Chapter 11 A lonely city
Xia Wenxian unfolded the map and was numb, "Ten cities? You might as well destroy our Xiyuan."
Jiang Mo shook his head and said, "Impossible."
Chai Heng didn't expect them to agree to all of them. He circled ten cities in one breath just to leave room for bargaining. It would be acceptable to get half.
"The value of the Crown Prince is much higher than these cities. After all, he is the crown prince of a country. How can a few cities compare to the Crown Prince?"
"This is unfair." Jiang Mo pushed the map aside and folded his arms. "Ten cities, hundreds of thousands of people, and countless fertile fields are used to exchange for one person. It is unfair, so... won't exchange."
Chai Heng raised his eyebrows, "That's the Crown Prince! His life is more valuable than thousands of people. You’re not losing out in this transaction."
Jiang Mo was silent for a while before uttering, "No matter how important the Crown Prince is, he is still a person. It is fair to exchange one person for another. I have a person in my hand, and want to use him to exchange for the Crown Prince."
Chai Heng couldn't help laughing, "The person in our hand is the Crown Prince! Could it be... you caught my eldest brother?"
Jiang Mo shook his head, "That's not the case. Your crown prince is very strong and it is indeed difficult to catch him. But I think the value of this person may not be less than that of a crown prince."
He said slowly: "This person's name... is He Wenqian!"
As soon as this name came out, Chai Heng and He Xiao stood up at the same time.
"You said who?"
Luo Jin remembered that this He Wenqian was He Xiao's father. He was also a famous general in the past. He was captured in a battle and Dongyuan Kingdom thought he was dead, but his body was nowhere to be found. In fact, he wasn’t dead, but was captured by the Xiyuan Kingdom and was imprisoned for ten years.
"He Wenqian," Jiang Mo repeated, "I think he should be worth your exchange of the Crown Prince, right?"
He Xiao's voice trembled, "Impossible... My father... died in battle ten years ago. Although the body wasn’t found, we found his sword and fragments of armor. He... he..."
Jiang Mo said: "He isn't dead, just captured. We wanted to ask him for some useful information, but he would rather die than tell us. So we had no choice. Of course, we couldn't let him go, but we couldn't bear to kill him, so we kept him locked up."
Chai Heng thought for a while and asked: "Are you sure he isn't dead?"
"This is his thing," Jiang Mo handed something to He Xiao, "Since you are his son, you should be able to recognize it."
He Xiao took the thing with a trembling hand.
It was a small wooden sword with rough edges and a faint smell of fresh wood. It was obviously newly carved.
"We have never treated him harshly. We will try our best to satisfy his needs. General He likes to make wood carvings. This is a small wooden sword he carved recently. I took it when I came."
Chai Heng saw He Xiao's expression and knew without asking that this was indeed made by He Wenqian himself.
He took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I agree to the exchange!"
He Xiao raised his head and said in astonishment, "Your Highness... This... This requires the consent of His Majesty."
Chai Heng shook his head and said, "No, when my father sent me here, he gave me full authority to handle this matter, so I have the power to decide how to exchange."
"But... His Majesty wants the cities! Can't do this because of my family affairs..."
Chai Heng said slowly, "General He's affairs aren’t family affairs, but national affairs! In my opinion, General He is more important than ten... No, a hundred cities."
"Your Highness..." He Xiao didn't know what to say.
Jiang Mo said, "Second Prince is right. General He has made great military achievements and is well-known. He is much more useful than a crown prince who isn't good at doing things but is more likely to cause trouble. You have made a profit from this deal."
Xiyuan’s ministers: "..."
Chai Heng: "..."
[The second prince’s performance is so cool today! ]
[I didn't expect that he still had such courage. He Xiao is so moved that he couldn't speak. ]
[If I were He Xiao, I would be loyal to the Chai family for the rest of my life due to this matter and would never have second thoughts! ]
[Jiang Mo, please stop talking. Who would dare to respond to you? Who taught you to talk like this? ]
Chai Heng's decision just now was somewhat impulsive, but when he heard this voice, his determination instantly became extremely firm.
At least, she agreed with him. No matter what the result would be after returning, he had the courage to face it.
"So, how should the exchange work?" Chai Heng asked.
Jiang Mo said, "It's impossible to exchange in Sand City. Even if the exchange is successful, you have two masters here and it's easy to snatch the person back. So... I suggest that we exchange in front of the two armies!"
As soon as this was said, Xia Wenxian was the first to object, "No! This matter is originally carried out in secret. If it is publicly exchanged in front of the two armies, wouldn't it be known to everyone?"
[This Jiang Mo is so calculating. He just wants to embarrass Jiang Ge, right? ]
[Hearing him speak so directly, I thought he wasn’t sly. I was careless. ]
[In this way, the prestige of the Crown Prince will inevitably be damaged and he will have a better chance to compete for the throne. ]
[The Princes of Xiyuan Kingdom are really daring. Jiang Ge has it difficult. Actually, he isn’t incompetent. He is quite powerful in the novel as well as ruthless. If I hadn't informed Chai Heng, he wouldn’t have been caught. ]
Chai Heng had never underestimated Jiang Mo and he wouldn’t underestimate him now.
He agreed to this exchange. General He was captured on the battlefield and he would rather die than surrender and had suffered for ten years. He would be respected if he was exchanged back. But the Crown Prince was different. He was easily captured in the enemy country because of his lust. How could he face people in the future if this matter got out?
But his thoughts were more complicated. He considered if Jiang Ge's power was further weakened because of this fact, then his brothers, including Jiang Mo, would definitely covet the position of crown prince. Xiyuan Kingdom was bound to have internal friction, which was greatly beneficial to Dongyuan Kingdom.
Jiang Mo glanced at Xia Wenxian, "Why? Does the Prime Minister have a better way?"
Xia Wenxian pondered for a long time before saying, "Let the people of Dongyuan send his Highness, Crown Prince to Tan City and we will send General He to Wei City."
Jiang Mo looked at him like he was an idiot, "Tan City and Wei City are thousands of miles apart. Since we send people here, how do we know whether they have sent people there? What if they don't send them and detain us?"
Xia Wenxian was anxious, "Then...then..."
He also understood that if it was a secret exchange in private, the number of people couldn’t be too large. But in the case of a small number of people, the two masters He Xiao and Yue Qinghai could do whatever they wanted and directly snatch people.
Only when in front of the two armies and both sides were strong in strength, He Xiao and Yue Qinghai couldn’t play a role. No matter how strong these two people are, they could only deal with dozens to hundreds of people by themselves. But in the face of thousands of troops, they were powerless. Chai Heng spread his hands, "Why don't we exchange in Sand City? I promise a fair exchange and won't snatch the person."
Xia Wenxian's eyes lit up, "He promises not to snatch!"
Jiang Mo: "..."
He crossed his arms and stated calmly, "Lose face or lose life, you can help him choose! Or... you can go back and tell others that the Crown Prince was captured for gathering information in the enemy country."
Xia Wenxian held hope in his heart, "...The Fifth Prince will also say this, right?"
Jiang Mo nodded and said, "Although I don't like lying, I can reluctantly lie for the Crown Prince's reputation. I will definitely tell people that the Crown Prince was definitely captured because he was caught gathering information in the enemy country, not because he was lustful and had a secret meeting with a beauty. He isn't lustful at all and the child in the beauty's belly isn't his."
Xia Wenxian: "..."
Xia Wenxian went out for a small meeting with the few ministers of Xiyuan and came back after a long time.
They obviously didn't have a better solution, Xia Wenxian finally gritted his teeth, "Then... let the Fifth Prince decide."
Jiang Mo sighed, "Initially, it should be my decision, right?"
Xia Wenxian: "...This minister panicked."
When Xia Wenxian came, he thought he could decide everything. He didn't take Jiang Mo seriously, let alone Jiang Yan. He only had the Crown Prince Jiang Ge in his eyes and his purpose of coming here was to rescue Jiang Ge at all costs.
That was why he dared to openly oppose Jiang Mo's idea. But at present, there was really no better solution, unless he could find two peerless masters to balance the situation. But the other three of the five masters weren't easy to invite. Even if he tried his best, he could only invite one of them at most. It was absolutely impossible to invite two people at the same time.
It was enough that He Xiao was present. He really couldn't figure out why Yue Qinghai got involved. Wasn't he always neutral and didn't care about the court? How did Chai Heng invite this great god?
Chai Heng glanced at Yue Qinghai who was sitting beside him and saw that he looked absent-minded, with his head down as if thinking about something.
But he was useful as long as he sat here. It was also fortunate that he was there. Although no one benefited from the exchange of hostages on the surface, the Crown Prince of Xiyuan was disgraced in front of the army, which was still a huge profit for Dongyuan.
The two countries discussed the time and place of the exchange in detail and finally decided to do it three days later at the Qingjiangyuan border where both sides had troops stationed.
After the negotiations, the convoys of the two countries left Sand City.
Chai Heng thanked Yue Qinghai, "Thank you for your help, Mister Yue. I won't bother you next time."
In front of the armies of both sides, Yue Qinghai really didn't need to be there.
Yue Qinghai glared at him, "Killing the donkey after it has done its job?"
"This..." Chai Heng laughed dryly, "I'm just afraid that you'll be too tired."
"Hmph, am I the kind of person who gets tired and gasps for air after walking a few steps? Do you want to compete with me?"
"That... you misunderstood, Mister."
Chai Heng looked at Luo Jin helplessly and saw that she didn't show the slightest surprise.
Although he was also curious about Yue Qinghai's past, he knew that this was not something he should ask, so he didn't ask. Yue Qinghai was unwilling to leave at the moment and Luo Jin probably knew the reason.
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