Chapter 264: Peace Talks

Da Wang previously set aside a fifty-mu plot of farmland; Secluded Prefecture has already begun its vigorous spring plowing. Da Wang, busy as he was, suddenly realized he hadn't planted his fields this year!

Da Wang quickly brought out the five crops that had been sent. From now on he would not only have tasty vegetables, but this autumn he would be able to eat tasty staple food. Without a doubt, it should be better than what Bai Ge's side supplies.

Corn, fragrant rice, mung beans, oats, red beans.

Da Wang looked at them and they weren't unfamiliar at all.

"All of these I've seen at Bai Ge's place; let me see what's good about Mengmeng's products."

Da Wang finally remembered his land-reclamation plan and quickly summoned He Guang to ask.

"How is the land reclamation going with those captives the Eastern Xianbei brought back?"

"As soon as the ground thaws, we'll start reclaiming land. They're all working near the West City Gate. Your Highness, didn't you say the West City Gate area is crowded? Too much wasteland looks bad. This year, with the Eastern Xianbei people and the new refugees, we can plant crops all over the inner West City."

That'll work.

Da Wang relaxed, finally turning some attention to his fields. Wei Shen saw that this fellow had stopped furrowing his brows while practicing martial arts and was now energetically busy planting, and he let out a sigh of relief.

The Chancellor and Grand Tutor, who constantly monitored Da Wang's movements, also breathed a sigh of relief. They truly feared Da Wang would take his ten thousand cavalry to clash head‑on with the Xiongnu alliance of several hundred thousand.

Seeing him busy with other things gave them a slight sense of relief. It wasn't that they were overthinking; Da Wang had already started feeding the army meat!

What does this indicate?

Such rations clearly aim at building up stamina, and this preparation can have only one cause.

This army is about to face a major battle.

After all, Secluded Prefecture isn't wealthy enough to feed the army meat—not even the garrison in Everlasting Peace can get meat.

Da Wang's usual schedule is work and study in the morning, farming in the afternoon.

This routine lasted three or five days. That day Da Wang didn't go to the academy; the Grand Tutor caught him and dragged him off to practice calligraphy.

Too bad today's stool is no good—it's got thorns.

Grand Tutor Xu went out and came back, only to find Da Wang had run off...

He took a deep breath, realized not everyone had fled, and the reading companion bear was still there.

The bear, already resembling an adult, sat honestly upright by Da Wang's desk, head down, seriously playing with paper.

The Grand Tutor glanced at it, then froze.

He walked over, examined it closely, and saw the bear earnestly stamping a seal onto the paper!

Grand Tutor Xu smiled and said, "Not to mention, the bear Da Wang raises is really well‑behaved and quite cute. Look at this imprint—aren't the stamps nice and even? It just shows Da Wang has a big heart, letting it play with a seal like this, row after row…… Wait a minute!"

That was a sheet of paper on which Da Wang had written; the row of ink‑stamped seals was clearly visible, and there, unmistakably, were the two characters 'Ning De'!

Taking another look at the big seal in the bear's paw…… how could it resemble the emperor's seal so closely?

Grand Tutor Xu felt as if struck by lightning, his whole body frozen in place, his thoughts slowing. This thing…… where did it come from?

Before he could dwell on it, the fleeing Da Wang hurried back, snatched the great seal from the bear's paw, hid it behind his back, and greeted the Grand Tutor as if nothing had happened: "Grand Tutor, I suddenly have something to attend to; I'll stop my practice here for today. Goodbye!"

Having said that, he turned and ran.

Seeing Da Wang run, the bear got up and followed.

Only the Grand Tutor remained frozen on the spot, still puzzled. He picked up the paper from the floor—sure enough, it was the emperor's seal. Don't tell him, but who would dare to privately carve the emperor's seal and play with it by stamping it?

He anxiously folded the paper and slipped it into his sleeve, then hurried straight to the Chancellor.

The two old men held the increasingly messy practice sheet, unable to figure it out, and grew uneasy.

It seemed Da Wang had pulled off some big move while they weren't looking.

On the sixth day after Zhuti left Everlasting Peace, the Xiongnu alliance besieged Everlasting Peace.

During those six days, with panic spreading through Everlasting Peace, many more people fled, but it was noteworthy that Bai Li Jin held firm.

When officials urged Prince Yu to retreat south for safety, his attitude remained as firm as when he first arrived—he would absolutely not leave. He had returned solely to rescue Emperor Ning De at any cost, and Bai Li Jin would absolutely not abandon his father emperor or Everlasting Peace.

Whether it's genuine filial piety or grand public filial piety is unclear, but Prince Yu's prestige in Everlasting Peace has certainly increased.

Those who had not yet fled south held Prince Yu in high esteem, and the folk already had the saying—'Only Prince Yu is fit to be the crown prince.'

Whether this is truly a popular sentiment or a rhythm set by Prince Yu himself, only he knows for sure.

The Xiongnu alliance claimed a force of four hundred thousand and quickly surrounded Everlasting Peace.

The Xiongnu's Left Wise King Lan He accepted the court's peace proposal, but Bai Li Jin, against the consensus, refused to let his father‑in‑law, the Minister of Agriculture, lead the negotiations, and instead sent the incumbent Director of the Imperial Clan, Bai Li Gu.

Everlasting Peace's demands were simple: withdraw the troops and release Emperor Ning De.

But the initiative wasn't theirs; the two sides began to wrangle, sky‑high demands flew back and forth, and they talked about paying back debts.

Da Wang received the news from Everlasting Peace's intelligence unit that peace talks had begun, and he breathed a sigh of relief. In short, as long as large‑scale killing is avoided and fewer people die, that's good.

Da Wang's bottom line is currently low; as for the things that were taken…… well, who knows—things change, and maybe they'll be returned someday?

Da Wang himself secretly felt that those old officials in Everlasting Peace would be quite good at this, after all he had personally watched them wrangle in court.

But he clearly underestimated the ambition of the Xiongnu and all the participants this time.

They had plotted for so long, they had already successfully taken Chang'an; the splendid rivers and mountains of the south lay at their feet—obviously it was impossible to just reap a little gain and then return to herding sheep.