Chapter 89 The Envoy Arrives
The streets that used to be bustling before dawn were now silent. The golden light shone on the silver-black armor, giving off a hint of coldness.
Two rows of soldiers holding spears and with solemn expressions stood in neat rows on both sides of the bluestone road connecting the city gate.
The sound of horse hooves and rolling wheels came from the silent air.
Following the sound, we saw three horse-drawn carriages with government flags slowly approaching the city.
The coachman pulled the reins, and the carriage stopped steadily at the city gate.
The servant on the carriage jumped down swiftly and placed a small stool at the place where people got off the carriage.
As the servant shouted something into the carriage, the curtain was opened by a skinny hand.
The person who came out was the Minister of Rites, Le Kang.
As Le Kang came out, the people in the remaining two carriages also came out.
Yan Yu strode forward and helped Le Kang down from the carriage.
Ji Zheng and Yuan Lang also stepped forward and followed Yan Yu.
The scene was quiet and solemn.
Le Kang put his hands behind his back, squinted his eyes, and walked slowly forward to look at the surrounding environment.
After a while, he asked, "When will King Sheng come?"
Yan Yu immediately stepped forward and replied, "My Lord, it will take a while."
Le Kang nodded, and then asked: "When will the envoys from various countries arrive?"
Yan Yu was about to answer when the sound of horse hooves came from outside the city.
As the sound got closer, a soldier in black armor rode towards them, pulling the reins.
When approaching the city gate, the soldier pulled the reins, the horse's front hooves were raised high, the horse's mouth let out a high-pitched cry, and then stopped steadily.
The soldier leaped and strode to Le Kang, knelt on one knee, raised his hands, lowered his helmeted head slightly, and said loudly: "Your Excellency, the envoys from various countries will arrive outside the city at noon."
Le Kang nodded and waved, "Got it, go down."
The soldier bowed again and retreated.
"Let's go to the city gate first." Le Kang waved to Yan Yu and others behind him, then strode towards the direction of the city gate.
Ji Zheng and a few others quickly followed.
As time passed, the sun's rays became stronger.
The servant opened the umbrella in his hand and respectfully shielded Le Kang from the light.
Ji Zheng stood behind and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
I prayed in my heart that time would pass faster.
It was almost noon, and King Sheng had not arrived yet. Le Kangchong waved to a soldier and said, "Go and see His Royal Highness King Sheng..."
Before he could finish his words, someone came to report that King Sheng's carriage had arrived.
Le Kang stood up suddenly, shook the sleeves of his official robe, picked up the hem of his robe with one hand, and went down the city gate. Ji Zheng and others naturally followed quickly.
As soon as I arrived at the city gate, I saw King Sheng's carriage just stopped.
The young eunuch bent his waist and respectfully opened the curtain, and the dignified figure of Prince Sheng slowly emerged from the carriage.
However, along with King Sheng came out a cute boy who looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old.
"His Royal Highness Prince Sheng, and His Royal Highness the Second Prince, are all well." Le Kang hurried forward to salute, and Ji Zheng and the others naturally followed suit.
King Sheng nodded, waved his hand slightly, and asked, "When will the envoy arrive?"
"The person ahead said we'll arrive at noon," Le Kang replied.
King Sheng nodded and it wouldn't be long.
"Noon? That's almost time."
The voice of the Second Prince Jing Shu interrupted, and then he pushed aside the hand that was about to help him get out of the carriage, landed on his feet with a thud, and jumped out of the carriage himself.
Seeing this, King Sheng frowned slightly, turned around and stepped on a stool to get off the carriage.
The attendants beside him immediately stepped forward to hold umbrellas and fan Prince Sheng and the Second Prince.
Looking at this scene, Ji Zheng sighed, what a damn monarchy!
Seeing that the time was almost up, Le Kang waved to Yan Yu. Yan Yu understood and turned around to give instructions to the soldiers beside him.
The soldier turned and left. Soon a large number of people came to both sides of the road. With the arrival of the people, the surrounding environment began to become noisy.
After everyone waited for a while at the city gate, dust was raised in the distance, and the teams of envoys from various countries gradually appeared in sight.
At the front of the team were guards riding tall horses. They stood tall and had alert looks.
Following behind came a series of ornately decorated carriages with emblems and totems of various countries painted on their bodies, sparkling in the sunlight.
Le Kang straightened his clothes and stepped forward to greet him. Prince Sheng and the Second Prince also raised their heads slightly and looked at the envoy.
The convoy slowly stopped and envoys from various countries got off the vehicles one by one. They were wearing clothes of different styles, some wearing feather crowns, and some wearing brocade robes, showing the culture and majesty of different countries.
An envoy stepped forward and said in fluent Chinese: "We are here to pay our respects to you at the order of our monarch. We wish your country prosperity and long-lasting friendship between our two countries."
Le Kang responded with a smile, expressing his welcome and gratitude in tactful words.
King Sheng stood aside, looking at these foreign visitors with deep eyes and calmly, secretly calculating the impact this diplomatic meeting would have on the country's situation.
The second prince Jing Shu could not suppress his curiosity, and his eyes wandered between the envoys in strange costumes and the strange gifts they brought.
Yan Yu gently reminded him to remain dignified, but Jing Shu just curled his lips and restrained himself a little.
Le Kang led the envoys into the city, followed by Prince Sheng and the Second Prince. They walked along the bluestone road, and the common people on both sides of the street poked their heads out to look, curiously watching this grand spectacle.
Ji Zheng also followed to deal with envoys from other foreign countries.
He led this large group of envoys on a tour around the city before settling them in an inn that had been prepared long ago.
After arranging the envoys from various countries, it was already completely dark. Ji Zheng was not only physically tired, but also mentally tired.
Just when he thought he could finally take a break from get off work, Yuan Lang called him back to consult about relationship problems. Ji Zheng was smiling on the outside but rolling his eyes on the inside.
However, Yuan Lang was quite interested and only asked a few questions before stopping.
Because of the arrival of envoys from various countries, the city was particularly lively at night, and of course the security factor was also increased a lot.
After a while, I saw soldiers patrolling the streets, all of them had resolute faces and solemn expressions.
As soon as he stepped into the house, Ji Zheng felt the fatigue in his heart dissipate, and he felt refreshed, as if he was reborn.
"Baby, I'm back!" he shouted as he walked towards the room.
The servants and maids working in the courtyard were already used to it, and they all worked silently with their eyes on their noses and their noses on their mouths.
"Ji Zheng!"
Ji Hean ran towards Ji Zheng like a little bird, opened his arms and hugged him. Ji Zheng hit him on the head with his fingertips, "Tsk, even A Lang isn't calling you anymore?"
Ji Hean, who was spoiled and arrogant, stuck out his tongue, looked up at people with a smile on his face, "Alang."
"Be good." He raised his hand and rubbed Ji Hean's hair, then held his hand and walked towards the living room and said, "Let's eat."
After dinner, Ji Zheng asked, "Do you want to go out and play for a while?"
In addition to some local merchants, there are also merchants from other countries in the city tonight.
Hearing this, Ji Hean jumped up from the couch like a spring, "Is it okay?"
Seeing his eyes sparkling and full of expectation looking at him, Ji Zheng laughed and stepped forward to pinch his nose, "You act as if I don't let you go out to play normally."
Ji Hean raised her hand to open Ji Zheng's hand, slightly frowned her beautiful eyebrows and said: "I haven't been out for many days."
In recent days, many foreign merchants and circus people have been entering the city, and Ji Zheng has been very busy. He was afraid that it would be unsafe for Ji Hean to go out alone, so he did not let Ji Hean go out.
"I'm just worried about you, you little heartless kid." He gave the man another slap on the head as if it were a punishment, with a smile in his eyes, "Go change your clothes quickly, I'll take you out to play, I heard that there's an illusionist coming from the Western Regions."
"Illusionist?!" Ji Hean's eyes lit up instantly, and he quickly stood up and ran inside to change clothes, "Then let's hurry up!"
After changing into light blue clothes, Ji Hean pulled Ji Zheng and walked out impatiently.
It was clearly night, but there were lights hanging everywhere, making it bright and extremely bright.
"Ah!" Ji Hean suddenly shouted briefly, and slapped his head as if he remembered something, "I forgot to call Zhongzhong and Muya!"
Ji Zheng's smile froze for a moment. In his heart, he was extremely unwilling to have two light bulbs involved, but after all, they were his baby's friends, so he had to endure it.
"Then go back and call now?" He suppressed his reluctance and asked considerately.
Ji Hean nodded and turned to run home, but was stopped by Ji Zheng, "Let others go and call them, we just wait here."
As he said this, he ordered the servant beside him to go back and call Ji Zhongzi and Mu Ya.
The servant was also quick, and before the two of them had to wait long, Ji Zhongzi and Mu Ya arrived.
Mu Ya wore a mask on his face. Actually, he didn't want to go out, but Ji Zhong begged him for a long time, saying that he didn't want to play alone with Ji Zheng, Ji and An.
My heart softened and I agreed to Ji Zhongzi.
Seeing Ji Zhongzi and Mu Ya, Ji Hean rushed over and held their hands, "Alang said there will be an illusionist from the Western Regions tonight!"
"Wow!" Ji Zhongzi's eyes widened and he asked in surprise, "Is it the illusionist in the storybook?"
Ji Hean paused, then turned to look at Ji Zheng, "Ah Lang, is this the magician described in the storybook?"
Ji Zheng had never seen the illusionist in the story they were talking about, but looking at Ji Hean's expectant eyes, he nodded, maybe... right.
The four of them walked happily towards the West Market.
On the way, they encountered many things they had never seen before. Ji Hean's eyes rolled around from one stall to another, with a smile on his face all the time.
Seeing Ji Hean holding Mu Ya in his left hand and Ji Zhongzi in his right hand, Ji Zheng could hardly maintain the fake smile on his face, feeling both sour and unbalanced.
However, he didn't have to feel sad for long, because a group of patrol soldiers came in front, and the man riding a horse in the front was Xiao Ming.
Xiao Ming saw Ji Zhongzi at a glance. He turned sideways and said something to the guard beside him. Then he leaped forward, threw the reins in his hand to the guard, turned around and strode towards Ji Zheng and the others.
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