Chapter 104: Undefended
Emperor Zhou looked at Su Wen as a smile flashed across his eyes.
He was very satisfied with Su Wen"s actions. He looked at the corner and smiled. "Changqing, you"ve raised a good son. To think he still knows how to repay me!"
Su Changqing walked out from the corner, cupped his hands, and smiled. "This is our duty as officials."
Su Wen was slightly surprised. He did not expect Su Changqing to be present as well.
Emperor Zhou looked at the item in Su Wen"s hand and pondered for a while. Then, Emperor Zhou said, "It would be a waste if we don"t take this gift from the envoy. This Longevity Pill… is useless to me. You can keep it. As for the gold bills… I don"t lack money recently, so I don"t want it. This Amethyst Glazed Gla.s.s Bead is however a rare item. Leave it in the palace."
Su Wen rejoiced in his heart. Great, the emperor only wanted the gla.s.s bead!
After splitting the spoils, Emperor Zhou looked at Su Wen and asked, "Say, now that the Yan Country"s envoy has already given us the gifts. What should we do with this deal?"
Su Wen stroked his chin and smiled. "In my opinion, we cannot truly accept the deal."
"Hmm?" Emperor Zhou keenly detected the unusual meaning in Su Wen"s words.
"Tell me what you think."
Su Wen did not stand on ceremony and said, "This person from Yan Country gave me such a valuable gift because he wanted to facilitate this transaction. This shows his intentions. However, since the other party is an enemy, I feel that Your Majesty should not agree to it. After all, not obeying the wishes of the enemy is a basic method to win."
At this point, Su Wen smiled meaningfully and said, "But since the other party sent themselves to our doorstep, we might as well beat them at their own game. They said that they want to use the Beast Spirit Armor to exchange for Fort Boulder. Your Majesty, if we agree, what method do you think we should use to make the transaction?"
Emperor Zhou frowned. He had never thought about this before.
Thinking about it carefully, facilitating the deal was indeed a big problem!
Would Great Zhou vacate Fort Boulder first?
That was definitely impossible.
Getting the technology from Yan Country first?
The other party might not be willing either.
Retreating while giving the technology? That was still a problem. The production method given by the other party was difficult to determine if it was real or fake, so it had to be verified. However, if they were to allow the Great Zhou Dynasty to verify the authenticity of the technology before notifying their troops to retreat, it was essentially still giving up the technology first. During this period, the Great Zhou Dynasty could fall out with them at any time. If they took the technology but did not give the territory immediately, would the other party agree?
"What you mean is that we should first pretend to agree and make an issue out of the transaction method. We should try our best to obtain the manufacturing method of the Beast Spirit Armor before turning hostile?" Emperor Zhou looked at Su Wen and asked.
Su Wen nodded. "Exactly!"
Emperor Zhou pondered for a moment. He looked at Su Changqing and asked, "What do you think?"
"It might be worth a try!"
Credibility? Promise?
If it was another rigid emperor, he might care about these things.
However, the two countries were enemies, and they hated that they could not destroy the other side simply. Emperor Zhou and Su Changqing were both pragmatic people, so how could they care about these so-called false reputations?
After confirming it, Su Changqing and Su Wen left together.
Emperor Zhou said in satisfaction, "This Su Wen is rather loyal!"
The old eunuch continued, "That is indeed the case. After obtaining such a pill, to first deliver it to His Majesty shows his loyalty. If it were an ordinary person, why wouldn"t they bring it back and discuss it with Su Changqing first?"
"From the looks of it, not only is this boy"s martial arts talent outstanding, he is also quite steadfast. His thoughts can be considered quite nimble as well. Unfortunately… unfortunately…"
Emperor Zhou sighed slightly.
The father and son of the Su family left the palace. The two of them did not speak along the way.
They waited until they left the palace.
Su Changqing then smiled and said, "Well done."
Su Wen took out the Essence Longevity Pill and said with a smile, "I guessed it. This thing is definitely useless to Your Majesty. Otherwise, those envoys from Yan Country would just take this thing and exchange it for Fort Boulder from His Majesty."
That"s right. From the moment Cao Jin took out this pill, Su Wen had already guessed such a scenario.
This medicinal pill was definitely useless to Emperor Zhou.
The reason was very simple. No matter who it was, they would find it difficult to resist the temptation of a longer life, especially an emperor. He enjoyed the prosperity of the world and stood at the peak of power. Who wouldn"t want to live for a few more years?
If this Longevity Pill was also needed by Emperor Zhou, then this pill alone was enough to exchange for Fort Boulder.
There was no need for the envoys to go to such effort.
Sure enough, Su Changqing said, "This Longevity Pill is a secret pill concocted by the Azure Dragon Sect. However, back then, in order to obtain this pill, Emperor Wenyuan secretly gathered several Heaven Rank experts and launched a surprise attack from thousands of miles away, nearly destroying the Azure Dragon Sect. In the end, he s.n.a.t.c.hed back 18 Longevity Pills and set a rule that only the emperors of the Great Zhou Dynasty could use them! Now that we"ve only pa.s.sed six dynasties, this thing is useless to our emperor."
Su Wen pa.s.sed the medicinal pill to Su Changqing and said with a smile, "I was wondering what they were going to exchange it with me. Maybe, they might even be thinking of letting you, this treacherous subject, live for a few more decades and wreak havoc in the Great Zhou Dynasty. However, this medicinal pill just so happens to be suitable for you to consume and can protect me for another few decades!"
Su Changqing accepted the pill without any hesitation.
He brought the elixir in front of him and took a look. After taking a sniff and making sure that there was no problem, he closed the lid and kept it in his bosom. He then lamented, "Actually, this elixir is useless to me. Your Majesty is a man of great talent and strategy, and furthermore not someone who abides by the rules. Back then, he went against the ancestral rules and bestowed me with a longevity elixir."
Su Wen: "…."
"Give me back the pill…."
"What pill?"
"Longevity Pill!"
"What Longevity Pill?"
Su Changqing pretended to be dumb while Su Wen gritted his teeth in anger.
Seeing that his son was angry, a smile flashed across Su Changqing"s eyes. "You left yourself undefended!"
"Don"t worry, I"ll give this pill to your mother!" Su Changqing said indifferently, "It"s useless even if you take it. You"re still so young, so you still have plenty of chances…"
Su Wen felt much better after hearing Old Su"s promise.
At that moment, Su Changqing said, "Alright, I"ll leave first. I won"t disturb you anymore."
"??" Su Wen was confused as he watched Su Changqing leave.
Suddenly, he saw a carriage move out from the direction of the palace.
The Seventh Princess" carriage!
Su Wen looked at Su Changqing"s back and felt a chill in his heart.
This father of his was really impressive. He clearly didn"t know any martial arts, but he was still able to see and hear everything. He even noticed the carriage frame earlier than him and actually recognized it to be the Seventh Princess"s carriage.
Was this the so-called legendary brain that could memorize a dictionary?
At this moment, the carriage had already arrived in front of Su Wen.
The curtain of the carriage was lifted, and Zhao Wanrou poked her head out with a face full of smiles, "We haven"t seen each other for a few days. I heard that you were entering the palace just now, so I wanted to wait for you to take a walk together! I didn"t expect you to have already left the palace. I just caught up with you."
People were like that. When they really liked someone, they would want to see them. Even if it was just to talk to them and look at them, it was still good.
A little yearning was the most torturous.
These days, Zhao Wanrou kept pining for Su Wen, which caused her to lose some weight.
Now that she saw him, she could not suppress the smile on her face!
Su Wen walked straight to the back of her carriage and pulled open the curtains. He smiled and said, "Then let"s walk around together."