My elder sister is so noble, this time it's my turn to strike back

Xiao Yuzhi was stunned and couldn't help twitching the corners of his mouth.

When the officials of Daxia heard this, they immediately refused to do it.

"You're so damned fierce! If you keep guessing like that, you'll definitely be able to guess the answer. What's the point of even competing?"

Xiao Yuzhi had never expected that Chu Shaochen would resort to such a shameless method to try to get the answer. So he said:

"Prince Chu, I have said that there is only one correct answer. Will you choose 8 or 10?"

Chu Shaochen's face felt hot.

He really couldn't solve this problem. Just thinking about the 20 trees in the space connected by dense lines made him feel a pain in his head, as if he was going to grow a small brain.

At this time, Ban Ge couldn't help but step forward and ask, "Prince, is this question really as difficult as that Daxia official said?"

Chu Shaochen shook his head and sighed, "With my current level, it's impossible to calculate it. Prime Minister, this round, I lose!"

As he finished speaking, Bange couldn't help but open his old eyes wide, took two steps back, and his face lost all color.

Ruined!

According to the agreement, the prince not only had to kneel down and pay his respects to the Sixth Prince of Daxia, but also had to be kept in Daxia as a hostage to discuss trade cooperation between the two countries.

Ban Ge couldn't imagine what kind of wrath he would face from the King of Chu once he returned to Chu.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to remain in Daxia as a hostage in place of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I implore Your Majesty to release His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and return home. I am willing to donate all my life savings to make up for my debt to your country."

Ban Ge knew that if he directly begged the emperor of Daxia to release the prince, the emperor would definitely not agree, so he proposed to let him take the place and planned to send someone to send some symbolic silver to Daxia as compensation afterwards.

As the Prime Minister of Chu, Ban Ge knew that if he left the prince in Daxia and returned to his country, he would definitely be punished by the King of Chu, either by demotion or dismissal.

Instead of doing this, it would be better to take the initiative to stand up and protect the prince from disaster. In this way, he would become a meritorious official who shared the king's worries and sacrificed himself for the king, and the King of Chu would no longer attack him.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Chu Shaochen's face was moved.

"Prime Minister..."

"Your Highness, there is no need to persuade me. I am already half buried in the ground. It is okay to suffer a little injustice, but Your Highness, you are the hope of our Chu State. You must not let anything happen to you. Otherwise, how can I explain to Your Majesty?"

The two of them were talking to themselves, without considering whether the people in Da Xia agreed with what they did.

"Shame on you! You've really got a good plan. You said it yourself. Half of your body is about to be buried in the ground. What do we want you to do?

To put it bluntly, if something bad happened to the Prime Minister of Great Chu in Great Xia, wouldn't that be a perfect excuse for the State of Chu to get angry?

Your Majesty, this Prime Minister of Chu has ulterior motives and is plotting something treacherous. You absolutely cannot agree to this."

A military general stepped forward first and ruthlessly revealed Ban Ge's intentions.

When other officials heard this, they all agreed.

"Yes, Your Majesty, it was clearly agreed at the beginning that the Crown Prince of Chu would be held hostage, but it didn't say that we could replace him with their Prime Minister."

Emperor Shengjing nodded and said to the Chu group, "That's right, Prime Minister Ban. Since you have come here for the sake of diplomatic relations between our two countries, and now you have repeatedly provoked our prince, you should fulfill your promise after admitting defeat. I will guarantee the safety of your prince."

"But……"

"A gentleman's word is as good as gold. I believe that the Crown Prince of Chu would not want to be the kind of villain who breaks his promise and gets rich, don't you think?"

Before Ban Ge could fight for something else, he was interrupted by Emperor Shengjing and had to agree to fulfill his previous promise.

In this way, Chu Shaochen finally had to kneel down and pay homage to Emperor Sheng Jing in front of everyone, and also bent down and saluted Xiao Yuzi, as a sign of becoming his disciple.

Next, representatives from both countries discussed the opening of trade, and the negotiations were handed over to the officials in charge of each side.

On the Ministry of Rites side, the person in charge of the negotiations happened to be Concubine Wan's father, Wan Changfu.

The Sixth Prince shined brightly at the banquet this time. As the Sixth Prince's grandfather, Wan Changfu was naturally eager to try his best to gain more benefits for Daxia.

With the Crown Prince of Chu as a hostage, the negotiations went smoothly. The two countries opened up border trade, and Daxia purchased a large number of Chu's abundant war horses, furs, and other items at very low prices.

On this side, not long after Xiao Yuzhi left the banquet, Wan Rongyue also found an excuse to leave and came to Xiao Yuzhi's palace.

When they arrived, Qiu Ning was there, so Wan Rongyue took the initiative to invite him to stay and have dinner in Wende Hall.

During the banquet, Wan Rongyue personally raised a glass of wine and toasted to Qiu Ning, saying, "Aning, this time it is all thanks to you. Otherwise, I don't know when Zhi'er will be able to show his talent and gain the attention of his father.

As for the Ge family, I also heard from Zilang that the Wan family was able to win over the Ge family as a supporter, thanks to you."

Wan Rongyue was sincerely grateful to Qiu Ning.

In her opinion, Qiu Ning was very good in both strategy and business acumen. If it were not for the inconvenience of his identity, he would definitely have achieved great success outside.

"Your Majesty, thank you for your kind words. I am just a slave in the deep palace. If it weren't for your blessing and support, even if I had talent, I would have no room to display it. Your Majesty is like a mentor to Qiu Ning. Qiu Ning also wants to thank Your Majesty for your recognition and support."

After Qiu Ning finished speaking, he was the first to drink up the wine in the glass, and everything was said without words.

She and Wan Rongyue were like the closest friends and sisters. She believed that even if she didn't say it, Wan Rongyue would understand.

This is a tacit understanding between each other.

"Zhi'er's side has come to an end for now. What are Aning's plans for the future? Would you like me to find an opportunity to bring up the matter of your father and brother in front of His Majesty?"

Wan Rongyue knew that Qiu Ning's only goal was to redress the injustice done to his father and brother, so that they could return to Beijing as soon as possible and enjoy the happiness of family life.

However, Qiu Xiang was originally involved in a conspiracy against the king, and the matter has long been settled. If one wants to overturn the verdict, he must have particularly sufficient reasons.

Even for Wan Rongyue at the moment, this matter is quite tricky.

"There's no rush for this. As long as the Guo family survives, even if my father and brother return, they'll be seen as thorns in their side and will want to get rid of them as soon as possible."

Therefore, the top priority at the moment is to secretly collect evidence of the Guo family's crimes, and then try to find a suitable opportunity to catch them all in one fell swoop.

"Now that the Sixth Prince has shown his true potential, if nothing unexpected happens, the Queen and the Crown Prince will surely seek an opportunity for revenge. Your Majesty must be careful."

When he said this, Wan Rongyue's eyes couldn't help but turn cold.

"Don't worry, even if you don't mention it, I will never give the Queen another chance to hurt us mother and son."

"But this time, I don't want to sit and wait for death. An Ning, do you have any good ideas? It would be best if we could make the enemy make mistakes and reveal their true intentions?"