Chapter 1097: Decisive Battle (7)

Mu Yangling removed the heart-protecting mirror from his armor and sewed it into his clothes. She also prepared sleeve arrows for him. “I’ve soaked these arrowheads in a poison that constricts the throat upon contact with blood. Use them sparingly. Also, bring along all your secret guards. If something really happens, at least you’ll have someone to help you.”

Seeing that she was busying around for his sake, Qi Haoran felt much better. He hugged Mu Yangling and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely come back alive. These arrangements of yours might not be of any use at all. Didn’t that monk Yuan Hui often say that I’m a lucky star? This time, I’ll definitely be lucky, too.”

In the next three days, as if verifying that Qi Haoran was indeed a lucky star, things went extremely smoothly. Even if he met the stubborn Wulie, the latter was worn down by him.

The next night, Qi Haoran brought six secret guards and stood under the Central Capital. Under the signal of the Jin Kingdom’s Left Minister, someone secretly opened the small city gate and let them in.

On this side, the soldiers guarding the Central Capital were all Wulie’s trusted aides. The Jin Kingdom’s Left Minister had personally come to pick up Qi Haoran.

Qi Haoran suggested meeting Zhou Ju first.

The Jin Kingdom’s Left Minister understood that Qi Haoran had to communicate with Zhou Ju first. At the very least, he had to know how far the matter had gone. Also, the Left Minister wanted Qi Haoran to hear from Zhou Ju about the conditions Great Jin had stated.

Because Great Qi had sincerely sent their Prince Rong over, he naturally also sincerely allowed Qi Haoran to spend a night with Zhou Ju.

The nearly 60-year-old Zhou Ju knelt on the ground to welcome Qi Haoran.

Qi Haoran hurriedly helped him up and looked at him with a smile. “Why do I feel that you look a little familiar? You look more like Advisor Zhou who appears beside my Royal Brother.”

Zhou Ju excitedly replied with tears in his eyes, “Your Highness, that’s my son. His name is Zhou Kang. You may not remember this, but you saved him back then.”

Qi Haoran was stunned. He looked at Zhou Ju carefully and recalled what his royal brother had said to him when he came. “Zhou Ju is trustworthy. His sons and daughters are all in Great Qi, and we have done him a huge favor. You can trust him. If there’s anything, just discuss it with him.”

As he still had many things to instruct him back then, Qi Xiuyuan only said this about Zhou Ju. However, at this moment, Qi Haoran was a little confused. He had fought everywhere for many years and had saved countless people. He really did not have any special impression of Zhou Ju.

However, Zhou Ju excitedly pulled Qi Haoran into the house and whispered, “Your Highness, don’t you remember? In the 22nd year of Jingyan, the Crown Prince of Jin Kingdom was assassinated. My son, Zhou Kang, was one of those children saved by you.”

Qi Haoran: “…”

Of course, he remembered that incident. After all, he had almost lost his life that time. It was also the first time he had walked half a round in the gates of hell before being pulled back by Ah Ling. From then on, Qi Xiuyuan’s attitude towards the Mu family had changed; he started treating the two families as family friends and Qi Haoran could also go to play with Ah Ling every day.

At that time, he had only thought of gathering military intelligence from the Jin Kingdom. Who knew that he would encounter the Crown Prince of the Jin Kingdom who had forcefully abducted a carriage of civilian boys, intending to do evil things to them?

However, at that time, he did not know that the other party was the Crown Prince of the Jin Kingdom.

Qi Haoran knew that Qi Xiuyuan had entrusted those children to others for adoption. He also knew that some of them were fiercely loyal to his big brother. However, because he was still young at that time and did not care about this matter, he really did not know that Zhou Ju had such an identity.

Thinking of the handsome Advisor Zhou beside Qi Xiuyuan, Qi Haoran sighed. “I didn’t expect Zhou Kang to be at the service of the Emperor.”

Zhou Ju was also very proud. “My son was lucky enough to pass the jinshi examination two years ago and obtained His Majesty’s favor. Only then was he promoted to the Imperial Advisor.”

Zhou Ju expressed that in order to repay the Emperor and Prince Rong, he was willing to sacrifice his life for Great Qi.

Qi Haoran took the opportunity to ask about this negotiation.

Actually, the negotiations were already halfway through. Qi Haoran was only here for the final negotiations.

Naturally, Great Qi’s request was for them to open the city gate and surrender.

On the other hand, Great Jin requested to let the Great Jin Emperor and the others leave.

Qi Haoran asked, “Have you met the Great Jin Emperor?”

Zhou Ju said in shame, “My status isn’t high enough. I’ve been negotiating with Great Jin’s Left Minister.”

Qi Haoran paced around and said, “Wulie has to die, but his wife and children can leave. Not only that, but I’ll also allow them to take away 20,000 personal guards. However, the Great Jin Emperor has to die. The people of Great Qi have suffered for 30 years. If he doesn’t die, my royal brother won’t be able to answer to the people of the world.”

Zhou Ju was silent for a moment before saying, “The eldest son of the Great Jin Emperor is already 18 years old. With the addition of 20,000 personal guards, if Your Highness is more assertive, the Great Jin Left Minister might be able to agree.”

Qi Haoran said, “I want to see Wulie.”

At this moment, Wulie was staring at the Jin Kingdom’s Left Minister with wide eyes. “What did you say? Great Qi’s Prince Rong came to negotiate personally?”

“Yes.” The Jin Kingdom’s Left Minister nodded and said, “Your Majesty, he’s with Zhou Ju now. He will be entering the palace to see you tomorrow.”

Wulie sat in a daze for a moment and immediately laughed out loud. “I didn’t expect Prince Rong of Great Qi to dare to come to the Central Capital. Hahaha…”

“…” The Jin Kingdom’s Left Minister reminded him, “Your Majesty, I invited Prince Rong here in hopes of keeping the lives of some royal descendants of Great Jin. Your Majesty, if our ancestors could conquer the world with a few horses, as long as you are survived by your descendants, Great Jin could rise again one day.”

The Jin Kingdom’s Left Minister truly feared that the Emperor would go all out and perish together with Qi Haoran.

If Qi Haoran died in the Central Capital, even the Jin people in the Central Capital would not be able to survive. Although he was not a good person, he could not watch helplessly as the Jin people were plunged into misery and suffering.

Wulie was silent for a moment. The Jin Kingdom’s Left Minister hurriedly mentioned his eldest son, who was already 18 years old, and his youngest son, who was only three years old. He had so many sons. Even if he only managed to sneak one out, there would always be hope of restoring his country in the future. But should he choose to perish together with Qi Haoran, Great Jin would really utterly perish.

When Qi Haoran came to see Wulie, the first thing Wulie said was, “Why should I believe you? What if you send troops to hunt us down the moment I order my men to open the city gates?”

Qi Haoran said indifferently, “Even if I send out troops, it will be to hunt them down, not you.”

“Prince Rong!” The Jin Kingdom’s Left Minister glared at Qi Haoran angrily.

Qi Haoran said, “This is my additional condition. The Great Jin Emperor must die, but I can let your wife and children go. In exchange, they can also bring with them 20,000 bodyguards.”

This condition was even more generous than the Jin Kingdom’s Left Minister and Wulie had anticipated.

Wulie narrowed his eyes. He found it even more unbelievable. At the thought that he might be deceived by Great Qi again, he leaned back in the dragon throne and laughed angrily. His eyes lit up with anger. “Are you fooling me? 20,000 bodyguards? When did Great Qi become so kind?”

Qi Haoran said straightforwardly, “20,000 bodyguards aren’t a big threat to Great Qi, but they can plant a nail in Great Yuan. Ogedei is too ambitious. With you guys restraining Great Yuan, Great Qi can have at least 10 years of peace. Of course, if your sons are too weak, just pretend that I didn’t say this.”

Wulie and the Left Minister were stunned. They did not expect Qi Haoran to have such an idea, nor did they expect him to directly tell them about this scheme.