A traitor

Xuan Guo's envoys came to visit, and the Ministry of Rites was ordered to welcome them, led by Su Qinglang.

Because of Cai Jun's absence, the Ministry of Rites lacked manpower, so the emperor specially asked Mei Liusheng and Sun Zizhong to assist Su Qinglang.

Knowing that he was tasked with welcoming the envoys, Mei Liusheng went to see Su Qinglang and asked who the other party sent.

Unexpectedly, Master Su flicked his folding fan, revealing a charming smiling face: "First-rate wretchedness, second-rate shamelessness, third-rate ability, and as for character, the best of the worst."

Thinking back to my memory, the imperial censor from Xuanguo, although he was a bit hateful, was not that bad.

Mei Liusheng couldn't help twitching the corners of his lips, thinking with black lines all over his head, no one in this world can offend Su Qinglang, he has a small stomach, and his mind is smaller than the tip of a needle.

After two days of busy work on the preparations, Xuan Guo's envoys appeared. At that time, Su Qinglang, Mei Liusheng and the others were waiting outside the imperial city when they saw a carriage slowly approaching.

Su Qinglang was patient, maintaining the most decent and generous posture, and only brought the people behind to meet them when they came to the front.

There were more than a dozen officers and soldiers escorting the carriage, all dressed in Xuan Guo's costumes, just as Su Qinglang stopped, he saw a man get off the carriage.

He was dressed in a dark blue official uniform with the pattern of cranes and auspicious clouds embroidered in the middle. He was over 50 years old, and his mustache was very vigorous, funny and shrewd.

When he saw Su Qinglang, he hurriedly went up to meet him, cupped his hands and said, "I am a little censor, but I am ashamed to ask the Emperor of Southern Tang Dynasty to be greeted by Shangshu."

When the two countries meet, if the upper country is sent as an envoy to the lower country, the emperor of the lower country will let the person with the highest rank in the court to welcome him to show his value and respect.

The former minister of the Ministry of Rites, a fool, only knew how to flatter and ask for credit. He learned that Xuan Guo envoys came to the Southern Tang Dynasty to meet the proton.

Since the emperor's heir was involved, he thought it was a big deal, so he went on stage in person, and Wen Shiliang seized the opportunity to humiliate him, making himself ashamed and embarrassing for the court.

Due to this reason, Su Qinglang didn't want to come at first, but Mei Liusheng and Sun Zizhong, a pair of laymen, other people in the Ministry of Rites, and a group of wood, the habits acquired from the former Shangshu lord, all of them were soaked in jars. The sauerkraut is even more pedantic, obviously they are not Wen Shiliang's opponents, Master Shang Shu has no choice but to come forward by himself.

Seeing Wen Shiliang repeating his old tricks, Su Qinglang said unhurriedly: "The Southern Tang Dynasty has always been a state of etiquette. Mr. Wen came here on behalf of the Xuanguo monarch. Naturally, my majesty cannot lose my courtesy."

After a pause, he introduced Mei Liusheng next to him: "This is Mrs. Mei, who is new to the imperial court. He is currently working for the Ministry of Rites. He was originally appointed to welcome the envoys, but the emperor is worried that he has just joined the Ministry of Rites and lacks experience. I was afraid that I would neglect Xuanguo's distinguished guests, so I let Qinglang come."

Hearing Su Qinglang's words, Mei Liusheng couldn't help pursing his lips, and the other adults in the Ministry of Rites even snickered behind them.

After all, Master Shangshu's words were wonderful. They not only refuted Wen Shiliang's making things difficult, but also gave Nan Tang a big face.

According to what Su Qinglang said, Wen Shiliang came here to represent the monarch of Xuanguo. They were greeted by only one Shangshu in the Southern Tang Dynasty. , even Master Shang Shu himself will not come.In this way, the status of the two countries, which is higher and which is lower, is obvious.

Wen Shiliang's face was not as arrogant as before. He sized up Su Qinglang for a moment, and then said: "I'm half a day late than the scheduled time. Master Su must have been waiting for a long time, right?"

Su Qinglang narrowed his eyes and smiled, and said: "Being honest and punctual is a matter of course. I will wait as long as I want to do things in accordance with the etiquette."

A few words are nice to say, but on the surface they are just Su Qinglang's modest words, but Wen Shiliang knows that there are needles hidden in this modesty.

Su Qinglang and the others were waiting here because they were honest and punctual, and acted according to the etiquette, but they violated the promise and delayed the meeting, so it seemed that they did not understand etiquette.

In fact, according to the itinerary, they should have come here a long time ago, but he heard that Southern Tang had changed to a Minister of Rites.

And different from his predecessor, although this person is young, he is a very difficult to deal with, so he ordered people to slow down deliberately, so that the people in Nantang waited eagerly, so as to kill Su Qinglang's vigor.

But he didn't expect that stealing a chicken would cost him nothing, not only did he not hurt Su Qinglang, but he also caused himself a whole lot of bad luck.

Wen Shiliang withdrew his expression slightly, looked at Su Qinglang and thought to himself, this person is really not easy to deal with as rumored.

He paused, then smiled again: "So, it's our fault. Originally, according to the plan, the team could reach the imperial city before noon, but it's a pity that the road in Nantang is bumpy, which is not what we expected before. Such a mistake happened, I hope Mr. Su forgives me."

Speaking of this, there was a flash of calculation in his eyes, and he said meaningfully: "I heard that Master Su is a celebrity in front of the Emperor of Southern Tang, and I hope that Master Su can remind His Majesty of Southern Tang that your official career is really bad. It’s no match for our Xuanguo’s, it should be repaired.”

Heh, beating around the bush, and started to slander their Southern Tang official way again, Su Qinglang dare not say anything else, just the Southern Tang official way, which was reconstructed by his classmate Liu Jingzhi a few years ago, painstakingly and painstakingly.

In terms of his achievements in water conservancy and transportation, apart from Liu Jingzhi's father, he has never recognized anyone else in the world.

Thinking of this, he picked up the folding fan in his hand, took two steps forward, and looked at Wen Shiliang's carriage silently for a while.

He asked: "Master Wen is loyal and has worked hard. How could Emperor Xuanguo treat you so harshly, even refusing to give you a decent carriage?"

As he said that, he turned back to look at Wen Shiliang, and said with a smile, "There are a few new ones in Qinglang, I'll send them to Mr. Wen later."

What Wen Shiliang said made Wen Shiliang grit his teeth and almost vomit blood, and finally said: "No need, the emperor has always been diligent and thrifty. As subjects, we should understand and take the emperor as an example."

"However..." He changed the topic: "I heard that your Southern Tang emperor has always been extravagant and extravagant. Master Su seems to have learned this well."

Facing Wen Shiliang's provocation, Su Qinglang was not angry, took the folding fan and tapped it in his hand, and said: "Master Wen misunderstood, but, according to Qinglang's knowledge, envoys going to other countries not only represent the monarch, It is not only the face of a country, but also the attitude of a country towards another country.

If the situation is reversed today and Qing Lang is allowed to take the place of Mr. Wen, no matter how frugal our emperor is, he will not skimp on this aspect.

If Nan Tang hadn't been with Xuan Guo for a long time, knowing that your habits have always been like this, I'm afraid you will inevitably feel that you are underestimated. "

Wen Shiliang has never been humiliated like this before in his life, why their habit has always been like this, it seems that they have always been poor in Xuanguo.

He looked at his spacious and gorgeous carriage, and then at the flat and open official road in Nantang, and realized that he was a rascal against a rascal today, and met his opponent.

But speaking of this, if he doesn't reciprocate, it will prove that their side has lost, and he will be ashamed, and he will also lose the face of the court.

But when he said he wanted to refute, he really couldn't think of any breakthrough. When he was in a dilemma, he heard Mei Liusheng say unhurriedly: "The envoy of the Xuan Kingdom came from a long distance, and the journey was hard. We have prepared thin wine at the posthouse for you all Take the wind and wash away the dust."

According to the original agreement, when Xuan Guo's envoys came, Su Qinglang sang bad faces, chased after him and beat Wen Shiliang to death, and wiped out Wen Shiliang's arrogance, and then Mei Liusheng sang bad faces and said a few words Soft words rounded things up so that the atmosphere wouldn't be too awkward.

Although Xuan Guo is hateful, the visitors are guests after all. They have done too much, and they have lost the demeanor of the host. Otherwise, people in the world will say that they do not understand etiquette.

Tolerating so far, the steps have been given, but someone gave a three-point color and wanted to open a dyeing workshop.

An official under Wen Shiliang was dissatisfied, and deliberately loudly said: "That's right, I still have to go to the city to pay a visit to General Xie, so I can't delay here."

When he said this, even Wen Shiliang couldn't help but want to slap him. General Xie is Xie Yuan. Xie Yuan, who has been intimidating them at the border for more than ten years, was the one who led the troops to defeat Xuan Guo. To the north of Lingshui, he had no choice but to propose a peace.

I thought that General Xie was mentioned to humiliate Su Qinglang, implying that he betrayed his friend and framed Zhongliang back then.In fact, they were the ones who brought shame on themselves and lost face to their families.

Su Qinglang paused in his footsteps, then turned around, with a smile still on his face, he said, "My lord, so I want to see General Xie so much."

The official hiccupped, and seeing Su Qinglang restrain his smile, he said coldly: "If you really think so, don't worry, I will never stop you, I will let you see him."

The deeper meaning of this sentence is: If you really want to die like that, I will definitely make it happen and send you to the west to find Xie Yuan.

Hearing such a threat, the official broke out in cold sweat, his face was ugly, and under Wen Shiliang's angry gaze, he retreated secretly.

Su Qinglang turned and left, and Mei Liusheng followed behind him, only to hear an adult from the Ministry of Rites deliberately lower his voice and say——

"As expected of Mr. Su, even Wen Shiliang is no match for him, he's running on him like a grandson..."

An adult answered: "What do you know, Mr. Su? He is famous for his eloquence. Otherwise, how could he be a minister? Even the son of Xu Jingzong was the one who met the backer as an envoy back then. Wang Lizhi and Xu Hanwen who finally persuaded him to surrender and save him from a war of war are not his opponents, but Wen Shiliang...what is he?"

The other party let out an oh, showing a look of great interest, and heard the man sigh, and said with emotion: "At that time, Mr. Su must have been underage..."