The ministers glanced at the Emperor, then at Yan Huisheng, and then at the old Duke. All fell silent.
Grand Tutor Qin had naturally learned about this matter from Yan Huisheng early on and he agreed with it, saying, "Since Daliang has formed an alliance with the Nanchu Princess, mutual assistance should be expected. Daliang will lend three hundred thousand troops to Nanchu to help the princess seize the throne. When the princess comes into power, she will join forces with Daliang to fend off Dawei. This is a win-win situation. However, troops and horses are valuable assets. If we lend them out, they should naturally be returned. How about we listen to the princess’ plan on how long she intends to borrow them before we discuss how to formulate the agreement?"
Hearing these words, everyone agreed and all eyes turned to Su Rong.
Su Rong laughed and said, "I plan to borrow them until the day we go to war with Dawei."
A collective gasp resounded, and someone questioned, "What if Dawei does not initiate warfare?"
Su Rong responded with a laugh, "At most three to five years, Daliang and Nanchu will definitely wage war against Dawei. If you think this plan is not solid, then let’s set the term for five years. After five years, regardless of whether the war has started, I will return the three hundred thousand soldiers and horses. After all, five years is enough time for Daliang to replenish its national treasury and support the troops."
"This..." All eyes turned to Yan Huisheng.
Yan Huisheng clarified Su Rong’s mention of "the day we go to war," which meant that when Daliang and Dawei went to war, she would return the troops and horses to Daliang. By that time, Daliang would have to bear the cost of war, but at the same time, it would also increase Daliang’s military strength. Whoever is capable should annex more territories from Dawei during the war. She made it explicitly clear earlier on, that she wanted to co-conquer Dawei, and in the process, the capable ones would naturally gain more.
Grand Tutor Qin asked: "What if the war starts before five years?"
Being in favor of Daliang and Yan Huisheng was his natural predisposition.
Su Rong smiled, "We can add a clause. If Dawei starts a war within five years, I will return the troops and horses on the day the war begins. Even if it’s just after two years, I’ll do the same."
After all, she borrowed these three hundred thousand soldiers and horses mainly to ensure a smooth ascension to the throne. With a maximum of a year and a half, she would be able to eradicate the power of the Nanchu royal family and the Nangong family. If everything went smoothly, it would not even take that long. By then, she could depend on the Nanchu national treasury to support the troops. It wasn’t a difficult task. She had no intention of coveting Daliang’s three hundred thousand soldiers and horses.
Grand Tutor Qin nodded and looked at everyone.
The rest pondered and felt that her proposal was reasonable, their eyes turned to the Emperor and the Crown Prince.
Despite not knowing about the agreement between Su Rong and Yan Huisheng to jointly conquer Dawei, the Emperor found the proposal acceptable for both parties, especially advantageous for Daliang. He agreed and nodded, "I agree, let’s see what the Crown Prince and all my ministers think."
Yan Huisheng expressed, "I agree."
The old Duke also nodded in agreement.
The Rui’an King and the secretaries of the Six Ministries also expressed, "We agree."
With everyone’s agreement, the negotiation of the agreement began and the agreement stipulated details.
Crown Prince Yan Huisheng personally drafted it, with Su Rong adding input on the side, and set out many detailed regulations for the loan of the three hundred thousand troops and horses.
By the time the agreement was finished, it was already half a unit of time later.
Two copies were made, one kept by Yan Huisheng and the other by Su Rong.
The Emperor issued a verbal decree that no one was permitted to leak any information before Su Rong led the three hundred thousand troops towards Nanchu.
Everyone promised to comply.
By the time the agreement was concluded, it was time for dinner. The Emperor invited everyone to have a meal in the palace. They had a delightful time, and when they left the Imperial Palace, everyone was slightly inebriated, including Su Rong. The Emperor offered Su Rong to stay in the palace, but she declined courteously. She left the palace with the Crown Prince, Grand Tutor Qin, the old Duke and several others.
Su Rong agreed to send Grand Tutor Qin back to his residence. After exiting the palace gate, she bid farewell to the Crown Prince, the old Duke and the rest, and got into the carriage with Grand Tutor Qin.
Seeing this, the Crown Prince offered to send the old Duke home with a smile.
The old Duke waved him off, "Crown Prince, you should go back and rest. You’ve had a long day. I can get home on my own. Old Qin is still attached to Zhou Gu; he’s likely hoping to do some struggling through the little lass, to see if he can coax him back to Daliang. But you and I both know, he’s wasting his efforts."
The Crown Prince smiled faintly, "Indeed."
He stopped in his tracks, "Then I won’t see you off. Take care on your way back, old Duke."
The old Duke nodded and got into his own carriage.
As Yan Huisheng watched the old Duke’s carriage drive away and Su Rong and Grand Tutor Qin also drifting further into the distance, he smiled and got into his own carriage.
His appreciation for Su Rong, who had secured his position as the heir apparent, solved the crisis in the Capital City, quelled the rebellion of Zhang Ping, was clear for all to see. It made the ministers present at the court today also acknowledge her abilities. She successfully borrowed three hundred thousand troops and horses.
Crown Prince Yan Huisheng found it so effortless that he even likened borrowing three hundred thousand troops and horses to borrowing a heap of cabbages.
He chuckled at his own analogy, leaning against the carriage wall. But a moment later, he stopped laughing, overcome with melancholy.
The woman he loved was about to leave the Capital City.
He envied Zhou Gu.
Yan Huisheng recalled his younger days when Zhou Gu was just a few years old. The moment Zhou Gu learned to walk, the old Duke ordered a small bow and arrow set to be made for him. It was a path that every descendant of the Duke Residence had to follow, starting to handle weapons and exercise from a young age, learning to ride and shoot arrows. It was because of him that during a perilous hunting expedition, a young Zhou Gu had saved him from a tiger with a single arrow.
At that time, his strength was not that great, but he had courageously fired an arrow accurately in a moment of panic, saving his life.
It was Zhou Gu who approached the old Duke, and together, they conspired secretly, setting him on the path to becoming a minister.
Who would have imagined that when he grew up, he would let Su Rong benefit from it.
It must be only Su Rong, who could make him let go. Otherwise, how could he let Zhou Gu leave?
He could fully understand why Grand Tutor Qin was so angry upon learning that Zhou Gu had secretly travelled South to Nanchu under the pretence of travelling. However, he was not worried about Su Rong. After all, if one were to trace the roots of this matter, Su Rong could not be blamed. Moreover, Grand Tutor Qin was in no position to arrest Zhou Gu, especially since he had already covertly gone to Nanchu.
Although Su Rong had offered to send Grand Tutor Qin home, she got into Grand Tutor Qin’s carriage since hers was ordinary and not as spacious and comfortable as Grand Tutor Qin’s, which reflected his status.
Upon entering the carriage, Grand Tutor Qin fixated his gaze on Su Rong but remained silent.
Su Rong allowed him to look at her. She smiled lightly. If he didn’t speak, neither would she. She waited for Grand Tutor Qin to say something.
After driving a distance, Grand Tutor Qin suddenly snorted coldly.
Su Rong laughed, "Is the Grand Tutor dissatisfied with me?"
"I wouldn’t dare." The person Grand Tutor Qin was most dissatisfied with was Zhou Gu. On the day he had heard about it in the Eastern Palace, he was so angry that he stomped his feet. He, who had never spoken a foul word in his life, cursed profanities and called Zhou Gu every name in the book countless times. He lamented over his wasted efforts in teaching such a little bastard like Zhou Gu.
Yan Huisheng, a prince known for his politeness, was shocked to witness Grand Tutor Qin’s rage on the day.
On that day, Grand Tutor Qin was extremely furious. Even a few days later, he still hasn’t calmed down and felt a nagging pain in his heart.
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