The World Online
chapter-909

In the bottle was an antidote pill made by Medical Saint Zhang Zhongjing.

This antidote pill was really strong. Although it could not ensure that all poisons were cured, it could at least stop the poison spread until one could cure it.

5th month, Zhang Zhongjing took charge of the imperial medicine court, and the antidote pill was one of his contributions. As the herbs needed to make it were rare and precious, there were less than a hundred of them.

Ouyang Shuo did not keep all of them. He gave these pills to generals and civil servants, especially generals of the Legion General level one.

As the head of the Honglu Temple, Zhang Yi naturally got one.

Zhang Yi was hesitating about whether to use it immediately or not. Zhang Zhongjing had told them that the earlier they used the pill, the more effective it would be.

If he used it immediately after he was poisoned, his life would be saved. However, if one wasted time, illness might take root. If one waited till the poison attacked the heart, even the heavens would not be able to save them.

Zhang Yi was hesitating because he was seeing further. If the poisoning was not done by Great Sui, it would be a huge opportunity for Great Xia.

‘Personal loss for the gains of the dynasty.’ Zhang Yi felt that it was worth it.

Thinking of which, he gritted his teeth and decided to take the gamble. He kept the bottle and waited for the imperial physician.

After a short while, the physician entered, and Gao Yong followed behind. Seeing Zhang Yi’s black face he got even more worried. Currently, even the blood that flowed out was black.

His majesty had gotten the news and told them to save him no matter the cost.

After the diagnosis, the physician frowned.

“How’s the situation?” Gao Ying asked.

“If he makes it past tonight, he will be okay. But if he does not…”

“….”

Gao Ying felt his heart tremble; he could foresee a storm coming.

When the physician left, Zhang Yi finally used the pill. However, he was still a little too slow, and the poison had entered some of his organs and taken root. Luckily, it was not a life threatening situation.

…

Late night, Great Sui Palace.

In the cold palace, Emperor Wen and Gao Ying were having a conversation.

“Your highness, we must prepare for the worst.” Gao Ying’s voice was hoarse. The shock tonight had exhausted him thoroughly.

A light flashed through the emperor’s eyes, “What are our chances if we engage?”

“No more than 30%.”

Gao Ying’s guess was logical. Although they had a million troops, they only had one city, and they only had one prefecture of land. If they really fought, the Great Xia Army could collapse down on them.

Moreover, Quanzhou was a lone city. Great Xia did not even need to attack; they just needed to surround them till their resources ran out.

Their only chance would be to take the initiate and gamble. If the million troops charged out of the city, it would also be tough for Great Xia.

Emperor Wen was shocked. If he only had a 30% chance, he would not dare to take the risk.

Emperor Wen’s face became blurry under the light of the candle, making it hard for one to see through. After a long while, he said, “Get ready to discuss terms.”

Gao Ying was not surprised, “If we do, we might have to give land, compensation, and the like. We have no land to give. As for compensation, we have a few million that we can take out.”

Pausing, Gao Ying was expressionless. He continued, “It’s also hard for us to marry someone to them. The Xia King is a loyal person and only has one queen. If we send a prince over as a hostage….”

As he said that, Gao Ying did not dare to continue.

There were a total of five princes who followed Emperor Wen into the wilderness. They were crown prince Yang Yong, Jin Prince Yang Guang, Qin Prince Yang Jun, Shu Prince Yang Xiu, and Han Prince Yang Qiong.

In terms of position, Yang Yong and Yang Guang were the highest.

In history, not long after Yang Guang ascended, he killed his brother. Hence, the two brothers had animosity between each other and looked at one another like enemies.

Funnily, Great Sui also fell in Yang Guang’s hands, so Emperor Wen also treated him really weirdly.

“If we need to, send Jin Prince.”

No matter what, for Great Sui to fall by his hands made the emperor really disappointed in his son. Thinking back to what happened when he was about to die, he really wanted to kill this son of his.

“To be able to contribute to Great Sui would be atoning for his sins.”

“Yes your highness.”

Gao Ying tried his best to not show an expression and not reveal his personal feelings and preference.

‘The emperor’s heart is hard to predict.’

The emperor breezed across that topic and asked, “Do you have any progress regarding the poison?”

Gao Ying said, “We have found out that a manger of the inn placed the poison. He has been locked up and is being interrogated.”

“We must get to the bottom of this and give an answer to Great Xia.”

Emperor Wen was feeling really annoyed. Since becoming an emperor, he had never lowered his head to anyone. Who knew that just after entering the wilderness, he would need to lower his head to Great Xia?

‘Maybe we should contact the Yanhuang Alliance.’ He thought to himself.

“Yes!”

After Gao Ying left, a young handsome man walked out from the back of the hall. He was Yang Yong.

“Father!”

Emperor Wen looked at Yang Yong, “Our Great Sui has just taken over Quanzhou, so there should be many spies like that inn manager. Wipe out all these rats.”

There was no emperor that was willing to have moles and spies of other powers in his home.

“Yes, father!”

The prince Yang Yong who appeared in the wilderness had less warmth and was colder. It seemed like the lesson in history had taught him a lot.

Emperor Wen looked at Gao Ying’s back view and said, “We cannot loosen our monitoring of officials. Great Sui is unlike before, and people might have impure intentions.”

Yang Yong felt his heart shake. He knew that his father’s doubtful personality was showing once more.

“Yes!”

Yang Yong respectfully nodded.

Within the hall, the shadows of the father and son wavered under the light of the candles.

************

The next day, news about the Great Xia envoy being poisoned spread around Quanzhou.

In just a morning, the entire China region learned of the matter.

Some gloated, while some were shocked. Any action of the Great Xia Dynasty was able to shake the entire China region and make huge news.

If these two giants fought because of this, it would be a huge matter to the China Region.

Players were worried that if Quanzhou fell, the China region would have one less imperial city. It was not a happy thing to the entire China region.

Hence, some players begged on the forums for the Great Xia Dynasty to think about the big picture and not start war.

Shanhai City, Xia palace.

Ouyang Shuo naturally had no time to bother about what the players on the forum wanted. If there was anything, the Outreach Division under Zi Luolan would handle it.

Early in the morning, Cui Tianqi went to look for Ouyang Shuo.

Hearing that Zhang Yi was poisoned, Ouyang Shuo was furious, “Was it done by Great Sui?”

“Zhang Yi said that it was hard to say; the chances of it not being them are greater.”

Ouyang Shuo’s eyes focused, “So it’s a third party?”

Cui Tianqi kept silent. He was a Shadow Guard and could not interfere in politics.

Ouyang Shuo did not expect him to reply. His heart knew that if it were an outsider, it would most likely be the Yanhuang Alliance.

“Preposterous!”

Ouyang Shuo’s face sank. Di Chen and their continuous small actions had finally angered him. “If I do not teach you a lesson, you will not know why the flower is so red.”

Luckily, he had a lot of time and could wait till they had investigated.

The key would be the safety of Zhang Yi and the envoy as well as the series of diplomatic problems this might cause.

…

At 10 AM, more news spread from Quanzhou.

Zhang Yi’s illness had been controlled, and his life was fine. He only needed to heal up. At the same time, Gao Ying passed a copy of the interrogation notes over to Shanhai City.

Ouyang Shuo was really unhappy with the results. They did not even find out who called for the attack.

It seemed like Gao Ying and the others felt ashamed. Along with the notes, there was a personal letter on the behalf of Emperor Wen that hinted at making peace.

“What kind of conditions does the Great Xia want? Just raise it.” Gao Ying said in his letter.

It seemed like Great Sui was not willing to start war.

Ouyang Shuo did not intend to start war with them either. If they were to fight, it was not a problem to win. However, the battlefield changed at every second, and if it goes bad, they might lose hundreds of thousands of troops.

If Yanhuang Alliance stepped in, the matter would get difficult.

Moreover, the Mediterranean had not calmed down, and his sweeping of Farrah and the pirates had not started. Ouyang Shuo did not want to create more problems for himself.

If not, Ouyang Shuo would not have taken the initiative to send an envoy over.

However, not fighting did not mean that Ouyang Shuo did not have any demands.

Just like Zhang Yi had predicted, Ouyang Shuo got a chance, so why would not he take it?

This time, the Great Xia had the initiative of the conversation. Ouyang Shuo needed to think about the conditions he needed to raise such that it could reach his goal while not touching their bottom line.

Of course, the prerequisite to the peace talks was that Zhang Yi returns safely.

Ouyang Shuo ordered for a squad of guards to bring him back to Shanhai City. He would be taken care by the imperial medicine court. At the same time, Di Renjie would replace him to handle the peace talks.

Ouyang Shuo wanted to use him to get to the bottom of the issue.