Chapter 538 Ambition and Living (3k)
In the empty palace, the four stood facing each other. The words from their mouths brought an inexplicable sense of oppression to Su Jiu. Taking a deep breath, she slightly raised her head, looked directly at the Snow Empress, and held up three fingers, saying with great seriousness:
“There are a total of three reasons.”
“Oh?”
The Snow Empress narrowed her eyes, found a pillar to lean against, crossed her arms, and looked over with interest, speaking softly, “Feel free to tell me. If it meets my approval, perhaps your test will be full marks. If not, you won’t need to take the test.”
She paused, then suddenly smiled and said, “Of course, you can also choose not to state the reasons and come for the test tomorrow as usual.”
The Snow Empress’s words made Anna a little nervous. She turned to look at Su Jiu, her small hands clenched slightly, and she somewhat hoped that the other party would not agree.
To be honest, Su Jiu gave her a much better impression than those furry demons. If Su Jiu became her teacher, she wouldn’t object.
The hulking figure, after hearing Su Jiu’s intentions, suppressed his thought of “how did the other party survive in the spatial wind?” and was also somewhat curious about what insights this young girl possessed.
The atmosphere in mid-air was tense and oppressive. Su Jiu’s palms were sweaty. Facing the Snow Empress’s question, she knew it would affect the completion of her subsequent tasks.
However, these reasons had to be stated, as they involved the success rate of the subsequent [Frost Breaking Plan]. If the other party was truly as understanding as Anna said, they definitely wouldn’t get angry about this.
“The first reason, and the main reason I’ve come here to communicate with you.”
As if making up her mind, Su Jiu retracted two fingers, looked at the other party, and forced her voice to be steady.
“If your two sides fight, it is very likely to cause large-scale frostfall, and then lead to a sky-obscuring ‘Frost Night’ phenomenon in the area of Bear Country. This problem will make it impossible for ordinary humans to live normally, and may even cause unrest and the emergence of refugees.”
The Snow Empress’s eyebrows did not even lift, she merely said indifferently, “This human disaster is not of great importance to us Snow Demons, is it?”
“Although not of great importance, it does exist.”
Su Jiu glanced at the Snow Empress’s impassive face, paused, and continued:
“If Bear Country falls into such a predicament, it will provide a large source of human sacrifices for the Red Robed Singers of the Ancient God Sect who have already laid out plans in eastern Bear Country. If their sacrifices are successful, they will summon a King-level Other, and you should know the danger, right?”
“The danger exists, but it is not great, and the Ancient God Sect has reached an agreement with us, and they will not attack indiscriminately.”
The Snow Empress shook her head, clearly, the reasons Su Jiu provided were not enough to impress him. However, when speaking of the Ancient God Sect, a hint of wariness flashed in his eyes.
He never dared to let down his guard against the promises of those madmen. If not for the genuine lack of alchemical artifacts suitable for combat, he would certainly not allow those alien races to connect with each other.
The Snow Empress’s attitude was within Su Jiu’s expectations, but she could also feel that the other party had been slightly influenced. She then extended her second finger and slowly said, “The second reason.”
“War between armies inevitably leads to casualties. In reality, the population of Snow Country cannot withstand such attrition, which is also contrary to your desire to prosper Snow Country.”
“If the people are unstable, it is impossible to intermarry with humans and introduce various advanced technologies.”
This time, the Snow Empress did show some reaction, shaking his head slightly and smiling somewhat helplessly, “You think of war too simply. Even if I cease hostilities, my third sister will not show any sibling affection and will come to kill me – after all, my pitiable brother was also killed by her.”
Hearing the Snow Empress’s words, Su Jiu solemnly asked again, “What if I can make the other side cease hostilities as well?”
“You say to make third sister cease hostilities…”
Su Jiu’s words made the Snow Empress’s body tremble, and his eyes narrowed as he looked over, as if trying to detect a hint of a lie on the former’s face, but only found a serious expression. He pondered for a moment and then said softly,
“If you truly have this ability, then a ceasefire is not impossible. I am quite fond of the conditions promised by the human envoy. However, war is not my will. Whether it is my third sister or the unruly foreign forces on this side, they have already exhausted me.”
Listening to the Snow Empress’s reply, Su Jiu did not know how much of his words were credible, but she knew that if she could find Bai Ming, as the male protagonist of the novel, he could probably make the other side temporarily cease hostilities.
Exhaling, Su Jiu continued to add, “Your Majesty, you should have informants on the other side, right? You should also know that a human named Saint Emperor has appeared in the Ancient Imperial Capital on the other side. The people there respect him greatly, and even Princess Hannah trusts him very much.”
Anna looked at her father, also becoming nervous, and lightly tugged at the corner of her skirt, not knowing if Su Jiu’s answer would satisfy her father.
“That is indeed the case…”
The Snow Empress nodded. He was naturally a sensible person and quickly understood Su Jiu’s meaning after she finished speaking. He then put down his arms, straightened up slightly, and chuckled,
“If you know that Saint Emperor and can make him cease hostilities, after you have been selected as the National Master, and the Elder of the Tenth Clan gives me support similar to the opposite side, I can consider stopping my side from attacking the other.”
The Snow Empress’s attitude was actually quite clear: he needed Su Jiu to fulfill two requirements, and then he would consider a ceasefire – repelling external threats and pacifying internal matters. Repelling external threats corresponded to making the other side cease hostilities first, and pacifying internal matters meant becoming the National Master first and eliminating foreign interference.
+$⒍8玖V芭@令思溜污 Actually, his attitude was a result of Su Jiu, this butterfly of destiny, flapping her wings. In the original novel, Aisha and Old Herber were likely accidentally killed, which led to the breakdown of negotiations between humans and Snow Demons.
This factor, if it occurred, would very likely lead humans to lean more towards the conservative faction of the Third Princess, rather than supporting the Grand Prince with alchemy technology and materials as they did now.
“Precisely, that Saint Emperor is a friend whom I know relatively well. If the request is reasonable, he will surely act.”
Hearing the other party’s relaxed tone, Su Jiu’s heart steadied, and a smile appeared on her face. Anna next to her exhaled a sigh of relief onto her forehead.
The Snow Empress glanced at his daughter, chuckled, and then smiled at Su Jiu, saying, “That’s good. Your test is considered passed for now, but I wonder what the last reason is?”
“There is one more reason…”
Su Jiu fell silent for a moment. This last reason was personal.
“I hope you will look at this, and truly understand the cruelty of war from the perspective of an ordinary person.”
While silent, she took out her phone, flipped through the content of “Land of Freedom” that she had downloaded earlier, translated it into Bear Language with one click, stepped forward, and handed it over.
Under their gazes, the Snow Empress took the phone with some curiosity, his eyes scanned the characters on it, and he was stunned for a moment, then stretched his hand towards Anna.
鸸诌OG捂彡坝qiI (3) “I want to see too.”
The latter understood, pouted, and handed over her glasses, then went behind the Snow Empress.
After putting on her nearsighted glasses, the Snow Empress, helpless at her daughter’s actions, squatted down, and they looked at it together.
His gaze lingered for a moment on the writer, then he slightly raised his head and glanced at Su Jiu with surprise, before continuing to read.
Time passed little by little. Only faint music could be heard in the pathways of the entire garden. The burly man, having nothing to do, stepped forward, scratched his head, and whispered to Su Jiu, who was standing in place:
“Listening to what you said, Old Bear thinks you’re a good person, and Old Bear shouldn’t have attacked you… It was mainly because we needed to block one of the race leaders outside. Their contact with the Ice Sky Vulture was also arranged by His Majesty.”
“Attacked me… Are you the Snow Brown Bear guarding the gate?”
Su Jiu’s gaze swept over the strong, somewhat honest middle-aged man. If she had to ask who she remembered the most, it would naturally be Ah Hu. These people were straightforward, even if they had bad intentions, they were also like this.
However, someone actually went to find Lin specifically? They would probably be disappointed. Lin had probably already escaped to who knows where. The only one there was—a Stronger of the same level as Old Man, that old lady.
Those demons were probably in great danger.
“Uh… Sorry.” The middle-aged man nodded sheepishly, not knowing how to apologize, so he could only lower his head sullenly. He was just a simple bear who only understood orders.
“It’s alright, there’s an old saying in Dragon Country, ‘When the old man loses his horse, who knows if it’s a blessing or a curse?’ If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t know when I would have arrived at the Imperial Capital.”
Waving her hand, Su Jiu didn’t care much about these things and replied with a rather nonchalant expression.
After receiving Su Jiu’s forgiveness, the simple-minded bear uncle smiled like a child, then secretly glanced at the Snow Empress. Seeing that he wasn’t paying attention, he smiled sheepishly and said, “After Old Bear finishes dealing with those forces preparing to return from the west, I’ll definitely treat you to specially brewed honey.”
“No need…” Su Jiu said with a smile, “Those leaders who went west will most likely be arrested by the Bear Country Inspector-General ambushing there. Afterward, if they confess, the Snow Empress will probably just need to explain their relationship with them.”
“Inspector-General?? That’s a big shot close to the Walker level. How did you know…”
As the simple-minded bear uncle spoke, he felt a chill down his spine. He looked at Su Jiu again, and the smile on her face now seemed unfathomable to him. He then smiled sheepishly again.
He was just a bear, and knowing too much was useless.
“Alas, it is as the saying goes, the people suffer when the country flourishes, and the people suffer when it perishes…”
As the two whispered, the Snow Empress’s long sigh faintly echoed in the garden with light music, carrying a hint of regret.
“In the book, I am a traveler, but more so the leader of Aers. They guard the war, it is a helpless move, but how could I have wanted to start this war?”
Su Jiu looked over and saw the Snow Empress, wearing glasses, looking towards the distant sky as if seeing the world for the first time, his voice carrying a strong determination:
“They all say that my third sister should become the Empress according to the will, but this is based solely on the word of the conservative Elder of the Tenth Clan. The throne is not my desire, but if we continue to close the country…”
“Within a hundred years, not only will the population of the Snow Demon Clan drop to the same level as the Frost Ghosts, but they may also have their national gates breached by other increasingly powerful demon races and be at their mercy.”
After saying that, he looked at Su Jiu with a smile and said softly,
“Test, full marks.”
