The laughter continued for a long time. The atmosphere beneath the awning seemed poised to erupt at any moment due to the teetering emotions of the opposing sides.

Beneath the awning were merely four figures. At the table sat only Ning Yi and Zong Han, but because each was backed by armies of tens of thousands and peoples numbering in the millions, even tens of millions, the atmosphere became extraordinarily delicate.

Zong Han was a warrior forged in the fires of the northern lands, personally having slain countless enemies on the battlefield. If everything he had shown earlier was the restraint of a general or even a king, at this moment, after Ning Yi's words, he truly revealed the wildness and ferocity of a Jurchen warrior. Even Lin Qiu sensed that the Jurchen marshal across from him might at any moment overturn the table and attack Ning Yi.

As for Mr. Ning, though he had appeared cultured and refined these past years, even outside the army, he had faced countless assassinations, even confronting martial artists like Zhou Tong and Lin Zongwu without being at a disadvantage. Even facing Zong Han and Gao Qingyi, in this moment, emboldened by the victory at Wangyuan Bridge, he displayed composure and immense pressure.

Lin Qiu stared at Gao Qingyi, but in this moment, an extremely strange feeling arose within him. If at this moment the two sides truly overturned the table and began to fight, with the fate of hundreds of thousands of troops and the future of the entire world changing due to such a situation, that would truly be... too dramatic.

Zong Han's hand swung through the air, slamming onto the table with a bang. He picked up the small bamboo tube in his hand, his tall figure rising abruptly, looking down at Ning Yi.

"...For this southern expedition, for several years, Gu Shen has investigated many things about you. This Marshal is somewhat surprised that Ning Rentu, the great demon who killed the emperor of the Wu dynasty, plunging the Han people into fire and water, would have such womanly benevolence at this moment." Zong Han's voice was hoarse with authority and contempt. "The lives of tens of millions in the Han lands? Demanding repayment for blood debts? Ning Rentu, piecing together such words at this moment makes you seem petty. If the name 'Heart Demon' is just such nonsense, how are you different from a woman! Ridiculous."

"The things, I will accept. Your words, I will remember. But my Great Jin, the Jurchens, are not ashamed before this heaven and earth." He took two steps from the table, opening his large hand. "People are born into this world, and this world is a hunting ground! The Liao people were cruel! My Jurchens rose up in rebellion with a mere few thousand people, and in a little over a decade, destroyed the entire Liao dynasty! Then in another decade, we destroyed the Wu dynasty! The lives of tens of millions in the Central Plains? How many Jurchens are there? Even if it was truly my Jurchens who killed them, those millions of people, living in prosperous lands! To be killed by a mere few hundred thousand troops, without knowing how to resist! That is a waste of heavenly resources, and they deserve to die."

"Ning Rentu, you, said these words."

Zong Han pointed at Ning Yi, enunciating each word.

"To this day, you say before this Marshal that you want to avenge and demand repayment for the lives of tens of millions? You participated in the massacre of those millions in Bianliang, and you massacred even more in Xiaocang River. It was you who killed the emperor of the Wu dynasty, causing turmoil in the Wu dynasty, which led to the victory of my Great Jin's second southern expedition. It was you who opened the door to the Central Plains for us. The people of the Wu dynasty begged you, your friend Li Pin begged you to save the world, countless Confucian scholars advised you to do good, but you were unmoved, you sneered at them!"

"You, care about these tens of millions?"

Zong Han slowly and resolutely shook his head.

"You don't care about the tens of millions, it's just that you sit here today, using the lives of those tens of millions that you don't care about, wanting to make us feel... regret? Insincere lip service, Ning Liheng. Womanly behavior."

He spoke the last four words deliberately, and Ning Yi sat there, watching the old man in front of him with admiration. After confirming that the other party had finished speaking, he also spoke: "Spoken with great power. There is a saying among the Han people, I don't know if Nianhan has heard of it."

"...Speak."

"A gentleman keeps away from the kitchen." Ning Yi said, "This is what a man named Meng Ke in China said before. A gentleman feels for animals, seeing them alive, he cannot bear to see them die; hearing their cries, he cannot bear to eat their flesh. Therefore, a gentleman keeps away from the kitchen. It means, meat still needs to be eaten, but it is important to have a bit of benevolence in one's heart. If someone feels that they shouldn't eat meat, or doesn't know what happens in the kitchen while eating meat, then they are probably a confused idiot. If they eat meat and feel that the law of the jungle is the ultimate truth of the world, without that bit of benevolence in their heart... then they are beasts."

He merely sat, looking at Zong Han with the gaze one reserves for a beast: "The people of the Wu dynasty ate the meat and forgot that there were cooks in the kitchen taking knives to slaughter pigs. After driving away the butchers and cooks, they proclaimed themselves virtuous. They are fools. Nianhan, I am different. When I can keep away from the kitchen, I can be a gentleman. But without the butchers and cooks... I will take the knife and cook myself."

"If benevolence were useful, if kneeling down and begging would stop you from killing, I could also be a benevolent person, but there is no road ahead for them." Ning Yi leaned back slowly, his gaze looking into the distance: "There is no road ahead for Zhou Zhe, there is no road ahead for Li Pin, there is no road ahead for the benevolent tens of millions of the Wu dynasty. They came to beg me, and I sneered at them, simply because of three words: I can't do it."

"So from beginning to end, the Wu dynasty's constant talk of ten years of revitalization, in the end, no one stood before you, like today, forcing you to come over and speak to me as equals. If they acted like the Wu dynasty, they would be massacred for another ten million, and you would never regard them as human beings from beginning to end. But today, Nianhan, you stand and look at me, do you feel tall? Are you looking down on me? Gao Qingyi, what about you?"

He said this, only then slowly turning his gaze back to Zong Han's face. At this moment, of the four people present, only he was sitting: "So, Nianhan, it's not that I have no pity for those tens of millions, it's just that I know that saving them doesn't rely on superficial pity. If you think I'm joking... you will be sorry for everything I'm going to do to you next."

The surroundings were quiet for a moment. Then, Gao Qingyi, who had spoken provocatively earlier, looked at Zong Han and laughed: "These words are somewhat interesting. However, are you mistaken about some things..."

"Of course, General Gao is now going to say that I'm talking empty words." At this point, Ning Yi smiled, waving his hand to release the previous seriousness. "Today's Shiling, the reason why the two of you came here is not because anyone has reached the end of their rope. In the southwest battlefield, your numbers still have the upper hand, and even if you are at a disadvantage, the Jurchens who came out of the northern lands have certainly encountered it before. The reason why the two of you came is simply because of the loss at Wangyuan Bridge, and Xie Bao's capture, to come over and chat."

"No problem, matters on the battlefield are not decided by words. Now that we've said enough, let's talk about the negotiations."

He suddenly changed the topic, placing his palm on the table. Zong Han, who still had something to say, frowned slightly, but then slowly sat down: "Very well, it's time to talk about serious matters."

"Serious matters have already been said. The rest are trivial matters." Ning Yi looked at him, "I want to kill your son."

He said this sentence word by word, and the atmosphere was suffocatingly silent. Neither Zong Han nor Gao Qingyi had much emotion on their faces at this moment. Only after Ning Yi finished speaking, Zong Han slowly said: "If you kill him, what will you negotiate?"

"Talk about exchanging prisoners."

"You kill Xie Bao, and then talk about exchanging prisoners?"

"Killing your son and exchanging prisoners are two different things."

Zong Han leaned back in his chair, and Ning Yi also leaned back in his chair. The two looked at each other for a moment, and Ning Yi slowly opened his mouth.

"The war has been fought for four months. From the Han troops who have surrendered to us from your side, we learned that there are probably more than nine hundred prisoners in your hands. I captured more than twenty thousand at Wangyuan Bridge. These twenty thousand are the elite among you. This is what I think: Among them, there must be many people who have a respected father behind them, and such and such families. They are the backbone of the Jurchens, your supporters. They should have been the main candidates responsible for all the blood debts of the Jin kingdom, and I should have killed them."

"But today, there are only four of us here. You are big figures, and I am very polite. I am willing to do some things that big figures should do. I will restrain my impulse to kill them, temporarily suppressing the blood debts they should repay, and let you decide which people to exchange back. Of course, considering your habit of abusing prisoners, wounded prisoners of the Huaxia Army will be exchanged with healthy ones, two for one."

Ning Yi spread out his right hand towards the front: "You will find that doing business with the Huaxia Army is very fair."

"We want to exchange for General Xie Bao." Gao Qingyi said first.

"Xie Bao is not for sale."

"Then there's nothing to exchange." Gao Qingyi said.

"Then we won't exchange." Ning Yi stared at Zong Han, not even looking at Gao Qingyi, clasped his hands together, and after a moment said, "Returning to the north, you still have to explain to many people, and you still have to contend with Zong Fu and Zong Bi, but there are no such factions in the Huaxia Army. We exchange the prisoners back out of a good heart. This is the icing on the cake for us, and giving charcoal in the snow for you. As for sons, big figures must have the responsibility of big figures. Serious matters come first, and you can endure the death of a son. After all, countless people in the Central Plains have also died of their sons."

Zong Han said: "Your son did not die."

"One was miscarried." Ning Yi said, "In addition, you sent people to secretly assassinate my second son near the New Year, but unfortunately it failed. Today, I am the one who succeeded. Xie Bao must die. We will exchange other people."

"Without Xie Bao, we won't exchange anyone." Gao Qingyi stepped closer.

"Then we won't exchange. Prepare to fight."

Zong Han did not express his opinion, and Gao Qingyi said: "Marshal, we can talk about other matters."

"There is nothing else." Ning Yi said.

Zong Han stared at Ning Yi, and Ning Yi also sat there, waiting for the other party's statement. Gao Qingyi whispered a few more words. In fact, only he could speak about such things, showing a resolute attitude. Time passed by, and Ning Yi looked towards the back, then stood up: "I plan to kill your son at You Shi. I originally thought there would be a sunset, but it looks like it's an overcast day. Lin Qiu will wait here. If you want to talk, talk here. If you want to fight, you come back."

"Yes." Lin Qiu saluted in agreement.

Ning Yi tapped the table with his finger, turned his head to glance at Zong Han and Gao Qingyi, and then glanced again: "Some things are better accepted readily than dragging your feet. Matters on the battlefield have always been decided by fists. Xie Bao has already lost, and it only adds pain to your heart if you don't accept it. Of course, I am a merciful person. If you really feel that it is difficult to accept your son dying in front of you, I can give you a proposal."

He turned his body upright, looked at the two, and paused slightly: "I'm afraid you can't swallow it."

"Tell us." Gao Qingyi said.

"Then don't say that I didn't give you a chance, two roads." Ning Yi raised his fingers, "First, Xie Bao alone, exchange for all the Huaxia Army prisoners in your hands. With hundreds of thousands of troops, there are many people and many eyes. I'm not afraid of you playing tricks. From now on, if any of the Huaxia Army soldiers in your hands are injured, I will dismantle Xie Bao's hands and feet, and then return him to you alive. Second, use Huaxia Army prisoners to exchange for the people at Wangyuan Bridge. I will only discuss the health of the soldiers, not the rank. It's enough to give you face..."

He was saying these words, Zong Han's palm slammed heavily on the wooden table. Ning Yi was unmoved, and his eyes had already stared back.

"Don't get angry. In a war between two armies, it's either you die or I live. I definitely want to kill you all. Now, the exchange of prisoners is so that everyone can die with a little more dignity later. The things I give you are definitely poisonous, but it's up to you whether to swallow them or not. This exchange is a big loss for me. General Gao, you and Nianhan played the game of playing the bad cop and the good cop, I didn't interrupt you, and gave you a way to go. You have a lot of face. Don't bargain any more. Just this exchange method. If you exchange all your prisoners and are short of one... I will kill twenty thousand people and build a Jingguan to send to you bastards."

After he finished speaking, he suddenly flicked his sleeves, turned around, and left this place. Zong Han stood up, and Lin Qiu stepped forward to confront the two. The afternoon sun was pale.

At the moment when Ning Yi returned to the camp, on the Jin soldiers' side, a large number of leaflets were thrown out from the forest at several points, fluttering towards the camp. At this time, Zong Han and Gao Qingyi were only halfway there, and someone came running with leaflets in their hands. Written on the leaflets were the two conditions that Ning Yi offered to Zong Han and Gao Qingyi for "selection."

Turning his head, on the wooden platform in front of Shiling, someone was being escorted up and knelt there, and that was Wanyan Xie Bao.

He still wanted to resist on the wooden platform, but he was ruthlessly beaten until his head was bleeding by Huaxia Army soldiers with sticks, then pulled up and tied up.

At this time, it was Shen Shi Yi Ke (3:30 PM) of this day, not far from You Shi (5:00 PM).

This was perhaps the most humiliating moment encountered by the Jurchens in the twenty years since their rise to prominence. At the same time, even more unacceptable war reports had successively reached the hands of Xiyin, Zong Han, and others in the Jurchen camp.

Bali Su's elder brother, the Jurchen general Yin Shu Ke, died at the hands of Chen Fan in the Battle of Changsha.

And the person who truly determined the outcome of the Battle of Changsha was a small, previously unknown figure who almost everyone had overlooked.

—— Wu dynasty general, Yu Mingzhou.