I'm the villain in the book

"Yes."

"Princess Wuping agreed."

"..."

The fire is bright, and the burning branches have a slightly burnt smell.

Wei Changtian sighed lightly, expressionless, wondering what he was thinking.

I don't know how long this silence lasted, until Yang Liushi came over and sat beside him, and asked softly:

"Young master... are you okay?"

"pretty good."

Wei Changtian turned his head and smiled, "It's as expected."

"Um......"

Yang Liushi nodded lightly, moved her body, and sat closer to Wei Changtian.

Although the latter does seem to be "good" now, it is impossible that there is no wave in his heart.

Even if he has really given up on Li Wutong.

"Young master, the four conditions have been negotiated."

After a moment of silence, Yang Liushi changed the subject softly: "Now it seems that the two sides may really be able to negotiate."

"Yes."

Looking at the blazing bonfire in front of him, Wei Changtian nodded noncommittally.

As Yang Liushi said, up to now, Dafeng has accepted the first four conditions of Ning Yongnian.

1. Serve Daning as the main country and cede the land of the four prefectures.

2. The indemnity is [-] million taels, in addition to paying tribute to Daning every year.

3. The border is not fortified, and warriors in the upper third rank are not allowed to serve in the army.

4. Li Wutong married Ning Wenjun, and the two countries made peace.

In all fairness, although these four conditions are very unequal, they are not really excessive.

Except for Meng Shi's death, the rest of the content was within Wei Changtian's expectations... even more conservative than his expectations.

So, is Ning Yongnian's request so low?

It took a long time and exhausted all the tricks, and finally won the national war, but in the end it was just such a small condition?

Could it be that he was trapped by the domestic situation in Daning and gave in?

impossible.

Ning Yongnian is not this kind of person.

It is absolutely impossible for him to just spit out the fat that has reached his mouth like this.

So......

"Zhang San."

Suddenly, Wei Changtian raised his head and asked Zhang San: "Haven't you finished talking about the last condition?"

"Master Hui, no."

Zhang San replied immediately: "I haven't received the news yet, it should be still talking."

"How long have they been talking?"

"It's been almost two hours since noon."

"Two hours..."

Frowning, Wei Changtian felt a bad premonition.

The previous four conditions were basically discussed very quickly, and it took half an hour at most to agree.

But this fifth condition has been discussed for two hours without any result.

That can only show that this condition has greatly broken through Dafeng's bottom line.

However, territorial, sovereign, military, and economic issues have all been discussed...

What else can Da Bong not budge on?

The more Wei Changtian thought about it, the more confused he became, including Yang Liushi, who was also thinking about the same question.

Then at a certain moment, the latter suddenly raised his head and asked Zhang San.

"Zhang San, among the four mansions ceded by Dafeng to Daning, is there Huailing Mansion?"

"Miss Liu Shi, no."

"..."

For a moment, Yang Liushi's eyes widened suddenly, and after a moment of hesitation, she whispered something in Wei Changtian's ear.

After the latter heard this sentence, his body suddenly trembled.

"Zhang San!"

Wei Changtian stood up abruptly, and immediately walked towards the carriage parked not far away.

"Hurry up overnight! Go to Huailing City at the fastest speed!"

"In addition, notify my father and Han Zhao immediately! Let them make all preparations!"

"..."

Seeing Wei Changtian who suddenly became extremely impatient, Zhang San hurriedly ran to untie the reins of several horses, but his expression was a little dazed.

He didn't know what Yang Liushi said to Wei Changtian, which made Wei Changtian react like this.

Little did he know that Wei Changtian himself was also the same, before Yang Liushi reminded him, he never thought that Ning Yongnian might do such a thing.

Including Li Qi, Li Wutong, Min Zhongguang two hours ago...

When they heard Sima Cong say Daning's last condition, they thought Ning Yongnian was crazy.

Because the latter actually wanted to use the lives of more than a million people in Huailing City to be buried with the 200 million people who died in Yuanzhou City.

Chapter 534 Final Choice

More than one million people in Huailing City were ordered by the people to be buried with the 200 million Daning people who died in the Yuanzhou City tragedy.

Although such a condition is appalling, it is not difficult to understand his purpose from Ning Yongnian's perspective.

Right now, the real culprits of the "Wuanzhou City Massacre", Fengning and Ning, are each holding their own opinions.

The people of Dafeng believe that Ning Yongnian did it, but the people of Daning generally believe that the Dafeng army slaughtered the city and was punished by heaven.

And because the two countries each suffered huge losses in this tragedy, 50 elite troops died on the one hand, and 200 million innocent civilians died on the other, so the people of the two countries hate each other very much.

In this case, if Dafeng agreed to this condition, it would undoubtedly be "confirmed" from the side that Li Qi was the real culprit in the Yuanzhou City incident, and Ning Yongnian could use this to completely remove the suspicion.

Moreover, although such an act of "revenge for a grievance" is cruel, it can greatly win over the hearts of the people in Daning, and it can even plant a seed of "treason" in the hearts of Dafeng people.

To put it more bluntly, Ning Yongnian actually wanted to tell a story to the people of the two countries——

Li Qi took advantage of the civil strife in Daning to launch a national war, and ordered the massacre of Yuanzhou City after occupying it.

Unexpectedly, the Dafeng army was condemned by God after the massacre of the city, and 50 elites died.

Because of this, Daning's "army of justice" was able to triumph all the way, and finally won the national war.

In order to comfort the innocent people who died in Yuanzhou City, Ning Yongnian chose "an eye for an eye" after the war, paying for his life with his life.

In order to survive, the incompetent Dafeng court actually agreed to such a condition, and watched Huailing City being slaughtered...

If this story is told, then whether it is the Yuanzhou City tragedy, the justice of the war, or even the upcoming Huailing City tragedy, all the faults will be borne by Li Qi and the Dafeng court.

And Ning Yongnian will transform himself into a "Mingjun of the World" who eliminates harm for the world and does not allow the people of his own country to suffer any grievances.

At that time, emotion and reason will be on his side, while crime and evil will be pinned on Li Qi.

In this way, even if Dafeng does not perish now, it will not be too far away from perishing.

After all, who would want to be ruled by such a "vicious king"?

I'm afraid there is no need for Ning Yongnian to act again, the endless civil strife alone is enough to make Da Feng never turn around.

At that time, if Ning Yongnian wanted to eat Dafeng again, it would be much less difficult than it is now...

......

Because the threat of the Wei family is close at hand, it is necessary to deal with the situation on Dafeng's side as soon as possible and transfer the army back to the country.

Because it is impossible to swallow the whole Dabong in a short time, "peace talks" are necessary.

Because Dafeng cannot be allowed to recuperate during the time he is dealing with the Wei family, it is necessary to mess up Dafeng, so that there will be an irreparable rift between the people of Dafeng and the court.

To achieve this goal, the city of Huailing was slaughtered...

In fact, Ning Yongnian had already thought up the whole plan after the defeat at Niutoushan, and made a lot of preparations in advance.

Hanging Li Qi on the top of the city was not only for Li Wutong to see, but also to deliberately let the warriors in Huailing City come and "send to death" one after another, so as to reduce resistance for the subsequent massacre of the city.

The real-time "live broadcast" of the negotiation process is to pass the news that "Li Qi agrees to massacre the city" as soon as possible, and to pass the responsibility to Dafeng.

Putting this condition at the end is to increase the probability of Dafeng's agreement. After all, it is only the last step to reach the covenant...

It has to be said that under the blessing of "kingly way" luck, Ning Yongnian's choice and layout have reached the extreme.

Right now, as long as Dafeng nods his head and agrees to "give up" the more than one million people in Huailing City, then his entire plan can be perfectly realized.

Of course, this is undoubtedly very difficult.

At least Sima Cong tried to persuade Min Zhongguang all afternoon, but he couldn't let Min Zhongguang relax.

But at this time, Ning Yongnian had to "make the final decision".

"Snapped."

Gently put the teacup on the table and straightened up.

Ning Yongnian stopped all the quarrels in the hall with just one movement.

He didn't look at Min Zhongguang, but first glanced at Li Qi, and then his eyes fell on Li Wutong, who was pale.

"Princess, what do you think?"

"..."

......

Outside the main hall, many people crowded on the long street had dispersed, but there were still many people standing in the snow and waiting for the final result.

They didn't know what the last condition Daning put forward was, and they didn't know that once Li Wutong nodded, all of them would die.

They just felt that the fifth condition had been discussed for too long, and the snow that had grown to the side of the road was already several fingers thick, as if the entire Huailing City had been buried in it.

It's like a huge coffin that is slowly closing.

"..."

"I, I will never agree..."

Biting his lips tightly, Li Wutong shook his head pale.

She looked at Ning Yongnian tremblingly, but she didn't seem to dare to meet the latter's gaze, so she could only lower her eyes and repeat the same sentence over and over again.

"Absolutely, absolutely impossible, absolutely impossible..."

"..."

Looking at Li Wutong struggling extremely, Ning Yongnian's expression didn't change much.

He didn't interrupt the former in a hurry, but waited until Li Wutong's voice was barely audible before slowly speaking:

"Princess, there are five conditions in total, and now we have negotiated four of them."

"You have to know that now the world knows about the peace talks between the two countries, and I have absolutely no possibility of going back on my word."

"So only this last step is missing, and Dafeng will not perish."