Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 286: Kneeling
On the rooftop, everyone looked at Li Xian. All of them were cultivators, and it was clear they had heard the noisy sounds from downstairs, even understanding them clearly.
In this situation, Li Xian was also unsure and glanced towards Xu Ren beside him.
Seeing Li Xian looking at him, Xu Ren immediately transmitted a voice message: “Young Master, we should stop here. The envoy from Jin Kingdom is late, and we’ve already reacted firmly. Next, we need to hear what the Jin envoy has to say.
For negotiations, we can’t be one-sidedly tough; it’s about an ‘interactive’ process. It should be a back-and-forth, that’s what a negotiation is about.
If the Jin envoy doesn’t apologize for being late, then we can bombard Jin Kingdom later. After all, we are taking the commercial route, and we need to give the impression that we are ‘reasonable.’
Of course, the current threat is not enough. We must show reason, but also demonstrate our strength, not letting anyone think that Anyang is weak and easily bullied.
Therefore, the Jin envoy not only needs to apologize, but they should regret it deeply, crying and begging for forgiveness. But we must remember not to block every path; always leave a small opening for future possibilities.”
Li Xian lowered his eyelids and understood the message; he turned to the guards beside him and said, “Go, bring the Jin envoy here. I want to see what he has to say.”
After a while, Sima Xuan, looking somewhat embarrassed, arrived at the rooftop. Upon seeing the airplanes below, with the propellers of the first row already spinning rapidly and the planes slowly moving, it was clear that Li Xian wasn’t just making threats, but was serious about this!
Sima Xuan quickly shifted his gaze and saw Li Xian standing in the center of the rooftop. He quickly walked toward him and said, “Greetings to the King of Anyang.”
“Mm.” Li Xian nodded and then remained silent.
This left Sima Xuan feeling awkward. He thought, even if you scold me, at least I could explain myself; but with just that “mm”, what does it mean!?
Xu Ren, watching from the side, found it amusing. Li Xian was getting better at acting like a King. A simple “mm” carried so much arrogance and dominance.
Prime Minister Sima Xuan gritted his teeth, cupped his hands, and said, “King Xian, the road from Lequan City, the capital of Jin Kingdom, to Anyang is long and winding, over four thousand miles. I set off yesterday and traveled without rest overnight, arriving only now.
But Anyang has changed so much that I got lost for a moment, which caused the delay.”
After saying this, Sima Xuan watched Li Xian for his reaction. But Li Xian didn’t even look back, continuing to watch the planes below. The first row of planes had already taken off and was soaring into the sky. The second row’s propellers were starting to roar and spin.
In fact, no one believed Sima Xuan’s words. Anyang had no complicated formations set up. You, a practitioner at the early stage of Nascent Soul Stage, got lost? Who are you trying to fool!?
Sima Xuan waited for a while, seeing that Li Xian still didn’t respond. He had no choice but to speak again: “King Xian, this delay was not intentional on our part. But it has become a fact, and I… apologize for it.”
Li Xian still said nothing. Sima Xuan bowed deeply, and the two of them seemed like statues. Around them, all eyes were on Li Xian, waiting to see how he would react.
Time passed second by second, and one row of planes after another took off. Over five hundred planes ascended into the sky in a brief moment. The wind from the planes blew over everyone, and their roaring engines echoed through the air.
Suddenly, everyone inhaled sharply. After bowing for nearly a minute, Sima Xuan glanced sideways, his pupils rapidly contracting. Four silver-gray planes slowly slid onto the runway, and immediately eight motorcycles approached the planes. Each motorcycle was dragging an enormous bomb.
A quick glance showed that these bombs were about two feet in diameter and about the length of two men. The surface of the bombs was marked with labels: “Incendiary Bomb,” “Bomb,” “Cluster Bomb,” and “Fuel-Air Explosive.” Different kinds of bombs appeared, thanks to the military factory’s frenzy. Of course, Li Xian’s “guidance” was also involved.
The eight motorcycles reached the wings of the four planes, and ground crew members attached the giant bombs under the wings. The motorcycles then quickly retreated, and flags were raised at the terminal—signaling that takeoff was permitted.
The next moment, a completely different screeching sound came, as if the air itself was being torn apart. The four silver-gray planes slowly accelerated.
Sima Xuan’s mind went blank. Li Xian was serious! This bastard wasn’t joking! He had no intention of playing around! The large and special bombs made Sima Xuan break out in cold sweat. If these bombs were dropped on the Jin Imperial Palace, Jin Kingdom would become a laughingstock.
Suddenly, Sima Xuan had a flash of insight and fell to his knees with a thud. “King Xian, please give Jin Kingdom a chance to negotiate!”
Li Xian finally smiled. He turned to look at Sima Xuan kneeling on the ground and slowly spoke, “Prime Minister Sima, you know, Anyang is different from others in two major ways.
First, business.
Second, law.
Business values trust and promises, while law is inflexible.” A deep rumbling sound came from the airport, and four silver-gray planes slowly accelerated…
Against this backdrop, Li Xian looked down at Sima Xuan. “Do you realize your mistake now?”
“I do!” Sima Xuan nearly gritted out the two words with his teeth.
“Good. Go rest for now. We’ll continue the negotiations tomorrow. Tomorrow at 9 AM, the formal negotiations begin. Don’t be late. Chen Jinbing, take the distinguished guest to the Fude Mountain Resort to rest.”
Chen Jinbing walked to Sima Xuan, who hadn’t gotten up yet, and slightly bowed. “Please follow me, esteemed guest.”
Sima Xuan knelt on the ground, staring at the four subsonic planes, which were already speeding up and beginning to ascend, and shouted hoarsely, “Please, King Xian, stop the attack. We admit defeat! We admit defeat!”
Sima Xuan couldn’t imagine what it would be like if Anyang actually dropped a bomb on the Jin Kingdom’s imperial palace. Perhaps the Jin Kingdom would fall into decline as a result! Once a bomb fell on the palace, the royal authority might completely collapse; without authority, a centralized state would disband, and the current Great Xia Kingdom would become the future of the Jin Kingdom.
Li Xian curved his lips into a smug smile. “Don’t worry, this is just a normal relocation of the site. These planes will temporarily land at the new airport in southern Anyang.”
So that’s what it was? That’s how it is! Sima Xuan froze in place, and the surrounding embassy representatives all twitched their mouths and had black lines on their foreheads—Li Xian, you’ve tricked everyone.
But soon, some people realized that if Sima Xuan didn’t beg for mercy or kneel to admit his mistake this time, it might really have been an attack.
“Boom…” A loud explosion interrupted everyone’s thoughts.
Suddenly, three-meter-long flames shot out from the back of the four planes, and the silver-gray planes arrogantly soared into the sky. They quickly ascended, surpassing the height of propeller planes, and in the blink of an eye, they shot into the clouds, accompanied by a booming sound as they rapidly disappeared into the distance.
“Wow, they’re fast!”
All the embassy representatives grew serious. Watching the information was one thing, but witnessing it in person was another. Especially since there were several military leaders in the embassy, some of them immediately felt the terrifying power of these planes.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that these planes could reach the Jin Kingdom’s imperial palace in an hour to drop bombs. Thinking about the two super bombs hanging under the wings of the subsonic planes, many people started to feel a subtle fear. Cultivators have a strange intuition when it comes to danger!
When the planes had completely disappeared, Li Xian finally smiled and invited everyone to witness tomorrow’s negotiations.
An unprecedented victory had earned Anyang an unparalleled opportunity! Li Xian planned to use this victory and the negotiations to formally execute the “Commercial Empire” plan. Of course, to avoid unnecessary trouble, Anyang’s external statement for now was “Commercial Kingdom.”
A kingdom is united, while an empire is centralized. People welcome the kingdom form but absolutely do not allow the emergence of a “Commercial Empire.” So, Li Xian still needed to carefully hide his ambitions for now.
Inviting everyone to witness tomorrow’s negotiations was, on one hand, a way to demonstrate Anyang’s authority, and on the other hand, to show that Anyang was legitimate and “had no grand ambitions”—we just want to build a commercial kingdom, not an empire.
After saying all of this, Li Xian added, “As the saying goes, ‘A true gentleman watches the game without speaking,’ everyone can observe and record, but please do not interfere with our negotiations.”
The Prime Minister of Qi, He Zhiguo, was the first to speak. “Of course, we, the Qi Kingdom, are here to learn. After King Xian’s speech last time, we began gradually implementing the method of governing the country through industry and commerce, with remarkable results. This time, we are here with a learning attitude.”
The Prime Minister of Qi spoke, and the surrounding representatives nodded in agreement—He Zhiguo is right. Our primary task now is to focus on “learning.”