"As expected, there's a mole!"

Fan Xian and Xin Shaoqing exclaimed simultaneously, as if in a badly written drama, and then stopped at the same time. Both believed that the head of the Northern Qi spies in their country would never be a weakling who would crack under torture. Since the enemy could so easily capture Yan Bingyun and knew his real name, it was clear that someone hidden within the Qing court had some kind of agreement with Northern Qi.

Xin Shaoqing shook his head. "Before this incident, even the Crown Prince and I didn't know that Young Master Yan had gone to Northern Qi. At most, there are no more than five people in the court qualified to know about this. To say that they are selling out the country, even a fool wouldn't believe it. Selling out the country always requires benefits, and in fact, the entire Qing kingdom is managed by these people at the Emperor's behest. What benefit could there be in selling it out?"

Fan Xian and Xin Shaoqing exchanged glances, both seeing the worry in each other's eyes, because they simultaneously thought of something terrifying: what if it wasn't a mole? What if it was just a means used by some ministers in the court to attack the Supervisory Council?

Fan Xian thought back to when Wang Qinian had told him about Yan Bingyun. He had felt it was a little strange then – why did even he know? Did the Supervisory Council have so much confidence in its internal control? He later understood that it was Chen Pingping who had told him through Wang Qinian. But now he was still a little apprehensive, because if the news had leaked from his side, he would truly be deserving of ten thousand deaths.

"Could there be someone so crazy? To trample on the interests of the entire Qing kingdom just for the power struggle in the court?" Xin Shaoqing shook his head with a wry smile.

Fan Xian also shook his head, thinking of his trip to the palace. He knew in his heart that there were actually quite a few high-ranking lunatics like that in the Qing kingdom. He steadied his mind and asked, "Assuming Young Master Yan has already been captured, what arrangements does His Majesty have?"

"Northern Qi still underestimated His Majesty's determination." Xin Shaoqing immediately felt confident when he thought of the high and mighty Son of Heaven, and said, "Not an inch of the occupied territory will be yielded."

Fan Xian was surprised. "What about Young Master Yan?"

"Exchange!" Xin Shaoqing's face showed a sinister look. "Exchange prisoners. His Majesty has made up his mind. All previous exchange agreements are cancelled. We will renegotiate, waiting for Northern Qi to send Young Master Yan's token to confirm, and then a new round of prisoner exchange negotiations will begin."

Fan Xian frowned and said, "Northern Qi is probably full of themselves thinking they've caught a big fish. I doubt they'll agree."

Xin Shaoqing said coldly, "This time, we will also send two more people back to Northern Qi. If Northern Qi is still unwilling, three months later, at the time of the winter solstice, His Majesty will execute a thousand Northern Qi prisoners and send their heads back to Northern Qi, and the army will rise again."

"Using force to intimidate, it's a helpless move, but I'm afraid Northern Qi will also resort to desperate measures. Both sides have three thousand prisoners. Killing each other won't do any good." Fan Xian gently tapped the desk with his hand, and a strange thought suddenly arose in his heart. "Who are the two people being prepared for the exchange? Can they get Northern Qi to agree?"

"One is Xiao En, who has been imprisoned for twenty years." Xin Shaoqing looked at him gently, knowing that this young man didn't know Xiao En's reputation.

"This person was the head of the Northern Wei secret service back then. Before the second Northern Expedition, Chen Pingping, Dean of the Supervisory Council, and Lord Fei personally led the Black Riders, making a surprise attack a thousand *li*, and captured him at his son's wedding. After he was captured by us, the Northern Wei spy network was leaderless and became a disorganized mess. When His Majesty personally led the expedition, he was able to advance like a hot knife through butter, turning a huge empire into the weak state it is today. Later, when awarding merits, the Supervisory Council was given the first credit for this matter. And at that time, we young scholars all believed that if Xiao En hadn't been so bold as to leave Northern Qi's Shangjing so far to attend his son's wedding, the court would never have been able to capture him, and the subsequent battles would not have been so smooth."

Listening to these events from decades ago, Fan Xian was speechless with emotion, and then listened to Xin Shaoqing's next sentence.

"Of course, Xiao En was bold enough to leave Shangjing. Dean Chen was even bolder, daring to go eight hundred *li* deep into enemy territory. Although he paid the price of a pair of legs, he did capture Xiao En after all. Before that, Xiao En of Northern Wei and Chen Pingping of Southern Qing were known to the world as the most terrifying dark ministers. After Xiao En was captured by Dean Chen, naturally no one dared to compare with Dean Chen again."

Fan Xian listened with longing. It turned out that the old cripple's legs were broken in that incident. He never thought that Chen Pingping had such a brave side back then.

"Using Xiao En to exchange for Yan Bingyun." He thought about it, judging purely from a rational perspective. "It seems like we're at a disadvantage."

"Last night, several ministers also thought so." Xin Shaoqing looked at him with a smile. "But His Majesty and Dean Chen don't think so. After all, Xiao En is already seventy years old, and once he has been defeated by Dean Chen, he will naturally never be able to repeat his past glory. Young Master Yan has endured humiliation and carried a heavy burden, lurking in the enemy country for four years. His merits are self-evident. What's wrong with exchanging an old man for the future of Qing?"

Fan Xian nodded repeatedly, and asked curiously, "Are you afraid that Northern Qi won't agree, so who else did you add?"

"That woman was a request that Northern Qi had made in the past, so His Majesty simply agreed to it." Xin Shaoqing looked at Fan Xian and suddenly laughed. "I heard that the Northern Qi Emperor is very fond of that woman. It seems that Lord Fan has already given the young Emperor of Northern Qi a green hat."

Fan Xian's face was a little colorful, and he stammered, "Could it be Si Lili?"

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Negotiations are always divided into two parts. On the surface, the Qing court officials and the Northern Qi delegation are haggling over every word and phrase at the negotiating table, showing a morbid obsession with every title and every word, just to ensure that the face of the dynasty will not be weakened in the final state letter. Therefore, Honglu Temple is always noisy every day, with people slamming tables and stepping on chairs. It's not like two countries are negotiating, it's purely like shrewish women are cursing at each other in the vegetable market.

But the other part of the negotiations is much colder and more direct. There are no Honglu Temple officials present, and the Northern Qi side is not the leading figure of the delegation, but is hidden in the dark, the real person with the power to speak.

Yan Ruohai, the head of the Fourth Bureau of the Supervisory Council, is a well-known high-ranking figure in Kyoto, where officials are as numerous as dogs and swimming carp. He coldly signed the secret prisoner exchange agreement, without even looking at the document again.

His own son's name was on the agreement. He could have resigned from this negotiation, but he insisted on coming, to take a look.

The inconspicuous official of Northern Qi smiled and affixed his seal, looking at Yan Ruohai and said softly, "Lord Yan, rest assured, your son is having a good time in our country."

Yan Ruohai said expressionlessly, "Today I wanted to see how brilliant the Northern colleagues are, that they were able to capture the little brat I raised from childhood, but after seeing you, you dimwit, I know what's going on."

That official did not fly into a rage, but retorted coldly, "Lord Yan, don't be too harsh, you must know that your son is still in our hands. If we are dimwits, then what is your son? What are you?"

Yan Ruohai sneered twice, got up and walked towards the door, and said, "The problem is that my son wasn't captured by you."

Walking out the door, Chen Pingping, sitting in a wheelchair, glanced at him and shook his head: "You've been in this position for too long, and you're not as tolerant as you used to be."

"I can tolerate a lot, but I can't tolerate cold arrows shot from behind." It could be seen that Yan Ruohai respected his superior, pushing Chen Pingping's wheelchair and walking slowly towards a quiet place.

Chen Pingping, sitting in a wheelchair, stretched out a finger: "In the court, there are countless people who want you and me to die. This time we can use Xiao En to exchange for Bingyun, but next time I won't have someone like Xiao En in my hands."

Yan Ruohai responded: "There won't be a next time."

"We must hurry and find that person." Chen Pingping said: "This time, the Emperor is on our side, because he knows clearly that it must be a certain noble who wants to teach us a lesson. But I don't like this feeling of being played with."

"Yes, Dean." Yan Ruohai knew that his old superior would find a way to deal with this matter, so he was not in a hurry. "Although the prisoner exchange may not be smooth, as long as Bingyun doesn't die, it can be regarded as a trial for the young man. It may not be a bad thing."

"That makes sense, so I have also decided to let a young man go through a trial, and it doesn't need to be too long, just a few months."

"A few months? Is it about going back to Northern Qi as an envoy this time?"

"That's right, and he must bring Yan Bingyun back completely intact. I hope he can handle it well."

"Who is it?"

"Before he leaves, I will let all eight of your bureaus meet him."

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Everything was proceeding smoothly. After Qing paid a considerable price, both sides finalized the prisoner exchange agreement and the secret exchange of spies agreement, and everyone was happy. Qing gained face and territory, and Northern Qi gained face and Xiao En, as well as the woman the Emperor liked.

Only the Dongyi City delegation stayed honestly in the courtyard, and everyone seemed to have forgotten about him. The Qing court was also deliberately cold to the other party, in order to use the incident at the foot of Cang Mountain to extort more money. Dongyi City is a gathering place for the world's biggest merchants. It began trading with the foreign barbarians long before the Qing court opened its southern ports. Although its martial force has only Si Gu Jian to support the heavens, its financial resources are inexhaustible.

Three days later was the day of the Qing Emperor's banquet for the envoys of both countries. Fan Xian, as the deputy envoy for negotiations, naturally had to go to the palace for the banquet. It would be his second time entering the palace, and it was also the night he had planned.

He was carefully preparing everything in his room, but his eyes would occasionally glance at the corner of the black leather suitcase that was showing from under the bed. In the official affairs of these days, he had seen some things more deeply. Qing seemed to be vast and powerful, and invincible, but within the court, confined by the ulterior motives of certain nobles, there were still so many filth and black water.

The imperial family is ruthless, but it is not necessarily ruthless to the royal family members. It is more often ruthless to the subjects of the world. Fan Xian was very clear that even if His Majesty knew who wanted to deal with his intelligence agency, he would not really take a hard line, because those people might be his wife, his sister, his son, or even his mother.

"Be a person who purely considers for yourself." This was what Fan Xian had reminded himself countless times after coming to this world. His eyes gradually became cold, and he hid the slender dagger well, and carefully inserted the three thin needles soaked in poison into his hair.