Chapter 209 Not even a cup of tea
Song Zhimian felt a little nervous thinking about attending such an occasion the next day.
But upon closer reflection, Xiao Huaijin's suggestion of "going to take a look" certainly didn't mean participating in the peace talks openly and legitimately.
In General Huangfu's territory, arranging a secret room for someone is quite easy.
These people must be secretly watching everyone from somewhere that no one can see.
Sure enough, that very night, Xiao Huaijin sent someone to tell Song Zhimian not to be too nervous, and that she could just eat and drink with the two children in the secret room.
It wasn't until the next day that Song Zhimian discovered that Xiao Huaijin, like them, had no intention of showing himself in front of those people.
Despite being called a secret room, it's actually quite spacious.
A hidden wooden door allows a clear view of everything outside.
Facing the hidden door were two small tables. When Song Zhimian led Xiao Jingjue and the Twelfth Prince in, Xiao Huaijin was already sitting in front of the tables in a rather unseemly posture.
Xiao Huaijin, who was holding a cup of fragrant tea, sat up straight when he saw Song Zhimian enter.
“Twelve, come sit with me!” Xiao Huaijin smiled.
The twelfth prince had no choice but to walk up to Xiao Huaijin, first respectfully calling him "Seventh Brother," and then sitting down next to him.
Song Zhimian led Xiao Jingjue to sit down at another table.
"Uncle Jiu said they're just a bunch of small fry, not worth mentioning, and he can handle it."
As for me and these two little ones...
"They're not qualified to see us yet!" Xiao Huaijin said proactively.
Song Zhimian nodded, then looked around.
"Where is that Young Master Wei? Aren't you all inseparable? Why isn't he here?"
"Wei Yanli! He has his own things to do, you probably won't see him today."
He should have already gone to Shijie City today...
"They won't be back until evening!" Xiao Huaijin said with a smile.
Song Zhimian responded with an "oh," knowing that Wei Yanli must have his own business in Shijie City at this time.
...
About half an hour later, Xiao Jingjue and the Twelfth Prince had drunk two cups of tea, eaten almost a plate of snacks, and even went to the toilet once. Finally, they heard some noise coming from outside the secret room.
Song Zhimian quickly sat up straight, pulled Xiao Jingjue to sit down, and then stared intently at the people who came in from outside the courtyard.
The leader was a tall, somewhat thin man with an air of nobility.
Everyone was wearing a longyi-style skirt and trousers, a type of traditional Chinese garment, and a topknot.
To determine whether a person is of high status, simply look at the value of the ornaments on their hat.
The second prince's hat was inlaid with many jewels.
In the very center is a blue gemstone the size of a pigeon's egg, flanked by red, blue, and green gemstones.
The others... had only a few jewels or a touch of gold embellishment on their hats.
These people looked at Huangfu An, who was sitting at the head of the table. Except for the Second Prince, who put his hands together and bowed slightly to General Huangfu, everyone else respectfully performed the grand salute of the Biao Kingdom.
General Huangfu remained calm, simply raising his hand to gesture for everyone to sit down.
The second prince and his men, guided by servants in General Huangfu's mansion, arrived at their respective positions.
They sat down and waited for quite a while, but no one brought them tea.
They were all thinking to themselves, "Why can't they even serve a cup of tea?"
Everyone says that Chongqing is a land of etiquette, valuing manners above all else, yet they can't even serve a cup of tea...
Everyone else in the Biao Kingdom looked at the Second Prince.
Although the second prince had some doubts, he quickly convinced himself.
Huangfu An, the commander of the Southwest Army, was a military general. Military generals don't really understand all that etiquette...
Huangfu An himself was holding a cup of tea and drinking it.
It's not that he's stingy; it's just that Xiao Huaijin talked to Wei Yanli a lot last night.
The first rule is that tea should not be served to these people.
At the time, Huangfu An felt that since he had agreed to let them come to talk, he should at least do a good job of saving face. Besides, if a beggar came to his door, he might even give him some saliva if he was in a good mood!
"Are they beggars? It's us Chongqing people who are begging!"
They're just a bunch of petty people who tried to rob things from Dayu but failed and got beaten up by us. Now they're afraid we'll attack their hometown.
"What do they care about saving face!" Xiao Huaijin said bluntly.
Huangfu An thought about it and realized that this made sense!
“But… if the handsome man doesn’t want to talk anymore, how can we see him off without serving him tea?” Wei Yanli offered a different opinion.
"Still serving tea to see guests off?"
Could those people even understand the proper etiquette for serving tea and seeing guests off?
Besides, I said I wouldn't serve tea to those people, but I didn't say I wouldn't serve tea to Uncle Nine!
Wei Yanli...
That makes a lot of sense. People from other parts of China might not really understand what it means to serve tea and see guests off!
That's how the current situation came about. Huangfu An was holding a cup of tea, while there was nothing on the table in front of the people from Biao Kingdom.
...
Song Zhimian, Xiao Huaijin, and the two younger children were all watching the situation inside the hall.
Xiao Huaijin, along with Xiao Jingjue and the Twelfth Prince, spent a long time looking but still couldn't figure out which one was Ruan Xingzhi, who had escaped from Dayu.
"Could the information be wrong, and Ruan Xingzhi didn't come?" Xiao Huaijin frowned.
Song Zhimian gently shook her head.
"Ruan Xingzhi has come, but he's just disguised."
Xiao Huaijin looked at Song Zhimian with some surprise.
"Have you met Ruan Xingzhi?"
"No!" Song Zhimin shook her head.
"Then how did you know Ruan Xingzhi was here? I've seen Ruan Xingzhi before, but I didn't even see him!" Xiao Huaijin immediately whispered.
Song Zhimian pointed to an inconspicuous-looking man who was two tables away from the Second Prince of Biao Kingdom.
"That's him!"
"How did you figure that out?" Xiao Huaijin pressed.
“I’ve been watching their footsteps ever since they came in.”
Ruan Xingzhi doesn't have much capital to establish himself yet, so he certainly wouldn't dare to appear openly in front of the people of Da Yu.
Therefore, since he was coming, he had to disguise himself.
A person's appearance and attire are easy to change, but some habits ingrained in their bones cannot be changed.
While others entered with normal steps, that person strode in with the square steps typical of scholars from the Great Yu region.
Although he noticed something was wrong after entering and changed his pace, I still managed to see him.
Besides his gait, Your Highness also noticed his sitting posture.
People from Biao Kingdom sit cross-legged on the cushions behind the desk, very naturally.
He was the only one who started by kneeling, but later changed to sitting cross-legged, and his hands were placed on his knees instead of on the table like the others.
These are all behaviors that only scholars in Chongqing possess. Song Zhimian spoke to Xiao Huaijin in detail.
Xiao Huaijin immediately focused his attention on the person Song Zhimian had mentioned.
Sure enough, upon closer inspection, some problems can be identified.
The face and neck were likely covered in black powder, but a section of the wrist that was inadvertently exposed was white.
Ruan Xingzhi did look a little different than before.
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