They looked and were stunned.
She tilted her head to look at Si Fengwu, "Is this thing what I think it is?"
Si Fengwu nodded. Lu Qingwan's face twisted with reluctance, "You claim the current chaos in Northern Wei is your doing, do you have proof?"
What Nie Wuming showed them was a letter from Cheng Nanshu. In the letter, Cheng Nanshu told them that Nie Wuming was not truly their enemy.
In fact, the transformation of Northern Wei from a powerful and formidable force to its current vulnerable state was all Nie Wuming's doing.
It was like someone told you that the treasure you painstakingly acquired was only yours because no one else wanted to compete with you for it.
How could Lu Qingwan accept this?
If she admitted it, wouldn't the days of hardship she, Si Fengwu, and hundreds of thousands of Xuanjia Army soldiers endured become a joke?
"I don't need any proof. I'm not here to prove my position to you."
Nie Wuming said expressionlessly, "I know that given our current positions, you won't believe anything I say.
The truth will be revealed in time.
I have only one reason for coming."
Lu Qingwan and Si Fengwu did not respond, merely gesturing for him to continue.
He likely knew he was unwelcome, so he spoke as concisely as possible.
"Of the three southeastern kingdoms, only Guihua City is not yet in your hands. If nothing unexpected happens, you will be attacking Guihua City soon, won't you?"
"Isn't that obvious?"
Lu Qingwan smacked her lips, "The army is at the city gates, if we don't attack, are we just playing games with you?"
Nie Wuming showed a hint of a smile when she retorted, "It's not that I'm trying to trick you. I'm asking this to tell you that the Northern Wei Emperor and Murong Tao are determined to fight you to the death.
I have come to ask that you, no matter what, do not use firearms when attacking Guihua City."
Lu Qingwan immediately objected to this.
"How is that possible?
Even if you haven't used firearms yourself, you've at least seen their power.
Moreover, Guihua City is the only city in Northern Wei with a wall, and you ask us not to use fire, to attack the city with our bare flesh and blood.
What am I supposed to do with all these firearms, wait until after I die to set off fireworks for myself?"
Lu Qingwan was already heartbroken by the casualties at Jiuyuan when firearms were not used. Nie Wuming, a general of the enemy, telling her not to use them made her explode.
Si Fengwu quickly tried to placate her, "Don't be angry, don't be angry. It's not up to him what weapons the Xuanjia Army uses to attack the city, it's up to me."
Seeing Si Fengwu's reaction, Nie Wuming knew that it was impossible to prevent them from using firearms without further explanation.
He said with a weary tone, "Do you two know that Northern Wei is such a vast territory, and Guihua City has neither geographical advantage nor historical significance? When the founding emperor of Northern Wei established his capital, why did he choose Guihua City?"
Northern Wei was completely different from Daqian.
Guihua City was built brick by brick on a flat grassland.
And as Nie Wuming said, Guihua City was a vast plain, with no natural defenses, and no advantages whatsoever.
Lu Qingwan and Si Fengwu were both puzzled. Lu Qingwan impatiently urged Nie Wuming, "Since you've started, can you finish what you're saying?
As for whether to use firearms or not, we will decide for ourselves. Why are you only telling half the story, are you trying to kill me with impatience?"
Nie Wuming chuckled, "It's quite simple. Because under Guihua City lies a potent fire oil mine.
Not only within the city, but for dozens of miles around the city, there are potent fire oil mines. When a strong enemy attacks, if Northern Wei cannot resist, they can set the city ablaze for a mutual destruction."
Upon hearing this, the tent fell into a deathly silence for a moment.
After a long pause, Lu Qingwan belatedly said, "What were your ancestors of the Nie clan thinking when they built the imperial city on a potent fire oil mine?
Were they prepared for the destruction of their kingdom from its inception?"
Nie Wuming was nonchalant, "I believe our ancestors were quite prescient."
He said, with a sigh of emotion, "Guihua City was a funeral pyre prepared by our ancestors for invaders, to commemorate the souls of Wei who perished in war.
Honestly, if the people who were to storm Guihua City today were not you.
Or, if after capturing those cities, you had engaged in looting, burning, and massacres like previous generals, I would not have told you this."
He had, in a roundabout way, given them a not-so-small compliment.
Lu Qingwan found it strange, "You're telling us the secret of Guihua City simply because we haven't mistreated the civilians in the occupied territories?"
"Not entirely because of that."
He said, his gaze falling on Si Fengwu with a complex expression.
"I am not like His Highness the Prince of Qin, who cares for the common people and aims for the world.
I do not wish to see bloodshed and suffering, but I also wish to see the Nie royal family fall from grace and be treated as commoners.
Speaking of which, I should thank you.
Without you, I might not have seen my Emperor father in such a state of perpetual fear.
Therefore, telling you the secret of Guihua City, so that you do not get burned alive within it, is my token of gratitude to you both."
If Lu Qingwan and Si Fengwu couldn't understand Nie Wuming's actions before, they understood them instantly upon hearing this.
People consumed by hatred, no matter how incomprehensible their actions may seem to others, are perfectly rational to themselves.
Nie Wuming's and his mother's experiences were enough to make one grieve and lament.
It was understandable that Nie Wuming, even at the cost of alienating everyone, wanted to drag the Northern Wei royal family down with him.
In a way, Si Fengwu and Nie Wuming had extremely similar experiences.
It was just that Si Fengwu was lucky enough to encounter kind people like the late Empress Dowager and Emperor Jingyou, and had the support of Si Fengming and the King of Youzhou from afar.
Nie Wuming, on the other hand, was less fortunate. After finally escaping the pursuit of the Northern Wei Empress, he fell into the abyss of Wuan Palace.
Recalling Nie Wuming's contradictory actions, Si Fengwu cautiously asked, "Since your goal was merely to drag the Nie royal family down, why did you seek aid from the Turks for Northern Wei? Isn't that a contradiction?"
Wanting to destroy the Northern Wei imperial family, yet finding such powerful external aid for Northern Wei, was something no one would believe.
"What's more, you have the backing of Wuan Palace, and you even managed to manipulate Prince Nie Mingyang, the most valued prince by both the Southern Qi Empress and the Northern Wei Emperor, with such ease. Is destroying the Nie royal family truly that difficult?"
Nie Wuming calmly accepted the barrage of questions from Si Fengwu and Lu Qingwan.
Only after they had finished did he slowly ask, "If I had not corresponded with the Turks, if I had not pushed Feng Qingheng, that fool, into a corner, would you two have returned?"