Deposed Crown Prince: After three years of service on the frontier, the entire court knelt and begge

Xiao Xiangqing said in a commanding tone, "Yesterday you killed the subordinates of the Western Regions envoy, and Father is furious! Especially you, Xiao Yang, don't think that you have any merit. If you mess up this negotiation, Father will definitely settle both old and new scores with you."

Xiao Yang wasn't angry at all; he just smiled slightly and said, "Okay, Eighth Brother, I'll listen to you!"

Xiao Ce remained calm and did not give Xiao Xiangqing any reaction.

The two people's unusual behavior made Xiao Xiangqing wonder if she had misheard.

Just then, Xiao Wenqin came over from outside.

After Xiao Wenqin arrived, he became very familiar with everyone and greeted them one by one.

Even the sarcastic Xiao Xiangqing was still relatively polite to Xiao Wenqin.

After all, Xiao Xiangqing's goal is the position of Crown Prince. If he wants to secure this position in the future, he will inevitably need the help of the scholars behind Xiao Wenqin.

Just as Xiao Wenqin was exchanging pleasantries with everyone, the delegation from the Western Regions came over once again.

After everyone was seated.

Yin Weiyong began by saying, "Grand Preceptor Diliti, the reason we are able to sit together today is to negotiate the matter of the nineteen cities in the two prefectures of Yumen Pass."

"Since we're all sitting here together, we must all be here with sincerity. So, let me get straight to the point. What does your Western Regions Alliance want in exchange for the return of these two prefectures and nineteen cities?"

Diliti nodded: "Minister Yin, as I said yesterday, we're here to help you..."

Xiao Wenqin interrupted, "Grand Preceptor Diliti, please watch your words. You say you've come to help us. We do not acknowledge that. After all, even if the King of Zhen rebels, it is a matter for our Xiao Kingdom. Unless our Emperor personally requests your assistance, no one is allowed to enter without permission. You are a usurper!"

"Yesterday, Father Emperor, I didn't want to offend you, so I didn't expose you directly. If you're going to help us quell the rebellion, then you should withdraw afterward. As far as I know, our army tried to take over several times, but we were met with resistance from your army each time. So, you can negotiate, but there's no need to make it sound so nice. It just gives the impression that you're being hypocritical."

Xiao Wenqin's words surprised everyone present.

No one expected that it would be Xiao Wenqin who fired the first shot.

Xiao Xiangqing was about to speak up to explain for Diliti when Xiao Wenqin stopped her.

"Eighth Prince, please be mindful of your status."

Diliti wasn't in a hurry, and still had a faint smile on his face.

"Thirteenth Prince, you are mistaken. The reason we resist your army is because we are unclear about the situation within your Xiao Kingdom. We are afraid that our hard work in quelling the rebellion in the two prefectures and nineteen cities will fall into the hands of the rebels again."

"As for it, His Majesty did not invite us. However, we have received many favors from the Xiao Kingdom. We, the various kingdoms of the Western Regions, believe that we should spontaneously offer our assistance. Moreover, at that time, we were able to quell the rebellion by taking advantage of the Tiger Legion's trust and deceiving them."

“Otherwise, it would have been impossible for things to go so smoothly. We were afraid that the King of Zhen had too many spies in the capital. If we reported this to His Majesty, the news would leak out, and all our efforts would be in vain. As the saying goes, speed is of the essence in war! So, Thirteenth Prince, we are deeply disappointed by your words.”

Diliti's face darkened as he spoke: "Prime Minister Yin, is this your attitude towards negotiations? If so, you are just trying to humiliate and smear us! Then, I'm afraid there's no need for us to continue negotiating."

"Since you say we are invaders, then let's just say we are invaders! There's no need to talk anymore, let's meet on the battlefield."

Diliti got up and prepared to leave.

The other members of the Western Regions delegation also stood up and followed Diliti.

Seeing this, Yin Weiyong said, "Grand Preceptor Diliti, please don't get agitated! What the Thirteenth Prince said is just the doubt of the millions of people in our Xiao Kingdom. Since this matter is here, let's put aside the dispute for now and seek common ground while reserving differences. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that your army doesn't have to leave their homes and return home, but instead allows our army to come to our territory to defend it."

Xiao Xiangqing continued, "Yes, Grand Preceptor Diliti. Let's set aside our differences and seek common ground. The truth will surely come to light. Just like the rebellion of the King of Zhen, even though many people tried to cover it up, in the end, the irrefutable evidence proved his guilt. For peace, for the alliance and friendship between our Xiao Kingdom and your Western Regions!"

Diliti nodded: "Alright, Eighth Prince, I'll give you face. Prime Minister Yin, since this is your attitude, there's no need for any pretense. You want us to withdraw our troops, what conditions can you offer!"

"You should know that we spent a lot of money and supplies to help you quell the rebellion, and many warriors from the Western Regions were sacrificed! These people certainly cannot have died in vain."

Yin Weiyong said, "Alright, our Xiao Kingdom will certainly not let you make a wasted trip. You can calculate how much money and food you consumed in this war, as well as how many soldiers you sacrificed, and we will give you all the figures. In addition, we can also give you some subsidies. We certainly won't let you go through all this trouble for nothing!"

Diliti laughed and said, "Prime Minister Yin, you must be joking... Do you really think we're beggars? To be honest, we don't lack money or food... We've come here for the sake of friendship between our two countries."

Seeing this, Yin Weiyong smiled coldly: "So you mean you don't want money or supplies, and you want to withdraw your troops unconditionally?"

Diliti laughed and said, "That's right, Prime Minister Yin, that's exactly what we mean... We can unconditionally withdraw our troops to the territory that originally belonged to our Western Regions Kingdom, namely Yushan County on the side of Yumen Pass!"

Yin Weiyong narrowed his eyes slightly: "You mean, you want the ten cities west of Yumen Pass?"

Diliti nodded: "That's right, Prime Minister Yin, you should know. Yushan County was originally our territory in the Western Regions! It was annexed by your Xiao Kingdom due to various historical reasons. Therefore, our demands this time are not high. As long as you are willing to return the ten cities of Yushan County, our Western Regions Alliance will voluntarily withdraw from the Nushan Pass and return the nine counties east of Yumen Pass!"

Yin Weiyong burst out laughing: "Diliti, you're telling a huge joke! The predecessor of Yushan County was a country called Yushan. Yushan was besieged by your foreign tribes, so it submitted to our Xiao Kingdom and became a vassal state under our control. Later, because your foreign tribes were unwilling to submit to our Xiao Kingdom, they sent people to assassinate the king of Yushan and slaughtered the entire Yushan royal family."

"In order to prevent the people of Yushan Kingdom from becoming refugees, our Xiao Kingdom renamed it Yushan Prefecture! This has been going on for a hundred years! We have documents and historical records. By all accounts, Yushan Prefecture is the territory of our Xiao Kingdom! How can you shamelessly say that this is your land in the Western Regions?"

Diliti was not surprised to hear Yin Weiyong say this, nor did he believe that Yin Weiyong would agree directly.

With a wave of his hand, he had someone bring out a map.

"Prime Minister Yin, this is the predecessor of our Western Regions Alliance, the ancient Loulan Kingdom! As you can see from this map, Yumen Pass was our land in the Western Regions. However, after the fall of the ancient Loulan Kingdom, we were scattered!"

"Our Western Regions Alliance is now determined to restore the ancient Loulan Kingdom! The location of Yumen County was the former capital of the ancient Loulan Kingdom, which is of great significance to us! We have also decided that we will spare no effort to bring our homeland back!"

Diliti spoke with righteous indignation.

Yin Weiyong looked at Diliti without backing down: "Grand Preceptor Diliti, your words are a bit too domineering! If you insist on saying this, it sounds like a historical record. According to your map, not only is Yumen County your ancient Loulan territory, but hundreds of cities in my southwest were also once the territory of ancient Loulan. Are you suggesting that we should cede them all to you based on this map?"