Chapter 196: Envoy from the Northern Frontier (I)

Spring is here, flowers are blooming, peach blossoms are red, willows are green, and the Central Plains are filled with a warm spring breeze. It has been sunny and clear for several days.

In the morning, Liu Xunyi sat leisurely in the back garden of Prince Xian's Mansion, just like the previous few days, looking at the bright colors everywhere, smelling the fragrance of flowers, and lazily basking in the spring sunshine.

Liu Xunyi's injury has not healed yet. Because his foot was pierced by Qin Tianjiu's knife, he still walks with a limp today. For this reason, Xu Heng and others specially made a crutch for him to facilitate his movement.

Liu Xunyi made great contributions in this trip to Shaolin. Therefore, after returning to Luoyang, Luo Tianjin gave him many rewards, one of which was: temporarily exempt from all errands, just cultivate yourself in the mansion until you recover.

Liu Xunyi seemed to be enjoying the hard-earned leisure time, looking carefree and unconcerned. But in fact, he was very nervous. A few days ago, he learned that Chifengling would send people to Luoyang to visit Luo Tianjin. Liu Xunyi knew the real intention of the Mongols, so he had been worried about it for the past few days and secretly planned a countermeasure.

"Looking for clothes."

Suddenly, Lin Fangda's urgent voice sounded from a distance. In the past, at this time, he would bring wine and drink and chat with Liu Xunyi to kill time. But today, Lin Fangda had no wine in his hand, only a knife.

Hearing this, Tang Cong, who was standing by, hurriedly handed the cane to Liu Xunyi. With the help of Liao Chuan and Liao Hai, Liu Xunyi slowly walked forward. Although he was puzzled, his face was still filled with joy. He smiled and said, "Brother, you came earlier today than yesterday."

Lin Fang quickly stepped forward and supported Liu Xunyi. He smiled bitterly with a guilty look on his face and said, "Xunyi, I can't drink with you today. The Lord of the Palace urgently summoned me to the central hall to discuss matters. I came here specially to tell you so that you don't have to wait here foolishly."

Liu Xunyi's heart sank, and he pretended to smile nonchalantly, "Oh! The Lord's order is important, you should go quickly, brother! I just don't know...what big thing has happened in the mansion?"

Lin Fang laughed loudly and said disdainfully, "There's nothing wrong in the mansion. It's just that the people from Red Wind Ridge have arrived, and the mansion master asked us all to go and welcome them. I really don't understand why the mansion master is so polite to these Tartars?"

"Why didn't I receive the summons?" Liu Xunyi had no intention of joining forces with Lin Fangda to fight against the same enemy, so he asked subconsciously.

"The palace master has given an order that you will not be assigned any tasks until you recover from your injury," Tang Cong explained, "so this matter did not alarm you."

Liu Xunyi thought for a moment and said seriously, "I will go with my elder brother."

"Xunyi, you should take a good rest here..."

"Brother, have you forgotten Long Yu?" Liu Xunyi's eyes turned cold, and he said in a deep voice, "On my way back to Luoyang from Shaolin, this Long Yu tried to assassinate me three times. If it weren't for the Seventh Master accompanying me along the way, I would have died in his hands. Long Yu is a Mongolian. In my impression, I seem to have never offended him, but he has repeatedly tried to kill me, which is really strange. It's rare that the people from Chifengling are here today, so I'll go and ask them for an explanation."

Lin Fangda frowned and said hesitantly, "The mansion master asked us to go and welcome the guests. It seems that he doesn't want to argue with them... If you go and ask for punishment, will you..."

"Don't worry, big brother. I know what to do and won't do anything rash."

After saying this, before Lin Fangda could respond, Liu Xunyi took the lead, leaning on his crutches, and limped towards the main hall.

In the central hall, Luo Tianjin, Ling Xiaoxiao, Luo Hongxuan, Xie Xuan, Deng Changchuan, and Murong Bai were seated in order. Di Mo, Su Tang, and Luo Qi, the three fans, were also present. In addition, Ling Qing, Chen Yong, and several other sect leaders were also seated below.

At this moment, a dozen Mongolians, led by Mogan and Bater, stood in the hall quite respectfully. In front of them were a dozen wooden boxes of various sizes, filled with gold, silver, jewelry, agate and jade.

As soon as they entered the main hall, Lin Fangda and Liu Xunyi quickly bowed to Luo Tianjin, then tiptoed to the side and sat down quietly without disturbing others.

"I appreciate the kindness of Lord Yan Ling." Luo Tianjin looked at Chagan calmly and said lightly, "But I can't accept these things without merit."

Chagan seemed to have anticipated Luo Tianjin's refusal. He calmly ordered his men to close the box, then took a wooden box from Bater and said with a smile, "Palace Master Luo may not be interested in gold, silver, and jewelry, but I'm sure he will be interested in this gift."

After saying that, Chagan quickly opened the wooden box, revealing two horrific human heads.

After many days, the head had begun to rot and wither. The twisted and deformed flesh was covered with dried blood and emitted a disgusting stench.

Although they had rotted, Liu Xunyi could still recognize them at a glance. They were none other than Old Man Liu and Meihua, who used to sing in the Donghai Teahouse. They were also the culprits who caused the conflict between Prince Xian's Mansion and the General's Mansion.

"Those who do evil will eventually perish!" Ling Qing said with emotion, "I was ordered to hunt them down before, but the 'Wudao Divine Monk' meddled in our affairs and tried to stop me. The two of them managed to escape, but I didn't expect that they would die tragically in the end."

On the other hand, Luo Tianjin just glanced at him indifferently, and there was no trace of joy or anger on his face.

Seeing this, Chagan calmly put away the wooden box and asked with a smile, "Isn't Lord Luo curious why their heads are in my hands?"

Deng Changchuan raised his eyebrows and said jokingly, "Why? Are you here to ask for a reward? We have issued a hunting order before, and we are willing to pay 1,000 taels of gold for their heads. It is said that there will always be brave men under a big reward, and today it really came true. Haha..." Murong Bai smiled coldly and continued, "If that's the case, then don't treat them unfairly."

Luo Tianjin neither stopped nor agreed with Deng Changchuan and Murong Bai's jokes. He just stared at Chagan with a smile, as if waiting for him to explain everything himself.

Chagan wanted to take this opportunity to whet Luo Tianjin's appetite, but he didn't expect Luo Tianjin to be so lukewarm. Chagan's face was inevitably a little embarrassed, and he coughed twice subconsciously, as if to relieve his embarrassment.

"Hey!"

Bater was a young and inexperienced man, and he immediately became angry. He shouted, "We have come all the way here, and this is how you welcome us? People say that you Han people are well-educated and well-mannered, but today I see that you are just famous for nothing!"

"If we were to invade your country like bandits, trample on your cities and land, and kill your brothers and sisters, how much gentlemanly demeanor would you have left?" Di Mo said coldly, "The Xianwang Mansion and Chifengling have always kept to themselves. Although we are not enemies, we don't have much friendship either. You came here suddenly, and not only did you not state your intentions directly, but you also deliberately beat around the bush. Is this what you call being polite?"

"you……"

"Shut up!" Without waiting for Bater to refute, Chagan suddenly shouted in a deep voice, then turned to Luo Tianjin and bowed slightly, laughing dryly, "I am a young man who is ignorant. I hope Lord Luo will not bear grudge against me."

"No need to be so polite." Luo Tianjin said softly, "What do you want to say? Please speak frankly. I am all ears."

"Haha..." Chagan nodded slightly, pointed at the wooden box containing the human head, and explained, "To be honest, the reason why these two people are in my hands is that they secretly ran to Saibei a few days ago and wanted to inform General Wang."

"What secret are you telling?" Xie Xuan asked knowingly.

"They want to tell General Wang the truth about the tragic death of Luoyang General Wang Xutong and his family!" Chagan's eyes sparkled and he spoke bluntly.

Hearing this, everyone present was secretly surprised, but no one showed any abnormality.

Ling Xiaoxiao frowned slightly and said suspiciously: "Regarding General Wang's matter, we have sent a secret letter to the Mongolian court and explained the cause and effect in the letter..."

"No, no, no!" Chagan shook his head in a secretive manner and said, "The 'truth' they want to tell Commander Wang is not quite the same as the 'truth' Lord Luo wrote in the letter."

"What's the difference?" Luo Tianjin remained calm and spoke in a tone as calm as water.

"They want to tell General Wang that Wang Xutong and his family were actually killed by the Lord of Luo Mansion. The so-called 'civilian righteous army' is just a trick deliberately cast by the Lord of Luo Mansion. As for Wang Qingshu, he was killed by Liu Xunyi of the Xianwang Mansion in Fengming Tower." Chagan smiled sinisterly. After saying that, he subconsciously glanced at Liu Xunyi, who had a complicated expression, and then changed the subject and said, "Of course we don't believe this kind of nonsense. But General Wang is different. He has always regarded Wang Xutong as a brother and Wang Qingshu as his son and nephew. If he gets to know this news, regardless of whether it is true or false, General Wang will be furious. In this way, the one who comes here to visit Lord of Luo Mansion today will no longer be an old man, but most likely General Wang's 100,000 cavalry."

"Two charlatans, instigated by others, speaking nonsense and telling lies." Luo Tianjin smiled calmly, "I think even if General Wang knew about this, he would not believe it easily, let alone be a puppet of someone with ulterior motives."

At this moment, Luo Tianjin seemed calm on the surface, but in fact, he was already in turmoil. It was troublesome to just make assumptions, let alone whether Wang Xutong and his family really died at his hands?
As the saying goes: There is no wall that is impenetrable. Although Luo Tianjin had expected that keeping the "Qin Mo Wu Yao" would be a disaster sooner or later, he never expected that they would be so bold as to run to the northern frontier to inform the Mongols.

Chagan and Luo Tianjin looked into each other's eyes, and he wanted to see some clues from Luo Tianjin's eyes. But after looking at each other, he saw that he was calm and composed. It was as if Chagan's remarks just now had nothing to do with Luo Tianjin.

"Lord Luo is absolutely right. We will not believe the nonsense these two said." After a moment of silence, Chagan slowly said, "So we took them back to Red Wind Ridge and tortured them severely. Finally, we found out who was the mastermind behind the scenes."

"Who?" Hearing this, Luo Tianjin's face finally showed a hint of curiosity. At the same time, a cold light flashed in his eyes.

"Jin Jianwu!" Chagan said, "Jin Jianwu promised them a large sum of money and ordered them to go to the Marshal's Mansion and report Lord Luo."

Luo Tianjin's pupils suddenly condensed, and an indescribable anger quietly spread out.

"I wonder what Master Yan Ling's plan is?" Xie Xuan asked cautiously.

Chagan patted the wooden box gently with his hand and said with a smile: "Can't you see what Lord Ling meant? I cut off the heads of the two thieves and presented them to Lord Luo. I think... this is enough to show our sincerity, right? Lord Ling said that no matter whether this matter is true or false, we will do our best to settle it for Lord Luo. Even if General Wang wants to avenge Wang Xutong in the future, Lord Ling will kneel in front of the Khan's tent and plead for Lord Luo again and again."

Luo Tianjin's eyelids twitched slightly, and he looked at Chagan up and down with a serious look. After a long silence, he slowly asked, "I have never had any contact with Master Yanling, why did he... help me?"

"You Han people have a saying, 'It is impolite not to reciprocate.' The reason why the Ridge Master wants to help the Mansion Master Luo is actually to make friends with the Mansion Master Luo. And from now on, I hope that the Mansion Master Luo and the heroes of the Xianwang Mansion can work with Chifeng Ridge and even the Great Mongolian Empire... with one heart and one mind, and advance and retreat together!"

……

(End of this chapter)