Chapter 452 - Peace, But At What Cost?

(MC POV)

A big open field.

A table with three chairs.

A Queen and a King.

Obviously those two chairs are for them, so I was a little confused when I was ushered to the third chair with my disciples standing behind me.

The King of Dong didn't bat an eye at my presence either and didn't even question the oddity of the situation.

Wasn't this supposed to be a discussion between two monarchs? Why would a 'bodyguard' like myself get involved? Shouldn't I be standing behind the Queen instead of sitting with them at the table? Am I supposed to be the mediator or something?

Even my disciples showed no reaction to this which just makes it even more weird.

Well, seems like the Dong king is well enough to be walking around, though it's interesting how he only brought the captain of the guards along and no one else. Unlike Guiying who had also brought Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta behind her.

"Before we start, allow me to express my grat.i.tude to you, Master Lin, for freeing me from the Dark Sect's grasp," The Dong King nodded his head to me.

I shook my head, "Think nothing of it, your Majesty. It was a natural thing to do."

"Be that as it may, they still forced my country to do something we never intended to do."

Guiying frowned, "King Tian Ya, are you insinuating that your injustices against my country are no fault of your own?"

Oh, right, I totally forgot his name was Tian Ya. Thanks Guiying. It took quite a bit of willpower for me to keep a straight face when I kept thinking of him as the 'Dong King'.

A bit of an a.s.s move but whatever.

King Tian Ya shook his head, "No. I had allowed myself to be wrapped up in their schemes. I take full responsibility for the grief that my country has caused your people, Queen Guiying."

My dear Queen took out a paper fan that she had been hiding in G.o.d knows where, using it to hide the bottom half of her face from view.

"So you accept the responsibility of invading our land without a formal declaration of war, destruction of lives and property, facilitating the Dark Sect's movements into our territory, a.s.sa.s.sination of the Royal Family, attempted a.s.sa.s.sination of the Crown's Royal Tutor, attempted a.s.sasination of a member of the Royal Household, mistreatment of a formal envoy of Beiyang, attempted murder of said envoy and also blatant disrespect for the envoy by your men?"

Woah, woah, woah. Guiying, what the h.e.l.l?

Pretty sure he's not responsible for the Dark Sect and neither was he responsible for the former King and Queen's death right?

And why is more than half of whatever you accused him of basically things that happened to me? Shouldn't you be accusing him of other more important things?

King Tian Ya bowed his head, "Yes, I accept full responsibility."

What, you're actually agreeing with her?!

I could see from here that Guiying's eyes narrowed slightly as an indication of a smile.

She turned to the side and nodded to Delta, the elf coming forward with a roll of paper.

She laid it out in front of King Tian Ya before stepping back smoothly with a curt bow.

Somehow the bow felt like it was directed at me more than the two monarchs on my sides but that must have been my imagination.

King Tian Ya picked up the paper and read through it with a serious gaze, pausing only once to glance briefly in my direction before continuing to read it.

A few tense seconds pa.s.sed before he set the paper back down.

"I can agree to all the terms listed here, Queen Guiying On one condition."

Queen Guiying raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh? It seems King Tian Ya is not aware of his current situation? I do not believe you are in any place to be demanding things."

He bowed his head, "I know I may be asking for too much But I sincerely hope you will grant it."

Guiying narrowed her gaze at him, "Let's hear it then."

King Tian Ya turned his gaze to me, "I will accept these terms As long as the one I am surrendering to is Master Lin."

Eh?

What?

Huh?

Guiying snapped her paper fan shut, "Approved. Alpha, the other one, please."

Alpha stepped forward, taking away the paper on the table to replace it with another similar looking one before bowing her head and stepping away.

Wait, she already had one prepared for such a thing?! How far did she plan ahead?!

I raised an eyebrow at her but she averted her gaze from me. I didn't get to see the terms of surrender for the Dongs at all so now I'm a little bit worried about what exactly she put in there.

It took the King another few seconds to read through before nodding his head, "This is acceptable But Can we have a week to move everyone out of the city?"

Guiying narrowed her eyes, "Two days. No more, no less."

The King looked like he was going to argue but gave in, "Understood Two days it shall be Could I at least request for transport back to the capital to facilitate the move?"

Guiying finally turned to look at me.

"Hmm? I can teleport you to the city's outskirts I suppose. That won't be a problem."

King Tian Ya nodded, "That would help immensely. I will be in your debt once again, Master Lin. Captain Jian?"

The Guard Captain moved to his side and placed a bundle of cloth on the table.

The King unwrapped it carefully, taking out what I recognised as his imperial seal to stamp on the treaty. He then pushed it to Guiying's side of the table where she stamped her own imperial seal on it before nodding her head proudly.

"With this, the treaty is now official," Guiying declared, opening her fan once more. "The country of Dong shall surrender to Master Lin, King Tian Ya shall abdicate and a new kingdom shall be established under the rule of the Lindulf Family. The current capital shall be levelled by Master Lin and the Empire of Beiyang shall be henceforth established."

"What?!" I blurted out.

Guiying s.n.a.t.c.hed up the treaty and rolled it up before I could take a look at it.

Alpha moved forward to receive it from Guiying and immediately retreated away from the table.

"What just happened?" I asked.

King Tian Ya gestured to himself, "As agreed, we are surrendering to Master Lin and accepting him as the conqueror of the former country of Dong. You are free to do with this country however you wish. Rename it, rebuild it Or even just burn it, I suppose. Though I would beg of you not to do that. Whatever frustrations you have with the country, the people do not deserve it after they finally got their freedom..."

Right, yeah About that. Where the h.e.l.l do I even begin with the questions?

I guess I'll just ask the most obvious question right now

"What the h.e.l.l is going on?!"