Chapter 218 - 218 216 Burial Companion_1

Chapter 218: Chapter 216: Burial Companion_1 Chapter 218: Chapter 216: Burial Companion_1 “You…” Li Tianfu stared at Bai Qingyan, almost unable to hold back her tears of anger.

Bai Qingyan then said coldly, “The Bai family lost all its sons in Nanjing. The Bai family has twenty-three coffins! If Xiliang cannot compensate our Jin Kingdom with twenty-three cities today, if Xiliang cannot hand over twenty-three men from the three clans of Yun Poxing, the Auxiliary General of Xiliang, for us to behead and disembowel, then I, Bai Qingyan, even if it means defying the Crown Prince’s orders, will lead the Bai family army into Yunjing. The imperial family of Xiliang and the nine clans of the Yun family will accompany our Bai family sons in death, to console their heroic spirits! Hence, I ask the people of Yunjing to wash their necks clean, so as not to stain the precious blades of our Bai family soldiers!”

Bai Qingyan’s words were extremely arrogant, with her armor reflecting a cold light. The murderous aura from the Shura Blood Pool battles sent chills down their spines, making them too afraid to look at her directly.

“What’s the big deal about your Bai family having twenty-three coffins? My father… the emperor of Xiliang, wasn’t he also killed by assassins from your Jin Kingdom? What does Jin Kingdom have to compensate for my father, the emperor of Xiliang?” Li Tianfu shouted, her voice hoarse with rage, filled with immense grief and indignation. “What do you have to compensate for my father!”

Bai Qingyan felt a sense of relief. The Princess of Xiliang couldn’t hold back any longer!

Earlier, she had pressed Li Zhijie step by step, but he firmly refused to mention the assassin to turn the situation in favor of Xiliang, which made her uneasy.

Now that Li Tianfu had spoken first, she would see how Li Zhijie would explain the affair with the assassin.

If he said the assassin was dead, then Shen Qingzhu and others would need to rescue the Ninth Prince immediately, and time was of the essence.

If he said the assassin was captured, then the matter of exchanging the person would fall to the Crown Prince and the peace envoy.

Li Zhijie closed his eyes, not expecting the princess, Li Tianfu, to lose her composure in the end.

“The princess’s words are amusing. Since the princess claims that the assassin of the Xiliang emperor was sent by our Jin Kingdom, where is the assassin?” Bai Qingyan’s eyes, as deep as an ancient well, locked onto Li Tianfu.

“The assassin died on the spot…” Li Zhijie softened his tone. “It was only because the assassin wore Jin Kingdom’s attire at the time, so the princess mistook him for a Jin Kingdom assassin. Our Xiliang is still investigating this matter thoroughly. Just as General Bai said, we came to Xiliang to seek peace. If, because of this matter, we make a false accusation against Jin Kingdom and stir up laughter, I fear there will be even more to compensate. The reason I didn’t mention it initially was that I was waiting for the investigation results.”

Hearing this, Bai Qingyan’s eyes darkened. As expected, Li Zhijie wanted to keep the Ninth Prince in his grasp for his schemes!

She turned around and made a stealthy hand gesture to Shen Qingzhu, who was dressed in a Xiliang palace maid’s outfit. Shen Qingzhu nodded slightly and silently exited the tent.

Since it was known that Li Zhijie had held the Ninth Prince with ulterior motives, they must not let him continue to hold the prince!

Li Zhijie didn’t plan to make the Ninth Prince an obvious bargaining chip for the peace talks. Naturally, he wouldn’t keep the prince by his side, leaving him only at Qiushan Pass.

The envoys from both countries chose to conduct peace talks in the area between the two armies’ camps for safety. The Crown Prince had brought with him five thousand elite soldiers and Huying Camp followed. Xiliang also must have its elite forces.

At this time, if Shen Qingzhu led Huying Camp to rescue the Ninth Prince from the unguarded Qiushan Pass, by the time the news reached Li Zhijie, it would be too late.

After all, it was Li Zhijie himself who claimed the assassin died on the spot. Could he possibly go back on his word in front of the Crown Prince and claim the assassin is the Ninth Prince?

Even if Li Zhijie did utter such words, both countries were in peace talks. Both sides would argue for their own national interests. The Crown Prince of Jin Kingdom would not truly believe the words of Xiliang’s King Yan Li Zhijie.

Now with confidence, she coldly laughed while kneeling on her seat, looking at Li Zhijie. What she needed to do was stall the Xiliang’s peace envoy here.

She began, “So, the Princess of Xiliang is just speaking nonsense! Is this also a tradition of Xiliang? Xiliang plans to make baseless arguments to bargain with our Jin Kingdom for peace?”

Li Zhijie looked back at the teary-eyed Li Tianfu, realizing the plan to have the Crown Prince favor Princess Li Tianfu’s beauty had failed. The princess, impulsive and spoiled, would only cause more chaos if left here.

He sighed and pinched Li Tianfu’s delicate wrist, ordering, “Escort the princess back to Qiushan Pass, she is tired!”

Bai Qingyan’s palm tightened as she casually spoke, “Wait!”

“What more do you want?!” Li Tianfu’s angry and shrill voice was thick with sobs.

“In the tense atmosphere of the peace tent, Bai Qingyan is a petty person. Our Jin Kingdom’s Crown Prince is present. I fear King Yan’s escort of the princess back to Qiushan Pass is for deploying troops to trap our Crown Prince of Jin Kingdom, using him as a bargaining chip for the peace talks!”

“You…”

Li Tianfu was about to explode but was stopped by Li Zhijie: “A defeated country, how dare we! If General Bai is truly so worried, the princess shall stay here then!”

Li Zhijie saluted Li Tianfu, lowering his voice, “Princess, please be patient! Peace talks between two countries always involve banter back and forth. Please do not let your anger give Jin Kingdom any excuse to reignite the war.”

“Then let it reignite! Why should we be afraid of Jin Kingdom? Xiliang is wealthy and strong. We only lost once. Xiliang has plenty of valiant men, and we will use our entire nation’s strength to fight Jin Kingdom. It’s either their death or ours!” Li Tianfu’s eyes were bloodshot, her chest heaving, trembling all over.

“Princess’s words are amusing. It’s either their death or ours? Does this mean… regardless it’s Jin Kingdom that dies, and you won’t die?” Liu Rushi, with his sleeves crossed, coldly laughed, “Xiliang will use its entire nation’s strength. Our Jin Kingdom relies only on the army led by General Bai! Since the princess is so confident, let’s have General Bai and the soldiers fight again. When we march into Xiliang’s Yunjing, then we can discuss peace at leisure!”

“You!” Li Tianfu grabbed a cup from the table to throw at Liu Rushi.

“Princess!” Li Zhijie caught the cup in Li Tianfu’s hand and lowered his voice, “Soon… I will make sure to repay Bai Qingyan for this humiliation multiple times. I hope the princess will consider the bigger picture, pretend you heard and saw nothing! Trust your minister! Xiliang cannot afford to fight now. If we do… the Empress’s throne will be lost!”

Li Tianfu’s overwhelming emotions were eventually subdued by Li Zhijie’s words.

She remained silent for a long time. Despite feeling immense humiliation, she sat down as Li Zhijie instructed.

“Rest assured, Princess. Your humble minister has a grasp of the situation concerning Xiliang,” Li Zhijie reassured Li Tianfu.

“Whether there will be a war or not, I hope King Yan and the Xiliang peace envoy will give us a clear answer. Stop making baseless claims and toying with our Jin Kingdom! Otherwise, after rivers of blood flow in Xiliang, we can discuss peace then.” Liu Rushi said slowly.

Looking at Liu Rushi’s elegant and handsome face, Li Zhijie felt this minister was not as pleasing to the eye as he initially thought.