoke slowly: “The Yan Regent Prince worries too much.”