He raised his gaze and surveyed the room: “This question… this prince would rather save it to discuss with the real Ghost-Faced Prince, wouldn’t you say?”

After speaking, Xiao Rongyan nodded farewell to the astonished Ghost-Faced Prince and pushed open the carved partition screen of the private room…

The lively, noisy sounds of revelry and stringed instruments from the pleasure house immediately poured in. Only then did the Ghost-Faced Prince come to his senses, his face turning deathly pale as he instinctively looked toward the wall next door.

Yue Shi, who had been watching the activities in the pleasure house, heard the door opening and hurried over: “Master, are we leaving?”

“Did anyone leave from next door just now?” Xiao Rongyan asked.

“No!” Yue Shi shook his head.

But when Xiao Rongyan had opened the partition screen just now, he had heard someone leaving the room next door.

“Master, do you have suspicions?” Yue Shi immediately became alert.

Thinking of the layout of this pleasure house, Xiao Rongyan immediately realized that the Ghost-Faced Prince must have left through the window. Without another word, he pushed open the partition screen next door and indeed… the window was wide open.

Seeing his master take three steps in two strides and leap down from the window, Yue Shi immediately followed… He saw his master land gracefully on top of a horse carriage, and Yue Shi also supported himself on the window frame and followed down.

Bai Qingyu, sitting inside the carriage, had a calm expression as he drew his sword and stabbed toward the carriage roof. Xiao Rongyan flipped and leaped, blocking the path in front of the carriage, and the driver quickly reined in the horses.

Xiao Rongyan chuckled lightly as he untangled the jade pearl tassels of his waist ornament that had gotten twisted together, then spoke to the carriage: “I request that the Ghost-Faced Prince treat me with sincerity. Otherwise… if news that the Ghost-Faced Prince is actually from Jin, and from the Bai family of Jin’s Duke Zhenguo’s mansion, reaches Rongdi, I imagine the Rongdi King would have to reconsider whether to give the Ghost-Faced Prince such great trust and power, whether to entrust state affairs to the Ghost-Faced Prince.”

Since he held leverage, if he wanted to negotiate, he first had to show his blade, so the Ghost-Faced Prince wouldn’t take him lightly and would put aside his arrogance to have a proper conversation.

The sheepskin lanterns hanging at the four corners of the carriage swayed incessantly due to the sudden stop, casting dancing shadows over Bai Qingyu’s upturned eyes, making his gaze appear even more profoundly cold and deep.

The man who had been driving the carriage now stood to the side, his hand gripping the handle of his sword at his waist, warily watching Yue Shi, who stood beside Xiao Rongyan with his long sword drawn, waiting only for his master’s command to draw his blade and charge at Xiao Rongyan.

“Apulu, stand down.”

Bai Qingyu’s voice came from inside the carriage, and only then did Apulu, still gripping his sword hilt, step back two paces, though his expression remained vigilant.

“Perhaps the Prince would care to step down and have a conversation…” Xiao Rongyan spoke gently.

Bai Qingyu used his long sword to lift the carriage curtain, looking at Xiao Rongyan standing before the carriage.

The moon was bright and clear, its radiance covering the ground, making Xiao Rongyan’s features appear even more sharply defined.

“Does the Ninth Prince think that by fabricating some random news, this prince would believe it?” Bai Qingyu’s voice was hoarse and unpleasant, his tone as flat as that of an old man weathered by vicissitudes. “Especially… coming from the Yan Nation’s Ninth Prince, who poses as the Wei merchant Xiao Rongyan to plant spies and agents in various countries.”

These words were not Bai Qingyu trying to deceive Xiao Rongyan.

Xiao Rongyan had come to see him in his capacity as Yan Nation’s Ninth Prince, but this Yan Nation Ninth Prince’s mannerisms inadvertently revealed the lazy elegance characteristic of Wei people…

Yan Nation was a martial Kingdom, yet it couldn’t nurture such a prince.

Bai Qingyu then thought of that Great Wei merchant Master Xiao beside the Prince of Xihuai, who could control the Prince of Xihuai’s schedule. It wasn’t difficult to connect the two.

Either this Ninth Prince was the Wei merchant Xiao Rongyan in disguise, or… the Ninth Prince was posing as the Great Wei merchant Xiao Rongyan to conduct business in various countries.

And Bai Qingyu was more inclined toward the latter.

Xiao Rongyan’s hands clasped behind his back tightened slightly as he looked at Bai Qingyu, who was hidden in the darkness: “Currently, Yan Nation is destroying Wei. For the Prince to lump this prince together with Wei people… is that believable?”

“Then, Ninth Prince, lumping this prince… together with Jin people, is that believable? Jin people, Rongdi people… could it be that this prince cannot tell the difference?” Bai Qingyu’s hoarse voice carried mocking laughter.

“If that’s the case, this prince will deliver the Bai family descendant I once rescued at Mengcheng market, along with the Bai Family Army that Yan Nation has found these past two years, to the Rongdi King’s side. I wonder if the Prince could bear to be ruthless toward the Bai Family Army?” Xiao Rongyan’s voice was measured.

Bai Qingyu said indifferently, “This prince never deals in hypotheticals. This prince can only guarantee you… From this day forward, Yan Nation’s envoys will be unable to see this prince again. And I’ll tell you plainly… as long as Yan Nation doesn’t stop attacking Wei for a single day, Rongdi won’t give you Yan Nation prisoners for a single day. If Yan Nation can bear to abandon their former comrades, then please do as you wish.”

“What if Yan Nation insists?” Xiao Rongyan’s gaze fell on the guard called Apulu. “How about the Prince dismiss your attendants so we can talk in detail? Yue Shi…”

Yue Shi nodded and called out to Apulu: “You, let’s wait at the alley entrance.”

Apulu stood motionless by the carriage until Bai Qingyu from inside the carriage told him to wait at the entrance. Only then did Apulu respectfully nod toward the carriage, cast a cold glance at Yue Shi, ignore him completely, and walk toward the alley entrance on his own.

“Whether the Ghost-Faced Prince admits to being a Bai family descendant or not, I must retrieve the Yan soldiers detained in Rongdi.” Xiao Rongyan gazed quietly toward the interior of the carriage, deciding to speak candidly with Bai Qingyu. “Let’s speak plainly and openly. I’m unwilling to use various methods against you, not because I fear you!”

“It’s because you are a Bai family descendant, A’Bao’s younger brother! However… A’Bao and I agreed beforehand that when facing major matters, we wouldn’t consider personal feelings! You may freely state your conditions for releasing the Yan soldiers, and we can mutually fulfill each other’s needs. If you truly refuse to relent, I have no other choice but to make A’Bao sad.”

On the journey escorting the Prince of Xihuai to meet this Ghost-Faced Prince, Xiao Rongyan’s mind was filled with images of Bai Qingyan’s uncontrolled emotions when she had learned about this Ghost-Faced Prince from him in Dengzhou.

Therefore, Xiao Rongyan restrained his impulse to use those sinister methods against this Ghost-Faced Prince and chose the path of negotiation instead.

Even more so, in the past, Xiao Rongyan would have abandoned the Yan soldiers detained in Rongdi and would never have disrupted the greater scheme for anyone!

He certainly wouldn’t have wasted time traveling such a long distance to find this Ghost-Faced Prince to negotiate conditions for fewer than ten thousand Yan soldiers.

But ever since Xiao Rongyan conquered Nanyan, using Bai Qingyan’s methods, how many fewer casualties did he cause among his soldiers, how much trouble did he save?

Since seeing how Bai Qingyan won people’s hearts in the capital, seeing Bai Qingyan’s way of leading troops, learning about the principles of the Bai Family Army that soldiers spoke of with such reverence – that the Bai Family Army would never abandon any soldier who had fought alongside them in blood – and understanding the direction of people’s hearts that Bai Qingyan could unite.

Only then was Xiao Rongyan willing to abandon what he considered to be shortcuts and resolve problems in a… relatively peaceful and principled manner.

Perhaps the different approaches that Bai Qingyan and Xiao Rongyan took in handling affairs stemmed from their completely different upbringings and the entirely different teachings they had received since childhood.