Volume 2, Chapter 22: Southern Chu Envoy (1/2)

Volume 2, Chapter 22: Southern Chu Envoy

Southern Chu Dynastic Records</e of Chu</eht, as I was in deep sleep, I was suddenly shaken awake by soht of Xiaoshunzi delightedly and enthusiastically presented a stea basket of Osotten the snack After all, this was the specialty fro Square Picking a piece up, I took a bite It was fragrant, sweet, and soft, dissolving in my mouth Content, I asked, “Where did you buy it from? We should frequent that shop froed, his look beco on?”

Xiaoshunzi hesitated for quite some time before he revealed the truth At the start, he had pondered for a long ti to rando to serve as the replaceined that as soon as he walked out of the entrance to the residence, he would learn of a diplomatic ’an He iinally intending to see if there was anything detriht two pastry chefs fro baskets of theirit to King Zhao Jia, under house arrest, and Princess Changle Perhaps they wished to curry favor with Princess Changle in order to ensure the success of the negotiations However, Xiaoshunzi was able to take advantage Using skullduggery,¹ he stole one of the baskets of freshlyif the Southern Chu diplomatic mission would report the theft to the local authorities After thinking it over, it would be better if the evidence iped out Splitting the pastries with Xiaoshunzi, I devoured the cakes ravenously² While this happened, the sky gradually brightened and Xiaoshunzi slipped away Just as I was about to go back to sleep, Xiaoshunzi returned and reported, “Young master, the pri”

My heart was confused Why was this former student of mine here to see me? Shouldn’t he vieith conteivings, I looked at Xiaoshunzi, seeking his advice Not knohether to laugh or cry, Xiaoshunzi stated, “Young hness, the Prince of Yong His Highness can probably influence forty percent of these negotiations Isn’t young master the best candidate if they wish to influence His I froain asup, I took the robes proffered by Xiaoshunzi I thought about how to settle this situation as I got dressed Originally, I thought it best that we not ue, and had no intention of receiving Lu Can However, if he were here to lobby everywhere for the negotiations, then it would be soranted the opportunity Anyways, I was formerly a subject of Southern Chu but now a subordinate of the Prince of Yong If I were to decline this hness, the Prince of Yong, had no intention of negotiating Although this nificant, I could not handle it as I wished After ood and there shouldn’t be any problems if I received a visitor

I thus said, “Invite General Lu to meet me in the reception pavilion It’s still early, so have someone serve breakfast Be sure to prepare extra Just say that I’hness should already know about this Send sohness’s intentions and ask hi I aotiations Conversely, Gou Lian should be knowledgeable about this If it is inconvenient for His Ihness to couest so that we can ascertain Southern Chu’s bottom line Xiaoshunzi, is Lu Can alone?”

Xiaoshunzi answered, “Youngman That ence and wisdo others”

I smiled faintly and replied, “That’s fine… After all, Lu Can is still young If he had come alone, I would have suspected that he came to see me for personal reasons Since he is accompanied by soht, invite them in”

Lu Can serenely stood at the entrance to the Prince of Yong’s residence At twenty-two years old, he was at a young and vigorous age However, because he spent years in the military, he appeared to be e His appearance was coarse and heroic, sonan Froht in his eyes and the refinement present in his heroic and brave teenius of brush and sword Standing behind hi e He wore a cloth Confucian cap on his head, looking delicate and refined He had a one-of-a-kind bearing and appearance, causing others to be willing to approach him

This youth looked at the tranquil and cal seas He was called Yang Xiu, originally fro abroad When Southern Chu occupied Sichuan, he returned to his hoovernance, Sichuan was extre havoc, they did not cause any great waves Yang Xiu lived co Xiu was also ied with the cri in an assassination atte his case was the sole son of Marquis Lu, Lu Can This young general handledXiu was very quickly judged innocent and released Seeing that Yang Xiu’s bearing and talent were outstanding, Lu Can personally paid a visit, inviting Yang Xiu to serve as his adjutant Yang Xiu was not a pedantic do Southern Chu

After following Lu Can, Yang Xiu discovered that this young general had aspects that far surpassed others Although Lu Can was young, his forems and tactics, were all first class When the Prince of Yong launched a surprise attack against Southern Chu, the Prince of Qing in Hanzhong took advantage of the situation to pressure the Sichuan borders while Marquis Lu was leading troops to salvage the chaos in Jianye Lu Can led an ared one another on several occasions Lu Can’s diligently trained elite troops unexpectedly defeated Great Yong’s i to retreat and ensuring that Southern Chu would not face eneh Lu Can’s meritorious service was not made public because of the fall of Jianye, the Southern Chu arun to consider Lu Can as Prince Zhao Jue of De’s successor What caused Yang Xiu to gasp further in adh Lu Can hailed from a military family and did not kno to coinal understanding of the classics and histories Oftentimes, when discussions turned to history, Lu Can would show off his faenerals attained victory, causing Yang Xiu himself to have no choice but to ado, Yang Xiu could not help but ask Lu Can as capable of educating a descendant of a military family into a master of the classics and histories Lu Can was actually taciturn and did not say a word Surprisingly, when they just arrived in Great Yong and delivered their diplo to pay an official visit to the fa Zhe, he did not consider hiifted scholar of Southern Chu who had surrendered to Great Yong If it were not for Chang’an still buzzing about the atte Xiu to pay attention, then Yang Xiu would not have paidZhe’s existence It was only yesterday that he learned that Jiang Zhe was Lu Can’s greatly respected teacher He still could recall vividly last night’s events Under the silvery lamp, with his face partially concealed in shadow, Lu Can softly said, “Fro walls and trees, I was brandishi+ng spears and sticks Otherwise, I would scuffle with hooligans on the streets Father was unwilling to see ht a teacher to teach h fists, I ran off several teachers Sir Jiang was inally wanted to deal him a blow at our first encounter However, when he arrived, he told me that he had only taken this job to make ends meet If I were to run him off, my father would find and invite a new teacher If I illing to compromise with him, then he would ensure that both of us would have an easy ti to this point, Lu Can’s face revealed a faint s as I spent everyin the study, he would allow n excessive areed at once However, I regretted it after only a few days had passed I would sit in the study bored every reat interest and not acknowledge e on our deal, I would unavoidably lose a great deal of face Afterwards, I could only ask Sir Jiang to think of a way to helpthen stated that since this was the case, there was no harh I felt this was boring, it was still superior to being bored with nothing to do However, unexpectedly, Sir Jiang was really a unique talent He did not have me memorize and recite the Four Books and Five Classics,³ nor did he have me compose poetry and write essays He said that it was useless learning these as I was a descendant of an influential family and there was no need for me to take part in the imperial examinations He first lectured on the as otherwise a tedious and dreary discourse into so After that, he lectured me on the histories He did not lecture directly fro in his own views and understanding, as well as soends Fro to his stories When he saw that I was fond of the art of war, he lectured ies and tactics and battles I do not kno he knew so much, especially as it was obvious that he was only a few years older than me Unfortunately, at the ti how precious Sir’s lectures were It was only afterwards, when I led troops to battle, did I understand the ier had the opportunity to ask for Sir’s guidance

“Yang Xiu, do you understand what kind of person esteeed allegiance to Great Yong In the future, ill inevitably ems In the future, he will be your opponent I, alone, arasp the opportunity to properly understand him If you cannot understand your enemy, then there will be zero chance of victory”

TheXiu felt his spirits buoyed He really wished to see the personality of the esteereatly respected Therefore, theZhe would refuse to meet them

Fortunately, after a while, a youthful iuard came over and saluted, “General Lu, the major will receive General at the Cold Courtyard Daren only recently recovered froreet you, thus dispatching Huyan Shou to colanced at the youthful ih his appearance was plain, his eyes radiated light and his hands were broad and large, having proure He was definitely someone who practiced an external martial arts style However, his movements did not disturb the dust as he passed His ht to the peak of perfection Froht body, one could detect a faint bloodlust He was definitely a warrior who had spent an extended period of tih regard for the teacher frouard Lu Can suard Huyan to lead the way”

Lu Can and Yang Xiu followed Huyan Shou for some time before they finally arrived at a secluded and re the inscription above the entrance, Lu Can knew that he could finally see Jiang Zhe Huyan Shou greeted four of his colleagues guarding the entrance to the courtyard before leading the two guests into the courtyard Ireatly shaken Although he couldn’t see theuards stationed at all the crucial points in the courtyard And though he couldn’t see these individuals, fro aura he could sense, the iuards here were at the very least of the sa truly highly valued this esteemed teacher of his

The two had followed Huyan Shou for quite so invited into the reception pavilion, they i Zhe and Xiaoshunzi standing behind hi that there was a pale and lean youth seated behind the table This youth wore a set of pale azure robes, his hair held in place by a hairpin and a snohite headscarf He sat there leisurely, his expression placid If one couldn’t discern his wan and sallow appearance, there were no other signs that he had just been brought back frohed with ad Zhe would inevitably treat Lu Can extremely coldly as he had nearly been assassinated by a Southern Chu assassin Yang Xiu did not know that someone else was responsible for the near success of the assassination The truth had already been covered up To outsiders, even the Prince of Yong stated that the assassin was fro to allow Great Yong’s internal strife to disseminate to the outside world Because of the reality of what had happened, although Jiang Zhe was extremely disappointed at Southern Chu’s actions, he did not colanced at Lu Can He appeared to be steadier coreatly after taking responsibility for a section of Southern Chu’s defenses I rose toMarquis, you see soo”

Lu Can stared blankly atto his senses when he heard round, he declared, “Disciple formally pays ly was choked with erieved for reatly changed when I looked atthat I was helpless to change I was already greatly fortunate to preserve ant demands? In any case, I should be able to restore my health in a year or so

I raisedMarquis No, that’s not correct You already are a major commander of Southern Chu I should call you General Lu, instead Jiang Zhe was only General’s teacher for only a few days, how dare I accept such heavy reverence?”

Lu Can’s frame of mind had already calmed down, and he quietly replied, “Back then, this disciple was naughty and nificance of respected teacher’s instructions It is now too late for regrets I only ask that respected teacher do not decline This disciple will not use our relationshi+p to force respected teacher to do anything out of ordinary”