He sat on the dragon throne, his face ashen, his gaze sweeping over the civil and military officials below him with a sinister look.

"Haixia Pass has fallen. Lu Yan can invade our territory at any time. Do any of you have a good plan?"

The king's voice was icy cold, filled with suppressed anger and rage.

The hall was deathly silent; you could hear a pin drop.

Tu Rong lowered her head, recalling her crushing defeat at Lu Yan's hands, and a chill ran down her spine.

Mu Qing of Beixiang Kingdom was also defeated by Lu Yan's army in Shannan Prefecture.

Now they are terrified. Who would dare to speak rashly at this time?

Losing is not terrible; what is terrible is losing and then being recruited by Lu Yan, becoming one of his fierce generals.

This is not the first time such a thing has happened in Java.

The successive defeats had made the entire court tremble with fear at the mere mention of land, and had taught them a lesson:

We can't beat Shannan Prefecture, but we can't afford to mess with Lu Yan!

The silence of the crowd further enraged the Javanese king.

He slammed his hand on the armrest of the dragon throne and roared:

"Is there really no one in this vast country of Java with a good plan? A bunch of useless idiots!"

An elderly minister with white hair and beard stepped forward shakily, cupped his hands, and said:

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. In my opinion, the most urgent task is to send someone to Shannan Prefecture to negotiate peace with Lu Yan."

"Peace talks?"

The king gave a cold laugh.

"What can we offer Lu Yan in negotiations? What does he want, and what can we give him?"

"Your Majesty, we can offer Princess Aisha to Lu Yan in order to seek peace."

The old minister gritted his teeth and made a proposal that shocked everyone.

"What?!"