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

Hearing Tojo Koichi's question, the aide nodded: "That's right, definitely..."

Koichi Tojo wore a playful expression: "Hmph...it seems we overestimated Xiao Ce. We thought he was so capable. Even our own base has been infiltrated..."

A group of staff members nodded in agreement.

"Yes, Your Highness, it seems this person is all talk and no action..."

"All that happened before was just good luck."

"Furthermore, along the way we saw many storytellers praising his achievements. It seems that this was also a way for him to enhance his reputation."

Tojo Kou nodded: "Whether he's a dragon or a worm, I'll find out when I see him..."

The staff members all nodded in agreement.

Not long after they finished speaking, a palace servant invited them to a banquet.

However, they arrived inside the hall.

Xiao Ce had not arrived yet; they waited for a full half hour.

They didn't even pour them a cup of hot tea.

The people of Fusang all had very unpleasant expressions.

However, due to the presence of many palace servants from the Xiao Kingdom nearby, they did not retaliate.

Koichi Tojo, however, was a different kind of advisor than them.

After all, this kind of method would only make him feel that Xiao Ce was not as divine as the rumors suggested.

Half an hour later, Xiao Ce finally arrived.

Xiao Ce walked over with a beaming smile: "Distinguished guests from Fusang, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting... I'm sorry to have kept you waiting... I had some urgent business to attend to and was delayed... I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting..."

Koichi Tojo decided to come over. Regardless of Xiao Ce's situation, he just wanted to play his part well.

So, Koichi Tojo stood up, and his staff behind him followed suit.

"No need for formalities, no need for formalities... This must be the famous third son of the Tojo family. It's a pleasure to meet you... Please have a seat."

Xiao Ce's attitude was still very enthusiastic.

What surprised Tojo Koichi was that he had imagined Xiao Ce would be relatively young, but he didn't expect him to look so young.

"Your Highness, the King of the Northern Desert, is extremely busy with state affairs... Now that the Xiao Kingdom is in dire need of reconstruction, you must be incredibly busy, we understand!"

Seeing Tojo Koichi's hypocrisy, Xiao Ce smiled but didn't respond. Instead, he changed the subject.

Let Xiao Jiu start serving the dishes.

As each dish was served, there was Guanyin clay, tree bark rice, wild vegetable soup...

These dishes look absolutely unappetizing.

The expressions on the faces of the people from Fusang were not pleasant.

"Gentlemen, I'm sure you're not used to the food. Please forgive us, our Xiao Kingdom is currently suffering from a great disaster, and we really can't offer you anything good to eat. We'll eat whatever the common people eat..."

"These things may not look appealing, and they don't taste very good, but they're good for filling our stomachs..."

As he spoke, Xiao Ce picked up a bowl of Guanyin clay in front of him and took a bite.

"You must all be starving after such a long journey, so please don't be shy...eat...eat...eat..."

The group watched as Xiao Ce took a bite of Guanyin clay and then ate some wild vegetable soup with relish, displaying an expression of enjoyment.

"Not bad...not bad...to be able to have enough to eat even in the harshest times..."

The reason Xiao Ce ate with such relish was not because he had pica. His Guanyin clay rice was actually just rice that had been processed in a special way to make it look like Guanyin clay, but it tasted delicious. The other dishes were the same.

The food Xiao Ce ate was completely different from what the people of Fusang ate.

You should know that what the people of Fusang were fed was just dirt, and Xiao Ce even ordered them to dig it up specifically from next to the latrine.

After all, the soil there still has nutrients...

Koichi Tojo saw how warmly Xiao Ce was treating him, even though he had absolutely no appetite for the food in front of him.

However, seeing that Xiao Ce was eating with relish, he thought to himself that if Xiao Ce could eat it, he certainly could too...

So, Tojo Koichi waved to his men, signaling them to eat together.

He mustered up a lot of courage, scooped out a spoonful, and put it in his mouth.

But an indescribable taste came over me. I tried to force it down, but a fishy, ​​foul smell rose up instead...

It went straight for the top of his head.

"yue..."

"vomit..."

Soon, the sound of retching echoed throughout the entire hall.

Xiao Ce wore an expression of utter disdain.

However, he concealed it very well, instead asking with an anxious expression.

"Gentlemen, is this not to your liking? Look at my brain, we all come from Japan, you must have lots of meat and fish over there, you must not be used to our food."

"If this isn't to everyone's taste, then forget it! Someone... quickly bring some wild fruit for our distinguished guests... to cleanse their palates..."

Koichi Tojo spat a few times, but his mouth still tasted fishy and foul.

This was his first time eating these things. He had heard of them before, but he never expected that the taste would be so unpalatable.

He couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for Xiao Ce, who was still eating...

To be able to eat this, you must be a tough person.

Koichi Tojo quickly interrupted, "No need...no need...Your Highness, we really aren't that hungry...no need to trouble yourself."

Then, he changed the subject: "Your Highness, King of the Northern Desert, let's get down to business."

Seeing this, Xiao Ce smiled and said, "Yes, I didn't know that you, Young Master Tojo Koichi, had come all this way. May I ask what brings you here?"

Koichi Tojo said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, the King of the Northern Desert, first of all, we want to express our sympathy for your plight. This war and plundering are the actions of the hawks in our Fusang Kingdom."

"What they've done is something we don't approve of...and our entire country doesn't support it either..."

"This time, you were able to deliver a crushing blow to them. You gave them a resounding victory! I thank you!"

As he spoke, Tojo Koichi pretended to approach Xiao Ce.

He bowed deeply to Xiao Ce at a ninety-degree angle.

Xiao Ce inwardly scoffed, but if it weren't for the need to trick them later, he smiled and said, "You're too kind... too kind... Young Master Tojo Koichi, I've heard about your kindness. I heard you've been helping our disaster victims all along the way, distributing porridge. You're a good person..."

"If only all the people of Fusang were like you..."

Tojo Kou nodded: "That's right, so I came here with goodwill. I think we can become friends... I wonder what His Highness the King of the Northern Desert thinks?"

Xiao Ce nodded, his face full of enthusiasm, and said, "Peace is certainly good. In fact, regardless of winning or losing a war, it is always the ordinary people who suffer..."

Tojo Koichi had expected Xiao Ce to make things difficult for him, but he hadn't expected Xiao Ce to respond so quickly...

He was somewhat surprised.

"Oh? Your Highness, so you support it, right?"

Xiao Ce nodded and said, "That's natural... Young Master Tojo Koichi, you've come with goodwill... I think it's best for our two countries to have good relations..."

Seeing this, Tojo Koichi smiled and said, "That's wonderful... Your Highness, since you wish to establish friendly relations in the future, and we will be allies, then perhaps you could return the soldiers you captured from us!"

Before Xiao Ce could respond, Tojo Koichi quickly explained, "Your Highness, the King of the Northern Desert, you should know that these soldiers were actually following orders... They are innocent... The ones who deserve to die are actually those hawks in our country."

Xiao Ce nodded again, a harmless smile on his face: "Yes, yes, yes...that's natural, those soldiers are innocent!"

Koichi Tojo was completely dumbfounded by Xiao Ce's reaction.

Because he genuinely couldn't understand it.

What is Xiao Ce up to? I thought he would put forward some conditions!

However, Xiao Ce agreed.

"So, Your Highness, the King of the Northern Desert, you've agreed to release those prisoners?"

Xiao Ce laughed and said, "Of course I agree! Of course I agree! You're right, those soldiers are all innocent... Now that the war is over... it's only natural that they should go home..."

"Young Master Tojo Koichi, don't worry, I'll make the arrangements after dinner."

The group of people from Fusang were completely baffled by Xiao Ce's actions.

Some of them felt it wasn't real and began to doubt whether it was a dream...

Koichi Tojo always felt that Xiao Ce was up to something.

"Your Highness, King of the Northern Desert, please feel free to make any requests you may have... We will fulfill any request that we can..."

Xiao Ce said to Tojo Koichi, "Young Master Tojo Koichi, you yourself said you advocate for peace. I can't be unreasonable... and not make any demands... After all, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to set conditions..."

"However, Prince Tojo Koichi, as you have seen, our people are starving every day... This is not a natural disaster, but a man-made one. You also said that your Fusang Kingdom has a virtue of cherishing life. If it weren't for your hawkish people robbing us of all our food and money, we wouldn't be in this situation, right?"

Upon hearing Xiao Ce's words, Tojo Koichi's face revealed an expression that said, "So you finally couldn't resist and are about to set conditions..."

He said, "Your Highness, so you want us Hawks to hand over everything we plundered here?"

"That's probably unrealistic. Your Highness, King of the Northern Desert, it's not that we lack sincerity... but rather, we belong to different camps... I..."

Before Tojo Koichi could finish speaking, Xiao Ce waved his hand to interrupt, saying, "It's a misunderstanding... a misunderstanding... Young Master Tojo Koichi, I understand... I know, how can we let a dog vomit up food that it stole? Even if it vomits it up, we can't eat it... we'd find it disgusting, wouldn't we?"

Koichi Tojo's expression became somewhat unnatural upon hearing Xiao Ce's analogy...

Xiao Ce quickly explained, "Young Master Tojo Koichi, please don't misunderstand...please don't misunderstand...I wasn't calling you a dog...I was calling those people from Fusang who oppose you and come to plunder us dogs..."

Koichi Tojo's expression was not good, because Xiao Ce was still cursing them over and over again.

However, Tojo Koichi couldn't easily lash out, after all, it was his own boast.

She could only nod and smile in agreement.

"So, we never intended to take those things back... Mr. Koichi Tojo, you came with sincerity!"

"I don't want anything. You can take those people away unconditionally! All I want is for us to sign a peace treaty. Is that alright?"

When Tojo Koichi heard Xiao Ce say this, he was truly confused about Xiao Ce's intentions.

"You don't want anything? Are you sure?" Koichi Tojo asked.

Xiao Ce nodded with a smile: "Sure, of course I'm sure... Let's be friends. Prince Tojo Koichi and I hit it off immediately... What's there to be unsure about?"

Then Xiao Ce said to Tojo Koichi, "Young Master Tojo Koichi, do you think I'm a good friend... I've given you plenty of face."

Xiao Ce chuckled and said to Tojo Koichi, "Young Master Tojo Koichi, I've actually heard some things about you... I know your status in Japan!"

"Our Xiao Kingdom is so weak right now... If we had a good friend like you, we would definitely need your help, wouldn't we?"

Xiao Ce said with a mischievous grin.

Seeing Xiao Ce's expression, Tojo Koichi suddenly realized what was going on and understood why Xiao Ce had been so enthusiastic...

This is a gift they're giving him upon meeting...

Koichi Tojo was initially wary, but after hearing Xiao Ce's words, he immediately burst out laughing.

“I see…I see…Your Highness, I’ve long heard that you are a clever man…Indeed, seeing is believing…Is this your gift to me?” Tojo Koichi asked tentatively.

Xiao Ce said with a smile, "You could say that. To be honest, I really don't have anything worth mentioning... What I have, and what you're interested in, Mr. Tojo Koichi, is probably only those prisoners."

Tojo Kou nodded and said with a smile, "Good...good...good...you're a smart person...I like making friends with smart people like you."

The staff on one side watched as Tojo Koichi was somewhat fooled by Xiao Ce's few words.

He quickly said, "Your Highness, the King of the Northern Desert, you want to be friends with us! But I've heard that you also have a good relationship with the Slavs! Moreover, those Slavs have given you a lot of benefits, reportedly providing you with 100 million shi of grain! Back then, they even supported you in fighting against our Fusang Kingdom. The Slavs don't get along with us."

"Won't your Slavic friends have any objections to making friends with us?"