On the fifth day after the war, King of Dawei received an urgent secret letter that Dawei Country was defeated in the battle with Ye Country.
Not only were the two princes taken hostage by the enemy country, but 5,000 soldiers also became prisoners of war.
This was the first time in the history of the dynasties that such a situation occurred, catching Dawei Dynasty off guard.
Looking at the message in his hand, King of Dawei was furious and shouted, "Waste, we were defeated by a no-name person in the final battle, which completely ruined our Dawei Country's reputation."
The ministers saw the emperor get angry and bowed in fear and unease, "Your Majesty, please calm down."
Seeing that none of the ministers below dared to speak, King of Dawei continued, "You can all rise."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, although we were defeated in the end, Ye Country also lost 170,000 troops from their original 200,000. This greatly weakened the enemy's military strength. From this perspective, the old minister believes that the two princes' merits can offset their mistakes."
King Ye's expression improved a little after hearing this.
"Yes, Your Majesty. The most urgent thing now is to negotiate with Ye Country as soon as possible and redeem the two princes and 5,000 soldiers." Another minister who supported the Second Prince stood up and said.
Seeing everyone defending the Second Prince and Third Prince, the Crown Prince secretly signaled to his ministers.
"What the two gentlemen said sounds simple, but the people we are redeeming are the two princes. How could Ye Country easily let them go? They might even ask us to compensate all their war expenses. For our country, this would be a huge disaster."
"That's right, that's right." Many ministers below started whispering to each other.
"Father, your son thinks that we should discuss how to redeem my Second Brother, Third Brother, and over 5,000 soldiers with the least cost."
"Oh? What ideas does the Crown Prince have?" King of Dawei asked.
"Your son believes that the current Dayi Dynasty has been greatly weakened. We can form an alliance with the other three countries to launch a major offensive against Ye Country. This would induce them to unconditionally return the two princes and 5,000 soldiers. Then the four countries can attack again and divide Ye Country's major cities."
"No, this could very likely anger Ye Country. By then, the two princes would definitely be imprisoned, or even beheaded by Ye Country."
"So what if the two princes take risks for the future of Dawei Country?"
"With no regard for the safety of the two princes, what are your intentions?"
At this point, the ministers in the court hall started a heated argument.
"Enough! I'm still alive and yet you form factions." King of Dawei shouted.
Hearing this, the ministers below instantly quieted down and did not dare to speak again.
After shouting, King of Dawei glanced fiercely at the Crown Prince without anyone noticing.
The pleased Crown Prince immediately concealed his expression. He clenched his hands tightly with his nails digging deeply into his palms, but he was unaware of the pain.
As expected, Father always protected the Second Brother. What about him then? Was he just a stepping stone to hone the other? Since they had already been taken hostage, why bring them back? It would be best if they stayed there forever.
At this time, the Prime Minister came up with a suggestion: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I believe we can marry the Princess to Ye Country. This would make Ye Country think we are sincere about establishing good relations between the two countries. Then we can use this condition to ask them to return the two princes and 5,000 soldiers."
"Prime Minister, since the founding of our country, we have never married the Princess to another country. This would be a loss of our prestige!"
"Well, we've also never had the princes held hostage before. Everything has the first time."
"This..."
"Your Majesty, I believe this method is feasible. It is precisely because we have never set a precedent of marrying the Princess that Ye Country will see our sincerity." Another minister came out in support.
"I second this."
"I second this as well."
The ministers agreed one by one.
"Since this is the case, come."
"Your Majesty."
"Draft a letter to Dayi Dynasty."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
After the court session, in the Crown Prince's study room...
"Crash, bang." The sound of porcelain falling to the ground kept coming from the study.
The group of ministers looked at each other silently outside the room, not daring to make a sound.
Until a voice inside said, "Come in."
The butler immediately brought the servants in to clean up. After everything was cleaned up, the group of ministers entered the study one by one.
"Prince."
"You can all rise."
"Thank you, Prince."
"I'm sure you all know that our country was defeated by Dayi Dynasty."
"We have heard about it."
"Father intends to marry the Princess to Ye Country to redeem my good-for-nothing Second Brother and Third Brother. From beginning to end, the only person in his eyes has been that bastard Second Brother. If he didn't consider me as the eldest legitimate son, my position as the Crown Prince would have long been replaced by my second brother."
"Prince, don't do anything rash over a trivial matter that could ruin the big plan. Since Father intends to marry the Princess, why not send someone to escort her, and take that opportunity to..." He slid his hand across his neck, conveying the implicit meaning.
"That cunning Second Brother, we must ensure this matter succeeds without fail, otherwise when he returns, he will bite people like a mad dog."
"Don't worry Prince, we will plan this matter carefully to ensure it succeeds without fail."
"Very well, I will have to trouble you ministers."
"You're too kind, Prince. We'll take our leave first."
Gong Xiaohua led the troops rushing back and finally stationed 30 miles outside the capital city after half a month.
On the way back to the capital, a minor incident occurred where she was assassinated but failed. Although she was not mortally wounded, her palm was cut deeply, Fortunately, no tendons or bones were damaged, otherwise her hand would have been disabled.
The assassin was none other than Laoli from the canteen, who had been hiding in the army for many years and was usually meticulous in his work and low-key, never having conflicts with others.
Unexpectedly, he took the chance to attack Gong Xiaohua from behind when delivering meals to her. Unfortunately, she would never naively trust strangers behind her back.
No one expected that the kind-hearted old Li known for his good temper also possessed superb martial arts. Not only that, he turned out to be a spy planted in the army. Fortunately, the commander had great fighting skills herself, otherwise his scheme would have succeeded.
When Lao Li was captured, he bit the poison concealed in his mouth and died instantly. There were no leads to investigate further, as his military record simply stated that he was an orphan.
Captain Guo felt extreme grief seeing his good friend of many years commit suicide right in front of him. Although he was implicated and detained for interrogation by the law enforcement team for several days under suspicion of being an accomplice, he was eventually declared innocent thanks to the commander who made gracious inquiries and allowed him to continue in his original position.
"Tomorrow, you will all accompany me to the palace to pay respects to His Majesty," Gong Xiaohua said to the remaining four captains.
"Yes, commander."
"From now on, address me directly as Chief. The title of commander was only a contingency commission. Do not address me as such once we enter the capital, to avoid unwanted gossip."
"Yes, Chief."
