The Prodigal Son

At dawn, Baili Yunshan returned to the courtyard, his anger still burning.

"Why are you only getting back now?"

Xi Ya glared at Baili Yunshan with annoyance.

"We've been tricked!"

Baili Yunshan gritted his teeth and said, "These damned Ning people are really shameless..."

Filled with rage, Baili Yunshan told Xiya about his ordeal.

He was certain they had been scammed!

Although he wasn't exactly a top expert, he still possessed the strength of the seventh realm!

However, they had no chance to resist at all.

This is enough to show that the opponent's strength is far superior to his.

Such a person would never betray Ningguo's bottom line in negotiations for a mere two hundred taels of gold.

From the very beginning, they were being deceived!

"What's the point of saying all this now?"

Xi Ya suppressed his anger and said bitterly, "Are we supposed to go to the Ning family for an explanation about this?"

"Why not?"

Baili Yunshan was furious. "The Ning people have done such a despicable and shameless thing, so why can't we...?"

"If you tell anyone, people will just say you're stupid!"

Xi Ya interrupted Baili Yunshan with a dark expression, saying irritably, "If I were a Ning person, I would simply deny it and say it was done by us Chu people. What can you do about it? Can you lead people to search all the Ning people's residences?"

If anyone's to blame, it's themselves for being too eager to know Ningguo's bottom line in negotiations.

Even though they had suspected the other party was deceiving them, they still went with the gold.

Right now, we have no choice but to swallow this bitter pill!

Hearing Xi Ya's words, Baili Yunshan was even more furious, and he cursed Ning people for being shameless.

"Alright! Consider it a lesson learned!"

Xi Ya glared at him. "They've already been very lenient by not taking your life!"

If the other party kills Baili Yunshan directly, they won't even know who the other party is. Wouldn't Ning Ren be able to deny it however he wants?

Ningren retorted, "Why did you go into the alley in the middle of the night? Didn't you just turn the tables on them?"

Baili Yunshan clenched his fists, panting heavily, "This humble general just thinks the Ning people are too shameless, resorting to such despicable means!"

"In this world, only the victor is king and the loser is villain; there's no such thing as despicable behavior."

Xi Ya shook his head and sighed, then rubbed his throbbing head, saying, "Let's not think about those crooked schemes anymore. Let's negotiate with the Ning people again at dawn!"

They have to swallow this bitter pill!

Arguing with Ning Ren will only make you a laughingstock!

Right now, the only option is to test Ningguo's bottom line at the negotiating table.

If you really can't figure it out by probing, then let's just sit down and talk!

Although Baili Yunshan was unwilling, he had no choice but to agree since Xi Ya had said so, and he secretly made a vow in his heart.

If I get the chance, I will definitely take revenge for this arrow!

After daybreak, Xi Ya sent someone to convey to Song Xian the intention to restart negotiations.

Song Xian readily agreed.

After breakfast, the two sides returned to the negotiating table.

Xi Ya didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point, "None of the conditions your country has proposed will be accepted by my Great Chu!"

"Then let's fight!"

Lu Si slammed his fist on the table and stood up, saying aggressively, "Let's see who beats whom first!"

"Young Master Lü, besides borrowing the tiger's power, what else can you do?"

Baili Yunshan looked at Lü Si with disdain and sneered, "Whether we fight or not, is that something you can decide?"

Meeting Baili Yunshan's gaze, Lü Si was instantly enraged and said fiercely, "How about we give it a try?"

You bastard!

They really don't respect me, their deputy envoy, at all!

Damn it!

I'm still too conservative!

I should have asked them for more gold!

"Since we're sitting here negotiating, let's stop threatening war all the time."

Xi Ya glanced at Lü Si indifferently, then his gaze fell on Song Xian. "Lord Song, since you have already stated your conditions, let us also state ours! Isn't negotiation all about reaching a result that everyone can accept?"

"Yes! Please speak, Junior Tutor."

Song Xian said calmly.

Xi Ya composed himself and said solemnly, "It is absolutely impossible to cede Gongzhou! You should also know this! Great Chu is willing to exchange two million shi of grain plus one million taels of silver for your country to withdraw its troops from Gongzhou and release Great Chu's prisoners."

Upon hearing the conditions proposed by Xi Ya, Song Xian's face twitched violently.

Is this all you're going to give a beggar?

Does Da Ning need provisions when it sends troops to Min Kingdom?

Shouldn't the soldiers who died in the Battle of Da Ning receive compensation?

At this moment, not only Lü Si, but even Song Xian wanted to slam his fist on the table and curse.

After suppressing his impulse, Song Xian's face fell. "If this is your country's sincerity, I can make the decision on behalf of Lord Qin. We don't need to talk anymore!"

Song Xian's reaction was exactly what Xi Ya had expected.

He knew, of course, that Ningren's appetite could not possibly be so small.

However, negotiations require probing little by little!

"Lord Song, we're not here to discuss how much you want, but rather how much our Great Chu can offer!"

Xi Ya looked calmly at Song Xian, "If the conditions you've offered are beyond the means of our entire nation, do you think Great Chu has any other choice?"

Song Xian narrowed his eyes slightly: "Your country can send 70,000 troops to support the traitor Yu Wu, your national strength can't be that weak, can it? If your country's national strength is really that weak, then there's even less to discuss between us! In the words of Lord Qin, we should strike while the iron is hot!"

So now you know to complain about being poor?

What were they doing when they were supporting Yu Wu?

"The strength of the Great Chu is indeed not that bad."

Xi Ya smiled calmly, "But His Majesty recently issued an edict to expand the army by 500,000. It's indeed not easy to support so many soldiers!"

"Can't you live without bragging?"

Lu Si couldn't stand it anymore and scoffed, "You guys? Expanding your army by 500,000? Why don't you just say you're expanding by 5 million?"

Even someone who doesn't understand military affairs knows what expanding the army by 500,000 means.

Even if the State of Chu demolished houses and sold land, it still couldn't expand its army to 500,000!

Xi Ya, too lazy to argue with Lü Si, sighed softly, "If possible, our dynasty wouldn't want to expand its army by 500,000 either!"

Song Xian certainly knew the purpose behind Xi Ya's words.

It was simply to tell them that the State of Chu had great potential for war.

If negotiations fail, the State of Chu is prepared to fight!

Song Xian leaned back slightly, his gaze slowly sweeping over the Chu envoys present, finally settling on Xi Ya. "Grand Tutor," he said, "to put it bluntly, even if your country expands its army by 500,000, it will only result in 500,000 more heads waiting to be slaughtered!"

"In my opinion, instead of going to all that trouble to support this army of 500,000, you should send all their provisions and equipment to my Great Ning in exchange for temporary peace. That way, fewer people will die!"

Upon hearing Song Xian's words, the group of Chu envoys immediately looked over with eyes blazing with anger.

Song Xian's contemptuous gaze and arrogant tone only fueled their anger.

"What arrogance!"

Baili Yunshan slammed his hand on the table, his eyes flashing with cold light. "You think you're invincible just because you've won a few minor victories through some underhanded tricks?"

"I wouldn't say I'm invincible! But I'm more than enough to deal with you bunch of trash!"

Suddenly, an arrogant voice rang out from outside the door...