Chapter 2160

"Ah?" Wu Tiju stared, dumbfounded, for several breaths before finding his voice. "The lease agreement for Blade Edge Harbor—what does it have to do with him?"

Even when the Emperor of the Nine Abysses was still the lord of Yangshan Island, he had dealt with Wu Tiju more than once or twice. This man was deeply thoughtful and meticulous in his affairs—how could he suddenly produce Bailie's old agreement?

Is he speaking up for Bailie, just as he drove out the Yakou raiders?

Isn't that a bit meddlesome?

"Ah, no, no!" The Prince of Qing, still reeling, had not yet finished relaying the information: "Bailie has already changed hands—the Emperor of the Nine Abysses has taken over as clan chief of the Lu family."

Just a few short words, yet the information was immense. Wu Tiju's mind buzzed, and he blurted out: "When—when did this happen?"

Truly, terrible news.

"Just last night—confirmed beyond doubt!"

Both Qing and Bailie are small states; news travels quickly between them.

These two pieces of bad news, taken together, have already stunned the Qing ruler and his ministers to the point of mental paralysis.

Everyone still doesn't quite understand what this "assuming the Lu clan leadership" even means—what kind of sneaky maneuver is this? But the Emperor of the Nine Abysses, in a single night, annexed Bailie under the pretense of "inheritance," and that is now an ironclad fact.

After seizing the sacred lands of Yakou, the Emperor of the Nine Abysses this time won't even let Bailie go!

Blade Edge Harbor originally belonged to Bailie, but was later forcibly occupied by Qing. Afterwards, the two sides signed an agreement: Qing leased Blade Edge Harbor and its surrounding lands from Bailie for forty years, paying an annual rent of three thousand taels of silver. During this period, Qing had the right to develop, remodel, collect rent, and engage in other profit-making activities there.

However, this agreement expired ten years ago.

Logically, upon expiration, Qing should have returned Blade Edge Harbor to Bailie. But everyone knows the reality: Qing has simply clung to it and refused to return it, leaving Bailie with no recourse.

But if we're talking about principle, Qing is clearly in the wrong.

The Prince of Qing said Yangcan wanted to "leave" rather than "return" Blade Edge Harbor because, deep down, he doesn't believe Blade Edge Harbor belongs to anyone else.

But now the Emperor of the Nine Abysses has become Bailie's master—Bailie has clung to a mighty thigh, and now comes waving the agreement to demand the return of Blade Edge Harbor. Is there anything wrong with that?

No.

The Prince of Qing summoned his senior ministers overnight, precisely to discuss a solution.

"Right now, Yangcan's large army seems to be operating within Bailie's territory. The last intelligence I received was that the Dragon God Army is moving toward our border." The Prince of Qing rubbed his face. "Esteemed ministers, do you have any other opinions?"

Things are not looking good.

No one in the hall spoke; the ministers fell silent like cicadas in winter.

In military strength, they are stronger;

In reason, they are in the right.

This...

The Prince of Qing's eyes were red-rimmed as he finally turned to Wu Tiju: "Esteemed Wu, Blade Edge Harbor has always been under your management. What do you think?"

Blade Edge Harbor contributes thirty percent of Qing's total annual revenue—he naturally doesn't want to let go of this money tree.

Wu Tiju steadied himself: "Your Majesty, the Dragon God Army first swept across the entire Flash Gold Plains, then captured Yakou's holy land, Baiqiu Yuan. We—we cannot confront it head-on."

Another minister objected: "Are we supposed to just hand over Blade Edge Harbor?"

Wu Tiju was equally blunt: "What if reclaiming Blade Edge Harbor is merely a pretext for the Emperor of the Nine Abysses?"

The ruler and ministers were puzzled: "What do you mean?"

"If the Emperor of the Nine Abysses wants to seize the Flash Gold Plains, he first uses a stratagem to destroy Yaoguo; if he wants to attack Yakou for revenge, he first uses the excuse of bailing out Bailie. Clearly, he likes to mask his true motives with appearances." Wu Tiju warned, "If his true goal is all of Qing, but he's using Blade Edge Harbor as a pretext on the surface?"

The Prince of Qing felt a chill run down his spine: "You mean he's swallowed the entire Flash Gold Plains and still isn't satisfied, and now harbors ill intent toward our state?"

As soon as Wu Tiju spoke, the council chamber fell suddenly silent as the grave.

The Prince of Qing wanted to curse, but he had to admit Wu Tiju was right.

From the fact that the Emperor of the Nine Abysses annexed Bailie, we can see his extreme greed for territory. Bailie is a small place, yet he doesn't mind the effort or trouble; then, for Qing, which is roughly the same size as Bailie, has the Emperor of the Nine Abysses also set his sights on it?

Upon deeper reflection, it's utterly terrifying.

A minister chimed in: "Wu Tiju is right—we cannot start this war, cannot give the Emperor of the Nine Abysses an excuse to annex us!"

Wu Tiju went further: "The Emperor of the Nine Abysses is beyond our capacity to resist. Your Majesty, you should quickly write to the Emperor of Mu—only Mu can stop Yangcan's ambition!"

Status is won through battle. After Yakou was harshly punished by Yangcan, Yangcan quietly rose to become the second strongest power in the region.

The Prince of Qing's gaze wandered uncertainly.

He had entertained this thought before, but Qing has recently been navigating between Mu and Bei Jia, reaping considerable benefits—even the frequency of Yakou raids on Qing has greatly diminished.

Mu is fully aware of this, and has long been dissatisfied with Qing.

Now that Qing is turning to Mu for help, will Mu truly listen?

Even if we can persuade Mu to act, what price would Qing have to pay? Mu certainly wouldn't help for free, would it?

The Prince of Qing pressed his temples.

My head hurts so much.

"If the Dragon God Army advances just one more step, it will reach Blade Edge Harbor." He said to Wu Tiju, "You are familiar with Yangshan and with the Emperor of the Nine Abysses. During our wait for Mu's reply, you must find a way, use all your strength to delay the Dragon God Army's advance!"

"Yes."

To the Prince of Qing's surprise, Wu Tiju agreed swiftly—unlike his usual habit of making slick excuses.

This is because the Emperor of the Nine Abysses wants to carve out what is under Wu Tiju's jurisdiction—Blade Edge Harbor—and Wu Tiju naturally ought to exert himself for this.

￥￥￥￥￥

Bailie changed hands, and three hundred Mu guards under the Martial Capital Commander were killed!

This news reached the Mu emperor's desk, coming only four days after the truce agreement sent by Yakou.

The war between Mu and Yakou had not yet ended, and Bailie's heavens had already changed.

It happened so fast that everyone was caught completely off guard.

Upon hearing this news, the small morning court fell utterly silent, everyone struggling to digest it.

How dare Yangcan do this!

The Mu emperor sat on his throne, one hand supporting his chin: "Yangcan returned the remains of Wuhang and his two hundred ninety-three subordinates, combined in a single coffin, to our state; Huang Yu is still alive. Hmph, the Nine Abysses is still quite thoughtful—he deliberately left ten living people for me. Oh, and together with Lu Zhensheng's eldest son, Lu Qing'an, they were all sent back."

The calmer his voice, the more everyone's foreheads broke out in sweat.

The Emperor was displeased.

Today's small court meeting had a long table specially set up, with several documents placed on it, their bindings secured and each stamped with a red thumbprint.

"Including Huang Yu, the testimonies of these eleven people are all on the table; you may review them at your leisure." Mu Di continued, "I have already looked them over—the contents of the eleven testimonies are nearly identical, and the details match up."

Did the Nine Abysses Great Emperor leave eleven living witnesses for Mu Guo precisely so their testimonies could corroborate each other and reconstruct the true scene of that time?

How thoughtful.

Now, this ball has been kicked to Mu Guo's feet—let's see how Mu Ting will respond.

The Emperor rested his forehead on his index finger, his tone somewhat amused: "He even wrote me a personal letter, saying the two states should properly negotiate."