Two days later, in Honglu Temple…
"The captives, that’s the first thing we need to take care of." The rashness displayed by Xin Qiwu during the negotiations between the two countries had already disappeared. The shaoqing said emotionlessly, "Per His Majesty’s orders, we must retrieve our captured soldiers at all cost. The rest are minor things. Why don’t we concede on this point?"
Below, another official answered him, "The men from Northern Qi and its tribute nations that we’ve captured number over twenty-four hundred in total, while about a thousand of our men are being held captive. Going with His Majesty’s order, we can get all our soldiers back, even if we trade two soldiers for one.