Chapter 202 Chapter 202 Update.
Ji Xu came in. Here the maid was combing Tang Guanling's hair. The silver-white hair was combed into a bun, which added a touch of elegance.
After listening to what Ji Xu said, Tang Guanling frowned slightly and fell into deep thought. Ji Xu thought for a moment and then expressed his guess:
"Anyone who can command such respect from the envoy, Badan, must be someone of high status, certainly above Badan. And the fact that he entered the capital disguised as an attendant suggests that he is not allowed to leave Dayuan and enter Chang'an. Perhaps he is someone from the Dayuan royal family?"
In the past, Dayuan and the Han Dynasty had fought a war. The reason was that the former emperor heard that Dayuan produced Ferghana horses, so he sent an envoy to Dayuan with a golden horse, gold and silver treasures, to exchange them for Dayuan's good horses. However, the two sides disagreed and the exchange of horses failed. Dayuan even killed the envoy. In anger, the former emperor sent troops to attack Dayuan, subdued it, and established a pro-Han noble as the king of Dayuan.
Later, the Dayuan nobles killed the king of Dayuan, established another king, and sent a hostage to the capital. As time passed, the hostage should have been nearly fifty years old and was said to be living in a villa near Chang'an.
Tang Guanling nodded, a look of approval in his eyes, and ordered someone to write her a visiting card, saying:
"You are very attentive. If it involves the affairs of the Dayuan royal family, it is not something that we, Tang Guan, can handle. The Minister of the Imperial Household, recently took leave due to the death of a relative and returned home from the capital..."
So, you can take my visiting card and go to the Guanglu Xun's office. He is in charge of the palace guards, and I'm sure there will be a way."
He then passed down the order, ordering a trustworthy old maid under his command to take charge of the half-day biscuit and bait supply in the second room.
Ji Xu took a carriage from the government office and left the Shaofu.
Guanglu Xun and Shaofu were both Nine Ministers with many subordinates. Their offices were located in Zhangtai Street near the Weiyang Palace. However, they were different from Shaofu. Most of the people coming in and out were military officers wearing armor and swords at their waists, and there were also some counselors. They were different from the food officials and medical officials who came in and out of Shaofu.
Ji Xu was an outsider and could not enter, which was why Tang Guanling wrote a visiting card to her.
The clerk at the gate looked at the note, which had the seal of Tang Guanling on it, and sent someone to deliver it inside.
Soon, Ji Xu was taken to a martial arts field.
He saw Youlu practicing with a spear there, and then he heard someone report that an officer under Tang Guanling wanted to see his brother, so he asked him to bring the officer to meet him first.
"Xu Niang?"
Seeing the newcomer, he put away his gun and came forward, unable to conceal his joy, while asking,
"Why are you here? You were doing fine in the Ministry of the Interior. I heard you were promoted to the position of Cook!" "Everything is fine. Actually, it was your bet with the Inspector of the Imperial Capital that gave me the opportunity to show my face to Tang Guanling, which led to my promotion through the bread fermentation method."
Afterwards, when Ji Xu was on leave, he made some snacks for him.
"You won the bet for me and made that Si Li Xiao Wei with eyes on his forehead take a beating from me, and I haven't thanked you yet!"
After exchanging pleasantries, Ji Xu talked about serious matters and then took her to see her brother.
After leaving the office, Ji Xu finally understood the whole story. It turned out that Badan's attendant was actually the youngest son of the now elderly King of Dayuan, named Yanliu.
Just now in the room, Zhuang Gaiyi heard her purpose and said to her:
"The hostage in Chang'an is Yanliu's brother. He contracted the plague six months ago, and his old illness relapsed. He was on the verge of death, but later took the prescribed medicine and got better. His brother Yanliu received the news and disguised himself as an attendant to visit his seriously ill brother."
Zhuang Gaiyi also discovered this a few days ago when he was entertaining foreign guests in Minguang Hall. He noticed something unusual and found out about it.
"So, this isn't dangerous?"
Ji Xu asked.
"Well, they are not numerous and pose a threat. It's just that they are not following the rules. I have reported this to the general. Considering that they have been separated for many years, we can simply allow him to meet his hostage brother and then return to Dayuan as usual after the New Year."
"How are you doing lately?"
After saying this, Zhuang Gaiyi looked at her again and asked, Ji Xu understood the matter and was naturally happy to agree. She only had half a day and was anxious to return to the Shaofu, so she nodded, said goodbye and left.
He first reported the matter to Officer Tang, and then worked in the cake and bait room.
Sure enough, at night, the Dayuan envoy sent the clerk from the Manyi residence to say that he wanted to have some snacks. Ji Xu baked a plate of papaya cakes and sent it to him, but he still changed his mind and said he didn't want to eat it.
Ji Xu didn't want to let him continue to toss and turn, so he said:
"I wonder if the envoy's attendant was woken by my knocking on the door. Why not give him this papaya pastry as an apology? Perhaps he'll like our Guanzhong papaya pastry."
"What do you mean!"
Badan's evil intention to tease the Han cook disappeared instantly, and he became anxious because of her words.
"I have no ill intentions, I just want to live in peace with the envoy during this period."
Ji Xu added, "Including your attendant who shouldn't have come to the capital."
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
Badan was no longer as loud and shouting as before. Instead, he lowered his voice and looked around.
Fortunately, it was late at night and everyone in the guesthouse was asleep. Ji Xu had asked the accompanying clerk to wait downstairs in advance because he planned to expose the matter. Therefore, it was only Badan and her here.
"Badan, why don't you invite this Jishan in?"
A command came from the other side of the door, and Badan stepped aside, opened the door for her and invited her in.
Yan Liu from the inner room had already come out. He took the plate and cup from Ji Xu's hand with both hands and said:
"Thank you for your hospitality, and I apologize for Badan's rudeness."
This fair-haired, light-skinned Dayuan native could speak fluent Chinese. He put his hands on his chest and bent slightly towards her. When he looked up, he glanced at Badan and said,
"Badan's father was defeated in a war between the Han and Dayuan years ago. He always felt that the people of the Central Plains were treacherous and cunning. Therefore, every year when he came here, he had the intention of playing a trick on the Han people. However, this was a matter of the war between the two armies in the past, and he shouldn't take his anger out on an innocent girl. Badan, you should also apologize to the Jishan people."
Badan nodded to her reluctantly, and Jixu also bowed back to him and said:
"I just pretend I don't know what's going on with you here. Sorry to bother you."
When he was about to leave, he was stopped by Yanliu:
"Wait, how did you find out?"
Ji Xu said frankly:
"The envoy has a rough temperament, but he is extremely respectful to you. Plus, he always opens the door himself, so it's not hard to guess."
As a Han Chinese, when she discovered that the royal family of Dayuan had entered the capital, the first thing she had to do was to report it. Since Guanglu Xun, who was in charge of the safety of the capital, said that the matter was not dangerous, she took the opportunity to gain some benefits for herself.
If the matter of Yan Liu coming to Beijing to meet his brother who was held as a hostage were to get out of hand, it would be against the rules after all. With this evidence, he would not be harassed by Badan in the future.
"Humph, you Central Plains people are indeed cunning and insidious!"
Badan was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, but the royal family member Yanliu laughed and said:
"You are a clever man, and I have a gift for you."
After saying that, he went back inside and took out a wine jug made of sheepskin.
"This is wine made in my hometown, Dayuan. Where we are, if we admire someone, we will treat her to a drink of our home-brewed wine."
At that time, grapes were still called Putao. Dayuan was rich in grapes. Some royal nobles would collect hundreds or thousands of stones of wine at home. Grape seedlings were also introduced to the Central Plains, but they were still relatively rare and were not sold in wine shops.
Only high-ranking officials and nobles could eat fresh grapes. Ordinary people could buy dried grapes from the Western Regions in the market. Those were easier to preserve than fresh grapes and were not as precious.
"This wine bag is precious. I cannot accept it."
The wine bag was inlaid with gems and pearls, and it looked precious. She was reluctant to accept it, but it would be disrespectful. After thinking for a while, she said,
"I'll go downstairs and borrow a clay pot and pour the wine into it."
"This sheepskin bag is specially made for holding wine. If the container is changed, it will not taste like my hometown."
Yan Liu said, he did not think the wine bag was precious at all.
"You have a poem in the Central Plains: Throw me a papaya, and I'll give you a jade pendant in return."
I looked at the papaya pastry on the table. This papaya pastry was made by Ji Xu using papaya puree and flour, and baked into finger-sized pieces. It was golden in color on the outside, with crispy strips on the outside, and a piece of kelp tied at both ends, just like a ripe papaya on a branch.
Yan Liu ate a piece of the papaya pastry. It was sweet, crispy, and extremely delicious. If Badan had tasted it, he would have regretted refusing her midnight snacks for the past two nights. He said:
"I ate your papaya cake, so you should accept my wine."
A sheepskin wine bag filled with wine was handed to her. Ji Xu accepted it for the time being, and then tasted the wine poured out of it, feeling the fine wine from Dayuan.
So he bought two ordinary sheepskin wine bags in the West Market and stored them separately. He gave one bag to Wang Huzi. Wang Huzi was very happy because he had never tasted wine before. However, Ji Xu did not give it to him, but gave it to Yi Gu for safekeeping. Yi Gu only poured him a small cup every day. Although it was wine, it would make people drunk if they drank too much.
There was still one bag left, which she naturally took home. Tian said she wanted to save it for the New Year.
So he emptied the wine bag inlaid with gems and pearls, and returned it to Yanliu of Dayuan when he came to deliver dinner one day, explaining that he had tasted the original flavor of the wine from his hometown and felt his kindness, and asked him to take back the precious jewel wine bag. This is a later story.
That night, she had a conversation with Yanliu, Badan and others at the Barbarian Residence. When she came downstairs, she met the merchant from Parthia again. He said:
"I finally waited for you! That bowl of pork skin pancakes last night was absolutely delicious. I should thank you in person!"
He gave Ji Xu an engraved green glass bowl, which was said to be from Rome and which he had brought to Guanzhong to sell. Since Ji Xu refused to accept his money, he gave this as a gift in return.
"This thing is really rare."
Tian was in the yard, holding the carved green glass bowl up to the sun.
"It's green and translucent."
"My daughter, you are so capable that you can even bring home things from mules and horses."
On his day off, Ji Xu brought the green glass bowl back. Tian placed it as a treasure on the antique shelf in the east wing. She was reluctant to use it for eating, but just looked at it and admired it, wiping the dust off it every day.
Until the eve of New Year's Eve, Ping'an Restaurant was temporarily closed. Erfeng, Xiaozhu and Sidou were all at home. The nuns from Sangshu Lane came to chat at home, and the house was full of giggles. Tian took out the treasures in the room to show them.
"Oh, it's so green and pretty."
"It's not made of clay, nor does it look like porcelain, nor is it copper. Where did it come from?"
The nuns came up to touch it, but Tian Shi refused to let go, fearing it would break. She just took it out and showed it to the naked eye, saying:
"This is a rare thing from mules and horses."
"Mule and horse? What kind of place is that?"
Aunt Liu said that on that day, foreigners entered Chang'an City in groups from Weishui Street, and she also went to watch the excitement. She had never heard of this place.
"They must have raised a lot of mules and horses, so they gave it such a name." Her daughter Liu Chunniang said while eating fragrant beans.
Qiu Gu laughed so hard that her stomach hurt, and said:
"Rome isn't about mules and horses. I heard it's a country in the west, a million miles away from us. How did Xu Niang get something from there?"
Tian's face lit up and she said:
"A foreign merchant gave it to my daughter. It's called a green glass bowl, and it's used for eating in Rome."
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