441 Negotiation (1/2)

The queen and ministers of the Hui Kingdom felt so nervous that they decided to adopt an unconventional measure: inviting the Dragon King to take part in an one-on-one negotiation with the queen inside the Council Chamber.

Even in Western Region, which was a not very conservative place, it was not appropriate for a young queen to be alone with a young lord from a foreign country—such meeting were bound to invite lots of gossip. However, all of the ministers of the Hui Kingdom seemed to firmly believe that their queen was a decent woman. They insisted on inviting the Dragon King for the private negotiation. If Long Fanyun had not reminded them that no one was allowed to get within five steps of the Dragon King, they would have worked together to physically push the young lord into the Council Chamber.

The old prime minister, who hurried back later, was the only one who realized how embarrassing the situation would be for the queen. As such, he tried to think of a solution to this problem. He ran into the royal palace, shouting, ”Go invite the little prince to join the negotiation.”

One hour later, the negotiation began. In the Council Chamber, the Dragon King stood at one side of a table, while the beautiful queen and a boy, who was about 8 or 9 years old, stood on the other side of the table.

The boy was evidently full of curiosity and fear of the Dragon King. During the negotiation, he kept lifting up his head occasionally to cast a glance at the young lord and then quickly lowered his head again to look at his feet, before unconsciously squirming toward his mother's back.

Every time the boy got close to the queen, she would push him aside and fix him with a harsh glare as a way to remind him how a royal prince should behave on such occasions.

The negotiation did not begin smoothly. The queen was still holding on to an impractical illusion that she was able to dissuade the Dragon King from meeting the King of the Hui nation. Although her voice sounded much softer that it had been a moment ago when they had been outside the chamber, her attitude was still firm.

Gu Shenwei listened patiently to her nagging but did not pay much attention to the contents of her words. He counted away the minutes silently and cut her off when he felt that it was almost the time. ”Now, it's my turn to speak.”

The queen's eyes grew wide in surprise as she swallowed back the words she was about to say. She grabbed the timid little prince's arm and pulled him close to her, as if he were a vase that she could smash to vent her anger. ”Go ahead please, Dragon King,” said the queen.

”I respect the royal family and customs of the Hui Kingdom, and I also take pity on the little prince. Given these, I've spent such a long time listening to your excuses, but now, I order you to let me meet the king.”

Upon hearing this, the queen knew that she had failed. The Dragon King was much more ruthless than she had imagined. After a moment of thought, she lowered her head and murmured to the little prince, ”Cover your ears.”

The little prince seemed unable to comprehend what she said at first. It was only when she gave him an angry look that he quickly pressed his hands on his ears and tightly closed his eyes.

”Well, I'll take you to see His Majesty, but before that, I want to tell you the truth,” said the queen.

”I like to listen to the truth,” replied Gu Shenwei.

Believing that her words were going to surprise the Dragon King, the queen deliberately paused for a while before saying, ”His Majesty has already passed on.”

”When did he die?” asked Gu Shenwei, while remaining perfectly calm. He already had a hunch about the state of the king before entering the capital, and the reactions of the queen and the ministers had further confirmed his suspicion.

It was the queen's turn to look surprised, but she quickly concealed her amazement and said, ”His Majesty left the country to form an alliance with you this autumn, and shortly after he came back, he passed away from an incurable disease.”

”I've heard that he has shown up recently,” said the Dragon King.

”We found a man who looked similar to the king. The people were not allowed to get close to him, so none of them found out that he was not the king.”

”Uhm,” Gu Shenwei said, waiting for the queen to give him an explanation, although he had already realized what she was up to.

The queen lifted her head slightly. She was not sad about her husband's death, and at the same time, the current situation did not allow her to be consumed by meaningless emotions. ”I hope... I mean, the ministers of the Hui Kingdom and I all hope that you can support the prince as the new king,” she said.

The prince was naturally referred to the boy standing beside the queen, not the crown prince, who was still kept as a hostage in the Stone Kingdom.

”Oh, really? I thought you were planning to drive me away before secretly crowning a new king of your choosing. Wait a minute. Let me see. You didn't just want to hide the truth from me. The previous king of the Hui nation died long before I came here, and back then, the war in the east would break out at any moment. You must've intended to announce the death of the king after that of the crown prince during the war. However, how can you be so sure about that? I think there are only two possible explanations. You firmly believed that the Dragon army would be utterly destroyed in the war. Or, you found another way to ensure that the crown prince would be killed on the battlefield,” said the Dragon King.

The queen blushed a little bit in embarrassment and felt afraid of the young lord for the first time.

Unlike the ministers outside, she had not feared the Dragon King very much before. They dreaded to see his saber, sword and soldiers, while she somehow instinctively found these things quite appealing. Nevertheless, when she heard the Dragon King say these words to her in an extremely straightforward manner, she began to feel scared.

The Dragon King's cold attitude showed that he never treated this good-looking queen as a woman. He regarded her as an ordinary negotiator and put pressure on her without mercy.

Upon learning that the most effective way to communicate with the Dragon King was coming straight to the point, the queen also began to speak bluntly. ”As long as you can support my son as the new king, I can spare the crown prince's life.”

”It's too late. You've missed the best time to ask for my help.”

”This is our fault. We'll compensate for it to make you feel satisfied, Dragon King.”

The queen repeatedly emphasized that making the little prince the new king was a decision made by her together with the ministers, but Gu Shenwei deliberately neglected this point and never mentioned about them during the negotiation.

”Speak, how are you going to compensate for your mistake? I'm really pressed for time. I'll give you a reply immediately,” said the Dragon King.

The formal negotiation inside the imperial Council Chamber had turned into mere haggling over the price; the queen did not like it. Compared to this maketplace-style negotiation, she was more accustomed to the royal negotiating protocols: hiding the facts behind trivial details and using a set of code words that was known by all parties of the negotiation.