Everyone was sitting and talking in low voices, when someone suddenly stood up, immediately attracting attention.
When the song and dance in the audience reached the "Mulan Ballad", more than a dozen dancers were seen performing battle scenes with their graceful postures, and the music became somewhat tragic. However, because the official suddenly stood up, the hall changed, and some dancers made obvious mistakes in their movements.
Ao Huang looked around and didn't take the official seriously.
Fang Yun looked at the official, who was rough and sturdy, with a typical appearance of a military officer, dressed in the uniform of a Hanlin scholar. The military officer pointed at a dancer and said angrily: "The emperor has arrived and the king is present. Who gave you the courage to be so negligent!"
The twelve dancers were so frightened that they stopped dancing, knelt on the ground, and trembled all over.
The musicians also stopped playing their instruments and looked at the military officer in horror.
This was not an ordinary occasion; it was even more stringent than the king's birthday banquet. A dignified sage came to Qing State, and he was going to wage a war of words against Qing State, which was disadvantageous to Qing State. If something went wrong at this time and someone found evidence against him, the crime would be even more serious.
Fang Yun said unhappily, "What on earth did they do wrong to make this general make such a fuss? If they didn't do anything wrong, the general should just forgive them. Why bother with this?"
When officials from both countries heard this, they vaguely understood that in such a situation, no matter how dumb an official was, he would not suddenly speak wildly. It must be that he was referring to something. Fang Yun guessed that this general might do something bad to him, so he took the initiative.
Some young officials followed the envoys to gain knowledge. Seeing this scene, they became more alert. It seems that the old officials were right. The diplomacy between the two countries is exactly the same as in the history books. There will always be various things. Now there will not be the situation in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period where the princes of the two countries met and one side sent dancers to assassinate, but there will be intrigues.
The two countries were playing games before the meeting, and were calculating after the meeting.
The general had never expected Fang Yun to say that. He was stunned for a moment, and instinctively looked at Zong Wuyuan. Seeing Zong Wuyuan drinking, a trace of helplessness flashed in his eyes, and then he said: "Reporting to Lord Xusheng, the leading maid was not focused and her mind was not calm when dancing, and she made many mistakes. She was simply disrespecting Xusheng and the king! This girl violated the etiquette, if she were in my house, I would definitely beat her out with sticks."
The leading dancer was trembling with fear, tears welling up in her eyes, but she dared not say a word.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "The song was wrong, Zhou Lang looked back. Today, the dance was flawed. The general was angry. That's it. There is no need to worry about such a small matter. You can go down and wait for the general to calm down, then you can toast and apologize."
The dancers and musicians breathed a sigh of relief and were about to thank the general when he suddenly said, "Wait! The Qing Kingdom has strict etiquette. The king is the king, the minister is the minister, the father is the father, the son is the son. Merits must be rewarded, and mistakes must be punished. Slut, I want to ask you, where are you from, where are your ancestral home, and who gave you the courage to neglect the saint and the king!"
Fang Yun was about to speak when Qing Jun slammed the table and said angrily, "Shut up! Fang Xusheng let them go. Who gave you the courage to stop him? Do you believe that I will punish you for the crime of treason?"
The general bowed and said, "Your Majesty Qing, calm down. I am a soldier and I value military law and etiquette the most. If etiquette is not there, how can we build an army? How can we govern the country? How can we keep the people safe? If we don't punish this slave today, and people spread that the people of Qing neglected the saint at the banquet, it will damage the prestige of the country and the face of the king. We must not slack off in the slightest."
"Alas... you stubborn asses in the army, never mind, what you said does make some sense, I'll let you deal with it."
Everyone could see clearly that the king and the general were in agreement, one was in the right, and the other was trying to seize the right to speak from Fang Yun. In the end, everything was decided by General Qing.
Fang Yun's eyes turned cold. He first glanced at Qing Jun, then at the general, and stopped talking.
The general angrily glared at the dancer in the lead and yelled, "Bitch, I want to ask you, where are you from, where are your ancestors from, why do you want to offend the Saint and the King, and ruin the reputation of our Qing Kingdom! Tell me! Are you colluding with the enemy country? If you say even a single lie, it will be a heinous crime of deceiving the Saint and the King, and I will kill your entire clan!"
The dancer was so frightened that she burst into tears and hurriedly explained: "I never offended you..."
"Shut up! I'm asking who you are and where you're from!"
"My humble name is Qinghe. I am from Xiangzhou. My ancestral home is Minggu Mansion in Jiangzhou, Jingguo. I was sent to the palace before I was ten years old. I have not had any contact with my family for many years, and I will never have any contact with the enemy country..."
The general was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly said: "This lowly maid is from Jiangzhou? It turns out that she is from the same hometown as Fang Xusheng. I am reckless. In this case, I dare not overstep the line. Please let Fang Xusheng decide."
Sai Shilang, the Minister of Rites of Jing State, slammed the table and shouted angrily, "How dare you!"
"Fuck it!" Ao Huang didn't say a word from beginning to end, for fear of being blamed for being rude, but now he really couldn't help it, his dragon beard fluttered and his dragon eyes were filled with anger.
All the officials of Jing State stood up suddenly, glaring at the Hanlin General, with tables and chairs in disarray and full of energy.
Qing Jun yelled, "Xin Zhi, get out of my palace!"
Xin Zhi looked surprised and aggrieved, and said, "Your Majesty, what happened to me? Didn't I just scold a slave from Jiangzhou? What crime have I committed? I am a rough man, just an ordinary Jinshi, and I have never participated in the palace examination. I am a rough man. I was promoted to Hanlin by virtue of my military skills, so I really don't have the ability to scheme against others."
"Bullshit! How dare you say you didn't allude to Fang Xusheng!" Zhou Junhu cursed.
Xin Zhi felt even more wronged, and hurriedly said, "General Zhou really scared me. I swear on my literary courage that I look down on the people of Jing and call them bitches, but I never insinuated Fang Xusheng. If I lie even a little, my literary courage will be shattered and my literary palace will collapse."
The people of Jing State became even more angry. The matter was obvious. Xin Zhi was using the military tactic of "all is fair in war" while talking nonsense. As long as he had the country in his heart, there would be no problem even if he swore on his own holy way, let alone swearing on his literary talent.
However, without sufficient evidence, everyone had no way to target him. Moreover, even if Xin Zhi was making insinuations, as long as he insisted that he was insulting Jingguo and not Fang Yun, even if the matter was brought to the Holy Academy, no one would be able to do anything to him.
Zhou Junhu laughed in anger and said, "What a liar! Before the battle of words, do you dare to fight me with military tactics?"
Xin Zhi laughed and said, "General Zhou, you are joking. I am just a Hanlin, and my military skills are shallow. How can I compare with you, a great scholar? I am ashamed of myself. You win."
"You bastard! Why don't you go back and sit down?" Qing Jun glared at him, and Xin Zhi sighed and sat down.
Qing Jun turned his head to look at Fang Yun, whose face was livid, and said, "Fang Xusheng, don't bother with this kind of rough soldier. These soldiers are the most difficult to deal with. I have always had a headache. Well, you didn't come to my palace to get angry. Don't worry about that guy. However, you can decide what to do with this dancer. With you here, none of us can deal with her."
As Qing Jun was speaking, Fang Yun's expression gradually eased, and he nodded, saying, "Originally I came to Qing Kingdom to do only one thing, but now I have to do two or three things. Qing Jun, can I redeem all the innocent people in Qing Kingdom whose ancestral home is Jing Kingdom with a poem?"
"This..." Qing Jun hesitated.
The officials of Qing State were silent, while the officials of Jing State nodded secretly. Since Qing State insulted Fang Yun with a dancer from Jing State, Fang Yun should retreat to advance and show his benevolent side. (To be continued...)