The moment he met Xie Hongyi's provocative gaze, Lu Qipei had a feeling that this person was here for himself, including the so-called competition, I am afraid it was also for himself.
It's not that Lu Qipei feels too good about himself and thinks too much of himself, but that the teenager's emotions are hardly hidden. He seems to be full of hostility and provocation towards himself, but if he really wants to talk about it, he is not like Lu Qicheng, it is full of obvious malice.
With very complicated and unfamiliar emotions, Lu Qipei lowered his eyes, thinking even more.
The hall gradually became noisy, and the people who were sitting upright also began to discuss the competition with the left and right.
Although most people felt that this proposal was child's play, and even suspected that Rong Guozheng was not qualified to change the terms of the credentials. Or the scale of concession is limited, it is the result that can be obtained in the original negotiation, and there is no need to do it again...
The crowd gradually began to discuss, although most people felt that the proposal of the competition was unreliable, but unexpectedly not many people objected—perhaps they were stimulated by the rudeness of these Rongguo people, and they did not know that their sense of superiority was overbearing. At present, many people really have the idea of competing with them, and then pressing the other side, so that they will go back to Rongguo in disgrace.
Therefore, after a while of discussion, someone asked: "The messenger said that there will be a test, but I don't know what the test will be? Don't be horns, etc. We are all literati, but I can't compare to you."
It's not that there are no generals and banquets in the hall, but he doesn't speak at the moment, he just pretends that he doesn't exist.
Neither the prince nor the emperor stopped him, as if they were watching the development of the situation indifferently.
Just when he heard the words, he lowered his head and glanced at the young man who was sitting upright, and then said, "Naturally, it's not as good as a corner. This kind of activity is okay to play, how can it be elegant?" Said: "I'm waiting to hear that Liang Guo is a great country, a country of gentlemen. Since we want to test, it is not easy to test small ways, so why not compare the six arts of gentlemen?"
The six arts of a gentleman, ritual, music, and imperial calligraphy are the foundation of the literati in ancient times. But then again, since the imperial examinations were selected, most of the content of the examinations did not include them, and these six arts gradually declined. Except for those who really have a background, there are very few specializations.
As soon as Rong Guozheng made this statement, there was an uproar in the hall, obviously he did not expect him to make such a proposal. After that, the anger was unbearable, and all the ministers only felt that the envoys of the honored country compared with the six arts, which was simply provocation and overreaching!
There was a lot of noise in the hall, and the emperor finally suppressed the noise: "This competition, what if you win, what if you lose?"
Both Qi Yang and Lu Qipei looked at the boss where the emperor was with some surprises, but he didn't expect such a playful proposal, he actually responded. But after thinking about it, it seems that it is not a disadvantage to agree. After all, all the people from Liang Guo who were present were consciously confident.
Also really solid. It was less than a year after the establishment of Rongguo. Before, the barbarians of the Rong and Di only knew how to herd and loot. Even among the nobles, how many people actually read books? Not to mention learning six arts. Even in the eyes of many people in the Liang Kingdom, these barbarians are almost no different from the savage who drink blood. It is a joke to compare Liuyi with them!
Because of the emperor's opening, the hall became quiet for a while, and dozens of pairs of eyes stared at the ambassador of Rongguo, waiting for him to answer.
Zheng Shi was not in a hurry, he took out another piece of paper from his arms and handed it over: "I will take this as a bet, what does Your Majesty think?"
The emperor took the article handed by Zhang Jian and read it carefully. This time, the conditions of the two sides were much more equal. For example, most of the year-old coins, cloth and silk have been reduced, but the horses, cattle and sheep that Rongguo has returned remain unchanged. Another example is that the trade remains the same, but the ironware has been removed from the original goods, and the emphasis has been placed on tea, salt and other items... In simple terms, the sincerity is much more than before.
If Rongguo had come up with this kind of credentials at the beginning, the emperor might not hesitate for too long before reaching a truce and alliance between the two countries. But this Chen was taken out in this situation, but it made the emperor have to think a little more.
But after thinking about it, doubts are doubts, and under the watchful eyes of the people in the hall, he nodded quickly and said: "Yes, let's take this as a bet."
This is the condition of victory. As for the option of losing, Rong Guozheng did not mention it, and the emperor never even thought about this possibility. The two sides seem to have reached an agreement on this, and the next step is the question of candidates.
Rong Guozheng made a request for this: "Liang country is big and talented, and we have only a few dozen envoys. If you want to come, Your Majesty does not want to bear the reputation of bullying the few, so the candidates for this competition might as well be in Choose from this palace."
Hearing this, Lu Qipei only said "surely" in his heart.
Lu Qipei had already guessed that the alien boy was intending to target him, but he didn't expect his provocation to be so direct. Seeing that she was never mentioned in the election, Xie Hongyi actually stood up and asked to compete with her by name.
The young man was dressed in luxurious clothes and had a reckless bearing. He looked more noble than the official ambassador, and was the focus of everyone's secret attention. As soon as he stood up at this time, he immediately attracted everyone's attention, and even Lu Qipei, who was named by him, was also noticed by everyone.
Then everyone looked at the other side, and then looked at their own side, and suddenly found that the two were born a bit similar!
Qi Yang was rarely nervous, and grabbed Lu Qipei's hand several times during the case. The latter calmed down at this time, she held Qi Yang's hand and patted hers lightly, chatting to appease, with a calm demeanor.
Sure enough, the two soon heard someone mutter: "These two people are so similar, aren't they brothers?"
The person who spoke was the third prince who finally got off the ground and was released. He glanced at Qi Yang behind the prince, his tone was full of schadenfreude, and his voice was not small enough for everyone around him to hear.
The original intention of the third prince was to trap Lu Qipei in collusion with Rongguo, or even a spy inserted by Rongguo, and then suppress Qi Yang, who was proud of the recent spring breeze. If you can take advantage of the situation to pull the prince, it will be even better. As for Lu Qipei himself, he didn't care.
But who would have known this, before Lu Qipei had time to defend himself, he heard the boy on the other side dissatisfied: "Who is his brother?! I just saw that he was born akin to me, and some didn't like him."
The young man's ears and eyes are clear, and he obviously heard the words of the third prince. When he retorted, his eyebrows were arrogant, his tone was obviously disgusting, and his gaze towards Lu Qipei was even more unabashedly provocative, which made people see his sincerity at a glance.
In fact, not many people really believed what the third prince said, and even if there were some doubts, they put the doubts behind after thinking for a while. After all, if Lu Qipei was really a spy of Rongguo, it was too late to keep a low profile under such circumstances. The people of Rongguo are not stupid, and they also specifically point out their own work on other people's sites. Is it too easy to put a quasi-consort into Liangguo?
As for personal grievances, it is also necessary to back down in the face of the righteousness of the family... Rong Guozheng sees that his identity is not as valuable as Xie Hongyi, but his authority in the diplomatic corps is unquestionable, and he will not tolerate too much mischief by teenagers.
A little episode was revealed, but the overly similar appearances of the two were still remembered by everyone.
Lu Qipei only responded aloud at this time, and replied lightly: "It's just what I want, I don't dare to ask."
The eyes of the two met again, one was arrogant and provocative, the other was calm and calm, and it seemed that some tacit understanding was formed between these two teenagers with similar faces. Others don't know, just look at the two of them with a little bit of exploration in their eyes.
Qi Yang was inexplicably a little uneasy, his eyebrows frowned slightly, and he grabbed Lu Qipei's hand a few times.
Lu Qipei noticed it, withdrew his gaze, and turned back to Qi Yang with a reassuring smile. The smile is light and gentle, which makes people feel like a spring breeze at first sight, soothes Qi Yang's anxiety, but also makes the prying eyes of all parties show surprise.
Of course, Xie Hongyi on the opposite side also saw it. The little boy was not fooled by Lu Qipei's smile, but when he saw this scene, he frowned. He picked up the wine cup in front of him and took a sip, completely ignoring how young he was, and then whispered in an inaudible voice: "It's really useless, it's just selling your face!"
The people around him couldn't hear him, and of course Lu Qipei in the back row on the opposite side couldn't hear the muttering of the interracial teenager. But even if she heard it, she probably just smiled casually. After all, what the young man said was right, didn't she use this face to attract Qi Yang's eyes in her past and present life?
Lu Qipei, who was designated by Xie Hongyi, naturally joined the competition list. In addition, Liang Guo also selected five other people to participate in the competition together. The meaning of everyone was that the six arts were separated, and one person chose one to specialize in playing and compete with Rongguo. But which Rongguo was a bachelor, and the envoy pushed Xie Hongyi forward directly, indicating that he came forward alone.
What can people say now? Thirteen or fourteen-year-old teenagers participating in the competition have a feeling of being bullied by the big. Could it be that we have to deal with the wheel battle? This is not only a victory without force, but it is completely shameless to say that even if you win!
The people of Liang Guo became more and more dissatisfied, but they had to deal with this situation carefully. In the end, they didn't care about Xie Hongyi's active provocation, and everyone decided to let the selected people compete first, and choose the best to compete with Rongguo.
However, this competition selection does not have to be held in front of the Rongguo people, and it has to be placed after the palace banquet. The competition between the left and right six arts is not a moment and a half, and the palace banquet cannot be performed at all, so another time has to be chosen.
After the competition was finalized, the palace banquet gradually returned to calm, the singing and dancing resumed, and the atmosphere was even more harmonious than before.
Only Qi Yang was worried and pulled Lu Qipei, and whispered in her ear: "Then what is Xie Hongyi's plan? He deliberately implicated you, and the current situation seems to be here to compete with you... He and you Does it really matter?"
Qi Yang asked straightforwardly because she knew that Lu Qipei would not hide it from her.
Lu Qipei smiled wryly, and she didn't hide it from Qi Yang, but she didn't quite understand it herself: "Maybe it has something to do with it, I don't know." After a while, he said softly, "I always feel that he is here for me. "
After hearing this, Qi Yang glanced at the young man opposite, and then lowered his eyes to hide the dark color that suddenly appeared in his eyes.