The young Great Shaman glanced at Sal Khan, whose face was overcast, and dared to add, "Your Majesty... It seems our Tianfeng Kingdom must acknowledge the current global situation. Our Tianfeng Kingdom... apart from ink powder and giant elephants, has too few people, too few slaves, and slaves... when fighting, the merit belongs to the master, and if they lose, they face execution. Therefore, our soldiers arenât as fearless in battle as those of Zhou. We... cannot defeat Zhou or the Yan Kingdom for now!"
In fact, the young Great Shaman knew that Sal Khan was aware of this. But the Tianfeng Kingdom has always been strong, so how could their Emperor willingly admit to this? Having experienced life and death, the current Great Shamanâs mind was sharper, realizing that to become powerful, one must first acknowledge oneâs own weakness.
Thus today... the young Great Shaman risked angering Sal Khan by saying this to him.
Sal Khan tightly gripped the water cup in his hand. If he did not know, why would he come to the Dongyi Kingdom to instigate confrontation with Zhou? It was precisely because he knew that Tianfeng Kingdom alone could not stand against Zhou or the Yan Kingdom, hence he came to Dongyi.
·
Liu Rushi sat cross-legged in a corner of the cell, where moss crawled up the walls, and the air was filled with a musty odor. The straw inside the prison was not dry, with many crawling insects. By the dim light outside, five or six entirely dark rats could be faintly seen crawling through the spoiled prison food.
Liu Rushi closed his eyes, forcing himself to suppress the nausea and discomfort.
A few Zhou envoys who had just been imprisoned for several days, like Liu Rushi when he first entered, refused to eat the prison food that even dogs wouldnât eat, watching the rats ravaging the meals without touching them.
Liu Rushi had tried to persuade them, but to no avail. However, it wonât take long before people canât hold out anymore and start eating, as survival is more important than anything. As long as they live... Liu Rushi believed Bai Qingyan would send someone to rescue them, because their Emperor was such a ruler who wouldnât abandon her ministers and citizens.
Suddenly, Liu Rushi heard footsteps approaching from afar. The four Zhou envoys locked up together with Liu Rushi exchanged glances and looked towards Liu Rushi, their pillar of support, seeing Liu Rushi had already opened his eyes and was looking out of the cell.
"Minister Liu..." Several people suddenly sat up straight, unconsciously moving closer to Liu Rushi as if he were their backbone, "It seems someone is coming!"
Aside from having a small window for ventilation in the cell, there was no way to judge the time. They could only use this small window to see the days and nights go by, feeling dazed and confused. The waning moon hung high in the sky and moved westward until it was no longer visible from the small window. According to Liu Rushiâs usual experience, it was probably almost dawn.
"Itâs okay, donât panic..." Liu Rushi spoke hoarsely.
Soon, two teams of the Emperorâs bodyguards briskly arrived at the cell door, each holding the hilt of their ornate swords, with one team standing on either side of the cell door, and another opposite the cell, creating quite a formidable atmosphere.
Emperor of Dongyi, dressed in plain clothes, slowly walked to the cell door, glanced at the much thinner Liu Rushi, realizing... although Liu Rushi had been imprisoned for so long, he did not seem as haggard as other prisoners. Though his clothes were not as impeccably unwrinkled as when they last met, he still appeared quite clean and tidy, looking almost unchanged from before his imprisonment aside from being thinner.
Emperor of Dongyi stood at the cell door with his hands behind his back, knowing Liu Rushi was a close aide of the Zhou Emperor, he said, "Liu Rushi, Iâve heard the Zhou Emperor values you greatly. Do you think... the Emperor values you more, or the outcome of this nationâs gamble?"
Liu Rushiâs dark, profound eyes gazed at Emperor of Dongyi without making a sound.
"Do you think... if I were to trade you along with four Zhou envoys and the remains of Hanchengâs king for the jade cicada relic from Zhou, would the Zhou Emperor agree?" Emperor of Dongyi asked with a smile.
Suddenly enlightened, Liu Rushi realized that both Emperor of Dongyi and the Emperor of Tianfeng were after the jade cicada, both blinded by the notion of time reversal, believing in such absurd tales.
Looking at Emperor of Dongyiâs demeanor, Liu Rushiâs eyes conveyed a mocking expression, "Didnât our Emperor already send someone to deliver three jade cicadas to the Second Prince? How come the Second Prince doesnât want them?"
Liu Rushi did not change his address for Second Prince to Emperor of Dongyi, for in Liu Rushiâs mind, this Second Prince was merely a rebellious usurper. Upon ascending the throne, the first thing he did was kill his elder brother, and now he hunts down the Seventh Prince everywhere, fearing that the Seventh Prince might appear and seize the throne.
Such an unprincipled beast is unworthy of wearing the imperial robes as Emperor, just a monkey dressed in ceremony, a ridiculous joke...
As a Zhou envoy, Liu Rushi would never, for his own life, acknowledge such a pig-dog character as Emperor of Dongyi.
Emperor of Dongyi narrowed his eyes and stepped closer to the cell door, seemingly wanting to scrutinize Liu Rushi more clearly, fingering the female jade cicada clenched in his hand, speaking softly, "Letâs see how much the Zhou Emperor cares about Minister Liu and the fellow envoys, and Hanchengâs kingâs remains. I... will only give the Zhou Emperor three months. If not found within three months, another jade cicada, the envoys may meet the same fate as Hanchengâs king and not survive. Minister Liu, are you afraid?"
"The Second Prince rebelled and usurped the throne, unjustly waging war against our Zhou naval forces, leading to our Hancheng Kingâs death. Not one of our navy guarding the fishermen at sea survived, and now imprisoning us Zhou envoys, even dreaming of trading us and Hancheng Kingâs remains for our imperial relic!" Liu Rushi showed not the slightest fear, with a mischievous smile on his lips, "Second Prince... have you not woken up yet? If you havenât, go back to wash and sleep, for delusions are more easily achieved in dreams."
Emperor of Dongyiâs hand paused while fidgeting with the jade cicada hidden behind his back, resisted the urge to kill, his voice turning cold, "It seems Minister Liu truly doesnât wish to live!"
"Itâs not that Liu doesnât want to live, but rather itâs the Second Prince... who may not survive!" Liu Rushiâs lips curved into a smile, his eyes displaying a killing aura unlike a scholarâs, "The Second Prince still doesnât quite understand our Zhou Emperor. Once, after a battle in the southern borders, Xiliang kneeled and begged for peace. Liu was fortunate to accompany our Zhou Emperor in the negotiations. At that time, our Emperor said whoever kills one of our citizens, the Emperor will kill a thousand, ten thousand of theirs, leading the elite soldiers of Zhou to charge into their capital and annihilate their nation! A nation like Xiliang, if our Zhou says it will be obliterated, so it was!"