“Consort of Prince Yao of Da Zhou, this crown prince has been waiting for you for a very long time!”
As if worried no one had heard him, Wanyan Lie shouted it again, and in an instant everyone’s attention turned toward Ziqing.
In truth, even before Ziqing had arrived, there had already been much discussion within the Xijing military camp!
Wanyan Lie had raised the white flag of surrender long ago, yet he’d made Situ Haonan and General Dugu wait so long—the one he was waiting for was Prince Yao’s consort!
This clearly amounted to admitting defeat to Prince Yao’s consort—that is, defeat to Da Zhou, not to Xijing!
Wasn’t this future son-in-law of the royal family, Situ Haonan, being rather spineless? Though Han Ziqing’s reinforcement had been quite timely, and her firepower formidable enough.
But winning this great battle wasn’t something one or two days of reinforcement could accomplish!
This had been fought day by day, with real effort, by Situ Haonan and General Dugu leading the Xijing army!
Why should Han Ziqing get the easy credit—was Situ Haonan even still a man?
Amid the murmuring discussion, Wanyan Lie stood high above, arrogantly looking down on Situ Haonan, while Situ Haonan’s overwhelming fury nearly burst from his eyes. Between the two of them, one above and one below, one furious and one wildly arrogant, it seemed as though the one who’d achieved total victory wasn’t Situ Haonan at all, but Wanyan Lie!
Wanyan Lie’s humiliation targeted not just Situ Haonan but Xijing as a whole. General Dugu should have been angry, yet he wasn’t—watching Situ Haonan’s expression, a cold smile flickered at the corners of his mouth.
Get angry, hate, erupt—if he wasn’t trampled underfoot, how could he ever truly erupt! If he wasn’t degraded into the dirt, Situ Haonan would never truly treat Han Ziqing as an enemy!
The Xijing royal family ought to thank Wanyan Lie for this humiliation!
Ziqing, of course, saw all of this clearly. If the commanding general today weren’t Situ Haonan, she would long ago have generously stepped forward to accept Wanyan Lie’s surrender herself, and would even have personally carried the marshal’s order back to Akbachu.
Because this was an extremely useful bargaining chip for Da Zhou at the peace conference!
Jun Beiyue could save a great deal of effort in forcing the Xijing emperor to submit to Da Zhou.
But the commanding general was Situ Haonan, who was about to become Xijing’s son-in-law.
Power and wealth—who didn’t love them? Ziqing loved them too. But she wasn’t greedy; she knew what mattered more.
She looked coldly at Wanyan Lie and said with a smile, “This consort has rushed here for days and nights, worried I’d miss seeing Xiliang surrender to Xijing! Crown Prince Lie, thank you for waiting so long. We may begin now.”
Wanyan Lie, who had been smugly arrogant, waiting to watch the show, suddenly clenched his fists. What a sharp-tongued Han Ziqing—but he simply wouldn’t accept this.
“Consort of Prince Yao, I’ve heard you’re clever and sharp. Today’s meeting truly… lives up to your reputation!” Wanyan Lie said, his tone turning mocking and cold. “But, clever consort, do you know that in this war, this crown prince lost in the rear, not at the front! Who told you this crown prince intended to surrender to Xijing?”
What did this mean?
Front, rear?
The front naturally referred to Situ Haonan, who had been locked in stalemate with him, while the rear referred to Han Ziqing, who had circled around through the northern desert and cut off his retreat from within Xiliang’s own territory!
The moment Wanyan Lie said this, an uproar broke out!
Many had guessed he would make things difficult for Situ Haonan, would make things difficult for Xijing, but none had expected he would split the war into two fronts like this!
At the front, the one Situ Haonan represented was naturally Xijing, while at the rear, the one Han Ziqing represented was naturally Da Zhou!
When Wanyan Lie had proposed surrender, he indeed hadn’t specified to whom he was surrendering. So this was what he’d meant all along!
Within the Xijing army, murmurs of dismay grew louder and louder, and even General Dugu’s face gradually turned ashen!
If Wanyan Lie surrendered to Da Zhou, then Xijing would lose its status as the victorious nation, and the Akbachu peace conference would simply become Jun Beiyue’s domain!
Wanyan Lie looked at Situ Haonan with disdain, and as he looked, he suddenly threw back his head and laughed loudly, “Xijing’s commanding general? Situ Haonan, is it? This crown prince has had the white flag raised for so many days now—I really don’t know what you’ve been guarding here for. Could it be… you actually thought this crown prince intended to surrender to you!”
The moment these words fell, mocking laughter erupted at once atop the city gate!
The officers and soldiers beside Wanyan Lie all burst out laughing.
“Overestimating himself, thinking too much of himself!”
“Exactly, who does he think he is, daring to compare himself to Prince Yao’s consort!”
“Hahaha, how could he compare himself to a woman! How embarrassing!”
…
The disdainful, mocking laughter poured down. Yelu Qianqian clearly felt Situ Haonan’s hand growing colder and colder. She ought to have tried to calm him down, but at this point, she herself had grown furious!
Unable to hold back, she suddenly shouted angrily, “Wanyan Lie, what are you being so arrogant about, standing beside your own white flag spouting nonsense! You’re thick-skinned enough—do you even know how to spell the word ‘shame’!”
Yelu Qianqian was, without question, Wanyan Lie’s sore spot. He narrowed his cold eyes and pointed straight down at her, “Shameless woman, shut your mouth! This crown prince feels sick just looking at you now, you pair of adulterers!”
Situ Haonan, who had been silent all this while, suddenly drew his sword and stood, “Wanyan Lie! Say that again and see what happens!”
“Shameless woman, adulterers! Shameless creatures, one a runaway bride, the other full of himself—get out of the way while you still can, the farther the better, don’t interfere with this crown prince’s and Da Zhou’s important business!” Wanyan Lie likewise drew his sword and stood, refusing to back down!
“If you’ve got the guts, come down here—I’ll duel you!” Situ Haonan pushed Qianqian aside, consumed with fury.
“Fine, today this crown prince will deal with you first, then surrender to Da Zhou!”
With that, Wanyan Lie immediately leapt down from the gate tower with sword in hand. Before he’d even landed, Situ Haonan leapt skyward to meet him. Their swords clashed with a ringing clang, and at once soldiers from both sides charged forward—chaos erupted instantly, the situation on the verge of spiraling out of control!
Only then did Yelu Qianqian and General Dugu panic, while Ziqing stood coldly to one side, saying nothing.
For Wanyan Lie to duel Situ Haonan one-on-one was practically suicide.
Sure enough, after a few exchanges, Wanyan Lie was steadily forced back. He glanced sideways at Ziqing, who remained expressionless, and suddenly realized something, hastily retreating, “Situ Haonan, this crown prince won’t fight you here—if you’ve got the guts, settle it on the battlefield!”
Situ Haonan, in the heat of his fury, was in no mood to stop. His hair practically stood on end with rage as he pressed the attack, each strike aimed to kill, chasing Wanyan Lie until he’d nearly backed him against the wall.
Just then, an old Xiliang staff officer cried out urgently and angrily, “General Dugu, our Xiliang has already surrendered, yet your commanding general is still pressing so aggressively—what do you mean by this? Does Xijing intend to violate Longyuan’s rules?”
At these words, General Dugu, who had been secretly cheering, had no choice but to step forward and restrain Situ Haonan, while Qianqian hurried to hold him back too.
This was a battlefield, and a battlefield had its own rules—there was no room for recklessness!
Situ Haonan understood this too—what good would it do to kill Wanyan Lie? He couldn’t kill every Xiliang soldier. If the two armies clashed again, he’d have no way to answer to the Xijing emperor, and it would affect the entire situation across Longyuan, ruining Jun Beiyue’s great plans as well!
He pointed his sword straight at Wanyan Lie, saying coldly, “Await this young master’s formal challenge!”
With that, he withdrew, his gaze seemingly serious, yet sweeping past Ziqing as if by chance.
Once the situation was defused, Wanyan Lie remained just as arrogant as before—he’d known all along that Situ Haonan couldn’t do anything to him here.
He stood right outside the still-closed city gate, a cold smile at the corners of his mouth, and with a wave of his arm, the gate slowly began to open.
The time had come to leave the city, surrender, and hand over the marshal’s order…