The Child Emperor-Chapter 351: The Chanyu’s Concessions

Blocking information from enemies was easy, but concealing it from one’s own people was very difficult. Rumors spread throughout the Xiongnu camp, and Qu Zixi could obtain much information without deliberately inquiring or eavesdropping. Though this information was difficult to verify and often contradictory, making it hard to judge how useful it was.

When Qiao Wanfu came again the next day, he told the Emperor everything at once.

It was said that Deng Cui had already led his army to retake the passes along the Great Wall and all of Liaodong. This was good news, but calculating the timing, it was impossible.

There were also rumors that the Chu army in southern Yan had suffered a great defeat and was scattering in retreat, and that the Great Chanyu was transferring Xiongnu troops from Jincheng there, allegedly to graze horses in Jiangnan.

Cai Xinghai had indeed observed frequent movements of Xiongnu troops, but the so-called “grazing horses in Jiangnan” was absolutely unbelievable.

Regardless, the Xiongnu were eager to reach a peace agreement.

This time, Qiao Wanfu brought several Xiongnu, two of whom could speak the Chu language. They would not yield an inch on the Great Chanyu’s conditions and demanded in a commanding tone that the Chu Emperor immediately accept the peace talks.

Prince Donghai countered by proposing Great Chu’s conditions: the Xiongnu could remain in Liaodong, but would thereby become subjects of Great Chu. If the Great Chanyu was willing, the Emperor would consider appointing him as Governor of Liaodong…

The Xiongnu flew into a rage and drew their swords on the spot, startling Prince Donghai. Fortunately, there were guards for protection. The Xiongnu waved their weapons a few times, then sheathed their swords and left in fury, declaring they would attack the city again within two hours.

The Xiongnu did not attack the city, but instead brought forth dozens of Great Chu envoys, lined up in a row. Qu Zixi, Zhuo Ruhe, Feng Ju and others were all among them, and even Qiao Wanfu, who had been relaying messages for the Great Chanyu, was bound hand and foot. A large group of Xiongnu soldiers drew their bows and nocked arrows behind the Chu envoys, preparing to publicly execute the envoys as punishment for the Chu Emperor’s “breaking his word.”

Led by Qu Zixi and Zhuo Ruhe, all the Chu envoys knelt and kowtowed toward the city wall, then rose. Qu Zixi begged the Chu soldiers on the wall to shoot arrows, so he would not die under Xiongnu bows.

The Chu army did indeed shoot arrows, but they fell far from the Chu envoys. Even so, the Xiongnu were greatly startled and hastily departed with their captives.

That evening, Qiao Wanfu was sent to Jincheng again. This time, he brought more definite news.

The Xiongnu voluntarily revealed the situation on both the northern and southern fronts.

The Chu army beyond the frontier had just reached Yan and had indeed retaken many passes. A Xiongnu force challenged the Chu army, but Deng Cui made no response at all. Like a madman, he led his troops in swift advance, carrying no baggage train and only minimal provisions, taking food locally after capturing each pass.

At this pace, Deng Cui could soon reach Liaodong. The Xiongnu in distant Jincheng would not have time to return for defense, while the Xiongnu in southern Yan were unable to return for defense.

The Chu army in southern Yan had indeed retreated in defeat, but had not scattered. They withdrew step by step in defensive formation. Though the Xiongnu had reinforced to over a hundred thousand men, they still could not swallow this Chu army and were instead constrained, unable to rush to aid the rear.

The Great Chanyu admitted the situation was extremely unfavorable for the Xiongnu, but through Qiao Wanfu reminded the Emperor that the situation was even more unfavorable for him.

“If all retreat routes are cut off, the Xiongnu have no other choice but to move south en masse, join with the Qi rebel army, and support Prince Ying as emperor. Before this, the Xiongnu cannot possibly just leave Jincheng.” Qiao Wanfu spoke as tactfully as possible, but his meaning was clear: before moving south, the Xiongnu would certainly break through Jincheng and kill or capture the Emperor.

Han Ruzi nodded, indicating he understood. He and the Great Chanyu were actually competing to see who would lose composure first.

Qiao Wanfu continued: “Once Jincheng falls, the Capital will certainly… establish a new ruler. Even if Your Majesty should fortunately return to the Capital later… it would be very difficult to reclaim the imperial throne.”

Han Ruzi nodded again. “What are the Great Chanyu’s conditions?”

“The Great Chanyu says the Xiongnu have already made concessions. The current conditions cannot be changed in the slightest.”

“Very good.”

Han Ruzi knew how dangerous this game was, but he firmly believed that the first person to lose composure would definitely not be himself.

Early the next morning, Prince Donghai, Cui Teng and others formed a new envoy group and were invited to the Xiongnu camp to continue negotiations.

The Right Wise King recognized Prince Donghai, and upon hearing his true identity, was first startled, then flew into a rage. If he hadn’t been held back by many nobles, he would have killed the new Chu envoy on the spot.

After witnessing the Xiongnu’s anger multiple times, Prince Donghai was no longer afraid. He spoke eloquently before the Right Wise King, as if his previous infiltration of the Xiongnu camp had merely been to gather military intelligence…

That day’s negotiations still yielded no results. The Xiongnu repeatedly emphasized the dangers facing the Emperor, while appearing indifferent to their own situation. “We’ve long heard that the lands in Jiangnan are fertile and abundant. At worst, we’ll head south to graze our horses. Xiongnu can survive anywhere, but the Emperor may not be so fortunate.”

“The Great Chu Emperor remains the Great Chu Emperor wherever he goes, but if the Xiongnu go to Jiangnan, they may not remain Xiongnu,” Prince Donghai replied. He himself didn’t know what this statement meant, but after it was translated, the Xiongnu across from them changed expression.

They longed for the boundless steppes where they could ride freely. Hearing descriptions of Jiangnan as full of waterways where horses couldn’t run properly, the Xiongnu shuddered at such a prospect.

Returning to Jincheng City, Prince Donghai confidently assured the Emperor that within three days at most, the Xiongnu would yield.

Before three days passed, that very night, the Xiongnu suddenly launched an attack.

Fortunately, the Chu army in Jincheng City had never relaxed their vigilance, and the people hadn’t been idle either. They had made full use of these few days to strengthen the city walls as much as possible. Even if they couldn’t withstand siege engines, they could still block cavalry charges.

The Xiongnu were quite cunning. They first disguised themselves as envoys, claiming urgent business requiring immediate audience with the Emperor. When the city gates opened, dozens of them rushed in, occupied the gatehouse, and threw the gates wide open.

More Xiongnu cavalry arrived shortly after.

Both sides engaged in fierce battle at the city gate. Though the Xiongnu had the initial advantage, they lacked staying power. With only two to three thousand men and no reinforcements, they were gradually repelled by the Chu army and fled in panic, leaving behind dozens of corpses.

This attack was inexplicable. The Xiongnu didn’t need to assault the city with their full army—with just over five thousand troops, Jincheng City would have been difficult to defend. Yet the Xiongnu only deployed very few forces and didn’t persist. Seeing the tide turning against them, they immediately fled.

To call it harassment seemed too serious an effort.

The military and civilians of Jincheng City remained tense all night. The soldiers didn’t sleep, and the people all moved to the northern part of the city to take shelter.

Two hours later, the Xiongnu sent several envoys claiming that the earlier attack had been an accident, a misunderstanding.

The Chu army was no longer fooled and refused to open the city gates for them.

The next morning, Qiao Wanfu came alone and finally explained the whole story.

The attack had been the Right Wise King’s idea. He was too enraged and thought he could easily breach Jincheng City. As long as he could cut off the Emperor’s head, no one could do anything to him.

Jincheng City hadn’t fallen, the Emperor’s head remained firmly attached, and the Right Worthy King would pay the price for his impulsiveness.

Qiao Wanfu brought a gift from the Great Chanyu—the Right Wise King’s severed head, which was placed on the ground.

Everyone present was greatly shocked. Prince Donghai trembled as he leaned over to examine it, then nodded to the Emperor with a pale face. “It’s really him.”

“The Great Chanyu will appoint new envoys. This time, the negotiations will be genuine.” Qiao Wanfu remained in Jincheng City from then on, no longer needing to return to the Xiongnu side.

Near noon, over ten new envoys arrived, with Jin Chunzhong as the chief envoy.

The Jin siblings had been forbidden from seeing the Emperor until now, but finally they could show themselves.

Prince Donghai still led the negotiations, with Cui Teng running back and forth to relay messages.

The Great Chanyu made major concessions. Liaodong could be returned to Great Chu, but they needed to leave a passage for the Xiongnu army to safely retreat to the steppes. The annual exchange of gifts between both sides would be reduced by half. As for rebels in Qi, they weren’t even part of the negotiations—the Great Chanyu had long since stopped caring about those rebels.

Jin Chunzhong revealed that the rebel army had been completely annihilated, with only a few leaders still fugitives. They no longer posed any threat to Great Chu, nor were they of any help to the Xiongnu.

Running back and forth between the negotiation site and the Emperor’s residence, Cui Teng was tireless and grew happier each time. “Haha, the Great Chanyu has made another concession. Your Majesty’s judgment of people is truly accurate.”

When Cui Teng came to report to the Emperor for the seventh time, however, his expression had completely changed. He was furious, with clenched fists. When the eunuchs approached to greet him, he raised his fists to strike them. The guards at the door had to restrain him and report to His Majesty, only allowing him to enter after receiving clear permission.

“This is too much!” Cui Teng’s face was flushed red with anger. “Too much, Your Majesty, we cannot tolerate this any longer!”

“What happened?” Han Ruzi could not imagine which Xiongnu condition could have provoked such fury in Cui Teng.

“Didn’t the Xiongnu request a marriage alliance?”

“Yes.”

“Originally it was nothing much—the Great Chanyu would marry several daughters or granddaughters to Your Majesty, and they weren’t even demanding the position of Empress. As for Great Chu, we could just find some random ‘princess’ to send over. But who would have thought… who would have thought…” Cui Teng’s face grew even redder. “The Xiongnu actually named someone specifically!”

“Named someone? Whose name?” Han Ruzi was also surprised.

“My younger sister.”

“What?” Han Ruzi also became angry.

Seeing the Emperor’s expression change, Cui Teng instead calmed down and hastily said, “Not the Empress sister in the capital, but my third sister Cui Zhao who is here.”

Han Ruzi realized he had misunderstood and shook his head, then frowned. “Cui Zhao? How… how would the Great Chanyu know her name?”

“It’s all because of those two servants from Prince Dai’s household!” Cui Teng’s face reddened again, as this matter was closely connected to him.

At the time, the two servants had been privately gossiping about the various peculiarities of the Champion Marquis’s wife. Cui Teng happened to overhear them and gave each a punch and a kick. They weren’t injured, but they were frightened and actually fled the city to surrender to the Xiongnu.

These two men were later killed, but they had left the city’s rumors among the Xiongnu, and the stories became more exaggerated with each telling. The Right Wise King had become very interested in this woman of unparalleled beauty who was said to bring misfortune to her husbands. When demanding compensation of a princess from Great Chu, he had already harbored such thoughts, just hadn’t had the chance to make them clear.

The Great Chanyu had ruthlessly killed the Right Wise King, but had also become interested in what had interested him.

Han Ruzi was very surprised. The two nations were at war, both now standing on the edge of a cliff, yet the Great Chanyu was still thinking about such matters.

“Just refuse. The Great Chanyu won’t insist,” Han Ruzi said.

“Refuse, of course we’ll refuse. I’m just… just angry about it. The Xiongnu are doing this on purpose, aren’t they? Just to humiliate our Cui clan. Third sister has been unlucky enough lately…”

Cui Teng took his leave, his heart still burning with indignation.

Han Ruzi was thinking about how to restore contact with the Chu forces outside when Zhang Youcai, standing beside him, suddenly said, “I wonder who the Great Chanyu will marry to Your Majesty?”

Han Ruzi gave him a cold look, and Zhang Youcai awkwardly retreated to one side.

The negotiations did not conclude that day, but there had been some progress. Prince Donghai was more confident, and the soldiers and civilians in the city all felt joy, though they dared not show it too obviously. They feared future disappointment and also feared appearing insufficiently brave and loyal, but thinking they might survive, everyone felt much more at ease.

Shortly after dark, Cui Teng came again. This time he was not so angry but seemed somewhat puzzled. “Third sister asked me to relay a message—she wants to see Your Majesty.”

“This is not the time. Tell her that Great Chu has not fallen so low as to trade a vulnerable woman for peace.” Han Ruzi did not want to see outsiders.

“Third sister said she must see Your Majesty no matter what, to explain the matter face to face. If Your Majesty will not see her, she would rather… die to prove her resolve.”

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