Ronglin did not meet these envoys one by one. Instead, he invited them all into the conference hall at once, treating them equally as he waited to see what terms of surrender they would offer, using their bids against one another to squeeze out those who were not sincerely willing to submit.
"Now then, is there anything you want to say to me?" Ronglin's gaze quietly swept across the crowd. The invisible pressure he gave off made even breathing feel heavy.
"Lord Ronglin, there may have been some misunderstandings between us before." One envoy rose to his feet, gently presenting a document as he said solemnly, "Regarding the conditions you proposed earlier, our lord did not disagree. Rather, after having done a series of things that harmed your interests, he felt deeply ashamed that you could still be so magnanimous and offer such lenient terms. Therefore, he took it upon himself to revise some of the surrender conditions. Please look them over and see whether they satisfy you. It was precisely because our lord was revising the terms that our submission was delayed. Lord Ronglin, please do not misunderstand!"
Burgess took the document and passed it to Caesar at Ronglin's side. Only then did Caesar slowly rise, open the document, and review its contents.
As Ronglin's foremost strategist at present, Caesar had not offered any particularly brilliant advice. But among those around Ronglin, Caesar was the only one whose intelligence met the standard needed to advise him. Thus, Caesar accompanied Ronglin on most such occasions, serving as his "secretary."
After opening the document, Caesar briefly read its contents aloud to Ronglin. After Duke Lodun's defeat, those major powers had immediately accepted the surrender terms Ronglin had previously proposed. Moreover, because they had shown considerable resistance to Ronglin twice in a