Frost for a Thousand Years

Chapter 258 Song Shi'an Returns to China

Kang Xun truly hated him because he had genuinely fallen for this young man, yet he had actually killed Ji Yuan's son!
How fierce is Ji Yuan's temper? Could he let himself off the hook?
Song Shi'an also felt embarrassed, after all, Kang Xun was really a decent person. But actually, it didn't have much of an impact. To put it in a slightly yandere way: Kang Xun, if you offend Ji Yuan to death, then your best friend will only be me left, right?
Saki-chan Saki-chan (Crazy Crawling)
"Your Highness, how could you swear at me?" Song Shi'an protested solemnly. "If you think I did it, then cook me alive!"

“Alright, cook him for me!” Conson said immediately.

The next moment, two guards were about to step forward and support him.

"Don't touch me, I'll die myself!"

Song Shi'an shook off their hands, then glared at Kang Xun: "Your Highness, before I die, I want to know what exactly happened. I want to die knowing the truth."

"Still pretending, still pretending!" Kang Xun was so angry that his teeth started to chatter. He turned around and then faced him again. "A cavalry force intercepted Ji Hui halfway and killed him. They even cut off his head and took it away!"

"Great kill!" Song Shi'an clenched his fist in delight.

Xinyue: "..."

“Don’t pretend to be excited here, making it seem like you know nothing about this. You can’t fool me; he’s the one you ordered.” Conson knew he loved sophistry, so he insisted.

"Excuse me, who is this person?" Song Shi'an asked.

"Huang Tong".

"Who is Huang Tong? Oh, I think he's a captain." Song Shi'an pretended to remember, then asked, "Is this person from the Yan state?"

"Asking knowingly."

"Then he must be a minister of Yan?"

"of course."

"How can the blame be placed on me, a man from Dayu, for a mere Yan official who killed a prince of Qi within Yan territory?" Song Shi'an asked.

Kang Xun waved his hand and said coldly, "Cook it."

"Your Majesty, Lord Lu requests an audience."

At this moment, Eunuch Yang walked over without looking up and said in a low voice.

"I won't see you." Kang Xun immediately refused, and mocked Song Shi'an, "Don't think that by pretending to delay, you can wait for Lu Chao to find out and come to save you. No one can save you; you're already dead."

"Your Majesty, even if you believe I instigated Huang Tong to kill me," Song Shi'an asked, "what difference would that make? Would it be plausible to explain this to Ji Yuan?"

“Well said.” Kang Xun nodded. “Then I won’t cook you. I’ll kill you and send your head to Ji Yuan.”

"Then the war between Yan and Yu will be unavoidable."

"You always think you can scare me with this kind of thing? Do you really think I'm a useless piece of trash? Do you think your Yu Kingdom can scare me for life with just the word 'war'?" Kang Xun laughed.

"Shi An doesn't want to frighten Your Highness. I'm about to die, what's the point of frightening Your Highness? I'm just telling you that this battle is truly unavoidable."

"Then fight!"

Conson's face flushed red, and he gritted his teeth.

"it is good."

Song Shi calmly agreed.

The next moment, he suddenly turned around and ran towards the big pot, so fast that the soldiers thought he was going to assassinate the Prince of Yan, and quickly protected Kang Xun in front of him.

However, upon realizing it, Conson's eyes widened instantly.

Xin Yue, however, remained calm, as if nothing had happened.

They truly made a pact to die.

No, it's that they have no fear of death.

Just as Song Shi'an was about to climb onto the shelf and jump into the pot, Kang Xun vaguely saw his capital city burning above the raging fire under the pot. He hurriedly said, "I already said I would kill him and leave his head behind. Are you all stupid?!"

With a roar, several soldiers quickly pulled Song Shi'an down, pressed his shoulders, and forcibly dragged him back from the brink of death.

“Your husband is dead, and you’re next. Aren’t you afraid of dying?” Conson asked coldly.

"He dies first, I follow."

"What if I don't let you die?" Kang Xun threatened after sizing him up. "There are many things more humiliating than death."

“If someone wants to die, you can’t stop them,” Xin Yue said. “It’s the same for everyone.”

For everyone...

"Are you mocking me? Killing you all would be courting death?" Kangxun asked.

“I don’t know,” Xin Yue shook her head and said, “I only know that my husband is not a bad person. He came to Yan to bring peace, a long period of peace.”

"So, he killed Ji Yuan's son? Does that bring peace?"

Xin Yue smiled and said, "I'm just a woman, I don't understand these things. But I think that the death of Ji Hui shouldn't be that important."

"Fine, so you admit that Ji Hui was killed on Song Shi'an's orders?"

Xin Yue smiled faintly, completely unafraid.

"Let go." Song Shi'an glared at the two people beside him. They didn't know why, but they instinctively chickened out and let go, which infuriated Kang Xun. But for the sake of the king's face, they pretended nothing had happened.

Song Shi'an straightened his official robes and gave a composed smile: "Your Highness, you must have misunderstood something. I have the utmost respect for you, otherwise I wouldn't have offered a full five thousand taels of gold. In fact, I believe that even without these five thousand taels, the Yu-Yan Alliance would still have been formed. What do you say?"

"..."

Conson then realized that he had not succeeded in negotiating the price.

Song Shi'an also knew that even without that much gold, he would still agree.

How could someone so intelligent not be able to keep track of the accounts?
He wanted to kill Ji Hui from the very beginning.

Therefore, this five thousand gold pieces was his advance apology to himself.

He had already paid for Ji Hui's head!
"Your Majesty, officials..."

"I won't see you! I've already said I won't see you!"

"The Prime Minister has come too," Eunuch Yang said, trembling. "Let him come."

Upon learning that it was Gongsun Xing who had arrived, Kang Xun angrily turned around and headed towards the palace.

The two of them stood there in the center of the hall.

A short while later, they saw Gongsun Xing walking quickly into the hall not far away.

Along the way, Gongsun Xing also looked at them.

The moment their eyes met, Song Shi'an even gave her a smile.

The other party, however, had a gloomy face and was extremely displeased.

You old codger, you deserved it for messing with me.

“He can decide our life or death right now, is it necessary to provoke him?” Xin Yue asked.

"In a game of strategy, there are winners and losers," Song Shi'an said confidently. "Besides, Prime Minister Gongsun is definitely a respectable man."

.........

"Your Majesty, why is this so?"

Upon seeing Kang Xun, Gongsun Xing asked, puzzled.

"I treated that boy with such courtesy, even entrusting him with the position of Prime Minister," Kang Xun said, spreading his hands in deep resentment. "How could he do such a thing?"

"Your Majesty, I understand what you mean. How could I not hate such a scoundrel?" Gongsun Xing said helplessly. "But at the palace gate, all the officials have arrived."

"Have they all taken bribes? Are they trying to force me to abdicate?" Kangxun said unhappily. "If I really kill him, I won't even be able to hold onto the throne."

"Your Majesty, I do not know how to say this..."

"Prime Minister, you know what happened, but the other officials don't, which is why they've come to advise me," Kang Xun said. "If they knew how this person sowed discord and put our Great Yan in such a predicament, they would surely agree with my decision to boil him alive!"

“The officials are indeed unaware of Ji Hui’s death, but what you gentlemen want to hear is not slander,” Gongsun Xing advised. “If the envoy is killed right after the alliance is signed, then Yan will be doomed.”

These officials were indeed adept at playing both sides and extremely greedy.

Even so, they still have their bottom line.

Standing at attention or in formation are merely routes.

No matter which option you choose, there is always a path.

They could first ally with Yu, then send away the hostage from Qi, and then kill the envoy from Yu. Wouldn't that be utterly idiotic?

If they knew that Song Shi'an had instigated Huang Tong to kill the prince, they would have advised him in this way: "Then they can only be more determined to ally with Yu!"
The principle is that simple.

"You beast!" But Conson was truly heartbroken. "This kid is forcing me to make a decision."

"What's done is done, there's nothing we can do," Gongsun Xing said. "Your Majesty, please consider this: now that the Great Yu is attacking us, will the Qi Kingdom come to our aid?"

"will not."

Conson was very rational.

Because he had initially agreed to the alliance between Yan and Qi, but later went back on his word and forcibly sent Ji Hui out of the country, he was killed.

How long will Ji Yuan have to hold out before he sends troops to help me?

He would only seize Yan's territory after Yan suffered a defeat in battle.

"If Qi attacks us, will Yu come to our aid?" Gongsun Xing asked again.

After a long silence, Kang Xun said, "Yes."

Yu is far from Yan, so attacking Yan is difficult.

Qi is close to Yan, so attacking Yan is easy.

Strategically, Da Yu absolutely did not want Yan to be incorporated into Qi's territory, which would narrow the power gap between the two sides and leave Yan hanging over Da Yu's head, becoming a formidable enemy that would forever deter it.

"Then, does that mean our Yan region will never have a chance to turn things around?" Kang Xun asked with a touch of desolation.

"Your Majesty, the best course of action now is to protect yourself."

Gongsun Xing was a complete pragmatist who didn't waste time on nonsense.

"Then what should we do?" Kang Xun asked. "Has the Qi state given absolutely no explanation? We can't catch Huang Tong."

“It doesn’t matter if we can’t catch him,” Gongsun Xing said. “If we can’t catch him, he will definitely have fled to the State of Yu. At that time, we will tell Ji Yuan that Huang Tong was instigated by someone to assassinate the Yu envoy, but out of fear, he killed the prince and fled south to Yu.”

Hearing this, Kang Xun smiled bitterly: "After all this time, the one who killed Ji Hui was Chen Xing."

"Your Majesty, it was their fault to begin with," Gongsun Xing comforted him.

"Ugh……"

After sighing, Kang Xun decided, "Let Song Shi'an return to the post station, and tomorrow we will send troops to escort him back to Yu."

"Your Majesty, don't you want to say anything more to him?" Gongsun Xing felt that he needed a graceful way to back down.

Oh dear, I made a mistake. It really wasn't you who instigated it. May the friendship between our two countries last forever.

"I don't want to see him again."

However, Kang Xun shook his head, unwilling to even continue the act: "I am tired."

"My lord, please retire."

Gongsun Xing could only leave him alone in silence.

"Your Majesty, should we remove that pot?"

At this moment, the Imperial Guard officer beside him asked.

Kang Xun glanced indifferently at Eunuch Yang beside him and said, "Don't waste it, cook Eunuch Yang."

(End of this chapter)