Arrogance

Although it was rare for a mortal to serve as an envoy, it was not unheard of. After all, diplomacy was a craft where a silver tongue mattered more than martial prowess. Still, the fact that the blonde princess before him was an ordinary mortal struck him as rather bizarre. After thousands of years of generational bloodline refinement, great clans rarely produced useless deadbeats incapable of cultivation. And as a member of the royal family of this so-called Kingdom of Sien, the probability that she shared an Innate Crippled Body like Xu Yuan's was practically negligible. Was he meeting a kindred spirit today, or was her cultivation simply beyond his ability to sense? While Xu Yuan pondered this, Li Junqing stepped forward with a genial smile and approached the two Sienese envoys. Standing straight as a pine, Li Junqing smiled with calm elegance and praised the blonde beauty, "I have long heard that Princess Orenli possesses a beauty that could make fish sink and wild geese alight. Seeing you today proves the rumors did not lie." After a heartbeat of silence, Orenli took a slight step back, delicately lifting her skirt and bending her knees in a courtly bow of the Kingdom of Sien, revealing a generous expanse of snowy cleavage. "Thank you. Your Highness is quite dashing as well. I had heard you were cynical and irreverent, but meeting you now, you strike me as a modest gentleman. Furthermore, Your Highness, you may simply call me Orenli." Her voice chimed like silver bells. She spoke Great Yan's language, though with a distinctly awkward, stilted cadence. Hearing her stilted, archaic Great Yan phrasing, Li Junqing raised a brow and asked with a chuckle, "According to my Imperial Brother, Princess Orenli was not particularly proficient in Great Yan's tongue." Orenli straightened up, her golden lashes fluttering slightly with a smile. "Great Yan possesses vast territories and abundant resources, with a long and storied history. Whether as an envoy or purely for personal interest, I find it quite captivating." After this brief exchange of pleasantries, Li Junqing extended a hand toward Xu Yuan and introduced him, "This is Wang Shicai, son of Great Yan's Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and a close friend of my Imperial Brother." Orenli shifted her gaze to the left. Meeting the eyes of the man in the fine brocade robe, a flicker of surprise passed through her azure eyes before she smoothed it away. She simply assumed Xu Yuan was a confidant dispatched by Great Yan's Crown Prince to sit in on the meeting. From what she had gathered over the past few days, the battle for the imperial throne in the Great Yan Dynasty was even more perilous than the struggles within the Sien royal house. Even full brothers fought bitterly against one another. As an envoy, Orenli also understood the prince's intent behind this introduction. She cast a glance back at the tin can behind her and said softly, "Huron, greet them." Amidst the grinding of metal, the tin can brought his left hand to his chest and bowed. "This is my escort knight, Huron. Unfortunately, he is naturally dull-witted and has made no progress in learning the language of Great Yan." Dull-witted? Xu Yuan's eyes lingered on the tin can for a few breaths, and he inwardly shook his head. Had his spiritual vision not clearly sensed the palpable danger radiating from this tin can, he might have actually believed her. Even as the thought crossed his mind, Xu Yuan noticed the tin can was also looking at him. From within the near-seamless iron helmet came an exceptionally covert gaze. In an instant, a probing sensation washed over Xu Yuan's entire body. It was exceedingly impolite. Yet the man likely believed Xu Yuan would never notice. After all, it was a remarkably discreet investigative technique; had Xu Yuan not been maintaining his spiritual vision, he might not have detected it at all. Following the brief courtesies, Li Junqing showed no inclination to linger in Yacui Palace's main hall. Gesturing toward the staircase, he said, "Orenli, this is no place for discussions. Please, after me." Orenli smiled sweetly. "It is my honor, Third Prince." Li Junqing seemed a regular here. Needing no servant to guide them, he led the way through Yacui Palace with ease, looking right at home. Xu Yuan walked beside him at the front, while the two envoys from the Kingdom of Sien followed half a zhang behind. Upon ascending to the second floor, a long, narrow corridor stretched out before them, lined on both sides with private suites. Yacui Palace operated on an exclusive guest system. There was no open dining hall upstairs, only tastefully appointed private rooms. Taking the opportunity, Xu Yuan sent a voice transmission to Li Junqing to ask what was on his mind: "Junqing, is Orenli a mortal?" Li Junqing replied without breaking stride, his expression impassive: "I'm not entirely sure either. But my Imperial Brother mentioned that this woman seems to possess supernatural powers of her own, and not weak ones either. Her path is likely different from Great Yan's cultivation methods." Pausing briefly, Li Junqing continued, "That tin can is quite strong. Earlier, Imperial Father wanted to test the strength of these foreigners under the guise of sparring to exchange martial arts. He tested Huron's capabilities—care to guess what happened?" Xu Yuan pondered slightly before chuckling. "You'll at least have to tell me what cultivation realm your Imperial Father's sparring partner was in, won't you?" "A Grandmaster eunuch from the Eastern Depot," Li Junqing snorted softly. Xu Yuan murmured, "Mhm... that knight's aura resembles a Grandmaster, so dispatching a Grandmaster wasn't exactly bullying them. But since you put it that way, did your eunuch suffer a crushing defeat?" Li Junqing's voice carried a hint of a sigh. "Far worse than crushing. That eunuch couldn't even breach the tin can's defense." "..." Xu Yuan. "When these Sienese fight, a film of light wraps around their bodies. Even when the eunuch unleashed a lethal Dao charm move, he failed to pierce it." "Could it be that your eunuch was simply too weak?" Xu Yuan considered for a moment and said in a low voice, "After all, this man is a personal escort to Sien royalty." Li Junqing shook his head inwardly. "He wasn't weak. The man was considered an expert even within the imperial inner court." "Then your imperial family really lost face. Getting slapped down like that under the guise of 'friendly sparring.'" Xu Yuan's voice carried a trace of schadenfreude, but midway through, his tone shifted. "Still, individual combat prowess isn't the crux of the matter. What matters is whether the Kingdom of Sien's military employs anything akin to military arrays." Xu Yuan did not actually care much about Li Junqing's anecdote. Even among Grandmasters, vast disparities existed; this was a reality Xu Yuan had recognized long ago. Xu Changge could dispatch peers of the same realm in an instant, and this unknown overseas dynasty likely harbored similar talents. If a prodigy like that big block of ice went up against this tin can, the outcome would be completely different. What mattered now was whether they had the means to counter Great Yan's military arrays. Li Junqing fell silent for a moment before whispering, "I asked Imperial Father about this, but he wouldn't tell me." Xu Yuan rolled his eyes and cursed under his breath, "With your personality, would you dare dive headfirst into this without getting a clear picture of the situation over there?" Li Junqing's eyelid twitched as he shot back, "I was tactfully declining to answer. Can't you take a hint?" "Who are we kidding? We're brothers. Sharing won't cost you a pound of flesh. Besides, for your trip to Dongying, I, the 'crown prince' of the Prime Minister's Manor, am planning to invest in you." "Tsk, tsk. The Prime Minister's Manor's 'crown prince'... You really don't treat me like an outsider, do you?" "It's what everyone outside is saying anyway. So, do they have them or not?" "..." After a few seconds of silence, Li Junqing relented and revealed, "I've been doing business with the daimyos in Dongying all this time..." "Didn't you scam them out of millions of taels in military armaments earlier?" "Tsk. Nobody would think you're a mute if you kept your mouth shut." "Heh." "Anyway, through that channel, I learned some intel from the battlefield over there. The Kingdom of Sien does seem to possess something similar to a military array. But unlike Great Yan's, their 'military array' has only defensive capabilities, acting just like a giant tortoise shell." "A purely defensive array that doesn't attack?" "Don't underestimate the Kingdom of Sien. On the battlefield, that tortoise shell functions like a colossal chariot, utterly crushing everything in its path. And..." Here, Li Junqing paused. "And who told you they can only defend without attacking? Aside from the tortoise shell formed by those tin cans, the Kingdom of Sien also possesses practitioners who can combine their powers to cast spells of immense destructive might." As he said this, he subtly gestured toward Orenli with his eyes. As someone steeped in countless ACG media and novels in his past life, Xu Yuan instantly realized what Li Junqing was referring to. Yet at the same time, a touch of confusion surfaced in his eyes. "If the Kingdom of Sien possesses such martial vigor, how have those Wa people managed to hold them to a stalemate?" Li Junqing shrugged and replied with a smile, "Who knows? Perhaps they had their own cunning tricks. Maybe they made use of the terrain, or perhaps relied on something else. After all, having pillaged Great Yan's coasts for centuries, those Wa people must have a few redeeming qualities in their path of cultivation." At that, Xu Yuan and Li Junqing both chuckled. Then Xu Yuan's voice came again: "One last question." "Ask away. We're brothers, aren't we?" "What are you looking to get out of meeting these two tonight?" "Naturally, to discuss ruling Dongying Island together." "..." Xu Yuan froze, nearly losing his composure and stopping dead in his tracks. Weren't you going over there to fight the foreigners? How did it turn into dividing Dongying equally with them? Before Xu Yuan could ask for an explanation, Li Junqing stopped before a private room named Modao. Pushing the door open, he turned back with a smile. "Princess Orenli, we have arrived. Please, after you." "..." Xu Yuan. Inside the Modao private room, a luxurious rug of demonic beast pelt carpeted the floor. Regulated by a temperature-regulating formation, the interior was pleasantly warm. Even with the latticed window open, none of Di'an City's bleak winter chill could be felt. Through the window carved with golden phoenixes, a bright, clear full moon hung framed against the pitch-black sky. Entering and taking their seats, following local customs, the four sat around a heavy, zhang-long tea table carved with dragons. The tin can sat like a small mountain, radiating a grim, chilling pressure. The blonde woman, by contrast, carried an ethereal elegance akin to an elf, giving away nothing of her true temperament or inner thoughts. Given the importance of tonight's discussion, Li Junqing had not summoned any courtesans from Yacui Palace to play the zither. After graciously pouring fragrant tea for everyone and exchanging a few pleasantries, he cut straight to the chase. Throughout the discussion, Xu Yuan and the armored knight named Huron remained entirely silent, listening to the back-and-forth between Li Junqing and Orenli. And true to what Li Junqing had said before entering, the topic between him and Orenli was indeed the division of interests on Dongying Island. Like two bandits dividing up a household's wealth without ever asking the owner's permission. Of course, being a negotiation, it was impossible to hammer out every detail in a single sitting. This Third Princess of Sien, Orenli, appeared quite adept at diplomatic maneuvering. She parried Li Junqing's ploys at every turn, dancing around specifics and refusing to give a straight answer. For nearly half an hour, Li Junqing and Orenli remained locked in a stalemate over the deployment of troops. "Your Highness the Third Prince, may the Kingdom of Sien assume that your words represent the Emperor of the Great Yan Dynasty?" After delving deeper into the negotiation, Orenli fixed her azure eyes on Li Junqing and suddenly asked this question. Li Junqing raised an eyebrow. Unhurriedly refilling his empty porcelain cup with steaming tea, he smiled placidly, "Orenli, you should have asked this at the very beginning of our conversation. Nevertheless, I can give you a definitive answer. "My attitude is Imperial Father's attitude toward Dongying." Hearing this, Orenli smiled faintly, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Though I have not stepped outside the Court of State Ceremonial these past days, I have studied many customs of Great Yan. According to what I have learned, by Great Yan's traditions, you have no right of succession to the throne." Right of succession... Li Junqing's hand paused briefly as he sipped his tea. Catching on at once, he gave a soft laugh, "Do not project the ways of your Kingdom of Sien onto my Great Yan Dynasty. Having no right of succession does not mean this prince holds no power. "Orenli, "All you need to know is that to Great Yan, Dongying is nothing more than a speck of land. "Imperial Father appointing me as envoy to Dongying means I possess full authority to handle all matters concerning it." Toward the end, a sliver of impatience crept into Li Junqing's gaze. "Whether we cooperate with Sien or cooperate with Dongying makes no difference to Great Yan. If you believe I lack the standing, Orenli, I can summon the envoys of Dongying this very instant." Arrogance. Scorn. The tin can instinctively glanced at the curvaceous princess at his side. It seemed this prince was no different from the rest of the Great Yan people; an obnoxious arrogance was ingrained into the very marrow of his bones. Orenli, however, broke into a charming smile at that moment. "Then that was presumptuous of me. With Great Yan's peak power, such confidence is only natural. But may I ask Your Highness the Third Prince one question?" "A question?" With a soft clatter, Li Junqing set his porcelain cup on the tea table. "Speak freely." Orenli's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly into two crescents. "Great Yan has an old saying: 'Drive the tiger to swallow the wolf.' Yet there is another saying: 'Lure the tiger into the house.' Your Highness, why would you choose to cooperate with Sien?" "Pfft... hahahahaha!" Hearing this, Li Junqing suddenly burst out laughing. He laughed loud and long until he had his fill. Only then did he fix his gaze on Orenli's crescent-like eyes, saying with a smile, "Whether Dongying Island is occupied by you Sienese or by the Wa people makes no difference whatsoever to Great Yan. "Understood?"