Chapter 37

"Mr. Yang Xiu, please enter the hall." Lady Kong Tong welcomed him with a polite smile.

Inside the hall, most of the family members had gathered. After all, this was a marriage alliance between city-states, as grand as a festival, and even the entrance road to the Zulong City-State had been decorated with colorful lights.

"Where is the Lady? It's been a while since we last saw her, and the soldiers of our Lingxiao City-State are quite missing her." Yang Xiu took a step forward, walking into the hall.

Yang Xiu only brought two guards, while the others waited outside the hall. Even in the enemy city, Mr. Yang Xiu showed no signs of tension, appearing as relaxed as if he were visiting a neighbor.

"The servants should be dressing and grooming the Lady." Lady Kong Tong said.

"That's good, that's good. Speaking of which, the Lady's compliance is somewhat surprising, but she is still the Lady, willing to sacrifice everything for the future of the two city-states, even if it means kneeling as a concubine. Hahaha!" Mr. Yang Xiu laughed, his voice echoing in the hall.

The Li family members did not look so pleased.

No matter what, the party that proposed the peace talks was essentially conceding.

They had thought Yang Xiu would be a courteous envoy, but he entered the hall with a hint of sarcasm.

"This is the peace treaty, Mr. Yang, please review it. If there are no other issues, please sign it." Li Ying spoke up at this moment.

Yang Xiu made a perfunctory bow, showing a modicum of respect to the Li family's head.

He took the peace treaty and quickly scanned its contents.

While reading the treaty, a soldier with a red chest flower quickly approached and whispered something into Yang Xiu's ear.

Yang Xiu held the pen but did not dip it in ink, seemingly having no intention of signing or stamping it from the beginning.

The soldier retreated, and Yang Xiu made an unpleasant expression, making a harsh tsking sound, then put down the pen and said, "Lord Li, our Lingxiao City-State has sent so many gifts, showing great sincerity. Why is there no clause in this peace treaty about ceding the four western cities? And why are you still unwilling to let us see the Lady?"

Upon hearing this, the Li family members could no longer contain their anger.

Cede the four western cities??

The four western cities were rich and prosperous, the most important territories and cities outside the main city of the Zulong City-State. Even if the two city-states continued to fight, the Li family would never cede these four cities to the Lingxiao City-State!!

"What ceding of the four western cities? The terms we previously agreed upon were only for Li Yunzi to marry into your Lingxiao City-State as a concubine!" Lady Kong Tong said, somewhat annoyed.

This Yang Xiu, not only arrogant, but also spouting such nonsense.

"Oh, it wasn't mentioned before, but times have changed. It's not too late to add this condition now. I can wait." Yang Xiu said, moving a chair from his seat to the center of the hall and sitting down. He then took a fruit plate from a Li family lady and started eating the fruit as if no one else was there.

"Ridiculous!! You, a mere envoy, are treating our Li family's royal court like your own backyard!" A Li family dragon rider general shouted angrily.

"I, Yang Xiu, am representing the Lingxiao City-State's Ling family in negotiating peace with your family. War is decided by a few people in this hall. Peace can be achieved with a few words, and so can war. But some minor characters can't decide anything and might bring about the destruction of their city and clan by saying something foolish. Is this young officer one of them? If not, then shut your mouth!" Yang Xiu laughed, his mouth full of unchewed fruit.

Earlier, Yang Xiu was wearing a feathered cap and was courteous, but now he was no different from a rude and brutal thug!

"May I ask, why do you suddenly covet our four western cities? If the price of peace is this high, why not start a war?" At this moment, Commander Cheng spoke up.

"Commander Cheng, Lord Li, as I understand it, your Dongxu Fort has already been breached by the rebel army. The rebels are likely advancing into the Lichuan Plain in the east... your granary cities will be plundered. Ah, these dates are really bad." Yang Xiu said, spitting out the pits and phlegm onto the ground.

Li Ying's expression was grave.

Lady Kong Tong looked even more surprised.

They had just learned this news, and as an envoy who had just arrived from the west to the Zulong City-State, Yang Xiu could not possibly know about it!

Was the news leaked??

The soldier who just informed Yang Xiu of this must have been the one who caused him to change his demeanor.

The question was, how did he know? Even the Zulong City-State's own army had just learned about it.

"Mr. Yang, you just said that war is decided by a few words. You are demanding that we cede our cities for no reason, just because you heard about the rebellion in the east? Regardless of whether the information is true or false, the rebellion is just a group of greedy civilians trying to take control of the cities. Suppressing the rebellion is not a difficult task. I want to know if you are just being clever and trying to provoke a war in the west, or if your master never intended to negotiate peace. If it's the former, I'll treat you as a clown entertaining everyone. If it's the latter, tell your master that we are not afraid to fight you to the bitter end!" Li Ying maintained his composure, using these words to intimidate the arrogant envoy.

However, Yang Xiu did not take these words to heart.

He picked up the fruit plate again, eating a large crystal grape and casually spitting out the skin on the ground.

His disregard for the head of the family instantly angered everyone, and the dragon rider general who had spoken earlier stood up, ready to kill the envoy on the spot!

Li Ying appeared calm on the surface, but he was deeply worried.

If the Lingxiao City-State launched an attack now, advancing from the west to the rich four cities, the Zulong City-State would be caught between two fronts, and its defenses would likely be breached, leading to the loss of much land.

The question was, how could the military situation be delayed if the defenses were breached?!

The hall fell into an eerie silence, and the Li family members' eyes involuntarily turned to Li Ying.

Was the Dongxu Fort really breached??

The Lichuan Plain is a vast plain. Once the rebels enter, it's like wolves entering a grassland, and it would take a long time to eliminate them, requiring the deployment of many troops.

Moreover, the eastern part of the Lichuan Plain, once trampled by the rebels, would be in ruins even if it were recaptured, with no taxes or grain, causing the Zulong City-State to severely decline.

"The head of the family is not answering and is allowing this envoy to act this way, so the breach of the Dongxu Fort must be true!" someone whispered.

"Then our Zulong City-State will really be at the mercy of others??" Some members of the clan understood the current situation.

The atmosphere became heavy, and everyone was discussing, but they could only wait for the head of the family to make a decision.

"Head of the family, let me kill this dog. I see that the Lingxiao City-State never intended to negotiate peace and is just sending this person to insult us!" The young general, who could no longer tolerate the arrogance, said angrily.

"Everyone says that each generation of the Li family is worse than the last, full of fools. Indeed, you can come up and kill me now. If no one stops you, I will slit my own throat. If someone stops you, you will kneel and chew the pits and skins I spit out!" Yang Xiu laughed, his tone extremely arrogant.