CH 46.2
Chapter 46.2 – Rong State’s Envoys (2)
It was a thirteen or fourteen years old boy dressed in a dark blue Hufu with delicate patterns and silver thread outlining its edge. His belt was also adorned with golden ornaments – he was clearly dressed in better clothes than the rest of the envoys.
In addition, although he had the tall nose and deep eyes as his clansmen, his eyebrows were not as rough as them. Instead, he had a bit of the elegance unique to the people of the central plains – at first glance, he looked exceptionally good looking.
This young nobleman followed the envoys into the hall. Even though he was not an envoy, he still attracted many people’s attention.
Standing beside Lu Qipei was a Director from the Ministry of Rites. He looked at the young nobleman who calmly walked into the hall, then looked at Lu Qipei next to him and suddenly whispered, “When I received these envoys from Rong State, I felt that the young boy looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I had seen him before. It turns out that he looks somewhat similar to Lord Lu.”
Lu Qipei had only been promoted for half a month, and the big court meeting was only held once every five days. Although the two of them stood next to each other during the court meeting, they belonged to different departments, and had only met a few times. It was normal for him to find that face familiar, but also normal for him to not remember where he had seen them.
Lu Qipei’s heart skipped a beat when she heard what he said, but she didn’t show anything on her face. “Really? It seems that this Lu’s face is pretty common.”
The people who heard the two’s conversation froze and looked at Lu Qipei while speechless – this youth had a jade-like face, beautiful like irises and orchids. Even Princess Qi Yang was rumored to have been bewitched by this Lord Director, and in exchange her career was soaring now. Such a person was now saying that she had a common face, what would other people feel!?
A fifth-grade official position was not high, and some of the adults around Lu Qipei had not yet become old men with skin like orange peel. At that moment, someone could not help but touch his own face, then looked at her jade-like face. His eyes could only become more resentful.
The court meeting was still going on, and what happened in that corner of the hall’s gate did not affect the rest of the attendees.
In the center of the hall, the envoys from Rong State had just bowed and gave their salute. The lead envoy was neither humble nor overbearing, and had resubmitted their letter of credence.
The Emperor sat on his high seat on the hall, twelve tassels hanging down in front of him, covering most of his face. After receiving the letter of credence from Zhang Jian, he took a glance at them. When you take out the irrelevant diplomatic wordings, the contents of the letter of credence were basically the same as the one sent before.
The only difference was that there was no longer any request for a marriage alliance; instead, they directly asked for benefits.
The two countries would enter a so-called brotherly alliance, and they would enter a ceasefire. The condition was that Liang State would send Rong State 100,000 taels and 200,000 pieces of silk every year, and open the trade for salt and iron. In exchange, the Rong State would send 300 horses and 1,000 cattle every year. It was hard to say what kind of horse it would be, but no matter how you looked at it, the terms weren’t equal.
The two sides were currently at war; Liang State had not lost the momentum, and Rong State offered such terms. Wasn’t this too deluded? And opening trade, sending money and allowing salt and iron to flow into Rong State; what was this if not giving resources to the enemy?
The Emperor was furious after reading the letter of credence. Although the court officials below couldn’t see his face, they could see the tassels of the royal crown swaying, showing that the Emperor was unhappy. After a while, they heard the Emperor say with a deep voice, “Rong State is very good at calculations, I don’t know how you got the courage to send this letter.”
The Rong State envoys didn’t seem surprised by the Emperor’s reaction, and did not comment on his words. He gave a slight bow and replied, “The two countries becoming friends and suspending military activities would bring endless benefits. What does Your Majesty think?”
The words were polite, but if you considered it carefully, wasn’t this threatening to go to war?
The Emperor almost laughed in anger. He threw the letter of credence to the side, which was caught by Zhang Jian. “Where do you think this is?”
The envoy from Rong State was still calm. He even looked up at the Emperor and said, “I heard that even if two countries went to war, they would not kill the envoys.”
These words finally made things clear. The originally quiet courtroom was suddenly filled with low noise. The reason was clear – this was the two sides’ first exchange since the founding of Rong State. They were confident in themselves and not afraid to go to war, but the significance of war had changed now.
A war that started at the founding of Rong State would set the tone for the two countries’ relationship for the next century.
It wasn’t difficult to fight a war, but no one wanted to see a prolonged war. The court officials finally couldn’t sit still – after the buzzing noise, they were about to say something when they heard the Emperor say, “You have guts.”
As soon as those words came out, the crowd calmed down again. Rong State’s envoy made a slight bow, as if he was being praised.
The Emperor did not address him any further, and sent them away with a few words. Obviously, he did not plan to discuss the letter of credence with him right away. The Rong State’s envoy did not care. Other than the slightly tough attitude, etiquette was still being observed.
When the group withdrew, whether intentionally or not, the young nobleman glanced at Lu Qipei.
Lu Qipei frowned and didn’t look back at him. After they left, the people in the hall started talking, so she asked the Ministry of Rites official next to her, “Lord Director, do you know what is the name of that young boy?”
The Ministry of Rites Director was listening to the important ministers’ discussion and replied casually, “It seems that he is called Xie Hongyi.”
Xie was indeed a Han surname. But did it have anything to do with her?
Lu Qipei was pondering about it when she saw the Ministry of Rites Director suddenly turn around and ask her, “Does Lord Lu think that the attitude of those Rong State envoys today is a little strange?”
He didn’t ask about the young boy. After all, it was common for people to have some similarities, and it wasn’t a big deal that Lu Qipei asked a question out of curiosity.
Lu Qipei didn’t even think when she heard the question; she frowned and replied, “Their attitude is not sincere, as if they had nothing to fear.”
It was a thirteen or fourteen years old boy dressed in a dark blue Hufu with delicate patterns and silver thread outlining its edge. His belt was also adorned with golden ornaments – he was clearly dressed in better clothes than the rest of the envoys.
In addition, although he had the tall nose and deep eyes as his clansmen, his eyebrows were not as rough as them. Instead, he had a bit of the elegance unique to the people of the central plains – at first glance, he looked exceptionally good looking.
This young nobleman followed the envoys into the hall. Even though he was not an envoy, he still attracted many people’s attention.
Standing beside Lu Qipei was a Director from the Ministry of Rites. He looked at the young nobleman who calmly walked into the hall, then looked at Lu Qipei next to him and suddenly whispered, “When I received these envoys from Rong State, I felt that the young boy looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I had seen him before. It turns out that he looks somewhat similar to Lord Lu.”
Lu Qipei had only been promoted for half a month, and the big court meeting was only held once every five days. Although the two of them stood next to each other during the court meeting, they belonged to different departments, and had only met a few times. It was normal for him to find that face familiar, but also normal for him to not remember where he had seen them.
Lu Qipei’s heart skipped a beat when she heard what he said, but she didn’t show anything on her face. “Really? It seems that this Lu’s face is pretty common.”
The people who heard the two’s conversation froze and looked at Lu Qipei while speechless – this youth had a jade-like face, beautiful like irises and orchids. Even Princess Qi Yang was rumored to have been bewitched by this Lord Director, and in exchange her career was soaring now. Such a person was now saying that she had a common face, what would other people feel!?
A fifth-grade official position was not high, and some of the adults around Lu Qipei had not yet become old men with skin like orange peel. At that moment, someone could not help but touch his own face, then looked at her jade-like face. His eyes could only become more resentful.
The court meeting was still going on, and what happened in that corner of the hall’s gate did not affect the rest of the attendees.
In the center of the hall, the envoys from Rong State had just bowed and gave their salute. The lead envoy was neither humble nor overbearing, and had resubmitted their letter of credence.
The Emperor sat on his high seat on the hall, twelve tassels hanging down in front of him, covering most of his face. After receiving the letter of credence from Zhang Jian, he took a glance at them. When you take out the irrelevant diplomatic wordings, the contents of the letter of credence were basically the same as the one sent before.
The only difference was that there was no longer any request for a marriage alliance; instead, they directly asked for benefits.
The two countries would enter a so-called brotherly alliance, and they would enter a ceasefire. The condition was that Liang State would send Rong State 100,000 taels and 200,000 pieces of silk every year, and open the trade for salt and iron. In exchange, the Rong State would send 300 horses and 1,000 cattle every year. It was hard to say what kind of horse it would be, but no matter how you looked at it, the terms weren’t equal.
The two sides were currently at war; Liang State had not lost the momentum, and Rong State offered such terms. Wasn’t this too deluded? And opening trade, sending money and allowing salt and iron to flow into Rong State; what was this if not giving resources to the enemy?
The Emperor was furious after reading the letter of credence. Although the court officials below couldn’t see his face, they could see the tassels of the royal crown swaying, showing that the Emperor was unhappy. After a while, they heard the Emperor say with a deep voice, “Rong State is very good at calculations, I don’t know how you got the courage to send this letter.”
The Rong State envoys didn’t seem surprised by the Emperor’s reaction, and did not comment on his words. He gave a slight bow and replied, “The two countries becoming friends and suspending military activities would bring endless benefits. What does Your Majesty think?”
The words were polite, but if you considered it carefully, wasn’t this threatening to go to war?
The Emperor almost laughed in anger. He threw the letter of credence to the side, which was caught by Zhang Jian. “Where do you think this is?”
The envoy from Rong State was still calm. He even looked up at the Emperor and said, “I heard that even if two countries went to war, they would not kill the envoys.”
These words finally made things clear. The originally quiet courtroom was suddenly filled with low noise. The reason was clear – this was the two sides’ first exchange since the founding of Rong State. They were confident in themselves and not afraid to go to war, but the significance of war had changed now.
A war that started at the founding of Rong State would set the tone for the two countries’ relationship for the next century.
It wasn’t difficult to fight a war, but no one wanted to see a prolonged war. The court officials finally couldn’t sit still – after the buzzing noise, they were about to say something when they heard the Emperor say, “You have guts.”
As soon as those words came out, the crowd calmed down again. Rong State’s envoy made a slight bow, as if he was being praised.
The Emperor did not address him any further, and sent them away with a few words. Obviously, he did not plan to discuss the letter of credence with him right away. The Rong State’s envoy did not care. Other than the slightly tough attitude, etiquette was still being observed.
When the group withdrew, whether intentionally or not, the young nobleman glanced at Lu Qipei.
Lu Qipei frowned and didn’t look back at him. After they left, the people in the hall started talking, so she asked the Ministry of Rites official next to her, “Lord Director, do you know what is the name of that young boy?”
The Ministry of Rites Director was listening to the important ministers’ discussion and replied casually, “It seems that he is called Xie Hongyi.”
Xie was indeed a Han surname. But did it have anything to do with her?
Lu Qipei was pondering about it when she saw the Ministry of Rites Director suddenly turn around and ask her, “Does Lord Lu think that the attitude of those Rong State envoys today is a little strange?”
He didn’t ask about the young boy. After all, it was common for people to have some similarities, and it wasn’t a big deal that Lu Qipei asked a question out of curiosity.
Lu Qipei didn’t even think when she heard the question; she frowned and replied, “Their attitude is not sincere, as if they had nothing to fear.”
RECENTLY UPDATES
Action
Josei
Action
Action
Action
Fantasy
Action
Fantasy