Chapter 51 Slander Makes One Unsettled
The noisy afternoon passed quickly. Just as Zhong Li'an brewed a pot of tea, a soldier came to report from outside the door.
"Reporting, my lord, Chen Rang, the envoy from Nanyang, has come to visit."
"You've arrived already?" Zhong Li'an tapped his teacup, then looked up at the door with interest. "Please come in quickly."
Before the curtains even rustled, a burst of laughter came from outside the door, growing louder as it approached. The laughter was intermittent, a forced cheerfulness mixed with a hint of naivety and timidity.
Hearing the sound, Yang Xiao looked towards the door, frowned, and then turned to look at Cen Xun. Seeing that Cen Xun was also looking at her helplessly, the two of them chuckled in unison.
Seeing this, Zhong Li'an couldn't help but chuckle and waved to the two of them, "Alright, alright, they'll be coming in soon."
"Okay, okay." Yang Xiao suppressed her laughter and lowered her head to drink her tea, but she couldn't hold back for a moment. Before she could laugh out loud, she was choked by the tea and coughed repeatedly.
With a soft "whoosh," the curtain was lifted, and a slightly thin young man with a beaming smile stepped into the room. The warmth that rushed in clashed with the cold wind outside, instantly making him shiver.
The envoy named Chen Rang crouched down, glanced at the crowd with a cunning look, and immediately had an idea.
"It's so warm in your room, Lord Zhongli, my..." He had just bowed and smiled as he complimented Zhongli An when his attention was immediately drawn to Yang Xiao's repeated coughs.
He took two steps forward, stared blankly at Yang Xiao, bent down, tilted his head, and raised his hand. "What's wrong? Is the magistrate's room not warm enough, and this young lady has caught a chill?"
Yang Xiao was already coughing uncontrollably, and Chen Rang's words made her laugh again, causing her to cough even more violently. She raised her hand to wipe away the tears from the corner of her eyes, and then took the opportunity to raise one hand and wave at Chen Rang.
Chen Rang seemed not to understand her meaning, and bent down again as if trying to see Yang Xiao's expression. "Why is your cough getting worse? Are you alright?" Then he turned to Zhongli An and asked, "My lord, should we find a doctor to examine this young lady?"
Cen Xun patted Yang Xiao's back with a wry smile, but when he looked down, he heard Yang Xiao coughing and struggling as she cursed, "Cough cough cough, you're the one who's sick, cough, cough cough cough..."
Zhong Li'an seemed to have heard this as well, and couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head. He raised his eyes and waved to Chen Rang, "She just choked on her tea, it's nothing serious."
"Oh, oh," Chen Rang said, still with his arms crossed, turning around to look at Zhong Li'an with a forced smile. "May I ask, Your Excellency, who is this young lady?"
Zhong Li'an looked up and smiled at Chen Rang for a moment, a hint of disdain creeping into his eyes. "This young lady is Yang Xiao, the female general you praised again and again last night, who you thought was capable of fighting three armies and dominating the sky with one hand."
Upon hearing this, Chen Rang gasped. "So it's General Yang." He turned and walked toward Yang Xiao, who had just stopped coughing, and gave an exaggerated bow. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't recognize you just now. I'm very sorry for my rudeness. Please forgive me, General."
"It's alright, it's alright," Yang Xiao smiled and waved her hand at him, "Next time you see someone wearing battle robes, it's best not to call them 'young master' or 'young lady'."
Everyone laughed upon hearing this, and Chen Rang, seemingly intrigued, bowed to each person in the room.
“Mr. Chen, there’s no need for this,” Zhong Li’an shook his head and stood up to stop Chen Rang. “We are all family, so why bother? Please sit down.”
Chen Rang looked back at the seat Zhong Li'an had prepared for him, smiled, and cupped his hands in thanks, "Thank you for the seat, Your Excellency."
Zhong Li'an nodded, his joking expression fading. "Alright, Mr. Chen, we've already chatted so much last night, I suppose we don't need to repeat ourselves." Zhong Li'an rolled up his sleeves and looked up at Chen Rang. "Let's get back to the main topic. What brings you here from so far away?"
Chen Rang seemed surprised that Zhongli An asked so directly. He paused for a moment, then forced a smile and looked at Zhongli An, "To be honest, my lord, my master has heard of your and your deeds and admires you greatly. However, he is short of time and energy to go there in person, so he sent me to witness the magnificence of this military formation."
Seeing that Zhongli An was still smiling without saying a word, Chen Rang paused for a while, as if he was hurriedly thinking of words, "It just so happens that you have won a battle, so my lord took this opportunity to send me to congratulate you all."
He then turned back to the crowd, bowing and clasping his hands in a gesture of respect, as if finding a way to save face. His face was still full of flattery. "Generals, you have truly taken the lead and made extraordinary moves. With such valiant generals..."
"Wait a minute, Mr. Chen," Yang Xiao chuckled as she watched him about to launch into a long, obsequious speech, and raised her hand to interrupt him, "Nanyang is so close to Yingchuan, and Qin Yi is no ordinary man," she propped her elbow on her knee, looked up at Chen Rang with a smile, "Why would you choose to come all this way, ignoring Yingchuan's defeat, to congratulate us?"
Chen Rang froze on the spot, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses. He then smiled apologetically and said, "Yingchuan has always been on good terms with Empress Xiao. They went to war on behalf of Your Highness, but their campaign was unsuccessful. What is there to mention about their defeat at the hands of the magistrate and the generals?"
Qi Kun looked at Chen Rang and smiled meaningfully, "Empress Xiao... Your Highness? She has a private relationship with the Prefect of Yingchuan. How did you, as an outsider, know this?"
"I..." Chen Rang immediately realized he had said the wrong thing, then chuckled and scratched his head, mumbling, "I was just making wild guesses based on rumors."
Seeing that everyone was silent, Chen Rang lost his composure again and blurted out, "Besides, Mr. Lu Qi, Xiao Yan's close attendant, is so meticulous. How could he let important military information be leaked? It's all just hearsay."
"Mr. Chen, have you ever heard the saying, 'Too much talk leads to mistakes'?" Qi Kun looked up at Chen Rang, then turned his head to the side with a forced smile. "You say you respect Xiao Yan so much, even addressing her as the Empress, so why did you go to such lengths, abandoning Xiao Yan's powerful influence, and travel thousands of miles to Anping in Jizhou to find us?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Rang quickly took the opportunity to clasp his fists at Zhong Li'an again, "That is because my lord has long admired you, and forming an alliance with you is his lifelong wish." He looked up at Zhong Li'an, "If we can form an alliance with you, my lord would gladly offer up the entire Nanyang Prefecture to you."
Seeing this, Zhong Li'an nodded slightly and replied, "It is truly admirable that your lord is so sincere. I will certainly consider the alliance carefully. We can discuss this matter again in the future."
He seemed oblivious to the bright sun high in the sky outside the window, rising to smile and saying, "It's getting late, and the year is almost over. If you are returning home, sir, I fear the journey will be long and inconvenient. I understand your kind intentions, but please remember to give my regards to me upon your return." As he spoke, he walked towards the door. "If I have the opportunity after the New Year, I will definitely visit you in Nanyang in person."
"Very well," Chen Rang said, standing up and bowing to Zhong Li'an with a smile. "With your words, my trip is complete. My lord and I will be waiting for you in Nanyang in the future."
He looked up and smiled, seemingly unfazed by the setback. "Then I wish you all a prosperous and auspicious New Year, and may everything be renewed. I shall take my leave now." He kept backing towards the door, his eyes even showing a hint of elation. "Farewell, everyone."
Before everyone could rise and pay their respects, Chen Rang lifted the curtain and went out the door. A moment later, a standard laugh rang out from outside the door.
“Brother,” Zhongli Shuo couldn’t help but laugh as he watched Chen Rang’s retreating figure, “This Mr. Chen seems to have had too much to drink. He keeps praising us and showering us with endless compliments.”
Zhong Li'an stared at Chen Rang's retreating figure, smiled without speaking, pondered for a moment, and then turned to look at Cen Xun, "Tongxi, what do you think?"
Upon hearing this, Cen Xun raised his hand to touch his chin, pondered for a moment, and then looked up at Zhong Li'an. "This person treats Xiao Yan with great respect, but he never tells the truth. In my humble opinion, this person's motives are impure and he cannot be trusted entirely."
Upon hearing this, Zhong Li'an smiled and nodded, "What you say is absolutely right. Generally speaking, people who are on our side would not treat Xiao Yan well, let alone address him as 'Your Highness.' Moreover, how could a persuader like Chen Rang, who travels among the various schools of thought, be so vague in his wording?"
"Chen Rang must have come here at Xiao Yan's behest," Bai Ming continued, picking up where Zhong Li'an left off, and looking up at the crowd. "If that's the case, what benefit would Xiao Yan gain from an alliance between Nanyang and us?"
Qi Kun lowered his eyes and pondered for a long time before looking up at Bai Ming. "I think that with the nature of Prefect Jie Liang of Nanyang, he certainly wouldn't completely submit to the lord as Chen Rang just said. If that's the case, how could he be unconditionally driven by Xiao Yan?" He then looked back at Zhong Li'an. "I suppose Jie Liang himself also has something to gain from this, just like when Zhao Qing recovered Yuzhou. Not only did he not want to contribute, but he also took advantage of the situation."
“Brother, in that case, why not send that envoy back?” Zhongli Shuo frowned anxiously upon hearing this. “That person has ulterior motives and might cause trouble.”
Zhongli An picked up his teacup, took a sip of the still-warm tea, and smiled gently at Zhongli Shuo. "Yude, you're still too hasty." He gently put the teacup down. "Regardless of Jie Liang's intentions, they openly want to befriend us, and have repeatedly said they'd give us Nanyang. If we're so rude as to send that envoy back, wouldn't we lose their support? If we want him to leave, we need to make our stance clear and let him go on his own."
“My lord is right,” Qi Kun nodded approvingly, then suddenly noticed Yang Xiao, who seemed lost in thought, and turned to look at her inquiringly, “Lingyu? What are you thinking about?”
Yang Xiao seemed not to have recovered yet, and sighed softly, "I was just thinking, who is Lu Qi, whom Chen Rang mentioned earlier?" She looked up at Qi Kun, "
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