"Greetings, Her Royal Highness the Princess." After "going through a lot of hardships", Yuan finally met Xia Qingqing.
"General Yuan, please take a seat. You have come all the way to Anyang, but do you have something important to tell me?"
"Your Highness, the eldest prince wants to raise a large army to conquer the State of Cai and seek justice!" Yuan Cai said this righteously and passionately, as if those dirty things were not done by the eldest prince.
In fact, Yuan Cai believed that the princess just wanted an excuse and a cover-up, nothing more. As long as she had this excuse, the princess would definitely support the eldest prince; after all, the two were siblings.
However, Xia Qingqing's next question left Yuan Cai stunned.
"General Yuan, I wonder if my elder brother wants to seek justice for the 30,000 imperial guards, or for the 20,000 vassal soldiers who escaped?"
Yuan Cai was really stunned. He never thought that the princess would be so direct in exposing the scars and showing no mercy. After thinking for a while, Yuan Cai asked carefully, "Your Highness, the eldest prince asked Li Wei to deliver a letter. Did you receive it?"
“I’ve already seen it.”
"Then you..."
Xia Qingqing said in a very straightforward tone: "Privately, he is my elder brother. But publicly, he is a prince who made a mistake. If my elder brother is in danger now, I will definitely save him! But if he wants to destroy the Great Xia Kingdom for his ambition, I don't agree! Come, send General Yuan away from Anyang immediately, and don't stay!"
Yuan Cai was dazed and was dragged out of Anyang City Lord's Mansion. Afterwards, Yuan Cai was "escorted" out of Anyang by the ferocious Anyang soldiers.
When they left Anyang, it was already sunset. Looking at the dim sky in the west, Yuan Cai's expression kept changing, and finally he galloped away without saying a word, and the soldiers behind him hurriedly followed.
Needless to say, the eldest prince almost spat out a mouthful of blood - how could this happen? !
However, Ye Mingquan, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites of Cai, saw the whole process of Xia Qingqing's expulsion of Yuan Cai. Ye Mingquan couldn't sleep at night. Looking at the bright moon, he muttered to himself, "I didn't expect that this princess is more powerful than Li Xian! I miscalculated!"
The next day, the negotiations really began, and the beginning was a verbal battle. Ye Mingquan showed his true ability and never dared to underestimate the princess again; however, Anyang was not only the princess, but also Xu Ren, Fang Shijing, Beichen Yuqing, and Ling Zhifeng behind them. Every time a condition was negotiated, before confirming it, Xu Ren would ask Ling Zhifeng to predict the good and bad luck; if the prediction was not auspicious, he would immediately regret it!
Ye Mingquan was curious. Why did Anyang reject all the conditions that contained traps? He negotiated more than a dozen conditions in one day, and nine of them contained traps. But all nine were reneged on before they were about to be stamped!
On the third day of the negotiation, because the negotiation was too intense, Ling Zhifeng had to come out and judge the good and bad luck on the spot, allowing everyone to truly appreciate the magic of the alchemist.
No one knew whether Ling Zhifeng's divination was accurate; but seeing Ye Mingquan's frustrated and livid face, it was enough to explain everything.
After learning this lesson, Ye Mingquan finally stopped setting any traps and completed the negotiations in a proper manner; this also allowed the negotiations to be concluded in just five days.