The prince is more stable

Chapter 231 Tit for tat
The negotiations between the two countries require a lot of diplomatic etiquette. According to the rules, Zhao Xiaoqian should indeed go out of the city in person to welcome Queen Mother Liang. This is courtesy.

But Zhao Xiaoqian didn't want to give her face.

You started the war, and my Song Dynasty suffered casualties before I scared you off. Now you want to stop the war and want me to go out of the city to welcome you. Where do you get the nerve to do that?
If you want a ceasefire, come over and talk to us. Don't expect any diplomatic etiquette.

Woman, you lit the fire, you have to put it out yourself.

Moreover, Zhao Xiaoqian also realized that although this woman wanted to cease fire, she was not convinced. What she was afraid of was not the Song Dynasty, but the sharp conflicts in the country that would make her position unsafe.

She still looks down on the Song Dynasty's military strength from the bottom of her heart.

It's not a crime of war, it's just a fire in the backyard.

Xiao Guangjing rode alone into the city gate. Empress Dowager Liang's carriage and entourage remained where they were. Looking at Xiao Guangjing's back, Empress Dowager Liang hesitated for a long time, but finally gritted her teeth and ordered the troops to enter the city.

A thousand-man cavalry was sacrificed in vain, which tested the strength of the Song army. Empress Dowager Liang no longer dared to be arrogant and entered the city honestly.

Inside the gate of Xiazhou, Song army soldiers were cleaning up the battlefield. Amidst a sea of ​​corpses and blood, the Song army soldiers calmly carried the corpses of the Western Xia army and piled them together.

The seriously injured war horses were killed with a single blow, while the uninjured horses were taken away. Needless to say, they had become the spoils of the Song army.

Empress Dowager Liang looked at the scene through the pearl curtain of the imperial carriage and was so angry that her teeth were broken.

This cavalry of a thousand men died the most unjustly. Empress Dowager Liang had intended to let them establish prestige for the Western Xia Kingdom, but they were slaughtered like pigs as soon as they entered the city.

Are the Song army’s firearms really that powerful?
There was a deep fear in Empress Dowager Liang's eyes. At this moment, it seemed that she should re-evaluate the combat effectiveness of the Song army.

A few days ago, the capital of Western Xia was breached. Empress Dowager Liang always thought that the Song army had taken advantage of the opportunity. After all, the entire country's troops had been mobilized, and there were only 6,000 defenders in the capital, which made it easy for a surprise attack to succeed.

However, after seeing the power of the Song army's firearms today, Empress Dowager Liang couldn't help but suspect that even if there was no sneak attack, the Western Xia army might not be able to withstand such powerful firearms.

After entering the city, the imperial carriage went straight ahead and stopped when it arrived at the prefectural government office.

The palace maid helped her down. Empress Dowager Liang glanced around and found that there was still no Song official to greet her at the office door. Her brows furrowed even deeper.

Taking a deep breath, Empress Dowager Liang decided not to care.

This concerns the life and death of Western Xia, so there is no need to pay attention to pomp and etiquette.

After entering the office, Empress Dowager Liang finally met the real person in the main hall. Zhang Yu and Zhao Xiaoqian were wearing the official uniforms of the Song Dynasty and sat in the first seat. Next to them sat Xiao Guangjing with a half-smile on his face.

It was not until Empress Dowager Liang walked into the main hall that Zhang Yu and Zhao Xiaoqian stood up and took two symbolic steps forward to indicate that they had welcomed them.

"Zhang Yu, the governor and pacifier of Huanqing Road of the Great Song Dynasty, pays his respects to the Queen Mother of the Western Xia Kingdom." Zhang Yu bowed deeply in salute.

Zhao Xiaoqian said nothing, but just bowed hastily and sat down without waiting for Empress Dowager Liang to speak.

Empress Dowager Liang nodded at Zhang Qie, but her eyes were fixed on Zhao Xiaoqian.

After a long pause, Empress Dowager Liang said slowly, "Are you Zhao Xiaoqian? The man who conquered the capital of Western Xia?"

Zhao Xiaoqian grinned at her, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for laughing. I didn't mean to do that. My army got lost and happened to come across a city. I didn't care about anything else and just occupied it. I apologize for the offense."

Empress Dowager Liang snorted coldly, "Young men are so brave, it's rare. But you could have conquered my capital, but why did you so brutally massacre me? The six thousand defenders in the city were all killed, and all the officials and generals guarding the capital of Western Xia were also killed. Countless wealthy people were also looted and slaughtered by your generals."

"Zhao Xiaoqian, what deep hatred do we have against you, Xixia, that you could be so cruel!"

Zhao Xiaoqian sighed and said, "Queen Dowager, you are being unreasonable. You and I are enemies, and Xingqing Prefecture is also the enemy's capital. After conquering the city, do you expect me to show mercy to the enemy? My generals are all there to fight in battle, not to practice vegetarianism and chant Buddhist scriptures."

Empress Dowager Liang was furious: "If I capture Bianjing City someday, I will kill you all!" Zhao Xiaoqian curled his lips and said, "You can try."

Seeing that the atmosphere was already tense after everyone had just met, Xiao Guangjing couldn't help but step out to smooth things over: "Alright, alright, today the two countries are in peace talks, and I, the Liao Dynasty, am mediating. Why are you talking like this..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Xiaoqian pointed at him and said, "This is none of your business, Xiu'er. Sit down."

Xiao Guangjing didn't know if he had a psychological trauma caused by Zhao Xiaoqian, but after being pointed at by him, Xiao Guangjing sat back obediently almost as a conditioned reflex, pursed his lips tightly, and dared not say another word.

Everyone in the hall was stunned. Xiao Guangjing looked at everyone's strange gazes and finally realized what was happening. His face flushed crimson and he felt a deep sense of self-loathing in his heart...

What happened just now? What happened just now?
I've never been so obedient in front of my dad. It really hurts my self-esteem!

Thinking back to the passionate yet childish oath I made before leaving Shangjing, I wanted to take back what I had lost...

The self-loathing deepened.

This Zhao Xiaoqian is really his nemesis. In front of him, he is undoubtedly defeated.

The scene just now fell into everyone's eyes, and Empress Dowager Liang's heart sank.

What's going on? This Liao envoy seems a little afraid of Zhao Xiaoqian, which is not a good sign.

The Liao emperor sent him to mediate, but if the Liao envoy was so afraid of Zhao Xiaoqian, wouldn't the Liao envoy be able to blow the whistle in the subsequent peace talks?
Empress Dowager Liang keenly discovered that the situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable to her.

It is naturally too late to propose replacing the Liao envoy now, but if the Liao envoy favors the Song Dynasty, Xixia will suffer a huge loss in this peace talk.

The anxious Empress Dowager Liang was at a loss for a moment.

Zhang Yu saw the tense atmosphere and couldn't help but smile. "Your Majesty, you've come a long way and must have been exhausted. In my opinion, why don't you ask your Majesty to return to the inn to rest for a while and we can talk again tomorrow?"

Empress Dowager Liang nodded when she heard this. She just needed some buffer time to sort out the relationships between the three parties and slowly turn the situation around.

So after the three parties met, Empress Dowager Liang looked at Xiao Guangjing deeply, then stood up and left.

In the backyard of the government office, Zhao Xiaoqian and Xiao Guangjing sat in a room in a remote corner and finally met alone.

"Foreign minister Xiao Guangjing pays his respects to the Crown Prince." Xiao Guangjing bowed deeply.

Zhao Xiaoqian looked at him and said with a smile, "Your Excellency seemed to have mellowed out a lot since we last met in Bianjing. And this time the Liao Lord sent you as an envoy again. What's going on? You're almost becoming a professional envoy."

Xiao Guangjing smiled and said, "My father made some efforts in the court to secure this opportunity for me to go on this mission. It was mainly to help the Crown Prince and cooperate with each other, so that the Song State could gain more advantages..."

Xiao Guangjing then revealed a look of admiration and said, "I heard that the Crown Prince led the army to conquer the capital of Western Xia, achieving an unprecedented feat. I am honored to hear this. I have long seen that the Crown Prince is extraordinary, but I didn't expect him to be so powerful. With such a pillar of support like you, the Crown Prince, the Song Kingdom has nothing to worry about in the future..."

"Okay, stop!" Zhao Xiaoqian raised his hand and sighed, "It took you a long time to memorize this flattery script, didn't it? It flows so smoothly now."

Xiao Guangjing hurriedly said, "I swear to heaven, this is not a memorized script, but the words from my heart..."

Zhao Xiaoqian perked up. Someone swore an oath. He was no longer sleepy when he heard this.

"Come, swear an oath on your ancestral tablets that you truly worship me from the bottom of your heart. If you tell me even a single lie, I'll make sure all the graves of your Xiao family ancestors explode, and they'll jump out of their coffins and dance and wrestle their heads."

Xiao Guangjing: "...Actually, I don't worship you that much. It's a little exaggerated."

(End of this chapter)