Painting Doctor Jinhua

Chapter 180 Xiao Jinyu's wish, tricking Wei Xiaokuan

After a soldier finished speaking, he saluted very respectfully and withdrew!

"Gentlemen, you have come from a long distance and must be exhausted. It is getting late now, so please go and rest!"

At Wei Xiaokuan's order, the soldiers dispersed and returned to the military camp. He then turned his gaze to "Xie Zhen", as if he had something to ask. After pondering for a moment in confusion, he asked Yin Gongzheng to take them to the specially arranged tent to rest.

The Zhou State used the highest standard of etiquette for the reception, so the tent was fully equipped with everything, and even had a maid to serve.

Lanling Wang saw the maid looking at him shyly for a long time, and then he said to Yin Gong with some discomfort: "Doctor Yin, I don't need a maid to serve me. Besides, Envoy Xie and I can live in the same tent. It's late at night, and it's not convenient if there are others here, so let her go!"

When the maid heard that she would live in the same tent with Envoy Xie, a look of surprise flashed across her eyes. She looked at King Lanling with some dismay and shame, and then left angrily!

Xiao Jinyu happened to walk in from outside the tent and said to Yin Gong: "Doctor Yin, there is no need to entertain us. As Lanling Wang said, he and I will stay in the same tent. You all can go out. Your country's envoys have come thousands of miles from Chang'an. Thank you for your hard work!"

Doctor Yin also looked at Lanling Wang and "Xie Zhen" with some suspicion, then bowed and left. After leaving the tent, he couldn't help but mutter: "Could it be that Lanling Wang still has a crush on Long Yang? What should I do?"

Seeing that all the envoys from Zhou had gone away, Xiao Jinyu walked up to King Lanling.

"It seems that this envoy from Qi State seems to have received some order from Yuwen Hu. He wants the woman just now to sleep with you. I don't know if he wants to win you over or frame you."

Gao Changgong blushed, and quickly embraced Xiao Jinyu and said, "You are not angry, are you?"

"How could I be angry? Chang Gong is so handsome. When you were in Jiankang, the sisters-in-law who liked you lined up all over the street, and the Qinhuai River was packed with people! I think from that time on, Chang Gong planned to make full use of his beauty to seduce me, right?"

Gao Changgong felt even more embarrassed after his secret was exposed. Then he heard Xiao Jinyu laughing softly and realized that she was teasing him.

Xiao Jinyu said seriously: "Chang Gong, I won't be angry because of how many girls admire you and like you. I have seen and felt your kindness to me, and you just rejected it... If we can't have complete trust between husband and wife, it will be more likely for others to take advantage of us!"

"Just like the maid just now, she is not like an ordinary maid. She is not as cautious as a servant. Instead, she is careless and arrogant. Moreover, the clothes she wears are of very expensive material. I guess she should be a noble lady of the Zhou Kingdom, or even... the daughter of Yuwen Hu!"

Yuwen Hu had five daughters, but only two of them were given titles: one was Princess Xinxing, and the other was Princess Fuping, the adopted daughter of Cui You, the second wife of the Boling Cui family. Yuwen Hu intended to marry Princess Xinxing to Su Wei, the son of Su Chao. The other two seemed to have been married as well, but only a concubine's daughter and Princess Fuping had not yet been married.

"Are you suspecting that Yuwen Hu wants to plant a spy around me?" Lanling Wang quickly reacted and asked.

Xiao Jinyu nodded: "It is indeed possible! However, it is also possible that he is simply infatuated with your beauty..."

"You are teasing me again!" Gao Changgong pretended to be angry, but in front of her, he couldn't get angry at all. He couldn't help but hug her tightly, "Ayu, you are so beautiful, so beautiful that sometimes I feel like I can't bear to blaspheme you."

Xiao Jinyu was stunned for a moment, then lightly rebuked: "You are talking nonsense again. If it weren't for Chang Gong's help, it would be difficult for me to walk out of this path today, and there would be no beauty that you can see!"

She turned around and looked at Gao Changgong, her eyes becoming very gentle and charming: "Most women in this world cannot live according to their own wishes. Even the most noble daughters of noble families and princesses of the royal family will become victims of marriages for profit. Those lowly concubines are even more like commodities that can be given away at will.

Some are lucky enough to meet someone like Chang Gong, and may live a stable, happy and ordinary life, but most of them waste their time in the backyard, and some even die in the seclusion of the inner house, withering away silently. As for these women, they are dead, just like discarded garbage, and no one will care because they have lost their value. "

At this point, she paused and said with gratitude,

"And Chang Gong's support for me to pursue a career as an official and live my life according to my own wishes is the greatest favor to me.

I not only have admiration for Chang Gong, but also a feeling of gratitude for having such a hard-to-find friend! "

Hearing her words, Gao Changgong felt very sad and touched, but at the same time he was shocked by her thoughts.

"I've never asked you if you have any unfulfilled wishes?" he suddenly asked.

Xiao Jinyu smiled and replied: "Yes, but it may be really difficult to achieve!"

"Tell me what you want to hear!"

Xiao Jinyu looked at him and said seriously, "I hope that one day, all women in the world can live according to their own wishes and bloom with all their brilliance, instead of being casually exchanged victims and not being harmed by the world's eyes..."

Lanling Wang knew that she was thinking of his mother again. She was also a brilliant person, but her reputation was ruined by the worldly eyes, and she died in a conspiracy. Even her reputation after death was slandered and disgraced...

"Yes, there will definitely be such a day!"

Lanling Wang said this with great concern and determination, then he picked her up and walked towards the couch in the tent.

……

Not far outside the tent, the maid just happened to see the silhouette of Prince Lanling picking up "Xie Zhen" in the flickering candlelight.

Seeing the two of them leaning on the couch with their arms around each other, the woman's face turned red and white, she stamped her feet and ran away dejectedly.

"Chang Gong, if you do this, will someone say you have a thing for Long Yang?"

"I don't care what others say, but I am worried when you are not by my side. And now we are in the military camp of Wei Xiaokuan of Zhou State. Maybe Wei Xiaokuan is an upright person and will not do anything out of line, but I saw a Zhou envoy beside Yin Gongzheng. It seems that he has been fighting against you since we entered the tent. His eyes are like a thief and he has bad intentions!"

Xiao Jinyu started laughing.

"It turns out that Lian Changgong also saw that man's ill intentions! I'm afraid that man really intends to disrupt the peace talks between Qi and Zhou!"

"Those words you said at the banquet today, were said intentionally for Wei Xiaokuan to hear, right?" Gao Changgong asked again.

Xiao Jinyu nodded: "Yes, although Wei Xiaokuan is a calm and gentle person, and on the surface he is not an enemy of Yuwen Hu, he is actually very angry about Yuwen Hu's monopolization of power and his regicide. Moreover, he asked me about my views on loyalty to the emperor, which shows that he himself is a person with doubts.

During this peace talk, I want to make a private deal with Wei Xiaokuan!

At least, don't let him become your rival!"

……

After the "maid" returned to the tent, she got angry with a servant who came with her.

"I didn't expect that Lanling King Gao Changgong really had a homosexual tendency. I begged my father for so long and ran all the way from Chang'an to Yubi City, only to see such a result. I am unwilling to accept it...

However, Gao Changgong is indeed extremely handsome, more handsome than any other man in my surrounding area!"

The maid was a little timid: "Fifth Lady, Prince Lanling is handsome, but I heard that he has already married a woman who is the most beautiful woman in the South!"

“So what if she’s the most beautiful woman? Look, he’s hugging Xie Zhen now…” The girl stamped her feet again, feeling embarrassed and annoyed, but her eyes were filled with gloating and pride. “But, my brother said that if Lanling Wang was captured by our Zhou State, then the wife he married would most likely become the property of the King of Qi. Maybe she’s been carried to the bed by the lustful King of Qi right now!”

"When his wife dies, I will ask my father to marry me to him!"

The maidservant remained silent.

At this moment, the atmosphere in Wei Xiaokuan's tent was a little solemn. Yin Gongzheng sighed heavily and said, "The Grand Chancellor asked us to exchange Old Lady Yan for the lowest price. We thought that we could trick these kids from Northern Qi by having someone pretend to be abducted people from Guandong. But we didn't expect Xie Zhen to be so clever.

No wonder Prince Yuwen, Sanlangjun and Duke Wei highly praised Xie Zhen after they returned from Southern Chen!"

"Xie Zhen is indeed an extraordinary person. He is very good at deceiving people. Just one of his poems and a few words can make our soldiers burst into tears. If this happened on the battlefield, it would be like the sound of the enemy being surrounded on all sides, which would be very likely to shake the morale of the army!"

“Although Lanling Wang did not say a word at the banquet, he was able to repel the Turkic strong army in the battle of Jinyang at a young age. Moreover, Sanlang Jun and Wei Gongzhi had also dealt with him in the land of Southern Chen. He is calm, wise and courageous. He is not a man who is brave but not wise!

He is likely to become a future star general of Northern Qi!"

At this point, he looked at Wei Xiaokuan's face, which was also frowning as if he was thinking, and asked, "General Wei, in your opinion, what should we do about this peace talk?"

"It is not a good deal to exchange two counties for an old lady. The Grand Chancellor will not agree to it. Since Qi is negotiating for the purpose of truce and peace, we should make an oath, write a letter to the King of Northern Qi, and send some cinnabar and silk to show our sincerity!"

"That's great, but I'm afraid those kids in Qi won't agree!" Having said this, he asked worriedly, "What if they don't agree to return Old Madam Yan?"

Wei Xiaokuan then asked, "What does the Grand Chancellor mean? Do you want me to kill the envoy from Qi?"

Yin Gongzheng waved his hands repeatedly, "Of course not. When two countries are at war, they don't kill envoys. The Grand Chancellor will not let General Wei do such a thing that goes against his faith. But the Grand Chancellor intends to win over Lanling King, so he sent his youngest daughter Yuwen Ya here. Originally, he wanted to give her to Gao Changgong, but today I saw that Gao Changgong seems to have a preference for men and women, and is not very interested in women. This plan will not work!"

"Long Yang's good relationship, with whom?"

"It was this Xie Zhen. The two of them lived in the same tent, and they had ordered that no one should serve or disturb them. They seemed to sleep on the same bed!" At this point, Yin Gongzheng sighed again, "However, Xie Zhen's talent is rare in the world. If he could be used by our Zhou Kingdom, it would be a great blessing!"

The two of them discussed hesitantly for a long time before going to rest.

The night passed quickly until dawn, and Gao Changgong indeed spent the whole night sleeping on the same bed with Xiao Jinyu in his arms. It was not until the next morning that a maid called outside, saying that toiletries had been brought in for them. Xiao Jinyu then woke up from her sleep and opened her eyes to find that she was still lying in his arms.

"Chang Gong, will your hands feel numb if you do this?" Xiao Jinyu quickly stood up and massaged his arms, half-blaming him, "Don't do this again in the future. It's easy to hurt your arm. In serious cases, you can even lose a hand!"

Gao Changgong smiled and said, "Nothing, I know, it's just too sore, I got up and moved around!"

"Then you didn't sleep well last night?"

"Just get some sleep. You are still the one who will negotiate the peace. The most important thing is that you should stay alert!"

When the two men had been talking up to this point, they heard the maid outside calling them again. They stood up, straightened their clothes, and ordered the maid to come in.

The maid kept her head down, but judging from her figure, she was not the girl who wanted to sleep with Chang Gong last night.

The maid didn't say anything, but just handed the wrung-out handkerchief and bath towel to them in a proper manner.

Just as Gao Changgong was about to go to receive it, Xiao Jinyu stopped him and asked the maid, "Can we bring female relatives into the military camp of General Wei? Or... not female relatives, but female... prostitutes?"

The maid blushed slightly and shook her head hurriedly, "I am not a soldier's wife, nor am I a prostitute. I am the personal maid of the Fifth Lady of the Yuwen Family!"

"Oh, then leave all your things behind and go down! We can do it ourselves, we don't need anyone to serve us!"

"Yes!"

After the maid placed the handkerchief and bath towel on the table, she glanced at Xiao Jinyu evasively, then looked at the washbasin, and then slowly retreated!

As soon as she left, Gao Changgong asked doubtfully, "Did you find anything wrong?"

Xiao Jinyu hinted to Gao Changgong with her eyes that there were people eavesdropping outside the tent, so she wrote on the table with water: There must be medicine applied inside this handkerchief. Although the smell is very faint, I still smell it!

"Then this maidservant..." Gao Changgong also replied by splashing water on the table.

"I guess it's a spy!"

After writing, she picked up the handkerchief on the table. Gao Changgong was about to stop her, but saw her shaking her head and wrote again: Changgong forgot, my body is immune to all poisons, it's okay, I just want to see what kind of medicine it is.

After she looked at it carefully, Gao Changgong saw that she frowned slightly, as if she was puzzled, and asked worriedly, "What is it?"

Xiao Jinyu whispered in his ear, "It's a medicine that can make people's body soft and weak. Strangely, this medicine is also very familiar to me."

Before the two of them stayed in the tent for long, Xin Daoxian, the chief secretary beside Wei Xiaokuan, came outside the tent and said that the commander-in-chief invited them to the fields outside Yubi City for horse racing. Just before the chief secretary arrived, the maid who was eavesdropping in the corner had already left quickly!

Hunting in the suburbs was a favorite activity of the nobles, whether in the Southern or Northern Dynasties.

"When I was in the countryside, I rode a horse as fast as a dragon, and rode with dozens of young people, stretching the bowstrings to make thundering sounds..."

Wei Xiaokuan rode on a tall horse, chanting a poem by Cao Jingzong, a famous general of the Southern Liang Dynasty, and said with emotion, "This is the fun of hunting!"

After that, he laughed out loud again and said, "However, this poem is still far inferior to the one sung by Envoy Xie last night. Envoy Xie's poem is so touching that it is enough to break the barriers in people's hearts. I wish I could meet Envoy Xie and become friends as soon as possible! Hahahaha..."

"Thank you, Grand Commander!"

Xiao Jinyu replied politely, and then said, "Speaking of this, Xie really has some heartfelt words to say, and I want to chat with the Grand Commander. I wonder if the Grand Commander can ask Doctor Yin to step back and talk to me alone?"