The Minister of War suddenly had a bold idea. He immediately took the preliminary peace agreement drafted by Beirong and rushed to Prince An’s Mansion in a hurry.
At this moment in Prince An’s Mansion, Xie Xuanchen was enjoying the leisurely life of a little boy, so when he heard a visitor suddenly approach, he frowned in disgust.
He reluctantly went to the front hall to meet the guest. When the Minister of War finished explaining his intentions, Xie Xuanchen frowned impatiently before he stretched out his hand and said, “Bring their draft.”
The Minister of War was waiting for this sentence to be said as he hurriedly handed it over. Xie Xuanchen’s eyes skimmed through the draft very quickly and he hadn’t even gotten to the bottom of the page before a slight sneer was formed on his mouth. The Minister of War was very familiar with this kind of sneer coming from him, so before he even had the time to add something, he saw Xie Xuanchen suddenly throw the book on the ground.
“These dogs are so brave, huh? Have them all scram!”
Although the Minister of War knew that this sentence was not directed at him, he also trembled in fright. He picked up the memorial and said hesitantly, “Your Highness, please calm down, I too, feel like Beirong is pushing the limits. However, they refused to give up on Suicheng and Zhuozhou. Despite my best efforts, I have failed to convince them otherwise.”
“If they don’t want to give in, let them leave. When was it their turn to decide where the border would be situated?” Xie Xuanchen’s facial expressions were unkind and his sword-like eyebrows were raised lightly. He was obviously behaving very arrogantly, but he acted with heroic vigour and was unbelievably good-looking. “If they know how to uphold their pleasantries and back off, things can be discussed; if they don’t, then I’m going to draw the border myself. By then, they will have no say when it comes to the location of the border.”
The Minister of War hesitated, “However, how should I relay this to the Prince of Beirong…”
“Just tell them my exact words,” Xie Xuanchen said with a cold brow, “I gave them leeway for the sake of their reputation but they want to take advantage of us instead? Indeed, mutts these days have courage that could contest the heavens.”
The Minister of War broke out in a cold sweat. Although Prince An said that he should relay the words exactly, the Minister felt that if they really wanted them as an ally, he should beautify it appropriately.
Before he left, he remembered that when he came in just now, he heard that Prince An was recuperating. Out of many years of officialdom, the Minister of War asked subconsciously, “I heard that Prince An is recuperating recently, but how did Your Highness become sick? Everything was fine during the Dragon Boat Festival.”
The Minister of War secretly wanted to know more about this matter— how Prince An’s body and why was he fit enough to ride a horse, playing rough at times but in the blink of an eye, becoming as frail as a feather.
This concerned the possible heir to the throne, so the Minister actually didn’t have the authority to question such a thing. But of course, establishing the position of a Crown Prince depended on the royal’s virtuosity, but the more important aspect was to ensure that the Prince was healthy and in a stable condition. An Emperor who was poor in health would cause issues to arise more often than not.
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