NFBE Chapter 352 A Small Pastry at the Bonfire Party
Chapter 352 A Small Pastry at the Bonfire Party
Yingyang slowly shook his head, somewhat helplessly.
"The deal hasn't been finalized yet; the issue is the number of good horses that can be exchanged."
Without waiting for anyone's response, Yingyang continued to lay out his thoughts.
"Uncle, generals, I was just about to discuss this with you. We are currently trapped and in a passive position. If we do not submit to the king and pay tribute, I'm afraid none of us will be able to return to our tribe."
Although our tribe has many brave and skilled warriors, we have too few who are good at planning. I fear that if this goes on for too long, unforeseen changes will occur, and the tribe will once again fall into internal strife and disintegrate..."
Boggu and the four generals looked somber upon hearing this; Yingyang was telling the truth.
They were all experienced people. Before the old Rongdi king unified the various Rongdi tribes, there were chaotic battles everywhere on the grasslands. It was a fight between you and me, and it was all about survival and seizing resources.
"Submitting as a vassal and paying tribute is only the first step. The most important thing is to find a way to get the Xia Kingdom to agree to open a border market in their northern towns."
Seeing that no one was speaking, Yingyang added another sentence.
Boggu's eyes suddenly lit up.
No wonder the king just said that the problem lies in the number of fine horses to be exchanged. He had discussed this matter with the king before, and more than once, but the Xia Kingdom simply wouldn't budge.
Judging from what the king said, there is great hope for the establishment of a border market.
"Your Majesty, do as you please. As long as Your Majesty and all of us can return to the tribe safely, and our people will no longer suffer from hunger and cold, we can accept even the harshest conditions..."
Ying Yang looked at the others and saw that they all nodded at him, indicating that they agreed with Boggu's words.
"Besides that, I have another, albeit immature, idea."
Yingyang stroked his thick beard, somewhat undecided. He had been thinking about this for days, and now he finally had someone to give him some advice.
"I would like to request the Xia Emperor to grant me a marriage with the Xia princess. As long as the Xia princess becomes the queen of the Rongdi tribe, out of respect for the queen, the Xia Kingdom will surely give our Rongdi tribe a break and take good care of us in the future. Uncle, generals, what do you think?"
After Ying Yang finished speaking, his gaze finally settled on Boggu.
Boggu pondered, sometimes frowning, sometimes revealing a meaningful smile.
Yingyang wasn't in a hurry. Even he himself thought the idea was a bit far-fetched. After all, which princess of Xia Kingdom would be willing to go to the harsh conditions of the northern grasslands?
But this was a stepping stone he built for himself, a very, very important stepping stone, so that he could increase the number of horses he could replace in the future.
Now that they're all family, it's not unreasonable to give the Yue family more good things. It will also help him explain things to the people in the tribe without damaging his prestige. He'll have both substance and face.
Moreover, considering the good attitude of the Rong and Di tribes in voluntarily submitting and paying tribute, the Xia emperor would surely reward them with good things of similar value. Why not?
Just as the Princess Consort said, Emperor Xia is a magnanimous emperor who will not be petty and will instead treat him, a so-called subject who has taken the initiative to submit, well.
After waiting quietly for a while, Bog Valley finally came to its own conclusion.
"Your Majesty, if Emperor Xia truly agrees to this, it will indeed only benefit the future development of our Rongdi tribe! However..."
Boggu glanced at Yingyang, then hesitated.
"But I'm afraid Emperor Xia won't agree, isn't he?"
Yingyang finished speaking for Boggu, then touched his head full of braids and smiled self-deprecatingly.
"Your Majesty is the greatest warrior of our Rongdi tribe. As the saying goes, beauties love heroes. If Your Majesty can demonstrate your unique charm to the Xia Kingdom, perhaps this matter can be accomplished!"
Unable to bear seeing their king looking so dejected, whose king had always been fearless and indomitable, Mona immediately shouted.
"Lend your auspicious words."
In reality, Yingyang was very confident in his unique charm. So many women in the tribe were vying to be his women, but he didn't fancy any of them.
But now he seems to understand the disappointment and sadness those women feel after being rejected.
Even he, Ying Yang, had a day when he feared being looked down upon by women, especially women from the Xia Kingdom.
Sighing inwardly, Ying Yang could only take it one step at a time and wait for the right opportunity to bring it up during the next peace talks with the Prince and his wife.
?
As dusk fell, several bonfires had already been lit outside Qin Shao's command tent.
The firelight and the setting sun complemented each other, and the distant mountains were edged with gold. The summer nights on the grassland were still quite cool.
Our side was led by Zhao Xuan and Gu Zhanghua, with Xiao Yixian, Hao Xiong, Hu Junfeng, Li Baiyun, and others accompanying us.
Qin Shao has official business to attend to and will arrive later.
The opposing force was led by Ying Yang, accompanied by Boggu and four other tribal generals.
After everyone introduced themselves, they sat around the campfire, with the Ma brothers, Ma San and Ma Si, mainly in charge of grilling.
The meat would take some time to roast, so to avoid an awkward silence, Zhao Xuan's pastries immediately came in handy, and she instructed Hao Xiong to use them.
"Hao Xiong, quickly bring out some pastries so everyone can have something to eat!"
Hao Xiong immediately got up and went into the command tent. Soon he came out with a large plate of pastries and distributed them to everyone.
Yingyang and the Rongdi people hesitated as they looked at the pastries they had never seen before.
These pastries have strange shapes and colors. Are they really edible?
Zhao Xuan took a bite of the jujube paste cake and, seeing the wary and frightened expressions on the Rongdi people's faces, burst out laughing.
"What? It looks so good that you're afraid to eat it?"
Seeing the sheepish smiles of the Rong and Di people, Zhao Xuan had no choice but to patiently explain.
"This is a date paste cake made by chopping up dates and mixing them into flour, with a little honey added, using a special method! It's a popular tea snack among the people of our Xia Kingdom! Surely the Rongdi King hasn't tried it before?"
Yingyang answered honestly.
"I've never eaten this before..."
As Yingyang spoke, he took a bite of the jujube paste cake and immediately felt the aroma of jujubes mixed with the sweetness of honey, bringing him an unprecedented taste experience. He couldn't help but take another big bite and stuff the rest of the jujube paste cake into his mouth.
"delicious!"
Seeing Yingyang's high praise, the other tribesmen also started eating, each revealing a wide-eyed smile.
Believe it or not, they had never tasted such exquisite pastries before. They always ate meat and drank alcohol in large quantities, and the only pastry they had was homemade milk cake.
One wasn't quite enough, but the plate was already empty.
Seeing the Rong and Di people's lingering enjoyment, Zhao Xuan smiled knowingly.
"Our Xia Kingdom has many other delicious pastries. If the borders are peaceful and there is no more fighting, the Rongdi King is welcome to visit the Xia Kingdom's Xianwang Mansion anytime. I will make as many as you want!"
Ying Yang nodded to Zhao Xuan and smiled meaningfully as well.
I understand what you mean. If we can reach a successful peace agreement and sign a treaty soon, we can give you more horses, and that will be the end of it.
One of the Rongdi generals clearly didn't understand what Zhao Xuan meant, but kindly offered a suggestion.
"That's not something you can eat whenever you want. Wouldn't it be better if the Princess Consort visited our grasslands in the future and taught all the women in our tribe how to eat? Wouldn't that be better?"
"hehe!"
Zhao Xuan laughed out loud again, no longer trying to hide it.
"You've got a good plan! But there's a condition!"
Just as the general who was making the suggestion was about to ask what the preconditions were, Yingyang interrupted him to prevent his foolish subordinate from continuing to embarrass himself in front of the Princess Consort.
"I understand what Your Highness means. I will seriously consider the terms of the peace negotiations. It really does prove the old saying: 'He who eats another's food is bound to him, and he who takes another's money is bound to him...'"
A small pastry immediately captured the heart of the tribal general. Yingyang thought to himself, "The Wise Princess is truly amazing!"
But he couldn't help but think that with so many good things in Xia, the sooner the peace negotiations were successful, the sooner they could exchange them for these good things.
Ugh!
Yingyang had no idea how many times he sighed throughout the day.
From frugality to luxury is easy, from luxury to frugality.
But who doesn't want their life to get better and better?