“What? Are you going to deny that?” The old general scoffed, his eyes steely. “I told you not to try to sway me.”

“You should know what I was trying to tell you, general,” Nan Xun said earnestly. He hadn’t uttered any lies. “It’s not up to you and me to decide whether Northern Qi is at fault here. It’s a matter between our two nations. Northern Qi has always been honest. If we were the one who cast the first stone, I wouldn’t have sought you out. Your emperor, on the other hand, is a different story. I’m sure you know that as well.”

The old general had been doubting the third prince’s words since he arrived at the border. People from Northern Qi in the area had often mentioned how Eastern Wu didn’t honored their promise. It couldn’t have been a simple rumor for so many people to believe it.

The old general coughed in the chilling wind. He was old. No matter how healthy he was, he wasn’t how he’d been when he was young....