According to the date stipulated by Su Rong, ten days later, the messenger from Dawei arrived on time.
This messenger had also exhausted two horses and was practically limp with fatigue when he was brought to Su Rong, presenting the second personal letter from Crown Prince Yuan Zhao of Dawei.
Fen Ling checked the letter and handed it to Su Rong.
After reading the letter, Su Rong nodded and said to the messenger, "All right, on the tenth of February, outside Xuzhou City, I’ll be waiting for your Dawei’s peace negotiators."
With that, she waved him off, "You can go now!"
The messenger weakly bowed and left.
When the messenger left, Su Rong sighed, "Ah, it’s already the tenth of February. If Yuan Zhao hadn’t written the date in his letter, I would have forgotten. This year has slipped by so quietly, I didn’t even notice."
"On New Year’s Eve, Dawei attacked Heiya Pass, it was a matter of life and death. How could we celebrate?" Zhou Gu thought about the past years when he would attend the palace feast, then go back home for a family reunion dinner. This year was fraught with life-and-death situations, hasty and unforgettable.
He hadn’t expected that his first New Year with Su Rong would be like this. Who had the mood to celebrate?
"And it doesn’t matter if we miss the New Year’s next year either." Su Rong smiled, "We are all still alive, there will be many more to come."
"That’s a good point." Xie Yuan nodded in agreement, "I wonder who the Crown Prince of Dawei will send for the peace negotiations? It certainly won’t be him. After all, he has to deal with Daliang."
"We’ll know when the time comes. I guess the representative is on the way. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have delayed the meeting for several days." Su Rong was not impatient.
Xie Yuan mused, "Besides Crown Prince Yuan Zhao of Dawei, the second prince Yuan Chen does have some capability."
"I guess it will be him." Zhou Gu said.
As for Su Rong, whoever came wouldn’t dare to push her too hard. If they put too much pressure on her, she would fight.
On the eighth of February, Yuan Chen, accompanied by fifty thousand troops and his guards, arrived at Xuzhou City.
Having received the letter from Yuan Zhao, Helan Jue and Nangong Zheng knew that Crown Prince Yuan Zhao had sent the second prince, Yuan Chen, to preside over the peace talks. They both thought that it was unexpected that the second prince, who had been somewhat ambitious, stopped opposing the Crown Prince at this critical junction. The fact that the Crown Prince entrusted such an important matter to Yuan Chen shows that he valued him greatly.
After the journey to Xuzhou City, Yuan Chen met with Helan Jue and Nangong Zheng, and said to the two, "My elder brother ordered me to negotiate with the Princess of Nanchu. General Helan will stay in the city to defend it, and Brother Nangong will accompany me to negotiate with Nanchu."
He presented Yuan Zhao’s letter, "Take a look. This is the letter from my brother that I received on the way."
Helan Jue took it, read it, and handed it to Nangong Zheng. After reading it, Nangong Zheng sighed silently, "Your Highness, you should rest. I’ll be with you the day after tomorrow."
Yuan Chen nodded and was led away to rest.
Now, there was nothing that Helan Jue did not say to Nangong Zheng, "It seems that the Crown Prince is now greatly constrained by Daliang. Even if Nanchu makes harsh conditions for peace, he must swallow his frustration and concede."
Nangong Zheng nodded, "Forced by the situation, helpless acts, we must do our best!"
Helan Jue sighed deeply, "How did we come to this?"
Nangong Zheng also wanted to ask the same question. How did we come to this? Dawei was originally in a very favorable position, and the Nangong family commanded great power in Nanchu.
Before they knew it, the tenth of February had arrived.
Su Rong, Zhou Gu, Ye Guixue, Zhang Yun, Cui Xingzhi, and Cui Yanjin, along with a group of guards, went to negotiate outside Xuzhou City. Xie Yuan, Zhang Mao, Ning Chi, Zhou Shen, and Zhou Che were left in the rear.
When they arrived, the second prince of Dawei, Yuan Chen, Nangong Zheng, as well as a few trusted subordinates of Yuan Chen and two confidants of Crown Prince Yuan Zhao of Dawei, were already waiting at the Shili Pavilion outside Xuzhou City. Helan Jue was in the rear.
Yuan Chen caught sight of the people approaching from a distance. Among them, there was a woman. She was extremely beautiful, slender, and plain dressed. There were no dazzling vermillion hairpins or jewelry on her, yet she gave off a dazzling and enchanting aura.
He whispered, "Is that the princess of Nanchu, Su Rong?"
Nangong Zheng nodded, "Yes, it’s her."
Yuan Chen stared at Su Rong for a while and then whispered, "My elder brother said we should choose one prince from among us, preferably a good-looking one, and send him to her as a consort."
Nangong Zheng was taken aback, he didn’t know about this and turned to look at Yuan Chen.
Yuan Chen didn’t say any more.
Before long, the people from Nanchu arrive, and everyone dismounted.
Yuan Chen bowed to Su Rong, "I am Yuan Chen."
Su Rong observed Yuan Chen for a moment. She thought to herself that Uncle Xie and Zhou Gu were right. Yuan Zhao had indeed sent Yuan Chen. She nodded, "I am Su Rong."
"You’re very impressive, Princess." Yuan Chen complimented.
Su Rong chuckled and raised an eyebrow, "The second prince is rather pleasing, much more agreeable than your detestable elder Crown Prince brother."
Yuan Chen paused at that, "You must bear a grudge against my brother. Compared to me, there’s a world of difference."
"I just said you were more likeable, and you became humble." Su Rong sat down, "Let’s get down to business. Is your precious Crown Prince brother going to agree to my terms? I’ve been waiting here for your Dawei to propose a peace treaty. My hands are itching. If you agree to my terms, I’ll withdraw my troops. If not, we fight. I don’t have time to waste with you."
Yuan Chen also sat down, "Princess, your demands are too harsh. If Dawei were to fight to the death, you would not be able to gain much. Dawei is sincere about proposing peace, but Nanchu cannot be too unreasonable. Otherwise, death is all that remains. Whether it is a humiliating death or death on the battlefield, I believe, millions of Dawei soldiers would rather die on the battlefield."
Su Rong sneered, "The way you put it, it sounds like the ones that flee from battle are from Dawei’s troops."
Yuan Chen’s expression hardened.
Su Rong cut to the chase, "We’re wasting time back and forth. What’s the point? Tell me, before you came here, what instructions did your Crown Prince brother give you? What can you agree to, and what can’t you agree to? Just say it. I don’t like to run in circles. I like straightforward fights."
Yuan Chen had never met anyone like her. She demanded full disclosure right from the start, and he was momentarily lost for words.
At this point, Nangong Zheng spoke up, "The Crown Prince said Dawei can cede three more cities to Nanchu, present one hundred thousand taels of gold, a thousand top-notch horses, plus blueprints for improved crossbow constructions."
"No way, it’s too little. Are you trying to beg me like a beggar?" Su Rong laughed coldly, "I’m not open to negotiation."
Nangong Zheng took a breath, "Dawei could also offer a handsome prince as a consort for your highness." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
Su Rong: "..."
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