The Third Prince was already dumbfounded. He never expected that the strategies and responses he devised in the tent after his capture would lead to such a conclusion.
From Lord Zheng's mouth, he learned two shocking facts;
The King of the Wild People hadn't been sent to Yanjing as rumored; he was most likely in the hands of Lord Zheng;
Additionally, the King of the Wild People seemed to have pledged allegiance to Lord Zheng, offering strategies for him. Even the plan for the Yan Army's raid on the Naman Tribe at Snow Sea Pass was personally devised by the King of the Wild People.
Suddenly, an icy chill swept down the Third Prince's spine. This chill wasn't about his impending death but a sense of despair.
If the King of the Wild People had indeed submitted to Lord Pingye,
then the entire snowy plains,
what future could it possibly have?
What hope could one possibly wish for?
Nobody understood the terror of the King of the Wild People more than the Third Prince. In the Third Prince's view, even if the King of the Wild People were to fail, it wouldn't be a failure of the King himself.
Because what the King of the Wild People faced was a terrifying Yan State and an utterly fragmented snowy plain.
If only the snowy plain could put aside its prejudices, unite, and offer the King of the Wild People more support, the situation wouldn't have collapsed to such an extent.
If Snow Sea Pass weren't lost, or could have been recaptured in time, the snowy plains could still have maintained the initiative over Jin land instead of the current situation where the Yan people could directly send troops whenever they wished.
"Hehehe… Hahahahahaha…"
The Third Prince suddenly laughed,
reaching out,
grabbing the dagger thrown toward him by Xue Three.
At this time, his face no longer held any humility, nor did he kowtow and beg for mercy. On the contrary, he appeared rather straightforward.
This transformation,
even left Zheng Fan a bit surprised,
The Third Prince before him seemed suddenly like a different person,
his appearance hadn't changed,
but his demeanor had,
yes,
it was just his demeanor, which was entirely different from before.
Everyone needs a mask; some wear one throughout their lives, while others need many.
The Third Prince had removed his mask,
This former "genius" once praised by the King of the Wild People for his Prime Minister potential truly displayed a certain dignity now.
"Lord, your Yan is engaged in aggressive military campaigns. Your end might not be much better than mine."
Zheng Fan yawned, nodded.
He did not refute; instead, he wholeheartedly agreed.
At this point, it was boring to debate and discuss anything further with this person, and besides, what did Yan's future have to do with him, Lord Pingye?
In front of Lord Zheng might stand someone like Cao Cao or Sima Yi, but definitely not Master Yue.
These words from the Third Prince were obviously not spiteful curses before death towards Zheng Fan. He wasn't someone who couldn't accept defeat; at his core, he still possessed an innate nobility not meant for wild people.
He continued:
"But it seems, in time, the snowy plains will become Lord Zheng's pasture, and my Saintly Tribe's people will become slaves beneath Lord Zheng's feet.
For hundreds of years,
The fate of my Saintly Tribe,
ultimately still cannot be mastered by ourselves.
Such days, it's not worth living;
Such snowy plains, it's not worth viewing;
Such a life, it's not worth having!"
The last three sentences, the Third Prince shouted out.
With the utterance of the last word,
he gripped the dagger and fiercely stabbed it into his own heart.
"Pff!"
The blade,
did not perate very deep, and the Third Prince was in pain, so much pain that his entire face twisted.
Last night, he had said that scholars are utterly useless.
Now he truly tasted the bitterness of being a scholar. He didn't know martial arts, had always been weak since childhood and hadn't trained his muscles or bones. If he weren't the son of the King of Naman, his fate would be akin to many newborn weak babies on the snowy plains—discarded by their parents deliberately and taken away by wolves.
However, what he never expected was,
at this moment,
even suicide,
seemed to be beyond his capacity.
Blood flowed, dripping onto the dagger, and then continued down to his palm, bringing a clear sense of wet heat from his palm.
But even if he doesn't practice martial arts, he knew, he was still far from death.
Wanting to die but unable to die swiftly, in front of all these eyes, truly felt like agony.
Zheng Fan watched as the Third Prince's face reddened with embarrassment, not because of his injury but… out of shame.
The Third Prince seemed to want to try pulling out the dagger, stabbing himself again, or clutching the dagger to twist it inside himself.
However,
as soon as he moved the dagger,
the wound throbbed,
instantly causing his entire body to tremble with pain.
"Ssss…"
The Third Prince gasped, and the convulsions in his body caused his hand to feel limp and powerless.
Attempting suicide isn't easy, especially with cold weapons.
Zheng Fan couldn't help but recall TV dramas from the past life, where female characters could decisively slit their throats with a knife, blood splashing—truly unrealistic.
However, Lord Zheng suddenly felt that spacing out at this moment seemed inappropriate, a bit disrespectful to the prince before him.
The Third Prince looked at Xue Three with pleading eyes,
not to beg,
but to arduously say:
"Please… please, General, help me…"
Xue Three looked at the Third Prince, smiled, and said:
"The dagger is poisoned, but it acts slowly. Just wait, and you can die."
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