Yan Xiaodao looked at the kneeling Lord of Nation, and for a moment, he couldn't get a word out.
The country was destroyed, the family perished, it was right before his eyes, yet the lord of the nation was kneeling.
But...
If it could really save the country, what's wrong with kneeling?
I would kneel too, even if I die, it would be worth it!
That was what Yan Xiaodao was thinking.
Yet soon, Baijun Marquis spoke.
"I cannot save your country..."
The kneeling Lord of Shuangxue Country, Yan Xiaodao and the guards around all raised their heads.
Everyone looked towards Baijun Marquis.
Facing everyone's gaze, Baijun Marquis pushed away the chessboard in front of him, leaned forward with his arms resting on his thighs, fingers interlocked, looking down at everyone in the hall, and said calmly:
"What I can save are all 857 people of your royal family."
The look in the Lord of Shuangxue Country's eyes gradually turned cold, seemingly unwilling, and said gritting his teeth: "Why does the Grand Emperor fool me? I know the Bai Clan has the ability to preserve my country!"
Without exaggeration, if the Bai Clan tried their best, not to mention preserving Shuangxue Country, even defeating the 200,000 troops of Wang Jue, the Grand General of Zhenbei, would not be impossible.
Of course, the premise was that the Bai Clan was willing to do their best for them.
So the Lord of Shuangxue Country started pleading, and said sincerely: "Since a thousand years ago, our Shuangxue Country has been a vassal state of the Bai Dynasty generation after generation. I beg the Grand Emperor..."
"Oh? So sincere?" Baijun Marquis's voice indifferently interrupted the words of the Lord of Shuangxue Country.
Since the age of five, he seldom revealed emotions. Although his words were mocking, his expression and tone remained as calm as usual.
But if Bai Fang or Bai Fan were here, they would definitely be able to tell from a small gesture of Baijun Marquis's fingers that he was angry now.
Baijun Marquis said: "The chronicles of my clan have clear records. A thousand years ago, when the Bai Dynasty collapsed and the world fell into chaos, which vassal state came to save us? You went south plundering all the way, snatched away treasures, and when you saw the rebels everywhere, you just turned away. That's...how you serve your lord?"
"As for the siege this time, after all, it was because you secretly colluded with Song YanShi, so you lost. Things in this world, there are winners and losers. You lost, so you lost! Neither in the past nor today have we Bai Clan owed you anything."
The Lord of Shuangxue Country raised his head anxiously and said: "But Grand Emperor, we..."
Baijun Marquis indifferently interrupted: "I know what you are thinking, nothing more than trying to borrow the power of my Bai Clan to preserve your country. But even now, have you still not recognized the reality?"
"Our Bai Clan does have the ability to confront the elite Zhenbei Army head-on in battle. But the foundation of my Bai Clan is in the Central Plains, thousands of miles away. How can such distant water put out a fire here? Not to mention Wang Jue has been besieging the city for two months just to consume your food and reduce the cost of attacking the city."
Otherwise, do you really think a weak country like Shuangxue could withstand the siege of the Zhenbei Army for two whole months?
They were just unwilling to waste the lives of those elite soldiers on you. If they were really desperate, Wang Jue wouldn't care about casualties at all. With all elites out, it wouldn't take more than ten days to capture this city.
So...
"Please don't get me wrong."
Baijun Marquis stood up from his throne and looked at everyone in the hall: "I didn't come here to negotiate any deal with you. We Bai Clan have always known the pain of the destruction of a country and family, and know how hard life would be for a fallen royal family afterwards."
"So by offering the Mirror Moon Springwater, I bestow you all a way to survive."
There is no equal transaction here.
Everything is my benevolent favor.
Be grateful, and accept it.
Because you don't have the option to refuse.
The Lord of Shuangxue Country, who had sat on the throne for many years, naturally understood the implication behind Baijun Marquis's words. But he was unwilling to accept it.
The old man slowly raised his head, and a trace of sternness flashed in his eyes.
If the three big gangs and officials like Song YanShi were the tigers on the surface of Dawu Country, then the Bai Clan was undoubtedly a dragon hiding in the deepest place!
Wang Jue's purpose in destroying their Shuangxue Country, aside from taking revenge on the northern countries, as well as establishing prestige, was also to gain military exploits.
He had never heard that the Lord of the Bai Clan practices martial arts. Not to mention there were still thousands of guards just in the palace. If he could capture him and present him to Wang Jue outside the city...
Just when the idea came up, footsteps sounded.
The footsteps were light, but they resonated loudly!
It came from behind.
The Lord of Shuangxue Country got up and turned around to look back together with the guards behind him. He saw a person wearing white clothes and pants, with a white conical hat, already standing outside the main hall in the square.
The conical hat he wore also hung down a length of white gauze, covering his face, so his appearance could not be seen, nor his gender distinguished .
A pure white long sword was hanging on his left waist, without a scabbard, reflecting cold light.
A single person, a single sword.
With just one glance, the Lord of Shuangxue Country realized how naïve his previous idea was.
How could a figure like the Lord of the Bai Clan possibly barge into the capital city of a country without any safeguard?
"Bai... Left... Envoy!?"
A title unknown on the Jianghu was pronounced word by word by the Lord of Shuangxue Country.
Yet the person in white simply ignored the Lord of Shuangxue Country, but bowed to Baijun Marquis sitting on the throne from outside the hall, asking respectfully in perfect etiquette:
"Master, there are over 1,200 guards in this palace. Shall I kill them all?"
Judging from the voice, it was a man. Upon hearing this, his intention was actually to kill thousands with one!
Master!
Everyone in the hall was shocked at this moment.
Not one of the guards, nor even Yan Xiaodao dared to believe that among the titles of many masters and top figures on the Jianghu, the so called "Bai Left Envoy" was never heard before.
Among all the people, the one probably least shocked was the Lord of Shuangxue Country himself.
Because the chronicles of the Shuangxue royal family contained such a record.
During the thousand years from nothing to the establishment of the Bai Dynasty, there was a clan that contributed indispensable power to the cause of the Bai royal family.
That clan was said to possess "inborn superior physique". They were born with strong bones and physique far beyond ordinary people. Some even had innate internal energy or extraordinary features like herculean strength without any martial arts practice.
In short, their natural endowment was already uniquely superior in the world. After assiduous martial arts practice afterwards, this clan almost produced valiant generals in every generation for the Bai Dynasty, opening up new territory and deterring the world!
As the royal family, the Bai Dynasty was also connected by marriage with them for generations, granting them the surname 'Bai' with the word 'white' after several generations.
In the Bai Dynasty, the character 'Bai' was the imperial surname, naturally supreme above all.
'Bai', with one horizontal stroke removed from above, was naturally saying that except for the imperial crown, the Bai clan enjoyed the same honor and power as the royalty in the Bai Dynasty.
And even in the 700 years since the founding of Dawu Country, if there were some particularly enthusiastic yet bored historians who actively went to check the statistics, they would surely discover an interesting phenomenon from the records of various masters in Dawu Country over the past 700 years...
Among those masters over the 700 year history, one particular surname appeared very frequently — the surname Bai!
For example, 20 years ago, Bai Si and Bai ShiXuan, ranking second and third among masters of the time, were both surnamed Bai.
Hearing the question of the Bai Left Envoy outside the hall, Baijun Marquis silently walked down the throne steps, slowly saying while descending: "I have no interest in meaningless slaughter."
Watching the Frost and Snow Lord rise, Baijun Marquis said: "If you offer the Source Water, I will grant you nearly a thousand tribesmen, a fertile piece of land in the Central Plains, much better than this land of ice and snow."
The Frost and Snow Lord gritted his teeth. The situation was now clear, just as Baijun Marquis had said, he had no room to object, so he asked the final hesitation in his heart, "The Central Plains... that is Dawu Country's land."
The implication was obvious.
Baijun Marquis walked past the Frost and Snow Lord with an indifferent look. None of the palace guards behind him dared to stop him, instead clearing a path for Baijun Marquis.
Clearly, compared to the obsequious lord, Baijun Marquis had much more of the air of a king.
Not until he reached the front of the hall did Baijun Marquis look up at the eternally gloomy sky of Shuangxue Country, as if it could snow at any moment.
Baijun Marquis spoke his last words:
"The Wu Clan of Dawu Country may take advantage of my Bai Clan's decline to conquer the realm, but so what? What the Wu Clan can take, my Bai Clan... can take back!"
Hearing this, the Frost and Snow Lord immediately made up his mind. Kneeling down again, he respectfully said, "Everything will be as Your Majesty says, I agree to your... favor!"
The great task was accomplished.
Baijun Marquis remained calm.
However, in the silence, a fourteen-year-old boy jumped out!
"I do not agree!"
Watching his father, the lord he had sworn loyalty to, kneeling before a man he had never met before.
Watching the lord of the country, at the brink of national subjugation, planning to abandon the people and escape with his tribesmen!
It turned out.
The king was not as supreme as he thought.
It turned out.
The king could be so cowardly.
This world was too strange!
So strange that the fourteen-year-old Yan Xiaodao simply could not believe it.
At this moment, Yan Xiaodao felt a betrayal he had never experienced before! He immediately did something his father had never taught him.
The boy angrily pointed at the lord and scolded: "My father gave his life for the country, only to regain our homeland! And what are you doing now?! You are the lord of the nation! You are a king! Stand up!"
"Stand up!!!"
But the old man knelt on the ground in shame, not daring to get up.
The boy had already rushed towards Baijun Marquis.
Baijun Marquis looked back, finally acknowledging the boy for the first time.
Everyone else had knelt down.
You were still standing.
The next moment, before Yan Xiaodao could get close to Baijun Marquis, he was already restrained by the suddenly appeared Bai Left Envoy. With a light exhale of internal energy, Yan Xiaodao immediately knelt on the ground.
But the kneeling Yan Xiaodao stubbornly raised his head, staring fixedly at Baijun Marquis.
Baijun Marquis found the boy quite interesting.
Because although the boy was kneeling now, in fact, he was still 'standing'!