"Abandoned 80,000 elites?!"
Shan Ling and the King of the Southern Region were stunned. They never expected Fang Zhengzhi to give such an answer.
How many soldiers did the Southern Region have?
Just a little over 400,000.
Eighty thousand, and eighty thousand elites at that. There were even three thousand Silver Horned Wolves from the Southern Mountain Range. This kind of loss was equivalent to chopping off one of the Southern Mountain Range's arms.
Even Princess Shan Yu would not agree to it, let alone Shan Ling and the King of the Southern Region.
"Impossible!" Shan Ling replied without hesitation.
The King of the Southern Region's lips moved slightly as well. However, he swallowed the words that he was about to say. Then, he looked at Gongyi Shan Yu with a meaningful look in his eyes.
Princess Shan Yu knew what her father was trying to say. However, she also understood what Fang Zhengzhi meant.
As such, she did not speak.
At the very least...
She would not speak for now.
When Fang Zhengzhi heard Shan Ling's words, he picked up a cup filled with the Southern Region's specialty wine and took a sip.
This sip was a little too big.
Fang Zhengzhi did not mind it at first. After all, he had tasted the wine that Teng Shisheng and the others brought with them. However, when he took a sip, he felt like he was going to spit fire.
So spicy!
It was like alcohol in his previous life.
Fang Zhengzhi's face turned red as he quickly stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth to suppress the alcohol in his mouth. Then, he let out a long breath that reeked of alcohol.
Alright...
He could not be too pretentious.
The King of the Southern Region and Shan Ling looked at each other when they saw this.
"Official Fang can hold his liquor well. This wine is a treasure of the Southern Region. Even I only dare to take small sips of it. I did not expect you to be able to hold your liquor so well!" The King of the Southern Region's words had nothing to do with what he had just said. However, his intention was clear.
He wanted to lighten the mood.
Fang Zhengzhi wanted to retort, "Hold my ass!" However, he changed his words. "Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness!"
With that, Fang Zhengzhi no longer had the intention to eat or drink. He leaned back and changed into a comfortable position.
"Since you don't want to abandon these 80,000 elites, you must have thought of a good idea?" Fang Zhengzhi looked at Shan Ling as he spoke.
"Whether or not I have a solution is up to me!" Shan Ling tightened his grip, but his tone was still confident and unyielding.
"Indeed, Your Highness. The demons from the Sagely Mountain City have already set off overnight. I believe they will reach the Iron Hill Settlement by noon tomorrow. Now, the Southern Region army is stuck outside the Icy Monkey Settlement. I am curious, what is Your Highness' plan?" Fang Zhengzhi nodded and smiled.
Shan Ling's expression changed. He knew what was going on, but just as Fang Zhengzhi had said, the Sagely Mountain City could not even defend itself. How were they going to send reinforcements?
"Fang Zhengzhi, stop beating around the bush. Tell me your plan!" Shan Ling did not want to admit it, but he did not know what to do.
"There is no other way. I have already said that the only way is to abandon these 80,000 elites and the Sagely Mountain City. Then, we will hide in the forest for a few days and wait for the Southern Region army to arrive!" Fang Zhengzhi shook his head helplessly.
"You... if you want to do that, why would I need to ask you?!" Shan Ling was infuriated.
"Yes, why would Your Highness ask me? I've said it before, sacrificing 80,000 elites is the only way. Oh, that's right … Does the Crown Prince think that I'm joking? Could it be that His Highness really thought that he could block the Demon Race's pincer attack with just 80,000 elites? Or do you really think that the Demon Race will let go of the remaining elites after the Iron Hill Settlement is destroyed? "Fang Zhengzhi waved his hands.
"You..." Shan Ling's expression changed.
His face turned extremely pale because he knew very well that Fang Zhengzhi was speaking the truth. The Demon Race would definitely not let go of the 80,000 elites, not even a single soldier.
When the Southern Region maids heard this, their faces turned extremely pale. 80,000 Southern Region warriors, some of them were family members.
"Your Highness, please save my brother! He is a warrior of the Southern Region! He has contributed greatly to the Southern Region since he was five years old! Your Highness, please don't give up on my brother!"
"Your Highness, please have mercy and save the Iron Hill Settlement. My... my home is at the Iron Hill Settlement. My 70-year-old father and mother are still there..."
"Your Highness, Crown Prince, Princess, please save the warriors of the Iron Hill Settlement!"
One by one, the maidservants of the Southern Territory knelt down, prostrating themselves on the ground, begging and kowtowing to their King, Heir, and Young Master.
The King of the Southern Region looked at the servants kneeling on the ground, and his expression changed.
As the King of the Southern Region, he was well aware of the situation. 80,000 elites. What if he gave up on them?
He could forget about being the King of the Southern Region.
Princess Shan Yu's expression was ugly. Those 80,000 elites were personally handpicked by her. Every single one of them had contributed to the Southern Mountain Range.
How could he give them up?
"Fang Zhengzhi, do you have a solution?" Shan Ling's tone was icy as he placed his blade against the Minister of Rites' neck.
The Minister of Rites froze.
He looked at Fang Zhengzhi, who was leaning on the chair leisurely. He really hated Fang Zhengzhi. He knew that Fang Zhengzhi was trying to harm him. He was doing it on purpose.
But what could he do?
"Official Fang, even if you don't care about me, you should at least care about the lives of the Southern Region warriors! If it's possible … please … please help us! "The Minister of Rites clenched his teeth as if he was in great difficulty.
"Minister, you are indeed a scheming and cunning man. Instead of begging me to save you, you are begging me to save the Southern Region. I am impressed by your patience and magnanimity." Fang Zhengzhi smiled when he heard the Minister of Rites' words.
The Minister of Rites' expression darkened.
He wanted to argue, but just as the words left his mouth, he swallowed them back down.
It wasn't that he was afraid of offending Fang Zhengzhi. It was that Shan Ling's blade shuddered when he heard Fang Zhengzhi's words.
It was obvious...
Shan Ling could tell that there was a feud between Fang Zhengzhi and the Minister of Rites.
As such, his plan to use the Minister of Rites to threaten Fang Zhengzhi was a joke.
The Minister of the Board of Rites saw through this, but he, as one of the Six Ministers, did not dare to argue when he was called cunning and scheming by a Rank Four official.
This resentment had indeed caused his blood to boil.
"Ugh!" The Minister of Rites spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted. It wasn't that he couldn't take it anymore. It was that he didn't have the face to remain conscious.
Fang Zhengzhi looked at the Ministry of Rites official, then at Shan Ling, then at the King of the Southern Region and Princess Shan Yu, as well as the Southern Region servants kneeling on the ground. After some thought, he opened his mouth.
"In the current situation, I really don't have a solution. Moreover, I believe that the King and the Crown Prince don't have a solution because this is a dead end. This dead end is not caused by others, but by the Crown Prince!" Fang Zhengzhi did not say anything else. He knew that Shan Ling understood what he was trying to say.
Shan Ling fell silent.
He did understand what Fang Zhengzhi was trying to say.
Just 15 minutes ago, he had told the King and Princess Shan Yu of his grand plan. He had sworn to kill the person who tried to negotiate with them.
But...
15 minutes later, he had no choice but to think carefully about the word 'negotiate'.
Initially, he felt that the Great Xia Dynasty had nothing that could threaten him, and he even had a trump card on the table. However, after hearing Fang Zhengzhi's words, he felt that he had no way out.
What a strange change.
All these changes happened in just a few simple sentences.
Could it be that this was the 'silver tongue' recorded in the Law of Dao of the Great Xia Dynasty?! Reclaim the city without sacrificing a single soldier?
Shan Ling had never believed in such a thing.
Even now, he didn't want to believe or accept it.
But did he have a way out?
If he persisted, 80,000 of his elite soldiers would be destroyed. That was an undeniable fact. As such, he could only negotiate.
Ask the Great Xia for help, ask the Great Xia to give up on the Icy Monkey Settlement...
All for that ridiculous amount of time.
Three days!
Hang on!
No!
Even if the Great Xia gave up on the Icy Monkey Settlement, it would still take a day to travel from the Icy Monkey Settlement to the Sagely Mountain City. And from the Sagely Mountain City to the Iron Soldier Settlement...
It was too late!
It was impossible for a 300,000-strong army to reach the Iron Hill Settlement before the Demons arrived. What was the point of negotiating then?
"It's too late, too late... it will take at least two to three days to reach the Iron Hill Settlement from the Icy Monkey Settlement... Fang Zhengzhi, you sly bastard, I almost fell for your trap. Even if we negotiate with the Great Xia now, the warriors of the Iron Hill Settlement will not survive. You are lying to me, trying to sow discord between my father and my sister. You want the Southern Region to fight amongst themselves so that the Great Xia can reap the benefits, right? The funny thing is that my father and sister actually believed you! "
Shan Ling's gaze turned icy as he spoke, the blade in his hand exuding a cold aura.
"Woosh!"
There was a flash of light.
A head flew into the air, then landed on the ground.
Blood sprayed through the air.
This scene happened so quickly that no one could react. The Southern Region maids stared blankly at the head that rolled to the ground beside them. Their eyes widened and they let out a collective cry of surprise.
"Ah!"
The King of the Southern Region was equally shocked. Even though he knew Shan Ling's personality, he never expected him to act so decisively.
Princess Shan Yu had seen too much blood, but what was this place?
The throne!
The throne of the Southern Region!
Since when had the throne of the Southern Region been stained with so much blood?
"Brother, you..." Princess Shan Yu was confused. She had just seen a turning point, why did things turn out this way?
Of course, if she had to explain...
The one who was the most confused was the Minister of Rites...
He didn't understand. He had already pretended to faint, and he clearly didn't say a word. How could there still be such an outcome?
At least...
Could you at least say something before you cut him down?
The Minister of Rites finally opened his eyes a little when his head fell to the ground. However, the only thing he could see clearly was a shining saber and the blood flowing from it.
"That's my blood, right?"
That was the last thing the Minister of Rites thought to himself.
Fang Zhengzhi had heard of this saying in his previous life. There were many versions of this saying. For example, he would act cute at the slightest disagreement, he would drive away at the slightest disagreement...
What was this called?
Killing at the slightest disagreement?
"Minister of the Ministry of Rites, I'm sorry, I really wasn't prepared this time …" Fang Zhengzhi sighed as he looked at the Minister of Rites who had died with his eyes wide open.
"Fang Zhengzhi, die!" Shan Ling had no intention of giving Fang Zhengzhi any more chances. Killing the Minister of Rites was a piece of cake.
In other words, he had done it casually.
He had no motive. He just wanted to vent his anger at Fang Zhengzhi. He also wanted to show that he would never fall for Fang Zhengzhi's tricks.
The cold energy in the air intensified.
The sound of the blade rang out. It was a powerful aura.
As the Crown Prince of the Southern Region, Shan Ling was not weak. In fact, he was terrifyingly powerful. Part of this was due to his talent.
Part of it was due to his hard work. How powerful could a talented and hardworking person be?
One could only imagine.
In fact, it was because Shan Ling was too talented that his two talented brothers were so "mediocre" in his eyes.
Before the blade arrived...
However, the chill had already reached Fang Zhengzhi, causing a layer of frost to form on the thick rattan armor on Fang Zhengzhi's body.
State...
Advanced Rebirth State!
"What if I told you that I have a way to send troops to the Iron Hill Settlement before the Demons do?" Fang Zhengzhi said as he patted the frost off his rattan armor.
Smack smack smack...
Following Fang Zhengzhi's slap, the frost fell to the ground like snow.
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