Chapter 1231: Negotiation (1)

News came back from all the counties. Although they couldn’t find the exact location and quantity of the minerals, Little Treasure and Little Bear already found out more than half of Ogedei’s plan.

It was impossible for the other party to simply memorize the locations of so many gold and silver mines. That meant they most likely had a map or something.

Little Treasure and Little Bear were very confident in finding out about this through their interrogation because Ogedei was in their hands. Considering he was already an Emperor, what was more important than staying alive and retaining the power he had obtained?

Just then, Little Treasure finally received Qi Xiuyuan’s instructions.

Qi Xiuyuan only had two pieces of instruction for them. Firstly, it was not appropriate for Great Qi and Great Yuan to start a war now.

Secondly, he would send Li Zhang to help.

Since Li Zhang was once Ogedei’s sworn brother and his prime minister, no one knew the situation of Ogedei and Great Yuan better than him. Letting him deal with Ogedei was simply poking at the other party’s heart.

However, Qi Xiuyuan did not feel guilty at all towards Ogedei, considering he had almost killed his younger brother.

On the fourth day of Ogedei’s capture, the Yuan family army did not disappoint and successfully barged into the gold mine. They killed 1,300 enemies and captured 868 people!

Little Treasure and Little Bear went to see Ogedei with the battle report.

Ogedei was arranged to live in a small courtyard in the inner estate of the magistrate’s house, next door to where Little Treasure and Little Bear lived. However, although they lived in such close proximity, they had not seen each other in the past four days.

In four days, Ogedei had lost a lot of weight, and his face was haggard. This was one of the greatest crises he had encountered in his life.

He looked at the two youths quietly for a while and grinned. “The student has really surpassed the master. Seeing as you’re already so impressive at such a young age, I wonder if your father can sleep peacefully.”

Was he trying to sow discord?

Little Bear looked at him disdainfully. “Do you think brothers in Great Qi fight and kill each other like your Great Yuan?”

Little Treasure patted Little Bear’s shoulder and turned to Ogedei with a smile. “Considering we’re able to capture the Emperor of Great Yuan to avenge Fourth Uncle, my father and Fourth Uncle are naturally sleeping soundly. On the other hand, with the Great Yuan Emperor being away from home for such a long time, I wonder if your brothers can sleep peacefully.”

Ogedei closed his eyes slightly and did not speak.

Little An and Little Bear showed him the good news and said with a smile, “Your Majesty’s men in the gold mine have all been taken down. Some of them confessed that you have more than one mine under your control. Thus, I ordered the prefectures and counties to start investigating the mines under their jurisdiction. After this investigation, I have to admire Your Majesty’s deep foresight.”

Ogedei closed his eyes and pursed his lips tightly without saying anything. He knew that the chess pieces he had buried in advance was useless. Even if Great Qi could not find those minerals for the time being, they would eventually find them by deploying manpower to conduct a large-scale search.

Moreover, under martial law, it was impossible for him to mine in the dark.

Ogedei had never felt so defeated before. It would have been fine if he had lost to Qi Xiuyuan or Qi Haoran, but he had been deceived by their sons. Two teenagers!

Could it be that Great Yuan deserved to be suppressed by Great Qi and unable to turn things around?

Little Treasure did not give the other party any more time to think and went straight to the point. “It’s not difficult for Great Qi to support a Great Yuan Emperor. I believe your brothers would be very happy to cooperate with Great Qi, right? As long as Great Yuan has a new emperor, there will only be one outcome for you, Your Majesty. If you want to prevent this from happening, you can only cooperate with us.”

Ogedei sneered. “The Han people are cunning and my brothers are not stupid. They won’t be manipulated by you.”

With a calm smile, Little Treasure said, “Great Qi doesn’t want to manipulate the Emperor of Great Yuan. We just want to cooperate with him. The borders of our two countries are long, and the battles over the years have only made the people suffer unspeakably. Meanwhile, what you need is nothing more than grains, salt, and tea leaves. Great Qi can satisfy those needs of yours. Isn’t a friendly deal more beneficial than war?”

“No one will give you benefits without asking for something in return. No matter how much you Han people pay, you will only demand a hundredfold return. My brothers are not fools!”

“But what’s more tempting than becoming the Emperor?” Little Treasure gave a disarming smile. “If Your Majesty doesn’t believe me, why don’t you stay in Great Qi for a few more days and wait for me to contact your brothers? But at that time, my Royal Father might not choose you again. After all, you once hurt my Fourth Uncle. You have to know that my Royal Father dotes on my Fourth Uncle very much.”

Ogedei choked and glared at Little Treasure until his eyes almost bled.

Little Treasure and Little Bear both felt that he didn’t know what was good for him. With his life in their hands, did he think he had the bargaining chips to put on such airs?

Little Bear pulled Little Treasure up. “Let’s go. At most, we’ll just have to spend some more time and stay for a while longer. There’s no need for us to put up with him.”

Ogedei almost vomited blood. ‘You’re the ones who keep provoking me, alright? When have I ever agitated you?’

However, before he could say this, Little Bear pulled Little Treasure and rushed out like the wind.

Ogedei didn’t see the two youths for two consecutive days, and his food was getting worse.

Looking at the one dish and one soup before him, Ogedei’s emotions became chaotic.

After he was captured, he was treated well. Other than not being able to leave this room, he was served exquisite food and used good stuff. Every day, he would have at least four dishes and a soup. Therefore, although the Crown Prince of Great Qi did not come to see him, although he was worried about his situation, he knew that he had not completely reached a dead end.

But now, his treatment had deteriorated; furthermore, it was after he had a disagreement with the other party.

Ogedei had always been paranoid. In addition, he had been locked up in a room alone for six days. Even the people who brought him food were mute. His anxiety couldn’t help but grow by the day.

Could it be that Qi Wenchen and the rest had really contacted his brother?

He did not think that his brothers could resist the temptation of the throne. Even he could not.

And once they came into contact, as the previous Emperor, there would only be one outcome for him!

Having even killed his sworn brother for the sake of domination, how could he accept his fate so easily?

He didn’t want to fail just like that. Ogedei gritted his teeth and finally slammed the door open, requesting to see Qi Wenchen.

Little Treasure waved the subordinate away and said to Little Bear with a smile, “See, I was right, wasn’t I? Just leave him hanging for a while and he’ll cave.”

Little Bear pouted. “Wouldn’t it be better to get the Emperor replaced?”

Little Treasure patted his head and said, “What a fool. Do you think the new Emperor will obey us? Let me ask you, what would he do if you were his brother?”

Little Bear gave it some thought and replied, “I’ll announce to the world that our Emperor was killed by Great Qi and call on the soldiers to avenge the late Emperor. Then, I’ll ascend the throne as a matter of course.”

“That’s right. If we push Ogedei out again at that time, the other party can claim that this is a fake and a Han conspiracy, and the real Emperor has long been killed by Great Qi. Since the new Emperor has already ascended the throne, even if those soldiers know that this is true, they can only accept this explanation in order to prevent internal strife in Great Yuan. At that time, the Ogedei in our hands will really be useless,” Little Treasure said. “Ogedei might have thought of this. He should also know that this is the best outcome for Great Yuan. However, since he didn’t commit suicide, he doesn’t want to sacrifice his own interests to help Great Yuan.”