Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress novel Chapter 980

Chapter 980: Chapter 976: Still Came

Li Zhijie’s fist clenched tightly as he forced a smile, organizing his words in his mind. However, before he could speak again, he heard Bai Qingyan continue, "Does the King of Yan really not know why the alliance hasn’t been finalized?"

"Please, Your Majesty, enlighten me!" Li Zhijie saluted.

"The Xiliang Princess, Li Tianfu, sent someone to Shuoyang to assassinate. Now... after the King of Yan arrived in Dadu City, he has been causing trouble, lending Xiliang assassins to the King of Baishui, intending to create chaos the day I ascended the throne. With Xiliang being so restless and harboring such malice towards Zhou, how can Zhou dare to sign the alliance?"

"Your Majesty!" Li Zhijie’s back was slightly sweaty. He quickly stood up, bowing deeply in salute, "I am completely unaware of the Princess sending assassins! I have never participated in the King of Baishui’s rebellion, nor have I lent Xiliang assassins to him. I urge Your Majesty to discern clearly!" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Li Zhijie..." Bai Qingyan set down her teacup, looking at Li Zhijie, who seemed sincerely terrified, "Even though the assassins are dead, the King of Baishui is still alive. Do you really think you can deny it? The fact that I am still willing to see you now is already a great favor to Xiliang. As for how we should negotiate peace... what kind of sincerity Xiliang should show, you best send someone back to ask the Empress of Xiliang!"

At this point, if Xiliang intended to use Jintong as a bargaining chip, they should reveal it now.

"Your Majesty..." Li Zhijie looked up, unable to conceal his panic despite his efforts.

"Rest assured, as long as the Guimian Prince is held in Dadu by Zhou and doesn’t return to the Rong, the Rong will not wage war on Xiliang for another day. Zhou may not be able to maintain this for long, but there is still time for the King of Yan to send people back to Xiliang’s Yunjing and then return to Dadu City. Beyond that time... Zhou cannot guarantee! Naturally, Xiliang must also ensure that during this period, no attack is made on the Rong; otherwise... since the Guimian Prince is staying as a guest in Dadu City by Zhou, with our alliance yet to be determined, should Xiliang attack the Rong after the Guimian Prince leaves, Zhou naturally cannot stand idly by."

When Li Zhijie came out of the main hall, his back was drenched in sweat, but his anxiety had somewhat eased...

From Bai Qingyan’s words, it seemed that she was dissatisfied with the cities Xiliang offered Zhou and wanted to take advantage of Xiliang assisting the King of Baishui to demand more benefits. Bai Qingyan feared he could not make the decision on his own, thus giving him time to send someone back to Yunjing to inquire with the Empress, especially since Bai Qingyu was willing to help Xiliang by keeping the Guimian Prince stable in Dadu City.

Thus, Bai Qingyan still desired to negotiate peace with Xiliang, but only felt that the benefits were too few.

Li Zhijie tightened his fist, feeling resigned... At least Bai Qingyan still had the intention to negotiate peace, and if he could drag the situation for even a day, it would provide him time to plan, to consider how to save Xiliang if ultimately failing to forge an alliance with Zhou.

Li Zhijie looked up at the Imperial Palace in Dadu, bathed in the brilliant morning sunlight, its red walls and green tiles shining brightly, genuinely breaking out in cold sweat for Xiliang.

Before coming to Dadu City, before seeing the various measures of the Empress of Zhou, Li Zhijie was confident that with Xiliang’s current reforms, it would soon reemerge as a strong nation. Even if it wouldn’t surpass Zhou and Yan, at least it would make neither dare to easily wage war on Xiliang.

But now he realized how naively shortsighted he had been.

Every misstep leads to another...

If only Xiliang hadn’t forcefully attacked the Jin Kingdom back then, losing over a hundred thousand elite soldiers, and creating enmity with the Empress of Zhou; if it had quietly strengthened itself like the Yan Kingdom, would it still fear the Rong now?

Alas, there’s no medicine for regret in this world.

Even though after ascending to the throne, the Empress of Xiliang implemented various measures to strengthen Xiliang, the speed at which Xiliang was growing strong was far behind that of Zhou, with the eight great families obstructing its progress.

Yan and Zhou both possess ambitions to conquer the world, and now Xiliang... is like meat on the chopping block. How can Xiliang be saved? How indeed!

Li Zhijie felt a heart-wrenching helplessness, an overwhelming sense of sadness, unsure what strategy could save the nation from peril, uncertain of Xiliang’s way forward...

Ever since receiving news that Li Zhijie had entered the palace, Bai Qingyu had been restless, worrying about how he should face his mother with this broken and incomplete face if she asked him to remove his mask.

He didn’t want to see his mother weeping, nor did he want to see his elder sister shedding tears.

The wait in front of the palace gates was a torment for Bai Qingyu.

Yet despite feeling utterly lost, he couldn’t suppress his desire to see his mother and elder sister, so he came anyway.

Bai Qingyu followed the eunuch leading the way, walking through the long palace path...

Recalling the countless times he had walked this passage with his grandfather, father, uncles, and brothers, looking at the candle pavilions half as high as a person on both sides, and the red walls and green tiles, but never with such a complicated mood as today.

The young eunuchs noticed this dignified Guimian Prince wearing a mask and couldn’t help but discuss in low voices, comparing him with the masked Ninth Prince from the Yan Kingdom.

Shouhe Palace.

Since before the morning court, Mrs. Dong had been restless. The previous night, Bai Qingyan had told her she might be able to see Bai Qingyu today. She barely slept all night, looking somewhat weary.

Seeing her mother gripping the chopsticks while having breakfast and constantly looking outside, Bai Qingyan turned to signal Nanny Qin to let the other palace maids leave and not to stay around to serve.