Maimaiti sat in the chair, his brows furrowed in thought.
To be honest, he was a little tempted, but the conditions were a bit too harsh, more than double what he had asked for.
He stood up, bowed deeply, and said, "We need to discuss this."
"Sure, but you only have the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. After that, the price will be different," Qi Guze said with a smile.
Maimaiti glanced at Qi Guze with a complicated expression, then led the people behind him out.
"Regent, weren't we pushing them too hard?" the Emperor asked after they left.
Qi Guze smiled and looked at the Emperor, saying, "Does Your Majesty think the price they offered is reasonable?"
"I think it's alright, nothing serious...you mean?" The Emperor thought for a moment and then stopped speaking, but then remembered something and stopped himself.
"Yes, they have done their research. The price is indeed not low, but it's not enough to cripple them. They will recover in less than six months, and then we will be at a disadvantage," Qi Guze said with a solemn expression.
The emperor scratched his head and sighed, "I was too young and almost fell for their trick."
"Your Majesty certainly has much to learn," Qi Guze said with a smile.
"And what about the canal you mentioned?" the Emperor asked again.
"Our country is suffering from severe flooding, while the Moon is suffering from severe drought. The canal project can be described as a win-win situation, and it can also boost trade between the two countries," Qi Guze explained.
"There are no permanent friends or permanent enemies, only permanent interests." The Emperor nodded slightly, understanding Qi Guze's intention. Only by completely binding the two countries together could future troubles be eliminated forever, and this canal was the bond that bound the two countries together.
“Yes, there are only permanent interests. This canal is divided 40% between us and 60% between the Kingdom of Dark Moon, which is why I proposed that price,” Qi Guze said calmly, stroking his chin.
"Then you gave them the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and told them that if they couldn't reach an agreement within that time, you would raise the price again. No wonder that Maimaiti looked at you with such a complicated expression just now," the Emperor said with sudden realization.
"He's a smart man; his act of turning around and walking away just now was very well done."
"An act?" The Emperor wiped the sweat from his forehead. I was convinced and almost couldn't help but agree.
"Hahaha, indeed, most people would agree in that situation, but unfortunately he ran into me." Qi Guze laughed loudly.
At this moment, Maimaiti returned with a group of people, his face ashen.
This time, instead of sitting down, he knelt on the ground and said, "We cannot agree to the conditions just now. Could you perhaps lower your demands a bit?"
"A self-inflicted injury ploy?" Qi Guze thought to himself, this person's attitude changed too quickly.
He cleared his throat and said, "In your words, this is also our bottom line."
Maimaiti gritted his teeth and said, "Unless you can get me that crayfish recipe."
The person behind him tugged at Maimaiti's sleeve and whispered, "Sir, didn't we just agree that we could just give in?"
Maimaiti glared at the man and hissed, "Mind your own business!"
This left Qi Guze dumbfounded. Thinking he hadn't heard clearly, he asked again, "Did you just say you wanted a recipe for crayfish?"
“Yes, I happened to go to a restaurant yesterday evening and had this dish. I really liked it. I asked their waiter, and he told me that I had to ask their manager, and that it might not be possible, so he added this condition.” Maimaiti recounted what had happened.
When Qi Guze heard that it was evening, his lips twitched. Goodness, it really was Xu Yuehuai.
The game between the two countries was unexpectedly broken by a crayfish.
Qi Guze's expression turned strange, which puzzled the Emperor, who called out softly, "Regent? Regent!"
"Ah," Qi Guze suddenly realized, "Your Majesty, please speak."
"Do you know what crayfish are? I've never heard of them before," the Emperor asked, scratching his head.
"I just happened to know."
After Qi Guze finished speaking, he beckoned to a young eunuch and asked him to go to Tianxiang Tower to find Xu Yuehuai. Before leaving, he added that it was important to make a big fuss about it and to let the whole city know that His Majesty and I were asking her for a favor.
The young eunuch glanced at the emperor, who nodded slightly in agreement to follow the regent's instructions before setting off.
Qi Guze rubbed his throbbing head and said to Maimaiti, "The recipe has already been taken care of. Do you think we should draft the official document first? As for the recipe, I think we shouldn't include it."
Maimaiti was naturally more than happy to accept this. If it were written into the book and the king found out that he had agreed to such harsh conditions for the sake of his appetite, he would die ten thousand times over.
Fortunately, he brought his trusted confidants with him to Chang'an this time, so he didn't have to worry about them betraying him. He was just grateful that it wasn't written into official documents.
Moreover, the two countries are on good terms; cooperation benefits both, while war harms both. The ruler shouldn't hold a grudge against me. At worst, I can just retire and go back to my hometown to focus on studying crayfish.
With the canal's support and increased trade between the two countries, the money should be recovered quickly, and the drought problem will be completely solved. Besides, they are essentially throwing money into the Mingyue Kingdom, so it's a reasonable deal no matter how you look at it.
At this moment, inside Tianxiang Tower, Xu Yuehuai was waiting anxiously, but no one came. She began to doubt whether she had made a mistake in her estimation.
Suddenly, a commotion arose outside, and Xu Yuehuai's face lit up with joy, thinking to herself: They've finally arrived.
He quickly picked up the crayfish from the table and headed outside, where he ran into the little eunuch.
The young eunuch was about to ask if she was Manager Xu Yuehuai when she interrupted him, saying, "It's me, it's me. Hurry up and go, don't keep people waiting."
The young eunuch was truly intimidated by her and followed her away.
After entering the palace, Qi Guze personally received Xu Yuehuai. Seeing that she was carrying crayfish, he understood what was going on. Sure enough, Xu Yuehuai took out two pieces of paper and said, "This is the menu, and this is a piece of His Majesty's calligraphy, just the three characters 'Tianxianglou' will do."
As for this plate of crayfish, consider it a way to shut His Majesty up. Of course, Xu Yuehuai wouldn't dare say that, but Qi Guze guessed that was what she meant.
After the arrangements were made, the Emperor immediately bestowed the calligraphy upon her with a flourish of his pen. Just when everyone thought Xu Yuehuai was about to leave the palace, she unexpectedly spoke up again.
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