Song Chu raised his head and saw a middle-aged man in his forties sitting on the main seat, with a dignified appearance and a somewhat refined and elegant demeanor. However, his temples were slightly frosted, and he had a tired look, clearly showing signs of excessive indulgence.

  At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, she had expected to meet the Wei State Envoy, but she was not afraid. As long as their goals were not in conflict, she did not believe that the person who came to the Song State on a diplomatic mission would be foolish enough to confront her in the palace. "The Emperors intention is not for me to guess, but I have indeed come for those tens of thousands of soldiers."

  "Oh?" Song Ti Cheng Jun lowered his eyes, coldly gazing at the two people standing below him. "The Marquis of Wei is indeed interesting, sending people who are younger and younger, mocking me?"

  Upon hearing this, Song Chu Yi turned her head around and when she saw that persons appearance, her face couldnt help but show astonishment.

  He was a man of about eighteen or nineteen years old, tall and slender, wearing a moon-white deep robe with dark blue collar and cuffs, official attire that set off his handsome face, elegant and refined, yet... melancholy.

  In his previous life, Song Chu met Min Chi for the first time when he was over twenty years old. His appearance at that time was not comparable to now, but his eyebrows and eyes remained the same.

  Min Chi saw her staring straight at him, and couldnt help but furrow his good-looking eyebrows. He no longer paid attention to her and cupped his hands in response to Song Qi Chengs words, "Song Qi is serious, its not that Im mocking you, but my Wei country really has no one."

  The whole hall of civil and military officials suddenly burst out laughing, like thunder in the empty hall. Song Chuyi also stopped worrying about whether to stab a few more knives to vent her anger after the event, taking advantage of everyones laughter, she immediately covered her face with her sleeve and let out a loud wail.

  The laughter almost stopped. A man in his mid-30s, dressed in Chinese attire, with a scornful smile on his face, asked with great interest, "Why is the child crying in the palace?"

  Calling an envoy of a country "a child" and saying "crying" is extremely rude behavior.

  If it were a dignified and refined gentleman, he would have been furious beyond control. But Song ChuYi had never paid attention to these things. Covering his face and sobbing, "Hua Jin is also a Song person, now seeing the motherland on the verge of collapse, his heart is filled with sorrow and despair, so he lost his composure."

  "Preposterous!" The man in the fine clothes smile vanished, and his face suddenly turned stern. He bowed to Song Zicheng and said, "Your Honor, this person is slandering me with evil words, he should be taken out and executed!"

  "Wait a moment, Your Excellency," said Song Cheung-kwan. "Id like to hear what he has to say."

  It was Song Yan! At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, he suddenly understood why he was so cruel, because after she came to the Song Dynasty, she did not go to visit him, but went to see Tao Ding. He must have thought that she brought many gold and silver treasures to offer to Tao Ding, and therefore felt unhappy in his heart.

  In an instant, Song Zhuyi understood the reason. She had no time to think about it and immediately replied to Song Chenchengjun: "The Wei army has repeatedly defeated, the prestige of Wei State has greatly declined, and its military strength is not as good as when Pang Tong led the army. But this is also the most dangerous time for Song State!"

  Song Qichengjun was able to usurp the throne successfully, so he is by no means a mediocre person.

  He thought for a moment and felt that there seemed to be some reason, so he straightened up his body and asked, "What do you mean by this?"

  "It is well-known that Qin and Wei have almost three small battles a year, and one big battle every three years. Now the national strength of Wei has declined, while Qins national strength has greatly increased since Shang Yangs reform. The Crown Prince Ying Ji is skilled in military strategy, and the people of Qin are also fond of war. With the new king on the throne, it is inevitable that they will engage in a bloody battle with Wei to the end. Wei must prepare for war, but how can they obtain grain, supplies, and horses in the short term?"

  "Whats going on?" Song Qi Cheng Jun asked.

  "Win the war with war." Song Chu smiled slowly and said, "Gain the greatest benefit from the smallest war. Qi, Chu, Han, Zhao, Song, which country do you think Wei will choose to attack?"

  At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the five countries mentioned were all adjacent to the Wei State. Except for the Song State, the other four were among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States period. Among them, Qi and Chu were the strongest, while Han, Zhao, and Wei had formed alliances several times after dividing Jin. In this situation, shouldnt the King of Wei be busy making friends with these families?

  At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, when everyones face was solemn, his demeanor became even more calm and composed. "Ive heard an interesting story from a foreign minister," he said, "and Id like to share it with all of you."

  "Please, sir, go on." Song Qi Chengs attitude was even more serious than before, and he also gave Song Chu a sufficient respect. Although he said it was an interesting story, there were not many people in the hall who listened with an attitude of listening to jokes.

  At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, a minister told a story: "When I was crossing the Wei River, I saw a clam basking in the sun with its shell open. A bird called Ji flew down to peck at the clams flesh. The clam quickly closed its shell and held the birds long beak tightly. The bird said, If it doesnt rain today or tomorrow, you will die from the heat. The clam replied, If I dont let you go today or tomorrow, you will suffocate to death. Neither side would give in. Just then, a fisherman passed by and easily caught both of them."

  Min Chi stood quietly on the temple, looking at Song Chuyi like everyone else. She wore a plain-colored wide-sleeved robe, her black hair was loosely coiled into a bun on top of her head, secured with a wooden hairpin, and from head to toe, there were no rings or decorations, nor too many colors, which set off her simple and clean face.

  "Sir, this story is interesting." Song Qi Cheng Jun said so, but his heart was raised. Wei Guo was indeed the fisherman waiting for the crane and the shell to fight each other!

  The grand hall fell silent.

  Tao Ding lowered her eyes, and last night Song Qi Cheng told him that he wanted to think of a way to tease Song Chu Yi this morning. He thought of the method of "Qing Lan". Although she didnt do a full set of dressing, at such a young age, she could already hold up an adults clothes with her temperament, which was truly rare.

  At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, he sighed and said, "This time attacking the Song Dynasty was actually my master being coerced by the King of Wei, and had no choice but to do so! My country of Wei is of the same clan as the Zhou imperial family. This time, the King of Wei just found an excuse to make the Zhou emperor speechless! Alas! Now Im afraid the King of Wei has already occupied our territory under the pretext of borrowing a path."

  A large army passing through the territory of another state must make an agreement, and in most cases, a certain reward must be paid. King Wei certainly used this as a pretext to annex the cities of the State of Wei.

  Although the rites and music have collapsed, military strategists say that an army without a just cause will have its morale scattered, and thus will inevitably be defeated in battle. Therefore, for the sake of ones own armys morale and momentum, a righteous reason must be found.

  Min Chi knew it was time to speak, and immediately said, "My lord, I am willing to offer six carriages of pearls and precious stones, one hundred fine horses, seventy beautiful maidens, as well as numerous copper utensils, to settle this matter. Please, Song Jun, think thrice!"

  "Hmph, you think a mere object can settle this matter?" Tao Ding said coldly.

  Song Chu was astonished in his heart. These things are already not a small number even for a large country! Are they still not satisfied? Is it too much?

  Grand Councilor Song Yan was probably satisfied with his private gains, so he didnt make things too difficult. Some scholars suggested, "If our Song Dynasty lets this matter go so easily, it will only make neighboring powerful countries think that Song is easy to bully. Why not have the Marquis of Wei personally apologize?"

  This is an insult to the overlord, but for Wei Hou, its the simplest thing. As long as he can get away with it, not only would he personally apologize, but hed also be willing to hold the reins of Song Xingchens horse and carriage.

  "The old man added another one." Tao Ding suddenly interjected.