“Please, Master, save Western Sichuan, save Great Kang!”
The Ninth Princess rose to her feet and solemnly bowed deeply to Jin Feng.
“Your Highness, what are you doing?”
Jin Feng hurriedly stood up, wanting to help her up, but when he saw Qin’er glaring at him from the side, he withdrew his hands.
Since Jin Feng would not assist, the Ninth Princess remained bent at the waist.
Qin’er frowned, then looked up at the ceiling.
Seeing this, Jin Feng understood she had silently consented and was pretending not to notice. He quickly took the princess’s arms to help her stand.
Yet the Ninth Princess stubbornly refused to rise.
“Your Highness, please stand up. How could Jin Feng possibly deserve such a grand courtesy from you!”
Jin Feng said with a helpless laugh.
If she would not rise, he could hardly drag her up by force.
He suspected that before he could even pull her upright, Qin’er would break his arms.
“Only after Master promises Wen’er will Wen’er dare to stand!” the Ninth Princess said while still bowing.
“Your Highness, you haven’t told me anything yet you want me to promise. Do you think I can agree just like that?”
Upon hearing this, Jin Feng realised the princess intended to act shamelessly.
He simply withdrew his hands again and bowed deeply to her in return. “If Your Highness insists on doing this, then let us keep bowing to each other.”
Anyone can play that game.
The Ninth Princess gave a silent, helpless sigh in her heart, straightened up, and helped Jin Feng up as well.
“Very well, Master, I will speak plainly.”
“Please do.”
Jin Feng ladled a bowl of rice porridge for her. “Your Highness, drink some porridge first to soothe your throat.”
“Thank you, Master.”
The Ninth Princess took the bowl and set it aside. “Master, three days ago the Tubo envoy went to the Western Sichuan prefectural office for talks. On the way back, he was attacked by bandits!”
“The Tubo envoy was attacked by bandits?” Jin Feng was startled and frowned. “What were the casualties?”
“All dead!” the Ninth Princess said.
“That serious?”
Jin Feng instantly realised the matter had become extremely grave.
Envoys who came to negotiate had been killed. Tubo would surely fly into a rage.
Relations between Great Kang and Tubo were already strained. Now bandits had poured oil on the fire.
“What does Tubo say?” Jin Feng asked.
“Tubo demands that within five days, I and Brother Xinyao personally bring the culprits to Tubo to apologise!”
She continued, “Furthermore, they demand Great Kang cede both Lanzhou and Xining prefectures in the northwest to Tubo!”
“What are they thinking?” Jin Feng frowned.
Like Western Sichuan, Lanzhou and Xining were frontier military cities built by Great Kang’s founding emperor, one to contain Tubo, one to contain Xixia. Their strategic positions were vital.
Western Sichuan prefecture was still some distance from the Tubo border, but Xining and Lanzhou were built almost directly on the frontier line.
If Xining and Lanzhou were given to Tubo, Great Kang’s northwest would have no barrier left. Tubo cavalry could roam freely across the northwest and threaten the Guanzhong region.
Ceding Xining and Lanzhou to Tubo would have consequences as severe as when the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were once ceded to the Khitan.
Previously, when Tubo demanded Western Sichuan, it might have been an opening gambit. Adding Lanzhou and Xining now meant they were serious.
Demanding three entire prefectures, even if Great Kang bargained, they would still have to surrender at least one, wouldn’t they?
“Western Sichuan, Lanzhou, and Xining can never be ceded to Tubo. Therefore war with Tubo has become unavoidable!”
The Ninth Princess said, “Wuyang has come to West River Bay precisely to beg you, Master, to help Western Sichuan, to help Great Kang!”
“Your Highness, I am merely a minor baron. How could I possibly help you?” Jin Feng smiled bitterly.
Jinchuan was far too close to Tubo. If possible, he too wished to avoid war between Great Kang and Tubo.
But this now involved the interests of two nations, and even Xixia as well.
A minor baron without even his own fief could not imagine what the princess thought he could do.
“We captured a group of Tubo spies. Under interrogation we learned that Tubo’s Gar Tsenpo has long been studying how to counter heavy crossbows and trebuchets, and with considerable success.
Tubo warriors have fought among themselves for years and are even fiercer than Xixia or Khitan troops. Now they have specifically researched ways to defeat heavy crossbows and trebuchets. Our army has little chance of victory against them!”
The Ninth Princess continued, “Master, I know you possess weapons far superior to heavy crossbows and trebuchets. Wuyang begs you, for the sake of the people of Sichuan and Shu, for the sake of Great Kang itself, please lend those weapons to Western Sichuan!”
“How do you know about them?” Jin Feng’s heart jolted.
Where weapons were concerned, Jin Feng’s principle had always been: equip the troops with one generation, keep one generation in reserve, and develop the next.
So indeed, trebuchets and heavy crossbows were not the most powerful items in his arsenal.
He had created far deadlier weapons and secretly manufactured a batch, hidden deep inside the storehouse on the back hill.
Only he, Guan Xiaorou, Tang Xiaobei, Mancang, and a handful of others knew about them.
How could the Ninth Princess know?
Jin Feng instinctively looked instinctively toward Qing Mulan.
He immediately dismissed the thought, because even Qing Mulan was unaware.
After speaking, the Ninth Princess kept her eyes fixed on Jin Feng.
Seeing his reaction, she let out a long breath of relief and smiled slyly. “Master, don’t look at Sister Mulan. She didn’t tell me. Wuyang simply guessed.”
“Guessed?”
“Yes. Master is cautious by nature. The fact that you were willing to hand over trebuchet blueprints to Brother Qing Huai very likely meant you already possessed superior weapons. It seems Wuyang guessed correctly!” The Ninth Princess laughed.
“Your Highness truly understands people’s hearts,” Jin Feng said with a wry smile.
All that time, he had been bluffed by the princess.
“Since Your Highness has already guessed, I won’t conceal it any longer. I have indeed developed new trebuchets and heavy crossbows with greater power and range.”
Jin Feng continued, “However, I did not create this batch after, not before, giving the blueprints to Marquis Qing. I only began the work after learning the blueprints had leaked, because I worried we would have no way to restrain Xixia.”
“Master is truly noble!”
The Ninth Princess stood and bowed to Jin Feng once more, greatly reassured.
Since Jin Feng admitted the weapons existed, it could be taken that he was willing to hand them over.
“Master, rest assured. Wuyang will not take your weapons for nothing. Whether you need silver or ore, simply name your price!”
“We can discuss that later. First, I have a question for Your Highness.”
Jin Feng leaned across the table, staring intently at the Ninth Princess.
“Did the captured Tubo spies say anything about how Tubo plans to counter trebuchets and heavy crossbows?”
“Those spies said nothing. They probably really didn’t know,” the Ninth Princess shook her head.
“Then may Your Highness answer honestly: is the ‘spy’ you mentioned actually the Tubo envoy himself?” Jin Feng asked, eyes locked on hers.
There are certainly many bandits in the Sichuan and Shu regions, but bandits are not fools. They can tell Tubo people apart from Great Kang citizens.
Knowing full well that killing Tubo envoys would bring terrible consequences, very few bandits would dare rob and murder them.
Otherwise, the Tubo envoys who travelled to the capital earlier would never have returned safely.
Western Sichuan borders Tubo, so local bandits would understand this even better.
Yet the Tubo envoy had been robbed and killed, and immediately afterwards the princess mentioned capturing Tubo spies.
Jin Feng could not help but entertain suspicions.
