After a short rest, everyone except Yu Wenjun had a simple dinner, washed up and went back to their rooms. Many people had altitude sickness, poor appetite and listlessness. However, Fu Xiaoguan was fine. He felt very energetic after taking a shower.
The moon is bright tonight, especially on this plateau. It feels closer to the sky, so the moon seems to be a little bigger.
Fu Xiaoguan had gone downstairs and was gazing at the moon in the courtyard when Deng Xiu approached and bowed respectfully. "Your humble servant greets Master Fu. I wonder if you are satisfied with all my arrangements. If you have any requests, please let me know. I will do my best to serve you."
Fu Xiaoguan retracted his gaze, looked at Deng Xiu and said with a smile, "Don't be so polite. I'm here to attend this literary gathering as a scholar. You don't need to be polite to me. I'm not one to care about etiquette... Is this place our embassy?"
"Your Excellency, that's right. Our dynasty has only three envoys stationed in the Wu Dynasty, and you've already met them. We usually conduct our business here. If the Wu Dynasty has any requests for our dynasty, we will send someone to convey them here. If our dynasty has any suggestions for the Wu Dynasty, we will go to the Imperial City and submit them to the relevant authorities, or even meet with the emperor."
It was similar in nature to the former embassy. Fu Xiaoguan nodded thoughtfully, and the two of them came to a stone table and sat down - their butts felt a little cold!
"How long have you been here?" Fu Xiaoguan asked with concern.
"Three years and three months."
"Are you used to it?"
"Your Excellency, this job is actually quite easy. Our dynasty doesn't have close ties with the Wu Dynasty, and this is the first time I've hosted a reception of this magnitude in the past three years. So, if there are any shortcomings, please bear with me."
Deng Xiu was not as casual as Fu Xiaoguan said. He had already known Fu Xiaoguan's identity and understood that the young man in front of him was the real upstart of Shangjing in the Yu Dynasty!
He couldn't afford to offend him. God knew what the young man was thinking. He could say that, but if he really did that, he would inevitably leave the impression of being ignorant in his mind.
Fu Xiaoguan didn't bother to discuss the question of addressing the superior and the inferior. He asked again, "Do you have any family in Shangjing?"
"Your Excellency, my family is not in Shangjing—to be honest, Shangjing is not a place for someone like me. I am from Yongning City, Yongning Prefecture, Shanxi Province. I passed the imperial examination in the first year of the Xuanli reign and then waited for two years. In the third year of the Xuanli reign, I was offered a position as Chief Clerk of the Honglu Temple. I came here at the beginning of the sixth year of the Xuanli reign and have been back once since then."
Fu Xiaoguan suddenly remembered that Gong Shenchang had plundered Yongning City, so he asked again, "What is your family situation like? How many wives and concubines do you have? How many children do you have?"
Deng Xiu was stunned. Why would this young upstart ask such a private matter? But since Fu Xiaoguan had asked, he could only answer, "Your Excellency, my family is quite well off. I have a wife, a concubine, and two sons. I got married while I was still a candidate, and I had my sons then. In the winter of the seventh year of the Xuanli reign, when I returned home to visit my parents, I took in a concubine. Later, I received a letter saying that a daughter had been born."
As he spoke of this trivial matter, a warm smile appeared on Deng Xiu's face. "I haven't seen my daughter yet. I'm thinking of asking the Ministry of Rites for leave next year to go back and see her."
Fu Xiaoguan didn't mention the incident in Yongning City. He smiled and said, "After living in a foreign land for a long time, it's inevitable to miss home. I really should go back more often..." He suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Are the embassies of Fan State, Yi State, and the Huang people also on this street?"
"The embassies of Fan and Yi are in the inner city. Only the embassies of Huang and our dynasty are in the middle city. Huang is a bit more remote than ours. They're located in Broken Water Bridge Lane, where the middle and outer cities intersect. There are three other small countries in that area, all east of the Wu Dynasty. Two of them are coastal, and one is actually on an island. They're too far away from our dynasty, so we don't have any permanent embassies there."
Fu Xiaoguan was stunned. Coastal countries? This was important information. If I had time someday, I would go talk to the envoys of these three countries.
There was no outlet to the sea within the territory of the Yu Dynasty, which was a huge shortcoming. The Yangtze River must flow into the sea, and this matter must be made clear.
As for the fact that Wu Dynasty placed the embassy of Yu Dynasty in this central city, it seems that Wu Dynasty attached more importance to Fan State and Yi State than Yu Dynasty. The most critical factor here is national strength.
He was not clear about the national strength of these two countries. He knew that the territory of Fan State was very large, while the territory of Yi State was only one-third of that of Yu Dynasty!
The fact that the Yi State dared to raise an army to invade the Yu Dynasty shows that the national strength of the Yi State was indeed superior to that of the Yu Dynasty.
A weak country has no diplomacy, this is a true portrayal. I think it is extremely difficult for Deng Xiu and the other two to be here.
Fu Xiaoguan currently had no way to change this situation. He then asked, "Please pay more attention to this literary gathering and the celebration of Empress Dowager Wu's birthday."
"This humble official is still thinking about you and is waiting for you to make our Yu Dynasty famous during the literary gathering."
Fu Xiaoguan smiled noncommittally and said, "It's late, go get some rest."
"I'll take my leave!"
Deng Xiu got up and left. Fu Xiaoguan leaned his hands on his knees and looked at the bright moon, still unable to sleep.
…
There are many other people who are also unable to sleep.
Wu Linger was eating candied fruit in the Queen's Zhengyang Palace and happily talking about the new poem that Fu Xiaoguan had composed in Fanning City.
Thousands of miles away in the Sword Forest, on the top of Sword Mountain, the Sword Forest Sect Leader Lu Xiaofeng looked at the body of his eldest disciple Zuo Henhua with a grim expression. He had been looking at it for two days and two nights!
He couldn't figure out what kind of weapon had caused the hole on Zuo Henhua's forehead. He thought about it for a long time, and then looked to the south - there was a group of mountains there, and among the mountains there was a temple. Could it be that the master of the temple had ever been to the border town?
Could it be that the temple master has mastered the legendary finger-snapping magic?
Since the temple master is protecting Fu Xiaoguan, I will kill him in front of you!
"Someone come!..."
That night, the three guardians of Jianlin left Jianshan and headed towards Guanyun City.
Zhuo Donglai did not sleep that night.
He was standing alone in Lanxi wearing white clothes, quietly looking at the bright moon reflected in the water.
What Wu Ling'er said to Fu Xiaoguan in Fancheng has reached his ears, I will support you... So, Ling'er's heart is with Fu Xiaoguan, so the story of childhood sweethearts is a lie!
As an outstanding figure of the young generation in the literary world of Wu Dynasty, he has always been proud and has always cherished the delicate relationship between him and Wu Linger.
As the eldest grandson of the largest family in Guanyun City, he has worked very hard since he was young - working hard to practice martial arts, study hard, and strive to become the brightest star in the Wu Dynasty.
He succeeded, but lost to Fu Xiaoguan, the small landlord from Linjiang whom he had never even met!
He picked up a stone and smashed it into the Lanxi River. The peaceful water rippled and tore the full moon into pieces. He smiled sadly - the feelings between childhood sweethearts were as fragile as the moon in the water. It only took a small stone to wipe it out!
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