Playing the Victim

The strength of the Kingdom of Qin grew day by day. Now, even if Jin and Chu joined forces, Qin would have nothing to fear.

For the past three years, Emperor Leonard Li and Gregory Gu Jr. had been kept in the dark by their own subordinates, completely oblivious to the sweeping changes in the Kingdom of Qin.

“Chancellor Evans, how should we report this year's autumn harvest to Jin and Chu?” one of her subordinates asked.

Chancellor Evans smiled slightly, gazing at the bountiful lands. “Just tell them that Qin was struck by a locust plague this year, our grain harvest was cut in half, famine is everywhere, and we've had several uprisings. The royal palace is barely holding on thanks to the Hayes Regiment and the Firestorm Battalion. Remember, make us sound extra pitiful—sell the misery, got it?”

Her subordinate stifled a laugh, nodding enthusiastically.

For the past three years, Chancellor Evans's sole diplomatic tactic has been to play the pity card.

Emperor Leonard Li, look how miserable we are—let's just skip the taxes this year, shall we?

And the annual tribute—can we skip that too?

Anyway, we're broke and starving—totally destitute! You won't get a single coin from us!

Chancellor Evans is now a master at selling misery—Qin won't pay a single cent in tribute, no matter what!