Xilan Empire, Heaven Capital Imperial Palace.
Wutuo had been feeling somewhat vexed these past few days.
The Alliance had made an outrageous demand in the ceasefire negotiations, requiring the Empire to withdraw the governor of Golden Gallon Port, along with all the noble bureaucrats appointed by Heaven Capital.
Not only that, they demanded that once the ceasefire agreement took effect, control of Golden Gallon Port be handed over to the local survivors until the raider threat in the region had been completely eliminated.
Honestly, he could make appropriate concessions on tariffs and reparations, but he could never agree to those two conditions.
Especially the latter.
It pained him even more than if the Alliance had directly carved that land out of his territory.
After all, it meant that for the first time, a patch of land would appear within the Xilan Empire where the imperial family's authority could not reach. That would not only shake the authority of the royal family, but even the legitimacy of his rule would be questioned by the nobles and the urban class.
For now, Wutuo could only hope that the embargo imposed on all of Golden Gallon Port by the three hundred thousand troops at the border would crush the settlement's fragile economy.
If it became scorched earth breeding famine, plague, and death, perhaps the Alliance would discard that tasteless scrap of meat.
He had heard it from people at the front.
The Alliance was paying out of its own pocket to ship corn purchased from Silver Moon Bay into Golden Gallon Port, ship after ship.
At this rate, either the red soil outside Golden Gallon Port or the Alliance's purse would be emptied first.
Wutuo bit into a grape brought to his lips by a beauty. Just as he narrowed his eyes and