Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress novel Chapter 1364

Chapter 1364: Chapter 1359: Pillar of the Nation

Feng Yao served a cup of hot tea to Xiao Rongyan and then stood silently to the side.

"I heard Liu Rushi made an appearance today?" Xiao Rongyan spoke.

"Indeed..." Wang Hanbing nodded, "This Minister Liu is truly impressive."

Xiao Rongyan picked up the teacup and asked, "Aside from discussing the Crown Prince as a hostage to Zhou, what else was talked about today?"

"To answer the Regent Prince, there was a discussion about setting aside several connected cities for negotiation, as it would be difficult to resolve everything all at once between the two nations," Wang Hanbing respectfully responded.

Xiao Rongyan lowered his gaze and pressed the teacup lid against the floating tea leaves, showing no intention of removing his mask to drink the tea: "So... how did the talks about Zhou providing hostages go?"

"Regent Prince! Just speaking of this infuriates me..." A Yan Kingdom envoy stepped forward, giving Wang Hanbing a glance, and cupped his hands, "Not only is Zhou unwilling to give us hostages, but they also said... the weak have no right to make demands of the strong—it’s simply outrageous!"

The flickering candlelight in the main hall reflected off Xiao Rongyan’s mask, shining icily, and those deep black eyes became even more somber.

He pondered for a moment before stating, "Although it feels humiliating, Zhou’s words are not incorrect."

"But as our countries are currently negotiating matters of national stakes, how could Zhou utter such insults disregarding diplomatic etiquette!" The Yan Kingdom envoy persisted indignantly.

"Diplomatic etiquette is basically a guise of strength humility to deceive the weak; in history, no strong nation has truly conceded at the negotiation table; it’s always the weak who bow down, endure humiliation, and seek peace," Xiao Rongyan placed the teacup on the small table beside him, his tone devoid of emotion.

"Prince, now that Zhou is unwilling to offer hostages to the Yan Kingdom, it is indeed extremely dangerous for us," Wang Hanbing’s voice was as calm as his gaze, "Seeking troops is easy, seeking generals is difficult! So we must prepare for the worst; if we were to send the Second Prince and General Xie Xun as hostages to Zhou, our main forces could return from Xiliang, but if Zhou suddenly reneges and attacks, Prince... can you fully deploy our Yan Army to fend off Zhou?"

Xiao Rongyan understood Bai Qingyan’s desire for a peaceful unification and knew that as long as the Yan Kingdom agreed to provide hostages, Bai Qingyan would not launch an attack, but precautions were still necessary.

Both Bai Qingyan and Xiao Rongyan, and Murong Li too, were willing to honor their bets, but if problems arose from those below, they would have to clean up the mess.

Xiao Rongyan tapped the desk rhythmically with his fingers, contemplating for a long time before speaking up: "Since Zhou is unwilling to provide hostages to the Yan Kingdom, then change the terms, change the guise..."

Wang Hanbing did not immediately understand Xiao Rongyan’s meaning, so he rose and bowed deeply to Xiao Rongyan: "I request your guidance, Prince."

"Since cities have been allocated, these cities should be wagered on the nation, Zhou would naturally have to send people to oversee it... to prevent our Yan Kingdom from pulling tricks!" Xiao Rongyan looked up at Wang Hanbing, seeing the flash of understanding in Wang Hanbing’s eyes, he knew Wang Hanbing grasped his intent.

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