“So then? What does Prince Yan want?” The Crown Prince, having been repeatedly troubled by Li Zhijie, already harbored anger, and even his voice carried a few traces of coldness.
Seeing the Jin Crown Prince’s darkened eyes and slightly quickened breathing, Li Zhijie knew his mind was already in turmoil.
Lu Tianzhuo gently tugged at Prince Yan’s sleeve, respectfully bowed to the Jin Crown Prince, then spoke: “Your Highness, please calm your anger. Prince Yan had no intention of sowing discord between Jin’s ruler and ministers. It’s just that the incident occurred suddenly… General Bai suddenly brought the Huying Battalion elite soldiers and these death warriors to attack Qiushan Pass. Prince Yan was suspicious about being treated this way despite seeking peace, feeling both terrified and indignantly furious, which is why he came to confront General Bai! I hope Your Highness will consider that Prince Yan was frightened and not take issue with his words.”
Bai Qingyan’s dark, deep eyes turned toward the humble Lu Tianzhuo. This young eunuch dressed in regular clothes… was quite sharp. Discovering that Prince Yan couldn’t sow discord between her and the Crown Prince, he was now trying to establish through his words that she had indeed gone to assassinate the Western Liang Prince Yan.
Zhen Zeping was so angry he laughed coldly, feeling Western Liang was utterly shameless, and spoke: “Since our General Bai feared having her military command confiscated and staged a fake assassination of your Western Liang Prince Yan, bringing the Huying Battalion elite soldiers would have been sufficient. Why… would she go to the unnecessary trouble of bringing these death warriors dressed in Jin clothing?”
Li Zhijie’s peach blossom eyes looked toward Bai Qingyan, appearing weak: “That question should be asked of General Bai!”
Bai Qingyan stood there calmly, her tall figure upright, gripping the sword at her waist, her expression clear and bright, composed and confident, as if she wasn’t the least bit worried about being suspected by His Highness.
The Crown Prince glanced sideways at Bai Qingyan, who remained calm and composed without rushing to explain to him, and secretly felt pleased. Earlier, he had worried that if Bai Qingyan couldn’t resist the advances of such a romantic figure as the Western Liang Prince Yan, she and Li Zhijie might develop feelings for each other.
Now it seemed… Li Zhijie was probably trying to frame this group of Jin-dressed death warriors on Bai Qingyan because she had discovered his hiding of a group of Jin-dressed death warriors at Qiushan Pass, and they had confronted each other!
The more urgently Li Zhijie tried to throw mud at Bai Qingyan, the more he wanted to protect her, so that Bai Qingyan would feel he lived up to her complete loyalty to him.
Bai Jinzhi’s eyes reddened, remembering how Ninth Brother was covered in wounds, her heart blazing with fury… wanting to tear Li Zhijie apart. She couldn’t help but learn from Cheng Yuanzhi’s crude language and curse: “Ask your mother’s leg!”
Prince Yan Li Zhijie, who had always been romantic and unrestrained, deeply beloved by women, was cursed at with crude language by a young lady for the first time, and couldn’t help but be stunned, his gaze falling on the fuming Bai Jinzhi.
The young lady’s cheeks were flushed red with anger, her eyes full of hatred, glaring at him.
Bai Qingyan raised her hand and pulled Bai Jinzhi behind her.
Upon hearing Bai Jinzhi’s crude language, Wei Zhaonian, Shen Kunyang, and Gu Wenchang all turned their heads to glare at Cheng Yuanzhi.
Cheng Yuanzhi came to his senses and saw the three men all glaring at him, looking bewildered: “Why are you three looking at me?!”
Shen Kunyang frowned and scolded Cheng Yuanzhi in a low voice: “Having no filter in front of Fourth Miss all day long! Look what you’ve taught Fourth Miss!”
Cheng Yuanzhi: “…”
The Crown Prince felt somewhat pleased by Bai Jinzhi’s curse at Li Zhijie, the corners of his lips curving in a slight smile: “I also want to ask Prince Yan—yesterday’s negotiation time was set by Prince Yan, yet Prince Yan made excuses saying the hour was too late, then brought up some servant girl, repeatedly attempting to postpone the negotiations! Today, you’ve staged this grand performance! Does Prince Yan think I have a good temper and can be toyed with at will?!”
At this point, the Crown Prince’s expression had already darkened: “The Huying Battalion’s night reconnaissance of Qiushan Pass was my order! What treacherous intentions Western Liang harbors, I’m not a fool and understand very clearly! The peace treaty has already been signed, and I originally didn’t want to make too much of an issue of it, but you repeatedly provoke trouble and test my limits! Now you even want to use the bodies of the Huying Battalion elite soldiers to take the initiative—isn’t that so?”
Li Zhijie looked at Bai Qingyan in her blood-stained armor, his right eye twitching as he suddenly understood. So it was the Crown Prince who sent Bai Qingyan to Qiushan Pass—no wonder Bai Qingyan showed no restraint… daring to walk around the main camp wearing this bloodstained armor.
“Your Highness, the wounds on the Western Liang Prince Yan’s body were not inflicted by any person I brought! Regarding this, Bai Qingyan dares to swear here… if Prince Yan’s wounds were caused by any person I, Bai Qingyan, brought to Qiushan Pass, may my Bai family’s nine generations die without burial!” Bai Qingyan looked at Li Zhijie. “Since Prince Yan claims I brought people to assassinate you, do you dare to swear a poisonous oath here to the Western Liang Sky God?”
Upon hearing the words “Sky God,” the Western Liang soldiers who had followed Li Zhijie all lowered their heads in reverence.
Western Liang worshipped the Sky God, who was supremely sacred to Western Liang.
Seeing Li Zhijie’s face change dramatically, Bai Qingyan asked with a half-smile: “What’s wrong? Prince Yan doesn’t dare?”
Li Zhijie dared to make regular oaths, but swearing to the Sky God… Li Zhijie honestly couldn’t do it.
Seeing Li Zhijie press his lips tightly together without speaking, the Crown Prince displayed the full bearing of a victorious nation’s heir: “This was originally Western Liang conspiring with Nanyan to first attack our Jin. Now that the peace treaty has been signed, if Western Liang still wants to cause trouble, I don’t mind announcing to the world what Western Liang hid at Qiushan Pass… and what their purposes were, inviting all nations to join with our Jin in conquering and dividing Western Liang. When that time comes, General Bai will certainly lead our Jin elite soldiers to level your Western Liang capital, Yunjing!”
Bai Qingyan lowered her eyes and respectfully clasped her fists toward the Crown Prince: “This subordinate will certainly not fail Your Highness’s expectations!”
The Crown Prince’s deliberately profound and vague words, spoken because he still hadn’t figured out Western Liang’s intentions, took on a completely different meaning in Li Zhijie and Lu Tianzhuo’s ears.
The Crown Prince’s reference to what was hidden at Qiushan Pass meant those Jin-dressed death warriors.
But Li Zhijie and Lu Tianzhuo subconsciously assumed that the Crown Prince knew a member of the Bai family was hidden at Qiushan Pass, so he had sent Bai Qingyan to rescue them.
Li Zhijie suddenly doubted the reliability of Nanyan’s information. Had Jin’s imperial family become suspicious of the Bai family for their overwhelming merit? Did they use and guard against the Bai family members?
But if Jin’s imperial family truly harbored wariness toward the Bai family, why would the Crown Prince send Bai Qingyan to lead the Huying Battalion to rescue a Bai family member?
Li Zhijie steadied his mind. Having detained a Bai family member but not mentioning it during negotiations was Western Liang’s fault. The Jin Crown Prince was right… If Jin announced this to all nations, wouldn’t the Rong and Di tribes who coveted their Western Liang’s fertile land come to get a share?!
Thinking of this, Li Zhijie’s body trembled slightly, the wound near his chest throbbed, and fresh blood seeped out again.
The Crown Prince clasped his hands behind his back, his expression composed: “If Prince Yan still wants to settle this matter peacefully, then leave the bodies of my Huying Battalion elite soldiers and depart immediately! I might consider the innocent people of Western Liang and act as if nothing happened! But if you dare cause trouble again, I’m afraid I’ll have to let the Western Liang royal nobility far away in Yunjing experience… just how sharp our Jin elite soldiers’ blades are!”