Chapter 265: Your Highness, where's your chin?

The Xiongnu's withdrawal terms almost knocked the jaws off everyone in Chang'an; besides demanding a huge sum of silver for this expedition, they also wanted almost all cities north of Chang'an.

Sure enough, the court erupted in uproar; this condition was truly outrageous—agreeing would mean losing almost half the land, and even if given to Chang'an it couldn't be accepted, leaving the position practically a frontier.

Bai Li Jin naturally disagreed as well, and they reopened negotiations.

Chang'an's bottom line was that silver could be negotiated, hoping to trade silver for a withdrawal and the Ningde Emperor.

Lan He gave them no chance to talk further, declaring that if they refused to cede northern lands, he would start besieging the city, and negotiations stalled.

The court began to see a war faction; the war faction led by General Jianwei thought that proposing such peace terms meant they never intended to negotiate at all.

This time they really argued, and the court split into two factions.

One faction advocated war, claiming the Xiongnu allied forces didn't really have 400,000 troops, the numbers were roughly equal, so why not fight with the advantage of rest and preparation? Why tolerate the enemy's lion‑sized appetite? If we really gave them northern lands, Great Jin would lose half its territory.

The other faction felt that Great Jin being the weaker side was an undisputed fact. Now they were besieged in the city—with so many people in Chang'an, how many days could they hold out without breaking the siege? Even General Zhenxi and Duke Su hadn't won; it would be better to negotiate and send these wolves away. After all, the Western Regions were cooperating at Yumen Pass, and this time they really couldn't be brushed off.

Before they could reach a conclusion, Lan He grew impatient and sent word that the Ningde Emperor was critically ill.

This news exploded in the court; Bai Li, the Filial Son Jin, stepped forward, clearly declaring he would return to the negotiations at any cost.

The Clan Minister once again headed to the enemy camp outside the city, requesting an audience with the Ningde Emperor, but Lan He ignored him completely.

Step by step they retreated, and the final withdrawal terms were enough to shake the Great King's jaw eight hundred times.

Yet Bai Li Jin dared to agree, insisting over and over that this was the Bai Li family's realm, and his father emperor's safety outweighed everything.

Since learning of the Ningde Emperor's critical illness, he has been consumed by anxiety.

The Grand Commander fainted on the spot from his anger; this changed nothing, the Two remaining Dukes sighed, then agreed… agreed.

When the peace terms were announced, the whole world was shocked.

At this point, even if the court had no silver, they still had to give something to send the people away.

After all, they had already ceded territory, so the indemnity could be paid in installments; the court raised half and sent it to the front camp first to exchange for the Ningde Emperor.

The Ningde Emperor's carriage pulled up directly to his Changzhang Palace; outside the hall, Bai Li Jin, playing the Filial Son, knelt tearfully and kowtowed—but as he rose and lifted his eyes, he was startled by the Ningde Emperor.

"Father Emperor!"

"How did you become so thin?!"

Bai Li Jin really cried this time; whether he had been faking it earlier, he was now crying from fright.

The Ningde Emperor was reduced to skin and bone; Lan He wasn't speaking nonsense—he also feared that if the Great Jin Emperor died in his hands after another two days' delay, it would be a huge loss, and they might even have to fight again.

The Ningde Emperor was indeed ill.

Before his capture he had been unwell in the rear due to climate incompatibility; after being seized, frightened and terrified, his ailment worsened day by day.

The Xiongnu providing him food and drink was already decent; of course there was no physician to treat him.

After repeated frights, a man who had never known hardship, now fallen into the hands of steppe barbarians, the Ningde Emperor's heart also fell ill; seeing that his condition was terminal, Lan He finally grew anxious.

The Ningde Emperor, reduced to a skeleton, was lifted by palace servants into the sleeping chamber; nobody noticed that his belongings had mostly been replaced with new ones.

He lay in bed, desperately gripping his eldest son's hand, repeatedly calling his childhood name.

That scene—deep father‑son affection—made the nearby palace servants burst into tears.

"…Jin'er, the things I need to say I already said last time. I had thought we would meet again at my fiftieth birthday… While I was imprisoned in the enemy camp I thought of much; Jin'er, I give you this position—promise me you will keep your brothers alive."

Bai Li Jin suppressed his joy, nodding through tears: "Father Emperor, rest now; let's not speak of this yet—the Imperial Physician Director is coming right away, and you'll soon recover."

The Ningde Emperor gripped his hand tightly: "You and your second brother these years… just keep his life safe. Third brother, let him stay in Youzhou—he won't hinder you. Fourth brother, if you don't like him in Jingzhou, you can assign him elsewhere—Nanjiang, the Southwest, whatever you wish…"

Bai Li Jin smirked inwardly: "All your uncles my age are gone, and now you won't let anyone move a muscle, right?"

Too late—for example, the third brother, it's truly impossible now.

Because Youzhou is no longer ours.

Yet his face was drenched in tears, nodding incessantly—the Filial Son's performance runs through the whole affair.

The Great King was still in Youzhou, eagerly awaiting the negotiation outcome, seriously discussing with Wei Shen whether to raid Chang'an for the Xiongnu's "relief funds."

After another two days, the intelligence office's news reached Youzhou before the court's, and it knocked the Great King unconscious.

That fellow grabbed the messenger pigeon from head to foot, shouting, "Was it swapped mid‑journey? Or was the message on its leg changed?!"

Carrier pigeon: Innocent·JPG