Either go with what’s on the table, or each side steps back once?

A negotiation that should have been a fierce battle of words had escalated to this point with astonishing speed! Most unbelievable of all — one side had actually revealed their bottom line!

Chu Feiyan sat dumbstruck, momentarily unable to think how to respond. This woman was utterly ruthless — everything she’d just done had been calculated, deliberate provocation from start to finish!

“Princess Imperial, what do you think?” Ziqing asked flatly, fingertips still tracing the cold scorpion, its icy touch strangely, unconsciously addictive.

“Han Ziqing, you’re truly shameless!” Chu Feiyan scoffed coldly.

“If the Princess Imperial has no further objections, shall we draw up the terms?” Ziqing’s tone remained just as flat.

Chu Feiyan’s eyes narrowed, and she slowly rose. “Han Ziqing — the apology, fine. The twenty thousand warhorses, Western Chu can manage that too. But Da Zhou must return all five of our cities, or you can forget about Western Chu ever withdrawing!”

Ziqing gave an inward, cold laugh. So this woman intended to only just now start negotiating? Unfortunately, the negotiation was already over.

“In that case, Da Zhou cannot agree to a five-year truce,” Ziqing said with perfect composure, her patience already wearing thin — bargaining at this stage was pointless, wasn’t it?

“Impossible!” Chu Feiyan refused at once!

Ziqing’s eyes darkened, her patience finally spent, and she rose as well. “Then Ziqing can only inform the Princess Imperial, on behalf of Da Zhou, that returning the five cities is out of the question.”

With that, she turned her back toward the door, her voice turning cold. “Princess Imperial, kindly get this straight — it isn’t my Da Zhou begging your Western Chu to withdraw. It is Western Chu who has come knocking, begging Da Zhou to withdraw, seeking peace! If the Princess Imperial truly has no sincerity in this, then please — go.”

At this, Chu Feiyan gasped audibly. This woman was dismissing her again — was this purely personal spite between them, or was this truly Jun Beiyue’s own intent?

Did Jun Beiyue genuinely mean to fight Western Chu to the bitter end?

It wasn’t that Western Chu couldn’t afford to keep fighting — it was that her father didn’t want to. Resuming the war in earnest would inevitably mean full mobilization, which would first delay any chance of rescuing Chu Tiange, and second, unlike Da Zhou, which faced no threats on its eastern, western, or southern borders, Western Chu couldn’t afford such carelessness — the Xiongnu to the north could never be ignored.

Judging by Han Ziqing’s attitude, it seemed Jun Beiyue had truly resolved to see this fight through to the end.

Seeing Chu Feiyan still saying nothing, Ziqing gave a faint, cold smile, and, still facing away from her, made a gesture toward the door. “Princess Imperial, please.”

With that, she began walking toward the door herself. Chu Feiyan’s heart lurched. “Han Ziqing! It’s true — it’s true my Western Chu came seeking peace of its own accord! Think carefully — if you walk out that door, this war continues because of you! It will be you who refused Western Chu’s plea for peace!”

Yet Ziqing didn’t stop, didn’t even bother to answer, continuing to walk toward the door at an unhurried, composed pace.

Chu Feiyan watched her footsteps, shouting furiously again, “Han Ziqing, have you really thought this through?”

But no matter how Chu Feiyan threatened her, no matter how she tried to shift the blame, Ziqing remained entirely unmoved — until, at last, one foot crossed the threshold!

Chu Feiyan’s chest clenched tight, her lips pressed together so hard they trembled. Was Han Ziqing really going to walk out? What should she do?

Ziqing paused briefly on the threshold, but only for a moment. She had to admit, even with full confidence in her strategy, her own heart was pounding, waiting for Chu Feiyan to call her back.

If the war continued, Jun Beiyue wouldn’t gain much from it either — the only ones who’d benefit would be the officials back in Da Zhou’s capital, and Eastern Qin and the Xiongnu besides!

One foot had already crossed the threshold, the other about to follow — but behind her, Chu Feiyan still said nothing.

What should she do?

By her own calculations, Chu Feiyan should have called out to stop her the moment her first foot crossed the threshold.

At last, even Ziqing began to feel a flicker of anxiety, though she knew she couldn’t stop now — just as at the very start of the negotiation, whoever spoke first would lose.

She kept moving, lifting her back foot, slowly… slowly beginning to step forward.

Behind her, Chu Feiyan stood frozen, her phoenix eyes wide as saucers, staring fixedly at Ziqing’s foot, her hands clenched tight at her sides, trembling all over from the sheer effort of holding herself back.

She, too, was waiting, gambling — in this final moment, would Han Ziqing truly yield or not?

To her shock — she didn’t!

At last, Ziqing’s foot slowly came down, and she now stood fully outside the door. Her eyes lowered, unreadable, no one could tell what she was thinking in that moment — and then, to everyone’s surprise, she kept walking forward.

“No!”

At last, Chu Feiyan cried out in alarm. “Han Ziqing, stop right there!”

Ziqing halted at once. In that instant, she slowly lifted her head, and the corners of her tightly pressed lips slowly curved upward — a smile so radiant it could topple kingdoms, so magnificent it lit up the world.

She’d won!

“Han Ziqing, come back here. If you agree to just this one condition I mentioned, I’ll agree to everything you asked for!” Chu Feiyan’s furious voice carried an unmistakable note of desperation.

The consequences of a failed peace negotiation were more than she could bear — especially a failure caused by her own bottom line being exposed first. That, she could bear even less.

Ziqing turned back, meeting Chu Feiyan’s hostile glare head-on, entirely unafraid. She walked back in with easy confidence, over to the desk where paper, ink, and brush had already been laid out, and lifted the brush with a graceful flourish before finally meeting Chu Feiyan’s eyes. “Princess Imperial, are you certain?”

Chu Feiyan was nearly driven mad by her composure, and at this, her fury blazed even hotter. “Certain! Write it, go on!”

With that, she immediately produced Western Chu’s official seal and slammed it down on the table with a crack.

This was exactly what Ziqing had been waiting to see. She glanced at it once, then set brush to paper at once, writing out three clauses in a bold, flowing hand:

First: all five cities are to belong to Prince Yao of Da Zhou.

Second: compensation to Prince Yao of Da Zhou for war losses — twenty thousand fine warhorses.

Third: the ruler of Western Chu shall issue a public proclamation to the realm, apologizing to the people of both nations for the war.

Ziqing didn’t present it right away, only stepped back and, still perfectly courteous, made a gesture inviting Chu Feiyan forward. Chu Feiyan scanned it coldly, her small hand nearly crushing the seal in her grip, but she had no choice but to press it down.

She then swiftly wrote out Western Chu’s own two clauses: first, Da Zhou would not take up arms against Western Chu for five years; second, Da Zhou would never establish friendly relations with Eastern Qin.

Ziqing scanned it once, her gaze pausing briefly on the words “never establish” — but she didn’t dwell on it long. Her friend was a musician, not a crown prince seeking vengeance. Eastern Qin and Da Zhou had, in truth, nothing to do with her.

She had to admit, on this particular point, she’d made her peace with it. Never establishing friendly relations with Eastern Qin was, in effect, the same as hostility — which meant that if Jun Beiyue ever chose to attack Eastern Qin in the future, he’d have every justification to do so.

She let the thought drift away, no longer dwelling on it, and pressed Jun Beiyue’s seal down at once.

The seal fell, the matter settled. The two of them exchanged positions, each collecting their own copy of the agreement.

Ziqing gathered her things and, with no further interest in Chu Feiyan, turned to leave at once. Honestly, if she could help it, she never wanted to see this woman again.

“Han Ziqing, stand right there!” Chu Feiyan suddenly spoke up again.

This time, Ziqing ignored her entirely, walking straight out.

“Han Ziqing, you really are quite capable! I concede — truly, I concede. Now I finally understand why Jun Beiyue chose to marry a broken shoe like you!” Chu Feiyan said, suddenly bursting into laughter.

Ziqing stopped in her tracks at once. She didn’t even know why she’d stopped — she simply had. She stood there, back to Chu Feiyan, an inexplicable unease rising in her chest.

Broken shoe. It had been a very, very long time since she’d last heard that particular insult.