When people were in Qin, they captured Zhao and questioned Qin.

Chapter 23 Friends

After Zhao Heng finished speaking, the room fell silent for a moment.

Ying Zheng's slightly gloomy face froze for a moment. He looked at Zhao Heng with some surprise, but did not say anything. He just kept stroking the bamboo slips of "Mozi" on the table.

His fingertips traced the edge of the scroll, but they couldn't calm his mind. The scroll, which had just captured his full attention, now seemed to have lost its weight.

Yan Dan was completely stunned.

He stared intently at Zhao Heng for a few moments, then suddenly stood up, took a half-step back, tucked his hands into his sleeves, bowed solemnly to Zhao Heng, and then said earnestly:

"Your words have truly made me ashamed. I am a few years older than you and I pride myself on having seen some of the ways of the world and read some poetry and political essays. Just now, I only weighed your actions in terms of profit and loss. Now I realize that my previous thoughts and considerations were ultimately shallow."

Ying Zheng nodded in agreement, clearly showing his approval.

Zhao Heng paused slightly, then bowed in return, saying, "Brother Dan, you flatter me. I was merely speaking casually and am unworthy of such praise."

"No,"

Yan Dan shook his head, then straightened up and looked at Zhao Heng: "This is not idle talk. Young Master Heng's words just now were full of allusions and made perfect sense. He must have had a good teacher guiding him day and night... I dare to ask who your teacher is? I admire him greatly."

Zhao Heng rose to return the greeting and said with a smile, "Brother Dan, you flatter me. My master prefers tranquility and has instructed me not to publicize his name. If fate allows and Brother Dan is also interested, I will certainly introduce you to him."

Yan Dan's face showed obvious regret. He sighed and sat down again on the mat, but his posture was much more upright than before. "It is truly a pity that I cannot pay my respects and seek your guidance from such a person immediately."

He shook his head as he spoke, but his gaze remained fixed on Zhao Heng, clearly regarding him as someone he needed to take seriously.

Ying Zheng remained silent, but his eyes glanced at Zhao Heng several times, a hint of sadness flashing across his face.

That teacher who could produce a student like Gongzi Heng must be an extraordinary one...

As he thought this, he unconsciously began to stroke the bamboo slips again.

After Yan Dan sat down, he looked at Zhao Heng, then at Ying Zheng, and after a moment of contemplation, suddenly asked, "What you just said, Lord Heng, mentioned Zheng and me together... Does this mean that you also consider me a friend?"

Zhao Heng simply smiled and retorted, "If I cannot become acquainted with someone like Gongzi Dan, so be it. But since we have, I am willing to treat him as a friend. Is it not that Brother Dan is unwilling?"

Yan Dan couldn't help but laugh loudly: "To be honest, in the past fourteen years, I have made many friends, but among my peers, I have never met anyone with such vision and magnanimity as you, sir. I only regret that I did not meet you sooner. It is my good fortune to be able to associate with you, sir."

He hesitated for a moment, his smile fading slightly, then suddenly became serious and said:

"However, I still have a question in my mind. I understand that Zheng is caught between the long-standing enemies of Qin and Zhao, and is 'trapped' in a difficult situation. But I am not talented, and am still the Crown Prince of Yan. Although Yan and Zhao are not on good terms, they are not mortal enemies. I am a hostage in Handan, and my food and clothing have never been lacking. King Zhao has also treated me with courtesy. Your words just now seem to have placed me among those who are 'trapped'..."

Yan Dan leaned forward slightly: "I am foolish and do not know where this 'trap' comes from. Please enlighten me, young master."

Ying Zheng also raised his head.

Today, it was as if a new world had been opened up to him. The conversation between Yan Dan and Zhao Heng, their discussions about the situation, people's hearts, and choices, were things he had never read in books, nor had his mother ever told him about.

Yan Dan's question at this moment piqued his curiosity again.

Zhao Heng met Yan Dan's gaze and pondered for a moment, then picked up the ceramic cup in front of him and slowly took a sip of water.

"Since Brother Dan has asked, I do have some vague guesses in my mind. However, without any evidence, and as a Zhao native and an outsider, it would be risky for me to speak rashly, regardless of whether it is right or wrong, to provoke the father and son of Yan and his ministers, and it would also easily lead Brother Dan to misunderstand my intentions."

He shook his head: "Therefore, it's better not to talk about it."

Ying Zheng was taken aback.

He frowned, looking at Zhao Heng with some confusion, then turned to look at Yan Dan. He didn't understand why Zhao Heng had chosen to stop abruptly at this point.

However, when he looked at Yan Dan, he found that the smile on the latter's face froze. Then he saw Yan Dan lower her gaze and look at the blurry reflection in the water cup on the table for a long time.

"Young master, there's no need to be so discreet."

After a long while, Yan Dan suddenly looked up with a bitter smile.

"Dan left the country at a young age, and four years have passed since then. Although he has the title of Crown Prince of Yan, the northern border between Yan and Zhao is not peaceful, and friction has been ongoing for years. Although the official letter sent to me mentions 'cultivating good relations,' Dan knows in his heart that Dan is actually a pawn to Yan... or at least a pawn that can be discarded at any time."

Ying Zheng was taken aback by these words.

Yan Dan paused, then spoke even more slowly: "My father has more than one son. I have been away from our homeland for years, while my brothers have grown up in the palace of Ji City, enjoying the company of our father. Each of them has their own talents. When I return to the country one day... I fear that everything will have changed. Even if I am the eldest son, the bond between father and son, and the affection between brothers, will likely have faded..."

Finally, he gave Ying Zheng and the other man a wry smile and sighed, "What Gongzi Heng just said about being 'trapped' is not something Dan is unaware of; he is merely deceiving himself."

Ying Zheng listened silently the whole time.

He truly hadn't expected that Yan Dan, usually so open-minded and generous, could be like this. He realized that beneath those cheerful laughs lay untold pain. He understood that the word "hostage" carried the same weight for both the Qin and Yan people, for children and teenagers alike.

Zhao Heng took in their reactions but didn't say anything to comfort them. He simply picked up his ceramic cup with both hands, looked at Ying Zheng, and then turned to Yan Dan.

"Since that's the case, the three of us are all people separated from our fathers, living in the same turbulent place as Handan—"

He paused, then raised the ceramic cup slightly higher.

"Today, would you be willing to use this as a basis to temporarily forget nationalities and identities, and become friends?"

Both of them were taken aback, and then the first to make a move was Ying Zheng.

Without even thinking, he solemnly picked up the ceramic cup in front of him, just like Zhao Heng, and looked straight at Zhao Heng. Something was flickering in Zhao Heng's dark eyes, which were always shrouded in gloom.

Yan Dan was taken aback when she saw Ying Zheng holding up the cup, and then hesitated.

He was older than both of them and had a wider network of connections in Handan, so his thoughts were naturally more complex than Ying Zheng's. Making friends was no small matter, especially given the special status of the three of them. Today, as they drank this cup of water…

but……

He looked at Ying Zheng's solemn profile, then met Zhao Heng's open and honest gaze. The youthful boldness and passion ultimately overwhelmed his cautious weighing of the pros and cons.

He laughed loudly.

After a few breaths, Yan Dan also picked up the pottery cup and held it in front of him, his mind made up.

"good!"

His voice was clear and bright, and his eyes regained their sparkle.

"Only today do I realize that it is truly my good fortune to have met you two amidst the predicament of Handan!"