Chapter 165 Beiyan will not let him live

"Another choice? You mean the imperial court?" Cui Jing smiled. "How are the Xie family's negotiations with the imperial court and with the Prince of Nanhuai?"

Around Laizhou, to the north is Yunzhou, and the southeast is still the territory of the imperial court. To the west, there are King Nanhuai and King Xiling. King Xiling is a madman who can even massacre a city. He is not a candidate to be considered.

"The Prince of Nanhuai and the Prince of Xiling are engaged in a fierce battle. Can the Prince of Nanhuai spare any troops to support Laizhou? He's not afraid of being swallowed up by the Prince of Xiling. As for the imperial court, how many troops do you think Jiang Shao can spare?"

"Think about it again. If Jiang Shao dares to send troops south, will General Shen and General Wu, who are stationed in Yunzhou City, send troops to Miaozhou? Will General Shen wait for him on the road, so that the troops heading south will never return?"

As Cui Jing spoke, he watched the expressions of the Xie clan members change again and again, with a calm and composed look on his face.

He is capable of doing things like cursing people in the middle of a battle. This is really a small matter.

Xie Xi's face was gloomy, and his five fingers clenched into fists: "Cui San, you dare to say such things, aren't you afraid that you will never get back?"

"What is there to be afraid of? We are only dying for our lord and our country." Cui Jing glanced at the Xie family members, his fox eyes narrowed into a long and sharp slant.

"If I don't leave this door today, news will spread. Within three days, the Northern Yan army will immediately march south to Laizhou. By then, since they have already mobilized, there will be no need to discuss further."

"You must know that Beiyan is not mobilizing troops, not for the sake of the Xie family, but for the sake of the people. If the Xie family still wants to negotiate, they must first hand over Xie Silang and execute him. Beiyan will not let him live."

"Impossible." Xie Xi disagreed. "Even if Silang is wrong, he is still a member of the Xie family. His life and death cannot be decided by others..."

"If the king wishes his subjects to die, they must die. The crime of murdering the princess deserves death." Cui Jing interrupted Xie Xi. "Master Xie is well-read, so he should understand this principle, right?"

"If we have to blame someone, we can only blame him for being so audacious and lawless that he even dared to plot against the princess. He is simply courting death and his own destruction. If he doesn't die, who will? Of course, the Xie family can still be their own master, or consider which king to respect."

Xie Xi choked immediately.

After a long pause, he said, "It's fine for the Xie family to submit to Northern Yan, but Silang is a descendant of our Xie family. The Xie family still has some dignity to uphold, so we can't let Northern Yan deal with him. Also, the Xie family must keep 70% of their wealth and land."

You still want to keep 70%?

Do you still want to be the emperor of the Xie family of Laizhou?

Cui Jing's face immediately turned cold. "I thought Beiyan had given the Xie family enough opportunities. I didn't come here today to bargain with the Xie family. Now that you say that, there's nothing to discuss."

After Cui Jing said this, he stood up and was about to leave.

Xie Xi's face turned black. He probably didn't expect Cui Jing to turn hostile immediately. He was angry and annoyed at the time, and he wanted to leave in anger.

"Cui Sanlang, please stay," Xie Fangyuan called out, then said, "The Xie family still needs to discuss this matter. How about we just do as you said and come back in three days?"

Cui Jing looked back at him, and their eyes met. One was cool and broad-minded, with the elegance accumulated over the years, while the other was sharp and clear, like the bright sunlight in the sky.

"Okay." Cui Jing agreed. "Then I'll give Mr. Xie another favor. However, there's no such thing as a third time. I hope Mr. Xie understands this. In three days, I'll arrive with a letter of surrender. I hope the Xie family will give me a firm answer. Accept it or not. There's no 'further discussion' option."

"Also, I hope that next time the Xie family can put forward someone to take charge, instead of just a bunch of people standing here with different opinions, making people think that your Xie family is disorganized and unruly."

"Thank you, Mr. Xie, Master of the Xie family. Jing Zhi will not stay any longer. Goodbye."

"Do you have a place to live?" Xie Fangyuan asked him.

"The Cui family also has a house in Laizhou City. Jingzhi can live there."

"Then let Dalang take you there."

Cui Jing nodded and left without waiting for Xie Xi.

Xie Fangyuan glanced at Xie Xi, and no matter how reluctant Xie Xi was, he had to follow and send Cui Jing to the house where he was staying.

After Cui Jing left, the Xie family members were like a bucket of water dropped into a frying pan, and the pot exploded.

"This is too much! This is really too much!"

"Do you really think there is no one in our Xie family?"

"Master, didn't you send a letter to Prince Jiang before? What did Prince Jiang say?"

"It's better to choose the imperial court. This way, we can maintain the status quo. My Xie family will still be the Laizhou Xie family. Who cares about Northern Yan? If he has the guts, just attack us. We are not afraid of him."

"You still don't know how to declare yourself king. With the financial resources of our Xie family, who are you afraid of? Who knows, there might be someone like our Xie family competing for the throne?"

"That's right, Uncle, Patriarch, are we really not able to defeat the mere 30,000 troops of Northern Yan?"

"Calm down, calm down." The Xie family head slapped the table to calm everyone down, then looked at Xie Fangyuan, "Uncle, what do you think? The King of Northern Yan is probably sure to take us in. Are we going to swallow this?"

Xie Fangyuan sat upright in the main seat, his eyes sweeping around the Xie clan members before he said, "From a logical point of view, we can no longer disagree with the current situation. In the past, the imperial court had Duke Ping and Crown Prince Jiang, so even if things were to go south, they wouldn't collapse all at once. If Laizhou seeks the imperial court's protection, perhaps it can still be stable."

"But Crown Prince Jiang was defeated by the King of Northern Yan at Chongshan Pass and is now recovering in Piaomiao City. It's hard to say who will be able to resist the Northern Yan army in the future."

It is very likely that they will lose the fight, and it is not worth it for the Xie family to take the risk again.

"I roughly understand the intentions of the King of Northern Yan. He wants to swallow Laizhou in one gulp, but he also thinks it's best not to use force if possible. If we use force, I'm afraid he won't know how to stop halfway and will end up uprooting my Xie family."

"What I mean is that the imperial court is no longer reliable, so it's not a bad idea to serve Northern Yan. In the future, my children can learn from Cui Sanlang and serve Northern Yan. If Northern Yan conquers the world one day, my Xie family may not lose its glory today."

"Besides, 90% of the land in Laizhou is owned by the Xie family. Keeping 30% is already a huge fortune. We can't ask for more."

Xie Fang originally lived high up in the clouds and never asked about the affairs of his clan. It was only when he heard something from Cui Jing in Yunshang City last time and came back to check that he felt shocked.

Ninety percent of the farmland in the state belonged to the Xie family, and people called them the "Emperor Xie." However, the people of Laizhou had no land to cultivate and were mostly tenant farmers and slaves of the Xie family.

There is nothing wrong with Northern Yan wanting to return the land of the Xie family to the people.

The Xie family...really went too far.

The Xie family head was not happy: "But these are all the assets of the Xie family. They have been accumulated for generations. How can we give them away? If the King of Beiyan wants them, we will give them to him."

"And Silang, since he wants our Xie family to be his vassal, he won't even give us the slightest bit of dignity. He just wants Silang's life. This is outrageous. He kills my fellow Xie family members at will. Last time in Yunshang City, it was my fourth brother, and this time it's Silang. Where is the face of the Xie family?"

"Silang?" Speaking of this, Xie Fangyuan was speechless. He felt that Madam Cui and Xie Luo were crazy. Even if Cui Si was not a princess, there was no reason for her to use such shameless and despicable means to harm others.

"Then the Xie family will deal with him first." Xie Fangyuan said in a cold tone, "Those who know about that incident will not spread it. The Xie family will execute Xie Lu and find any excuse to tell the outside world."

"That's how it's done."