Chapter 103 – Kay's translations
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Chapter 103

Kays Translations

Just another Isekai Lover~

Chapter 103: The Prime Minister Enters Anyang

In the Cai Kingdom, in the imperial city, Bei Chen Yuqing followed Ye Mingquan to meet the Emperor of the Cai Kingdom. Compared to the Emperor of the Great Xia Kingdom, the Emperor of the Cai Kingdom was undoubtedly more imposing. An emperor of a powerful nation is indeed different.

“Minister Bei Chen Yuqing pays respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the North.”

The Emperor of the Cai Kingdom glanced at Bei Chen Yuqing and then looked at the terms of the negotiations in his hands. He nodded decisively, saying, “Your terms are not excessive; I agree. Let’s execute according to the agreement.”

Immediately afterward, the Emperor of the Cai Kingdom sent Ye Mingquan south with spiritual herbs to visit the Emperor of the Great Xia Kingdom. For a man who was on the brink of death, perhaps the Emperor of the Cai Kingdom felt a bit of sorrow for the dead rabbit and the dying fox, empathizing with the plight of others.

He then ordered over ten thousand Imperial Guard captives from the Cai Kingdom, along with the chancellor’s family, to head southeast; the place for the exchange of war prisoners was along the border between the Cai Kingdom and Anyang.

The new prime minister of the Cai Kingdom, Huang Fu, accompanied them.

When Bei Chen Yuqing saw the Imperial Guard captives, a flash of anger crossed his eyes; these captives had been tortured to the point of being unrecognizable, and some had their cultivation rendered useless! Out of ten thousand, it was estimated that barely three thousand were still somewhat healthy!

As for the family of the former chancellor, Yan Ze’an, their situation was even more tragic; this negotiation had dragged on for over ten days, and while the adults in the chancellor’s family were doing okay, some of the children had nearly starved to death! This was still during their house arrest, and the adults had to knock out the children to save their lives.

Seeing that many members of Yan Ze’an’s family were already on the verge of death, Bei Chen Yuqing took a deep breath and said, “Bring some food for the prisoners.”

With Bei Chen Yuqing saying this, the Cai Kingdom naturally had no objections. Soon, lavish “last meals” were “thrown” into the prison carts, spilling everywhere. Those who had long been starved devoured the food ravenously, not even caring about the filthy water.

However, a few people, including Yan Ze’an, were in a daze, utterly unmoved; these individuals had truly lost all hope.

Especially Yan Ze’an, who had contributed so much to the Cai Kingdom, forcefully helping a nearly collapsing nation find its way to recovery, yet ended up with such a fate! The grief and anger in his heart were unimaginable!

As the team advanced, a large number of Cai Kingdom citizens had gathered along the way; these common people were completely unaware of the truth and only believed the rumors. Upon seeing the prime minister’s prison cart, they shouted curses and expressed their anger at the war instigated by the prime minister and the soldiers who had died because of him.

Faced with the curses and the accusations from the people, Yan Ze’an, the  prime minister whose heart had turned to ashes, actually shed a tear.

Bei Chen Yuqing could no longer bear to watch and immediately requested that the team speed up. However, the large, weakened group of captives still slowed down their progress. After more than six days of travel, they finally reached the border.

Crossing the border, they saw the people of Anyang who had been waiting for them.

Princess Xia Qingqing took the lead, backed by an army of thirty thousand; there were also over twenty thousand captives from the Cai Kingdom bound behind them.

The tense atmosphere filled the border once again. The thirty thousand troops from Anyang pressed down on over twenty thousand captives, with no end in sight. The Cai Kingdom was not weak either, with the same number of troops pressing down on over ten thousand captives, led by the new  prime minister of the Cai Kingdom, Huang Fu.

Upon seeing Xia Qingqing, Huang Fu stepped forward, “I have met the princess of the South. We have brought a total of twelve thousand four hundred and twenty-two captives, as well as one hundred seventy-six from the Yan family, all accounted for.”

Xia Qingqing immediately said to Fang Shijing beside her, “Mr. Fang, please count out twelve thousand five hundred and ninety-eight captives for exchange!”

Huang Fu frowned upon hearing this, “Your Highness, don’t you have over thirty thousand captives on your side?”

Xia Qingqing smiled slightly, “A fair exchange, one for one! This was agreed upon during negotiations! Check the terms; see if the word ‘fair’ is included.”

Huang Fu was momentarily speechless, “What about the remaining captives…”

“Ten taels of gold each. The amount of gold you send will equal the number of captives you receive. If you exchange for grain, it will be one hundred stones of grain for one captive. This is the highest market price for grain; you won’t be at a loss.”

“Not at a loss…” Huang Fu began to regret taking on this task.

Next came the exchange of captives. However, the situation seemed different.

On the Cai Kingdom’s side, all the captives were “thrown” out at once, driven toward Anyang. In contrast, the Anyang side had each soldier standing over a captive, preparing for the exchange.

“Something is off!” Huang Fu’s eyelids twitched, sensing that something bad was about to happen. 

At that moment, the general from Anyang, Wang Jian, stepped forward, “Brothers of the Imperial Guard, you have suffered! Now, stand in front of the captives from the Cai Kingdom, one-on-one, and line up closely.”

Everyone was confused, but the Imperial Guards of the Great Xia Kingdom, having escaped their nightmare, obediently lined up one by one. A soldier named Wang Dashi stood in front of a Cai Kingdom captive. Behind this captive was a robust warrior from Anyang.

As Wang Dashi approached, the Anyang warrior shouted loudly, “Brother, welcome home. My name is Li Hai. Now, can you tell us about the torture you suffered in the Cai Kingdom?”

Wang Dashi, weak and dazed, began to recount his experiences and the countless humiliations he endured: not being fed, receiving many lashes, being forced to labor, having his head kicked, suffering a broken left arm, and being slapped…

Li Hai listened with bloodshot eyes; when Wang Dashi finished speaking, he shouted angrily, kicked the captive in front of him down, drew his knife, and cut off the captive’s left arm. Then, he unleashed a flurry of punches, finally delivering a kick that shattered the captive’s dantian, completely destroying the foundation of his cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, the captive who had just moments ago been unharmed was now left with only a single breath, reduced to a state of utter helplessness.

Not just here; apart from the members of the Yan family, none of the remaining over twelve thousand captives managed to escape. The suffering endured by the Imperial Guard was mirrored by the suffering of these captives! Out of the last twelve thousand, fewer than two thousand remained uninjured, while the rest were barely clinging to life.

“You… do you want to continue the war? Ah!!!” Huang Fu was furious, nearly driven mad.

However, Xia Qingqing could no longer bear to watch the scene and retreated into the carriage. Xu Ren took her place, saying, “Lord Huang, we discussed this before: a fair exchange! It’s only fair, look how fair it is. Alright, you can take your captives now.”

Huang Fu pointed at Xu Ren, gritting his teeth in anger. “Anyang, I’ll remember this! Go, bring those people back!”

Cai soldiers rushed forward to carry the barely human captives back, creating a scene of devastation.

As Huang Fu was about to turn away, Xu Ren spoke up again, “Lord Huang, please wait a moment.”

“What else do you want?” Huang Fu was so furious he almost spewed fire.

Xu Ren shook his feather fan. “Oh, it’s nothing much. I heard that you captured over twenty thousand living Imperial Guards back then, yet now only a little over twelve thousand remain alive. Shouldn’t there be an explanation for this?”

“That was not part of the initial negotiations!”

“Oh, I misspoke. It’s not that you need to explain; rather, we’re giving you an explanation!” Xu Ren’s previously smiling face suddenly turned cold as ice. “Someone, kill eight thousand captives and send their heads to Lord Huang!”

Huang Fu was truly furious, his rage boiling over. “Xu Ren! You dare!”

Unfortunately for Huang Fu, his words were utterly ineffective; eight thousand Cai captives were dragged out, crying and screaming, and brought to the front lines. The soldiers of Anyang, having experienced numerous battles, ignored the captives’ cries. With swift and decisive actions, eight thousand heads rolled to the ground in the blink of an eye.

Huang Fu pointed at Xu Ren, “Good, very good! Remember this! In five years, I will flatten Anyang, and I will ensure that not a single blade of grass remains!”

This act of exchanging captives had stripped Huang Fu of all dignity, reducing the new prime minister of the Cai Kingdom to a state of disgrace!

Xu Ren waved his feather fan, confident and composed. “Very well, I’ll wait for you for five years. Withdraw the troops!”

The army of Anyang slowly retreated, leaving behind a bloody scene. Huang Fu’s face was ashen, but he still had to command his troops to clean up the corpses.

When the army of Anyang retreated to the foot of the border wall, they came to a stop.

Xia Qingqing stepped down from the carriage and personally approached the prison cart of Chancellor Yan Ze’an, opening the cart herself. “Sir, I hope you can forgive the necessity of this situation. Someone, please assist Sir Yan in bathing and changing, so he can be properly received in Anyang.”

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