The next day, at the imperial palace, the emperor was extremely enraged that the envoys from Xu kingdom came gifting him a chest full of precious silk made from golden silkworm that was a specialty of the Xu kingdom in exchange for prisoner Xuan's life.
"Your Xu king thinks we can be bought by a chest of rags???"
The emperor let out a cold mocking laughter that echoed in the dragon hall. The crowd of minister on site began whispering toward each other.
"Answering your solemn highness the emperor, these are no rags! These silk brocade was made by golden silkworms that were extremely rare. The worm could only be found deep in mountain jade caves. The cost of one worm would amount to a hundred gold ingots and it took a hundred worms seven months to finish this piece. Its rarity and quality are not to be doubted. Our emperor values your friendship above all and gifted this precious item that could only be produced in our Xu kingdom to ask for your friendship."
"And that sort of friendship meant he could barge and occupy the territory that belonged to Qi?"
"Your subject begs the pardon of your majesty. General Xuan did not intend to attack Qinghe. It was a case of misinformation. General Xuan is betrothed to the princess and he could not be held prisoner here. It would hurt the prestige of the royal family. Your humble subject sincerely begs for his release."
The emperor's eyes turned dark
"Ahh I see what this was about. And we as a nation was to worry about a heartbroken princess of yours?"
Everyone had heard tales about the princess that was extremely doted by the king and queen of Xu they would give her all that she desired no matter how ridiculous it was.
It seemed futile to dictate the interest of the ridiculous king thus one could only seek opportunity in the midst of this difficulty. Since Xu's emperor would really do anything for his daughter, it would be foolish not to use this golden opportunity to test the water and push for concessions. After running it in his mind, the emperor voiced his opinion.
"I shall accept your emperor's gift but with another condition. I will release him in exchange for Changsa."
Changsa was a territory that belonged to Xu kingdom to the north of Longxi. Even though it was frequented by flood, the land was fertile and gave birth to abundant harvests in good years.
The envoy from Xu turned deathly pale. It was as if all the blood in his face had been viciously drained under the enemy's blade.
"Your.. Your humble subject begs his majesty to reconsider. The countries have lived in peace for many many years and we planned to continue doing so. But this type of concession would only cause my worthless head to roll your majesty."
The envoy was prostrating on the ground and hitting his head on the cold floor of the dragon hall.
"My dear envoy, your 'precious' lawless general have insulted the prestige of our Qi kingdom and broken the peace treaty by invading our territory. It is a grave insult to our Qi king. And the fact that we still have not set foot to yours and wage a war is because of our emperor is magnanimous and decide to follow the peace treaty in exchange for keeping him prisoner here."
The second prince HeLianChen spoke up.
"Your subject sincerely begs your majesty to reconsider. This...The proposal was way too absurd to accept under any condition! Please be reminded that a war would devastate both country's resources."
Seeing that a mere envoy dared to question his judgement. The emperor was furious and was about to pass on another judgement when the third price HelianJin spoke up.
YOU ARE READING
The Flood Controller's Wife
FanficWeiying was born a man but due to some circumstances he had to pretend to be a girl until he was eighteen years of age where he planned on debuting the kingdom as the male heir of the Imperial Minister's son. However, his world turned upside down wh...
