CH 49.1
Chapter 49.1 – He’s Here For Me (1)
The moment she met Xie Hongyi’s provocative gaze, Lu Qipei felt as if he had come here for her. Even this so-called competition was probably also for her.
It wasn’t that Lu Qipei thought too highly of herself, but this youth’s emotion was barely hidden. He seemed to be very hostile and provocative towards her. But it wasn’t like with Lu Qicheng, who was clearly full of malice.
It was a strange and more complex emotion. Lu Qipei lowered her gaze and thought more about it.
The hall gradually became noisy as the people who were originally sitting upright began discussing the competition with those to their left and right.
Most people felt that this proposal was a joke, and even suspected that the Rong State’s lead envoy wasn’t actually qualified to change the terms inside the letter of credence. Or perhaps the concessions he was allowed to make was very limited, and the same result could be obtained through their initial negotiation, so there was no need for him to do anything extra…
Everyone gradually started discussing the matter. Although most people that his proposal for a competition was unreliable, surprisingly, few people actually opposed it. Perhaps they were irritated by the Rong people’s rudeness – on what basis did they feel so superior anyways!?
Right now, many of the people there really wanted to compete with them and beat them overwhelmingly, so they can send them back to Rong State in disgrace.
After the discussions went on for a while, someone asked, “The envoy talked about a competition, but what will it be about? Don’t say that it’s wrestling again. We’re all scholars here, we’re no match for you there.”
It’s not like there were no military officers in the banquet hall, but right now they just kept quiet, pretending as if they weren’t there.
Neither the Crown Prince nor the Emperor stopped them; they were just watching the development with a cold gaze.
The chief envoy smiled when he heard that. He lowered his head and glanced at they youth who was sitting upright, then said, “Of course it won’t be wrestling. That kind of thing is just for fun, it isn’t elegant or masterful.” After that, he continued, “We have heard that Liang State is a great country, a country of gentlemen. Since we are going to complete, it’s not good to do it with the lesser arts. Why don’t we compete in the Six Arts of the Gentlemen?”
The Six Arts of the Gentlemen – Rites, Music, Archery, Equestrianism, Calligraphy and Mathematics – was the basis of the ancient literati. Then again, ever since the imperial examination was established, the Six Arts had gradually declined since most of the exam content did not include them. There were few experts left other than those with genuine backgrounds.
As soon as Rong State’s chief envoy said this, the hall went into an uproar. Obviously, no one expected him to make such a proposal. Then, they found it hard to hold back their anger – all the officials there felt that the Rong State envoy had really overestimated themselves by asking to compete in the Six Arts!
The hall became noisy, and the Emperor finally spoke to suppress the noise. “This competition, what will you do if you win? What will you do if you lose?”
Both Qi Yang and Lu Qipei looked at the Emperor on the central seat with surprise. They didn’t expect him to respond to such a childish proposal. But on second thought, it didn’t seem like there was any disadvantage to agreeing to it. After all, all the people of Liang currently present were very confident on themselves.
They were indeed full of confidence. It had only been less than a year since Rong State was founded. Before that, the barbarians only knew how to herd cattle and plunder others – even among their nobles, how many of them had actually studied books? Don’t even mention the Six Arts; in the eyes of many people in Liang State, these barbarians were almost the same as blood-drinking savages. It would be a joke to compete in Six Arts with them!
After the Emperor spoke, the hall momentarily became quiet. Dozens of pairs of eyes stared at Rong State’s lead envoy, waiting for his answer.
The lead envoy was not in a hurry; he took out another letter from his chest and handed it over. “We will use this as the bet. What does Your Majesty think?”
The Emperor took the letter from Zhang Jiang and read it carefully. This time, the terms for both sides were much more equal. For example, the amount money and silk had been greatly reduced, but the number of horses and cattle that Rong State would send in return remained unchanged. Another example was that trade would still be opened, but iron was removed from the list of goods, and the emphasis was shifted to tea, salt and other things… In short, it looked much more sincere than before.
If Rong State had given such a letter of credence from the start, the Emperor might not hesitate long before deciding to establish a truce and alliance between the two countries. But this letter was taken out under such circumstances, making the Emperor reconsider it a little bit more.
But even though he had his doubts and wanted to reconsider, under the gaze of everyone in the hall, he still nodded quickly and said, “Not bad. Let’s use this as the bet then.”
This was the terms if they won. As for what would happen if Liang lost, Rong State’s lead envoy did not mention it, and the Emperor did not even consider the possibility. The two sides seemed to have reached an agreement, so the next step was the question of who would be the candidates for the competition.
Rong State’s lead envoy made a request, “Liang is a big country with many talents, meanwhile there’s only a dozen of us envoys. I think Your Majesty would not want to bear the reputation of bullying the few, so why don’t we choose the candidates for this competition from those currently in this hall?”
When Lu Qipei heard this, she only said “as expected” in her heart.
Lu Qipei had already guessed that the foreigner youth intended to target her, but she didn’t expect his provocation to be so direct. Seeing that the crowd didn’t mention her name in the selection, Xie Hongyi stood up and directly asked to compete with her.
The youth was dressed luxuriously and had an unruly demeanor. He looked more dignified than the lead envoy and was secretly the focus of everyone’s attention. The moment he stood up, he immediately attracted everyone’s attention. And Lu Qipei who he named directly also attracted some attention.
Everyone looked at the opposite side, then at their own side. Suddenly, they all found that the two looked quite similar!
The moment she met Xie Hongyi’s provocative gaze, Lu Qipei felt as if he had come here for her. Even this so-called competition was probably also for her.
It wasn’t that Lu Qipei thought too highly of herself, but this youth’s emotion was barely hidden. He seemed to be very hostile and provocative towards her. But it wasn’t like with Lu Qicheng, who was clearly full of malice.
It was a strange and more complex emotion. Lu Qipei lowered her gaze and thought more about it.
The hall gradually became noisy as the people who were originally sitting upright began discussing the competition with those to their left and right.
Most people felt that this proposal was a joke, and even suspected that the Rong State’s lead envoy wasn’t actually qualified to change the terms inside the letter of credence. Or perhaps the concessions he was allowed to make was very limited, and the same result could be obtained through their initial negotiation, so there was no need for him to do anything extra…
Everyone gradually started discussing the matter. Although most people that his proposal for a competition was unreliable, surprisingly, few people actually opposed it. Perhaps they were irritated by the Rong people’s rudeness – on what basis did they feel so superior anyways!?
Right now, many of the people there really wanted to compete with them and beat them overwhelmingly, so they can send them back to Rong State in disgrace.
After the discussions went on for a while, someone asked, “The envoy talked about a competition, but what will it be about? Don’t say that it’s wrestling again. We’re all scholars here, we’re no match for you there.”
It’s not like there were no military officers in the banquet hall, but right now they just kept quiet, pretending as if they weren’t there.
Neither the Crown Prince nor the Emperor stopped them; they were just watching the development with a cold gaze.
The chief envoy smiled when he heard that. He lowered his head and glanced at they youth who was sitting upright, then said, “Of course it won’t be wrestling. That kind of thing is just for fun, it isn’t elegant or masterful.” After that, he continued, “We have heard that Liang State is a great country, a country of gentlemen. Since we are going to complete, it’s not good to do it with the lesser arts. Why don’t we compete in the Six Arts of the Gentlemen?”
The Six Arts of the Gentlemen – Rites, Music, Archery, Equestrianism, Calligraphy and Mathematics – was the basis of the ancient literati. Then again, ever since the imperial examination was established, the Six Arts had gradually declined since most of the exam content did not include them. There were few experts left other than those with genuine backgrounds.
As soon as Rong State’s chief envoy said this, the hall went into an uproar. Obviously, no one expected him to make such a proposal. Then, they found it hard to hold back their anger – all the officials there felt that the Rong State envoy had really overestimated themselves by asking to compete in the Six Arts!
The hall became noisy, and the Emperor finally spoke to suppress the noise. “This competition, what will you do if you win? What will you do if you lose?”
Both Qi Yang and Lu Qipei looked at the Emperor on the central seat with surprise. They didn’t expect him to respond to such a childish proposal. But on second thought, it didn’t seem like there was any disadvantage to agreeing to it. After all, all the people of Liang currently present were very confident on themselves.
They were indeed full of confidence. It had only been less than a year since Rong State was founded. Before that, the barbarians only knew how to herd cattle and plunder others – even among their nobles, how many of them had actually studied books? Don’t even mention the Six Arts; in the eyes of many people in Liang State, these barbarians were almost the same as blood-drinking savages. It would be a joke to compete in Six Arts with them!
After the Emperor spoke, the hall momentarily became quiet. Dozens of pairs of eyes stared at Rong State’s lead envoy, waiting for his answer.
The lead envoy was not in a hurry; he took out another letter from his chest and handed it over. “We will use this as the bet. What does Your Majesty think?”
The Emperor took the letter from Zhang Jiang and read it carefully. This time, the terms for both sides were much more equal. For example, the amount money and silk had been greatly reduced, but the number of horses and cattle that Rong State would send in return remained unchanged. Another example was that trade would still be opened, but iron was removed from the list of goods, and the emphasis was shifted to tea, salt and other things… In short, it looked much more sincere than before.
If Rong State had given such a letter of credence from the start, the Emperor might not hesitate long before deciding to establish a truce and alliance between the two countries. But this letter was taken out under such circumstances, making the Emperor reconsider it a little bit more.
But even though he had his doubts and wanted to reconsider, under the gaze of everyone in the hall, he still nodded quickly and said, “Not bad. Let’s use this as the bet then.”
This was the terms if they won. As for what would happen if Liang lost, Rong State’s lead envoy did not mention it, and the Emperor did not even consider the possibility. The two sides seemed to have reached an agreement, so the next step was the question of who would be the candidates for the competition.
Rong State’s lead envoy made a request, “Liang is a big country with many talents, meanwhile there’s only a dozen of us envoys. I think Your Majesty would not want to bear the reputation of bullying the few, so why don’t we choose the candidates for this competition from those currently in this hall?”
When Lu Qipei heard this, she only said “as expected” in her heart.
Lu Qipei had already guessed that the foreigner youth intended to target her, but she didn’t expect his provocation to be so direct. Seeing that the crowd didn’t mention her name in the selection, Xie Hongyi stood up and directly asked to compete with her.
The youth was dressed luxuriously and had an unruly demeanor. He looked more dignified than the lead envoy and was secretly the focus of everyone’s attention. The moment he stood up, he immediately attracted everyone’s attention. And Lu Qipei who he named directly also attracted some attention.
Everyone looked at the opposite side, then at their own side. Suddenly, they all found that the two looked quite similar!
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