Chapter 1220: Yelu Jing Chooses Caution

"Are you all done talking?" Inside the tent, Yelu Jing sliced meat with a small knife, enjoying it with strong liquor, and glanced up at the noble generals led by the Prince of Anping, Yelu Dilie.

Seeing Yelu Jing's indifferent reaction, the men exchanged glances, sharing a moment of awkwardness. Yelu Dilie said, "Your Majesty, such a golden opportunity comes once in a hundred years. If we hesitate and delay, we may regret it beyond remedy!"

Clearly, these nobles had seen an opportunity in the meeting between the two emperors, unable to suppress their restless ambitions, wanting to achieve merit and thereby overturn the balance of power between Han and Liao in one stroke.

Such thinking could not be called foolish or lacking self-awareness—the potential gains were enormous. If they could truly seize the chance to eliminate Emperor Liu, it would undoubtedly be a heavy blow to the Great Han Empire to the south.

Then, the pressure exerted on Liao, the rope constantly tightening around its neck, would immediately dissipate. Thinking optimistically about the future, they could even reverse Liao's decline, launch a counteroffensive against the Great Han, and even have iron cavalry ride south into the Central Plains—no longer a mere fantasy...

Moreover, such an opportunity was simply too rare. No matter how one looked at it, for the Son of Heaven of the Great Han, this meeting beyond the frontier was the moment when his safety was most vulnerable. Miss it, and it would truly never come again...

"You want to scheme against the Southern dynasty's emperor—how could a man like him be unprepared?" Yelu Jing, when shrewd, was incomparably shrewd. Facing the crowd's pleas, he said slowly, "Who is that Han emperor? He has been a formidable enemy of the Great Liao since the time of Emperor Taizong. In over twenty years, has the Great Liao ever gained the slightest advantage at his hands? With his shrewdness, since he came beyond the frontier to invite us, how could he place himself in peril?"

"Perhaps the Han emperor is complacent and has grown arrogant?" Yelu Dilie could not help but say.

Casting a glance at this fourth brother, no matter how much time passed, no matter how things changed, this impetuous, merit-seeking nature had never changed. This was also one of the reasons he had come to rely more heavily on his fifth brother, Yelu Bishe, in recent years.

"Matters of life and death, of the rise and fall of state and family—can they be recklessly gambled on, acting on guesswork and conjecture?" Yelu Jing rebuked bluntly.

Yelu Dilie fell silent, but his expression conveyed one thing: defiance. At this moment, the Southern Commissioner of Military Affairs, Xiao Husi, entered the tent and reported to Yelu Jing, "Your Majesty, the Han emperor has sent word again, setting the meeting for the fifth day of the ninth month!"

"Additionally, news from the south says that in recent days, all the passes along the Southern dynasty's Great Wall have strengthened their defenses, with frequent troop movements and great commotion. The Han army gathered at Jiaoshan Pass is no fewer than thirty thousand men. They may have designs—I beg Your Majesty to remain vigilant!" Xiao Husi said gravely.

"Did you hear that? Given this situation, it is we who need to be wary of the Han emperor's schemes!" As Yelu Jing said this, his gaze fell upon Yelu Dilie.

"Northern Chancellor, in those years you led troops and tangled with the Han army at Shanyang. In your view, with the forces we currently have at hand, can we defeat the Han army?" Yelu Jing then asked the Northern Chancellery Chancellor, Yelu Xianshi.

Back then, when the Liao army withdrew north, he had stayed behind, leading the Monan Liao forces and tribes, holding vast territories for Liao. Otherwise, given Liao's situation at the time, even if the Great Han had lacked the strength to press on, Liao's sphere of influence would have retreated further north.

In matters of facing the Han army, Yelu Xianshi could be considered one of the more authoritative voices among Liao's noble ministers. Therefore, after brief deliberation, he responded in a low voice: "The Han border troops are not weak in combat power, and the imperial army beside the Han emperor must surely be elite. With the field headquarters' current strength, the odds of victory are not great! Moreover, Baishuibo is not far from the Han passes and can receive support at any time!"

Yelu Xianshi's words were quite straightforward. As for the odds of victory, those who had experienced the great Han-Liao war a decade ago, especially the battle at Nankou, all had a sense of it.

However, in the ten years since, Liao's army had also been renewing itself, and among the nobles and the military, there was no shortage of bold, aggressive types. As the northern hegemon, their spirit had not been completely beaten out of them. Some who stood low, could not see far, and did not understand just how powerful and terrifying the Great Han had become, also lacked much reverence.

Take Yelu Dilie, for example—his status might be high enough, but he was a "Greater Khitanism" adherent. The moment he heard Yelu Xianshi's words, he immediately said, "Why does the Northern Chancellor deflate our own prestige? The Han army may be strong in combat, but does the Great Liao lack elite troops and fierce generals?"

"Since the Han army is making large-scale movements and their numbers are insufficient, we can immediately conscript tribal warriors and muster garrison troops. On the grasslands, why fear a mere twenty or thirty thousand Han soldiers! The Han army at Shanyang is not large in number—if we are resolute, success is not impossible!" Yelu Dilie's voice rose, his expression agitated.

Unfortunately, his speech did not win Yelu Jing's approval. Instead, it drew a stern rebuke: "Do you want to provoke an all-out war with the Southern dynasty? Have you forgotten the bitter lessons of ten years ago?"

Given Yelu Dilie's temperament, he had likely been suppressed for too long. Facing his imperial brother's reprimand now, he exploded, saying directly, "If we do not scheme against Han, Han will surely scheme against us! Rather than not seeking to strike first, are we to wait for the Han army to come and attack us? Is Your Majesty afraid of the Han army, no longer daring to show them the war blades of our Khitan warriors?"

"Prince of Anping, show some respect!" From the side, the Han minister Han Kuangsi, seated among them, could not help but remind him.

Yelu Dilie seemed to have let himself go entirely, casting a contemptuous glance at Han Kuangsi, this "army physician," and said coldly, "I am a Khitan warrior. I am not accustomed to you Han people's rules and etiquette!"

Han Kuangsi's family had risen through their connection to Empress Dowager Shulu, gradually climbing to become an influential Han clan within Liao. Thanks to this, during Yelu Jing's reign, the Han family's favor had never waned. Even now, with the Han Empire at its height, the Han family's sons were still given important posts—for instance, Han Kuangsi's son Han Derang currently served as an interpreter at Yelu Jing's side.

"Insolent!" Yelu Dilie's attitude thoroughly enraged Yelu Jing, who rebuked coldly, then raised the knife in his hand and pointed outward: "Get out!"

Facing the stern-faced Yelu Jing, Yelu Dilie ultimately did not hold out to the end. He snorted coldly and turned to leave. The atmosphere in the tent had clearly grown much heavier because of this disturbance.

With Yelu Dilie withdrawn, the noble generals who had petitioned for aggressive action also fell silent. The others remained quiet as well, waiting for Emperor Yelu Jing's decree. Seeing this scene, Yelu Xian, who had been sitting quietly and unobtrusively, lowered his head a bit further, though a faint glint of something unusual flickered in his eyes.

After a long while, Yelu Jing made up his mind: "Let there be no more talk of attacking Han!"

"Yes!" The assembled civil and military officials did not argue further.

"Southern Commissioner, send someone to reply to the Han emperor that I will certainly attend the meeting as scheduled!" Yelu Jing said to Xiao Husi.

"As commanded!"

He then looked toward Yelu Xianshi and instructed, "Since the Han emperor is making such a grand display and coming with a large force, we must also be on our guard. Handle the specific arrangements yourself! Issue a decree to the field headquarters to slow our pace and arrive at Baishuibo as scheduled!"

"Yes!"

The Liao sovereign's field headquarters was currently less than two days' journey from Baishuibo. With the dispute concluded and the ministers withdrawing, Yelu Jing, left alone, could not help but heave a heavy sigh.

The forceful expression on his face dissipated entirely, and an indescribable weariness enveloped Yelu Jing's entire body. It was not just the physical depletion caused by years of heavy drinking and disordered daily routine—there was also mental exhaustion. Since Yelu Wuzhi's death, he had not encountered another worthy minister who could wholeheartedly plan military and state affairs for him.

Now, although he was no longer recklessly consuming drugs, Yelu Jing's mental state had indeed deteriorated—likely because the pressure on his body and mind had grown too great.

In truth, Yelu Jing was not unmoved by the suggestions of Yelu Dilie and the others. The crushing defeat ten years ago, the loss of troops and territory, the deaths of two hundred thousand Great Liao warriors—how could such results not be etched into his bones, how could they not carry a sense of shame?

But precisely because those memories were too profound, he had to be cautious! Though he had never met him, Emperor Liu's great name had long spread far and wide. To Yelu Jing, Emperor Liu was more like a nightmare, perpetually hovering over the Great Liao, ready at any moment to bare his ferocious fangs once more.

Against such an enemy, how could Yelu Jing dare to underestimate him, how could he dare to act rashly?

And so it was—with each side harboring their own schemes, amid undercurrents and hidden tensions, the emperors of Han and Liao, in the crisp autumn weather, under a grand display of force, met by the shores of Baishuibo.