The Crown Prince Yuan Zhao had been waiting for three days, ready to dispatch the envoy, when the messenger he had sent three days ago returned.
The messenger presented Crown Prince Yan Huisheng of Daliang’s letter, weakly saying, "Your Highness, this is a personal letter from the Crown Prince of Daliang."
The attendant inspected the letter and passed it to Yuan Zhao.
Yuan Zhao took the letter and asked the messenger, "Why do you look so exhausted in just three days? Did Daliang mistreat you?"
The messenger shook his head, "I am starved, Your Highness. As soon as I delivered the letter, the Prince of Daliang ordered me to be locked in a cell without food or water. They only released me today."
Yuan Zhao nodded, then asked, "Apart from this letter, did Daliang send any other messages?"
The messenger shook his head, "No, there weren’t any."
Yuan Zhao waved his hand, "You may leave now!"
The messenger, weak from starvation, immediately left to find food.
After reading Yan Huisheng’s letter, Yuan Zhao’s face turned dark. He knew that Dawei’s proposal for peace would inevitably lead to harsh conditions from Daliang, but he hadn’t expected them to be this harsh.
In the letter, Yan Huisheng stated that the twelve cities attacked by Daliang would all be incorporated into Daliang’s territory. In addition, Dawei would need to cede three more cities, surrender three hundred thousand taels of gold and five thousand top-quality horses, and provide blueprints for the construction of siege weapons and the improvement of crossbow arrows. Moreover, Dawei would have to surrender their unique seed varieties, open the border for trade, and send Prince Yuan Chen to Capital City as a hostage.
Yuan Chen watched as Yuan Zhao’s face darkened further and asked, "Brother, what does Yan Huisheng say in his letter?"
Yuan Zhao handed the letter to him, "Read it yourself."
Upon reading the letter, Yuan Chen’s face also turned pale, "This is outrageous! Yan Huisheng actually wants me to go as a hostage!"
Throughout history, Princes were sometimes taken as hostages, but generally, they were younger, less favored Princes from the Imperial Court. Seldom would someone specifically nominate a grown-up Prince, especially an adult Prince by name.
He looked at Yuan Zhao, "Brother, you won’t agree to his demand, will you?"
Yuan Zhao replied, "Let’s wait for the war reports from Helan Jue and Nangong Zheng, and also for the reply from the Nanchu Princess."
Yuan Chen pursed his lips.
Yuan Zhao looked at him, "Don’t worry for now. As long as I can help it, I won’t send you to Daliang as a hostage."
Yuan Chen nodded in understanding. He knew that he and Yuan Zhao harbored very little brotherly affection for each other. It was only in recent days, when he had given up his ambitious schemes, that their relationship had improved somewhat. However, it was still far from the point where Yuan Zhao would disregard the overall situation for his sake.
Zhu Zhun had exhausted two horses riding day and night for five days before he returned to the banks of Lanwan River to see Crown Prince Yuan Zhao.
Having expended all his energy, Zhu Zhun fell to the ground, seeing stars, although he bit his teeth and used all his remaining strength to get up and move to Yuan Zhao’s side after someone helped him stand.
Yuan Zhao stood up upon seeing him, "What happened to you?"
Zhu Zhun, gasping for breath, managed to say, "Your Highness, the Princess of Nanchu has set a limit of ten days to reply, otherwise she will continue her military advance. She has already conquered four cities."
Although Yuan Zhao had already received the war reports from Helan Jue and Nangong Zheng, he still found it hard to accept the reality. When he had led an army of 800,000 to attack Nanchu, he was halted at Heiya Pass by Su Rong and couldn’t make further progress. At that time, Su Rong had an army of 500,000 — a difference of 300,000. Now, Su Rong has 650,000 troops advancing against Dawei, versur Helan Jue and Nangong Zheng’s combined forces of 350,000, but in a short period, they lost four cities, especially Dingnan City, which was taken by Nanchu in just ten days.
He extended his hand, "Give me the letter. And tell me, besides what was in the letter, did you see Su Rong? Did she say anything else?"
Zhu Zhun immediately relayed his encounter with Su Rong, as well as the few derogatory remarks she had made.
After Zhu Zhun finished speaking, Yuan Zhao nodded and said gravely: "She and Yan Huisheng really are two of a kind, one locked our envoy up for three days without food and drink, while the other had you running at breakneck speed for five days and nights without rest. No wonder they can get along so well and make Nanchu and Daliang team up against Dawei."
Zhu Zhun nodded, then added, "The Nanchu Princess seems to have recovered completely from her injury."
Yuan Zhao remained silent for a moment before waves him off, "Go and rest. It’s not necessary for you to deliver the reply. I will have someone else deliver it."
Zhu Zhun responded affirmatively and was helped away to rest.
Yuan Zhao opened the envelope, and his face turned an even deeper green after reading the letter. "Her appetites are even larger than Yan Huisheng’s."
Yuan Chen, who was by his side, looked at Yuan Zhao and thought to himself, could Su Rong also want him to go as a hostage? He asked, "Brother, what did the Princess of Nanchu say in her letter?"
Yuan Zhao passed him the letter.
After Yuan Chen read the letter, he realized he had overthought things. Su Rong had not demanded for Dawei to send any hostages at all, but she was asking for Dawei to cede seven cities, provide ten thousand horses, 500 thousand taels of gold, which was simply... wasn’t this outright robbery?
He looked at Yuan Zhao. "Brother, what should we do? Should we agree to her demands?"
Yuan Zhao closed his eyes, "We certainly can’t agree to all their terms."
He pondered for a while, then said, "I will meet with the Nanchu Princess, Su Rong, for a negotiation in half a month, on the tenth of February, and I will send an envoy to Xuzhou City to discuss peace terms. I will also meet with Yan Huisheng, the Crown Prince of Daliang, in three days at Half Moon Peak, midway between our current locations, for a personal negotiation."
"Will they agree?" Yuan Chen asked worriedly, "Brother, with you moving to and fro, you will not be able to attend both negotiations. Who will you send to negotiate peace with Nanchu?"
Yuan Zhao replied, "You will go. I will do my best to ensure your safety, switch the hostage, and prevent you from being sent to Daliang." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
Yuan Chen was deeply moved, "Brother, do you trust me?"
Yuan Zhao nodded, "I trust you." "Prepare yourself, and set off once the messenger has left. When you arrive in Xuzhou and it’s time to negotiate peace terms, let Helan Jue guard the city and have Nangong Zheng accompany you. Listen to his advice. My bottom line is that we should cede, at most, three more cities to Nanchu. We will not provide the plans for siege weapons, but we could offer the improved designs for crossbow arrows, hundred thousand taels of gold, and a thousand horses, then arrange for another prince to be sent to the Nanchu Royal Palace to serve the princess."
Yuan Chen froze, "The princess of Nanchu’s letter didn’t demand hostages."
Yuan Zhao explained, "She’s a princess and the heir to the Nanchu throne. How could she not have multiple husbands and attendants in the future? I am more than happy to send her a good-looking attendant to serve her."
Yuan Chen nodded, "Okay, brother, rest assured, I understand."
Yuan Zhao instructed, "If Su Rong remains obstinate and insists on her harsh conditions, tell her that if she does not agree, I will fight to the end. The same goes for Daliang. If they cross my line, I will not hesitate to ensure the mutual destruction of all three parties. Though Dawei may perish, neither she nor Daliang will reap any benefits, and I can drag them down as well, devastating both countries to the point where the people have no means of livelihood."
Yuan Chen responded positively, "I understand, brother."
Thus, Yuan Zhao had two more letters sent, one by a fast rider, who had to leave before Yuan Chen, to be delivered to Su Rong in accordance with the stipulated date, and another by a messenger to Crown Prince Yan Huisheng of Daliang.
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