In a large open area, with thousands of soldiers forming a small circle guarding three large umbrellas. Inside the three large umbrellas were the three envoys from the Zasra, Kosanz, and Payapasa kingdoms.
Payam stared at the two envoys from the Kosanz and Payapasa kingdoms, his mind filled with many thoughts.
He had approached the two kingdoms by offering great benefits, but whether they had decided to accept the terms he approached them with or not, at that time, he had no clue what the two kingdoms would decide. He somewhat knew that most likely Payapasa would not disagree with his offer because in some way they are family connected to Tangolian.
Gong, the envoy from Payapasa kingdom said, "Our great kingdom lacks nothing at the moment. Our King said that he will not take your offer, all he asks in return is that if he gives you safe passageway, you will do the same when we ask."
Payam nodded and said, "Thank you." He turned to look at Lu, the envoy from Kosanz Kingdom.
"What about your kingdom, advisor Lu?"
There was a great silence because Lu looked at Payam. He stared at the scroll on the table and then back at Payam. "Are you sure you can speak on your King's behalf?" Lu asked. "The terms you offered us were a lot."
Payam said, "Before I approached you, I had already spoken with my King. So, I can certainly make the final decision. The benefits of letting our troops through are well written in the document presented to you."
Lu said with a smile, "Advisor Payam, although the benefits gained from allowing your troops passageway are great and very tempting, but..." He paused and sighed. "But I am sorry to say that my King rejected your offer."
Payam knew that this was expected. As Zasra Kingdom and Kosanz Kingdom are not close, Kosanz, being a neutral kingdom, would be hard to negotiate on the terms he offered them. He knew that King Yija would only be looking at what would benefit his kingdom the most.
He looked at Lu and asked, "What is that your King wants?"
Lu said, "My King wants Nue-Li City and half of its wealth. You do understand that Kosanz borders the entire eastern border of Gimsong Kingdom, but since we are a neutral kingdom, we do not want to go to war with Gimsong. My King suggested that after you take over Nue-Li City, your King could announce that you've sold her to us.
If your kingdom agrees to our King's counteroffer, we will let your troops station on our side of the Golden Triangle. You can choose to attack Nue-Li City after the Magoli soldiers conquer her, or you can choose to attack the northeast of Hmagol directly; it's entirely up to you.
But since we are a neutral kingdom, your stay will not be unnoticed. As you may already know, our kingdom does rely on trade with Hmagol Kingdom."
Payam knew that this counteroffer was too great. Letting the Hmagol Army know that they were stationed at the border would render a surprise attack ineffective. But since this was the only opportunity to step into Hmagol kingdom, he knew he could not let this opportunity slide by.
So, he looked at Lu and asked, "What exactly are you implying?"
Lu explained, "Your being stationed in the Kosanz side of the Golden Triangle will be shared with Hmagol. While we do not want to offend you, we also do not want to offend King Batukhan, since we shared our southwest border with them and still intend to rely on Hmagol Kingdom for future trade."
Payam said with a soft smile, "King Yija is indeed a very wise King who only seeks what is good for his great nation, but Advisor Lu, sometimes, refusing to take a step back and allow the opportunity for friendship can also be a downfall."
Lu said, "A wise King will do what is best for his people even if sometimes he might unintentionally step on people's toes." He looked up at Payam. "So, do you want to accept our counteroffer, or decline, or go back and discuss this further with your King?"
Payam smiled and said, "Your King's counteroffer is accepted."
Lu said, "That is wonderful. I will bring this good news back to our King. As we agreed, no more than eight thousand troops. Once you decide where you want to station your troops, you can let us know, and we will prepare the area for you."
Payam smiled and said, "Thank you. We will take your offer and station our troops at the triangle border, on your southern border, between Hmagol and Gimsong Kingdoms."
Lu stood up with a smile and said, "Alright, I will report back to our King. The area for your station on our southern border will be ready in three months." He walked away with the Kosian soldiers.
Gong stood up and walked towards Payam. He watched Lu and the Kosian soldiers as they were getting further away from Payam and him.
"Advisor Payam, since the deal has been settled, I supposed you would be heading back to Zasra Kingdom to prepare your troops."
Payam said, "Yes."
Lu asked, "Why does Zasra Kingdom suddenly want to get involved with the long-term conflict of Nue-Li City with the Ginmiao and Magoli?" He looked at Payam and realized that his question might have overstepped. "If it is not convenient for you to answer, then let just pretend that I didn't ask."
Payam chuckled and said, "Doesn't everyone want a piece of Nue-Li City? We are just part of those who crave for their mountains of gold."
Lu watched Payam and the Zasra soldiers leave, and he walked back to the military base camp.
As he and the Payapasan soldiers with him approached at a distance, he spotted General Jietang and his troops returning from a hunt. So, he rode his horse towards the group to greet General Jietang.
"Advisor Lu," Jietang greeted with a smile. "I suppose the meeting between you and the others has ended."
Lu smiled and said, "It has ended, but we came with a counteroffer."
Jietang asked, "What kind of counteroffer?"
Lu sighed and said, "My King wants Nue-Li City and half of her wealth."
Jietang laughed and said, "It was expected."
Lu said, "It surprised me because Advisor Payam agreed to such request."
Jietang said, "That is also expected. I believe Payam came into the meeting with the intention of agreeing to everything that the others had counteroffered to him. Payam agreed because he knew that if Nue-Li City is a city that Hmagol wants and over the years many people had died from both kingdoms.
No matter which side took over Nue-Li City, the other side would not sit and watch, but they would lie and wait for the right moment to retake Nue-Li City. Payam knew of this, therefore he agreed.
Besides, their main goal is never to keep control of Nue-Li City, but I believed their main goal was to seek revenge for Captain Reza who had died in Hosha City."
Lu turned to look at Jietang and asked, "If it's for revenge that it should be the Musian people, why is it suddenly the Ginmiao?"
Jietang said, "It's not the Ginmiao people, but a very particular person. That person."
Lu asked, "Which particular person?"
Jietang said, "Hmagol Eastern General. Now that the attempted assassination of Dawa might have already reached King Batukhan's ear, I am sure in the next few months, Hmagol Eastern General will be called for duty."
Lu said, "Then that means the Hmagol Eastern border will become defenseless?"
Jietang said, "Although over the years, I wanted to invade Hmagol, but His Highness refused because he feared that Hmagol army would join hands with Salran Hill bandits, if we engaged in a battle, it would be hard for us to withdraw from the battle." He exhaled the heaviness in chest out of his mouth. "Let's wait and see if Zasra could kill the Eastern General. If that is the result, then most likely His Highness will allow us to attack the eastern border of Hmagol." He looked at Lu and chuckled. "Waging war with Hmagol right now without the southern border breach, is like hitting an egg against a rock; therefore, why would anyone want to go to war with Hmagol and sending their soldiers to die for free..."
Out in the field that was filled with tombstones, the early morning breeze blew past Bijan's face as he stared at the large white tombstone in front of him.
As the second morning breeze blew past him, the two large red candles that he lit earlier went out.
"Light them back on," he said.
The two maids quickly lit the two candles and began pulling out the weeds that have grown at the foot of the tombstone.
While Bijan was watching the two maids weeding the surrounding area around the tombstone, Bijan heard the sound of a horse galloping from afar.
Then the galloping sounds got louder and louder until the sound came to a stop as the horse neighed not far from behind his back. The messenger soldier dismounted and came running to Bijan.
"General," the soldier said.
Bijan asked, "What is the situation right now?"
The soldier said, "Advisor Payam sent a message that Payapasa Kingdom and Kosanz King will give us passage to cross their kingdoms with our troops, but the number of troops are limited to eight thousand. In exchange, they would also like a free passage in the future. Advisor Payam agreed to this exchange."
Bijan smiled, still looking at the tombstone in front of him. "Tell Koorush to leave in ten days with eight thousand soldiers," Bijan said.
"Yes General," the soldier said, and he slowly backed away to his horse. He jumped onto the back of his horse, and the horse galloped away.
Bijan stared at the tombstone and said with a smile, "My son, you just rest there and enjoy the sun. Your brother will go get your murderer's head and present it to you before your next birthday."