"My lord, we had discussed this so well last time. Why is it that after the Southern Border Martial Saints applied pressure, Da Shun's offer rose instead of falling?"
"Could there be some inside story we don't know?"
"Da Shun has stood for seventy years. Has its national strength truly become this formidable?"
"Shut up! Don't throw yourselves into disarray!"
The seven members of the delegation left Da Shun's military tent. Wind and snow filled the sky as they trudged through the drifts, deep step, shallow step. Cold ice and snow slapped wildly against them, while salt-grain-sized flakes clung to their beards, refusing to melt for a long while.
Hearing the advisers' noisy, worried words, the chief envoy suddenly turned around and glared as he barked a curse.
Silence fell over the snowfield.
Only the gale remained.
The chief envoy swept his gaze around, looking as though iron had failed to become steel, and rebuked them. "It is all a show of force, nothing but deliberately making a fuss over nothing! Who knows whether Da Shun is outwardly fierce but inwardly weak? They raise the price once, and you are frightened stiff? Are you prairie marmots? What errand did you come out here to run? Hurry back into your holes and chew sandgrass!"
The advisers looked at one another. The eldest among them bowed deeply.
"Please enlighten us, Chief Envoy."
The envoy snorted coldly. "Put yourselves in their shoes. If you were Da Shun officials and learned yesterday that the Southern Border had made its move, then lowered the price immediately today, would that not be because you feared our Northern Court would see that Da Shun was afraid of fighting on two fronts? If they lowered it again today, you would be delighted, but I would instead suspect it