Chapter 2266: Hospitality
When General Guo heard that one of them was Minister Liu's grandson, he immediately stroked his beard and laughed. After laughing for a while, his eyes gleamed coldly as he said, "You've arrived just in time. After all, our two families are relatives. Since my nephew has come to the Western Regions, how can I, as his uncle, neglect him? Come, go to the city gate the day after tomorrow to welcome this distinguished guest into the city."
He also asked people to prepare the yard and house, intending to let Liu Huan and others live in his mansion.
It took them half a day to arrive with the wounded soldiers.
A tall city appeared before their eyes. This was the first big city they had seen in the Western Regions in such a long time, so they all sped up.
General Meng reined in his horse, pointed at the two large characters "Xizhou" on the city gate, and read: "Gao-chang—we have finally arrived in Gaochang."
Bai Shan and others: ...
They looked up at the two large characters on the city gate. Bai Shan frowned and asked, "Xichang... Pah, why do the characters 'Xizhou' look a bit golden? Could they be gilded?"
Guo Zhao, who was standing by, said, "It's not gold-plated, but it does have a yellow tint."
He said, "As you know, Gaochang is a Buddhist country. To win the hearts of the people, my father ordered the use of yellow. Gold and copper are precious, so we dare not use them on the city gates. But there is a kind of stone in the Gobi Desert that turns yellow when ground into powder and soaked in water. The color is very similar to gold, so my father ordered the city gates to be painted with it."
Guo Zhao added: "Not only the two large characters on the city gate, but also some Buddha statues in the national temple are painted with this pigment. Whether you look at it from close up or from afar, it shines with golden light and is particularly beautiful."
As they were introducing themselves, the people who had been waiting at the city gate came running up to greet them, "Major General, General Meng, the general asked us to come and pick you up."
After saying this, he looked at Bai Shan and the others again. His eyes slid across them, but he couldn't recognize which one was Young Master Liu. He bent down and said with a smile, "You are the gentlemen of the delegation, right? The general has prepared guest rooms at home. I will take you there to rest."
After saying this, he invited them into the city.
Bai Shan and his companions, who were not familiar with the relationship between the Liu and Guo families, really wanted to take advantage of the Liu family's relatives at first, but after seeing this person, Bai Shan and Man Bao immediately gave up the idea.
Bai Shan smiled and looked at Manbao.
Manbao turned around and said to Guo Zhao with a smile, "Thank you for my hospitality, General Guo. However, since the delegation is large, we won't bother you for now. We'll visit you again after we're settled."
After saying that, she turned around and nodded slightly to General Nie, indicating that the convoy should enter the city first. They would find an inn to stay in. If the inn was not good enough, they would have to find an inn.
The steward hadn't anticipated this and quickly stopped in front of the horse, "Hey, what's so anxious about this young lady..."
Bai Shan frowned, "How dare you! Lord Zhou is the chief envoy of the diplomatic corps. How can you easily stop him?"
After saying that, he looked at Guo Zhao unhappily.
Guo Zhao's face immediately darkened and he scolded the steward, "Get out of the way!"
The steward hesitated and took a small step back, but still stood in front of the horse. He smiled ingratiatingly at Guo Zhao and said, "My dear, this is the general's intention. If the envoys don't stay there, I will have a hard time explaining it to the general later."
Manbao said with a half-smile, "Why, do I have to obey your orders? If I don't, I can't enter the city?"
The steward quickly said, "Your Excellency has misunderstood. It is our general who cares about you, our cousin, that is why we want to entertain you. If you do not want to go, why don't you come with us? That way, we can explain to the general later."
Bai Shan smiled as he sat on his horse, "I didn't expect the relationship between our two families to be so close. I didn't expect this. How about this, you guess which one of us is your cousin? If you choose the right one, he will go back and live with you."
Liu Huan: ...
How could you trick him like this?
The manager was also frozen. How could he dare to click?
These gentlemen are of similar age and have similar temperaments, so how can you tell the difference?
By the way, how old is this cousin of theirs?
The steward might as well steal a glance at Guo Zhao, hoping that the young master would give him a hint.
But how could Guo Zhao help his father do such a thing?
He wished his father would stay away from these people, so he turned his head away and ignored him.
The manager broke out in a cold sweat and opened his mouth but couldn't say a word.
Bai Shan snorted and said, "It seems that the relationship between the two families is just like that. In that case, we should not bother General Guo any more. We will live in the city. I think this city is not very big. With the ability of the general's mansion, it should be easy to find us, right?"
After saying that, he took two steps forward, stared at him and told him to leave.
The steward went to look at Guo Zhao again. Seeing Guo Zhao frown, he couldn't help but feel a little hopeful. Who knew Guo Zhao would scold him, "Get out of the way! Can't you see the envoys are going into the city to rest?"
The manager was discouraged and could only step aside with his head hung.
However, he didn't dare to just leave it alone. After the envoys went in, he immediately followed them to see where they lived.
As soon as he caught up with the heavy rain, he ran over and said to Zhou Man, "Someone is following us."
Manbao nodded nonchalantly, staring at both sides of the street with great interest.
Gaochang, oh no, it's Xizhou. Xizhou is very lively, with many stalls and shops on both sides of the street. Unlike the chaos outside, it seems very prosperous here. Seeing that there are so many people in their team, many people's eyes are glued to them and the luggage cart behind them.
Steward Li had already led his men to the front. When they slowly strolled to the middle of the street, Steward Li returned and said, "Master, Miss Man, I have booked rooms at the post station and the inn next to it. Please stay there for one night. We will find a place to stay later."
Manbao understood, nodded, and followed Manager Li.
The post station in Xizhou City is not remote, nor is it shabby. It was once the place where the Gaochang royal family entertained envoys from various countries, so naturally it would not be too bad.
However, because it is not too bad, the rules are stricter than those of ordinary post stations. It is not a problem for Zhou Man and his group to live in it, but it is difficult for all the soldiers to move in.
So Manager Li also booked a table in the inn nearby.
After entering the post station, everyone went to rest. Because they had been informed in advance that they would move to a new place to live later, the luggage was still on the car. General Nie simply asked someone to keep an eye on it and not let anyone get close.
Although he now knew that most of the boxes seemed to be filled with stones and hay, not only did he know this, but General Meng and Guo Zhao also knew it, because when the two armies fought, most of the luggage carts overturned.
Most of the boxes were fine, but many of the locks were broken during the tumbling. Of course, human error was not ruled out. When the boxes rolled down, someone secretly pried open many of the locks when they were subsequently collected. Only then did they discover that the boxes were almost full of stones and hay.
See you at 8pm
(End of this chapter)
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