Chapter 2687: Acting as Mediator

Even the trade delegation led by the State Preceptor of Qiu Gong State has already concluded many new contracts in Ju City and is currently on its way back to Bekka.

But once that statement is issued, the conflict between the two countries will immediately intensify.

By then, even if Bekka wants Cang Yan to release the prisoners, it will no longer be as easy as it is now.

When relations are good, things can be discussed amicably; once they deteriorate, both sides become prickly, and communication becomes difficult.

"Wait, the blood-deep grudge of Cang Yan assassinating the King of Bolang—are we just going to let it go like that?" The King of E Ling protested, "Cang Yan has made Bekka lose face completely—can he really just walk away unscathed?"

"So you mean we should just abandon Bolang's sixty thousand prisoners of war, as long as we can harshly punish Cang Yan and Wu Song?" Nie Xiaolou also spoke up from the side, "You should first ask Bolang whether they can agree to this."

Both princes of Bolang State were present, their faces grim.

They naturally understood the will of the Heavenly God, but these past days, the families behind the noble prisoners of war have been making such a fuss that their ears are nearly deaf. These families support half of Bolang State; without their backing, even if the princes could ascend the throne, they could not govern smoothly.

They were suffocating with frustration, nearly to the point of internal injury, yet they could only say with difficulty: "The dead are long gone, but the living may still be pursued. Lives are of utmost importance—we hope to prioritize rescuing our soldiers trapped in Wu Song."

Those several ten thousand prisoners of war are all elite troops of Bolang State—can we really just say we don't want them and not want them? Losing these sixty thousand men would be a heavy blow to Bolang's military strength.

What's most infuriating is that after this battle, Bekka has no prisoners of war to exchange with the opposing side, because the battlefield is thousands of li away, and the Bolang army retreated only after suffering a crushing defeat!

Thinking of this, everyone felt like scratching their heads raw, and once again blamed the Bolang King for stretching his hand too far—why go plundering a country thousands of li away? Now Bekka wants to avenge them and rescue them, but it's all immensely difficult.

Since Bolang State, as the aggrieved party, has spoken up, other vassal demon states find it inappropriate to overstep and make decisions on its behalf.

Seeing this, the Demon Emperor also secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said in a deep voice:

"Since Bolang State has already made a decision, let us quickly contact Cang Yan to discuss the matter of welcoming back the fallen Bolang warriors."

In other words, that statement died in the womb—it was withdrawn and not issued.

The first sanction against Cang Yan ended in a hasty and careless manner.

……

A dedicated envoy was sent to convey the Demon Emperor's will to Cang Yan.

Cang Yan's reply was timely and enthusiastic, simply saying he would do his best to coordinate between you and Wu Song State.

Coordinate what? Everyone knows Cang Yan is just putting on an act—this matter's real decision-making power lies in his hands; whether those several ten thousand prisoners are executed or released is not just a single word from the Great Emperor of Jiuyou.

Soon, Cang Yan came back with feedback on the coordination results:

As long as Bekka ceases its future invasions, and Bolang State pays a compensation fee to Wu Song State to make up for the losses caused by the invasion, Wu Song will no longer execute the Bolang prisoners of war, and will release a batch of nobles and soldiers originally slated for execution each month.

That is, six thousand prisoners of war released each month.

As for Wu Song State's demands, Ling Xu City has no objections—originally, marching the main force overland to Wu Song would have been especially troublesome. Bekka has plenty of other targets to bully; there's no need to fixate on Wu Song.

The key lies with Bolang State. So the Demon Emperor once again threw the decision-making power back to Bolang State.

It is your Bolang State's soldiers who are trapped in Wu Song, your monarch who was beheaded by the other side, and your desire for revenge. So you make the decision—Bekka does not wish to interfere.

Had this been a few years ago, the Demon Emperor might have valued Bekka's overall foreign affairs more, and perhaps would not have taken this attitude. But now……

Don't forget—Bolang State is a follower of the Heavenly God, and its radical act of attacking a maritime state thousands of li away was also to curry favor with the Heavenly God. Now that it has suffered a setback, how does it know to come running back to Ling Xu City for support?

In short, Bolang State is on the verge of internal turmoil: one faction insists on avenging the old king, while another, more pragmatic faction just wants the soldiers to return home alive.

Meanwhile, during their arguments, Wu Song State continues to execute two hundred prisoners of war daily, diligently and without fail, rain or shine.

The fiercer and longer their arguments become, the more Bolang prisoners of war are executed.

When Wu Song State sent the second batch of execution lists, Bolang State could no longer withstand the internal pressure, finally spoke up and agreed—but demanded that Wu Song State release all prisoners within half a year and pay no compensation.

After all, the Bolang King died obscurely in Wu Song, and Bolang State feels wronged.

Wu Song State basically insisted on keeping the original terms, continuing to behead two hundred daily, but under Cang Yan's mediation, they ultimately canceled the demand for compensation.

That is, Wu Song State only demands that Bekka (including Bolang State) cease future invasions.

The Wu Song people naturally wanted compensation, but they also understand that this victory came from Cang Yan, not from Wu Song itself. If Bolang State were pushed too far and truly abandoned those fifty thousand prisoners, leading to an eternal feud with Wu Song, then Wu Song would also have no good outcome—because the voice of the war faction within Bolang State has never been small.

After giving up compensation, Wu Song State's demands sound even more reasonable and justified, even somewhat pitiable—after all, the cause of these several wars was Bolang State's unprovoked invasion of Wu Song, and now they demand it stop its banditry—shouldn't that be reasonable?

Left with no choice, Bolang State finally submitted a memorial to Ling Xu Wang Ting, stating its willingness to submit to the greater good and requesting the Emperor Lord to make the final decision.

It still could not bring itself to directly say, "I agree."

The Demon Emperor also understood Bolang State's difficulty and replied directly to Cang Yan:

Just do it this way—hurry up and release the people.

Throughout the negotiations, Wu Song never spoke directly to Bekka, only sending two rounds of notifications and personnel lists. All specific negotiation matters were handed over to Cang Yan.

And Cang Yan also never spoke directly to Bolang State, negotiating entirely with Bekka throughout.

Therefore, the main actors in this war are clearly Bekka and Cang Yan.

Only now did many officials in Bekka finally realize why Cang Yan has consistently insisted he did not send troops to Wu Song.

The reason lies right here.

If the two sides were to openly break ties and become enemies, how could Bekka still turn to Cang Yan to mediate the prisoner issue?

Wouldn't those several ten thousand Bolang soldiers then all meet their end in the Yellow Springs?

Look—Cang Yan has always been thinking of Bekka's interests.

How thoughtful!

When the aristocracy of Ling Xu City discusses the death of the Bolang King, whether in public or private, they are filled with righteous indignation. But no one will say aloud that Cang Yan's refusal to admit sending troops has actually let Ling Xu City breathe a little easier.

If Cang Yan had stubbornly and foolishly admitted: "Yes, it was me who did it!"

Then what? Then what should Bekka do—punish the murderer severely now that its vassal demon king is dead? Should it launch a great army to campaign against Cang Yan?

Between Bekka and Cang Yan lies the vast state of Mou. Even if Mou is not currently at war with Bekka, even if Mou could allow Bekka's navy and troops to detour behind it, would Cang Yan then be easy to deal with?

After all, it is a powerful empire with territory just as vast as Bekka's!