Chapter 158 Just a woman
Tuoba Wenjing pointed at Jiang Wanning, "I wonder if Your Highness would be willing to part with her?"
In his mind, this negotiation was bound to be won; every man's sense of right and power surpasses that of a woman, no matter how much he loves her.
He was faced with a choice between a city and a beautiful woman; he trusted Pei Yanchuan's decision.
When a man stands at the pinnacle of power, a woman is nothing more than an object.
Tuoba Wenjing confidently picked up his teacup, took a sip, and waited for Pei Yanchuan's approval.
Suddenly, the teacup in his hand shattered, tea splashing everywhere. Tuoba Wenjing instinctively closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes, a sharp sword was already pressed against his throat.
The guards following behind Tuoba Wenjing and Tuoba Yan'er jumped simultaneously, one in front of the other.
The guards drew their swords and pointed them at Pei Yanchuan, while Tuoba Yan'er hid far away, saying, "Don't hurt the innocent! I am the innocent one."
Tuoba Wenjing suppressed the shock in his eyes and waved his hand to signal his men to leave.
He leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and said lazily, "It's just a woman, surely the Prince of Langya wouldn't go that far?"
"If I were to die by your sword now, then Dongling and Xixia would be sworn enemies for eternity, with no possibility of reconciliation."
Tuoba Wenjing remained unperturbed. "In this way, you will not only become a sinner of Dongling, but also a sinner for all eternity for the descendants of both countries."
"I admire your courage to risk everything for a woman, Your Highness, but you should think carefully about the consequences."
Pei Yanchuan moved the sword forward an inch, then pressed it against Tuoba Wenjing's neck again. "You're wrong."
"I have another option: to destroy your entire Western Xia."
"By incorporating the territory of Western Xia into Dongling, I will become the God of War of Dongling, whose name will be remembered for a thousand years."
Tuoba Wenjing laughed loudly a few times, "Everyone wants someone like that, but what do you have to destroy our Western Xia?"
"This is not child's play."
Tuoba Wenjing completely disregarded Pei Yanchuan's threat, "With just these soldiers who are about to starve to death?"
"Or are those people who are on the verge of exchanging their own children to eat?"
This is also why Tuoba Wenjing dared to personally go to the Dongling Kingdom's military camp for negotiations.
These battles have exhausted the morale of the Dongling soldiers, and their supplies are almost gone. Within ten days, the Langya army will surely be defeated.
If Tuoba Wenjing were to die here at this moment, the Western Xia soldiers would surely attack with all their might.
Pei Yanchuan's face was cold. "Do you really think that by cutting off our food supply and refusing to let Dongling buy our food, you can force us to our deaths?"
"You might as well go out and ask around; it seems your information isn't very timely either."
Seeing Pei Yanchuan's unwavering confidence, Tuoba Wenjing looked at the person behind him with suspicion.
The guard whispered a few words in his ear. He had only received the news before coming and hadn't had a chance to report before being called to go together.
After hearing this, Tuoba Wenjing looked at Pei Yanchuan in disbelief, "This is impossible, this is absolutely impossible."
Where did you gather so much food in such a short time?
As far as he knew, the price of a peck of rice in Dongling Kingdom had reached as high as ten taels of silver.
An ordinary family's annual income is less than twenty taels.
Even if the Eastern Ling Kingdom emptied its entire treasury, it would still be difficult to solve this drought and locust plague.
Tuoba Wenjing was initially full of confidence, believing that Western Xia would surely achieve a great victory over Eastern Ling this time, but now he was told...
Has the food shortage problem in Dongling been solved?
Seeing the questioning look in Tuoba Wenjing's eyes, Pei Yanchuan said generously, "It's just 'a woman' as you mentioned."
"This has resolved the predicament that Dongling is currently facing."
The victory was indeed due to Jiang Wanning, and Pei Yanchuan did not want to attribute all the credit to himself.
The world is inherently unfair to women, and he would rather stand behind Jiang Wan Ning and be overshadowed by her brilliance.
Tuoba Wenjing's shock deepened, and the teasing look in his eyes as he looked at Jiang Wanning was gone. "You mean her?"
"Damn, my men said it was someone from Dongling named Young Master Yue, how could it be her?"
He would rather believe it was some wealthy merchant than believe that a woman he had just looked down upon had saved the entire Eastern Mausoleum from crisis.
“It’s just a nickname I get when I’m away from home,” Jiang Wan Ning stood up. “Your Highness need not be so surprised.”
"You were born under the skirts of women, yet you have developed the idea that women are inferior to men."
"If this Western Xia were to fall into your hands, it would surely be defeated sooner or later."
Tuoba Wenjing was speechless after being rebuked by Jiang Wanning's simple words, and he gripped the armrests of the chair tightly with both hands.
His eyes widened in anger. "So what if that's the case? Do you think our hundreds of thousands of Western Xia soldiers are afraid of us?"
"If you want to have a proper talk, then sit down and talk. If you don't want to have a proper talk, then we have nothing to say."
Jiang Wan Ning calmly said, "However, if Your Highness insists on fighting, I'm afraid you will suffer a great loss of strength, and then you will have to fight another tough battle when you return to the capital."
"How did you know?" Tuoba Wenjing asked in surprise.
Then, as if remembering something, he turned to look at Tuoba Yan'er, who was hiding far away, assuming that Tuoba Yan'er had been forced to reveal the internal affairs of the Western Xia royal family.
Otherwise, how would a princess of Dongling Kingdom know this?
Tuoba Yan'er was speechless. "No, cousin, do I look like an idiot to you?"
"You're the idiot, aren't you?"
Tuoba Wenjing had not yet had a chance to respond.
Jiang Wanning added, "Struggles between princes have existed in every dynasty since ancient times, so it's not hard to guess."
Jiang Wan Ning slightly curled her lips. Although she was smiling, it only made Tuoba Wen Jing feel that Tuoba Yan'er was right, and that he was the fool.
After a while.
Tuoba Wenjing finally compromised, "I can discuss this with you properly."
Pei Yanchuan hesitated to move the sword away from his hand.
"Prince of Langya, what do you mean by this?"
“There’s still one thing you haven’t done,” Pei Yanchuan said. “Apologize to Ningning.”
Tuoba Wenjing narrowed his eyes slightly, "Don't push your luck. I am, after all, a prince of a country."
"So what?"
"Cousin, I think you should apologize. After all, what you just did was really asking for a beating."
"You're my cousin, otherwise I'd beat you up."
Tuoba Wenjing was ultimately defeated, but Pei Yanchuan's sword-wielding hand remained motionless; the movement had caused him back pain from sitting so long.
"Princess Langya, I'm sorry, I was disrespectful to you just now."
“You should apologize to your mother, not me,” Jiang Wan Ning said. “You look down on women, which is the same as looking down on your mother.”
After saying that, Jiang Wanning stepped forward, grasped Pei Yanchuan's hand, and took the longsword.
"Your Highness, since he has already apologized, let him go."
Pei Yanchuan then pulled Jiang Wanning's hand and sat back down in his seat.
The subsequent negotiations went smoothly, with both sides withdrawing their troops and restoring trade between the two countries.
After Tuoba Wenjing left,
Jiang Wan Ning weighed the sword in her hand. "Your Highness is truly skilled. This sword is not light either, yet you were able to hold it for such a long time."
Pei Yanchuan remained calm, saying, "It's just a trivial skill."
"Then I'll go check on the peonies and crabapples first."
After Jiang Wan Ning left the tent, Pei Yan Chuan immediately rubbed his wrists and stretched them.
I almost couldn't hold on.
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