Chapter 227: Be Cautious Enough and Don't Trust Anyone
The diplomatic corps continued on their journey.
It’s not far from Luoyan City to Southern Xinjiang.
However, in order to redeem King Si, Nan Xin ceded the three small cities close to Dongji to Dongji. The Han family is now stationed there to help Jun Chenyi manage these three cities.
We will soon arrive in Liangzhou, where the Han family army and Wanshe Valley are located.
Coming back here again and looking at the vast mountains in front of them, Deng Youning and Li Tianzhuo both felt a lot of emotion.
Liangcheng is where all their stories began.
The Han family’s general’s mansion was the former city lord’s mansion of Liangcheng.
Nanxin is different from Dongji. There is no so-called provincial government or county government in Nanxin. All affairs in a city are under the jurisdiction of the city.
Ever since the Dongji people occupied this place, the city lord took most of the people in the city to live in other cities in Nanxin.
Some Nanxin people who want to stay in the city must change their nationality and become Dongji people.
Almost all the people in these three cities migrated from Dongji.
In just two months, the Han army has managed these cities to become more and more like Dongji.
"The general's mansion is still under reconstruction. I am here on behalf of the old general to take Scholar Deng and the entire delegation to stay at the inn nearby."
When they were approaching the general's mansion, a servant who claimed to be from the Han family appeared and said he would take them to an inn to stay for a while.
Deng Yan'an was a little strange.
He had already communicated with his great-uncle, and there were indeed some parts of the General's Mansion that were under construction. After all, this was the former City Lord's Mansion, and the aesthetics and layout of the Nanxin people and the Dongji people were different in many areas.
Therefore, the Han family wanted to make some minor renovations to the mansion to make it more comfortable for them to live in.
"Then you lead the way."
He took out the Han family's badge, so Deng Yan'an didn't think much about it. This was his first time in Liangcheng, and if there was no one to lead the way, he would have to ask the people around him.
The servant bowed humbly and came to lead Deng Yan'an's horse.
The entire convoy followed them forward.
Deng Youning and Li Tianzhuo were sitting in a carriage, looking at the relatively prosperous street scene along the way.
The convoy stopped in front of a deserted inn.
The servant explained that the Han family specially booked the entire inn to make everyone live more comfortably.
After everyone followed him in, Deng Youning caught a glimpse of the servant and saw that he seemed to exchange glances with the innkeeper.
The boss warmly invited them upstairs and said that the room was ready.
The delegation took Si Wang upstairs to choose a room.
Deng Youning and Li Tianzhuo were strolling in and out of the inn, and several waiters from the inn were following them.
The backyard of the inn was filled with large wooden barrels. Deng Youning was curious and asked:
"What's in this? Open it and take a look."
The waiter opened one upon hearing the sound.
The aroma of wine mixed with the fragrance of flowers and fruits hits you in the face.
The wine inside was actually bright yellow.
Li Tianzhuo scooped a spoonful and put it to his nose to sniff. "This is Nanxin's specialty mango wine, made from mangoes."
"If I'm not mistaken, the other barrels are also filled with various fruit and flower wines."
"The temperature in Nanxin is relatively hot, and the flowers and fruits grow well. The fruits that the people cannot finish eating are used to make wine."
When he introduced it to Deng Youning, the gluttony seemed to crawl out of his tongue.
He hasn't drunk this wine since he left his hometown five years ago.
"Do you have rose wine?"
Li Tianzhuo took the initiative to ask.
"Yes, this is the bucket!"
The waiter seemed to have finally met someone who knew what was good, and he actively opened the wine lid for Li Tianzhuo.
Li Tianzhuo leaned over and sniffed, then said, "Give us a few more pots of these wines so that everyone can have a taste."
The waiter followed the order and did as he was told.
Deng Youning was also drooling over the wine.
Everyone drank a lot of wine, and after dinner, they went back to their rooms to rest.
In the second half of the night, everyone was snoring.
Except for the guards who were responsible for guarding the king, everyone was immersed in sleep.
Little did they know that, apart from the fruit wine they drank, the other barrels were filled with wine of extremely high purity.
While they were sleeping, the waiter poured the wine around the inn and lit a fire.
"Is everything ready?"
The shopkeeper who was so amiable in the afternoon now looked like a bandit holding a torch and trying to burn them to death.
"The windows and doors are nailed shut. There's no way you can get out."
The man pretending to be Han's servant confirmed it.
"ignition!"
At the shopkeeper's command, several waiters who were supposed to get torches fell to the ground holding their stomachs.
"What's going on?"
"Why does my stomach suddenly hurt so much?"
The shopkeeper sat on the ground, holding onto the door frame, and felt his stomach churning.
He turned his head to look at the guys around him. They were all pale with pain and crying for their parents.
"What the hell is going on?!"
The shopkeeper asked loudly, unwillingly.
Anger filled his entire face. When he raised his eyes, he saw Deng Youning and a group of envoys walking towards him from the backyard.
"Tell me, who sent you here?"
"You want to burn us to death while we're drunk?"
"Just based on the alcohol content of these fruit wines, you think you can drink us?"
Deng Youning chuckled and mocked.
"How did you... figure out our identities?"
The man pretending to be Han's servant asked unwillingly.
“Not discovered.”
"We're just being cautious and not trusting anyone."
Deng Yan'an explained bluntly.
Just before everyone went to bed after eating and drinking, Deng Youning came to find them and told them not to sleep too deeply at night and to come out to check if they heard any noise.
After the members of the delegation discovered the conspiracy of the shopkeeper and others to kill them, Deng Youning deliberately did not let anyone know and secretly gave the shopkeeper and others a poison that would cause their intestines to rupture.
When they were about to set the fire, everyone escaped from the building through the back door and around the backyard.
"Tell me, who instructed you to do this?"
Li Tianzhuo asked again in a harsh voice.
Those people looked up at Li Tianzhuo's face, recognized his identity, and asked with a sad face:
"King Changle, why did you help the enemy forces in Dongji and treat your relatives like the king and your people like this?!"
This was not the first time Li Tianzhuo had heard such words, and he did not even bother to explain.
"Xiu Ming, kill them. I already know who sent them."
His voice was low and crisp.
Xiu Ming received the order and quickly drew his sword, killing all these people.
"Tian Zhuo, you said you know who sent them?"
Deng Yan'an wanted to know the answer.
He already had an idea in his mind, but he just wanted to confirm it.
"My father, Emperor Nanxin!" Li Tianzhuo murmured softly through his thin lips.
Deng Yan'an and Deng Youning frowned, they guessed wrong.
They all thought that he was sent by King Yi.
"Are the windows in your room sealed?"
"My window can be opened."
After Li Tianzhuo said this, what else is there that everyone doesn't understand?
Emperor Nanxin wanted to burn them all to death, including King Si.
But he left an escape route for his beloved son Li Tianzhuo.
The reason why the delegation stayed in Liangcheng was, firstly, to rest and reminisce with the Han family; secondly, to meet with the welcoming envoy sent by Nanxin and to escort King Si back to Yuncheng together with the Nanxin people.
Therefore, before the Nanxin delegation arrived, if anything happened to the king, it would still be Dongji's fault.
It also gave Emperor Nanxin a reason to cause trouble for Dongji.
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