I, Emperor Chongzhen, have extended the life of the Ming Dynasty by five hundred years.

Since the Spring and Autumn Period, it has been customary not to kill envoys.

Due to limitations in communication methods, the two sides could only exchange information through envoys visiting each other.

If the envoy is killed easily, the communication channel will be cut off, which will not only intimidate the other party but also cut off one's own chance of survival.

Cheng Youde was an envoy of the Great Shun Dynasty, so Emperor Chongzhen naturally sent someone to receive him.

He Fu, as the prefect, was still on his way, and officials like Sun Cheng were of too low a rank.

Finally, despite the pain in his hip, Prefect Shao Zongyuan came to preside over the negotiations.

Cheng Youde and the other party exchanged greetings, introduced themselves, and then prepared to sit down.

At this moment, seeing that the other person was still standing, he thought to himself that they were quite polite, so he stood up again.

Since even the dignified Prefect and Assistant Prefect are standing, I certainly can't sit down first.

Shao Zongyuan asked directly, "What are your requests, Lieutenant Cheng? Just say it!"

Cheng Youde nodded, but seeing that the other party still showed no intention of sitting down, he had no choice but to stand and speak.

"Excuse me, is Commander Li in?"

Shao Zongyuan retorted with displeasure, "I'm the one negotiating with you, why are you asking Commander Li?"

Cheng Youde hesitated. Firstly, he had just surrendered last night, so very few people knew about it. Secondly, he was going to infiltrate the rebel army, and who knew if the rebel army had planted spies here?

If I easily reveal my identity and it gets discovered by spies, wouldn't I be exposed?

Secondly, it is still unknown how high Li Ruolian's official rank is, and whether his words carry weight...

Looking at the other party's expression, Shao Zongyuan became even more displeased and said, "If you're willing to talk, then talk; if you're not, then forget it. I have other matters to attend to and won't keep you company!"

"No, no..."

Cheng Youde quickly stopped the man, saying, "My purpose in coming here is for Hong Niangzi. I implore you..."

"You're releasing them, huh?"

"Exactly!"

"We'll release them, but what price are you willing to pay?"

"This, this..."

Cheng Youde was momentarily speechless, and could only say, "May I ask what your request is? I can convey it to you!"

"Alright, go back and tell Li Yan to obediently open the city gates and surrender, and we'll release his wife!"

"I cannot make the decision myself; I must return..."

"You say you can't make decisions, so what are you talking about?"

Cheng Youde said with difficulty, "Your requirements are too high. If you lower them a bit, I can still make the decision."

Shao Zongyuan said, "Very well, I'll lower my demands a bit. You can have Li Yan bring his troops to surrender. Is that alright?"

"Is there... any difference?"

"The difference is that we don't need him to surrender the city; we can take it ourselves!"

"Please don't joke, Your Excellency. Cheng is here to negotiate sincerely."

"You know it's a joke? Hong Niangzi is your commander, and now that she's been captured, you're just asking us to release her without any real reason? There's no such thing as a free lunch!"

"If all else fails, we can redeem it!"

Shao Zongyuan's expression changed, and he asked, "Redeem them? How? With what?"

"What do you want? Money, food?"

Cheng Youde felt helpless, thinking to himself, "I'm one of yours now!"

I'm here to negotiate, it's just a formality, can you please stop making things difficult for me!

Shao Zongyuan then asked, "How much money are you willing to pay?"

After a moment's thought, Cheng Youde said, "How about three thousand shi of grain?"

Shao Zongyuan shook his head: "Five thousand shi (a unit of dry measure), plus fifty thousand taels of silver!"

"Isn't that too much?"

"The famous matchmaker, isn't she worth the price? Just tell me, will you agree or not?"

Cheng Youde had no choice but to say, "My agreement on this matter is useless; I must report to General Li Yan, and his reply will be the final word!"

In fact, he thought that the amount of money and food didn't matter, as long as the people were redeemed, everything would be fine.

The troops heading to the Zhao Prince's Mansion in Zhangde have already set off, and judging by the days, they should be back in the next few days.

Since the money and supplies were all obtained through robbery, Li Yan shouldn't refuse to exchange some of them.

Shao Zongyuan then said, "You wait here, I'll go report to His Majesty!"

Cheng Youde dared not say anything and could only stay and wait.

A short while later, the door opened and Li Ruolian walked in.

Upon seeing this, Cheng Youde quickly stood up, knelt down, and bowed in respect.

"This humble servant greets Commander Li!"

"Um!"

Li Ruolian nodded slightly and said, "You did well just now. You didn't reveal your identity. You have the potential to be a spy!"

Cheng Youde felt a wave of fear wash over him. Luckily, he hadn't said anything, otherwise, things would have been much worse!

Li Ruolian then said, "His Majesty won't take your money or provisions. Hong Niangzi will go back with you, but she's already suspicious of you. Can you handle that?"

Cheng Youde nodded vigorously: "Please rest assured, Commander Li, I have a plan to deal with this!"

"very good!"

Li Ruolian nodded again, then said, "His Majesty wants to persuade Li Yan and his wife to surrender, but with little success. You need to secretly put in more effort!"

Cheng Youde hesitated and said, "If I were to try to persuade them, not only would it be ineffective, but it would also easily expose my identity..."

"You're not here to persuade them to surrender, you're here to urge them to fight!"

"This... I don't understand."

"No matter what Li Yan and his wife say, your stance is to go to war. You must be resolute in your attitude, and you must show this to Ma Chongxi. If Ma Chongxi becomes suspicious of Li Yan and his wife, he will definitely come looking for you. You know what to do next, right?"

Cheng Youde suddenly realized and quickly said, "This subordinate understands!"

"Alright, don't tell anyone you've seen me, or you know what will happen!"

"When I was sent as an envoy to Baoding, I didn't see anyone except for Magistrate Shao!"

Li Ruolian stopped talking, got up and left.

On the other side, Hong Niangzi followed Liu Dazhuang this way.

"You're talking to me about 5,000 shi of grain and 50,000 taels of silver? I didn't agree to that!"

"Madam Li, Cheng Youde agreed to these conditions!"

"What right does he have to agree? Who does he think he is!"

"Lieutenant Cheng is acting on behalf of General Li Yan, which means General Li Yan agreed!"

"Impossible! My husband would never agree to such conditions!"

"How could General Li Yan stand by and watch someone die?"

"Stop talking. In short, I didn't agree, and neither did my husband. Cheng Youde did agree, so you should ask him for it!"

As they were talking, they arrived at the front hall and saw Cheng Youde waiting for them for a long time.

Hong Niangzi was filled with anger. She looked around and went to the nearest guard.

The man stared at Hong Niangzi and asked, "What do you want?"

brush!

Hong Niangzi reacted quickly and drew the long knife from the man's waist.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

The person was terrified and immediately jumped back to maintain a safe distance.

The other guards drew their swords, ready to deal with any unexpected situations.

Hong Niangzi, carrying a knife, went straight to Cheng Youde and pointed at him.

"Having deserted twice in the face of battle, what else do you have to say?"

Cheng Youde had already prepared a speech, and immediately his knees buckled, and he knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face.

"I'm useless! I deserve to die!"

Hong Niangzi frowned and said, "Cheng Youde, stop pretending!"

Cheng Youde cried as he said, "Last night, my warhorse got frightened and went out of control. I had no choice but to use a lot of effort to tame it and then rushed back, but..."

"You still dare to lie?"

"I wasn't lying. When I rushed back, the battle was already over. All I saw were ruins and some uncollected corpses..."

Looking at the other person's expression, Hong Niangzi couldn't help but feel a little more relaxed.

The Ming military had planted explosives beforehand, and the explosions did indeed startle many warhorses.

The scene was chaotic, with warhorses startled and running wildly in all directions, which was a common occurrence.

If what Cheng Youde said is true, then there's nothing wrong with it.

"After I returned, I first explained the situation to General Li Yan, and then volunteered to come and negotiate. If I were afraid of death, I would have run away long ago. Why would I risk my life?"

Hong Niangzi hesitated even more. If Cheng Youde was really afraid of death, why didn't he run away last night?

He knew that going back would not save him from punishment, and he might even be subject to military law, but he still went back.

Moreover, he volunteered to come and negotiate, which shows his loyalty.

"I'm asking you, did you agree to exchange five thousand bushels of grain and fifty thousand taels of silver?"

"I have made it very clear that this matter still requires General Li Yan to make the decision."

Hong Niangzi finally breathed a sigh of relief and threw the knife in her hand aside.

The captain who had just dropped his knife quickly picked it up and returned to his post.

Hong Niangzi looked at Sun Cheng and asked, "What do we do now?"

Sun Cheng said, "Madam Li may leave now."

"They're leaving already? You haven't even received your money and provisions yet!"

"His Majesty said that if General Li Yan believes Lady Li is worth the price, he will naturally send the money and provisions."

"What do you mean?"

Lady Hong raised an eyebrow and said, "Are you saying I'm worthless?"

"Whether Madam Li is valuable, and how much she is worth, depends on General Li Yan's performance."

"You...how dare you!"

Hong Niangzi was so angry she wanted to hit someone, but in the end she held back.

Sun Cheng didn't say anything, just stood there with a smile on his face.

Three parts playfulness, three parts smugness, and three parts mockery.

Hong Niangzi looked at Cheng Youde, her almond-shaped eyes wide open.

"Aren't you leaving yet? They're not providing meals!"