Chapter 301: Tit for Tat

Li Qing urged him to step forward, bow to the opposite knight, and smiled faintly: "Princess Luo Lan, we are meeting again, is your father here?"

This heroic young general is Princess Luo Lan who Li Qing met in the Imperial State. Today she went hunting with some nobles from the Shi Kingdom and happened to meet Li Qing on the banks of the Zhenzhu River.

"My father is in the palace, Mr. Li, you are indeed a person of credibility." Although his tone was plain, Princess Luo Lan's eyes were shining with a light of joy.

The messenger of the Great Food has been in the Shi Kingdom for nearly half a month and has been active in the Shi Kingdom, threatening, inducing and provoking and disintegrating. In addition, the Shi Kingdom's King Che Bishi prefers the Great Food, which has caused most of the Shi Kingdom nobles to move westward. The situation of Mohedu and his daughter is very difficult.

But Li Qing's arrival was like seeing the sun with a flash of clouds, which made Princess Luo Lan see the sunshine all of a sudden. She looked back proudly. Under the banner, a young man in golden armor suddenly turned pale. He couldn't help but exchanged glances with the people next to him.

At this time, Li Qing discovered that an old man was standing on the other side of the banner, about his early sixties. The clothes he was wearing were completely different from those of the Turkic people in short clothes and tightly tied. He was wearing a loose red robe, as if a long cloth pocket was wrapped around his body. He had a gray-white beard, staring at him half-squinted, with a hint of cunning in his eyes.

It seems that this person should be the messenger of Dashi. Li Qing smiled slightly and bowed to him from a distance.

Li Qing guessed right. This person was the envoy of the Great Food, Budu, the uncle of the Caliph Abbas. He had been in Shi Kingdom for half a month and nominally mediated the dispute between Shi Kingdom and Bakhanna. However, in fact, he had never been to Bakhanna so far. The so-called mediation of the dispute was just an excuse. He had two and a half tasks for coming to Shi Kingdom. One was to force Shi Kingdom to surrender directly to Dashi; the other was to test the Tang Dynasty's reaction to the eastward expansion of Dashi; and the other half was to take away the most dazzling gem of Shi Kingdom for Abbas.

When he saw Li Qing bowing to him, he smiled gently and shook him back. Although this envoy of the Tang Dynasty was still young, he had experienced favors for a long time and would not look down on him at all.

However, he found that the expression of the stone prince Che Duo, who was beside him, had a sharp change in his eyes. In the eyes of others, the prince's face changed drastically because of the arrival of the envoy of the Tang Dynasty, but Budu understood that there was another meaning in it. Che Duo was jealous of the young envoy of the Tang Dynasty, perhaps because Princess Luo Lan was overjoyed.

Budu was an old fox who was traitorous and slippery. After a moment of thought, he remembered an ancient story in the East: the snipe and clam fight, and the fisherman was good. He glanced at Che Duodu and suddenly laughed in a low voice: "They seem to be very familiar. Could it be that Princess Luo Lan's old acquaintance in Chang'an?"

"These damn Tang people!"

Che Duoduo threw down a sentence and rushed forward. He pointed at Li Qing with a whip and said unkindly: "My sister Wang, did you know this person before?"

He spoke Turkic language. Although Li Qing couldn't understand it, he could see hostility from his eyes. Duan Xiushi next to him understood some Turkic language and whispered a few words in Li Qing's ear.

Li Qing nodded, his eyes still not leaving Budu. Whether it was a prince or a princess, whether it was a Shi Kingdom or a Bakhan country, they were just chess pieces in the chess board. Only he and that sinister old man were two people playing chess. Li Qing was not here to compete for the sake of jealousy.

He looked solemn, straightened his waist and said loudly: "I am the Censor of the Tang Dynasty, the pacifier of Anxi and Beiting Towns. He was ordered by His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty to inspect the countries of Anxi."

He raised his flag and sternly said to the Prince of Shi Kingdom: "You are a country of vassals of the Tang Dynasty. Why do you still have high authority immediately after seeing the Emperor of Tang Dynasty?"

There is no need for translation. Most of the nobles of the nine surnames Hu were proficient in Chinese. Li Qing's reprimand words were clear and heard. Everyone understood what he meant. Che Duoduo suddenly woke up. He looked back at the other nobles, some of whom had already dismounted. Princess Luo Lan was the first to jump off the horse and bowed to salute. Looking at Budu again, but he turned his face away. He didn't know his attitude. Che Duoduo was helpless. Now it was not the time to turn against the Tang Dynasty. He had to get off the horse and gave a gale, and his face was extremely cold.

At this time, all the soldiers and entourages got off the horse, but Budu and a few Dashi entourages were still sitting on the horse, looking extremely abrupt. Li Qing smiled coldly, pointed Budu with his flag, and asked Che Duodu, "Who is this person? Why didn't he get off the horse when he saw the Tang Dynasty angels?"

"this......"

After all, Che Duoduo is young, and he can't deal with such a principled issue that concerns national security. He was speechless and didn't know how to answer it.

At this time, Budu walked up slowly, bowed his body slightly, pressed his chest gently with his hand, and said fluently in Chinese: "I am the uncle of the Caliph Abbas, the governor of Persia, and the special envoy of the Great Food Kingdom, Budu La, may I ask about the honorary name of the envoy of the Tang Dynasty."

"I am a surname from the Tang Dynasty, with a single name of Qing."

Budu was moved, "Are you the Li Qing, who killed Tubo Zanpu and later was named Minister of the Ministry of Revenue?"

"It's right down!"

Li Qing nodded slightly and smiled faintly at Budu and said, "The special envoy can not only speak fluent Chinese, but also knows the internal affairs of our Tang Dynasty. He is very dedicated!"

But Budu smiled, "I was also a businessman when I was young. I have been to the Tang Dynasty many times and have always admired the Central Plains culture. So I care more about what happened in the Tang Dynasty. What's so strange about this? Mr. Li was a little worried."

At this time, Princess Luo Lan saw that the two of them were not allowed to give in, so she stepped forward and persuaded: "The two envoys have come from afar. Since they are destined to meet, I will definitely invite my father to hold a banquet to welcome the two most honorable guests."

Li Qing smiled and said to Budu: "Since the master is here, we both seem to be nowhere to be around, and it is a bit over the master."

Budu also laughed loudly, patted his stomach and said, "Yes! Yes! Thinking of the evening feast, I am now hungry."

"Then let's go back!" Princess Luo Lan rode her horse and rushed up the tall mound in a moment.

Budu and Li Qing were running side by side. He pointed to Princess Luo Lan's graceful Qu Mei's back and chuckled to Li Qing: "This is the most dazzling gem in the Nine Kingdoms of Zhaowu. Even I am moved. What does Mr. Li think?"

"I'm also very moved, but there is only one gem. It's better to fight a war to see who can win the beauty."

After saying that, Li Qing laughed loudly, speeded up, and threw Budu, who was stunned, far behind.

The capital of Shi Kingdom, Tuozhe City, is today's capital of Uzbekistan. It is located on a fertile alluvial plain. It is the largest city among the nine Zhaowu Kingdoms. The city has about 100,000 people, basically all Turks. In addition, there are tens of thousands of slaves. They are all descendants of slaves who were plundered by the Turks from all over the country. Among them, there were nearly 30,000 Tang people, not only Han people, but Kucha people, and Gaochang people were all captured.

Li Qing and Budu broke up at the city gate. Budu followed Prince Che Duodu of Shi Kingdom, while Li Qing followed Prince Luo Lan to visit Deputy King Mo Hedu. The two factions were clearly divided, and everyone knew it well, and no one was going to provoke.

When he walked to the street, Li Qing remembered something and called Wu Xingsu, handed him over Wang Qilang whom he rescued on the road to him, and told him a few words. Wu Xingsu nodded and hurriedly took several subordinates with powerful martial arts masters.

"That person looked dull, as if he didn't look like the attendant of the minister?" Princess Luo Lan saw that Li Qing had given instructions, and pointed at Zhao Qilang and asked. Perhaps it was because of the strong wind on the grassland. At this moment, Li Qing suddenly smelled a strong fragrance, which came from her, which was quite inconsistent with her heroic knight outfit.

Princess Luo Lan's face turned red, and suddenly her expression became a little twisted. She whispered to Li Qing: "I was born like this, not because I was deliberately dressed up today."

But as soon as she said that, she seemed to react, her face suddenly returned to normal, and pointed at Zhao Qilang and continued to ask: "I found that there was a mark on his forehead, and he seemed to be a slave."

Li Qing didn't seem to notice the subtle changes in her expression. He looked back at Zhao Qilang's back and smiled faintly, "He may be your slave, but in my eyes he is not. He is my compatriot. From now on, he is a member of my Tang army. He has made meritorious service and won honors and won a wife."

Princess Luo Lan understood, and she sighed softly. Since she was ten years old, she had been sent to Chang'an to study with some princesses from other countries. She spent six years there and had long regarded the Tang Dynasty as her second homeland. After returning to China, she also discovered the various trauma left by the Hundred Years of War. More than 100,000 Tang slaves scattered in the Shi Kingdom were one of them, but she was unable to change the status quo. Today, Li Qing's words once again hurt her heart. Princess Luo Lan's lips moved, but she did not speak.

The two of them passed through the East Street of Shiguo in silence. At the end of the street, there was the Deputy King Palace, while the Zheng King Palace was at the end of the North Street.

"It's here. Please wait a moment. I'll report to my father." After saying that, she stopped looking at Li Qing, lowered her head and hurried into the palace.

After a moment, Mo He, who looked surprised, ran out. Compared to the country of Xushi, he had already changed into a royal suit, all with gold and silver edges, and a few huge sapphires were placed on his high hat, but his complexion was not good. Perhaps due to his worries, his temples had turned grayish-white.

"I'm looking forward to the stars, and the moon finally hopes for you!" Mo Hedu pulled Li Qing's wrist and said excitedly: "If you come one day later, I, Shiguo, will surrender to Dashi."

"Is it that serious?" Li Qing was also slightly surprised.

"Of course, otherwise how could I let my baby daughter accompany those bastards to hunt." Mo He's eyes were a little dim. If Shi Guo surrendered to Dashi, in order to save the family's life, he would have to offer his daughter to Abbas.

However, Li Qing's arrival did make him feel desperate, but when he saw Li Qing's three hundred personal guards, he couldn't help but feel sank again and hesitated: "Have you only brought such a few people here?"
Chapter completed!