" Mafa, what brings you here?"
Princess Anne was shocked. Her nephew was only seven years old! How could her brother be so heartless as to send his seven-year-old son to Great Liang as a hostage? This was simply outrageous.
As the princess of Frostwest, how could she not know the significance of Mafa's arrival? He was a hostage.
Ashina Mafa trembled slightly, lowered his head, and remained silent. The envoy beside him whispered, "Your Highness, someone is spreading rumors that our Emperor intends to attack Great Liang and undermine the friendship between our two countries."
To prove Frostwest's innocence, His Majesty specially sent the eldest son to Great Liang to explain the situation. We absolutely have no unfriendly intentions!
He was speaking to Princess Anne, but his eyes involuntarily drifted towards Lin Yi, filled with apprehension.
His mission this time is to stabilize Great Liang; if he fails to do so, Frostwest's situation will be in serious trouble!
"This..." Princess Anne frowned upon hearing this, and couldn't help but glance at her man.
She felt that her older brother was being a bit far-fetched; even she didn't believe this reason, let alone her husband, who was so intelligent, who wouldn't believe it at all.
really!
Lin Yi scoffed coldly, looking at the envoy with a mocking expression, and said in a low voice, "Spreading rumors? Do you think I'm senile and would believe your nonsense?"
Look at this alliance proposal! Not only does it have Ashina Tiandu's name on it, but it also has your official seal!
He casually pulled out a piece of parchment and tossed it in front of the naive envoy.
If you're going to play the victim, at least have some sense of propriety. This is just outrageous; you're treating everyone else like fools.
Your king dared to kill his own father; in his eyes, a son was probably less than a chicken. That perception is not very reliable!
Envoy Amu's heart skipped a beat as he accepted the parchment.
Upon opening it, his face froze. It turned out to be the alliance proposal that His Majesty had signed with many small states in the north.
The parchment not only contained an alliance proposal for Great Liang, but also a subsequent division of Great Liang's territory, and the names of many signatories.
"Damn it, how did this thing end up in Great Liang's hands?"
Upon seeing this, Amu's heart sank, and he inwardly groaned in despair.
This is irrefutable evidence, with the name of our own emperor listed first, followed by the names of the kings of many small northern kingdoms.
Great Liang got hold of this, they practically couldn't even come up with anything new to say about it.
If the emperor's name is fake, then the imperial seal can't be fake either, so there's no escaping that.
Cough cough!
He coughed twice and forced himself to say, "Your Majesty, there must be some misunderstanding. Our Emperor is Princess Anne's brother. How could he treat Great Liang like this!"
"Someone must be plotting against both our countries."
At this point, you absolutely cannot admit it, no matter what, otherwise you won't be able to handle the consequences, and the repercussions will be extremely serious.
hehe!
Lin Yi scoffed at his statement, saying dismissively, "State your conditions. Trying to persuade me without sufficient leverage is nothing but wishful thinking!"
To think that a single proton could stop a war is a joke. Ashina Tiandu.
Forehead!
Amu's face stiffened, his heart filled with bitterness. As expected, Great Liang was ruthless and wanted to negotiate terms directly.
He gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, our Emperor holds you in the highest esteem, and we are willing to follow the lead of the Great Liang. We only hope that Your Majesty will spare Frostwest's life for Princess Anne's sake!"
Upon hearing this, Princess Anne frowned slightly. Her brother Tiandu so ambitious; how could he be so humble? There must be a trick involved.
She whispered a warning, "Your Majesty, there might be a trap here!"
"Rest assured!"
Lin Yi nodded slightly. He naturally understood this principle; the other party was clearly feigning weakness in an attempt to buy time.
After all, with Huo Qubing and Xue Rengui causing trouble for Frostwest, it would have almost no hope if it faced Great Liang as well.
His only chance was to stabilize Great Liang and then either defeat or persuade Huo Qubing and Xue Rengui; that was where his hope lay.
The so-called submission and hostages are just means to an end. Once he has free time, he will probably target me first, and may even try to persuade Huo Qubing and the others to deal with Great Liang.
Unfortunately Ashina Tiandu know those two were from Great Liang that day, otherwise he would be in even greater despair now!
Now that it's time to unsheathe our swords, there's no need for further actions.
It's just a waste of time!
He ignored Amu and looked directly at Ashina Mafa, saying with a smile, "Nephew, talk to your aunt."
As for national affairs, you are too young to grasp them at all, so you don't need to worry about them!
After saying that, he strode away, completely ignoring the kneeling Frostwest envoy, and left.
Princess Anne sighed, took Little Mafa back to the palace, and had already given up hope for Frostwest's future.
Watching the emperor leave, Zhao Gao coldly glanced at Amu and sneered, "You should thank our Emperor. He always wins people over with Win People Over with Virtue, so he spared your life as an envoy."
Otherwise, if you had tried to fool him, you would already be torn apart by five horses!
You bastard!
They actually dared to deceive the Emperor, sending hostages and feigning weakness to deceive the enemy. Did they really think the Emperor's Net was just for show?
Amu's face stiffened, realizing that everything he had done had been seen through. He could only smile bitterly and say, "My lord, I was doing this for my country."
If His Majesty wishes to punish, then so be it; I only hope that he will not take his anger out on the Frostwest Empire.
Hehehe!
Zhao Gao was taken aback at first, then laughed strangely and said in a low voice, "You are indeed a loyal minister. Don't worry, the emperor said he won't kill you, and he won't."
However, just because the emperor doesn't kill you doesn't mean you can escape unscathed.
"A subject should die for his lord's honor. How could I, a mere servant, turn a blind eye to this? Therefore, you must pay the price for your actions."
Lying is wrong, and naturally, one must pay a bloody price!
No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhao Gao swayed and pounced on Amu, grabbing his head and then delivering a powerful knee strike to Amu's chest.
With a crisp cracking sound, Amu broke several of his ribs and was kicked away, crashing heavily to the ground.
"Puff!"
Amu spat out a mouthful of blood and then collapsed to the ground.
"Snort!"
Zhao Gao turned and glanced at him, brushing off imaginary dust from his clothes, and said in a gloomy tone, "Have someone take him away and deal with him properly. Our Great Liang Win People Over with Virtue and never kills envoys. We cannot make an exception for him!"
After saying that, he hurriedly followed after him, as the Emperor had other instructions.