The Prodigal Son

Before long, Wei Jin strode out and invited Yan Li into the palace.

"Cough cough..."

Before he even saw the Emperor of Yan, he heard the Emperor cough.

Yan Li quickened his pace and rushed to Emperor Yan's bedside.

At this moment, a palace maid was carrying a snow-white cotton handkerchief as she withdrew.

On the cotton handkerchief, a bright red dot stood out.

"Father!"

Yan Li, without bothering to perform the proper etiquette, hurriedly went to Emperor Yan's bedside and gently patted his back.

"It's nothing, cough cough..."

Emperor Yan coughed twice more, forcing a smile, "Let's get down to business!"

Yan Li remained silent, only glancing at Wei Jin.

Emperor Yan understood and immediately said, "Wei Jin, you may step down!"

"yes!"

Wei Jin bowed and took his leave, but he was extremely dissatisfied.

I am someone who serves His Majesty!

His Majesty is not even dead yet, and the Crown Prince is already so wary of him!

If His Majesty dies, I'm afraid I won't have a way to survive either.

Only after Wei Jin withdrew did Yan Li take out Yan Wujiu's letter. "This is a letter from Prince Su himself. Your subject is unsure of what to do and would like to ask Your Majesty's opinion..."

Then, Yan Li read the contents of the letter to Emperor Yan.

After hearing the contents of the letter, Emperor Yan immediately understood why Yan Li was indecisive.

None of them could afford the consequences of losing the bet.

The Emperor of Yan didn't think too much about it and sighed, "Let's take a gamble! Great Yan has been forced to the edge of a cliff! If we win, we still have a chance! But if we don't gamble, what awaits us is being gradually devoured..."

The State of Yan is now like a patient suffering from a serious illness.

Yan Wujiu offered a folk remedy.

This folk remedy may cure the Yan state's illness, but it may also hasten its demise.

However, if this folk remedy were not used, the Yan Kingdom would eventually perish under the torment of illness, exhausting its last bit of vitality.

Since that's the case, let's gamble on a possible hope!

"good!"

Yan Li exhaled a breath of stale air. "Then let's take the gamble!"

He was going to gamble anyway, but he wasn't that determined.

Rather than prolonging our lives in vain, let's take a gamble!

If we lose the bet, we might as well die for our country!

The Emperor of Yan gave a helpless, wry smile and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Yan Li opened his mouth slightly, hesitated for a moment, and slowly said, "The garrison of Panshi Fortress failed to break out and was completely wiped out..."

Upon hearing this news, the Yan Emperor was not particularly moved.

He had already anticipated this outcome upon learning of Zong Bi's death in battle.

This is inevitable!

Emperor Yan sighed softly and said leisurely, "Things have come to this point, so let's stop being timid! Do whatever might be beneficial to the war effort without hesitation! Also, since you've entrusted Prince Su with leading the troops against the enemy, give him your full trust and don't let the enemy sow discord among us!"

"Your subject understands!"

Yan Li nodded emphatically, "For me, whoever can extend the life of Great Yan, I would not hesitate to give up the throne, or even my life!"

They've reached the brink of national collapse!

What's the point of fighting for the throne again?

The Emperor of Yan forced a smile. "I'm relieved that you think that way!"

Afterwards, Yan Li chatted briefly with Emperor Yan before leaving him alone.

He had just left the palace when Wei Jin called out to him, "Your Highness."

Yan Li stopped: "Is there anything else, Steward Wei?"

Wei Jin said with a forced smile, "This servant wanted to ask, what should we do with all that pepper in the southern warehouse? It's not good to just leave so much pepper there!"

"Let's wait a bit!"

Yan Li rubbed his head, looking exasperated. "Winter is coming soon; those peppercorns will come in handy!"

Speaking of pepper, Yan Li gritted her teeth in hatred.

He only learned after he began overseeing the country that half of the silver used by the Yan Emperor to hoard pepper came from the national treasury!

Emperor Yan took the lead in taking silver from the national treasury to hoard pepper, and the people in the Ministry of Revenue followed suit!

Now look what's happened; the national treasury has finally managed to save up some silver, and almost all of it has been poured into pepper.

The current amount of silver in the national treasury is only enough to pay the salaries of court officials for two months.

As for military pay, they could only use the money held by him and the Crown Princess's family to make do for the time being.

The Crown Princess's family was quite lucky; when the price of pepper was about to reach its peak, they sold all the pepper they had at once, earning more than two million taels of silver.

This can be considered a stroke of luck amidst misfortune...

……

After receiving Yan Li's reply, Yan Wujiu locked himself in his room for a long time.

Although he had guessed that Yan Li and the Yan Emperor would ultimately choose to gamble, he still felt incredibly depressed when he actually received the reply.

The intense feeling of suffocation almost swallowed him whole.

Having led troops for many years, he had never felt such pressure.

He knew better than anyone that they were just gambling on a single hope!

The chances of losing the bet are too high!

And if you lose the bet, your country will be destroyed!

The nearly century-old foundation of the Great Yan Dynasty will be completely wiped out.

"call……"

After taking a few deep breaths, Yan Wujiu finally made up his mind.

If we're going to gamble, then let's gamble!

The State of Yan has been driven to the brink of despair!

Take a gamble, and there's still hope; don't gamble, and it's a slow death!

After calming himself down, Yan Wujiu quickly left the room, his face frosty as he growled, "Someone, summon Ji Ying, Brother Chi Mu, and Hu Da Mao to come here immediately for a meeting!"

Before long, Ji Ying and the other two arrived at Yan Wujiu's room.

Akagi and Hu Damao are the commander and deputy commander of the Flying Riders.

Like Suhe Baoyin, Chi Muge's ancestors were Mole people. Back then, Murong Dapan drove the Mole people out of that grassland, and some of them fled to Yan and settled there.

Upon seeing Yan Wujiu's expression, the three knew that something bad must have happened again.

"Please sit down!"

Yan Wujiu gestured for the three to sit down, then focused on the key point: "Bei Qi has agreed to send 100,000 troops to help us..."

Hearing Yan Wujiu's words, the three of them were immediately delighted.

The Northern Qi army has sent 100,000 troops to assist in the battle!

Now their pressure is much less!

But soon, the three realized something was wrong.

The Northern Qi sent 100,000 troops to assist in the battle, so why is the prince not happy at all?

They quickly figured it out.

Even if it's a matter of mutual dependence, the Northern Qi would never let them freeload!

The Great Yan must have paid a huge price to get the Northern Qi to agree to send 100,000 troops to help in the battle, right?

Ji Ying tentatively asked, "Your Highness, what conditions has our dynasty offered?"

"This is none of your business!"

Yan Wujiu clearly didn't want to discuss this matter further and avoided the topic, continuing, "In order to better deal with the Ning army, we need to feign defeat and retreat to Yuchan, letting the Ning army in to fight..."

Upon hearing Yan Wujiu's words, the three of them felt a sudden jolt in their hearts.

Yuchan County belongs to Pangzhou and is located at the end of the Dajianshan Mountain Range. It is bordered by mountains to the west and south and is about 160 li away from Xiaxing. It is also the gateway to Pangzhou.

Jade Toad is a good defensive position, and also a good position to prepare for a counterattack and attack down to Ying!

But why would they suddenly feign defeat when everything was going well?

"Your Highness, if we feign defeat, what will happen to our supplies?"

Akagi frowned deeply.

Hearing Akagi's question, Ji Ying and Hu Damou also looked at Yan Wujiu expectantly.

Their previous plan was to block the Ning army in Xiaxing, and all the grain and fodder they had plundered from various places were stockpiled in Xiaxing!

This is enough food for an army of 80,000 to last for three or four months!

Even a feigned defeat is still a defeat, so at least it has to look like a defeat, right?

Surely a feigned defeat wouldn't involve running away with supplies, would it?

Taking provisions with you is called a retreat, not a feigned defeat!

Yan Wujiu felt bitter inside, but he tried his best not to show it on his face. He said in a deep voice, "This is why I summoned you here! We must exchange human lives for provisions!"