After returning to the Beiyuan Embassy, Yi Qian immediately summoned all the envoys together to discuss the next response measures.
If you want to get the antidote for the male and female poison for the young prince, there are only two ways at the moment. Either put pressure on Dong Ling, or... bow down to Nanjing.
The former is not very realistic. For Dongling now, the first thing to solve is the threat of Nanjing. They would rather offend Beiyuan than openly violate the conditions set by Nanjing at this time. Excluding the wrong answer, there is only one correct answer left.
The ministers expressed their opinions on this.
"The relationship between Beiyuan and Nanjing may not be as good as Qin and Jin, but at least we keep to ourselves. When we were fighting Xixia, they even provided us with a lot of military equipment and food."
"Oh, yes, yes, several decades ago, our Princess Sang He was married to Shangjing. My young prince, you and Crown Prince Nanjing are related! I think as long as you show your attitude, have a good talk with Nanjing, and give them some concessions, Nanjing may not refuse."
"My Lord, what do you say?"
At this time, Wei Zhenfeng sat casually on the chair, holding a book of military tactics in his hand and reading it boredly, not even bothering to raise his eyelids: "It's hard to say."
Yi Qian was angry when he saw the young prince's nonchalant attitude. He first advised earnestly: "Your Majesty, this matter concerns your own body. You must not neglect it."
Wei Zhenfeng turned a page of the book: "Hmm..."
The old man was so angry that he snatched the military book from the young prince's hand, only to find out that the military book was just a cover. There was actually another book hidden behind the military book. When he turned to the cover, the three words "Feng Yue Tan" almost blinded his eyes.
The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment. Yi Qian covered his chest and said angrily, "Young Prince! Didn't you say that you should be pure in mind and desire?"
Wei Zhenfeng said: "It's me, but I also want to know..."
Want to know why Zhao Mian said it hurts, he didn't feel any pain. Zhao Mian also blamed him for the fever, he clearly said it was cold outside and wanted to carry Zhao Mian back to the house to do it, but Zhao Mian himself disagreed.
Yi Qian confiscated Wei Zhenfeng's "Feng Yue Tan" on the spot and said, "What do you want to know? Nothing is more important than the poison in your body right now. This is a personal grudge you created yourself. You have to find a way to resolve it."
Wei Zhenfeng laughed: "He said it was just a personal grudge, and you believed him?"
When he was still Li Er, Zhao Mian had not killed him. He was willing to care about the life and death of a black man, so there was no reason for him not to care about the life and death of a white man.
Yi Qian was stunned, then suddenly realized.
Yes, that was Prince Nanjing. He had had contact with Prince Nanjing, and even though he didn't know Zhao Mian very well, he knew that Zhao Mian was definitely not someone who ignored the overall situation. "Personal grudges" were just a cover for him, and there must be a deeper purpose behind his actions.
Yi Qian pondered for a moment and said, "Your Highness, what you mean is that Prince Nanjing also wants to negotiate with us? He wants to take something from us in exchange for the antidote to the male and female poison?"
"Yeah." Speaking of business, Wei Zhenfeng sat up straight, "And we definitely don't want to give him what he wants. So he has to force us to give it."
In just a few words, Yi Qian's eyes turned from anger at his young prince to relief: "So what does the prince mean?"
"Tomorrow is the winter solstice." Wei Zhenfeng had already made a plan in mind, "Since the prince and I are both exiled in a foreign land, why not invite him to our hotel to have a small gathering and spend the holiday together."
Soon, the invitation from the Beiyuan Embassy was delivered to Zhao Mian. The invitation was written by Wei Zhenfeng himself, and it was the first time Zhao Mian saw the handwriting of the young prince of Beiyuan.
It is elegant and unrestrained, uninhibited and yet retains its form. It is true that the handwriting reflects the person who writes it.
Since there was really nothing wrong with it, Zhao Mian rarely made any comments and simply handed the invitation to Rong Tang and others for circulation.
After reading it, Rong Tang asked, "Your Highness, are you going to the banquet?"
Zhou Huairang was not very happy: "Why should we celebrate the winter solstice with the people of Beiyuan when the whole family is reunited? Are we familiar with them?"
Rong Tang's pale fingertips fell on the last sentence of the invitation, and he coughed lightly and said, "'The generous gift is ready, waiting for your arrival.' Will the 'gift' from the King of Beiheng be what Your Highness expects?"
Zhao Mian said, "You'll know when you go there."
Zhao Mian's identity was well known in the Beiyuan delegation. Not only did he not need to hide his identity, he also had to show the Beiyuan people the proud style of their great country.
Therefore, the eldest sister of the Eastern Palace, Bai Yu, personally tied up the hair and changed the clothes for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
The luxurious jade crown tied up half of his long hair, and the other half was scattered behind him. The gorgeous yellow brocade clothes were embroidered by the best embroiderers in Nanjing and Jiangnan. Zhao Mian had a sachet and jade pendant on his waist, and a snow-white fox fur on the outside, standing proudly in the snow. The tall, taciturn black-clad guard with a sword held an umbrella for him and stood respectfully behind him.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not wear the imperial robe that symbolized his status. From head to toe, he was extremely refined and noble, which stunned the envoys from Beiyuan. Yi Qian could not help but take a few more glances at the young prince, not to mention that he was supposed to supervise him.
Only the young prince looked calm, looking at Zhao Mian with the same eyes as he looked at ordinary people, and said with a smile: "Your Highness has come in all his best attire, which really makes this small inn of mine shine."
Yi Qian originally thought it was good, the young prince kept his word and did not seduce by beauty again. But he changed his mind and thought, that's not right, when everyone else was blinded by beauty, the young prince was sober, which showed that he was doing it on purpose.
"Formal attire?" Zhao Mian chuckled. "This is just my daily attire. I didn't expect it to be considered 'formal attire' in the eyes of the prince."
This was a mockery of their Beiyuan's inexperience. Wei Zhenfeng knew that now was not the time to show off his verbal skills, so he did not argue with Zhao Mian and raised his hand to make a gesture of invitation: "The banquet is ready, please come in, Your Highness."
There were about a dozen officials of varying ranks in the Beiyuan delegation, most of whom were civil officials. But perhaps because Beiyuan ruled the world with military force, from the perspective of the people of Nanjing, these civil officials were a little too arrogant.
The embassy was originally the residence of an old prince of Dongling, but now it has become the territory of Beiyuan. During the winter solstice festival, the embassy was very lively, with civil officials and military officers gathered together and it was difficult to tell them apart. Some were cooking wine and dancing with swords, while others were roasting meat and throwing pots. Everyone was arm in arm, talking and laughing, which was a scene that would never appear in the Nanjing Embassy.
Marquis Anyuan, who was born as a military general, and the aloof and cold Master Rong had worked together for a long time, and they were almost suffocated. Now that he was in the middle of it, he could not help but be infected by the excitement. When he saw a little girl in the flower gathering playing with a flower spear to perfection, which attracted the applause of the whole room, he finally couldn't help but said: "It is said that Beiyuan's spear skills are unique, and everyone can play with them. My hands are particularly itchy today. I wonder if the little prince can spar with me a little, so that I can also broaden my horizons?"
There has been no war between Beiyuan and Nanjing for a hundred years, but the secret competition between the generals has never stopped. Whenever there is a chance, they will fight to see who is stronger.
Compared to Zhao Mian, Wei Zhenfeng was dressed very simply today, with his long hair tied into a high ponytail, and after taking off his cloak, he was wearing a crimson suit. There was a red tasseled spear at his feet, and the young man kicked it, and the spear flew into the air and landed steadily in his hand.
Wei Zhenfeng smiled and said, "Please come in, senior."
Marquis Anyuan looked at Zhao Mian, and after getting his nod of approval, he shouted, drew the sword from his waist, and attacked Wei Zhenfeng.
However, Wei Zhenfeng seemed to have anticipated this, and he slightly turned his body to easily avoid the attack. At the same time, he held the gun in his backhand, and the tip of the gun stabbed at An Yuanhou's throat at an unpredictable angle.
Fortunately, An Yuanhou was very experienced. His face darkened and he quickly blocked with his sword, thus barely escaping.
After several rounds, An Yuanhou's physical strength was obviously at a disadvantage. Although Wei Zhenfeng did not try his best, the outcome was still clear at a glance.
During the final blow, the red tasseled spear swam towards An Yuan Hou like a silver dragon. Only a red afterimage remained in the old man's field of vision. By the time he reacted, the spear had already struck him.
Seeing that the tip of the spear was about to touch An Yuanhou's chest, Wei Zhenfeng suddenly stopped his action, then neatly put the spear behind him, lowered his eyes and nodded, saying, "Thank you."
Marquis Anyuan was not angry at losing to a junior, but laughed loudly. The eye that was not covered by the blindfold was full of pride, and his attitude towards Wei Zhenfeng was no longer as hostile as before: "Young prince, you are a young talent. The 'Dragon Spear' is indeed worthy of its reputation. I am convinced of my defeat!"
At this time, the young prince was not arrogant, and said modestly: "Senior, you are too kind. I can only take advantage of my youth."
An Yuanhou lost happily, but he was also worried about not losing face for Nanjing: "How about another match between you, Your Majesty and Xiao Shen? You are both young people."
Wei Zhenfeng smiled and declined: "No, no, I tried before and I couldn't beat him."
Only then was Marquis Anyuan completely satisfied.
Zhao Mian retracted his gaze and said to Shen Buci, "Go look somewhere else."
Zhao Mian was attracted by a group of junior officials who were playing pot-throwing for fun. He was good at archery and had excellent aiming skills. In his eyes, pot-throwing was just a trivial skill, and he didn't know how those people could have so much fun. At this time, Wei Zhenfeng, who had wiped off his sweat and changed into a wide-sleeved casual uniform, found him and saw that he seemed to be somewhat interested in pot-throwing. He smiled and said, "Do you want to try it? If you win, there will be a prize."
Zhao Mian asked: "What's the prize?"
Wei Zhenfeng raised his chin to the side and said, "See for yourself."
Zhao Mian looked over and saw... a huge, white and fat pig's head
Zhao Mian frowned, looking very disgusted: "I don't want this kind of thing."
"Why not?" Wei Zhenfeng tried to persuade him, "Braised pork head is delicious."
Zhao Mian suddenly had a premonition that he might not be able to eat any delicious food today.
Wei Zhenfeng accompanied Zhao Mian for a while, and Zhao Mian was sure that he did not see anything related to the word "elegant". Even when the civil officials were reciting poems and writing couplets, they would pick up the big pig's trotters at hand and take a bite.
Can not bear to look.
Zhao Mian suddenly asked, "Where is your Desert Dancer?"
Wei Zhenfeng was startled: "What Ji?"
"Didn't you say at the state banquet that no one could compare to the black-skinned dancers from the desert in Beiyuan when it comes to beauty?" Zhao Mian said calmly, "I would like to see one or two."
Wei Zhenfeng laughed and said, "You can't keep the dancers in a place where they do real work. At most, they can be kept in the palace for fun. I gave them to my father and my brother. If you are interested, I will pick out a few good ones next time and send them to Nanjing."
Zhao Mian really wanted to see how good Heipi was: "Just let me take a look, no need to send me off."
The group gradually walked to the backyard, which was much quieter than the front yard. It was probably where the officials' wives lived.
Zhao Mian was about to avoid it when he suddenly heard children laughing and playing. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw two little girls running around a snowman in the snow, leaving behind tiny footprints.
Their nurse ran after them, holding two small cloaks, and urged them to put them on, and to run slowly and be careful not to walk on the slippery ground.
Wei Zhenfeng introduced them to Zhao Mian: "These are the families of officials stationed abroad all year round."
Zhao Mian was reminded of his childhood memories, and the corners of his mouth slightly raised: "In the past, I would also build snowmen with my father and my brother."
Wei Zhenfeng smiled and asked, "Do you want to build a snowman with me?"
"No." Zhao Mian held a golden copper heater in his hand, "It's cold."
"So delicate." Wei Zhenfeng laughed at him, "You are not the Crown Prince, but Princess Nanjing, right?"
Zhao Mian frowned and retorted unhappily: "First, being squeamish or not has nothing to do with being a man or a woman. Second, I, Princess Nanjing, am not squeamish."
Wei Zhenfeng asked curiously, "Do you have a princess in Nanjing now?" He had been to the Nanjing Palace twice, staying for ten days or half a month each time. Apart from the empress dowager, he seemed to have never seen any other female masters.
Zhao Mian looked at the two pretty little girls and showed a regretful expression: "Not yet." He only has a younger brother who is disliked by dogs.
His father had only two children, him and his younger brother, and his grandfather also had few offspring. There was no eldest princess or youngest princess in the Nanjing Palace.
Wei Zhenfeng saw through Zhao Mian's thoughts and deliberately boasted, "I have two twin sisters from different mothers. They are only six years old this year. They are innocent, lively and cute. Every time they see me, they call me 'Second Brother' and it makes my heart melt."
Zhao Mian was not irritated by this clumsy show-off.
"Just a sister," he said calmly, "I will have one in the future."
Wei Zhenfeng laughed out loud: "If your father heard what you said, he would definitely praise you for being filial."
(End of this chapter)