The Ninth Prince of Great Yan looked at the first bloom of lotus flowers in brilliant display on the lake surface, while from the corner of his eye he unobtrusively observed Li Zhijie, casually playing with the tassels on his cushion: “Or perhaps, the Rong Di are already working for Great Zhou to take down Xiliang?”

“How is it impossible that the Rong Di have seen that both Great Zhou and Great Yan harbor ambitions to annex the world, but knowing the Rong Di are no match for these two nations, they want to swallow Xiliang to form a three-way balance with you?” Li Zhijie asked.

The Ninth Prince of Great Yan gave a light laugh: “It’s still the same question – would Great Zhou sit by and watch the neighboring nation Xiliang grow strong and form a three-way balance with it? The Great Zhou Empress has grand ambitions with the goal of unifying the world! Currently, Great Zhou cannot attack Yan because after Yan recovered Nanyan… and destroyed Wei, its national power greatly increased, so Great Zhou cannot act rashly!”

“Moreover, if the Great Zhou were to act against Yan, that war would inevitably be protracted! This… would give the two weak nations of Rong Di and Xiliang breathing room, and no one can guarantee that Xiliang or the Rong Di won’t reverse the situation like Yan did.”

“To unify the world, what the Great Zhou should do… is annex Xiliang and the Rong Di, then finally destroy Yan! For Yan, it’s the same – what we should do is annex Xiliang and the Rong Di, then destroy Great Zhou!” The Ninth Prince of Great Yan spoke very candidly.

Li Zhijie gritted his teeth hard. Weak nations were simply meat on the chopping block of strong nations…

“So, Ninth Prince of Great Yan, you drew me here today not just to tell me… that Great Yan, like Great Zhou, wants to destroy Xiliang?” Li Zhijie set down his teacup and smiled lightly at the Ninth Prince, feigning ease.

“This prince wants to show Xiliang a path to survival,” the Ninth Prince of Great Yan said leisurely. “Xiliang… could submit to Great Yan and pay tribute. This way, the nation could be preserved.”

Upon hearing these words, Li Zhijie was immediately filled with rage. He slammed the table and rose, his face showing rare anger: “Ninth Prince speaks with such arrogance.”

“Prince Yan, please don’t be angry. This prince doesn’t speak these words to humiliate Xiliang. After all… the former Yan came through this way too,” the Ninth Prince of Great Yan’s voice was gentle, which considerably calmed Li Zhijie’s anger.

“Only by preserving the nation can there be a thread of hope! Only thus… can Xiliang plan for the future.” The Ninth Prince of Great Yan rose as he spoke and bowed deeply to Li Zhijie. “Prince Yan should carefully consider this prince’s words. Of course… if Xiliang were to submit to the Great Zhou and pay tribute, it would be the same, but Xiliang’s Yun Poxing does have a personal grudge with the Great Zhou Empress.”

The Ninth Prince of Great Yan bowed to Li Zhijie, walked to his side, and gently patted Li Zhijie’s shoulder, then walked out of the pavilion to put on his shoes. Just as he was about to leave gracefully, he seemed to remember something and stopped.

He turned around and, through the swaying thin gauze, said: “I hear… the people have abandoned farming and are now enthusiastically weaving jade brocade and hunting fierce beast pelts. Xiliang should thank the Great Zhou nobles for their fondness for this jade brocade and Xiliang beast pelts. The Great Zhou cannot weave jade brocade within its borders and has no Xiliang beast pelts. This has made Xiliang quite a fortune!”

Li Zhijie straightened his back upon hearing this and turned to look at the Ninth Prince of Great Yan, feeling there was hidden meaning in his words. But before he could ask further… the Ninth Prince of Great Yan had already departed.

Li Zhijie closed his eyes. In his ears was the sound of tea water boiling on the stove fire. He felt that current Xiliang was like this teapot, truly and completely placed over the fire.

Was that Prince Ghost-Face really… from the Bai family? Could this information be utilized?

This notion was quickly dismissed by Li Zhijie. He had heard that the Rong Di were now completely controlled by this Prince Ghost-Face. Anyone wanting to see the Rong Di King could not do so without the Prince Ghost-Face’s permission. Nominally, it was to protect the Rong Di King, but in reality, he had long since sidelined the Rong Di King.

If this Prince Ghost-Face of the Rong Di was truly a son of Great Zhou’s Bai family, then… Xiliang was truly surrounded by wolves, in mortal danger.

Although the Ninth Prince of Great Yan’s words were correct – Great Yan had indeed come through this way, and only by preserving the nation could they plan for the future – the current situation in the world was vastly different from Yan’s time.

When Yan was weak, many nations were standing in mutual restraint and mutual constraint. But now… all the nations were gone, leaving only Great Zhou, Great Yan, and Xiliang, plus the Rong Di who might already be in Great Zhou’s pocket. How could Xiliang survive and grow strong between two powerful nations that both harbored ambitions to unify the world?

But Li Zhijie didn’t entirely believe the Ninth Prince of Great Yan’s words. After all… with Great Zhou’s current strength, if the Rong Di were already in Great Zhou’s pocket, Great Zhou should now have the Rong Di fight Xiliang first, then annihilate Xiliang in one stroke after Xiliang’s military strength was weakened.

However, the current Great Zhou Empress Bai Qingyan was helping Xiliang delay time. This point… Li Zhijie could not understand at all.

It seemed he needed to send someone to investigate what the third son of the Bai family, Bai Qingqi, was doing in Nan Jiang. Once this was clarified, surely things would become clear.

The Ninth Prince of Great Yan returned to his small courtyard, allowing no one to follow. He pushed open the door and saw Xiao Rongyan standing at the desk practicing calligraphy. He closed the door, walked to the desk, and bowed deeply to Xiao Rongyan: “Master, I’ve said everything that needed to be said.”

Xiao Rongyan nodded and straightened to look at his writing: “It remains to be seen whether Li Zhijie can figure it out… The profit-seeking nature of merchants has been properly exploited by the Great Zhou. In the future, they’ll be able to destroy Xiliang without lifting a finger.”

“If the Xiliang Empress and Prince Yan are smart enough, they should submit to our Great Yan.”

Hearing these words, Xiao Rongyan only smiled without speaking.

·

In the seventh month of the first year of Yuanhe, on the 29th and 30th, Xiao Ruohai and Bai Qingqi arrived in Yunjing one after the other.

Xiao Ruohai, who had arrived a day earlier, came with Chen Qingsheng to the inn to see Bai Qingqi. Since the situation was unclear, Bai Qingqi had not yet rashly appeared before the Xiliang Empress in his capacity as a Great Zhou envoy.

Chen Qingsheng saw the white hair at Bai Qingqi’s temples and was first stunned, then tears filled his eyes.

Bai Qingqi sat in his chair, his hand stroking the armrest, quietly watching Chen Qingsheng, who was still explaining the sequence of events.

Chen Qingsheng had now grown a beard, making him look considerably more mature and steady.

“That day came without warning. Several head managers had returned and were checking accounts with Young Master Fengnian when the palace suddenly sent people, saying His Majesty requested Young Master Fengnian to enter the palace. But that day wasn’t one of the agreed-upon days for Young Master Fengnian to enter the palace to tell curious tales. However, the messengers carried palace tokens from Xiliang, so Young Master Fengnian told me to take care of the managers and oversee the accounting, then left with the people from the Xiliang palace!”

Chen Qingsheng spoke at a steady pace, explaining the circumstances of Bai Jintong’s imprisonment: “When night fell and Young Master Fengnian still hadn’t returned, I handed the accounting matters to Manager Fang and took generous gifts to inquire with the Xiliang imperial relatives and nobles who were usually on good terms with Young Master Fengnian. But they were all completely in the dark, knowing nothing when asked.”