Chapter 204 Riding a Tiger and Being Difficult to Dismount
"You all have come from afar, and you must be tired from the journey. I am sorry that I failed to welcome you in person. I hope you will forgive me!"

Outside the central hall, Luo Tianjin's hearty laughter came from far away. Before he finished speaking, he quickly walked into the hall accompanied by Su Tang, Ling Xiaoxiao, and Luo Hongxuan.

At this moment, Xie Xuan and Deng Changchuan were exchanging pleasantries with Xunzhen and his party. On the ground were several large boxes of gold, silver, pearls and jade as a gift for meeting.

As the saying goes, one should not hit a smiling person. Although Xie Xuan and Deng Changchuan did not know the purpose of Xunzhen's visit, they still enthusiastically served him tea in consideration of the generous gift he presented.

Today, Xunzhen is still dressed as a man. She wears a shirt with a pattern of snowy mountains and butterflies, a cloak with a pattern of mountains, rivers and bright moon, green-bottomed silver-patterned boots, and holds an elephant bone and white silk shooting star fan, looking like a handsome, elegant and suave gentleman.

But when she was paying her respects outside the mansion, Xunzhen did not deliberately conceal her identity and directly called herself "a young woman". It was obvious that she wanted to be honest with Luo Tianjin.

When he first met Xunzhen, Luo Tianjin couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

He had seen countless stunning beauties in the world, but this was the first time in his life that Luo Tianjin had met a woman like Xunzhen, who combined beauty and wisdom, heroism and spirituality, and had a bit of Western style.

Especially when Xunzhen disguised herself as a man, she had a skin as fine as ice, hair as white as clouds, delicate and flawless. She had a face as beautiful as peach blossoms, eyebrows as slender as willows, eyes as clear as water, and a stunning appearance. She was like a fairy from heaven, and people could only watch her from afar and not dare to play with her.

Although Luo Tianjin was impressed by Xunzhen's beauty and temperament, he had no evil thoughts. His eyes were open and his expression was pleasant, showing a hint of appreciation.

Men in the world have always admired beautiful women. This was true for Luo Tianjin and Luo Hongxuan.

"What a pretty girl!"

Seeing the strange appearance of her husband and son, Ling Xiaoxiao could not help but frown. She first glared at Luo Tianjin and his son angrily, then turned to Xunzhen and asked, "Where did the girl come from?"

"I am Xunzhen, a young lady, and I have come to visit the Northern Sage King on the orders of the Young King of Qin. I am honored to meet the Lord of Luo Mansion, Madam Luo, and Young Master Luo!"

Without Xie Xuan's introduction, Xunzhen had already guessed their identities, so she bowed in greeting. Then, she waved her hand and pointed at the people behind her, introducing them to Luo Tianjin: "They are my entourage, Abaolu, Su Hu, Xiao Yang, and Xun Budao."

"Miss Xunzhen, there's no need to be so polite! Judging from their temperament, they must be masters from the three religions in the Western Regions." Luo Tianjin nodded with a smile, made a "please" gesture to Xunzhen, and then walked towards the main seat.

After a brief greeting, the two sides took their seats as host and guest. Luo Tianjin glanced at Xunzhen and the others, and asked with a smile: "Although I have never met Young Qin Prince, I have heard of his name a long time ago. Young Qin Prince Yelu Tai is a member of the Liao royal family. He is the direct descendant of Yelu Yanxi, the last ruler of the Liao Dynasty, and the fourth-generation great-grandson of Qin Prince Yelu Ding. In order to mourn his ancestor, he inherited Yelu Ding's name of Qin Prince, so he is called... Young Qin Prince."

Luo Tianjin revealed the identity of Prince Shao Qin in one sentence, which surprised everyone present.

"It seems that Lord Luo has already found out our details." Xunzhen was calm and said with a smile, "I think he can guess our purpose as well?"

"I have always been cautious with people who actively make friends with me." Luo Tianjin replied with a half-smile, "We Han people have a saying, 'Nothing will bring you up early without profit.' Another saying is 'If you show kindness without any reason, you are either a traitor or a thief.' I just wonder if the young prince of Qin made friends with me just to make money? Or does he have other intentions?"

Luo Tianjin's ambiguous words finally made Xunzhen's expression change a little.

She stared at the calm Luo Tianjin with a sharp gaze, and a trace of fear surged in her heart. She thought to herself: "Luo Tianjin is more difficult to deal with than I thought. No wonder he was able to rise from an unknown person to his current position in just twenty years. He is indeed an extraordinary person."

The nervousness on Xunzhen's face disappeared in an instant. She smiled slightly and asked instead of answering, "Lord Luo, why don't you give me a guess?"

"I only guess what I'm interested in." Luo Tianjin pretended to be regretful, shook his head and smiled, "Unfortunately, I have no interest in the Young King of Qin and the Western Liao royal family..."

"Not interested?" Xunzhen raised his eyebrows slightly and said thoughtfully, "What about the 'Wind and Rain Picture'? Is Palace Master Luo interested?"

"What do you mean?" To this day, Luo Tianjin has been bothered by the fake picture. Therefore, when he heard Xunzhen bring up the old story again, a hint of displeasure flashed across his brows.

Xunzhen pretended to be at a loss and said, "Lord Luo is indeed a forgetful person. Little did you know that last year I gave you the hard-earned 'Wind and Rain Painting' for free."

"Really?" Luo Tianjin smiled coldly and asked, "If you hadn't told me this, I would have forgotten about it. The 'Wind and Rain Picture' you gave me is fake."

"Impossible!" Xunzhen pretended to be shocked and refuted with full confidence, "That picture was personally handed to me by Ding Ao, the leader of the Golden Scales Banner. There is no way it can be fake! Palace Master Luo must be very careful and must not let down the sincerity of the Young Prince Qin."

"That picture... is indeed fake." Xie Xuan continued, "Later, we found that there were no less than a thousand fake pictures exactly like it in the world. It was obvious that someone did it on purpose."

"This..." Xunzhen looked puzzled and muttered to himself, "Did Ding Ao lie to me? Impossible. The Young Prince of Qin has been friends with the Jade Dragon Palace for many years and promised to give him the 'Liao Kingdom Jade Slip' as a token of friendship. How could he lie to me? Impossible! This is absolutely impossible..."

After saying that, Xunzhen suddenly raised his eyes to look at Luo Tianjin, and said hesitantly: "Lord Luo, if you are sure that the picture is fake, then there may be another possibility..."

"What's possible?" Luo Tianjin's eyes were as sharp as knives, staring straight at Xunzhen who had an innocent face.

"Someone is so bold as to steal the dragon and switch it with the phoenix." Xunzhen said bluntly. She suddenly changed the subject and asked, "At the beginning, I gave this picture to a person named Liu Xunyi. May I ask if this person... is he a disciple of the Xianwang Mansion?" Luo Tianjin and Xie Xuan looked at each other and asked suspiciously, "Do you suspect that Liu Xunyi did something?"

"I don't know." Xunzhen pretended to be in a dilemma and shook his head, "If this person is still in your house, why don't you call him over? Ask him everything in person and clear my name!"

"Come on! Go and invite Sect Master Liu over!"

Before Xunzhen finished speaking, Luo Hongxuan gave the order.

A moment later, Liu Xunyi, looking nervous, limped into the hall accompanied by Luo Ningyu.

As soon as they entered the room, Liu Xunyi and Xunzhen's eyes met. Their strange gazes intertwined tightly, and their expressions became completely different.

Liu Xunyi's mouth was dry, her body and mind were tense, and her face was solemn. On the other hand, Xunzhen's eyebrows were smiling, her expression was leisurely, and it was hard to figure out what she was thinking.

Looking at each other for a moment, for Liu Xunyi, it was like being in a sea of ​​fire and swords, spending countless spring and autumn seasons, it was bitter and difficult, extremely torturous.

Liu Xunyi forced a faint smile towards Xunzhen, then staggered towards Luo Tianjin and bowed to him. At this moment, Xunzhen's sharp eyes inadvertently fell on his limping leg.

Suddenly, Xunzhen's eyes sparkled. She quietly recalled that a few days ago in Lingqiu Mountain Stream, she had seen a limping figure on the opposite mountain, exactly like Liu Xunyi who was struggling to walk at this moment.

Thinking of this, Xunzhen's expression suddenly became interesting, and an indescribable strange smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Miss Xunzhen, he is Liu Xunyi." Luo Tianjin said, "Back in the Western Regions, you gave the 'Wind and Rain Map' to this person?"

"That's right." Xunzhen's expression changed, and he replied, "It's this Young Master Liu."

After saying that, Xunzhen walked slowly to the side of the trembling Liu Xunyi as if he was taking a leisurely stroll in the garden, paced around him, looked him up and down, and made Liu Xunyi feel a chill in his heart.

Xunzhen asked with a half-smile, "Young Master Liu, I haven't seen you for a long time. How are you?"

Liu Xunyi had no idea what Xunzhen was up to, so he could only reluctantly respond, "Thanks to the young lady, everything is fine."

Deng Changchuan could not wait to urge: "No need to say more polite words. Xunyi, the palace master just mentioned the 'Wind and Rain Picture', and Miss Xunzhen suspected that you had switched it in the middle. Now she asked you to come and confront her face to face, so you might as well explain it."

Hearing this, Liu Xunyi was stunned for a moment, then swallowed hard, thinking hard about a countermeasure, but did not reply for a long time.

When Liu Xunyi looked up at Xunzhen, he saw Xunzhen's big watery eyes looking at him with a smile. This scene made Liu Xunyi feel creepy and cold all over.

Liu Xunyi hesitated for a moment before stammering, "Whatever Miss Xunzhen gave me, I presented to the mansion master... that's it. I never tampered with it secretly. If I lied, I will be struck by lightning and die miserably!"

Seeing this, Luo Tianjin couldn't help but have a smug look in his eyes. He turned to look at Xunzhen and said calmly, "Liu Xunyi dared to swear to heaven that she did not cheat. I wonder if Miss Xunzhen dared to swear to heaven that the 'Wind and Rain Picture' she gave me must be real?"

Faced with Luo Tianjin's aggressive pressure, Xunzhen's face couldn't help but darken.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, staring at Liu Xunyi meaningfully, and said word by word: "Young Master Liu, do you also think that I gave you this fake picture? This concerns my innocence and reputation. I hope that Young Master Liu can think it over carefully and recall everything that happened at that time, even... every word."

There was something else behind Xunzhen's words, which others could not understand, but Liu Xunyi heard it clearly.

Luo Hongxuan looked at Xunzhen in confusion and said suspiciously, "This picture was made by the young lady and presented to my father by Liu Xunyi. Now that it has been discovered that the picture is fake, the problem can only lie with three people. Either my father deliberately framed him, or Liu Xunyi switched the original, or Miss Xunzhen...you gave me a fake picture from the beginning. Now Liu Xunyi dares to swear to heaven, and you refuse to admit it. Are you hinting that my father deliberately framed me?"

"of course not!"

Urged by Xunzhen's eyes, Liu Xunyi finally gave in to her obsession and spoke reluctantly, "In fact, besides the three of us, there is another person who can influence the authenticity of this picture."

"Who is it?" Deng Changchuan asked curiously.

“Ren Wuya!” Liu Xunyi looked at Xunzhen with a complicated look, and said against his will, “From the very beginning, he set up a scheme to deceive everyone and played us in the palm of his hand. He successfully deceived everyone, including the Lord of the Mansion and me, and… Miss Xunzhen…”

……

(End of this chapter)