"What? You want our entire Yan Kingdom?"
Although the Yan people had already known that Lin Tian intended to attack Yan before, they understood that he might go all out, reach the Yan capital, and then conquer the entire Yan Kingdom. This was why everyone in Yan was in a state of panic.
However, the Yan envoy had not expected that even after they had presented the head of Prince Dan of Yan as a sign of great sincerity, Lin Tian would still want to conquer their entire Yan Kingdom. Upon hearing this, the Yan envoy was terrified.
"How, how can you do this? Are you really unwilling to let our Yan Kingdom go?"
"Your Yan Kingdom first attacked our Qin Kingdom, wanting to take advantage of the opportunity to occupy our Yanmen!"
"And not long ago, you attempted to assassinate our Great Qin King!"
"Such heinous acts, and you say we are unwilling to let you go!"
"I think you are trying to put up a virtuous facade after being a prostitute!"
"Go back and tell your King of Yan to wash his neck and await me to take his head!!"
With that, Lin Tian waved his hand and had the Yan envoy dragged away, not giving him any further chance to speak nonsense.
Meanwhile, King Xi of Yan was anxiously awaiting the return of his envoy. He wanted to know if Qin had accepted their sincerity and if they had bought Yan a sliver of hope for survival. However, upon seeing their envoy, he noticed that the envoy was dejected and unwell. This made King Xi of Yan very uneasy. Still, he spoke and asked:
"How was it? Did Qin accept our negotiations?"
"Qin, Qin...!"
This matter was not only of concern to King Xi of Yan but also to the officials of Yan. Therefore, every single one of these ministers looked at their envoy with expectant eyes, hoping for good news. However, although the envoy brought news, it was not the news they wanted.
"Qin's Lin Tian said that the head of Prince Dan was not what he wanted, and he did not recognize this sincerity at all!"
"He wants... he wants our entire Yan Kingdom!!"
"What? How can he be so greedy!!"
Demanding the entire Yan Kingdom at the outset was clearly unacceptable to the King of Yan and the Yan ministers. If Yan were gone, what would he be as the King of Yan? Would the Yan ministers still enjoy their noble privileges? With this thought, everyone cursed Lin Tian. They even believed Lin Tian's demands were excessive.
However, the envoy had not finished speaking.
"Qin's Lin Tian also said that if we surrender directly, he might spare our lives and let us live!"
"If we do not surrender, he will exterminate all the nobles of our Yan Kingdom!!"
"Exterminate all the nobles of our Yan Kingdom? Doesn't that mean he wants all of us to die?"
The officials of Yan were representatives of Yan's nobility. When Lin Tian said he would exterminate all the nobles, it clearly meant he had no intention of sparing them. This was clearly unacceptable to the nobles of Yan. Their noble pride would not allow them to suffer such humiliation. But thinking of the power of Lin Tian and his army, many fell silent. Lin Tian's might was beyond their resistance. Even with fifteen thousand troops gathered at the Yan capital, they lacked confidence in resisting Lin Tian's army. Yet, surrendering so easily was even more unacceptable to them. Therefore, they all turned their gaze to King Xi of Yan. They needed a backbone to make all the decisions for them.
King Xi of Yan's expression was also grim. As the King of Yan, he naturally did not want to be a defeated monarch. Similarly, he did not want to die. It seemed there was no other path before him. Either surrender and live a life of humiliation as a defeated monarch, or fight against Lin Tian's army, take a gamble, perhaps survive, or perhaps die on the battlefield. This choice was too difficult for King Xi of Yan. He did not reply immediately, but after a whole night of deliberation, he made up his mind.
"Let's take a gamble. If we gamble, perhaps there's a chance to defeat Qin's Lin Tian. As long as we defeat Lin Tian and his army, the crisis of our Yan Kingdom will naturally be resolved!"
"Issue an order and inform the people that Qin is enraged by the assassination attempt on their king, and after breaking through the city, they will exterminate all the people of Yan. Let all the people of Yan take up arms and resist the Qin army!"
Lin Tian had not said he would attack the Yan populace, but the King of Yan, to garner more support, to involve more people in the war, and to strengthen his army's power, did not hesitate to deceive the people of Yan. It had to be said that this method was quite effective.
When the common people heard that Lin Tian intended to exterminate Yan, many of them became worried.
"Qin actually wants to exterminate us? Doesn't that mean if they break through the city, we will all die?"
"I heard before that Qin recorded military achievements by counting heads. Once they capture our city, they might use our heads as military merits!"
"Ah! In that case, won't all of us have no way out?"
"No, we cannot let the Qin army break through. We must fight for a way to survive!!"
With such thoughts, many soldiers joined the defense of the city. The original fifteen thousand strong defending army suddenly expanded to over twenty thousand. Hearing the number of defenders, King Xi of Yan couldn't help but smile. The more people defending the city, the safer their Yan capital would be. Especially hearing that so many commoners stood by him, King Xi of Yan felt even more confident.
Lin Tian, upon hearing this situation, was also filled with surprise.
"The common people have gone to the city walls to help them defend? Is Yan so popular among its people?"
"According to our intelligence, it's not because Yan is popular. It's because the King of Yan said that if we break through the Yan capital, we will exterminate all the people of Yan in anger."
"Therefore, one and all, they want to defend the Yan capital and don't want to die!!"
Hearing this, many Qin generals were dumbfounded. They hadn't expected the King of Yan to deceive the populace with such a lie, using their weaknesses to force the less combat-capable commoners to defend the city together. This action even made Lin Tian laugh in anger.
"I have seen shameless people, but I have never seen such a thick-skinned individual!"
"However, if he dares to commit such a shameless act, he will surely suffer the consequences and pay the price for his ignoble actions!!"
"Issue the order, the army advances, surround the Yan capital!!"
The situation had developed to this point, and Lin Tian naturally had to attack the Yan capital. However, upon arriving at the Yan capital, they did not attack immediately but surrounded it without engaging. Instead, they had people shout outside the city gate, inciting the people's hearts. If they could make the populace abandon the fight, if they could make some soldiers lay down their arms, then the difficulty for the Qin army to conquer the Yan capital would be greatly reduced.
...