The next day, after having successfully forced Gu Lingzhi to make love with him for two nights, Rong Yuan had finally decided to let her go.

After having breakfast, Rong Yuan did not mention anything about the tea offering ceremony. Both of them took a shower before heading to the Imperial Study Room.

The number of people in the Imperial Study Room had significantly reduced compared to the time before Rong Yuan had his wedding. Those envoys that did not have any intentions to form alliances with the Xia Kingdom went back to their own countries. The remaining people who had stayed were the ones who were on the same side as the Xia Kingdom.

Rong Yuan took a glance at the people who were already working with the North Qiu Kingdom secretly but chose to stay in the alliance, before entering the Imperial Study Room with Gu Lingzhi.

Rong Han had been waiting there for a long time. He gave Rong Yuan and Gu Lingzhi a genuine smile, “Both of you are finally here. Your mother was still telling me this morning that if the both of you hadn’t shown up today, she would’ve sent a pot of soup over so that you can replenish your bodies.”

Gu Lingzhi’s face reddened immediately and lowered her head, too embarrassed to look at Rong Han in his eyes. On the other hand, Rong Yuan laughed out loud and said, “Mother has always been very thoughtful. She can send the soup over, my Lingzhi needs to drink it so that she can be healthy.”

Upon hearing his words, Gu Lingzhi pinched his lower back immediately, causing Rong Yuan to cry out in pain. Those that had witnessed this scene could not help but laugh to themselves.

After a few more moments of fooling around, Rong Yuan finally talked about official matters.

“Father, those envoys that do not wish to form an alliance with us have already gone back to their countries?”

Rong Han replied, “Most of them have gone back. Only a few of them have continued to stay in the Chiyang City, but I believe that it’s a matter of time before they leave as well.”

Rong Yuan nodded his head and silently counted the number of people that had stayed and realized that the number of countries that were willing to form an alliance had increased after the wedding – a total of 19.

Of these 19 Kingdoms, four of them used to be on the North Qiu Kingdom’s side. They were the Yunlan, Nieyun, Qi and Sangna Kingdom.

Out of the four of them, the Sangna Kingdom was the most powerful and was comparable to the Xia Kingdom. The other three were small; but if they were strategic, there was a possibility that it would give them desirable results.

Rong Yuan assessed the power balance amongst the people in the Imperial Study Room before sitting down on one of the seats that were designated for him and Gu Lingzhi.

“Your Highness, I would like to apologize for what had happened on that day. I did not think that the North Qiu Kingdom would be so sly and come up with a plan like that. I was a fool!” the envoy from the Yunlan Kingdom, Lu Xueqin, exclaimed as a look of regret was plastered on his face. Intuitively, anyone would believe that he was sincerely sorry.

A pity that one’s intuition was not always right. With regards to his exquisite acting skills, Rong Yuan decided to play along and replied blandly, “Ah, are you referring to the time where you slandered me together with Pan Wen? I would’ve forgotten about it if you didn’t mention it.”

Though Rong Yuan said that he had forgotten it, everyone could tell that he did not mean what he said and was still holding a grudge.

Lu Xueqin scolded Rong Yuan in his heart for being so petty. Yet, he smiled and said, “Even if Your Highness has forgotten about it, I should still apologize for it. I hope that you don’t take it to heart. After all, we are going to be working together for a long time in the future, so we should not hold grudges against each other over such trivial matters, don’t you think so?”

Lu Xueqin’s half-hearted apology caused Gu Lingzhi to scrunch her forehead. It was no wonder he was a senior-ranking official, he was good with words. Although he seemed to be apologizing, he was implying that good relationships were important for both countries if they were to be in an alliance, otherwise there would be collateral damage.

“What Advisor Lu is saying is that we’ll be working together for a long time?” Rong Yuan questioned him before turning towards Rong Han, “Father, what were the both of you talking about previously?”

“We were exploring the martial prowess of each Kingdom so that we can strategically deal with the North Qiu Kingdom,” Rong Han replied, seemingly completely oblivious to the indirect arguments between Rong Yuan and Lu Xueqin. With a calm expression, he grabbed a few pieces of paper from the table and passed it to Rong Yuan, “Take a look at the numbers. What do you think are our chances of winning against the North Qiu Kingdom?”

Rong Yuan glanced briefly through the papers, before pausing at the numbers belonging to the countries that were on the North Qiu Kingdom’s side. He then put down the stack of papers. Without any reaction whatsoever, he looked at Xie Jianyu and asked, “What does Prince Yi think?”

Everyone turned to look at Xie Jianyu, not at all unhappy about the way Rong Yuan had decided to question him. The truth was that ever since these countries had decided to form an alliance with the Xia Kingdom, they were ready to let the Xia Kingdom lead them in battle.

Furthermore, the envoys from the other countries were rather pleased with the Xia Kingdom’s strength. After all, it was Rong Yuan who had exposed the North Qiu Kingdom’s plans to begin with. It was logical for the Xia Kingdom to be the leader of the alliance.

Targeted by Rong Yuan, Xie Jianyu was taken aback for a moment before he replied, “I believe that we have a good chance of winning against the North Qiu Kingdom. However, this is on the basis that we don’t have any betrayers amongst us.”

The audience immediately gasped unanimously at his words and looked at the envoy from the Minglan Kingdom when they thought about how they had once worked together with the North Qiu Kingdom, as if there would not be other countries that would betray the alliance.

Four of the envoys that were under the North Qiu Kingdom’s influence shifted uncomfortably.

“That’s right, after all, the North Qiu Kingdom has been able to pull so many people over to their side. Prince Yi’s concerns are completely valid.”

Rong Yuan was not at all surprised by Xie Jianyu’s ability to expose the truth using the hidden meanings in his words. He was making use of Xie Jianyu to criticize those envoys who had stayed in the alliance despite being loyal to the North Qiu Kingdom. As expected, Xie Jianyu did not let Rong Yuan down.

“I believe that no one would be so silly to follow the North Qiu Kingdom after their ambitions have been exposed, right?” the envoy from the Sangna Kingdom voiced out, grabbing everyone’s attention.

Rong Yuan looked at him and replied unhurriedly, “You never know, there are always power-hungry morons in this world who have thought that they got the better end of the deal.”

The face of the envoy immediately darkened when he saw that his words had been twisted to be used against him, but Rong Yuan simply ignored him.

“It is exactly what Prince Yi has said. Even though our alliance does seem a little stronger than the North Qiu Kingdom’s, they are still the strongest country in the Tianyuan Continent. No one knows how much insider information they have access to. If what Prince Yi says is true and we have a betrayer amongst us, then it would be hard to say who would win. Thus, regarding this matter of dealing with the North Qiu Kingdom, it would be good if every one of you has a back-up plan…”

There was much to analyze from his words, the audience immediately started to weigh the possibilities out in their mind.

“In terms of deploying troops, I think that we should make use of the advantage that we have now and arrange our troops in one line at the frontline and slowly advance towards the North Qiu Kingdom.”

Rong Yuan then took out a map and pointed at the various positions of the nineteen countries and explained, “Look, even though our respective positions are rather scattered, our borders are all connected. Some of the countries are even situated on the same longitude. It forms a semicircle around the North Qiu Kingdom.”

Following his hand gestures, the audience could clearly see that Rong Yuan was right.

On the other side of the semicircle, beyond the North Qiu Kingdom, was the Endless Sea Realm. 

No one knew how the sea had formed. They only knew that ever since the Spirit Tribe had disappeared, the sea had suddenly appeared around the whole of the Tianyuan Continent.

This also meant that if they could take advantage of the war situation now and slowly push the frontline backwards, they could slowly force the North Qiu Kingdom towards the sea.

This was an evenly-matched war. The only thing that would determine victory was who could force each other to the edge of the sea first.

Needless to say, the audience knew what Rong Yuan meant. The war was dependent on who had gotten the upper hand first and thus was all a matter of time.

Rong Yuan looked wordlessly at the envoy from the Sangna Kingdom, whilst a plan formulated in his mind. He addressed the envoy, “Even though it looks as if we have the upper hand and we’re thus able to surround the North Qiu Kingdom on all fronts, three of these fronts are slightly weaker. Other countries should extend their help and provide more soldiers to strengthen these three fronts.”

The three places that Rong Yuan had pointed at were the three weakest countries in the alliance. One of them was the Nieyun Kingdom, who had sworn allegiance to the North Qiu Kingdom.

“Your Highness, what do you think we should do to strengthen our martial prowess?” the envoy from the Fengdu Kingdom, one of the three weakest countries, voiced out. He looked at Rong Yuan with anticipation.

Rong Yuan scrunched his forehead, giving off the impression that he had been put in a tough spot. After a long pause, he then responded, “In my opinion, we can send some troops from the stronger countries to the weaker countries to help. Only in this way can we ensure the integrity of the entire battle front and at the same time, improve relations between the countries. What do all of you think?”

“It sounds like a good plan, let’s do it that way then,” the envoy from the Sangna Kingdom immediately agreed without any hesitation.

Even though the envoy was not sure which other countries in the alliance had sworn allegiance to the North Qiu Kingdom, at least it could openly send some troops to infiltrate into another country and this was advantageous to them.

On the other hand, the envoy of the Nieyun Kingdom did not seem very happy. Worriedly, he looked at Lu Xueqin, hoping that he would voluntarily send some troops over to the Nieyun Kingdom. Otherwise, the Nieyun Kingdom would not be able to make any moves under the close supervision of the other countries.

After a moment’s hesitation, Lu Xueqin decided to speak up, “The Minglan Kingdom has a rather formidable martial prowess, why don’t we send some assistance to the Nieyun Kingdom?”

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