Chapter 388: Taking Advantage Of Our Predicament

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

For a moment, Prince Yu couldn’t quite understand what was going on. When did he say that?

“Since Prince Yu is so anxious, then follow me to the Imperial study.”

When Prince Yu arrived at the Imperial study, he was still a little confused. He was clearly going to plead for Princess Pingling, so how did he end up coming over in the middle of the night to discuss a peace agreement with Xiao Jin?

Xiao Jin got Zhang Shuming to take out a booklet from the shelf. “Let Prince Yu take a look.”

Prince Yu took the booklet and immediately saw the three large words on the cover, “Letter of Surrender.”

Prince Yu felt humiliated. “Your Majesty, this… Is there a mistake in the statement? Why is it a ‘Letter of Surrender?’ Isn’t it a peace agreement?”

Xiao Jin glanced at him and asked with a somewhat puzzled expression, “Didn’t the Nan State surrender on their own accord and say that they didn’t want to fight back then?”

Prince Yu choked. That was the truth, but their Nan State had already surrendered on their own accord. Why couldn’t Xiao Jin allow them to preserve some dignity?

Prince Yu was angry in his heart, but he still had to maintain his smile!

The more he flipped through the Letter of Surrender, the more unsightly his expression became. When he had just arrived in the Chu State, they had already discussed the terms of the peace deal with Emperor Kangze. However, the terms on this document were much harsher than what they had discussed back then. Xiao Jin actually wanted the Nan State to cede another city. This was simply a fool’s dream on his part!

Prince Yu placed the booklet on the desk and said with an icy expression, “What does Your Majesty mean by this? This is nothing more than taking advantage of our predicament.”

“Since you opted to surrender, the Nan State has to adopt the correct stance.”

Prince Yu looked very displeased. “We’ve already given you the two cities you conquered. What else do you guys want?”

“If it wasn’t for your request for a peace deal, the third city would have been taken down by now. The war costs personnel, effort, and food. We can’t just let it go like this. This war was started by the Nan State after all. What’s wrong with having the Nan State take responsibility?”

Prince Yu really wanted to tear Xiao Jin’s face apart when he displayed that matter-of-fact expression.

“Impossible. Losing two cities is already our Nan State’s limit. We can’t give up anymore cities!”

Xiao Jin nodded slightly when he heard this. He was not angry and only said, “Prince Yu, it’s not too late to discuss this matter with the monarch of the Nan State before making a decision. As for Princess Pingling, you don’t have to worry, Prince Yu. If she’s innocent, 1 won’t make things difficult for her.”

Xiao Jin was clearly threatening him. He was blatantly telling him that if the Nan State did not agree to his terms, he would just let them take it that Princess Pingling did not exist!

Princess Pingling’s life and death represented the Nan State’s dignity. She could die, but she must not die in the name of the Princess of the Nan State.

Furthermore, this matter was of great importance, so Prince Yu didn’t dare to make a rash decision. He could only go back and send a message to the Nan State’s monarch. He would let the monarch make the decision.

After Prince Yu left in a huff, Xiao Jin returned to Conjugal Phoenix Palace.

Su Ying was massaging the spines of the two children as they lay on the bed. This could help clear their marrows and enable them to achieve twice the result with half the effort when they were practicing martial arts.

“Greetings, Your Majesty.”

“Rise.”

“Father is back.”

When the two little fellows heard the noise, they got up and stuck their heads out to look at Xiao Jin as he walked in.

Xiao Jin walked up and pinched Ling’s tiny face. “What are you two doing?”

“Mother is massaging our backs. Massage, massage. Father, sit down. 1 will also massage your shoulders for you, okay?” Ling said.

Xiao Jin smiled and replied, “Alright.”

Xiao Jin sat down on a chair. Ji and Ling stood behind him and their tiny faces became engrossed in massaging his shoulders diligently.

Xiao Jin reached out and pulled Su Ying in front of him. “Don’t be envious. I’ll massage for you.”

Su Ying smiled and pulled a chair over to sit in front of Xiao Jin. “Go ahead.”

The family of four then gave each other massages, and the room was filled with laughter.

After laughing and fooling around for a while, Xiao Jin took this free period just before bedtime to test the children on their homework. Then, he told Aunt Zhao to bring them away to rest.

Su Ying turned her head slightly to look at Xiao Jin. She saw the slightly raised corners of his eyes as he narrowed his eyes, making him look like a wily old fox. “I heard that some passion-arousing incense was found in the Third Prince’s room?”

Xiao Jin mumbled a reply. “Xiao Li is still young. To think that she was capable of this.”

Su Ying stared at Xiao Jin intently. “That’s true. To think that you are capable of this.”

Xiao Jin turned around, his long and slender eyes revealing a look of innocence.

“Anyway, the marriage won’t really happen. And we can’t possibly kill the Princess of the Nan State.”

“You didn’t kill her because she was still useful, correct?” Su Ying knew this rascal too well. That stomach of his was so full of scheming that his intestines were almost twisted into a dead knot.

“Previously, when we fought with the Nan State, we almost took down the third city. In the end, the late Emperor agreed to negotiate peace, and our Chu State could only retreat. We could have had one more city. If we let that city go, isn’t it a big loss to us?”

“Thus, after you learned of this matter from the Imperial Guards, you had someone put passion-arousing incense in Xiao Li’s room.”

“Mm-hmm.”

With the passion-arousing incense, there was a possibility that this matter could be resolved and Princess Pingling could escape the death penalty. If not, they would have to force some reason to let her off, which would inevitably cause resentment in the Third Prince’s faction.

Moreover, holding Princess Pingling in his hands was also a bargaining chip.

“That Princess Pingling is someone who knows martial arts and is ambitious. Aren’t you afraid that she will cause trouble if she stays in the Chu State?”

When Xiao Jin heard that, he pressed his forehead against Su Ying’s and said, “Consort De and Xiao Li already want to tear her apart. If she marries Xiao Li, she won’t have a good life.”

Princess Pingling had almost taken Xiao Li’s life. Even if Xiao Li was stupid, Imperial Consort De would not be stupid enough to trust the girl in the future.

As a princess of an enemy state, she was now trapped in the backyard of the other state and was closely guarded. There was no way for her to cause any trouble. In fact, Xiao Jin did not need to do anything and Consort De would not let her live for too long.

“Oh, right. Why did you go to Xiao Li’s place?”

Su Ying told Xiao Jin about Princess Pingling’s actions today. “This is called being too smart for her own good. She deliberately asked me to go there. Other than wanting to lure me away, she probably also wanted me to be a witness to prove that she had always been in the palace for temporary stays and had no time to assassinate Xiao Li. This way, no matter how you guys investigate, you won’t be able to pin the incident on her.”

However, Princess Pingling hadn’t expected that Su Ying would discover the flaw when she was taking her pulse.

Su Ying realized that Princess Pingling’s blood vitality had dropped very low. It did not seem like a normal physiological phenomenon but seemed to be caused by some kind of stimulation. Therefore, she suspected that Princess Pingling’s period was real, but it was also fake. It was caused by drugs.

When Prince Yu came up with all sorts of excuses to stall Su Ying, she knew that there was definitely something wrong, so she took the opportunity to go to Princess Pingling’s room to check.

“How did you know that she would kill Xiao Li?”

“She is dissatisfied with you bestowing marriage on her, but she has no way to defy. If Xiao Li dies, you can’t possibly force a princess of a great state to become a widow for him.”

“Yingying is so smart.”

Su Ying felt that she wasn’t very smart, and was only making conjectures based on human nature and combining it with the other party’s actions to make speculations.

From how Princess Pingling approached her previously, it could be seen that she was an extremely cautious person. This kind of person was a little like Emperor Kangze, paranoid and distrustful of everyone around her. That was why she wanted to end Xiao Li’s life herself.

However, her plan backfired.. How could she, Su Ying, be so easily manipulated?

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