Conspiracy

Perhaps the winter night wind was too bleak, for Li Yunqing's gaze towards Xu Yuan froze for a moment:

"What did you say?"

Xu Yuan slowly turned his eyes, his golden pupils gleaming in the moonlight, a smile playing on his lips:

"I said, let's go tie them both up."

"."

Li Yunqing licked his lips, glanced at Xu Yuan in front of him, then at the carriage traveling down the bustling street below, and his expression became quite interesting:

Do you even know who they are?!

"Don't be so loud."

The voice was a bit loud. Xu Yuan leaned against the wooden railing on the terrace with one hand and picked at his ear. "You just said that you are the third princess of the Xien Empire and the fourth in line to the throne of the Kingdom of Xien."

Hearing that indifferent tone, Li Yunqing couldn't help but swear:

"Xu Changtian, is he addicted to harassing foreign envoys?! He just killed a Great Desert prince last year, and now he's planning to kidnap the princess of the Xien Empire? That's a capital offense!"

"Smack."

Xu Yuan suddenly raised his hand and patted Li Yunqing on the shoulder, interrupting him:

"Junqing, do you think anyone in this Great Yan territory would dare to cut off my head?"

"You were assassinated just a month ago."

"." Xu Yuan.

Li Yunqing sighed softly:

"I am not like you. Moreover, you killed the Dachao People prince last year, and war broke out there this year. Many border generals are using this to attack the Prime Minister."

"Don't."

Xu Yuan interrupted again, laughing, "I don't have that kind of ability. Even without my affair, would the Great Yan and the Tachao Royal Court have been able to stop fighting? Others may not know, but surely you, Junqing, know?"

"Hyenas, once they smell blood, will follow you even if you throw them Root Bone."

At this point, Xu Yuan paused, then raised a finger and pointed upwards:

"Those two are unlikely to appease the Tachao Royal Court, so the matter of the Tachao is completely unimportant."

Li Yunqing lowered his voice slightly:

"You're applying cause to effect. What the Great Yan Dynasty needs right now is time, and negotiation is the best way to buy time."

"So you're going to deny it to the death, huh?"

Xu Yuan sighed softly, crossed his arms, leaned against the railing, and glanced sideways at Li Yunqing: "Then let me ask you a question: how long will it take to resolve the sect's affairs? And how long can the negotiations drag on? A year? Or two? Heh."

Li Yunqing remained silent.

Xu Yuan's eyes seemed to see through his thoughts, and he gently shook his head.

I know what you're thinking.

"After all, from your perspective, if you don't completely break ties, even if all your schemes and plans on the Dongying Island fail, you can still survive by using your identity as the Third Prince of the Great Yan. But if you kidnap Aurenli now, then there will truly be no way out."

"."

Li Yunqing listened carefully, sighed softly, and, no longer pretending, asked openly:

"If you already knew, why did you give me this advice in the first place?"

Xu Yuan said with a smile:

"As long as you don't fail, everything will be fine."

Li Yunqing's eyes twitched. He suppressed the urge to weld his fist to Xu Yuan's sour face and said sarcastically:

"Changtian, you make that sound so easy. Why don't you go to Eastern Isles and give it a try?"

Xu Yuan said firmly:

"No, I'm afraid of dying."

"You're afraid of death, but I'm not?!"

"Tsk, don't get agitated. How about I explain the reason first?"

Xu Yuan quickly raised his hand to signal the other party to calm down, making a circle with his thumb and forefinger, and holding up three fingers. "I want to tie them up again for three reasons."

Li Yunqing took two deep breaths and nodded slightly:

"Tell me first, but I must warn you, don't think you can cover up the kidnapping. Before coming to Di'an City, Aurenli must have been prepared to be killed, and she will definitely have a way to send this message back to Dongying Island."

Xu Yuan smiled upon hearing this and nodded, saying:

"Don't worry, I've already taken that into account."

As he spoke, Xu Yuan slowly retracted his middle finger and said:

"Firstly, as you just mentioned, the news of Aurenli's disappearance will inevitably be relayed back through some means. Once they realize the attitude of the Great Yan Dynasty, they will go all out to conquer the entire Dongying Island in preparation for war."

Li Yunqing suddenly interjected:

"This should be bad news. The attitude of the Xien Empire towards our Great Yan is still unclear. Such behavior is tantamount to a direct declaration of war."

"Declare war?"

Xu Yuan murmured, his voice tinged with disdain:

"You don't really think that after they've completely figured out the internal situation of our Dongying Island Great Yan, they'll choose to trade with our Great Yan after launching a surprise attack on the Eastern Isles dynasty right from the start, do you?"

"."

Li Yunqing silently raised his eyes and gazed at the full moon in the dark sky for several breaths, then said softly:

"But the Great Yan Navy isn't exactly powerful. If Eastern Isles falls completely, what are your plans for the naval battle?"

The fourteen provinces of the Central Plains are rich and fertile, and seventy to eighty percent of the land is still undeveloped and unused. There is no need to maintain a powerful navy to expand outwards. Therefore, the warship technology tree has remained undeveloped.

Xu Yuan's answer to this was ambiguous:

"This is indeed bad news, but it's also good news."

"What do you mean?" Li Yunqing frowned.

Xu Yuan carefully considered his words and asked in a low voice:

"If the Japanese suffer a complete defeat, do you think that the elite battalion I borrowed from you can turn the tide of the war on the entire Dongying Island?"

Of course not.

Li Yunqing immediately gave a negative answer, "This is a national war after all. Even if your promise works, and with the imperial guards that my father has assigned to me, we can only achieve the effect of a 'surprise attack' in the war against Eastern Isles."

At this point, Li Yunqing sighed softly:

"Alright, I think I understand what you mean. If the Japanese can maintain their defenses, then there's no need to worry about the Xien ' attitude. If the Japanese are truly no match for the Xien, then I won't have to go there anymore. I can only wait until my father and the others have finished their business so they can deal with these seagulls."

"Yes, it's a waste to give it away."

Xu Yuan nodded, then tucked his Nameless in. "Now, let's talk about the second point. We can extract a lot of information about the Kingdom of Xien by interrogating Aurenli, from the strength of the dynasty to the methods of cultivation, and even the power struggles within them. I think you have no objection to this, right?"

"What if they have methods to resist interrogation?"

"Then we'll deal with each move as it comes. Whether it's your Imperial Edict Prison and the Heavenly Prison, or my Black Prison, you should have quite a few methods for interrogating people."

"And the third point?"

"The third point, and the most important point."

As Xu Yuan spoke, he clenched his little finger into a fist and said with a lewd smile, "Aren't you interested in her?"

"." Li Yunqing.

"Haha, just kidding."

Xu Yuan chuckled, looking at Li Yunqing's constipated expression, and said softly:

"In short, since conflict is inevitable, we might as well take the initiative."

Li Yunqing gave a soft snort and tapped the railing with his fingertip:

"Then how am I supposed to explain this to my father? Many people know that I summoned them tonight. If anything happens to those two, I will certainly be implicated."

"Pfft."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuan immediately scoffed, enunciating each word clearly:

"His Majesty sending you there already signifies that he has entrusted you with full authority over the affairs of the Xien Empire, doesn't it? Besides, do you really think that he wouldn't have thought of what we want?"

Li Yunqing thought for a moment, then nodded:

"Alright, but those two must be strong; we probably can't beat them."

"Hmph."

Xu Yuan chuckled and turned to walk from the terrace into the side room.

"Six weeks from now, lure these two people to the Di'an City. I will arrange for people to handle this matter, and there will be absolutely no mistakes."

Li Yunqing turned to look at Xu Yuan's retreating figure and asked in a low voice:

"Are you planning to ask Lou Ji for help?"

Lou Ji has gone to attend to other matters for the time being.

Moonlight streamed into the room, a gentle breeze caressed the curtains, and Xu Yuan's voice drifted from the quiet wing:

"That day, I will invite Xu Changge."