The two young men stared at each other in the night, as if they were sizing each other up, and fell into a long silence.
Zhao Cheng broke the silence, saying, "Zhao Wu, find a wooden stake for the young commander as well. We're all of the same generation, it's not appropriate for me to sit while he kneels."
"No need for that."
With a flick of his long sleeves, Yang Qingzhi casually sat down on the ground, unafraid of the thin sword lurking at his neck.
"Now that's settled. Young Prime Minister, say what you want to say!"
Zhao Cheng smiled and said, "I'm thinking, should I kill you or capture you and take you back for the reward?"
Yang Qingzhi maintained his smile and said, "Capture me and take me back to claim your reward. Young Prime Minister, this reward might not be easy to claim, will it?"
Why?
"The Right Chancellor had only recently been cleared of suspicion of colluding with the Southern Zhou, and his son had already arrested members of the Yang family of the Southern Zhou within the Jingguo Kingdom. Although it was a great achievement, what a coincidence! Would the Jingguo Emperor believe it? Would Wen Tai believe it?"
Yang Qingzhi's smile widened, and he said, "I misspoke. It's not that Wen Tai will believe it or not, it's that he will do everything he can to make the emperor not believe it."
Zhao Cheng said, "The young governor has lofty ambitions and knows a lot about our Great Jing Dynasty!"
Yang Qingzhi shook his head slightly and said, "Which court, large or small, isn't leaky from all sides? Secrets are usually kept only in the Imperial Study."
Zhao Cheng asked, "Are you telling me all this so I'll kill you?"
"Give me a quick death." Yang Qingzhi's face was filled with a calm smile, and he leaned back slightly, looking even more carefree.
"Little Commander!" Zuo Zhu's eyes were bloodshot as he looked anxiously at Yang Qingzhi.
"Two thousand elite troops, the Seven Generals of Yangmen, what a fine game of chess, yet I've played it so poorly. I have no face to meet the elders of Jiangdong..."
Yang Qingzhi sighed, "Young Prime Minister, you are a man of great talent and strategy. If I could die at your hands, I wouldn't be considered to have been wronged."
"So, the young commander-in-chief wants to die..."
Zhao Cheng's gaze fell on the sachet at Yang Qingzhi's waist. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "How are those women and children?"
“There are people watching over us in the village at the foot of the mountain.”
"Have you been bullied?"
"Young Prime Minister, you underestimate me with that question. War is a matter for soldiers, not for them. I've arranged for people to keep an eye on them only because they still have eyes and mouths, and I can't let them leave for the time being."
Zhao Cheng walked over to Yang Qingzhi and sat down on the spot just like him, saying, "It's true that it's inconvenient to use you to claim the reward, but killing you won't do any good either!"
"So what can you do? Are you going to let me go?"
"OK!"
Yang Qingzhi was stunned, and Zhao Cheng stopped talking and just smiled at him.
After a moment, Yang Qingzhi's smile faded, and he said in a deep voice, "A scholar can be killed but not humiliated!"
“You don’t understand me.” Zhao Cheng propped himself up on one hand and sat sideways. “Killing you would do me no good, and humiliating you would do me no good either. I never do anything that doesn’t bring me any benefit.”
"If I say I can let you go, then I can let you go."
“Hahaha…” Yang Qingzhi thought for a moment and then laughed: “I understand, you don’t want to let me go, but you don’t dare to kill me.”
Zhao Cheng looked at Yang Qingzhi, waiting for him to continue.
“If I and the Seven Generals of Yangmen all die at Lingshan, my father and His Majesty will surely be furious, and Jingguo will bear the wrath of my Southern Zhou.”
Zhao Cheng said confidently, "When soldiers come, we will block them; when water comes, we will dam it. The Great Jing has never been afraid of fighting."
"But you are on a northern expedition!"
"We also have a champion king in the south!"
"War isn't just about fighting people; it's also about spending money. The money in Jingguo's treasury is barely enough to sustain the Northern Expedition, isn't it? Otherwise, why would your emperor have so hastily executed Su Wansan? Wasn't it all for the money? If another large-scale war breaks out on the southern front, can you afford to fight it out?"
Yang Qingzhi snorted coldly and said, "At that time, your emperor will only be able to choose between the north and the south. The northern expedition has been going on for so long and is about to succeed. I believe he will definitely not be willing to give it up. So what will he use to negotiate peace with the Southern Zhou?"
"Who caused this trouble?"
"Who will be handed over?"
Yang Qingzhi laughed and said, "Young Prime Minister, you are very clever. Others may kill me, but you won't!"
"Hey!" Zhao Cheng suddenly stood up, kicked the wooden stake aside, and shouted at Zhao Wu, "I used to think this kid was quite pleasing to the eye, but look at how smug he is now, like he can see right through me! What's wrong with him, do you think you can read my mind?"
Yang Qingzhi said, "Roundworms? Could you use another analogy?"
Zhao Wu drew his sword and said, "Master, you said this man was very powerful, and it seems that's true. Let me kill him in the cradle!"
"Okay! Hold the knife up high first!"
Zhao Cheng, holding Zhao Wu's knife, hovered the blade above Yang Qingzhi's head and said, "Yang Qingzhi, since you're so clever, I'm too lazy to waste words with you. I'll give you time to think it over. If you want to die, I'll use this knife to send you on your way. One slash, and snap, your head will roll off. Quickly!"
"War? I don't care! Da Jing and Nan Zhou are bound to fight sooner or later. The common people can't escape the calamity of war; it's coming sooner or later. I'll just cut off your head and find a way to pass it on to someone else. You can't scare me!"
"If you want to live, agree to two conditions!"
"I'll count to one hundred, that's all the time I have, hurry up and think!!"
With that, Zhao Cheng turned and strode away, shouting, "One!"
"two!"
"three!"
"What two conditions?!"
Not only Zhao Cheng, but also Zhao Wu, Yang Taozhi, and Zuo Zhu were stunned.
Zhao Cheng voiced everyone's doubts: "Did you hear me wrong? I said I counted to one hundred."
"If you've already figured it out, there's no need to wait until you've shouted 'ninety-nine' before stopping, right?"
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
