Chapter 10: Lacquer City

  The sun was high, the whole army had finished their early meal, and Qingji set out, passing through the valley and walking for about half a day before exiting the mountain valley. In front of them lay a vast plain, and in the distance, they could see a city. This place was already close to the capital of Lu State, Qufu. The city was more magnificent than any they had seen on this journey, with its sturdy walls made of bluestone and rammed earth, tall city gates, and many people passing by nearby.

  Qing Ji's group had more than 200 people, and the soldiers were all armed, so they attracted attention from afar. When Qing Ji led his 200 armored soldiers to the city gate, a high carriage with four horses was parked at the gate, and behind it stood over ten sturdy and agile knights, while in front of the carriage stood a young boy with a hanging braid, who fearlessly faced the 200 soldiers, smiled, and stepped forward to greet them. He bowed his head and asked in a clear voice: "Are you, sir, Wu Guo's Qing Ji?"

  The old ox driving the carriage stopped, and the curtain of the sedan chair was lifted. Looking out, he saw a young boy in brocade clothes. He felt slightly surprised in his heart, but still replied: "It is indeed this young master, who are you?"

  The little boy made another bow and smiled, saying: "Please wait a moment, my master has been waiting for you for a long time." After speaking, he turned around and walked quickly to the front of the high carriage with four horses, exchanged a few words with the person inside, and then the curtain in front of the luxurious carriage was lifted, and a middle-aged man with a high bun and crown came out.

  This man was adorned with pearls and jade, a golden belt around his waist, a high crown on his head as thin as a cicada's wing, silk ribbons tied under his chin, a pair of high-heeled wooden clogs on his feet, his large sleeves swaying gently as he walked forward, elegant and refined in demeanor. He bowed his hands together in greeting and smiled, saying: "I am Ru Guo Da Fu Zhan Huo, here to pay my respects to the young master Qing Xi."

  Qing Ji hastily dismounted his horse and took two steps forward, also returning a courtesy: "How dare I, Qing Ji has met Grand Master Zhan."

  All the way, whenever he passed through a city or town, the nobles and officials of Lu who were in charge of defending each place avoided him. The reason was that his status as the prince of Wu made him an important person, but at the same time, he was also a fugitive wanted by the current ruler of Wu for execution. Before they could figure out how the court would treat Qingji, these nobles and officials had to avoid meeting him.

  Now the great official of Lu had arrived early, it seemed that the debate in the court of Lu should have come to an end. Qing Ji's heart was nervous, but his face was calm: "Qing Ji, a fallen and exiled young master, has fled to Lu, and actually troubled the great official to welcome him all the way to Qi Cheng, my heart is truly anxious and uneasy."

  "It's nothing, Master Qingji is too polite. Come on, let's take the carriage and we'll talk more when we get into the city." Zhang Huan said with a smile, beckoning to Qingji.

  He originally wanted to ask which noble had sent him, knowing that the current government of Lu was dominated by Ji Sun Yi Ru, and the two families of Shu Sun and Meng Sun were far from his power. If he said it was a minister sent by the Ji Sun clan, there would be no danger of being expelled from the country. Xian Zhuo had to suppress his doubts and let him get on the carriage first.

  The two men yielded to each other for a moment, and finally they got on the carriage together, with the curtain raised but not put down. The two sat shoulder to shoulder in the carriage, which turned around and galloped towards the city. Zhang Dafu's more than ten guards immediately followed behind, while Qing Ji's guard led Kong Qiu and others who were at the back of the team, walking at the very end. They entered the lacquer city.

  Zi Yan Lu Xun is a thing that rich families in various countries like to use, and the profit from selling sea salt is also very high, so the two countries of Qi and Lu are very wealthy. The national style is indulged in pleasure, and "Wan Hua Ju" is the largest hotel in the lacquer city. In the architectural style that was still relatively simple at that time, it was already carved beams and painted buildings, extremely luxurious.

  At this time, the spacious second floor of "Wan Hua Ju" had only four people sitting at their respective desks across a long corridor. Across from them were two men in large robes with wide sleeves, one slightly leaning back, hands on knees, no more than twenty years old. The one in front was about forty years old, his face gaunt, eyes sunken, his gaze lowered, staring at the misty vapor rising from a cup of clear tea on the table, lost in thought.

  The two girls sitting opposite were indeed the two girls that Qing Ji had met at the riverbank of Gukou River. Ren Bingyue was wearing a colorful and elegant deep dress, with a wooden Begonia flower in her hair, looking very pretty. She sat there, her eyes darting back and forth, clearly someone who couldn't sit still. On the low table in front of Qing Yu's seat were also some seasonal fruits and dried fruit snacks.

  Just then, "tap tap tap" a burst of footsteps, immediately stopped, a pleasant woman's voice said: "You wait down there!"

  As the sound faded away, a woman appeared at the head of the stairs. The girl was slender and elegant, with a clear face that showed no signs of makeup. Her shoulders were as smooth as jade, her waist was like a willow branch, her neck was long and slender, and every gesture she made exuded an air of noble elegance.

  She wore a deep yellow dress with floral patterns, a plain-colored belt around her slender waist, and her raven-black hair was styled in a high bun adorned with a pure white jade pin. There were no other adornments on her.

  Qing Yu immediately sat up straight and bowed his head: "Young Miss."

  Ren Bingyue covered her mouth and yawned, lazily saying: "You've finally arrived, let me discuss some business with you, it's really taking my life. Ah... ah..., spring sleepiness and autumn fatigue, hehe, I want to sleep again."

  The two men opposite looked up and saw the master had arrived, immediately perked up, stood up, squeezed out some smiles on their faces, and bowed: "We've met, young lady."

  It seems that the two are familiar with each other, and they don't need to exchange names or engage in excessive politeness. The young lady's expression seemed somewhat displeased, and she coldly snorted before walking towards Ren Bingyue. Ren Bingyue took two steps back on her seat and sat down beside Qingyu, giving up her position to her sister.

  The young lady took off her shoes and stepped onto the fine mat with her feet clad in a pair of snow-white socks, then turned around behind the low table adorned with cloud patterns at both ends, swept out her sleeves and sat down gently, her demeanor was truly captivating.

  "What is Young Hu doing? I have come all the way from Wu State, bringing ten carts of goods with me. But when I arrived here, the master himself was nowhere to be seen. Now I've been waiting for seven whole days! Zheng Pan, tell me, what does Young Hu intend to do?"

  Miss Ren was as gentle as water, but unexpectedly her temper was even worse than that of her younger sister. As soon as she sat down, her face sank, her eyebrows rose, and she began to interrogate him severely.

  That thin man named Zheng Pan showed a hint of helplessness on his face, cupped his hands and said: "Young lady, my master heard that you had arrived and also wants to rush to Lacquer City as soon as possible. However... there is currently a major event in the country that is difficult to decide. The young lady also knows that my master is someone who cannot leave Lord Qīs side for even a moment, and has been busy running around in the capital these days. The promised meeting was delayed again and again, but he really couldn't find the time to come, it's truly unavoidable, I hope the young lady can forgive him."

  " Humph! Can you, Zheng Pan'er, take charge without Yang Hu coming?"

  "Alas, my master had originally intended to come in person to meet the young lady," Zheng Pan said with a bitter smile. "But due to national affairs, it was ultimately impossible for him to make the trip. This time, I hurried over as soon as possible, entrusted by my master to receive the goods first. However... I'm afraid the young lady has been waiting anxiously, so I rushed here on horseback. The carriage with the goods and the wealth that needs to be handed over to the young lady are still on the way. The young lady will have to wait another three days. As for the important matter that the young lady discussed with my master, it's not something that can be decided by me. However, please rest assured, the matters being discussed in the imperial court will soon come to a conclusion."

  "What's the big deal? I'm still in Qi City, and Lu State is still under your control. What major issue are you hesitating about?"

  "Uh...", Zheng Pan didn't know how to respond, and he didn't want to offend her either, so his facial expression became awkward.

  Both sides were talking, Ren Bingyue was extremely bored, hearing the sound of footsteps outside the window, her buttocks slid back a bit from the seat and leaned against the windowsill to look out.

  At this sight, a large group of people were seen walking in this direction, with five or six strong horses leading the way, followed by a horse-drawn carriage, and then a large crowd. The curtains of the carriage were raised, and inside sat two people: one was a high-ranking official wearing brocade clothes and a tall hat, while the other was a handsome young man dressed in white robes, with a half-body armor made of dragon skin on top, looking spirited and elegant, smiling as he looked around. He stretched out his foot to gently kick the tip of the carriage's awning.

  Qing Yu looked back and saw that Ren Bing Yue had gestured to the window, so she took advantage of Da Sao's distraction to slide backwards with her hands on the couch.

  "Hey, look, he's coming."

  "Who is it?"

  "Yes."

  "Ah!" Qing Yu almost cried out, Ren Bing Yue quickly covered her mouth, then leaned over to the table and picked up a chestnut. She drew back her arm, looked at the approaching carriage, and with a mischievous smile, flicked her wrist, sending the chestnut flying down like a bullet.