Chapter 47: The British Envoy Wen Han

  Li Yunzhong continued to strip them of their clothes, scattering the phoenix coronet and jade pendants everywhere, until they were all left with only their undergarments. He then stopped his actions and said: "I don't care about anything else, as long as it's not the Qing army breaking into the city, even if I'm beaten to death, I won't go out."

  As they saw the three of them blushing and closing their eyes, with eyelashes fluttering, Li Yunzhong's blood rushed to his head, and he crawled onto Su Sanniang's body. Before long, humming sounds began to rise... Ah... Ah... Hong Xuanjiao and Xu Yuxiang quietly opened their eyes, saw Li Yunzhong looking at them, and Xu Yuxiang quickly covered her eyes with her hand. After a while, she peeked through the gap between her fingers, only to see that Li Yunzhong was now lying on top of Hong Xuanjiao, his face even redder. She thought to herself, it would soon be her turn.

  As expected, in less than half a watch, Li Yunzhong slowly approached her face and kissed her. Xu Yuxiang only felt a pain in her body and let out an "ah" cry. She couldn't understand why Su San Niang and the others had called out so comfortably, while she was in so much pain...

  An hour later, Li Yunzhong stopped exhaustedly, panting and hugging the three of them: "The happiest thing in life is nothing more than this."

  Su San Niang patted his chest and said: "My sisters and I have discussed it, from now on you can't let yourself mess around like this, or your body will be exhausted."

  Li Yunzhong stroked San Niang's plumpness, kissing the sensual small mole on her lip and said: "It's worth it even if my body is exhausted, to die under the peony flower...". His mouth was covered by Hong Xuanjiao.

  Hong Xuanjiao shouted: "Don't talk nonsense!"

  Su San Niang suddenly sat up, ignoring Li Yunzhong's greedy gaze, and said: "This morning, Yang Chang Mei came to report that a few foreigners had arrived outside Nanjing, saying that the English ambassador wanted to see you. At that time, you were still asleep, so we decided to wait until you woke up to tell you. Now, they must have been waiting for a long time."

  Li Yunzhong hugged her waist and said: "Who cares about those foreigners, devils, let them wait, besides, aren't there still a few brothers outside?"

  Xu Yuexiang really opened her eyes and stopped pretending to sleep, softly advising: "Husband, you'd better go take a look, lest others say we're Daji... a beauty bringing calamity."

  Hong Xuanjiao also said: "Didn't you want to deal with the foreigners when you were in Hubei? Now they've come, why are you nowhere to be found?"

  Li Yunzhong was helpless under the persuasion of the three women, and had no choice but to get out of bed. Su Sanniang and Hong Xiuqiu helped him put on some clothes, while Li Yunzhong saw Xu Yuxiang frowning and put her back in bed to rest.

  Li Yunzhong came to the outer hall, and the intense dialogue inside was transmitted out. In order to understand why the foreigner had come, he stopped to listen for a while.

  "Anyway, you foreign brothers have come from afar. If you pay tribute to us year after year and come to our court every year, my great Han Empire will recognize you as our vassal states."

  Only one foreigner translated this into English and said it once. Then a foreigner replied in English, "Our great British Empire is not your vassal state, we are the powerful nation that defeated Qing China more than a decade ago. I repeat again, my purpose for coming here this time is to make you also comply with the Treaty of Nanjing."

  That foreigner translated it into Chinese again.

  "You are so impolite, seeing that we not only do not kneel down but also dare to make so many demands. If it weren't for the fact that you too are followers of God, I would have sent troops from the Great Han Empire to destroy you."

  Li Yunzhong, upon hearing the bad news, hastily went in and said in English: "Welcome, Your Excellency, to Nanjing. I am Li Yunzhong, King of Han. I especially came to pay my respects to Queen Victoria."

  The British Envoy, Mr. Wenhan, thought that this adventure to Nanjing would be in vain and he would be ridiculed by those Gauls when he returned. Suddenly, he heard the Han King speaking English with him, and involuntarily stood up, also bowing his head and saying: "Thank you, sir, I will convey your greetings to Her Majesty the Queen. Congratulations on your recent marriage, Your Highness."

  Weng Tonghe, Hu Yizhao and Zuo Zongtang stared at them with wide eyes as they chatted with Wen Xiang in a foreign language. They looked at each other, shook their heads, indicating that they did not know when the Han king would speak a foreign language.

  Li Yunzhong from his previous life had been in high school for four years, and he could speak English fluently a long time ago. After not speaking English for a very long time, when he used English to communicate with the British public, he surprisingly felt a sense of closeness to them.

  Li Yunzhong repeated: "I declare once again, our Great Han State is a new country, different from the rotten Qing State. I am willing to engage in deeper cooperation with Britain. The Treaty of Nanjing is an unfair treaty; we can sign some new treaties that are beneficial to both parties."

  Wen Han initially denied the Treaty of Nanjing, shaking his head and interrupting Li Yunzhong several times. Now that he heard the other party was willing to deepen their cooperation, he hastily put down the copy of the Treaty of Nanjing in his hand, repeating "OK, OK, OK"

  Li Yunzhong asked again: "Don't we wait for the French to discuss a new treaty together?"

  Wen Han, unwilling to share the benefits he had risked getting for himself, hastily said: "Respected King of Han, those French people are hostile towards you, they don't want to deal with you, I've advised them many times, but they just won't come together."

  Li Yunzhong could understand his meaning, but still followed Wen Han's words and said: "That's really a pity. I still hope to have deeper cooperation with France."

  "Wen Handao said: 'Then let's sign a memorandum first, and I will send the memorandum to London when I return to Shanghai.'"

  Li Yunzhong smiled and said: "Respected ambassador, please forgive my impertinence. I heard that the rifles of your country are the most advanced firearms in the world, is that true?"

  Wen Han proudly raised his head, gesturing for the interpreter to go outside and take the rifle from the guard's hand. He handed it over to Li Yunzhong: "Your Highness, this is the most advanced firearm of my great British Empire, using flintlock firing technology, with better reliability, easier loading, and can be used on rainy days. It can also be used in concentrated fire, it is the Brunswick rifle."

  Li Yunzhong took the gun and saw that it was a muzzle-loading rifle. He opened his eyes wide and said, "I heard from a Prussian merchant that your country has even more advanced rifles, why didn't you bring them out?"

  "Shit!" exclaimed Wenhan, hastily adding: "Your Excellency, King Han, I must express my admiration for your well-informed news. As for the Minie rifle, I also heard about it last month from Jack, who came to serve in our country. That damned Colonel Jack even said it was a military secret, but it seems the Prussians already know about it, not to mention the French. I swear, the Minie rifles have not yet arrived in Guangzhou or Shanghai."

  Li Yunzhong took the opportunity to threaten: "I really have a sense of distrust towards you, and I don't know if you will cheat me again in our next contract."

  Thinking that if he lost the contract because of this small misunderstanding, he would be blamed by London, Wenhan stood up quickly and walked to Li Yunzhong's face: "Your Highness, I know that your army uses bird guns, big knives and other weapons. I am willing to sell a batch of Krensweik rifles to you, hoping to eliminate this misunderstanding."