Chapter 723: The Surrender

“How was it?” the empress asked Ren Baqian as soon as he came in.

However, she could tell the result from the look on his face.

“That animal is rather unyielding. I spent the whole afternoon roasting a bird in front of it, but it ignored me!” Ren Baqian said.

Still, on second thought, Ren Baqian was responsible for the deaths of all the crow general’s owners and partners with the crow general being the only one to escape. Just now, it had been beaten half to death, and even though it was an animal, it still had pride!

Furthermore, it was a Cardinal Heaven level animal!

“Might as well kill it!” The empress didn’t care since having one more or one less Cardinal Heaven expert didn’t matter to her.

Anyone who could hold a position in the imperial court was at least at the Cardinal Heaven level.

She only relented because Ren Baqian wanted to subdue it.

In fact, it was better not to subdue it as she could get a first-class meal this way.

“I will try again tomorrow! Just before I left, I warned it that it would face the same fate as the other two birds if it didn’t yield. I will strip off its feathers, cut it into eight pieces, and each part will be separately barbequed, braised, steamed, or stewed…”

The empress couldn’t help but give him a spooky look. This matter wasn’t being handled incorrectly, but his words made her uncomfortable.

Early the next morning, Ren Baqian arranged for two big birds to be brought along with him to the location where the crow general was kept.

However, the crow general gave him a murderous look!

He didn’t even ask it whether it wanted to surrender, so how was he going to know what its decision was?

“Don’t look at me that way. Heaven is virtuous, and all living things are equal. Although you are an animal, you are still a living thing, which was why I asked the empress to temporarily preserve your life. However, I can only do this for one day! If you do not surrender by today, you will end up like this unfortunate bird in my hand!” Ren Baqian burned off the feathers of that bird as he tried to persuade the crow general with unconvincing words.

The look of the crow general made Ren Baqian feel like he had underestimated the whole situation.

This crow general wasn’t going to be easily persuaded.

If it still didn’t relent at the end of the day after seeing other birds being slaughtered, then it would be added to the empress’s meal.

The empress had been eyeing this bird for a long time anyway.

The prone crow general was so angry that the sac at its neck bulged out.

This sac was in its gullet and used for storing food. When empty, it normally didn’t bulge, but when it was full of food, it became quite big. When expanded, the gaps between the feathers would be exposed.

At present, the sac seemed to be filled with air and bulged out.

Even the metallic feathers couldn’t cover the gaps as the red skin underneath was exposed.

“Look, this is the neck. It can be roasted, it can be smoked after marinating, or it can be chopped into pieces and stir-fried. Even stewing it will make a delicious dish. After all, the neck of a bird is flexible and the meat tender!” Ren Baqian neatly cut off the neck as he spoke leisurely.

He dealt with the neck, the head, the body, the wings, and the drumsticks as he commented.

The crow general couldn’t move and could only listen to him while feeling angry and shivering.

Would it also end up being chopped into pieces and eaten?

This damn b*stard—I’m thinking of surrendering, but why aren’t you asking me?

After being seriously injured by that punch yesterday, it had been thrown here. After one day, its injuries weren’t getting better, but were getting worse.

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It was wondering whether it would die in this grievous way.

Ren Baqian spent the whole morning cooking more than ten dishes and sighed when it still looked at him with murderous eyes.

Sitting cross-legged beside the bird, he asked, “I’m asking you once again, do you want to surrender? If not, you will be dinner tonight. If you surrender, you will have a peaceful life serving as a mount…”

The crow general almost shed tears when it finally heard what it wanted to hear.

He realized for the first time that surrendering wasn’t that easy!

This b*stard cooked food in front of it for two days before finally asking the question!

It was afraid of being misunderstood and wanted to nod its head wildly, but its strength was dissipating after one night, so it could only move its head slightly to signify a nod.

“Are you nodding or shaking your head?” Ren Baqian was pleasantly surprised to see the giant immobile bird moving its head.

It didn’t respond at all the previous day, but was finally willing to move a bit now.

“If you are surrendering, move your head once,” Ren Baqian added.

The giant bird moved again slightly.

This made Ren Baqian happy as he hadn’t expected this defiant bird to surrender.

Was this a ruse?

It was unlikely for an animal to surrender first and then rebel later when it recovered.

“Do you really surrender?” Ren Baqian inquired.

It moved slightly a few times, seemed to be completely exhausted, and didn’t even have the strength to be angry.

It finally squeezed out some internal energy and nodded its head one more time.

It had surrendered! Really surrendered! Could he stop asking and treat its injury?

Ren Baqian observed it for half a day as if trying to figure out what it was planning.

Although he couldn’t see whether it harbored any funny ideas, he finally discovered that its eyes were dim, its breathing was shallow, and it wasn’t far from death.

He quickly got someone to treat the bird in order to prevent it from dying and rushed back excitedly to see the empress.

All in all, the giant bird they captured was a good and capable fighter as well as a very good mount.

“Your Majesty!” Ren Baqian saw a radio set in front of the empress, and the empress seemed to be in deep thought.

“Tell me later!” The empress waved her hands and didn’t even turn to face him.

She tapped the table twice with her finger and said through the radio set, “Great Elder, what do you say?”

“The words of Lin Mengsheng should be true. The decision still depends on the empress. Based on my point of view, the Yun Nation will certainly perish, but Dayao doesn’t have that many officials. We will need to break the rules by promoting lower officials and can only proceed step by step.

According to him, these people can be called upon in the future. These people surrendered to Dayao voluntarily and are unlikely to rebel. Even if they were to rebel, they can’t cause much impact. Furthermore, they are warlords and are a good choice for controlling these people from the Yun Nation.

With these people leading the way, Commander Zi can most likely bring the Yun Emperor under the subjugation of Your Majesty before your wedding and add extra joy to it.” The voice of Great Elder Shi Qing was heard from the radio set.

The empress nodded and gave a command, “Zi Donglai!”

“At your command!” A cold voice was heard coming from the radio.

“Accede to their request! As long as they abide by the laws of Dayao and obey my orders, they can continue in their positions. If they try to resort to any tricks, ask them whether they can withstand my fury.”