Chapter 106 Throwing a Stone to Test the Water (Part )

"Qi Tai, a soldier under General Luoyang's command and the steward of the General's Mansion, has been ordered to come and pay a visit to the Lord of the Luo Mansion!"

With a hearty and confident laugh, a sixty-year-old man with gray hair and beard walked into the hall with two servants. All three of them were dressed in Mongolian costumes. The old man wore a round-topped hat with two ribbons hanging down. He looked energetic and full of vigor.

As soon as he entered the hall, Qi Tai bowed respectfully to Luo Tianjin, who was the first person to sit there, and then turned to bow to Ling Xiaoxiao, and then he bowed to Xie Xuan, Deng Changchuan, Luo Hongxuan, Liu Xunyi and others in turn. From beginning to end, Luo Tianjin never said a word, and it was all Qi Tai who took the initiative.

"No need to be so polite, Steward Qi." Luo Tianjin waited for Qi Tai to finish his greetings before he asked softly, "What brings you here so late at night?"

Facing Luo Tianjin's knowing question, Qi Tai still had a smile on his face. He did not rush to answer Luo Tianjin's question, but waved his hand to signal the two followers behind him to open the gift boxes in their arms. The boxes were filled with golden ingots, and under the candlelight, the big gold ingots were shining brightly and were particularly eye-catching.

Any one of these gold ingots is enough to support an ordinary family for several years. However, there are thirty such precious gold ingots in these two gift boxes.

Qi Tai smiled and bowed to Luo Tianjin, saying, "This is a little gift from our prince. I hope Lord Luo will accept it!"

"Luo has always refused to accept rewards without merit. I don't quite understand what General Wang means by this?" Facing the priceless gold ingots, Luo Tianjin didn't even raise his eyelids. His tone was as flat as water, and there was even a hint of impatience.

Qi Tai smiled and said, "Today at the Donghai Teahouse, my young prince had some misunderstandings with Young Master Luo and others. When the prince learned about this, he was extremely angry and severely punished the young prince. He also specially ordered me to bring some small gifts to apologize to Lord Luo!"

"Oh?" Luo Tianjin raised his eyebrows, pretending to look at Luo Hongxuan, Lin Fangda and others with doubt, and asked calmly, "Who bumped into the young prince in the East Sea Teahouse today?"

"No, no! The prince has already found out what happened today. It was the young prince who was reckless first, and it has nothing to do with Young Master Luo and his party." Qi Tai hurriedly explained, "In addition to these small gifts, the prince will also prepare some wine in the general's mansion tomorrow evening. I hope that Lord Luo and the young talents of Prince Xian's mansion will be willing to honor us." After saying that, Qi Tai's shrewd eyes stared at Luo Tianjin, as if expecting his reply.

"Since General Wang has invited me so kindly, how dare I not appreciate it?" Luo Tianjin smiled slightly, but before Qi Tai could happily agree, he suddenly changed the subject and said with a smile, "In fact, I have long wanted to get to know General Wang, but General Wang has just arrived in Luoyang and has been busy with official duties for the past few months, so I didn't dare to beg for mercy. Since General Wang rarely has free time tomorrow evening, how dare I trouble him to prepare wine? Please ask Butler Qi to go back and tell General Wang that I will hold a banquet at Tianxiang Tower tomorrow evening, firstly to welcome General Wang who has come from afar and show my hospitality. Secondly, I would like to take this opportunity to make friends with General Wang."

"This……"

"As for the matter of the East Sea Teahouse, I will investigate it later and give an explanation to General Wang and the young prince tomorrow night." Without waiting for Qi Tai to hesitate, Luo Tianjin continued, "As for these gold ingots, I really feel unworthy of them, so please take them back, Steward Qi!"

"Lord Luo, this matter...is originally hosted by my prince, so how can I let Lord Luo spend the money?" Qi Tai defended.

"Hey!" Luo Tianjin waved his hand nonchalantly and said with a smile, "General Wang has just arrived in the Central Plains, so how can he not try the delicious local food in Luoyang? I am not bragging, the best chefs in Luoyang City are all in my house, and I also have authentic Qionghua dew that I have treasured for more than ten years, and I will also offer it to General Wang tomorrow for you to taste carefully. Hehe..."

Seeing Luo Tianjin's confident look, Qi Tai knew that he could not convince him to go to the General's Mansion for the banquet tomorrow, so he thought about it for a while and reluctantly agreed: "Since Palace Master Luo's kindness is hard to refuse, then I will go back and report to the prince. I would like to thank Palace Master Luo for his kindness on behalf of the prince."

"No way!" Luo Tianjin said with a faint smile, "It is my honor to host a banquet for General Wang, but I will trouble General Wang and the young prince to move to Tianxiang Tower tomorrow."

Qi Tai looked around, his gaze paused for a moment on Lin Fangda and Liu Xunyi, and said with a bow, "I guess you two are Young Master Lin and Young Master Liu, right?" The reason why Qi Tai knew them was all thanks to Wang Qingshu's detailed description of their appearance.

"So what?" Lin Fangda responded unhappily.

"Oh!" Qi Tai was not angry, but turned his gaze to Luo Tianjin and said with a smile, "Before coming here, the prince specifically told me that we must invite Young Master Lin and Young Master Liu to the banquet tomorrow. The prince wants me to apologize to them in person."

"Don't go..."

"Ahem!" Before Lin Fangda could refute subconsciously, Luo Hongxuan, who was sitting beside him, suddenly coughed twice, interrupting Lin Fangda's words, and then bowed to Qi Tai and said, "Please tell General Wang that if nothing unexpected happens tomorrow, they will go to Tianxiang Tower to offer tea to General Wang and the young prince and admit their mistakes."

"I……"

"That's great!" Qi Tai responded before Lin Fang lost his temper, and turned to say goodbye to Luo Tianjin, "It's getting late, I dare not disturb you too much, so I'll take my leave first."

"Give my regards to General Wang when you get back." Luo Tianjin nodded and smiled, "And these gold ingots..."

"The rule of the General's Mansion is that once something is given away, it will never be taken back." Qi Tai said frankly, "If these things don't suit Mansion Master Luo's taste, just throw them away."

After saying this, without waiting for Luo Tianjin to speak again, Qi Tai ordered his men to put the two boxes of gold ingots on the ground. He then bowed and retreated, quickly leading his men out of Prince Xian's Mansion.

"How can there be such a person in the world?" After Qi Tai walked away, Luo Ningyu, who had been holding back for a long time, couldn't help but laugh, "I've only seen people desperately trying to get gold ingots, but this is the first time I've seen someone push so many gold ingots out. It's really interesting!" After saying that, Luo Ningyu quickly turned her gaze to Luo Tianjin, who was deep in thought, and asked curiously, "Dad is the Northern Sage King, and it's only natural for General Wang to invite Dad to dinner. Why did Dad insist on inviting him instead?"

"You are wrong, little sister." Luo Hongxuan explained, "Wang Xutong alone is certainly not qualified to be on an equal footing with dad, but the power behind him cannot be underestimated. In fact, there are three real reasons why dad invited him in return. The first is to be on guard. Wang Xutong wanted to hold a banquet in the general's mansion, but it was his territory after all. The wine, food, servants, and cooks were all his. There was no guarantee that it would not be a Hongmen Banquet. Therefore, in order to avoid an ambush, dad chose not to attend the banquet at the general's mansion. The second and third reasons are exactly what dad said just now. 'To fulfill the hospitality of the host' is actually to hint at Wang Xutong and let him understand who is the host and who is the guest in Luoyang City? And 'making friends with Wang Xutong' is to spy on his details and find out his true intentions towards our Xianwang Mansion."

"That's right!" Su Tang nodded. "The mansion master said before that he couldn't guess what Wang Xutong was up to. The banquet tomorrow night is to test Wang Xutong's true intentions."

Luo Ningyu had never thought of things so complicated. She seemed to understand but not quite. She could only stick out her tongue awkwardly, then turned to look at Liu Xunyi who seemed to be thinking about something, and asked, "Will you go to Wang Qingshu tomorrow to offer tea and admit your mistake?"

Liu Xunyi had been secretly thinking about Wang Xutong's real intention of inviting Luo Tianjin to a banquet, and at the same time, he was constantly trying to figure out Luo Tianjin's true attitude towards the Mongols. He thought to himself, "Wang Xutong must have come prepared to win over Luo Tianjin, but what is Luo Tianjin thinking now? Is he interested in making friends with the Mongolian court? If they hit it off, wouldn't it be adding fuel to the fire for the Song Dynasty court? For the mission I am responsible for, it would be tantamount to a catastrophe."

"Liu Xunyi?"

Because Liu Xunyi was lost in thought, he did not pay attention to Luo Ningyu's question. It was not until Luo Ningyu called his name again and again that he suddenly came to his senses. He looked at Luo Ningyu blankly and murmured, "What did you say?"

"I'm asking if you will go to Tianxiang Tower tomorrow night to offer tea to Wang Qingshu and apologize?" Luo Ningyu muttered with a little dissatisfaction.

At this moment, Luo Tianjin's gaze inadvertently fell on Liu Xunyi. There was a hint of scrutiny in his intriguing eyes, and it seemed that he was quite interested in Liu Xunyi's answer.

"Anyway, I won't go!" Lin Fang waved his hand and said indignantly, "It would be better to kill me with a knife than to ask me to serve tea to that bastard and admit my mistake!"

"Lin Fangda, stop messing around!" Su Tang scolded, "Whether you go tomorrow or not depends on the decision of the mansion master. You can't make the decision on your own. Even if you die, you have to wait until after tomorrow!"

"But I..."

"Looking for clothes." Luo Tianjin suddenly said, "You haven't answered Yu'er's question yet."

Luo Tianjin's inexplicable words made Liu Xunyi's heart sink. He quickly figured out the intention of Luo Tianjin's words, and his eyes moved left and right subconsciously. He didn't respond for a long time.

"Liu Xunyi?" Luo Ningyu shouted angrily, "Are you a blockhead? It's fine if you ignore me, but how dare you ignore my father's words?"

"Ah?" Liu Xunyi was startled and answered hurriedly, "I was thinking about what I would say when I meet that little prince tomorrow. Will he take the opportunity to deliberately make things difficult for us?"

Luo Ningyu frowned upon hearing this and said in surprise, "From what you said...are you planning to surrender to Wang Qingshu? Humph! You are so spineless!"

"The mansion master doesn't want to be at odds with General Wang, so how can I cause trouble for the mansion?" Liu Xunyi said with a wry smile, "For the sake of the overall situation, what's the big deal if I admit my mistakes? Besides, Wang Xutong and Wang Qingshu have already mentioned us. If my elder brother and I are unwilling to go, won't it embarrass the mansion master?"

The reason why Liu Xunyi was determined to go to Tianxiang Tower tomorrow night was not to admit his mistake, but to try to ruin this banquet and not let Wang Xutong and Luo Tianjin have a happy ending.

Even if he risked being punished by Luo Tianjin, Liu Xunyi would deliberately make trouble. The key lies in the "serving tea and admitting the fault" part. It may not be easy to anger Wang Xutong and Luo Tianjin, but it is easy to anger Wang Qingshu. As long as the two sides get into a stalemate at the banquet, or even to the point where it is out of control, Liu Xunyi will have accomplished his mission.

"Brother, what do you think?" In order to show his "loyalty", Liu Xunyi even pulled Lin Fangda into the camp of "serving tea and admitting mistakes".

"This..." Lin Fangda looked at Luo Tianjin hesitantly, thinking it over again and again, and then nodded reluctantly, "If it's for the sake of the overall situation, I'm willing to go against my conscience and admit my mistake."

"So good..."

"I don't think we need to go through all this trouble!" Before the anxious Luo Hongxuan could breathe a sigh of relief, Luo Tianjin, with a strange look on his face, narrowed his eyes and stared at Liu Xunyi meaningfully, and suddenly said, "You two don't have to go to Tianxiang Tower tomorrow, and you don't have to kowtow to Wang Qingshu."

"What?" Liu Xunyi had never expected Luo Tianjin to make such a decision, and said in a panic, "If we don't go, Wang Qingshu will definitely not let it go, isn't it..."

"It's just a small matter, why bother talking about it? I have something more important to tell you right now. Lin Fangda, Liu Xunyi, go back and pack your bags now, come to my study at the beginning of the morning hour, and leave Luoyang City before dawn."

……

(End of this chapter)