The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 156 Finally Encountering Shi Miyuan

"Your Highness, we received news today from the Song Kingdom that the Song Emperor has agreed to our demands and increased the annual tribute from 200,000 taels of silver and 200,000 bolts of silk to 300,000 taels of silver and 300,000 bolts of silk."

They also agreed to pay three million taels in reparations, which would be used by our Great Jin to reward our soldiers.

Your Highness was indeed astute; I had assumed the Song emperor would refuse such a request, but it turns out he's incredibly weak-willed.

Wanyan Hongyu was quite pleased with himself, holding Buddhist prayer beads in his hand, but his mind was full of treacherous schemes.

"This is mainly thanks to that Lord Shi Miyuan, haha. Without him persuading the Song emperor for us, this matter would definitely not have been so easy."

"In recent years, the power of our Great Jin has declined and our military has become lax. If the Song Dynasty really dares to start a war with our Great Jin, as long as we hold our ground and do not come out, and drag it out for a long time, our Great Jin will find it difficult to hold on."

Who would have thought that the people of Song would be so spineless, killing Han Tuozhou with just a little intimidation? Even more unexpectedly, Qin Hui and Shi Miyuan also died.

In my opinion, Shi Miyuan is more cunning and patient than Qin Hui. He has used our peace talks to repeatedly set traps and devise treacherous schemes, wiping out all opposition to him in the court and among the people. He will inevitably control the future of the Song Dynasty. With him around, the Song Dynasty will pose no further threat to our Great Jin.

At this point, the two burst into laughter, but Wu Chengyu, sitting on the roof, was still uneasy and had no intention of listening any further. No one would feel comfortable hearing such a thing.

However, Wanyan Qing's next words made Wu Chengyu overjoyed.

"Your Highness, Shi Miyuan will come to this manor tomorrow to meet with you and make preliminary agreements on various matters of peace. It is said that he has also prepared generous gifts for Your Highness in order to express his gratitude for Your Highness's magnanimity."

"Haha, that's excellent. I like friends like this."

"I'm in a particularly good mood today, so please don't leave. Join me for a drink later, and don't waste this wonderful time."

Wu Chengyu was in a good mood. Since arriving in Hangzhou, he had inquired in many ways but had not been able to find Shi Miyuan. Tomorrow he would finally be able to see him in person.

This is also the best time to assassinate him. At any other time, he would not have had the opportunity to get close to Shi Miyuan. He has always suspected that Shi Miyuan was hiding in the palace, surrounded by imperial guards and palace experts.

If Shi Miyuan is allowed to leave here alive tomorrow, finding an opportunity will be as difficult as climbing to heaven.

He watched as Wanyan Hongyu and Wanyan Qing drank the medicinal wine, embraced, and went into the bedroom. Without further delay, he used his lightness skill to quietly leave.

~~~~~~~~~~
The following day, around noon, a convoy of carriages discreetly entered the royal estate.

Shi Miyuan finally arrived with a group of guards.

The Jin delegation knew that the negotiations had reached their final stage and that they had won a great victory. All the delegation members who came to Hangzhou had made a fortune during this period and showed some respect for Shi Miyuan's arrival.

At least it wasn't a bunch of people running into the kitchen in the middle of the morning asking Wu Chengyu to grill meat for them.

Wu Chengyu was also on high alert, having been waiting for a long time. Since returning to his residence last night, he had been adjusting his breathing to bring himself to his best condition.

After Shi Miyuan's convoy entered the manor, it arrived at a small square in front of the manor. On the east side of the square was a three-foot-high platform, which was where the guards and imperial soldiers trained during the day when the emperor came to rest. At this time, the platform was newly arranged with two grand chairs and a square table. Wanyan Hongyu sat on the grand chair on the left, pretending to be resting with his eyes closed.

Wanyan Hongyu looked somewhat tired, but his cheeks were flushed and he was in high spirits. He had fought for two hours last night and felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction. He did not doubt his own abilities, but felt that this mission had brought unprecedented benefits to the Jin Kingdom and made a great contribution.

When people encounter happy events, they are naturally full of energy.

Wanyan Qing stood behind Wanyan Hongyu, looking quite well, though his posture was a little awkward, with his buttocks slightly sticking out and his legs finding it difficult to stand upright.

On both sides of the square stood the Jin guards brought by Wanyan Hongyu, each clad in armor and wielding swords, standing in formation. Having received Wanyan Hongyu's orders, they were now filled with murderous intent.

In the eyes of these Jin people, the ministers of the Song Dynasty always had a deep-seated fear of the Jin military power, especially after the Jingkang Incident, they could no longer look the Jin people in the eye.

Therefore, whenever Shi Miyuan came, Wanyan Hongyu would first greet him in the outer square, putting on a show of being ready to fight, which gave him a psychological advantage in the negotiations, and it always worked well.

Shi Miyuan's convoy stopped far away, and Shi Miyuan, whom Wu Chengyu had been waiting for, finally appeared. His face was still the same, almost identical to Zhao Ju's disguised face at the palace gate.

But his overall aura was completely different. After all, he was the powerful and treacherous official of the Song Dynasty for the next twenty years. Now he held great power. Although he had not yet been promoted to Right Chancellor, he was already the de facto head of all officials. This was the moment when he was at the peak of his life.

With the same gloomy mind, the same expressionless face, and the same deep cunning, Zhao Ju, who was originally disguised as him, could at most imitate seven-tenths of Shi Miyuan's temperament.

The Jin people had shown this kind of posture many times before, so it naturally couldn't frighten this treacherous minister who was about to reach the pinnacle of his life. However, the few civil officials accompanying him turned pale and trembled in fear amidst the murderous aura on both sides.

Wu Chengyu's kitchen was not far to the west of the small square, and with his eyesight, he could naturally see the situation clearly.

He first gave Shi Miyuan a deep look, then turned his attention to the guards behind Shi Miyuan.

As expected, the woman appeared. The injury between her hips should have healed, as she walked normally. She still had a pale face and bright red lips, but she was no longer smiling and cheerful; her expression was quite unpleasant.

He had no interest in the people and things around him, and just casually followed behind Shi Miyuan, probably still thinking about how to find Wu Chengyu and tear him to pieces.

In addition, Zhao Ju also appeared, and he looked somewhat like the commander of the imperial guards. He was not afraid of the people around him at all, and even glared at these Jin guards.

Besides Zhao Ju, Wu Chengyu also saw another person walking alongside Zhao Ju. Wu Chengyu guessed that this person's status was no lower than Zhao Ju's. This person was strong and powerful, and walked with a majestic gait. The imposing aura he exuded gave Wu Chengyu the feeling that his martial arts skills were definitely no less than Zhao Ju's.

Leaving aside the other imperial guards, there was one top-tier master who reached the level of the Five Greats, and two top-tier masters who were only slightly inferior to Qiu Qianren. These three alone were enough to make Wu Chengyu dare not harbor any illusions.

Moreover, Wanyan Hongyu also had two experts by his side. One was the commander of the Jin guards, who loved to eat roasted meat and always carried a strong bow with him.

The other was a middle-aged swordsman who was usually taciturn and ignored everyone except for guarding Wanyan Hongyu. Although the two had never fought, Wu Chengyu knew that they were not easy opponents.

Seeing such a formidable lineup of opponents, Wu Chengyu couldn't help but feel apprehensive. If he hadn't already made up his mind to persevere until he achieved his goal, he might have already given up.

(End of this chapter)