Since the cooperation had started, terms and details were just a trivial matter.
Mu Hengtian’s every move was under close watch, so getting out of his palace without anybody noticing was no easy job for him. Also, it was inconvenient for Ling Zhang to stay in the capital city of the Luohai Kingdom for long, what with his special identity. Both of them wanted to finish the negotiations as quick as possible. Therefore, after the distribution of the major part of the profits was decided, they agreed on the details in a brisk and neat fashion without much bargaining. Two hours later, the negotiations were over and they signed an agreement. Mu Hengtian’s treatment of Ling Zhang was quite a contrast to that of Xue Yi.
“It’s not every day that Your Highness visit my country. How about I make some arrangements and take you on a tour around the city?” said Mu Hengtian after everything was handled.
Ling Zhang first thanked Mu Hengtian for his kind offer and then added, “My kids are expecting me at home. They’re still young, and I tend to grow worried if I’m away from home for too long. I’ll set off to return the day after tomorrow.”
Mu Hengtian knew that Ling Zhang was referring to the couple of adopted children of his. He had found Yuwen Tong’s decision incredible when he’d first heard about it, but now five years had passed, and the marriage between Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang was still solid. The princes and the princess had grown healthy and received proper education. Many people who had been astonished by Yuwen Tong’s decision had gradually come to feel that it was meant to be this way.
“Ha-ha…In that case, I shall not insist. It’s inconvenient for me to go out of the city to see you off, so I’m afraid I have to bid you farewell right here. I wish you a safe journey home,” said Mu Hengtian.
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” said Ling Zhang.
Ling Zhang took leave of Mu Hengtian and then left the place for their meeting.
After Ling Zhang disappeared from view, a thoughtful look appeared on Mu Hengtian’s face. Before this day, it had never crossed his mind that the one coming to negotiate with him would be Ling Zhang. Leaving aside the fact that the spies the Luohai Kingdom had planted in the capital city of the Great Wen had never sent back a single useful message in this regard, even after Ling Zhang arrived in the Luohai Kingdom, it’d been when Ling Zhang was entering the city that he’d been informed of it. Had Ling Zhang made any efforts to cover his tracks, would he have still been in the dark about when Ling Zhang had sneaked into this city?
Mu Hengtian was wary and suspicious of Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong, but just like he had considered a while before, he didn’t have much time left, no matter how wary he was, which meant that he had no alternative but to accept the Great Wen’s suggestion and let the Great Wen and the Wan Kingdom (both of whom were his enemies) fight and weaken each other while the Luohai Kingdom laid low settling the matter of internecine struggles.
After leaving that place, Ling Zhang returned to the “hideout” he’d prepared beforehand instead of the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce. Ever since his departure from the location for the negotiations, some secret agents working for Mu Hengtian had been shadowing him all along. He was capable of losing them, but he didn’t do that, because he wanted to lull Mu Hengtian into a false sense of security. Since they were now in a partnership, he should make a gesture of sincerity lest Mu Hengtian remain suspicious or do anything that might jeopardize the cooperation.
The alliance agreement signed, he could immediately set off to return to the Great Wen. The reason why he’d specially scheduled his departure for two days later was because he wanted to give Mu Hengtian some time to show the Luohai Kingdom’s good faith.
…
On that very day, Mu Hengtian summoned Dugu Shan and some other top-ranking courtiers, Nian Feng the General-in-chief, and Mu Rongfeng the crown prince to confer with them about the terms of an alliance with the Wan Kingdom.
Dugu Shan had helped Mu Hengtian get information about the absolute maximum the Wan Kingdom was willing to offer, so Mu Hengtian had no misgivings whatsoever about conditions he was going to ask for the alliance. There was a divergence of opinion among the courtiers, but most of them were in support of Mu Hengtian’s idea. Nian Feng the General-in-chief raised no objection either, but Mu Rongfeng knitted his brows.
“Father, is it possible that this would undermine the stability of the future alliance? I mean, the Wan Kingdom made the offer on their own initiative. If the conditions we ask are the maximum they could afford, they would very likely feel resentment against us,” said Mu Rongfeng.
After Mu Rongfeng made these remarks, all the others looked in his direction. Their countenance gave little away, but actually they all had their respective thoughts on the subject.
Mu Hengtian looked at Mu Rongfeng with piercing eyes, quite displeased. He knew Mu Rongfeng well. Mu Rongfeng had made these remarks because he had really begun to see the Wan Kingdom as a future ally. In other words, Mu Rongfeng indeed wanted the Luohai Kingdom to declare war on the Great Wen. Mu Hengtian couldn’t help but feel disappointed. All this fool could think of doing was to declare war! Had it ever crossed his mind that if he went to the battlefield, the Dugu family and Nian Feng would make sure he never came back?! The situation in the court was dire; he hadn’t succeeded to the throne yet; and there were a whole bunch of people coveting his position as crown prince. One mistake and he would lose everything, but he was actually still in the mood for a war against the Great Wen? And he was giving such high priority to the Wan Kingdom’s interests? Had he not learned his lesson from that joint operation with the Wan Kingdom in Jiangzhou five years before? It was unbelievable he still had so much trust in the Wan Kingdom. Was he soft in the head or something?
Mu Hengtian soon concealed his disappointment which flickered on his face, and very few people noticed it, but Dugu Shan, who excelled at divining the monarch’s thoughts, and Nian Feng the General-in-chief who were exceptionally observant, saw it distinctly. The two of them couldn’t help but wonder if the monarch had some other plans. No matter what, the monarch being disappointed by these words of Mu Rongfeng’s was a good thing for them, so they naturally were secretly delighted.
“I’ve made my decision, and my decision is final,” said Mu Hengtian in a deep voice, bringing the consultation to an end.
Mu Rongfeng wanted to say something else, but at the sight of Mu Hengtian’s facial expression which was clearly not a happy one, he held back the words that had sprung to the tip of his tongue.
…
The next day. In the royal palace of the Luohai Kingdom.
Xue Yi was summoned to the palace. Mu Hengtian agreed to make an alliance with the Wan Kingdom, but the conditions he asked in return almost made Xue Yi jump and curse loudly on the spot.
He remembered very well that the conditions Mu Hengtian had asked previously were different. It’d been merely a couple of days, but Mu Hengtian was now asking for so much more!
Before he came to the Luohai Kingdom, the Wan monarch had told him about the absolute maximum the Wan Kingdom was willing to offer. That information was top secret. The Wan monarch, Xue Yi and Xue Chi were the only ones privy to it. There was no way the Luohai Kingdom could have laid out such terms which were exactly the maximum the Wan Kingdom was willing to offer, unless they were fully aware of the maximum.
Xue Yi believed that on no account would the Wan monarch or his father disclose that information to the Luohai Kingdom, which meant that the only plausible explanation was…Xue Yi’s countenance changed several times, the color of his face alternating between green and red, blue veins throbbing horribly on his neck from the effort of subduing his rage. Unwilling to admit it as he was, he came to realize one thing – he was tricked! The only occasion when he could have let slip the absolute maximum the Wan monarch was willing to offer was the time when he’d been drinking with Dugu Miao. On that day he’d dropped his guard and drunk himself into a stupor!
As this thought occurred to him, Xue Yi angrily looked at Dugu Shan, fury smoldering in his eyes.
Dugu Shan appeared calm and composed as though he were utterly confused as to why Xue Yi was giving him that look.
“If the Wan Kingdom accepts these terms, I’ll sign the agreement immediately.”
Mu Hengtian pretended not to notice the furious and murderous expression on Xue Yi’s face. The Wan Kingdom was seeking alliance with him, so as long as his terms were not above the maximum the Wan Kingdom was willing to offer, Xue Yi had to agree, no matter how angry he was.
“Your Majesty, don’t you think you’re going a little too far?” asked Xue Yi through gritted teeth. “It is with profound sincerity that the Wan Kingdom is seeking an alliance with the Luohai Kingdom, and the alignment will be very beneficial to both sides. Your kingdom will get no less benefits out of it than the Wan Kingdom will. Why are you pushing us so hard?”
Mu Hengtian heaved a sigh as though he were in some kind of dilemma. “There’s something you need to know, kiddo. The Luohai Kingdom is no superior to the Wan Kingdom in terms of both economic strength and military strength. The Wan Kingdom’s cavalry is famous among all the three countries. Your country could handle the Great Wen’s army with merely one third of its troops, but I’ll have to use half of my men to achieve the same ends. From this fact alone, I could deduce that my country would suffer much heavier casualties during the war than the Wan Kingdom would. How am I supposed to convince my men to go to the battlefield and risk their lives fighting for me when I couldn’t even pay them enough? Believe it or not, I’m doing what I have to.”
Xue Yi clenched his teeth so hard that they were on the verge of breaking. The Luohai Kingdom had been laying low for many years and had barely participated in any wars. It was sure as hell wealthier than the Wan Kingdom. This guy had got a nerve crying about lack of money in front of him! As for the so-called casualties, it hadn’t happened yet. The situation in a war could change drastically in an instant. Who the fuck knew which side would lose more men in the war?! However, Mu Hengtian refused to budge an inch on the terms. Xue Yi, without any advisers by his side to give him counsel, was unable to convince Mu Hengtian to change his mind, no matter how hard he tried. Eventually, Xue Yi was almost reduced to vomiting blood from anger, but even so, he still had to accept Mu Hengtian’s terms in the end.
The alliance agreement was signed and stamped in duplicate. After getting the duplicate meant for the Wan Kingdom, Xue Yi felt an urge to spin around and leave the Luohai Kingdom immediately. He was worried that he would lose control of himself, draw a saber and kill someone if he cast one more glance at any of these Luohai people.
All his terms accepted, Mu Hengtian was very pleased and didn’t let Xue Yi leave right away. Instead, he held a banquet, at which he talked and laughed with a couple of his courtiers. Xue Yi had a sullen face from first to last, but there was nothing he could do about it.
…
Mu Hengtian, who was quite considerate, secretly had a message delivered to Ling Zhang telling him about the signing of the alliance agreement. Though Ling Zhang had come to know about it through other methods, he pretended otherwise and thanked Mu Hengtian for it.
The Wan Kingdom had now stepped straight into the trap laid by the Luohai Kingdom. All Ling Zhang had to do was wait for the Wan Kingdom to make a rod for their own backs. Of course, in order to make sure Mu Hengtian would keep up his end of the bargain, Ling Zhang would no doubt “help” Mu Hengtian escalate the ongoing power struggles in the Luohai Kingdom.
The most important part of the matter had been handled. Lian Hai and Han Shu would be able to deal with the rest of it, so Ling Zhang had some men “pack” his stuff, preparing to depart from the capital of the Luohai Kingdom the next day lest Mu Hengtian be in fear and unable to have peace of mind.
Ling Zhaowu would stay in the capital of the Luohai Kingdom for another half a month and knock all arrangements into shape before leaving.
…
Early the next morning, Ling Zhang took his men and left the capital.
Meanwhile, Xue Yi, who couldn’t bear it any more, took leave of Mu Hengtian and left the capital on the same day. When exiting the city, he rode past Ling Zhang’s fleet of carriages. The group of horsemen were heading west with all haste. It seemed that Xue Yi indeed couldn’t stand staying in this country for another moment.
Ling Zhang lowered the carriage curtain. Shan Congli had made the most unwise decision by appointing Xue Yi as envoy. He would definitely develop insomnia after he came to know how much financial pain the terms of the alliance agreement would cause his country.
“Keep going.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Masquerading as a caravan, the fleet of carriages left the capital of the Luohai Kingdom and headed all the way south. They never stopped except when eating or sleeping. Mu Hengtian’s scouts were tailing them all along. It seemed they wouldn’t cease shadowing Ling Zhang unless they saw him cross the border.
Ling Zhang was somewhat resigned, feeling that Mu Hengtian was being overcautious. He couldn’t shake off those scouts even if he wanted to. Of course, he didn’t really want to slip away. Having been away from the Great Wen for such a long time, he was indeed homesick. The night before, he’d dreamt that Crescent kept calling “Daddy” with tears in her eyes. Ling Zhang’s heart ached as he pictured her delicate white-skinned face falling for crying.
After traveling in a stop-and-go fashion for five solid days, the fleet of carriages finally reached the border between the two countries. They went through the security check at the checkpoint and then disappeared from view like fish returning to the sea, not leaving a single trace for anybody to find. Mu Hengtian’s secret agents, unable to continue shadowing the targets, had no choice but to double back to report it to Mu Hengtian.
