Seeing that his expression seemed to have eased, Guo Yuanzhen stood up and said, "Now that the misunderstanding has been resolved, Your Excellency, please follow me into the city. I will host a welcoming banquet for Your Excellency, firstly to welcome you back and secondly to apologize for neglecting your distinguished guest. Please do me the honor of attending."
The envoys Guo Yuanzhen had met in the past were all weak and easy to control, so he thought that this time it was still the same old Confucian scholars. That's why he wanted to give them a warning first so that they would not dare to disobey him, and also to delay the time.
Unexpectedly, the one who came was a calf who knew nothing about tigers and was not afraid of them. He put on a big show and showed off his power as an envoy to him, catching him off guard.
I think this must be the idea of those old villains in the court. They deliberately found a fearless stick to knock on his mountain and scare him, the fierce tiger.
Now that the situation has become like this, he has no choice but to change his strategy, deal with it properly and save the situation.
He looked at Lou Yunchun's arrogant expression and thought to himself: This young man, who has just come out of retirement, has high aspirations and wants to use him as a stepping stone to build his own career, and he's not afraid of him getting in the way. Let him coax the man into the city first, and then see how he can subdue him!
Lou Yunchun was about to refuse Guo Yuanzhen's invitation to enter the city, but suddenly a wolf howl was heard in the distance. Everyone was startled and immediately picked up their weapons and became alert.
Guo Yuanzhen took the opportunity to say, "You all heard it too. That's the howling of wolves. They go out hunting at night."
He then warned Lou Yundao, "If the envoy insists on leaving, I will not stop him. But don't blame me for not warning you. The wolves in the north are more ferocious than humans. Even the Turks, who worship the wolf god, dare not rashly enter their territory. Furthermore, travel is difficult at night, and you are not familiar with the road conditions. If you accidentally enter the wolf's territory, the consequences will be disastrous."
The chief envoy still had a stern face, but his deputy envoy was a little timid.
Listening to the wolf howling, which was getting more and more fierce, Old Duan approached Lou Yunchun and whispered, "Sir, how about... we rest for one night and set off again tomorrow."
The captain felt pleased when he saw this, and could not help but sneer in his heart. This man had just spoken arrogantly, but now he was as timid as a mouse. It was obvious that he was a weakling.
Just as he was thinking, he was suddenly kicked on the butt. He looked up suddenly and met Guo Yuanzhen's gloomy gaze.
The captain's back shuddered, and he knelt before Lou Yunchun, kowtowed, and pleaded, "Your Excellency, a caravan was attacked by wolves yesterday, and many people died. Your Excellency, please do not take offense at my failure and risk your own life. If anything goes wrong, I can only die as an apology."
Upon hearing this, Old Duan also whispered, "Sir, let's stay here for one night." The other deputy envoys also involuntarily moved closer to Lou Yunchun, staring at him with pleading eyes.
Lou Yunchun looked cold and reluctant, but he nodded in the end.
Guo Yuanzhen breathed a sigh of relief, led his horse to the side, extended his hand towards the tower gate, and invited: "Your Excellency, please--"
Lou Yunchun put away the royal staff, got back into the car, and said to Lao Duan, "Turn around and go into the city."
The captain and his deputy helped Guo Yuanzhen onto his horse. The lies had been spread, so they had to do their best to keep them in check.
The two sides merged into one, Guo Yuanzhen and Lou Yunchun walked side by side in the front, and the Tingzhou Guards separated the rest of the ceremonial guards and guards at the very end to prevent this bastard from changing his mind and running away.
None of them noticed that the two carriages took the opportunity to land at the end.
The deputy envoy in charge of recording words and deeds of Guo Yuanzhen and Tingzhou Wei that he had just recorded, stuffed it into the letter tube and handed it to the deputy envoy in charge of delivering messages.
The deputy messenger took out an eagle from the car, tied the letter tube to the eagle, then took out a bone whistle and blew it gently. The eagle flapped its wings and flew up, circled in the air for a few times, and flew towards Hexi in the twilight.
Old Duan withdrew his gaze and looked at Lou Yunchun. Lou Yunchun nodded slightly, indicating that he had heard it.
Judging from today's test, Guo Yuanzhen is indeed cautious. We will investigate further after he enters the city.
This eagle was raised by Xiao Gu. It had been repeatedly trained by the deputy messenger along the way and could now fly skillfully between Hexi and Tingzhou. Once they entered the city, it would be difficult for them to get out, and they could then use the eagle to communicate with Xiao Gu.
Send the message to Xiao Gu now. When Xiao Gu receives the letter and understands the situation, he will know what to do next.
In the twilight, the heavily fortified city looked like a vast prison. Lou Yunchun and his entourage were all extremely vigilant as they followed Guo Yuanzhen through the gate and into the dark city gate.
————A big cat is not a cat, a tiger is not a tiger————
"Ga--" An old crow flew into the forest, startling a group of birds, then quickly landed again, and everything returned to silence.
The clouds over the western mountains dissipated, revealing a few faint stars against the indigo sky. The official road gradually became less populated. Xu Jiang measured the distance and knew there was a post station ahead.
She lifted the curtain, letting the evening breeze blow through the carriage. Her willow eyebrows were blown by the wind, and her scattered soul gradually returned to its place.
"It's getting dark?" The day seemed as long as a year.
Xu Jiang smoothed her messy hair and said comfortingly, "Well, Jiuqu Posthouse is just ahead. We can have a good rest once we get there."
A hint of joy appeared on Liu Mei's face. "We don't have to travel tonight?"
She was always calm and composed, but at this moment she showed a hint of urgency, and Xu Jiang couldn't help but smile.
"If you keep going, even if you can handle it, I can't either." Having not traveled far for a long time, Xu Jiang felt like she had become pampered. After just one day, half her body felt numb. "Besides, there's Shan Bo. If he gets hurt, I won't be able to explain to Mr. Lou."
"Whether to explain or not is a matter for the future. May the gods and immortals bless me and help me get through this ordeal first." Liu Mei felt relieved when she learned that she didn't have to hurry on her journey. Then she became curious. "Come to think of it, I've never stayed at an inn before, so I don't know what kind of place it is."
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